Whirlwind [Avatar Aang]

☁Chapter Two☁

Nazadori paced up and down the hallway in her home, her shoulders brushing against the tight walls. Her feet by now were probably wearing a hole in the ground, but she couldn't stop moving or else her mind was going to explode. She would gladly let her mind explode, though. How was she going to be a queen when she could hardly be a good student all those years ago? She wished that Bumi could have explained what he thought when he decided to put her in charge of the whole city. 

She slowed to a stop in the middle of the short hallway, her heart thudding painfully against her chest. The house was entirely silent, but her ears were filled with blood rushing past her eardrums. Terror settled in the pit of her stomach like a heavy piece of earth, and it nearly dragged her down to the ground beneath her feet. She managed to stay standing as the weight of grief and confusion sat on both her shoulders. 

Nazadori's beloved king had died. She had worked by his side for a little over a year, and while that may not seem like a long time, she grew to love the old man dearly. Bumi was a strange person, but he was her best friend outside of her family, and he actually believed in her. Maybe that was the reason why he put her in charge of his precious city because he thought she could do it. But she couldn't do it.

She started pacing again, this time quicker. She wasn't the right person to run this city! She had no clue how the government was run, nor did she care that much about it. She thought government things were boring and full of men who thought that going to war was the best thing they could do instead of changing how they ran things. She was not ready to break this glass ceiling, and honestly, she didn't want to.

Suddenly, a hand gripped her shoulder, pulling her to a stop. Fear spiraled through her chest. Did someone already know that she was going to be the queen of Omashu, and they came here to kill her before she would even be crowned? It didn't matter that people didn't know where she lived because the fear shifted to anger. She reached behind her, grabbed onto the arm, and, stooping low, pulled the person over her shoulder, flipping them onto the ground in front of her. She was proud of her move but frowned when she saw her older sister lying on the ground.

Mava stared up at Nazadori with a hurt expression on her face, her dark hair spilling around her shoulders. Her chest was rising and falling quickly, and she said, "Nazadori! It's just me!"

Nazadori immediately let go of Mava's arm, dropping it to the rest of her body. She scrubbed a hand across her face, sighing. "Don't come up on me like that," she said, sticking a hand out for Mava to grab. She just stared at it. 

"What is wrong with you?" she asked. 

"Are Mother and Baleng home yet?" Nazadori asked her sister, moving her arm back to her side. She wondered why Mava didn't want to grab it since she was used to practicing self-defense with Nazadori all the time. "Because I have huge news."

"No, but they're on their way home." Mava rubbed her arm as she stood up, a frown on her face. She brushed her green clothes off, making dust float around them. Nazadori immediately sneezed, and Mava laughed. "Ha! That's karma!"

"Um, excuse me?" It was Nazadori's turn to frown at her sister. She only grinned at her, a dimple showing on her left cheek as she stared at her younger sister. Nazadori crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at her. "How is that karma? You were the one who scared me."

"You're an easy target since you're always so strung up." Mava laughed as Nazadori reached out and hit her shoulder. Nazadori couldn't believe that Mava would say that to her, especially since she had the biggest news of the century riding in her heart, but it wasn't Mava's fault that she didn't know that. "Anyway, what's the big news you have?"

Nazadori shook her head triumphantly. "I'm not telling you yet. I'm waiting until Mother and Baleng get home." Mava gasped loudly, placing a hand on her chest like Nazadori physically hurt her. She giggled at the look on her older sister's face, patting her shoulder for a second. Nazadori said, "Did you know you're a funny person, Mava?"