Sora was running.

The harsh wind of that winter morning was blowing against her face making the hairs on her body stand on end. Adrenaline coursed through her veins. A small sheen of sweat covered the nape of her neck. She felt her whole body working; the muscles in her legs were warm, cool air rushed into her lungs and blood flowed through all her limbs.

"Stop there!"

"Someone stop that thief!"

She ignored the screams of the two men running after her. Keeping her breathing steady, Sora ignored the discomfort the cold wind caused in her airway and forced her legs to go faster. But as luck was not on her side; she ended up slipping on a small mound of snow that was in her way, which led her to collide her body against that of a lady who was passing by.

"Look where you're going!" Shouted the lady when Sora's body collided with hers, causing the girl to fall to the ground and her bag ended up far from her.

"A thousand apologies, ma'am!" Sora apologized in between gasps of air. Getting up off the ground fast, she picked up her bag from the ground and once again broke into a run.

Glancing over her shoulder, she could see how close the men were, which caused a curse to drop from her mouth and she slowed her speed when an idea popped into her mind. Stopping running, she turned her body and closed her fist, slamming it against the ground, creating a fissure that went towards the two men, making them lose the balance of their bodies. Laughing lightly, Sora turned to continue on her way when a hand stopped her with a grip on her forearm.

Directing her eyes to the hand closed around her forearm, Sora looked at the hand's owner and she let out a curse word in her mind when her eyes met those of the third man chasing her.

"Of course, there's a third brother," Sora mumbled while rolling her eyes, but winced when her forearm was gripped with force.

"Now I've got you, you little thief." The man said through clenched teeth as he squeezed her arm tighter, which made the white-hated girl let out a small grunt. "I believe you have something that belongs to us." Then he forcibly led her to a secluded alley with his two brothers behind him and pushed Sora to the ground.

The brothers formed a semicircle, surrounding her.

"How about we teach this thief why she shouldn't rob us?" Thing one asked his brothers while cracking his fingers.

"Guys, come on... she's just a kid!"Thing two said in an apprehensive tone. He didn't want to hurt a little kid.

"Shut up! She robs us! Now she's facing the consequences!" Thing three shouted at his younger brother, making him flinch and stay quiet.

"I agree with your brother. How about... we calm down first, uhm?" Sora let out a nervous laugh while lifting her body off the ground for the second time as she slowly backed away—trying to increase the distance between them— until her back hit the wall. "It wouldn't be a fair fight, don't you think?"

"What was that thief? Are you scared?" Thing one teased her with a smirk. "You should be. Because no one steals from us and gets away with it!"

"Look... I'm sorry..."Sora spoke calmly, taking the stamp of her bag off of her shoulder and setting it down on the ground.

"You should apologize—!" Suddenly a fist punched him and he sprawled on the ground.

"Who do you think you are—!"A foot tripped the second brother and a kick came down on his stomach, robbing him of air and sending him into a wall.

"Sorry but, I don't have time for conversations," Sora informed, but as she turned to attack the third brother, a fist slammed into her face with force, causing her vision to be momentarily blurry.

"Spirits... what is your hand made of?!" Sora asked as she brought her hand to where the punch had hit her, trying to regain her senses; when another punch came down on her face, but this time on her mouth, taking her once more to the ground.

"For Aang's sake!— was that second punch necessary?" Sora spat out the blood that was in her mouth, lifting herself once again off the ground.

"Come here, you brat!" Thing one ran to her to try to catch her with his arms.

"No, thank you!" Sora ducked, dodging the outstretched arms, and tripped him. "I can't believe you're taking a beating to a teenage girl." She let out a mocking chuckle.

"You're already getting on my nerves!" Thing three attacked her with a sequence of punches that Sora dodged and blocked with her arms. After seeing that his punches were being blocked, he raised his right leg, and kicked her on her lower side—Sora let out a grunt of pain at the force of the kick— but he was out of luck when she pinned his right leg and slammed her right foot against his left leg, sending him to the ground. Not after punching him in the nose.

