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𝐂loud woke up earlier than the rest of her friends, giving her enough time to watch the metal dome covering Zaofu open. The air became more prominent, causing a lopsided grin to appear on her face. She went to the dining area after that, sitting next to Asami as Team Avatar along with Suyin's family had a delicious breakfast together. The meal was always so good that Cloud didn't care about anything other than digging into the food.
"Hey," Mako said, noticing no sign of the overly bitter woman. "Has anyone seen Chief Beifong?"
Korra shrugged. "I think she's still sulking in her room."
"I know she has a problem with me, but she had no right to yell at Opal last night," Suyin sighed as her twins, Wei and Wing, ran inside the room. Wei grabbed a few pieces of fruit from the basket. "All set for your power disc game, guys?"
"Yeah, all set to kick Wei's butt," Wing snickered, snatching an apple from his twin brother.
"I wanna power disc your face." Wei smacked him in the stomach, causing him to choke on the apple. Then he turned to Korra, ignoring his choking brother. "You should go play with us."
"Um," Korra hesitated. "I don't think I'd be much competition since I can't metalbend."
"What about me?" Cloud quirked an eyebrow at them, leaning over the table to look at the twins. "You think you're up for a challenge?"
Wei grinned and nodded his head eagerly as his twin did the same. Their actions synchronized, even their answers. "Always."
"You're not a metalbender." Mako furrowed his brows in confusion as he stared at the brunette across him. "How can you possibly metalbend?"
Cloud only smirked at his question. "Oh, fireboy, I have a lot of tricks up my sleeves, you know."
The airbender kicked her foot up as the deformed ball of metal that was on the floor flew upwards. Grinning from ear to ear, Cloud pulled her arms back before punching into the air, the rock being thrown towards the twin's direction. Wei quickly metalbent the metal, turning it into some liquid before sending it back at her.
Cloud scoffed in amusement, grabbing the metal cord she got from Suyin, and then throwing it towards the ball of metal, the cord latching around it before she spun around. Wei did not expect her to do that, and the last thing he knew, Cloud twirled the cord around, the end of it that was wrapped around the metal, hitting him on the side of his stomach.
He fell to the ground with a grunt. "Holy━Cloudy!"
The airbender dropped the cord, the metal ball rolling off the ground as she unlatched the metal cord around her waist. Then she bounced towards Mako and Asami who both held bewildered and amazed expressions on their faces, briefly snickering at Wei when she passed by him. More like, walked over him.
"That was totally cheating," Mako pointed out as he furrowed his brows at her, and then glanced at the sulking boy on the ground. "You know, that was cheating."
Cloud scoffed at him, crossing her arms with a small pout on her face as she stood beside Asami instead of him. "No, it's not."
"Yeah, but she's pretty good at it," Wei winced as he rubbed the side of his stomach, standing up from the ground with a little help from the firebender. "You should see her when she gets too into it. She's a menace."
"I don't doubt you on that," Mako muttered, but he also seemed a little proud on the inside.
"What do you think, 'Sami?" Cloud turned to the woman beside her, the corner of her eyes crinkling in delight as she looked at her friend. " Am I qualified to be a metalbender now?"
Asami shook his head in response, a tint of amusement playing on her beautiful features. "Yes, Cloudy. I think you are."
"Why is it you're so nice to everyone but me?" Mako suddenly groaned from beside the non-bender, frowning at the two women next to him.
"You're mean," Cloud huffed, turning away from him as she latched on Asami's arm. The girl smiled at their interaction with a glint of amusement in her green eyes.
"Don't worry, bud. You're not the only one." Wei sighed dramatically as he gave the boy a few pats on the shoulder before leaving them alone to annoy his twin brother whom he had seen walking around, probably finding him.
The young airbender spent the rest of her days either meditating or walking around the residential area. She even ended up somewhere in the other metal lotuses too. The only thing different about her was the light orange glider in her hand and the arrow tattoos that covered her forehead lining from her back and on both of her arms, reaching her hands. Opal had lent her some Metal Clan attire with different shades of green, and she wore it proudly.
Cloud stepped out of the tram as it stopped at the end of the monorail in the Beifong's residence. She let out a deep breath with a huge smile on her face, stretching her face as she faced the bright and warm sunlight. She was about to walk off towards the same pavilion she went to the night before with Mako when a familiar voice called out her name. Speaking of the devil.
"Cloudy?" Turning her head to the sound, a genuine smile slipped on her face at the sight of a certain stoic and brooding firebender jogging towards her.
Mako can be aloof sometimes, but that doesn't mean he isn't capable of showing kindness, especially his protective demeanor. The rough streets made him grow up too fast, and after being orphaned at a young age, he had to. Because no one else would take care of them but themselves. He had to grow up to protect and feed his little brother, and maybe that's why Cloud held so much respect for the boy.
"Hey, fireboy." Cloud waved, meeting him halfway as the latter looked down at her beaming face.
"We've been finding you everywhere," Mako muttered before furrowing his brows at her, studying her appearance and noticing her different attire. His heart started doing splits. "You look... Where were you?"
Cloud smiled even brighter when she remembered all the things she had done in the past few hours. Completely disregarding the fact that Mako was about to compliment her, she seemed really happy after roaming around the skies and metal lotus cities.
"Well, it's quite a long story." Cloud shrugged as the two opposite benders started walking back to the building where they were staying. His tall height towered over the shorter girl from beside him even though she was older than he was.
"I've got time." Mako shrugged, hiding the smile on his face when he noticed the way her face lit up like a five-year-old child watching a fireworks display.
The pure happiness radiating off her felt so contagious. I mean, she was literally sunshine in the form of a twenty-one-year-old girl with short brown locks and pale blue eyes. Cloud was the dwindling, mercurial high of his hard and tedious life, and he only realized that just now when he should've had a long, long time ago.
