Yes, I know I've been terrible. It's been a week. Yikes. But I've been so busy. Having three jobs is kind of insane. Also, one of my friends from college came to visit and I've been showing her around and what not! Also, I am depressed Legend of Korra is over. I guess that means it's time to rematch ATLA again... But anyways, here's another chapter! I think it's the longest one yet, so I guess that's good. I went through a major writing block.
Enjoy!
"Come on Sokka, just for a little while." I plead, my hands clasped together. "It'll be fun!"
"No way. Last time we were there a volcano nearly swept us away. Plus, the people there are insane." Sokka blatantly says.
"A volcano?" Zuko asks, clearly amused at our current argument. "You three seriously got into a lot of trouble in the beginning…"
I roll my eyes. "Yeah. Most of them involving you constantly stalking us and trying to kill us." I say, glaring at him.
"Oh…right…made everything interesting though, right?" Zuko says, giving me a lame smile. I keep a bored expression on my face.
"Oh yeah. Interesting." I mumble, rolling my eyes again. I look back over at Sokka, who was still scowling over my inquisition I made minutes ago. We are traveling at a fast pace, not too far from the Serpent's Pass. We are to soon pass over Aunt Wu's village, and I wanted nothing more than to visit her and hear some fortunes again. I couldn't help but grin at the memory of my obsessive pining for hearing my fortune. Aunt Wu may have been wrong about her predictions when it came to the volcano, but she couldn't have been more accurate about my love life. I sneak a sly glance over at Aang, who was also looking at me. Embarrassed that I caught him staring, he quickly turned away, his cheeks turning a bright red. I grin, and then turn back towards Sokka.
"Sokka, we are ahead of schedule, you have enough meat to last you for at least two days, and I think Appa is getting tired. We are stopping at Aunt Wu's village whether you like it or not. Aang, take Appa down!" I demand, looking over at Aang, and giving him a stern nod. Aang looks from me to Sokka nervously.
"No! There is no way I am going back there! Aang, keep flying." Sokka complains, glaring at Aang, who is now anxiously looking over at me. I narrow my eyes at him, hoping he makes the right choice.
"Don't listen to Sokka, Aang. Come on. Aunt Wu's. Please. For me." I say, batting my eyelashes.
"Hey! No fair!" Sokka grunts, pointing at me. "You're teasing him!" Sokka looks over at Aang and crosses his arms. Aang gives him a sad smile.
"I'm sorry, Sokka…but Katara has you beat. Plus, we really are ahead of schedule…I'm sure a short visit won't hurt." Aang says, guiding Appa a little lower now, towards the silhouette of the familiar volcano a few miles away.
Sokka huffs, leaning back on the saddle. "Yeah, 'won't hurt.' Except by a volcano."
"Oh, for the love of spirits, let it go Sokka. I don't think the volcano will erupt again while we are there." I groan.
"Plus, if it does, there's always me and Katara's cloud bending style." Aang says, bending a puff of air from his hands, manipulating a cloud up ahead.
Sokka rolls his eyes. "We tend to have the worst luck in the world, so I wouldn't be surprised if it blows up as soon as we set foot in that horrible town."
"Hey, meathead. I think it's you that has all the bad luck." Toph snickers, prompting a laugh out of everyone. Toph whips her head towards Zuko and points at him.
"You can't laugh, hothead. You have just as much bad luck as Snoozles over here." Toph continues, now jabbing her finger a little too close for his liking. His smile from the laughter slowly fades into a bored look. Toph just gives him a cheeky smile.
He slaps her finger away from his face.
"Hothead. Good one." Zuko growls.
"Would you rather me call you 'Zuzu?" Toph teases, edging him on. Zuko's eyebrows furrow.
"No. Hothead sounds good. Or hotman. Either will do." He quickly says, embarrassed by hearing the sound of his sister's childhood nickname for him.
"Well, I think this will be fun. I've never gone on a time-wasting journey yet." Suki says, giving Sokka a sweet smile. He groans and keeps his arms crossed. She giggles and leans over him, kissing him gently on the cheek. His frown instantly disappears from his face, replaced with a goofy grin.
"Fine! Just for a little bit. We aren't staying the night!" Sokka says, emphasizing the last part of his sentence. "Also, we did not have time-wasting journeys!"
Suki laughs and waves him off. "Right, whatever you say. I'm pretty sure coming to Kyoshi for the first time was a time waster."
"Nope, Aang just wanted to ride those elephant koi fish." Sokka says, putting his hands behind his head.
"And, boy did I ride them!" Aang excitedly says, lost in thought, probably reminiscing about the memory.
"Don't forget almost getting eaten by the Unagi." Suki says, making Aang's silly smile fade. My face scrunches in memory of me frantically wading in the water trying to get Aang's unconscious body away from the terrifying eel monster. I glance over at Aang, and give him a sympathetic look.
