The Fortuneteller
"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and I crossed paths with the new Avatar, an Airbender named Aang. And although his Airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I truly believe that Aang can save the world."
It was a beautiful day and we were all relaxing by a river. Sokka was trying desperately to catch a fish for lunch, but that wasn't going over well. Fifteen minutes in, Sokka emerged from the river empty-handed and cross.
There was a loud noise in the distance and we ran to check it out.
"Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!" Aang screamed.
The large platypus bear stood upright on its hind legs and swung at a man clad in blue, who was smiling merrily, his hands behind his back. The man somehow managed to avoid the bear's swing by calmly stepping backward.
We were all shouting various ways to dodge the bear or injure it in some way, but the man continued to dodge the bear with ease, still smiling.
"No need, it's going to be fine!" the man called to us.
Aang leapt into the air and landed on the ground, putting himself between the man and the platypus bear. He sent the creature back slightly with an air blast. Aang held his hands out in front of him and assumed a fighting stance. "Whoa there!" he yelled.
The platypus bear reared up on its hind legs further, letting out a loud cry. Appa suddenly appeared from behind the bear and bellows, causing the animal to bristle in fear. The bear laid a large, spotted egg and escaped, swimming down the river.
Sokka picked up the egg and licked his lips.
"Thanks, but everything was already under control. Not to worry." the traveler told us. "Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey."
"Aunt who?" Tom questioned.
"No, Aunt Wu." the man corrected. "She's the fortuneteller from my village. Awful nice knowing your future."
"Wow, it must be." Katara sighed.
"That's why you were so calm." I noted.
"But the fortuneteller was wrong!" Sokka pointed out. "You didn't have a safe journey; you were almost killed!"
"But I wasn't! All right, have a good one!" the man replied. He handed a wrapped package to Aang. "Oh, and Aunt Wu said if I met any travelers to give them this." he turned and went on his merry way.
Aang unwrapped the package, which turned out to be an umbrella. A few seconds later, storm clouds rolled in and rain came pouring down. All of us except Sokka walked under the umbrella and made our way to the village.
The storm cleared up and the sun was shining brightly again. Soon, we came to a small village that sat at the base of a large mountain with a snow cap. Someone was standing by a round doorway, clad in a black robe.
"Aunt Wu is expecting you." he said, opening the door.
The main room was ornate and five pillows sat off to the side. A young girl walked into the room clad in a pink robe and wore her hair in braids that stuck out from the sides of her head.
"My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant." she introduced. "Can I get you some tea or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?" she approached Aang. "So what's your name?"
"Aang." he replied, flatly.
"That rhymes with Meng!" she giggled. "And you've got some pretty big ears, don't you?"
"I guess." Aang raised an eyebrow.
"Don't be modest, they're huge." Sokka chuckled.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
"Well, Aang, it was very nice to meet you." Meng said, smiling. "Very nice."
"I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense." Sokka scoffed.
"Try to keep an open mind, Sokka." Katara begged.
"There are things in this world that just can't be explained." I added. "Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?"
Meng returned to the room, carrying a tray of bean curd puffs. An elderly woman clad in a yellow robe entered the room, who I assumed was Aunt Wu.
"Welcome, young travelers." she greeted. "Now, who's next? Don't be shy."
"I guess that's me." Katara volunteered, standing up. She followed Aunt Wu to the back.
"This is kind of exciting." I noted, leaning back.
"Yeah." Tom agreed, smiling.
"So, what do you think they're talking about back there?" Aang asked, rubbing the back of his head.
"Boring stuff I'm sure." Sokka guessed. "Love, who she's going to marry, how many babies she's going to have."
I rolled my eyes and glanced at my brother, who shrugged his shoulders. Aang got up, claiming he had to use the bathroom.
"Curd puff?" Sokka offered.
I shook my head. "No, I'm good." I replied.
Pyrae sprawled out on her back, and I rubbed her belly. Aang came back a minute later, followed by Aunt Wu and Katara.
"Who's next?" Aunt Wu asked.
Sokka stood up and stretched. "Let's get this over with." he sighed.
"Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it, self-inflicted." Aunt Wu predicted, dryly.
Sokka shrugged. "But you didn't read my palms or anything!" he exclaimed.
"I don't need to." she replied. "It's written all over your face."
I giggled. "Sorry Sokka." I apologized, standing up. "Guess I'm next."
"Come with me." Aunt Wu motioned.
I followed her to the back room and sat on the pillow beside her. I extended my left hand and she proceded to read my palm.
"What do you see, Aunt Wu?" I asked, curious.
"Hm, I see that you made a life-changing decision in your past that brought you here." she noted. "You're confident in the decision you made, that it was the right thing."
I nodded. "So, what about my love line?" I asked.
Aunt Wu traced the line on my palm. "This is interesting." she said.
"What?" I pressed.
"You've already met your True Love, multiple times." she answered. "You're paths have crossed many times, and yet, you both have chosen to walk different routes."
I looked up at her, "What does that mean?" now I was getting anxious.
"You will meet many times before both of your paths converge together." Aunt Wu continued. "He holds a special place in your heart, and you hold one in his. You two were destined to be together since the beginning of your lives." she smiled. "Soulmates."
I felt my lips curl into a smile. "Can you tell me anything else?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Just that you will meet him again soon, and he will return something that has been lost to you."
I gasped and took my hand back, running my fingers over the lines. "Thank you, Aunt Wu." I murmured.
She helped me to my feet and smiled. "You're very welcome child." she replied.
We rejoined the others and it was Tom's turn to have his fortune told.
