Violent Delights, ATLA

chapter sixteen, appa, momo and nuts

16
APPA, MOMO, AND NUTS

"REMIND ME AGAIN," ZUKO BEGAN, lips tugged down into a frown with his arms crossed over his chest, "What are we doing here?"

"We're here to get my fortune told!" San was bubbling over with enthusiasm as they entered Makapu village. She wanted to go somewhere and had to go with company so she dragged Iroh and Zuko along, especially since they had nothing to do at the moment as they were at another impasse for the Avatar search.

"Are you serious? Fortune telling's a scam."

"Come on, just for fun!"

"Ugh."

Zuko was exasperated, whether it be because he had no clue as to where the Avatar was lately or because he believed this trip was pointless, whereas Iroh was content with following San, believing a breath of fresh air was required for them all. They waited outside as San entered the main hut of the village.

The interior was rather expensive for a hut. Shades of jade green and amber golds glimmered in the afternoon light shining through the stained window panes. Velveteen cushions were sat in a row on one side and before San could take a seat, a girl no older than twelve entered with unruly hair tied into a bizarre coiffure.

"Hi, I'm Meng. Aunt Wu's assistant." She addressed herself and flashed a toothy grin before holding out a bowl of snacks. "Would you like to try Aunt Wu's famous bean curd puff?"

"Sorry, I'm in a bit of a hurry." She showed off an apologetic smile for she would have loved to try the snack otherwise, but knew how impatient Zuko was. "Thanks for the offer though. Would you please take me to Aunt Wu?"

"Oh, sure!"

Meng led her into a room where an elderly woman was waiting for her clothed in saffron robes. Upon her arrival, she looked up with a welcoming smile. "Ah, I've been waiting for you."

"You have?" San questioned as Meng left and shut the doors behind. Aunt Wu gestured for her to sit opposite her and she obeyed.

"Now, pick a bone. Any bone."

"You're not secretly a gravedigger, are you?" San joked, looking over at the bowl of assorted bones. Aunt Wu gave her a deadpan stare so she took it as a no and analysed the pile. Soon, she picked a short bone with a single crack cut through and handed it to her. Aunt Wu tossed it in the fire and they both watched as the flames fanned themselves to life.

The fire started out small, then erupted larger greedy for life. Aunt Wu and San shielded their eyes from the embers the fire spit out. Both of them peeked through the spaces between their fingers and saw the flames form the image of a skull before extinguishing itself in the blink of an eye.

"Oh my!" Aunt Wu gasped, astonishment written all over her face. "You, my dear, have an omen of death. With that, somewhere down along the line, you will lose the one who is most important to you."

"Oh." San's mouth twisted into a grimace. When she wanted her fortune told, she meant she wanted to know the usual stuff like her love life and her future career perhaps — not know she was apparently going to die some time soon and that she'll lose the person most important to her.