((Brianna's P.O.V))
"I wonder what's taking them so long," Katara said looking back at the hallway.
"Katara, please don't start we already have Brianna curious enough for the three of us combined" Sokka said as he pointed over at me. They all looked over at me making me bury my face into my knees, squeezing my legs with my arms. I was taking all my self control to stay in that position, for I knew if I dropped my concentration for even a second my body would run to the doors and try and eavesdrop of Rebecca's reading.
"Hey, do you think that she's getting her love fortune told?" Katara asked still not taking the hint that I was dying from curiosity.
"No way," Sokka said denying it right away. "Rebecca doesn't seem like the romantic type. There's no way she'd ask for that."
"But wait don't all girls ask to be told their love fortune?" Aang asked.
"Well Aunt Wu asked me before we started," Katara said thinking back to her reading "so I guess it's common for girls. That's why she asks us beforehand."
"Then there's no way Rebecca's going to do that," Sokka said confidently "she'll defiantly pass on that."
"But what if she does say yes?" Katara asked getting excited. "I mean can't you image her saying something like 'Sure, why not I might as well.' What if she said something like that?" I could feel my body shaking as the urge grew stronger and stronger.
"Now that you mention it, I can kind of image it" Aang said as he thought a bit. "She's probably thinking something along the lines of 'Since I'm already here I might as well hear it' or 'Well I know that there isn't anyone out there who has the ability to love me, I might as well hear it.' Well something like that anyway." I tried to block off all sound coming from them, but it proved to be useless and my inner fan girl listening in was starting to take control.
"Okay even if you guys are right," Sokka said interrupting Aang and Katara's discussion. "Rebecca probably wouldn't tell us what her reading was, whether it's romance or something else." After I heard that I couldn't control it any longer! The urge was too strong and now I had taken my fan girl form. I jumped up from my seat, startling everyone in the room, and dashed toward the door. Each step I took made me feel more curious and anxious which in turn made me even more frustrated. I wasted no time when I got to the doors and slid them open, almost causing the doors to break. I could hear the loud echo of the sliding doors hitting the wall and the cracking of the flames of the fire. Aunt Wu looked up surprised at the doors suddenly opened. She got up from the floor and smiled at me before motioning me to come in. I nodded my head but froze when I noticed Rebecca. At that moment I feared for my life. Her eyes were glaring at me like daggers and I could feel hate and anger fueling her body, so much that it caused an aura to surround her. To looked like she was about to kill me, and that was no exaggeration! Like a tiger who's about to kill its prey, aka me!
"Why are you here," she demanded. I quickly dashed to the seat next to Aunt Wu which was also far away from Rebecca. I couldn't find my voice and having Rebecca glare at me like that made me want to cry and crawl into the dark hole.
"I'm sure she was just eager to find out her own future," Aunt Wu said, trying to calm Rebecca down but I could tell she was still angry. I could feel her aura all round the room as if it slowly killing me from the inside. I heard her let out a sigh before she got up from the floor and started walking for the door.
"You're leaving?" I asked her, but was secretly thankful. She stopped in front of the doors, the tension still in the air. The silence made the air feel heavy and time seemed be to moving slower.
"There's no point," she said after a long silence "her reading was too vague and she can't seem to tell me anymore." And with that she walked out of the room, sliding the doors closed.
"Well that was awkward," Nyoko said when she was sure that Rebecca and Gin were long gone. I let out a sigh of relief. Finally I found the strength to breath. I had never seen Rebecca so angered in my life. Sure she gets pissed once in a while, but this time it was different. It was as if she was thirsting for blood.
"Well now that she's left," Aunt Wu said snapping me out of my thoughts. "If you would please place your hand on the handle of the sand tray, we can begin the reading." I looked down and finally noticed the instrument in front of me. It looked familiar but I couldn't really think straight since I was still all rattled up because of Rebecca. I took the handle with my right hand and waited to be told further instructions. "You don't need to worry about her," Aunt Wu told me, noticing my worried look. "She just needs some time alone. You can go talk to her later. For now you have to focus on the task at hand." I nodded my head and looked down at the white sand. I saw the jewel needle move and started to draw an image on the sand. Aunt Wu told me not to worry about her, but I couldn't help it. She was my best friend and I knew that she would always be there for me. Whenever I needed a shoulder to cry on or have someone to talk to. She would always be there, but it's not the same with her. She would never tell me what's wrong not until she was at the breaking point, or if it was already too late. "I can sense your concern for her," Aunt Wu said with her eyes closed. I didn't look up at her and just stared at my crossed legs. "You are a good friend. In all my years of fortunetelling I haven't been asked why a client to predict the future of someone else." She let out a small chuckle but kept her eyes closed. "This young man has yet to realize his feelings for her, but is defiantly aware of her. He feels confused when he is around her and his feeling for her are growing with each encounter. Your friend is only vaguely aware of her feelings. If the two cannot see themselves more than just enemies then their relationship will not progress." I automatically knew who she was talking about, but I still wasn't sure if I could support the two of them with my whole heart. "This romance in which you seek will take much time to bloom," Aunt Wu told me. "The two will encounter many potential lovers and there will be much denial of their love for one another. It may be harder but it is possible. We will have to put up with much, I hope you are prepared. If not there is another person in whom she can come to love, but I'm afraid that love will only end in tragedy. I cannot grantee her happiness if she should happen to go down that path." She looked down at the sand tray where the butterfly tracing was sketched out on the rough pebble surface. "A butterfly can mean two things, journey of change or the symbol of love."
