Nothin' like a fat man dancin' for his dinner! the stranger had said, and Iroh merely laughed it off. Like a fool.
"I can't believe you just let him insult you like that," Zuko grumbled. "This is humiliating! Why can't we just-"
"Go home and let Azula burn us alive?" Iroh interjected.
"Uncle, how can you just sit there and let jerks like that degrade you?! How many times were you insulted or humiliated today?"
"Ten, maybe more or less. Who has time to count?" Iroh laughed. Zuko gave a long, angry moan.
"You're crazy, you know that?"
"Crazy or not, we can afford to eat for another day."
Zuko sighed.
"It just...bothered me. Seeing them treat you like that," he said. "You were once the most feared general in the Fire Nation's army, you deserve more respect than this! Doesn't it bother you, knowing these people think of you as just some fat oaf dancing for money that they can laugh at?"
Iroh smiled, placing a tired hand on his nephew's shoulder.
"Zuko," he said, "there comes a time in every man's life where he must learn to roll with the punches, lest the punches roll over him."
"What about fighting all the punches that come your way? Seems like your options mean a man's just gone soft and weak," Zuko muttered.
"Actually, it takes a certain strength not to fight everything that stands in your way," Iroh said.
"So you're saying I'm weak?" Zuko snapped. Iroh sighed, shaking his head.
"Just be quiet for a minute and listen, would you?" he said. "Zuko, you need to know where to draw the line. Pick your battles. Not everything needs to be a fight to the death...if you spend all your time fighting the small things, you'll have no energy to fight when you truly need to."
"I've had to fight for everything all my life, Uncle, I don't see how a little more's going to make a difference," Zuko said.
"That's not my point..." Iroh pulled the boy against him, closing his eyes. "You go on fighting, you become exhausted and lose your will. Let it roll off your back, realize only you can control your destiny, and when it is really time to fight, it will be something worth fighting for," he said. "At the rate you've been going, you'll destroy yourself from within."
Zuko squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back oncoming tears. A small part of him knew his uncle was right, but too much was at stake. His honor, his place in the family, his father's respect.
"Maybe I'm just not as strong as you are, then. And I never will be."
Iroh shrugged.
"Well, I tried."
Silence followed, then Zuko smiled a little.
"Thanks."