AtLA Rewritten: Edition 1

Chapter 11

Once they had eaten, Katara asked, "Zuko, do you and Athlea want to come into the garden? We're trying to see the world like Toph. We're gonna wear blindfolds and try to see if we can tell what things are like she does."

Athlea was throwing a bag over her shoulder. "Hm?..." She raised an eyebrow and smiled softly. "I would love to. If you guys are still doing it when I get back, I'll join in. I have to get my uncle home. I'll be back," she said with a nod.

Katara nodded. "Once we're done in the garden, I'll do our dishes!" she called after Athlea. The firebender waved and nodded as she left.

Sokka plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV, hands behind his head.

"You're like a piggy," Toph said.

"What do you mean?!" Sokka quickly asked.

"You eat a lot," Toph said, laughing.

Aang approached the prince. "So... Zuko, the training... Any progress?" he asked with a genuine smile. He started heading toward the front door, Katara following.

Zuko cleared his throat again, rubbing the back of his neck. "I got to meditating right," he said quietly, looking up at Aang for a moment before standing himself and following Katara to the garden.

Aang looked at Zuko and nodded. "See, you can do it! We should practice together next time to get you used to people's presences. You won't always be alone when meditating." He turned to Katara.

Katara turned to the others, Toph at her side. "Okay, we'll use these shirts as blindfolds"--she held up a handful of Sokka's shirts, grinning--"and we'll keep track of how many things we get right. Toph is gonna win, for sure, but it will still be fun! Just get the hang of walking first, and then grab onto whatever. We don't have to guess the same things, just have fun!"

"ARE THOSE MY SHIRTS?!?!?" Sokka called out from inside.

Katara smirked, glancing at Sokka where he stared at her from the kitchen window. "These are yours?" she called back, feigning bewilderment, holding them up in the air.

Aang and Toph laughed. "This is going to be interesting, Toph is a master at this, for sure!" Aang said, putting on their blindfolds. They started to move around the garden, touching random stuff, laughing and stumbling.

She looked back at Aang, raising an eyebrow. "The blind girl is a master of being blind?" she asked sarcastically. She tied one around her head, holding the rest out for the others.

"I think this is a flower! Or... grass..!" Aang said with a shrug. "Ugh, I don't know."

Katara giggled next to Aang, reaching out. She found his arm and followed it down to his hand, touching something prickly. Aang's face went red. "That's obviously grass," she laughed. "Flowers are, like, silky."

"...You never know!" Aang said. He took Katara's wrist and pulled her along. Katara let out a noise of surprise. "This is soft..." he mumbled. Appa let out a noise and Aang chuckled. "This is Appa indeed." he said. "We need to brush him at some point." he said.

Katara reached out to feel fur as high as she could reach. "I don't think there's anything else in the garden this fuzzy," she pointed out, laughing. Appa made a noise and Katara laughed some more, pulling her fur-covered hands from his pelt and giving them a shake. "He really needs a brushing," she agreed, shaking her hands.

She turned her head toward Athlea's voice. "Welcome back," she laughed.

A bit later, Athlea returned. She grabbed another shirt and tied it behind her head before integrating herself into the game. She reached forward, feeling around. "Fun game!"

Aang flailed around with his hands, and his head turned toward Athlea. "Ooo, Athlea!" he called out, waving at the house instead of her.

Athlea reached out and found fabric. "Hmm... hi," she said to the owner of the shirt. She knew it wasn't Aang, since she had heard his voice.

Zuko was half-stumbling when he felt hands against his shirt. "Erm, hi," he muttered, balancing himself on her shoulder. "Uh... fun game?"

Athlea stood there, her hands on his sides, his hands on her shoulders. "Having fun?" she asked softly, smiling. "It feels like you are struggling to keep your balance," she commented.

"Yeah. Fun," Zuko agreed quietly, his face red.

"Zuko is awful; he keeps stumbling." Toph pointed out giggling. Zuko glared in her direction. "Honestly, guys, this isn't hard." she said calmly as she walked around, purposely pushing Zuko into Athlea as she headed over to Katara and Aang.

Zuko snorted, his arms sliding closer to Athlea. "I'm not as good at being blind as you are."

Athlea smiled. "Come on, lighten up," she giggled.

He turned back to Athlea and bit his lip for half a second before quickly leaning forward and kissing her cheek, then taking a big step away and pulling his blindfold off before she could react. "Did I hear something about a festival earlier? We should get ready!" he called. Athlea's cheeks turned bright red, her fingers touching the spot he'd kissed.

Katara heard him and took her blindfold off. The sun was starting to set. "Sure!" she called back. She turned to Aang. "We should probably give Sokka his shirts back."

Aang took his blindfold off and grinned. "Yessss, let's go to the festival guys!" He glanced at Katara and chuckled, waving Sokka's shirt in the air. "I think he needs to wash them now," he teased.

Toph laughed. "Oh yeah, he should. I think one of them there in the corner smells." she said.

Athlea was the last one to take off her blindfold, staring after Zuko. "Uhh... did we miss something?" Aang asked, scratching the back of his head with a nervous smile.

"...Nothing," Athlea said with a smile, her hand still on her cheek as she looked away.

***

A/N they didnt miss nothin. nothin at all. Zuko is... purrrrr