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Of all the things Zuko had done without thinking before acting:
Talking very passionately in his father's war room
Face a waterbender at the North Pole surrounded by his element and in the middle of a full moon.
The times Azula manipulated him into falling into her traps.
He is betraying his uncle and those who would become his friends in Ba Sing Se.
And many more things he could tell. This was never a possibility, but he has surpassed them all.
A few days ago while he was going to his office to do some things after a meeting of his council, it had been seven years since the war ended, seven years as the Lord of Fire, many things have happened in those years, too many to count. and he experienced many things since he took the crown. Still, without a doubt this would be one of the things he would remember most in the coming years because when he entered and committed himself to his usual work, on his desk there was a letter on top of it with the seal of the royal family, this undoubtedly confused him, except for him there was no one who carried that seal, his uncle preferred to write them without him, Azula never sent him anything, she preferred to make proclamations when it occurred to her to appear and her father was not even an option, so he opened it to clear his doubts. Still, without a doubt, the first words when he read them left him in shock and made his blood run cold.
My dear Grandson...
Coming out of his shock, he read again to see if he had not read wrong, he read again to see if it was not a trick and when he verified it, he then read the entire letter once again to see what the letter was about, in itself. It was an invitation, inviting him, Fire Lord Zuko, to a tea party on one of the remote islands of the Fire Nation, one that was well hidden and difficult to locate except for the Fire Nation. members of the Royal Family also urged him to write his response in that same letter if he accepted and if not then ignore the request completely.
And don't even bother looking for the sender on that island if you refuse, because he will know what he plans, and by the time they search he will no longer be there.
Zuko groaned internally not knowing what to do, he couldn't tell if this was a trap, the most logical thing was that it was, his grandfather couldn't have written this! Even if he were alive he wouldn't even dream of writing an invitation, he never did something like that.
And here he was now.
In the company of his guard, which was made up of Kyoshi warriors and some imperial firebenders, Zuko arrived on the island near the periphery. He did not explain to anyone except Suki that he had come to see if there was a hidden truth on the island, fortunately. Suki understood that it was something personal so she didn't investigate further, which Zuko appreciated.
Outside of what the letter said he wasn't sure that sharing the letter was a good thing, he doesn't even know what direction things would take if he told someone else.
Once he arrived he told Suki and the other members of his guard to let him continue alone, the invitation was clear that he wanted him to go alone and that if he showed up with someone else to the meeting it would be known and the appointment would be canceled. Zuko in that scenario did not know what to do, it seems that... whoever sent him the letter was very precise at that point (he still did not believe that his grandfather had written him that letter) and if he wanted to get to the bottom of all this Then he would have to give in to the request, with nothing more than being able to do so. His bodyguards, although skeptical, listened to him and allowed him to continue. Without further ado, he nodded, took his Dao swords along with the scroll, and ventured into the unknown terrain.
As he passed the vegetation, he began to remember all the meetings he had had with his grandfather, which only boiled down to the meetings to which his father called him and Azula, the formal celebrations that were held in the palace, and the Fire Lord's Day, and in none of them did he interact with him, Azulon did not interact with anyone, the best relationship that his grandfather had and that he remembered was with Uncle Iroh, he always showed consideration to him and appreciated him, too. He had Lu Ten but in preference, he always went to his uncle.
He still has that doubt, why him? If his grandfather wrote the letter for a reunion, why not send one to his firstborn, his uncle had come to visit just a few days after the letter arrived and to keep Zuko company, he subtly tried several times to ask about the relationship with his father and that if he had received something similar, his uncle, as perceptive as always, ended up getting to the point of what he was looking for, then Zuko showed him the letter that had arrived.
He can't lie that his uncle was more than surprised, even more than him, as far as he knows, Azulon was dead and there was no way he was alive and his White Lotus contacts didn't You know, something like that would be too difficult to hide.
