AtLA Rewritten: Edition 1

Chapter 4

The two girls returned and Athlea looked at them, hands on her hips now. "Or... we can go shopping to change your attire," she suggested.

"I'd rather relax," Sokka immediately said.

"Mm... Me too," Toph followed with a nod in agreement.

Zuko stood at Athlea's suggestion. "That sounds good," he agreed. "I can't afford to get found like this." He glanced at Katara and Athlea. "Could we check out your garden later? It'd be something to do."

Katara looked from Athlea to Katara. "Sure! As long as Athlea's okay. I'm gonna go find Aang and see if he needs help bringing our stuff in. Toph, Sokka, you can come help if you want." She walked out of the door in front of Athlea and Zuko, following a path that led behind the house.

Athlea looked at him, finally, a smile appearing on her face, adorning her facial features. There was a nod of her head. "Sounds like a plan then." She raised an eyebrow. "Feel free to do that. No need to ask. Just don't ruin my Uncle's flowers; he likes taking care of them. You can do that tonight."

Zuko breathed out slowly as she smiled. "Our uncles sound like they might get along together," he said.

"Aww man...I wanted to sit and relax, and not care about anything!" Sokka whined like a baby.

He glanced at Sokka. "I'm sure you'll be alright," he replied to his whining, his voice a bit mocking.

"Do I have to come?" Toph asked.

Athlea looked at her. "Yes, you do," she said and crossed her arms.

It didn't take long for Appa to come and for them to get their stuff inside the house, but after that, Athlea got them all to go shopping. They had a good 2 hours before the stores would close, and they still had to take the bus to go to the central again, but once there, the walk to the specific store wasn't long.

Inside, Athlea looked around."Okay... It's time for a full blown makeover," she stated. Katara gave her a look. Athlea looked back at Katara, blinked, and looked at Toph. "Sorry..." she said awkwardly and looked away for a second.

"That's fine, not into clothing," Toph admitted with a shrug.

"Aww man." Toph said looking away, scratching the back of her head.

"Don't worry," Katara told Toph. "We look fine. It's mostly the little prince over there that needs a new outfit." Katara walked over to a rack of robes and dresses and saw one with green thread. "Hey, Toph--" she started to call, but decided to leave Toph. She was picking her toes, in the store...? Katara rolled her eyes. The Earth Bender eventually followed her and sat nearby.

Athlea's eyes moved to Zuko, moving up and down. "Do you wanna keep a somewhat royal look or do we go for normal?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Oooo... Sokka look!" Aang said as they scattered, grabbing Sokka by the arm so they could look around and grab what they wanted. They spent their time trying on funny looking sunglasses and making faces in the mirror.

Zuko smiled a bit, scratching his arm. "I'm thinking that something more normal will work better for the former prince with a scar across his eye," he joked hesitantly.

"Of course, for now you need to keep a low profile," she said calmly, a small smile on her face. "You should be proud of yourself more," Athlea said and looked around, starting to walk towards the men's section. "Think of it this way; the scar made you who you are today." Athlea spoke as she looked through the racks and then grabbed a dark red hoodie and handed it to him.

Zuko looked at the ground. "There isn't a lot to be proud of. I betrayed my uncle, and these people won't trust me because of how many times I betrayed and attacked them." He shook his head. "There's too much to what has happened. I can't explain it to you in a day."

Athlea looked at him and her eyes then moved back at the clothes rack just browsing, occasionally picking something and just keeping it in front of him to see if it'll suit him and if it did she'd hand it to him or put it back. "No need to explain, I got a pretty good idea." she said calmly as she now moved around still looking

He watched her walk away, hands by his sides. "It made me who I am, sure. I'm just not very happy about who I am. Obviously." He took the hoodie from her.

"Ding ding ding!" Thea suddenly turned facing him. Zuko blinked. "You're not happy," she said, her index finger on his chest over his heart, poking him. He looked down at her finger, his chest rising and falling a bit faster under her touch. "Because you're not happy, your fire bending cannot depend on anything. You have no motivation." Her eyes remained on him as he looked back up at her. "We need to find your motivation and what drives you to do... well, something." She smiled.

Aang and Sokka were now trying on random outfits. "Look at you!" Sokka said.

Aang laughed. "No, look at you!" Both started to laugh together, Aang with a pair of funny glasses and random clothes on, Sokka the same, except with a hat on.

"You two look... interesting," Athlea said, questioning their choice of clothing, though after a second she realized that they were just playing around with different types of clothing.

Katara had gone in and out of the dressing room in time to hear Athlea's observation. She was now wearing an orange skirt and red top. She gestured at Aang, Toph, and Sokka. "They're not very fashion-oriented. I usually just get these three whatever fits, and they wear it without complaint. Except Toph. She doesn't wear anything on her feet. They're like her eyes, in a way. Anyways, what do you think?" She did a little spin. "I figured it was pretty casual but not too boring." She adjusted the gold clips in her hair.

Athlea pulled back from Zuko, standing straight and handing him a pair of pants. "It looks very nice," she told Katara with a nod. "Suits you." She smiled again.

"Thanks," Katara said.

Aang approached Katara. "Wow... Katara..." A soft smile rested on his face.

Katara blushed a bit, her hands folded in front of her, and looked away. "Thanks, Aang," she said, smiling at the floor.

Sokka walked over, resting an arm on top of the Avatar's head. "Now that's some reaction, Aang," he teased. Katara glared at him.

Zuko lowered his arms, holding the things Athlea had given him to his chest. "Can we buy these and get back to Athlea's then? Unless you have somewhere else to go," he added, glancing at the other girl. 

Sokka looked at his sister and gave her a grin. "Someone's in looooveeee," he teased with a chuckle. He turned around to go back into the dressing room. "Come on Aang, let's choose something!" he called.

Katara's face turned bright red, and she swatted Sokka. "Don't you have anything to do?" she snapped, missing him as he walked away.

Aang shook his head. "Y-Yeah!" he replied, one again glancing at Katara. "Lookin' good, Katara," he said. He blushed, hesitated, then turned around and left quickly. Katara blinked at him, half-smiling.

Athlea raised an eyebrow. "Interesting," she mumbled. Her eyes moved to Katara. "Makes sense. Well, when everyone is ready we can leave." She nodded, glancing at the prince. "We should finish up and return to my house."

"Great," Katara agreed quietly. "I'm gonna grab Toph some things. I'll be done quickly. I know her sizes." She walked toward a shelf and started grabbing some loose fitting pants and t-shirts, a hoodie, and a cute bathing suit.

"And you, I'm not done," she told Zuko. "Tomorrow I'll be training Aang first, and then I'll get to you. We need to find you a motivator. Helping Aang isn't your motivation. It must be something else that drives you but you're afraid to admit."

***

A/N Athlea really just be calling Zuko out, right away. i think it's interesting how she's so focused on him immediately. he do be pretty doe so it makes sense. it makes me wonder if she saw a depth in him she didn't in the others. i mean, they all have it, but they're all so different still. also... can we appreciate Aang being Aang? my boy is SUCH a simp. came out of a 100 year coma and his first thought was "i'm in love with Katara." literallyhis sexuality IS Katara. that's it. not men, not women, not both. just... Katara.