"Now it's just you..."Sora said between gasps of air as she looked at the remaining sibling. The sweat pouring down on her face made the bruises on her brow and lip sting.

He'd seen what she'd done to his older brothers in such a short time, and he didn't want the same to happen to him. He saw that this was the best time to get away from there. But when he tried to move on his feet, he couldn't. Looking down at his feet, he found himself buried in the ground. And with wide eyes, he looked at the girl in front of him, and she just gave him a smirk. "Look..you can keep the things! How about we talk about this, uhm?" Thing two let out a nervous laugh when he saw her approach him slowly.

"Eh...nothing against you."Sora shrugged, closing her fist, She punched him in the jaw. Looking at the three brothers on the ground, she couldn't help herself and let out a small laugh.

"Yeah... sorry about that, guys," Sora said to them as she massaged her painful lower side and bet down to pick up her bag, opening it to see if the medications hadn't broken, and left the alley in a hurry, hoping that no one had seen her, leaving the three fallen brothers behind.

Just another day in her life.

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Republic City Park was a beautiful place to be. The park was abundant in greenery and landscaping with small hills, deciduous trees, and immaculately maintained grass. A lake stretches across the entire park, with arched stone bridges built over the surface to ease the passage. It was common to see people playing Pai Sho, practicing Tai Chi, or climbing on a small soapbox to give their opinions. But that winter, the trees that once bore deciduous leaves were bare and now snow covered them. The once-green grass was now covered in layers of snow. The large lake that extended the entire park was frozen, and no longer saw animals or people walking there.

For some, winter was a good season to play. But for people like Sora, winter was an awful season.

People passing through the streets of the park were startled by the blood on her face; but for the merchants who hung out there, blood was a normal thing to see on the young girl's face–who almost always found herself in fights.

The sixteen-year-old girl walked through the streets of the park, so distracted in her thoughts, that she didn't even pay attention when someone called her from afar. Until a short body collided with hers--making her body stiffen--and hugging her tightly, causing a low growl to come out of her mouth as that person's arms tightened on the side she had been kicked. Looking down, Sora saw a red hat covering a head of raven hair. Sora's body relaxed when she realized who was hugging her. It was Asami.

A smile instantly settled on her face; Sora wrapped her arms around Asami and embraced her tighter, lifting her off the ground, and making her let out a slight cry of surprise.

"Asami! What are you doing here? Haven't seen you in a long time!"

" I arrived yesterday from the Earth Kingdom but I didn't find you! So, I decided to come here today. I missed you so much–" Asami started to speak, as soon as Sora set her down, but then she saw the state Sora's face was in. "Sora...?"

"Yes, Asami?" Sora could already hear what she was going to ask. It was always like this.

"Can you explain to me why you have blood on your face?" Asami asked in an accusatory tone as she glared at Sora with an arched eyebrow.

"It's a long story..." Sora let a sigh escape her lips when she saw Asami's upset face. She didn't want to tell the reason for the blood on her face. "Wait—blood on my face? I thought I wiped all the blood off...?" And she brought her fingers to her left eyelash but before she could even touch it, a hand smacked into hers.

"Yes, you may have wiped it off, but there are still traces of blood on your face—Sora! Stop touching your wounds like that!" Asami scolded the older girl again when she tried to touch her wounds again.

"Damn it, princess! Your slaps hurt, you know?"Sora whimpered as she massaged her hand.

Asami rolled her eyes at the older girl's drama. "Stop being dramatic. I didn't even hit that hard. And don't even call me princess. You know that I don't like it."

"Oh, really, princess? Do you want me to show you how strong the slaps are?" Sora said with a laugh as she showed her hand to Asami; who just stared at it with narrowed eyes while shaking her head.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing, snowflakes."

"Me? Doing something? I don't know what you're talking about," Sora said bringing a hand to her chest in indignation. "And how many times have I told you to stop calling me that?"

