I had a lot of fun plans for this one, but after spending almost two days either on a plane or waiting for a plane (not to mention all the delays, horrible seat neighbours, and then having my final flight cancelled and being stuck in some random hotel in some random country) I'm honestly just in a mood and want to sleep. So here is my much less comedic offering for the last day of Zutara Week.

Soundtrack: Itoshiki Monoe – Yasuhara Takunashi

Element Swap

Zuko found his eight-year-old son scowling at the portraits of previous Fire Lords, though there were also dried tear trails on his cheeks. Clearly, whatever was bothering little Iroh was a bit more than Kya calling him a stupidhead and not wanting to share his toys with her.

"Something wrong?" Zuko asked, coming to sit next to the boy on the floor. The advisors would have been horrified if they could see the two.

"I'll never be like them."

Zuko glanced up at the portraits. "I wouldn't want you to be."

He'd made a point to break the traditions of his family—or at least to diverge from the path Sozin had wished for the Fire Nation. Frankly, it would worry him if his son wanted to aspire to be like Ozai or Azulon.

"I don't mean in personality," Iroh clarified. "It's just …"

"What?"

The boy fidgeted with his sleeve. "I don't look like them. I don't look like a crown prince of the Fire Nation."

Zuko's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean this!" Iroh pointed at his darker skin and blue eyes. "I'm not like them! I'm not like you! I'm supposed to be the crown prince, but everyone just looks at me as if I'm …"

"You take more after your mum, that's all. There's nothing wrong with that."

Iroh's bottom lip jutted in a way that was decidedly similar to his father's habit. It was like looking at that sulky banished prince all over again. "How can you say that? Just look at these portraits—never mind the skin or eye colour. They're all firebenders, every single one of them."

A small breath escaped Zuko's lips. "Is that what this is about? Because you're a waterbender?"

"I heard some of the nobles talking. They said …" Iroh swallowed and struggled a little, "they said it would have been better if Kya had been born first. They said it would be wrong to have a waterbending Fire Lord."

Something twisted in Zuko's stomach and a heavy weight dragged on his heart. These were burdens he had not wanted to place on his children, yet he and Katara had both known the challenges of marrying and starting a family. It wasn't that everyone had opposed their love—many had been supportive—but she was Water Tribe and he was Fire Nation, and that was something neither of them could help. It was something little Iroh and Kya couldn't help.

"I wish I was a firebender," Iroh confessed in a small voice. "I wish I looked more like you instead of Mum. It'd be easier then. People would like me more."

Zuko pulled his son into his arms. "Don't say that."

"But—"

"I like that you take after your mum. It makes me happy, did you know? I like that I can look into your eyes and see her as well. I like that you have her dark skin and you bend her element."

"I don't like it. Everyone just thinks I'm different and don't really belong."

Zuko pulled back to meet his son's eyes. "Do you think your mother doesn't belong here?"

"N-no. Of course not."

"Then why do you think you don't just because you're more like her than me?"

Iroh lowered his gaze. "They treat Kya differently. I see it all the time."

Zuko sighed and pulled the boy back into his arms. "You want to know something, Iroh?"

"What?"

"People are always going to find something to judge you about. That's just what humans do. The Fire Nation didn't think I was much of a crown prince either, but I proved them wrong. You can too, just like your mother did when she became the Fire Lady."

"But I'm not brave like Mum. She can put even those mean old officials in their place with a glare, but I just freeze up. I hate it."

Zuko tightened his hold. "It's okay if you can't be like your mum—she's always been a special case—but you should try to hold your head high." He raised the boy's chin and looked into the blue eyes that were so like Katara's. "Be proud of who you are, Iroh. Be proud that you're the heir and a waterbender. You're a prince of the Fire Nation, you're my son, and I wouldn't have you any other way."

"Even if you say that, it's still hard."

"I know." Zuko smoothed his hand along his son's back. "I know it's not easy for you or Kya, but we're all in this together. That's what it means to be a family. So no more talk of wishing you were a firebender, okay? Your mum will get upset if she hears you saying such things."

Iroh snuggled closer. "I don't wanna upset Mum. And it's not like I don't enjoy waterbending, but …"

"Listen, those things that make you different, even from me, they're good things, Iroh. The world is changing. Just by being you, you can help change it for the better. The Fire Nation needs you."

"You really think so?"

Zuko smiled and ruffled his son's hair. "Of course."

A much more natural grin curved Iroh's lips. "Thanks. I feel a lot better now."

"Good. Now I believe you're about due for a bending lesson with your mum. You'd better hurry."

The boy was off without a backwards glance. Zuko glanced up at the portraits again—at all the rows upon rows of golden-eyed firebenders. Would it be such a bad thing if the next in line after Zuko had blue eyes and wielded water instead? He didn't think so.

So my interpretation here was not to write about a literal element swap, but a desire to have an "element swap". And now I seriously need sleep, so hopefully this isn't too riddled with typos.