Iris was having a really hard time. She tried not to focus on the bead of sweat trickling down her forehead, or Neva and Momo making their noise while playing or Sooka squawking every once in a while, trying and failing to catch fish for food.
She grit her teeth, shut her eyes harder, pressed her knuckles more, focusing more and more to get to the spirit world.
"Momo! Neva! Play somewhere else!"
"Ugh...gaw...aaaaah!"
And that was her last straw. She opened her eyes and threw her hands up.
"I cannot do it!" she exclaimed
That grabbed the attention of everyone else, who looked at her a bit surprised. Neva stopped and landed on the ground, causing Momo, who was chasing her, to almost collide with her. But she was too frustrated to focus on that.
"Is she okay?" Sokka asked the other two, who just shrugged.
"I'm...I'm...ugh!" she grunted.
"Is she struggling to get in the spirit world?" Katara asked.
Aang nodded.
"Iris, maybe you need to calm down." Aang tried.
"Calm down?! I've been trying for weeks! Weeks! To get back so I can learn something from the only energybending master for me to realize that I'm so bad at everything I can't even get to the spirit world on my own. I suck at this. How am I supposed to save my entire clan when I can't even get in the spirit world by myself?!"
The other three blinked.
"You're just being too hard on yourself, Iris." Sokka tried, but then shut up at the glare Iris threw at him.
She closed her eyes, sighed, and settled on the ground, pinching the bridge of her nose. She took a few deep breaths.
"I'm so sorry for yelling. It's just..." she exhaled, "I'm sorry"
Katara walked to her and crouched,
"Maybe you need some break from this trying to get in the spirit world. You are tensed and stressed."
"Guess you're right," she sighed and looked at Katara with a small smile, "Thanks, Kat."
Katara chuckled.
"Iris, Katara, I made something for you!" Aang skipped to them and opened his hands, "This might cheer you up"
In his hands were two similar woven white bands. One had a flower for pendant while the other had a beautiful shell.
"They are so beautiful!l" Katara gushed
"They are amazing, kid." Iris smiled
"Hey! Where's the fishing line?" Sokka asked
"Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka," Aang replied, showing him the woven bands.
"Ah, it's all tangled!"
"Not tangled – woven." Aang corrected him.
"So," Iris interrupted them, "Who gets who?"
Aang extended the flower one to Katara, "I was thinking of making a necklace, and then I realized you already wore one." he nervously rubbed the back of his head.
Katara smiled, "Thanks, Aang. I love it."
Aang smiled. And was that a blush she saw?
Katara wrapped the band around her wrist and tied it.
"This is for you"
Iris picked the shell band, thought for a minute, and then wrapped it around her wrist too. She found it ironic that Katara, a waterbender, got a flower necklace while she, with a flower namesake, got the shell one. It didn't matter though. it the thought that counted.
"Thanks, kid." Iris smiled and placed a small kiss on his cheek, "It is gorgeous"
"Great, Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry making business." Sokka taunted
"I don't see why I can't do both." Aang shrugged
"So, how do I look?"
Katara was raising her wrist, while also posing a little. Iris chuckled as she tied the strings. For some reason, one she knew, Aang looked at Katara a bit dumbfounded with a light pink warmth coating his cheeks. He used his left forefinger to loosen his collar while staring at Katara and gulped.
Iris so wanted to laugh, it was so cute! But then let Aang have his moment.
"You mean all of you or just your wrist? I mean, uh, both look great." he stuttered
And Iris couldn't hold it. She snorted but quickly covered it with a cough. The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass Aang.
"Smoochie, smoochie, someone's in love."
Iris and others looked at Sokka, who emerged from the lake, holding a fish as if about to give it a kiss. The fish flipped in his hands, knocking him back into the lake.
Iris laughed at that, "I'm afraid that the fish doesn't feel the same about you, Sokka"
Katara laughed while Sokka grumbled.
"I...well..." Aang rubbed the back of his head
"Stop teasing him, Sokka." Katara scolded Sokka, "Aang's just a good friend." she reached and rubbed Aang's head, "A sweet little guy – just like Momo." and she rubbed Momo's head just as she had Aang's a moment before.
...And that's how you get friend-zoned. Iris mentally sighed. It was Ron and Hermione all over again. Just this time, they were a bit younger and there wasn't any ego or Victor Krum or Lavender Brown involved. She really hoped there wouldn't be any Krum or Brown in their future either. Why was she always a part of such relationships?
"Thanks," Aang replied, dejected.
Katara made her way back to Iris and sat down.
Iris leaned towards Katara,
"Hey, Kat," she whispered,
"Hmm?" Katara looked at her,
"Aang wanted to make you a necklace. Please tell me he knows about betrothal necklaces."
Katara's eyes widened for a quick moment and her cheeks turned red. That told Iris that Katara had not realized it before. As she had learned while staying in Southern Water Tribe, instead of giving a ring to propose for marriage, their tradition was to give a necklace with a hand-carved pendant. Sure Katara was still 2 years younger than what would be considered eligible marriage age, but still.
"Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!"
That grabbed everyone's attention.
The three rushed to the rock to look over what was going on. The huge platypus bear was baring its teeth and rearing itself on its hind legs. The bear was threatening a man in blue who smiled calmly at the advancing monster. The bear as it advanced, swinging at the man, who dodged the blows by casually stepping backward, hands behind his back. The bear swung a few more times while Aang jumped up onto a rock behind the bear.
"Well, hello there." the man greeted Aang, dodging another swing, "Nice day, isn't it?"
"Make noise, it'll run off!" Aang shouted
"No, play dead, he'll lose interest!" Sokka shouted. The bear swung again and missed.
"Run downhill, then climb a tree!" Katara added
"No, punch him in the bill!"
"And then run in zigzags!"
"No need. It's going to be fine." the man smiled. The bear swung again, swiping a large chunk of wood out of a nearby tree as the calm man ducked just in time.
Aang shot into the air from off his nearby rock up over the head of the bear. He landed, putting himself between the calm man and the bear, and airbent up a wall of air that momentarily pushes the beast backward.
"Whoa there!" Aang tried to calm the bear, but the reared up and roared, only to have Appa rear up behind him and roar, sending quite a visible shiver down the bear's back.
