"Well, now you got to see for yourselves that fortune telling is just a big, stupid hoax."

"You're just saying that because you're going to make yourself unhappy your whole life."

"Even I agree with that statement." Aang looks at me then looks away sadly. Aunt Wu was right. I can literally feel the sadness washing over him. I feel terrible, but what he did was wrong, and he needs to learn that.

"That woman is crazy. My life will be calm, and happy, and joyful!" He kicks a rock, and it flies back to hit him in the head. "That doesn't prove anything!"

"I think it proves that you shouldn't kick anything when you're angry, or it will come back to bite you. Life lesson, learn it." He glares at me, and I shrug my shoulders.

"Well, I liked my predictions. Certain things are going to turn out very well."

"They sure are."

"Why? What did she tell you?"

"Some stuff, you'll find out." She walks away, and he turns to me. "Hey, Lei, I'm really sorry about spying on you."

"Yeah, whatever, Aang."

"Aunt Wu told me that you have something very important to talk to me about."

"W-What!? What are y-you talking about?" Please tell me she didn't tell him that I was getting jealous.

"She said something about an era?" Phew, dodged that bullet.

"Oh, okay, and the word is Ara. I will tell you later, when there are less people around, okay?" He shrugs his shoulders and continues walking. We head over to the cloud reading, when Meng shows up.

"Hello, Lei, it's good to see you. What have you been up to today?"

"It's good to see you too, Meng. Well, I visited Aunt Wu with my friends."

"Really, you did? When?"

"When you kept staring at Aang and not recognizing anybody else." That came out harsher than it needed to be.

"Oh, sorry about that. He's just so cute.~ Don't you think so?"

"Yeah, I do-" I stop mid-sentence and blush. "I-I mean I-I g-guess he is, if-if you're paying attention, n-not that I was paying attention to that, um. You know what, just ignore me." I rub the back of my head and give a weak laugh. She walks over to Aang.

"Hey, Aang, don't you think that cloud looks like a flower, huh?"

"Sure, I guess." He pushes her aside. "Hey, Katara, don't you think that cloud looks like a flower?" She shushes him and turns back around. Aunt Wu explains some of the clouds. When she finishes the crowd erupts in applause. "Since I got you here, there's something I want to tell you. I like you, but more than normal." She walks away as my heart shatters. "Nevermind." He turns around to walk away, but ends up running into me, and we fall to the ground. "Sorry about that, Lei." He gets up and reaches out his hand to help me up. "Here, let me help...Lei? Why are you crying?"

"I-I'm not crying." I try to wipe my tears away, but they just keep coming. "I just got dirt in my eyes, and it stings." He helps me up.

"Here let me help." He grabs my hands and gently blows into my eyes. His face is kinda close to mine, so I light up in a blush. "Feel better?" No, but I nod anyway. He just stands there and stares at me.

"Uh, Aang?"

"Why are you sad?"

"What do you mean? I-I told you I just had dirt in my eyes." He gets closer to my face, and my blush gets deeper.

"I know you're lying to me. For some reason, I can actually feel your sadness. Did I do something wrong, again?"

"Maybe." He looks shocked and hurt, and I yank my hands away. I walk away and end up at Aunt Wu's. I knock on the door, but no one answers. I guess she's not back yet. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I spin around to see her. "H-Hi, Aunt Wu." She opens up her arms, and I run into them, crying.

"Come on, dearie, let's go inside." I nod, look behind her, and freeze. Aang is still standing there looking at me. Aunt Wu turns around and shakes her head at him. She walks me back inside to the room she let me sleep in. She sits on the bed next to me. "Now, tell me what happened." I begin telling her what happened while trying, but failing, to stop my tears. "I see, I believe this may be partially my fault. I told him to follow his heart and he would find love. I had actually thought he had feelings for you, dearie. When I told him his fortune I used the bone method. He didn't care about the fact that he would be involved in a great battle. He only cared about a girl, so I just told him something that is true for everyone. After he left, I went back and looked at the bones. There was a crack that showed inner, romantic conflict, it involved you and that water tribe girl. I believe it means that you have changed his destiny for the better and that he sees you as a possible love interest. I know, dearie, that he is confused as to why when he has feelings for one girl, he can have feelings for another he had just met. Now, that is all I can tell you. Please cheer up, a smile suits you much better than tears do." I smile and wipe away the last of my tears.

