#imagine thinking i wouldn't reply to this lu

[lila-lou]

✨The Talk✨

Summary: Your daughter asks Dean for "the talk".

Pairing: Dean x Daughter (no incest), Dean x Reader, Dean x Sam & Cas (just background)

Warnings: Language, Sensitive topic, Dean being too harsh, fluff at the end

Word Count: 1624

A/N: English isn’t my first language, so please be lenient. 💙✨

"Daddy… do you... umm... you have a sec?", Dean's daughter was standing in the doorway of the library. Dean leaned back in a chair, legs crossed on the table and was looking through some files when his daughter rocked nervously in place. “Sure munchkin. Shoot”, he muttered, lingering on an article.

"You know, Scott and I..umm… we've been together for a year now and... I... I actually wanted to talk to mom about this, but she's not coming back until next week", Luna started talking. "And we're meeting on the weekend and I'm… I want him to like it and I´m not sure how to say this, because it´s…", her hands waved wildly in the air.

“Dad, can you please tell me what I have to do during sex?”. Towards the end, Luna lowered both arms in surrender and looked everywhere but at her father.

Dean took a sip of beer and gagged violently when he heard his daughter's words. Sam, who had just come out of the kitchen with two burgers, stopped dead in his tracks. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Well, I'll be in my room", Sam placed a burger in front of Dean, who looked at him completely desperate and looking for help.

Luna, on the other hand, had a bright red head and covered her face with her hands. It was hard enough for her to say those words to her father, but now that her uncle also knew what was going on, she just wanted to die.

Dean cleared his throat a few times before taking his legs off the table and sitting up more or less upright. Elbow on the table and face in his hand, he thought as he looked at the bookshelves. After taking a few deep breaths, he rubbed his face and looked at his daughter, who was obviously not so little anymore. "Lu... can you…umm... wouldn't you rather wait until your mom comes back?", Dean answered, trying to control himself. His cheeks are now bright red too.

"No Dad… We...Saturday is our anniversary and Scott's parents aren't home and... please Dad", she murmured, looking pitifully into his eyes.

While Luna explained why she didn't want to wait, Dean's head was already spinning. He imagined the worst possible scenarios, how a boy could break his little girl's heart. His mood suddenly changed from overwhelmed and worried to angry.

“You’re only 15, Luna! You shouldn't worry about something like that! You're going to stay the fuck home this weekend!”, he replied in a stern tone and a little too loudly, which visibly frightened his daughter.

Luna jumped up and looked at her father with her big green eyes. "But Dad! I-", she started, but was immediately interrupted by Dean. "To your room! I don't wanna hear about that shit anymore! Go!", he even yelled at her, which was enough to make her cry. Luna knew better than to argue with her father when he was already angry, so she immediately ran to her room, but not before slamming the door loudly. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Dean put his face in his hand again. His expression was dark, just like his mood at the moment. He was angry. At his daughter, at you for not being there and at himself for making Lu cry.

"That was a bit harsh, don't you think?", Sam entered the library and placed a hand on Dean's shoulder before sitting down across from him.

Dean didn't say anything for a while. He knew Sam was right, but he just didn't know how to handle the whole situation. To Dean, Luna was still a child. Of course, he saw that she was slowly growing up, but that didn't change his protective instinct. It was bad enough when she said she had a boyfriend, now this? That was just too much for him.

“Look at it this way, Dean. Be happy that she has so much trust and comes to you. Very few kids do that these days. Jackson didn't come to me or his mother. Luna is a sensible young girl and Scott makes a good impression too, doesn't he? You have to learn to let her go". Sam's gaze pierced Dean's conscience, even though he still didn't look at his little brother.

“I’ll call (y/n). I want to know what she thinks”, he grumbled, got up and disappeared into the garage.

It took him two tries before you finally answered the phone.

“Fucking finally! It’s nice to have you answer the damn phone!”, your husband complained before you even heard a `hello`.

“Dean, language, for fuck´s sake!”, you scolded back.

 “Sorry”, he just grumbled and leaned against the Impala.

"What is wrong?", you sighed and looked out the window of the motel room you were currently staying in with Rowena.

"I... Luna... damn it!", Dean pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing, raising his hand. "Did you know that Luna wants to sleep with her boyfriend?". Subconsciously, he immediately made a disgusted face and put his free hand in his pocket before he started to angrily walk around the garage.

"Oh…". It was quiet between the two of you for a while. Now you could explain where Dean's bad mood came from. “Babe, we both knew the day would come sooner or later”, a small smile crept onto your lips. Dean had such an intense relationship with your daughter that it was clear he wasn't exactly open to this kind of topic.

While your husband explained to you why your daughter was talking to him and not you and what had happened, you thought about how you could calm Dean down a bit.

When he finished talking, you cleared your throat before starting to try your luck. "Dean. Don't you think it was a huge step for her to come to you with this topic? Almost no girl discusses such things with her father. You should feel honored. And... Come on, Scott's a really nice guy. He likes Luna… and you too, by the way. He won't hurt her. And even if Dean, that's part of it. You won’t be able to protect her from everything”. Your voice was calm and empathetic, exactly what Dean needed right now.

“Go talk to her and apologize for your outburst. The rest will fall into place. Inform her and answer her questions. You can do it, baby. I know you can”, you smiled, even though he couldn’t see it.

“I love you (y/n)”, he murmured. “I love you too”, you chuckled before hanging up.

Dean stayed in the garage for a few minutes to think about everything. Just as he was about to leave, Cas appeared behind him, startling him. "Dean", he murmured monotonously. “Damn it, Cas! Stop it!”, Dean grumbled. Cas looked at him confused for a moment, but then he realized what Dean meant. However, something different took precedence in Cas's eyes.

“Luna is crying. You need to check on her”.

Dean sighed briefly. Since the birth of your daughter, Cas has been something like her personal guardian angel. He had almost as close a relationship with her as Dean did. "I know. I'm on my way", Dean grumbled, leaving Cas to just mumble, "Fine".

Five minutes later, Dean finally knocked on his daughter's door but got no answer. "It's me Munchkin", he sighed.

“Go away”, Luna sobbed from behind the door. Her voice sounded like she had the blanket over her head.

"Lu... I wanna talk to you... please... can I come in?", Dean's voice was much softer than in the library. Luna's whiny voice had hit him right in the heart, which only made his guilty conscience worse.

There was silence again until after a few minutes the door opened a crack and Luna scurried straight back onto the bed under the covers.

Dean entered the room and slowly walked towards her bed. He tried to pull the blanket away from Luna's face, but she held it tight, sniffling.

Sighing, Dean placed his hand over the blanket on her back and stroked her gently.

“I'm sorry, Sweetheart... I shouldn't have yelled at you like that... I'm so sorry... it's just... Lu, you're my daughter. My little girl. When you were born you turned my whole world upside down. Since that day you have been the most important thing in my life. I... It's just hard to see you growing up so quickly and... I... I don't want you to get hurt", Dean admitted quietly.

It took a moment for Luna to poke her head out of the blanket. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, which only hurt Dean more.

“C´mere”, he murmured, pulling her close to him. "I love you, Munchkin", he kissed her head and stroked her back again. “Just like you´re a daughter for the first time, I´m a father for the first time”, he smiled bitterly. “I'm really doing my best”.

Luna looked at her hands as she enjoyed her father's closeness and affection. “I know Daddy. And you're a really great dad... just... I can take care of myself, dad. You taught me everything I need to know and do to defend and protect myself. I know every single monster. I’m not 5 anymore”, she murmured against his shirt.

“But sometimes men can be worse monsters than any supernatural being, Sweetheart. I just don't want you to regret anything or… for anyone to hurt you".

It took a while before Dean had the courage to broach the sensitive subject again.

“Anyway… I know you’re sensible and I’m more than glad you came to me with this. So…”, he took a deep breath.

"Shoot. What do you want to know?".

———————————

A/N: Please let me know what you think.🥰

[hongluboobs]

what's the debt of tears and what's this about cutting bao-yu open ?? also how does this relate to hong lu? i don't have the context to ask anything more specific but i need to know this.. . please

(ask in reference to this post )

Hi Anon! Apologies this took a bit, i got distracted with some projects and didn't have the energy to answer this right away, hopefully you're still here to see this :)

First off, Bao-yu is Hong Lu's book equivalent. I don't know if you already knew this, but I made the diagram with the assumption people knew this and it kind of blew up way bigger than intended on both here and twitter 😅

The debt of tears is a really big concept in Red Chamber surrounding the fates of Bao-yu and Dai-yu. Bao-yu was originally a piece of jade that the goddess was using to create the sky, but he ended up unused and cast onto the earth. From there, he ended up finding the Crimson Pearl Flower, which he watered every day. Eventually, the flower ended up transforming into a fairy (Dai-yu) due to the care with which he watered her. Dai-yu thinks on how she could repay him for this and settles on “The only way in which I could perhaps repay him would be with the tears shed during the whole of a mortal lifetime if he and I were ever to be reborn as humans in the world below.”

