AtLA Rewritten: Edition 1

Chapter 73

"...So?" Sokka asked impatiently, crossing his arms, an ankle resting on his knee under the table as he glanced at Ah Cy. Athlea, seated next to Zuko, furrowed her brows.

Ah Cy raised her eyebrows at Sokka. "So. Nobody from the palace or anyone involved in the area or with Royals are involved."

"Let me see the most similar."

"Well, Your Majesty, it's yours."

Dai let out a harsh laugh. Sokka leaned back into his chair, concern written all over his features. "Of course it's mine. Makes sense. Of course they would try to make it look like me. Thank you, Ah Cy." The Helper left. Dai stood, her face serious. "If they want me, and they want to use the safety of the palace to hurt me, we're leaving the safety of the palace." She leaned her fingertips on the table. "We leave early in the morning after breakfast." A servant taking notes rushed off, probably to start packing.

"What?" Katara leaned her head on her hand. "We can't do that. Without the Palace you could've been killed."

Zuko lifted his head. "Yeah, that's out of the question. Athlea is pregnant."

Sokka looked forward, taking a deep breath. "Without the Palace's safety, we're all going to be killed. Dai first, and then us." He looked at her, frowning.

"Silence!" Dai shouted, her voice cold and harsh. She glared at them. "We travel at Athlea's pace." She focused her glare on Zuko. "Don't demand that Toph follow my orders if you won't."

Zuko glared back, but after a moment he leaned back. "Fine."

Athlea took a deep breath, raising her head and looking at Dai. "We're leaving," she agreed calmly. "If Dai isn't safe out of the Palace, then whoever is behind all of this won't be either."

Aang frowned. "Athlea, are you sure?"

She turned to him, smiling and nodding. "I am sure. We leave at Dai's orders."

"Tomorrow."

"I've always said that Athlea is a tough cookie," Toph pointed out. "Strong baby mama."

Zuko stood quietly, nodding. "I'm going to sleep if we're leaving early." He offered his arm to Athlea.

"Breakfast at 6, gone by 7," Dai responded briskly.

Katara bit her lip. "If you two are the ones we're worried about and you feel safe enough, we can go." She nodded and returned to her room as well.

Dai blinked before turning back to her room, her heels clicking on the floor.

The next day, they left according to Dai's plan. Athlea was moving at a normal pace. Sokka was still half-asleep. Dai had gotten up at four after a sleepless night, paced for an hour, thinking while Sokka lay in her bed, and then gathered her things. They weren't taking Appa, but Dai had insisted on taking Isa. She followed the group at a slow walk. Isa seemed happy to have some attention on him; she had been busy lately.

After a good few hours of nothing, a strong gust of wind started to blow--a snow storm. Isa threw his head, eyes rolling back. "A-are we being attacked?" Sokka called out, eyebrows furrowed. In a matter of seconds, their vision was blurred.

"I think so!" Toph responded. "I can sense someone, but I can't see that well!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!"

Dai jumped from her saddle, a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "I think you mean to say 'Thank you Toph,'" she said firmly. "Toph can't see well in loose snow, not to mention this much of it. I'll bait with Isa. You all try to find the person." With that, she hopped back on Isa and galloped away from them.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "What?! Dai! No!" He stared after her. "God fucking dammit!" He facepalmed, pulling his spear from his back, gripping it tightly as he glanced around.

Katara briefly consoled Sokka. "She'll be fine," she said, though her voice was a bit sharper than normal because she was trying to smooth the storm.

Athlea closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. "Looks like they found us," she muttered, glancing around.

Katara watched, her hands ready. She winced; the flakes were turning into ice. She tried shifting the flakes. "The person is a water bender," she announced against the rising wind. Athlea glanced over at her.

Athlea's arm extended in front of her, her hand in a fist. A strong gush of fire shot from her knuckles, brighter than her normal flames due to the extra energy that she was carrying. Zuko yelped and jumped away. The fire opened up their view for a moment. "Fire beats water."

Zuko turned to Athlea. "Please let me do the fighting unless we really need you," he said, his eyes wide. "And try not to kill me while you're 'beating water'!" he muttered.

"Fire beats snow, water beats fire," Katara muttered.

Athlea smiled nervously. "Right, that. Sorry, Zuko, you go ahead."

"I can't really make out where they are; they're moving!" Toph announced, her head turning back and forth.

"Are they getting closer?" Zuko readied himself, hands up.

"Inching in," Toph announced.

Zuko glanced at Toph. He held his hands close to his body, then shot forward two explosive orange flames. The snow melted away from them for a moment, revealing a slender figure in blue robes, probably a woman.

"There!" Toph shouted, pointing forward.

She lifted a dark blue robe in front of her face, crouching and protecting herself with an aura of water. Once the flames passed, the snow suddenly stopped settling back to the ground, and the person was gone.

"Hey! Come back!" Sokka took a few steps forward, glaring. "Running away the moment we discover you, huh?" He rolled his eyes.

Athlea glanced over her shoulder where Dai had left. "She's after Dai," she pointed out.

"Then we need to go find her!"

"Dai will be fine. She can hold her off," Aang reassured him. "But still, let's go find her."

They ran in the direction the waterbender had disappeared in. Dai was swerving back toward them atop Isa. She had noticed the figure and shot two ice balls at her head, hard enough to knock them out--if they had collided. The woman tumbled out of the way, her face hidden by her robes. "Who are you?!" Dai demanded, closing in with Isa. The person didn't respond. Dai continued throwing blow after blow at her. One collided with her shoulder. The woman, leaned back, crying out in pain, a hand covering her face now. She built herself a tower of ice underneath her and snow started swirling again.

Katara groaned as ice started flying again. She bent it back toward the earth, but as it settled, she realized that the other person was gone.

Dai rode to the Team and dismounted, glaring around. "She's a waterbender," Katara told her.

Dai nodded. "I know. Not a very good one, either. And she got away because of the snow everywhere."

"Who the fuck even is she?!" Sokka returned his spear, a glare on his face.

Dai shook her head. "There's no way to tell," she told him. She moved closer to Sokka, her hands lightly gripping his shirt.

Sokka blinked. "O-okay. No need to wrinkle my shirt," he laughed nervously. She rolled her eyes, releasing him.

Toph crossed her arms. "She's a woman, and a bender. A bad one."

"Bad at waterbending, but she's got an upper hand," Dai pointed out. "She's manipulative, and we have no idea who she is."

***

A/N who do you think she is??? mysterious for sure