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Nya understood solitude. She knew of the silence that consumed her at night. She knew of her mind drawing a blank to even the most basic of questions. She knew what it was like to be sat beside her kitchen counter, sighing as the white noise tried to comfort her.
A child, born to stand alone, to fight her own battles. She wasn’t annoyed, she wasn’t distraught by this reality, she knew it was far too late to pick any other option than accept it.
She knew that no one could accompany her; perhaps her brother would try his best to devote his time, but not even that could suffice the moments when all she sobbed for was another soul to see her.
The desire to be seen consumed her at times, it was all she thought of, to be in someone’s eyesight. To be loved. Not from pity, but from that little heart humans are supposed to have that is meant to store all the love they can hold.
Nya wasn’t entirely sure when this started happening, but a subconscious part of her drained her system, dedicating her own time to fill her schedule with extracurriculars, work, projects, hobbies, friends and even a few regretful nights out to avoid thinking anymore about it.
Her brother wouldn’t have agreed, but she needed to find her stance. Nya was aware of her brother’s overprotectiveness and maybe it was the rebellious phase slipping in, yet she knew that some nights were too unbearable. She couldn’t help but scratch her hands, slipping out of control and trying to push back the sniffles and watery eyes. The smiles of the portraits in their apartment only taunted her, scoffing at her crumbling beside the oven with the kitchen blaring into her wet face.
It was moments like that where she knew the only option was to lie to her brother’s face and escape to drown her thoughts out and hope to not regret it too much the next morning.
This is how she ended up in a stranger’s house, her head resting against a marbled kitchen cabinet, plonked on the floor and carefully swaying to the blaring music.
“Nya!” The owner of the voice nudged her out of her wallow, pushing and nudging her back to consciousness.
She hummed, abruptly nodding her head. “Lloyds here!” The voice spoke again, that name snatching her attention. Nya peeked up, her eyes latching onto the bright scarlet hair swooped into a ponytail. Skylor, Kai’s ‘girlfriend’, who seemed far too excited to steal Nya away to parties that she wasn’t meant to be at, continued to prod at the girl.
“Lloyd?” Nya furrowed her eyebrows, pushing herself up from the cold tiled flooring.
“Yeah, I thought he went to his Mom’s?” Skylor questioned, grasping Nya’s hand and pulling her through the chaotic crowd only growing bigger in the kitchen.
“He is meant to be at his Mom’s! That’s what he said to Kai at least…” Nya groaned, coming to the realisation that Lloyd had pulled a trick on Kai as well. As annoyed as she was, she still tilted her head up, her eyes skimming for her younger brother.
A sense of relief washed over her as her eyes settled on the blonde boy, grinning from ear to ear as he nodded affirmatively to someone’s chatter. That relief was quickly replaced with annoyance.
“Lloyd!” She shouted, storming faster than Skylor was moving towards him and practically dragging the amber girl alongside her.
The younger boy was swift to look towards the voice calling him, his green eyes widening in fear as he caught Nya’s look of disapproval.
“Nya!” he stammered, chucking a red cup out of his hand towards a tree beside him. However, Nya’s attention was faster than his movement, her eyes squinting at the cup and back towards Lloyd.
“You said you were at Misako’s!” Nya stopped in her path, letting go of Skylor’s hand and pushing her finger into Lloyd’s chest disapprovingly.
“I was!” Lloyd shot his hands up in defence, pleading his case innocently.
“How did you get here?” She slipped her hands on her hips, tutting and pulling a classic scolding face. Nya wasn’t one to scold Lloyd, she was normally praising Lloyd for his rebellious acts (if they weren’t so harmful).
“I could ask you the same question! I know Kai wouldn’t have let you come here if he knew it was a party!” He tried to bite back a smirk, releasing that he had caught Nya.
“Skylor drove me here.” Nya raised an eyebrow, having an advantage in the conversation. Lloyd and Nya were all too aware that just having Skylor there in the act of their ‘crime’, lessened the wrath of Kai when he eventually found out.
“Oh right.” He cursed, furrowing his brows in annoyance and glancing towards Skylor, who was skipping past the crowd back to clammer some more drinks.
“Now let me ask you again, how did you get here?” She repeated, folding her arms and glaring at the boy in front of her. She examined his nervous chuckle, along with a trembling hand rubbing the back of his neck.
“I drove him.” An unfamiliar voice interrupted, leading to Nya and Lloyd both turning their attention to them.
