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Avatar Crossroads: Winter: Part 2 Chapter 33

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Chapter 33:
Akira Family Secrets

We found ourselves kneeling, facing a shrine. My mother and father were right beside me, both praying for my sister’s return. Instead of our usual get-together, we had come to a special service at one of the spirit temples in the tribe. It was a long building, like a bottle, opening up at the top, where we could see the bright lights in the sky. My entire northern family was here… and Kana was helping to preside over the ceremony. We each held a candle in our hands.
“We ask that the spirit of the Ocean smile upon Aimee, and return her to us, we solemnly pledge.” The pastor continued.
“We solemnly pledge.” We all repeated. I was surprised to see that even my cousin Lufi was being well behaved, right beside his mom.
There were also other groups here who weren’t related to Aimee, Sifo was beside my dad, my friends were awkwardly in the back, not knowing the actual customs. Serena was seated close to them, apparently she and Manu had broken up.
Regardless, Serena was invited because she was a friend of Aimee’s.
“We ask that the spirit of the Moon smile upon her, and return her to us, we solemnly pledge.”
“We solemnly pledge.” For ceremonies like this, we even asked that other spirits return her… I didn’t know whether I believed spirits would actually help Aimee… but it was worth asking. My mother begrudgingly agreed to do this, not liking spirits in the least.
Spirits could go anywhere, but they never answered to humans… there were rumors that spirits did have leaders in the spirit world, but it was all talk. Any of the creatures I had noticed around the town were simply small animal spirits, adorable if anything.
“We solemnly pledge.” We repeated once more. I looked to the side, eying my dad as he held mom’s hand… I wondered if they had done anything like this when we ran away.
The ceremony continued for another hour, until we were finally outside… talking in the cold.
“That was a beautiful service,” Kana smiled while the pastor nodded.
“Anything for your family, Kana.” The man walked off, “I hope for the best for Aimee.” Aria crossed her arms, sighing.
“I doubt the spirits will do a thing.” I turned. “I went to the spirit world… they just spent time chasing each other or trying to kill me.” Minami smirked.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to be a downer anymore.” Aria shrugged. I turned.
“Its a water tribe tradition to hold these ceremonies if someone’s missing or recently died… if they’re dead, it’s praying that their souls find their loved ones, and if they’re missing, it’s”-
“It’s them finding their loved ones.” Aria replied, I nodded. My mother and father stepped by us, eying my friends again, awkwardly. Tooru eyed me, before looking to my parents, referring to the others.
“Sorry we didn’t really do much”-
“I’m happy you guys came,” my dad replied, “I don’t care if you don’t know how to do it… Aimee would be touched.” Sirisha simply nodded, looking down.
“How are you holding up, Mrs. Akira?” Minami then asked.
“I’m fine Minami.” Minami pouted.

SERENA POV

It was a nice service, I had to admit… I really hoped Aimee was alright, wherever she was. To my side I noticed Manu standing there, eying me.
”Um…” he began, I turned, “Thanks for coming.” I nodded.
“Aimee’s my friend too, she’d probably do it for me.” Manu smiled.
“Yeah… she can form fast friendships.” Things between us has been tense ever since I broke things off…
“So er…” I replied, “You gotten back into dating… or something?”
“Oh, no.” Manu then replied, “There’s a girl at my work that’s been giving me the eye, but… besides from that, nothing, you?”
“I’m not dating.” I replied, “its… good.”
“Yeah…” Manu sighed, about to say something when his mother came in from the side, looking to him.
“Manu, we need to get going,” Maka paused, noticing me.
“Hello Maka…”
“Serena,” she nodded. Looking back to Manu. “I thought you two broke up”- Hearing that stung, Manu frowned.
“Mom, we can still be friends.”
“Right,” She frowned at that, eying me. It was then she looked to the side, eying Manu, “Your dad and siblings are waiting at the car,”
“Alright,” Manu replied, walking away, leaving us alone… I eyed her with a scowl.
“I thought you’d be happy.”
“Hm?”
“I broke up with him, probably broke his heart… yet you still hate me.”
“As happy as I am that you’re not seeing each other, you being around is making it difficult for him to move on.” I looked away at that, “You shouldn’t be here”-
“Aimee is my friend”-
“But she’s my family, and not yours.”
“Sifo’s here and you’re not pulling that on him.” Maka frowned at that.
“If I could convince my mother that this is a family only ceremony, I would in a heartbeat… sadly she doesn’t listen to me.”
“That’s why I love your mom.” It was odd… I still hated Maka, even though things between Manu and I were over.
Well… for the most part.
Kana was helping me through it, inviting me over once in a while… she was like the grandmother I never had.
“Mark my words, this friends business isn’t going to last.” I smiled slightly at that,
“Just like how it didn’t last between you and Sifo?” Maka paused at that,
“How much do you know?”
“Enough…” Maka frowned at that, beginning to walk away. “I feel really sorry for Malena.” She kept walking.

THE NEXT DAY
MIKA POV

My dad was now assisting with Sifo in training us, the room was becoming more crowded as Tooru was awkwardly sitting in the back while Sifo and my dad were assisting Malena and myself. It was odd seeing my father teach again, though it seemed calming on him.
“You need a steady stance,” He replied, while I frowned, “Arms up, knees bent.”
“I’m trying”-
“You’re shaking.” He criticized me. I scowled, trying to copy his stance. Tooru smiled.
“I’m sure you’ll get it Mika!” My dad turned.
“No distractions Morita!”
“Sorry sir!” My dad had easily figured out that Tooru liked me. I think he approved… hopefully. As usual Malena was excelling, as Sifo simply gave her small comments on her form. I felt a little jealous, as Sifo wasn’t as overbearing as my dad.
Then again he wasn’t going through the nightmare of his daughter being captured.
“Good speed,” My dad replied, “But it needs to be faster, more fluid.”
“Yes sir!” I cringed, the thing was my dad had never really trained me before… I would just learn from example when he was teaching other students (which was sometimes overbearing). My dad stopped for a moment, sighing.
“You’re tense,” I paused, “How about you take a break.” I nodded, before looking to see Serena and Sifo finish.
“Good technique,” He replied, “I think that’s all for today.” We nodded, while Tooru frowned.
“Aw… I thought I’d get to see some dueling.” Kaleb turned at that, curiously, while Sifo sighed.
“Usually when our students are struggling, we sometimes have them duel to try and figure out creative responses.” I frowned.
“No thanks Tooru… I’m beat.” My friend pouted at that, while Kaleb shrugged.
“We don’t do anything like that at my academy.” Sifo shrugged.
“Well, you must have missed out then.” He smiled, to which my dad grinned. He and his best friend had a sort of soft-core rivalry, I had never actually seen either of them fighting anyone before. Malena smiled.
“Fight, fight, fight!” My dad was surprised at that, while I shrugged.
“I wouldn’t mind watching two pros go at it.” Sifo smiled at that.
“Sure, why not… you game Kaleb?” My dad frowned.
“Well… alright a few minutes.”