"I'll call you what I want--Stop trying to distract me about the blood on your face, Sora!" Asami scolded, scrunching her face in disapproval.

"I just fought some guys. End of story." Sora shrugged, averting her gaze away from the green eyes that were eyeing her avidly.

"Just? Just, Sora? Look at your face!" Asami widened her eyes in indignation. "You have a cut on your left eyelash and lip!"

"They're just cuts. They'll heal. Don't worry." Sora shrugs once more,

"Don't worry--you know what? I don't even know why I even care about you. It's always the same!" Asami complained quietly as she massaged her temples with her thumb and index finger.

"You like me. That's why you still worry about me." Sora said with a small smile as she hugged Asami from the side.

The fourteen-year-old girl's cheeks achieved a pigmentation from what her friend had said. It's been a while since she's been developing certain feelings for the older girl. But Sora seemed clueless about her feelings. Not that Asami blamed the white-haired girl for that; after all, she also never hinted to her what she felt.

Little did she know how mutual that feeling was.

"Like you? Don't make me laugh!" Asami threw back her head in laughter. "I tolerate you, that's what!"

"Hey! That hurt!" Sora said in a choke as a pout formed on her lips. But that was soon dispelled by a smile when she heard the sound of laughter from the girl in front of her. It was one of her favorite things – well, her second favorite thing. In the first place was her smile. But something else stole her attention.

"Did you cut your hair?" Sora said while picking up a lock of hair.

"Yes. Just a little bit." Asami replied in a shy tone of voice. "Do you like it? I think it looked good on me."

"You're right. It looks really good on you." Sora nodded as she brought her hand up to tuck a lock of Asami's hair behind her ear.

They were silent for a few seconds. Which was soon broken by Asami.

"What were you thinking earlier?" Asami looked at Sora curiously. "You were so unaware of reality..."

Sora then remembered where she was supposed to be at that moment. "I'm glad you asked! I just remembered that I have to go--I have something urgent to do--See you tomorrow?" She asked hopefully as she mentally cursed herself for being distracted.

"Uhm...? Okay–" Asami tried to speak but Sora was already far away from her. Leaving her extremely confused.

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A violent cough ripped through Hikari's lungs and throat. His body was exhausted and his ribs were sore from the force of the cough. Even on that freezing morning, his body burned as if it had been set on fire. Liters of sweat pooled on his shivering body.

Who would have thought the simple flu could leave him like this?

A violent cough ripped Hikari's throat once more, making him grunt in pain from the effort. Everything in his body ached. Even breathing was painful. He then closed his eyes which burned from the strong headache he felt.

Hikari's eyes flew open again when he felt something wet on his forehead. Straining his blurred vision to see better, the one who had put the wet cloth on his forehead was none other than his daughter, who offered him a weak smile as soon as their eyes met.

"How are you feeling, old man?" Sora asked softly as she wiped the damp cloth over her father's face.

'"I feel terrible," Hikari replied with some difficulty as he groaned at the throbbing pain he felt in his body.

"Right... that was a stupid question," Sora said to herself. Leaving the damp cloth over her father's forehead, Sora then opened her bag and took out some herbs, a mantle, and a small portion of food. Under the gaze of her father, Sora mixed some of the water from the small bottle that was next to them with a small portion of the herbs in an empty can and started stirring until it turned a brownish tone. She took the mantle and covered her father's body, and only then did she bring the can to her father's lips as she tilted his head up gently and said, "Drink this. It will help with that cough."

"Have you been fighting again?" Hikari asked his daughter when he noticed that there were bruises on her face, which was still oozing a little blood. "Is that how you got those things?"

"Do not worry about me. I'm just doing what is necessary for your recovery, Dad." Sora said not looking her father in the eye out of shame. She knew stealing was wrong. But with the state of health, her father was in, it was necessary. "Now you try to rest. The herbs will start to take results in a while. I'm going to wipe the blood off my face and get what's left of yesterday's soup for you to eat." Not giving her father time to say anything, Sora got up from her seat to do her things.

Just another day in her life.