That only increased Zuko's worries about going to that meeting, but her uncle, to her great surprise, urged her to go. Although Azulon was a very reserved person at the end of his life, he clearly wouldn't do things like this, but he knew. identify his father's handwriting and how he wrote and in fact that letter had been written by Azulon himself.
When he reached the deepest point of the island he was able to see what he was looking for, a safe house, generations of Fire Lords built and sheltered members of the Royal Family or themselves in them during times of crisis, only the family. Royal of the Fire Nation knew about them (in fact maybe that explains why they haven't found Azula, will have to figure that out later), he doesn't know all the ones there are, but this is one of them, It is not too ostentatious but it still shows the style of the upper class of the Fire Nation, perfectly defensible and surely with escape routes for anything, without further ado he proceeds to walk towards it.
When he is close enough to the entrance, he opens his eyes in surprise to see that two servants are waiting for him there. Examining them carefully, he realizes that they were one of Azulon's assistants that he had in the palace and that after his grandfather's funeral, they had left. , he assumed that it was because their father expelled them or did something to them, but he sees that the assumptions were more than wrong.
The assistants, seeing that he was arriving, nodded among themselves and proceeded to open the door for him. He gives them a brief nod while one of them proceeds to guide him to where he is supposed to go.
While walking through the hallways, he notices the decoration, very similar to that of the palace and also with the arrangements and decoration that resembles the place, then while walking through the hallways and climbing steps to go to other floors, he catches a glimpse a door that leads to a room, the servant stops and steps aside while with his hand he makes it clear that whoever sent for him is in that direction.
Zuko swallows a bit of saliva as he nods and heads to the room. And he finally sees it.
Although he looked thirteen years older, he still had the bearing he had when I saw him sitting in the throne room the day he supposedly died. He may be dressed in fine Fire Nation robes, but Zuko can make out the thin arms. , while his hair is styled in the traditional Fire Nation style.
He was sitting in the middle of the room next to a table with paper and ink in hand, he seemed focused on whatever he was writing, but he couldn't trust himself, not with him, the person who had summoned him was nothing more and nothing less. than his grandfather.
His grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon was still alive and stood in front of him reading a scroll as if nothing was happening.
-Are you going to stand there Zuko or will you decide to come?
His question startled him, it seemed that his grandfather had noticed and recognized it because he did not feel upset by his person, but Zuko still could not get over the surprise that his grandfather was still with him. life.
He didn't make sense.
-Do me a favor and sit down, I didn't bring you here so you can stand there.
Zuko came out of his thoughts to see that in front of Azulon, there was a seat in front of him, one for his grandson. Zuko granted it to him and cautiously entered. Although it was a surprise to see him breathing, it did not mean that this could be a trap, he walked towards the seat and looked everywhere, watching where enemies could enter, objects that could be used against him, and possible escape routes, if his grandfather noticed that he didn't say anything, he just let out a tired sigh and a He tried to laugh, as if this situation was amusing him.
Once he sat down, Azulon returned to his scroll and continued writing while his grandson stared at him, while he studied it.
-And good?? Are you going to ask? I know you want to do it - Azulon said that after a few short minutes of being immersed in the paper and the ink, Zuko meanwhile, had many things to say.
What was he doing here?
Why did I send him to bring him?
Did anyone else know?
Why him and not Uncle Iroh??
What is he planning??
But of all the questions that crossed his mind, he found a way to summarize them all in one.
-As...?? How is that...??
-How come I'm alive??- At his question, Azulon snorted, amused and mocking, as if he were about to tell a funny anecdote, and then he left the scroll and looked at Zuko. "I didn't reach the age I am by trusting in the people who live in the palace at all Zuko, a lesson for you, I knew that your father's ambitions were enough to kill me if he had already asked me to betray Iroh...
-So that you can revoke the title of being your heir and give it to my father.
If Azulon was surprised he didn't show it, he just gave Zuko a snort for being interrupted. "So you knew...
