Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Avatar

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***

Appa's Back - Afternoon

"Come on Sokka! Pleeaaasee?!!!"

"No, no ,no! How many times do I have to tell you? No detours, no pit stops, no nothing. This is a one way trip to the North Pole!"

"Come on," Katara begged. "We've been flying nonstop for a whole week! The only time we've been allowed off of Appa's back is to pick up supplies and go to the bathroom."

Sokka was sitting on Appa's head, his eyes wide open and bloodshot. "I don't care! Look, do you guys want to get to the North Pole in time? Do you even want to rescue Toph?"

Aang cut in. "But Sokka, we need a break."

Sokka rounded on him next. "Absolutely not! Do you guys have any clue why it took so long to get to the North Pole last time? Because of all your stupid little side trips!" He began counting off his fingers. "Omashu, Haru, Roku's temple, Jet …"

"Alright, alright," Katara waved her hand. "Relax. You're awfully moody, you know that?'

Sokka whirled around. "I AM NOT MOODY!!!"

"Yeesh," Suki said. "You'd think you're the one who's pregnant, not Katara."

"Sokka, do you have any idea where we even are," Katara asked.

"Of course I do." He whipped out a map and his eyes glazed over. "We're somewhere …" his finger traced a general circle, "around here."

"Sokka, you're pointing at the South Pole."

"Would everyone just get off my back?!"

"Well," Katara replied. "If you did have any idea where we are, you'd know that we're by Makupa Village."

Sokka drew a blank.

Katara sighed. "Aunt Wu's village."

"You mean that crazy old fortuneteller?!"

"She is not crazy," Katara snapped defensively. "All of her predictions came true!"

"Like what?"

"Well," Katara replied thoughtfully. "She told Aang that he would be involved in a terrible battle."

"Yea, but come on, it was his duty from the beginning to battle Fire Lord Ozai."

"And Monk Guandao," Aang added boastfully. "Don't forget I beat him too."

Katara continued on. "And she said that I would marry a powerful bender." She lovingly caressed Aang's hand. "And look … Aang's the most powerful bender we know."

"Come on," Sokka retorted. "Everyone knew you two were gonna end up together. I knew from the very beginning! You could cut the hormones with a knife."

"What was your fortune, Sokka," Suki asked.

"Uh … well, it was … uh"

Katara smirked. "She predicted that he would have a life of misery; mostly self-inflicted if I remember correctly."

"Shut up!"

Suki leaned forward. "I'd like my fortune read."

"Forget it," Sokka said. "We have a very strict schedule to stick too!"

Suki put on a seductive smile. "Pleaaassee," she asked flirtatiously.

"Don't think that's gonna work on me."

"Oh really?" She slid next to him and began rubbing his shoulders and her warm breath blew into his ear. "Maybe there's a place we can be alone together there."

Well, the next thing you know, Sokka was having Appa descend towards Aunt Wu's village in a big hurry.

***

"What the heck happened here?" The group was standing in front of Aunt Wu's house, which also doubled as her fortune telling center. The building looked dilapidated and the front door appeared to be hanging on a hinge.

Katara pressed the door open and it fell inward into the darkness of the house. Pressing herself inside, she took a look about. "Aunt Wu?" The house looked like a wreck, clothes strewn about, curtains askew and layers of dust and dirt clinging to the doors. Sokka whistled. "What a dump!"

Starting to become concerned, Katara started calling out the old woman's name. "Aunt Wu?! Aunt Wu?!" There was a shuffling from another room and a figure appeared out of the shadows. "Aunt Wu," she asked cautiously.

The figure seemed to focus its attention on Aang. Suddenly, the Avatar found himself in a crushing hug. The hugger backed up, a big smile on her face. The young woman wore thin clothes, accentuating her curvaceous figure and a pretty face. "Who is that," Sokka asked, practically drooling. Suki gave him a quick swat on the back of his head.

The girl put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "Now don't tell me you guys don't recognize me," she said with a slight lisp.

"Wait a minute," Aang said. "Meng?"

Meng smiled. "It's good to see you too, Aang!" Her eyes were bright and wide.

"Hey, what about us," Sokka whined. "Aren't you happy to see us too?"