"So, what did she say Phoenix?" Katara asked, grinning.
"That I'm gonna meet my Soulmate." I answered, still in a state of awe.
Aang was the last one of us to have his fortune told. Afterwards, we walked out of the home and saw the villagers all gathered in the courtyard.
"We are waiting for Aunt Wu to come and read the clouds to predict the fate of the whole village." said one of the villagers.
Aunt Wu walked up to the small gazebo, holding a small booklet in her hands. "Bending arrow cloud. Good crops this year." she predicted. "Wavy, moon-shaped cloud. Gonna be a great year for twins!" she chuckled. "And a cumulus cloud with a twisted knob coming off the end of it. The village will not be destroyed by the volcano this year!"
The entire village erupted into applause and cheers.
I sat on the grass in a field of flowers, mulling over what Aunt Wu told me about my Soulmate. From what she told me, I had a feeling on who my True Love could be.
"Hey sis." Tom called, sitting next to me.
"Hey little brother." I replied. I noticed a grin on his face. "What's up?"
"It's what Aunt Wu predicted." Tom answered. "She said that I have the ability to bend another element, and someone's gonna teach it to me. That same someone is gonna join our group and she's my true love." he sighed and fell back. "I can't wait."
I giggled. "My dear little brother, aren't you a little young to thinking about true love?" I noted, raising an eyebrow. "You're twelve."
"So?" he questioned. "What did Aunt Wu say about your future?"
I bit my lip and looked out at the mountain. "Just that I'll meet my Soulmate sooner than I would think." I replied.
I sighed, trying to even consider the possibility about who my true love could be.
"Tom! Phoenix!" Aang called, landing next to us, with Sokka. "Something's wrong."
"What is it Aang?" I asked.
"Where's Katara?" Sokka asked.
"Um, back to see Aunt Wu I think." Tom answered.
They ran in that direction, with Tom and I following.
"Katara." I called, running up to her.
"Can you believe she won't let me in? And after all the business I've given her?" she asked, annoyed.
"She doesn't even charge." I reminded, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, we have other things to worry about." Sokka cut in. "Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano."
Katara rolled her eyes. "Sokka, you tried to convince me she was wrong before. It's going to take an awful lot to change my mind-"
She was cut off when the ground started to shake suddenly as the volcano rumbled violently.
"Oh no." I murmured.
No matter how loud we yelled, the village wouldn't listen to us.
"They just won't listen to reason." I sighed, shaking my head.
"But they will listen to Aunt Wu!" Aang noted, smiling.
"I know that's the problem." Sokka scoffed.
"Well, it's about to become the solution." Aang informed. "We're taking fate in our own hands."
"How?" Tom asked.
"First, I need to borrow Aunt Wu's cloud reading book." Aang answered.
Aang's idea was for him and Katara to form the clouds into the symbol for volcanic doom, in order to get Aunt Wu and the villagers to cooperate so they all wouldn't…well die.
"Aunt Wu, look!" I called, pulling her to the courtyard. "Something is happening in the clouds."
"That's very strange. It shouldn't…" she looked up and gasped. "Oh my!"
Aang flew back down, landing on top of the gazebo. "We still can save the village if we act fast." he informed.
"Lava is gonna flow downhill to this spot." Sokka added. "If we can dig a deep enough trench we can channel all the lava away from the village to the river."
"If any of you are Earthbenders, come with me." Aang ordered.
"Everybody else grab a shovel." Sokka followed.
"We've gotta hurry!" I yelled.
The crowd dispersed fast, now desperate to put Sokka's plan into action. A large trench was dug by both Earthbending and manual means. Everyone was working as fast as they could, but the volcano was gonna blow any second.
"Everyone needs to evacuate!" Aang ordered. "We'll come for you when it's safe!"
Everyone ran, just as the volcano started spewing lava. Lava ran from the volcano, destroying the village gate, and headstones as it flowed through the cemetery. Once the lava reached the trench it began to fill rapidly.
"It's too much! It's gonna overflow!" I exclaimed.
Pyrae's eyes were wide as she perched herself on my shoulder.
Another explosion sounded as burning rocks and ash began to rain down on the village. Katara, Sokka, Tom, and I ran for safety, but Aang didn't budge. A huge boulder fell out of the sky and landed in the trench, exploding. Aang rushed forward with fury, propelling himself into the air and began to Airbend. As the lava began to overflow, Aang blew the lava straight up, not allowing it to advance on the village. Finally, he drew in a mighty intake of breath and exhaled it, Airbending it as it exits, cooling all the lava to stone.
We all stood in awe.
"Man, sometimes I forget what a powerful bender that kid is." Sokka sighed.
"Wait, what did you just say?" Katara asked.
"Nothing, just that Aang is one powerful bender." Sokka repeated.
Tom and I just stared in awe that Aang was able to stop the volcano single-handedly.
"I wouldn't expect anything less from the Avatar." Tom noted, his eyes wide.
"No kidding." I agreed, smiling.
After all that excitement, the villagers returned.
"By the way, we kind of borrowed your book." Aang admitted, handing the book back to Aunt Wu.
"So you messed with the clouds, did you?" she accused. "Very clever!"
I finished loading everything into Appa's saddle and we were ready to head out.
"Goodbye everyone!" Katara called, brightly. "It was so nice to meet you!"
Appa flew off into the sun, leaving the little village behind.
It was the display of power that Aang showed back there that really impressed me. He was getting stronger, which was a good sign. Ever since that day, when Aunt Wu read my fortune, I often found myself mulling it over at night, wondering my so called 'Soulmate' was my childhood friend, that always held a special place in my heart…