AtLA Rewritten: Edition 1

Chapter 10

Only half an hour later they finished. Athlea set the dish in front of them. It was nice and hot, and smelled great, too. "I think we did a good job," Athlea said with a nod as she stood there, hands on her hips. She smiled, her eyes moving to him. "See, cooking is therapeutic." she said with a nod.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Maybe for a girl," he teased, tapping her on the nose and grabbing a couple of plates and forks. Athlea blinked a few times. "Should we save some for the others? I don't know when they'll be back."

Athlea's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, and then she blinked. "Hey!" She crossed her arms. "If it weren't for my help, this would have been burnt."

Zuko smiled, biting his lip. "I'm just teasing," he laughed. "I enjoyed it... sort of. Besides, fire benders have prepared my food all my life. I'm used to it being burnt."

Athlea laughed. "See, I told you that you'd enjoy it. And you should fire them, then." She shrugged and sat down in her place."Burnt food is not enjoyable food. And we all know food is important." She giggled.

Zuko shrugged. "A lot of people depend on jobs in the Fire Palace. A lot got fired, too, but I tried not to be too harsh on them. My father and May were, uh, different cases, though."

Athlea glanced at him. "Then hire someone to teach them how to properly cook," she said with a shrug. "Royalty or not, everyone deserves well-cooked food." She closed her eyes, eating in peace. She opened her eyes and looked at him when he mentioned May. "Are you two still together?" she asked.

Zuko shrugged a shoulder. "It isn't that important to me. People have suffered enough because of my father. I would rather correct them and move on than leave them jobless." His eyes widened in surprise at her question; she must've guessed from his tone that they had been dating. "No," he replied. "I broke up with her before I left. Her loyalties are with my sister. I could never have asked her to join me with the Avatar, and it wasn't fair to leave her without anything so I left her a note."

Athlea returned back to eating as she listened. "You left her a note?" She blinked and looked back at him. "...Could have at least told her up front." She shrugged.

Zuko bit his lip, looking down at his plate. "You're right. I know I should've told her in person, but, uh, you don't know May. Not only is she a firebender, but a dangerous one. And I didn't want her to tell anyone. She could've blown what little safety I had. I don't know if she genuinely liked me or if she just... liked me a little, I guess. I don't know." He cleared his throat and took another bite. "I'm not sure that we were great for each other anyways. We made it work, but she didn't make my heart skip a beat or anything." He glanced up at Athlea quickly, then back at his plate, his face red.

Athlea was eating while she listened. "She sounds like a bitch," Athlea said. She paused for a second, sitting there awkwardly, eyes wide as Zuko raised an eyebrow. "A...Ah I'm sorry!" She blurted, her eyes on him.

Zuko stopped chewing, looking at his plate, a smile that could have been anger or genuine amusement on his face. "Well," he said quietly. "She is a bitch." Now it was Athlea's turn to raise an eyebrow. He shrugged a shoulder, wiping his mouth with one of the napkins from the center of the island.

"Didn't expect that," she mumbled. Athlea glanced at the kitchen clock. "I think we can both eat for now and save the rest for the others. I doubt they'll be back until a bit later."

He shrugged. "Sounds good to me," he agreed, cutting a couple pieces for them. "There you are, Master Athlea," he announced, sliding a plate to her and sitting with his own.

Her gaze moved to him as he called her Master yet again. "Are you seriously going to keep calling me that..?" she asked as she began eating.

He took a bite, smirking. Her eyes widened. "Are you going to finally admit that I'm more annoying?" he retorted. "Because I'm not stopping until you quit calling me Prince."

Athlea shoved a forkful of food into his mouth to quiet him, and he blinked before starting to chew. "Because you are a Prince. I am not a Master--not yet at least!" She blushed and looked away, crossing her arms.

He giggled at her attitude, leaning back and crossing his arms, chewing. Athlea blinked. "Well," he mused, "can you make lightning yet?"

Athlea fell silent. She took a few more bites from her food. "Yes," she said finally, "but I prefer not to. It's powerful and deadly. I'd prefer not to use it unless I am forced to," she said calmly.

He looked up at her, surprised. "Everyone prefers not to," he pointed out. "Except my sister. That's about all she uses. And that also makes you a Master. However, I am technically banned from the fire nation, and because I have been disowned, I am not the prince." He leaned forward, smiling a bit.

"...You're still a Prince to me," she admitted as she looked at him, her smile softening her sharp facial features. "You're probably the only one from your family that would want the Nation to not be seen as so scary," she said and then leaned forward again. "So... you are a Prince."

"I don't think that makes me a prince," he murmured, meeting her gaze.

"...You are," she stated, crossing her arms now, determination in her eyes. "I'll get your bending back and get your throne back." She stood and grabbed their plates, heading into the kitchen and starting to wash them.

Zuko snuck up behind Athlea as she began washing the dishes, "tazing" her ribs right as the others walked in. Athlea looked over her shoulder at him.

Sokka, Aang, and Katara burst into the kitchen. Sokka immediately demanded to know where the food was. "Anything for dinner?"

Aang chuckled. "Hi Zuko... Athlea," he greeted with a smile as he leaned against the door frame of the kitchen. "How did the training go, Zuko?" The Avatar asked, looking at the Prince with a smile.

Katara, standing next to Aang, snickered and glanced at the Avatar. "Yeah," she snickered, "how did your 'training' go?"

Athlea's face turned bright red and the plate slipped out of her hands, shattering. "Damnit," she muttered. Katara cursed and rushed forward to help, muttering an apology.

"Looks like we came at the wrong time," Aang said with a nervous chuckle. He slowly backed away from the door. "Privacy, hehehe..." he said nervously.

Zuko took a step back, his face bright red. "Uh, I was just, uh, Athlea was showing how to w-wash dishes." He rushed toward the fridge, face burning, and pulled out the food they'd made. "Komodo chicken?"

Sokka leaned against the kitchen island, smirking. "Love is in the air, am I right, Zuko?" The firebender cleared his throat, sitting at a stool and looking down at the island, his face red.

Katara snorted, putting her hand over her face and looking at Aang again. "Right. I'm sure you were glad to learn," she teased. She walked forward to grab some plates while Zuko set the dish on the counter, then pulled his hood over his face. She cut them some pieces of chicken and served them.

"Food!" Sokka exclaimed, sliding onto a stool. Athlea started putting away the clean dishes and dumped the broken plate in the trash.

***

A/N can we just... appreciate the timing this one? the Team walking in on Zuko standing close behind Athlea... uh huh... "training."