Meng waved him away, eyes still on the Avatar. "Yea, yea, you too."

"Where's Aunt Wu," Katara asked. She looked around at the shambles of a house. "What happened here?"

A sudden, course, raspy voice called out from a nearby room. "Meng, who're you talking too? Do we have guests?"

"Yes, Aunt Wu," she responded. "It's the Avatar!"

"The Avatar?!" There was a sudden rustling from the room, and Aunt Wu emerged. The gang nearly gasped when they saw her. Katara had her hand over her mouth.

Aunt Wu appeared to have aged incredibly. Her once smooth face was wrinkled and she had bags under eyes as though she hadn't been sleeping. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes rumpled and stained. Her voice was raspy and she let out a hacking cough every time she talked. "Hello everyone. So good to see you again."

Katara didn't really know where to start. "Aunt Wu … what … what happened to you?"

The old woman sat down on a pillow on the floor, and she motioned for everyone else to join her. "Meng, would you get our guests some tea? It's going to be a long story." She pulled out a long, thin cigarette and lit it, puffing in deeply and letting out another hacking cough.

"It started about two months ago. There was a young gentleman who came by and I read his fortune. He was supposed to meet the love of his life very soon. He left, excited, ecstatic. That very same day, there appeared a woman – Siah's her name. She also claimed to be a fortuneteller. She told that same young man that he would vanish out of existence the very next day. Of course, I thought it was a bunch of pish-posh. But then the next day … he disappeared. Gone without a trace."

"But how can that be," Katara asked. "Your predictions always come true. Always."

"That's what I thought," Aunt Wu replied. "I've never had any fortune fail."

"So then what happened," Katara asked.

Aunt Wu sighed. "The people here lost faith in me. Siah continued to make predictions that came true. At the same time, I made at least fifty failed fortunes – in a row. Now the town now relies on Siah – she's become like a goddess to them!"

There came the sudden beating of drums outside and there could be heard cheers. Aunt Wu sighed. "Oh great, here she comes for one of her predictions."

"I've got to see this," Katara said. "Something seems very odd here."

The group exited Aunt Wu's house to see the commotion. Aunt Wu herself lingered bitterly in the doorway, still puffing on her cigarette.

Entire crowds of people had congregated outside as several men carried a large chair on their shoulders – upon which sat a beautiful woman with shining blonde hair. The woman wore sparkling clothes that glimmered brightly in the sunlight.

They set her down on a platform constructed in the center of town, and the whole crowd was silenced. Siah was about to make a prediction. Her eyes were half open, and she raised her hands. "I predict … that this town is going to come into a whole lot of money ... today!"

The whole crowd began to rub their hands together greedily, murmuring among themselves.

"Ooow," Sokka whined, rubbing the back of his head. Something had struck him from above. He looked down to see a shining gold coin lying on the ground. He quickly snatched it up and pocketed it.

All over the town, gold coins began dropping all around. The people began cheering and going nuts as they fought over gold coins. More and more coins dropped plain out of the sky and the people were now completely ecstatic. "All hail Siah," one person called. The rest of the crowd cheered in agreement.

Katara put her hands in her hips, watching in disgust as Siah took all the praise in without even a hint of humility. Katara turned to a nearby crowd member, whose pockets were bulging with coins. "Don't you think that this is just a little too convenient? She prophecies about money and coins just happen to drop out of the sky? Where are they all coming from?"

The guy shrugged, picking up more coins. "Who cares?"

Katara turned to Sokka, who also seemed to be dazzled by this mysterious new fortuneteller. "What do you think, Sokka? Doesn't this all just strike you as a little suspicious?"

Sokka shrugged as he was frantically running about trying to gather up as much money as he could. "Nah, I don't see anything odd here."

Katara was aghast. "But when we were here last time, you were suspicious of all of Aunt Wu's predictions!"

"This is different!"

"How so?"

"No time to talk," he balked. "Free money!"

Katara shook her head. "You're hopeless."

***

Ba Sing Se – Afternoon

"Remind me again why we're not trying to find evidence to clear Uncle's name," Zuko asked as Azula led him and Loi up the steps to the Royal Palace.

