Completely and totally AU. That's all I have to say.

"No!" Zuko screamed, fighting with the closed iron gates until his hands bled. The manor guards didn't even look at him. Why should they? He was a Bender, the lowliest form of human being, lucky to be disowned instead of killed on the spot. That had been discussed, too. They seemed to think that giving him his life was some sort of charity – death would have been easier to swallow.

The rain began to fall as he collapsed, sobbing. Insult to injury. Somewhere, the gods were laughing at him, and they weren't the only ones. Azula sat in the third floor's bay window, grinning so widely that it seemed to split her face in half. She'd been the one to tell their father, Zuko knew it. He'd announced that she was a Bender, too, but the brat could cry on command, and the outburst was taken as a lie to save his own skin. She waved cheerily at him, a small flame forming in the palm of her hand. He responded with a gesture that would have gotten him in worlds of trouble had he been inside the house. His sister chose to ignore it.

Zuko stood shakily. He had to find cover from the rain; the temperature would only keep dropping now that clouds blanketed the sky. A quick search through his pockets only produced a few coins. He hoped it was enough to buy a room at an inn. He would stay close by until his father changed his mind. Give it a day or two; he'd be back in the manor house by the end of the week. He couldn't believe they'd abandon him. Just a day or two... He had to keep telling himself that. By the time he reached the inn, he almost believed it.

The Gilded Dragon lay down the street in all its brazen glory. It had always seemed gaudy the other times he'd passed it, but today it was a welcome sight. The innkeeper, a short fat man whose breath smelled of pipe smoke, greeted him at the door. His nose wrinkled at the sight of Zuko's muddy clothing. "Its thirty-six coppers to stay here, kid," he grumbled. Zuko hesitated in the act of reaching for his money. People used coppers? That was just the stuff you gave beggars to make them go away. Nobody actually spent them. "That's three silver pieces," the fat man sneered, though his expression still suggested that he thought Zuko the type to carry copper.

"I know that," he snapped, thrusting a gold piece into the man's hand and taking a seat at one of the tables.

"'Course you do, sir," the innkeeper replied promptly, his demeanor starkly different now that he had money. He examined the coin conspicuously, catching the gaze of practically everyone in the room by the time he'd verified that it was, indeed, gold. "Anything else I can do for you, sir?"

"You can give me my change."

The innkeeper winced. Apparently he thought he would get away with keeping the extra. "Of course," he said smoothly, all disappointment hidden from his voice. Zuko snatched the proffered coins from the fat man, afraid if he left them too long, the innkeeper might just pocket them again. The innkeeper walked away, grumbling to himself.

The chair beside him screeched as it was dragged across the floor and someone sat down. "There are other tables you could've sat at," Zuko commented sourly.

"I know what ya are," the man said, ignoring him entirely. He had the air of someone who'd been quite happily drunk for some time. Still, Zuko stiffened at the assertion. The drunk was probably just trying to scare him; there was no need to get worked up.

"You do?" he asked calmly.

"Yup." How? Azula couldn't have gotten here so quickly, and no one outside the manor knew, and even those were fairly few. And of those few, none would tell. "They dun like your sort 'round here. Listen," the drunk scooted closer; Zuko scooted back, "I won' tell no one if you share those pretty coins of yours." Ah. He relaxed a little bit. The drunk had probably made it all up to get himself a few more drinks. The idiot didn't know anything.

"And if I refuse?"

"You can't fight the whole inn."

"What, all five of them?" He refrained from commenting that most of them were drunk, besides. Even a normal person could take on this lot without much trouble. His chair toppled over without warning. In an instant, he was on the ground, a dagger at his throat.

"'E stole my money," the drunk announced, one hand on the dagger hilt, the other holding Zuko down. A few of the other patrons stood, cracking their knuckles. "Five?" the man whispered so only Zuko could hear. "Looks like you can't even take on one." His speech wasn't slurred anymore. It'd all been an act.