It seemed like a blur, seeing them face each other aside the pool. Malena and Tooru were beside me as we were watching.
“Yeah, go Mr. Akira!” Tooru smiled, while Sifo eyed him.
“Remember who allows you to be here.”
“…” Tooru nodded, “Right up… Doctor Werrick!” Malena then crossed her arms, smiling.
“I always wanted to see Sifo fight… how about you?”
“It is a nice change, I’ll admit.”
It was then the fighting began, as my dad swiftly pulled up three pieces globs fo water from the pool and swiftly punched them forward, breathing at the same moment. My eyes widened, watching as the pieces turned straight into icicles as they went after Sifo.
Sifo created a water tendril, absorbing two of the icicles before catching the third and swiftly firing it forward. MY dad took that moment to pull his arms apart, the icicle blew open, turning into an icy mist. He then took a quick turn to slash his hand upwards, a sharp stream of water erupted forward, etching towards Sifo, as the man pulled his hands up to raise water and catch the stream, and then swiftly push it forward with a kick.
They were both really skilled, though I was leaning on my dad’s side. I never got to see him fight at home because he was the best waterbender in town… we always wanted him to fight mom, but he’d never forgive himself if he hurt her (really he’s just a wuss because she’d kick his ass).
“Woah!” Tooru replied, “They’re pretty awesome.” I nodded.
“Of course they are… they studied this for years.” Sifo was firing a percussive blast of icy chunks while Kaleb was avoiding and catching them. It was around now I was slowly realizing that my dad was a badass.
Kaleb was quick to fire more water forward, while sifo retreated behind a wall of ice, it was then he began shooting chunks of it towards Kaleb. Finally they both shot a blast of water towards eachother at the same time.
The fight had lasted maybe three minutes and they were both on the ground soaked… and laughing their asses off… my dad really needed this. The three of us were cheering, when to my side I noticed the door opening with Serena stepping in, frowning.
“Malena, your mother’s here,” my cousin turned, surprised, “Sifo she… need to see you in your office.” We all turned at that.

FIVE MINUTES LATER
MALENA POV

“You’re pulling me out of school?” I immediately asked, Sifo was sitting in his desk while my mother sat across from him in a chair, I was standing there while my uncle Kaleb was right beside Sifo. Mika and her friend were outside the room. My mother sighed.
“Your father and I talked over this last night, and we’ve decided that the situation in the city is getting so bad… we should postpone your education here.”
“But dad was all for it!”
“Dad’s changed his mind”-
“Only because you convinced him to”-
“Malena don’t be a child, it’s not forever, I’m just not comfortable with you being away from home when the city’s like this.” It didn’t help she didn’t allow me to help with Crest’s task force, talking to him in person, but now this?
“Maka,” my uncle Kaleb replied, “This seems all a bit sudden”-
“We’ve made our choice Kaleb, it’s not your place to question it.” For some odd reason, Sifo was completely silent. “What happened to Aimee has frankly scared us, and you should support us on this.” Kaleb frowned.
“I would, but Malena has family here, the reason I’m allowing Mika to continue is because I can protect her.”
“Right,” Maka rolled her eyes, “You’re intending to keep her out of harms way by putting her in harms way.” Kaleb scowled at that, “I for one am not taking that risk with Malena”-
“I’m right here!” I replied, “I can make my own decisions, I’m not a kid!”
“As long as you live under my house, and my rules, your father and I are responsible for you.” I frowned at that... I felt so angry, my mom was doing this again.
“Sifo, say something!” I then replied, “You know she’s wrong!”
“My hands are tied Malena,” the man frowned, “If your mother wishes to pull you out, I can’t argue that.” The man looked away, sighing, “I’m sorry.” Maka sighed at that.
“Malena, I’m doing this to protect you, I don’t have this problem with Manu and Makario because”-
“Because Manu works close to home, and Makario doesn’t leave his room, I remember.” We have had this argument so many times I had memorized her excuse word for word. Kaleb sighed.
“Alright then… you have all right to take her out,” he then replied, my mom nodded, “When the situation in this city is averted, will she be put back in?” Maka sighed, telling me everything.
“I’d rather have her be taught by a private tutor inside the city.”-
“But I”-
“No buts.” I cringed at that, “All this madness about the white lotus and the government have put a sour taste in my mouth over public education.” Kaleb scowled at that.
“Are you for real… I’m your brother!”
“But your school is in the republic, you’re not in this system… you’re a temp.” my uncle cringed at those words. “Now we’re gonna go, and I don’t want to hear any more about this bending academy.” She then replied, grabbing my hand, I shook.
“But you can’t”-
“We’re leaving, Malena.” She pulled at me, while Sifo sighed.
“Malena, go with your mother, if she thinks this is best then… you’ll have to trust her.” He then stated, I paused at that, slowly giving in, while my mother smiled.
“Thank you, Werrick.” My uncle Kaleb then scowled.
“This isn’t over Maka.”
“I think it is…” my mom replied, “See you around Kaleb.” WE left the office.

