Once again, he found himself staring at his ceiling. Just a few more days and his birthday would come around. What would happen to Liu then? Would she just leave? Would she stay with him? For now he decided to leave those questions unanswered, whether he liked it or not.

  Liu was once again in the kitchen, making the same breakfast, it seemed to be her specialty and also the only thing she knew how to cook.

  The apartment seemed emptier than before, perhaps it was just his imagination, but he could not let go of the feeling, it gnawed at him constantly ever since the previous day. Because he did not find her in the apartment when he woke up? Because he found her so late in the evening?

  He didn’t know, but he knew that it was an unpleasant feeling, a feeling he would have to learn to accept.

  Liu didn’t seem to pay him any mind as he sat on the bed, gazing at her, a sense of longing in his heart. So much time had passed since they last saw each other, so little since they reunited, it all felt so surreal to Aang, as if it wasn’t real, as if it was all a dream he would wake up from in a cold sweat, surrounded by the mess in his room.

  Once again, he was not wearing a shirt, only his pants. He grabbed the next outfit, put on some perfume and deodorant and headed to the kitchen.

  “Good morning.”

  “Ah! Good morning!” She replied excitedly.

  “Sorry for last night, I didn’t know where you were so I just went to the festival hoping to find you there.

  “It’s okay, don’t worry, I’m sorry for showing up so late.”

  “It’s ok, don’t worry.”

  And silence set once again. Aang waited for her to be done with cooking, ever since she came back, Aang was starving every time he woke up.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  After eating, Aang interrupted the silence that had come over them.

  “Should we go out today as well?”

  “Hmm… no, let’s not go out today.”

  Aang was surprised and he didn’t hesitate to show it. “Why not? Shouldn’t we celebrate the Willows? I even got dressed!” He scolded her jokingly, but she replied in a serious tone.

  “Not today, today I want to stay in, I’m not in the mood to go out.”

  “That’s ok! What do you want to do?”

  “I want to reminisce.”

  “Really?” Aang laughed slightly. “About?”

  “I don’t know, truthfully, I just want to talk more with you, even though I’ve been here for a few days, we still haven’t had any meaningful conversations.”

  “Hmm… I think every conversation we have is meaningful!”

  “You know that's not what I mean. I mean how other people do when they haven’t seen each other in a while, how they talk about what they used to do way back when you know?”

  “Yeah, I know.” Aang replied in a nostalgic tone. “What should we talk about?”

  “I don’t know…”

  “...”

  “Do you remember when we first ate those strange hot dogs?”

  Aang chuckled. “Yeah, I do, I was amazed at how good they tasted and how strange they were.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you remember when we first caught fish at Miss Kwan’s stand?”

  “Yeah, I still remember you caught one on your first try!”

  Aang chuckled as he replied. “And none since!”

  They both laughed for a while, they had so many memories to talk about yet it seemed pointless to do so.

  Then, as if a storm suddenly burst through the windows, she brought up the incident from 5 years before.

  “You know… that day… it wasn’t your fault… you did everything you could.”

  “I…I should have done more.”