Aquarius

Aquarius needed to go for a stroll. Sometimes things were just too much for her, so she needed an outing. When that happened she just took flight and got lost in the clouds. She loved to visit the Fire Village, she felt a little bit more comfortable there, as if her supposedly ice-cold heart finally melted as the dew evaporated from her feathers. 

“Hey!” A voice called here over from her favourite roof in the town. “I knew you’d be showing up sooner or later,” Leo smiled. 

Aquarius smiled back at him. Leo was the only one that knew what she was going to do even before she did. “Am I that predictable?” 

“Oh no, I wouldn’t say that,” he shrugged. “But you do have a tendency of running away when things get too intense for you.” He patted the spot beside him on the roof. 

Aquarius flapped her wings indignantly and sat next to him. “I don’t run away, I just... step out for a moment, you know?” 

“Oh right, step out to the neighbouring village you mean.” 

Aquarius snorted. “Okay, you got a point.” 

“I always do,” he winked. “So, what was it that made you come up here this time? Are Gemini and Libra arguing again?” 

“Just the usual, they weren’t listening to each other, or to me for that matter, and definitely not thinking through what they were saying.” She buried her face in her hands. “They’ve gone ballistics over this new sign thing, and when they started yelling nonsense I just had to leave.” 

“You shouldn’t do that, and you know it,” Leo said, not unkindly. “They both need you, you’re the voice of reason, their conscience. If you keep disappearing every time they get a little out of hand, they will surely kill each other at some point.” 

“I know, but they’re just too much for me sometimes, Leo,” she tried. “And besides, this issue with the new sign is driving them crazy, they don’t want to lose their human protégées.” 

“Well, honestly, neither do I,” he interjected. “And neither do any of the others. It’s been years of hard work, you just can’t come and take it away from us.” 

“I’m aware of that, and I agree. But it was the humans themselves that wanted to add him, don’t you think we should at least consider it and have a meeting?” 

“I guess,” he muttered. “What’s his name again, anyway?” 

“Ophiuchus.” 

“Stars! And we’re supposed to take him seriously with a name like that?” Leo laughed. 

“C’mon, don’t be mean! The poor guy got thrust into this as much as the rest of us. Besides, the humans don’t even know in which village to place him yet.” 

“Oh and haven’t you heard? They’re considering Cetus too. As if one newbie wasn’t enough.” 

Aquarius sighed. This couldn’t get much worse, could it? But as she thought that, the air around them shifted and she knew things had gotten worse. 

“I think you should go, Gemini just woke the beast,” he chuckled. 

“You don’t need to tell me.” She sighed again, ruffled Leo’s hair as she stood and took flight. She had to fix things again.