daiyin • avatar: legend of korra

chapter • ten

ＣＨＡＰＴＥＲ　ＴＥＮ
ＤＡＩＹＩＮ　ＡＬＯＮＥ

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ＴＨＥ　ＨＩＬＬＳＩＤＥ has always been comforting to Daiyin. It was quiet and calm, its serenity making it a perfect place for meditation. Usually only the monks went there, but since they revealed this spot to her as a seven year old who had recently lost her father and was in a constant battle with her stepmother, she went there whenever she needed to be alone.

Daiyin attempts to clear her head. It was usually such an easy task to her, but this time she couldn't quite find the peace she was seeking.

Too much had happened as of late. Korra's friends had found out about her identity as Fire Nation princess. They didn't react half as bad as she had imagined. In fact, they remained relatively relaxed when faced with the fact she had lied to them.

Not that it was any of their business, of course. She only knows and interacts with them because of Korra. They were not really her friends, were they?

After that there was yet another assassination attempt, this time in the heart of her home. It was only because of their trained healer and the bending of Tenzin and Korra that she lives to see another day.

Until her coronation she spent all of her time in isolation, not allowed to see anyone but General Fazhou. And last there was the pitiful attempt to plan a coup on her throne by her stepmother with the help of council members of her grandfather.

Not only did she need to create a circle of trusted people around her for her council, now she also needed to look at the individual cases of each rebel and ensure that they were brought to justice. Now that she is the Fire Lord of the Fire Nation, there would barely be any rest for her.

Daiyin sucks in a deep breath and holds it for a moment, slowly releasing it through her mouth. She closes her eyes and enjoys the fresh air. Her mind was working fast on all the problems she was dealing with, but she pushes those out and clears her head.

For a moment she was complete serene and it was a blissful feeling.

"My strong, beautiful Daiyin."

Her amber eyes open slowly. Her sharp eyebrows furrow in confusion, frowning even deeper when seeing who was suddenly standing a few feet away from her. Mai, her dead grandmother, was standing in the grass with her hands folded together so that her long sleeves hid her hands.

She was exactly as Daiyin remembered her. Regal and tall, her grey hair in the two small buns and the two strings framing her face while the rest falls down over her shoulders to the front. A crown was pinned into her hair.

"Grandmother?"

Mai's eyes squint, her lips stretching into a warm smile she only reserved for her family. "You have been so brave, my girl. So strong, so tough. Aren't you tired, darling?"

"I can't be. I am Fire Lord now." Daiyin leans her head back slightly to look the tall woman in her eyes. It was just so familiar to her. She remembers being a little girl and sitting by her grandmother's feet, listening eagerly to the stories she would tell.

Mai chuckles. The sounds resonates through the meadow. "That was not the question, my dear, and you know it." Daiyin sighs. She had to refrain herself from rolling her eyes. With Korra she would do it, but she would never act disrespectful in front of her grandmother.