Katara took her time walking back to the temple, carrying a heavy basket of groceries in her arms. A few coins still jingled in her pocket. Sokka, who had been given the responsibility of managing their money, said she could buy herself a treat with whatever change was left.

Eyeing the various shops that lined the streets, she looked for something of interest to buy. Maybe some nice jewellery? No, that would be too expensive, and probably just get lost or in the way. A new outfit would run into similar problems. Same with hairbrushes or make-up or any other frivolous beauty products.

Sighing, Katara considered just going home with the food. She didn't really need anything, so why waste money and time? Quickening her pace, she headed home, trying to ignore the various items that venders offered.

However, something she saw in her peripheral vision caused her to pause and take a few steps back. In one of the shop windows was a book. A simple, small, plain looking book, with the words 'Tea Leaf Reading' printed on the front.

Fortune telling had always interested her, especially since she had met Aunt Wu. It was something she wanted to learn how to do, and this book could teach her. There was no harm in buying it, right? Sokka said she had the freedom to spend the money, and it wouldn't be too bulky to carry, nor would it be small enough to loose on their various travels. Besides, it might be able to tell them all something about their fate in the invasion.

Going into the shop, Katara grabbed the book, put it in her basket, and gave the clerk the remainder of her money.

XxXxXxX

"You spent all the left over money on a stupid book?"

Katara frowned. "Well, yeah. You said I could buy myself something if there was money left over, and I thought a fortune telling book would be interesting."

"I meant something useful, not some book about fake, ridiculous, magic crap!" Sokka said, in what she considered to be exaggerated exasperation. "Didn't you learn anything from Aunt Wu and that volcano?"

"Oh, come on!" Unable to think of anything else to say in retort, she looked to her friends for help. Suki was looking from her to Sokka, seeming undecided in who she supported. Zuko appeared curious, but not likely to defend her. Toph had snickered the moment Katara mentioned fortune telling. Aang just shrugged.

With a huff, Katara crossed her arms and pouted. She knew she was being childish, but she was too annoyed with her brother to care. Fine then. She would just read everyone's tea leaves before she washed the cups. They didn't want to know about it, and she wouldn't tell them. Let them live obliviously. She was going to get informed about their futures, whether they agreed with it or not.

XxXxXx

Katara set each of her friend's tea cups in a row, ordered alphabetically. Since joining the group, Zuko had served them the beverage almost every night, causing her and everyone else to become rather accustomed to the taste. It was part of their routine now. He was part of their routine now, a member of their little family that she couldn't bear to lose, just like with any of her other friends. It was amazing, how quickly her opinion of him had changed.

Thankfully, he had also provided her with the opportunity to test out her new book.

After reading the first chapter, which was titled 'An Introduction to Tea Leaf Reading', she set to work on examining the shapes left in Aang's cup. At first, they looked like meaningless blobs, and she wondered if maybe Sokka had been right, that the book and fortune telling really was fake. But then, as she tilted the cup and squinted her eyes, one of the left over leaves seemed to take on an actual shape - a curling, sinister looking dragon.

Grabbing her book, she quickly flipped through the pages. This couldn't be good. Dragons were always bad. But wait, hadn't Aang said that the one's he and Zuko met were good? Maybe this was referring to those. Only, fortune telling looked into the future, so that couldn't work.

Finding the page with an explanation for dragons, she was surprised to see that it only offered a one word description. 'Changes', it said.

But that could refer to anything! He was the Avatar, for crying out loud! He was destined to end a century long war! Was it good changes? Bad? Big? Small? Any extra information would help!

That was all it said, though. There was nothing else in the entire book (which, in actuality, was only a few pages). All the other explanations were the same, too.

Katara took a deep breath, letting it out in a slow, calming sigh. Okay. So it wasn't very detailed. That did not mean it was fake. She wouldn't give into Sokka's belief that easily. After all, there were more shapes in the cup to look at.

With more tilting and squinting, she eventually deciphered two more shapes: a bat and an oar. The bat meant disappointment, a fact that immediately sent her into panic mode. What kind of disappointment? Was it big, like, another failed invasion big? Or small and trivial? Praying it was the latter one, she looked up the meaning of the second image.

The explanation 'temporary problem' caused a sigh of relief to escape her. So it was only temporary. That couldn't be too bad, right? Unless , of course, it meant temporary in the sense that he would only be able to acknowledge his failure for a short time, before being executed at the Fire Nation palace, in front of everyone, while Fire Lord Ozai made a speech about –

She ended the train of thought right there. She couldn't think of things like that, not now, not ever. It would only bring bad luck and depress her, two things she certainly did not need. Grabbing the cup, she tossed it into her washing basin, rinsing away the leaves and nasty thoughts they brought.