And wouldn't you believe it! They do end up reincarnated as humans in the world below. Bao-yu and Dai-yu are very close throughout their mortal lives, but the debt of tears comes back into the picture during Bao-yu's wedding. He believes he is getting married to Dai-yu as his family told him (because he wouldn't agree to marriage otherwise), but it isn't until the wedding starts he discovers this isn't the case and the family chose for him to marry someone else with a higher social standing. Dai-yu thinks Bao-yu was willingly deceiving her with this and is so distraught about it that she cries until she dies (she is very sickly pretty much constantly and this book is written like a soap opera) which fulfills the Debt of Tears.

As you can imagine, this really messes up Bao-yu. His mental state degrades throughout the book, but that's the nail in the coffin for it all. The debt of tears and the wedding is the emotional climax of the book, and I cannot imagine limbus's adaptation of the story not doing something with it.

The thing about cutting Bao-yu open happens in a dream, and is also related to the debt of tears/ Bao-yu and Dai-yu's relationship actually!

It happens in a dream Dai-yu has in chapter 82 where she's chosen as a second wife for a man and has to leave the Jias. She does Not Want this at all and is unable to do anything in order to stop it. Eventually, she finds Bao-yu and this scene plays out (this next section is words taken directly from the book. because im really normal about it. theres a tldr at the bottom if you aren't reading all that) :

Suddenly she thought: ‘Why haven’t I seen Bao-yu today? He might still know of a way out.’ And as the thought entered her mind, she looked up and sure enough, there, standing right in front of her, all laughter and smiles, was Bao-yu himself. ‘My warmest congratulations, coz!’ This was too much for Dai-yu. Her last vestige of maidenly reserve vanished. She clutched hold of him and cried out: ‘Now I know how heartless and cruel you really are, Bao-yu!’ ‘No, you are wrong,’ he replied. ‘But if you have a husband to go to, then we must go our separate ways.’ Dai-yu listened in despair as this, her very last hope, was taken from her. Clinging to him helplessly, she gave a feverish cry: ‘Oh Bao! I’ve no separate way to go! How could you say such a thing!’ ‘If you don’t want to go, then stay here,’ he replied calmly. ‘You were originally engaged to me. That’s why you came to live here. Has it never occurred to you how specially I’ve always treated you? Haven’t you noticed?’ Suddenly it all seemed clear. She really was engaged to Bao-yu after all. Of course she was! In an instant her despair changed to joy. ‘My mind is made up once and for ever! But you must give me the word. Am I to go? Or am I to stay?’ ‘I’ve told you, stay here with me. If you still don’t trust me, look at my heart.’ With these words he took out a small knife and brought it down across his chest. Blood came spurting out. Terrified out of her wits, Dai-yu tried to staunch the flow with her hand, crying out: ‘How could you? You should have killed me first!’ ‘Don’t worry,’ said Bao-yu. ‘I’m going to show you my heart.’ He fumbled about inside the gaping flesh, while Dai-yu, shaking convulsively, afraid someone might burst in on them at any moment, pressed him to her tightly and wept bitterly. ‘Oh no!’ said Bao-yu. ‘It’s not there any more! My time has come!’ His eyes flickered and he fell with a dull thud to the floor.

tl;dr Bao-yu reassures Dai-yu that there's a way out of her new engagement because she was originally brought to the jia house to be engaged to Bao-yu. Dai-yu is unsure of this and Bao-yu decides to show her his heart to convince her he's telling the truth. he does this by physically cutting his chest open to pull out his heart, but he lacks a heart within his chest to find.

Red Chamber isn't free of violence by any means, but this scene always fucking Got me. its so shocking out of nowhere and its such a potent image, i've drawn something akin to it before because it Got Me so much.

I brought it up in the diagram because his lack of heart reminded me of how the gloom peccatuli contain organs within them, but do not appear to be living organisms, or play part in biological activities. We know Hong Lu has his jade eye, which is probably either prosthetic or a Secret Third (non-normal human eye) Thing, so what's to say he doesn't have other inhuman oddities to him.

It also connects "truth" to physical exposure, in this case exposure not stopping at the skin and going deeper to the organ level. The intertwining of truth and fiction is a HUGE thing in red chamber and this would be really cool if the hypothetical Hong Lu distortion had elements from the gloom peccatulum for this as well (false organs exposed through transparent skin would be both true and false. Really cool)

There's also the concept of "seeing with the eyes" versus "seeing with the heart" which would go crazy when combining all of this. I don't think i can go into that there but tldr is this quote from the little prince

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

And with Hong Lu's eye connection... do you see what im putting down

[aratedfreyjablog]

So, an opinion on the email sent by PB in response to the collected concerns/questions that were sent (which can be read in part 1 (here) and part 2 (here).

The 3 main points that I found hopeful and had a positive view on were:

Ability to obtain 500+ (emphasis on "+") Solomon Seals PER MONTH for f2p <- This one was a big concern that many, including myself, had as it felt extremely paywalled when trying to obtain a character many would want only to realize they can't even participate during the chance-up period because they have to pay. To be able to obtain 500+ Solomon Seals without charge (as mentioned in the twt) is equivalent to getting a free 10-pull. Based on PB's response, it looks like the Seals for f2p players would be obtainable from grinding + login gifts which I personally perceive as grinding directly for keys. Though there are complaints already from hearing "more grinding" or "just 500 Solomon Seals", I think it's better compared to having to spend currency just to obtain another currency when the currency for solely spending in the shop can be used solely for resources

Consideration of exchanging characters to obtain L-grade characters <- Whoever brought this up as a point of discussion was smart. Since many of us are pulling multiple characters of various S, A+, A, and B characters, it would be nice to be able to exchange them for L-grades not just for pancakes with their tea leaves

To be able to choose the character we want after reaching 220 limited-gacha/pity <- I don't think this needs to be explained why I or anyone else are happy about this.

I still feel bitter about the Nightmare pass as it seems like PB is not going to reconsider more wiggle-room or opportunities for f2p to gain the rewards offered including Christmas Gabriel. For myself, personally, if the company had not introduced the concept of the Nightmare pass as a Christmas event, I wouldn't be as bitter. But, for many gaming companies, Christmas events are treated as more carrot over the stick (i.e., more rewards being evenly distributed and accessible towards all f2p and p2w players). And that wasn't the case with the Nightmare pass at all. Not going to lie though, the response PB had sent hurt my heart when reading about the working conditions the employees are going through to provide content to the players through the game. Only 2 breaks per month for the employees? CS managing ALL of the emails AND social media? That's insane. Small companies are SMALL companies, meaning there are a small amount of employees. I can only imagine the sheer stress these people have to not only produce content and developing the game but also sifting through and responding and addressing all of the issues. In addition, they acknowledge the flaws that have led towards the negative impact of the game and apologized multiple times in the email. Mind everyone, the email, itself, was 8 pages long. I don't know about everyone else, but if that's not considered as showing sincerity and honesty than... I don't know what is at this point. I can't imagine them making things up and say it as a reply in an email when knowing the LU/DKDK had such a small number of players which would make sense to have 50 players be p2w players... The story and lore is engaging and the battles are fun though sometimes it can get a bit tiring when being forced to play just to grind for resources rather than playing for fun. That as well as the other bugs that still needs to be addressed. However, it's not to the point to garner such negativity where complaints should be sent with a mix of entitlement and bigotry. And not just towards PB but also towards players who are simply expressing their enjoyment of the game. But, let's all look forward to the content that will be dropping in January including Chapter 5 and perhaps even a new L-grade character feat. the king of Paradise Lost!

[yuexias]

lu mengran couldn't possibly express just how grateful she is for ren xinyu. nothing in this industry comes for free, and he could have not said anything about her -- he has no reason to aside from the fact that they both star in the same project now, and the fact that he did, and has continuously been so nice to her means so much more to her than he could ever imagine. not just him, but the rest too. she's been so caught up in everything that she hasn't really paused long enough to let herself process through what really happened tonight, and now that she thinks about it, it has all felt surreal.

just half a year ago, the girl who had been running to make it to audition after pulling an all-nighter for a night shift at the 24-hour cafe wouldn't even dream of getting complimented by ren xinyu publicly during a livestream. let alone texting with him, and all he's asking for is... a smile in return?

a chuckle escapes her as she tucks some hair behind her ear; it's starting to feel a little hot, as one does when one starts to get embarrassed. or emotional. or both.