"I see," I said finally able to find my voice "so the boy obviously has feelings for her?" She smiled at me while she cleared the image off the sand surface.
"I'm sure that you didn't need to ask a fortuneteller to know the answer to that question. After all you can see it yourself." She got up from the ground and moved the sand tray to the back of the room. "There's no need to rush for an answer," she told me calmly. "The answer will come to you."
"Alright," I said as I got up from the floor "thank you Aunt Wu."
"You're very welcome my child," she said in a happy voice "I wish you and your partner luck." I smiled at her and headed for the door but I stopped when I felt Aunt Wu place a hand on my shoulder. I looked over at her and fear in her eyes. "Promise me, you will look after that girl." At that moment I was speechless, wasn't that an obvious thing since she was my best friend? "Please, I fear for her future. If you don't keep a watchful eye it may be too late."
"What do you mean? What's going to happen to her?" I practically screamed and grabbed her shoulders.
"I'm sorry," she said shaking her head. "This is something I cannot share with you. I gripped harder on her shoulders before I released her. I grabbed my hair and stared down at the floor, trying not to cry. What was going on? What was going to happen to Rebecca? I was so confused and emotional. I wasn't sure what was going to happen or how I was going to help her? What if I couldn't help her? What if something terrible happened to her? What if….God forbid, she died? I didn't know what I was going to do. All I knew for a fact was that fortune telling sucks!
((Rebecca's P.O.V))
"Fuck fortune telling!" I kicked the nearest rock which was shot toward a statue. I could feel everyone around me staring at me, but I didn't care at the time. I was too irritated. I dashed toward a nearby house and jumped up onto the roof where I sat myself. Hopefully looking at the sky would be enough to cool my head. "Damn, I never should have gotten my fortune told" I cursed under my breath. I laid my back against the cold rooftop. I had learned nothing of Hikaru from this, or the mysterious spirit in the cloak. All I found out was that I would encounter more spirits and my life was in danger. Like that was anything new to me. I was the Avatar's bodyguard, risking my life was something that came with the job. And if things weren't bad enough Aunt Wu had given me another mystery to figure out. There was something out there, something powerful that interfered with my reading. Perhaps it was the First Avatar, but something made me doubt that. Then if it wasn't him, who or what was it?
While thinking to myself I heard familiar voices, breaking my train of thought. I sat myself up and saw Aang and the others leaving Aunt Wu's house. I watched them from the roof going towards a crowd of people who looked to be waiting for Aunt Wu.
"Aren't you going to meet with them?" Gin asked me. I stared down at the gang, who were talking amongst themselves.
"No, I want to be alone" I said in a low voice. I glanced over at Brianna but quickly looked away, feeling my anger rise at the sight of her. At this rate I was going to be here for a while. I spotted Aunt Wu leaving her home and was walking toward the temple stand with a scroll in her hands. I leaned over with my knees against my chest and tried listening in on the ceremony.
"Bending arrow cloud, good crops this year, nice big harvest" she said making an elderly couple hug each other, thrilled that their profit might have a large amount this year. "Wavy moon shape cloud let's see, gonna be a great year for twins." I saw two young male twins cheered and high fived one another at the good news. Aunt Wu looked back down at the scroll as if she deciphered the last cloud. "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!" she announced to the village with great joy. Everyone cheered at the news, all except Sokka who thought this whole thing was bullshit. I noticed Aang tried to attempt to confess to Katara, but the young water bender was too absorbed in her own thoughts to hear him and he was completely ignored. Katara quickly followed after Aunt Wu back to the fortune telling house while Aang and Sokka started walking around town talking to the villagers. I noticed Brianna following them, but looked as if she had something on her mind. She seemed depressed and confused more so than before. I normally I would have gone over and talk to her, but I had my own problems to worry about. She was a big girl, she can handle herself for one day.
I followed the three of them and watched Sokka talk to about half of the villagers to try and persuade them that fortune telling was nothing but nonsense. I could see him getting more and more frustrated with every failed attempt, until Aang finally decided to interrupt his plans and talk to him. I was close enough to hear Aang ask Sokka for advice on love. I was planning on staying where I was, up on the rooftops, until I spotted a certain pigtailed stalker behind a nearby barrel. I rolled my eyes and jumped down from the roof before approaching the three of them.
