By the next morning, the two Water Tribe siblings were no longer sick. Katara's voice was still hoarse and Sokka was still acting strange, but both of them were pretty much healed except for the occasional cough.
Meili, however, was not fine. And she knew she wasn't fine. Her symptoms were different, but she knew she was sick. However, they had to keep moving, and so Meili pretended like she was fine as everyone loaded their belongings back into Appa's saddle.
Sokka was flying Appa today, which meant that Aang and Katara would be sitting off to the side talking in the saddle. Meili was silently grateful — that meant she could hide her illness without anyone overanalyzing her.
They flew above the clouds just in case it rained as they continued toward Mt. Makapu. A town was supposedly situated at the foot of the volcano, so their next stop for supplies would be there. Sokka was trying to make up for the time they lost, which meant that he was tightening up their schedule. He wanted to reach the Northern Water Tribe by the middle of winter, so they only had a few weeks left to get there.
Meili was always, normally, warm. She would get cold occasionally, usually when the sun was down; but for the most part, she was always warm. However, she could tell that her temperature was far higher than it should've been.
She was sweating underneath of her cloak, and the fabric of her tunic was beginning to stick to her back uncomfortably, but thankfully, her symptoms only included a fever and headache. With enough concentration, it was something she could easily ignore. Ignoring things was what Meili did best.
"We'll make camp along the far side of this clearing over here," Sokka could be heard commanding, and Meili looked up to see him scouting over the land below. "We'll continue the trip tomorrow and hopefully reach Mt. Makapu by midday. If we don't, we'll have to take all of our eating breaks and bathroom breaks at the same time."
"Ew what?" Katara said with distaste. "That's so unsanitary!"
"And not to mention gross!" Aang added.
"Sorry, guys. We need to make up all of our missed time."
Meili sunk back into her spot. "You can do that, Ponytail. But I'll be taking my breaks separately."
"Yeah," Katara agreed. "I'm not doing that either. We're fine. When Aang starts to worry, then we should be worried."
Aang nodded his head. "Avatar Roku said that all I needed to do was defeat the Fire Lord before the comet arrives, which is at the end of summer. Spending one day taking care of you guys wouldn't have put us that far behind."
The avatar then pulled out a map from one of the bags behind him. "Besides, there still so many things I want to see! Like over here, there's supposed to be the giant worm beetles that dance! And we still have to go to the Northern Air temple! Oh, and then there's supposed to be a—"
"I get it," Sokka cut in, grabbing the map from Aang's hands. "But this isn't just some game. We have to get to the Northern Water Tribe as soon as possible. Which means no distractions, no giant worm beetles, and no separate breaks!"
"Someone woke up feeling bossy today," Meili chided.
Sokka rolled his eyes as he landed in the clearing, pulling on Appa's reins so that the bison stopped just outside of a small forest next to a huge lake and mountain side. The last few sun rays were shining through the gaps of the trees, providing just enough light for them to set up camp.
Meili barely got any sleep that night, constantly tossing and turning in her spot restlessly. Her fever was continuing to rise, she knew it, but she couldn't do anything about it. If she told them, they would just stop and take up more time on their journey. Or they would take care of her — and see her scar.
That couldn't happen.
They awoke the next morning to Sokka waking them up loudly, barking orders for everyone to pack up camp while he caught breakfast.
The blue tent that they had used as shelter that night was being folded up and put into a pack by Katara as Aang fiddled with a string in his hands. Meili was bouncing a small pebble off of a boulder, feeling too sick to help pick up anything, and Sokka was splashing around in the water attempting to catch food.
A se tu, a large green fish native to the rivers of the southern and western Earth Kingdom, suddenly burst out from the surface of the water, narrowing its eyes to glower at Sokka.
The Water Tribe boy, who thought a look from an unimportant fish was a stab at his masculinity, scowled and took initiative to make that fish the group's breakfast. The tan boy grabbed a fishing pole he had crafted out of wood from one of the bags on the ground and flicked it forward to cast the line. Only… nothing hit the water.
"Hey, where's the fishing line?"
Aang rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka."
Meili narrowed her eyes to focus her concentration on a small necklace laced in Aang's fingers. It was intricately braided with a small flower resting in the center.
"What is that? We're supposed to be packing up!" Sokka walked over to look at the necklace, grunting and throwing his hands on his head when he saw it. "Aw, and now this is all tangled!"
Aang sighed. "It's not tangled, it's woven! I made a necklace for Katara." He turned to the Water Tribe girl. "I thought since you lost your other one ..." he trailed off and displayed the necklace, holding it between his hands as he flashed a toothy grin.
Katara stopped her packing and smiled, grabbing the necklace from his hand, "Thanks, Aang. I love it!"
Sokka stared at the Avatar dully, "Great, Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry-making business."
Aang shrugged with a tight-eye smile, "I don't see why I can't do both."
"What necklace did she used to have?" Meili questioned with a yawn.
"You know, you could be helping us do something," Sokka angrily snapped, looking at the girl lounging on the ground.
"Like what?" Meili replied. "Should I be playing in the water with you? Oh, or maybe I should be making jewelry too. Katara, do you want a matching bracelet?"
