I really didn't look forward to going home. Not that it was anything unpleasant. I just dreaded the monotony of it all, what with Mother fawning all over me as though I were the avatar and Father sitting me down in his office to take me through all the logistics of the legal system. I would grow up to be his heir one day, to be the Fire Nation ambassador to the Earth Kingdom, and live an equally monotonous lifestyle.
I had never been one to be content with my surroundings, always curious, always exploring. They tell me that as a child, I was always wandering off. Monotony never suited me. As it was, I had just returned from the most exciting four months of my life. Rogue Earth Kingdom warriors had lain siege to a string of cities on the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom border, and I had been sent as my father's representative. The Earth Kingdom had taken nine important citizens hostage. I had witnessed incredible battles between the benders of both disciplines, spent months constantly in action, whether physical battles or intense verbal negotiations. Finally, I was returning triumphant to the Fire Nation with all of our cities restored and the offending Earth Kingdom parties sending tribute to the Fire Lord himself. And of course, I had recovered all nine of the hostages.
I was stopping by the Fire Lord's palace on my way home to deliver the good news myself, and while I was there anyway, spend a few days visiting my sister and prolong the time before I woud have to go home. The Fire Lord's palace was less a palace and more a sprawling fortress. It was a truly impressive structure from the outside, all black and red, pagoda style eaves soaring up towards the sun. The Fire Nation flag hung from a large metal spear above the gate, and next to it was the Fire Lord's crest, a massive dragon embroidered with gold thread on red silk.
I was always a little awestruck by the palace, no matter how many times I had been there. The guards at the gates recognized me instantly, and if they were surprised by my arrival, they did not show it. They sent balls of fire into metal pipes as my retinue arrived on rhinos and carriages, opening the heavy wrought iron gates to allow us in.
A guard appeared to greet me.
"My lord," he said, "Welcome."
"I have news for the Fire Lord, as well as other things," I told him, glancing at the heaps of tribute my men wearied of carrying.
The guard bowed nervously, "A thousand apologies, my lord, the Fire Lord will be busy with his generals until evening! Had we only known you were coming… Perhaps your lordship would like to be taken to a guest room?"
"No matter, I will find my own way," I said, waving him off impatiently, "Find my men a place to rest."
Having explored every secret pathway and hidden crevice of the palace as a young boy quite often, I knew my way. Motioning for a few of my men to follow me, I set off into the palace as I decided where to go first, finally deciding to head towards a large blast of fire shooting into the sky from the Eastern courtyard.
As I approached, one of the many guards bowed, "The Prince and the young Prince are training sir. Shall I alert them of your arrival?"
I smiled wryly at the guy, motioning towards the Prince, who was headed towards me as we spoke, "It appears that won't be necessary."
A little embarrassed, the guard stepped back into place.
The Prince approached me, smiling. I bowed to him. "Prince Zuko, it has been far too long."
"Indeed it has," Zuko said. He called out to his young son, a serious looking boy, his brow furrowed in concentration as he practiced his kata, "That's enough training for now Lu Ten, come see who's here!"
Lu Ten stopped his kata, bowing to an imaginary opponent and turning around to join his father. His expression didn't change much when he saw who it was.
"Uncle," he said, tonelessly. It was more of a comment than any sort of exclamation.
"Lu Ten!" I exclaimed, ruffling my young nephew's hair as his father pushed him forward. Lu Ten followed my hand with his squinted golden eyes, as if to say stop touching me! I smiled, despite myself.
"Is this what my sister was like as a child?" I asked Zuko.
Zuko just laughed, "Let's go to the nursery. I know someone who will be quite excited to see you."
My reception in the nursery was somewhat of a more welcoming homecoming. Somewhat.
"UNCLE!" my small niece cried, dropping her paints on her table and running towards me and giving me a huge hug, or as huge as she could manage, given that she barely reached my waist.
"Where are my presents, uncle?" she asked, in her high-pitched voice, before I even had a chance to say hello.
"Ila!" Lu Ten hissed, "Manners!"
I laughed, "It's alright, Lu Ten, Uncle doesn't mind."
Lu Ten looked scandalized, as though Uncle should have minded, but didn't say anything.
I clapped my hands as my men came forward with a chest containing all the presents I had brought. I took out a beautiful baby doll from the Earth Kingdom, handing it to Ila, who gasped, happily.
"Look Ila, it's eyes open and close, and it cries when you hold it up, like this," I said, showing her.
"Thankyou uncle!" she cried in her high pitched voice, though only Lu Ten had told her to. As she ran off to show her father her new doll, Lu Ten looked at me skeptically.
"Uncle, you know real babies are nothing like those."
I wondered what I was going to say to that, but Zuko appeared again to save the day, with a precious bundle in his arms. "Well, Lu Ten, I suppose Sozin has come to show us what real babies look like."
"Sozin," Zuko said to his youngest child, "You remember Uncle, don't you?"
"Aaaaaa!" Sozin gurgled happily. I held a teddy bear in front of the child as Zuko turned him around strategically.
"Yaaa!" Sozin said, grabbing the arm of the teddy bear and trying to put it in his mouth, in the process almost wriggling out of his Father's grasp.
"No Sozin!" said Zuko, exasperatedly, as he pulled the child away, "Teddy bears are not for eating."
Sozin wailed, squirming, as Zuko bounced him up and down, trying to quiet the child.
"Well?" Lu Ten said pointedly.
"Don't worry, Lu Ten, I haven't forgotten you!"
I handed him a handcrafted pai sho set from masters in the Earth Kingdom. He took it with both hands, holding it with reverence and bowing to me solemnly, though he finally had a boyish smile on his face.
"A thousand thanks, Uncle!"
After he was a bit out of earshot, I turned to Zuko, who had suceeded in calming Sozin.
