Good Fortune

Chapter 1

Meng yawned as she closed up her shop for yet another night. Business was a little slow for the now teenaged fortune-teller. It had been several years since the war ended and with the Avatar restoring balance to the world the future wasn't that uncertain anymore. Meng was thankful that young women would always want to know of future romances with mysterious strangers and young men would always want to know if the girl they were smitten with was the one. Such predictions kept her feed and clothed. She was however housed thanks to the former fortune-teller, the kind and venerable Aunt Wu, kindly bequeathing the fortune telling premises and its adjoining rooms to her apprentice upon her death. Meng smiled at the portrait of her mentor that sat on the shelf next to the various items she would use to divine the future. The old woman had managed to last a mere three years after the war ended before her ailing health had caught up with her. Aunt Wu had even managed to greet the Avatar once more when he and some of his comrades returned to their village to assist refugees who had fled the flames of Ozai. She chuckled to herself as she remembered Sokka of the Water Tribe beginning the same argument last time he had visited. He was soon placated and completely dropped the matter when Aunt Wu had predicted a strong marriage between himself and the Kyoshi Warrior that was with them that time, one that would produce many children. Of course only Sokka seemed to know what Aunt Wu's muttering of the moon approves meant.

The talk of romance at that time made Meng think bout pursuing Avatar Aang again. After all Aunt Wu's predictions were fairly accurate and the Air Bender seemed to fit the description provided of her soul mate. But of course she was there and he only had eyes for her.

"Damn Floozy," Meng said as she paused from preparing her evening meal.

She regretted having these feelings though, anyone could see Katara and Aang were made for each other. Perhaps it was just bitterness on her part, in her short time as the head fortune teller she had seen many a relationship come to fruition. It just seemed unfair that any prediction about her very own love life failed to come true. Meng sighed as she prepared for bed; it was strange how the mind wondered when you lived alone. She tried to put the thoughts out of her mind. After all she had the day off tomorrow, no reading palms, no looking for signs in the sky and no staring at the bottom of tea cups, and she planned to enjoy every minute of it.

The next day the market place was busier than usual. Meng failed to notice however as her hair had come loose from it's bindings again and she was struggling to bring it back under control. While she was fighting with her constantly unruly locks a pair of familiar red shoes came into her field of vision.

"Good Morning Miss Meng," their owner said. The villagers had gone through many variations when she had inherited the respected position of fortune teller before finally settling on something simple. The younger children tended to call her Auntie Meng though seen as that was what she was to most of them.

"Oh good morning Lee," she replied having finally gotten her hair under some semblance of control. "Oh and I see your beautiful wife is with you this morning."

The woman latched onto old red shoe Lee's arms just smiled. She didn't talk much and only at any great lengths to her husband. Although they had been able to determine she was probably from the fire nation colonies and had been caught on the wrong side of the flames during the phoenix king's mercifully short reign. When the group of refugee's she had fell in with in months after finally reached the village she was immediately drawn to Lee because of the strange comfort she got when she saw his signature red clothing.

"I must say Miss Meng it was quite an honour to find out we were the next stop on the tour," Lee said.

"What tour?" Meng asked dumfounded.

"The Earth rumble tour," he said. "I heard that when the organisers heard we were near an active volcano they started considering, but when they heard the Avatar himself diverted a lava flow here during his journey before he had even learn to earth bend, well they skipped two other large towns just to get here sooner."

"You mean that thing were big sweaty earth benders throw rocks at each other and act all overly dramatic about it?" Meng asked.

"Yes not the most intelligent form of entertainment," Lee admitted. "But it is such a boom for our little settlement, just look at all these people here in the market today, some have come as from as far as Ba Sing Se, we even spotted a few water tribe people about."

"Just think of all the people that'll want fortunes read tomorrow," Lee's wife added with a smile. "By the most accurate fortune teller in the world."

"Why Lee you should have started with this new first," Meng admonished. "Now do you want to come by tomorrow to find out if it's a boy or girl."

Lee's wife shook her head.

"Ah that is one aspect of life where we both think a surprise is best," Lee explained.

One of the younger children, who had been born after the war, came running up to them.

"Aunty Meng, Aunty Meng," he cried out. "An important looking man gave me a whole sliver coin to give you this letter."

"You know better than to talk to strangers," Meng scolded the child.

"Nu huh, my mama was there with me," the child explained. "The man was outside your shop, when mama saw him he asked if we knew were you were, I said I knew because I saw you earlier and then…"

"That's okay," she said. "Thank you for delivering this to me."

Meng pulled another less valuable coin from her hidden purse and hand it to the child.

"I predict both coins will be gone by the end of the day," she said realising that any advice on the benefits of saving the money would likely be wasted. With that the child ran off while Meng opened the letter.

"Blah Blah Blah," she began. "Cordially invited as a leader of the community…blah…ringside seats blah."

"Been invited by the tour organisers themselves have you Miss Meng?" Lee asked.

"Yes," she sighed. "I better head home and check my yearly volcano predictions again who knows what all this extra earth bending might cause."

After bidding goodbye to Lee and his wife she quickly went to get the food she needed for the next few days and then head home.

A far distance away from the village were Meng made her home, the fighters and the support staff of earth rumble themselves had pulled up to rest for awhile, work on smack talk and do some light training before they continued on to the next Inn down the road in the afternoon. Some of the earth rumble veterans were peering towards an earth tent that was a set a far distance away from their entourage.

"She's in one of those moods again today," The boulder stated.

"Yes," Fire Nation man agreed.

"Shouldn't some one go see what's wrong?" one of the new fighters asked when he came over to see what his seniors were looking at.

"No she's not even there right now," The boulder explained. "She's down in the earth talking to the badger moles."

"Really? here?" The new fighter asked.

"She says they're here then they're here," Fire Nation man said.

"It's just odd to see her act this way," The new kid said. "It's just so unlike her."

"Kid she's seen and done things you and I can't even comprehend," Fire Nation man explained.

"She's entitled to act sullen and withdrawn sometimes."

"But she's…"

"Just let her confer with her masters Kid," the boulder admonished.

"Now I refuse to believe that part of her stories is true," the young fighter said. "I mean taught by actual badger moles, ridiculous."

That made Fire Nation man insult the boy's intelligence and their conversation degenerated into a three-way smack talk competition.