Only Aria

There was the clearing they used to spar, this was the tree they used to race to, and there, just beyond these few trees, was their spot if they wanted to practice bending. Joseph walked faster as he tried to escape all the memories of Aria his mind threw at him.

But while he was thinking about what he was running away from, Joseph hadn't noticed what he was running towards. As soon as he passed a couple of trees, his feet stopped dead.

Without consciously realizing of it, Joseph had come to the clearing in the forest that was his and Aria's special place. The clearing where he had brought her when they first became friends, the clearing that was his comfort place that he had only shared with her, the clearing a miniature version of which rested in his pocket.

Joseph was pretty sure he had stopped breathing as he stared at the clearing. There was a feeble voice in his mind telling him to run away before memories of Aria began to flood his mind. Joseph was able to make a very half-hearted attempt at turning away before the only thing left in his mind was Aria.

His feet carried him to her favorite tree of their own accord. The one old, big tree whose branch hung just above the lake and was shaped almost like a bench. There was no other way to get to the branch than by bending. The branches leading up it were very feeble and bent at weird angels. Even sitting on it, you could never be sure of not falling.

Joseph sighed as he sat down at the base of the tree and closed his eyes. His mind was taken over by his heart as he pulled the globe from his pocket.

In the recovery ward . . . .

Aria blinked against the light and tried to lift her hand up to shield her eyes. But a sudden flash of pain jerked her awake.

She blinked a few times, her mind taking a few moments to register where she was. Aria groaned as she stretched whatever little her body was able to and mumbled to herself, closing her eyes once again, "This is why I hate pain reducers. I feel stupid when I'm on them."

"Only you would be worried about feeling smart with life threatening injuries." A sudden voice made her open her eyes. Aria would have jumped from excitement as her eyes fell on Helen, all sleep vanished from them.

"What time is it?" Aria asked, letting out a huge yawn. "A time you don't need to be worried about." Helen reproached her, her eyes narrowed in worry. "Geez!! You need to start sounding like a patient." she added.

Aria chuckled upon hearing this. She noticed that the pain was bearable today. Her face wounds stretched when she spoke or smiled, but they were not on the verge of opening, and did not hurt very much. "No more pain-reducers." Aria decided and made a mental note to refuse them as she replied, "Oh you know, the recovery ward feels more like home than my own room in the castle, I spend so much time here."

Aria had meant it to be funny, but Helen's smile vanished upon hearing this. She probably still blamed herself for all her injuries.