A/N: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender or any of its characters. I only own my own OCs.
Chapter 4: Fortunes and Mishaps
Two weeks had gone by, and Zora couldn't help but wonder when they would get to the North Pole. Not only was she determined to help Aang, but she was intrigued to learn about the Water Tribe and their culture. Zora read stories her entire life, and her grandmother had educated her on the different cultures of the world. She was always more interested in Water and Fire cultures.
At one point, Zora even asked Katara what it was like growing up in the Southern Water Tribe.
"Well, our tribe was very small. My family consisted of my dad, mom, Gran Gran, Sokka, and I. I think there was maybe… 15 other families. My dad is actually Chief of the Southern Water Tribe. That didn't mean we were royalty or anything - we lived like typical people. Sokka and I had chores, we were raised to have manners. Class didn't matter. I think what makes the Water Tribe so unique though is their wedding ceremonies and betrothments. You see," she pointed to her necklace, "this is a betrothal necklace. It was my mother's. Instead of a ring to symbolize someone's engagement, necklaces are used. They're typically made by the other person. My dad told me he took a whole month to make it, because he kept messing up."
Zora would've listened all night to Katara talk about her culture. Zora noted that Sokka would give his opinion every now and then. She noticed how he went to say how easy it would be to make a necklace for the right person. Zora felt as though she could appreciate Sokka's words and his opinions.
Sure, his "instincts" were sometimes far and few inbetween, but he was wise. Aang and Katara didn't see it as often as they should've, in Zora's opinion. Zora has learned a lot from him.
He taught her how to be calm in situations, how to laugh when it felt like there was nothing good in the world, and most importantly, at least to Zora, how to lean on one another in times of need.
Zora leaned on Sokka the past couple weeks, especially after having nightmares about Zhao. More nights than she'd liked to admit, she woke up during Sokka's shift of flying Appa. He understood, thankfully, and let her sit with him. Sometimes it was in silence, other times she would talk about them to him.
Regardless, she saw the potential in Sokka.
They had set up camp next to a river and were trying to figure out a way to get to the North Pole by the end of the month, which was only a few weeks away. Suddenly, Zora's stomach began to growl. Sokka raised an eyebrow at her quickly. "Hungry?"
Zora rolled her eyes, "only a little."
Katara looked up, seeing a large fish jump out of the water. "Look!"
Everyone looked over to see a big fish, enough to feed at least 2 people.
Sokka narrowed his eyes on the creature. "He is taunting us!" With a jump, Sokka was on his feet at the edge of the water. "You are so gonna be dinner!" He waved the fishing pole around, almost trying to provoke it.
Zora couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey, where's the fishing line?" Sokka asked.
Aang scratched the back of his head. "Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka." He held up what looked like to be a necklace he had made. It reminded Zora of the conversation she had with them all earlier in the day.
Sokka looked annoyed, though, when Zora turned her attention to him. "Ah, it's all tangled."
Aang continued. "Not tangled, woven. I made you a necklace, Katara. I thought since you lost your other one…" he held up the necklace with two hands, blushing and smiling sheepishly.
Katara smiled at the boy and grabbed it from him. "Thanks, Aang. I love it." She said, as she examined it.
Zora smiled at the interaction. "It's really pretty, Aang. Do you want help getting it on, Katara?"
Sokka rolled his eyes, making his way back to the water. "Great, Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry-making business." He grumbled.
"I don't see why I can't do both." Aang shrugged.
Suddenly, the fish jumped out of the water again. With a loud huh!, Sokka threw the fishing pole as hard as he could at the fish. Zora couldn't help but stifle back a laugh as Sokka missed his target.
He groaned, "stop taunting me!" With a swift movement, his knife was out, and he was in the water.
"Sokka!" Zora groaned. "I'm not making Aang dry your clothes again!"
"So, how do I look?" Zora heard from behind. She turned and saw Katara with her necklace on. When she looked at Aang, he was blushing madly, not taking his eyes off the girl.