Azula was smirking. "Really Zuzu, how do you not catch on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Uncle saved this city during Sozin's Comet. Plus, he helped fight for it against Monk Guandao's forces. Don't you think that the Earth King would be grateful to him?"

"Oh." He hadn't thought of that. He had to admit, sometimes Azula's mind was pretty sharp. And here he was, planning on digging through dirt for any shred of evidence to help Uncle.

"Besides," Azula said, eyes narrowing. "The Earth King won't have forgotten me so easily."

And sometimes Zuko just didn't like the sinister tone that would often creep into his sister's voice.

***

The Earth King was shaking in his boots at the sight of Azula. "Y-you're that Fire Princess! The one who took me prisoner!"

"Yea, yea, yea," Azula replied quickly. "No hard feelings about that, right?"

The Earth King was shielding himself behind his bear, Bosco. "No, not at all! Please don't hurt me!"

"Listen," Zuko came forward earnestly. "My Uncle's been arrested for a crime he didn't commit. We were wondering if you could use your leverage as Earth King to help us out?"

The Earth King looked quizzically for a moment. "Your Uncle is Iroh, Dragon of the West, right?"

Zuko nodded and smiled. "Yup."

"Of course! He's a hero to me! I'll sign an edict to free him immediately. Just as long as she stays far away from me," he said, pointing furiously at Azula, who just smirked and examined her nails.

Zuko looked from his sister to the terrified Earth King. He could honestly sympathize with the poor man. He remembered from his childhood what a little horror she could be. He was just glad that in the past month, she'd toned down - a little bit.

"Done."

***

Ship – Middle of the Ocean – Afternoon

Mai and Toph were still sitting in their cells, bored out of their minds. Toph was seriously about to lose it in here. There was absolutely nothing to do, nothing to bend and Mai wasn't exactly the most exciting person to be around.

Mai sighed glumly, her hand on her chin, her other hand tapping the wooden floor. The sound of her manicured fingernails rapping on the wood was enough to drive Toph bonkers.

Toph was about to say something, when she heard footsteps coming. Good. If they hadn't come when they did, I would've probably said something I'll regret.

Mai stopped her drumming on the floor as she perked up. Standing outside their cell was that same young man, carrying the same tray of food. He had a bandage on his head where Mai had struck him with his own tray.

The guy had the food prepared already, but he seemed rather hesitant to enter the cell. "Don't worry," Mai said, seeming to read his thoughts. "We're not gonna make another escape attempt."

"I should hope not," he replied, a small smile forming across his lips. "Eena won't be too pleased with me for letting you get out again." He raised his arm, which was heavily bandaged.

Mai raised her eyebrows a little. "S-she did that?"

"Yea. Punishment for letting you guys get away." Suddenly Mai and Toph felt a surge of guilt. In their haste to escape they hadn't thought of how this guy would get punished because of them.

Entering the cell, he placed the tray of food in front of them and backed up slowly. Toph had been feeling quite hungry and she tore ravenously into her food. It was actually quite good, and the taste only made Toph more animalistic in her efforts to consume as much as possible as fast as possible. Mai thought it was good too, but she was more refined than Toph and she ate very neatly. The guy stood outside their cell, waiting for them to finish so he could take the tray and dishes away for washing.

Mai looked up at him, finished chewing. "Hey," she said dully. "I just wanted to apologize for … uh … attacking you earlier."

The guy waved her away. "Hey, no sweat. I don't blame you guys; I probably would've done the same if I were in your position."

"You seem so nice," Toph said, removing her face from her dish, the food smeared all over her cheeks. "What're you doing working with a bunch of creeps like them?"

The boy seemed to become quickly uncomfortable. "Uh … well, it's complicated."

"How," Mai asked. She knew that maybe the boy didn't want to talk about it, but she didn't really care. He was helping to hold them captive after all.

"Well … in my village, I used to be a skilled Earthbender. Very skilled, if you don't mind me bragging." They didn't and he continued on. "Eena and her gang tried to recruit me. I initially refused. So … they threatened my family. They killed my mother and father and my older brother. They said that if I didn't cooperate, they'd kill me too. I – I don't want to die."

Mai and Toph felt even guiltier than ever in attacking this boy earlier. That he was being forced to work for these thugs against his will … His whole story was horrible.

