Fire in the Sky (TLOK)

Chapter 53: Sometimes Recovery is Just Painted Skin

Yuki awoke in a pile of soft downy blankets. She poked her head out from the mass, bleary. Her eyes were puffy, and the ache of many spilled tears still throbbed in her head.

At some point, she made it to the South and knocked on Katara's door. Katara had opened it, surprised at her guest but hurriedly ushered her inside.

"What brings you here?" Katara had already started fussing over her granddaughter, "Are you fit to travel so far?"

"I didn't mean to intrude," was all Yuki said before the tears started falling, "T-this was my plan anyway."

It took a good twenty minutes to pry the information from Yuki, but once Katara knew, she wrapped her granddaughter up in a comfy blanket and brewed something calming for her to drink.

"Silly girl," Katara murmured once Yuki had fallen asleep. "Your granddaughter has such a soft spoken heart, just like you," she had said to the empty space.

Now Yuki slinked out of bed, still using the blanket as a makeshift cape. Her grandmother was already at the table, setting up some chewy rice balls filled with sweetened sesame paste. She poured it into a broth, pushing a bowl to Yuki.

"Dessert for breakfast?" Yuki mumbled, poking at the squishy white balls with a spoon. Katara leaned over, grasping Yuki's chin in her hands. She tilted it side to side, noting the tear tracks down her face.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked, wiping at Yuki's face with a damp cloth.

"M'not five" Yuki grumbled, trying to squirm away.

"You'll always be a baby to me," Katara ignored Yuki's protests, kissing her on the cheek twice.

A giggle spilled from Yuki's mouth, reaching for a newly poured cup of tea. "I'm okay, Gran Gran, really."

"Sure, sure, whatever you say."

"I'm not sure what else to say."

Katara sighed, settling down next to Yuki, "Heartbreak is a hard emotion to carry."

Yuki nodded, breaking apart a rice ball and watching the sesame float around her bowl, "It's a weird emotion."

"Distance will help."

"No offense Gran Gran, but what do you know about heartbreak?"

That made Katara laugh. She tried to stifle the snort that left her mouth, reaching over to pinch Yuki's arm, "Seems like you're okay," she said scooping more rice balls into her granddaughter's bowl, "Eat some more, you sassy child."

~~~

Yuki stayed around Katara's house for a few days, resting and chatting with her grandmother. She shadowed the old woman through the day, helping with chores, community work, really anything to get her mind off of her break-up. At night, she would sometimes cry, but by the next day, Yuki forced herself to pick her head up. She had made a decision, and she would uphold that choice with all the dignity she could muster.

By the third day of visiting, Yuki went towards a house that she wasn't sure if she was allowed in. Nonetheless, she knocked on the door, waiting until a very surprised looking Senna opened the door.