Kasai saw Avani turning away to escape in the water, and her heart sank a little. True, it was what she herself had told the other woman to do, but another part of her wished she were escaping with her instead of watching her leave. Kasai closed her eyes for a moment, then looked back down at her leg and continued to struggle to free it from the tangled mess it was trapped in. Much to her surprise, Avani froze in her footsteps and uttered another sentence. Kasai assumed it was a last-ditch effort before she took off to escape the attacks, one last sarcastic remark before the spirits clawed Kasai to bits. It didn't surprise her much, what did surprise her was the sight of a earth-ridden leg that came crashing down on her own. Cries of pain blurted out as a resounding crack echoed from the splintering wood and bone. Which splitting sound was her own leg breaking? Who knew. All she could feel now was an intense pain pulsing up her leg and throughout her entire body. She felt like every nerve in her body was on fire, igniting the pain that coursed through her veins. A sense of weightlessness was felt when Avani picked her up, but she had little strength to aid in her transportation. She felt a pat on her rear and a trademark snarky comment from Avani. Kasai smiled weakly and tried to help defend against the incoming spirits before the mud encased her, preventing her from bending anymore. At Avani's command, Kasai drew in as much air as she could. The water slipped around them and they sank to the bottom of the lake, where they started pressing towards the shore. A burning sensation was developing in her lungs, and she released half of the air she held to relieve some of the pressure. By the time they surfaced on the other side of the lake, Kasai was coughing out water and gasping for air. The earth could be felt shifting beneath her, but at this point Kasai was on the verge of losing consciousness. Fabric was pressed to her face, and she looked up to see it was in fact Avani's shirt, sopping up the blood that had stained her face. "Couldn't you take you clothes off at a time I could enjoy it a little more?" A weak laugh escaped her before she coughed again. The last thing she experienced before slipping into unconsciousness was Avani's voice and lips pressed against her own. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wrapped in the sterile white sheets of a bed that occupied an equally white room, the young firebender lay sleeping off the round of pain medication that the doctor had injected into her system. A nurse opened the door to her room and brought in a clipboard that held information on her release from the hospital, left on a table at her bedside for when she woke. Sleepily, Kasai's eyes fluttered open and she inhaled deeply. The drugs still lingered in her system, but she woke at the sound of the door closing. Her eyes fell to her leg, which was wrapped in a cast and propped up on a pillow. Stitches pulled the skin of her cheek and lips back together, which was starting to scar over now. It had been nearly a week since she and Avani had managed to escape through the spirit portal. Both beaten and bruised to no end. Kasai had spent the first 3 days in the hospital in an unconscious state, but several days ago she woke. Turning her head to the clipboard on the table, she grabbed it and read. She would be released that afternoon after the doctor gave her one last check. A pair of crutches leaned against the wall to her right, and a simple display of flowers sat on the nightstand, a get-well gift from the police department. She sighed and stared at a clock that hung on the wall, waiting for the time when she could leave this dreaded place and go back to her own home, where she could rest and recover. Though that wouldn't last too long, because the police department was holding the funeral for their fallen brother, Barron, in just two days. Tears welled up in Kasai's eyes for the thousandth time since waking up in the hospital, without either of her best friends to comfort her. Visitors had come and gone, all telling her that they were sorry for her loss and that she was strong enough to recover physically and emotionally. They were all attempts at consoling her, but they didn't work. She grieved in her own ways, and she hoped that the funeral service would provide her with some closure of the events. The only thing she held on to from the whole experience was Avani. She had risked her own skin to stay behind and save Kasai, and managed to get them both back to safety. How? Kasai still didn't know. But, she was grateful. The last scene that she could remember was burned into her mind, and she played it in her head over and over to hold on to that memory. The door to her room opened again, and the doctor entered to evaluate her for release. She greeted him with a hopeful smile, praying that she would be able to leave this place and go somewhere with a little more color.