"Hey, if it wasn't for me riding the Unagi, Kyoshi would have burned." Aang says, shrugging his shoulders.
Suki turns and glares at Zuko, who awkwardly turned away, guilty as charged.
"Yeah, I wonder how my village got set on fire in the first place." Suki says through clenched teeth. I couldn't help but giggle, the look of sheer terror on Zuko's face was somewhat entertaining.
"Thank goodness for that Unagi." Zuko simply says, looking down at his hands, which are in his lap. Mai rolls her eyes and gently pats him on the shoulder, trying to comfort him, I'm assuming.
I smile to myself and turn towards Aang, who was sitting on Appa head just in front of me. We were getting closer to the volcano, and I could now make out the little houses that are lined at the base. Appa swoops down and lands directly in the courtyard, groaning loudly in pleasure for getting a few hours to rest after his long grueling day of flying.
"We're here!" Aang happily announces, standing up to tie the reigns of Appa's horns. I look down over the saddle and begin to notice a small crowd of people circling around the bison. They are all mumbling and whispering, glancing from me, to Zuko and of course, Aang.
"It's the Avatar!" Someone yells, and the once quiet whispering turns into loud murmurs, the chatter slowly becoming more audible for me to make out.
"It's that boy with the arrows." Somebody else says, pointing at Aang.
"The Firelord!"
"The little kid who stole Aunt Wu's cloud reading book!"
"The science and reason guy!" I couldn't help by snicker at that, stealing a glance at Sokka, who was distinctively scowling, obvious he heard the voice.
"Well, I thought I'd never see these young faces again!" A familiar voice says, Appa's big furry body obstructing my view. I lean over the saddle only to see Aunt Wu standing by Appa's front feet, her arms on her hips.
"Aunt Wu!" I yell, sliding down Appa's body. "It's good to see you again!"
Aang swiftly moves his arms in a circular motion, airbending himself off Appa. He quietly floats down right beside me, smiling up at Aunt Wu.
"Well, if it isn't the Avatar! Such an honor to be in your presence! I see you've sorted some things out since I last saw you." Aunt Wu says, giving him a warm smile.
"Well, if that means winning the great battle that determined the fate of the whole world, then yes." He simply says. I give him a confused look. She laughs and then looks towards me.
"So, young waterbender, are you here to get more readings?" She says, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at me. I give her an embarrassed smile and nod.
"Well I mean, since we are here…I wouldn't mind." I say, looking down at my shuffling feet.
"Good, good! I see you've brought some friends! Follow me! I'll provide you all with some food and of course, a glimpse into your destinies."
Everyone dismounts Appa, and we follow Aunt Wu towards her home. Her doorman happily opens the sliding doors for us. We walk into the familiar lobby, a bunch of cushions placed delicately on the floor, by wooden dividers.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable. Meng will be out with some appetizers." Aunt Wu says, making her way towards her reading room in the back.
I glance over at Aang, my eyebrows arched. His face is a scarlet red, upon hearing the mention of Meng. He slumps down and sits on a pillow closest to the bamboo divider. I chuckle a little and take a seat next to him.
"This place is fancy." Toph says, plopping down in the middle of the room. She wiggles her toes in front of her.
"You should see the fortune telling room in the back. It's absolutely beautiful." I say, my hands twirling a piece of my hair.
"Eh, I've seen better." Sokka mumbles, scratching his lower back. Suki rolls her eyes.
Quiet footsteps approach, and a young girl, about Toph's size, emerges from the back room with a huge plate of food.
"Bean curd puffs anyon-." Her voice stops abruptly, and I notice her eyes quickly scan over towards Aang. She nervously shifts her eyes from him to me and I give her a weary glance. I am assuming this is Meng. She looks a little different, her hair now flowing over her shoulders, cut short, like Suki's. She walks over towards Sokka and places the plate of appetizers directly in front of him.
"Well, uh…enjoy your f-food. Aunt Wu will be with all of you in a few moments." She nervously says, flashing the familiar toothy smile. She turns around, and swiftly steals another glance at Aang, her cheeks a bright red. I look over towards Aang, who was looking down at his hands, eloquently in his lap. I let out a little giggle at the awkward air in the room, and then place a hand over his. He snaps out of his embarrassment and turns towards me, giving me a little smile. He leans over and kisses me on the cheek.
"Ugh. Can you two at least wait until I finish eating?" Sokka mumbles in between chews. Toph leans over and snatches a hand full of the puffs.
"These are delicious!" She says, throwing one in the air and catching it in her mouth. I look at her in bewilderment; still trying to figure out how she can do that so well, being blind and all. I lean over and grab a few puffs myself.
"So, when is the old lady coming out to read my destiny?" Mai says, glancing at her nails.
Zuko snickers, his arm around Mai's shoulders.