"So you see," he said, picking up their tray and dirty dishes. "I have no choice."

As he turned to exit the cell Mai called after him. "Wait? What's your name?"

"Joran."

Mai forced a small smile. "We all have a choice Joran. When the time comes, I hope you'll be able to make the right one."

He smiled as he closed the door behind him. "I hope so too," he whispered to himself.

***

Makupa Village – Night

How in the world did Katara and Suki talk me into staying the night here, Sokka wondered as he made his way through the woods. The Water Tribe boy couldn't sleep, fearing that this single night might set them back big time. If they didn't make it to the North Pole in time … and if anything happened to Toph, why, he would never forgive himself.

Sokka stopped suddenly. He had wandered absentmindedly deeper into the nearby woods than he had planned and now he was completely lost. As he stood there, scratching his head, he heard voices coming from a nearby clearing. Being the busybody he was, Sokka snuck behind a tree to watch and listen.

That new fortuneteller, Siah, was standing there talking to a group of men. Nearby, grazing on some grace, were a group of rhinos. The Rough Rhinos! What're they doing here?

Siah was conversing with the head of the Rough Rhinos, a burly Firebender called Colonol Mongke. The other Rough Rhinos, Ogodei, Yeh-Lu, Kahchi and Vachir stood there with their arms crossed. Siah was praising them.

"You guys did well today. Those fools all bought it. Coins falling out of the sky, can anyone really be so stupid?"

Mongke smirked. "Getting the money was relatively easy. We just stole it from the next town."

Sokka felt the coins still jingling in his pockets. Stolen money.

Mongke was laughing. "I can't wait to hear what you tell those fools next," he said. "Uh, by the way, there's the matter of our payment."

Siah handed him a bag of coins. "As long as you keep my prophecies coming true, there's more where that came from." She clenched her fist. "This town is almost completely mine!"

Sokka couldn't take it anymore. It was a stupid thing to do, but he couldn't help himself. He threw himself in the middle of the clearing and pointed his finger accusingly at the phony fortuneteller. "My sister was right! You're a liar. You've been paying the Rough Rhinos to make your predictions come true!"

Siah's smile grew wider. She kneeled in front of Sokka, placing her hand on his shoulder. "What a smart young man you are. Handsome too!"

"Forget it, sister. You're not gonna charm me so easily!" He shrugged her hand off of his shoulder and turned to leave. "When I get back to the village, you are so busted!"

Vachir's arrow struck the tree just next to Sokka, missing him by mere inches.

"Oh," Siah said her hands on her hips. "I really don't think you're going anywhere!"

***

The Next Day

"Sokka," Suki called. "Sokka?" The group had spent the night at Aunt Wu's house. Katara just couldn't believe how far Aunt Wu's depression had caused the poor woman to sink too. Sokka seemed to be enamored with that Siah, which greatly annoyed Suki. And Aang seemed just as happy-go-lucky as ever.

Suki had woken up and had gone to find Sokka, but her boyfriend was nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, Katara had come up with a brilliant idea and was currently trying to get Aunt Wu to go along with it.

"I don't know," she said thoughtfully, scratching her chin. "I suppose … I don't know."

"What don't you know," Meng asked coming into the room carrying a tray of tea.

"Katara says I should challenge Siah to a fortunetelling showdown. What do you think?"

Meng's mouth splayed wide open in a grin. "I think it's brilliant! Come on, Aunt Wu! You're a real fortuneteller. Siah's a fraud! Frankly, I always thought you should have challenged her long ago!"

Aunt Wu looked back at Katara. "Alright! I'll do it!"

Katara beamed. "Really?! Great! Don't you worry, I'll set everything up!" And she bolted out the door.

***

Suki's search took her outside the village realms to the woods outside. Being an expert tracker, as it was part of her Kyoshi training, Suki was able to follow Sokka's trail deep into the woods and into a clearing.

There, stuck on a bush, was a piece of blue cloth. Suki snatched it and looked at it curiously. Yup. It was definitely Water Tribe.

Hmmm.

***

Siah was standing on her platform outside, about to make her next prediction. The whole village was once again assembled. "As for my next prediction," she announced. "The village is –"

"Stop right there!"

