[-Chapter Fifteen-]

When I slept that night, I dreamed.

The pretty boy across from me glowered and crossed his arms over his chest. He had black hair that was just starting to grow out all over the place. I wanted to touch it for some reason; I interlaced my fingers in my lap instead. A minute passed. Two minutes. I couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"You can't stay mad at me forever!"

"Yes I can!"

"But I—"

"Shut up!"

I looked away, my eyes stinging. I would not cry in front of him. He was just a stupid boy, after all. He had cooties for sure.

I studied the walls of my playroom, careful not to look at him once. It was a pretty room, painted bright blue and covered in snowflakes. Every one was different, my daddy said. To keep my eyes away from that boy, I tried to prove Daddy wrong. Maybe if I found a matching pair of snowflakes I could complain about it and get him to paint something else on my walls.

He still wasn't speaking to me. My stomach twisted. Oh, no… No, I will not cry. I won't! I glared at him out of he corner of my eye.

He glared back, just as stubborn as ever. I screamed and threw my hands up. "I order you to tell me why you're being so stupid!"

"No! You can't boss me around just because you're the Princess!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

We were nose-to-nose now. Thundering feet raced up to the door of the playroom but I didn't care. He is not getting the better of me!

"Your Highness! Ronin! Stop this at once!"

Years of listening to my nurse overrode my anger. My back snapped up straight and I turned to face the aging woman, still sneaking glances at Ronin out of the corner of my eye.

"You're going to wake the entire palace with your bickering! And a Princess never bickers, my dear."

My lip trembled. I could feel it coming, suddenly. There was no way of holding it back, so I let it all out: I flopped down on the floor and broke down crying. Ronin stiffened beside me. In my mind I could see the appalled look on his face and that only made me cry harder. I wailed in the way that only an eight year old could. Nurse Joo-Dee raced to my side. She did not hug me, or try to calm me down. Instead, she waited until my tears were gone.

"Now, your highness, what are you crying about?"

"R-R-Ronin is mad at m-me because I told him that I was be… be…"

"Betrothed?"

The word brought fresh tears and wails out of my mouth.

"Your Highness!" Joo-Dee's voice was harsh, and dark. I looked up into her face and saw no love there. My screams died in my throat. "A Princess does not cry."

"B-b-but Ronin—"

"Be silent!" It was like she'd reached into my eyes and shut the water off. I couldn't have cried even if I wanted to. "And as for you, little boy." Ronin looked like he wanted nothing more than to jump in my closet and hide. His eyes were all wide and his shoulders were up so high it was like they swallowed his neck. "Betrothal is a part of life for royalty. If you cannot accept that, then that is your problem. Do not take it out on your superiors, especially not on your future ruler. If you make her cry again, I will have you sent back to the kitchens where you belong!"

"No!"

The crack rang out before I saw Joo-Dee's hand move. Ronin's head jerked around. When it moved back, there was a new bright red handprint on his face. I wanted to jump onto Joo-Dee and rip her hair out, but I knew what she would say. Princesses do not rip hair out.

"You do not command me, kitchen boy. I am the handmaid to the Princess. And you are just lucky that this little girl took a liking to you, or you would be leading a life that not even a koala bear-dog would envy."

I could hear Ronin breathing from here. I had to get my nurse out of the room so that I could try and help him. His face was already turning purple from the rings on Joo-Dee's fingers.

"Joo-Dee." I shifted my shoulders up and back; my voice was calm. I clasped my hands neatly in front of my waist.

She smiled. I knew I was on the right track: Joo-Dee never smiled at me. "Yes, Your Highness?" Her body sank to the floor in a beautiful bow.

"Get out." The words were too harsh, I knew right away. The smile slipped off her face and she opened her mouth to retaliate. "Immediately! Leave this room. Your assistance is no longer required."

"Your Highness, I—"

I drew myself up and threw out one of the phrases she had taught me in my lessons. "Do not disobey your superiors, Joo-Dee. Leave."

She let her face twist into something sour and then obeyed me, bowing out of the room with perfect posture. Something sharpened in my gut: I hated her.

