AtLA Modern: Year 1, Gen. 1

Chapter 27

A month later, things had gotten pretty intense in the Fire Nation. Random students started committing suicide. All of them left letters, and all of the letters were eerily similar. Other students had been kidnapped and found dead, and others still not found at all. The situation had gotten pretty bad, and students specifically from heir school were targeted. Everyone was stressed and irritated, staying on their toes. Athlea and Dai had made a plan to figure out what was going on, but now, during school, was not the time.

Dai was heading to class, but she spotted Xilah in the halls. Katara had confessed to her the night after her She stopped him, pressing a finger against his chest and glaring up at him. "If you don't quit getting involved in the things your friends do, I'm telling Katara," she informed him bluntly. "She's too pure for all of your... bullshit. You're just going to hurt her."

Xilah blinked, eyes narrowing. "Oh, really?" Dai didn't flinch her eyes on his. "I'll consider it," he responded, smirking slightly. Dai scoffed and turned around.

***

Later that night, Dai was waiting for Athlea on the firebender's bed, crisscross with a pillow, as normal; it had become a habit, whenever she wanted to spill tea. Athlea entered and paused. "Wh-why...?" She shut the door behind her.

"I don't know. There's nothing else to do until the others go to sleep and we can leave, anyways," she pointed out.

Dai shrugged, giggling. "We need to leave in...approximately an hour. Everyone should be going to sleep soon, so the timing will work."

She bit her lip, grinning. "Okay okay, I have a secret I've been wanting to tell you, too, but you can't tell anyone. I'll kill you. Okay?" She raised an eyebrow, extending her pinkie, smiling a little.

Athlea glanced a her phone before returning it to her pocket, sitting next to Dai and crossing her legs, an eyebrow raised. "What secret?" She glanced at Dai's finger, then reached forward and hooked her pinkie with Dai's before crossing her arms again. "What is it?"

Dai snorted, looking down, her cheeks turning pink. "Okay, Sokka and I might be hooking up," she said quietly, snickering. "Like, for a month and I half now. Although will people around all the time, we've only actually gotten a chance like twice." She smirked, looking up at Athlea. "Don't tell anyone!"

Her friend blinked. "I'm not going to tell anyone. I don't think you should be embarrassed or ashamed."

Dai shrugged. "I'm not, I just don't want everyone to know." She bit her lip. "He likes me, and I don't really know if I like him back, and I don't want pressure from other people to date him more than I already have in my brain." She swirled a finger by her temple.

"Do you...want to take it further?" Her brows furrowed. "Try and gather your thoughts and see if you actually like him or not, because otherwise you're playing him and I don't think that's fair. You get me?" Athlea let out a sigh, rubbing her temples.

The waterbender raised a eyebrow and shrugged. "I don't know. Sort of? It doesn't really matter, though. He's too nervous about triggering me to do anything else after Lei tried forcing me to do things, even though I'm able to do swords practice with him now without getting scared by sudden movements."

Athlea looked forward, biting her lip. "Dai... If you aren't sure, why are you leading him on?" she asked, frowning and looking at her friend.

Dai furrowed her brows, then raised one. "It's not like I didn't make it clear to him what my intentions are," she pointed out, shrugging.

"If your brain is telling you to date him, do it."

"My brain isn't telling me to date him, or I would. We haven't even talked very much because of all the stuff happening at school."

Athlea gave her a stern look. "It does matter, Dai. If you don't want to take it further, you shouldn't force it."

Dai stood, stretching and scoffing, rolling her eyes and smirking. "Thanks, Mom. I'll see you in like half an hour or whatever when we leave." She slid out of her door.

***

A/N sooo again check out the One Shots to get caught up