-Know what?? "What did you order my father to kill me?" he said the last thing with a tone of sarcasm and a little fury.
Azulon upon hearing his response and his tone only rolled his eyes - Don't make drama Zuko, people have been punished for less and ended up dead in worse ways, look at me, thirteen years later and every day I look more like a corpse, if I had known that I would have ended it like this, I would have gladly let myself be poisoned that night by Ozai with your mother's poison.
Zuko then opened his eyes in surprise, as he saw his grandfather, so everything that happened that night...
-You were hoping that my mother would find out and she would propose to my father a way to assassinate you and be able to place him on the throne... everything that happened was planned by you.
Azulon only responded to his statement with a malicious smile, letting Zuko understand that he was indeed right.
True, he didn't have to forget that his sister was named after his grandfather, also considered a firebending prodigy as well as a brilliant strategist.
-Correct... did you think that when I looked for your mother the first time I had not thoroughly investigated her and her family?? I knew that from everything they taught him about herbalism he could make a poison that could kill me and I had no doubt. that he could use it against me, so I had already taken measures for that.
-But what would have happened if everything ended differently,
"Please, Zuko," he said in a mocking tone, "do you think I don't know my children or who lives in my house?" Ozai's ambition was always what gave him energy but it was also the best way to do what I wanted, in the long run, I knew that something like this would happen, after all your father was not at all subtle in hiding his intentions.
As much as he didn't want to, Zuko agreed with him, his father always liked to leave everything on the table and always show off so that everyone would worship him. But despite all that, there was still one thing that bothered him and that he still didn't understand.
-And yet you did not retaliate against my father or my mother despite everything...
Azulon just huffed, annoyed by the answer he was going to give. "And what good would it have been for me?" Killing him and your mother would have served no purpose in the end, Iroh no longer had his son to continue our legacy, your sister was already so influenced by Ozai that it was obvious that he would betray me in a few years and he didn't even talk about you. ...
Now that they were bringing up that topic, Zuko ventured to ask the next question he wanted to ask.
-And even so, I don't understand why you took me out of all the members of the Family, why not Uncle Iroh? I'm sure you would like to see him more than me.
Azulon did nothing to deny Zuko's argument. "Of course you are, you're not wrong about that... but it was still you who he had to see face to face."
-But why?? I am the Fire Lord who ended the war, who put an end to a hundred years of war, to much of your work!
Azulon frowned at what Zuko said.
"Thank you for telling me that Zuko, clearly it's good to remember how my grandson screwed up my legacy as Fire Lord for decades..." His response was sarcastic as he looked at his scroll for a moment, then Azulon gave a quiet sigh, which made Zuko see not his grandfather, but the old man he was talking to - those same decades in which I strove to fulfill my father's dream, so many hours planning strategies, discussing the best course of action, battalions that accomplished so many missions, and in the end for what? We spent almost a century of war and we had not achieved the objective, we were too far from achieving the goal, and the death of your cousin only confirmed what I was beginning to see as a possibility... that this war was beginning to be lost and only I confirm when your father started as the Fire Lord.
Well, that was undoubtedly something that he did not expect, that his grandfather had accepted that the war was lost, which raises new questions, if that's how he saw it, why didn't he do anything?? Why not make any changes??
It seems that Azulon guessed his thoughts because he responded again.
-It wouldn't have worked Zuko, people wouldn't forgive or believe that the Fire Lord one day suddenly said that he was no longer going to attack other nations after decades of doing precisely that, plus I didn't regret it and I still don't regret it. If I had done what I did, no, the best thing was for me to leave the scene and have someone else solve it, assume the mantle of being my successor, and manage to put an end to all this, which, as I predicted, happened.
Zuko then proceeded to tell an important point that was missing Azulon.
-But even During my father's reign, the conquest was achieved, he conquered Omashu and my sister alone conquered Ba sing se, something that not even my uncle, your son, managed to do.