The bear dropped an egg out his behind and ran into the river and swam away. Sokka rushed and picked the large egg.
"Mmm! Lunch!" he sniffed the egg, then looked at the calm man with a haughty look. "Lucky for you we came along."
"Thanks, but everything was already under control. Not to worry, Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey." the man smiled, put his hands in a position of prayer, and bowed slightly.
"Aunt who?" Aang asked.
"No, Aunt Wu. She's the fortuneteller from my village. Awful nice knowing your future." the man replied.
Iris raised a brow. Fortuneteller? Were they even legit around here?
"Wow, it must be. That explains why you were so calm." Katara said
"Or it was sheer dumb luck," Iris added
Sokka nodded at her, "Exactly. The fortuneteller was wrong! You didn't have a safe journey, you were almost killed!"
"But I wasn't. All right, have a good one!" He gestured in farewell and began to walk away, but turned back again. "Oh, and Aunt Wu said if I met any travelers to give them this." he handed Aang a long, thin wrapped object and walked away.
"Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes. It could be fun." Katara suggested
"Oh come on, fortunetelling is nonsense," Sokka said
Aang shredded the object's wrapping to reveal an umbrella and opened it.
"What do ya know, an umbrella!" Aang exclaimed
Suddenly the sky darkened in an instant and thunder resonated as it began to pour. Katara smiled and waterbent the rain in a sparkling arc above her head.
"That proves it." She smiled and ran under the umbrella with Aang.
Sokka held the egg above his head to try and deflect the rain, "No it doesn't – you can't really tell the future."
"I guess you're not really getting wet then," Katara replied
The egg slipped out of Sokka's hands and in his attempts to grab it again it flew up into the air and landed back on his head, breaking in the process.
"Come on." Iris placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder, both soaking in the rain.
"You wanna come under?" Aang asked her.
Iris smiled, "I haven't felt a nice rain in a while. I think I'll be enjoying it." she smiled, pushing back her side bangs.
"Of course she predicted it was gonna rain. The sky's been gray all day." Sokka grumbled
"Just admit you might be wrong and you can come under the umbrella." Katara said, "Unless you want to enjoy the rain like Iris."
Sokka frowned, "Look, I'm going to predict the future now." he made funny motions and in an exaggerated voice, he said, "It's going to keep drizzling."
He folded his arms across his chest and assumed an expression of defiance.
"See!"
The rain instantly stopped and the sun appeared.
"Huh," Iris snorted, "What would you know? Maybe you do have a gift. But the opposite of what you say would happen."
"You believe in this nonsense?" Sokka asked her as the four of them made their way towards the village.
"Sure, why not?" Iris shrugged, moving her hair away from her shoulder as Neva perched there. She quickly cast a drying spell over her clothes and tied her hair in a ponytail, aligning the side bangs.
"Why?" Sokka demanded
"Remember that prophecy I told you about, it was predicted by a seer. I don't know about Fortunetelling but telling the future isn't impossible."
"What's a seer?" Katara asked
"In my world, seers are the people who are born with the ability of sight. They can see people's futures."
"And do they come true?" Sokka asked, broodingly.
"Most of the time, yeah they do." she nodded
"But you are talking about energybenders. This woman isn't. You are the last and the only energybender left. How can she see our future?" Sokka asked
"Who knows, this woman might have had energybending predecessors? I don't know. And that's why my interest is piqued"
They finally found the village. Walking through the main gates, they walked into the village square. And in front of a circular door of one of the buildings, some sort of herald dressed in black greeted them.
"Aunt Wu is expecting you." The herald bowed a little.
"Really?" Katara asked while Iris raised a brow. This Aunt Wu lady seemed a lot like Trelawney. She just hoped she wouldn't be as much of a bat-shit crazy woman.
The three walked forward as Sokka made a sound of disgust. The herald closed this door behind them as they walked in. A young girl in a pink kimono and huge hair braids that stuck straight out from the sides of her head entered.
"My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant." she bowed and suddenly her eyes widened, "Well, hello there."
Iris, who was checking the house, suddenly looked when she heard that trying-to-be-flirty tone.
"Hello," Aang replied uninterested
"Can I get you some tea or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?" Meng asked as the four settled along with the pillows. Neva hopped onto Iris's lap and curled around. She was getting bigger and as of late, couldn't perch on Rose's shoulder much.
"I'll try a curd puff," Sokka said
Meng gave Sokka a heisman, "Just a second." and then she bent down to address Aang, "So what's your name?"
"Aang."
"That rhymes with Meng! And you've got some pretty big ears, don't you?"
"I... guess..." Aang replied, confused, and conscious.
"Oh, don't be modest. They're huge!" Sokka spread his arms wide to demonstrate just how huge they are, as Aang looked angrily at Sokka. He put his hands over his ears as if to smash them down to an acceptable size.
"Well Aang, it is very nice to meet you. Very nice." Meng gave a saccharine smile.
"Likewise," Aang replied.
Meng left, albeit a little shyly.
Iris mentally chuckled. Was this how Aang reacted to being flirted to? Wait. Did he even know that Meng was flirting?
"I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense," Sokka grumbled, crossing his arms
"Hey," Iris chided, "Can you not insult a woman while sitting in her house?"
"Try to keep an open mind, Sokka. There are things in this world that just can't be explained. Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?" Katara asked
"It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs," Sokka replied
Soon Meng appeared with a tray of refreshments. Only then another girl exited from the inner room, who rushed over to Meng.
"Oh Meng! Aunt Wu says I'm going to meet my true love! He's going to give me a rare panda lily." the woman gushed
"That's so romantic." Meng replied and looked over her shoulder presumably at Aang, "I wonder if my true love will give me a rare flower."
"Good luck with that!" Aang earnestly said.
Iris wanted to laugh. Merlin! How naive were kids! Iris shook her head fondly.
Whatever the woman said to Meng had Meng push her away and then brought over the refreshment. She tripped and almost dumped the food on Aang, but he helped steady her grip on the tray. His hands now held hers as they together held the tray. They shared a moment looking into each other's eyes.