He stuttered, "you mean, all of you or just your neck? I mean - because they both look great!"
Zora giggled to herself, while Sokka resurfaced to catch just the tail end of what Aang said. "Smoochie, smoochie. Someone's in love." He imitated, pretending to kiss the fish.
Zora glared at Sokka. "I am going to-" she started, but stopped when the fish had smacked Sokka in the face, knocking him over.
Zora laughed hysterically at this point. "Suits you right!"
Aang scratched the back of his head again. "Well…."
Katara spoke up quickly, "Sokka, stop teasing him. Aang's just a good friend! A sweet little guy, like Momo."
Zora stilled at the comment towards Aang. Oh no…
Aang looked down at the ground, "thanks."
Zora felt someone walk by her, as water droplets fell on her in the mean time. Sokka had walked by, drenched like she predicted. Then, they heard yelling from afar.
Aang flew up on top of a giant boulder, and pointed towards the other side of the river. "Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!"
All four of them were waterbended to the other side, thanks to Katara, to find an elderly man being attacked. However, the man did not seem afraid. He gracefully avoided any attempts the animal made towards him. He suddenly looked at the group. "Well, hello there." He dodged another attack. "Nice day, isn't it?"
Aang began to panick. "Make noise! He'll run off!"
Sokka then butt in, "no, play dead! He'll lose interest!"
The man yet again avoided another swipe from the platypus bear, "woah, close one! Ha ha ha!"
Zora's eyebrow hitched. "Why is he not scared?"
Everyone was shouting out ways to get away from the animal, but the man kept ignoring their pleas and suggestions. "No need. It's going to be fine!"
Zora couldn't help but be amazed at the level of calmness this man had.
With another close call, Aang decided to spring into action. Flying between the man and the bear, he bended air toward the creature to back it away. "Woah there!"
The platypus bear roared, standing on its hind legs. Suddenly, Appa came up from behind and roared even louder than the animal did. The platypus bear was scared off and swam away from the group.
Zora made her way to Appa, petting his head. "Good job, buddy."
Sokka grabbed the egg that sat on the ground, declaring it lunch for the group. "Lucky for you we came along." He said smugly to the man. Zora rolled her eyes.
The man came closer to them all. "Thanks, but everything was already under control. Not to worry. Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey."
"Aunt who?" asked Aang.
"No, Aunt Wu! She's the fortune-teller from my village. Awful nice knowing your future." The man said.
"Wow, it must be." Katara said. "That explains why you were so calm."
Of course though, Sokka spoke. "But the fortune-teller was wrong. You didn't have a safe journey, you were almost killed!"
"But I wasn't." The man bowed towards the group. "Alright, have a good one!"
And just like that, he carried on his journey, no turning back. Zora scratched her head. "I'm confused…"
Suddenly, the man turned around. "Oh! Aunt Wu said that if I had met any travelers to give them this." He handed a long, wrapped up item to Zora. Her eyebrow hitched again.
"Uh, thanks?" She questioned. Sokka marched over to her, examining the item.
Katara spoke up, "maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes. It could be fun!"
Zora and Sokka were both immediately put off. "I don't know, Katara. Fortune-tellers aren't typically known for being right…" Zora trailed off.
"Come on, fortune-telling is nonsense." Sokka added.
Meanwhile, Aang was vigorously opening the item the man had given to us. Finding out it was an umbrella, a storm suddenly appeared and started to rain on them all. Katara gave both Zora and Sokka a look. "That proves it!"
"No, it doesn't. You can't really tell the future." Sokka argued.
"I guess you're really not getting wet then." Katara countered.
Zora sighed. "I don't know, Katara. I think it was just a mere gift. No one knew it was supposed to storm."
"Of course she predicted it was gonna rain." Sokka whispered to Zora, who giggled a bit. "The sky has been gray all day."
"Just admit you might be wrong, and you both can come under the umbrella." Katara bickered.
