"Don't slow down now, your food might run away." Kasai joked when Avani stopped to squeeze in a few nonchalant threats to the poor girl sitting across from them. She let Avani say her piece and simply sipped on her coffee. Oh, the irony. Not all that long ago they met on the edge of that forest and could not stand each other. Well, Avani at least admitted initial attraction. Kasai however had a little warming up to do. 

Naomi kept steady eye contact as she listened, all the while her hand worked furiously at the notepad in her lap. A sideways glance was shot at Avani after she mentioned her mom being in jail over a dead cop. Well, that explains a lot. Kasai narrowed her eyes briefly, but decided to tuck the questions away for another time. They were here for a different reason now. Kasai had to clench her jaw and swallow hard when Avani got to the point of why they were here in the first place. She cleared her throat and let Avani turn her attention back to her food. 

"There was a task force made to investigate some sort of disturbance in the forest where the spirits were residing. Apparently the Avatar was too busy to tend to it herself so the mayor sanctioned this volunteer mission." Kasai's shoulders shrugged and she continued. "They shouldn't have sent volunteers in there in the first place, we had no business messing with spirits." Trying to keep from getting too angered, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes ever so briefly. 

"Like she said," her thumb stuck out to point at Avani, "out of six people, we were the only ones to come out of it alive. And barely at that." Sometimes she could still feel the ache in her leg, and her hand brushed over the scar on her face that would forever remind her of what happened. 

Naomi looked from one woman to the other and back again. It was clear from their faces that whatever happened was something very serious, but what business did she have making it a public story?  

"I see what you've been through was pretty damaging. But, and no offense here, what exactly do you think this will gain for you? Other than the mayor clearly didn't know what kind of danger he was sending you in to, I don't see how this could be politically damaging or personally gainful." 

At that moment, the thought of launching a fireball straight across the table at the young woman's face crossed Kasai's mind. Incredibly, she was able to restrain herself. Fearing that Avani was probably about to jump across the table to strangle the girl herself, Kasai put a hand on the woman's leg and squeezed. Next, she tuned that fire-beam glare of hers at the young reporter and kept her voice low and steady. 

"When we got back, there was no 'Thank you for your service.' There was no 'sorry for your loss.' Were there city representatives at the funeral? No. Not even one damn flower was sent. The mayor knew damn well what happened in there and that four people died trying to serve this city. But he never even acknowledged their existence. We are not hoping to 'gain' anything. We want the recognition and respect our friends deserve from that scumbag uptown." 

Kasai did not blink once, and the expression on the girl's face changed to one that reflected the severity of the situation. Naomi slowly nodded and looked at the pair again. "Okay. I understand now. I want to help you with this, but if I am going to make a compelling story, I'm going to need all of the difficult details." 

Kasai was afraid of that. What she needed was something stronger than coffee to help her get through the tragic recounting, but they were already here and already worked up. 

"I hope you have enough paper." Kasai said before she stopped the waiter to fill her coffee mug. A few more moments to prepare herself for the emotions to come, and then she started tracing back the details of that horrifying day.