The Dragon Princess and the Wolf Warrior

Chapter 29 [~|~] Advice

Azara took her seat in between Sokka and Katara as Aang leapt to his feet to get his fortune read. After Aang disappeared around the corner, Katara turned to Azara.

"So, did you like your fortune?" Katara asked, a kind smile on her face.

"Well, she said a lot of stuff I already knew—" Azara started, only to be cut off by a smug Sokka, who proceeded to tell his sister that he had been right. "—But," Azara continued, sending a look at Sokka for him to shut up, "she said everything's going to be great, in the future anyway."

"Oh yeah, how so?" Sokka huffed, his annoyance at his earlier reading showing through.

"Well, she said my love line was really strong. So, I'll have a long and happy marriage," Azara shrugged, staring down at her palm with a small smile on her face. Sokka scoffed at the explanation, causing Azara and Katara to glare at him. "I'm sorry, is that unbelievable?"

"Well, no. But—" Sokka stammered out, but he had already pissed Azara off.

"—But, what?" Azara pressed, her tone sharp. "You know, I'm sorry your fortune wasn't what you wanted, but you don't have to rain on my parade," Azara snapped, standing up and walking away, mumbling something about using the bathroom.

Katara smacked her brother, who whined and held his head in pain. "You owe her an apology!" Katara hissed as Sokka glared at her, rubbing the back of his head. "That was so rude!"

"I didn't mean it to be! It's just that it's stupid to focus on that stuff right now! I mean we're in the middle of a war, people!" Sokka retorted, gesturing widely with his arms.

"Whatever you intended, you offended her, and you owe her an apology," Katara stated firmly as Aang returned from his fortune reading.

"Where's Azara?" the airbender asked as Katara shot another look at her brother.

"She should be out soon," Katara replied, standing up and moving to grab her shoes. As they waited outside for Azara, Sokka kicked at the rocks in the street.

"Well, now you got to see for yourselves how fortunetelling is just a big, stupid hoax," he huffed as Azara emerged quietly from the building.

"You're just saying that because you're going to make yourself unhappy your whole life," Katara pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That is not true! The woman is crazy! My life will be calm, happy, and joyful," Sokka muttered, kicking a stone, which came back and hit him in the head. "That doesn't prove anything!"

"Looks pretty joyful to me," Azara commented, causing Sokka to whirl around, his mouth open as he tried to form an apology. Azara raised a hand, stopping him. "I'm sorry for overreacting, I'm sure you didn't mean any harm. I just . . . it brought up stuff I think about sometimes."

"No, I'm sorry. That was rude," Sokka sighed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Let's call it even, alright?" Azara smiled walking around him to stand next to Katara.

"Alright," Sokka nodded quietly, a small smile on his face, as Aang led the way into the town square. Looking around, Azara was confused at the hoard of people assembled before a pagoda, all staring up at the clouds. Recognizing the man from the road in the crowd, Azara led the way over to him.

"What's with the sky?" Katara asked as the man did not move his gaze from the sky.

"We are waiting for Aunt Wu to come and read the clouds to predict the fate of the whole village," the man explained as Azara glanced up at the sky.