Chapter 26

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Two years later, the Fire Nation had grown and shown large improvements from its former self, gaining Zuko approval from the other Nations. Zuko and Athlea only wanted to stabilize peace, and apologize for the mess that Ozai had created. Iroh was Zuko's new right-hand, and he only helped.

However, not everything was going well. Zuko and his wife had survived three attempted assassinations. They decided to get in contact with Team Avatar, and Republic City's leaders seemed to be dealing with a similar issue, though Dai's workers were the only ones that had been attacked. They all decided to meet at the Fire Palace to discuss.

The leaders of Republic City were the first to arrive. They were welcomed by Zuko in the entry of the palace. "Zuko!" Sokka called. He stood next to Zuko, elbowing his arm and grinning. "You're taller!... by an inch," he teased. He was wearing a thin black long-sleeved shirt and pants, skin-tight, under a blue sleeveless vest, the left side of his torso exposed underneath, and his left arm was bare as well. He wore blue gloves with white wraps around his wrists, finger-less except for his pointer and thumb. He wore golden bands on his biceps, his white choker over the black cloth that covered his neck, and a fur hood. The same fur lined his sleeves, more hanging from his waist along with blue clothes. Blue and white cloth wrapped above his black boots. Two small bones protruded from the left clavicle of his vest. A brown strap, holding his sword, boomerang, and spear, was slung over his shoulder; a new daily outfit, it appeared. His hair was pulled back as usual, but he now had tattoos, and round black shell earrings.

Zuko glared at him. "You... haven't changed," he said. "And that's one inch taller than you." His hair had grown much longer, and it was down, with a knot at the crown of his head held by a golden ribbon. He himself was wearing a brown robe with golden trim, as well as a cape from his waist and ankles, tucked into a black belt with golden plates attached to it over his hips, a gold diamond between the two plates. Below, a brown belt held his weapons, as well as his blue mask. There were two small golden pieces on his shoulder, red cloth between them. Two golden rings hugged his biceps. The ends of his sleeves were red, going all the way to his knuckles, separated from the brown robe by white wraps. His back, waist up, was nearly bare, a red back piece of thin red patterned fabric connected to the innermost layer of the robe covering the back of his biceps, and right forearm, with a dragon on his back.

Sokka chuckled. "Me? Change? Neverrrr. Getting a little bit more mature and diplomatic? Yes." He nodded.

"Looks like you changed a lot in these past two years," Aang said. His voice was calmer and deeper, more mature. His outfit had probably changed least of all, but gotten more traditional; he was wearing oversized orange pants, bigger at the bottom than the top. Brown wraps separated his pants and brown shoes. His waistband was yellow, with a thinner red waistband below, extending over the front of his waist to just below his knees. A yellow sash hung loosely from a shoulder, connected to a waistband. His wrists were wrapped with white cloth, and his chest was tattooed now, too.

Zuko gave Aang a big smile. "Someone's an adult now," he teased. Aang was taller than him, just barely.

"I think it was about time I grew, huh?" Aang joked.

"Where's the missus?" Toph asked, her arms crossed, a smirk on her face. "The Team isn't complete without her." Though she wore her metal police uniform when the Nation representatives met in Republic City, she was now wearing a floor-length dark green pleated skirt with a golden waistband. She had a white cloth coming from the center of her waist, with brown thigh plates and green hip plates, gold edges around the colored cloths. There was a third green plate between the others, without the gold edging and with gold buttons on the bottom edge instead. Her top was cropped to just below her breasts, and was sleeveless. Her collar was lined with gold metal like the plates. The cloth from her left collar to shoulder was a lime green, a dark green strap with a golden buckle hanging from it. A white chest plate with golden edges covered the right side of her chest in an L-shape, the shorter end pointed toward her left shoulder, where the plate hung from a golden strap. There were a few inches between her shirt and sleeves of just bare skin. Her sleeves were white, a few inches closest to her shoulders dark green, separated by two gold pieces. The ends of her sleeves were gold metal and reached to her knuckles.

Footsteps echoed in a hall to the left.

Zuko turned around. "That'd be her," he murmured, his eyes bright.

"Awww, look at how his eyes shine when he sees his girl." Sokka pointed, leaning against Zuko. "I think out of everyone, Zuko got the jackpot." He nodded to himself.

Zuko smiled at Sokka, elbowing him off. "You're right, but get off of me."

Sokka got off of him, scratching the back of his neck and laughing nervously. "Hehehe... Sorry your Majesty," he teased.

The front door opened, and Dai made her way in, hips swaying. She wore a robe with two pale blue pieces hanging off of her hips, nearly to the floor, and long sleeves hanging from her elbow. The robe piece between her legs was white and tucked into a wide belt around her waist. The hem of the robes were edged with white fur, their edges adorned with white trim. She was wearing white leggings underneath. Two belts hung over her hips, crossing in the middle, holding her weapons--fans, her staff, and a sword. Her bow and arrows were slung over her back. Above the belt, the blue cloth made a shirt, a white cloth between the pieces covering all but the tops of her breasts. Two more blue pieces met at her sternum with a white button over her shirt, meeting at the back. The trim was white. At the collar of the loose shoulder pieces, she had a white fur hood. Skin-tight white cloth went to her wrists.

"No, we will do it that way," a feminine voice said. "We'll change it and do it like I said. We'll continue this later." The door opened and Athlea was standing there. Her new outfit of choice consisted of thigh-high black tights, black shoes with metal golden toes and collars. A red hip plate hung from her left hip with a golden dragon on it, a black cloth with gold edging hanging from it. The shirt had gold breast plates and revealed a bit of her bosom. Her shoulder plates were black and formed two spikes, dotted with gold buttons. Thin black fabric wrapped around her upper thighs, covering her lower half below the hanging black cloth, as well as her arms, forming a long cape around her that dragged on the floor behind her, and hung from her collar like a hood. Two swords hung from her waist. Her back piece matched Zuko's. Her swords hung from the back piece, one blue, one red, and another from her hip, along with a golden staff with metal dragons around a red orb.

"There she is!" Sokka said. Athlea stood there blinking, a smile on her face.

"Long time no see, everyone," Athlea said with a nod, greeting them as she closed the door after her. "You all... changed." Her eyes moved over them. Katara stepped forward and hugged her, smiling. Katara wore blue sweats, with dark blue wraps from her knees to ankles, revealed at just the edges of the white furs over them, thick brown twine wrapped around the pelts a few times. She had brown boots, and a brown guard over her hips. Below the brown guard there was a layer of fur, and below that, a dark blue cloth hung between her legs. She wore blue sleeves from wrist to elbow with fur cuffs, and a dark blue collar up her neck and down to her sternum with a white hood hanging from it. A light blue band clung to one of her biceps, a brown twine one on the other. The torso of her top was dark blue with a white wrap tied around her waist. The chest was light blue and over-the-shoulder.

"Athlea!" Dai called warmly--a big change from the bitter girl they'd met. "Hot shit," she joked.

"Says you," Athlea responded, smiling as she hugged Katara.

Dai stopped between Sokka and Toph and punched them both in her arm before leaning on the ice staff she held, a crystal at the top. "We grew up," she agreed. She grinned at Athlea, and Katara let go of Athlea. "I'm glad you two are safe," Dai told Athlea, her face serious.

Athlea nodded. "Close calls, to be honest. I guess we are lucky indeed. But you guys are as well."

***

A/N they got HOT...anyways, who do you think is behind the attacks? what do you think of the new fitsss?!

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