Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar the Last Airbender or the Avengers (MCU), only the story. Avatar the Last Airbender and its characters belongs to Nickelodeon and Avengers belongs to Marvel. And this the second episode of the fourth disc, so we're halfway done with this disc and edging closer to the finale of Book One. I apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.

x

Katara: Water, Soldier, Mechanist, God, Earth, Fire, Spy, Archer, Monster, Air

(One by one, eight figures do something to show off their skills: the waterbender weaves a stream of water from the ground, around him and then thrusts it towards the side, the soldier blocks an attack with his shield before throwing it, the mechanist has armor envelope him and then uses the repulsor on his hand to blast something on the side, the god holds a powerful hammer high to summon a bolt of lightning, the earthbender kicks the ground bringing up a large rock before he kicks it away, the firebender twists around as she summons fire from her foot before doing a high kick to the ground and makes the flames spread, the spy drops down from above and displays a few moves, the archer rolls across the ground and fires a few arrows, and finally the monster comes down from a jump and smashes his huge fists on the ground, the airbender drops down and then with a circle of his arms he creates a blast of wind.)

Katara: Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

(Docked on a shore, five Fire Nation ships with the Hydra insignia released their soldiers. With a jump forward and a palm thrust, the firebenders released a wave of fire as the Hydra soldiers used their advanced technology.)

Katara: Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

(The Avatar, a man with a crown on his head and dressed in robes stands on a pillar of stone as he bent the four elements of water, earth, fire and air to show his skill in the arts of bending. After releasing a powerful disk of wind, he disappears from existence.)

Katara: A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar: an Airbender named Aang and met the team called the Avengers.

(The water tribe siblings find a young Airbender frozen in block of ice. After freeing him, they are then joined by heroes called Captain America, Ironman, Thor, Hulk, Clint, and Natasha.)

Katara: And although with the teams help and his airbending skills are great, hehas a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone.

(At an Air Nomad path, Aang creates an air scooter and starts to have fun with it. But when he expands his circle a little bit, he runs right into a statue. He rolls over onto his back as all six of the Avengers then poke their heads from behind the statue to check on him.)

Katara: But I believe the Avengers and Aang can save the world.

(Aang, Steve, Katara, Tony, Thor, Bruce, Sokka, Clint and Natasha stand side by side, looking down at the world on a mountain's peak for a moment as the reader's view is turned upwards to the sun.)

Nickelodeon and Marvel

The Avenging Avatar

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Avatar Roku: Previously, on Avenging Avatar…

Aang sat before the council of Airbenders of the Southern Air Temple and asked, "How did you know it was me?"

"We have known that you were the Avatar for quite some time." A monk said. Monk Gyatso then said, "Normally, we would have told you when you turned sixteen."

One hundred years later, Aang found himself waking up in Katara's arms.

x

Book One: Water

Chapter Fourteen: The Fortuneteller

It was late at night somewhere deep inside the Earth Kingdom as the group made camp for the night. After their storm sickness, Natasha, Katara and Sokka were all doing much better. Steve had just lit the fire for the firepit and the five sat around it. All four of Aang's friends sat on both sides of the fire as they waited for Aang to tell them what had happened while he was away getting their 'medicine'.

"So basically what happened was," Aang started the story, "after Steve and I had talked with the herbalist, we were attacked by these archers. But it wasn't just archers, there were these soldiers with them. And they had-"

He drew the soldiers' symbol in the dirt as he said, "This symbol on their chests. Not to mention some strange weapons."

When the other four looked at it, Sokka and Katara found it odd, but Nat knew all too well who they were dealing with. Katara noticed the looks on her and Steve's faces and asked, "You know who it is, don't you?"

"We do." Steve said as he gazed into the fire. He looked to each of the kids and said, "You remember when we talked about Bucky, right?"

"Yeah, it was right before we went into the city of Omashu." Sokka recalled. Natasha looked to Aang and Steve before she asked, "How many Hydra soldiers were there with the archers?"

"Only a small group." Aang said as he rubbed the back of his head. He then admitted, "I didn't get an exact number at the time. But there were a lot more of them when I had been captured and held prisoner by Admiral Zhao."

"That Zhao guy was promoted to Admiral?" Katara questioned. Sokka was in full agreement and said, "This is certainly gonna complicate things."

"Especially if Hydra is starting to bring their forces into this world." Nat said before turning to Steve, "It would seem that they've fixed the portal machine in our world to an extent, and are able to transport their soldiers."

"Who knows how long it'll be until they're able to bring over their war machines." Steve said. Aang then asked, "Is Hydra gonna be a huge problem?"

Steve and Natasha looked to each other. Then Steve said, "Perhaps if we can stay a step ahead, then maybe we can still beat them before the end of summer."

The three kids looked to each other until Natasha said, "There's no point in dwelling on it right now. We'll worry about those problems when we get there."

"She's right." Steve said in agreement. Then he said, "Let's try to get some sleep."

All five of them moved into the tent for a good night's rest.

x

It was bright and early the next morning as the five of them sat around the burned out campfire. While Sokka, Momo, Katara and Natasha sat around doing nothing at the moment, Steve was polishing his shield while Aang was fiddling with something on his lap. They sat in silence until a huge green fish splashed out of the river. Katara stood up and pointed with a shout, "Look!"

The fish jumped out the river again and shook as it flew through the air. Sokka stood up as well and watched how it jumped, scowling before he had a sad face. The fish jumped up again and it made a face as if to gloat. Sokka's scowl returned as he said with a glare, "He is taunting us!"

The fish continued to jump out of the water, making Sokka the more hungry and shout, "You are so going to be dinner."

He ran over to where the fishing pole was leaning and grabbed it before running back to the river. He tried to throw the line out three times, but was confused when he didn't see anything hit the water. Then he looked at his pole and questioned, "Hey! Where's the fishing line?"

"I gave the fishing pole to Aang not too long ago." Natasha recalled. She and Sokka looked over to the Airbender as he said, "Oh. I didn't think you would need it, Sokka."

"Where did you get that logic?" Steve questioned as he placed his shield on his back. Aang looked a little sheepish as he confessed by holding up his creation. The others looked to see that he had made a necklace out of the fishing line and a flower. But Sokka had a glare on his face as he complained about it, "AH, it's all tangled!"

"Not tangled," Aang said as he used his airbending to stand, "woven." Looking to the Waterbender of the group he said, "I made you a necklace, Katara."

He had a small smile as he said, "I thought since you lost your other one…" Then he held it full length with a huge smile on his face.

Katara smiled as she walked over and Aang gave it to her. Katara then said, "Thanks, Aang, I love it."

Steve and Natasha smiled at the moment until Sokka said with a deadpanned stare, "Great, Aang." Then he sarcastically said, "Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry-making business."

"I don't see why I can't do both." Aang said with a shrug and a smile as Katara stood behind the others while putting the necklace on. Sokka's deadpanned attention was brought back to the river as the fish started jumping again. When it landed, Sokka threw the lineless pole at the spot as if to skewer it. The fish jumped over the pole as it sank into the river. This caused Sokka to become very frustrated as he said, "Stop taunting me!"

Then reaching behind him, he pulled out his knife before running/waddling into the river. He grunted as he plunged his knife into the water and tripping while trying to chase his edible foe. As Aang, Steve and Natasha watched Sokka try to catch a fish with his bare hands, Katara said from behind, "So, how do I look?"

Aang turned with a bored expression until he looked at Katara. His face blushed as he instantly became enamored by the sight of the beautiful Water Tribe girl. As he looked at her, Aang found her to be even more beautiful as if he could see sparks glittering around her as she was slightly blushing as well. Aang tugged on the collar of his shirt as he asked, "You mean, all of you, or just your neck?" He started to feel a little awkward as he placed a hand on his head and said, "I mean, because both look great."