"How dare you interrupt me?! I have not finished my prediction!"

Katara defiantly stood her ground, Aunt Wu standing nervously beside her. "Aunt Wu challenges you to a 'fortune-off.'"

Siah started cracking up. "Please. Aunt Wu's a has-been. A thing of the past. It's time to kick out the old to bring in the new! My clairvoyance is irreproachable. Sorry to say, Aunt Wu can't hope to match my skills."

"We didn't ask your opinion," Katara snapped. "Do you accept her challenge or not?"

"I reject it. I've already shown myself to be greater than she could ever hope to be. I have no need to prove myself."

"Really? You have no need, is that it? Or is it because you're scared – because you know you're a fraud!"

Siah bit her lip nervously. "N-nobody talks to me like that!"

"Then accept the challenge!"

The whole crowd began yelling at Siah.

"Come on! Accept the challenge!"

"You can do it!"

"Kick her granny butt!"

Siah furrowed her eyebrows. "Fine! I accept!"

***

Suki traced Sokka's trail further into the woods, confident that she would soon find him. She was happy to find that her tracking skills were right on. There was Sokka, tied to a tree along with another guy. The other fellow seemed kind of emaciated, grimy and dirty, as though he hadn't been bathed for days. Both of them were gagged.

And some of the Rough Rhinos were guarding them.

Colonol Mongke was sitting on a tree stump opposite Kahchi at a makeshift table. The two were playing Pai Sho. "I win again," Mongke said, drawing a pile of chips over to him. Kahchi frowned angrily, but didn't say anything.

"How about another game," Mongke asked. "Double or nothing?"

Kahchi shook his head and got up and left.

Suddenly, Ogedei came scrambling frantically into the clearing, sweating. "Guys," he shouted. "Aunt Wu's coming out of retirement! She's challenged Siah in a fortunetelling contest!"

Mongke stood up quickly. "Oh, I don't want to miss this!" He motioned to Ogedei. "Watch the prisoners."

"Why do I have to stay behind," he whined.

"Cuz I said so." The Colonol motioned towards the rest of the Rough Rhinos. "Come on!" They mounted their rhinos and took off at full speed towards the village, leaving a despondent Ogedei behind. The villain took his anger out on Sokka, giving him a vicious kick in the stomach. "Stupid boy."

Oh that tears it, Suki thought. Luckily for me, those guys left only one guard – and he seems to be a total idiot!

Suki suddenly tore out of the brush. Ogedei let out a girlish wail of fear before he brandished his chain, tossing it at her. The Kyoshi Warrior agilely dove out of the way, as the tip of the weapon struck a tree, tearing clean through the trunk.

As he struggled to tug it out, Suki leaped at him, with a series of furious jabs into his spine. Ogedei went limp as a wet noodle as he collapsed. "W-what did you do to me," he asked weakly.

"Good thing Ty Lee taught me her chi blocking moves," she said as she untied Sokka and the other prisoner.

Sokka grabbed her by the shoulders. "Quick! The Rough Rhinos are in league with Siah! She's using them to make her predictions come true!"

"But she's facing Aunt Wu in a competition!"

Sokka's mouth hung slack. "Then Aunt Wu is in more danger than anyone! Come on, we have to hurry!"

***

Aunt Wu joined Siah on the platform. The two women stood side by side. Siah bit her lip nervously, and she was visibly trembling. "Why so nervous," Aunt Wu asked.

"I-I'm not nervous." She glanced up at the roof of the building across from them … and standing on top of it was Vachir. He was placing a small, lethal dart in a blowing tube. He looked at Siah, before giving her a solemn nod. Siah's mouth twisted into a devious smile. She looked over at Aunt Wu.

"Why, allow me to make the first prophecy," she said cockily. Aunt Wu nodded in agreement.

Siah began pacing back and forth on the stage. "There are many doubts now about my powers," she said in an authoritative voice. "This woman has the audacity to challenge me. To prove that I have been imbibed with powers from above, I make this prediction – no, this command – this woman, 'Aunt Wu', shall be dead within the minute!" No one will dare to doubt me ever again.

The whole crowd seemed to be visibly frightened. Up until now, they had loved Siah. But now, this was a whole new side of her. And it terrified them.

