Inspired by the comic 'The Search - Part 1' where Zuko finds out his real father is not Ozai but Ikem, his mother's true love

Note, since 'The Search - Part II' and 'Part III' are not out yet, everything that's written about Ursa and Ikem (and Azula after 'The Search') is my take on what happens next and may not be consistent with the comic.

Zuko

I've never felt more lost, more unsure of who I am, than I do now. What I found in the search for my mother is more than I could have ever imagined. My father is not my real father but instead Ikem? He seems like a good person... like he would have been a good father. I think about how different my life would have been if my mother refused to marry Ozai.

Everything would be different.

In fact, I would probably be living in Hira'a with my parents who would actually love me, I wouldn't have this stupid scar, and... I wouldn't be the Fire Lord.

But I am.

And I guess if mother did stay in Hira'a, the war would still be going on and maybe my mother and father (and me for all I know) would not have lasted very long since I'm sure denying a marriage proposal from the Fire Prince wouldn't have went very well for them. I guess it explains why Azula was so much better than me at firebending when we were growing up.

Maybe I should just relinquish my position and let her be the Fire Lord instead. I mean, she rightfully should be I guess.

But Azula's in no state to lead a nation at the moment.

I tried to convince her to move back into her room but she refused. So, I put her in the guest house by the garden instead. I've never seen Azula cry before and watching her do so these past few days was really weird. I knew that behind all that rage and anger there was a real person inside but I guess I never realized how hurt and messed up that person was until our trip together. I guess people have their reasons for being the way that they are.

All my life Azula had bullied me and made fun of me but now I think I know why. I think it's because she was jealous that our mother loved me more than she loved her (not that that's actually true of course but I'm sure she felt that way). One thing that I am actually grateful to Azula for is that, despite all the pain she had caused me growing up, she never told anyone about my real father even though she knew the truth for years.

I wonder why she never said anything about it? I guess it's because father knew already and she figured that he wouldn't let me become Fire Lord anyways.

Anyways, maybe I should go talk to Uncle.

I get up, walk over to Uncle's room, and knock on the door.

"Come in," I hear him call out from the other side.

I open the door and go into his room.

"Uncle," I start but stop at the thought of Uncle not technically being my real Uncle. "I mean..." I'm not sure what to call him.

"Have a seat, nephew," he says as he pours a cup a tea for me. I think he can tell by my expression that something's wrong. I sit down and stare down at the tea. "I hear the search did not go so well."

"No, Uncle, it didn't."

"Did you find out what happened to your mother?"

"Yes. She's gone..."

"I'm sorry, nephew."

We sit in silence for a while.

"Uncle..." I finally say. "What if you found out you weren't really my Uncle?"

Uncle laughs a little, probably at the ridiculousness of my question. Or perhaps he, like my father, knew already?

"Whether I'm you're 'real Uncle' or not, you are still my nephew," he says. But that doesn't make any sense! If he's not my real Uncle then that would make me not his nephew, no?! "Uncle, nephew, mother, father, sister, it's not really all about the blood relationship between them, is it?"

"How could it not be?" Uncle is confusing me (though I guess I should be used to that by now but I really want to understand this time).

"Zuko, you and I both know for sure that I am not your real father, right?"

"Well, yeah." Okay, now he's getting even more confusing. Of course he's not my father!

"But, ever since Lu Ten, you've been like a son to me. And whether I'm you're 'real' father or Uncle or not, it doesn't change the fact that you are like a son to me. I'm proud of everything you've accomplished so far and think that it is not always about 'birthright' but sometimes it's more about what is right."

"Okay," I reply though I think I'm more confused than I was before I came to talk to Uncle.

"Destiny is a funny thing," he says as he takes another sip of his tea.

I sit there with him for a while but I don't touch my tea. It is a funny thing...

After some time, I get up and return to my room. I think about what Uncle said about 'birthright' versus was 'is right.' But how do I know what's right? Though, I guess I know that it's wrong for my father... or Ozai to be the Fire Lord and it's wrong for Azula to be Fire Lord (at least at this time) so maybe, for now, it is right for me to be the Fire Lord?

Sunny

It's been two days since Zuko returned from his trip. I haven't had a chance to see him yet and, considering Uncle is still the interim Fire Lord, I'm guessing his search didn't go too well.

After morning training, I head over to see if I can find him. I cut across the garden (my favorite part of the palace) but stop when I see Azula sitting on a bench. She looks so different from when I saw her a few weeks ago in the asylum. Her hair is neatly combed and she is wearing a beautiful red robe. But something doesn't seem right. She's sitting in front of the dragon-roses with a sort of dazed look on her face.

"Azula?" I say as I pass her. I don't know why I decided to engage her in a conversation considering how mean she was to me last time I saw her but something about the look on her face made me feel like maybe she could use some company.

"Oh, it's you," she says softly as she looks up at me. Whew, I'm glad she didn't snap at me or something for disturbing her.

"Are you okay?"

She doesn't respond. Instead, she turns her gaze back to the dragon-roses.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" I comment, attempting to start a conversation with her.

"Yeah," is all she says. I remember that Zuko had mentioned they were his mother's favorite. Maybe Azula is thinking about their mother.

I sit with her for a while but I don't try to talk to her again. It's probably best that I don't say anything that might upset her. After a while, I get up to leave.

As I stand up, I hear her whisper, "Thank you."

I turn back around to see if maybe she wants to talk or something but she just continues to stare at the flowers as if I wasn't there at all. I wonder what happened on their trip? Azula is certainly very different than before. I think for a moment that I should sit back down and stay with her for longer but I shake the feeling and continue on to Zuko's room.

When I get there, his guard lets me in and I find that he is sitting on his balcony. I walk over and sit down next to him.

