Katara and Sokka were fun people, Asha decided, watching the duo try to catch a fish that had been jumping out of the water.  They were lively and exciting, if a bit obnoxious at times, but she had come to accept them flaws and all, just as they accepted her. 

Well, her and Gumi, the dragon currently behind her with his head low enough she could wipe his horns with a damp cloth. Said dragon had been clingy since reconciling with his flier, previously alone for a hundred years, and Asha had been just the same-- taking great care in shining his scares and claws. 

Appa was beside them too, groaning for pats every once in a while, along with the lemur, Momo, who Asha had recently been introduced too. Said lemur was currently perched on her shoulder, paws gently playing with strands of hair, only to take off as, who she assumed to be, Aang came closer. 

"How much cleaner can those horns get, Ash?" 

"It's what I'm trying to find out." She laughed, using the tip of her finger to dig out any dirt in the grooves of the tan horns.  True to to her instinct, it was Aang who came up behind her, hands reaching to move her hair to the side as he strung something along her neck. 

"If you're going to try and kill me, I wouldn't recommend doing it in broad daylight."

Aang chuckled before gently turning her to face him, her hair falling back in the normal curvy waves. He nodded in satisfaction as her fingers raised to attentively trace the added accessory, a smile etching onto her face as her finger dipped into the grooves and crevices of the choker.  A small flower, dainty petals brushing against the middle part of her index finger, rested in the middle, most likely one of the ones littered around them (If she had to guess, they looked like Chocolate Cosmos).  Aang allowed her to move to the river they were camping next too, watching as she awed at the necklace-- pride bubbling in his chest as she examined it in awe. 

"Did you tangle the fishing line?" Sokka yelled, knee deep in the water with his pants rolled up. 

"It's not tangled, woven." Aang huffed, eyes never leaving Asha as she stood. She walked closer to him, a gentle hand on his shoulder as she gave him a smile. "Thank you. It's gorgeous."

Before Aang could reply, Sokka beat him to it. "Maybe you can go into the jewelry making business instead of saving the world!" 

"Why can't I do both?" He snapped back, smirking as Sokka failed to catch the fish yet again before turning to Asha, who looked back at him at the same time. "It's nothing. You look great." He beamed, cheeks flaring a bright red, the other air bender's doing the same as she bashfully hid away.

"Smoochie, smoochie! Someone's in love!" Sokka teased, puckering up to the fish he finally had in his grasp. Both air benders flushed bright red as they stuttered over their words, turning away from each other as the fish slapped Sokka with a fin before swimming off. 

"Knock it off, Sokka. I'm sure they're just good friends." Katara teased, petting Momo as she watched the meltdown of the two teens, who were both still bright red. Aang had opened his mouth to speak only for him to be cut off by a loud growl. Both air benders grabbed their staffs before running towards the sound, watching a man dodge swipes from the angry animal. 

"Nice day, isn't it?" He greets, smiling as he evades another swipe. 

"Make noise, it'll run off!" Aang yelled, trying to avoid using his bending lest he his the man. He holds an arm in front of Asha, whether to protect her or stop her from running in he isn't sure, while Katara and Sokka run up behind. 

"No, play dead , he'll lose interest!" Sokka piped, contradicting what Aang just said.  

The bear swipes again, only missing by a small margin, making the man laugh. 

"Run down hill then climb a tree!" Katara, now joining, yelled anxiously watching as the bear got closer and closer. 

"No! Punch him in the bill!" Sokka yelled, pushing Katara out of the way.

"Then run in zig zags!" Aang yelled, getting in front of the two siblings. 

"No need. It's going to be fine." The man was calm still. 

Finally, Asha ducked under Aang's arm, running so she was between the bear and the man-- narrowly avoiding a claw swiping at her.  She quickly slammed the tip of her staff to the ground, creating a wall of air, before pushing her foot forward, sending the wall forward and knocking the animal back a few feet. 