Above, Vachir raised the blowing tube, which contained the tiny, yet deadly dart, up to his lips.

"NOOO!!!!"

Sokka's boomerang hurtled out of nowhere, striking Vachir unconscious. The dart went sailing out of the tube – straight for Aunt Wu's neck.

DING!!!

Suki was there in an instant. The dart bounced helplessly off of her collapsible shield, protecting the elderly woman.

The rest of the Rough Rhinos appeared out of the shadows on their mounts. They seemed dumbfounded. Aang twirled his staff as a baton and landed on the stage where he pointed his finger at Siah. "You're a fraud! And you tried to have Aunt Wu killed!"

Siah turned to the seemingly confused Rough Rhinos. "Don't just stand there with your mouths hanging open like idiots." She pointed her finger at Aang. "Attack!"

The Rough Rhinos charged forward, weapons ready. Suki, Katara and Sokka joined Aang on stage. Kahchi was the first to attack with his spear.

Sokka was ready, sword drawn. With a swift move, he knocked the attack aside. Leaping into the air, he pile-drived Kahchi straight off his rhino; the animal continued running - right off into the woods.

Kachi was on his feet in an instant. He twirled his spear around and he and Sokka began circling each other.

Yeh-Lu quickly lit some explosives, and hurled them at the stage. Everyone, including Siah, leaped off. "Are you insane," she screeched. "You could have blown me up!"

Colonol Mongke leaped off his mount to square off against Aang, unleashing a spinning vortex of fire at the boy. Aang twirled his staff around, blowing the attack away with Airbending.

Yeh-Lu lit up some more grenades, hoping to take out Aang. As the Avatar blocked another of Mongke's attacks, he swung his staff like a baseball bat, deflecting the grenade and sending it right at Kachi.

Kachi and Sokka were currently dueling each other when the grenade rolled in between them. Kachi's eyes widened as he saw the lit fuse and he tried to scurry away. Sokka, instead of running away himself, got a devious idea and he kicked the grenade towards his adversary. It exploded, sending Kachi flying a hundred feet into the air.

While Yeh-Lu was distracted, Suki leaped towards him, jabbing him in the neck. The helmeted warrior rolled off his mount, and lay on the ground twitching.

And now Mongke was all alone. He went nuts, unleashing a frantic volley of fire at the Avatar.

Quickly drawing water from a nearby fountain, Aang created a water whip, striking him square in the head. Mongke staggered back as he was struck again. He crumpled unto his back as Aang twirled the water around, preparing for another attack.

Mongke recovered by Firebending. He was up in an instant, charging towards the Avatar, only to find the entire townspeople starting to surround him, in defense of Aang. They had seen enough, and they were going to rid this town of these scum once and for all.

One old lady angrily pointed her rolling pin at him. "Let's get him!" The crowd cheered in affirmation and they charged him. Mongke and Yeh-Lu grabbed the unconscious Vachir and Kahchi and took off, Siah frantically in tow, the entire village chasing them out of town. The rhinos themselves, in their confusion, turned against their masters.

"Well, looks like your back in business, Aunt Wu," Katara said.

Aunt Wu smiled, pointing ahead. "Looks like another one of my predictions have come true too." Katara looked at her questioningly. "Remember that young man I told you about? The one who was going to meet the love of his life?"

Katara looked in the direction of her finger to see the young man, who Siah had had captured, embracing Meng. She happened to notice that he had particularly large ears…

And Katara was now more convinced of Aunt Wu's abilities than ever…

***

Boat – Evening

Eena was alone in her bedroom, lighting several candles. She then turned to a mirror, and saw a face forming in the glass. "Eena," it breathed.

Eena's smile grew. "My love."

"Is everything on schedule? Will the Avatar be at the North Pole on time?"

"My spies indicate that he's just a few days away. Don't worry. He'll be there."

The face in the mirror twisted into a hideous grin. "Perfect. He's taken the bait. Soon, we will rid the world of his filth … and my powers shall be complete!"

Eena rubbed her hand along the mirror, before, overcome with emotion, she kissed the face in the mirror. "And then, you and I will be together."

Her master grinned back at her. "Soon I will consume this world … and you and I will remake it in our image!"

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