And I disappeared for a couple months there. But I'm back! If you've ever played the Haunted House mod quest for Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, you'll recognize the quote for Sokka's fortune.

~Roze

: Ten :

Some Generically Wise Statements

"How would you all like to be the first ones to try out my fortune cookies?" Iroh happily offered the next day at the Jasmine Dragon.

"Fortune?!" Katara immediately leapt at the offer, literally jumping out of her seat and causing her chair to clutter loudly to the floor.

"Shhh!" Sokka rapidly pressed a finger in front of his pursed lips, the spit practically flying out everywhere from his violent shushing. "Don't ever say the 'F' word in front of her!"

Too late.

"I would love a fortune cookie!" The waterbender laced her fingers together, her eyes gleaming with devoted excitement.

"How do these fortune cookies work?" Aang asked walking over to the group.

Iroh revealed a golden cookie shaped like a crescent moon. "You break the cookie in half and inside, there will be a slip of paper that tells you what your fortune is."

"Let me guess. They're all generically wise statements written by you?" Sokka said, obviously unimpressed.

Iroh threw back his head, letting out a hearty chuckle at the comment. "Well, there is nothing wrong with receiving even my most generic advice. But for this occasion, I've personally written out some fortunes that I think you will all enjoy."

"This is perfect!" Toph exclaimed. "I've heard of this fun thing to do with fortunes when I was at Earth Rumble 6! Now's the perfect time to try it out!"

"Here Katara," Iroh handed her one of his fortune cookies. "Why don't you have the first one? Since you were so nice to pick up the flour to make them yesterday."

Katara opened her fortune, reading it aloud for everyone to hear. "If you love something, set it free… if it returns, keep it and love it forever—"

"—in bed!" Toph immediately shrieked and burst into hysterical laughter. Her sudden outburst brought a bright shade of red to everyone's cheeks as their eyes widened.

"WHAT?!" Katara cried out, her flushed cheeks refusing to return to normal.

Only the sound of Toph's laughter filled the air. "Oh man! That was too perfect!"

"Waitwaitwait!" Sokka interfered waving his hands. "What is this 'in bed' thing?"

"It's a saying that you add to the end of your fortunes to make it more interesting— and more fun!"

"You're way too young for that!" Zuko retorted, glancing to over to Mai who kept silent.

Toph kept a sly smirk on her face. She leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms and legs. "Fine. Let's do another saying then."

"Oh!" Sokka raised a finger in the air. "How about— But then everything changed when the fire nation attacked!?" He held a huge open smile in the dead silence. His eyes wandered amongst the group of confused expressions, and then he shrugged, completely unaffected by the rejection. "No? Okay."

"How about we just stick to reading the fortunes as they were meant to be read?" Katara stressed.

"How boring!" The earthbender articulated. "But I guess we could do that." After all, she had already implanted the idea into their minds; she was sure that no matter how much they tried to refute the idea now, the suffix would subconsciously make its way in as an afterthought. She fought back the urge to laugh at her ingenious nature.

"Mine next!" Aang shouted and took the opportunity to open his fortune cookie. "Hurt feelings do not always equal bad. Some things can only be learned through pain."

Toph grinned and turned her head towards everyone who remained awkwardly silent. Mission accomplished.

Sokka nodded his head, intrigued. "Okay, not a bad fortune. Not bad at all."

"Read mine next!" Toph shouted. Iroh handed the cookie to Toph who crushed it, poured the crumbs into her mouth and handed the slip of paper to Katara standing next to her.

The waterbender straightened out the paper reading it diligently. "There's nothing written on here."

"You mean it's blank?"

"No, it literally says, 'There's nothing written on here'."

"That's a great fortune. As clear as my eyesight."

Then it was Zuko's turn to read his fortune. "You must look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself."

He kept a straight face.

…

Only he would ever understand why it was so ironic that he had received that fortune.

"Thanks Uncle. I've… said the same thing to myself once…" he slowly replied in a monotonous voice.

"You have? Good!" Iroh sounded pleased with his precious, growing nephew.

"All right! My turn!" Sokka snatched the cookie in Iroh's hand, reading it aloud for everyone to hear. "It heals wounds. It takes lives. It teaches wisdom and patience." Confused, he rapidly flipped the paper in case there was something more. "What is this? A riddle?"

Iroh's eyes lit up. "Do you know the answer?"

The water tribe boy randomly pulled out his special hat, monocle and dragon water pipe, stepping away from the group to pace back and forth. "Give me a moment to figure it out," he answered with an unknown accent.

"Mai, it's your turn," Katara offered gently. In an attempt to appear part of the group, Mai broke the cookie apart, holding open the paper in front of her. "Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn."

"Sheesh. Say that in an even more enthusiastic voice, will ya?" Toph snickered to herself.

Then, the sound of forced sobbing came out of nowhere. "I hope you all cherish those fortunes. I put so much love into each and every one of them!" Iroh cried out dramatically.

"We'll be sure to put them to great use," Aang reassured. "Won't we guys?" Everyone made a sign of agreement for Iroh's sake which seemed to appease him.

Tucking their fortunes safely away, the group of friends resumed their moment of relaxation and dispatched to do their own separate things. Detective Sokka continued pacing back and forth but paused in his step when Iroh approached him with a teapot in hand.

"So, have you been to the foggy swamp lately?"

Sokka eyed the older man, who sounded like he was aware of a lot more than he was letting on. But if the wise man was blessed with the information, then he must have been trustworthy. Thankfully, Iroh's previous question was more than enough of a hint for the teenager to solve the riddle.

Sokka released a knowing smile. "I haven't been there in a long time."

A pause.

And then…

Iroh erupted in a deep earthy laugh. "Good answer."