"Ha ha very funny," Sokka said dully, not having found anything funny at all.
"It was a necklace that my mother gave to me when I was younger," Katara said lowly, answering Meili's question. Her face was glum and sallow. "But.. I lost it a few days before we met you."
Meili, suddenly uncomfortable, didn't know how to respond to such an emotional answer. "I'm sorry…"
The waterbender lifted the new necklace up to her neck. "It's alright. Aang decided to be super sweet and make me this."
"Yeah, while we're supposed to be packing up!" Sokka reminded them. "Seriously, do any of you guys understand that we're on a schedule?"
As Katara began tying the necklace around her neck, Meili continued throwing the pebble to the boulder in front of her. She glanced out of the corner of her eye towards the lake at a frustrated Sokka attempting to capture the se tu. She sighed with dull eyes at his annoying antics, feeling her headache thump in her head.
He jumped around in the lake in pure rage as he attempted to grab ahold of the fish, muttering insults underneath of his breath. Meili took the rock she had been throwing and tossed it at the back of Sokka's neck, watching him mistake it for the se tu's tail. Meili let an amused grin escape from her lips as he overreacted and swore vengeance.
She watched his form as he maneuvered through the water, twisting and turning as he attempted to catch the fish. Her gaze traveled from his hands up to his forearms then to his shoulders, not missing the way that his bicep curled with each movement. Her gaze lingered a little too long on the veins in his arms, a realization that made her turn her head away quickly. She instead moved her attention to his sister, who was clasping the necklace around her neck.
"So, how do I look?" Katara questioned, grabbing the attention of her friends.
Aang stared in awe as Meili blinked unemotionally.
"You mean, all of you or just your neck? I mean, because both look great!"
"I think she meant just her neck, Avatar."
Aang rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh, right…"
"Do you really like it?" Katara questioned with a smile.
Meili shrugged, "I mean.. for a necklace I guess it's alright.."
"It's more than alright!" Aang grinned widely. "It looks great on you."
Sokka emerged from the bottom of the lake with the se tu in his hands, making kissy noises at the fish. "Smoochie, smoochie, someone's in love!" he teased, however, it backfired, and the se tu jumped out of the Water Tribe boy's hands and back into the water. But not after it slapped Sokka in the face.
Aang glanced over at Katara in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck once more, "I ... well, uh ..."
Katara stared at her brother crossly, "Stop teasing him, Sokka. Aang's just a good friend," she smiled, rubbing the side of Aang's head. "A sweet, little guy! Just like Momo."
She pet the lemur on top of Meili's head.
Aang hung his head in dismay. "Thanks…"
The sudden sound of a carriage interrupted the some-what peaceful morning, making Aang jump off from his spot to inspect what was going on. Off in the distance, a man was walking slowly down a dirt pathway, not bothering to move out of the way.
"Hey, get out of the way!" Aang shouted, running over to where the man was. When he received no answer, he spoke again. "Hey! You're going to be hit!"
The man smiled like nothing was wrong, and continued walking, maybe even at a slower pace than before. Approaching quickly behind him was a caravan, and the ostrich horses pulling the cart were not heading in their movements.
"You need to move!" Katara joined in, her heart beating faster as the carriage approached dangerously close.
Just as the caravan was about to smash into the man from behind, Sokka, wet and carrying a fish, tackled the man out of the way just in time. He landed on the ground with a thud, bracing the impact as the traveling man landed on top of him.
"Are you crazy?" Sokka shrieked, looking back at the dust trail the caravan was leaving behind. "If I didn't push you out of the way, you would've been killed. You're lucky that we came along."
"Thanks, but everything was already under control. No luck involved," the man smiled, getting up off of the ground. He folded his hands tightly before bowing. "Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey."
"Aunt who?" Meili said with a confused expression.
"No, Aunt Wu," the man corrected. "She's a fortuneteller from my village. It's quite nice knowing your future."
Katara's eyes widened in curiosity, "Wow! That must be nice! I wonder if we can know our futures."
"How did you have a safe journey when you were almost crushed by an ostrich horse carriage?" Meili asked, crossing her arms.
"Aunt Wu predicted that I wouldn't be harmed. And I wasn't... Here — Aunt Wu told me to give this to any travelers I see," the man smiled, pulling a package out from underneath of his robe before handing it to Meili. "Well, have a nice day!"
"Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes," Katara said in excitement as she watched the man walk away. "You never know, it could be fun."
"Oh, come on. Fortune telling is nonsense!" Sokka exclaimed. "That man is crazy, Katara. I mean — he almost got ran over!"
"I don't know, Sokka, It's kind of cool," Aang grinned.
Sokka groaned, smacking himself in the forehead before looking dejectedly at Meili, "Please tell me you don't believe in fortune telling."
Meili shrugged, "I don't not believe in it; I just don't like the idea of knowing your future. Where's the fun in living your life if you already know what's going to happen?"
"You can find out about who you're going to marry!" Katara grinned, bouncing in her spot eagerly.
Meili sighed as she opened up the parcel given to her by the man. It was an umbrella.
