A/N: Behold! The next chappy...
Noontime, I find myself wandering the streets of the village alone, thinking through what Aunt Wu had told me. Or more accurately, what she had not tell me.
Katara has went back to ask Aunt Wu for more readings. And I think Aang and Sokka are still trying to prove that Aunt Wu may be wrong about some of her predictions. Well, mostly Sokka's the one doing the proving.
Exhausted from all the pacing, I finally choose to stop under the pavilion where Aunt Wu had made predictions about the village's fortune.
People stare as they pass, but I ignore them. Probably wondering about my clothes.
Five minutes of head-knocking thinking later, I decide to go see the only person here who seems to understand my situation more clearly than others - Aunt Wu.
So I get up and dust my butt, noticing that my jeans are getting worn for wearing it continuously. How the others can manage to wear the same stuff for so long astounds me, I muse as I march to my destination. Maybe I should get the clothes that they wear here, too.
As I near Aunt Wu's house, I see Katara coming out of it, saying, "Aww, I hate papayas," while kicking the ground. I look around, but no Aang is to be found. Weird. I remember this part is where Aang is supposed to appear. Where's Aang and his aloofness?
"Hey Katara, what's up? What happened in there?" I point at Aunt Wu's house. A niggling thought flits through my brain. Why did I even ask? I thought I knew what she was doing. But... I can't remember what went on in the show, when Katara was in Aunt Wu's house. How odd.
"Oh, hey, Luna," Katara greets glumly. "I was just asking Aunt Wu for more details about my future husband. And if I should have mangoes or papaya for breakfast. She said I should get papayas."
"Oh." Now I remember what happened. How could I have forgotten? Katara was badgering Aunt Wu for extricate details about her future husband, and Aunt Wu was tired of her questions - that's what happened in the show! Right? "You should get mangoes, if it makes you happy."
"Nah, I think I'll stick to what Aunt Wu suggested." Katara drags herself away. "See you later."
Shrugging, I enter the premises and head straight to Aunt Wu's palm reading room. I knock on the door softly. "Aunt Wu? It's uh... me again. Luna, I mean. Can I ask you a few more questions, please?"
"Er, Of course," comes her muffled reply. She sounds tired. "Come in."
After I'm seated, I go straight to the point. "Aunt Wu, sorry to bother you but you're the only one I know who knows more than anyone else. What do you mean, when you said I was sent by...by 'fate', to come bring balance to this world? I thought this was - is - the Avatar's job, not someone from another world? What have I got to do with all this? And how did I get here? What happened to my family?"
Aunt Wu gazes at me in sympathy, her eyes softening. "Luna, what I've told you previously, is what little I do know. As for your questions... well, I have my suspicions."
"What's on your mind?"
"I think - I might be wrong, but - this whole thing - from your crossing of worlds, to your destiny reading - has been a work of Fate. Because... you've been here before. Fate must've thought you would know what to do - to save the world - so she sent you back here. As for your family and things involved with your world... I'm afraid I don't know anything."
I'm silent for a while, contemplating what she just said. Finally, I splutter. "What? What?You're saying... I was here before? What? You're not...you're not making sense."
Is Aunt Wu inventing all these stuff to mess with my head? She must be. I rub my eyes tiredly. What's going on?
Aunt Wu gives me a pitying smile. "I cannot be sure... But my guess is yes, you are familiar with this place. Not only you've seen it before, you were here yourself, in the past."
Suddenly, a frown appears on her wrinkled face. She touches her forehead lightly. "I'm sorry, my dear, but can you leave now? My head is hurting; I would like to rest."
I nod, and get up to leave. I'm still confused by what she said - all that nonsense about me being here before - but she looks dead beat. I bow respectfully at her, thank her and get out of the building. I'll figure things out by myself. I'm smart enough.
Deep in thoughts, I stand outside Aunt Wu's mansion motionlessly. It isn't until when Aang says, "Hey Luna, didn't see you there," do I notice Aang chilling by my side.
"Oh. Uh. Hey," I greet awkwardly. My mind feels like it's exploded, and my train of throughts is chugging on on a broken rail. "Just, um...yeah. See ya." Still trying to decipher what Aunt Wu meant, I walk away from the building and Aang distractedly. All the thinking is giving me a headache. I hear Aang call, "That's okay, I'm busy with my own stuff!" but I'm not sure if he's talking to me.
I walk past a couple embracing, and see that they're holding a pretty white-red flower. Despite the seriousness of my situation, I smile at the romance, and go back to where I was sitting before - the pavilion - to think.
But before I can sit down, Katara comes over to me, papaya under her arm. My eyes slides over he initially, so distracted as I am. Only when she waves her hands in my face, I give a start. "Hello, stranger," she says to me, grinning, her foul mood all forgotten. "What should we do now?"