“And who are you?” Nya sparked up, now questioning the person in front of her. A boy, who looked a little older than her, with raven lengthened hair swooped to the side that slightly hid his bushy eyebrows, was the culprit. His hands were stuffed in his black hoodie, which hardly concealed his broad shoulders.
“You look like you're 25.” Nya glared, her hand snatching onto Lloyd and bringing him closer into her grasp.
“Was that meant to be an insult? I’m 19.” He informed her, tilting his head to the side playfully.
“What are you doing with a 16-year-old?” Nya formed a disgusted look, pushing Lloyd behind her defensively, readying to attack this stranger.
“I’m 17! And he trains under Sensei.” Lloyd peeked over Nya’s shoulders.
“What are you doing with a 17-year-old at a party?” Nya spoke more firmly now, emphasising the last part of her question, still clutching tightly onto Lloyd.
“I caught the pipsqueak walking down the street and offered him a lift, that’s all. I swear! I just didn’t want him walking down the street in the dark, alone.” The black-haired boy lifted his arms playfully, causing Nya to falter slightly and loosen her grip on Lloyd.
“Plus, Zane and Jay were with us too.” He added, the boy turned his attention towards a swarm of people coming from the living room.
“Who’s-”
“Right, Nya hasn’t been introduced to the others. This is Cole.” Lloyd interrupted, patting Nya’s shoulder and pointing towards the black-haired boy, who lowered his arms and slipped out a light-hearted laugh.
“I know who-” Nya rolled her eyes before being interrupted once again.
“That’s-” Lloyd swiftly pointed towards the two heading towards them.
“Zane, I know.” Nya blurted out, shaking her hand towards Lloyd and giving a soft smile at the familiar face in front of her.
“Hello, Nya.” Zane nodded towards Nya.
“Hey Zane, how’s Pix?” Nya allowed herself to drop her rising anxiety.
“She’s doing good.” He smiled softly, allowing his calming presence to contrast the burst of exhilaration. “Will you be coming down to the Monastery with Kai soon?” Zane inquired, inching towards her for an answer.
“Perhaps.” She allowed a cheeky smirk to dance across her lips, knowing fully that whenever she visited the Monastery, it was filled with training and bundles of laughter from herself and the ones she loved.
“You train under Master Wu too?” Another unfamiliar voice came from behind Zane.
“Yeah.” Nya slowly pushed herself onto her tiptoes, trying to get a full look at the boy, still hiding slightly behind Zane.
“Same!” The boy chirped, grinning widely. “By any chance, do you like the colour blue?”
“It’s my favourite colour.” She softly answered, allowing her feet to hit the ground flatly and reciprocating with a gentle smile. She caught sight of the boy, his auburn hair slightly combed to a side with a slit in his eyebrow accompanying the casual look of a hoodie and jeans.
Nya identified the man as Jay, being the only other name flying from Cole’s mouth that she hadn’t recognised.
“We’ve already got so much in common!” Jay grinned expectantly, clutching his hands like he was hoping for some sort of grand gesture from her.
“Does anyone want something to drink?” Zane pointed towards a hidden table, scattered with a variety of drinks.
“Yes please!” Lloyd jumped up, his blonde hair carving around his face once more comfortably.
“Yeah, thanks, buddy.” Cole patted Zane’s shoulder, giving a warm gesture to his friend before falling into a conversation with Lloyd.
“I’ll help you.” Nya followed Zane, swiftly moving across the crowd of people scattered around the living room, all chanting lyrics to a pop song being blasted.
“Can you believe it? I’ve hit the jackpot.” Jay whispered towards Cole, squeezing his eyes and pushing his fist into the air.
_________
It was nearly midnight. Only an hour away. Nya had yet to find Skylor amongst the jam-packed rooms. Yet, she wasn’t in much of a rush to head back; Kai was most likely still at the blacksmith shop (and staying overnight, she assumed). It was more of the fact that Lloyd was here and even though she kept a good distance next to him, she still wasn’t feeling comforted enough.
Her heart still sank watching him.
So here she was.
She found her way down to the pool at the back of the house and idly watched as the amount of people slowly disappeared, the noise steeping to an all time low.
Nya dipped her feet in the pool, letting the lukewarm water flow beneath her feet. Her shoes and socks were tucked to her side, along with her leather jacket dumped on top of them. She couldn’t help but let a sigh slip from her lips, peering into the depth of the pool and desperately trying to drown out the dying down mix of music and chatter.
“Are you alright?”
It was Jay. The auburn-haired, scrawny boy.
“Yeah. I just like to feel the water.” Her hands clawed at the marble flooring, keeping her as still as if she was turned to stone.
