THE OTHER AIRBENDER (Book 1)

(XIX) Fire

"Aunt Wu is expecting you," a strange man says as soon as we walk into the town.

I gulp loudly. "Guys, this is really freaky."

"Come on, Alya. Don't be such a scaredy cat," Katara teases, and I sigh heavily, following after her into Aunt Wu's fortune-telling venue.

As soon as we walk in, a girl in a pink gown and two pigtails greets us with a friendly smile. "My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant."

"Nice to meet you, Meng," I say, but her attention is no longer on me.

She's staring at Aang dreamily, while he clearly has no idea. Just what I needed, more swooning on someone in our group.

"Well, hello there," she tells Aang with a smug smile.

"Hello," he replies casually.

"Can I get you some tea or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?" Meng asks, as we all make our way to the pillows in the waiting area.

"Actually, that sounds—" I begin, but she cuts me off abruptly.

"Just a second," Meng says, still gazing at Aang. "So what's your name?"

"Aang."

"That rhymes with Meng!"

"Uh... No, it doesn't," I reply, raising an eyebrow at her.

"And you've got some pretty big ears, don't you?" She continues talking to Aang, completely ignoring me.

"I guess," Aang says, suddenly sounding self-conscious.

"Don't be modest!" Sokka retorts playfully. "They're huge!"

Aang covers his ears immediately in embarrassment, and I can't help but grin. "You're kind of right, Sokka. They're pretty big."

Aang glares at me, but Meng still seems fixated on him. "Well, Aang, it was very nice to meet you. Very nice."

"Likewise," Aang replies, before Meng leaves without another word.

"I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense," Sokka complains, and right now, I kind of agree with him.

"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 says.

"Nope," I immediately reply, making everyone turn to look at me with surprise.

"You don't want to know about your future?" Aang asks with a frown.

"To be honest... I'm a little scared of all of this."

"See? Even Alya can tell that something's up here," Sokka says, crossing his arms.

"Oh, don't pretend to suddenly care about Alya's opinions," Katara retorts.

Nearby, I see Meng whispering something to another girl, casually glancing back at Aang every now and then. I'm not sure why, but I immediately feel irritated. Katara, however, seems intent on trying to convince me to go seek my fortune.

"Come on, Alya. Aren't you curious at all?" Katara asks, nudging my arm lightly. "There must be something you want to know. Maybe about fortune? Fame?"

"Not really," I say, glaring at Meng's gaze on Aang with annoyance. How obvious can she be? I'm not sure what's more infuriating: either her lack of discretion or the fact that Aang doesn't seem to even notice.

"Maybe love?" Katara's words suddenly make me gasp. I widen my eyes at her, shaking my head repeatedly.

"W-What? Why... Why would you say that?"