"Hey!" I grin back, distracted once again. "You got a papaya!"
"Yeah. Figured that once a while, papayas can't be that bad."
"Good, that's good to hear." I secretly love papayas.
"So, what are you doing now?"
"I...um. Just thinking about stuff." I don't know why, but I'm not feeling up to sharing my concerns. It seems stupid now to believe all of what Aunt Wu said when I'm under the bright sun and surrounded by cheerful people. I look at Katara. "What about you?What are you doing now?"
Katara scratches her chin. "I think I want to visit that cute shop that's selling the oddest of things. Oh! You should come along! I think you'll like it."
"I...I'd like that," I say. "But, wait," I crane my neck around to look for the others. "Where are the boys?"
"Hmhmm," Katara says. She isn't paying much attention to my question, but is looking at me with a strange expression on her face. It's like watching a brilliant psychopath who is about to reveal his next greatest plan to take over the world.
"I think I know what we should do," Katara says slowly.
I stare at her warily. "If it involves-"
"Let's get you some new clothes!"
*
Thirty minutes later, I'm standing in front of Aunt Wu's house yet again, Katara by my side, banging the door. She's still insisting on getting more readings from Aunt Wu.
I've already found myself some new clothes, and I paid for that by trading in my old clothes. The old shopkeeper was almost drooling when she saw my clothes, talking something about it being a priceless piece. She gave Katara a set of blue cloth and insisted we keep it, for the clothes I trade in were worth more than that.
To my surprise, the heavy-looking green material is actually light and breezy, making it very comfortable to wear. Inside, I'm wearing sarashi; outside, I'm wearing something like a jumpsuit with elbow-length sleeves, with a dark green sash tied around my waist. The whole outfit makes me look like the people from Earth Kingdom.
"You know," I tell Katara. "I've always dreaded shopping because it was hard to find a size that fits me nicely. I do like shopping," I hasten to add, seeing the look of disbelief on her face. "I just dreaded meeting shirts with narrow shoulder sizes. Because I'm a swimmer. You know. Swimmer problems. Heh."
Katara stops her incessant banging on Aunt Wu's front door and asks, apparently interested. "Hold up. You're a swimmer?" As I reply yes, I suddenly see Sokka grabbing onto Aang for dear life while Aang glides over to us from the skies. There's a worried look upon both of their faces. But the looks changed when they saw me. Dropped jaws? Check. Widened eyes? Check. Blush on Aang's cheek? Check.
Wait. Blushing? What?
"Wow, hi Luna. Th-that looks nice," Aang says, gesturing at my clothes. I smile at him.
Sokka rolls his eyes, smacks Aang on his head and wastes no time in telling us that we have a huge problem. One that involves the volcano situated near the village erupting. He is met with blank looks by me and Katara.
Katara is the first to recover. "Look, you've been wrong about Aunt Wu before, so it's gonna take an awful lot to convince me about what you just said." She jabs an accusing finger at her brother.
Aang is about to say something when I suddenly gasp.
"Oh no." How did I not see this coming?! "Oh, no. Oh, no no no no no-"
Sokka is shaking me roughly. "Luna, snap out of it! We have to warn the villagers."
Katara swats his hand away. "There's nothing to warn the villagers about! Stop making up-"
"No, Katara," I interrupt. "Sokka's right. There is a volcano that'll erupt any moment now."
Katara looks livid. "You, too? I thought you believed what Aunt Wu said!"
"No! I do! I just-" I wave my hand around frantically. "You remember what I told you about this world being made into a show in my world?"
All three of them nods in confusion, not seeing where I'm taking this.
"I've seen it many times, and you have to take my word for it. A volcano eruption happened in this village. Everything that is happening, it has happened in the show!"
Blank faces. "
he ground beneath us shake, and a roar comes from the very much alive volcano.
I was supposed to know about this volcano eruption! I've seen it happen in the tv show. But why didn't I know about it, up till when Aang tells me about it?
I rack my head for memories, but I keep coming up blank. Yes, there's a volcano part, and then??? It's like... one of those moment when you've forgotten a simple word, but no matter how hard you try to remember the word, your brain glitches, and you come up empty. It's like there's a wall in my mind, blocking myself from getting through to my memories. Important memories which can probably save lives.
The t.v. show is my guideline to surviving in this world, and I've lost it! This is beyond frustrating.
As we run to the middle of the village to gain the attention of other villagers, thoughts fly through my mind one by one. Why didn't I think of the volcano? Maybe then we could've avoided this mess.
But now that I think about it, it's not... just about the volcano, I can't seem to... remember... anything else that happens after. Why??? I scrunch up my face as we run, trying to come up with an explanation for my sudden lost of memories.