[ to: 任老师 ]: kě yǐ shì kě yǐ... [ to: 任老师 ]: dàn nà yě tài pián yi wǒ le🫣

for what it's worth, at least, it wouldn't feel good on her conscience.

when his following messages come, she spends a moment to reread multiple times, and ultimately deciding to take a screenshot of those two messages. the task of cropping it and placing it on top of a blank background is done in less than a minute, and in no time, it's already made as her phone's wallpaper. at least she could hang onto his kind words when filming gets tough and when she's tired, which is more often than she'd admit.

she is about to argue that it's her voice sounding off and distorted when recorded on a phone, and that he wouldn't be too far off either-- but she would be deaf to say so when he sounds like that. so she decides to ignore that comment altogether, having a gut feeling that he will not be convinced by her reasoning.

[ voice message ]: āi yō~ bié zài shuō duì bu qǐ lā [ voice message ]: and you have nothing to make up for too! you just need to focus on getting better! [ voice message ]: hǎo ba hǎo ba, i'll try to rest early. i still have to look through the script xiaoning jiě jie sent me, so if you can't sleep... [ voice message ]: kě yǐ zhǎo wǒ~

and then she waits patiently for his reply. given her rather joyful mood at the moment, she doubts there's very little that he could ask that she wouldn't attempt to fulfill anyway. well, except whatever xìngfú de xiàoróng he had wanted earlier, that is. it has felt strangely flustering.

out of all things she imagined that he could ask, it doesn't even come close to what is actually asked, or how it brings her to another level of being flustered that she could feel her cheek heating up. for a split second, she thinks she understands what all the fuss in the livestream's comment section was all about. even the way he calls her full name, and then her nickname, just scratches something in her.

if he wasn't sick, she could almost think he's doing it on purpose with how the camera is angled. just how is it possible for someone to even look like this when sick? must be some top celebrity secret, she thinks, she barely looks alive when she's sick.

inhaling deeply, mengran presses on the voice message record button again:

[ voice message ]: wǎn ān, xīnyù gē ge

if he closes his eyes, rèn xīnyù can practically hear her voice in his head; if he concentrates, he can picture her smile. and so, he does just that, exhaling on a soft breath of laughter at the enthusiasm that practically oozes through her words even via text, and smiles.

[ to: 萌萌的梦梦 ]: tài hǎole ☺️

her next messages give him pause. he sinks slowly back down against the bed and pulls a pillow against his chest, hugging it in a way that suggests it's not exactly the pillow he's thinking about hugging. some of that leaden feeling in his chest --- that sorrow, that dread of being disappointing in her eyes --- lightens.

[ to: 萌萌的梦梦 ]: you ... want to get me something ? 🥺 [ to: 萌萌的梦梦 ]: aaahh ... i haven't really done anything worthy of being grateful for, but 😳 ... if you insist ... 🤭 [ to: 萌萌的梦梦 ]: nǐ xìngfú de xiàoróng ... gěi wǒ 🥺☺️ nǐ kěyǐ ma ? 🥺

jīnyuè steps out of the bathroom a moment later, and in doing so renders the bedroom immediately humid and stuffy and too bright. he's got one towel slung around his hips as he roughly dries off his hair with another, humming along to whatever song he's been listening to. "nǐ gàn shá ne ?" he asks, leaning in as if he means to peer over at xīnyù's phone --- then giggles mischievously when xīnyù locks the screen and blinks grumpily up at him. "oooohhh ... "

"nǐ bìzuǐ --- āiyō ! ān jīnyuè a ! chuān shàng yīfú !" xīnyù swats halfheartedly at him. jīnyuè laughs again --- because he's nothing if not the merriest little person who's ever dared to laugh at damn near anything and everything --- and retreats back into the bathroom, still humming as he goes.

[ to: 萌萌的梦梦 ]: you won't disappoint. i know it in my heart. [ to: 萌萌的梦梦 ]: xiāngxìn nǐ zìjǐ a ! ☺️☺️

and then ... then the voice messages come through, and xīnyù --- taking a page out of jīnyuè's book --- dives under the covers, grinning like an idiot. it's only after he's played them back ( more than once ) that he begins to respond, himself --- and although he sounds hoarse and congested, the warmth ( the smile ) in his voice is audible.

[ voice message ]: nǐ de shēngyīn fēicháng kě'ài, nǐ zhīdào ma ? āiyā. [ voice message ]: wǒ duìbùqǐ nǐ, wǒ shì bìngle ... zhè ... zhè duì nǐ lái bìng bùyúkuài. [ voice message ]: i know i've inconvenienced you and everyone, and i promise i'll try to find a way to make it up to you. [ voice message ]: these messages really cheered me up, by the way. but please don't stay up late on my account ! proper rest is so important. [ voice message ]: also ... can i ask you something ?

he pauses, contemplating ... and then decides to be bold.

the next message that comes through to lu mengran's phone isn't a voice message --- it's a video message. the ambient light in the bedroom is low, so it's difficult to see, but xīnyù's face finally comes into focus, taking up most of the screen. he's clearly in bed ( still shirtless ) with his cheek propped against his palm; he sniffles, scrunches up his nose and wriggles it like an ( itchy ) bunny, then chuckles softly, his voice warm and low and sweet. "lu mengran," he says, then clears his throat, "mengmeng ... jiào wǒ --- " a pause. he turns aside and coughs briefly, adam's apple bobbing when he swallows; the camera inadvertently angles down just enough to give a momentary glimpse of his chest, " --- bùhǎoyìsi, āiyā." a soft breath of laughter; a sweet, dimpled smile. bathed in the blue-tinged glow of his phone screen, he looks both endearingly sleepy and genuinely content. "jiào wǒ xīnyù ... hǎobùhǎo ?" another beat. he shifts around, cheek now resting against the pillow. "wǎn'ān ... tiánmì mèngxiāng."

[sacredpit]

【   *  🍒     ·     𝗝𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗢   /   ⁽  @praeteritus-memories​​ .  ⁾   】   ©

That was the last time he ever takes advice from his grandfather on how to actually flirt. Are you an angel because I'm falling for you!? Seriously, Jotaro Kujo?

How in the world could his husband flirt so effortlessly is something the marine biologist will never actually be able to understand. Sometimes, it feels like Kakyoin is the one to sweep him off his feet rather than the other way around.

Still, he gives a grumpy frown when he stares down at him.

"Good grief..." He starts, trying to act like he isn't hopelessly flustered. "I thought that...it would make you blush or somethin'."

          to merely state that noriaki is charmed by his husband’s flustered display would fail to encapsulate the extent to which he is both enamoured   &   entertained .   a blindingly bright smile spreads along the wide expanse of his tender mouth ,   so large it nearly forces his eyes shut ,   the violet hues phasing into crescents of mirth .     “   that sounded suspiciously like something mr .   joestar would say ,   ”   he says ,   leaning forward   &   lifting up onto his toes ,   limiting the space between them so that jotaro may not avoid his coquettish gaze .   “   don’t tell me you’re starting to become your grandfather already ,   jojo .   you aren’t   that   old ,   yet .   ”   he snickers ,   stretching the mere six - month gap between their nativities .

          upon closer inspection of the shift in jotaro’s expression ,   noriaki’s heart flutters just like it had over twenty years ago ,   his affection for the other man as juvenescent now as it had been then .   “    my ,   my !!   ”   he exclaims ,   his laugh like mellow music as it fills the air around them .   “   kujo jotaro ,   are you   pouting ??   you’re adorable !!   ”   to emphasize this opinion   (   which noriaki would argue is   utter fact   &   purely undebatable   ) ,   he reaches up   &   takes the other’s face into his hands ,   tugging him down until their foreheads can meet .   

          “   i’m sorry ,   i didn’t mean to make fun of you ,   ”   he snickers ,   brushing his thumbs gently over his partner’s cheekbones .   “   here ,   i’ve got one of my own .   life without you would be like a broken pencil   . . .   ”   the redhead pauses ,   allowing the silence to build anticipation like any seasoned comedian would .   “   . . .   pointless .    ”

[aokoaoi]

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗢: 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗎𝗉𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗂𝗋𝗌 𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖽𝗋𝗈𝖻𝖾.

𝗅𝗎𝖼𝗒 𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗌 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝖺 𝗆𝖺𝗀𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗅 𝗅𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝗇𝗌𝗂𝖽𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖽𝗋𝗈𝖻𝖾𝗌, 𝗍𝗈 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝖼𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝗐𝗈𝗇𝗍 𝖻𝖾𝗅𝗂𝖾𝗏𝖾 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝖼𝗁 𝗅𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗅𝖾 𝗀𝗂𝗋𝗅 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾 𝗎𝗉𝗌𝖾𝗍. 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗍 𝗁𝖾𝗋, 𝗎𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗅 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗇𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝖽𝗋𝖺𝗀𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗈𝗇𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗒𝗈𝗎'𝗏𝖾 𝖺𝗅𝗐𝖺𝗒𝗌 𝖽𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗆𝖾𝖽 𝗈𝖿.