"Like I need a reading. I've heard enough about destiny." He says, rolling his eyes. Mai chuckles and leans her head onto his shoulder.
"Trust me, it'll be fun!" I reassure them, looking hopefully just beyond the dividers.
"She threw a bone into the fire for me…it was pretty cool actually." Aang pipes up, leaning back and putting his arm behind me. "Except she told me stuff I already knew." I give him an inquisitive look.
"You never did tell me what she told you in there." I say. He laughs and then sighs.
"She pretty much told me I'd be involved in a conflict between the forces of good and evil that would predict the outcome of the world. Good won." He says, putting a puff in his mouth. I roll my eyes and raise my eyebrow.
"That's all she told you?" I say, eagerly wanting to know more.
"Pretty much." He says, his mouth full. I look away in confusion.
"Oh. That's pretty boring." I say, looking down at my hands. I was somewhat hoping she gave him some sort of prediction about his love life. Who he is going to marry…how many children he will have… I quickly shake my head after that thought.
"Since we are talking about this…what did she say to you, Katara?" Zuko asks, an innocent look of question on his face. I feel my cheeks burn up, not wanting to really share my prediction with everyone. I can feel their eyes all on me, waiting for an answer. I turn towards Aang and notice he is looking towards the doorway, not really taking any notice in the situation. Why is he not paying attention? Wouldn't he want to know what my prediction was? Since it did involve him…I scoff at him.
"Oh nothing much really. Just lame stuff. Like my future husband. And how many children I'll have." I say, looking towards everyone for their reaction. Suki and Zuko are looking towards me, interested in what I am saying. Toph is looking the wrong way, but I'm assuming she is listening. Sokka sticks out his tongue in disgust and Mai just looks bored. Aang however, is still looking around, not even remotely interested. I could feel anger build up inside me.
"Yeah. Apparently the man I'm going to marry is going to be a very powerful bender." I say. Everyone else looks toward Aang, who raises an eyebrow. He takes a few more bites of food. I narrow my eyes at him.
"And I am going to have a lot of children. Too many to count." I say, glaring at Aang now. Sokka makes a gagging noise.
"Okay, that's enough information for me!" Sokka says, covering his ears. Suki sighs.
"Oh how sweet! I am actually excited about this, Katara." She says, clapping her hands together.
"Yup. Anytime." I mumble, still glaring at Aang. He looks toward me with a confused look. I angrily huff and turn around, crossing my arms. How could he not even be interested one bit? He looks away slowly, his face contorting in nervousness over my growing temper. We all sit in silence, munching on what's left of the puffs, waiting for Aunt Wu to call us in.
"Alright, who's first?" Aunt Wu finally says, coming from behind the bamboo dividers. I, for once, look down, not interested in talking to anyone, let alone Aunt Wu, right now. After a few awkward seconds, Aang stands up.
"I guess I'll go." He quietly says, following Aunt Wu behind the divider.
"I thought no one would ever leave. I don't want to be the first one going in there." Zuko says, lying down on his back. Mai pulls out one of her daggers and begins twirling it in boredom. Toph unhinges her meteor bracelet from her arm and begins bending and molding it into shapes. Suki lies on her stomach, opening and closing one of her fans, while Sokka sits beside her, examining his new boomerang. I groan in impatience.
I wonder what Aunt Wu was telling Aang in there. I anxiously shift my eyes, my legs getting jittery with anticipation. Next thing I know, I am on my feet.
"Where are you going?" Sokka asks, looking up at me.
"I…uh…the bathroom?" I poorly say, hoping he buys it. He just shrugs and waves me off. I sigh in relief and tip toe behind the floral dividers and make my way towards the door to Aunt Wu's reading room. I quietly open the door a crack so I can hear what they are talking about. I strain my eyes and listen.
"So, young airbender. You are back here again. What is it that you are interested in foreseeing? As last time, you weren't too happy." Aunt Wu says, a chuckle to her voice. Aang gives her a light laugh.
"I am hoping you could tell me a little more about love this time." He asks. I feel my stomach tighten. A little more about love? Did she say anything about love to him last time? And if so, why on earth would he not tell me anything? I pout a little, straining my ear even more.
"Ah, of course. Always about love when it comes to those your age. Okay, then. Let me see your hands." She says. I hear her reach for what sounds like a bag.
"I am going to put this stone in your hand. It's a special stone, and when crunched together by your grip it will crumble apart, leaving its residue on your palm. I then will read the broken pieces, and tell you your future." She continues.
"Sounds good to me!" Aang says, cheerful as always. I wait a little, assuming he broke the stone in his hand by now.
"Oh, this is interesting…" Aunt Wu begins to say. I press my ear even closer on the door.
"What are you doing out here?" A voice says, making me jump about ten feet high. I quickly whip my head around, and I see Meng, standing behind me, her hands across her chest.