Having recovered from their recent bout of illness and theft, thank you Momo, the group lounged by the river on a mild day. The water lapped at the shore while Jet and Sokka stalked a particularly obnoxious fish that Sokka was convinced had been mocking them for hours.
"He's taunting us! You're so going to be dinner!" Sokka cried, grabbing his net. He made towards the water only to discover that the fishing line was no longer on the rod. "Hey! Where's the fishing line?!" He asked, frantically searching the pole like he'd missed it.
Aang pushed himself off the ground from his former place on the ground. "Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka." Aang admitted, slightly sheepishly. He held up what was once fishing line that now looked a lot like a necklace. Masami smirked and looked sideways at Katara who it seemed also found this slightly amusing.
"Aahh, it's all tangled!" Sokka grossed, watching Aang make his way towards Masami.
"Not tangled, Sokka. It's woven." Aang corrected as he knelt in front of the girls, looking at Masami with a slightly bashful expression. "I made it for you." He said, glancing at the necklace, then to the ground and slowly back up to her face. She felt the edges of her mouth turn upwards.
"Thank you, Aang, it's beautiful." She bit her lip slightly as her fingers reached out to trace the woven line. She moved her hair away so he could tie it around her neck. Katara gave Jet a knowing look that he returned and they both smiled. Sokka, on the other hand was not nearly as amused or fond of the sentiment.
"Great, Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world you can go into the jewelry making business." Sokka snapped. Unphased, Aang replied,
"I don't see why I can't do both." Aang chirped happily, as Masami dropped her curls to their more normal resting place. She smiled, "Do I look okay?" She didn't wear a lot of jewelry, so she was always slightly unsure of herself in that regard. She ducked her head for a moment, Aang nodding swiftly with a large smile,
"Yeah! You look good! You always do, I mean-I yeah! You do." Aang studdered with a blush. Masami looked at him, her lip going between her teeth again as she smile. They both sat in silence until they heard a splash, and Masami snorting lightly as she heard Sokka scream in the background; breaking the slightly sweet moment they were having.
"Stop taunting me!" Aang and Masami looked up to see Sokka pulling his knife from his pocket as he decended into the water. Katara looked up as Jet came to sit near them,
"Should you go with him?" Aang asked, looking at Jet curiously.
"And miss the show? I don't think so." Jet responded with a smirk. The show, as Jet called it was quite the spectacle. Sokka went back and forth with the large, green fish but in the end he came out of the water fishless, the fish still jumping in the background. He looked at the two couples, or what would appear to be couples and made a face.
"Smoochie, smoochie, someone's in love." He made a face at them, and dropped to the ground. Katara scolded him as Masami and Aang both blushed and looked at their hands. Everyone looked up when a scream echoed from behind some bolders. They got to their feet, making a break for it. Aang propelled himself onto of a large rock, and he cried,
"Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!"
The tale of the Blue Spirit soon spread all around the Earth Kingdom until it became legendary. People all over wondered who the Blue Spirit really was, what his motives were, and whether he actually existed. While the rest of the crew of the Shoeboat came up with many theories, Kali kept quiet about it, smiling inwardly. She'd learned who the Blue Spirit was the morning after Zuko had ditched her on the dock. Having left his breakfast in his room, she'd set about her usual morning tasks. Uncle had taken his Tsungi horn outside, appreciating the cool morning air. She had just gone to retrieve a fresh supply of tea leaves for Uncle's second cup of the morning when she'd passed Zuko by in the hallway. The dark circles under his eyes had been darker than usual and in his hands he'd been carrying what appeared to be a bundle of dark black clothes. And beneath the clothes, though she'd only seen the bundle for a few moments before he'd quickly brushed past her, she'd seen them. The swords. And something else. Something with a hard edge and a glint of blue.
Zuko as the Blue Spirit. She pondered the idea as she walked to the closet. He was having her mop. AGAIN. He must really want to keep me busy, she thought, wondering if he'd noticed her observe the swords that day. The least he could have done was pick a chore I didn't spend half of yesterday doing.
She groaned inwardly as she opened the little door. It was a tiny room, barely big enough for one person to fit in comfortably. In it were a series of mops, brooms, pails, and other such things. Her tools. She heard footsteps and looked up to see Zuko coming down the hall. She returned his scowl and pulled out a pail and mop.
"May I ask, prince, how you managed to get the ship so dirty in so short of a time that I'm mopping it for the second day in a row?"
He raised his eyebrow as she leaned on the mop in front of the closet. "You're mopping it again because I ordered you too. I don't have to explain myself to you," he gave her the particularly dark scowl she'd started to identify as reserved for her, "I suggest you get to work."