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲

You watched from behind as the siblings surrounded the wardrobe, with the elder brunette girl looking inside the closet and the younger boy behind it. The knocking on both sides,

Susan poked her body out of the wardrobe on looked at the little girl seriously as the darker haired boy walked to where you stood, standing next to you.

"Lucy, the only wood in here is the back of the wardrobe." Susan says to her little brunette sister with furrowed brows, and you watched as Peter perked up, "One game at a time, Lu. We don't all have your imagination." The blonde says, shooting you and excusing look before they turned around to walk out if the door.

You looked at the little girl sympathetically, walking towards her to caress her hair comfortingly.

"But I wasn't imagining!" Lucy yells defensively, catching you off guard as you reeled your hand back from her. The three turns around, looking at the girl tiredly and disapprovingly.

"That's enough Lucy." Susan warns. The said girl's eyes began to water, her brows furrowing.

"I wouldn't lie about this." She says, shaking her head as you only rubbed smooth circles on her back in reassurance. Edmund takes a step forward, slightly having a small smile on his face.

"Well, I believe you." He says, turning to look at the two older siblings next to him curtly. Lucy's brows only furrowed even more, confused that out of all people, he believes her.

"You do?"

"Yeah, of course!," he looks at his older siblings, "didn't I tell you about the football field in the cupboard?" He remarks, shooting the youngest a teasing look. You frowned at his words as Peter sighed.

"Oh will you just stop?" He says in annoyance, tilting his head at the dark haired boy. "You just have to make everything worst, don't you?" Edmunds brows furrowed.

"It was just a joke." He says defensively, and you knew damn well that this was about to lead to a sibling fight. They were just adding more fuel to the fire.

"When are you gonna learn how to grow up?" Peter looks at the ravenette boy. Edmund walks towards his brother, yelling infront of his face. "Shut up! You think your dad, but your not!" He yells at Peter before storming out of the room. You winced at the scene, having to be glad you didn't have siblings.

Susan looks at the older boy, looking at him disapprovingly. "Well that was nicely handled." She walked away, chasing after the fuming boy.

Lucy looks up at you expectantly, "You believe me don't you?" She questioned, and you bit your lip, unsure of how to reply. Peter noticed your silence, and glanced at Lucy. "Susan's right Lucy." He says, and you looked at him, shaking your head for him not to continue.

"That's enough." He finished, walking out of the room. Lucy pursed her lips, shrugging your hand off her shoulder and turned around to close the wardrobe door. You sighed at the little girls disappointment, feeling bad.

"I believe you, Lucy." You whispered for her to hear, and she looked at you with a frown. "You're not saying this to make me feel better aren't you?" She furrowed her brows, and you shook your head and crouched down in front of her.

"I already believe you, don't I? If you prove to me that this Narnia thing you told me about is real, then.. I'll owe you something." You came up with the stupidest thing you thought, wanting the small girl not to be sad anymore.

"You don't think it's all in my imagination?" She questioned, looking at you. You shook your head with a small smile, "Of course I don't." She slightly smiled at your words, feeling better.

It was already night time, and everyone was already fast asleep. Except for one in particular.

Lucy's mind was going back and forth from what you had said to her earlier as she watched the flames from the candle flicker and move with her brows furrowed. She sat up and grabbed her boots from the side of the bed, slipping it on.

She went out of the room holding a chamberstick candle holder while she gripped a coat around her form. She went to slowly slip into your room, shaking you awake.

You groaned, and tossed to the side, making Lucy pout. Dang who knew waking you up wouldn't be simple.

She shook you again, and you exhaustedly let out a huff of annoyance, looking at the person who decided to wake you up. Your furrowed brows relaxed when you saw the bright smiling girl on your side, with her candle lighting up your room even more.

You sat up from your bed, ignoring the messy bed head and looked at the little girl worriedly. "What's wrong, Lucy? Is something bothering you?" You questioned the small brunette out of worry, and she shook her head, relieving you.

She made ushering follow me gestures, before she left the room, leaving you to process what happened. You quickly out on your shoes, and wrapped a coat around you, not bothering to pick up your candle since the little one already had one. You went out of your room and followed the distant candle that lit up the hallway, trying to be quiet as you tried to catch up.

"Lucy." You called out for the girl, walking behind her. She shushed you, opening a door. And now you noticed that you were back at the wardrobe room where Lucy said Narnia was.

She grinned as you only looked at the wardrobe, hesitant about the idea. "You said you wanted me to prove Narnia is real to you, right..? Just a few minutes inside, then we'll leave. I want you to meet someone." She eagerly held your hand, feeling her warm hands on your own.

You nodded, trusting the girl. She giggled, gesturing you to open the door. You held the knob to the wardrobe door, and slowly opened it. The flame on the candle dispersed from the cold air that flew out of the closet, leaving you to gape.

Lucy giggled at your expression, before she stepped in and tugged on your hand, ushering you to follow, leaving the boy behind you both to go unnoticed.

You let out an awed exhale, looking around the snow covered area in disbelief. Lucy laughed at your shock, tugging in your hand to make you follow her again. "Come on! Mr. Tumnus' house is just near!" She urged, and you laughed at her enthusiasm.

You let out a huff as you finally arrived at your destination. You definitely weren't used to walking on piles and piles of snow, and damn you didn't want to get used to it. Lucy ran towards the door and enthusiastically knocked while you waited behind her, still taking in the snowy sight.

You heard the door open, and you snapped your head to where the sound was, and saw a faun that you often saw in old historical fantasy books you'd read. You awed the the shy faun, and Lucy glanced around both the people she made friends with happily.

The faun cleared his throat, curtly giving Lucy a hesitant look before he looked at you, nervously forming his words. "You must be (name).. Lucy told me about you and your interests in all things magical. Very nice to meet you." He gave you a small smile.

You curtly nodded, somehow the words you learned over the years disappearing when you laid your eyes on the Narnian.

Lucy nudged you, giggling softly when you only blinked at her movement. Mr. Tumnus suddenly made a noise of realization, taking a step to the side to open the door wider. He looked at the two girls infront of him, ushering the two to enter.

"Let's get you two away from the cold, hm? Come now." He ushered, letting the small brunette haired girl to go in first.

"You two'd get along very well. (name) would actually have fun listening to your wonderful stories Mr. Tumnus."

Edmund watches the white witch take her leave with furrowed brows and a small white power sticking on the side of his mouth. He listened to the bells of the so called Queens sleigh ring and chime.

"Edmund?"

His head snapped to where the voice came from, watching as Lucy and yourself reveal from the branches of the trees. Lucy had a bright smile on your face, while you looked at him blandly.

"Oh Edmund! You got in too!" Lucy delightedly exclaimed, letting go of your hand and ran to give her brother a big hug. "Isn't it wonderful?" Lucy happily smiled at the dark haired boy, only for him to push her off. You furrowed your brows at the older boy, upset at his act towards the younger girl.

"Where have you been?" He questioned with furrowed brow, looking between you and Lucy.

"With Mr. Tumnus, he's fine. He told (name) and i his stories!" Lucy delightedly shared what happened from earlier as you nodded at her words with a smile. "The white witch hasn't found out anything about him meeting us either." She added.

You and Edmund looked at the girl with questioning looks, "The white witch?" You spoke up from behind Lucy, watching as both the siblings turned to look at you after your words.

"She calls hers the Queen of Narnia. But she really isn't." She quietly said, leaning closer to Edmund but was enough for you to hear.

You suspiciously watched as Edmunds expression change and as he looked down on the snowy ground. "Are you alright, Edmund?" You worriedly questioned, watching him hesitantly look at you and start his brows to furrow even more.

"Well what'd you expect? I mean, it's freezing." He grasped his shoulders in attempt to hug himself from the sheer cold temperature around you three. "How do we get out of here?" He adds, looking around.

Lucy clicks her tongue slightly and grabbed both of yours and Edmund's hands, leading you both to where the wardrobe is. You side-eyed the dark haired male with squinted eyes, weirdly suspicious of him. You could tell by his body language, since you were a fairly observant person after all. You'd often get called and over-reactor because of it.

..

You watched Lucy bust the boys' rooms harshly and sprinted towards her older brother who was still in deep slumber, as she climbed on his bed and shook him awake at an obnoxiously annoying way.

You tried to stop the brunette girl, gently pulling on her shoulder and hushing her but she continued to annoyingly wake up the blonde male all while enthusiastically yelling 'Peter, Peter wake up' all over again.

"Lucy!" You hissed, wanting to calm the girl down before the blonde even wakes up. Which he already did. "Lucy what are you talking about?" The barely awake blonde groaned, squinting his eyes from the brightness of the room.

"Narnia, it's all in the wardrobe like I told you!" She hyperly yelled. Susan let out an exhale as she went closer to her sister, and now you noticed she had just arrived.

"You've just been dreaming, Lucy." She said with furrowed brows, and you pursed her lips at her words, completely forgetting that the little girls siblings didn't believe her at all. Lucy turned around to look at the older girl, "But I havent! I saw Mr. Tumnus again! And this time, Edmund went too." Lucy informed, watching the siblings look at the said boy.