“Does it make you feel more connected?” Jay questioned, folding his legs and shifting comfortably to sit next to her.
“Sort of.” She hummed, almost falling into a trance as the waves slowly drifted amongst in a melancholic rhythm.
“I get it. I enjoy storms because they make me feel more connected to my element.”
“Your what?” She retorted, snapping herself out of that trance and turning to him with a bewildered look.
“Element?” Jay creased his eyebrows, trying to read Nya’s confused expression. “Sensei hasn’t told you.” His blued eyes widened in fear as the words of realisation slipped into his mind.
“Hasn’t told me what?” She scoffed, kicking her foot and feeling the water splash into a bundle of small waves.
“I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but if you’re training under Sensei, it’s only a matter of time till you find out.” Jay stole a deep breath of air, rethinking his choices for that split second before turning back to face Nya and her dazed expression.
“What are you talking about?” She abruptly shook her head, trying to defy whatever he was mumbling about.
“Just watch my hand.” He raised his eyebrows, locking eye contact with her, before he adjusted his vision down to his palm, making her follow his view. She hummed in appreciation as she watched his palm slowly begin to spark and spit with tiny bounces of light.
“Wow.” She mumbled under her breath, inching closer towards him. Her eyes were latched onto his palm and his eyes were focused on her look of wonder. Swiftly moving her hands to hold onto his, she allowed her lips to part slightly, letting her breath hitch from the shock of what she was witnessing.
“Pretty cool huh?” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with a free hand, his eyes remaining locked onto her.
“It’s amazing.”
“It is.”
“You’ve got a gift.” She whispered, her eyebrows scrunching in a saddening state.
Yet, he was far too focused on her hair slipping from her sides to answer, shaking the bolts off his hands and inching his hand close to her face.
She beat him to it, sweeping her loose strands behind her ear whilst her eyes were locked on his, searching for some sort of answer to a question she didn’t even know. He stifles a chuckle, flickering back to her cocoa-coloured eyes of adoration.
Simultaneously, the two followed through with a scoff of laughter slipping through, never failing to inch closer to the other.
“You’re pretty cool,” Jay murmured, his sparked eyes locking with her rosy lips.
“Thanks.” Her brightening eyes traced over his facial features, almost as if he was drawing her face into his long-term memory.
“I think you’re pretty too.”
“Really?”
“Yea-”
His words slipped from his reach as her fingers traced the bumps on his hands from constantly writing down jumbles of words.
Her eyelashes fluttered delicately and she couldn’t help but lean in close towards the star-struck boy, to try and feel the electricity buzzing from inside him.
Her cherry lips filled the distance between the two. As Jay inched closer, leaning into their delicate kiss, Nya found herself shivering as she deepened their connection.
Within a few seconds, she pulled herself back, gasping gently for air. Jay’s frenzied eyes scanned her face, picking up on her sweet dimples showing and her lipstick smudging against the bottom of her lip. Her chest was carefully oscillating and she couldn’t help but lick her lips and stir from the whisper of the wind, causing the reality of her actions to daunt on her.
She hoped Lloyd hadn’t seen that.
Even in Jay’s distracted state, his lightning eyes couldn’t help but make note of the pink tint colouring Nya’s cheeks.
Maybe she didn’t have to drown herself in solitude. Perhaps there were other people out there who could see her, who could love a part of her, no matter how she hard she believes she is inferior.
Maybe she’ll give it a shot.
“Do you want to hang out sometime?”
“Yeah, yeah! Whenever!” Jay stammered, slipping slightly as he tried to follow her up at a quick pace.
“Okay.” She leaned backwards, placing her hands on either side of her to push herself up from the marbled flooring.
“Can I have your number?”
“Yeah, of course.” His hand rummaged through his pockets, whilst he incoherently cursed himself for looking ‘lame’ in front of her. A gasp of relief escaped his lips as he fumbled with his phone, passing it onto her.
“Perfect. I’ll message you.” She tucked a hair strand behind her ear once again, displaying her divine water shaped earrings and tilted her head softly to her left.
“Great!” Jay slipped lightly, his body shaking nervously from the built-up adrenaline rushing through his veins. As his eyes were latched on her body disappearing from his view, Cole and Zane managed to slip behind Jay.
“Holy crap Jay.”
“I just flirted with the hottest girl ever.”
“You ‘just flirted’ with the Water Elemental, the Fire Elemental’s younger sister.” Zane’s monotone voice only pushed the reality of what Jay had just done further into his mind.
“Oh shi-”