Lee

"Come on mom!" The young boy grabbed his mother's hand and dragged her by the arm to the growing crowd. He couldn't believe he was about to meet the Avatar. There was a general murmur of excitement in the crowd as they gave a wide berth to a figure in the middle which Lee could not see from his position. Then two strong familiar arms lifted him up and placed him on his shoulder.

He gave an impish grin of gratitude to his father, who smiled warmly back. He turned to face the centre and his eyes popped out of his face in disbelief, and it was not the fact that the Avatar was a few feet away from him. It was the young man standing next to him.

He was not dressed in the brown ragged clothes that Lee had last saw him in, but a regal outfit of dark maroon and glowing red. His hair was pinned up with a golden clip in the shape of the insignia of the Fire Nation, no longer donning the hat of the commoners. But he was still easily recognisable with that scar on his left eye.

Memories floated to his mind. The stranger which had drove out the Earth Kingdom soldiers / thugs, before showing himself to be the Prince of the Fire Nation. Prince Zuko.

"Dad! That's—"

"I know son." His father seemed equally shocked and skeptical. "According to the people here, he had helped the Avatar in taking down the Fire Lord. His own father."

Lee fell silent, unable to comprehend this. A person of the Fire Nation helping the Avatar? The Fire Lord's own son? The possibility of him, or his brother Sensu hurting the man whose shoulders he was sitting on seemed ludicrous.

Then he remembered the kindness the man had shown, what little bits of it. In the short stay Zuko had spent with his family, he did not explode when he had borrowed (without asking) his swords to practice, instead teaching him.

"He seemed broken, sincere." His mother had said one night at dinner when they had landed on the topic of the stranger. "Something happened to him that made him not our enemy." She sounded remorseful, but at the time Lee shot back that he was still Fire Nation. Much worse, he was the prince. They were all evil.

It was only when now that he finished that sentence. "Weren't they?"

He looked again at Zuko, who seemed to be in the middle of giving a speech. The crowd listened attentively. Some looked on with expressions of distaste, remnants of hatred towards the Fire Nation, but most were relieved and hopeful.

He didn't even bring his guards with him, he noted.

When the speech finished, it was met with a resounding cheer, and after some conversation with some of the crowd, they dispersed.

"Come on, dad. Let's just go." Lee got off his father's shoulder and started to walk away, all thoughts of meeting the Avatar face-to-face gone. He didn't want to see Zuko, a mixture of anger and shame stopping him.

"Lee?" Zuko's voice sounded behind him. He turned around. Zuko was looking at him with a smile.

"You — you remember me?" He slowly said.

"How could I forget?" Zuko winced. "Sorry, that sounded wrong. But yes, I remember your family and the help you gave me."

"I'm sorry for what I said." Lee dipped his head.

"So am I, Fire Lord Zuko." Zuko saw the mother of Lee walk towards the trio. She started to kneel, but Zuko rushed forward and raised her up.

"Please don't. And you can call me Zuko, um…" It suddenly occurred to him that he had never asked for the names of the man and woman. Either that or he had forgotten. Both possibilities were equally awkward.

She gave a sheepish but kind smile. "Sela, and this is my husband Gansu. Again, we are very sorry for our words and actions."

"You don't have to be. In fact, I should be the one apologising. I never told you about my origins."

"We understand. You looked lost then, but we mistreated you."

"I was lost, but your compassion helped me. I cannot thank you enough for that."

It was then that Zuko noticed Lee was quiet. "Is something wrong?" He asked, not unkindly.

Gansu sighed and motioned him away.

"He is still conflicted, I'm afraid. He has always thought the Fire Nation to be evil, and he is struggling to accept that they are human as everyone is."

"I can't blame him for that. I hope that from here on out, no one will have that impression of my people anymore."

"As do I."

The two fell silent for a while before Zuko asked, "If I may, what about you? What do you think of my people?"

"I knew there were good people in the Fire Nation, the same way people in my Kingdom can be evil, as you have seen the thugs in our village."

"Did you know who I was when we first met?" He asked.

"I had my suspicions. I heard rumours about a banished prince from the Fire Nation with a scar. It was only when my wife told me about you that I realised I was right."

"I see."

This time, it was Gansu's turn to ask a question. "Can I ask, do you know what happened to my other son, Sensu? My search at the front bore no fruit. I just need to know whether, you know…" his voice trailed off. A tear leaked from his eye.

"Actually, that's what we were going to be doing later. The reason I came here with the Avatar was to release a list of the soldiers that were conscripted here. Earth King Kuei helped speed up the process." Zuko waved one of his servants over, who passed him a scroll.

Unfurling it, Zuko's eyes scanned the parchment for the name. Then, he found it.

"Well?" Gansu asked, an edge of desperation evident in his tone.

"He's alive, but slightly injured. Him and the survivors will be returning in a few day's time." Zuko grinned. At this, the old man threw his arms around him, shedding tears of gratitude. "Thank the spirits! And thank you, Zuko."

Zuko couldn't hold back a smile as he returned the hug for the man who was so kind to him when he was lost.

"If I could ask one more favour, Zuko."

"Anything."

"Can Lee meet the Avatar?"

Zuko smiled and turned to his friend who was tending to Appa. "Aang? There's someone who would like to meet you."