"Why did that crazy man give us this?" Sokka questioned. As soon as the words left his mouth, a crack of thunder boomed in the sky and a heavy downpour shot down from the clouds.
Meili opened up the umbrella to shield herself from the rain while Katara and Aang protected themselves by bending the water in an arch over their head. Sokka stayed in his spot with his ever-present scowl and frown.
"Of course she predicted it was going to rain. The sky's been gray all day," Sokka mumbled underneath of his breath.
Meili rolled her eyes, "Just admit you might be wrong, and you can come under the umbrella. Or will that emasculate you?"
"I'm staying out here. I'm already soaked, and it's just going to keep raining and drizzling," Sokka stated, wiggling his fingers in an exaggerated way.
Suddenly, the skies cleared up, and every drop of rain seemed to disappear from existence. Sokka stared up at the sky angrily and Meili peered out from underneath of the umbrella.
"Not everyone has the gift, Sokka," Aang smiled.
Sokka crossed his arms in fury, the se tu in his hands flopping around with his movement.
After quickly packing up, the group began walking down the path that the man had come from, careful to watch out for any more caravans traveling their way. According to the map Sokka held, the next town they had been looking for was located right at the base of Mt. Makapu, a giant inactive volcano. The trail didn't go too much farther, so they carried on walking down the sunny pathway with a fully loaded Appa trailing behind.
Meili found that her head was getting worse, and her throat was beginning to burn uncomfortably. It was difficult to swallow — the back of her throat was raw from drainage. She sneezed quietly into the crook of her arm, earning a small bless you from her companions. They didn't suspect that she was sick, and that was just fine with her.
Eventually, they arrived at the outskirts of the village where two earthbenders seemed to be stationed. One of them looked at the group of travelers, then to the other guard before opening his mouth up to speak.
"Aunt Wu is expecting you."
"Really?" Katara questioned in excitement, jumping up and down eagerly.
"Yes, follow us," the first guard spoke, turning in his spoke before walking stiffly away. Katara immediately followed after them with no other questions asked. The rest of the group all looked at each other with quizzical eyes, not sure if they should trust the villagers or not. But with a quick chatter from Momo, they all sighed and followed after Katara.
They were led to a building in the center of the village with a round doorway, and colorful lanterns and candles hung from above the door. The extravagant decorations and the smell of sage made Meili realize that they arrived at the fortuneteller's quarters.
The group walked through the doorway and into the sitting room while Appa stayed outside, and Momo chattered goodbye to his friend as he scurried onto Meili's shoulder. Four blue pillows met their vision when they entered, the seats situated on the righthand side of the floor. Sokka was still gazing angrily at the place even as he took his seat, complaining that going to the fortuneteller was a waste of time.
A minute later, a young girl walked into the room. She was dressed in a pink robe and wore her hair in braids that stuck out from the sides of her head.
"Hello! My name is Meng, and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant," she said, greeting the four kindly. Her eyes widened, however, when her gaze landed on Aang. "Wow, hello."
Aang, oblivious to her blatant infatuation, rubbed his running nose before looking her lazily in the eyes. "Oh.. hi."
"Can I get you some tea .. or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?"
"I'll have a bean curd puff," Sokka said happily, but his words were heard through deaf ears.
"So, what's your name?"
"Aang," the monk replied back in boredom.
"Hey, that rhymes with Meng!" she said with a huge smile, showing off a gap between her teeth. "And you have some pretty big ears."
Aang rose up an eyebrow, "I do?"
Meili rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Now that I look at them, they do look pretty big."
Aang covered his ears in embarrassment, sending a glare Meili's way. Meng then excused herself with a blush and left to go grab the food.
"I can't believe we're in this dumb house when we could be flying to the North Pole," Sokka grumbled. "We can't keep making so many unnecessary pit stops like this! We're wasting valuable time."
"What's more valuable than this? Try to keep an open mind, Sokka," Katara smiled. "There are things in this world that just can't be explained. Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?"
"I could do without it," Meili yawned, leaning back on the pillow underneath of her. She tried to focus on her breathing and ignore the terrible pain in her throat. "If she can't tell us the future of our world or the outcome of this war, I don't want to know."
Meng soon returned with a few trays of with four steaming cups of tea and Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs, to Sokka's excitement. As the Water Tribe boy began stuffing his face in the signature dish, an older lady in fancy yellow robes glided into the room.
"Welcome, children. I'm Aunt Wu. Who wants to have their future predicted first?"
Sokka stared up at the woman with a distasteful glare and both Aang and Meili turned to Katara.
The Water Tribe girl shrugged her shoulders before standing up. "Well, guess that's me."
While Katara was away, and while Aang quickly left to go use the restroom a moment later, Meili sat lazily on her pillow feeding Momo the curd puffs. The taste was too bitter for the black-haired girl, so she figured the lemur would have more enjoyment eating them rather than her.
Aang returned a few minutes after that with a happy grin on his face. Though the girl didn't see why he would've been excited to finish using the bathroom.. and frankly she didn't want to know.
Aunt Wu opened up her doors with a graceful hand and led Katara back out into the waiting room. Aang looked at her bashfully when she came in and Sokka stood up with a sigh.