"Subtle, Aang." Nat commented with her arms crossed.

Sokka came back up with the fish in his arms, overheard what Aang was saying and said in a teasing manner, "Smoochie, smoochie." He made a kissy face at the wiggling fish while saying, "Someone's in love."

His teasing earned him a slap from the fish and fell back into the water with an, "Oh!"

"Oh man!" Natasha laughed as she hugged her sides from watching. Then she pointed at the rising Water Tribe teen and said, "Rejected by slap from a fish. I wish I could instant replay that!"

"Nat." Steve warned while giving her a look. But all Natasha did in her defense was shrug her shoulders.

"I… well…" Aang tried to explain while rubbing the back of his head. But Katara came to his defense as Momo jumped on the Avatar's shoulder, "Stop teasing him, Sokka." She walked over and said, "Aang's just a good friend."

Aang had a surprised look on his face as she rubbed his head and said, "A sweet little guy." Then she turned to the lemur on his shoulder and compared as she rubbed his head, "Just like Momo."

"Thanks." Aang softly said as he looked away. Steve and Nat looked to Aang with sympathetic expressions as Sokka walked out of the river. The sound of growling in the distance caused Momo's ears to stand tall. He cooed and flew towards the sound. The lemur landed on a boulder with Aang jumping onto it beside Momo. Aang then saw something and pointed as he shouted, "Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!"

They came up to the rock as Natasha questioned, "A what-bear?"

When they saw the bear, the only ones who were weirded out were the two Avengers. Nat turned to Steve and said, "Well, there's something you don't see every day."

Said bear continued to growl at a man dressed in a blue hat and robe as it stood on its hindlegs. The bear made a swipe with its left paw, and the man effortlessly ducked. Then the man stepped back when the animal made a swipe with its right. Then the man took another step back with his foot raised as the platypus bear brought down it broad tail. The mixed bear turned with a snarl and made two swipes with its paws which the man was able to dodge. Aang jumped on a boulder behind the bear, which the man noticed and casually said, "Well, hello there."

He slid back from another swipe from the right paw before coming forwards again and saying with a smile, "Nice day, isn't it?"

"Make noise, he'll run off!" Aang shouted with his hands up to his mouth. The other's ran up behind him as Sokka, with a hand up to his mouth, shouted, "No play dead, he'll lose interest."

"Or, just you could run for your life!" Nat added. The platypus bear made another swipe with its left paw, and when the man ducked down, his hat took a second to drop on his head as he said, "Whoa! Close one."

Then he let loose a chuckle as he backed away from another swipe. Katara held a hand to her mouth and pointed as she shouted, "Run downhill, then climb a tree!"

"No, punch him in the bill!" Sokka suggested. Then Aang shouted while pointing, "And then run in zigzags!"

"Just do something to get away from it!" Steve shouted as he looked at the man with a weirded out face. But the man remained calm as he stood still in front of the attacking bear and said, "No need, it's going to be fine."

"Fine?" Nat questioned before running up to the bear and jumping on its back, trying to put it in a choke hold. The bear roared as it tried to shake her off. Steve ran forward and grabbed its left paw as it was about to take another swing. The platypus bear used its free paw to swat the super soldier away, and then started to deliberately fall on its back. Nat could see what it was trying to and quickly jumped off.

The platypus bear stopped its fall and then took another swipe at the man. With spin as he ducked, the man narrowly avoided getting slashed while the tree was gauged. Having seen enough, Aang jumped from the boulder and landed in front of the raging animal. When he landed in front of the sitting man, Aang sent a wave of air at the bear before holding his hands in a readied fighting stance. Steve and Nat joined him on both sides as they readied themselves for a fight. The platypus bear growled fiercely loud as it stood at its full height. What the platypus bear wasn't counting on was Appa coming behind it and growling even more fiercely. The wind from Appa's growl ruffled the bear's fear as it popped out an egg in fear. Then crouching down on all fours, the platypus bear took off running to the river. Sokka and Katara came running up as the platypus bear dove into the river and swam off.

Sokka picked up the freshly egg, and sounded happy as he said, "Mmm, lunch."

Then he took two sniffs of the egg. Nat looked a tad bit disturbed before saying, "You do know that just came out of a bear's rear, don't you."

Sokka didn't seem to acknowledge the comment as he held the egg close and said to the old man, "Lucky for you we came along."

"Thanks," The man said as he stood up with a spin, "but everything was already under control. Not to worry."

"Yeah, and it's mostly to Appa, here." Steve said as he patted the bison's head. The bison gave grateful roar while Sokka looked at the man with a questionable look. The man walked over and said before bowing, "Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey."

"Aunt Who?" Aang asked. Nat then took a guess, "I'm guessing this is someone who can see the future?"

"You are correct." The man told her. Then he said, "Aunt Wu. She's the fortune-teller from my village." He gave a big toothy smile and said, "Awful nice knowing your future."

"Wow, it must be." Katara said. Then she realized, "That explains why you were so calm."

"But the fortune-teller was wrong." Sokka skeptically said. He tried to make a point, "You didn't have a safe journey. You were almost killed."

"But I wasn't." The man said with his smile still on his face. Steve eye's grew wide when he thought about, "I think that we're the reason you had a safe journey."

"Maybe." The man said with a shrug. Then placing his right fist into his left palm, he bowed and said, "All right, have a good one."

He started to walk away before remembering, "Oh, and Aunt Us said that if I was to meet any travelers," He removed a parcel from his back and came to hand it to Aang, "to give them this."

Aang took it as the man turned and walked away again. Sokka came up beside Aang to look at the item before looking towards the man as he walked away. Katara then suggested, "Maybe we should see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes- it could be fun"

"I guess it couldn't hurt." Natasha said while Aang examined the gift. But the skeptic of the group said while Aang ripped into the wrapping, "Oh, come on, fortune-telling is nonsense."

Aang opened it up and was amazed and said, "What do you know, an umbrella."

"I wonder what this could mean." Steve said while Aang placed it over his head. Then a split second later, thunder boomed overhead and rain started to pour. Sokka hunched his shoulders as Katara used her waterbending to make her a makeshift shield. Steve then removed his shield from his back and held it over his head, which Nat took advantage of. Katara then moved under the umbrella and said, "That proves it."

"No, it doesn't." Sokka said in denial while trying to use the egg to shield himself from the rain. Steve then looked to the teenager and questioned, "You don't believe in fortune-tellers, and yet after seeing the things we've seen?"

"There are some things that can be explained, but reading one's future isn't." Sokka said. Then he looked to his sister and said, "You can't really tell the future."

"I guess you're not really getting wet, then." Katara mocked as she and others kept dry. Because it had gotten wet from the rain, the egg became slippery and flew high out of Sokka's hands. Then he tried to catch it, but waved his hands as it came down, "No, no!"

But the egg crashed into his head, and the yoke inside ran down his face.

A few minutes later…

"Of course she predicted it was going to rain," He said as he walked through a puddle, "the sky's been gray all day."

"In denial much." Natasha asked a hugging himself Sokka. Katara then said, "Just admit you might be wrong, and you can join us under the umbrella."

"Or under the shield." Steve added as they kept walking. But Sokka wasn't ready to admit defeat and said, "Look, I'm going to predict the future now:"

"Are you a certifiable fortune-teller?" Natasha cracked as the Water Tribe teen fell behind. Sokka gave her a scowl before saying in an eerie voice and stepping like a weird monkey, "It's going to keep drizzling."

The rain didn't look like it was going to stop.

"See?" He said as if her were right. The others had turned to him when he started, but then looked up to the sky when it did the opposite. Aang leaned the umbrella back to look up before saying with a smirk, "Not everyone has the gift, Sokka."

"I think you may need to give up your fortune-teller license." Steve said with a raised eyebrow and placed his shield behind his back. A deadpanned Sokka stood in place while the others kept moving. Appa walked up beside the teen and started to shake off the excess water. This caused Sokka to shield himself while screaming, "Yah!"

