Fall of the White Lotus [Zutara/Taang]

39 | Mask

Music: Eternal Sorrow, Two Steps From Hell

                         He's coming closer.

I can feel it in my heart.

My days of running will finally be over. Now I can only hope...and wonder. Will he forgive me?

He is twenty now, a grown man.

Iroh can be proud of him. The Black Lotus Council can be proud of him. After all that has happened, the Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus has given us a Fire Lord who has brought peace to the world that was saved by the Avatar. The Fire Sages had it right all along. My union with Ozai has yielded a bloodline of great power, a powerful lineage of benevolent rulers who will be fiercely dedicated to guarding the harmony between the nations, allowing Avatar Roku's bloodline to effectively cancel out Fire Lord Sozin's destructive doctrine. And it begins with my strong, honorable, and compassionate son. I doubt if they ever interpreted their prophecy this way.

I know it's purely because of Iroh that he has become the man the world is proud of today, as I had to leave my precious little boy behind before he reached the age of reason. I know I had to in order to save his life, but still I find it hard to live with knowing that my banishment led to the hardship he had to endure in the years after. Even if he can forgive me, I wonder if I ever will be able to forgive myself...

At least his years of loneliness are finally over. He has found lifelong friends with the group of young people of all three nations that have gathered around the Avatar. The Young War Heroes, as the world now calls them. Although I'm so very proud that my son is one of them, most of all I'm grateful that they are his friends.

After the war had ended, my protectors told me that Zuko had also found a girlfriend in Mai. And although I didn't understand his choice, I was happy for him. Until I saw this group portrait...and her - Princess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, his fellow Young War Hero. Then I knew this relationship with Mai was never be meant to be, for my son's heart had already chosen for him. And I saw that she had given him hers in return.

The characters underneath the picture stated that the portrait was commissioned by His Royal Highness Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation. Officially, it was meant for the world to meet its saviors, but I felt it was also made for a mother craving to see what had become of her son. Iroh made sure to send as many copies across the world as possible for me to find one. Ripped off the wall in a small Earth Kingdom town my protectors and I were passing through, it was small and weathered, but after so many years missing him, I was overjoyed to finally see my son again.

The picture told me that my little boy had grown up into a strikingly handsome young man, tall and commanding, exuding righteousness unlike any Fire Lord before him. He has something about him that reminds me of Lu Ten. And it makes me feel so proud of him.

But then the world collapsed around me when I saw the scar on the left side of his face. The painter had not been merciful in his portrayal, and waves of nausea and pain washed over me as I lowered the picture. I had been prepared for this years ago by the Order, but in reality the level of the mutilation was far beyond anything I had ever imagined. Almost the entire left side of his face was burnt, and his formal topknot revealed that even his ear hadn't escaped this brutal fate.

I spilled hot tears on the picture until someone pried away my fingers, gently pulling the paper from my grasp.

"Careful, you don't want to spoil this," I was told by one of my protectors, the one I secretly hold dearest because of his quick-tempered yet sweet nature, which reminds me so much of Zuko. He smoothed out the wrinkles and forced me to look at the picture again.