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𝐖aiting is probably one of the most excruciating things in the world. At least for the airbender with the attention span of a goldfish. No matter how much she tried to sit down and do nothing━Cloud simply couldn't stay still. Her limbs wouldn't even cooperate with her most of the time. It was like they had their own minds.
The space of the room they specifically chose didn't make anything better. She even wondered how did they fit inside the room with a huge polar bear dog and a nosy fire ferret. Needless to say, it wasn't the most ideal place in the world. Also, thank goodness for the mighty Nuktu, they were able to get the room.
"I'd just like to say, for the record, this room is definitely not perfect," Bolin muttered, and to make it even more funnier, Naga's tail struck him in the face. Cloud stifled her laughter as she looked at the boy sitting on the floor against Naga who was on the bed. "Naga!"
The airbender sat on the floor beside Asami, her legs clutched to her chest as she leaned her back against the chipped wooden door. Mako stood by the window with Korra who sat on a wooden box, facing the other side of the inn where Aiwei was staying at. The old man was not as good as she thought he would be at finding a hideout. She even thought he would've at least had an underground cave or something.
"There he is," Korra muttered.
Cloud looked up and scrambled on her feet towards the window, knocking over the firebender in the process but he managed to balance himself before staring back at the window while holding the curtain as if nothing just happened. She joined them from watching the truth seer across the desert yard.
"I thought stakeouts were supposed to be exciting. This isn't. At all!" Bolin exclaimed, but she paid him no attention, although she quite agreed with him on that one. However, the earthbender found a Pai Sho board inside the old drawer in the room and ended up playing with Asami to pass the time.
Cloud didn't know how many hours they'd been stuck inside the room, but it was a lot. She didn't know what was Aiwei doing inside his room━there wasn't even anything to do. Patience was never her greatest trait when she didn't like what she was doing. It seemed like Korra was feeling the same thing as her when she suddenly decided to leave the room.
It wasn't the smartest thing to do, but impatience and curiosity never really mixed. Nevertheless, they followed her as Korra busted down Aiwei's door with airbending.
"It's over, Aiwei! Where's...?" Korra shouted, however, she trailed off when she saw Aiwei sitting on his bed, unmoving with his eyes closed. Not the least bothered about their sudden intrusion.
"That's a weird way to nap," Bolin commented.
"Yep, that's weird, but he's not sleeping." Cloud shook her head as she stepped further inside the room, her right hand clutching her staff. "He's meditating."
"Wait! Asami, those spirits were trying to tell us something earlier. Xai Bau's Grove isn't on the map because it's not in the physical world!" Korra exclaimed, turning towards the female non-bender before glancing at Cloud who looked satisfied with herself because she thought about that earlier. "It's in the Spirit World! I'm going in after him."
"We'll watch him in case he wakes up," Mako told her. She sat down in front of Aiwei and began to meditate, getting lost in the world of whimsical spirits and possibly their worst nightmare. "Be careful!"
Cloud was tempted to do the same, wanting to accompany her, but instantly became a little down when she remembered she couldn't get into the spirit world. She wasn't as spiritually good as her cousin. Sure, she gets into it now and then but not as easily as the others, and definitely not successfully. She only excelled in the physical stuff and all that.
She was pacing back and forth in the middle of the small room for about a few minutes now, ignoring Mako's watchful eyes. Korra was still in the Spirit World. Bolin and Asami didn't seem to notice her uneasy state, but she didn't mind it despite the tugging feeling in her heart like something bad was about to happen.
"Uh..." Mako trailed off, facing away from the window to look at them. His next words caused Bolin to gasp and Asami to stand up from a chair. "I don't know how, but Water Arm Lady and Lava Guy found us."
Cloud stopped pacing, becoming alarmed. She sighed under her breath as she peeked outside the windows, before muttering with disdain, "Ghazan and Ming-Hua."
"How?" Asami exclaimed.
"I just said I don't know how!" Mako retorted.
"Guys, shut up!" Cloud sighed loudly, rushing towards Korra as she and Bolin tried to wake her up. "Korra, come on! Wake up!"
The airbender pursed her lips as she stepped back, wracking her mind for some ideas, but there were too many that she couldn't pick one. Sometimes she thought she was too clever that her own mind couldn't take it. Cloud felt like crying and punching someone in the face at the same time. Her frustration was at its peak.
Why is the world so cruel? Why does everyone want to kill everyone? It just didn't make any sense. She snapped out of her thoughts when Mako carried Korra, realizing she wasn't going to wake up any soon as he carefully placed her on Naga.
"Get Korra out of here," Mako told them. His eyes showed determination. There was no way he was going to let the girls get hurt. "Bolin and I will hold them off."
"Are you crazy?" Cloud exclaimed. "I'll stay."
"Cloudy, you have to go with them." He shook his head at her, his face showing worry and a bit of frustration. She looked like she was about to argue, but Mako placed a hand on her shoulder. "Do you trust me?"
Cloud clenched her jaw, her eyes flickering to the floor then back at his face. "You know I do."
"That's good. Because I trust you, too," Mako murmured. Then he gathered all his will, putting on a tough act. "I'll see you later."
She nodded slightly, passing her glider to her other hand as a determined look flashed upon her face. "Be careful. Don't do anything stupid."
"I'll try my best," Mako muttered.
Cloud didn't know if he smiled or not, but she noticed the corner of his lips quirked for a second, which caused her eyebrows to raise. She gave him one last look before he opened the door, and she, Asami, and Korra rode off on Naga and out of the inn, leaving the brothers alone by themselves to fend off the villains.