"Okay, okay. Let's get this over with.."
Aunt Wu looked the boy up and down dryly. "Your future is full of struggle and anguish… Most of it, self-inflicted."
Sokka lifted up his hands in confusion, "But you didn't read my palms or anything."
Aunt Wu deadpanned, "I don't have to. It's written all over your face."
Sokka grumbled underneath his breath while Aunt Wu took Aang with her to her fortune telling room. Meili remained lounging lazily in her spot as Katara returned to her original seat with a happy grin on her face.
"Oh my gosh, it was amazing!" Katara said dreamily. "The one I'm going to marry is going to be a kind, powerful man, and we're going to have three kids!"
"Whoop-de-doo," Sokka grumbled.
Meili shook her head and prayed that the telling would be over soon.
When it was finally Meili's turn, the fortunetelling woman held out her hand for the black-haired girl to follow. Meili politely refused, wanting nothing more than to just walk out of the room and drink a warm glass of tea to soothe the pain in her throat.
Katara glared at the other girl in the group, her gaze commanding Meili to follow the fortuneteller. And not wanting to deal with Katara's screeching, Meili sighed and stood up, and Momo scurried off of her arm and onto Aang's shoulder.
Meili was led to a dim room, where the walls were made out of bamboo. The lights were faint and the scent of the room was coy, making the atmosphere relaxing and tranquil. There were four pillars that held up the ceiling, and four seating cushions were circled around a small fire.
"Welcome to my chamber," the woman said softly, taking her place on one of the red cushions. She motioned her hand out for Meili to do the same.
The black-haired girl sat down with a low grumble. "I really don't want a fortune; I just know Katara will throw a fit if I don't come in here— and then I'll never hear the end of it."
"Knowing your fortune isn't always a bad thing," Aunt Wu replied back, holding out her hand. "Sometimes, it can reveal things we never would have imagined."
Meili stared at the older woman's hand. Fine lines and wrinkles dusted her palms, her purple nails extended far past her fingertips. "Seriously, can we not read my fortune and just say we did?"
"And let you leave without telling you how your scar will bring you great companionship?" Aunt Wu gave the girl a look that could kill as she beckoned Meili to let out her hand. "I don't think so."
"You… can see my scar?" Meili said with a gasp, tugging her hood down. "No wonder you were so eager to read my fortune."
Aunt Wu grabbed the girl's hand from her hood, jerking it toward her so she could see it. Meili yelped, her body leaning over the unlit fire pit. "H-hey! Didn't I just say I didn't want my fortune read? Isn't this like… assault or something?"
"I sense despair, anguish, and trepidation from your past," the woman spoke with furrowed brows, deep in thought.
"Aren't you a fortuneteller? Not a past teller?"
"Indecision plagues you well into your future as you try to decide between who you are and who you should be. This indecision will ultimately influence a choice that you make — a choice that could change the fate of this world."
"You really expect me to believe that you read all of this from the palm of my hand?"
Aunt Wu smiled, "I also read the energy from your chi."
"Okay, cool. Are we done now?"
"You don't like opening up to others."
Meili stiffened. "Alright, lady, you already read my palm. Isn't that enough?"
The woman sighed. "Yes, we can be done. Under the condition that you tell your friends that you're sick."
"I'm not sick," Meili lied.
"I could feel it in your palm. You have a fever and your chi is growing weaker," Aunt Wu spoke quietly, her gaze hard and stony underneath of her makeup-coated lashes. "Trusting in others can only help you; keeping things from them will only bring you harm."
Meili looked away. "Okay, thank you for your time."
The black-haired girl showed herself out, leaving the room without even a glance back.
Her face was hot, though she didn't know if it was from the fever or her anger. Everyone was trying to invade her life, trying to tell her what to do. If she didn't want to open up to others, she didn't have to. And if she didn't want to burden them with her sickness, then she didn't have to.
She stormed into the room where her friends were waiting, grabbing her bag off of the ground, before opening up the door to leave.
"Meili? How did it go?" Katara asked enthusiastically, following after the girl.
"We're getting our supplies and then leaving," the girl replied bluntly, walking into the outside.
"Well, now you got to see for yourselves how fortune telling is just a big, stupid hoax," Sokka said as he and Aang followed behind the girls, the doors closing behind the group.
Katara rose up a smug eyebrow, "You're just saying that because you're going to make yourself miserable your whole life."
"That woman is crazy!" Sokka shouted, clenching his fists as he abruptly stopped in the middle of the pathway. "My life will be calm .. and happy … and joyful!"
On the last word, the Water Tribe boy kicked a rock on the pathway in front of him, only to have it shoot back up into the air, bounce off of a sign, and smack him in the face.
Meili stared at the boy rolling on the ground in agony. "That doesn't look calm or joyful to me."
"This proves nothing!" Sokka grumbled from the ground.
Katara and Aang giggled slightly as Meili glanced to the side, noticing the townspeople gathering in the center of the town.
"What's going on over there?"
Aang shrugged, "I don't know, let's go check it out!"
