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I have an announcement to make. Due to some personal and professional stresses I'm experiencing right now, I'm going to go on hiatus. I'm not sure exactly when I'll be back, but both this story and its wonderful readers are very important to me, and so I'll do my best not to leave you hanging for too long. Thank you in advance for your patience, and please continue to check back every couple of weeks to see when I've returned. You guys make this story so much fun to write. As always, thanks for reading.

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Minister Hansuke resigned. Apparently, he learned that Zuko had chosen to stand by the Southern Water Tribe, even after everything he'd been through because of it, and so Hansuke made some crack about how he refused to work for "a stubborn, shortsighted man-child." And then he quit. Zuko found out all of this secondhand. The coward didn't even bid Zuko goodbye before he left a gaping hole in Zuko's council.

Minister Hansuke wasn't even the worst or the most pressing of Zuko's concerns. When he'd rejected the deal, Kuei had handled it eerily well. Zuko didn't buy it for a second. There was an international storm brewing, he could feel it. Kuei was plotting his next move, and until he made it, Zuko had no choice but to drift in the foreboding calm that preceded it.

It was making him paranoid. When he found himself with some free time, he spent it pacing his chambers, or else searching for more bugs, even though he hadn't found any since he tore them down several months ago. Once, when he went to retire for the night, he was seized by an overwhelming, irrational sense of panic that made him unlock his bedroom door and kick it open, as if he expected Kuei to be hiding there again. He cast a fistful of flame into every corner, illuminating whatever could have been lurking there, but it was empty.

Even that paled in comparison to the guilt. Once the exhilaration of standing up to Kuei had faded, Zuko realized what he had done. He'd wasted what would probably be his only chance to take Azula back into Fire Nation custody. Even if she dodged the death penalty, whatever Earth Kingdom prison she'd call home for the rest of her life could take away her visitation rights, and they wouldn't even owe him an explanation for it. Zuko knew he'd be allowed to attend her trial, but beyond that, he couldn't be certain he'd ever see her again.

Somehow he still didn't regret standing by his alliance with Hakoda. Yes, it was riddling him with guilt, making him skittish, keeping him up at night, and taking such a toll on his mental health that it was quite possibly shaving years off his life. Alright, maybe that was a tad dramatic. But still. Even though he was feeling a nightmarish rainbow of emotions, regret wasn't one of them. Doing the right thing didn't mean there wasn't a price to be paid. But that also didn't mean it wasn't right.

When Zuko learned he had yet another mystery visitor, he just about lost it.

"You know what? No!" He shrieked at the staff member who was unlucky enough to have been the bearer of bad news. "No more visitors! Send them home."

The staff member shifted uncomfortably. He stood roosterpigeon toed, twiddling his fingers.

"My Lord, I really think you ought to—"

"I said no. I don't care who it is. Mai, Minister Kuei, Fire Lord Sozin risen from the dead, Agni himself… tell them to fuck off."

"My nephew, I did not teach you to speak with such vulgarity."

Zuko swore his heart momentarily stopped beating. He'd only been joking about dead family members rising from the urn. And yet…

"Uncle?"

Uncle Iroh, whose skull looked very much like it had not been shattered by Earth Kingdom bullets, stepped into view. Zuko might have been embarrassed about his outburst if he were able to feel coherent emotions.

"You're alive," he noted, pointlessly. He was willing to bet his uncle knew that already. "How are you alive?"

"I will explain everything. That is, if you have time to entertain one more visitor," Iroh offered, his eyes gleaming playfully.

Zuko, dumbstruck, nodded.

The staff brought him tea without being asked. Uncle's favorite, too. White jasmine, brewed just below boiling temperature, and steeped for exactly one minute and a half. Old habits die hard, especially when those habits involve a lifetime of serving the indomitable Dragon of the West. They also brought a cup for Zuko, even though he'd always been indifferent to tea.

Zuko was sure that his uncle had anticipated the kinds of obvious questions he would ask, but that didn't mean Zuko didn't still want their corresponding answers. Where had he been all this time? Why hadn't he contacted Zuko before now? Why hadn't special ops killed him? Why did they tell everyone they had? Why was he here now?

Iroh revealed that he'd been in Ba Sing Se living under a pseudonym. He owned a tea shop there, and was apparently quite happy. That was the only thing he answered directly. On the rest he'd equivocated.

Eventually Iroh had enough of being interrogated by his bewildered nephew and took control of the conversation.

"Zuko, listen to me. I've come to discuss something of utmost importance with you."

Okay then. Zuko waited.

"I understand that you turned down a deal with Prime Minister Kuei. A deal that would have resulted in Azula's homecoming, had you accepted it."

"How do you know that…?" It was hardly public knowledge. Katara hadn't even put it in the podcast.

"There are many secrets which will make themselves known to you when the time is right." Of course it was too much to expect that Uncle would actually answer the question. Fine. Zuko could play this game.

"Yeah. I turned it down."

"Do you care to justify that decision?"

"Not really. You won't answer any of my questions, so…" Zuko made it sound like he'd trailed off, but he'd said what he meant to say. He kept his chin defiantly up.

Iroh let out a short exhale. "My nephew, I know you find my behavior to be enigmatic and frustrating, but I ask that you cooperate with me for the time being. This matter is paramount—"

"But why?" Zuko thundered, "Why do you care? Why does it affect your life whether I did or didn't make a deal with the prime minister?"

"Zuko, I—"

"He put you up to this, didn't he?" Icy realization seized Zuko around the head. The pieces were finally fitting together, and Zuko dearly, desperately wished they weren't. "He! You—That's why they didn't kill you, isn't it? You're working with them!"

"Nephew, listen to me!" Iroh barked with the authoritative voice he'd probably used back in his military days. Zuko didn't give a shit. Instead he gasped as the final piece of the puzzle slid into place. It left him feeling unclean and miserable.

"You sold us out, didn't you?"

Iroh didn't answer. Zuko didn't realize he was welling up with tears until one slid down his cheek.

"Say it! You sold us out to save yourself!" Zuko demanded.

Iroh still didn't speak. He seemed to be trying to communicate all of his grief and regret to Zuko with his eyes. That wasn't good enough. Zuko wanted to hear him say it.

"…You sold out your own brother and now he's dead. You as good as killed him."

"I don't deny it," Iroh croaked finally. "But listen to me! I did it for you! For you and Azula!"

Zuko let out a horrible cackle. "Oh, you did this for me? Of course, how thoughtful! If I'd known you were alive, I'd have sent you a muffin basket!"

"Yes, for you and your sister! You don't understand. If I hadn't intervened, the Earth Kingdom would have stormed the palace anyway. If I hadn't made a deal with them, you and your sister would have been killed, just like your father!"

"So instead, she's in prison facing a death sentence, and I'm in charge of cleaning up the mess you created. That's so much better. I get it now, thank you!" Zuko grinned a deranged grin.

"Zuko, please…"

"Don't 'Zuko please' me. What if the Earth Kingdom hadn't stormed the palace, did that ever occur to you? Or what if our guards were strong enough to hold them off? Then we would all be alive and you wouldn't have blood on your hands! You know, this whole time I thought I was the Earth Kingdom's puppet, but it turns out, it was you all along."

Iroh fell silent again. He looked uncharacteristically sullen. Zuko could only see his flaws and vulnerabilities. The wise old man Zuko used to look up to was gone.

"Get out of my sight," Zuko spat.

Iroh was clearly pained, but he obeyed.

"Oh, Uncle?" Zuko called before Iroh was gone. Iroh paused and faced him. "I wish it had been you instead of Father."

When Iroh was gone Zuko kicked his desk. Hard.