Azulon just rolled his eyes in annoyance, so he decided to share his point of view with Zuko.
-What your father had was luck, luck that the King of Omashu surrendered and that your sister was opportunely in Ba sing se, Azula did not do it alone, everyone seems to omit that fact, she had her friends, those earth benders and the armies of the Fire Nation to occupy the city... which could only remain occupied for a few months, Omashu could only remain secured until the eclipse ended and Ba sing se, was occupied for a long time. less than that.
-You say it as if it were something you expected.
-Obviously, Ozai is not one of those who think long-term, and his ego went to his head... King Phoenix, when I heard him I seriously didn't believe it, and then he would throw away and destroy all of our work nation to the trash, if it continued like this I thought I would have to reappear... but I knew that Iroh would not let me down and that he would know how to solve that... although of course I expected him to be the Fire Lord, but instead it turned out to be you.
-And what are you planning to do??- Zuko narrowed his eyes more cautiously than before now that they had come to this matter, Azulon saw this but did not seem worried, so he decided to make Zuko calm down.
-If you mean whether to reveal that I am alive and gather followers for the war then don't worry, I am no longer the young man I was before and I no longer have the appetite to conquer anything, the Nation seems to be doing well with you, I have observed your progress since you started as Fire Lord, you are managing to improve things after your father's nonsense despite everything, your sister may be called a prodigy but you have achieved what only Iroh has achieved in a long time. .. amaze me.
Zuko was left shocked and speechless by what he had said at the end, while Azulon proceeded to explain his point.
-Find the Avatar, something that neither I nor my father achieved, make you stronger on your own and become Fire Lord over your sister... and in a way, you are achieving what neither Sozin nor I with almost a hundred years of fighting have achieved, you make an impact on the world in a way that not even in my wildest dreams I thought of doing, you share our greatness so that our nation has an impact that the rest of the world did not expect to adopt
Zuko, upon hearing the last thing, could immediately object. "I'm not doing anything like that."
-Oh no?? Now that the war is behind us the Fire Nation has been left out of the world's focus, it only makes one wonder, where the next event will occur, whatever it becomes will be due to our influence Zuko, the changes that You and the Avatar have begun to implement starting with that Republic City as they call it, what will demonstrate will be that progress is the way to follow more than ever and I know that you see it too.
Zuko could say that his grandfather's perspective is wrong but that would be lying, now that the war is behind us the changes that his grandfather mentions are being present, the Water Tribes are rebuilding well, especially the Southern Water Tribe and in words of his friends is growing faster than they thought, the Earth Kingdom although it does not have many changes, through his trips to meet with his uncle in Ba sing se or to discuss issues with Kuei, they have begun to have opinions of some citizens that the Earth Kingdom needs to move forward and that the monarchy is becoming outdated, Zuko would be lying if he didn't agree a little with their opinions, the Fire Nation embraces the changes well and is beginning to change its perspective to Through new generations, within a few years the indoctrination that had been instilled since Sozin would begin to be forgotten, while it would still take a long time for the population of the Air Nomads to return to be enough to restore their nation to what it was before. , Aang is doing a great job of preserving the beliefs and culture of his people, sharing them with people willing to follow that path, that has been a great step.
Maybe you're right, over the next few decades, the world will advance more than it has before.
-So... you approve??
Azulon just made a dismissive gesture with his hand but didn't show any sign that he was against it. Well, it's not how he expected it to be done but I think it will work in the long run.
Zuko nodded and was partly calmer than he was at the beginning, but of course, he still had a few more things to know.
-And then, what will you do then? If you don't plan on telling anyone else that you're alive.
-You leave me here, I have made my place in this corner of the world, it is remote and I am not bothered by anyone, it's a good retreat where I can take a well-deserved rest after leading the Fire Nation for 75 years... maybe I'll send a letter to Iroh to see how he's doing, after all, I imagine you broke the terms and told him or I'm wrong??
