A/N: short, chapter is short. sorry!

disclaimer: Mike and Bryan own the ATLA universe; Mariko belongs to me (: enjoy!

Panda-Lilies, Bean-Curd Puffs and Fortunes

Now it was strange that they'd gone through a bad storm-borderline-typhoon –to which they'd survived, of course, and then both Sokka and Katara had gotten sick a few days afterward (she'd managed to avoid becoming ill due to her makeshift tent she'd made during those few days until they were able to travel again, deeming the cave quarantined), and now they were going to see a fortune-teller?

Her life couldn't get any weirder… But then again, whatever deity residing in the heavens above just adored making her life weirder each morning she awoke.

Most of the time she disliked it, but some days she could stomach it… Today was one of the latter days.

"I still can't believe we're in this whacked place…" She muttered as she stood closer to Sokka.

A girl entered the room from the back, earning a mild glance; she wore a violet and purple robe with long sleeves and she only looked to be twelve or thirteen, was as tan as Katara, though what struck her the most was that her bushy black hair was drawn up into twin braids on either side of her head that made her look as if she had antlers.

She valiantly fought the amused look and kept a stoic mask on her face, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"My name is Maang, and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant." The girl informed; whatever she was about to say next was silenced as her eyes fell on the bald head of Aang. Her brown eyes warmed in something she could only guess was affection, "Hello there." She said to him.

Aang looked up boredly, "Hello."

"Can I get you some tea, or some bean-curd puffs?" Maang asked as she gestured the quartet seat themselves to the right of the room infront of a folding screen.

Sokka piped up, "I'll try a curd puff!"

She put up a hand to silence him, "Just a second," she doubled a little to be at the airbender's eye level, attention drawn to the boy, "So what's your name?" She asked.

"Aang."

"That rhymes with Maang! And you've got some pretty big ears, don't you?"

The boy blinked, making a face that showed he was slightly uncomfortable, glancing at one of his ears. "Um, I guess…?"

"Don't be modest, they're huge!" Sokka boasted, stifling a yelp when Mariko whacked him sharply on the side of his head, shooting her a look that she met with a reproachful scowl.

"Well, Aang, it's nice to meet you… Very nice." Maang smiled a little too sweetly to the boy, shuffling away to go fetch some refreshments.

"Likewise," Aang said absently.

"Ow, what was that for?" Sokka hissed to the older girl.

Mariko folded her arms, "Be nice; it's a wonder your luck's been off today. First the fish, then the platypus-bear's egg cracking on your cast-iron head, and then the downpour." She listed, all the while keeping her eyes closed in a serene expression.

"I didn't know you believed in fortune-telling, Mari," Aang said, looking at her curiously.

"I don't put much stock in what most sensible people think is hokum, though I do have an open mind with certain things. That and I know bad luck when I see it." She answered with a slight smile, ignoring the snort from the boy to her left.

"I can't believe we're here in the House of Nonsense," Sokka groused.

Katara rolled her eyes, "Try to have an open mind, Sokka; there're things in this world that just can't be explained. Wouldn't it be nice if you had some insight into your future? And besides, Mariko and I are at least open-minded."

"It would be nice to have some bean-curd puffs… And anyway, that's only because you're girls!"

THWACK.

"Says the boy who got cowed by a fighting squad of female warriors on Kyoshi Island," Mariko said dryly as she had him in a headlock, tugging on his right ear, a pointed scowl on her brow.

"Ow, ow! W-wait you told her!?" Sokka complained, being released reluctantly by the girl.

Katara snickered, "She asked." She answered with a shrug.

It wasn't long before Maang returned with four tea cups and two bowls of bean-curd puffs on a tray.

"Oh, Maang, Aunt Wu just told me my fortune; she said I would meet my true love today! He's going to give me a rare panda-lily." A woman declared as she came out from a session, gushing over having her fortune read.

"That's so romantic! I wonder if my true love would give me a rare flower…" Maang sighed dreamily, looking over at the boy she'd been ogling.

Aang waved absently, "Good luck with that."

"Is that the big-eared guy Aunt Wu said you would marry?" The woman said in a hushed tone, before being ushered away by the blushing girl.

She shuffled towards the quartet and fumbled slightly and would've fallen forward if Aang didn't reach out to catch her, making sure the contents weren't spilled on his lap.

Their eyes met; blush coloring her cheeks, Maang gave up custody of the tray with a squeaked, 'Enjoy your snack!'

Before Sokka could inhale one batch of puffs, a woman came forward, looking to be in her sixties at least, with gray hair and yellow and gold robes and a gold hairpiece in her kept-back hair. "Welcome, young travelers. Now, who's next? Don't be shy…" The woman (apparently this was Aunt Wu, judging by her air) invited, smiling warmly at the quartet.

Mariko, Sokka, and Aang looked to one another before Katara volunteered and both she and the old woman went to the back.

Momo hopped onto Mariko's shoulder as she handed him a handful of puffs, munching on the ones in the second bowl.

Aang looked off to where the two females had gone, twitching a smidge, rubbing the back of his hairless head, "So… what do you think they're talking about, back there?"

"Oh, prolly nothing special; love, who she's gonna marry, how many babies she's gonna have…" Sokka listed boredly, taking a sip of tea.

Mariko noticed the last two things perked his acclaimed-big ears, sipping her tea. "Mundane things, then." She surmised, moving the bowl away from a grabby white paw.

"Right, dumb stuff like that… Well, I gotta find a bathroom!" Aang popped up to go find a toilet, shuffling away to dash out the back.

"Huh, you might be right after all, Sokka." Mariko mused, grabbing another handful of puffs and placing them on the floor, letting the lemur swoop down to munch as she relaxed.

"Thank you… About what?" Sokka looked up at her from lounging on his right side, munching on the puffs.

She chuckled, "Nothing much."

The heat from the lava that conglomerated in the trenches was almost unbearable.

Being a firebender, she was used to the heat, but raw heat from an active volcano was something she had to get accustomed to… and fast.

"It's not going to hold," she muttered, breaking away from her friends to hop onto the closest trench lip, inhaling and then extending her left hand's palm, bending her fore, pinky, and thumb down, channeling the fumes from the lava outward with her right hand's two fingers pointed skyward, maintaining her stance as best she could.

Normally a stance like that wasn't considered elementary when it came to firebending, but an old friend of hers had taught her how to channel smoke through her fingers when she was twelve.

"Mariko, let go!" Aang declared behind her, perking her ears, breaking her concentration.

She eased her stance, looking at him as he hopped high into the air, dropping down to blow air on the rising wave of lava, keeping it up so the lava formed into an arched wall that seemed to shield the village.

"Airbending does wonders." Mariko hummed quietly as she had retreated to stand alongside Sokka and Katara, smiling in admiration.

"Wow, sometimes I forget just how powerful a bender that kid is," Sokka said in likewise admiration.

Katara blinked, "Wait, what'd you just say?"

"Nothing, just that he's a powerful bender." Sokka shrugged.

She slowly looked up at the tamed volcano, seeming to realize something. "I guess so."

A/N: i did mention there would be light canon pairings, didn't i?