He turned to leave.
That would have been the end of the conversation and she would have begun her mopping then, had not the mop still been damp. Proving her point, it was still wet from the previous mopping, as was the pail. Both had leaked a thin layer of water onto the floor beside her. So when Prince Zuko turned to leave, he naturally managed to step on the wet spot. And, because, evidently, the universe hated both of them, the ship shifted at that moment causing him to slip and fall toward her, facing her as he did so. They then fell back into the closet that was only big enough for one person to fit in comfortably. And, just because the universe REALLY hated them (she blamed Zuko for the additional bad luck), the door slammed shut and locked behind them. So they stood, crammed face-to-face in the tiny room, barely able to move, and unable to leave. Realizing they were trapped as she tried the knob unsuccessfully, Kali groaned.
"You know, your Highness, this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't ordered me to mop again.
Hustling past the boulders, the group comes upon a huge platypus bear swinging its claws and bearing it's teeth at a small man. Masami hadn't ever actually seen one of these up close, they didn't live on Kyoshi. The bear was huge! But all that aside, the man seemed not at all bothered about his life being threatened.
"Well, hello there. Nice day, isn't it?" The man said conversationally, looking at the group while he some how managed to dodge blows from the bear that were aimed at his face.
"Make noise, it'll run off!" Aang cried, trying to get the man to listen.
"No, play dead, he'll lose interest!" Sokka shouted behind Aang. Seemingly ignoring them, the man still stood before the bear, bobbing and weaving to avoid being mauled.
"Whoa! Close one!" The man laughed. Masami hadn't ever seen any sort of altered mental state this bad, but this was terrifying.
"Run down hill, then climb a tree!" Katara howled, but the man wouldn't listen.
"No, punch him in the bill! And then run in zigzags!" Jet bellowed, but the man was not moving.
"No need. It's going to be fine." The man reinterated happily. Masami closed her eyes as Aang jumped off his rock and put himself between the bear and the stranger.
"Aang, no!" Masami started, but Aang was already trying to airbend the creature away. Momentarily knocked off balance, the bear faltered, but lunged at Aang. Aang prepared to airbend again, but there was no need. Appa had flown into the picture, and knocked the bear sideways with a large paw. The bear toppled over, and quickly scurried off into the woods again, yelping like some sort of injured canine.
"Lucky for you we came along." Jet said as they ran to join Aang and the old man.
"He's right, you're insane!" Masami snapped, running her hand over Aang's shoulder, looking for injuries. "If that bear had hurt him, you'd be in big trouble" She threatened, but was satisfied that Aang was overall uninjured.
"Thanks, but everything was already under control. Not to worry, Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey." The old man told them, Masami gave him a skeptical look.
"Aunt who?" Aang asked curiously, the former danger forgotten.
"No, Aunt Wu. She's the fortuneteller from my village. Awful nice knowing your future." They were informed.
"Oh good." Masami whispered, she was not sure she would let someone tell her that everything would be alright and then still believe them after getting attacked by a bear. Safe trip or not, one false move and that could have been it. She preferred to not let someone else make her luck for her; if it was all the same to anyone else.
"The fortuneteller was wrong! You didn't have a safe journey, you were almost killed!" Sokka insisted. Masami was glad she wasn't the only one who thought this was all sort of weird.
"But I wasn't. All right, have a good one! Oh, and Aunt Wu said if I met any travelers to give them this." He handed Katara a long package, and as soon as he appeared, he was gone.
"Weirdo." Jet griped as he inspected the package. Out of curiousity, Masami and Katara helped each other tear into it as Jet held it. It appeared to be an umbrella. Odd.
"Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes. It could be fun." Katara spoke up after a moment. Masami hadn't ever considered it, but she wasn't completely opposed.
"Oh come on, fortunetelling is nonsense." Sokka on the other hand, was not at all swayed.
Seemingly as soon as Sokka stopped speaking, the sky darkens and the clouds let out a small monsoon. The girls scramble under the umbrella as Jet hands it to them. He holds his crowbar over his head, Aang makes himself an air umbrella and Sokka held up boomerang.
"That proves it." Katara decides, and the group starts walking.
"No it doesn't – you can't really tell the future." Sokka tries to reason, holding his boomerang over his head.
"I guess you're not really getting wet then." Katara adds with a snide smile.
"Of course she predicted it was gonna rain. The sky's been gray all day." Sokka moped.
"Just admit you might be wrong and you can come under the umbrella." Masami smirked, watching the siblings go back and forth.
