Otherworld Avatar

Lily had always enjoyed sleeping when it rained outside, like most people, and under normal circumstances, she would have fallen asleep quickly. But there was no normalcy in her new life just yet. Maybe it was the thought of tomorrow's excitement, or maybe it was her new body, but in any case, she couldn't sleep. The butterflies in her stomach certainly didn't help. There's no denying it anymore. I fell in love with the first girl I met. There's a cliche for you. But she's so pretty and funny, not to mention adorable when she's embarrassed. I wouldn't think that someone as confident as her gets embarrassed so easily, but it's happened often since we met. Is she falling for me like I fell for her? Lily gave it some thought and decided that can't be it. Must be because of what I am. This Stella was certainly one of her heroes, and now after a millennium, a new Avatar of Dahlia shows up. One minute she is a captive facing what amounts to slavery, and the next she is being rescued by a hero from legend. Not to mention the whole Soul Link thing. No wonder she is getting flustered so easily. Well, all the more reason to proceed carefully. Not very heroic of me to take advantage of her when she is in so much emotional turmoil. But it isn't easy, Lily thought as an image of Mia in her black kimono flashed in her mind. By Dahlia, it isn't easy.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the fierce rumbling of the thunderstorm, as another bolt illuminated the night's sky outside. The rain seemed to intensify as well, the rhythmic sound of raindrops breaking up on the glass window getting louder. One sharp crack followed another, and Lily hoped that the storm would pass by dawn. As if in response to her prayer, more rumbling came from outside, but this time there was another, fainter sound coming from somewhere else.

Lily put her gifts to use, and quickly realized that she could hear faint sobs which grew louder and louder. They were coming from Mia's room, and Lily's heart sank when she realized who they must belong to. Did I do something wrong? Should I apologize? She had no clue what to do, but as the sobbing grew louder so did the pain in her heart until she could beat it no more. I should talk to her, Lily decided and gently knocked on Mia's door. "Yes?" came a meek response. "Are you okay? I thought I heard you cry," Lily said softly. " I really am useless, I even managed to wake you up," Mia responded through tears, and Lily realized she had to act. "I am coming in," she said, and stepped through the door. Inside, she could see that Mia was curled up at the top of the bed, hands covering her face, as tears streamed down.

"What's wrong," Lily asked as she sat down on the bed beside her. "I am scared, I am really scared," Mia replied. "I tried to be brave, I really did, I thought everything would be fine once I got home, but it isn't." She was sobbing uncontrollably now, and Lily put an arm around her, holding her tightly. That seemed to calm her down a little, but the tears kept coming.

"I thought being home would make me feel safe, but as soon as you left me alone and I heard the thunder outside, the bad memories came back. Being ambushed, the kidnapping and then your fight with the thug, it was all real again," she continued. "I've always tried to be strong, to not show any weakness, like my mother taught me, but look at me now, so weak and pathetic."

She removed one trembling hand from her face, stretching it out in front of Lily. "I can't even make a single spark, that's how afraid I am," Mia cried out, holding her hand in front of the taller girl's face. Her fingers contracted, but nothing happened, and Mia let her arm fall limp beside her. "See, and I am supposed to be a Lightning mage in an Avatar's party. Couldn't even light a fire, let alone kill a monster. The only lesson I ever remember mother teaching me is that people like me can never show that they are weak or scared, because if they do, the world will eat them. But that's all I am, weak, useless and scared." The rivers of tears kept flowing, soaking her kimono wet. Lily grabbed the smaller girl in a hug from behind, and started wiping away her tears.

"It's okay, you are gonna be okay, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise," Lily spoke gently as she embraced Mia.

"It's okay to be scared. I get scared too, you know. I was scared when I fought that thug, and I am scared now. Scared that I will let everyone down and fail to save the world, that I will be too weak. But I read once that you can only be brave when you are scared, and you've been so brave since we met."

"You really think so?"

"I know so. You saved us both when you took that hit for me, despite knowing how much it would hurt. Then you got us home safe and sound, despite being injured."

She gently turned Mia around, so they were face to face. The smaller girl was calming down, eyes still full of tears but no longer sobbing uncontrollably.

"You told me that I need to get used to my status. Well, here's an order for you, straight from an Avatar," Lily said sternly, and Mia's eyes lit up. "I don't want to hear you call yourself weak or useless ever again, is that clear?"

"Yes,ma'am," Mia replied sheepishly, and Lily embraced her into a proper hug this time. "That's better. It's okay to cry, you know, brave girls cry too," she said, patting Mia on the head. That broke open the floodgates again. They stayed in the embrace for a long time, until Mia cried herself to sleep in Lily's arms. Lily put her down gently and laid beside the sleeping beauty. She couldn't let the poor girl wake up alone and scared tomorrow, so she decided to sleep beside her for the night. She turned the light off and drifted to sleep beside the dreaming Mia, who remained fast asleep despite the raging storm outside.