Koete ↠ Sokka

Chapter 3: The Hair Tie - Part 2

Haru led the group outside the walls of his town where they found Appa lying down by the entrance. "Hey, buddy!" Aang said, rubbing the fur between his eyes. Haru gasped, staring at the giant, fluffy being.

"What is that?" he asked in shock.

Aang gave a light laugh at the look on his face. "This is Appa, my flying bison."

"Wow, he's amazing," Haru admitted as Appa grumbled his approval.

"Thanks! He thinks so too."

Together, they hiked up the mountain behind the town, following Haru who walked ahead of them, until they came to a small barn behind an even smaller house. "My mom said you all can stay here for the night, but you'll have to leave in the morning," Haru said, pushing the barn doors open. Appa was the first to bound his way in, making a beeline for the haystacks in the corner.

"I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all of your hay," Aang promised, watching the bison freeze with a mouthful of hay and stare as if he'd been caught.

"Katara," Haru began, turning to look at the water bender. "Do you mind if we talk for a while?"

Katara nodded, eyes slightly widened with surprise. "Of course! Let's go outside."

The pair left the barn, leaving Charlie, Sokka and Aang sitting in an awkward silence for a few minutes, the sound of Appa chewing filling the barn.

"So," Aang started, turning on the ball of his foot to face Charlie. "What are they talking about?"

Charlie cocked an eyebrow. "Wow, Aang, you're not subtle at all." Of course, she was referring to his crush on the girl, deducing that Aang was probably feeling some kind of minor jealousy, even if he didn't realise it. And judging by his confused expression—he didn't. "Never mind. They're just talking about his dad and stuff. Then Haru uses his earthbending to save some guy."

Maybe she shouldn't have been telling them so much, but whatever higher power put her in the Avatar universe did so with the intent that she'd actually use her knowledge, right? Charlie justified that she was only telling them minor details, things that wouldn't change the story dramatically so she'd still have the advantage of knowing the plot.

"It sure is helpful having a psychic on the team," Aang said with his signature smile. Charlie's lip twitched slightly in return, offering him an awkward pat on the head, which, in hindsight, probably would have been more normal if he had hair. Aang seemed unbothered by it, the grin not leaving his face as he bounced off towards Appa, jumping onto his back with a gust of wind.

"Yeah, it's so helpful," Sokka drawled from his seat on a pile of hay bales, arms crossed over his chest.

Charlie shot him a weird look. "What's your problem, Shark Boy? You're snappier than usual today." Sokka shot her a glance, his eyebrows furrowed, clearly not having understood her reference. He shook his head slightly, ignoring the last part of her comment.

"Nothing, just that psychics aren't real or anything so you could be making half of this stuff up for all we know." Charlie's eye twitched. On the inside—deep inside—she had to agree, knowing the whole 'fortune teller' ruse was just that; a ruse. She wasn't a real fortune teller, she was just a person who happened to know the future. There was a difference. However, on the outside, Charlie was growing irritated at his inability to trust her, despite giving Sokka more than enough proof that she knew the future.

"Oh, so Aang being stuck in an iceberg for a hundred years is more believable?" she shot at him, shifting her weight onto one leg and mirroring his crossed arms with her own.