When All Hope Is Lost

The Fortune Teller Part 2

"What do you think, Appa? Do you think I'm being dramatic?" Auretta asked the bison. She was currently laying on her back, her head hanging over the edge of a short cliff, while Appa lied next to her. She watched the wind blow through the upside-down trees leaves.

Appa growled in response.

Auretta sighed. "I hear what you're saying, but you have to understand what I mean. It could even mean you, A! What would I do if I ever lost you? I know you're Aang's bison, but you're practically my second brother- just hairier." She blinked. "...And an animal. But still. You get what I mean." Momo chirped next to her, landing on a branch in front of her face so she could see him. She smiled. "You too, Momo. I haven't known you as long as I've known Appa, but I love you too much to lose you either."

"Retta?"

She tensed when she heard her brother's voice. "O-oh! Uh- hey, Aang. What are you doing here?"

"Checking on you." He came to stop next to her. "What are you doing?" He asked, tilting his head.

She shrugged. "Oh, you know- just relaxing. I'm trying a new position for meditation. Blood flows to my head quicker this way, so I was thinking it might help my mind clear up easier."

Sokka, who Auretta just noticed was there too, walked to her other side and peaked over the edge. He looked to the other boy with a blank face. "Her hair's stuck on a root."

"I've been stuck like this for half an hour." She admitted flatly. Aang laughed, helping to untangle her hair and stand back up. "Thanks."

"Ok, so, what's wrong, Retta? You're not acting like yourself." Aang said, getting straight to the point.

She rose a brow. "What do you mean? I'm fine, Aan-"

"Stop." He said sternly, shocking the other two- his sister more than anyone. Aang shook his head. "You always hide what you're feeling. You take everyone else's problems on yourself, and don't let people help you. You may be my older sister, but I'm your brother too. Let me help you!"

Seeing the worry in his eyes and deep frown on his face, Auretta sighed. "I'm sorry. I've just got a lot to process right now, and I'm not sure how to do that..."

"This is about your fortune, isn't it?" Sokka asked.

Aang quirked a brow. "What about your fortune? I thought you had a good one?"

She poked at the dirt with her toes, watching the small dirt cloud it created. "Part of it was. The other part just wasn't as good."

"What did she say?"

Auretta couldn't meet her brother's eyes. All she could think, no matter what she did, was different horrible things that could happen to him. Sokka and Katara as well. Anything bad that could happen, she now found herself believing would happen.

"She just..." Auretta tried, walking over to instead lean back into Appa's side, hoping his soft fur would help to sooth her anxiety. She looked up at the clouds, imagining herself on a glider, calming herself for a moment before a flash played in her mind, reminding her of what already happened to Aang once before. She shivered, feeling even more nauseous than before. "She said bad things will happen."

Aang furrowed his brows, leaning next to her on Appa. "Of course bad things will happen, that's life, Retta. You tell me that all the time."

She shook her head. "It's different than that. Those bad things are getting sick, losing your favorite stuffed animal, getting kicked in the face by an elephant horse- stuff like that. These bad things are worse." She closed her eyes, biting her lip as she made herself take a deep breath. "She said I'll suffer a terrible loss. I don't know what it means exactly, but I'm worried it means..."