"I don't think I'll ever understand how that kid can like pai sho so much."
"He doesn't get it from me," Zuko shrugged. Sozin was trying to crawl over his father, placing one of his chubby baby hands over his father's scarred eye. I had heard rumors about the Prince ordering a healer's hand to be chopped off for trying to touch his scar, but either those rumors were untrue or a similar penalty did not apply to the baby. Zuko tickled his stomach gently to make him stop, and he laughed happily.
Zuko noticed me looking at the child and held him out for me to take. When I declined, Zuko set him down on the plush red carpet, whereupon he promptly began trying to eat fistfuls of his father's robes and had to be picked up again. This was exactly the type of life I did not want for myself, and it really amazed me that so many of my family enjoyed it.
I liked my nieces and nephews, I mean, Sozin was all well and very cute, but I was not the one who changed his diapers. I decided that if I were to have children one day, I would have servants take care of everything. Zuko was apparently a hands-on dad. I wondered how he had time to train and help maintain the nation.
Before I had the chance to ask him, one of those omnipresent guards stepped forward.
"The Fire Lord requests your presence for dinner."
We were at last led to the Fire Lord. I made my formal respects, prostrating on my hands and knees before the great wall of fire, announcing my purpose and formally presenting the tribute. That hideously boring affair lasted a little over a half an hour before it was finally time to eat.
As there was no special occasion, as there usually had been when I had visited the palace previously, the royal family did away with much formality, simply seating themselves on cushions around a rather small table.
The servants had placed an extra setting at the table but Zuko waved it away. "The Princess will be taking her meals in her quarters today."
I raised my eyebrow but said nothing.
"So, what did you all do today?" the Fire Lord asked in his jovial voice. I opened my mouth to respond before realizing the question was addressed to the children.
"I learned about breathing and painted pictures!" Ila said excitedly, adding a quick "Uncle Fire Lord!" after her brother poked her.
"Fire Lord Iroh," Lu Ten began solemnly, "Today I learned the rhino kata sequence from Master Jang. And Uncle gave me a new pai sho set."
"Is that so? Well, we must play our next game soon then, to use your new gift." The Fire Lord's sparkling golden eyes turned toward me as he laughed his happy laugh that seemed so unlike the intimidating visage he had always presented behind the wall of fire.
"How about you, little one?" he asked Sozin, who had just spit up peas on Zuko. Zuko seemed unphased, as did the nearby attendant, who brought a towel and a bowl of lemon water as though it happened every day.
Sozin climbed happily into the Fire Lord's lap, pulling his beard and gurgling with happiness before Zuko took him back to feed him some more vile pea mixture.
Whenever I visit, I find it so hard to believe that this is the Uncle and Nephew team who assisted the Avatar in ending the war.
After dinner I followed Zuko to the nursery as he went to drop off his children for the night, Ila chattering happily and Sozin squirming and gurgling noisily.
Zuko deposited his youngest child in the arms of his oldest child, shooing them all into the nursery, but they immediately erupted into a chorus of whining.
"Dad!" said Lu Ten, "Sozin is trying to eat my ponytail!"
Sozin began to cry as his food was denied to him yet again.
"Daddy! I want a bedtime story!" Ila demanded.
"Well I'm too old for them," said Lu Ten, who was already 8.
"Daddy has things to do, Ila, maybe tomorrow."
"NO ! NOW!!! Daddy ALWAYS has things to do! Daddy NOW!! NOOW!!" Ila screamed, her small face scrunching up and turning red. Both of her brothers paled, Sozin immediately starting to cry and Lu Ten taking a step back with his small charge.
Zuko relieved Lu Ten of Sozin, bouncing him in one arm and carrying Ila with the other, he shot me an apologetic look.
"This will only take a minute," he said.
"Daddy ! I want the story of tea shop boy and how he rescued Princess Appa!"
"Dad, if you're telling one anyway," Lu Ten frowned, "I think I want the story of Prince Momo, evil grandma Zhao and the siege of the North Pole."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! MY STORY !! NOWW!! DADDY!!!" Ila screamed.
Zuko sighed, "Of course, my princess, Daddy can tell both."
I wondered if he expected me to follow him into the nursery.
"If you don't mind," I said, opting out, "Where is my sister?"
Zuko looked like he had completely forgotten about me, distracted with Sozin pulling his hair and Ila screaming.
"Oh," he said, "She's apparently ill today and isn't taking visitors. But if you say who it is she'll probably feel better."
"She's sick?" I asked, surprised. My sister was always known for her great immunity and apparently Zuko knew her for that too, as he nodded, managing to look amused as well as pained as his children yelled noisily around him.
I escaped the nursery just as the brave tea shop boy was setting out to rescue his true love, Princess Appa. I wondered how Zuko invented these stories, and resolved to ask him later if he had actually dated anyone named Princess Appa, and if so, exactly what she was princess of.
For now, I headed to find my sister. As Zuko had predicted, her guards informed me that the princess was ill and would see no visitors, but as soon as I sent another message saying who I was, they let me in without delay.
My sister, who didn't look ill at all, stood up to greet me. She was never one for grand displays of affection, but I could tell her from her slight smile that she was happy to see me.
"Well, well," she said, "If it isn't baby Tom-Tom."
I still made a face at her familiar childhood nickname for me, but I gave my older sister a hug and asked if she'd enjoyed her day of vacation from the kids.
A/N: AHH!! How many of you guessed his identity before the end?? Hahah this was my useless fluffpiece!! There's no point but I had to write it because it was in my head. This is how I imagine a grown up Zuko will interact with his cute and cuddly kids. I think the happy personality he had when he was happily sweeping the tea shop with Uncle will come to dominate. But never fear, he hasn't lost his edge!! And if you review, maybe I will write about said retained edge in a two-shot…