Sighing again, Zora apologized and made her way under Katara's makeshift, waterbended umbrella. Meanwhile, Sokka, stubborn as he is, continued to walk in the rain.
"Look, I'm gonna predict something now." he started. He puffed his chest and changed the tone of his voice, "it's going to keep drizzling."
As the rain continued, Sokka stood triumphantly. "See!"
Zora rolled her eyes at him. "Sokka, if you get sick again, I am not giving you anymore frogs." She stated.
Sokka stuck his tongue out at Zora, before realizing that the sun had started to come out of the clouds, the rain stopping. Aang looked up. "Not everyone has the gift, Sokka."
As they all kept walking, they stumbled upon an Earth Kingdom town about two miles away. All four of them continued about, eventually finding the infamous house of Aunt Wu. At the door, a man stood by. Without even opening his eyes, he began to speak. "Aunt Wu has been expecting you." He motioned his hand for them to enter.
Zora looked at Sokka with a pointed look. He rolled his eyes. "I bet he says that to everyone who comes to her. It's scripted." He whispered.
"Whatever you say, oh wise one." Zora mocked.
Sokka gently shoved her shoulder, both of them snickering. All four walked in and found a modest, quiet home. A girl, not more than thirteen, appeared from the back. "My name is Meng, Aunt Wu's assistant." She looked more closely at the Gaang, but kept her eyes mostly on Aang. "Well, hello there." The girl said moving closer to the Avatar.
Aang, looking annoyed, replied ungraciously. "Hello."
"Can I get you some tea, or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?" she asked.
They all took a seat on pillows on the floor, Momo nestling himself in Zora's neck. Sokka accepted the offer for a bean curd puff, and Meng went to the back again.
"I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense." Sokka stated.
"Try to keep an open mind, Sokka. Sometimes there's things in this world that can't be explained." Zora stated, petting Momo.
"Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?" Katara asked the group.
"It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs." Sokka grumbled. Zora lightly hit his arm, reminding him to be respectful. He gently rubbed his arm, mouthing ow as he did so.
Meng came back, and directed Katara to go back to Aunt Wu. She handed Sokka the bean curd puffs, who started chowing down instantly. His eyes widened, and he ate them faster. "Spirits, this stuff is good!"
Aang placed his chin in his hand, looking annoyed that they were even there. "What do you even think they're talking about back there?" he questioned.
Sokka shrugged, "Boring stuff, I'm sure. Love, who she's going to marry, how many babies she's going to have."
"Yeah… dumb stuff like that…" Aang reluctantly agreed. Quickly, he stood up. "Well, I gotta find a bathroom!" and off he went.
That left Zora and Sokka. She eyed him curiously as he munched on his appetizer. "Sokka?"
"Hmm?" Sokka hummed, eyeing the girl.
"You truly don't think anything she says will be real, right?" She anxiously asked. She petted Momo, who sat on her shoulder.
He shook his head. "Not a chance." he stated, "unless she's a seer, or something, but not fortune-tellers."
Zora nodded, bringing her knees to her chest. "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Why do you ask?" He questioned.
"Well…" she started, but was interrupted by Aang making his way back to his spot.
"Looks like someone had a good bathroom break." Sokka observed.
"Yeah, well when I was in there-" he started, but was interrupted by Sokka waving his hands in his face.
"I don't want to know." He said.
Zora chuckled at the interaction. Behind Aang popped out Aunt Wu and Katara, whose face had a pink tint to it. Aunt Wu spoke, "alright, who's next?"
Zora shrugged her shoulders. "I'll go."
Aunt Wu bowed to her, Zora following her down the hallway. They settled into a room with candles burning, Zora could note the scent of lavender and orange burning, one of her favorites. She sighed, sitting down on the opposite side of the table of Aunt Wu.
Zora placed her palm on the table, Aunt Wu grabbed it gently, her fingers lightly brushing against different parts of her hand.
"You hold powerful bending abilities that have not been awakened yet." She spoke.