"Thank you, Aunt Wu. I guess I'll go now." I walk out the door.

"Oh, hey, Lei, I didn't see you there." What? Weird.

"Hey, Aang. Sorry about earlier."

"Whatever." Uh, jerk much? You know what, whatever. I just walk away. "That's okay, I'm busy with my own stuff." What is he even talking about? I walk up to a fruit stand.

"Can I have some strawberries, please?" I hand the man my money, and he hands me a little basket of strawberries. "Thank you." Aang comes up to me and he's leaning kinda weird.

"So, strawberries, huh?"

"Yeah, do you want some? There's plenty to go around."

He grabs an apple...but he hates apples. "You know me, I don't really care what I eat." I wait a second and he spits it out.

"No, I know that if you didn't care about what you ate, you wouldn't be a vegetarian. Why are you acting weird? This morning you spy on me, which isn't like you, and then when I try to apologize for running into you, you are a jerk, and just say, 'whatever.' You know what, nevermind. Just talk to me when you're acting like yourself again." I open my glider and go flying for a few minutes to clear my head. What is going on with him, anyway? I know he got rejected by Katara, but that's no reason to be a jerk. After a few minutes, I feel like I've calmed down, so I fly back down to Aunt Wu's and see Katara just standing there looking upset. "What's wrong, Katara?"

"She's not letting me in."

"Uh, Katara, how long have you been standing here?"

"About an hour, why?"

"Uh, no reason." I see Aang and Sokka running up to us.

"Hey, Katara."

"Can you believe she won't let me in, and after all the business I've given her?"

"But she doesn't even charge."

"I know, but still." He turns to me.

"Hi, Lei."

"Are you finished being a jerk now? Because if you're not, I'm still not talking to you."

"Well, we have other things to worry about. Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano."

"Sokka, you tried to convince me she was wrong before. It's going to take an awful lot to change my-" The ground suddenly shakes beneath us and smoke comes out of the top of the volcano. "Oh no." We head out to the center of town and try to warn everybody, but they don't believe us. Aang comes up with an idea that has something to do with clouds. I can't really focus. I'm feeling some sort of pain all throughout my body. "Lei, is something wrong?"

"Aang you know about spirits. Can a spirit make things like this happen?"

"Yeah, if a spirit is angry it can do whatever it wants. Why?"

"I'll be back later." I hop on my glider and take off towards the surrounding forest. It is so silent. All of the animals are gone. I hope they stay safe. I feel a strange aura coming from a little cave near the base of the volcano. I land my glider at the entrance and walk until I see a small shrine. I walk up to it and see the carving of an owl. I touch the jewel on the owls head, and a strange sensation comes over my body. Everything is blue and kinda foggy. "Hello? Is anyone there?" A giant panda comes up to me. "Hello, are you here to help me? I think I'm looking for an owl that's the guardian of a nearby mountain." He starts walking away and I follow him. We head towards the cave in the mountain that I was just at and see an owl that's as tall as I am. "Hello?"

"Ah, hello, young Ara. What brings you to my home?"

"Would you happen to know what's happening with the volcano?"

"Why, I am having it destroy that awful village, of course." He just says it like it's the most natural thing.

"Why are you destroying that village? Are you angry at them, or something?" His wings start to flutter angrily.

"Well, of course I'm angry! I was loved and respected by all of the people in that village. Then, for some reason, about twenty years ago they stopped praying to me and coming all together. They obviously don't care about the spirits or their safety, so I might as well burn their entire village to the ground. Maybe the next group of people who want to make a home here will respect the spirits." He flies up onto a little perch and turns away from me.