The bear didn't give up though, rising to it's hind paws once more ready to attack until a black creature slammed in front of it, letting out a long and powerful roar that shook the earth beneath them; initiating a fight if it dared to step closer. 

Instead, the bear laid an egg before running into the water and scurrying along. It surprised no one when Sokka ran forward, picking up the egg and holding it close with a sigh in satisfaction.

"Lunch!" He smiled, seemingly happy with his find while Aang and Katara ran towards Asha. Katara's hand coming to her cheek, turning it to look for scratches despite the bear barely getting close to her. 

"Your lucky we showed up!" Sokka turned, still holding the egg while Asha struggled away from prying hands. 

The man smiled at Sokka. "Thanks, but everything was under control. Not to worry, Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey. "

Aang turned to the man, "Aunt who?" 

"No, Aunt Wu. She's the fortune teller from my village. Awful nice knowing your future." His hand reached out while he explained.

"It must've been why you were so calm." Asha grunted, stowing her staff away on Gumi while the reptile nuzzled into her side. The brunette gently stroked his forehead with a sappy smile as her huffed warm air around them. 

"But the fortune teller was wrong! You didn't have a safe journey, you were almost killed!" Sokka yelled, shaking the egg.

"Keep doing that and you'll scramble them." Asha warned, nearly being toppled over before Aang held her steady, still looking at the man. 

"But I wasn't. All right, have a good one," He starts to turn, "Oh, and Aunt Wu said if I met any travelers to give them this." The man handed Aang a long wrapped object, which he let go of Asha to investigate. 

"Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes. It could be fun!" Katara smiled. 

Sokka groaned, "Come on! Fortune telling is nonsense!"

"What do ya know?" Aang now held a bright orange umbrella.  Instantly becoming useful as the skies darken around them, rain starting to pour within seconds.  Opening the umbrella, Aang pulls Asha close to him as they both stand under the umbrella, Katara water bending a cover for herself while Sokka quickly grew soaked.

"That's gotta prove it!" Katara smirked at her brother who was trying to hold the egg above his head. 

"It doesn't! You can't really tell the future. " Sokka continues to try and hold the egg above his head. 

"Then I guess  you aren't really getting wet." Katara laughed as the egg finally slipped, crashing on Sokka's head. 

"Told you, you were going to scramble it." Asha hid a giggle, Aang laughing at the water tribe boy. He turned to the brunette with a smirk, using the hand not holding the umbrella to pull her in closer. "Maybe you're the real fortune teller." He muses, only for the shorter bender to stick her tongue out childishly. 

They break out into soft laughter while the siblings continue arguing, a shout from Sokka bringing them back. 

"Look, I'm going to predict the weather right now!" Sokka raises his arms to the sky, "It's going to keep drizzling!" He waits a few seconds as the others look at him. "See?!" 

The rain stopped milliseconds after that and Aang folded the umbrella while Katara allowed her cover to fall. 

___

Making to the village, the small gang of rag-tag misfits are greeted by a man dressed in all black, holding a door open as he bows. 

"Aunt Wu is expecting you." The man says, leading them to a waiting room of sorts. Asha quickly sitting with Aang to her left and Katara to her right; Sokka on the other side of Aang.  The avatar quickly tried to start a conversation with his fellow air bender before a girl, a little younger than them with twin braids, walks into the room

" My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant." She opens her eyes to face Aang, face immediately falling into a small smirk as she presses closer to the teen, who leans back from the sudden invasion of privacy. 

"Well, hello there." She 'purrs', stepping even closer. Aang greets back a small 'hello' before side glancing to Asha, whose currently holding Momo in her arms as she scans the room blankly. 

"Can I get you some tea, or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?" Meng continues on, bowing with her arms folded. 

"I'll try a curd puff!" Sokka excitedly interrupts, Asha silently thanking him for trying to alleviate the tension even if it fell flat. Even if she looked uninterested, the brunette was paying careful attention, finding great joy in watching Aang try to escape this unfortunate situation. 