"Look, I'm going to predict the future now. It's going to keep drizzling." Sokka snipped with an arm flourish. Just as the words left his mouth, the rain stopped.
"Not everyone has the gift, Sokka." Aang added, smiling. Masami sniffed in amusement. As Sokka stopped to retort, Appa shook his fur clean and got Sokka drenched further and his arguments stopped there.
Kali had been wrong about the closet. It wasn't even big enough for one person to fit in it comfortably. And now there were two people crunched in it, one of them wearing rather hard armor.
The prince attempted to firebend his way out, the fire flashing on and off, leaving her seeing spots. Neither of them could really move and the firebending wasn't very effective consequently. Still, it was pretty hot.
"Ahh! Stop!" she cried out, "You're going to burn us both!"
"If you'd move out of my way, maybe I'd actually be able to bend us out!"
She rolled her eyes in the darkness.
"I'd love to obey that order, sir, but unfortunately I can't. There's no room. I can barely move at all."
Just to make a point, she wobbled her head what little she could and wiggled her arms and legs where she could. She heard and felt him as he struggled to make more space between them and was about to say something when he attempted to lunge backwards. The air was knocked out of her as she was slammed even more against the closet wall and Kali's face turned hard as she felt something stab her in a rather private area.
"That'd better be your armor down there," she growled at him fiercely. The prince stiffened and, even in the dark, she could sense his uneasiness.
"Of course it's my armor," he growled back.
"Good," she replied, "Because it's awfully sharp and painful. I'd pity any girl who had to deal with it if it wasn't."
He adjusted back to his previous position abruptly and she breathed a sigh of relief right up until she realized that even though he had shifted back to his former position, something had definitely changed. And it wasn't his armor.
"Well what now, 'sir'? I suppose we'd better call for help, hadn't we?" she said tersely. There was a long silence as both of them squirmed, trying to find a way to remedy the new addition to their discomfort. Finally, he managed, in a slightly more strained voice than usual (which was saying something),
"Yeah, I guess."
The trek into the village was a peaceful one. The showers held off, so the girls were able to take down the umbrella. Jet and Aang walked side by side, chatting, the girls and Momo just head of them. Sokka walked alone behind the groups, sulking and being tailed by Appa. As they crossed into town, Appa lazed behind the walls along with Momo. The group headed straight for what appeared to be the Fortuneteller's residence.
"Aunt Wu is expecting you." The man out front informed them, pulling the door open.
"Really?" Katara asked, excitedly. Sokka made a disgruntled sound behind them. They were greeted by a small girl with out of control hair, and a gap in her teeth.
"My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant." She informed them, while eyeing Aang with interest. Masami wasn't blind, and that look she gave him made her unsettled. The group all piled onto the pillows in a line. Jet sat on one, Katara sitting in front of him as his legs bracketed her. Aang dropped to the middle pillow, and Sokka to the last. Masami walked pointedly around Sokka, and placed herself on Aang's pillow. Meng seemed unfazed.
"Well hello there." She said, getting closer to Aang.
"Hello." He said with disinterest, his nose more interesting then the other girl.
"Can I get you some tea, or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?" She asked Aang, and only Aang.
"I'll try a curd puff." Sokka chirped.
"Just a second-"She held up her finger in Sokka's face. She got close to Aang again, and Masami bristled at her before she could speak,
"Pretty sure a customer just asked you for something that you offered us. Might want to go get that." Masami tried to keep the edge out of her voice, but it was there. Aang didn't notice, and neither of the other males commented. But Katara noticed and smiled lightly. The girl seemed just miffed enough to go away for the time being.
"I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense." Sokka added after a moment of silence.
"Try to keep an open mind, Sokka. There are things in this world that just can't be explained. Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?" Katara reasoned.
"It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs. " Was Sokka's only response. The pigtailed miscreant turned the corner as he spoke. Sokka looked pleased, but his pleasure was cut short by someone exiting Aunt Wu's room and stopping Meng to talk. As she approached the group, she nearly fell on Aang, but he put his hands out to stop her. Embarrassed, she told them to enjoy her food and ran off behind the wall again. Sokka snatched the puffs and began to devour them as Aunt Wu came out from her room.
"Welcome young travelers. Now, who's next? Don't be shy." Katara started to get up, but then looked at Masami,
"Why don't you go? I sort of want to have some puffs before I take a turn." Masami nodded, rising to her feet.
"Okay, if you're sure." She was glad to be getting out of this room; she needed time to think.