Edmund looked up as his name was called, pursing his lips. He put his hands in the pockets of his coat and nervously took a few steps back as everyone's eyes were on him.

"You.. you saw the faun?" Peter questioned, not sure whether or not he should believe or not. Lucy looks at the dark haired boy with a smile, as Edmund shook his head, furrowing his brows.

"Well, he technically didn't go in with us." You looked at the blonde male, leaning on the headboard of his bed. "And by that, I mean together. He probably followed from the closet." You side-eyed the ravenette boy, watching him furrow his brows.

"What were you doing, Edmund?" Lucy questioned with confused furrowed brows, already having to realize now because of your words. Susan curtly shook her head, as everyone's eyes were now on Edmund once again, anticipating for his answer.

You let out a small disappointed exhale as his mouth started to form a small grin. "I was just playing along." He had a small smile on his face as Lucy snapped her head to look at you, seeing your disapproving stare.

Susan's eyes widen as Peter looked at the back of Lucy's head in confusion. "I'm sorry, Peter. I shouldn't have encouraged her.. but, you know what little children are these days." He looked at the young girl next to Peter's bed, watching as small tears began to form on her eyes.

"They just.. don't know when to stop pretending." He says, slowly sitting back on his bed as Lucy finally broke down, letting out small sobs as she rushed out of the room with Susan and Peter following after her. You ignored the fact Peter just shoved Edmund back down on his bed just as he was about to stand up, standing in front of him while stared at him disapprovingly.

"That was really unfair of you, yknow?" You pursed your lips, watching him push himself up with his shoulders.

Edmund scoffed, looking at you defensively. "You saw it yourself, they wouldn't believe us!" He argued.

"All you had to do was answer truthfully! But of course you've had to humiliate your sister. Have you forgotten that you and Lucy weren't the only ones who actually seen Narnia with our own eyes?" You looked at him sympathetically, watching him scoff again and avert his eyes from you.

You shook your head in disappointment and turned to leave the boy alone, wanting to look for Lucy instead of arguing with his silence.

You looked around the hallways, and immediately stopped in your tracks when you noticed two familiar siblings in front of your grandfather, while Lucy was sobbing into his clothes, ignoring the older woman in the room.

"Grandfather—"

"My, you should be asleep, (name)." He cut you off, and you pursed your lips, guiltily looking down. "I know, but– I got woken up by the commotion earlier." You made an excuse, deeply exhaling through your mouth.

He then looked at Mrs. Macready, "I think this one is in need of some hot chocolate." He gestured at Lucy, as the woman obliged to his words, taking Lucy comfortingly.

Susan and Peter were about to turn away, when suddenly your grandfather cleared his throat, making the siblings turn around to face him again.

..

"You have seen to upset the delicate internal balance of my housekeeper." Your grandfather perks up, glancing at the three children in front of his desk.

"We're very sorry sir. It won't happen again." Peter apologized, grabbing Susan's hand gently and looked at you with an obvious look. Susan tugs her hand away from her brother, "It's our sister sir. Lucy." She begins, while you just awkwardly stood there, fighting every nerve in your body to avoid yourself from yawning.

"The weeping girl."

"..Yes sir." Susan awkwardly answer's. "She's upset." She starts once again, and you looked behind you, looking at Peter and wondering why you're still here.

"Hence the weeping."

Peter stutters, coming closer to his sister and looking at her. "It's nothing. We can handle it." You made a look at his words, unsure if it were the right thing to say involving the current situation, and your grandfather seemed to telepathically agreed to you.

"Oh, i can see that."

Susan ignores Peter and turns to face your grandfather again, "She thinks she's found a magical land." She informs the seated man, and you noticed him merely give her a short glance. "In the upstairs wardrobe." Susan finishes, catching your grandfather's attention.

Hid eyes widened and he looked at the girl, taking his attention off whatever he was doing. "What did you say?" He stands up, walking towards you and Susan, ushering you to come take a sit as he lead Susan to another seat.

"The wardrobe upstairs." You perked up, making him look at you. "Lucy thinks she's found a forest inside." Peter finishes your own barely formed sentence, taking a seat next you Susan, making her be in the middle.

"She won't stop going on about it." Susan sighs.

"What was it like?" Your grandfather asked, taking a seat in front of you three.

"Like talking to a lunatic." Susan responded, and you awkwardly looked away, making a face. Your grandfather shook his head, closing his eyes for a quick second, "No, no, no, not her. The forest."

The two siblings looked at you, catching you off guard. "Oh uh well.. she said it was snowing��� and that the scenery looked beautiful..." You trailed off, watching your grandfather look in interest.

"And do you believe her?" He questioned you, seeming to take you aback. Your grandfather was an awfully forward person, you haven't even gotten used to it yet.

"You're not saying you believe her?" Peter questioned incredulously, and Professor Kirke looked at him with a dumbfounded look. "You don't?" He fired back.

"Of course not." Susan answered for both of them. "I mean logically, it's impossible." She said with furrowed brows, and you amusedly watch your grandfather look dumbfounded.

"What do they teach in school these days?"

"Edmund said they we're only pretending." Peter perked up, and you pursed your lips at the mention of the dark haired boy. "And he's usually the most truthful one, is he?" Your grandfather questioned again, testing.

"No.. this would be the first time."

"And how would you know that?" You looked at the blonde male over Susan's shoulders.

"Know what?"

"He's telling the truth? You might just be getting played right now because he's too scared to admit his sister's right. Or humiliated." You crossed your arms, facing up front as you noticed your grandfather give you a warning look.

"Well if she's not made, then she's not lying. Then logically we must assume that she's telling the truth." Your grandfather says, waving something that you didn't have an idea about.

"You're saying that we should just believe her?" Peter confusedly questioned. Your grandfather looked at him, then subtly looked at you.

"She's your sister, isn't she? Youre her family." He finished, but then pointed at you. "Take this little on for example. She's only been reading all about fantasy ever since she was about 5 and still has not lost herself. Developed a really clear view of the world as well." He leaned back into the chair, and you embarrassedly looked away in embarrassment.

God you wanted out of this room immediately.

[parksrway]

I saw in a LU fic once that the Post Man from MM/TP was magic and that he could deliver messages across times. But more realistically: imagine Post Man in Botw aesthetic running all over Hyrule, maybe with a secret underground system of post men, to send mail and keep it safe. They take their job seriously, and sometimes you don’t know if the sus person on the road is yiga or a post man wondering if you’re the recipient of their letters. There are mail boxes at all stables and the centre of the each village.

Also shiek could say in his letters: “we’re heading to Rito village next, to deal with Va Medow. Send the next mail here?” Or “we’re visiting Robbie so send your reply to East Akkala stable”?

yeah, I was thinking along the lines of the mailboxes at the stables and the villages, sort of like the ones in wind waker! maybe the rito could be mail deliverers again since they can get places pretty quickly and wouldn't be affected by winding paths and monsters.

and I was also thinking something like the last part as well!! like if he knows where they're going and when they're going to get there, he can give them a heads up. but I feel like he'd also be hesitant to do that because well-- he doesn't really want Link to know and being handed a letter by a bird person isn't exactly inconspicuous

I also imagine that there would be a fee to send letters, and since Sheik doesn't want Link to know, he just uses his own money. of course, when Link finds out he's just like "why didn't you tell me? I could help you pay for it!!!"

[illbringthechaosmagic]

@armed-and-alxne

"I think it was more the fact that.. it's not like you've introduced me to your mom so to her, I'm a complete stranger coming up to her and saying that I'm dating her son," Wanda replied softly, chewing on her lip slightly. She hadn't wanted to startle the other woman, hadn't wanted for her to think that she was a creep. Besides, from what Luther had told her, it seemed his mom wasn't sure that he was alive or not and so, that might have made her think that she was crazy.

There was a small nod as Luther explained how he had never really known the real her. "I get that. I mean, I can't imagine that it was all that easy raising a kid on your own," she muttered, "just as much as it wouldn't have been easy for you, growing up with a parent that was addicted to substances. I couldn't exactly tell from watching her if she was completely sober but... she didn't seem like she was on anything, at least to my knowledge..."

Giving him a small smile, she leaned up and kissed his cheek. "You know that I'll always be there to help you Lu," she replied, "especially when it comes to things like this..."

“Lu… I uh.. I think I found her, your mom.”

Luther couldn't help the way he winced. "You went and looked for her? Why?" he asked. But even as he felt himself becoming apprehensive, he couldn't help but be curious. "So she's still alive, huh? What uh... what kinda shape is she in?" he asked, because the last time he remembered seeing her, she was not in a good place, physically or mentally. Despite his fairly toxic relationship with his mother, Luther didn't wish her any ill.

