Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am to a spiritual level beyond material possessions. Therefore, I must borrow everyone else's.

Goldylokz's debut in the Avatar fanfic universe! This is an atypical piece for me. A little depressing, actually. Well, I can write depressing, as evident by my tortuous Jonda story line in my XME series, but I prefer quippy and funny. I attempted to write a quippy and funny Sokka oneshot, but it's missing something. Eh, maybe it'll get good enough to upload someday.

Uncle Iroh's thoughts as the Book II Season Finally unfolds. Oneshot. Spoilers ahead.

The Death of Hope

The usual arrogance was gone from my nephew's voice. He sounded betrayed when he addressed me. "Why, Uncle?"

He refused to look at me, but I was not ashamed of my actions. I knew who I was and what I was doing. I could see the big picture, the balance. I knew if he looked, my nephew was ready to see it too. "You are not the man you used to be, Zuko. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you've ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good."

No sooner had those words escaped my mouth, then the serpent slithered into the room with promises of heart's desires. Only the serpent assumed that she knew what her brother wanted. She had not met the man he was transforming into. He would choose good. He would fight to protect the balance.

I added one last note of encouragement to remind him that her gifts were what he once longed for, not what he wanted. "Look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want."

"You are free to choose," were the serpents last words before she followed the Avatar's trail.

I did not speak after she left. My prince needed no more convincing. All the trials we had faced the past few months would be enough.

I could tell he was in conflict. Anyone would be when offered such a sparkling platter of lies. But her words were empty ones, another act to get what she wanted, because at this point in time the serpent needed one more ally instead of another enemy. She was foolish to think she could find one in her brother. Who better to see though her than the one who grew up in her shadow?

I was not surprised when he spun around with a new determination in his step and broke me out of my crystal cage in a few sharp movements. I proudly smiled when he wasn't looking.

He nodded and ran ahead to catch his sister. When I looked in his eyes, I could tell he hadn't fully decided what path he would choose. But I knew. I knew what he could become when he was only a little lad, hiding behind his mother's skirts when his father would get cross.

My brother. A true leader with no more direction than his own ambition. He cared nothing for his people, only how they feared him.

His son was different. There my hopes resided after my own light and love perished. He was always empathetic and understood that one must rule for the well-being of his people, from the most decorated soldier to the smallest crippled child. When he showed his true colors at the general's meeting that fateful day, unlike his true father, I was proud. New faithful soldiers were worth the same a veteran in the young boy's eyes. They were all fathers, sons, brothers, cousins, and in a few cases, sisters and daughters, fighting for their nation, for their home. The young prince refused to see them as cannon fodder, but as lives full of love and friends and family. Each one just as important as the next.

The scar his father gave him made him forget a little. The last few months on the run reconnected him with people. Not his people, but people all the same. And we really aren't all that different. Put a fire nation citizen and an earth nation citizen side-by-side and tell me who is who? Most could not.

His recent journeys reminded him what made a good leader and how one can earn the respect of another. He also saw bad leadership and remembered what he would not become.

He completed his metamorphosis. He would think this through and see the right choice was good. The right choice was to stand beside the Avatar.

I saw the light up ahead. I did not remember this path being so long before. I paused to catch my breath before I helped my nephew, the Avatar, and his companions defeat my niece and the Dai Li. Some days I felt my age more than others., but not today. Today my nephew has finally lived up to his potential. He has finally become a true prince.

I finally reached the end of the tunnel. That was where I died for a second time. Twice is too many times to die in one lifetime. The first time I died was when I saw what was left of my son on the battlefield. I did not believe it when they told me. I had to see it for myself. When I came upon the body, the world outside ceased to exist. I stopped breathing. Hours passed but it felt like seconds as well as years. I had to be carried away from the battlefield before the fighting started the next morning. It was days before I ate or spoke or even drank any tea.

This time I knew I didn't have days or hours before reviving myself. The Avatar was fatally injured by my cold-blooded niece with my nephew, my last hope at her side. The little but mighty water tribe girl left none in her wake, quite literally, as she scooped her lost friend in her arms. I briefly recalled scooping my own son's lifeless body in my own arms before I acted.

There was no hesitation in my moves. I knew I had to protect the balance for the fate of the world, and I knew I had little time before the Dai Li would overcome me. With a few words, I brought the young waterbender back to life by giving her a mission. She left, and I fell shortly afterwards.

I could not look at him. He was my hope for the future, the hope of our nation. It was his life that keep me going after my own son fell. When I returned from Ba Sing Se, I saw in his yearning eyes that I was still needed. He was lost without his caring mother; his well-being falling short of his father's concerns.

I had put my hopes in him. I had given my love to him, love I thought I had lost on the battlefield. It kept us both alive and going.

Was I so blind in love for my nephew that I could not see the man he had truly become? I always made excuses for his behavior, because I thought he was hurting inside. Could it be that I only saw what I wanted to see? Could it be that I saw hope in him as he saw hope in the capture of the Avatar? Misplaced and misguided, ignoring reality and truth.

He had given in to his serpent sister's bittersweet promises. I was wrong. He was not strong or wise. He was weak and naive. He was still imprisoned by his sense of honor to his father.

My brother no longer had any honor. He did not deserve such devotion. Why couldn't my nephew see?

Why couldn't I? I gambled my future, the future of my country, the future of the world, on the notion that I had known my nephew's mind and heart. It was only a trick of my eyes. I should have known. A gambler is nothing but a man who makes his living out of hope.

And now my hope is dead.