Zora's eyebrow hitched. "I do?" She asked.
Aunt Wu nodded, "be careful though, these abilities could hurt someone you love in the future." Zora became anxious again. Her free hand clutched a part of her pant leg.
Aunt Wu continued. "You will meet your father sometime in the next year."
Zora froze in her seat. "W-what?" Her father? He never was involved with her. How will either of them know?
"You will also marry someone who only sees you for the good in you, regardless of your struggles. However, you must be patient."
"Patient? But I-"
"Your destiny to help the Avatar will be revealed to you soon."
Zora stilled at her statement again. The only person who knew of her so-called destiny were her friends and her grandmother. Was Aunt Wu actually a seer?`
"Aunt Wu… What is my fate on this journey?" Zora asked quietly.
Aunt Wu stared at her. "I cannot tell you everything, young lady, but I will tell you this… do whatever it takes to save the world."
Zora sucked in a breath, feeling herself lose control of her breathing rhythms. "Thank you, Aunt Wu."
The woman nodded at her. "You will do good, my child. Don't stray from the path you need to take."
Zora nodded subtly. "I don't intend to."
After Sokka and Aang finally had their fortunes read, the group stalked out of Aunt Wu's house towards the nearest inn. Sokka stretched his arms out, going on about how he still wasn't buying into Aunt Wu's "tricks". Katara of course bickered with him, while Aang listened intently.
"That woman is crazy! My life will be calm and happy and joyful!" Sokka yelled. "Zora, what did she say to you?"
Zora, however, didn't hear Sokka speaking to her. She kept walking, her head down and in her own thoughts.
What did she mean when she said I'm going to meet my father? I don't even know who the man is. Mom never once mentioned him. I wonder if it was for a good reason. Grandma never said anything either.
Not to mention, she knows that I have a destiny to help Aang save the world. She can't be lying.
And what did she mean when she said I need to be patient with the man I love? Ugh. I am so confu-
"Earth to Zora!" Sokka said, tapping her head a couple times. Zora jumped and smacked his hand away. She turned around and glared at him.
"Quit it!" She snapped.
"What's gotten into you? Did Aunt Wu tell you that you're going to be rich or something?" Sokka asked.
"Uh, no. She didn't mention anything…" she said, her voice trailing off. She chewed her inner lip, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Aang raised an eyebrow at her, questioning her sudden verbal distance. Sokka looked at her questionly as well.
"Nothing at all?" Sokka probed.
"I said she didn't mention anything, Sokka!" Zora snapped again, her eyes narrowing at Sokka.
He glared at the girl. "Woah, don't get testy with me. I'm just asking-"
"You're being annoying!"
"Well excuse me for caring about your future!" He emphasized, mocking Aunt Wu's abilities again.
Zora groaned in annoyance. "Just leave me alone!" She yelled, and stomped away from her friends.
Sokka sighed. "C'mon Zora, I was just kidding." He started to walk after her, but felt a hand tug on his shirt. He found it to be Katara's who was shaking her head.
"Just let her cool off, Sokka."
Sokka looked back at Zora's figure as she walked further away, sighing.
Zora ended up finding a bench in an alleyway. She sat down, hugging her legs to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. She sighed to herself, resting her forehead on her knees. She heard Momo chirp in her ear a bit, so she picked up her right hand to pet him. "Thanks for following me, Momo."
Another chirp from the creature, this time he nuzzled into her neck. Zora smiled weakly. She couldn't understand why, but she had a bad feeling about meeting her father. She wanted nothing more than for her mother to be here with her to figure it out.
Zora felt a tear fall down her cheek, vigorously wiping it away. "Damn fortunes." She whispered.
"Yeah, they're a real kicker."
She looked up to find a man, around her age, tan skin, and long brown hair, walking towards her. He wore pale green clothes, signaling that he was from the Earth Kingdom. His biceps were very defined, and he sported a black headband to keep his bangs out of his face. Zora moved her legs so that they sat in a normal position. She quickly sniffed and wiped away any remaining tears lingering in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone would find me." She apologized.
