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I always make Zuko such a putz in my stories, but I really love making fun of him. And everyone else. Going to treat him seriously now. Actually, everyone gets that treatment for the next few chapters, except for Lu Ten and Lin. They should be so lucky.
A continuation of Happiness, Hate, and Illusion.
43. Sympathy
Sympathy was something Zuko really should never have expected. He knew the Kyoshi warrior had an angle (everyone had an angle, a lesson hard-learned from Azula), but he bungled into that trap like he had every other.
She just hit a little too close to the truth. Zuko knew he did bad things in the past; that was the purpose of this little redemption ritual, wasn't it? He was trying to get on the right path. He was succeeding. But it was still hard, especially when no one really trusted him.
Yeah, his scar had everything to do with his past. If that hadn't happened, nothing else would have. All the bad he had done would have been null and void because it simply would not have been.
Zuko would just be a little more of a failure than he was now, and naive at that. The scar was not a good thing, it would never be a good thing, but it wasn't wholly bad.
Like a lot of things in this world.
Maybe.
Right now he didn't need the Taoist, 'balance is life' lesson on right and wrong, he didn't need the shades of grey. They were just as confusing as the black and white. Too many negative colors.
He just needed to be sure that this was the right thing, and for now, he was. It didn't really matter how hard it was; life was hard, and living with the most hopeless circumstances was, for him, as natural as breathing.
Sympathy wasn't necessary before. He wasn't so sure why he wanted it now.
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