Much later…

It wasn't long before the group came to a village at the base of a mountain. Aang, Steve, Sokka, Natasha, and Katara walked through the gate and past a couple of ducks.

"That mountain kind of reminds me of Mount. Fuji." Natasha said. Steve didn't say anything as they entered the village. One of the ducks came closer and quacked at them.

They walked towards a building where a man in black robes stood outside. The man saw them, slightly bowed and said, "Aunt WU is expecting you."

"I always get creeped out when someone says that." Nat commented as they stood outside. But Katara seemed fascinated and said, "Really?"

Sokka scoffed as the five, six when you count Momo, entered the building. The man in the black robe shut the door behind them as a girl with long pig-tails and a pink dress walked into the room with her hands clasped and head bowed. When she lifted her head she had a smile and said, "My name is Meng, and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant."

She kept her smile as she looked the five over, but Meng stopped when she saw Aang. She had become enamored with him enough to see shimmering sparkles floating beside him, even if he had a bored expression on his face. Meng's smile returned as she said, "Well, hello there."

Steve and Nat noticed the tone in her voice, and looked to see that she was looking at Aang. The young Airbender was squeakily rubbing his nose when Steve nudged him with an elbow and motioned to the girl in front of them. Aang stopped rubbing his nose and said, "Hello."

"Can I get you some tea or some of Aunt Wu's special bean-curd puffs?" Meng offered as she motioned to some pillows on the floor. The five made their way and sat down on the pillows. Before sitting down, Sokka thought with his stomach by saying, "I'll try a curd puff."

"Just a second." Meng said with a hand to the teenager. Sokka's face fell as she looked to Aang. Natasha snickered as she stood next to Sokka. She lowered herself to be at eye level with the Avatar and asked, "What's your name?"

"Aang." The boy casually said. Steve couldn't believe how oblivious Aang was. But it didn't seem to deter Meng as she gasped and said, "That rhymes with 'Meng.'

"And you've got some pretty big ears, don't you?" The girl in the pink robe said. Aang was a little weirded out by it and said while looking at them, "I… guess."

"Don't be modest, they're huge!" A now shoeless Sokka chuckled. Nat then leaned closer to the teen and said, "Maybe so, but they're nowhere as big as yours, 'Elephant Ears.'"

This brought Sokka out of his mocking mood and looked to the spy with a glare. Meng, ignoring the side commentary, stood up and said, "Well, Aang, it's very nice to meet you." She took a step back while saying, "Very nice."

"I'm sure it was." Nat said while glancing at Aang. Aang still didn't fully understand what was going on, but was still polite and said, "Likewise."

Meng took one last glance at the Airbender while walking out of the room. Sokka was still in a foul mood as he skeptically said, "I can't believe we're here in the House of Nonsense."

"Try to keep an open mind, Sokka." Katara said to her sibling with a deadpanned stare. She perked up by saying, "There are things in this world," She looked to the two Avengers before saying, "or any world, that just can't be explained. Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?"

"Sometimes an insight to a soldier's future is that there will more than likely be a fight." Steve said. Nat then added, "As for a spy, it's one mission after another."

"I meant besides those things." Katara commented. Nat nodded her head and said, "We know, we were just saying."

"It would be nice to have some bean-curd puffs." Sokka commented with a smile. Katara's face fell as the others looked to the teen.

Meng was starting to come around the right hall with a tray of food when the door to the back room slid open. A woman in a green and white dress walked out with a smile on her face and when she saw Meng she said, "Oh, Meng!"

Meng turned to the woman as she slid the door closed before saying, "Aunt Wu says I'm going to meet my true love! He's going to give me a rare panda lily."

"That's so romantic." Meng said with a smile. She looked over her shoulder and said, "I wonder if my true love will give me a rare flower."

Aang, having overheard, smiled to her and said, "Good luck with that."

The woman who had her fortune told giggled when she saw Aang. She placed a hand up to her mouth before asking, "Is that the big-ear guy who Aunt Wu predicted you'd marry?"

This caused Meng to tense up, and pushed her away to save face before turning to the group. Steve and Nat had witnessed her pushing the other girl away and wondered what it was about. Meng walked up to Aang, looked a little nervous before tripping with a yell, "Aah!"

Aang leaned forward and caught the tray while holding her hands. They looked up into each other's eyes as Meng blushed. Then she pushed the tray into Aang's hands and said, "Enjoy your snack."

Then she quickly made her way back out of the room. While four of the five watched her go, Sokka eyed the snacks and snatched them out of Aang's hands. Aang looked down to his empty hands as a woman in a yellow dress walked in and said, "Welcome, young travelers."

The group got a good look at the woman as she had her hands in her sleeves. She wore a darker yellow robe over her dress, her lips were painted red, her eyelids had a violet shade. And on her forehead rested a yellow head band with another piece more into her hair. She looked to each of them and asked, "Now, who's next? Don't be shy."

Nat and Aang looked to a skeptic Sokka before he looked away. Then rolling his head, Aang and Steve looked to Katara. Katara then stood while saying, "I guess that's me."

She walked with Aunt Wu as the others sat on their pillows and Sokka tossed bean-curd puff into his mouth. When he got a taste he said with his mouth full, "Not bad, not bad."

Aang, Steve and Natasha gave him weird looks as he stuck a hand full into his mouth. He kept enjoying it as he kept eating. Then he noticed the stares he was getting and offered the bowl to Aang. Aang politely declined by pushing the puffs away and saying, "I-I'm good on puffs."

"Oh, well." Sokka mumbled with his mouth full. Then he offered the bowl to the two Avengers. Nat gave him an odd look and said, "Not after you've been fingering all of them."

Sokka then looked behind Aang to Steve, with the super soldier saying, "Thanks, but no thanks."

Sokka just shrugged and continued eating the bean-curd puffs. Aang started to wonder how it was going back there and then asked, "So… What do you think they're talking about back there?"

"Who knows, ones future is sure to be a mystery." Natasha said as she leaned back on her hands. Sokka picked up a cup and held it with his pinky out before saying, "Boring stuff, I'm sure: love, who's going to marry, how many babies she's going to have."

This made Aang go wide eyed as he thought of Katara being loved by someone else while Sokka took a sip of tea. He played along by saying, "Yeah, dumb stuff like that."

"Don't worry so much, kid." Natasha said to make him feel better. A nail biting Aang somewhat knew what she meant, but still got up and said, "Well, I got to find a bathroom."

Aang walked out of the room, allowing Sokka to lay down on his pillow and enjoy the puffs. As he was distracted with a tossed bean puff, Momo snuck over and stole the bowl from the teen. Sokka reached for another puff when he felt that there was no bowl. Steve and Natasha smirked at this as the latter rubbed behind the lemur's ears. The airbender silently walked around the corner and stopped at the wall when he heard Aunt Wu say, "Your palms are so smooth. Do you use moisturizer?"

Aang carefully leaned against the wall and listened in on the conversation. He grew bored when he heard Katara say, "Actually, I have this special seaweed lotion." Aang's face dropped and he stuck his tongue out from the conversation as Katara said, "I could get you some if you want.

"So, do you see anything interesting in my love line?" Katara asked, reinteresting Aang. He listened closely as Aunt Wu told the Waterbender, "I see a great romance for you, the man you're going to marry."

Aang's eyes grew wide as Katara excitedly said, "Tell me more!"

Aang leaned more closely to the wall as he eavesdropped on what Aunt Wu said next, "I can see that he's a very powerful bender."

Aang's surprised face turned into a sly smirk as he knew that Aunt Wu meant him. He used his airbending to quietly do a victory jump and landed with a silent yes.