SIFO POV

My best friend cringed at what he just saw.
“What the hell!?” I sighed, “She can’t just do that.”
“She can, actually…” I sighed, “She is still Malena’s legal guardian until she leaves her home… If she knows what’s best, then”- Kaleb scowled at that.
“You could have at least acted like you were angry.”
“This is Maka we’re talking about,” I replied, “I do so much as raise my voice at her and I’m done.” Kaleb sighed, nodding… I couldn’t imagine what he was going through, losing his daughter… and now watching his sister torture me.
“So she’s out then?” I heard Mika ask, she and Tooru entered, obviously hearing everything. I didn’t even bother to reply, her father nodded.
“How much did you hear?”
“Enough…” the seventeen year old girl replied, “What makes Maka think she can do this?”
“My sister has always been a very manipulative person,” my friend replied, eying me for a moment.
“Yeah… but she clearly did this because she’s mad at you, uncle.” The girl eyed me, I sighed, while her father frowned.
“Sifo and Maka have bad history, that’s all I’ll say.”
“Still… that doesn’t mean Maka should take it out on Male!” Tooru quickly nodded.
“Yeah, um… what she said!” Kaleb wiped his head, looking to his daughter and her friend.
“Mika, how about we go see your mom with the firebenders… maybe we can find something to do, eat somewhere.” My friend clearly didn’t want to have this talk. “Your friend can come too.” Tooru swiftly smiled at that. Mika begrudgingly left the room while Kaleb nodded to me, exiting. I frowned, shaking my hands.
First I couldn’t get Aimee back from Maya… and now Maka was pulling this shit. I eyed a coffee mug near me with a scowl, that read “#1 Teach’.” I cringed, before picking it up and immediately throwing it at the nearby wall. It shattered and broke into pieces. Serena entered hearing this, surprised.
“Sir did you…” she eyed the mug, before sighing and picking up the pieces of ceramics and lining them back up on my desk, “I can get this fixed…” I leaned forward, head in my hands. “Is something wrong?”
“…I’ve been doing this for twenty-two years… if it lasts any longer I’m probably going to lose my mind.” Serena sighed at that, before quietly patting me on the back.
“I’m sorry about Maka, I think it might be my fault,” I turned, “I kinda mentioned you last night.” I sighed. “If there’s anything I can do for you…” I frowned, wiping my head.
“Get married to that Menika boy.” Serena raised an eyebrow at that, “I know you two broke up, but… that’ll definitely piss her off.” Serena chuckled slightly.
She understood my humor.

ONE HOUR LATER
MANU POV

“She just pulled you out?” My brother swiftly asked, I frowned.
“It’s stupid, she just did it because she hates Sifo!” We were doing our usual thing of hanging out in Makario’s room since it was the largest bedroom (Makario needed the space for all his weird electronic stuff). My little brother was looking over that wingsuit I heard he was making for Aimee… it was still a bunch of scattered pieces. “Makario, Aimee’s gone!”
“Yeah, but I’m pretty certain she’s alive somewhere and will be back.” He replied, not even paying attention to our discussion. I looked over the pieces, I was surprised how well my brother was with a needle, he was comparing schematics of an air nomad wingsuit, to a picture of the wingsuit on Avatar Korra (she wore a wingsuit for a promotional image) and then a picture of me... “Why is there a picture of me?”
“I need someone with a body type close to Aimee for comparison… when I finish this I’ll need you to try it on.” I frowned at that.
“I’m not doing that.”
“You keep telling yourself that, sis.” Makario replied, I then thought over what he said…
“Body type… you have my measurements!?” I complained.
“You do trust me to handle your dirty laundry, remember.”
“THAT’S!” Manu sighed, patting me on the back.
“Oh calm down, it’s not like Mak’s this creep.” Makario kept working, “Entirely.” I frowned.
“That kid needs to get laid or something, this is ridiculous.” I whispered, Makario kept working.
“I can hear you, you know.” I frowned, “If it makes you feel any better, Aimee got really mad when I said I’d need to make the bust smaller.” I smirked slightly.
“Okay… I do feel a little better.” It was then Manu sighed.
“Can we stop talking about this?” I turned more, “You were talking about mom taking you out of school?”
“It’s just,” I frowned, “You know she just doesn’t want me to be around Uncle Sifo, like he’s a disease or something.” Manu looked away, “What does… she think I might want to become a teacher like him?”
“I doubt that.” I scowled,
“It’s just ridiculous, she should be helping to empower me, and instead she’s trying to limit me.”
“I’m sure mom has her own personal reasons to not let you be around Sifo,” Manu’s tone sounded odd, going over this.
“That’s what I keep hearing, they have bad history!”
“Yeah…” Makario replied, “I guess they do, that would make sense.”
“Make sense?” I turned, Makario kept working while Manu frowned.
“Mak, get back to work”-
“Wait, what are you guys talking about?”
“You honestly don’t notice it?” Makario then asked, “I’ve noticed it since I was five, and”- Manu scowled.
“Not the time Mak”- I eyed my brothers, surprised.
“Noticed what?” Makario paused, before looking away.
“None of my business…” Manu frowned, while I looked to him.
“What’s he talking about?”
“It’s just…” Manu scowled, “You don’t know why mom hates Sifo?”
“Should I? Do you?” Manu said nothing. “Everyone keeps lying to me, refusing to say anything… even you guys?” Manu scowled.
“It’s not our place to say if you don’t know”-
“So even you guys,” I frowned, “Who else knows?” the brothers eyed each other,
“Er… us, mom, Sifo, uncle Kaleb… gran-gran”-
“Does dad know? Or”- I didn’t even know why it was so important they wouldn’t tell me this. They both eyed me as I quickly left the room, to approach our dad… he hadn’t had any work recently because of the attacks.
Luckily he had a lot saved up to support us.
“Malena don’t go to dad about it!” Manu replied, following me as we reached the stairs.
“Why not?”
“Because he doesn’t know, and it’ll just upset him and”-
“I don’t know and it’s upsetting me!” I replied, Manu frowned, “I’m sick of these lies, this crap mom tells us!”
“Well gee Malena that sucks, but she’s our mother and”-
“Why are you still defending her?” I then replied, Manu paused, “She made you and Serena break up.”
“That was Serena’s choice”-
“Because mom’s such a bully!” I replied, “You love her and… you won’t even stand up to mom about it.”
“Male…”
“You know I’m right… she’s the best thing to ever happen to you and you won’t even try to fight to keep her.”
“You don’t understand, it’s”-
“Complicated?” I shook. “Why is everything so complicated?” I shook, “Whatever happened to honesty, to telling the truth?” I shook, “Instead we… we work so hard to outsmart it, to avoid it that we forget what it actually is.”
“…” I frowned, while he looked away.
“You love her… and she loves you, that’s all that actually matters. She might have broken up with you, but if you don’t ever stand up to mom, you’ll never be together and you’ll never be happy.” Manu looked away at that, breathing slowly, “That’s the truth and you know it.”
“Go see Gran-gran.” He then replied, I turned, “Tell her I sent you… she’ll tell you everything.” He gave in, I stared at him… confused, a lot by the conviction in how he talked.
This was a big deal… wasn’t it?
“What about you?”
“I’m gonna do what you said, give them the truth” he replied,
“Them?”
“Dad deserves it too… but I don’t want you to hear it from me.” He pulled me in for a quick hug, I paused.
“Bro…”
“I love you sis… thank you.” I pulled away, eying him, before looking away. I made it down the stairs to see my parents sitting together, watching Viktor Khan on the television. My dad smiled towards me, while my mother eyed me.
“Malena, you’re okay… right?” She then asked, I didn’t know if she even cared. I left the room, exiting the house. My father quickly followed me, confused by my behavior. “Malena?” I frowned, eying him.
“I was just… going to Gran-Gran’s…” Meme raised an eyebrow, before sighing.
“I’m sorry we took you out of Sifo’s class… your mother seemed worried and she made a lot of sense.”
“No I understand,” I lied, “What she says goes.”
“To be honest I’m kinda disappointed to,” the lawyer then added, “He taught you really well.” I smiled at that, quickly hugging him for some reason other than I wanted to, “Male?”
“In case mom’s right and I’m apparently murdered,” I joked, my dad chuckled slightly, smiling… then I had one random thought on my head. “Oh um… you like Serena, right?” My dad raised an eyebrow, before nodding.
“I thought she was a great girl.”
“Yeah, um…” I looked away, “Manu’s going to have an argument with mom about her… I think you should be on his side.” I just added, my dad paused, “Just thinking out loud.” And like that I turned away, and began to walk.
Manu was treating this secret like it was a big deal… I guess it was time I learned it.