"Hey, Zee," I say as I sit down.

"Hi Sunshine," he replies and then takes my hand. He seems pretty out of it (though a lot less than Azula I guess). I want to ask him about the trip and what happened but I refrain myself in case he doesn't want to talk about it. By the looks of it, it was bad.

We sit for a while and look out at the city.

"Hey, Sunny," he says after a while, "do you think that it's true that blood relationships aren't what actually makes people your family?" What a weird question. I think about it for a moment. Ever since my Mom and I left Capital City so many years ago, my life has been quite a mess.

"Hmm, well, I guess so," I reply. "I mean, even though Dad is my real Dad, I still see General How and his wife as my parents as well. And, even Mama, I would consider Mama my mother also. So, yes. I think it's true that family goes beyond blood. But I think maybe I'm the wrong person to ask considering my life is pretty confusing. Very few people could probably say that they have two Dads and three Moms... I don't know."

He smiles and then looks at me, "Your life is pretty messed up, huh?"

"Geez, thanks."

He's silent for a while but then finally says, "I found out on my trip that my father isn't really my father."

"Oh..." I say though I'm actually thinking more like 'what in the world is he talking about?!'

"And that my father is actually my mother's true love who she was with before she was' forced' to marry my father, or my not-father I guess," he continues. "Which I guess isn't too crazy of a story if my father wasn't the Father Lord."

"I think you mean Fire Lord but okay..." I see where he's going with this but I don't think that it makes much of a difference now. His father is in jail and the only other person who would potentially be Fire Lord is Azula and she's... "Zee, what are you saying?" I ask even though I know what he's getting at.

"Well... maybe I shouldn't be Fire Lord."

"Zuko, that's ridiculous!" And I could tell by his hesitation that he knows it is too. "You out of all people know that there's no one else who is even remotely capable of being Fire Lord, besides Uncle of course who doesn't even want the job."

"I know," he replies and then looks down at the floor.

We're silent for a while.

"So, you going to join the 'New Ozai Society' and overthrow yourself?!" I joke to try and lighten the mood.

"Maybe I should," he replies with a smile. "Speaking of the 'New Ozai Society,' have you figured out anything else about them? Are there others?"

"You mean besides your ex-girlfriend's father and his friends? Well, yes, there are others. But we are still unsure of exactly who or where they are at the moment. Commander Song is continuing the investigation." I figured I'd throw in that ex-girlfriend thing to try to get him to talk about her.

"Right... Mai. I guess I should explain. Mai and I dated for a while before... well after we met in Ba Sing Se, when I was all confused and came home. Then we dated again after you left me. But she broke up with me when I started seeing my father during all that Yu Dao stuff."

"Oh... you must have cared a lot about her." I mean, considering they were on and off, I'm sure he really cared about her.

"I did, I mean... I do," he replies. It kind of hurts to know that he still cares a lot about his ex-girlfriend. Maybe I shouldn't have asked. "But it's not the same as... well, it's more like I care about her as a person and wish that she'd find something that makes her happy. As a girlfriend, I feel like she never actually understood me and she's impossible to talk to, which is the main reason we broke up. But, even though we broke up, I still care about her and want her to find something that makes her happy. And considering what happened with her Dad I'm sure she's even more unhappy than she ever was before."

I can tell by his voice that he wishes there was something he could do. "That's really sad." I feel bad for her now and sort of wish that I didn't know so much about her.

"It is sad and I wish I could make her happy but I think she needs to find happiness on her own. She can't depend on someone else for that."

"Right," I say. "You make a good point... So, when are we going to get our Fire Lord back?" I ask to change the subject.

"Soon," he says. "But I still have some things I need to work out and I think this is a good time for me to address them. It's hard to find time to deal with my internal and relationship issues when I'm constantly bombarded by the demands of, well, everyone."

"I understand."

"I know you do," he says and then kisses me. "I love you, Sunny."

"I love you too Zuko," I say as I kiss him back. "So what happened to your mother?" I ask after we kiss for a while. I mean, that was the main reason I came to talk to him.

"Oh, right... well, it's kind of a crazy story." He tells me about how he and the gAang were swept into the spirit world when they go to look for his mother and they find out that when she was banished, she returned to Hira'a, where she grew up, to find Ikem, her long lost love (and Zuko's real father). But, when she arrived, he was gone. Apparently he was so grieved about my mother leaving that he had drowned himself in a pond. However, no one had ever found his body. So, when she returned to the village, she went to the pond every night to look for him. But she never found him. Then, one day, she vanished.

"Wow, that's really sad, Zee." I can't imagine being separated from Zuko and then thinking that we could be reunited only to find out that he had killed himself...

"Yes, but that's not the whole story," he continues. "When we were swept into the spirit world, I met my real father and saw my mother again. There was a spirit - Lang, a giant wolf - who had taken them both into the spirit world where they could be together forever. So, they live there near Hira'a with Lang, guarding the village where they both used to live. Mother says that she visits Azula and I sometimes in our dreams (mostly) and that she is proud of us both. I think that that really got to Azula since, after we got back from the spirit world, she cried for two days straight."

"Oh, that explains it!" I exclaim, referring to Azula.

"Explains what?"

"Oh, well, I saw Azula in the garden on my way over here. She looked really out of it."

"Yeah, I think it was particularly hard for her considering..." I know, considering everything that's happened to her and where she is now. It must have been really hard for her to hear her mother's words.

"Right," I say acknowledging that I know what he's referring to. "You should probably spend more time with her I guess."

"Yeah, we should," he replies.

I look down at my watch and realize that I'm over an hour late for my afternoon class. "Crap!"

"What is it?"

"I'm late. Dad's going to haze me to death!" I tell him before I kiss him goodbye and run off to class.