The Fortuneteller

After falling ill, dealing with refugees, and Aang being kidnapped at one point, Azira was more than ready to make actual waves of progress in their journey.

At the moment though, she wasn't sure that would be possible. Her bare feet dipped in the water that was lapping against the shore. She looked over, eyes settling on Sokka and Aang.

"Where's the fishing hook?" He questioned.

Aang just got a guilty expression on his face. "Oh....I didn't think you'd need it." He admitted, holding up a beautifully strung bracelet.

It didn't take a genius to guess who that was for. "it's all tangled!" Sokka said in annoyance.

Blowing air to get onto his feet, Aang shook his head. "Not tangled, woven." He corrected. "l made you a necklace,

Katara. I thought that since you lost your other one.." He trailed off, apprehensively waiting for her reaction.

Azira snorted, getting to her feet as Katara lit up at the gesture. "Thanks, Aang! I love it!" Katara exclaimed.

"Great, Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry making business." Sokka murmured

sarcastically.

At that, Azira shot him a look. "He's being sweet. You should try it sometime.

Sokka just made a face at the suggestion. "I don't see why I can't do both." Aang responded to Sokka's comment.

Aang turned to Katara, eyes wide. Azira just grinned, leaning against a tree as she watched Aang's eyes seem to glimmer. Puppy love had never been more adorable, even if Sokka was hacking at a fish in the background.

"Don't tease him, Sokka! Aang's just a good friend! A sweet little guy!" Katara said, patting Aang's head.

Forcing a cough to not spill from her lips, Azira was doing her best to not crack up at the comment. Clearly, Katara was not picking up what Aang was trying to do here. Just then, there was a low groan that spilled over the rocks that overshadowed them.

Aang spun upwards, landing lightly on top of the rocks. "Someone's being attacked by a platypus-bear!" With that, he rushed towards them.

Azira was quick on her feet, rushing up behind Aang. Just off of the beaten path, they found a man dodging the bear's attacks. "Play dead! He'll lose interest! Sokka called.

"No need! It's going to be fine!" The man called.

Azira honestly wasn't sure if he was just that optimistic, or if he had severely good instincts. Whatever the case, it didn't stop the bear from slashing at the tree near the man's head.

Aang flipped in front of the man. "Woah there!" He said at the bear.

Before the bear could even move an inch, Appa had given a mighty roar, scaring the creature off. Azira supposed that it paid to be the bigger creature in the food chain. Even if Appa was a vegetarian.

Sokka stared at the guy in surprise. "Lucky for you we came along."

"Thanks, but everything was already under control. Not to worry. Aunt Wu predicted l'd have a safe journey" The man explained, getting to his feet.

"Aunt who?" Aang and Azira questioned at the same time, tones of voice completely different.

"No, Aunt Wu. She's the fortune teller from my village! Awful nice knowing your future." The man added with a wink.

"Yeah, it must be! Katara breathed out.

Azira wasn't so sure about that. She wasn't sure she believed in much beyond the avatar. Fate, destiny, whatever it was didn't exist for her. She had to make her own path, make things happen herself.

She wasn't about to leave that in anyone's hands but her own. "Right" Azira said, slight sarcasm dripping through. "That must explain why you were so calm."

"But the fortune teller was wrong! You didn't have a safe joumey, you were almost killed!" Sokka pointed out, voice incredulous.

"But I wasn't! Have a good one! Oh, and Aunt Wu said if I met any travelers, to give them this." He said, handing them a wrapped object. With that, the man disappeared into the forest again.

"Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes!" Katara suggested, turning to the others with hope in her eyes.

"Deep pass there." Azira stated, crossing her arms with a huff.

"Fortune telling is nonsense!" Sokka added.

"Hey!" Aang exclaimed, holding up an umbrella from the package. Just then, thunder cracked overhead and rain

began to fall.

Azira just held up a hand, deflecting water from both her and Sokka. "Dont worry, I've got your back."

Sokka grinned. "See, Az is reliable. Fortune telling isn't"

"But don't you see? It proves that-" Katara started.

"That she's lived here for a long time and can tell weather patterns?" Azira deadpanned.

"Look at it this way" Aang said. "Where there's a village-"

"There's food, yeah yeah, I get it."

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"Will you two just try to keep an open mind?" Katara begged, glancing over at Azira and Sokka. "There are some things in this world that just can't be explained!

