Silence

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I woke up the next morning, bounding out of bed and Gram pounding on my door. She rapped on everyone's door until she heard them shuffle out of bed. She led everyone down the hallway into an open cavern that had rows of dusty tables and chairs. The cavern split up four tunnels, each leading in a different direction. Gram told us that the one that we had just come out of was the family dorms, the one to the right was for the women, and the left was for men. The tunnel straight ahead of us was the entrance to all the other tunnels. She handed us all dust brooms and told us to get to work with the Main Hall first.

"Where are we going to throw all the dust?" one of Jet's friends asked.

Gram slammed her foot into the ground, and an opening straight down opened up.

I spent most of the time fooling around with Yun, sweeping dusty onto him, and vice versa. Every now and then, I would steal a glance at Jet, but he was always looking at the floor and seeping away. Gram earth bending stairs and swiped the cobwebs off the massive ceiling, we all had a fun time dodging dust clumps. By the afternoon, we had finished cleaning off the dust in the Main Hall and even used the water from a well to finish wiping the tables.

I noticed Jet walk lean over and tell Gram something.

"Tao!" Gram hollered. I hurried over. "Go with him and get some food."

"Huh? What about cleaning?"

"We have enough idiots cleaning. Just go with him in case there's any trouble. And go change, both of you. You look horribly like a firebender, and you just look horrible." After changing, Gram led us through a tunnel that also branched out into many others. She told us to take the tunnel furthest right that would lead to stairs to the second ring's surface. She handed us some money, and we were on our way.

Jet and I walked around in silence. Everything here was noticeably cleaner, not as cramped, and there were far fewer people. Everyone looked so elegant, and I felt like covering up the old earth kingdom robes I changed into. I didn't dare to look at Jet after our talk last night. In addition to feeling so shameful for lying, I was now humiliated after telling him so much. We found a market and purchased some food and headed back when our hands were full. The entrance was hidden under a bridge and was reachable by removing a heavy metal grate near the river. We finished our trip without exchanging any words or even a glance.


That night Yun, Gram, and I cooked dinner, but by the end, Gram had kicked both of us out screaming that we were only good and lighting stuff on fire, and Yun and I scrambled out laughing loudly. I went to my room and practiced some firebending forms. This room was much smaller than the one I slept in one before and didn't have a connecting bathroom. I heard a knock at the door and opened it to find Jet looking down at me.

He handed me a bowl of stew from Gram. "Can I come in for a bit?" he asked.

I stepped back and let him in. "Yeah, yeah, of course."

I let out a deep sigh as he sat down on an old chair. "Your Gram wants me and my friends to help look for yours tomorrow."

"She's not actually my gra- anyway, I'm sure you don't have to if you don't want to."

"I know. But I feel bad for staying here and not helping."

"Well then, don't help. That's a shitty reason. Help if you want to help."

Jet didn't say anything but looked at his bowl. "Are you going to get married to that guy?"

"Huh? Well, I haven't seen my parents since I was younger, Yun probably won't see his ever again, and Gram doesn't care. So, probably not."

Jet x Reader/OC Avatar the Last AirbenderWhere stories live. Discover now