The man shook his head. "Please, I'm sorry for interrupting. I didn't mean to disrupt you."
She shook her head, "oh no you didn't." She sniffed again, trying to blink away her tears.
"Are you okay, miss?"
Those damn words. They always send her over the edge.
She blinked faster, but could not catch the tears sitting at bay. "I'm fine." She whispered.
"With all due respect, you don't sound fine."
She looked up at him again to notice that he had looked very concerned. She smiled lightly. "Just had a… different reading than I was expecting from Aunt Wu."
"Ah, I see now. You weren't a total believer in her, were you?" He asked.
She shook her head, "No, not really."
He motioned his head towards the bench Zora was sitting on. "Mind if I sit?" He asked gently.
Zora shook her head, moving over to her right so that the man could sit. He sat quietly next to her, his arms dropping behind her back on the bench. Zora froze, not expecting the gesture.
"Do you want to talk about what Aunt Wu said?" He asked.
Zora was obviously hesitant for many reasons. One, she didn't know this man. Two, he was asking questions she didn't even feel comfortable talking about with her friends. Last, she didn't want to seem like she couldn't control herself.
Sighing, Zora rubbed her left arm anxiously. Her braid fell from her shoulder. "It was just… a lot to take in. She gave me a few different things to mull over."
"Yeah? Usually she only gives one or two to people."
She looked at the man again, surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah, really." He nodded. "Last time I went to her, she told me I need to be patient about finding my true love, whatever that means." He scoffed.
Zora's head snapped towards him, her eyes wide. "S-She did?"
He nodded again. "I mean, I get it, but I haven't met anyone yet. I don't know who I'm supposed to be patient with."
"Huh, yeah, that's weird…" Zora admitted. She couldn't help but think this man was the one Aunt Wu was talking about.
Desperate to change the subject, Zora said the first thing that came to her mind. "You live here, I'm assuming?"
"Just for 18 years, ya know." He joked, subtly smirking at her. Zora chuckled. He was starting to grow on her a bit. "My mom moved here when she was pregnant with me. My dad never claimed responsibility to be a father, apparently. She's from Omashu, but wanted to start a new life. That's how we ended up here. Never looked back."
Zora listened intently, resonating with the man. "My mom did something similar."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?"
She nodded, "yeah, my mom grew up in a small Earth Kingdom village with her parents. When she got pregnant with me, she and my grandmother moved to Ba Sing Se. I lived there for 8 years before we moved to a small village, and the rest is history."
The man nodded at her, "sounds like both of our fathers are shit parents."
Zora laughed, "yeah, seems like it, huh?"
He shrugged, "doesn't define us though. We turned out okay. Well, I did at least. I don't know you that well yet." He joked.
Yet, Zora thought. How subtle that word was, but how much it made her heart race.
"I think I'd say I'm an okay person." She matched the tone of his voice. He chuckled at her.
"Zora!" She heard in the distance. She looked and saw her friends combing the streets looking for her. She sighed, standing up.
"Those are my friends. I better get back to them."
He nodded, standing up as well. "Let me take you?" He asked.
Zora blushed, but nodded. "Sure, thank you."
They walked out to the street to find her friends about 100 feet ahead, looking around intently. She turned back to the man. "Thanks again for sitting with me."
He shrugged, "it was no big deal. Just glad you feel better."
"I do, thank you. It was nice meeting you." She smiled at him.
A red tint covered the rounds of his cheeks. He cleared his throat quickly, trying to mask his bashfulness. "By the way, I never got your name." He looked into her eyes. She noticed his eyes were a muddled shade of green, almost resembling hazel.
She scratched the back of her neck. "Uh, Zora."
He smiled, "Zora… that's a lovely name."
She blushed. "And yours?"
"Molu."
She nodded. "Hopefully we'll meet again."
