(A/N)- Greetings dear readers, I have an update for you!

Let's dive right into "The Fortuneteller" shall we? This is the first of two chapters, and this one covers Angka's POV. I'll not keep you from it.

Disclaimer: Ah drat, could've sworn I found a paper somewhere that told me I owned Avatar. Or maybe not.

Blossoming Feelings

Angka wasn't sure when the strange warmth in her heart had started. It seemed to have snuck up on her, all of a sudden, and yet she was certain she must have felt it before. Perhaps from the very beginning, ever since opening her eyes and seeing Katar looking down at her in soft, wide concern.

Katar...

Oh, whatever the feeling was, it was definitely centered around him. It was a tingling sort of nervousness, giddy and awkward, like nothing she said could come out right. It was an excitement to wake up an see him sitting there, smiling at her and wishing her good morning. He liked to touch her shoulders and arms and she got a little thrill in her stomach whenever he did.

So what was this feeling, exactly? Angka couldn't put a name to it.

She snuck glances at Katar as they both stood ankle-deep in the pond, wringing out the spare clothes they were washing. Sokki was further out, intensely chasing a glittering fat goldfish with a little net as it weaved in-between her legs.

"You're never going to catch it like that," Katar said aside to her, swishing his handful of laundry around.

"Right, like you know anything about fishing, mister laundry man," she grumbled. She tracked the fish with her eyes. "Anyway I wouldn't have needed to do it this way if Angka hadn't used all the fishing line to make that flower basket."

Angka tittered sheepishly, ducking her head. "Heh. Sorry about that."

Katar held up his clean shirt, inspecting it as it dripped. His eyes scanned it up and down. "I think this is pretty good-looking," he decided. He held it towards Angka. "What do you think?" he asked.

When she looked up at him her mind blanked, suddenly and inexplicably failing her. She felt that tingle moving through her body and wondered a bit nonsensically if his eyes had always been that blue.

"Which one, the shirt or you?" she heard herself saying. Her brain abruptly caught up with her words and gawped, heat rushing to her face, quietly mortified that she'd said that out loud.

Katar looked cutely confused and didn't seem to know how to react.

Sokki, on the other hand, lifted up the fish in her arms (she had given up on the net and just tackled the creature in a diving bear hug) and drawled at it in a conspiratorial knowing tone.

"Ooooooooh, someone's got a cruuuuuuuush!" she crowed, making kissy faces at the fish.

The fish did not appreciate that and whapped her solidly in the nose with his tail.

"Ow!"

Angka's blush deepened. She wished very much she knew earthbending so she could open up a hole in the ground beneath her feet, and became very hyper-aware of Katar standing next to her.

"Don't tease her," he was scolding his sister. "It's not like that." He placed a hand on her shoulder, and that little thrill went through her again, only to be quashed a moment later when Katar said, "We're just friends."

Something inside her chest sank at that, wilting like a flower shriveling up under too much sun.

"Yeah," she heard herself agreeing in a disappointed squeak. "Heh heh. Friends."

The thought made her oddly sad. And as she was thinking about how weird that was it suddenly all clicked in her head.

Sokki's teasing words echoed in her ear and she snuck a peek at Katar, feeling her heartrate stutter and her cheeks warm.

Do... do I have a crush on Katar?

-ATLA-

It wasn't like she meant to eavesdrop.

Okay, so she did mean to eavesdrop. She was curious. What would Katar talk about with Aunt Wu? Sokki seemed convinced it would be boring stuff like how many children he'd have, how tall he'd grow up to be, things like that, but Angka found herself keening after those answers herself.

After all, if you could know your future, wouldn't you want to see if you had a future with the person you maybe liked?

At least that was the reasoning that circulated inside her head as she pressed her ear up to the door, straining to hear the voices inside.

"You seem nervous, dear," Aunt Wu was saying.

"Just a little," she heard Katar admit. "Okay, so... uh... how's this work exactly?"

"Well, let's see."

There was a pause and some shuffling, as Aunt Wu ostensibly took hold of Katar's wrist in order to read his palm.

"Ah, a nice long lifeline. You'll see many grandchildren born," Aunt Wu said.

"How many?" Katar asked.

Angka listened to Aunt Wu list them off, quietly thrilling at the idea of seeing generations of little airbenders, her people restored. She shook her head, dispelling the fantasy. How silly. Katar didn't even think about her that way.

Did he?

Aunt Wu was rambling something about Katar's leadership and courage now, how it would prove decisive in a coming battle, and Angka was growing disinterested. Maybe she should wander back to Sokki.

But Katar seemed uninterested in his battle prowess too, for he interrupted Aunt Wu with an anxious, "Okay, but what about my love life?"

Angka perked up, pressing her ear closer.

"Oh?" said Aunt Wu, surprised. "You want to know about girls?"

"Well... one girl in particular," Katar admitted.

Angka's heart thumped.

Aunt Wu seemed a little taken aback, but obliged. "Well all right..." After a moment or two of study she said, "I can tell you that she's a very powerful bender."

"Yes? And?" Katar pressed her anxiously.

"She's kind. Good with people. And very beautiful."

Angka's grin widened and widened with each word and she decided she'd heard plenty.

After all, who else was a more powerful bender than the Avatar herself?

She felt a giddy sort of spring in her step as she snuck her way back to Sokki.

-ATLA-

There wasn't a doubt about it in her mind now.

She felt happy when he was around. She was sad when he was sad. She wanted him not to worry about her, but secretly liked it that he did, and felt safe because of it. She wanted to protect him. Wanted to be the hope for the world he thought she was. He made her blush and tingle and stumble all over her words. She wanted to know about his future love life, and she wanted it to be about her.

There was only a single conclusion.

She liked Katar. Liked him... like that.

She felt the blush in her cheeks again, staring towards him as he watched Aunt Wu read the clouds, and decipher the signs in the sky.

Aunt Wu hadn't specifically seen love in her future—at least not at first—but maybe... maybe there room enough in her destiny for something between her and this boy?

She took a nervous inhale.

"Since I got you here," she started, clenching her fists by her side to gather her courage. "There's... there's something I want to tell you."

She lifted her head, trying to steady her voice and be bold, even as her heart fluttered out of her chest.

"I... I like you. But... more than normal," she confessed.

He didn't even hear her, oblivious to her attempt at telling him her feelings. He ran towards the stage amidst the cheering crowd, giving absolutely no indication he'd even heard her speak.

That wilting feeling hit her again.

"Never mind..." she sighed, quietly hurting.

(A/N)- Angka has had her internal Feelings Realization, Sokki secretly ships it, and Aunt Wu makes some predictions.

Finally starting to get these kids to realize they LIKE each other, lol. Slow burns be agonizing yo.

We'll be back in Katar's head for the next chapter, and some internal realizations on his end lol.