Dao and the Freedom Fighters

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧

Third Person POV:

Zuko?

How was Zuko here? He was dead. Azulon had admitted to having him killed. He'd said that Zuko had been taken from the palace and 'dealt with.' It shouldn't be possible that the young boy in front of him was his son. But at the same time Ozai wanted to believe this boy was Zuko.

He looked so much like the boy he'd lost. He had the same eyes, the ones Ozai had seen when he'd first held his son the night he was born. The eyes that so greatly resembled his mother's eyes. The same spark that reflected in her eyes whenever she smiled that had been passed to their son. This boy had the same hair, something so similar to his, though this boy's hair wasn't nearly as well kept as Zuko had always been. Zuko was always meticulous about his appearance when it came to the palace life. He'd never let the workers help him because he'd had a particular way that he'd always done his hair or gotten dressed that he was able to always do it on his own. 

The only difference really was the large burn mark on the left side of the boy's face. Ozai didn't even want to think about the monster cruel enough to burn such a young child's face. However, aside from that, this boy was the perfect image of his son.

Could it truly be?

He didn't have long to think before the young boy- Zuko, his son -hugged him. He was shaking, most likely holding back tears. Ozai carefully detached Zuko from around his waist so that he could crouch down to look him in the eyes.

"Is it really you?" He found himself asking- voice cracking -despite already knowing the answer somewhere deep within his heart.

Zuko nodded frantically before latching himself around Ozai's neck in another hug, now letting those choked back tears fall onto Ozai's shoulder. 

His son was alive. After all this time, his boy was alive. He'd survived whatever hell Azulon had put on him and he'd lived. 

Ozai had forgotten the Avatar was still in the room, being too caught up in processing the fact that his son was home, until the boy spoke, drawing their attention back to him.

"Not that I don't love the fact that you guys are having a wonderful family reunion, but I really do need to talk to the Firelord and stop the war."

What did this kid think Ursa had been working towards for years? Though with the incident with Iroh and Ba Sing Se he could see how that would appear as an act of war against the Earth Kingdom.

"The war is already being ended Avatar, it took a lot longer than a day to gain the support my wife needed in order to have the generals actually listen to her."

The Avatar seemed confused. "So you don't want to take over the world?" He carefully asked.

Ozai silently sighed. "No, we thought we'd lost our son to this senseless war, no one else needs to feel that pain. No more lives need to be lost. The war needed to end."

The Avatar had a huge smile break across his face. "That's great!" Worry replaced his joy. "Oh no, I have to stop my friends from attacking the city. I'll be back." And before Ozai could even say anything, the young boy was gone.

But he didn't care about that. The world could have been burning down and all Ozai would have been worried about would have been his son. Zuko was here. Not many minutes later Ursa came back into the room, Azula hidden behind her incase of danger still being present. She froze when she saw Zuko, seeming to immediately realize just who it was. She dropped to her knees beside them, one hand coming to rest on Zuko's back. 

Azula too approached, unsure at first, but when she realized who it was, that uncertainty faded. "Zuzu?"

Zuko untangled himself from where he'd been clinging to Ozai. His eyes widened upon seeing them. "Mom? Azula?"

And just like that their family was back together.