Sokka dragged a hand down his face. "Does anyone even listen to me? We have to go!"
Katara and Aang both ignored the Water Tribe boy, running swiftly into the crowds of townspeople arranging themselves around the village's center. As the four approached, Katara noticed the man that they had met earlier that morning.
"What's with the sky?" she questioned him.
"We are waiting for Aunt Wu to come and read the clouds to predict the fate of the whole village."
"Hey, that one kind of looks like a turtle duck!" Aang said in excitement.
The man's eyes opened up in fear, "You better hope not. A turtle duck forecasts doom and destruction."
Sokka smacked himself in the forehead. "Do you even hear yourself?"
"Yeah," Meili joined in. "I would've thought it forecasted bad weather and lightning."
"Nope," the man smiled. "Just doom and destruction."
Sokka smacked himself in the forehead again.
A kind woman saw the Avatar and his friends and walked over, pointing toward the large volcano in the distance. If Meili could remember correctly, that was Mt. Makapu, which was infamously named after the village. That was also in the book about the Great Divide, as well as many other landmarks around the world.
"Aunt Wu will predict if whether or not our volcano will remain dormant for another year or if it will erupt."
The man smiled, "We used to have a tradition of having a few villagers go up the mountain and check the volcano ourselves. But ever since Aunt Wu moved to the village twenty years ago, we have a tradition of.. well, not doing that."
Sokka scowled, "I can't believe you guys would put your lives into the hands of this crazy, old woman's predictions!"
Katara smacked her brother on the head, "Shhhh! She's coming!"
Aunt Wu, dressed her elegant golden robe, walked up a set of stairs leading toward the center of the village. She was accompanied by her guards, who flanked close behind as they led her through the crowd. Everyone clapped, except for Sokka, as she made her way into a gazebo. She took a deep breath before gazing out toward the sky, holding a small blue book in her right hand.
"Bending arrow cloud ... Good crops this year — Nice big harvest."
The farmers of the village cheered.
"Jagged, vine-shaped cloud.. fewer bugs this year."
A man holding a butterfly net dropped his head in despair.
"Wavy, moon-shaped cloud ... Let's see…" she checked her book before smiling. "Gonna be a great year for twins!"
A set of twins jumped up in the air in excitement.
"And a cumulus cloud with a twisted nob coming off the end of it ..." she trailed off before closing her book and spreading her arms out. "The village will not be destroyed by the volcano this year!"
The village cheered ecstatically as Aunt Wu returned back to her fortune house. Aang and Katara cheered with them while Meili remained indifferent and Sokka scowled.
"I can't believe all these idiots!" Sokka grumbled angrily, walking away from the scene with Meili following closely behind. "Someone really needs to scream some sense into them."
"Let them believe what they want," Meili yawned, rubbing the back of her neck. Now her neck was stiff? The girl had to hold back a low grumble. It was as if the spirits wanted her to be sick.
"No! I'm going to prove to them that Aunt Wu's predictions are just a bunch of nonsense."
Meili sighed, "I guess that means that you're going to drag me along with you.."
"Well, Katara is off begging Mrs. Crazy-Lady for her 'insight to the future', and Aang is doing who-knows-what. Besides, they both like Aunt Wu's predictions. They wouldn't be any help anyways."
"And you think I will be?" Meili questioned indifferently.
"Just — come help me talk some sense into these people!" Sokka shouted before turning his head toward a villager. "Like, look at that man with those red shoes over there…"
Sokka then traveled to seemingly ever villager, telling them to stop believing in the words of Aunt Wu. Meili just followed behind him, trying her best to ignore her increasingly annoying symptoms. Like the pressure in her sinuses, the ringing of her ears, and the running of her nose.
"I don't care what Aunt Wu told you! You have to take a bath sometime!"
The smelly man in front of Meili and Sokka merely laughed before walking away.
"Do you see that, Meili! He's a lunatic! And he smelled like three-day-old llama deer meat!"
Meili sighed for the hundredth time that day, looking at Sokka with bored eyes. Sometimes she wished he could see her expression. Maybe then he would stop talking to her.
"Hey, Sokka!" a voice suddenly interrupted, making the two kids turn to see Aang sprinting toward them. He came to a halt beside them. "So, Sokka.. you know some stuff about .. ladies, right?"
"Some stuff?" Sokka stated as if that was an understatement. He grinned smugly as he placed an arm around his friend's shoulders. "You've come to the right place, Aang. What can I do for you?"
"What do you actually know about relationships?" Meili questioned, a mocking tone evident in her voice.
"I know plenty of stuff," Sokka's voice cracked as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Besides, I'm quite the ladies man."
Meili smirked, "I thought the only girl in your village your age was Katara?"
Sokka's expression changed to one of embarrassment. "I still know what I'm talking about!"
"Okay," Meili grinned. "Go ahead love doctor."
Sokka cleared his throat, "Ahem. As I was saying, Aang, what can I do to help?"
"Well," Aang trailed off, looking to the side. "There's this girl.. and well I think I like her.."
Sokka nodded his head, "I think I know who you mean."
Aang opened his eyes in surprise, "You do? And you're okay with it?"