He smiled at her, "Hopefully." With that, he turned and walked away.
Zora blushed, petting Momo again out of anxiety. She looked back towards her friends to find Sokka staring, but he quickly looked away when he realized Zora caught him. She swallowed thickly, walking over to her friends.
"Zora! There you are!" Katara said, hugging her. "I was worried you were taken or something."
Zora hugged her back gently. "I'm okay. Just was doing some thinking."
She heard Sokka scoff a bit, which irritated her. However, she decided not to give him the satisfaction. "Did I miss anything?" She asked.
Aang spoke up. "Well, Sokka's new destiny is to show everyone that Aunt Wu's fortunes are nonsense and fake. He got attacked by a goose in the process because he kicked a rock at it by accident-"
"That goose had it out for me!" Sokka exclaimed.
"-and Katara went back to Aunt Wu for another fortune."
Katara blushed. "She told me I'm going to have three kids!" She bounced on the balls of her feet with excitement. Zora smiled at her.
"That's great, Katara." Zora said.
"Don't feed into her delusions, Zora." Sokka scoffed again.
Zora rolled her eyes. "Sokka, it's not bad for people to believe in something."
"Well, Aunt Wu is a fake. There's no way she knows every single thing."
"Maybe she does." Zora defended.
Sokka raised an eyebrow at her. "What, did she say you were going to meet that guy you appeared with randomly?"
Zora blushed, "N-No, but-"
"Then boom, she's a fake."
"Will you quit it?!" Zora snapped at him, glaring. "You don't even know what was said to me!"
"I don't need to, she's predicting stupid fortunes for stupid people because they can't have a thought for themselves."
"Sokka!" Katara gasped.
Zora was now pissed. Her eyes turned to slits, which were holding steady on Sokka. "Sokka, you better shut your damn mouth."
Sokka glared at her again. "Or what? Will your new boyfriend come to fight me?" He challenged.
"Maybe if you just stopped being so narrow minded, you'd know what Aunt Wu said to me!" Zora shouted, "You're too fucking busy trying to be right all the damn time that you refuse to look outside of your own thoughts!" Her hands curled into fists and her knuckles were turning white. "Get your head out of your ass, Sokka!"
Everyone stared at Zora, blown away by her outburst of anger. Zora never showed anger like this towards them, the last time they saw it was towards Jet.
Sokka narrowed his eyes on her, his anger started to unfold. "Get my head out of my ass? You just randomly appeared with a man no one has ever met or seen before. Talk about narrow minded! You could've been kidnapped, hurt, or killed! That was real smart of you, Zora."
"Someone is nice to me and you automatically assume they're a killer?!"
"Guys, please sto-" Aang tried to butt in.
"Stay out of this!" Zora and Sokka both yelled at the boy. Aang sucked in his lips quickly.
"You're being naive, Zora!" Sokka yelled.
"No, you're being an asshole!"
"An asshole?!"
"Maybe if you tried to understand what Aunt Wu said, we wouldn't be arguing about this!"
"I did try to understand! You ran off!"
"No, you made an assumption and thought that was okay!"
"So you go and confide in the next guy that will give you attention?!"
Zora stilled. He did not just say that to her. "Are you fuc-"
"Alright! That's enough!" Katara yelled. She appeared in front of Zora, who had just realized she was dangerously close to Sokka. Katara outstretched her arms to make them both back up. "You both need to cut it out. Fighting is not helpful."
Zora was breathing heavily, glaring into Sokka's blue eyes. Sokka did the same with Zora's green eyes. His fists were also curled, a piece of his bangs falling in front of his face. Zora's hair was blowing in the wind, a piece of her small braid became loose. Sokka suddenly uncurled his fist, sighing. He ran his hand through his hair and looked up towards the sky, gathering his thoughts.
"Zora, I'm sor-"
"Save it." She said quickly, interrupting his sentence. "I'm going to find an inn for the night. Don't bother trying to find me. We'll meet back up tomorrow." She turned and started walking away from the group.
