[Fic]: Diving
Title: Diving
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: Aang, Thuy (OC)
Rating: G/K
Word Count: 1319
Prompt: 46 - earthball
Summary: While taking a break from treaty negotiations, Aang makes a new friend in the Middle Ring.
Notes: Written for atlaland 's Bingo Challenge. OC-fic.
Aang sighed in relief as he finally escaped his escort.
It was a rest day; why did the nobles insist he have a tail? It wasn't like he was going to disrupt the entire city!
...again.
In either case, he wasn't going to spend his time off from the peace negotiations trapped in the Earth Palace with Joo Dees insisting on showing him around. They meant well, he supposed, but all the sights they showed him were boring! He wasn't interested in dusty old paintings or monuments nearly a thousand years old.
He wasn't even wearing his monk's robes today -- they stood out too much. Instead, he'd talked one of the palace pages into loaning him an outfit, and covered his tattoos just in case. He didn't want to be the Avatar today, he wanted to be Aang.
Alone, he explored the Middle Ring, taking the time to appreciate the various shops and smells he passed by. The last time he'd been here... well, he'd been too busy trying to find Appa to take it all in properly.
"Look out!"
Aang ducked, and a ball flew over his head.
A second later, a girl darted past him. He turned in time to see the ball bounce off a stall corner straight at her head--
He stepped back in an airbending stance--
She ducked under the ball and slammed it straight up into the air with the side of her head.
Aang froze as the ball plunged into her arms. "Sorry!" the girl chirped to the man who owned the stall, then turned to him. "Sorry," she repeated, bowing politely. "The ball got away from me."
He blinked. "Is-- is that an earthball?" Since when did girls play earthball?
The girl beamed at him. "Yep!"
"Thuy, you know what your grandfather will say if he catches you with that thing," the shopkeeper warned.
The girl looked past Aang, a pout on her lips. "You're not gonna tell him, are you, Bayani?"
"No harm, no foul," the man told her. "Keep better control of it next time."
The pout morphed into an adorable grin. "Thank you, Bayani!" she chirruped, and darted off with the ball under her arm. Curious, Aang followed her down the short alley the ball had soared out of and into a surprisingly empty square.
To his surprise, not only was she now bouncing the ball from knee to knee, she was good at it, even in a dress that seemed designed to restrict movement like that. She bounced the ball high, then started using her head to keep it in the air.
Aang's jaw dropped as she kept it up for a good minute, then let it fall and used her chest to control its descent to the ground. She kicked it hard into the wall at one end of the square, then threw her arms in the air. "Goal!" she crowed.
"Don't you have to get it past a keeper for that?" Aang asked.
She jumped and whirled. "Oh! You scared me," she said, pressing a hand to her chest.
"Sorry," Aang said, grinning sheepishly. "I didn't mean to."
"It's okay," she replied. "I just-- thought you were someone else, for a minute."
"Who?"
"My brother," was the cheery reply. "He promised to meet me here."
Huh, that was weird. Why would she need to meet her brother in a private place like this?
"Want some company?" he asked. "I haven't played earthball since--"
He paused. The last time he'd played had been a hundred years ago, in Omashu.
"...in a really long time," he finished.
Her grin widened. "Sure! I'm Thuy."
"I'm A-" No, he was hiding today. "Anil," he corrected himself.
"It's nice to meat you, Anil," she chirped, then kicked the ball to him.
Aang nearly earthbent the ball closer, until he remembered the first rule of earthball -- no bending. He and Bumi had ignored that rule a lot, but he didn't think Thuy was a bender.
As it was, he had to step just a little too wide to catch the ball with the inside of his foot; by the time he'd balanced again, Thuy was on him, neatly stealing the ball with an inside sweep of her left foot and taking off past him.
"Hey!" He gave chase, abandoning himself to the game.
He had just scored his third goal when he suddenly became aware that he and Thuy were no longer alone. He glanced to the mouth of the square and tripped over the ball, measuring his length against the ground.
"Anil!" Thuy cried. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," he grunted, getting to his feet. He glared at the Dai Li agent who had startled him so. "What do you want?"
"Alak!" Thuy darted past him to throw her arms around the Dai Li.
Aang stared.
"Thuy, what are you doing?" he demanded. "He's a Dai Li!" Everyone in Ba Sing Se was afraid of the Dai Li!
"Uh," said the Dai Li. "Technically, I'm not. No hat."
Aang glared at him, and the Dai Li raised empty hands. "I don't want to start anything, Avatar," he said quietly.
Thuy blinked. "Avatar?"
Aang sighed. "Yeah," he said sullenly, shooting another glare at the Dai Li, who shrugged. "And you never answered my question."