"Of course I am," Sokka said, waving a hand dismissively. "And to tell you the truth, I've been picking up a subtle vibe that she likes you, too."
Meili deadpanned as she saw Sokka's eyes travel to the right to look at Meng, the girl who was Aunt Wu's assistant. He was mistaking Aang's mystery girl, who she was pretty sure was Katara, for her..
"She does?" Aang questioned in astonishment.
"Oh yeah, she's crazy about you," Sokka grinned. "All you have to do now is not mess it up."
Aang paused, "Well, how do I do that?"
Sokka cracked his knuckles before patting his friend on the back. "The number once mistake nice guys like you make is being too nice."
Meili coughed lightly before narrowing her eyes, "You can't be too nice."
"If you want to keep girls interested, you have to act aloof," Sokka stated, looking toward Meili. "Trust me it works every time. You gotta like you don't really care one way or the other."
"That's not how it works.." the girl mumbled.
"Well… if that's how you get girls, Sokka," Aang trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I guess I'll try it."
"It works every time," Sokka grinned.
Meili sighed as she watched Aang walk calmly away, accidentally ignoring Meng, who had just came over to talk to him.
"Wow, he's good," Sokka acknowledged.
Meili shook her head, watching the girl in pink robes walk away in dejection. Sokka placed both arms behind his head and smiled gleefully, leaning his head back. Out of the corner of Meili's eye, however, she caught a flicker of movement just outside of the town. It was as if someone was trying to move out of her view.. but she was just able to catch the glimpse of something red.
"Hey, Ponytail.. you don't feel like anyone's been following us lately do you?" Meili questioned seriously, turning toward the boy.
"Hello? Have you forgotten about the creepy Fire Nation prince? You know— the one that's been chasing us around the entire world?"
Meili shook her head, "No, I'm not talking about him.. I feel like someone's been watching us. Back when you and Katara were sick, I went to get you guys some water and—"
"—It's probably nothing," Sokka shrugged off. "Probably just a girl thing."
Meili closed her eyes and tried her best to not explode on the boy in front of her. Just before she was about to retort back to him, however, Aang came sprinting toward the two, skidding to a halt beside them.
"Back so soon?" Meili questioned with a slight grin.
"Hey, Sokka! I need you to come with me!" Aang exclaimed, and Momo, who was perched n the young boy's shoulder, hopped off and flew to the top of Meili's head.
"Come with you to what?" Sokka asked.
"There's supposedly some rare flower at the top of the volcano, and I need to get it for the girl I like!" Aang said with a grin.
Sokka grinned smugly, "Leave it to me."
The two boys waved to Meili before heading out, well, Aang rode off on his air scooter and Sokka ran off after him in a hurry to keep up. Meili chuckled lowly, coughing slightly in-between chuckles. Why were boys so weird?
Finding herself alone for the first time in a while, besides Momo laying on her head, the girl made it her priority to find an herbal medicine shop of some kind. Hopefully, she could get rid of her sickness before anyone caught on to it. Reaching into her pocket, she found that she had three silver pieces and five copper pieces. They were remnants of her time in the Freedom Fighters, money she had stolen from the Fire Nation soldiers they raided. She had been saving her money in a time of need, and this was proving to be one of those times.
She walked around the small village, taking note of the strange villagers that inhabited the place, many of which were either the elderly or children. She supposed that the town was a lucky one unaffected by the Fire Nation, which led to many weaker Earth Kingdom citizens choosing to reside in it.
Nevertheless, she was able to find a small medicinal shop located just at the outskirts of the village. The owner was a nice older woman with a kind smile and gray hair.
"What can I do for you, stranger?" she spoke softly, taking out a long-sleeved arm to gesture to the array of tubes and vials stacked on the wooden shelves.
"I'm looking for something to help with a cough and a possible fever. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what I have."
The woman stroked her chin, "Hm, well if you're suffering from a cold, Aunt Wu has told me to recommend a hot bath to those that seek assistance. And to also," she paused, turning around to rummage in a box on the ground, "give them this."
The older woman handed Meili a small jar full of a jelly like substance that was green in color.
"This is a rare blend of Fern Vera; it's extremely rich in antioxidants and antibacterial agents. It may not taste the best, but eating one of these jars is sure to boost your immune system to fight off whatever you have."
"Thank you," the black-haired girl said quietly. "How much?"
"Seven copper pieces."
Meili handed over a silver piece and received change back, stuffing the jar into her back pouch before strolling away from the shop.
She found refuge in an alleyway, sitting on the ground and propping her back up against the wall behind her. She coughed into the crook of her arm, the sound coming out in a wet and forceful gurgle. Meili shook her head and wiped her mouth, fumbling with her free hand in the bag hanging behind her to reach for the medicine. The jar was small, but obviously handcrafted. Meili could only guess that the jar was bought from somewhere in town as a means to support the local shops of their village.
Opening up the medicine, Meili slightly blanched; it smelled awful. Plugging her nose, she counted to three before slurping down the green-jelly-substance, fighting the urge to let it come back up once she swallowed it. If the Fern Vera didn't cure her, Meili was coming back to fight that old woman. Momo jumped to her shoulder and clicked in her ear, sensing her discomfort. Meili reached up and scratched his head softly, thanking him for the concern.