They had shouted loudly, calling for someone from the crew to help them. Over and over again, they'd yelled and screamed at the top of their lungs (though neither of them was willing to literally scream). Still, nobody came. Finally, tired, their voices hoarse, they'd fallen silent.
Zuko breathed hard, staring up, even though it made little difference. He couldn't see her anyway. Not that seeing her was the problem. She was pressed up so tightly against him…he knew she must feel it too.
Zuko had little experience dealing with this problem. Up until recently, he'd spent little time around women since his banishment from the Fire Nation. And then Kali'd arrived. At first he'd thought little of it, apart from being annoyed at Uncle's insistence at keeping her aboard and his daily praise of her cooking. But the longer she'd been with them, the more he'd begun to recognize the effects of having someone who was…not a man around. Now he was sweating hard and wishing he hadn't been too embarrassed to listen to Uncle's advice the time he'd coerced Zuko into a conversation about restraining the "great dragon below." Realizing he was breathing through his mouth now, he closed it and tried to concentrate on thinking of a way to get out of the increasingly uncomfortable situation he was in.
"So, any new ideas about how to get us out of here, your Highness?"
He scowled.
"No," he replied hoarsely, "Maybe you should try coming up with some since it's your fault we're in here in the first place."
"My fault?! You're the one who fell into me!"
"I wouldn't have slipped if you hadn't gotten the floor wet right where I was walking!"
"Well it wouldn't have been wet if you weren't making up chores for me to do just to keep me busy!"
He paused then muttered, "Maybe if you weren't determined to make things harder for me once we find the Avatar, I wouldn't give you so much work to do."
He winced inwardly. Her making "things harder for him" had not been the best choice of words. He felt and heard her shift slightly. Was she trying look away from him too?
"Well, you didn't have to take me on as a crewmember. Why keep me on if you're so anxious to have me out of the way?"
The question hung in the air between them until he finally sighed heatedly, inadvertently lighting their faces briefly.
"I don't know," he said. Then the silence returned.
Masami was nervous, she didn't know what was going to happen in here. She sat in front of the table, looking at the woman over it as she sat down. She didn't know what she was supposed to do, but the woman seemed to be able to sense that.
"You have a complexity about you." She smiled, knowingly. Masami fidgeted,
"Don't you tell the future?" She asked, confused.
"My gift presents itself in different ways depending on the person. I see a lot of water around you; turbulent waters in some parts but calm parts in others. There is fire and also a breeze but the breeze and the fire are around the calm waters; interesting. The waters and the breeze are someone, or someones; any idea who they might mean?" She asked, ducking her chin. "If I know better what I'm looking at, I can tell you what lies ahead." Should she say? She had ideas, of course she did.
"My parents, and most of my village really, were killed in a flood. I survived, along with a few other families who managed to stay on the rooftop we were put on." She started, thinking she heard something outside the door but she figured it was just Meng. Little did she know, it was actually Aang.
"The fire is probably my sister. Well, she's my half-sister. Kali. And the breeze could mean one of the people I travel with now, he's sort of taken Kali's place as my…I don't know what he is, but he keeps me calm when I'm not. Kali does that too." She didn't know what Aang was, not at all. But she knew he brought her comfort. Aunt Wu nodded, taking what the girl said in.
"Well, all I see makes sense now. Beyond the blazing, squally waters I see green fields, trees with much wind. I get an easy feeling from it, but know that there is a dark spell in the middle of it, very dark. Beyond what gloom you've faced before. But if you can cross the bad; the good will be there for you on the other side." Aunt Wu informed her. She could take it for what it was worth, but she'd been right about pretty much any impression she had gotten and that was enough for Masami. She smiled, thanked her, and pushed herself to her feet.
On the other side of the door, Aang bolted out of the hallway and took a seat where he had been. He smiled at her as she rejoined them, and she ducked her head, smiling too.
Kali was getting very anxious and she could tell the prince was too. They'd been here for a long time now. A LONG TIME...and she REALLY needed to visit the little girls' room. Very much so. By now, neither of them was able to move anything well at all (what little was available for movement) due to cramped muscles. At least Zuko's "addition" had eventually faded with time, but that had only done so much to improve things since they were still trapped like frozen statues in the dark.
Tentatively, she decided to break the tension again. Since they were stuck here anyway, what harm was there in small talk? They'd been quiet for the majority of the time and frankly, the silence was getting on her nerves at this point. She was tired of awkward thoughts like "Zuko actually smells really good…like a campfire" and "I really wish his hand wasn't trapped right there." Besides, she desperately needed a distraction.