"I'm meeting family," the Dai Li replied calmly.
Aang looked from him to Thuy and back again, and for the first time realised that they had the same eyes, the same hair colour, and even the same cheekbones.
"He's your brother?" he asked, staring again.
Thuy's eyes narrowed. "Yes," she said, sounding like Katara when she was trying not to yell.
"Thuy, it's okay," said the Dai Li, surprising Aang. "The Avatar... has a lot of reasons not to like us."
"But you're not even full Dai Li!" she protested. "You didn't have anything to do with--"
"It's okay," the Dai Li repeated. "We don't need people to like us to do our jobs. I learned that before I joined them."
Aang blinked. The Dai Li had sounded almost bitter just then.
Thuy scowled. "Grandpa is stupid," she said.
The Dai Li smiled sadly. "Yeah, he is, but I'm not risking him disowning you too, Thuy. You know he already hates that you play earthball."
"You're disowned?" Aang repeated.
The Dai Li glanced up at him coolly. "Since the Dai Li invited me to join," he said. "Kind of gave me no choice but to accept, really."
Aang scowled. He wouldn't put it past the Dai Li to count on exactly that sort of thing. "That isn't fair."
"Yeah, well, Granddad didn't exactly give me a chance to turn them down," the Dai Li replied.
"Still, there's no way they couldn't have known--"
"They did not," the Dai Li snapped, "realise that my grandfather would be so highly offended that they found me suitable he would disown me as soon as he heard."
Aang blinked. "But the Dai Li--"
"Are able to accept rejection," he interrupted. "Suitable candidates are allowed to refuse."
Thuy had squirmed into the Dai Li's arms and was glaring daggers at Aang now. "I know you don't like the Dai Li, Avatar," the Dai Li said. "But we're not all as evil as you think we are."
"You helped Azula!" Aang accused.
"To save the city!" the Dai Li shot back.
"How does helping Azula--"
"Ask Long Feng if you can't figure it out for yourself," he interrupted. "I'm going to spend time with my sister now."
He rose from a kneeling position in one fluid motion, holding Thuy's hand in his. He led her out without looking back.
"Jerk," Aang heard Thuy say quietly.
That one word stung more than anything the Dai Li had snapped at him. He watched them go, then kicked the earthball as hard as he could at the wall.
It stuck.
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: Aang, Thuy (OC)
Rating: G/K
Word Count: 1319
Prompt: 46 - earthball
Summary: While taking a break from treaty negotiations, Aang makes a new friend in the Middle Ring.
Notes: Written for atlaland 's Bingo Challenge. OC-fic.
Aang sighed in relief as he finally escaped his escort.
It was a rest day; why did the nobles insist he have a tail? It wasn't like he was going to disrupt the entire city!
...again.
In either case, he wasn't going to spend his time off from the peace negotiations trapped in the Earth Palace with Joo Dees insisting on showing him around. They meant well, he supposed, but all the sights they showed him were boring! He wasn't interested in dusty old paintings or monuments nearly a thousand years old.
He wasn't even wearing his monk's robes today -- they stood out too much. Instead, he'd talked one of the palace pages into loaning him an outfit, and covered his tattoos just in case. He didn't want to be the Avatar today, he wanted to be Aang.
Alone, he explored the Middle Ring, taking the time to appreciate the various shops and smells he passed by. The last time he'd been here... well, he'd been too busy trying to find Appa to take it all in properly.
"Look out!"
Aang ducked, and a ball flew over his head.
A second later, a girl darted past him. He turned in time to see the ball bounce off a stall corner straight at her head--
He stepped back in an airbending stance--
She ducked under the ball and slammed it straight up into the air with the side of her head.
Aang froze as the ball plunged into her arms. "Sorry!" the girl chirped to the man who owned the stall, then turned to him. "Sorry," she repeated, bowing politely. "The ball got away from me."
He blinked. "Is-- is that an earthball?" Since when did girls play earthball?
The girl beamed at him. "Yep!"
"Thuy, you know what your grandfather will say if he catches you with that thing," the shopkeeper warned.
The girl looked past Aang, a pout on her lips. "You're not gonna tell him, are you, Bayani?"
"No harm, no foul," the man told her. "Keep better control of it next time."
The pout morphed into an adorable grin. "Thank you, Bayani!" she chirruped, and darted off with the ball under her arm. Curious, Aang followed her down the short alley the ball had soared out of and into a surprisingly empty square.
To his surprise, not only was she now bouncing the ball from knee to knee, she was good at it, even in a dress that seemed designed to restrict movement like that. She bounced the ball high, then started using her head to keep it in the air.