"Which I agree with. But that doesn't mean that I want to go looking for the reasonings" Azira said in a steady tone.

They were all sitting in the waiting room of Aunt Wu's shop, something that Azira found to be more than annoying.Just then, the door softly scratched open, revealing a graying woman in golden robes.

"Welcome young travelers!" The woman exclaimed. "Who is next? Don't be shy!" She added.

Everyone's gaze just traveled over to Katara. "I quess that's me!" She said in excitement. Bounding off of the cushion, she followed Aunt Wu back into the other room.

After a moment of silence, Aang glanced over at the duo, rubbing the back of his head. "What do you think they're talking about back there?"

Sokka snorted. "Boring stuff, I'm sure. Love, who she's going to marry, how many babies she'll have."

"Right...boring. I gotta find a bathroom!" Aang skipped up.

Azira just rolled her eyes as Aang disappeared. "That kid is totally trying to listen in."

"Obviously" Sokka agreed

"it's hilarious, watching him pine for Katara." Azira admitted. "I think this is the most I've ever smiled."

"Jeez, Az, that's depressing." Sokka retorted, shaking his head at her. "You really don't want to talk to Aunt Wu?"

"I'll talk to her. But I don't think she's going to tell me anything I don't already know about my future."

"How do you figure?

"I'll probably die a heroic death in the glory of battle." Azira said with a shrug. "Probably next summer or something."

A sharp punch came to her arm and she glared over at Sokka. "That's not funny"

"I wasn't trying to be." Azira said defensively. "Besides, we make our own futures. We forge our own paths."

Just then, Aang returned from the hallway, almost glowing with exciterment. Sokka snorted, shaking his head again. "Looks like someone had a good bathroom break"

"Yeah, when I was in there--" Aang started.

"We don't want to know!" Azira snapped in a pointed tone.

Before Aang could retort to that, Aunt Wu and Katara walked out of the hallway, with Katara beaming. "Who's next?" Aunt Wu asked, glancing at the group.

"Whatever, let's get this over with." Sokka said, stretching his arms above his head as he got to his feet.

"Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it, self-inflicted."

"But-you didn't read my palms or anything!" Sokka protested.

"I don't need to. It's written all over your face." Aunt Wu deadpanned. Her gaze fell on Aang. "Right then, you come with me."

They disappeared, leaving a snickering Azira, thrilled Katara, and annoyed Sokka in the waiting room. "Anguish?! Sokka asked, turning to them.

"You do have pretty bad luck" Azira admitted with a slight wince.

"Az is right. And I thought you didn't believe in any of this fortune teller nonsense." Katara said pointedly.

"Well I don't!" Sokka said with a huff.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Azira sat across from Aunt Wu, a blank expression on her face. Aunt Wu seemed to be amused by her presence here. They were in her room, bones crackling across the fire.

"You do not believe." Aunt Wu spoke softly.

"No. I believe in me. And Aang, but that's only some of the time when he's not being a goofy kid. Azira admitted.

Aunt Wu's eyes seemed to peer into her soul. "Your life hasn't been easy-

"Tell me something I don't know."' Azira insisted. "l'm only here because Katara thinks it will mellow me out or

something."

"You believe in yourself. And you believe that there are things that are indeed unexplainable. I can work with some belief" Aunt Wu stated, looking at the cracks in the bones.

"What?" Azira asked, nothing Aunt Wu's look of hesitation.

"In the coming days, you will have a choice. Two paths, two futures, two people. One is the person you will be, thebmonster you will become. And the second is the person you wish to be, what you can choose to be." Aunt Wu's tone Suddenly dropped off, eyes going blank.

"Right..well I'll be going now"

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"I can't believe all of these saps! Someone really needs to scream some sense into them." Sokka grumbled, walking through the village.

"And by someone, you're referring to you, right?" Azira asked in slight amusement.

"Obviously."

"They seem happy, though, Sokka." Aang pointed out. Azura had to agree with Aang on this particular point. The village people that were gathered in the square had zero thoughts or reason to worry. They all seemed perfectly happy and content, getting their information from Aunt Wu.

"Well not for long!" Sokka exclaimed. "I'm going to prove that Aunt Wu's predictions are nonsense." He turned, blue eyes flashing to Azira, "You in?"

She just grinned. "Sure, why not? I'm kinda bored anyway."

Sokka visibly brightened at her response, then turned and grabbed the nearest man by the robes. "You! Aunt Wu probably told you to wear those red shoes, didn't she?"

