Happy Independence Day to readers from Georgia! I hope you have a good day!

Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: Bloodbending seems quite hard to me, it must be difficult to do it without accidentally hurting the person you're doing it to. That or lightning-bending.

Zigzagdoublezee: Zuko just has to make the best of a bad situation. Fortunately I think he's better placed to do it than canon Zuko was, he has less baggage.

Pan2000: Yeah, Zuko's objective in canon was to capture the Avatar to be able to come home and please his father. The circumstances here mean he doesn't have that, so he doesn't have any reason to go against Team Avatar.

As Always, Please Review!

One of the actors, Makio, saw him first.

"There he is!" He called, rushing towards him excitedly. His companions followed, calling his fake name and greeting him enthusiastically. Zuko did his best to reciprocate, but he found his heart wasn't really in it.

"I didn't think you would be able to manage," Riku rumbled. "I thought they would catch you."

"Thanks," Zuko replied sarcastically. The big man just grinned.

"I'm glad you did. Thank you."

The others crowded around him, thanking him profusely. Sachiko even gave him a peck on the cheek, which caused his face to go bright red.

"Thank you," she said.

"What are you going to do now?" Zuko swiftly changed the subject.

Chikao paused.

"I don't actually know," he admitted. "I didn't think we would make it this far."

"We could go home," Riku said. "It's probably the safest place for us."

"Maybe," Zuko shook his head, "but you would have to pass through the frontlines and reach Fire Army-controlled territory to do that. And I don't think the Earth Kingdom's army is going to be any more pleased to see you than their civilians were."

"We could get arrested as spies!" Joji said dramatically.

"Or worse!" Zuko agreed. Of course, he also had his own reasons not to want these people to return home and begin shouting about the boy who had saved them from a mob, that could bring attention to him. But the concern about crossing the front was genuine.

"So what's the alternative?" Fumika asked.

"You can do what I'm doing," Zuko said. "Go to Ba Sing Se."

"We would be fugitives!" Chikao pointed out. "You saw how welcome we are here."

"That was because you were wearing red so they knew you were Fire Nation!" Zuko told him. "Now you're wearing green, there's no reason for them to know any more. And Ba Sing Se is probably the safest place, away from the war! Their walls are impenetrable!"

"Would we ever get to go home?" Daishi asked.

"I don't know," Zuko was forced to admit. "If the Avatar can end the war, then yes. Otherwise..."

He thought of Yue, but then put her out of his mind. The last he had seen of her, she had been deliberately marching off into Fire Nation captivity. The truth was he didn't know how much use she would be at all. If she somehow got out, she was still one person against millions. If she didn't, she was going to spend the rest of her life in a jail cell. Which meant they probably would be stuck in Ba Sing Se.

"Then our old lives will be over!"

Tell me about it.

"But that doesn't mean you can't build new ones!" Zuko tried. "You have each other, at least! You're not alone here. Maybe you could even do some of your plays there."

"I've got a play we could do!" Makio said brightly, pulling out a piece of paper.

"Is it three sentences long again like the last one?" Riku asked.

"You said to leave audiences wanting more!"

"Not that much more!" Riku massaged his temple with a big hand.

"Anyway!" Zuko tried to change the subject before an argument started. "It's up to you. You can either try to get through the front lines and return home through a warzone or try to get to safety with me."

"Can we have a huddle?" Airi asked him. "Just so we can discuss it."

Zuko nodded, and they crowded together, furiously whispering. Just before she went in, Fumika stopped in front of him.

"I'm glad you came to help us," she said. "Thank you."

"I'm not!" Lian came storming up to him, fury etched on her face. Fumika guessed that an argument was about to happen and scurried away. "Chen told me everything. What were you thinking?"

"Everything?" Zuko asked numbly. Did she know he was a Firebender?

"Yes, everything. You dragged my daughter into danger!"

"No I didn't!" Zuko retorted hotly, the false accusation making his temper suddenly flair. "She went in because she wanted to, not because I made her!"

"It's true," suddenly Chen was there, grabbing her mother's arm. "He didn't make me do anything!"

"You put yourself in danger!" Lian jabbed a finger at him. Then she rounded on her daughter. "And so did you! We're fleeing to keep you out of danger, and you just go and seek it out?!"

"I needed to help my- I mean these people!"

"Which is very admirable, but you could have died!"

"But I didn't!"

"That's not the point! We were worried about you!"

"No, the point is that they didn't either!" Zuko gestured around him.

"So what?" Lian crossed her arms. "They're only Fire Nation anyway."

"Mother!" Chen looked outraged at that comment. "You can't say that! They didn't know anything about the war!"

"Doesn't matter! They are not worth you!"

Lian stormed away.

Zuko stood there awkwardly, surrounded by several actors and a refugee girl who all looked similarly like they'd rather be literally anywhere else.

"We had a discussion," Chikao spoke first, trying to sound light and airy and completely failing. "We've decided to come to Ba Sing Se."

"Great!" Zuko nodded. "You can travel with us if you want. You'll just be more faces in the crowd. It will help you blend in."

Chikao bowed in thanks, and then Zuko was left alone with Chen.

Nobody spoke for a few moments. Finally Zuko found the tension unbearable.

"So..." he said. "I escaped."

"You did," Chen said.

"I liked your plan," Zuko told her.

"Thanks."

Zuko's heart sank. She was being curt. That wasn't a good sign.

Chen suddenly stepped towards him, shooing the actors away.

"I didn't tell her," she said suddenly. "That you're a Firebender."

"I'm sorry," Zuko shook his head. "I should have told you. But you saw yourself what it's like to be a Firebender here. I didn't want a mob like that coming after me."

He gestured to the inn, where people were beginning to disperse. He saw figures at the window tossing the actors' belongings out onto the street below; Chikao and the others were watching with horror as their possessions were despoiled.

Chen didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"I don't like being lied to," she said. "I know why you did it, maybe I would have done the same in your shoes. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Zuko nodded guiltily, knowing an even bigger lie hung over him.

"Good," Chen nodded, her face set. "Just as long as we understand one another."

Then she turned and walked away, leaving Zuko alone once again, with no idea where he stood, and the distinct impression that he had just lost a friend.