Once my nurse was out of sight I rushed to Ronin's side. He scowled at me in a warning that I ignored. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Ronin." My voice was quiet and pleading, like a true lady's. "Ronin, please don't be mad at me. I can't help it if I'm betrothed—you heard Joo-Dee. I have to do it."

"Well that means you're going to leave me. You're my best friend, Koori. I don't want to go somewhere where you won't be."

I smiled at him. "That will never happen. No matter what happens, Ronin, we will always be the best of friends."

"Ronin! Ronin! RONIN!"

I tore through the halls at a full sprint, most unbecoming of a lady. At that point, though, being a lady was the farthest thing from my mind. Air wouldn't enter my lungs and my head was spinning and if my heart beat any faster it would probably jump out of my chest.

"RONIN! RONIN! RONIN!"

Various nobles in the palace stirred at my shrieks. Some (from the sound of it, behind their closed doors) fell out of their beds. Others were reaching for swords and clubs, but I left them all behind me as I ran out to the stables. My nightgown was billowing around my ankles, glowing white in the moonlight. A strange power surged through me, alien and terrifying.

"RONIN! RONIN! RO—"

Rough hands seized me from behind, clapping over my mouth to cut off my last scream. I bit down hard, panicking. My assailant released me, then grabbed my wrist and spun me around. Suddenly I was up against the wall of the stables, my arm pinned behind me. My face scraped against the rough wood of the building as I gasped for air. "Let me GO!"

"You have to stop waking up the entire palace every time you need to see me," Ronin's voice hissed. In response my muscles relaxed a little bit, but the terror from earlier was still there. "You're going to get me in trouble."

"Why?" I spat. "Is Joo-Dee going to send you back to the kitchens? She has no power anymore, Ronin. And I need you. Please." My best friend released me and I whirled to face him. Something in my expression must have worried him, because he reached a tentative hand to my windblown hair to smooth it down. I froze. That same hand moved down the right side of my face; he was so warm in the chill night air. Just for a moment, I felt a strange quickening in my stomach. Then fear trampled it and I grabbed his hand to squeeze it tight.

"What's going on, Koori?"

A nearby rustling sound sent chills up my spine. "Not here, Ronin. Please."

He studied me and then gave a curt nod. "Come on, we can go in the stables. Noku isn't here tonight." Noku was our stable boy who resembled a horse himself; nosy as the day was long. I let Ronin lead me into the quiet shadows of his makeshift home. The soft noises of ostrich-horses surrounded me. They smelled warm, and comforting. I could almost feel myself relaxing. Almost.

When we reached the last stall, standing in the moonlight from the window, Ronin turned to face me. "Now tell me, Koori, what's going on? I haven't heard you scream like that since your mother—"

"Stop."

He paused. "I'm sorry, it was just an observation."

I paused. "Well… anyway… I was in my room just now. I was thinking about my betrothal to Lord Jerkface—" Ronin flashed half a smile; that was our nickname for my future husband, Lord Hakoda. He had been named for some famous tribal chieftain from the old days, but he had the honor of a rooster-pig. I loathed him. "—and I just got so angry, Ronin. I was barely thinking straight and then all of a sudden… this."

I took a quick breath. The moonbeams quickened in my blood and my anger rose up to meet it. I curled my fingers while jerking my hands. There was a splash, and a gasp, and then the ostrich-horses screamed in fear.

Every drop of water in the room hovered over my head. It loomed large, like a mini ocean. I had drained out the water troughs and the moisture in the air. Now the air was so dry that Ronin's hair stood on end. More than just the physical water, I could feel other sources. Water in the animals, just beneath the surface of their skin. Water inside of Ronin, both stationary and moving. Moving? I probed a bit further and recognized this strange water for what it was. Blood. I can feel Ronin's blood.

Disgusted, I directed the water back to where it came from. My best friend stared at me, unmoving. For once, I couldn't read his face.

"Ronin, please… I… this isn't something I can control. But I'm still me, Ronin. And that means we're still… we're still us, right?"