Holding her hand to him, Meng furrows her brows. "Just a second." Meng crouches to meet Aang's grey eyes. "So, what's your name?" 

"Aang." His facial features stayed neutral. He couldn't understand why this girl wasn't quite getting the hint, as he quite obviously was already pinning after someone (At least in his eyes), even if that someone was bound and content to ignore his silent pleas for help.

"That rhymes with Meng! And you've got some pretty big ears, don't you?" The girl pushed. 

"I...Guess?" Aang furrowed a brow, frowning as he continued shrinking away.

"Oh don't be modest. They're huge!" Th e water tribe boy laughed. 

Sokka walked behind Aang, spreading his arms, as Aang angrily turns away, slamming his hands over his ears before Meng finally stands straight.

"Well Aang, it is very nice to meet you. Very nice." She smiles with a flirty wink, the other two females in the room trying to muffle a brash laugh from the action.

"Likewise." Aang mutters, his hands still holding his ears. 

By now, his counterpart takes pity, on him, grabbing his hands and lowering them so Aang looks at her; his brows furrowing and a scowl setting it. Awaiting the teasing.

"For your information, I like your ears. Shows your a good listener." She smiles at Aang, who pauses before smiling back. 

"I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense." 

"Try to keep an open mind, Sokka. There are things in this world that just can't be explained." Asha offered, Momo immediately crawling back into her lap as she scratched his ears. 

"Besides, wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?"  Katara questioned, excitedly gesturing with her hands while Sokka sulked.

"It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs." 

When Meng comes back holding a tray of both tea and puffs, the four watch as a young woman rushes over to her, narrowly avoiding the young male passing Meng with his own tray. 

"Oh, Meng! Aunt Wu says I'm going to meet my true love! He's going to give me a rare panda lily!" The girl grabs Meng's shoulder. 

"That's so romantic," Asha, nor Katara,  miss the look she gives Aang. "I wonder if my true love will give me a rare flower." Asha rolls her eyes as the obvious attempt at Meng's flirting, Katara snickering behind her hand. 

"Good luck with that!" Aang smiled at the assistant, smirking at himself as the two girls choked on their laughter at the reply. 

"Is the big eared guy who Aunt Wu predicted you'd marry?" The young woman smiled at Meng who drags her off hurriedly. 

The male who passed her earlier scoffing while he followed. 

Once Meng comes back, her cheeks are fiery red as she slowly shuffles to the group, the boy behind her, the former tripping over the carpet with a gasp. Aang is the one to catch her, nearly setting the other three into cardiac arrest as they stuff knuckles into their mouths to avoid the obvious tension. 

Releasing the tray, Meng quickly stutters an 'enjoy' and shambles out of the room, the male the only one who stayed.

He gracefully set another tray in front of Asha, who watched him with careful eyes after settling herself. 

"I'm truly sorry for her. She seems to think every other guy is her one true love," His voice was sarcastic as he bowed, finally taking a look at the brunette. She was pretty, that was for sure, but not his type. He didn't swing that way, if he were being honest. 

He held out a hand.  "Mako." 

Asha smiles and shakes his hand with a soft grin. "Asha." 

"Yeah, yeah. I'm Aang. You know, the Avatar?" Aang cut in, smirking as Mako released Asha's hand, quickly picking up the tray Meng left behind (As Sokka help the bowl in his hands now). Leaving the group of four alone. 

"Oh my god, that was brutal." Asha chuckles, leaning onto her palms as Aang lets out a sigh of relief. "You're telling me. How much more outright could I be?" 

"I don't know Aang, maybe you two would make a cute couple." Sokka snorts, popping a puff into his mouth. Aang snorts at the action. 

"Welcome young Travelers. Now, Who's next? Don't be shy!" Aunt Wu appears soon after, wearing a golden kimono and eyeballing the girls. Katara shoves Asha forward, who nearly crushed Momo between her stomach and lap, gaining Aunt Wu's attention. 

The brunette growled before getting up and allowing the older woman to lead her to the back.