"Hey, what are you two up to?" I asked them.
"Aang was just asking me for advice on how to get a girl," Sokka said as he placed a hand on the monk's shoulder. I raised an eyebrow and looked at the two then toward the love struck village girl.
"Look Sokka as much as you're trying to help," I said moving his hand off of Aang. "I think Aang should just try and gain the girl's affection with his own methods."
"Oh come on Rebecca, there's nothing to worry about. With my experience with the ladys Aang will be capturing the hearts of every girl he comes across" Sokka said while giving me an overconfident smile. I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything. After all he did somehow manage to win the hearts of a lot of girls in the series.
"Look I'm just saying that forcing him to be something he's not isn't going to help him. And even if your method did help and somehow Aang did managed to win her heart. Wouldn't that just mean that she didn't fall for the real Aang?" Sokka opened his mouth as if to say something but nothing came out so I continued speaking. "I may have zero experience in the field of love, but I know this much. Aang won't be happy if that happened. It would probably just add more drama to the whole thing." I saw that my words discouraged Aang. He was back to square one again. I couldn't help but chuckle at how cute he was being. His crush on Katara was very innocent it just seemed very cute to me. I didn't know why Brianna couldn't support the two. Even though their personalities did seem to clash and they have an age difference, I didn't have any trouble seeing them together. Although I guess she could make the same argument with Zuko and Katara.
"Why don't you go and get something to eat," I said placing a hand on Aang's shoulder. "You can't think on an empty stomach now can you?" My words seemed to comfort him a bit making me smile. He took my advice and started to walk toward the closest fruit stand. Soon after Meng come out from her hiding spot and started to follow Aang.
"I don't get it," Sokka said as he looked over at the girl. "You can obviously tell that she likes him. There should be any problems right?" I let out a sigh as I flicked his forehead, leaving a small red mark on his tan skin.
"That's because she's not the one he likes," I said as I looked over at the girl. "Fortunately Meng's love is one sided." I looked up at Sokka who had a raised eyebrow, clearly confused.
"I thought you were dense," he said confused. I couldn't help but laugh at the look he was giving me.
"I'm not completely hopeless," I said with a laugh. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to protect Aang from a crazed fan girl." I started walking in the direction Meng and Aang had gone, hoping that I would be able to catch up to them. I quickly spotted her peeking out from a building a few feet away from Aunt Wu's building. When I got a bit closer I noticed Aang and Katara by the fruit stand. It was clear that Aang was trying Sokka's method, even though I had warned him not to. I shook my head but continued to walk toward Meng. When I was close enough I tapped her on the shoulder causing her to jump. She turned around with not only a shocked expression but a hurt look in her eyes.
"You figured it out yet?" I asked her rather coldly. I looked over at Aang, who was failing at trying to aloof. She avoided my eyes and looked over to the side, trying to hold in her tears. Not knowing what else to do I placed a hand on her shoulder, after all I didn't hate her. "Come on don't cry," I said, trying to find my words. "Aang just wasn't the one you were meant to be with. Beside you're still young, there's no need to rush."
"That's easy for you to say" she said annoyed. "You're pretty not like me. You probably have it really easy for you." My mind went blanked out and I just ended up staring at her. When I was able to process her words I fought back my laughter by covering my mouth
"Trust me when I say I don't have it easy," I said through my laughter. "I'm not attractive in the least bit, and even if I was I have a pretty lousy personality. If you don't believe me well I've never had a boyfriend." Meng looked at me wide eyed and confused at my sudden change of attitude. I smiled down at her as I patted her head gently.
"Don't worry, you'll find someone. After all Aunt Wu predicted it didn't she? As for me I'll probably stay single." I gave her another small smile and started walking back to where Sokka was. I found myself laughing while I walked, amused by our conversation.
"I pray for the poor soul who falls for you!" I heard Meng shout to me. I turned around and let out another laugh.
"Sure why not? If there really is someone out there for me I pity him too," I shouted back. I quickly turned back around and started walking back to the town square. While I made my way through the town I heard a deep sigh making me stop since it was strange to hear anyone sigh other than me.
"Gin, what's wrong?" I asked as I looked down at m choker. He didn't respond and just sighed again. I raised an eyebrow as to why he seemed frustrated with my question. I waited for him to answer me as I continued to walk to where Sokka was when I reached the area I saw that Aang was right next to Sokka with an excited look on his face. They quickly noticed me and Aang motioned me to come over to where they were. I nodded my head and started walking toward them but in a faster pace.
"I'm still waiting for an answer you know," I whispered to Gin as we got closer to Aang and Sokka. He still didn't respond which irritated me a bit but I decided to let it slide. "I don't get why you're so mad and why you can't seem to ever tell me why you're irritated." At this point I had completely given up on the idea of him giving me any sort of answer and I just continued to walk to Aang, but I was surprised when I was about a foot away from them when Gin decided to give me the vaguest answer to my question.
"You're too dense."