His grandfather looked at him accusingly, while Zuko looked away and doing so like a child who was being scolded again, Azulon just clicked his tongue without being surprised. Zuko decided to get out of this situation by trying to bring up another topic when he saw the scroll that his grandfather was carrying.
-By the way, you are writing, you have been focused on that since I arrived.
He made mention of the parchment that Azulon had in his hands and that he looked at it for a moment.
-That this?? "It's a kind of gift for our people." He looked back at the parchment and seeing that it was indeed the way he wanted it, he rolled it up and handed it to Zuko.
Zuko skeptically took it and proceeded to open it to find out what it was about. When he opened it and proceeded to read it, he made some faces of intrigue and amazement. When he finished reading it, he looked back at his grandfather without believing it.
-This is serious??
Azulon nodded - Yes it is... the evidence that Ozai was the intellectual author of my apparent death, he may have known what he was planning and used it to my advantage, but that does not mean that he has betrayed me and Iroh too, I still must. give him an exemplary punishment.
-Making this public will have a great impact on his image.
At Zuko's response, Azulon gave him a malicious smile. "That's right, if you want to hit your father and it hurts him, you have to do it on his ego. I found it funny how the Avatar defeated your father." As if they had After saying something very funny, Azulon started to laugh, which left Zuko disturbed. He had never seen that expression on his grandfather, a hilarious expression, which made seeing him uneasy.
-Please don't do that, it's very strange.
Azulon stopped laughing and just shook his head. "As much as it is that you laugh, Zuko, whether you want it or not, you may have inherited Ozai's appearance and his taste for the dramatic and moral from your mother, but you got that character from me... anyway, what I give you can also be useful to calm down those troublemakers who continue to cause problems, the same ones who want to free your father, no one in their right mind would want it if they discovered that did to come to power in the first place.
Zuko nods and returns his gaze to the parchment, there is indeed a statement made by Azulon where he says that if he is dead he blames Ozai for his death he does not mention his mother, but he reveals about the reasons that his father had to take the throne and why he did it.
This will help you a lot.
He proceeds to roll up the parchment and put it in the sleeve of his tunic to keep it safe, after that he looks back at his grandfather - So you wanted to give me just this.
-No... I also think it could help you be a better Fire Lord, you might benefit from the perspective of someone who spent almost his entire life on the throne.
-What makes you think I need your advice? To the extent that you may want to use it as manipulation.
Azulon didn't object to that, instead, he just responded.
-I may have followed advice from those who were on my father's council when I began to govern, but the ideas and what they would be were my decision in the end, and how they would be implemented and how they would be done were also, another lesson for you. .. maybe Iroh will give you good advice, but if you want your mandate to produce more changes to those that have already been made, then listen to me and take the good from what I am going to tell you.
Zuko took a moment to decide if this was a good idea or not, but then he remembered what his grandfather told him, in the end, it was his decision how it would be carried out, and that was certainly good advice, maybe hearing what he has What to say is not so bad.
-Okay... what do you have of your vast experience that you can share with me?
There was some sarcasm in his question but Azulon knew that he had convinced him, he just gave him a look that could be identified as "Ju listen to me and you'll see how it can be useful to you."
-Well, to begin with, I do not recommend the idea of ruling until the end of your days...
And so the rest of the day passed until night soon arrived, Zuko listened to everything that Azulon decided to share with him, without a doubt a lot to take into account, a lot to discard, and something to rescue, it was something educational.
At the end of the day they said goodbye with the fact that this would be the first and only time the two would see each other, Zuko had no problems with that. The only thing he did before leaving there was to thank him for the scroll, while Azulon, in his way, wished him luck.
At the end of the day, as he walked away from that place that no doubt no one else would find and returned with the rest of his guard to return to the Fire Nation, Zuko decided that this trip wasn't so bad after all.