This fic is going to diverge from the show at episode 12 of season 3, exploring what would have happened if the gang had taken Zuko prisoner instead of sending him away and eventually befriending him.

Enjoy!

Zuko's forever watching the fire nation kids have fun without him.

"Look at those meat-heads playing basketball. Don't they know that tomorrow is father's coronation?"

He looks at his sister and then frowns at the children in front of him. "I doubt they care." He utters, staring on blankly as the ball drops in front of his feet and bounces gently against his sandals. The kids in question fall silent from their rowdy cheering as they realise just who exactly their ball has rolled into.

"Ahem." One of them starts. "Zu-zuko, could you please pass us the ball back?" he brazenly asks, taking a step forwards.

Zuko reaches down to pick it up but Azula pulls him back by the shoulder.

"How dare you address him as Zuko?! You are to call us Fire Prince Zuko and Fire Princess Azula." Her eyes burn with that familial gleam. "Or… do you show disrespect to your nobility?" she asks, and as the boy shakes his head with vehemence, she knows that she's won. "Bow to your Prince." She adds, for haughty measure.

"Azula, I don't…" Zuko hisses, his voice teeming with embarrassment as he watches the terrified boy sink to his knees.

"S-sorry, Fire Prince Zuko. Y-you can keep our ball." He mutters, not looking into Zuko's eyes and fleeing in the opposite direction as soon as Azula gives him a satisfied nod of her head.

She snorts. "Idiots."

Zuko picks up the ball and stares at it in his hands for a few seconds. "You don't want it?" he calls after the kid, who's re-joined his friends, a few of which direct angry glares towards the two royals.

"Not anymore." another one says coldly, with a bold glare sent directly to the Prince. Zuko feels his face and his hands warm up and a second later, the ball explodes in a barely-contained display of exothermic rage and turns to ash on the floor.

His keeps his fists balled as Azula turns to face him, a smirk on her features. "Don't worry about those cretins, Zuko. They'll be in prison soon enough, with those attitudes." She leans back on the bench and places both hands behind her top knot, relaxing. "You should learn to relax."

Zuko's cheeks burn with anger and embarrassment. "You shouldn't have told them to call us Prince and Princess!" he rages. "Why did you do that?"

She rolls her eyes. "You should be proud of your royal heritage. You'll thank me one day, Zuko."

He clenches his jaw, once, and then releases it. It wasn't wise to get on Azula's bad side, and besides. If it weren't for her, he probably wouldn't have anyone to sit with at all.

"Jeez. Why is fire nation food so hot?" Sokka exclaims, gulping down some more water to go with some of the food that he managed to scrounge at a local fair.

Katara and Aang share a look, a giggle escaping Aang's throat. "Sokka, I think you answered your own question, there."

"For real, are their tongues made of molten steel? This is ridiculous!" he continues his tirade.

"I like it!" Toph decides, taking a large bite from Sokka's place as he gawps at her, incredulous. "Much better than Earth Kingdom food. It's all so dry and mealy."

"Hey! That's mine!" Sokka grabs the plate from her and stuffs a whole lot of food in his mouth in at attempt to save it from Toph's wandering hands. "Just 'cause it's spicy, doesn't mean I'm not hungry."

Toph sits back on her seat and raises her hands. "Whatever." She pauses, sparing a look at Katara. "I'll go and give Zuko some food, or whatever." She stands up, but Katara frowns and places a hand in front, stopping her.

"No. I'll go."

"What?" Toph frowns.

"He's dangerous. I'll go." She says. Aang briefly considers protesting, but the sheer look on Katara's face persuades him otherwise. Katara mutters contemptuously to herself as she walks by the fire towards the food and gathers together a plate for Zuko, before turning on her heel towards the room they'd locked him up in.

She's angry, of course, because her group was now saddled with having to put up with a prisoner, and because even the mere existence of said prisoner had caused tension in their group. Aang and Toph had been firmly against keeping Zuko prisoner, but Sokka and Katara had felt it was a good idea. Or at the very least, making the best of a bad situation.

She hesitates in front of the door, placing one hand against it as if to somehow determine the threat. Wondering if he's already managed to burn off the frozen restraints that Aang and her had constructed for him.

She knocks heavily, twice.

"Hello?" she hears him call, taking that as her invitation to come in. She places the plate heavily on the floor and readies one hand for combat; using the other to punch open the door with a heavy crack and the sound of the splintering of metal.

"Zuko." She says, icily. When she realises that he's still restrained, she relaxes. He's sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed. When she enters, she sees his bad eye open a crack to peek at his visitor. "Don't even think of trying anything." She says, holding her breath a little. "I'm just here to bring you food."

He lowers his arms and uncrosses his legs, pausing to look at the offering. "Thanks." He manages to say awkwardly, clearing his throat. "Katara, I…"

"You what?" she whips her head round at him. "Are you going to try apologising again?" she says with enough venom to poison even a large animal like Appa.

He blinks in surprise, and then shakes his head. "It's just… I can't eat this." He tells her simply. He holds up his bound hands by way of an explanation, offering up an apologetic grimace. "Look, I'm sorry, but you need to let me out of these so I can eat."

Katara's frown dissolves away and she ponders the situation for a second. Then, she picks up the plate of food and brings it closer to Zuko, lowering herself down on the brick flooring and crossing her legs opposite him. She raises one hand, bringing forth a sphere of water around them which encloses them in together; turning it into ice with a flick of her wrist. With her other hand, she breaks the ice trap on one of Zuko's hands. "There." She says airily. "You can eat now."

He stares at her, and then at the ice cage she's created and shrugs. "You know, considering that I turned myself in to you, you're seriously untrusting." He ponders for a second, and then corrects himself. "Or is this retribution?"

"Sit down and eat." She orders, a little crabby. She watches him awkwardly devour a plate of meat with one hand, peering at him with curiosity even against her better instincts. "How can you eat that? Even Sokka thought it was too spicy."

He doesn't reply but continues to eat. Katara wonders when the last time he ate was- noticing he looks skinny. She doesn't ask.

When he's about halfway done, he pauses and considers the ice dome with a flash of irritation.

"How am I going to teach the Avatar firebending when I can't even be trusted to eat without supervision?" he spits.

Katara flinches against his irritation, noting that his temper doesn't appear to have improved since they last came to head. "I don't know." She admits, accidentally letting out a tendril of worry that she had been keeping inside. Zuko may be a dangerous sociopath who stalked them for months on end, but he's not inept at reading facial signals, apparently, because his face softens.

"I get it, you're worried about Aang." He shrugs, his voice gentler. "If the three of you teamed up against me, you would win," he admits.

"I know." Karata grimaces. "But I can't have you hurting Aang or betraying us again. not now. We're so close."

"How can I prove to you-"

"Shut up!" she yells, cutting him off. "I don't want you to prove anything. You don't get it!" She tells him, shooting a ray of ice which re-binds his hands as the ice sphere around them shatters to nothing. "I'm going to bed." She scowls, standing up and turning to leave; to rejoin her group of friends and push her worries about Zuko out of her mind.

He stares intently after her, and scowls ardently at the sound of the door slamming closed, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more.