The Letter
Dear Mai,
By the time you have read this I will be in exile again, but this time I chose to go. I am sorry, I
know that you will believe that I have abandoned you. Please believe me when I say that is not
true. I have finally realized that my father never really wanted me as his son. I will no longer try
to gain his affection and approval.
When I was first banished, I had only one objective, to capture The Avatar, and regain my
honor, my throne, my father's love. And for more than three years I pursued that objective, not
caring about anything else. I did traitorous things to reach my goal, I was The Blue Spirit and
when The Avatar was captured by Admiral Zhao, I broke into the fortress in which he was
being held, and I freed him. As I was making my escape I was knocked unconscious, I was
helpless. The Avatar saved my life even though I was his sworn enemy. And this wasn't the first
time he saved me. At the Siege of the North, he saved me again when he could have left me to
die in the frozen wilderness. Nobody else has shown me this kindness, not even my own family.
The only people who have ever shown any caring toward me are you, my mother, my uncle,
and The Avatar.
My Uncle has been trying to dissuade me from the pursuit for a while now, but it took a
long time for me to appreciate his wisdom. Just recently he revealed a secret to my heritage, he
told me that I am related to Avatar Roku. He is my great grandfather on my mother's side, I
have only known about Fire Lord Sozin my great grandfather on my father's line. Uncle Iroh
told me that the conflict within me was because of the great conflict between my two great
grandfathers. And that I was the only one who is able to right the wrongs of my family.
What I am about to tell you may well endanger your life, but you need to know the truth. I
am going to help The Avatar defeat my father. The Fire Nation's war with the rest of the world
is wrong. We have all been living a lie. The Fire Nation is not the greatest among the nations.
We are not trying to share our wealth and prosperity with the world, we are trying to subjugate
the people of the world and make them our slaves. We have already exterminated the Air
Nomads, they are all gone except for The Avatar. And once he is gone there will be none left,
The Avatar Cycle will be broken. If this war continues, The Fire Nation will exterminate the
water benders and the earth benders. Eventually there will be no more benders, and maybe
even humanity itself will be extinct. We all live together and we all depend on each other.
Once this war is over and balance has been restored, I will come back for you. I love you,
you were the only reason I came back. If it wasn't for you I would have stayed in Ba Sing Se.
Your's in Love,
Zuko.
As Mai read the letter, a single tear rolled down her cheek. She sat on the bed and read it again.
She read and re-read the letter until exhaustion overtook her and she succumbed to sleep.