MEANWHILE
MIKA POV

It was weird to have Tooru around my parents, my dad was driving a rental car with my mother sitting upfront. Our intention was to find a decent restaurant in town… though we had difficulties whenever we looked out to see all earth kingdom or firenation establishments being looted. My mother casually noticed this and receded more into the blue fur coat she was wearing. Tooru eyed all of this, surprised.
“Wow… haven’t seen the people this tense since the Lunar-Wolves lost that probending match.” Sirisha turned, eying Tooru.
“You’ve been here before?”
“A few times,” he smiled, “Really like going by the Narook places”-
“Narooks…” my dad muttered, “Haven’t been there in a while,”
“Yeah, though it started in republic city, it’s pretty popular here.”
“…” My mother sighed, “Eh, could be worse.” She never liked water tribe food… didn’t help she was depressed. We cringed as we saw another group of people ransacking a firenation shop… it was ridiculous how bad the poor sections were in town.
It was horrible.
As we went past another place being attacked, I noticed my dad tightening his grip on my mom’s hand.

MEANWHILE

Malena paused at the door, finding her fingers fidgeting. She felt nervous, unsure of what the hell she was going to learn. Finally she straightened up and knocked at the door. Her grandmother’s voice replied roughly ten seconds after the knocking.
“Be right there!” Malena nodded, sighing before looking to see the door opening with her grandmother smiling. “It’s so good to see you again Si”- Kana paused, her steely blue eyes eying her grand-daughter by surprise. “Malena?”
“Hey… gran gran.” Malena replied, “I wanted to talk to you, about something.” The grandmother slowly nodded, “Is it alright if I come in?”
“Of course,” the old woman replied… she likely had an inkling of what this was about. Malena stepped into the room, following her grandmother entering the living room. “Would you like some tea?” she then asked, Malena shook her head, the woman sighed, “Your grandfather was like that… only thing he liked in the morning was black coffee…” Malena sighed.
She never really knew her grandfather well, he died when she was young, maybe ten… but he seemed nice, in his later years. “I always tried to get him to try new things, but that man was resilient, wouldn’t let anyone tell him what to do, even his wife.” The girl nodded.
“Gran, I…” she sighed, “I didn’t come here to talk about Grandfather Alok.”
“…” Kana sighed, “It’s about your mother, isn’t it?” Malena stared up.
“How’d you know?”
“I might be old, but I can tell when my daughter is in conflict… especially with her own brother.” The girl sighed. “Manu has every right to want to get away.”
“I’ve been asking people in our family about it, about why my mom’s the way she is… why she’s so protective of me, why she doesn’t want me to learn actual waterbending, why she hates Sifo…”
“Your mother has a history with Sifo”-
“That’s what everyone tells me, but that’s it!” the girl complained, “I just want answers but nobody will even look me in the eye… not even my mom, she just keeps telling me it’s ‘none of my business’”
“Malena…”
“I’m twenty-two years old, I’m not a child, and I don’t need my mother sheltering me like I was born yesterday.” Kana sighed, “I’m sick of this being everyone’s business but mine… it’s not fair.” Kana sighed at that… looking off. “My brother… Manu sent me, saying you’d tell me.”
“Manu?”
“I guess I’m ready for the secret or something.” Her grandmother sighed, looking away.
“So you want the truth then?” The old woman asked, the girl nodded.
“Yes… I really do.”
“Well to explain that… I’m going to need to tell you a story.”
“…” Kana stepped away, pointing towards the collection of photographs on her wall.
“I’m sure you’ve seen these old photographs I keep on my wall.” Kana directed, Malena stood up, eying the wall. It was organized with the older photos on the left, and the newer ones on the right… each had a picture frame. The wall was covered by these photographs. Kana was starting at the left, so Malena started there. “First… we’ll have to go where it all started.”