"Enjoy your snack," Meng said, embarrassed, and rushed away. That proved to be the last straw as Iris almost fell down laughing hard.
She laughed up until she heaved and sat straight, wiping a few stray tears that escaped.
"What's funny?" Aang asked
"Oh kid," she chuckled, pushing past a few stranded hairs back, "you are too cute." she grinned
"Why?" Katara asked
Iris waved them off, "You'll understand when you'll grow up."
"Welcome young travelers." a voice came over.
The four looked at, whom they guessed was Aunt Wu, enter in a yellow or gold kimono looking serene.
"Now, who's next? Don't be shy." she smiled
Iris looked at the three. Both the boys looked uninterested.
"I guess that's me." Katara sighed, got up, and followed Aunt Wu to the inner room.
Once they were alone again, Sokka leaned back, relaxed, chomping on the curd puffs.
"Not bad. Not bad. Mmmm!" he nodded and offered one to Aang.
"I'm good on puffs." Aang pushed the puff away, "So...what do you think they're talking about back there?"
Iris shrugged, taking a curd puff for herself. She broke a small piece and gave it to Neva.
"Depends on what Katara wants to know about her future"
"Boring stuff, I'm sure." Sokka said, "Love. Who she's going to marry. How many babies she's gonna have."
"Hey, love isn't boring," Iris looked at Sokka, "Why, wouldn't you like to know who you'd end up with?"
Sokka shrugged, "Not really"
Iris rolled her eyes and looked at Aang, "Why'd you ask?"
Aang stopped biting his fingernails and looked at her a bit surprised, "N-No reason" he stuttered.
Iris didn't believe him. For one, he was biting his nails which he never did. And then, he had stuttered.
"You sure?" Iris prodded.
Aang nodded, looking a little restless and then stood up abruptly, "Well, I've gotta find a bathroom!" and he ran off.
Iris looked at the direction he left and frowned. She looked down at Neva,
"How much you wanna bet that he went to eavesdrop?" she whispered
Neva also looked at the direction Aang left and nodded before taking another bite from Iris's curd puff.
"Hey!" Iris frowned and pulled her puff away, "Have your own"
Neva almost frowned and then flew to take a curd puff just as Momo tried to steal the entire basket under Sokka's arm.
The two waited for a while, just sitting. While Iris had a strong inclination that Aunt Wu was a real deal, she wasn't believing her completely.
Aang returned 10 minutes later, too long for a bathroom break, and launched himself into the air, visibly ecstatic. His expression was very similar to that of a cat who got its canary.
"Looks like someone had a pretty good bathroom break." Sokka teased
Aang looked at them both, a bit flustered.
"Yeh, when I was in there..."
"I don't even wanna know!" Sokka interrupted
Iris looked slyly at Aang, "Sokka's right. It was just a bathroom trip, wasn't it, kid? Had to be pretty boring"
Aang flustered more. Before he could defend himself, Katara and Aunt Wu entered,
"Who's next?" Aunt Wu asked
Sokka stood up and stretched his arms, "Okay, let's get this over with."
Aunt Wu looked at Sokka a bit uninterested, "Your future is full of struggle and anguish, most of it self-inflicted."
"But, you didn't read my palms or anything!"
"I don't need to – it's written all over your face."
Sokka looked extremely displeased.
Aunt Wu looked at the other two, "Who wants to come?"
Aang and Iris shared a look,
Iris just raised a brow, "So?"
"You can go," Aang replied, "I'll wait"
She looked at Aunt Wu
"It's me, then." Iris stood up and was led to the inner room, the door closed behind them.
Aunt Wu asked her to sit on a cushion and then took a seat opposite to her.
"so, how are we gonna do it?" she asked
Aunt Wu looked at her in mild surprise, "You don't seem as excited as your friend, at the same time not as disinterested as her brother"
Iris shrugged, "I've had people tell me my future and they've come true. I'm just curious about your...ways"
Aunt Wu nodded in understanding, "So what do you want to know?"
"Let's start with how are you able to do it"
Aunt Wu smiled, "My ancestors were born to Energybenders. It's sad that only a handful of people are even aware that they once existed ever since their extinction. My ancestors were non-benders and as a result, ostracized by their clan. The sight was the only ability that my ancestors received and has been passed down generations."
Iris nodded and took a deep breath, sitting straighter, "Alright. Do your stuff,"
Aunt Wu smiled and asked to extend her hand. Iris did. Aunt Wu ran her fingers over her palms.
"Your life had always been filled with trials and tests. And you always turned victorious. But, now you have been struggling. That struggle will end quite soon. In years to come, you will become one of the strongest benders the world has ever seen. A master in your element. Your power will grow exponentially in the coming times. And you will be the driving force for propelling this world into a new era."
Iris inhaled sharply, "So..." she drawled, "Are we talking new era as in after Ozai is defeated or after Ozai wins, by any chance?"
Aunt Wu frowned, looking over her hands once again, "That is not clear." she looked more properly, "Your palm lines are quite blurred. That is all I can read, dear."
"Oh."
"But there's another way," Aunt Wu smiled and handed her a bowl of bones. Not the weirdest thing she had seen.
"Pick one and place it in the fire."
Iris looked at the fire in question then picked one and tossed it in the fire. And soon it started cracking.
"Hmm, interesting. I've never had this before. I believe your future is yet to be written. Your destiny is yet to be determined."
Iris nodded with a sigh.
"Want to know about your love life?" Aunt Wu asked
Iris shrugged, a little upset, "Humor me"
"Love is a slow pace, and that is alright. As long as you are patient, this is not a bad fortune. You will need to work hard, but you will definitely be rewarded for your efforts." Aunt Wu chuckled, "Those with a person of interest should brace themselves for a long war of love, so equip yourself with patience. Both of you are emotionally unstable and socially inept, just not in similar ways, so be careful. A powerful bender but someone you don't get along with at first. But with lots of patience and determination, you can make it work. You'll have a bit of common ground to build the foundations or your relation. You both will hav-"
"I think that's enough." Iris interrupted "I'm good. Thanks."
Aunt Wu looked like she wanted to say something, but just pressed her lips and nodded.
Iris stood up and walked out, followed by Aunt Wu.