Aang's jaw dropped as she kept it up for a good minute, then let it fall and used her chest to control its descent to the ground. She kicked it hard into the wall at one end of the square, then threw her arms in the air. "Goal!" she crowed.
"Don't you have to get it past a keeper for that?" Aang asked.
She jumped and whirled. "Oh! You scared me," she said, pressing a hand to her chest.
"Sorry," Aang said, grinning sheepishly. "I didn't mean to."
"It's okay," she replied. "I just-- thought you were someone else, for a minute."
"Who?"
"My brother," was the cheery reply. "He promised to meet me here."
Huh, that was weird. Why would she need to meet her brother in a private place like this?
"Want some company?" he asked. "I haven't played earthball since--"
He paused. The last time he'd played had been a hundred years ago, in Omashu.
"...in a really long time," he finished.
Her grin widened. "Sure! I'm Thuy."
"I'm A-" No, he was hiding today. "Anil," he corrected himself.
"It's nice to meat you, Anil," she chirped, then kicked the ball to him.
Aang nearly earthbent the ball closer, until he remembered the first rule of earthball -- no bending. He and Bumi had ignored that rule a lot, but he didn't think Thuy was a bender.
As it was, he had to step just a little too wide to catch the ball with the inside of his foot; by the time he'd balanced again, Thuy was on him, neatly stealing the ball with an inside sweep of her left foot and taking off past him.
"Hey!" He gave chase, abandoning himself to the game.
He had just scored his third goal when he suddenly became aware that he and Thuy were no longer alone. He glanced to the mouth of the square and tripped over the ball, measuring his length against the ground.
"Anil!" Thuy cried. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," he grunted, getting to his feet. He glared at the Dai Li agent who had startled him so. "What do you want?"
"Alak!" Thuy darted past him to throw her arms around the Dai Li.
Aang stared.
"Thuy, what are you doing?" he demanded. "He's a Dai Li!" Everyone in Ba Sing Se was afraid of the Dai Li!
"Uh," said the Dai Li. "Technically, I'm not. No hat."
Aang glared at him, and the Dai Li raised empty hands. "I don't want to start anything, Avatar," he said quietly.
Thuy blinked. "Avatar?"
Aang sighed. "Yeah," he said sullenly, shooting another glare at the Dai Li, who shrugged. "And you never answered my question."
"I'm meeting family," the Dai Li replied calmly.
Aang looked from him to Thuy and back again, and for the first time realised that they had the same eyes, the same hair colour, and even the same cheekbones.
"He's your brother?" he asked, staring again.
Thuy's eyes narrowed. "Yes," she said, sounding like Katara when she was trying not to yell.
"Thuy, it's okay," said the Dai Li, surprising Aang. "The Avatar... has a lot of reasons not to like us."
"But you're not even full Dai Li!" she protested. "You didn't have anything to do with--"
"It's okay," the Dai Li repeated. "We don't need people to like us to do our jobs. I learned that before I joined them."
Aang blinked. The Dai Li had sounded almost bitter just then.
Thuy scowled. "Grandpa is stupid," she said.
The Dai Li smiled sadly. "Yeah, he is, but I'm not risking him disowning you too, Thuy. You know he already hates that you play earthball."
"You're disowned?" Aang repeated.
The Dai Li glanced up at him coolly. "Since the Dai Li invited me to join," he said. "Kind of gave me no choice but to accept, really."
Aang scowled. He wouldn't put it past the Dai Li to count on exactly that sort of thing. "That isn't fair."
"Yeah, well, Granddad didn't exactly give me a chance to turn them down," the Dai Li replied.
"Still, there's no way they couldn't have known--"
"They did not," the Dai Li snapped, "realise that my grandfather would be so highly offended that they found me suitable he would disown me as soon as he heard."
Aang blinked. "But the Dai Li--"
"Are able to accept rejection," he interrupted. "Suitable candidates are allowed to refuse."
Thuy had squirmed into the Dai Li's arms and was glaring daggers at Aang now. "I know you don't like the Dai Li, Avatar," the Dai Li said. "But we're not all as evil as you think we are."
"You helped Azula!" Aang accused.
"To save the city!" the Dai Li shot back.
"How does helping Azula--"
"Ask Long Feng if you can't figure it out for yourself," he interrupted. "I'm going to spend time with my sister now."
He rose from a kneeling position in one fluid motion, holding Thuy's hand in his. He led her out without looking back.
"Jerk," Aang heard Thuy say quietly.
That one word stung more than anything the Dai Li had snapped at him. He watched them go, then kicked the earthball as hard as he could at the wall.
It stuck.