MALENA POV

My grandmother directed me to one of the first photographs, a picture of a young family. I was surprised to see a younger version of my grandmother, maybe in her twenties, beside a pouty man with a thick mustache… in Kana’s hands was a young child, probably twelve months old, he was sprouting a small head of hair.
“Who is this?” My grand-gran asked.
“You… Grandfather Alok, and uncle Kaleb.” I had seen this black-and-white photograph my whole life. “What’s so special about it?”
“Like I said… this is where I believe our family truly began.” Kana explained, “Your grandfather and I were arranged to each other, we did love each other so it was a good match… the first few years were a little troublesome, and then we had your Uncle Kaleb.” I smiled a little at that, “Your grandfather wanted to stop having kids and just focus on Kaleb since he got his boy… but I managed to persuade him to expand our family.” I turned to the side looking to see a picture of my grandfather holding Kaleb’s hand (he was a toddler, maybe two or three years old), and beside them was my grandmother holding another child… Kana referred to it.
“My mom, Maka.” Kana nodded,
“Notice how I’m smiling,” she grinned, “I was so excited she was a girl.” I nodded, before raising an eyebrow.
“Wait, so if it was a boy you’d be disappointed?” My grandmother paused at that, sighing,
“…I didn’t say that.” She then referred to the next picture, where it was another family picture… this time Kaleb and Maka were both toddlers, with Kanan ranging on around five while my mother was maybe two or three. There was another child on my grandmother’s lap, Feiko.
“Uncle Feiko.”
“A bit of a runt in the litter.” She joked, “Only one to not be a waterbender.” I nodded.
“So what does this have to do with me? With Sifo”
“I’m getting to that”- the woman replied, “Be patient.” She finally directed me through a few other pictures until we came across the first one with the ‘fourth Akira child’. “When your uncle Kaleb was ten years old, I was surprised to see him bringing home his first friend at his school.” I eyed my uncle in the picture, then seeing Sifo beside him… he looked like a bit of a shy boy, like my uncle…
Both introverts, though Sifo was better at hiding it.
“A boy named Sifo Werrick, son of Reiko, the man heading up the academy.” I smiled slightly.
“He looks so cute like this, and not… grizzly.” It was before he could grow facial hair…
“He was your uncle’s best friend, and got along very well with Maka and Feiko.” I nodded, “Alok was first a little annoyed by Sifo coming over again and again, but slowly started to regard him as one of our own.”
“How come he kept coming over?”
“He was rather lonely, his father was never really around and so he took to our family very well.”
“How did his dad think of it?”
“I only met Reiko a few times, and he seemed alright with it… I was honestly a little perplexed why the man would even have a child when he’s so busy.” I nodded, So much about Sifo’s father seemed so secretive, nobody knew anything about him, he just… appeared, out of thin air.
We moved onto the next few pictures, mostly stuff relating to their childhood. Sifo was never in any of the actual ‘family’ photographs, but he was in many of Kaleb’s. We finally settled on when they were fifteen, and my mother was thirteen.
“We had discovered that Kaleb and Maka were waterbenders from an early age, it was actually how Sifo and Kaleb bonded.”
“And poor Feiko was left in the dust.”
“Not entirely… he always liked to go to your uncle’s lessons and watch.”
“What about my mother’s lessons?” Kana sighed at that. “Oh right… healer.”
“Your grandfather was very strict… didn’t like the idea of your mother fighting.”
“Yeah, Uncle Feiko told me that sometimes Sifo and Kaleb would teach her in secret.” Kana smiled at that.
“They were good brothers to Maka, standing up for her.” I smiled, “These pictures might not show it, but… Sifo was actually quite taken with her.” I turned, surprised.
“Really?”
“It was more of a schoolyard crush, but I was certain Maka liked him too. Of course it never really came up when they were young.”
“Hard to believe they hate each other… if at one point they liked each other.” Kana smiled.
“I could remember the looks on Sifo’s face whenever he saw any of the boys Maka dated… he’d get so jealous.” I then turned.
“Why is this important?” My grandmother paused, “You’re… supposed to tell me why they hate each other, not that they had some schoolyard crush.” Kana sighed.
“Let’s move on.” She directed, “When your uncle left to study abroad in the firenation, and meet your Aunt Sirisha, Sifo remained here,” I smiled.
“Yeah… he actually studied in the earth kingdom in an earlier year.”
“He helped us get through the stress of not having Kaleb around… and he wanted nothing in return,” I turned to my grandmother at that, “It was around then, I truly starting thinking of him as one of my own.” Kana smiled,
“And then Uncle Kaleb came back, and then my parents met.” Kana paused, nodding.
“Yes, around here is when Maka met Meme.” She directed me to another photo, showing everyone around the time they became engaged. “I’m fairly certain Feiko mentioned that your grandfather was trying to set up your mother with Sifo.”
“Yeah,” I nodded, “Alok trusted him, and didn’t like dad at first.”
“Sifo and Kaleb helped your mother prove Meme was a good catch.” Everyone looked in cheerful mood, even Sifo. “I was so happy for Maka, that she finally found someone she could have a family with… and then I was even more surprised-” I turned.
“You mean Uncle Kaleb and Aunt Sirisha.” Kana nodded,
“Your uncle had spent the year depressed, and eventually Sifo convinced him to return to the firenation, and bring her home.” I smiled.
It was always such a cute love story…
“You must have been so excited.”
“I was, both of my kids were getting married, sure Alok was pouty over Sirisha, but he eventually got over it.”
That. Was an understatement.
“The thing is, I was so excited, I had completely forgotten about Sifo.” I turned curiously, “He had done so much for Kaleb and Maka… he even accidently had a hand in Feiko meeting your aunt Cecil.”
“Where she proceeded to chop off his finger.” I smiled a bit, it was a hilarious story.
“Like I said… he did so much for our family… I didn’t realize it then, but he became quite depressed.” I frowned at that.
“Poor guy,” I replied… “Probably feeling left behind.” Kana nodded.