Sokka's teeth squeaked as he picked between two with his pinky finger. Steve and Nat tried to ignore the obnoxious sound as they waited for their turn, but all three's attention was diverted when a happy Aang came around the right hall. Sokka sat cross-legged as he commented, "Looks like someone had a pretty good bathroom break."

This caught Aang off guard and he tried to explain, "Y-Yeah, when I was in there…"

"I don't want to know." Sokka said with a wave of his hand. Both Steve and Natasha looked equally weirded out as the latter said, "Yeah, keep business like that to yourself."

"Trust us, kid. It'll spare you in the long run." Steve added.

Both Aunt Wu and Katara came back into the lobby with the fortune-teller asking, "Who's next?"

"Okay, let's get this over with." Sokka said as he stood up. When he stood at full height, he straightened out his back. But Aunt Wu could already see his future as by saying, "Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it self-inflicted."

His friends and sister looked to the teen as he protested with a shrug of his shoulders, "But you didn't read my palms or anything."

"See mostly got a good look at you, Sokka." Nat commented with a slight smirk. Aunt Wu proved this point by saying, "I don't need to, it's written all over your face."

This left Sokka scowling at her and going back to squeakily picking his teeth with his other pinky. Aunt Wu then pointed to Aang and said, "You there, come with me." Then looking to the two Avengers she said, "Unfortunately, I'm expecting more future seekers, so if you wouldn't mind."

Steve and Nat took the hint as the former said, "I guess we can."

He and Natasha stood up and followed Aang and Aunt Wu into the back room. Katara watched them go while Sokka sat down slightly hugging himself. Aunt Wu slid the door open, allowing Aang and the two Avengers to see inside. The room was mostly filled with large jars, a few candles on three of square floor indention, four pillows in the indention's corners, four lanterns hanging from the ceiling in their corners, some furniture along the three walls and a small fire in a ring designed to keep it from spreading. The three walked with her as Aunt Wu then said, "This is the most reliable method of telling your fortunes."

"Well, at least the fire will keep us warm, even if is small." Nat cracked. Steve nudged her arm and gave her a look to behave. The spy sighed as she made her way to an urn filled with bones. Aunt Wu said, "The bones never lie." Then with a gesture of her hand, she said, "Go on, pick one."

All three of them picked up a different bone from the pile and followed Aunt Wu to the pillows. Aunt Wu sat on the pillow next to a tea pot with Aang sitting to her left, Steve on her right and Natasha across from her. Then she instructed, "Now throw them one by one into the fire."

As Aang was about to lightly toss their bones, a feeling quickly came over Aunt Wu. She suddenly held out her hand and said, "Wait."

All three of them looked to her and she said, "A feel a certain air around you three, and something tells me to have you all throw in your bones at once."

Steve, Aang and Natasha looked to each other before doing as she said. With a light toss from each of them, the bones fell into the flames. Aunt Wu then looked amongst the three and said, "The heat makes cracks in the bones, and I read the bone cracks to tell your destiny."

"So it'll tell you why it wanted us to throw at the same time." Steve guessed as they looked to the fire. Aunt Wu smiled and said, "That is correct."

As they endured the flames, a giant crack appeared in all three of them. Aang then commented, "Wow, those are some big cracks."

But it didn't stop there as more and more cracks covered the three bones. All three had wide eyes while Aunt Wu sounded surprised as she said, "I've never seen this before."

"I take it that you've never had told a fortune this big." Nat said while not taking her eyes off the bone. Aunt Wu didn't say or do anything as they continued to watch the bones.

Cracks grew along the bones until they were covered from one end to the other with them. Then in a flash, the bones shattered and a huge plum of smoke rose in the air. All four of them gasped and shield themselves from the small blaze as Aunt Wu shouted, "Oh, my!"

Then she looked down to where the bones were once whole. The other's didn't notice it, but Aunt Wu's felt an out-of-body experience as she somehow found herself in a dark void.

In her vision…

Six lights caused the fortune-teller to look up and she gasped when she saw them. Lights of the colors of purple, blue, red, yellow, green and orange arranged in the formation of a hand.

The orange light suddenly grew brighter as the light shone down on her. She gasped at what she saw: though it moved at fast pace, she could see the three in different battles. Some against the forces of the Fire Nation, another with metallic beings, against each other, one for a dying world, one where she could see heavy losses and on a world far in the cosmos.

She soon felt a presence behind her and slowly turned. Her eyes were wide and gasped in fright at what she saw: two figures, outlined by flames, yet their faces or forms could not be seen. One was taller than the other, but the shorter figure had glowing orange-red eyes. Both figures raised a hand to their lips and said in a deep or metallic sounding voice, "Shh! No spoilers."

Aunt Wu didn't understand it even as she was whisked back into the darkness.

In the real world…

A moment later she found herself back in the fortune-telling room to find Aang, Steve and Natasha all looking at her. Steve then asked, "Are you all right?"

Aunt Wu took in a few deep breaths as she looked down to see small fragments of the bones drift down to the floor. Aunt Wu read the signs from the bones, and remembering her vision, she said, "Your destinies- this is incredible." The fortune-teller became dramatic as she said, "You three, all of your friends will be involved in great battles, awesome conflicts between the forces of good and evil, between the ideals of right and wrong and two avenge those who need it." She raised her hands over her head as she dramatically said, "Battles whose outcomes will determine the fate of entire worlds."

"Yeah, yeah, I knew that already." Aang nonchalantly said as he knew what he was supposed to do, somewhat surprising. Steve and Natasha were in agreement as the super soldier said, "Plus, avenging is kind of our job, being heroes and all."

"But did it say anything about a girl?" Aang asked, really wanting to know about that part. Natasha then made herself look comical by holding her hands next her head as she said, "We really wish to know our special someone."

"A girl?" Aunt Wu asked. She looked among the three of them and asked, "You all want to know about love?"

"Yes!" Aang inquired. Steve had a smile as he said, "If it's not too much trouble, please?"

But Aunt Wu looked sullen as she said, "I'm sorry, but I didn't see anything in any of the bones."

Aang's face fell and he looked down. Steve and Natasha looked to the Airbender with sympathetic faces. Even Aunt Wu felt bad before saying in surprise, "Oh, look!" She placed a hand to her head as she sounded as if she had been silly, "I must've missed something."

She saw three bone shards and said, "Right here." Holding them parallel in her fingers she read the fortunes aloud, "They say 'Trust your heart and you will be with the ones you love."

"Really?" Aang asked, his hope restored. Then he was gracious as he stood up and said with a bow, "Thank you, Aunt Wu."

"We do thank you for this experience." Steve said as he and Nat stood up as well. The three left the room as Aunt Wu held a hand up to her head and shook it.

The five left the fortune-teller's hut and rejoined with Appa outside. Sokka then sounded smart-alec as he said, "Well, now you got to see for yourselves that fortune-telling is just a big, stupid hoax."

Nat did a quick turn around and walked backwards for a moment while saying, "Aw, is someone grumpy because they didn't have their fortunes told? Or the fact that she didn't do it with you the same way with us?"

All this did was make Sokka scowl at her. Katara then agreed with Nat by saying, "You're just saying that because you're going to make yourself unhappy your whole life."

"That woman is crazy." Sokka exclaimed with both fists in the air. Though not sounding like it, Sokka said, "My life will be calm and happy and joyful." He then kicked a pebble in frustration which ricochets off a sign and into the side of his head, resulting in him screaming before falling, "Ow!" Then he raised a finger and said, "That doesn't prove anything."

"Well, I liked my predictions." Katara said as two of the others had big smiles at Sokka's misfortune. She looked to her three friends and said with clasped hands over her heart, "Certain things are going to turn out very well."

"They sure are." Aang said in agreement while crossing his arms. Nat shrugged and said, "If you say so."

"Why?" Katara asked, curious what they both meant, "What did she tell you, guys?"

"Some stuff." Aang quickly said, not wanting to give it away. He sounded confident as he said, "You'll find out."

