AtLA Rewritten: Edition 1

Chapter 56

Athlea followed Zuko as he led her to the basement cells of the Palace, walking closely by his side. "Brainwashed or not, he must talk," she said, frowning. The majority of the cells were empty; the only one occupied, with Delun, was protected by two guards.

"Delun," Zuko greeted the man as he neared the cell.

"Good morning," the man sneered up from his breakfast.

Zuko tilted his head toward the guard. "Take his food. He may only eat when I give explicit permission." The guard nodded and opened the cell, grabbing Delun's plate. Athlea frowned. The man frowned and tried to keep his grip, but eventually came to the end of the chains on his wrists and had to let go. "Thank you," Zuko told the guard. "Delun, do you have anything to say yet?" The man was quite clearly pouting about his food.

Athlea took a deep breath, exhaling. "Don't make this harder for us... and, specifically, for you," she said calmly, looking down at Delun. She took a step closer, kneeling over him. "For your own good, start cooperating with us," she added coldly. The man cowered back.

"Are you working with Azula?" Zuko asked. Athlea sat up straight. Delun blinked at him, then slowly nodded. "Where is she?" He was silent. Zuko gritted his teeth. "Do the guards that let her loose know where she is?" Another nod. "Great." Zuko nodded to the guard, who slid Delun's plate back. Zuko took his wife's hand and walked away from the cell. "We need to go to the prison and talk to those guards."

"The guards, huh...?" Athlea mumbled under her breath and looked up at Zuko. She raised an eyebrow. "This shouldn't be too bad, right?" She tilted her head.

Zuko shook his head. "I don't think so. He only got threatened to lose a meal, and three days...? They've got to be ready to talk. I think we should bring just Toph with. Too many people might be a distraction." He smiled. "I think she may have scared some sense into Delun. He's given us something, which is all we need right now."

Athlea giggled. "I guess the combination of Toph and I scared him," she mused.

He smiled, linking their arms. "You're both quite scary." He brushed her hair behind her ear, giving her an affectionate look before tilting his head to the side. She smiled softly. "Is someone... a little hungover?" he asked, smiling questioningly.

His wife blinked, her cheeks turning pink as she looked away. "No!" she protested immediately.

He raised his eyebrows, an entertained smile breaking out on his face. "Oh, we're keeping secrets? If you say so."

Athlea glanced forward. "Yeah, I went drinking... in the Palace. I couldn't sleep."

Zuko smiled down at her. "That's alright. I don't mind."

"I had a few drinks with my father before I came back to you, in bed." She raised an eyebrow before looking at him, blinking. "Is my hangover so noticeable?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows, a soft pink across her cheeks.

He shook his head, laughing. "I think I know you a bit better than the others. I doubt they'll say a word."

***

At the end of the Team's meal, Zuko and Athlea returned to the dining room. Katara stood. "Hey, could we bring Avitus to see your uncle, Athlea?" she asked.

Athlea tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. Then she took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, sure. What can go wrong?"

"Us fighting," Avitus responded bluntly. Katara raised her eyebrows, glancing between the two.

Athlea glanced at him. "No!" She rubbed her temples. She closed and opened her eyes. "It'll be fine," she reassured her father. She turned to Zuko. "Shall we leave?"

Zuko shrugged. "Sounds good to me. Toph, we'll need you, though. Delun admitted that he's working with Azula, and that the guards in prison know where she is. The rest of you can do whatever you please. We'll let you know if we need you."

Toph nodded and grinned, crossing her arms. "Now we're talking."

Sokka glanced over. "So our adventure continues." He nodded, taking the last bite from his breakfast.

"Nope," Zuko said, holding a hand out to stop Sokka. "Only Toph is coming. We can't bring so many people to interrogate them. It's distracting. And as Chief of Police in Republic City, Toph has experience."

Sokka pouted, blinking. He pouted, crossing his arms and looking away. "Not fair, man, not fair."

Zuko patted his back. "Sorry, dude."

Toph giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. "Let's go now. The more info we get, the easier it is to take out your crazy sister," she told Zuko.

Athlea played with her hair. "Right."

Sokka sighed. "You're taking us when you have to fight, though!"

Zuko nodded. "Of course we will, Sokka."

Athlea smiled, following Toph as she led the way from the store. "Let's go," she said. Zuko followed.

***

A/N lil bit of a filler, but things won't stop moving much more than this