Zuko kicked the man sharply in the chest, sending him barreling into the table. He stood just in time to counter a punch from one of the other patrons, a large man who obviously hadn't expected the parry, and tripped over the fallen chair with a loud thud. The third man just sat back down without attacking, not wanting to get involved in a battle he would lose. The fourth person hadn't even stood to begin with. That left one person unaccounted for. He whirled around; the man was coming at him with a short sword. He was too close; there was no time to react... Flames sprung from the floor without his leave, stopping the attacker dead in his tracks. The whole inn was staring at him in horror, frozen from the shock. Zuko ran.

It only took a few moments for the inn's residents to recover and give chase; he could hear their footsteps splashing behind him. What's worse, they were gaining on him. Something snagged his wrist, pulling him into an adjacent alleyway and tossing him roughly to the ground. A girl in a blue fur-lined jacket stood over him, though she was watching the street he'd just come from. "Wha—"

"If you plan on living, you'll sit there, and you'll shut up," she hissed. Water wound itself off the cobblestone street to spiral around her arm. A Bender. Zuko shut up. "They're coming," she muttered, tossing the water into the street where it froze instantly. "That should slow them down. Come on," she said to Zuko, grabbing his hand and running down the alley.

"Where are we—"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

"And a lot of good that did you."

The girl stopped suddenly. "Fine. Get away from them on your own," she said, crossing her arms and turning to face him. "You're doing a pretty poor job of it so far."

"I don't need your help," Zuko said bitterly.

She seemed to think about that for a moment before saying, almost to herself, "The hell you don't." She pulled up her hood and started to walk away. "Follow if you want," she told him with a shrug. "I'm going this way."

Zuko turned to head the other direction, but stopped. That was where they'd come from. The men from the inn would be that way. His options were limited to following the Bender girl, or getting captured. Cursing under his breath, he ran to catch up with the Waterbender. "So good of you to join me," she said sweetly.

"That was dirty," he growled.

"What was?" she asked innocently. Zuko wanted to scream. "Turn right."

"Will you at least tell me where we're going?"

"My house." He opened his mouth to protest, but she waved him to silence. "You're not staying at an inn; not after what happened at that Gilded Dragon place. You've no sense of discretion. Don't argue, its true. And I'm not about to leave you out on the street. So, we're going to my house."

"Joy," Zuko said sarcastically.

"The words you're looking for are 'Thank You'."

Zuko sighed. He had to admit, anything was better than the street, and this wouldn't cost money like an inn. "Thank you," he repeated reluctantly. The girl nodded to herself, but made no reply.

They walked in silence the rest of the way. The house was fairly large, though not nearly as big as his manor. The only lights were on the ground floor, he noticed. Perhaps everyone else had gone to bed. The girl knocked on the door in a very deliberate pattern. "Katara!" someone inside exclaimed. The double doors burst open, revealing a boy, about Zuko's age, with short hair pulled back in a ponytail. "What took you so long? The meeting –" he cut off suddenly as he noticed Zuko. "Oh. That's what took you so long."

"Sokka, don't be rude," Katara chided.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Is he coming to the meeting, too?"

"What meeting?" Zuko asked. Katara bit her lip; Sokka cursed.

"Come inside," the boy said, finally. He shut the doors behind them, flipping every latch and lock. Not even a really determined thief could get through those doors. "You didn't tell him?" Sokka hissed.

"There wasn't time!"

"He's on our side, at least? Tell me he's on our side."

"He's on our side."

"Don't I get a say in that?" Zuko exclaimed.

"You didn't tell him anything, did you?" Sokka asked accusingly, ignoring Zuko altogether. Katara shook her head. "Anything at all?" She shook her head again. "So now I have to explain, don't I?" Nod. "You know I hate doing this." Nod. "Gee, thanks."

"My pleasure." Sokka rolled his eyes again.

"Welcome," he said to Zuko, "to the headquarters for the Bender Rebellion."