"Plus," Nat added, "You never know how things will really turn out when you get there."

"She does have a point." Steve said. Katara then started to walk off with Aang following with his hands behind his head. The five started to walk to the middle of town where a huge crowd was gathered. Everyone was looking up to the sky as Katara asked, "What's with the sky?"

"Maybe they're looking to see if it'll rain again." Nat said with a glance to Sokka. Sokka grumbled and scowled while Natasha looked away. She noticed a familiar face in the crowd and said to the others, "Hey, it's the man we meet earlier."

"You're right." Steve said when he saw him. The man turned to see the arriving five and said, "Hello again." Then he looked back up to the sky and said, "We're waiting for Aunt Wu to come and read the clouds, to predict the fate of the whole village."

"That cloud kind of looks like a fluffy bunny." Aang said as he pointed to said cloud. Katara clasped her hands when she saw the cloud, but the entire group was surprised when the man said, "You better hope that's not a bunny. The fluffy bunny cloud forecasts doom and destruction."

"For what, a famine or something?" Natasha questioned. Steve only shrugged his shoulders as Sokka leaned closer to the man and asked, "Do you even hear yourself?"

"The cloud reading will tell us if Mount Makapu," A woman in front of them explained. She pointed to the top of the mountain as she said, "dormant for another year, or if it will erupt."

"Couldn't you have just seen if it would erupt by going up to the peak?" Steve asked. The old man then said, "That was a tradition that we used to have once a year of going up the mountain to check the volcano ourselves." He bore a smile as he said, "But ever since Aunt Wu moved to the village twenty years ago, we have a tradition of not doing that."

"Talk about breaking tradition." Nat said. The old man's smile remained as he said, "In a way it is."

"I can't believe you would trust your lives to that crazy old woman's superstition." Sokka said in disbelief. This causes shock amongst the group as Steve pulled Sokka to the other side of the group. Katara then looked to her brother and shushed him before saying, "She's coming."

The entire crowd looked back to see Aunt Wu and the assistant in black robes walking up the stairs. The crowd parted into two sections as the fortune-teller walked up to a three-stepped podium. Most of the crowd cheered as a man shouted, "Aunt Wu!"

A familiar face appeared beside the Airbender with Momo on his head as Meng looked up to the sky and said, "Hey, Aang, don't you think that cloud looks like a flower?"

Aang looked up to where she was pointing and said, "Huh?" Then he nervously said, "Sure, I guess."

Then pushing a yelling Meng out of the way, Aang then said to Katara, "Hey, Katara..." He pointed up to the cloud and said, "Don't you think that cloud looks like a flower?"

"Shh!" Katara scolded as she watched Aunt Wu. Steve then looked to Aang and questioned, "Wasn't that a little mean with what you did with Meng?"

Aang looked sheepish and rubbed the back of his head. Their attention was diverted when Aunt Wu stepped onto the podium with folded hands. She bowed in respect to the crowd before taking a deep breath and holding her hands before her. Her assistant handed her a book as she looked up to see a cloud like an arrow and said, "Bending arrow cloud." Then she looked to crowd and said, "Good crops this year. Nice big harvest."

"Darn good news!" A farmer wearing orange tinted glasses and had a small moustache above his lip said before hugging his wife. He looked to the camera and gave a wink Aunt Wu looked to another cloud and said, "Wavy moon shape cloud. Let's see" She had a big smile when she said, "Gonna be a great year for twins."

"Yes!" Two boys shouted before high-fiving. Then Aunt Wu finished by looking at another cloud and said, "And a cumulous cloud with a twisty nub coming off the end of it." Everyone looked to the cloud she was reading before she dramatically said, "The village will not be destroyed by the volcano this year!"

The entire crowd cheered to the news. As the rest of the crowd continued to cheer, Aang decided to confess his feelings and said to Katara, "Since I got you here, uh," Aang rubbed the back of his head before saying, "there's something I want to tell you."

Steve noticed Aang turn to Katara and watched as Aang tried to say, "I like you, but more than normal."

But his words were lost as Katara ran forward into the cheering crowd. A depressed Aang watched with Momo standing behind his head and said, "Never mind."

"Don't worry, kid." Steve said and placed his hand on the young Airbender's shoulder. Aang looked up to him as the super soldier said, "You'll get your chance."

This didn't do much to change Aang's mood as he looked down.

Fortune-teller's place…

Back at the fortune-teller building, Katara knocked on the door to see Aunt Wu again. Standing back with her hands behind her back, Katara said as the door opened, "Hi, Aunt Wu. Sorry to bother you."

"Anytime." The fortune-teller said with a smile. Katara was really curious and said, "About this man I'm supposed to marry… is gonna be handsome?" Then a thought popped into her head and she said, "Oh, I hope he's tall."

"Ah" Aunt Wu said in understanding. Then she guessed, "you want another reading."

"Yes, please." A hopefully Katara asked with her hands clasped. Aunt Wu then led Katara into the room and slid the door shut.

In town…

"I can't believe all these saps." An irritated Sokka said as he, Aang and the two Avengers walked through town. They walked about as he kept ranting, "Someone really needs to scream some sense at them."

"Or pick at your head until your mind is open enough to see possibilities." Nat commented. Sokka looked to her and had a raised eyebrow as he questioned, "Why do you have to use such figurative images?"

Nat just shrugged as they kept walking. Aang was in disagreement with the teen and said, "They seem happy, Sokka."

"Yeah," Steve added, "all she's mostly doing is telling fortunes for love and maybe for the prosperity for the town. I don't see how this is much of a big deal."

"Yeah well, not for long." A determined Sokka said. He sounded serious as he said, "I'm going to prove Aunt Wu's predictions are nonsense."

"All you're really going to prove is that you're a skeptic to these people." Natasha told him. But it didn't deter Sokka as he grabbed onto a man in a light-blue robe and said, "Hey! You!" Wrapping an arm around the man's shoulder, Sokka pointed down to his feet and said, "I bet Aunt Wu told you to wear those red shoes, didn't she?"

His red shoes, though clashed with the rest of his outfit, were pointed at the toes and had a gold rim where the feet went in. The man seemed happy as he stepped away before saying, "Yeah, she said I'd be wearing red shoes when I met my true love."

"Uh-huh," The ever so skeptic Sokka said before asking with a smirk, "and how many times have you worn those shoes since you get that fortune?"

"Every day." The man said with a hopeful smile. This caused Sokka's smirk to drop and an irritated inferno appeared behind him as he shouted, "Then of course it's gonna come true!"

"Really? You think so?" The man asked, more hopeful then ever as he grabbed Sokka's wrists. The man released the Water Tribe teen and shouted, "I'm so excited!"

The man ran off with a joyous smile on his face. Natasha looked to the teen and asked with crossed arms, "I thought you were going to try to prove Aunt Wu wrong?"

"Yeah. All you did was make that guy believe in her prediction even more." Steve added with a smirk.

Sokka groaned before kicking another rock before it hit a duck. The duck gave annoyed squawk before flying over to the scowling Water Tribe teen and landing on his shoulders to harass his head. Sokka grunted as he tried to get the duck off and fell to the ground with an, "Aaah!"

Steve, Natasha and Aang watched as Sokka crawled away with duck continuously harassing him. Nat sighed and said, "I'll go help him."

Fortune-teller's place…

"And then you'll have your third great-grandchild before quietly passing away in your sleep." Aunt Wu quickly said as she read Katara's palm. She looked up to the Waterbender and asked, "Is that enough information for you?"

"Wow!" Katara said as she gazed at her palm. Then she was courteous and said, "Thanks, Aunt Wu."

She got up to leave, but stopped when another thought popped into her head she said, "Oh, wait. One more thing." Turning to the fortune-teller, she asked, "How warmly should I dress tomorrow?"