“It happened after your parents had Manu, a few months after Aki was born… I didn’t notice it right away, but… Sifo was miserable.” I nodded.
“Why didn’t he ever try getting into dating?”
“…” Kana sighed, “He just… didn’t. It was complicated.” I nodded. “The only woman he ever really knew his age was your mother, honestly he probably should have branched out more.”
“I don’t see you complaining.” Kana smiled.
“You have no idea.” She turned more, “Sifo… eventually got over his depression a few years later, around the time you and your cousin Aimee were born.” I was directed to another picture, seeing my mother holding me… this one was in color. My aunt Sirisha was also there with a grin, holding Aimee.
This was when our ‘rivalry’ began.
“A few years later, your father was excited to learn you were a waterbender, like your mom…”
“And mom didn’t want me to learn to fight.” I then stated.
“It wasn’t learning to fight… it was more a guise… she really didn’t want you to train under Sifo.”
“What?” I turned.
“It was just since Sifo was so close to our family it was assumed you’d learn from him…”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Your mother was always protective of you, especially from him.”
“What, was she afraid he was a molester or something?” Kana sighed at my crass language, “Sorry…”
“You were eventually allowed to learn under him as long as your uncle Kaleb or another teacher monitored it… your mother just span a story about how the floors were slick or something.”
“Something happened before you were born, that… changed how your mother felt about Sifo.”
“…What happened?” My grandmother paused, unsure how to say whatever it was. “What?” I frowned, was she having doubt or something?
“Maybe I shouldn’t say”-
“No,” I shook my head, “You said you’d tell me.”
“Malena”-
“I want the truth,” I then replied, “What happened?”
“…” Kana sighed, looking away, she finally looked at another picture, it was a family picture of me with my brothers… it was from last year, I was in the middle while Makario was on the left and Manu on the right. “Do you… ever wonder why your brothers were nonbenders, and you were the only waterbender?”
“…No,” I frowned, “I just assumed genetics.”
“The thing is, it’s more common when the partners are both waterbenders.”
“Well that might be true, but my mom was a waterbender.”
“And Meme came from a completely nonbending family...” I looked away at that.
“Sure the odds were low, but… I guess I beat them.” Kana simply nodded.
“Look at your faces,” she then replied, “Notice how… your brothers look like your dad, while you don’t look that much alike.”
“Well that’s easy,” I replied, “I resemble mom, I look like Aimee.” I turned, “It’s an Akira trait.” Kana smiled a bit at that.
“But you’d atleast think you’d look a little like your dad.” I looked at the differences, though I could barely notice them.
“What does this have to do with anything?” Kana then looked at another picture, it was of my mother, Kaleb, Feiko and Sifo when they were in their twenties.
“I always find it funny, we call Sifo our ‘fourth Akira’ and he doesn’t look like your mom or her siblings.”
“Why would that be funny?” I then asked, “They’re not related.”
“Well you don’t look like your dad and you’re related to him.”
“…” I couldn’t understand her logic, I looked at the picture of my family again. “Gran, are you… trying to say something?”
“I’ve been trying to say something this whole time you’ve been here.” I turned more, “Everything I’ve mentioned has been important.”
“I guess, but… it still doesn’t tell me why my mom doesn’t trust Sifo… and what I have to do with it.” Kana sighed again, like she was close to giving up. She directed me to a final picture, it was me when I was roughly eight years old, having competed at a city wide competition, I had gotten third place. Sifo was right beside me, smiling for the camera… I barely remembered it. “I consider this one of my most important pictures of Sifo… because you’re in it.” I turned, “What do you see, Malena?” I sighed at the obvious question.
“A teacher and his student” Kana shrugged, simply smiling.
“It’s a lot more than that, whenever I look at it.”
“I don’t understand…” I shake my head, why was my grandmother sentimental of this picture of me with my teacher?
“Look closer.” I eyed the color photo more closely… looking at our faces, I couldn’t explain it… but it made me feel uneasy. All my life, Sifo had been my teacher, and mom hated him, and she didn’t know why.
“Gran-gran… what am I supposed to be seeing?”
“Malena…” I turned.
“What do you see?” Kana sighs, she eyed me tenderly.
“A picture of a father standing with his daughter.” And then my whole world shattered. I noticed the closer similarities… our faces looked a little alike, we had the same hair color.
“What?” I breathed, Kana sighed.
“When your mother married Meme… she and Sifo never truly had closure with whatever love they had… Maka tried to ignore it, while Sifo was depressed… I eventually told him to own up to it… to admit and get over it… what happened next, I didn’t expect.”
“…She felt the same way,” I muttered, “And they had an affair… she was married, and…” I shook, “Tried to hide it, but she was…”
“She was pregnant.”
“With me.”
At first I couldn’t believe it… it was madness, Sifo couldn’t have been my father he just… he couldn’t have been… but then I remembered everything Kana said. It was like perfect clockwork, how everything lined up. There was a reason Maka hated Sifo… she had been lying to me and our family my entire life, to cover up what she did.
Meme had been completely unaware, caring for a daughter that wasn’t his own… and raised her for twenty-two years, never knowing the truth of what my mother did.
I felt sick… like my insides had been crushed… I felt like I was a leech, something that shouldn’t have been here, but was. Tears were falling down my cheeks, as I stared at the photograph. Kana’s hand grasped my shoulder.
“I know how you must feel, but”- I sobbed, immediately stepping away from my grandmother. She tried to grab me again but I was too fast, reaching the door and opening it…
To my shock it was Sifo standing there, confused.
“Malena?” It was right then I ran, past him… away.
I couldn’t dare to look at him… knowing who he was now. He was my father… and now I wished I didn’t know that. I wished what happened between him and my mother never happened. I wished Meme was never lied to, never tricked into loving me. I wished that I could take it all back
…I wished I was never born.

