You're the one who wanted to pass

"Which one do you want to start with?" he asked.

Aria groaned and wanted to cry out as she looked at her beloved novel, which she had been hoping to finish before dinner. "We'll start with wind if you don't have a preference. It's the easiest after all." Joseph spoke when Aria didn't reply, and placed the wind bending textbook on the stand in front of her.

"Can't I at least finish that chapter?" she asked in a small voice. "Not if you want to take the exams when you are well." Joseph spoke, taking on an air too much like Professor Iris for Aria's liking. "Oh! And I'll be giving you homework for when I can't come due to my own classes." Joseph added, and Aria actually let out a sob.

He chuckled upon hearing the sob. "You were the one who didn't want to be left back." he said. Aria nodded, remembering that she was planning to pass the academy in the current session, and all she wanted to do after. "Let's start." she said.

One month had passed since Joseph's birthday. It had also been almost one month since Aria had been in the recovery ward.

She had been recovering quite well. Her scratches and bruises had all completely healed, along with most of her burns. Though the burns had left quite some nasty scars, one stretching from Aria's ear along her jaw, and another along her neck, but she didn't really mind them.

Aria also didn't need many bandage now. Except on her back and fingers, where the burns were still in danger of infection, as Miss Anhao had explained to her. Her back, because the burns were severe there, and her fingers, because that was the body part that came most in contact with others. The only major wound that made sure Aria was still stuck in the recovery ward was her broken leg. The leg had a heavy cast on it and though Miss Anhao was giving her all the potions for a strong bone, the healing was painfully slow.

Aria was pondering over all her wounds as picked apart a loaf of bread with her bandaged fingers. She had been off for liquid diet for a week now. She was also allowed to sit and use her hands as she wanted now.

"Not very hungry today, are we?" Aria looked up to see Miss Anhao with some bandages. "Without my usual trainings, I barely have an appetite." Aria replied with a shrug, pushing away the breakfast tray and holding out her hands.

Miss Anhao insisted on changing the bandages on her hands everyday now that she was regularly using her hands. She said that it would reduce the risk of infection. Aria seriously doubted there was any risk of infection, as all she used her hands for was eating and holding books and pencils, none of which were particularly dirty. But she didn't complain as she saw Miss Anhao remove the bandages and turned away her eyes after taking one look at her own scars.

Aria wasn't one for external beauty, but she was always horrified at the sight of her hands. There were big burns across her palms and the back of her hands. Her forearms had fared better, though her wrists had not.