The Jaded Princess - A Sokka Love Story

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"Please listen to us!" Aang cried, pleading with the villagers as he hopped onto a roof. "You're all in danger, and we have to get out of here. You can't rely on Aunt Wu's predictions! You have to take fate into your own hands." The villagers looked to one another warily as another rumble echoed through the town.

"Look!" Orzala cried, motioning toward Mount Makapu. Smoke was still rising, and growing thicker with the seconds. "Can your fortune-telling explain that?"

The man beside her scoffed, turning toward her with a smile. "Can your boyfriend's science explain why it rains?" The princess offered him a blank look before it morphed into one of anger.

"He's not my boyfriend. But yes! It can!" The man only shook his head, walking away from her. Orzala's face fell, and she ran a hand through her hair. She turned to Sokka, offering him a sad shrug as the villagers dispersed.

"They just won't listen to reason," Katara sighed, closing her eyes sadly. At that moment, Aang's face lit up, and he jumped down from the building to reach them. 

"But they will listen to Aunt Wu!" He exclaimed, smiling widely at his friends. Orzala cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Aang. That's sort of the problem here."

"Well, it's about to become the solution! We're going to take fate in our own hands." The avatar's face contorted mischievously. "First I need to borrow Aunt Wu's cloud-reading book."

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Aang's plan was quite brilliant. "Clouds are made up of water and air, so between Katara and I, we ought to be able to bend them into whatever shape we want," he explained as he flipped through the cloud-reading book. Orzala stood over him, curiously eyeing the manual as he went. Her eyes bulged as he began to flip past one.

"Wait, stop!" She pointed down at the picture, meeting his eyes carefully. "That's it, right? The sign for volcanic doom?" The avatar peered down at it once more before his face lit up. He scrambled up, throwing his arms around her neck before running toward Appa.

"You guys go find Aunt Wu!" Aang called behind him, mounting his bison. He waited patiently for Katara to follow. "Bring her to the square. We'll do the rest." He sent Orzala and Sokka a final wave before flying off.

The princess turned toward Sokka, frowning slightly as she huffed. "Let's hope the works." He nodded in agreement, grabbing her hand and running toward Aunt Wu's shop. Orzala's stomach churned as she ran. She couldn't stop thinking about the predictions, even if Aunt Wu wasn't all knowing. "Sokka?" She called over the wind. His only response was a raised eyebrow to show he was listening. "Do you think any of what Aunt Wu says is true?"

His pace faltered, but he didn't stop. "I don't know, Zala. Does it matter?" The girl grimaced, making him turn to her in concern. Sokka's heart clenched as he observed her-- she had paled considerably once more. The gears in his mind turned rapidly. She had been visibly upset when she emerged from the reading room earlier. "What did she tell you?"

His voice, though quiet as a breeze, echoed through her ears. Orzala's green eyes shot up to his, and she shot him a tiny, forced smile. "Nothing, really. At least nothing that made sense." She paused, hoping he wouldn't press, but he had halted in the alley and was staring down at her expectantly. She took a shaky breath. "She told me that there's a battle going on inside of me, and it's growing. She seemed scared. She wouldn't say anything more."

Sokka blinked slowly, and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would she say that and not give you an explanation?" Orzala folded her arms across her body, hugging herself tightly as she looked away from him.

"I don't know. Perhaps she didn't know, herself. She told me I'd have to figure it out on my own."

"Huh." The boy rubbed his chin as he mulled over the new information that he'd been given, but his thoughts ran short.

"Sokka?" His sapphire gaze shot up to meet hers, piercing into her soul like ice. A shiver ran down her spine. "Can you promise me something?" 

"Anything for you. What is it?"

"If worse comes to worse or I get out of hand or something... promise me that you'll stop me."

Sokka's eyebrows shot higher than she'd ever seen them go. In another situation, she might've found it funny. "What exactly do you mean by that?" He asked slowly, but he already knew her answer.

"You know what I mean. Promise me?"

He shook his head, movements slow as he reached toward her trembling fingers. "You can't ask me to do that. You can't ask any of us to do that." She let out a watery scoff, attempting to pull away from his grasp, but he pulled her into his chest. "Besides, nothing's going to happen. Aunt Wu doesn't know who she's talking about. You've got a heart of gold." He felt her smile against him.

She pulled away, shoving him in a playful manner. "Ok, enough of the sappy shit. Don't we have a town to save or something?" Sokka only smirked at her, and she quickly averted her gaze as heat began to rise to her cheeks. "Seriously, water boy. Come on."

Orzala didn't wait for him to follow. Her feet moved quickly as she fought down the butterflies that were building in her chest. When they reached the fortune-teller's shop, she was already waiting for them. Her old eyes regarded the princess carefully, and she pursed her lips. "I don't suppose you've come for another fortune, your highness?"

The princess's eyes nearly bulged at the title, and she froze. Her body tensed, and she instantly became guarded. No one was supposed to know. Perhaps Katara had let something slip-? She shook the thought away, eyeing the woman angrily.

"You know me?"

"I know the stories," Aunt Wu spoke carefully, as if one wrong word would bring drastic results. 

"That's not ominous at all," Orzala muttered, her glare intensifying. "What stories do you mean?" 

The old woman's eyes widened a fraction-- the movement so slight that Orzala almost didn't catch it. "You truly don't know?" 

"Obviously not," the princess deadpanned, irritation growing. Another rumble shook the ground beneath them, and she sighed. "You and I will have a conversation later. Right now, I need you to come with us. There's something you need to see."

Aunt Wu did not seem surprised in the slightest, but followed them without a word. As they reached the town square, Orzala's eyes drifted to the sky, and her lips twitched upward as she caught the shift of the clouds.

"Look." She pointed above them. "Something is happening in the clouds." The old woman did seem surprised at this, her gray eyebrows furrowing at the words.

"That's strange. That shouldn't be-- oh!" Aunt Wu's skin paled considerably as she caught sight of the giant skull overhead. "The cloud of volcanic destruction!" A collective gasp rose around them, and Sokka shared a relieved look with the princess.

Finally, they could get through to the villagers.

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Author's note

Well, it got a little dark there for a second, didn't it? We're finally getting into the nitty-gritty secrets of Orzala and I'm honestly very excited to see them unfold. Are you?

Sorry about the slow updates this week. My first exam is coming up so I've been doing a lot of studying, but I'm working on one more chapter for you guys tonight. I hope everyone is enjoying the story!

Love, Liz