AtLA Rewritten: Edition 1

Chapter 30

Athlea blinked. "She disappeared?!" she asked, her voice raising.

"She what?!" Zuko lunged forward. "What guards were working when that happened?" He grabbed the collar of his guard's shirt, and the guard spluttered a couple of names. "They were working two weeks ago," Zuko snapped. The others backed up. Zuko took a step back, holding flames in both his hands. "I should grill you and throw you over the railing," he growled through clenched teeth. "At the end of your shift, you're fired. Every guard in the building, and every other guard that has been here for the last week is fired." He cut the flames off, taking another step back.

"Wait, what... She escaped?" Sokka mumbled, a concerned look on his face.

"This is bad," Aang said, eyebrows furrowed.

Katara mumbled "No shit," eyebrows knitted together.

Athlea took a hold of Zuko's hand. He held it without looking at her, his other hand in a fist, his eyes glaring. "Zuko, calm down," she said calmly, looking at him. She turned her gaze on the guards, giving them an icy glare. "How did you allow this to happen?!" she asked, moving forward. "At the end of today's shift, I want all the guards from last week at the palace for interrogation." Zuko nodded in agreement, and Athlea turned around and began walking away, heading back to the entrance to leave, her steps harsh with anger.

Zuko turned around with Athlea and led the others from the palace. "We know who has been attacking us," he muttered.

Dai was holding her staff. "I can start tracking down guards," she offered.

Katara chipped in. "Aang and Sokka and I can ready mics and cameras to record the interview. I assume that you two will want to talk, or even start looking for Azula."

Zuko shook his head. "Fuck that," he said. His voice was still angry, but also held a bit of laughter. "We do this as a team. No more split Team Avatar."

Outside, the wind was blowing gently and the sky was a light pink with the setting sun. Dia's hair had some braids and was pinned to her crown, but Katara's blew all over in the wind. Dai leaned on Sokka, sighing as she glanced at the sky. Then she messed up his hair and saddled up. Athlea closed her eyes for a moment. "Let's go to the palace. Their shift will end in two hours maximum, and we will wait for them there," Athlea explained. "Once we do the interrogation we will proceed depending on the answers we get. Until then, we withhold."

"Great," Katara told Athlea. "We can talk more and catch up before then."

Sokka let out a sigh, and he massaged his temples. "How did she even escape? Some of the guards must have been working with her. There's no other way she could escape like that. This place is heavily secured."

"We can make assumptions all we want. Let's head back, let Athlea and Zuko deal with their guards, and then take action," Aang said as they all headed to their animals once more.

Zuko grabbed his dragon's reins and jumped into his saddle. "I'm disgusted to think that, but Sokka is right." He looked into the wind for a moment.

Dai rubbed the rein in her hand as Katara climbed up on Appa. "I think those guards should be charged with treason," she muttered.

They arrived shortly later and gathered in the dining room around the table again. Zuko had ordered the guards to be extra alert.

Eventually they arrived back at the palace and all gathered in the dining room.

Athlea took a deep breath as they began to discuss, closing her eyes and massaging her temples. Suddenly her head dropped forward.

"Athlea?..."

"Fire Lady!"

Athlea shook her head and blinked, her attention back on everyone. "Are you okay?" Sokka asked.

Athlea looked at him, and then away. "Yes, just a headache," she admitted calmly.

Zuko frowned and stood, pushing his chair out. "We're gonna go talk and take a breather," he told the others. "We'll be back before the guards arrive."

Dai bit her lip and Katara grabbed Aang's hand. "This is not good," she said quietly. "But we were always stronger than Azula. She's been locked up for years." She was quiet for a moment, then laughed drily, shaking her head.

Aang looked at Katara and frowned. "Yeah," he said with a nod in acknowledgement.

"Yeah Katara, we've always been stronger than Azula, but you forget we are dealing with a mentally unstable Azula. This is going to be a mess," Sokka said as he leaned against the chair and let out a sigh.

Katara frowned. "I don't think she was ever mentally stable. And did you see her fire when she finally snapped with Zuko? She could barely bend at all."

Dai shook her head. "Nobody can be stronger than us all," she insisted. "Right?"

Aang looked at Katara and he sighed. "...Yeah," he said. He was quiet for a moment and then smiled, determination returning to his face. "We can do this." He said and he looked at Dai in agreement. We've been through worse; this can't stop us! We will figure everything out," he said.

Dai smirked and rested her chin on her hand. "Been through worse. That's what I thought." She smiled at Aang and his always-youthful determination. "Exactly what I thought."

Sokka chuckled. "If we work together, we are unstoppable." He grinned. "Two firebenders, two waterbenders, an earthbender, the Avatar and MEEEE." He said with pride.

"For once, I agree with Sokka," Toph said with a nod.

Katara smiled, raising an eyebrow at Sokka. "You're clearly the most valued of us all." She chuckled.

"Oh, am I now?" Sokka asked with a grin across his face as he sat there, one leg over the other. "I mean... what can I say." He looked forward with pride.

"And here comes the prideful Sokka," Aang pointed out with a chuckle.

"Of course I am proud--have you looked at me? You would be proud too, if you were me," Sokka responded.

"At least he isn't a teenager as he used to be, annoying and indecisive," Toph said.

"Hey! I grew, okay? I'm mature," Sokka said.

Dai smacked one of Sokka's legs, rolling her eyes. "Aang's literally the Avatar. And also... you're still a teenager at heart."

***

A/N lil bit of a filler before some shit goes down