"So..." she said, "How long have you been away from the Fire Nation?" She waited. The silence stretched on and she rolled her eyes. Sure it wasn't the best subject, but she hadn't been able to think of a better one. She had just given up on any reply when the answer came.
"Almost 3 years now."
"…That's a long time."
Silence returned. Finally, she stopped caring.
"Why the Avatar?
"What?"
"Why do you have to capture the Avatar?" Sure she already knew. But she was curious to hear it from him. There was another pause.
"I've lost something. Capturing the Avatar is the only way to get it back."
"What'd you lose?"
"I've lost my honor."
"Well, where did you last see it?" It was a terrible joke and she knew it. She wasn't sure why she'd made it. It had just been the first thing that'd popped into her head.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly, "That was…a really stupid thing to say."
"Yes it was."
Katara was the next to go in to see Aunt Wu, then Jet, and lastly Aang. Sokka still had no interest in what was going on behind the closed door. When Aang came out, he seemed as pleased as everyone else. Masami was glad they had done this, though she was skeptical at first it had been fun. Despite the slightly ominous tones there was hope in the words too. It felt for once that she was going to be okay, and that was what mattered. Her Grandfather had always told her and Kali that with life came both good and bad, and you could never have one without the other; and Masami had seen that time and time again so she knew it to be true.
As the group disembarked from Aunt Wu, the males went off to find them a place to stay indoors for the night rather then staying on Appa so she and Katara went to look for some things for dinner.
"What did Aunt Wu tell you? If you don't mind me asking." Katara asked as they were picking through produce.
"She told me about my past, which surprised me. She knew about my home getting flooded. And she told me there was some darkness ahead but if I got through it I would have a good life." She said with a smile; upon reflection Masami knew she probably could have asked more and gotten a little more out of her visit but it didn't really make a difference now. "What did she tell you?" She asked with a cock of her head.
"She said I had found lasting love, and that I should cherish it." Katara sighed with a dreamy expression. Masami smiled, slightly envious of her friend but not in a serious way. She was happy that she had found Jet.
"Did Aunt Wu mention anyone like that to you?" Katara asked, smiling like she knew something Masami didn't.
"What? Um. Well. Not directly." She hadn't, really. But then she had at the same time because of the "breeze" that kept showing up in her visions for Masami.
"Was it Aang?" Katara pressed. Ma'sami smiled nervously still, nodding slightly. "That's so great! I knew it." Her words again caught Masami off guard.
"Knew what?!" She stammered.
"That it would happen. He's happy with you, I can tell." Katara knew him better then Masami did, so whatever she was saying it must be true. "I shouldn't tell you this but I think he went to listen when you had your fortune told. He's not nosy, he just…is curious I guess. We all are to be completely honest. You're a little bit of an enigma you know." Masami hadn't really thought about it; but she guessed she must sort of be. Jet had told them about his life, Katara and Sokka had lived through a lot being siblings who were obviously close. And then Aang was slightly more forthcoming; and she knew about his discovering he was the Avatar. So in truth Katara was right, she hadn't offered up anything about herself to this point save for a little bit about Kali.
"I don't mean to be." Masami said after a moment, "Is there something you want to know?" She asked as they walked. Before Katara could answer, there was a slight gust to their front and the sound of wood clicking as Aang closed his glider and landed before them.
"Hi! We found a place to stay, I'll show…I'm interrupting something." He noticed. Katara and Masami both shook their heads but Katara beat Masami to speaking,
"Not at all, we were just about to talk about where Masami was from; you can join us while you show us where to go. Yeah?" The last part was directed at Masami rather then at Aang.
"Yeah." Masami answered, smiling nervously still.
"What makes him the key to you getting it back?" she whispered, feeling her voice straining still from their last attempt to call for help (they'd tried several times now). For a long time he didn't answer and she thought she might have pushed her luck too far.
"I was banished for disrespecting my father…and he commanded that I bring him the Avatar…to prove my worth and restore my honor. My father is…teaching me a lesson."
The way he said it frightened her. He sounded almost as if he truly believed the punishment to be just. She tried to think of a good response. None came.
"That sounds…really shitty…uh, prince. Your father's…really extreme…with his lessons."
Silence.
"I'm sorry."
More time passed and the two of them stood perfectly still, unable to squirm anymore, in spite of the fact that both of them were likely equally desperate to escape at this point.
"Thank you."
It came out of nowhere.
"What?" she asked.
"I said thank you…for saving my life. In the storm."
They fell silent again. Then,
"You're welcome."
