Chapter 4

Should You Go First

Chapter 4: Three Deadly Tests: Part II

Previously, on Should You Go First...

"How am I supposed to know his name?" Aang asked, mentally exhausted.

"Think about the challenges, maybe its some kind of riddle." Katara said.

"I got it!" Sokka suddenly yelled.

"Yeah?" Aang asked in great anticipation.

"Well he's an earthbender, right? Rocky!"

"If his life had a face...I would let Katara punch it..." Aang thought, grinding his teeth in frustration.

"We're gonna keep trying, but that's a good backup..." Katara said, Aang prayed to the monks that she wasn't serious.

King Bumi and I waited in the Throne Room patiently, well, he did at least. The sheet of rock was still over my mouth and it was quite heavy.

A few minutes later, Aang and his friends came into the room quietly.

"I solved the question the same way I solved the challenges. As you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities." Aang said confidently. Bumi begins his crazy laugh. "Bumi, you're a mad genius!"

Then something I didn't expect happened, Aang ran up to Bumi and gave him a big hug. "Oh, Aang. It's good to see you. You haven't changed a bit. Literally!"

After their reunion, King Bumi released Katara and Sokka from their rock prisons. "Geminite is made of rock candy! Delicious!" he said, chomping down on a large piece. I did the same as I caught one, chomping down on it. Unlike king Bumi, however, I gripped my jaw in pain when the rock candy didn't break like I thought it would. So instead I settled with sitting on the arm of King Bumi's throne and on sucking on the piece that had almost broke my jaw. Apparently though, I had missed a key part in the conversation between the other four because before I knew it, King Bumi and Aang were sliding down one of the mail chutes. When they returned, it was rather late and I bit them all a goodnight.

"Where're you going?" Aang asked me as I went to exit the building. I was halfway down a large staircase when he had stopped me.

"Home. Its late, my mom's probably worried about me." I said, pointing in the direction of my house.

"Oh, I see..." he said, rubbing the back of his bald head.

"Are you disappointed? I'm confused." I said, my eyebrows knotting together.

"I was just hoping that we could get a chance to talk." he said.

"We can walk to my home, it's that way." I pointed in the direction of my house. "We can talk on the way there."

Aang's face lifted. "That'd be great."

We both took a step down the giant staircase before Aang stopped and looked back towards the palace. "What's wrong?" I asked, confused once again.

"I don't wanna just disappear and leave my friends..." he said, not looking back down to me.

Sighing, I sat down on the step that I was on and patted the spot next to me. "Sit, we'll talk here."

I pulled my knees up to my chest and waited for Aang to get situated. When he finally sat down, he just looked at me with his big grey eyes. Big, unblinking eyes. Quickly, I jerked closer to him, our faces close. Startled, he jumped back a foot. "What're you doing?" he asked, his arm up to shield his face.

"...I thought it was a staring contest..." I said, suddenly feeling my face growing hot from embarrassment. Blinking once at me, Aang suddenly burst with laughter. After a moment, I gave a few giggles of my own.

"You're name is... Daiyu, right?" he asked, leaning back against the steps.

"Right."

Aang slowly became serious. "Do you bend?"

"Yes, I do." I said, becoming serious myself.

Aang bit the inside of his lip and looked down for a second before looking back up. "I saw you, in the newly refurbished chamber. I wasn't- didn't want to be sure."

I took a deep breath. "Because of what happened to the Airbenders? I know your tale. My condolences."

Aang nodded before continuing. "After accepting that I was the last Airbender, it was...And now you...It's just hard. Y'know?"

I smiled sadly. "Yeah. I only found out a few days ago. So far I feel like a complete failure as an Airbender." I said, looking down at my feet.

"I'm sure you're not, but how are you one anyways?" he asked.

I shrugged. "My ancestors were Air Nomads who fled their temple, had an Airbender baby who had a baby who had a baby. You get the point. But the airbending trait had died out almost forty years ago. I don't know why this has happened." I said, sighing at the end.

"That is interesting." Aang looked at me. "Its nice to know I'm not alone."

"Same here." I said, a smile playing at my lips. Without thinking, I pulled Aang into a hug. "I'm happy to have met you."

I felt Aang hug me back, and then bury his head into my long black hair. "Aang!" someone called out. Aang and I broke our hug slowly, looking towards the palace. Katara soon emerged and put her hands on her hips when she saw us, our hands on each other's shoulders. "Where have you been? Sokka and I-"

"Actually, just Katara." Sokka cut her off, coming up beside her with a picken wing in his hand. "I was busy eating."

Katara groaned. "I was looking for you! Why'd you run off?" she asked.

"See? I told you it wasn't a good idea..." Aang muttered to me, causing me to giggle. We took our hands off of each other's shoulders and stood up. "I was just talking, no harm done." he said. "I'll be back in a minute."

Katara gave a skeptical look towards us before walking off. Sokka was already gone. "Is she your girlfriend?" I asked.

"N-no! Of course not! Why would you-that's preposterous!" he yelled, his face red.

I laughed and waved my hands in front of him. "I was kidding! Ha ha! Joke! See?" I said. Aang sighed and rubbed the back of his head. His face still red. I sighed and smoothed out my shirt. "Well, I should probably get back."

"Me too...I'll see you soon?" he asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"How soon is soon?" I asked.

"Tomorrow." he smiled.

I nodded. "Until then." and we went our separate ways.

End of chapter 4