AtLA Rewritten: Edition 1

Chapter 84

Once the party had totally ended, the team decided to meet up in the dining room, all alone for casual drinks, just to hang out, wearing their nightwear; more relaxed and pleasant.

Dai finished changing and walked down the hall in her nightgown, which was against the rules, but she didn't care. She was barefoot now--another rule broken, one that she had never followed--so when ice slid underneath her feet, she didn't lose her balance. She looked up from the sheet of ice and glared at the woman Athlea had been talking to earlier, who was crouched on the railing of the hallway, balancing carefully.

"Idiot," Dai hissed. She froze the railing, and the woman bounced off of it. Dai put two fingers in her mouth, whistling.

Sure enough, just moments later, her friends came rushing down the hall. "Not her again!" Sokka groaned. Aang sped himself forward on an air scooter, sending a powerful gust of wind to the woman's back and knocking her down. Her head cracked against the ice floor, and she groaned, putting a hand to it.

Sokka rushed forward, leaning over the injured woman. He glanced up at Dai, then back down at the woman. "Dai, you okay?"

Dai bounced back to her feet, eyes narrowed. "I'm fine," she said. She made fists and the ice floor grabbed the woman's feet. She tried bending it away, but Dai furrowed her brow. "You were never a stronger bender than me and you won't be now!" She jerked her hands upward and the ice crawled up quickly.

Their attacker was panicking. "This is my throne!" she snapped.

"The throne was never yours! It was Yue's, and now it's mine, and it could've been yours but you attacked me so now it's your sister's!" Indeed it appeared that the woman was related to Dai.

The woman frowned. "What do you mean?"

Dai laughed. "I'm not having kids." Her relative's eyes went wide and she sent a water whip toward Zuko, who easily deflected it with a soft puff of fire.

"It's over, Hugyeja," Athlea said softly, sliding backward from the waterbender's firing area.

"Wait--no kids?" Sokka suddenly asked, and then shrugged. "I can live with that," he admitted after a second.

"Good, 'cause we don't need more kids with Sokka's brains," Toph said, crossing her arms, a grin on her face.

Hugyeja struggled for a moment, then stopped moving. Dai ran over to her, grabbing her wrist and smoothing the ice away. "You realize that you're going to be charged with treason?" The younger girl nodded, face grim. Dai shook her head. "You used my own trick against me. That's never the right thing to do, attacking people. You could've just talked to me. I would've let you be the next to have the throne." Hugyeja's face twisted angrily, and Dai raised an eyebrow, gesturing to everyone. "Try something. I dare you."

Sokka glanced around. "Where are the goddamned guards?" he mumbled. "I'll be back." Ho took off jogging.

Athlea frowned, looking down at the woman. "Did you really think you would get away with attempted assassinations toward your own Chieftess?" She shook her head. "...Without getting caught? Your behavioral patterns were pretty obvious."

Hugyeja glared at Athlea, jerking her wrist. Dai's eyes went cold and she lifted her cousin to her feet. "I was worth a try."

Sokka returned, a guard on either side. Dai stood back so they could freeze her arms and legs together. "You're crazy," Sokka stated. "Crazy runs in the family or something?!" He glanced between Dai and Hugyeja.

Dai laughed. "Don't bother taking her bending away, Aang. She isn't dangerous." Hugyeja glared at her. She turned her gaze to Sokka, lifting her chin. "Yeah, but I got the stronger gene for it," she stated proudly.