"So how was it?" Katara asked
"Great," Iris deadpanned and went to wear her boots, "I need some fresh air." and she walked out.
She walked until she reached the village square where she found a tea shop. Great. She entered the shop, ordered herself a tea, settled in a corner, her back to the wall. Neva flew in, settled on her knee, and started preening herself. Her tea got served and she took a sip, slowly relaxing.
Iris took a deep breath. She had forgotten how heartbreaking future-telling could turn at times. She might not have seemed as excited as Katara, but deep inside she was very anxious. She really hoped she'd get to hear that she won't turn out to be Ozai's weapon. Period. Full stop. End of discussion.
But as always, no, what she wanted won't happen. There was still a possibility that she could end up destroying the world by doing Ozai's bidding. She was pretty sure somewhere in the universe, Destiny was laughing her ass off at her while flipping her off.
She inhaled and ran her hand over her face. She then recalled her love life predictions. A strong bender. Someone she doesn't get along with. Her first thought was Draco Malfoy, for some reason. And he did kind of fit the bill.
He was a powerful wizard. They didn't get along very well, with him bullying her a lot during their school days. They did have some common ground/similarities.
Following the end of the war, after she had openly vouched for Narcissa and Draco while making sure Lucius went to Azkaban, Draco had met her once. It was super awkward at first. She didn't really remember a lot of details, but they did end up having lunch together. And it was then she had realized how shy, withdrawn and socially awkward the real Draco Malfoy was. Especially when he wasn't bullying others or wasn't controlled by his asshole father.
That was the only encounter they had where foul words, jabs, insults, threats, and taunts weren't exchanged. And she liked to think that they could have turned out to be decent, if not good, friends. They had a few things in common. They both were born in rich, powerful, and influential families. To both of them, their family honor meant a lot. They were both seekers for their respective house teams. Both weren't the ones to back down from any fight. And the worst and most prominent one, they both shared a deeply disturbing connection with Voldemort, which had done a big number on both of their psyches.
Iris took a few deep breaths. She wanted to go back, at least once. See how things turned out. Sure she never even thought about having a relationship with Draco, but what if...She shook her head. She had a lot of things to do before she even thought about getting into a relationship. And that too with Draco Malfoy of all people.
But what if there was someone else who fits the bill. She hadn't made a lot of enemies around this world. Just one- Fire Nation.
She shrugged. Future-telling could be so confusing at times.
She asked for a refill when she realized she had drunk all of her tea. She just sat there, lost in thoughts.
Her bigger challenge was to get to the Spirit World. And how was she to do it?
As she mulled over everything Duová had told her, something clicked. Avatars have a deep connection with the Spirit World and hence came an idea.
Once she finished that too, she paid for the tea and walked out to see the boys in the village square.
"Hey," she called approaching them. "What's going on?"
Aang looked a little upset for some reason while Sokka looked like he was going to explode. And then he exploded.
"I can't believe all these saps. Someone really needs to scream some sense at them..." and telling her everything about how the villagers depended on 'that crazy old woman' instead of checking the volcano themselves and on and on. Once he was done, Iris kept a hand on his shoulder
"Sokka, if nothing happened in 20 years, maybe she's right about this year too. Where's Katara?"
"Oh, she went to ask more from Aunt Wu," Sokka replied
Iris nodded and looked at Aang,
"You got anything to do?" she asked
Aang looked at her and shook his head.
"Help me get into the spirit world? Maybe I can make that connection with the Avatar next to me."
Aang thought for a second before he nodded. He led her to a nice quiet place in the woods near the village.
"Here?" Iris asked when Aang stopped at a small clearing.
Aang nodded. He settled on the ground in the lotus position. Iris sat opposite to him and followed him. She closed her eyes and relaxed.
"Relax and focus on my energy. It should help you." Aang said
Iris nodded to herself and started focusing on energy around her. She quickly found Aang's energy glowing a gorgeous white. And then it glowed brighter, blinding white. Iris focused on it.
And then, about 5 minutes of immense concentration on Aang's energy, she felt a shift in energy in her surroundings. Still skeptical, but a bit excited, she opened her one eye. No longer was there any green woods. Nope. She was back in the valley.
"This place is beautiful."
Iris opened both her eyes and looked next to her, where Aang was standing, looking around. She got up and whooped,
"Amazing." she grinned and looked at Aang, rushed to him and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you so so much!"
"It's alright."
"I see you brought a friend,"
Iris pulled and the two looked at the source of the voice-Duová.
Iris smiled, "Hello, Duová. I'd like you to meet Aang, the current Avatar."
Aang bowed, "Master Duová"
Duová smiled and returned the bow, "Avatar Aang," she pulled up, "It's an honor to meet you."
"It's an honor to meet you too. I've never met an energybending master before." Aang smiled,
Duová smiled and then looked at Iris, "Hello, Iris"
Iris just smiled,
And suddenly there was an awkward silence. No one knew what to say. Duová probably wanted to say a lot of things but for some reason was silent.
"Ugh..." Aang rubbed the back of his head, "Master Duová, are there any places I should be familiar with?"
"Xai Bau's grove is quite serene this time around, young Avatar."
Aang nodded with a huge smile, "Thank you." and he then turned to Iris, "I'll meet you back in the physical world."
Iris nodded and he ran off. Still supporting that smile, she turned towards Duová, who was now seated at the base of the same tree she woke last time.
"You look chipper," Duová commented.
"Well, I managed to get here, finally!" Iris exclaimed and sat down opposite to Duová.
She chuckled, "I expected a sooner appearance. It's been weeks since we last met."
"Yeah, that could have happened if you had told me how and what I am supposed to do." Iris raised a brow and folded her arms.
Duová smiled, "How are you supposed to learn if I tell you everything?"
Iris paused, "Point." she replied
"I've been observing you in those past weeks you failed to show," Duová started, ignoring iris' scowl, "I'm quite impressed by your ability to control fire. It's not often that energybenders are able to manipulate other elements with so much ease. But not unheard of."
Iris shrugged, "I just know a couple of fire spells. One air spell. Water and earth, I'm below average, if not worse."
"Practice is the key. Always remember that."
