Zutara100... again. I'm obsessed with it. XD

Prompt: #03 - Poverty
Word Count: 329
Rating: G
A/N: So many big words... my head hurts...


Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation has never known poverty.

He has heard of poverty; the servants of the palace often talked about it when he was small. Many people think that children are incapable of comprehending such ideas, but then again, many people underestimate children altogether. He has heard them chat idly about the disappearance of the airbenders, the genocide of the waterbenders, the enslavement of the earthbenders. But to hear is not to know, and so he continued to live comfortably in his palace built upon the losses of others.

He has seen poverty; it grows abundantly among the other three elements. He has never seen the Air Nomads, as all but one are now extinct, but he knows that many lived as monks, impoverished until the day of their death. He has seen both the North and South Water Tribes, and while the North is beautiful—he cannot deny it, even if he wants to—the people there are still poor. He has seen the Earth Kingdom, and he knows the hardships they face daily, the harsh reality that the people there must deal with.

And now he has lived in poverty; it seems the companions of the Avatar care not about such material possessions as money. At first he is angry, his blatant refusal to understand this ideology alienating him from his new faction. Slowly, however, he comes to terms with this notion of 'being poor.' Though they have little money, they are never without what they need. Somehow there is always food when he is hungry, water when he thirsts, a warm fire when he is cold, and a fairly comfortable bed when he tired. And like this, they are happy, always smiling and laughing together.

Zuko has never adapted well to change, but as he returns a soft smile to the blue-eyed girl who always has one for him, he thinks that maybe, this time, the change won't be quite so hard.