Destiny
"Can I borrow your thimble?" Aang asked one evening as Katara sat by the dying fire, doing dinner's dishes.
"Why do you need a thimble?" she asked. "Did you tear something? I can fix it."
"No, I didn't tear anything… I just… uh… need it." He smiled that big, sincere smile, but he held his hands behind his back and wouldn't quite meet her eyes.
"Aang, what have you got?" Katara asked, sitting up and putting her fists on her hips.
"Nothing!" he said hurriedly. "Well, anyway, I don't really need a thim—"
"Aang."
His shoulders slumped. "At the market today, when we all split up to do personal shopping, I got… a magic potion."
"Oh, Spirits…"
"No, it really works! The lady who sold it to me said that it's how she found her destiny."
"And her destiny was selling fake magic potions to children in a small Fire Nation village? Aang, there's no such thing as magic. You were swindled. Now hand it over please."
Head hanging low, the young Airbender brought his hands out from behind his back and reluctantly gave her a small blue glass vial most of the way full of liquid. Katara thanked him and tucked the bottle into her sash for later disposal. Aang slumped off towards Appa, hands sunk deep in his pockets. Katara went back to the dishes and thought no more of it.
Until that night, that is, when she accidentally rolled over onto the little bottle while trying to get to sleep. Sokka was already sawing wood across the campfire coals, Toph's earth-tent was silent, and Aang had been sleep-talking about fruit pies for the last few minutes. Sighing, Katara pulled the vial out of her sash and stared at it in the moonlight. There was a little bit of paper affixed to one side, she saw now. Squinting, she read
Find your Fate and
Reveal your Destiny!
One thimbleful
per night for four nights
for full effect.
So that's why Aang needed a thimble, she thought. What a load of crock. There's no way anything like this could ever work… But… to find my destiny… what could it hurt? It's not like it's poison.
Rummaging in her sewing kit, she quickly produced the little metal thimble she'd gotten to replace her lost whalebone one. The potion was clear and smelled minty when she poured it out, and she barely hesitated before tossing it back. She lay down, slept, and dreamt of smexy hair. Hm, she thought when she woke the next morning. Haru had smexy hair. But, Haru, my destiny? Really?
The second night, she took it and dreamt of a pair of gleaming, sharp dual swords. Ah, she though when she woke the next morning. Jet had two swords. But he's dead, so…
The third night, she took it and dreamt of a large burn scar, discolored and ugly against pale skin. That makes sense, she thought when she woke the next morning. Aang has that big scar where Azula shot him with lightning. Speaking of that, I should check if he needs a healing session… and he barely touched dinner yesterday…
The fourth and last night, she dreamt of heat, such heat, and searing ocher eyes, and she awoke in the night in a cold sweat. Zuko... Spirits, it's Zuko!
A/N: Hey howdy. Soooo, I know that silly comic Love Potion #8 beat me to the punch here, but IN MY DEFENSE: I originally wrote this before the comic came out. I then lost the file somewhere in the annals of several hard drive crashes, and I recently remembered the idea, and spat this out in one evening.
Anyway, I see this happening in the Fire Nation, as mentioned, sometime between The Headband and The Runaway. All characters are owned by Bryke, Nick, and Viacom. I claim my ridiculous imagination as my own. Also, sorry for saying 'smexy'. It had to be done.
E.I. signing out.