"I don't think they meant to ignore you. They have a fortune teller in their village now, and she does readings on whether the village will be destroyed by the volcano or not by using the clouds. I don't believe that she meant any harm, disrespect, or loneliness to you. She just wants to help the people of the village have a better understanding of their future. Please stop the volcano. There are women and children there." He sighs and hangs his head.

"You make a very good argument, and I believe you. How can I deny the young Ara? However, there is not much that I can do. Lava is also a work of nature. I can only stop it from making more. I can't stop it from destroying the village. You and your friends will have to do that on your own." I bow.

"Thank you, great spirit. I do have two more questions. Who helped all of the animals get away, and do you know how I can get back?"

"I believe it was your friend, Hei Bai, that saved the animals. I will help you return to your world. One more thing before you go. There is a family of badger moles near my shrine." He begins to flap his wings faster and faster until he envelopes me in a small tornado. When the tornado finally dissipates, I look around and I'm back in the shrine. I see lava pouring out at the entrance of the cave. I hear a giant gust of wind, and the lava hardens into a wall. I try using my air bending to some how knock it down or blow a hole in it, but nothing works. I'm trapped in here with a limited supply of air! I start thinking of ways to get out of here.

"Wait! The owl spirit said that there was a family of badger moles near here. Okay, now how do I connect to them? It's one thing to get a fish to slap Sokka, but this is on an entirely different level." I start thinking, but because of the lack of air I'm getting really dizzy really quickly. I start singing a little song that I remember my mother singing to me when I was little. "Come quickly, oh please-and here my plea-I need some-assistance from thee-in return-for singing this song-all I ask-is you help me along.~" I'm about to pass out, but I feel a rumbling underneath me. The floor from underneath of me crumbles, and I land on the back of a giant badger mole. "Thank you." It crawls towards the entrance and opens it back up. It lays me gently on the ground, and a few littler badger moles come up to me to play. I play with them for a few minutes to let the dizziness fade. "Thank you all very much for saving me and keeping me company, but I must get back to my friends to make sure that everyone is okay." I wave goodbye to them and fly on my glider back to the village. I see Aang handing something to Aunt Wu. I drop down next to him and talk to Meng.

"He really likes her, doesn't he?" I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I think he does. That just means that he's not the right one. Besides, I don't think his ears are big enough for you, anyway." We both laugh, and she gives me a hug.

"I'll tell you a little secret, young air bender. Just as you re-shaped those clouds, you have the power to shape your own destiny." She gestures towards me, and he stares and smiles gently. She pushes him and he hits my back. "A little push in the right direction never hurt either." She winks. I run up to Aunt Wu and hug her.

"I will miss you very much, dearie. Now, behave and tell him soon."

"I will, Aunt Wu. Oh, and I think that you shouldn't tell the people if the volcano will erupt or not anymore."

"The owl spirit got lonely didn't he?" I nod. "Alright, dearie, I'll do this for you." I fly up onto Appa. I grab Okami and put her in the sling around my shoulders. Aang hops up into Appa's saddle and sits next to me. Katara says goodbye to everybody, and we take off into the sky. Aang jumps up.

"Wait, I forgot something." He hops on his glider and heads back to the village. After a few minutes he lands back in the saddle. "I got something for you, Lei. I wanted to apologize, but my words never come out right." He hands me the most beautiful flower I've ever seen. "It's a panda lily. It grows at the top of the volcano. After all of the lava there was only one-" I cut him off by hugging him.

"Aang, thank you so much, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He smiles and goes to sit on Appa's head. I begin to whisper to Katara. "Hey, can you braid a piece of my bangs with this?" She nods and gets to work. After she finishes, I turn to Aang. "So, Aang, how do I look?" He turns around and his jaw drops. Well, well, well, this is a nice reaction.

"You mean all of you, or just your hair. I mean, because they both look great." He rubs the back of his head.

"Smoochie-Smoochie, someone's in love~." I blow him off of Appa's saddle again, and Aang goes to save him again. They come back and my face is as red as the strawberries I had earlier. This is going to be a long trip to the North Pole.