Ashes
By xannychan
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Short A/N: Man, I am shelling out one-shots like crazy. I am especially proud of this one, I must say. 214 words.
Warnings: Surprise!
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"There comes a time when a child must choose for himself," the old man begins. "His choice will be difficult, because he must choose between two ideals."
"Uncle," the child—young man, really, because sixteen is hardly the age to call a child "child"—says, "I don't want to talk about this."
"Nephew, there are things you must know about this world. Things you must face. Alone." And he says it softly, gently, because he knows his nephew has yet to face them. "There is a decision you will have to make someday, one that you will regret even having known, later on. That decision will determine whether you are a child or a man."
The child—young man, he corrects himself again, young man—slams down his cup of tea. "I said," he grinds out, "I don't want to talk about this."
And as Zuko watches the back of his sister's son, the slight limp of his left leg because of a bolt of blue lightning that struck the back of his knee years before, the sway of his ponytail, he prays over his own uncle. Because there was a time, once, when he had chosen his honor, his pride, and he had watched the world crumble under the ashes of his mistake.