Next was... herself.

Picking up her dirty cup, Katara examined the remnants of her drink. Doing a reading for herself somehow seemed odd, selfish even. Should she really be looking into her own future? Or was it more wrong to look into someone else's? Were there even right and wrong sides to this sort of thing?

Shaking her head, she refocused on the shapes in the bottom of her cup.

A spidery branch shape stretched across the circular space. Beneath it was a flower and a sun. Without even knowing the meaning, the third symbol gave her a weird, fluttery feeling in her stomach, as images of Zuko flashed through her mind. Did it have something to do with him?

"Don't be ridiculous," she mentally scolded. "What could possibly happen between the two of us?"

According to the book, the branch represented new friendships. So maybe it did have something to do with the prince. After all, he was the newest friend she had made. Then again, this was fortune telling – it focused on the future, not the present. So, did that mean more people would be joining the group? Or would over throwing the Fire Lord cause people to befriend her? Or, on the bad side, would she become friends with her fellow prisoners when the invasion failed?

Trying to ignore her growing confusion, she looked up the meanings of the two other shapes. The flower symbolized love, honour, and esteem, and the sun symbolized continued happiness.

Love? Honour? Happiness? There was no way that could relate to Zuko! Honour, maybe, but love? It seemed so... crazy.

And yet, a part of her found the idea almost... intriguing. What would it be like, having a relationship with a prince? And not just a prince – he was also a skilled thief and firebender, and an adorably awkward teenager. What would it be like, to have a relationship with someone like that? To love him and marry him and bear his children? And they would probably have beautiful kids...

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Fortune telling was turning out to be very confusing. Her admiration for Aunt Wu grew even more, knowing how hard it must have been for her to stay so calm and sure of her predictions. Then again, Aunt Wu had a gift. Maybe that was her problem – she didn't have the natural talent of fortune telling, so she couldn't handle the confusion that came with it.

Despite doubting her ability to do so, Katara continued examining the tea leaves in her friends' cups. Sokka and Suki's were mostly the same – a butterfly (happiness), a circle (love) and a giraffe (misunderstanding). Though the last one worried her a bit, she had confidence in the couple's ability to sort out problems, and wrote it off as a short term thing.

Toph's, however, concerned her. It showed a triangle (unexpected event), a question mark (uncertainty and change), and a scorpion (an enemy's plot). None of it looked good, and Katara feared for her friend's safety. Was Azula planning something? Or was there a new adversary on the horizon?

She would have to warn the blind girl, as difficult as that would be. There had to be a way to tell her without actually mentioning fortune telling. Perhaps she would just keep a close eye on her...

Either way, Toph needed protection, no matter how much she would hate it.

Now, one cup sat before her, its tea leaves waiting to be read. It was time for the prince to get his fortune told.

Picking up the cup, she studied the shapes dirtying its bottom. The first that caught her eye was a moon, sitting innocently in the center of the cup. It represented 'love', something that sent a chill up her spine. She had a sun for happiness; he had a moon for love. But they couldn't possibly be connected. There was no way something like that could ever happen between them. He was a wonderful person, acting surprisingly sweet and kind and gentle and adorably awkward and pouring her tea and looking gorgeous and –

Wait, that was getting way off track. The point was, she didn't love him and never could. It would just be... weird. And she doubted he would ever have any such feelings for her. Though, he had been staring at her a lot, and Toph was always teasing him...

Tightening her grip on the cup, she forced herself to focus on the shapes within it and stop having such ridiculous thoughts.

A dragon curled along the circular outline, around the moon in the center. So, something would change for him too. Maybe he and Aang's change was connected. Did that mean it would be good? Or would he change sides and hurt Aang? Or was it related to the moon and love? Was it a combination of the two?

The last shape was a ring. Marriage. He was getting married. Well, that was probably meant the change and love was connected and would lead to a happy union, right? And it would have absolutely nothing to do with her. Because that was absurd and impossible. No matter how handsome or kind or wonderfully amazing he was, she would never fall in love with him. Ever. And she certainly wouldn't marry him. That was just crazy.

Nonetheless, when Katara went to bed that night, she was more confused than she had been before her gaze into the future. Everything was still vague and unpredictable, with only cryptic warnings to give them guidance.

Who knew what the future would bring? And, really, who wanted to?

Author's Notes: Long fic is looong. o.o Seriously. I think this is the longest drabble I've ever written. And I still didn't meet the word coutn requirement for the contest! Dx

Ah, well. Tell me what you think! And I apologize for the inaccuracies this is bound to have - I know nothing about tea leaf reading. xP

Dislcaimer: I do not own 'Avatar' or any of its characters.