"Zora, please don't go. We should stick together." Katara tried to reason.
"I promise to find you in the morning. I just need to be alone tonight." Zora said over her shoulder. Without a second glance, she walked away into the crowd.
It had been a couple hours since Zora parted ways with her friends for the night. She sat in the inn close to Aunt Wu's house, trying to distract herself from the argument she had with Sokka. She hated to admit it, but she felt sad knowing that Sokka thought she was looking for attention. Her entire life she did the exact opposite, what was Sokka even trying to say? She couldn't help but think he was jealous in a way, or that's how he came off.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a rumble under her feet and a loud explosion in the distance. Zora ran over to the nearby window and saw that the volcano nearby had erupted. With a loud gasp, she quickly made her way out of her room and ran out of the inn. Zora ran to the main square where everyone was gathering, and found Sokka, Katara, and Aang trying to reason with the crowd.
Aang flew himself up to a rooftop where he could be seen. "Please listen to us! You are all in danger, and we have to get out of here!" he begged. "You can't rely on Aunt Wu's prediction. You have to take fate into your own hands!"
Another explosion erupted in the distance. Zora whipped her head and found small amounts of lava shooting from the top of the volcano.
"Look!" Sokka exclaimed, "can your fortune-telling explain that?"
Smoke was settling in the sky at the opening of the volcano. Everyone in the crowd began to whisper amongst themselves. Ultimately, the crowd dismissed her friends' pleas and continued on with their day.
"Aang!" Zora yelled. She ran over to her friends, where Sokka was pouting and frustrated. Katara tried to calm him down as much as she could.
"They just won't listen to reason."
Aang spoke up, "but they will listen to Aunt Wu."
"I know, that's the problem." Sokka sighed.
"Well, it's about to become the solution." Aang decided.
Zora hitched an eyebrow. "How?"
"We're taking fate into our own hands." Aang said. "First I need to borrow Aunt Wu's cloud-reading book."
The group sprung into action and made their way back to Aunt Wu's house. Aang flew on top of the roof, sneaking in through a window that had been left open.
That left Zora and the two siblings to themselves. Zora awkwardly leaned against the wall, avoiding Sokka as much as she could. She was still frustrated by his words and didn't know how to forgive him just yet.
She felt a hand on her left shoulder, and she knew it was him.
She sighed. "Yes, Sokka?"
"Can we talk?"
She slowly turned around, arms crossed in front of her chest. She looked quickly at Katara, who nodded at her, encouraging her to do so. With another sigh, Zora nodded her head. They walked a few feet away to have some privacy.
Sokka scratched the back of his head. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed anything during our argument."
Zora casted her eyes downward, unable to maintain eye contact with the boy in front of her. She waited for him to continue.
"I guess.. I don't know. You usually tell me everything. When you ran away from us and then we found you with some random guy, I just…" His voice trailed off.
Zora looked up at Sokka, to find that his left fist was clenched again and he ran his right hand through his hair. He took a deep breath, looking anywhere but at her. "I guess I'm just trying to tell you that I felt betrayed in a way."
Zora gave him a questioning look. "Betrayed?"
"Yeah, you know. You didn't tell me about your fortune when I asked, and you didn't give me the time to actually try to understand what she said to you."
Zora nodded, understanding his outbursts at her now. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. What she said was… a lot to take in." Sokka gazed at her softly. "I didn't mean to make you upset though, Sokka. You know that's never my intention."
He nodded. "I know. I'm sorry for assuming you were just looking for attention."
She smiled softly at him. "It's okay. I forgive you."
He stuck his hand out, offering peace to her. "Still friends?"
She looked at his hand, then back at him. She smiled wider, and moved to wrap her arms around his neck. Although the man was stunned at first, he quickly recovered and gently wrapped his arms around her middle. "Yeah, still friends." She answered. Sokka smiled and pulled her in a little closer to his body. Her hair smelled like lavender and honey, he noticed.