Hoping to let the medicine kick into her system, Meili found herself walking around the town to kill time. The children were joyous and full of laughter, and families sat in the autumn breeze enjoying company with one another. Meili felt a pang of sadness in her heart as she watched the happy families, and something made her think back to the orphanage. She remembered watching children leave with their new families, something she never got to experience.
She believed that her and Jai escaping together was the closest thing she ever truly had to having a family — as messed up as the circumstances were.
Her thoughts were interrupted by several large bangs ricocheting across the town. They sounded angry and forceful, two things that made Meili want to check it out. And so she walked through the town, following the sound of a fist knocking on wood. When the black-haired girl turned down a new pathway, she saw Katara in the distance in front of Aunt Wu's quarters.
"Can you believe she won't let me in? And after all the business I've given her?" Katara questioned angrily as she continued pounding on Aunt Wu's door. Meili sighed once she approached the girl.
"You know she doesn't charge, right?" Meili asked.
"I know," Katara sighed. ".. But —still."
"Maybe you should take a break from asking her things… she's probably annoyed."
"Annoyed? But this is her job! She's supposed to be reading people's fortunes!"
"Yeah, maybe like once a week…or month…"
"I guess you're right," Katara sighed, moving out of the door frame and crossing her arms. "But it's just — with this war going on, there are so many thing I want to know. Like when I'll see my father again."
Meili nodded her head, her cowl bouncing with the movement. "But if you let the fear of the future consume you, you'll lose sight of the present…"
Katara seemed to ponder the girl's words for a moment, before a smile began to creep upon her face. "Well, if I can't hear any more of my fortunes, I want to know what she told you!"
"No," Meili spoke harshly, her face grimacing underneath of her hood.
"Come on! Think of it as girl-bonding-time; you really need it!"
"And what makes you say that!"
Katara grinned, "Meili, please? Did she say who you're going to marry? Oh, or how many kids you're going to have?"
"No and no," Meili pouted. "I would never want to know trivial things like that anyways."
The sound of fast-paced footsteps echoed off of the surrounding walls and made the two girls pause the conversation.
"Stop your girly squabbling and listen to this," Sokka suddenly said, approaching with Aang from the town's center. "We have other things to worry about.. Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano."
Katara sighed, "Look Sokka, you tried to convince me she was wrong before. It's going to take an awful lot to change my mind now—"
Katara's rant was interrupted by a huge explosion that shook the ground, and the group turned to look toward the volcano with smoke coming out of the top of it.
We have to go tell everyone!" Aang shouted, throwing out an arm as he rushed back toward the center of the town.
They all followed after Aang to warn the town's folk of the impending danger, but because of Sokka's disbelief in Aunt Wu, not a single person believed their warning. Most of them thought that the rest of the kids were in on it, that even Katara was just trying to help her brother's suspicions of the woman be heard.
Meili couldn't believe how stupid the villagers were. Looking up into the sky, the color of soot and ash was beginning to flood the cloudless, blue sky. This was the reason that being too trusting was a flaw. Following people strictly on their words and beliefs was unfathomable to her.
"We have to do something else," Aang spoke desperately.
Meili shook her head. "Why don't we just leave; it's not like they're going to listen anyways."
"You know we can't do that," Katara huffed. "These people need us, whether they want our help or not."
"It serves them right though - believing in that stupid-cloud-lady... They were bound to find out that she was a kook sooner or later," Sokka said smugly with a lopsided grin.
The three kids came up with a plan to help the village while Meili drifted off into thought. Her mind was far from the village of Mt. Makapu, settling instead on the words Aunt Wu had spoken to her earlier that day. If she was wrong about the volcano, was she wrong about Meili's future? Were her speculations correct or off-base? The girl coughed into the crook of her arm, shaking her head at her over-analyzing.
The woman was definitely wrong. A small, worthless girl like her would never influence the fate of the world. That was the Avatar's job, not Meili's.
As she zoned back, focusing her thoughts elsewhere, she realized that Sokka proposed a brilliant plan to steal the fortuneteller's cloud book and bend the clouds to display the symbol for volcanic destruction. If the villagers would only listen to Aunt Wu, they had to make the older woman aware of the imposing danger. So after Aang successfully slipped into Aunt Wu's house and stole the book, Katara and Aang flew up into the sky on top of Appa in order to manipulate the clouds into the shape of a skull, the apparent sign for volcanic destruction.
Sokka and Meili stayed in the village, spending their time collecting the villagers near the gazebo and taking Aunt Wu toward the center to show her the change in the clouds.
"What is all the commotion about…" the woman trailed off, squinting her eyes as she looked up into the sky. Her face contorted into a sickening frown of disbelief, and he eyes were shadowed with worry. "My spirits! The volcano is going to erupt!"
Sokka hit himself in the head.
Once all of the villagers were aware of the imminent danger, the group wasted no time in organizing the village's earthbenders together to help create a trench around the town for the lava to pour into.