The silence stretched on forever. I fought the urge to scream and cry. More water to bend, my mind thought bitterly. Ronin must hate me. I hated myself.

"I don't understand," Ronin said finally. His jaw was as tight as his words. "You're thirteen. This shouldn't be happening."

"I don't understand either." The tears welled up, unbidden.

"Well do you know what's going to happen?"

"No. No Bender is supposed to be sane after the age of ten."

"But you couldn't even bend until just now. And you're thirteen."

"So then… do you think I could be different?"

He looked away, which said more than I could bear to hear. "I don't see how."

At his words, my resolve broke. Tears spilled out everywhere. "Then you might as well go."

"I might as well."

I waited expectantly for him to move. But he stood there, staring at me. "Well if you're going to leave me then just do it! Go!"

He sighed. "This is where I sleep, Koori. You're the one who has to leave."

"Oh."

We waited another few minutes; I couldn't force my feet to take a single step towards the door. He gave me a pointed look. I cast my eyes to my feet. "I don't want to go."

Ronin nodded with his arms crossed over his chest. His jaw looked tense enough to snap. "Ronin, please… I don't want to go."

"Then stay. What do I care?"

His words sent me reeling. "What do you care?"

"Koori, I've been saying goodbye to you for over five years. Ever since I first found out that you would have to marry someone else and leave. Every day has been a goodbye."

"But…" If my mouth gaped open any wider, an ostrich-horse would ride in. That, or I would drown in my own tears. "I promised that we would be best friends. Best friends forever."

"That's something only an eight year old girl would be innocent enough to promise and a ten year old boy would be desperate enough to believe." He might as well have kicked me and spat on me earlier; that would have been less painful than what I was hearing. "Maybe now you don't have to marry Lord Hakoda. After all, who wants to marry a crazy Bender instead of a Princess? That just means I will get to sit here and watch you lose your mind. Eventually I won't be allowed to see you anymore, and by that point I don't know what purpose my life is going to have—"

"You," I cut in furiously, "are a twisted and warped little fool. You're so bitter about what life has thrown at you that you can't even see what's happening!"

"I do see it!" he shouted back. "I see that I'm still losing you and this time there's nothing I can do to stop it! So why should I even bother trying?"

"I used to look up to you." At my words Ronin visibly cringed. "I used to think you were this brave guy who was going to be by my side through everything until the bitter end. But now I see what you are."

"What is it you see?"

"A coward."

I whirled on my heel and marched out of the stables. Every instinct in me demanded that I look back to gauge Ronin's reaction, but my royal training overrode those instincts. A lady does not look behind her after exiting a room. She watches no one—the room watches her.

Ronin thought he was so clever! He thought he knew exactly what was going to happen, so he could just react without seeing everything through first. Well then I will show him. They say it's impossible, but I will do it. I will show everyone that I can remain calm and in control. I will not bow, or fade away into the Spirit World. I will rule. It is my birthright. It is my destiny.

My mind started turning. I could not tell anyone that I was a Bender until I had found a potential cure. The Palace Library would, with any luck, be sufficient for my research. If I asked for herbs from the kitchens, the girls would be too ignorant of any spiritual properties to be suspicious. Maybe, with the right combination, I can do this.

The day of my punishment dawned bright and hot, but the blood in my veins ran cold until I shivered.

A/N: Hi guys! It's been far too long since I updated, I know... but I actually wrote this chapter from scratch. It wasn't in the original story (a little treat for you guys!). I've been trying to make the chapters a little longer, since they were written for another site where the character limit was a lot shorter. Anyways, I was going through a little writer's block with this chapter. However, it's much longer than my usual chapters (2500 words compared with 800 or so), and hopefully you can appreciate that! Also, you guys get an early in the week update to make up for my lackluster performance thus far, lol.

Tainted- Thanks for your review, even if it's late. Because as you can see, I missed about three updates since the last chapter so you are completely fine ^_^ I hope you enjoy the new chapter, and feel free to let me know if you want more chapter length than this! I will probably have to restructure the story at some point anyways. Enjoy your winter! hehehe

See you guys next week (for real this time)!