They both pulled away from each other slowly, but not without looking into each other's eyes quickly. Those damn blue eyes always set Zora's heart ablaze. Neither made a move, just looking at one another.
However, it ended within the blink of an eye. Sokka cleared his throat, stepping back. "We should see if Aang found that book yet."
Zora nodded, adjusting her braids. "Yeah, let's go."
They awkwardly made their way back to Katara, who was talking with Aang quietly. They laid their guys on the two. "I got it, let's go!" Aang exclaimed.
The plan was that Aang and Katara would ride Appa into the clouds to create some sort of "sign" for Aunt Wu to predict with. Zora and Sokka would gather the people back into the square with Aunt Wu present. Aang and Katara were able to make a skull in the clouds, and Aunt Wu predicted that there was danger coming.
"Sokka has a plan!" Aang exclaimed in the square.
"Lava is going to flow downhill to this spot. If we can dig a deep enough trench, we can channel all the lava away from the village to the river."
"If any of you are Earth Benders, come with me!" Aang directed.
Zora moved towards Aang and began to walk. She heard her name in the distance. "Zora? Where are you going?" She looked back and saw Sokka giving her a questionable look.
She blushed and scratched her right arm. "Uh, surprise?"
Sokka's eyes widened. "You're an Earth Bender?"
She nodded. "Yeah…" She hoped she didn't upset him by not telling him at first.
He continued to stare, but then nodded his head. "Cool." He said, almost telling her that he accepted this new information. Zora smiled at him, making her way back to Aang to help.
A few hours later, a trench was made around the village. Zora and Aang instructed the people who were helping to take cover in the village away from the trench. Just as he said that, the volcano had completely erupted, lava surging down the hill. It came down quickly and started to fill the trenches.
"It's too much! It's going to overflow!" Katara exclaimed. Just as she said that, another eruption with a large burst of lava came from the volcano. As it rushed down the hill, Katara and Sokka ran back towards the village to avoid the lava.
"Zora! You're going to get hurt!" Katara yelled over the noise. Zora shook her head.
"There has to be a way I can help!" She yelled.
"Zora c'mon!" Sokka shouted.
Zora ran towards the lava, ignoring her friends. Aang joined her at her side, and they both observed the damage coming. They looked at each other, before nodding, and getting to work.
Aang jumped high in the air, creating wind that would cool down the lava in his path. Zora concentrated, coming up with a quick solution.
Lava is made from both the earth and fire. If it's half earth, I can bend it!
She took a deep breath, before thrusting her hands out and focusing on the lava in front of her. Zora then grunted, thrusting her hands to the left. Suddenly, almost as if the lava was a puppet, was directed to the left and flowed away from the village. Zora gasped. "It worked!" She said to herself, laughing and cheering.
Aang flew down from above her and landed to her right. "You just bended the lava!"
She nodded excitedly, and did the same motion again for Aang to see. With ease, the lava continued to flow down to the left of the village, down the hill towards the river.
"Zora! This is amazing!" Aang cheered.
Zora smiled and watched as the lava continued to flow down the hill away from the village. Suddenly, she felt two arms around her waist, hoisting her up in the air.
"That was amazing!" She heard Sokka yell. He spun her around a few times, both of them laughing. "You bended lava!"
She blushed and nodded her head. "Lava is part earth. It felt different, but it was easy once I understood the energy coming from it."
With that, her friends congratulated her as they walked back towards the village, where everyone cheered for them. Aunt Wu was in the middle, smiling at them all.
"Our village thanks you four for saving us all. Our gratitude cannot repay you enough." She stated.
Aang approached the woman, and whispered to her. Zora could tell that Aang wanted to know more about his "fortune" that he was giving, but was satisfied enough when Aang turned around, smiling. He approached his friends.
"Alright guys, time to go."
A/N: This was a long one for me! Sokka and Zora will realize their feelings for one another soon.. I promise!