To Lose or to Gain: Boiling Point (Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfic)

Bonds of Family

Lu Ten knew exactly why Zuko reacted the way he did.

More importantly, he wished he hadn't slipped like he did back when they escaped, simply because his anger at what Ozai did to Zuko flared up as it did. Lu Ten saw with his own eyes, his flesh and blood scarred with the flame all Firebenders were taught from a young age to treat with respect, knowing full well-said flames could destroy, yet his words at that moment also destroyed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zuko's friends watched, obviously concerned, but he hoped they wouldn't follow after. Lu Ten, after all, needed to speak with Zuko alone, without anyone interfering. He followed the boy, watching him stop in a part of the camp where nobody else was. Zuko leaned up against the wall of Ba-Sing-Se, the place bringing so many memories back to Lu Ten, but Zuko hid his face from view.

"Zuko." Lu Ten watched Zuko flinch.

"You..." Zuko lowered his hands, trying to look the man in the eye. "You didn't have to follow me."

"Yes, I did." He sucked in a deep breath. "Does this have to do with what I said when I saw your scar? You know that I didn't mean..."

"You did," the teen stated firmly. "You did mean to say that Ozai wasn't my father, but you definitely didn't mean to say it the way Katara and Sokka's father said you did—that Ozai doesn't deserve to be my father. You meant that he really wasn't my father."

Lu Ten watched him carefully, then opened his mouth. "Zuko, your father..."

"Don't!" Zuko closed his eyes. "If you know who my real father is, don't tell me. I don't want to know. If that man cared, he would have been in my life, nor would he have left me in the hands of that monster."

"Zuko..."

"I know you mean well Lu Ten, but please don't." Zuko's mouth twisted slightly. "Don't patronize me. I'm not a little kid anymore. I don't need my..."

Lu Ten stopped, wondering if Zuko meant to say 'cousin' while he wanted to finish the sentence off with 'father', but instead said, "...need your family anymore? Zuko, everyone needs their family, but I should know that all too well, having gone for five years without it."

"Yeah, but..."

"But what?"

"Aren't you jealous?" Zuko asked, which resulted in Lu Ten sucking his breath in. The teen looked him in the eye then. "You are, aren't you?"

The air left through his nostrils, but Lu Ten feared steam created by his Firebending might come out of his nose with how frustrated the situation was making him, as he only wanted what was best for his son. He thought over his words carefully, and then said, "Not the way you think." He watched Zuko's head tilt slightly to the side. "I'm jealous that father's had you to himself the last five years, that he got to see you grow up. That's what I'm jealous of."

Zuko reached a hand up, rubbing the back of his neck. "I feel silly now."

"About your father..."

"Please. Don't." Zuko continued looking at the ground. "Could we just not talk about that? And could you not tell anybody else, including uncle?"

Lu Ten's stomach lurched, as it wasn't a promise that he wanted to make, but he didn't feel he could not. "Alright. Not until you're ready."

"I doubt I'll ever be ready, but would rather pretend we didn't have this conversation." Zuko looked at his feet. "Let's get back to uncle before he sends the army out for us."

"Did you just make a joke?" Lu Ten asked.

Zuko looked up, eyes wide. "I was serious. He'd really send an army after us."

Which, Lu Ten suddenly thought might be a true statement, given the fact Iroh was a general. He shook his head. "That's because we're family."

"Family. Right." Zuko of course didn't seem so sure of the answer, but he did head back to the tent with Lu Ten. They slipped in, while Zuko smiled at Iroh as if nothing happened.

"Are you alright nephew? You seemed a bit..." Iroh frowned.

"I'm alright. Lu Ten simply reminded me that just because my father's disowned me that doesn't mean the three of us aren't family."

"I see." The look on Iroh's face, Lu Ten recognized as the one his father got on his face when he suspected someone was lying, but then he replaced it with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. "The family is back together, isn't it."

"Well, not completely," Lu Ten stated, watching confusion appear on his father's face. "Ursa."

"Yes. Ursa," Iroh frowned. "She disappeared when father died."

Lu Ten's blood ran cold, wondering what his father thought regarding Ursa, that perhaps his father thought she'd killed Azulon. "Father? You don't think Ursa did it? I'd be more inclined to believe Ozai would have."

Iroh didn't correct him, didn't demand he call Ozai uncle as he had in the past, but then Ozai had crossed so many boundaries. "She would if it meant protecting her child."

"What..."

"Grandfather ordered my father to kill me."

"What..." Lu Ten looked at his hands. "Where did either one of you get this idea from? Grandfather wouldn't order Ozai to kill Zuko."

Unless of course he suspected, but then Zuko said, "Azula said grandfather ordered father to sacrifice me."

Lu Ten rolled his eyes. "Zuko, you know that your sister always lies."

"That seems to be a rather strange thing to lie about."

"Well, it seems like a rather strange thing for a Fire Lord to request, the further dilution of his bloodline after one member of the royal line has been taken from him." Lu Ten narrowed his eyes. "And you father?" Iroh had a rather guilty look. "You should have known better."

"I..." Zuko muttered. "I tend to be quite stubborn."

"I was already aware of that."

"Uncle..." Zuko didn't look Iroh in the eye. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, my dear boy. You can ask me anything."

"When the Avatar defeats f... Fire Lord Ozai, you'll become Fire Lord, right?"

The smile left Iroh's face. "The answer to that. I'd had it planned for you should you have shown up following the path I hoped you would, and if you were to ask that question, but..." Iroh looked right at Lu Ten. "I didn't expect you to be alive. It should be you Lu Ten."

"Me?" Lu Ten swallowed. "I don't understand."

"Well, I was thinking it would be better for a new face, a young face, but someone honorable..." Iroh looked at Zuko, who looked away, feeling ashamed. A smile broke across Iroh's face. "I don't want to place that burden on your shoulders. Not when there is so much more for you to experience before that time comes."

Zuko looked up at Iroh, confused. Lu Ten understood. "It needs to be me so that Zuko doesn't have to shoulder the burden." He watched Zuko look at him, knowing that Zuko was thinking that he likely had no claim on the throne, so the conversation didn't matter. "If only you knew."