But I guess I shouldn't have done that, because I tripped over my own feet due to lack of vision.
By the time I got up and brushed myself off, people are running everywhere, trying to organise themselves into groups to do whatever they're going to do.
I calmly walk over to Sokka, who's leading a group outside the village walls. "Yo, so what is the plan? Evacuate this place?"
"Grab a shovel, Luna. Help me dig out the path for the lava to flow," Sokka replies without looking up, digging into the ground as if his life depends on it.
Actually, our lives do depend on this plan. So I quickly get into serious mode and start digging beside Sokka. Thank goodness for loose earth.
Panting, I pause and look around as I wipe my sweat away - the heat and smoke is already getting to me - and see that many tunnels and channels have already been formed, thanks to the villagers' efforts.
Just as the last channel opens up to the sea, the volcano gives a ground-shaking roar, and boiling lava spills from the top. I hear people calling for everyone to evacuate the place immediately. Sokka grabs my hand and pulls me over to where Aang and Katara are standing, on a makeshift dam, right in front of the village. I cover my nose and mouth with my sleeves, and watch as the red and black boiling liquid flow downhill, destroying everything in its way. As scary as it seems, it's an awesome sight to behold.
As planned, once the lava flowed into the tunnels we had made, it spreads around the village and goes into sea. But the volcanic mountain doesn't stop; another roar and more lava comes.
"Oh no," I whisper just as Katara pulls on my hand, shouting, "There's too much - it's gonna overflow!"
Sokka, Katara and I quickly run away from the nearly overflowing dam, but turn back when we noticed Aang isn't with us.
We're just in time to see him airbend himself up into the air, and with a mighty shout, land on the ground while blowing lots and lots of cool air at the hot lava, which immediately turns solid.
Wow.
This is it, I thought. We're safe now.
But boy, am I wrong.
Just as Aang comes down to greet us with a huge grin on his face, the previously quiet mountain starts shaking, and then-
BAM! Lava starts flowing again. The volcano belches and vomits even more onto the earth.
"Oh shoot oh shoot oh shoot!" I cry out while pointing at the lava. The others turn to see what's up, just to turn away again, running for their lives. But strangely, I can't move. My feet are like sticks, and they held onto the ground for dear life.
Something in my gut is telling me it's not right to run away now.
"Luna, come on! I don't think I can stop this batch!" Aang yells from afar. "Yeah, come back, Luna!" Katara and Sokka scream in panic.
Why are they panicking? I wonder as I calmly stare at the lava slowly destroying the dam, just meters away from my position.
I know I should be feeling scared and afraid that I'm about to be roasted alive by the oncoming lava, but... all I feel is calm.
I hear running footsteps behind me, but before anyone can touch me, a powerful force surges through me and I feel a strong gust of wind carry my body up, and I'm airborne. I take in a deep breath-
The next thing I know, I am on the ground, fading into unconsciousness.
....
Whispers, whispers. Then silence. Shuffling sound. A creaking sound as someone moves in a chair.
My eyelids weigh a ton, so does my body. My thoughts are sluggish, as I slowly come awake. Where... am I? Who's whispering? What happened? Why does my body hurt so much?
Finally, I feel strong enough to open my eyes, and the sight that greets me leaves me reeling back in horror.
I'm standing in a horribly familiar hospital room. Mum and dad are sitting beside a sickbed, staring blankly at the person lying in the bed. At first look, I thought one of my sisters is sleeping in it; I take a step closer, and see that the sick looking girl lying on the bed is... it's me.
"What the heck?" I swear loudly, not sure if I'm dreaming. Hopefully my parents will turn to ask me why I just swore.
But they're acting as if they didn't hear anything.
"Mum? Dad? Come on guys, don't give me the silent treatment." I walk to where they are sitting, and start waving my hand in front of their faces. They look really tired and stressed out. And sad. When none of them respond, I look at the sleeping girl on the bed.
This is bizarre. I'm looking at myself sleeping. Breathe in, breathe out. A little crease on the forehead, a frown on the lips. Am I having a nightmare?
Why am I outside my body? How is that even possible? If the girl on the bed is me, then who am I?
As my brain hits that question, I suddenly feel woozy and faint. The glaring white lights in the room starts dimming, and the corners of the room starts to fade. But my parents are acting as if they don't notice the room they're in is disappearing.
As the room dissolves, I stretch my hand out to them, who suddenly seem so, so far away. Dad is stroking my face gently, his eyes full of sorrow, and mum has started crying. "Dad! Mum!" I manage to get these words out before I become unconscious, again.
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A/N: Hey everybody! How'd you like this chapter? Please tell me what you think! <3 :D
Stay cool! WARNING: NEXT UPDATE MAY BE VERY LATE. Patience, young padawans.