Title: The Road to Redemption Author: sleepy-geeky Word Count: 200 Warning: references to booze and prostitutes Challenge: #50 Historical AU

The day Zuko found out what his father and uncle did for a living was the day his perceptions of the world shifted completely. No longer did he understand the concepts of good and evil, black and white, that his mother put into his head as a child.

Instead, he was faced with a world where his father ordered all the illegal activity in the city, and his favorite Uncle enforced their family's rule. He understood the fact that their house had alcohol when President Harding said it was immoral, where there were always women smoking and drinking and dressed in clothes his mother disapproved of, and where absolutely everyone listened to the words of his father. He understood the long absences of his Uncle, the death of his cousin, and the murder of his grandfather.

To confirm the unbelievable he confronted his father; later, he would curse himself for not ithinking/i and remembering that questioning his father at any time and especially in front of what must be enforcers was a Bad Idea.

But he hadn't thought, and because of it he was now nursing a gunshot wound to the face and packing his bags.

Note: Yeah, I know Harding drank during his time for office; I don't think he shared that with the general public.