MEANWHILE
MIKA POV

Oddly enough, Tooru really enjoyed dining with my parents… he was actually quite refined and acted nothing like the slob he actually was… I was impressed though a little disappointed by him acting differently.
We stepped out of the diner, with my dad leading when we turned to notice some thugs turning to us…
Eying my mom.
“Hello gentlemen,” My dad replied, trying to get us past them, they ignored my dad.
“You’re firenation,” one replied, “What are you doing here?” Tooru frowned.
“Hey um, we don’t want any trouble we just”-
“Shut up earth boy”-
“Okay!” Tooru replied, while I frowned.
“We were just leaving.” I then replied, they ignored me as they continued eying my mom. My dad sighed, trying to be reasonable.
“Look, I’d rather you didn’t bully my wife for being firenation, we’re trying to find our daughter and”-
“So you’re a traitor then, breeding with one of”- I cringed at that.
“Traitor? What’s that supposed to mean?” another guy eyed me.
“Stay out of this”- then his friend noticed me,
“Hey… She looks kinda like her…” they pointed, referring me to my mother… who noticed that.
“Leave her be.” She stated clearly… they continued ignoring my mom, both snickering.
“Cute figure, not too bad on the eyes at all.” Okay I felt uncomfortable now. Tooru frowned.
“That’s rude!”
“What’d we say about”- they paused, smirking at Tooru, “Oh, a boyfriend…” Sirisha sighed.
“Will leave us be, or keep gawking at my daughter?”
“So she is your daughter.” One guy replied, “I gotta congratulate you… she’s not mad for a half rat”- My mom instantly shook at that.
“You want to say that again?” I was surprised to hear her speak, the thugs smiled.
“Half. Rat.” It was then I looked to my mom, seeing some sort of fire in her eyes. My dad turned, noticing this.
“Hun, I”-
“I can handle this Kaleb.” She replied, looking to me. “Mika get behind me”-
“But I”-
“Do as I say.” I obeyed, getting behind her Tooru turned, “You as well Tooru”-
“Yes mam!” I sighed as he obeyed my mother. The thugs looked to us, with my mother standing there, dad beside her. It was then I began to notice that despite my mom’s height… she was incredibly intimidating.
“This rat has some spirit… how about you give us all your money, and we’ll leave you alone.” They weren’t even trying to scare us, they were trying to look for a way out. Sirisha smirked.
“Funny… how about you give me all your money and I won’t break your northern ass?” The thugs on us cringed, as then one immediately went towards my mother, but in the blink of an eye, my mother shoved past my dad, immediately forming a dagger of fire in the back of her hand and swiftly caught the water tribe thug’s hand as he turned him around and threw him straight into the diner.
Glass shattered as the next guy, a waterbender tried to attack, but instead my mother blasted more fire at him, throwing him back into a pile of snow as a nonbender pulled a knife, trying to get at her, when my dad quickly flicked his hand out. Snow rose up to freeze around the man’s hand as he then tripped from suddenly ice under his feet. Tooru and I couldn’t believe what we were watching as my mom fought off five of the six guys who were harassing us.
She kneed into one of them, finally kicking another one down. Finally blasting one of the guys into two more with a sudden explosion of fire.
I had never seen my mom fight before… and she probably could kick my dad’s ass.
The guy who fell into the diner tried to attack us but Tooru quickly pulled his hands up, a mound of rock rose up as I then gripped some snow and pushed him away into a car.
My mother faced them as they stared at her.
“What the hell you crazy bitch!” one yelled.
“Nobody calls my daughter a rat you dogs.” She then replied, immediately I saw her snap her finger and suddenly a flash of blue light formed at her finger tips…
Aimee mentioned seeing a blonde woman who could do this, create lightning just from friction. The men hurried off, running away with their tails between their legs (figuratively). Now I knew why Aimee didn’t tell our mother we were running away, she could out-fight all of us. Tooru stared at my mother, eyes widened.
“Mam, you’re my hero.” She shrugged.
“You better be prepared to do that the next time someone threatens my little girl.” I blushed instantly at that.
“Damn it mom”-
“It’s rude to swear Mika.” She replied, we continued walking again…
Like nothing had happened.

MEANWHILE

“Manu this is ridiculous!” Maka replied, Meme sighed.
“Maka if he wants to be with Serena, we shouldn’t interfere”-
“We have every right to interfere, it’s our job to look out for him”-
“So what?” Manu asked, “When I’m middle aged, you should still be ‘looking out for me’?” Maka rolled her eyes.
“Manu, don’t be absurd, we”-
“Normal moms would be excited that I was dating someone, but suddenly you turn out to be a racist, and”-
“It’s not just that, she’s Sifo’s pawn and”-
“Sifo’s our friend.” Meme replied, “Why should that matter at all?”
“Meme, you’re not listening, you’re”-
“Why is it so important that we don’t associate with Sifo Werrick?”
“I never said”-
“You’ve been trying to push that on us for years.” Meme replied, Manu was surprised to see his father act well… Not as dopey as he thought he was. “You keep saying you don’t trust the school, when you studied there to begin with”-
“But I never learned to fight”-
“Yes because your dad was difficult, I remember!” Meme replied, “But that does not mean we can’t allow Malena to learn”-
“I don’t have anything against Malena learning, it’s just”-
“It’s just Sifo, your brother’s best friend.” Meme scowled, “The guy that… got us married in the first place.” Manu quickly nodded. Maka was silent, eying her son.
She did not like being teamed up on by Manu and her husband.
“Sifo is a friend of our family, yes… but that does not mean he is our family”-
“You tell Malena that,” Manu then replied, Meme paused, eying his son’s random outburst.
“What?” Manu shook, eyes on his mom. Maka stared at him, mortified.
“I… I sent her to see Gran-Gran… she’s gonna tell her everything, about what you did.” Meme eyed his wife at that, eying Manu.
“What are you talking about, Manu?”
“Dad she has been lying to us, for years… lying to you. And I think you have a right to know.”
“Manu be quiet”-
“He deserves to know!”
“Deserves to know what?” Meme immediately asked, Maka remained scowling at her son.
“You want to be with the Hakkah girl, fine, but I’m telling you”-
“What have you been lying about?” The lawyer finally asked, Manu’s arms remained crossed… his father looked so confused. Maka scowled.
“This is just a misunderstanding, it”-
“Tell him mom, or I tell him.” Maka eyed him, eyes like daggers. She was like a caged animal.
She couldn’t hide this anymore.
“Maka, please… if Manu thinks it’s important, then”-
“Fine,” she replied, giving in, “You want to know the truth, fine.” She turned her gaze, eying the floor, “Twenty-three years ago, I…” Meme eyed her, confused, “I slept with Sifo Werrick… Malena’s not your daughter, she’s his.”
“…” The light left Meme Menika’s eyes as he stared at his wife, eyes widened. All anger had subsided and disappeared… turning to depression. The man turned away, stepped past the two, and left… going to his bedroom. Manu turned to his mother, he could see her eyes watering.
“Are you happy now?” she hissed.
“I just want to know why, I”-
“Because of this family…” Make then replied, “I kept it a secret, no matter how hard it was on Malena, or how unfair it was to Sifo, because you and your father.”
“…” Manu looked away.
“I did it to protect you, because I knew the moment what I did was found out, I knew that was the moment our family was over.”
“You lied to him for over twenty years… because you couldn’t own up to what you did.”
“Do you think he would have raised Malena if he knew the truth?” Manu scowled, “I did this to protect him, and to protect her.”
“I don’t want to hear this,” Manu stepped away.
“You’d do the same too, if you were in my shoes, and you had everything to lose.”
“No I wouldn’t.” Manu frowned. He approached the door, “Glad you have a high opinion of day”-
“Where are you going?” Manu scowled.
“I’m gonna look at apartments.” Maka’s eyebrows raised. “I’m moving out.” And like that, Manu walked away… leaving Maka alone in the room, wiping at her eyes.
Years of what she viewed as protecting her family, and it was undone in the span of minutes… and the worse part was,
They were right… she was a horrible person.
The woman sat down, wiping at her eyes, she felt even worse, telling the truth. It was then in her sobs she noticed Makario at the stairs.
“You don’t hate me too, do you?” Makario shrugged.
“Why, because my sister’s only my half-sister?”
“Great you knew to- of course you knew” Maka scowled.
Makario then shrugged, sitting by his mom.
“I kinda can’t afford to be mad at you… I am the last born after all, and so my birth technically depends on you getting with Uncle Sifo and then going back to dad.” Maka scowled at that.
“Good to hear you’re not too broken up on it.” Makario shrugged… he sighed and quickly hugged his mother, “I don’t deserve you.”
“No, you kinda don’t.” Makario replied, the woman sighed at that.