[kigozula]

A Sokkla Fic inspired by the Story of Jake Long & Rose from American Dragon. Sokka finds out who is Love really is and an adventure is beginning. Will Azula and Sokka be able to live their love?

Chapter 1

She was strong as always and her eyes didn't make it easier for him. Those beautiful eyes.

Ever since he officially found out who she is, he kept losing the fights against the clan. It felt out of his control. He has always been weak when it came to her. That girl he is interested in, since the first time he met her.

They barely talked in battles. He especially stopped talking since he didn't want her to know who he is.

His friends had warned him several times that the likelihood that Azula was the Huntsgirl was extremely high. Though part of him thought so too, he tried to push away those possibilities and just ignore. He was afraid to put mountains between her and himself.

But her eyes could be seen. The rest of her face was covered. Only her ponytail and her eyes were visible. The Huntsclan were wearing matching suits. Only the Huntsmaster, the leader of the Huntsclan, had a different suit. He was always wearing a cape and a helmet resembling the head of an animal.

Suddenly the earth beneath their feet began shaking. They stopped fighting for a moment. A landslide. The earth was sliding down from the mountain and they had to act quickly. Sokka instinctively ran towards Azula to save her from the landslide. Both fell down, but what mattered was that they were save now.

"What is this now?" Azula stood up with difficulty. "Who do you think you are? Are you a superhero saving his enemy to make friends? Forget it!"

Sokka didn't say anything.

"I am Huntsgirl! I will have to end you someday. This is my goal Water Fighter!" she said with determination.

They heard the rest of the clan coming and Sokka ran to his fighters.

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She was putting her books in order when she saw him standing at the end of the hall. She smiled and walked up to him.

"Hey Sokka, sorry I couldn't join the learning session yesterday. My uncle needed my help." she said.

Sokka gave her a sad smile. "That's okay, I had other things to do as well."

The school bell rang. "I should be going now." And with that he turned around and walked to his classroom.

He still looked lovingly at her, but she sensed something bad. It seemed like the shyness and excitement in his eyes were replaced by sadness. He didn't approach or talk to her as he used to. Instead, he looked at her from afar and turned around when she saw him. As if they were completely strangers to each other.

Azula looked at the direction where he was standing seconds ago.

Did he lose interest?

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Azula and Sokka went to the Fire Nation Academy. They were on the same grade. Sokka immediately had a crush on Azula when he first saw her. She liked him too.

He became a bundle of nerves near her and could never gather himself to ask her out. Every time he was close to be brave enough, Chan, the rich boy of their school would pop out, ruin the moment and start flirting with Azula. His attitude made Sokka boil in anger.

Due to a school project, they had the opportunity to meet outside of the school. Both were excited. But their meeting was not ideal since both had their obligations. Their secret identities.

The Huntsgirl and the Water Fighter.

The Huntsclan and the Water Fighters were enemies. The Huntsclan, leaded by the Huntsmaster named Zhao, wanted power. Their first goal to gain that said power was to eliminate their biggest enemies.

The Water Fighters started as a small group in the Fire Nation, to protect people in their town from any harm. They grew more and more. They didn't have an official leader, but Hakoda was in charge of Sokka. He trained him and was like a teacher for him. As time went by, Sokka became a capable fighter. He led his group quite often.

The Water Fighters were completely covered while fighting. Only a narrow slit could be seen on the mask. You'd have to get very close to even see the eyes.

Unbeknownst in the beginning, Azula and Sokka were in truth enemies fighting against each other. But Sokka found it out someday. Since then, the energy between Azula and Sokka, as well as Huntsgirl and the Water Fighter changed. Sokka couldn't reach his full potential when he was fighting against the Huntsclan when Huntsgirl was there. Which was slightly becoming a problem. In school, he was just the sad boy looking lovingly and hopeless at the girl he fell in love with. Trying hard to stay away from her…

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"Sokka, stop sulking already she is the enemy! Accept that. She would kill you without hesitation!" Toph said.

"Lu Ten told us that the big hunt is tomorrow. It's only a matter of time for her to find out who you are." Haru added.

"I know. I know." Sokka said while walking home. "That's exactly what I'm fearing. If she finds it out, I won't see her smiling at me ever again."

Coming home, he went to bed early. Tomorrow was a ritual named "The Big Hunt". He didn't know the exact details of how it worked and he didn't feel like thinking about it either. He lay on his bed and looked at the ceiling with bleary eyes. They had shared some good moments together. He called back their memory of how they tried to practice for the school theater...

"The Dragon Princess and the Dragon Prince!" the teacher explained. "I have chosen two talented classmates, because it has the highest priority for our art education on our great academy."

"Azula will be our Dragon Princess and the perfect Dragon Prince is: Sokka!"

Sokka almost fell from his chair. Full of enthusiasm he looked at Azula, who smiled back at him. How did the teacher think of him as talented when it came to a theater play? He didn't know but he didn't care either. What mattered was, that he could spend time with Azula.

"Yes! Uhm, I mean yeah for sure. I will be the best Dragon Prince." he said. Fact was, that he had little trust in himself when it came to acting. But he would never waste a chance to be close to Azula.

"I have no qualms about that. Your friends have said that you are passionate when it comes to art." said the teacher smiling.

Sokka looked at his left finding his friends smiling nervously at him. He would thank them for their kindness for sure. Toph and Haru were the best friends he could imagine.

Azula and Sokka had met at the Tea Shop which belonged Lu Ten and his father that afternoon. He was nervous, in love, and sweet. She on the other hand tried to stay professional and focused on the script.

"I assume you know the famous story of the Dragon Princess and the Dragon Prince?" she asked him.

"Uh, yeah of course I do!" he smiled at her. He didn't know the full tale.

Azula was aware of how often he tried to lie to her to seem cool. She didn't think it was necessary but never complained. If, then it flattered her a little to know that he tried to be 'better' for her in everything. But she liked him the way he was, although she would never say it out loud.

"The teacher mentioned that act number nine is the most important one. So, I would suggest for us to start practicing with that part." Azula told him.

"Yes let's begin with it!" Until he realized what that meant.

"What!? Act number nine? You mean that act with..."

"If it's okay for you of course." Azula replied.

The Dragon Princess and the Dragon Prince would kiss in that act. Of course, Sokka would be the happiest if he kissed Azula, but he was nervous. Extremely nervous because he never expected so much of their meeting. But he needed to collect himself. There was absolutely no one he would or could do this with. If it would be another girl, he wouldn't even accept the role. He wanted to share every special experience with Azula and only with Azula.

Azula on the other hand didn't seem nervous at all. On the outside at least. She was also a bit unsure, if not as much as Sokka. She would not do that if it would be someone else, but she didn't want him to know that yet.

"Of course, it is, hehe, I mean of course I am... I am experienced in kissing!" he said and had a small flashback of his 'experiences'.

"Good night mommy!" said little Sokka and pressed a kiss to his mother's cheek. "Good night my love." replied his mother.

"This is your little sister Sokka." his parents said. "I love you Katara and I will always protect you from bad guys!" he told his baby sister in his arms and gave her a kiss on her tiny hand.

"Hello Teddy, I missed you!" and gave his favorite toy a kiss.

After practicing the beginning of the act they finally reached to scene in which they would kiss.

They put the script aside and looked into each other's eyes.

Sokka's mind was exploding. “It's just a kiss Sokka, it's just a kiss. Just a kiss with the girl you love. Calm down boy you can do that.”

Yet when he was looking into her eyes, his nervousness started to fade away.

Their faces started nearing each other and Azula closed her eyes. Just as he was about to close his too and press his lips onto hers, an unexpected guest rushed to them.

"Sokka! You have to come!" said Lu Ten.

At the same time, Azula saw a hawk waiting at the window. She knew her Uncle, the Huntsmaster was calling her.

That was it with their first kiss. It ended before it started.

The theater play didn't take place either because Azula had 'family responsibilities'. Today he understood what those responsibilities really had been.

He fell asleep while thinking about every moment with her.

[lightsorigins]

An inefficient world

03 Marckabeth 2010

3:42 pm, Mysticiën,

Lausya, Estery High School

 Squeezed into an uncomfortable wooden chair, Sarasvatî had her arms folded. She had been staring at Madame Bigot, her biology teacher, for a few minutes. After having finished her tirade on a part of the course, this last one also observed Sara during a few seconds. The setting sun was illuminating her short jet hair and her strong gaze. She was imperturbable, yet everything about her indicated a latent irritation.

- Sarasvatî, do you have something to add?

 She sighed at length before answering.

- You send me sorry, but you can't understand anything in a class where you get lost in so many details.

- These details are in Sara's program. If you work harder, you'll understand more.

 At the agreement of his words, his gaze caught fire.