"I will."
"I was thinking of starting your training in manipulating human energy."
"Aren't we rushing in? I still have a lot to cover up before I can even think of learning that."
Duová smiled,
"You've already started learning. The way you absorbed the Fire Prince's energy before he could shoot flames at you. And it isn't as easy as it sounds. If I'll start teaching you now, it might take you months to properly master energybending. I can't be there for you all the time, Iris. I can just guide you in the right direction."
Iris sighed and rubbed her temple,
"A copper for your thoughts?"
She sighed, "I'm just having some severe anxiety." Iris answered truthfully.
"Then why were you trying to get in the spirit world?"
"I've been trying for days, but in vain." she shrugged, "I thought I could give this a try. I didn't really think it would work."
Duová smiled again, "Things happen when we least expect them to." she looked at her "Since I can't give you the practical session unless you are ready, physically and mentally, I'll tell you the basics. Despite our element, we follow the rules of the universe. Energy can not be created and it cannot be destroyed. Only transferred from one form to another. And we are the conduit. We can convert energy in whatever way we see fit.
Bending a human's energy isn't very different. We use their internal energy and convert it into another form. If you practice well, you can learn to store that energy inside you up until a certain limit."
Iris nodded back in understanding.
"For beginners, physical contact proves best to absorb another person's energy. Something you've already tried."
"And errored." At Duová's raised eyebrow, she pouted a little, "My hand burnt. Thankfully Katara healed me."
"Life is all about trials and errors," Duová said
Iris just rolled her eyes.
"What is important is the lesson you learn from them."
"And..." Iris asked
Duová smiled, "Impatience will get you nowhere. You need to learn to be patient. Energybending requires concentration, patience, and understanding of the art. I just cannot rush through this all."
Iris sighed, "Alright"
"Close your eyes."
Iris followed.
"Now, feel your energy. Your body's energy in the physical world."
Iris concentrated on the link she had with the physical world while trying to stay in the spirit world. She then felt herself, but it was more of a distant echo like thing.
"Now feel the energy of everything around you. Including the Avatar."
She tried to be more precise. She channeled her energy on the weak connection she had managed to make and concentrated.
And then she could feel it. The trees. The animals. And Aang. His energy was still a blinding white, so he was still in the spirit world.
"Now try to feel every single shift in energy."
She tried. The more she contacted, she could feel the wind energy around her. Even the sunlight through the canopy. And she felt light in her head. it was too much for her.
"Use the spirit energy around you to empower you."
Iris almost didn't hear that, but somehow she did. Taking a deep breath, she tried to absorb the spirit energy and keeping herself awake and attentive.
She concentrated more. She could feel everything happening in the physical world while being in the spirit world.
And she suddenly felt a small, significant shift in Aang's energy. It dimmed. He had returned to the physical world. She opened her eyes and looked at Duová. And suddenly felt dizzy,
"Next time onwards, try not to break the link as quickly as you did. It may hurt you."
Iris nodded, holding her head but then looked at Duová, "Aang just returned. And I'm starting a headache, I'm sorry."
Duová just nodded, "Understandable, dear. All you have to do is practice these techniques an-"
"Sorry to interrupt you," Iris said "But how am I gonna practice it? I cannot try to absorb another bender's energy for trial purposes. What if I messed up and accidentally took their bending or something? What if I absorbed more than I could contain?"
"No one said it was going to be easy. And it doesn't have to be on others. Energybending, first and foremost, is bending your own energy to its utmost potential. You have good control over your own energy. But there's a lot of room for improvement. Absorbing energy requires concentration. Very precise concentration."
Iris nodded, biting on her lip then looked down,
"I want to ask something if that's okay?"
Duová nodded with a hum,
"Why didn't you say anything with Aang around? You waited till he left."
"The Avatar is not supposed to learn of our bending ways."
"I'm aware. But the Avatar wasn't gifted with that ability. He wouldn't be able to learn energybending even if he tried. That was the reason that Avatar wasn't born into the Energy Clan. Energy is the only element they cannot bend!"
Duová just gave her a poker face.
Iris grunted and folded her arms with a huff.
"Never mind." she muttered, "Forget I said any of that."
A calm silence surrounded them,
"Your mind is way more clouded now than before."
Iris sighed, "I'm anxious, scared, no terrified and no one is there to tell me that it's gonna be okay. I know how it sounds, all needy and selfish, but I'm not afraid to admit what I'm feeling. I just found out that I could, still, end the world if Ozai got to know about me. And...and..." she grunted, "I have no clue what I'm doing."
"What about the Avatar and your companions?"
"They are children, Duová. All I have access to are children, who wouldn't understand my issues. Or animals. Not the best conversationalists." she paused pressing her lips in a thin line
"Right now, Aang's biggest issue is his crush on Katara. Katara's more worried about what she should have for lunch or dinner and is constantly depending on Aunt Wu. Sokka's worried about proving Aunt Wu wrong. They don't see things the way I do. I understand that they are kids and they need to have fun. But I'm worried about how things would turn out. What if we didn't get to the North Pole in time? What if Zuko got us first? What if..." she inhaled sharply, "what if I'm forced to bid for Ozai to save someone."
Duová just hummed,
"When I first signed for this, I thought after everything I've been through, this would be easy, like a cake-walk. I was wrong. It's not being in charge of three children that scares me. It's that...I've never been on my own. Ever since the beginning of my adventures, I've always had either Hermione or Ron or both by my side. Even Neville, Luna, Ginny, and the twins. They were with me through my every thick and thin. And now I'm here, being the oldest in this group where everyone looks up to me for advice and support and reassurances...and I suck at them. I'm not the most mature or responsible person around. I constantly ignore the warning signs to give the kids what they want, so they can have a childhood outside of fighting a war, which ends up biting my arse later. I couldn't even comfort Aang when his guilt was eating him up. I let Sokka go out in that storm that got him sick. I let Aang go all alone to get the cure which ended up us both getting captured by Fire Nation. I..."
Her eyes were starting to prickle. She sniffed and blinked back her tears, but a few still escaped. She just couldn't stop the tears. She could feel her hands trembling, but stuffed them in her lap. She could feel a weird weight on her chest. What was happening to her?