Suddenly, the door behind Zuko was flung open. Light flooded the closet blinding them and they tumbled out to the sound of rumbling laughter as two of the crew looked down at them.
"Hey everybody, come have a look at this!"
The other members of the crew and Uncle gradually all came rushing in as they were summoned by Adar and Garron.
"Ha ha, well what do we have here?!"
"I guess the prince decided he needed some relaxation and fun for a change!"
"Convince him to give you a break from all the mopping, Kali?"
"Now there's the best way to kiss up to someone!"
"With the armor on and everything! What a way to go!"
"Must have been pretty hard on ya, eh?"
"I have always said tea is the best cure for soothing the nerves, but I suppose that might work too."
Both of them struggled to move from their previous positions amidst the chortling and jokes but found their strained, cramped muscles uncooperative. Motivation got the best of them in the end and they were soon sprinting/tripping down the hallway together, headed for the nearest bathrooms.
Masami wasn't sure where to start, and didn't want to bore her friends by talking too much about herself. She sighed, "Well, I came from a village a little ways from Kyoshi Island if you know where that is. There we had a real problem with monsoons. When I was a kid, there was a really bad one. Most of us stayed on the roves of our houses to we wouldn't wash away. But, it didn't save a lot of people. Some couldn't get up there in time or, like my parents, went to help someone else and lost their balance. I didn't see it happen or anything, someone told me later. After that, I went to live on Kyoshi with my Papi; Mum's father, and Kali; my sister." She was specific but still general enough. The conversation took up enough time for them to find the house they were allotted for the night.
The girls made dinner, and the groups settled into their respective positions for sleeping. The room was just really a small kitchen area, the eating area, and a sitting area where they unfolded their cots. There were 2 cots at their disposal; Katara and Jet squeezed onto one since they didn't have their sleeping bags. While being a frump Sokka thought to go get his. Then, Masami and Aang were left looking at the other one.
"You take it, I'll be fine." Aang assured with a smile but Masami shook her head,
"We sleep on Appa's tail together, and have shared a bed before; why sleep on the floor now?" Were this anyone else but Aang she would have jumped at the chance for the space to herself but being those things already were the case she found it silly to try to separate now. She tossed her coat onto the ground and slipped off her shoes as she crawled onto the cot. She felt Aang slid in behind her, and it didn't take much for her to fall asleep.
Sometime in the night she'd turned over, and was facing Aang. She had her head on his shoulder and her arm on his chest when she woke up. She blinked in the sunlight and she started to sit up but faltered as she saw he was already awake and seemed to be staring at her. She blushed and ducked her head.
"Hey." He said with a small smile and a groggy tone. She bit her lip,
"Hey." She echoed. Their quiet was broken by Sokka throwing open the door, screaming something about clouds.
"What?" Aang asked, turning his head without sitting up.
"While you two lovebirds were spooning, I went out to get something to eat. Then, there were people gathered in the square for a cloud reading and the crazy old lady said that because of some hooky cloud thing that there would be no way that the volcano looming over them would take out the village. So THEN, I started asking around and people are so stupid here! They'll find love because of SHOES THEY WERE EVERY DAY. Or FLOWERS. It's ridiculous. I can't handle this town anymore, we need to go. But, wait! We can't! Because Katara and Jet are getting their fortune told TOGETHER today! So we have to wait for them!" Sokka ranted, without taking a breath before he collapsed into a chair at the table, angrily munching a bit of meat on a stick.
"You're a very angry person." Masami said from her perch on Aang's chest. Aang smirked, and that seemed to really only add fuel to the fire as Sokka continued to eat.
After the "lovebirds" finally got off the cot and got ready for the day, Katara and Jet returned. The girls set out to do a little shopping; girl talk as Sokka rightly pointed out because Katara was practically gushing to have someone to tell about her second reading with Aunt Wu, and the guys were left to their own devices. That being said, Aang and Jet decided they needed osme of those panda lilies to take back to the girls for dinner; so the group was at present climbing the steep ledges to the volcano.
"I can't believe you two are dragging me up here for a stupid flower." Sokka groused as he and Jet struggled to keep up with the agile airbender.
"It's not just any flower, it's a Panda Lily!" Aang informed him as he stopped and turned. "I've seen it in action, and boy does it work!"
"Flowers are fine once you're married, but at this early stage you don't want to show all your hand; be mysterious!" Sokka tried to argue, nearly loosing his grip on a boulder before Jet caught his elbow. "You don't even really have a girlfriend, so I still don't know why we're doing this."