"You want me to do a reading for that?" Aunt Wu questioned with a hand over her temple. An over-enthusiastic Katara nodded with a huge grin.

Out in town…

"I don't care what Aunt Wu told you." Sokka shouted, still trying to prove Aunt Wu wrong. He looked at the person he was yelling at and said, "You have to take a bath sometime."

The dirty man in an orange robe just chuckled in disagreement. Then he walked off as Sokka facepalmed. Aang then tried to take Sokka's mind off of it and asked, "So, Sokka, you know some stuff about ladies, right?"

"Are you sure you should be asking him, Aang?" Nat questioned. A smirk formed on her face as she added, "You do know this is Sokka, right?"

Sokka ignored the spy as he placed an arm around Aang and repeated the word, "Some stuff." Then acting like someone who knew what they were talking about he said, "You've come to the right place. What can I do you for?"

"Well, there's this girl." Aang started. Steve and Nat watched as Aang talked to Sokka. The Water Tribe teen looked over to a certain girl as she stuck her head from behind a barrel with a giggle. Sokka then said, "I think I know who you mean."

"You do?" Aang asked him. Then he said, 'And you're okay with it?"

Steve happened to look over to where Sokka had and saw Meng standing there and tried to say, "Uh, Sokka. That's not-"

But Sokka stopped the super soldier with a hand before telling Aang, "Of course I am. And to tell you the truth," Sokka said as he and the other two looked to see Meng waving her arms up and down as he said, "I've been picking up a subtle vibe that she likes you, too."

"She does?!" Aang asked in excitement as Meng had struck a pose. Sokka, mostly talking about Meng, said, "Oh, yeah, she's crazy about you." Then he advised, "All you have to do now is not mess it up."

"Well, how do I do that?" Aang asked. Steve said, "I wouldn't trust Sokka on this one, Aang."

But Sokka still gave his advice bluntly, "The number one mistake nice guys like you make- being too nice."

"So you think nice guys finish last." Natasha questioned with crossed arms and an annoyed look on her face. But this confused Aang as he said, "You can be too nice?"

"Aang, there is nothing wrong with being nice." Steve told him. But Aang was mostly in Sokka's corner as the teen said, "Yep. If you want to keep her interested, you have to act aloof, like you don't really care one way or the other."

"So in other words, like you most of the time." Nat said. This caused Sokka to look at the spy with a glare. But Aang was willing to try it as Meng walked over, "Well, okay."

"Hey, Aang, I was wondering…" Meng tried to say. But Aang started being aloof and said as he walked off, "See you later."

This surprised Steve, Natasha and Meng with the latter sighing in sadness. Sokka then said with slight pride, "Wow, that kid is good."

"Congratulations, Sokka." Nat said as she looked to him. She had a deadpanned look as she said, "You've just created a monster."

Fortune-teller's place…

"And you'll be fine, as long as you've got a scarf." Aunt Wu said as she pushed Katara out of the building. When they came out, it scared away a couple of ducks. Aunt Wu started to close the door while saying, "Bye-bye, now."

"Okay, okay," Katara said as she knew that she was getting on Aunt Wu's nerves, "but one more thing."

Aunt Wu looked a little nervous but placed her hand to forehead and said, "All right, what is it?"

"Should I eat a mango or a papaya for breakfast tomorrow?" Katara asked when she thought about it. Just to get it over with, Aunt Wu quickly said, "Papaya."

Then she shut the door on the Waterbender. But this caused Katara distress as she turned and kicked the ground while saying, "Oh, I hate papaya."

Aang, still acting aloof, was standing against the window and said, "Oh, hey, Katara. I didn't see you there."

"Hey, Aang." Was all that Katara said as she walked away. Aang then shouted after her, "That's okay. I'm busy with my own stuff."

But when she didn't look back, he just stood there until he was joined by a duck. He looked down to the water fowl for a moment until it gave an odd quack.

x

Katara soon found herself at a stand with fruits and begrudgingly said, "Ugh, papaya, please."

"So… papaya." Aang nonchalantly said as he walked up with Momo on his shoulder. Katara wasn't too thrilled about it as she said, "Uh-huh." Then she offered, "Would you like some?"

"You know me." Aang said as he picked up an apple, "I don't really care what I eat."

Katara was looking down before saying, "Okay, then." She turned and waked away as Aang took a bite out of the fruit, "See ya later."

When she was gone, the Airbender spit out the bad tasting apple. When he stood up straight it sounded like he had come to his senses by saying, "Maybe aloof isn't my style."

"Aang, let me give you some advice." Steve said as he walked up to his friend. Aang listened closely as he said, "Aloofness may work for some guys, but you're not one of them. My advice to is just be yourself, don't push into it and don't get caught with another woman."

Aang gave him a questioning look before he realized what he had said, "It's a long, yet it would be a helpful story."

"Oh! A panda lily!" A girl shouted from behind. Aang, Momo and Steve looked to see that a man had given the girl a beautiful flower. Aang looked to the lemur and super soldier with a smile, "Did you see that?"

The man and woman were hugging from their love when Aang literally came between them. A nervous Steve with Momo on his shoulder quickly walked over as Aang pointed to the flower and asked the shocked couple, "Excuse me, where can a guy find one of those things?"

Steve quickly reached and pulled Aang out of the two's arms with a scowl. Then turning to the couple he said, "Sorry about that. He just wants to impress a girl."

x

So after gaining the information from the man and letting Nat know where they were going to be, Aang, Steve and Sokka began the climb to the top of the volcano. The boys had nearly reached the top as Sokka was complaining, "I can't believe the two of you dragged me all the way up here for a stupid flower."

Aang jumped up to a high rock before looking back and said, "Not just any flower- a panda lily." Then he thought back to the couple and said, "Me and Steve saw it action, and boy does it work."

"I'm even willing to bet that it was a lot more helpful than acting aloof." Steve added as he jumped up to a rock below Aang's. Sokka was slowly climbing up behind them and made his own fact, "Flowers are fine once you're married, but at this early stage, it's critical that you maintain maximum aloofness."

"Okay, aloofness didn't get Aang any closer to the girl he has feelings for." Steve said with a raised eyebrow. Aang was also in a different direction as he said, "But my heart is telling me to get this flower," He looked up to the peak as he remembered the fortune aloud, "and Aunt Wu said if I trusted my heart, I would be with the one I love."

Sokka, not believing what he was hearing, was shocked, "What?" Then he deadpanned, "Don't tell me you believe in that stuff, too."

The Water Tribe teen continued to climb as Aang pointed out, "Well, Aunt Wu hasn't been wrong yet." Then he asked, "Why should she be wrong about love?"

"We did see that girl before us get the flower from Aunt Wu's prediction." Steve added. The two younger boys looked to him and said, "What? That girl was so excited about getting that flower, and it was within range."

Aang just turned and jumped up from boulder to boulder. When he was close to the peak, Aang saw the flower and pointed, "There, on the rim."

Aang made one final jump when he reached the flower with Steve landing right behind him. Aang stooped down to pick a flower from the peak, and a smirking Steve looked around the rim of the volcano. But when he looked to the center his face fell when he saw inside the crater. He touched Aang's shoulder as Sokka came up. Both boys looked to what Steve saw with a gasp. The entire crater was brimming with hot magma as Aang said in despair, "Oh, no." Aang said as he couldn't believe it, "Aunt Wu was wrong."

Then he dropped the picked panda lily down into the crater. The lily fell into the lava filled crater and burst into flame when it reached the molten rock.

The three kneeled down as they assessed their situation. Sokka then said, "Those people all think they're safe." Looking to Aang and Steve he said, "We've got to warn 'em."

"I couldn't agree more with you, Sokka." Steve said as they all stood. Aang then lifted his staff and turned it into the glider while saying, "There's no time to walk."

"Take Sokka on the glider." Steve told them. Running to the rim he shouted over his shoulder, "I'll be right behind you."