"Are you regretting leaving your homeworld?"
Iris looked at her, surprised by the question, and shook her head, "I had to leave. I had to find out who I really was. Who I was without a maniac trying to end me or a prophecy outlining my next move. But this is not what I expected. Not that I'm going to back down or anything now. I was a part of this since the beginning. I'm going to be a part of this until the end. I promised to help Aang every way possible."
"I recently heard someone say that talking about your problems helps."
Iris scoffed, sniffing once, "They do. They most certainly do. But who is there to listen to me? I listen to the problems the kids have because I can help. I've grown through that stage, I've seen or experienced those issues. Something similar if not the same. I can guide them through. The vice-versa ain't true. I'm frustrated, irritated, anxious, and Merlin knows what else. The kids won't get my problems. Who am I to talk to? And look up to for advice and reassurances?" Iris looked at Duová.
"Despite being with three amazing people, I feel so alone, Duová." she sighed
Duová sighed and kept a hand on Iris's shoulder, "I'm sorry you feel that way. Is there any way I can help?"
"why would you do that?" Iris blinked in confusion
Duová smiled, "In your own words, bottling up your feelings is not gonna help anyone, especially you. You need to let them out, dear. And if you want me to be that ear or that shoulder to cry upon, I don't see why I can't do that. Maybe I can offer some insight or a different perspective. It is not like I have a lot to do here in the spirit world." she reached and cupped Iris's face, "Let me help you"
Iris took a deep shuddering breath and caught Duová in a hug. Duová seemed a little hesitant at first, but then returned the hug
"Thank you, Duová"
"Anytime dear." Duová smiled
Iris pulled and wiped her tears
"You should go now. The Avatar's waiting for you"
Iris smiled and returned to the meditating position. A few minutes later, she felt the physical world and opened her eyes and exhaled loudly
"You okay?"
She looked at Aang, sitting and leaning against a tree
"Yeah, why?" Iris asked, relaxing as she too leaned on a tree. For some reason, she felt a little lighter than before. Talking really does help.
"You were crying"
Iris quickly reached for her cheeks and there were some tear tracks.
"Oh," she muttered and quickly wiped them
"Was it something I did?"
Iris looked at Aang confused "What are you talking about, kid?"
"The reason you were crying"
Iris's eyes widened for a quick moment before she shook her head with a smile
"It wasn't you. Or Sokka or Katara. Just some personal things." she tilted her head "I thought I told you that you brought us hope"
Aang smiled at her and then hugged her
"Is everything okay, kid?" she asked
"Yeah," he nodded and gave her a quick squeeze, pulled.
"What was that for?" she asked
Aang just shrugged and she didn't press him.
"Thanks for helping me today" she smiled
Aang returned the smile, "You don't have to thank me, you know"
Iris chuckled. Neva landed on her lap so Iris started petting her
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Aang started
"Anything," Iris replied
"Uh...this one time you said you were quite experienced in romantic relationships, right?"
"Yes?"
Aang slightly fidgeted where he was seated. It took a few seconds when Iris eventually realized where Aang was going with it. But she waited for him to say it out loud.
"So, you would know some stuff about dating, right?"
"From a girls' perspective, sure I would." she smiled
"Well, there's this girl..." Aang trailed off, a cute light pink color tested over his cheeks. Momo, from Aang's shoulder, bent down to check him.
"Katara?" she asked, with a smile. Aang looked at her, grey eyes wide and surprised.
"Y-You know?"
Iris shrugged with a small laugh, "I've been picking up some subtle things between you two. Mostly from your side."
His blush deepened to an almost red, "Oh,"
Iris smiled, "You want some advice, dontcha?"
Aang shrugged a little, "I could use some help. I don't really know what to do. I mean I like Katara. I think she's beautiful, smart and strong and...just amazing. But I don't know how to make a move for her to notice me."
"Was this why you made that flower band for her this morning?" Iris tilted her head "So she'd notice you?"
Aang looked at her shyly, his blush now a prominent red and nodded.
"have you just tried being yourself?"
Aang looked at her as if he didn't believe that.
Iris chuckled, "Kid, lemme tell you something." she folded her legs, "the first time I had a crush on a boy, I was 13. And he was this super popular kid in my school. We were in the same sports team and he was like 3 or so years older to me. He was cute, charming, a good athlete, and quite passionate" she chuckled "all I wanted was for him to notice me. So I asked a bunch of people what I should do. How do I get him to notice me? And so many people gave me so many suggestions. Dress prettier. Flirt with him. Play hard to catch. Try push and pull and so much stuff and many of them were opposite things. I ended up trying so many of those and what would you know, I embarrassed the hell out of myself on numerous occasions. And this one point, I was so done with people telling me what to do, I told myself to suck it and just forget about it. And I went back to normal. And then to my surprise, he did start noticing me. Sure it was a bit awkward at first, but I liked him. he liked me.
One day he said to me that he had noticed me before I started embarrassing myself but was skeptical about his own feelings. He liked me the way I was." she smiled "Don't ask people what you should do. Do what you think you should do. No one knows you better than yourself. Follow your heart, kid."
"What if she didn't like whatever I'd do?"
"Then you learn from it and not repeat the mistake. No one is born perfect. You learn from trials and errors. The most important thing is you learn. But maybe you shouldn't pursue her for a while."
Aang perked up, "Why would you say that?"
"Call it intuition or experience, I don't know. You guys have known each other for just a few months. And while I do kinda understand what boys your age go through at this point," she completely ignored his red face, "Give it some time. Find out about her likes and dislikes. Just telling her that you like her outta the blue might scare her a little. Right now, for her, you are just a friend. Let her know subtly that you like her." she shrugged
Aang nodded, his face still red, "Thanks, Iris"
"Anytime, kid." she smiled and then laughed once she realized how red his face actually had gone.
"You are adorable," she chuckled, stood up, and with Aang made way back to the village.
"So, I was wondering if you could k-"
"This will be our secret. Relax. Whatever you say to me, stays with me."
"Oh okay" he nodded
The silence between them for just like 10 minutes before he spoke again,
"So how do I do it subtly?"
