AtLA Rewritten: Edition 1

Chapter 48

Dai arrived on Isa as the others were getting on the dragons and Appa. She hopped off of the horse, handing the reins to a stable hand, and turned to the others. "Katara says we're going on an adventure?" She smiled. "Oh, and uh... I'm not sure how long Sokka is going to take. It's up to you if you wait for him or not." She hopped on Eld with Zuko. "Let's go, pretty boy!" Zuko made a face and blinked.

Sokka arrived a couple of minutes after Dai. "Hey! You're not leaving without me!" he called out, handing the ostrich-horse's reins to a stable hand. He gave Dai a look, then jogged up to Appa.

"Come on." Aang reached down and helped Sokka up, and they began to fly to the island.

Dai moved to hop off of Eld the moment after he landed, but Zuko grabbed her. "Wait," he said sharply. "Watch where you walk. Don't touch the round plants with angled leaves." He pointed to a low plant, round with pointed leaves and vines coming from its center. Dai nodded and leaped down, her eyes on her boots.

Aang put his hand on Toph's shoulder once they had dismounted from Appa. "Can you do it?"

"Of course I can. Zuko, tell me when," Toph said, nodding towards Zuko.

Sokka facepalmed. "So we all came here to see Toph uproot some flowers?"

Dai smirked at Sokka. "We might be able to see if there's anything else here that'll lead us to Delun, idiot," she teased.

Zuko nodded to Toph. "Take off the first layer of soil and throw it in the sea, just on the shore." He looked at the others. "Stay back. The plants will probably release the gas when they're uprooted, so shoot them up and away as fast as you can, Toph. The rest of you, hold your breath. I'll let you know if the air is safe."

Toph nodded and moved one step ahead, her arms by her side, raising up the first layer of soil rising up and using her hands she threw it in the sea, on the shore. "Easy peasy," Toph said, placing her hands on her hips with a grin.

"Ah, to be a bender..." Sokka said. "Couldn't be me." Aang shook his head.

"Beautiful!" Dai praised Toph, raising a fist in the air. She bounced over to Toph, trying to mess up her hair. Toph grabbed her wrist, stopping her. Dai snorted, pulling her hand away and pouting.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Now we're gonna fly to the other side of the island. There's a pile of rocks. I want to know if Toph can see anything underneath the rock, but I'm not sure because they're loose and might move. We'll land Appa and Eld next to the rocks. They should be able to handle our weight, but not theirs." He pat Eld's neck.

"Relying on Toph! Again!" Dai cheered, hugging Toph. "What would we do without you, you absolute gem," she muttered. She sneaked in front of Sokka. "You ride with Zuko now. I want to ride with today's star." She giggled, patting a spot next to her on Appa for Toph to sit.

Sokka raised her eyebrows. "No way. I don't trust ostrich-horses, and definitely not dragons. Appa can handle us."

Eld growled at Sokka and Dai smirked. "Serves you right."

Toph turned her attention to Zuko. "The rocks? You mean the cave we were in last time?"

Aang shook his head. "No, it is on the other side of the island. We need to be careful like Zuko said. The stones are kind of loose."

"Dai, tie Eld. I'll ride with Appa too. We can come get him later. One trip will be easier." Dai nodded, opening her staff crystal and freezing the dragon's reins to the ground at Zuko's order.

Once on the other side of the island, Zuko and Dai carefully crept up the pile of rocks until they reached the top. Dai bit her lip, concentrating on picking her way up the rocks. "Wait a minute," she said. She waved her left arm, pulling a wave of water from the ocean. She pulled it over them and froze the rocks so they were stable, then pushed her hand down and made a staircase below them.

"Seriously?"

Dai glanced at Zuko. He was soaking. "Oh, right," Dai said, giggling nervously. She pulled her hands back, and in doing so pulled the water from the other's soaked clothes and hair.

Sokka burst out laughing. "Nice look there, Fire Lord."

"Right..." Toph faced forward and came to a halt. "Wait... everyone stop," she commanded.

Aang stopped behind her, eyebrows creased. "What is it?"

"Something is under these rocks... An entrance of some sort? ...I'm not sure."

Zuko hesitated. After a moment, he nodded. "Go ahead and open it up, Toph." Dai pushed her hands forward in a smoothing motion and the ice above the entrance melted back into the sea.

Toph nodded and revealed a cave opening in the rocks. "A cave?" Aang mumbled as he watched.

Toph now crossed her arms. "For sure something is inside, but not sure exactly. Maybe it is like another hideout like the one we were in." Toph turned around to Zuko.

"What do you want us to do?" Sokka looked at Zuko.

Zuko pressed his lips together and he thought for a moment. "I want to go explore," he admitted, "but I won't yet. I left on too short of notice, so Athlea may be upset already. We'll go home and report to her and Katara."

"Dang," Dai muttered. "I was ready for a fight." She ran and did a series of flips back to Appa, proving her point.

Aang looked at him and he blinked and he grinned for a second, looks like even a scary fearless fire lord has something to be afraid of, and that seems to be his wife. He chuckled and he turned around as they started heading back to Appa. "Let's head back, get your dragon and return to the palace," he said as walked ahead towards Sokka.

"Yeah, I'm hungry already. Didn't even manage to eat the sandwiches Dai prepared earlier," Sokka said.

***

A/N we really got Sokka focusing on the important things while Toph pulls the weight...