[Open] Food Run: Interrupted

[Narye Matsuya]

There was this incredible urge within Narye to chastise Terra for being out so late in the city alone, save for her feline friend. Obviously that urge had already made its presence known, tempered by Narye's more tactful sensibilities. That part of him, the fatherly part of him, just thought it was beyond irresponsible for such an assuming and pretty girl to be out and about so late in the evening. Of course, a second part of Narye, the non-fatherly part of him, was trying to rein back his concern now that he knew that the girl was an experienced Bender. But still...

Despite whatever was going through his head, including the urge to just take her hand and take her back to her parents, Narye contained himself and let Terra speak up for herself. She was at least old enough to answer for her own actions, and hearing her out was the least Narye could do.

Terra's indignant response and tone of voice was only to be expected. Narye had no illusions that she would just be fine with answering to him after his mild interrogation. She was a teenaged girl after all.

Her explanation did not exactly answer his question, not directly anyway. But the response she did give was enough for Narye to extrapolate the answer he was looking for anyway. The more she spoke, the more Narye's expression changed from one of parental concern to a gentler, more understanding smile. When she finished, there was a moment of silence where he just looked at her. Freeing up a hand, he placed it on Terra's unhurt shoulder as a sign of reassurance.

"... I understand, Terra..."

He leaned-in a little closer.

"My wife used to say almost the exact same thing when I first started sneaking her out of her mansion at night."

Straightening back up, he sighed at that little nostalgic thought before looking back down at Terra. The young girl definitely reminded him of Yumi when he first met her. He thought the exact same thing too. That it would be awesome to come from such a rich and powerful family, if only for the material possessions. But Yumi said exactly what Terra was reiterating. That it was suffocating, and she felt trapped. That's why she so enjoyed sneaking out of the mansion with Narye at night.

[Inahku Yuzuki]

Terra was mildly surprised that Narye hadn't just grabbed her by the arm and taken her to the ferry that would take her the rest of the way back to Air Temple Island straight away. She wouldn't have blamed him if he had done it. She knew she was far too young to be out wandering the streets of the city on her own at night, no matter how good a bender she may be.

Okay, so technically, she wasn't really alone since she had Shia with her for protection, but still... There was only so much the small feline could do in a dire situation, even if it had gotten Terra out of some tight spots in the past.

The young girl listened quietly as Narye told her a little about his wife and how the two of them would sneak away from the mansion where she lived, and when he was done talking, Terra turned her head to face him and spoke.

"That sounds so romantic" her voice was soft, and while her face displayed no such thing, she could feel just the slightest hint of sorrow caused by the fact that she would most likely never get to experience something like that. Then again, her father had gone against tradition and married one of the Kyoshi warriors which was against all traditions. The heir to the throne was supposed to be a part of a marriage that would benefit the entire Earth Kingdom, and not just one individual.

"Look, I'm sorry about my little rant before. It's just that all my life, people have been expecting me to take over after my father as ruler of the Earth Kingdom, but... I'm not sure I can do that" she said. The panic that had been rising in her voice as she spoke dwindled off when the last part came.

After this small confession, Terra suddenly found the ground beneath her feet very interesting and she said nothing for a long while.

[Narye Matsuya]

"Yeeaah. I guess it was kind of romantic..."

Narye spoke with a dreamy tone in his voice, then looked away with a nostalgic look on his face. Then it turned into a look of mild concern.

"Except that one time her mother tried strangling me after she caught us..."

His statement was no exaggeration. His mother-in-law had always hated his guts since the moment he "stole her daughter's innocence," as she would say. That night was the first time she had found out about their relationship, since Yumi had hidden it from her parents up until then. Now admittedly, her mother was not nearly strong enough to actually choke Narye, but it did give him a good scare until her father tore them apart. Thankfully, Yumi's father was much more accepting of the two of them being together.

His trip down memory lane nearly caused him to miss Terra's own tale of her background. He listened quietly to her, letting the girl express herself. Then it hit him. "Ruler of the Earth Kingdom"? That meant that this girl was a princess(?) or whatever the equivalent was nowadays. Narye's own teachings on the history of the Earth Kingdom proved to be of practical use as he remembered the set-up of the Earth Kingdom royalty. He hid his shock and surprise from Terra, knowing that a sudden outburst would only make the poor girl feel worse.

So without saying anything, Narye took Terra by the hand, still holding his groceries in the other, and continued to lead her on to the healer. He did not force her, and tried to be as gentle as possible. The girl only wanted to be away from pressure, and maybe he could help that.

"Terra, is there anything you would like to do after we see the healer, and I drop off my food? My treat."

He looked down at the girl with a smile. Just as he would've smiled at his own daughter.