Iris chuckled, "You did it this morning"
Aang blinked and then remembered what she was referring to.
"Oh! A panda Lilly!"
Both of them turned to look at the source. It was the woman they had earlier met at Aunt Wu's and she hugged the man who gave her a panda lily.
"Did you see that?" Aang muttered and looked at her as if asking for approval.
"That could work," Iris smiled. That seemed enough for Aang, as he rushed to the happy hugging couple, physically forcing them apart. They are both surprised, Iris smacked her forehead. But Aang leaned over them to point at the flower the woman's hand.
"Excuse me. Where can a guy find one of those things?"
"Oh, they grow up at the volcano" the man answered, a bit confused.
Aang nodded with a smile, "Thank you," and he made his way back to her.
"He said they grow at the volcano," Aang informed her, "I'm gonna go and get one."
Iris smiled, "Take Sokka with you. He seems like he'd murder someone if he heard how great Aunt Wu is one more time"
The two looked at Sokka, who looked extremely pissed at someone telling him the same. Once Aang dragged Sokka away, Iris took a deep breath and decide to find Katara.
She found Katara outside Aunt Wu's.
"Still want more predictions?" she asked
Katara sighed, "Can you believe she won't let me in? And after all the business I've given her?"
"Kat, she does this for free" Iris said
"I know, but still."
"Don't you think you are getting a little too dependant on Aunt Wu's predictions?"
"There's nothing wrong with being prepared for the future"
Iris nodded, "True. But doesn't that take all the fun from life?"
"What do you mean?"
Iris jerked her head to the tea shop "Walk with me?"
Katara paused but nodded and accompanied her.
"By that, I meant that life is full of surprises, Kat. What makes tomorrow more fun is not knowing what is to come. Take it from someone who's had a lot of their future predictions come true, fortune-telling isn't the best way to live your life. and the future is never set on stone. Especially in my case." she muttered the last line
"It is the unexpected that makes living fun rather than knowing what is to come. Knowing your future makes you anxious and paranoid. And you do not want that at this age."
The two placed their orders and sat down while their tea was served.
"So what all did Aunt Wu tell you?"
They were in the middle of their discussion when Aang and Sokka barged into the shop, almost ran into the server, more or less skidded on split tea but somehow made their way to them.
"Whoa," Iris muttered, lowering her cup, "What's the rush?"
"Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano." Sokka quickly said
"Sokka, you tried to convince me she was wrong before. It's going to take an awful lot to change my min-" Katara was cut off by a loud boom. The four shared a look and rushed outside. The volcano had just erupted to life. The mountain suddenly had a full plume of ash and smoke stretching to the clouds.
"Oh, no!" Katara muttered
"Well, shite!" Iris muttered. To all their surprise, the villagers were going on about their personal lives as if nothing was happening.
"Everyone! That volcano is gonna blow any second. Aunt Wu was wrong!" Sokka yelled
"Yeh, yeh, we know you don't believe in Aunt Wu, "Mr. Science and Reason Lover."" some random girl said
"If you won't listen to him, maybe you'll listen to me. I want to believe Aunt Wu and her predictions as much as you do, but my brother and Aang saw the lava with their own eyes." Katara added
"Well, I heard Aunt Wu's prediction with my own ears." the man they had earlier met in the forest said.
Aang air bent himself on top of the tea shop.
"Please listen to us! You are all in danger! And we have to get out of here. You can't rely on Aunt Wu's prediction. You have to take fate into your own hands."
Another explosion occurred, "Look!" Sokka pointed at the mountain "Can your fortunetelling explain that?"
"Can your science explain why it rains?" a random man asked
"Yes! Yes, it can!" Sokka replied, very annoyed.
The crowd still didn't look very convinced, so Iris got an idea
"Hey, maybe this isn't the best way to tell it to them"
"What do you suggest?" Sokka asked
"Who is the one person they all listen to?"
"But Aunt Wu said they'd be safe" Katara noted
"Yeah, but what if Aunt Wu said they'd be in trouble." Iris suggested, "How did she make those predictions?"
"she had this book about cloud patterns she read off from" Aang said
Iris nodded "Then we get that book"
"You mean steal it?" Aang asked
"Eh.." Iris shrugged, "I mean borrow it without asking and then return it."
"That is stealing."
"Kid, what she doesn't know won't hurt" Iris replied, "So do you want to go, or should I?"
Aang returned about 10 minutes later with the book. They had moved to some secluded spot in the village, so no one would know anything. He handed the book to Iris, who quickly flipped through it.
"Clouds are made of water and air so between the two of us we ought to be able to bend them into any shape we want," Aang suggested
Iris stopped at a particular page "Here. The symbol of volcanic doom."
She handed the book to Katara, "You both get on Appa and change the clouds. Sokka and I'll get the traction." and at once they got to work.
Sokka and Iris walked back to the village square and waited until the clouds started to change. And once they did, they shared a look and then rushed to Aunt Wu's.
"I'm afraid she's not going to see anyone today anymore," the herald told them.
"Oh," Iris replied, "Then maybe you could tell us what that means?" she pointed at the sky where the clouds were beginning to take a specific shape.
The herald's eyes widened and he rushed in. Aunt Wu walked out after a few seconds, looking at them
"What is wrong?"
"You need to come with us," Sokka said
The two led her back to her stage. By that time, Katara and Aang had done their job, quite beautifully.
"Aunt Wu, look! Something is happening in the clouds." Sokka added
"That's very strange. It shouldn't... Oh my!" she gasped
Iris looked back at the sky and a shudder ran down her spine. The cloud-skull in the sky gave her a creepy reminder of what happened back in the Quidditch world tournament.
To her utter shock, the skull's jaw opened and something poked out. And then slithered. It was a snake. Made of clouds. The cloud-snake slithered out and then all the way around the skull before exiting through the open jaw. It raised its head and hi-
She yelped when someone shook her arm. She like down, curbing her labored breaths to see the three kids.
"Are you okay? You looked..." Aang started
Iris didn't answer. She looked back at the sky where just he cloud-skull floated. what the fuck was going on with her?
"Iris, ma-" Katara started
"I'm fine," she replied tersely. She ran her hand over her face and then her hair. "I'm fine" she repeated.