- That I work more? Me? In this room, I'm sure that no one understood a word of what you've just explained. You start to talk to us about how Anima and Menha work, and then you digress about your theories about the most powerful elements to bring down the Anima of our opponents, even though we are not even atmologists. It had nothing to do with the beginning of the session, and we haven't even been given a lecture on the primary elements yet!

- Sara...

- Don't expect me to believe that your assumptions about how things work are part of the program. Everyone here knows that you were not a high school teacher last year.

 Madame Bigot was a red-headed meïlith with very light blue skin. Her big green eyes opened more and more to Sara's insolence. Discreet and kind, she had indeed shown for some sessions difficulties in giving her course in a sufficiently clear manner. Suddenly, she gave a big blow on her desk with the flat of her hand.

- Enough! You will bring me your notebook at the bell. I cannot accept such behavior in this room. Class representative or good student, I don't care!

- Instead, say that you are unable to accept reality and the criticisms that go against your ineffective methods," Sara replied before taking out her notebook and putting it at the end of the table.

- Pardon? exclaimed the professor.

- Nothing. Nothing that you wouldn't be able to hear.

      She was dying to make him swallow her tongue with an atmos. Something that would have made her feel like making a fool of herself in front of all those students, but Laura Bigot would be in big trouble with the Grand Council of Atmology if she did so. However, she could already see herself joining hands, forming a skillful circle and whispering "Totopo lu hodo". A wooden cocoon would then have formed around Sarasvatî, who would have had no choice but to keep quiet. The pupils would then have said to each other "It is not necessary to joke with Mrs. Bigot! ». She would have earned the respect she had hoped for, continued her course and shared her intelligent theories on the functioning of the elements. Yet, instead...

- What's up? Are you going to take this notebook, yes or no? Instead of standing stupidly in front of me staring at me.

- Leave this room immediately Sara. You will have a report that you will remember for a long time. I would have liked to talk with you calmly, but it is obviously not possible.

- Anyway, it's going to ring. I would have liked to avoid this with you, but it seems to me that we have already talked about this problem. I won't be able to get a higher education with your damn theories. You simply have no right to do that. I'll talk to the director about it tomorrow. I'll see you soon.

       Madame Bigot kept talking, but Sara had already moved on. Then the bell rang. It was an unpleasant, strident, repetitive sound that she had never enjoyed hearing. She grabbed her black leather jacket and put it over her long sky-blue dress. Grabbing her bag, she walked towards the exit, expressionless. Her step was heavy, fast and sure. She didn't greet anyone and stopped at the door. Once in the hallway, Sara stretched out her arm and let her diamond shûmberr skin handbag dangle nimbly from her fingertips. Staring down at the large alley, a long sigh of impatience escaped from between her lips. Suddenly, a young sygreliad with long blond hair rushed towards her and grabbed her bag.

- Sorry Sara, I hadn't finished writing everything down. Damn, your bag is heavy today, what did you put in it?

- It's the weight of Madame Bigot's bullshit, did you see how it weighs?

  Annabelle smiled an embarrassed smile at him. Sara mimicked her expression by mimicking a despicable nonsense before continuing.

- Where's Marvin? Is he going to suck up to miss bullshit, or is he going to show up?

  A large wazardin with a tousled coat ran out of the room, jostling Sara and Annabelle as they passed by. He stumbled a few seconds later, knocking over all of his comrade's things in the hallway. His ruby eyes were lost in Sara's, who stared at him without blinking.

- Ah shit, I thought you two had left," he said, laughing and nervously scratching his head.

- Marvin, I think I'm going to destroy you and your whole family," Sara said dryly.

- But you still intend to continue to help me with the merçembuth history presentation?

- Maybe, if you pick up everything you just spilled in less than thirty seconds. After that time, I might purposely insert errors in your homework and insult the teachers to get you kicked out of school.

  Marvin swallowed his saliva and picked it all up, helped by Annabelle, who then picked up Sara's purse. They continued on their way out of the school. Snow was falling in large flakes on Lausya. It was a venckelbuth of the month of jalestar. This year's system was particularly cold. Every day, Sarasvatî, Annabelle and Marvin came home from school together because their homes were on the same road. Since middle school, the three teenagers had spent a lot of time together working on subjects in which they were struggling. Despite her bullying attitude, Sara knew she needed Annabelle's help in math. In return, she would help them out when they had arguments with other students, but also in other subjects where Annabelle and Marvin were not performing as well as she did.

- It took exactly twenty-four seconds to pick up everything," says Annabelle. That's it, you're saved for your homework Marvin!

- No, because you helped him so it doesn't count. So I'm not going to help you, too," Sara replied.

  Annabelle's face decomposed. The young sygreliad gradually slowed down her walk, when Sara suddenly ripped her purse from her hands.

- Oh, but we can't even laugh anymore? It's not possible that! I'll help you anyway, I'm not a monster ! We've known each other for a long time, seriously. You're the only two people I accept to talk to, stop being afraid like that for a little bit, otherwise I won't hang out with you anymore. 

- You'll have to excuse me Sara, but considering how mad you were at Madame Bigot earlier, it doesn't make you want to be more upset than that.

- You have nothing to do with it, I wouldn't be stupid enough to make you pay for miss bigou's incompetence. And what do you think of what I said to her? Did you understand what she was talking about?

- I don't know," Annabelle hesitated. I was interested in her ideas, but she did talk fast. Anyway, it wasn't going to last long. Do you really think that letting her talk a little bit about it from time to time is so bad?

- The problem is there, and you both need to think about it too. Like me, you would like to become good atmologists later on, wouldn't you? Imagine letting all of our teachers knock us out with their unproven hypotheses for five to ten minutes per hour-long class. Imagine, in total, how much time we will have wasted! That would mean that...

  Marvin grabs her by the arm and pulls her onto the road. Sara was so carried away by his explanation that she hadn't seen that it was time to cross.

- That would mean a lot of time would be lost," he added calmly. I know, it's okay. But only Madame Bigot does that. She is new, you said it yourself, and despite that she is still a good teacher!

  Sara stared at him before raising her eyes to the sky.

- How much did you get at his last checkup, Marvin? Honestly?

- I got 8 out of 20, and you know very well that I usually get half in organic classes!

- Marvin, you got 8 and I got 10, whereas in bio I normally go out with at least 16. She's not a good teacher. And I need a record that is relevant to my entry into the top universities in Mysticiën. I have tried to be patient, I have already talked to her about the situation but the very next day she does the same thing to me. I wish she had at least been honest and told me clearly that she would continue to do as she pleased.

- And if she had said that, are you sure you wouldn't have done something, like spilling all her stuff on the floor or yelling at her that she's just incompetent?

  Sara slowed down her walk slightly and began to contemplate the sky for a few seconds as a sign of reflection. Suddenly, her gaze returned to Annabelle.

- Yeah, you have a point. Are we still on for math tomorrow at 4:00?

- Yes, I have notified my parents. I leave you here, see you tomorrow!

  She walked away discreetly. Sara and Marvin watched the silhouette in the small white coat disappear in the distance towards the east of the city, rubbing her arms against herself to warm up before she could go home. Marvin patted Sara on the back before bursting into laughter.

- Hey, Marvin. Really, I'm going to end up killing you if you touch me a third time.

- You're not cool to make Annabelle carry your bag like that! Look how tiny and cute she is in her coat, she still looks like a little girl.

  They went the other way before Sara continued.

- I took advantage of this before she became a school principal. She will eat us all if we don't dominate her first. Look at her, with her little feet and her nice attitudes. She's hiding an evil genius, that's for sure.

- Aren't you projecting your own attitudes onto her?

- No. And you want to carry my bag instead maybe?

- I can't promise I'll never drop it if you let me do it, but we can always try, I guess.

  At the agreement of her words, she jumped up and down to try to slap him on the back of the head. Marvin ducked, and the two teenagers began to chase each other around town. The discussion turned into a brief snowball fight, won by Sarasvatî. In their bickering, they had reached Marvin's family home, which was still lying on the ground. Before he got up, Sara approached him with a huge amount of snow in her arms.

- What do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Notorious Criminal? she asked comically.

      Marvin concentrated with all his strength and a pink glow covered him. Sara frowned, wondering what idiocy he was up to. A few seconds later, he had taken on the appearance of Sara herself.

- Nothing. Nothing that you wouldn't be able to hear. "He replied seriously and solemnly, to imitate Sara's phrase when she had argued with their teacher.

  When she understood, she covered her face with snow and started kicking him. Marvin laughed and laughed for a good five minutes before getting up and returning to his original shape.

- Wazardins, you are really dangerous people. I hope you don't take my appearance to do anything in front of others.

- Given the sanctions that await me if I do that, it's better that I avoid. Well, I'm out of here. Get home safe, and don't kill your brother if he's done something stupid, okay?

- Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow.

