Nothing good ever came of it when Zuko's phone rang.

He wasn't sure why he got it. The thing was bulky, hideous, and seemed to be designed so people could interrupt him when he was busy. Busy doing important things, like running a damn country. He did not have time for his obnoxious friends' complaints about whatever trivial situation was bothering them that day.

Like today. The jangling made Zuko's hand twitch and the treaty with the Earth Kingdom got a splotch of ink instead of a signature.

Zuko did not set the desk on fire. He was the Fire Lord now, and could no longer respond to everything that annoyed him with shouting and fireballs. Instead, he took a deep breath and picked up the handset like a mature adult.

"What."

"Hi, Zuko!" Aang's greetings were always loud and cheerful. They grated on his ears.

"Hello, Aang."

"I have a problem." Oh no. "They're making a statue of me in Republic City!"

"…How is that a problem?"

"Have you seen the plans for it?"

"Um…" Zuko glanced at the piles of documents on his desk. He shuffled through them until he found a slightly crumpled paper. Aang sighed impatiently in his ear.

"You found it yet?"

"Yes." Zuko squinted at the drawing. "It looks fine to me."

"It is not fine! Why am I just standing there? I should be airbending or something. Or waterbending or firebending or earthbending! Or all four."

"Wouldn't it be hard to show bending in a statue?"

"Your statue is firebending."

"True."

"And I look all serious! It's depressing. And I don't have a beard!"

"I guess it's hard to carve a beard?"

"If they can make my robes all flowy they can carve a beard. Do you know how much work I put into growing this? Do you?"

"A lot?"

"Yes." Aang seemed to be winding down on his speech. Zuko began to relax. Maybe now they could have a nice conversation that didn't involve people giving him a headache.

"So, Zuko, Katara says hi and so does Toph and now Sokka wants to talk to you about his statue."

"I thought Sokka didn't have a—"

"No,"Sokka said. "No, I do not."

Zuko was never going to answer his phone again.