Aang nodded before taking Sokka's wrist and said, "Grab on."

Sokka screamed as he was pulled to the edge of the crater. Moving quickly, Sokka wrapped his arms around Aang and held on tight as the Airbender ran to the edge of the peak. As Aang took off into the air, Steve jumped over the edge and made his way down the mountain side. When he reached more smooth ground, he picked up speed and was running underneath the boys as they glided overhead. The two on the glider soared right into town with Steve racing through the forest on foot.

When all three entered the town, they ran to find Nat and Katara standing outside the fortune-teller building. Though there was impending danger, Aang still said in a friendly manner, "Hi, Katara."

"Now's not the time to be saying hello, kid." Steve said as he and Sokka joined them. While Nat did hear the tension in his voice, Katara was a little ticked off when she said, "Can you believe she won't let me in?" Then she tried to make a point with her hands on her hips, "And after all the business I've given her?"

"But she doesn't even charge." Aang pointed out as he and the other two looked a little lost. Natasha smirked as she walked over and said, "It seems our little Katara here caught on obsession of having her future told."

"I know, but still." Katara said as she stood at the door.

"Okay, as fascinating as this is, it is not the time for it." Steve said. Sokka finished by saying, "We have other things to worry about."

"Like what?" Nat asked when she remembered them running up to them. Sokka then said, "Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano."

"Oh, come on, Sokka." Natasha sighed as she had a feeling of where this could go. Katara was with her as she said, "Sokka, you tried to convince us she was wrong before. It's gonna take an awful lot to change my mi…"

She was cut off when an explosion rumbled from the top of Makapu. She said in despair, "Oh, no."

"For once, Sokka was right on the money." Steve said. They then moved to crowd where Sokka tired to warn the townsfolk, "Everyone, that volcano is gonna blow any second. Aunt Wu was wrong."

"Yeah, yeah," A woman put off as she and everyone in the village knew who Sokka was. Then she said, "we know you don't believe in Aunt Wu, Mr. Science and Reason Lover."

"If you won't listen to him," Katara tried as she stepped forward, "maybe you'll listen to me." She sympathetically said, "I want to believe Aunt Wu and her predictions as much as you do, but my brother, Aang and Captain Steve Rogers saw the lava with their own eyes."

"Well, I heard Aunt Wu's prediction with my own ears." The man from before said. Aang, trying his Avatar card, jumped up to the roof of a building to the side and shouted, "Please listen to us. You are all in danger. And we have to get out of here. You can't rely on Aunt Wu's prediction." The crowd listened as he said, "You have to take fate into your own hands."

Another rumble shook the ground and startled the villagers. Sokka pointed to the top of Mount. Makapu and shouted, "Look! Can your fortune-telling explain that?"

The smoke from the volcano started to become worse every minute. A man next to Sokka scoffed and looked to the teen while asking, "Can your science explain why it rains?"

"Yes!" Sokka shouted. He stood firm as he said, "Yes, it can!"

"Now's not the time to be arguing about it!" Steve firmly said. But it did nothing as the crowd soon disbanded from the town square. Sokka looked down in frustration while Katara and the two Avengers began to worry. Aang jumped down form the roof of the building, and landed as Katara said, "They just won't listen to reason."

"Thank you, for stating the obvious." Natasha sarcastically said. Katara gave her friend a slight glare until Steve stood in between them and said, "Okay, that's enough, you two. We need to think of something that will get these people moving."

Aang had an idea and said, "But they will listen to Aunt Wu."

"I know." Sokka growled, "That's the problem."

"Well, it's about to become the solution. We're taking fate in our own hands." Aang said with a smile. Steve soon caught onto what he was saying and said, "I think I know what you're getting at."

Aang nodded as a mischievous smirk formed as he explained, "First I need to borrow Aunt Wu's cloud-reading book."

x

Steve, Katara and Sokka stood outside of Aunt Wu's fortune-teller's building to keep a look out. Sokka gave a smile to any passerby while Aang, Momo and Natasha snuck in from the roof. The two quietly made their way down the roof as Momo cooed and flew down. Aang used his airbending to slow his fall onto the balcony while Natasha hung on the edge of roof and swung herself down next to Aang. Then the three quietly entered from the door on the balcony. They soon found their way into the building and began searching for the book. While Natasha was searching elsewhere, Aang searched the fortune room. He looked in a little box as a watching Momo cooed again. He jumped down as Aang told the lemur, "Shh! We don't want anyone to hear us."

But Momo's ears perked as he looked to see someone coming. Aang looked back to see Meng standing behind him. Aang gasped in fright and stood up, thus scaring Momo. A quick blur entered through the open door and put Meng in a choke hold. Aang was quick to say, "Stop! It's Meng!"

Nat looked down to see that the girl was nearly starting to turn blue and released her with a quick, "Sorry."

Meng gave her a quick glare before turning back to Aang as he said, "Sorry about that. I didn't see you there and I'm sorry about the misunderstanding."

"It's okay, both of you." Meng said before getting to the point, mostly towards Aang, "You don't like me, do you?"

"Of course I like you." Aang said to Meng who had her head hung. Nat then said, "I'm thinking that she means for something else."

Meng proved the spy's point by saying, "She's right, but it's more about you don't like me like the way I like you."

"Oh," Aang said, now fully understanding, "I guess not."

Nat looked at the little girl in sympathy. Meng then said, "It's okay." Then she made a point by saying, "It's just really hard when you like someone, but… they don't think of you that way."

"I know what you mean." Aang said as he thought of Katara. He was caught off guard when she said, "She's beautiful by the way."

"Huh?" Aang questioned with a blush. Meng talked about Katara by saying, "That Water Tribe girl." The girl in the pink robe looked down when she said, "I can see why you like her so much." Then pointing out Katara's traits, "She's sweet, she's a Bender." She reached up to her hair as she said, "And her hair seems so manageable."

Then she pulled her down and played with it a little before it bounced back into place. Her face of gloom came back, but Aang tried to cheer her up by saying, "Don't worry. You're gonna meet a great guy who's gonna completely fall for you."

He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders before confidently saying, "I know it."

"I may not be a fortune-teller, kid." Natasha added, "But there is a guy for every girl."

"Thanks." Meng said as it did cheer her up a little. Natasha then remembered why they were here and said to Aang, "Uh, Aang. We need to find what we need and get out of here."

Aang, with Momo on his shoulder, and Natasha then started to walk out of the room when Meng called after them, "Wait!" Then reaching into her robe she asked, "Don't you guys want this?"

The two turned as she presented them with the cloud-reading book. Aang took the book from her before asking, "How did you know?"

"I've kind of been stalking you." Meng admitted while playing around with her index fingers. She offered a smile and a giggle to the two creeped out friends. Natasha raised a finger and said, "Kid, some advice, don't be that creepy the next time you see a guy you like."

"Duly noted." The still embarrassed Meng said with a nod.

"But, thanks. I guess." A blushing Aang said before he and Nat started to walk out of the room. As they made their way out the way they came, Nat whispered to Aang, "Despite that little phase, I see promise for her liking someone, especially if he's going to have big ears."

x

Appa grunted as he flew high over the village with Aang and Katara in the saddle and Nat steering on Appa's head. The Natasha then said, "So a recap, clouds are made of water and air." She looked up to the saddle and said with a knowing smirk, "so between the two of you, you should be able to bend them into any shape we need."

"That's the plan." Aang said with a smirk as Katara looked through the cloud-reading book. Looking closer the Waterbender said, "I found it- the symbol for volcanic doom."