"If you say so." Aang replied and then pointed towards the one of the twins she had earlier seen in town "He's an earth bender."
"What's the plan?" she asked
Sokka quickly explained to her.
"Okay. I may know a spell that can help"
Aang nodded and they all rushed to work.
Appa, Iris, and the townspeople labored to dig the trench, using earthbending, spellwork/energybending, and manual means. Another explosion heralded and the volcano now started spewing lava.
"Dig faster! Dig faster!" Sokka called
"Get back," she called over her shoulder as everyone backed away.
"Defodio," she muttered, focusing her most energy to make that trench. The earth in front of her parted away and they all could see the river.
"Everyone needs to evacuate! We'll come for you when it's safe!" Aang added
Iris held onto Appa, who flew her back to the team. Everyone else ran off. Iris got off and had Appa reach the village outskirts
Iris approached the other three and sighed
"How does it look?" she asked Sokka
"It should do it" Sokka nodded. Iris nodded back just when she noticed something black falling down. it was soot. Ash. Iris looked up as the lava began to flow down the mountainside.
"It's too much! It's gonna overflow!" Katara called
Iris inhaled sharply and walked to Aang, standing on the rim of the trench.
"You should go."
Iris didn't reply, just stood there. Aang spared her one look, then looked forward again.
Another explosion rocked the village. Burning ejecta began raining down in addition to the ash. Suddenly a huge boulder fell out of the sky and landed in the trench, exploding. Before Iris could do anything, Aang rushed forward, with a furious war-cry and unleashed strong currents, and began air bending them.
Iris pulled out her one fan and flared it, casting Ventus. It just proved to be a strong boost to Aang.
As the lava was trying to overflow, Aang and Iris blew the lava straight up, rather than allowing to advance on the village.
"On the count of three?" she asked
Aang nodded. Iris positioned herself, closing her eyes. She collected energy from the lava, all the heat energy she could. She was a medium. she could change energy from one form to another.
Once she felt like she had enough energy, she opened her eyes,
"1, 2, 3"
She cast the most powerful Glacius she ever had, just as Aang air bent his massive exhale of air. Her ice winds with his air bending, together, cooled all the lava to stone.
Iris took deep breaths when the lava cooled and then sat down on the ground in lotus position, calming, stabilizing and recharging her core. Aang did the same.
Iris could feel the lava follow down the trench behind the barrier she and Aang had created. Once she felt relaxed and back to half of her energy, she opened her eyes and sighed. That Glacius took more than she had expected.
"Kid?" she asked softly
"I'm fine."
They shared a look and a smile.
Once the village was out of the imminent danger and was safe, the four had asked the villagers to return. Soon, all the villagers, including Aunt Wu, assembled at the village square.
Iris looked back at the clouds, an eerie feeling in her gut. Suddenly someone nudged her. She looked down at Katara
"The book," she whispered
Iris' eyes widened, "Right"
"Hey, Aunt Wu," she approached her, her three ducklings following her.
"Yes?"
Iris pulled out the book and extended,
"We kind of borrowed your book."
Aunt Wu took the book, "So you messed with the clouds did you!" she looked at Aang and Katara, then back at Iris, grabbing the book in anger. Iris didn't react.
"It was the only way," Iris shrugged
And suddenly Aunt Wu began to laugh, "Very clever!"
Sokka snorted and then faced the villagers, "No offense, but I hope this taught everyone a lesson about not relying too much on fortune-telling."
"But Aunt Wu predicted the village wouldn't be destroyed, and it wasn't. She was right, after all." the calm man replied
"I hate you," Sokka muttered, getting into the man's face, only for Katara to pull him back.
"It's ok, Sokka. Everything's gonna be all right."
"Can I ask you something?"
Iris looked at Aang. At first, she thought the question was directed to her, but no, it was for Aunt Wu. Realizing that it had something to do with what Aunt Wu saw in Aang's future, she excused herself quickly and walked to Appa.
She rechecked the reins and their supplies, as others said their goodbyes in the village.
"Young girl,"
Iris turned around to look at who called her. It was Aunt Wu
"Aunt Wu" she chuckled nervously, "Is everything okay?"
"Oh, yes. But there is something I wanted to give to you before you left."
Iris nodded "Okay...?"
Aunt Wu smiled, reached under her robes, and pulled something. It was a necklace. The same thing she had seen at the pirate's shop weeks ago.
"I've seen it before," she said, taking a step forward.
"Have you now?" she chuckled
"It's an energy bending relic. That's all I know"
Aunt Wu hummed, "It was one of the few things my non-bender ancestor got from her bender mother. And since then, it's been passed down from generation to generation,"
"Oh,"
And then Aunt Wu extended it to her, "I want you to have it."
Iris's eyes widened as she took a step back, "I can't. I can't take a family heirloom."
"Dear, I don't have children of my own, to whom I could pass this or my ability on. And I think the last energybender on earth deserves this relic a lot more than anyone else." and then bowed a little, "It's an honor to meet an alive energybender." and then pulled back.
Iris stopped and looked at her, "Why am I not surprised that you know about me"
Aunt Wu just smiled and extended the necklace. Iris took a deep breath, but grudgingly took the necklace and tied it around her neck.
"Now it looks perfect," Aunt Wu smiled, "Also, I know I said that your future isn't determined yet, but destiny is a fickle thing. And so, you must expect the unexpected from it,"
Iris nodded, "I will."
"One more I wanted to say before you cut me off back then. Your significant other, well, you both will have a lot of shared life experiences. Not just common grounds, but similar experiences. Take care on your journey." and she turned and left.
Iris blinked for a solid minute,
"What?" she squawked.
So I'm back!. After another anxiety attack and a nervous breakdown, I'm back on track. I know nobody wants to know, so I'll just skip to the important part.
Before anyone comes at me saying, "But only one prediction was made about canon!Harry's life and that was the prophecy. I don't remember any other prophecy or anything"
Here's why I wrote about it. First of all, do read the books. In book 4, GOF, Ron and Harry jokingly make 3 predictions on Harry's life which actually do end up coming true. And there are more.
Again, thanks for all the support and read and review!
Ciao