"Doesn't have a girlfriend? They sleep on Appa's tail together, Sokka." Jet reminded flatly.
"Does she know how he feels? No; a flower isn't going to change that." Sokka shot back. Aang awkwardly tried not to think about their conversation; as it was about him but he was not involved.
"It's what I want to do, Sokka." Aang finally spoke up, "Aunt Wu said if I trusted my heart, I would be with the one I love." He said simply. Jet smiled, Sokka made a face.
"Not you too." Sokka started, Aang cut him off.
"Aunt Wu hasn't been wrong yet; why should she be wrong about love?" The group continued to climb for a ways. "There! On the rim!" Aang shouted, jumping ahead again easily. As the other two reached him though, his face was no longer joyful.
"Aunt Wu was wrong…" They said in unison as they watched Aang's picked flower fall towards the molten liquid before them.
In the end, Zuko had been forced to order them not to make any more jokes. After he and Kali had relieved themselves and then recovered from what had turned out to be a nearly five hour event in the closet, they'd been constantly tormented by the crew, as well as Uncle. Non-stop jokes about her lighting Zuko's fire and how that explained the screaming they'd thought they'd heard.
What was even worse for Kali was that Zuko blamed it all on her. Somehow, in that strange, confused, angry mind of his, he'd twisted it around and convinced himself that it was completely her fault. That she might have even done it on purpose for some strange reason. She supposed after spending so many weeks on the same ship as him, she shouldn't have been surprised by this. But she had been. They'd had that moment in the closet where he'd actually thanked her for saving him, after days of ignoring it. For just a split second, she'd actually sort of liked him. Silly her.
Her workload was heavier than ever now, even forcing her to work during a few Music Nights. Kali still pondered their brief conversation sometimes. But mostly, she focused on finding ways of subtly annoying the prince as a means of revenge.
One Music Night, as she was lamenting over the work she'd have to do instead of joining in the fun, she suddenly had a great idea. It was in no way subtle. But tonight, she didn't care. She smiled to herself as she finished stirring the noodles.
"Those people all think they're safe! We've got to warn them!" Sokka cried, getting to his feet.
"There's no time to walk, grab on!" Aang asserted as he shook his glider open. Jet grabbed onto Aang as he started to take off and they doubled back to grab Sokka, who shouted in a rather unmasculine fashion.
Down below, the girls walked through the market arm in arm as Katara recited all that Aunt Wu had told her about the future for Jet and herself. Suddenly, the stories stopped when they were nearly knocked onto the ground by the weight of Sokka letting go of Aang and the glider too soon.
"What, Sokka?!" Katara snapped angrily.
"Aunt Wu was wrong!" He stated, trying to get his breath. Masami made a face,
"Why is that?" She asked skeptically. Aang and Jet then joined the group.
"The volcano is going to erupt!" Aang cried, the girls were not overly convinced but glanced at the volcano anyhow just as the ground beneath them shook.
"Oh no…" Katara cried as a cloud billowed out of the volcano. The group made their way to the town square where the cloud reading had taken place.
"Everyone! We have to evacuate this town, the volcano is going to blow any time now!" Sokka cried, everyone looked unamused,
"Yeh, yeh, we know you don't believe in Aunt Wu, "Mr. Science and Reason Lover." A woman in the front returned. So, Katara stepped up,
"If you won't listen to him, maybe you'll listen to me. I want to believe Aunt Wu and her predictions as much as you do, but my brother, Jet and Aang saw the lava with their own eyes." Katara tried to get them to listen, but it was also to no avail.
"Well I heard Aunt Wu's prediction with my own ears." A man in the front sassed back. Masami furrowed her brow, why were these people so complacent and willing to lose everything?
"Why are you so stubborn? Are you seriously about to lose everything because of a lady who can tell you about your love life? If you don't listen to us now, there won't be room for your love life! Take it from someone who has lost everything to a natural disaster, it's nothing to be taken lightly." She figured maybe a personal anecdote would help, but it didn't. Aang bended himself onto the roof of Aunt Wu's house, and tried once more to reason with the group but his pleading fell on deaf ears. As he landed back on the earth, the ground shook again as another explosion went off behind them.
"Look! Can your fortunetelling explain that?" Sokka cried to a passer by.
"Can your science explain why it rains?" The man shot back, which made Sokka mad.
"Yes! Yes, it can!" The Water Tribe boy snapped as he turned away from the man. The group was left standing in the now empty square.
"What do we do?" Jet asked, nearly wringing his hands. Masami shook her head, but Aang seemed to have an idea.
