AtLA Rewritten: Edition 1

Chapter 21

Dai pulled her water back into her canteen. "Great," she said quietly. She brushed past Sokka and moved through the house and out the back door to join the others.

Sokka sighed, closing the door after them and following her through the back door, and they joined the others. Toph was the first to greet her. "So... Welcome to the Avatar team," she said, punching Dai's arm.

Athlea, standing by Zuko, crossed her arms. Zuko nudged her. "Be nice," he teased.

She rolled her eyes before turning back to look at him. "Maybe in time." She shrugged, uncrossing her eyes. Zuko shook his head, laughing a little.

Dai grinned and hit Toph back. "Thanks." She glanced at Athlea and didn't say anything, then turned her gaze to Aang. "Where's my spot on the giant cow?" she joked, glancing at Appa. Appa made a loud noise of opposition.

"You mean Appa." Sokka led the way toward Appa. "We should get going and not waste any time. We need to get to that library." Katara glanced at him and Aang frowned.

"Sokka is right. We should get going. Otherwise we'll get there tomorrow," Athlea agreed.

Dai glanced between Sokka and Katara. She muttered something under her breath.

"Come on." Katara climbed up into Appa's saddle, helping Sokka up. Zuko followed, Athlea at his side, Aang getting on in front, and Dai waited to get on last.

"Well, let's go. Yip yip!" Appa let out a noise of acknowledgement at Aang's words and flew off.

Athlea blinked and pulled out the map they'd stolen. "There should be a small island where we could stop when we arrive."

"That's what I thought," Katara agreed with Athlea. "The water benders can go explore while everyone else keeps watch."

Sokka glanced at Dai. "Can you make air bubbles?"

Dai was stroking a hand along Appa's fur. She glanced over at Sokka and nodded.

Sokka nodded in acknowledgement. "Great, then. Katara, Aang, and I can go under and find what we need, then come back out." Teasing, he added, "Wouldn't want our firebenders or Toph in the water."

Athlea glanced at him, blinking. "I'd rather not get wet," she said, shrugging. Zuko shivered.

"I prefer the ground," Toph agreed, crossing her arms and leaning back.

Katara frowned. "You should stay with the other benders," she disagreed with Sokka. "Aang, Dai, and myself should be the ones to go underneath." Adding to Sokka in a quieter voice, she said, "You don't even know what we're looking for, and you barely slept last night."

"I can go just fine." Sokka crossed his arms, shaking his head. "We'll decide who goes when the time comes." Katara crossed her arms, her entire body basically a female reflection of Sokka's.

Sokka scratched the back of his head, sighing. "Okay... So, I don't think we introduced everyone to Dai here, right?" Dai turned back to Sokka again. Katara shook her head, and Zuko narrowed his eyes. "Okay, this is Katara, and this lazy... girl is Toph, earth and metal bender! And we have Fire Prince Zuko--you know of him. Who doesn't. Always angry and firebending."

Dai raised an eyebrow. "Metal bender. Impressive." She nodded to the fire benders. Of course she knew about Zuko, but not Athlea.

"And then we have Athlea, another firebender, who took an eternity to find. And, of course, the Avatar, Aang, who's still training to learn firebending. Everyone, this is Dai, Yue's sister."

"Hi, Dai!" Aang greeted, smiling.

"Hello, Avatar," she responded quietly.

"Hi," Athlea said, turning to Sokka and raising an eyebrow.

"Speaking of firebending..." Aang turned to Athlea with a big smile. "When's the next session? Now that Zuko can bend again, I assume you will both train me."

Athlea glanced from Zuko to Aang. "I have an idea..." Toph started. "Zuko can to the basics and moves, and Athlea can teach you both how to control it. The meditations you were doing? Yeah, she can help you. After all, didn't she learn firebending differently? I think you should pick up from both aggressive and passive roots."

"That's a good idea," Katara agreed with Toph. Zuko nodded; it made sense.

Sokka blinked a few times. "I'll just sit here and pretend to understand," he said, nodding.

"I like that plan. What do you think?" Athlea asked, turning to Zuko with a smile on her face.

Zuko returned Athlea's gaze. "That sounds good to me," he agreed.

"It was just a suggestion," Toph said, shrugging.

Aang grinned. "I like it!"

Katara glanced over at Dai; she was now asleep, leaning against the side of Appa's saddle. "I'm guessing a certain someone hadn't had a good night's rest in a while," she pointed out.

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A/N Dai my lil bby... bitch needs some sleep. another filler before we see what this library is all about