ONE HOUR LATER
MIKA POV

We reached my grandmother’s house to find Sifo there, and… things were odd.
He was sitting there in some sort of stupor, unsure of what to do, while my grandmother seemed unnerved. We walked in, noticing the door was open, and Tooru was the first to break the silence.
“What’s going on?” he asked, my parents nodded.
“You both look terrible,” my mom replied, “I know I’m not one to speak, but.”
“Kaleb,” Sifo replied, “She knows,”
“What?”  My dad asked, “You mean Malena?”
“Kana told her.” The old woman looked away.
“She came here wanting the truth, and said Manu would vouch for her”-
“So you just told her?”
“She was sick of us lying to her.” I eyed this, confused.
“Lying to who?” I then asked. It was then we heard the sound of the telephone ringing, Kana stepped away to get that. My father eyed me, frowning… he had no idea how to explain this. Tooru was standing here completely confused. My mother looked to my dad, also curious.
“What’s all this about, about Malena?”
“Sirisha, I…” Kaleb paused, frowning, “You know when you were mad about us up and leaving the northern water tribe?”
“Yes?”
“I kinda… did have a reason.” Kana sighed. “Tooru, could you step outside”-
“No,” I replied, “Tooru should hear this… I’m probably gonna tell him anyways.”
“Okay, well”- my dad frowned, not knowing how to explain it… My grandmother hurried in, frowning.
“I just got a call from Makario, he says Manu told his father everything.” Sifo’s eyes widened at that, “He’s not talking.”
“Damn it…” he frowned, “Meme doesn’t deserve any of this”-
“Any of what?” I finally asked, everyone paused, “What’s happening?” Sifo looked to me, and my mother, and Tooru, sighing.
“There’s a… a reason Maka doesn’t like me, you see, er…” he frowned, “Malena isn’t actually your Uncle Meme’s daughter.” I stared at this… surprised. What? “She’s actually, um… mine.” Everyone stared… nobody knowing how to express what this meant. Tooru was the only one, and he wasn’t even in this family.
“Holy shit…”

MEANWHILE
SERENA POV

My mother seemed alright, sitting in her chair. Viktor Khan’s show was going on, on the radio… and it started to sound different. Khan was in full ‘support the government’ mode, much like how he was during the Kalros incident. My mother seemed disturbed by all this, but thankfully she never left our apartment too much so she wasn’t in any danger.
Instead she just seemed worried about my dad.
“How is this happening?” she replied, “Does Ventin know, or”-
“I’m sure he does, mom.” I sighed. Hell, he was probably helping Maya Alrick do it. I cringed, listening to the radio, before finally getting fed up and turning it off.
“I was listening to that.”
“And he’ll be giving off the same message tomorrow when I’m at work.” My mom shrugged at that. I slowly hated being in some sort of place of power, you really start to see all the annoying hypocrisy.
It was like a well-oiled machine of mistrust. I continued sweeping up when I heard a knock on the door. I opened it, to find a sobbing girl standing there, Malena.
“Malena?”
“Hey… Serena,” she frowned, “We’re friends, right?” I began to notice then she was crying.
“Malena what’s wrong?”
“I just… I don’t know where else to go.” She frowned, “I can’t go home, not right now, not when…” she was shaking, crying.
“If you want me to help, tell me what’s wrong?” the girl looked away, “I… I found out about my mom and… and…”
“Sprits…” I replied, immediately pulling her in for a hug. The girl began to cry into my shirt. She knew who Sifo was now…
She knew the truth.
Part of me was touched that she’d come to me, but also disturbed… did this mean her dad also knew?
I held her close, while she sobbed… poor girl, finding out about her family.
I was mad that my dad was never around, but Malena’s? He struggled so much to actually be in her life.
“Can I… stay with you, for a day or until I”… I sighed, “I can’t face him, I can’t”- She meant Meme.
“You can stay here as long as you want.” I then replied, eying her. She quietly thanked me, as I allowed her in. My mother turned, eying Malena.
“Who are you?”
“This is Malena Menika, Manu’s sister.” I explained, “She’s gonna stay with us for a while.” My mother Alyss eyed the girl for a moment, she didn’t know this girl in the least, didn’t know her problem, but she knew she couldn’t just say no. The woman nodded, looking away.
“I hope she knows how to cook.”
This is a Fanfiction I wrote for the OC's of :iconardnemla: and :iconquackylu: And myself.

Note: I was planning to call this "Malena Werrick" but then I realized how stupid that'd be, and it'd ruin the twist(in case nobody saw it coming).

Yup, we finally know the truth. When I invented Sifo, I already decided to have Maka not like him, and base it off of just not liking him, but I realized it could be even more interesting if it turned out she was hiding something, so "Malena being Sifo's daughter" was something I just loved, and so did Almendra, and here we are.

I actually wrote the revelation first, so that's pretty much why it's so long. I wanted to dedicate a chapter to how this would affect Malena's family, and so I think it turned out pretty well. Meme learning the truth was something I was mulling over, but I realized it'd be best if Maka said it herself. I loved how Mika and Tooru found out, with Tooru ending up swearing because it's such a shocker.

The fight scenes were something I figured we needed to break up the monotony of people talking, so while they're kind of tacked on, I wanted to do something creative with Kaleb and Sirisha. I loved seeing Sirisha kicking ass like we saw her sister doing at the battle at the wall. I also came up with this idea I had of lightning bending being possible to create in such a quick amount of time by snapping your fingers to create friction and the spark. I also love the idea that the Gazu sisters are the only characters (as of yet) who can do it.

I also loved the ending, having Serena be that person Malena can run to, it's sweet. I loved Alyss's last words where she just accepts it and assumes Malena will work to be housed there.

Anyways chapter 34 will see us returning to the main plot of breaking Aimee out of prison, Connor struggling with the strikers.

Chapter 32: agentqv.deviantart.com/art/Ava…

Chapter 34: agentqv.deviantart.com/art/Ava…
© 2015 - 2024 AgentQV
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