"Just a quick question, is it the fluffy bunny thing?" Nat curiously asked with an eyebrow raised. They didn't respond as both Aang and Katara stood up and parallel with each other. Holding their hands close to their person, Aang and Katara mirrored each other's movements by holding their hands high and then low. Appa flew through a cloud as the two Benders continued to work their magic. Appa grunted as he stuck out all his legs and turned sideways. The bison then came through a small hole with a cloud trail, courtesy of the two Benders. The bison emerged from the top of the clouds as Aang and Katara waved their arms around to move the cloud how they needed it. They were able to move the cloud in the shape they needed.

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Down on the ground, Sokka and Steve were leading Aunt Wu to podium in town square. Sokka then pointed up to the sky and said, "Aunt Wu, look.

"Something's happening in the clouds." He warned. Aunt Wu was baffled and said, "That's very strange. It shouldn't…" But it turned to terror with a gasp, and with a hand covering her mouth she said, "Oh, my!"

What they saw in the clouds was a skull with an open mouth. Steve leaned over to Sokka and said, "To be honest, I thought they were going to make the bunny."

Sokka just looked at the super soldier with a deadpanned glare.

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Now that the threat had been made, the group of five stood at the podium as they devised a plan, "We can still save the village if we act fast." Motioning to the teen and super soldier standing on the podium, Aang then said, "Steve and Sokka have a plan."

"Lava is going to flow downhill to this spot." Sokka started off. Steve then picked up, "If we can dig a deep enough trench, we can divert the lava flow around the village and into the river."

"If any of you are Earthbenders, come with me." Aang said. One of the twins raised a hand and shouted, "I'm an Earthbender!"

"I'm not!" His sibling shouted with the other hand. Sokka then had a shovel in hand and said, "Everybody else, grab a shovel."

An explosion rocked the village, prompting Sokka to hold the shovel above his head and say, "Come on, we've got to hurry!"

"Let's move it, people!" Nat shouted as the people screamed and started to work.

The sun had just set as the Aang's group and the villagers began to work on the trench. They had just cleared away amount of soil in patches. Appa growled as he waited. The Earthbenders made a swinging motion with their arms to push some dirt and rocks from one side of the trench to the others. Villagers that couldn't Earthbend were either digging around the trenches or down in it while Appa carried a boulder bound by rope from one side to the other. Three Earthbenders stood near the entrance of the village, and swung their arms low to push some more dirt away to connect two trench patches. Sokka and Steve worked with some of the villagers at one section when another explosion from the volcano shook the ground. Sokka gasped as Steve looked to the mountain and saw that the peak was starting to glow. Sokka then gave some great advice, "Dig faster! Dig faster!"

He, Steve and any other villagers with shovels started to dig even faster while the Earthbending twin ran off to do his part. The boy ran as fast as he could and then with a jump he landed on his feet while swinging his arms low. With a push from his earthbending, the teen pushed the end of the trench next to the river. As they admired his work, Aang jumped over the trench before shouting, "Everyone needs to evacuate! We'll come for you when it's safe!"

The villagers or the team didn't need to be told twice as they high-tailed it out of the trench. Momo came in flying and cooing with a big rock in his back feet. The helpful lemur dropped it in a spot. Then he jumped onto Aang's shoulder before the Airbender took off running.

The volcano was really starting to turn into an inferno as ash starting to rain down. Steve, Katara, Aang, Sokka and Natasha stood at the trench before entrance and waited to see what would happen. None of them said anything as the glow from the lava started to appear through the forest. The lava came down the path to the entrance, burning the forest and when it touched the gate and the two stones beside it, they were set ablaze by the molten rock. The gate crumbled from the heat of the lava. The little gnomes that stood on opposite sides of the path were also set on fire from the lava when it reached them. Soon the lava reached the trench and flowed down into it. But even with the trench diverted to the river, the lava still started to rise. Katara then said, "It's too much. It's going to overflow."

Another explosion made them gasp and stumble. They looked up to see the fire's the volcano roar and crackle at the peak. Steve then said, "We need to go, now!"

Four of the five turned and ran for safety. Rocks were launched from the peak and crashed into the lava flow. Steve, Natasha, Sokka and Katara stopped when they noticed when Aang wasn't with them. The super soldier cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Aang, come on! We have to go!"

But a large rock landed in front of the Avatar and allowed lava to jump out of the trench. Deciding to take action, Aang ran towards the wave of lava with a grunt and shouted when he jumped high into the air. His friends watched as Aang gathered large amounts of air to follow his fists. Then he twisted it for a moment before packing it into a ball. Then landing as the lava came up, Aang slashed it with the air. When the lava was distorted enough, Aang took a deep breath before blowing a huge gust of wind. The wind caused the lava to rapidly cool and solidify. The roaring and crackling faded as the lava was turned into rock.

When it was over, Aang made circled his arms before calming himself while making his hands flat and gently lowered them. The four had watched in amazement to what they had seen as Sokka said, "Man… sometimes I forget what a powerful Bender that kid is."

This caught Katara off guard before saying, "Wait." She looked to her sibling and asked, "What did you just say?"

"Nothing." Sokka said with a shrug of his shoulders. Then he repeated what he had said, "Just that Aang in one powerful Bender."

"Was this from one of your fortunes?" Natasha asked. Katara nodded, "Kind of." Then she looked up to Aang while before realizing what Aunt Wu had meant, " suppose he is."

x

The next morning, the volcano had finally settled down. Two ducks sat on ne of the jagged tips of the cooled lava. The town was gathered in the square to see the seven off.

"By the way," A guilty Aang said as he handed Aunt Wu's back to her, "we kind of borrowed your back."

"So you messed with the clouds, did you?" Aunt Wu scolded as she took the book back. Both Aang, Katara and somewhat Nat looked guilty about it while Sokka pointed a finger at his sister. But Aunt Wu's anger turned into humor as she laughed before saying, "Very clever."

"No offense," Sokka said as he stood on the podium. He tried to make a point, "But I hope this has taught this has taught everyone a lesson about not relying too much on fortune-telling."

But the man from the previous day stuck up for the fortune-telling, "But Aunt Wu predicted the village wouldn't be destroyed, and it wasn't. She was right, after all."

Sokka ran up to the man and said with a glare, "I hate you."

Katara walked over and pulled her brother away from the man before saying, "It's okay, Sokka."

"He does have a point." Steve said walking up behind them. Sokka looked to the super soldier with a baffled look before Steve said, "She did say the town wouldn't be destroyed, and since we were here to save the town, we were the reason that it wasn't destroyed. Plus she didn't say anything about the volcano erupting."

Sokka gave the older man a glare as Katara then pushed him away while saying, "Everything's going to be all right."

"Can I ask you a something?" Aang asked Aunt Wu. The fortune-teller looked to the Air Nomad and said, "Of course, honey."

"You didn't really see love in me and my friend's fortune, did you?" Aang asked as he looked down. He sounded a little sad as he said, "You just told us what I wanted to hear."

"I'll tell you a little secret, young Airbender." Aunt Wu offered. Then she looked up to the sky as she said, "Just as you reshaped those clouds, you have the power to shape your own destiny."

Aang smiled at her words before looking to Appa and the now boarding passengers as Katara waved and said, "Good-bye, everyone. It was so nice to meet you!"

"Take care." Nat said as she waved as well. Steve was about to put his helmet back on when he heard a few single girls of the village scream out to him. He looked down to see a few village girls waving to him. He gave them a sheepish smile and waved back. Aang used his airbending to jump high into the air and descended onto the bison's saddle as Katara said, "Take care, Meng."

Nat looked to the girl and said with a smirk, "Don't forget what I said, kid."

"Take care." Meng said as she waved the group off. As Appa turned away and left, Meng's cheerful smile turned into a scowl as she insulted Katara, "Floozy."

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This story is dedication to:

Stan Lee: 1922 – 2018

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Author's Note: And with that, chapter fourteen is done. I do apologize for the wait, I had a bit of computer troubles. But now that I'm back I will keep my promise of finishing Book One as quick as I can. Also, expect some training in the next episode. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See you next time.