The life of a young Fire Lord is a chapter story;
All the stories are about fragments out of Zuko's life.

Uncle visits his nephew; he wants a serious talk with him.

Iroh is sixty-five,
Zuko is sixteen.

The life of a young Fire Lord,
Chapter 12: Old times.

Five days were passed since the last terrible attack on Fire Lord Zuko's life. The sixteen year old boy closed his heavy book while he yawned loudly; he felt exhausted. The long hours of studying, preparing and worrying, had a heavy weight on his mind.

Being locked up in his lonely bedroom was pretty boring for an overactive boy like Zuko, luckily he had a lot of work to do as a Lord, and this kept his mind busy while his wounds healed too damn slow.

Zuko fell backwards and rested his head onto his soft pillow as his eyelids slipped away and lost the control of his thoughts. Even now he had the chance to rest for a few days', he didn't allow himself too. Resting was a waste of time now the Fire Nation needed him so badly, he had to go on, but his eyes couldn't remain to stay open. His chest felt so heavy; maybe he could better rest his eyes for some seconds.

His brown book fell down onto the ground with a soft noise; the tiredness had won this time. Zuko breathed soft as his thoughts traveled to dreamland, his mind was too exhausted, and it was already awake for more than eighteen hours.

Iroh rushed through the corridor of his nephew's sleeping accommodation, his heart beat fast as he thought about the letter his nephew had wrote to him. Uncle knew Zuko was in danger from the very start but he hadn't this in mind. Assassins, criminal gangs, terrorists or rebels. Iroh hadn't a clue who they were but they would pay if they came into his hands.

The man stopped nearby Zuko's bedroom as he stared over the five guards with a small frown; luckily his nephew had asked some security. Iroh glared between the men their shoulders inside the boy's room. "Is he doing well?"

One of the men took Iroh by his arm and walked away from the door; he moved his mouth closer towards Iroh's ear and started to whisper. "Lord Zuko is asleep right now, but the circumstances seem very alarming. We received reports from abroad which are very grave, Sir. This is already the second attempt on Lord Zuko's live in one week time. We need to be careful."

"Do you have any idea who is behind this?"

The guard sighed as he lowered his gaze, this seemed bad. Iroh knew this wasn't a good sign. "No, Sir but our people are busy with finding out."

"Can I've a word with him?" Iroh asked with pain in his voice, his nephew didn't deserve this at all.

The man walked silently into the large room and stared worried over Zuko's bed. The boy lay on his back, his arm had fallen down. His hand rested onto the book which was named "The Fire Nation Colonies." It warmed Iroh's heart to see his boy asleep, his child became so mature.

A tiny smile appeared on the man's face as he noticed the first little hairs above his nephew's lip had started to grow. Zuko was certainly no longer a child but still he was Iroh's little boy.

Uncle bends through his knees as he gently placed his son's hand back onto his chest. Zuko's eyes blinked as he felt the unexpected touch. It took some time before he realized what was happening; the boy grabbed his shoulder as he tried to sit up. His left arm felt so stiff such as his left thigh. Uncle helped his nephew, and placed some pillows behind his back. So the boy could relax against them.

Iroh chuckled as he sat down onto the tiny chair which stood next to Zuko's bed. "Just like the old times. I can tell you my nephew, I somehow missed this."

"What? Me getting hurt and you nursing me? You've nursed me like a thousand times… I am always the one who's getting into serious trouble." Zuko muttered, he felt angry with himself. He didn't understood why he always got himself into such conflicts, attacks or fights. He didn't want that at all but now he felt truly helpless, and that felt even worse. He couldn't defend himself against those unknown individuals who wanted to kill him.

"This time my nephew, you aren't the cause of this. I am proud to see you've learned so much out of the past three years but it's sad others want to cause you this pain." Iroh lowered his head. "I need to be honest with you, Zuko. It seems some group of people wants to get rid of you but their reasons seem rather unclear."

"Argh… they all hate me…" The teenager crossed his arms in more anger, his cheeks seemed so tensed. Zuko felt rather unsure about this, this case seemed so hopeless. How could he be a good Fire Lord when nobody respected him.

Iroh grinned while he placed his firm hand onto the boy's shoulder, the young kid felt so warm underneath his hand. "Zuko, I guess it isn't something personally against you as a person but perhaps they have a problem with some decisions you've made as a Fire Lord."

"But… how can I please everyone?" Zuko asked innocent as he glared into Iroh's eyes, he truly wanted to please all of his people.

"I am afraid you can't, my boy. The only fact which matters is; you're their higher. They need to respect your decisions. As a General I made my rules, it didn't matter what my crew's opinions were. They had to follow my example because I was their higher. I as a General had to follow the Fire Lord's word and wishes because he was my higher." Iroh smiled as he spoke, this was how the regime worked.

The young Fire Lord blinked his eyes as he thought about his Uncle's wise words, this sounds so easy but the reality seemed so different. Zuko felt like he had to fight every day for the respect of everyone because of his young age. "Did… did someone ever attacked Dad when he started? I mean, Azula and I were so protected when father began his career. I have no idea how it was then?"

"I am sorry Zuko… I was in Ba-Sing-Se, and your father and I hadn't really a good bound with each other. We never talked with each other about that, I… I can't tell you."

Zuko sighed deep as he glared at his hands. "If only there was a possibility that I could ask him some advice but I guess he doesn't want to see me."

Iroh knew his brother had all the knowledge that Zuko needed right now but he didn't trust Ozai alone with his son. "Maybe at some day your father will change. I hope he does for you, because I know how important family is for you."

"I'm afraid he never will, I…I visited him about a month ago. And… He doesn't seem different at all."

Uncle placed his second hand at his nephew's chest, while he forced the boy to look at him. Zuko slowly removed his gaze and knew this wasn't a good idea at all. His Uncle hated his father; he had better kept this as a secret. "You've visit Ozai in prison? Why?"

"To ask him where mother is…. Stop… stop worrying about me... I know how father is and … he didn't tell me where she is okay! So, I won't visit him again."

"And your sister?"

Zuko's expression turned sad, his gaze became so much softer. "She had written some letters together with a nurse. She's doing fine there; Mai and I have written her back. We can visit her within three months. I am truly curious to see how she's doing there, I hope she didn't lie to us and she's really doing fine."

"She needed some time to find rest and peace; hopefully she'll recover there. I'm pretty sure she'll find her own way but it will also take some years."

"I guess you're right." Zuko whispered as he stared into his uncle's tender eyes, uncle was mostly right about everything. The teenage boy relaxed his shoulders; it felt great to have Uncle Iroh at his side right now. He felt protected even though he would never admit it.