Accidental Avatar 3.5: The Burn Book

Daddy Issues!

"For so long, all I wanted was you to love me, to accept me," Zuko continued.

Mangetsu rolled his eyes.

"Great, daddy issues," he muttered.

"I thought it was my honour that I wanted, but really, I was just trying to please you," Zuko raised a sword and pointed it at his father. "You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn. My father, who challenged me; a thirteen-year-old boy, to an Agni Kai. How could you possibly justify a duel with a child?"

"It was to teach you respect!"

"It was cruel!" Amaya hugged Zuko, and Mangetsu could see him visibly calm down. "And it was wrong."

"Then you have learned nothing," the Fire Lord spat.

"Okay, justifiable daddy issues," Mangetsu muttered, carefully watching from his hiding place.

"No, I have learned everything!" Zuko continued. "And I had to learn it on my own. Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilisation in history, and somehow the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world."

Zuko gave a breathy laugh, shaking his head. 

"What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation! They don't see our greatness; they hate us! And we deserve it. We've created an era of fear in the world, and if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness."

The Fire Lord laughed mockingly. "And which fool was it that finally got to you? Your uncle or the girl?"

Mangetsu held his breath, waiting to see how Zuko would respond, as he bowed his head reverently.

"Both in their own ways," Zuko said, and Mangetsu could almost hear the smile in his voice. "And I regret that I had to lose them to learn the things they were trying to tell me."

Mangetsu could only see Zuko's back as the boy straightened up. The Fire Lord, on the other hand, scowled at him with clear disapproval.