      Sara's home was a few dozen meters from here. All she had to do was cross a few roads, turn a couple of blocks, and she would find the park and then the building where she lived with her brother and mother. As she continued on her way silently, Sara got lost in her thoughts. She was still organizing her future, already imagining herself in a prestigious university, studying atmology as a Creator. The Creators combine the energies of Fire and Plants to fight and explore the world. What seduced Sara in this atmological discipline was the possibility of giving life to living creatures to fight at her side. Federating a team that she would have made entirely with her own hands... nothing could make her dream stronger.

    Suddenly, as she was walking at a brisk pace, her foot stumbled on a thick piece of carjaline, in the middle of a park that she travels home through every day. Intrigued, she stopped to observe it more closely. The thick black debris reflected an intense glow. She recognized the fragments of black tourmaline, through which the last rays of the sun were seeping, then she sighed at length. It was a mechanical arm, and Sara knew exactly where it came from.

- I guess it's not ironic to have one intervention a year since high school by the Guild of Renovators, while the mayor himself leaves his pieces of inventions lying around anywhere...

      She gave a huge kick to the robot arm. The noise resonated through the entire alloy. Sara looked a little further and recognized a hand also made of carjaline. Ecology was a cause that was close to her heart, also because she had become aware early on of the harmful effects that occur when no one pays attention to it. As she walked along the road again, she plunged into her memories. Many alloys and castings like these were not so easily recycled, and ended up impacting not only the fauna and flora, but also the people of Lausanne. As

    far back as she can remember, Oscar Fanghël, the mayor of Lausya, has always considered the town as an experimental field of choice to test his prototypes. No one ever really knew what he was creating so many of them for. No one ever knew why he did not stop despite the numerous requests of the people of Lausya, and even worse: no one ever knew why the GCA (Great Council of Atmosphology), or even the GCM (Great Council of Martial Arts), had never acted in the face of this problem. Still, some members of the Guilde des Rénovateurs came to the aid of the lausois, but with great discretion.

      Sara suspected well-disguised political shenanigans. She and other lausois knew that the ancestry of the Fanghël family was highly respected, had a long arm and could quickly come to grips with any opponent. This disturbing prospect probably kept many people silent. She swore to herself, however, that when she became powerful enough, Sara would make Oscar eat all his prototypes one after the other. She hoped that Annabelle, Marvin and her other friends would join her cause and that one day this city, and others suffering similar injustices, would become more effectively managed.

    She finally reached the square in her neighbourhood: a poorly maintained place, decorated with a few benches and children's games, half of which had been seriously damaged. Buildings rose up around her, as if they were contemplating her with all the coldness of the system. A cold draught suddenly woke her up, awakening a wave of shivers that ran down her spine. She clenched her teeth, cursed and started looking for her keys in her bag before reaching the entrance hall. Then a strange smell tickled her nostrils. She knew that smell well.

- Nanthilia? Seriously, some guys start smoking this early in the day?

      The fragrance was far too close for Sara to resist knowing who, in this neighborhood she knew on the tip of her fingers, was having fun rolling nanthilia joints. The local youth - and the youth from elsewhere - loved it for the fun and soothing psychic effects it provides. Sara then discreetly walked around the large building to the right, surreptitiously walked along the wall and bent down to see if there were people further away. She heard laughter, including one she could recognize from among a thousand. A group of four young boys sat on a bench at the back of the building and laughed loudly. She approached them discreetly. From then on, only a few centimeters separated her from the boys.

      One of them turned around and fell face to face with Sara. With a hiccup of surprise, he jumped up and tripped his butt first on the field of grass. She still had her arms folded and that imperturbable expression that described her so well.

- Oh damn it! cried the young man who had just fallen. Why didn't you say you were there, Sara?

      She didn't answer, then looked at another boy in the group. He was shorter than the others, had a black hair in a battle, big black eyes, and wore a red flannel shirt with white checks. He was the one with the nanthilia joint in his hands. His eyes were red with fatigue. When Sara saw the joint between her fingers, she raised her eyebrows without taking her eyes off it. The young man did not blink.

- Name of a kannidus, Sara. Do you want to become a cop for the GCs now or what's it like? You can shove your witchy eyes up your ass.

- Are you kidding me, Kieran? she replied.

      Sara moved towards him to rip the joint out of his hands, but in response, he backed away. She grabbed him by the arm and eventually ripped it off, threw it to the ground, and crushed it vigorously with the tip of her foot.

- We had an agreement between the two of us. You had to behave better and make an effort because I warned you about the consequences of this thing, and I find you three days later smoking with three idiots from the neighbourhood?

- Oh eh, that's good," replied one of them, ready to defend his cause.

      Feeling the anger rising, Sara turned to them as if to forbid them to dare to speak again. The boys preferred to stay there and walk away, stunned by the effects of the nanthilia. Sara began to feel tired and disappointed. She didn't take her eyes off Kieran, who, on the other hand, was very angry.

- You're really annoying when you get into it. I've already told you that this situation is my business! Why don't you want to get off my back, don't you have classes to study or whatever else you need to do in your corner with your nerdy friends?

      For the umpteenth time today, she sighed.

- We're talking about your future Kieran, I'm not doing this just to annoy you. I'm your sister, it's my job to warn you about the effects of these things! Do you realize that mercenaries and explorers use this to cause psychic disturbances on their opponents? Do you think it's normal to blow your head off with it?

- Yes! because it's my skull and I do what I want with it! I don't want to do mega-studies like you, me.

      She remained silent as Kieran assailed her with all her favorite phrases to express her desire for independence and freedom. Her tirades continued for minutes on end. In the hall, in the elevator, and until they entered the apartment. He slammed the front door with all his might.

- If you're going to sneak up on me like that all the time, I'm just going to end up breaking into someone else's house without telling anyone! I'm tired of having you on my ass, you understand that? You're pissing me off!

- You're not doing what you want here Kieran," she shouted back. You're fourteen years old, you're a minor, you don't have to make these kinds of decisions, let alone talk to me like that! And if you want to run away, I'm going to find you whether you like it or not!

      This time it was the door to Kieran's room that slammed. A few seconds later, he launched a hard rock song at maximum volume. Sara was about to tell him to turn it down, but when she put her hand on the latch, she heard him turn the key in the lock. She put her hands to her hair and growled in irritation before going into the kitchen. The room was dirty, dimly lit with a light that Sara often described as "too white. Tired from work, her mother Naska didn't always have time to clean the apartment. Kieran would never get down to it, and Sara was far too busy working on her lessons.Putting her purse on the floor, she abruptly pulled out one of the chairs and dropped herself on it, taking her head in her hands and closing her eyes. A warm smell of boiled yone permeated the room. Naska, was cooking. Sara hated boiled food. It was the worst day she could have hoped for.

- Then my dear, why did your brother go to his room? Why are you still arguing? she asked softly.

- I've already come out of a class given by a poor incompetent and when I get downstairs, I find him smoking nanthilia with a bunch of jerks from the neighborhood. I had spoken with him not even a week ago, he told me that he understood and that he was going to make an effort, and look what he's doing!

- Don't be hard on your brother, honey.

- But how can I not be hard on him when he literally doesn't care about the world?

- You know that the situation is not easy for Kié. He needs time to act, and he's a young boy. Give him some time.

- If I'm the only one trying to be a little firmer with him, frankly, it's not going to help him. At some point you're going to have to do something serious. Let me remind you that I'm the one who pays for the private lessons that Amaëlle gives him! I work two days a week to help with homework for those in difficulty, but also to pay for her lessons! It's not by getting high on nanthilia every night that he's likely to learn things and use his memory well. I don't want to do that for nothing, it also impacts me, you understand?

      Naska marked a time of silence. Busy with her dish, she grabbed a bowl of spices and poured a tiny part of it into the broth she was preparing. She then drained the fragrant rice before continuing.

- You should relax a little bit Sara. I know you do a lot, but you could ask Amaelle for an advance for the classes.

- No. I'm not going to do that. I just want Kieran to get to work.

- Be patient, there is no reason to get into all these states. You must not push him to leave the house. I will be sad if something happens to him.

- I am already patient. All the time. And so am I...

      Sara felt that no matter what she might say, her mother would remain relaxed, or at least pretend to. Between the loud music played in her brother's room, the smell of boiled yone that was going to make her nauseous, and that incarnation with Madame Bigot earlier, she began to think that spending the evening here would be a bad idea. So she went to her room and made a call to Marvin.

- Hello Mrs. Solenelle?" he answered.

- Marvin, can I come to your house tonight?

- It depends on what for. Like, if it's for the presentation, I'm okay with it.

- Do you have fresh choums? Do you still have your two controllers to play with? Do you have an interesting topic of discussion in mind?

- Wow, we have a real program here, don't we?

- Yes or no?

- Yeah, yeah, it's quiet. Are you sure you're okay, Sara?

- I'll be there in five minutes. I'm sleeping at your place.

- Well, okay. I'll see you in a minute.