Althea nodded at Kali's response to her paranoia, incredibly glad that Kali was so calm and analytic about the whole situation. She was always like that after all and it was that very same level-headedness that kept their group balanced. However, halfway through her explanation, Kali's tone suddenly became anxious. Althea listened to the brunette intently as her eyes grew wider and wider until she finally heard Kali confess that she too had been exposed to the darkness. A shiver of fear went down her spine. What exactly [i]was[/i] this darkness? Althea had thought that it was something only Zac. Did that mean she would eventually come across it too? The thought was terrifying. Zac and Kali were strong enough to keep the darkness at bay but she couldn't say the same about herself. She was weaker, both mentally and physically, than her best friends...

[b]No.[/b] 

She couldn't think that way. She was being selfish again. Kali was the one who had experienced the darkness and she still looked less terrified than Althea. The green-haired girl had to calm her down this time around. "You're not weak," Althea began as she gripped the taller girl's shoulders, "or helpless or insignificant. You're a fantastic, amazing person and who beat off the darkness. That has to mean something. We now gotta focus on Zac. He's at risk of being controlled by the darkness so we gotta back him up as much as we can. Let's go with your plan and tell Aang and Zuko about it, okay?" She gave Kali a friendly smile but in the back of her mind, she was still holding on to some anxiety. But she couldn't express it again, not when Kali was feeling like this.

"We should be getting back now. We gotta talk to them before they go to sleep." Althea stated as she released Kali from her grip before turning around to head back to the others. But before she walked off, Althea spun back around and took Kali's hand in hers. She gave it a confident squeeze as she grinned at her best friend. "Everything's gonna be fine. We got this." Yes, this was her job. Kali brought calmness, Zac brought strength and she brought optimism. There was no way she could fail at her job now. Without another word, the green-haired girl began to drag the brunette out of the halls and back into the open area where the bonfire was still burning brightly.