"Yeah! She said I'd be wearing red shoes when I met my true love!"The man said.

"And how many days have you been wearing those shoes since you got your fortune?" Sokka asked in a suspicious tone.

"Every day!"

"So that's matchmaking, not fortune-telling" Azra insisted. "And because you're wearing them everyday, there's only one girl here who probably was told that her true love would be wearing red shoes."

"So it'll come true? l'm so excited!" The man hurried off, elation written all over his face.

Azira and Sokka just exchanged the same deadpan expression. As they talked to more and more people, it was evident that they were all very comfortable in their lifestyle. Aang trailed behind them a few feet, an anxious look growing on his face.

"Alright kid, what's up?" Azira questioned, turning to face him with her arms crossed.

Aang swallowed, gaze flicking to Sokka. "You know a lot about the ladies, right?"

Azira's javw dropped as Sokka grinned. "You've come to the right place, my friend!"

"No-"Azira insisted "I'm a girl, ask me!"

Aang looked between the two of them, hesitation building. "Uhh..there's this girl-

" think I know who you mean: Sokka said, glancing over at Aang's shadow. The girl from Aunt Wu's office had been following them nearly all day now.

Azira just sucked in a breath. Katara, obviously. "And I know who you really mean."

"To tell you the truth, Sokka started, slinging an arm around Aang's shoulders. "l've been picking up a subtle vibe that she likes you too-"

Azira jabbed Sokka in the arm. "No she doesn't!

"Oh yeah, she does! She's crazy about you! All you have to do now is not mess it up!" Sokka said as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

With that, Aang hurried off. Sokka just rubbed his arm. "What was that for?!"

"He's not talking about the kid who's following him!" Azira hissed "He's talking about your sister!"

"Eew, wait-seriously?!"

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Azira huffed; this mountain was way too tall for her liking. "Do we seriously have to hike this entire thing for your dumb flower?" She questioned, sucking in a breath as she made it over a huge rock.

"You know, I have to agree with Az on this one!" Sokka called up to Aang, who was practically skipping up to the volcano. "Flowers are fine, when you're married! In this critical stage, it's essential that you remain aloof!*

"How would you know?" Azira asked, giving him a hand up. "You've never been in a relationship before." She pointed out.

Sokka's cheeks burned. "So?"

"So he shouldn't listen to you about relationships!"

"Listen, my heart is telling me to get this flower and Aunt Wu said to follow my heart-" Aang started.

"Don't tell me you believe in Aunt Wu, too!" Sokka exclaimed in annoyance.

"Well she hasn't been wrong yet, so why would she be wrong about love?" Aang questioned.

"I wouldn't hold your breath-" Azira's voice trailed off as she finished the peak, eyes landing on a hot pool of magma boiling and bubbling on the surface of the volcano.

Aang's flower he held drifted into ash as the heat burned it up. "Oh no..Aunt Wu was wrong."

Sokka immediately narrowed his gaze. "Those people all think that they're safe! We need to warn them!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We can still save the village, but we have to act fast!" Aang called, looking out at the crowd of townspeople that had gathered. "Sokka has a plan!"

"Lava is going to flow downhill to this spot. If we can dig a deep enough trench, we can redirect the lava down towards the river." Sokka explained.

"If any of you are earthbenders, come with me!" Aang called

"Everyone else is on shovel duty! Move, people move!" Azira barked out orders, tone as steely as the ships she had sailed on.

In quick time, earthbenders were moving rocks down towards the river. Azira was ready, cutting water through the trenches and then sending it backwards into the river.

"Everyone needs to evacuate! We'll come for you when it's safe!" Aang commanded.

Lava was spilling down the hill and smoke was billowing into the air. As lava met the trenches, Azira watched it begin to fill. Her gaze narrowed. It was too much, way too much for even the trenches to handle.

"It's too much!" Katara cried. "It's going to overflow!"

"And that is our cue to go!" Azira said, grabbing onto both siblings arms and tugging them backwards.

"I've got this!" Aang said in a firm tone, air beginning to swirl and push around him.

After backing up several paces, they watched as Aang flipped down right in front of the lava. The wind rushed forward faster than Azira had ever seen, encrusting and turning the magma cold.

"Man..sometimes I forget what a powerful bender that kid is." Sokka breathed out.

"Me too." Azra murmured.