"I say we change the clouds to make them the right shape for these people to believe us, then we get them out! We have waterbenders after all, and what are clouds if not giant watery things in the sky!"
"I don't think that's the technical word for it, but I can work with that. Aang go get the cloud book, and meet the rest of us at Appa!" Sokka turned the group to head for the bison while Aang hopped onto the roof and in through an open skylight.
Kali walked down to Zuko's room, carrying his plate. It'd taken some extra time to fix the noodles today but they'd turned out nice. She strolled into his room casually without knocking just the way he hated for her to do and set the plate down. He had been meditating and, consequently, looked up at her with his usual especially dark scowl. Surprisingly enough, though, he said nothing, content to simply glare at her fiercely as she turned her back to him.
After a moment of angrily glaring at the door still, he turned and looked down at his plate. Staring back up at him was a face with an arrow on its head. The Avatar smiled at him with an overwhelmingly cheerful noodle smile. Next to his face, written neatly in spices, were the words, "Turn that frown upside down! You've captured that Avatar!"
Kali smirked from where she stood behind the door as she heard the angry "ARRRRREERRRRR!" and the sound of exploding fire and a smashed plate. She was going to be in big trouble, but it was completely worth it, she thought as she hastily ran back toward the kitchen.
Once Aang had the book, he returned to the group. For whatever reason, he seemed a little fixed on Masami more then usual with his gazes, and when she would look back, he would smile. She'd question it later, right now wasn't the time. As the book was passed between the waterbenders, they all stood in the saddle so they could start the bending. The book was then passed off to Jet so he could help Sokka steer Appa in a way that would assist the benders.
Masami hadn't ever thought about using water in clouds before, but she would admit it was fun. Albeit a little scary when Sokka would turn the bison sharply and it would feel like she would lose her balance completely, but she never did. She did her part to keep the shape of the waterbending forms she saw the others doing, and soon enough they had the shape done. Up close it didn't look like much, but once they were on the ground, the skull they had made ominously looked back at them with hollowed eyes. As they landed the bison, Sokka ran off to fetch Aunt Wu while everyone else readied for the next part of the mission.
Once in the town square, Sokka pointed at the sky. "Aunt Wu, look! Something is happening in the clouds."
"That's very strange. It shouldn't... Oh my!" She cried, and it seemed alarm everyone else. That was a much better reaction, Masami thought to herself.
"We can still save the village if we act fast. Sokka has a plan." Aang declared,
"Lava is gonna 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." Sokka motioned with his hands as he spoke, and he started to grab shovels to hand out to people, himself and Jet included.
"If any of you are earthebenders come with me." Aang yelled over his shoulder as he ran off towards the mountain. A cluster of people followed after him. Masami and Katara were handed shovels to get digging along with the other non-earthbenders.
Digging was not easy, and Masami hoped that the village hadn't come around too late. She strained her shoulders as she threw her back into digging along side some of the other people from the village. She looked over her shoulder as she heard Sokka shout, and she put her back into it all the more. This would have been easier with more earthbenders and more time but that wasn't an option right now so they had to do the best they could with what they had.
She jumped as a sound behind her got her attention. The twins from the village had finally connected the last of the trenches.
"Everyone needs to evacuate! We'll come for you when it's safe!" Aang shouted. Everyone scrambled out of the way, retreating beyond the trees. Masami, Aang, Sokka, Katara and Jet stood in the town, trying to make sure everything was going according to Sokka's plan. But, sadly it didn't appear to be. There was more lava then they had expected.
"It's too much! It's gonna overflow!" Katara cried, but Aang wasn't going to let that happen. As a large rock flew out of the volcano, Aang launched himself at it with what almost sounded like a growl. The rest of the group turned to run, but Aang stayed behind. He started making massive air currents that pushed the lava from one side to the next, keeping it away from the town. He was relentless, never pausing for a break as he cooled the lava into more rock. As the stream slowed to a stop, he relaxed and breathed out, pushing his hands down as well.
"Man, sometimes I forget what powerful bender that kid is." Sokka said with a tone full of awe. The group nodded, Masami biting her lip and smiling. It wasn't rare she saw Aang bend, but she hadn't ever seen anything like that.
As the town returned, Aang returned the book about the clouds and confessed to having taken it. Aunt Wu wasn't angry, but how could she be? They spared the town. As they were leaving, a man told Sokka that this was how it was supposed to play out, and Katara had to pull him away before he could hurt the man.
The group waved goodbye, and as they were flying off, Masami could have sworn she heard someone call her a floozy; but they were off the ground before she had enough time to think about it overmuch.