The town, both earthbenders and not, worked together until the skies turned dark to dig the trench. Once nightfall had completely fallen over the town, the volcano began shaking and rumbling louder, and lava was even beginning to spill from the top.
"Dig faster!" Sokka shouted anxiously, using his shovel to dig even quicker than before.
Meili wiped a bead of sweat off of her forehead before letting out a breath, leaning her weight on the shovel in front of her. She thought the Fern Vera had been helping, but she felt tired and drained, even more so than usual. Her face was hot, a combination of her furious digging, embers flying around, and another, probable, fever. The lava looked about ready to spill out from the top of the volcano, and Meili didn't think any more digging would make a difference.
To her delight, Sokka then called for everyone to evacuate, something she didn't mind doing.
However, she had to remain with her three other companions, so she wasn't allowed to leave just yet. The four kids stood in front of the trench, waiting to make sure the town was going to be safe as the lava poured into the canal. Meili stood sturdy as she felt the heat of the lava warm her veins.
"It's going to overflow!" Katara shouted in fright, grabbing onto the sleeve of her brother's top.
Sokka nodded, "We need to leave. Now."
As Katara, Meili, and Sokka began to run for safety, they turned around to see that Aang had remained frozen in his position. A huge crack sounded in the sky, and several boulders and rubble exploded from within the volcano. A rock hurdled down toward the town at rapid speeds, landing inside of the trench and the residual lava within. It pushed the molten rock out of the trough and in an arch toward the city. Aang rushed forward as the lava began to overflow, blowing a gust of wind from his mouth toward the lava to make it harden into stone. Aang relaxed as the threat was taken care of, and he let out a deep breath.
"Wow," Meili breathed, staring up at the monk in awe. "I always knew that the Avatar was strong, but he really is a powerful bender."
".. Wait," Katara spoke, turning her head toward her female friend. "What did you just say?"
Sokka shrugged, gesturing to the monk in front of them. "Nothing really. Just that Aang is one powerful bender."
Aunt Wu's words echoed in Katara's head as she smiled slightly, staring at Aang as if she had an epiphany. "Yes.. I suppose he is."
"Sorry.. we kind of borrowed your cloud book," Aang said sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck as he held the book out in front of him the next day. The following day had been tense; the lava that threatened to destroy the village the day prior was now cooled and hardened into a protective shield around the outskirts of the town. Although, they had only Aang to thank for that.
"So you messed with the clouds, eh?" Aunt Wu said harshly, snatching the book from Aang's hand with a grin. "Very clever!"
"No offense, but I hope this taught everyone here a valuable lesson about not relying too much on fortune telling," Sokka said to the town's people, crossing his arms as if he had been right all along.
The man they had met outside of the village the day prior smiled, "But Aunt Wu predicted that the village wouldn't be destroyed... and it wasn't. She was right, after all."
Sokka gritted his teeth and stomped over to the man, "I hate you.."
As Katara dragged Sokka away from the man and Aang talked with Aunt Wu, Meili gathered up their stuff and threw it into Appa's saddle. And after Sokka was approached strangely by Aunt Wu, the rest of the gang joined the cloaked girl on Appa. After a small goodbye to the inhabitants of the town, Aang waved farewell and flew the sky bison out of Makapu Village and into the skies.
"What did Aunt Wu say to you?" Katara questioned eagerly once they were on their resumed path north.
"Just some stupid stuff," Sokka grumbled, waving his hand dismissively.
"I kind of want to know too," Aang said from behind the reins.
Sokka grumbled underneath of his breath. "I'm telling you it was a bunch of nonsense! It didn't even make sense."
"C'mon, Sokka! It's not that big of a deal," Katara smiled.
Sokka rolled his eyes, "She said something stupid like, 'To ignite a fire means you must acknowledge hidden beauty.' Whatever that means!"
"Hmm a riddle," Katara spoke, rubbing a hand along her chin. "Wonder what it could mean."
"Well, you and Sokka can think about it while we're on our way to the North Pole!" Aang grinned.
"Never thought I'd hear Ponytail's name and 'think' in the same sentence..." Meili muttered, earning an angry scowl from the Water Tribe boy.
"I hate you.."
Meili grinned.
Author's Note: Hello, lovies! Welcome back :) I wanted to thank everyone for the continued support, especially for those of you who have followed, favorited, and reviewed!
Here's a little bit of my responses to those who have reviewed Scars so far:
To Needingoflifegoaldude : Thank you for noticing my thought process behind the chi reading! There's definitely a lot of canon ideas that I pull from, and I want to take some of these concepts and expand upon them in greater detail. This means that while we may be following canon plot right now, that soon wont be the case ;)
To waterbendtheocea : Thank you for the review, love! I appreciate that you like Meili and her story behind who she is (more of which you guys will find out later hehe). For me, my main goal of this story is to kind of dive deeper into the world that we grew up loving. Some things could have used more explanation inside of the cartoon, and I aim to help explain those things based on my knowledge of the ATLA/LOK universe. Meili serves as the eyes and ears of my analyzation of the cartoon, and I hope her story makes the amazing storyline even better!
That's it for now! I'll see you guys in the next update :)