AtLA Rewritten: Edition 1

Chapter 23

"What the fuck?" Athlea glanced over at Zuko, then rushed toward the others, Zuko on her heels. "What happened?" she asked them.

Dai had landed on her feet, her eyes wide and water in her hands. She glanced around, clearly on edge.

Sokka lay on his back in the sand, coughing up water. "I regret my LIFE CHOICES!" he exclaimed, breathing heavily.

"I told you: consequences," Dai muttered, still visibly tense.

"Shush!" Sokka responded. He slowly sat up, panting.

"We barely got out," Aang told her, "but I got the scrolls. That library was quiet, but deadly!"

Athlea glanced at the waterbenders, tilting her head onto its side. "Are you two okay?"

Katara nodded, glancing at Dai. Dai turned away from the water to look at them. "What? Oh, right, yeah, I'm fine. Are you guys okay?"

"You really like water," Athlea pointed out. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"It's me," Dai murmured, staring out at the moon as it rose above the ocean. "Yeah, I'm okay. Katara froze her bubble, so we're all safe, right?"

"Right!" Katara said.

Aang stood and slid the backpack from his shoulder. "On a brighter note, we got some scrolls." He smiled proudly.

Athlea looked from Aang to Zuko and back again. "That's great. We were just setting up tents for the night," she said quietly.

Katara and Aang kneeled. "Let's see." She tugged on the bag.

Dai grabbed a scroll with a waterbending sign in the corner. "Look, Katara. This one shows how to move large amounts of water like I did earlier."

Athlea raised an eyebrow, reaching inside the bag and pulling out a scroll. "This is for firebending," she said as she opened it. She was smiling, Zuko glancing at it over her shoulder.

"I got as many as I could. I couldn't get all of them, though--there were many more!" Aang told her, beaming.

Dai raised her eyebrows. "I'm not going back there, and no way we're returning them," Katara told Aang.

Aang chuckled. "Yeah, I wouldn't wanna go back there. We almost died."

Athlea glanced the scroll over, then rolled it back up. "Good job, Aang," she said with a nod.

"I got around 6 scrolls for each type of bending," Aang said.

"Sounds good. Zuko and I can look over them," Athlea offered.

"Damn, you and your bending," Sokka responded to Aang, grinning.

Katara laughed. "He is the Avatar."

"When do we eat?" Sokka blurted suddenly.

"You're hungry already?" Toph asked, giggling.

Zuko walked to Appa and grabbed an armful of sealed containers. "Katara got us... soup? for the first night," he told them, peering inside one of the containers.

Katara glanced up from a scroll. "They came in containers!" she protested. Zuko shook his head and, giving each container a small flash of heat to warm it, started handing them their dinner.

"FOOD!" Sokka rushed to Zuko, his eyes big.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "I guess all that standing in a bubble wore you out?" he asked, handing a container over. Sokka took it immediately, wolfing it down.

"No," Dai responded, her words clipped, "it was almost drowning." She took her portion.

"Fair pay for saving Sokka's life," Katara admitted grudgingly.

"Thanks," Aang said, smiling as he took his.

They all sat down together to eat. Sokka was the first to finish, laying on his back, satisfied. Dai went to the water again. Katara followed her shortly after, and the two spoke quietly for a moment before Dai stood behind Katara, moving the other woman's arms, showing her a move. Athlea's gaze followed them.

Zuko slid Sokka the last container, Sokka's second. "That's it," Sokka said, sitting up and beginning to eat it. "Imma sleep like a log tonight." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Maybe we could train a bit before we leave tomorrow," Aang suggested.

Athlea raised an eyebrow. "Maybe, if Zuko wakes up in time," she teased.

"Awesome! We need to get to work; we have a plan to accomplish," Aang said determinedly. Athlea stretched her arms above her head for a second before standing up and moving to her tent, behind Appa further up on shore. Zuko watched her walk away, smiling.

Dai and Katara rushed up on the shore. "Hey, if we're staying here tomorrow, Katara and I should train at night," Dai suggested. Katara nodded. "The moon strengthens water bending, and it's a technique that's helped me."

Katara patted Aang's head, not having heard the end of the conversation. "Time for bed."

Zuko laughed. "Your babysitter, huh?"

***

A/N so... they made it out alive and quickly resumed their shenanigans. some more insight on Dai, although she's a very complicated little lady. to be honest, she's really complicated, especially so early with so much grief and emotions running through her small angry body. we won't get to see nearly as much of her character arc as the others.