"Are you out of your mind?!" Was the first thing his uncle said to him as the door closed behind him.

"Maybe. I'm marrying her either way" he tried to say it as delicately as possible, but it obviously still came out awfully rude.

"She's your sister!"

"That doesn't make it wrong" Zuko kept himself calm despite his anxiety, which was only driving his uncle more insane.

"Of course it does! I can't believe I have to explain this to you!" despite his visible anger, the one emotion his voice gave away was fear "Zuko this will ruin you. How can you possibly think this is a good idea? And with Azula of all people! Just two years ago she tried to kill you."

"And I betrayed you. I let her capture you and bring you to Ozai. I had no idea if he was going to kill you or just imprison you" Zuko felt a lump forming in his throat. Not a day went by that he didn't regret taking that risk, even though everything turned out alright in the end "I called you crazy and a fool. I said I didn't care if you rotted away in a cell. But you still forgave me. I changed, and so has she!"

"Even if that's true, Azula still-"

"Azula is the woman I love" he interrupted "And she loves me. We make each other happy."

"This is bad for her as well, Zuko!" he had never seen his uncle so angry and distraught. He was screaming, his eyes were wide, his face and neck were turning red and the veins on his neck looked like they were about to burst at any second "Can't you see this will devastate her and undo all of her progress once it all falls apart."

"It won't fall apart"

"You don't know what you're saying"

"Yes, I do!" Zuko yelled, then took a deep breath. He had to calm down. Letting his anger get out of control would just hurt his uncle and convince him that he was right to assume this was a terrible mistake "Uncle, I don't want to fight with you. I know you're just worried, but I swear this isn't a bad thing."

The old man sat on a chair and sighed. He looked tired and defeated, and for a moment Zuko feared he would start crying.

"How could you do this? After everything you went through to become a better person, after growing into something so much better than anyone in this family could have hoped to be before... why? Why would want something like this? How could it ever even cross your mind?"

"I know this is a lot to process and that you just want the best for me" Zuko used his kindest tone "But I swear Azula and I are good for each other, and despite of all this insanity she made me happier than I had ever been" he said truthfully, then pondered if he really should say what was on his mind.

He needs to know the truth if I want him to ever accept this.

"I loved her since I was a kid, Uncle. I didn't realize it for a long, long time, but now it's all perfectly clear to me. This would have happened sooner or later. It's just the way it should be. I just know it."

"Just leave me alone for a while. I don't feel well" Iroh said, not even looking at his nephew and wincing like he was in physical pain.

"Once you're ready to talk, please look for me" Zuko couldn't hide his disappointment, but still did as his uncle asked of him, leaving him alone in the room to try and digest all this information.

He didn't even hear Azula following him. His sister hugged him from behind and he took one of her hands, kissing it over and over before turning around to hold her, relaxing into her loving embrace.

"I'm proud of you" she whispered in his ear while gently running her fingers through his hair, then kissing his cheek and neck.

"You're the only one. Well, you and Bumi."

Azula chuckled "Uncle will come around eventually. You'll see."

"I really hope you're right"

She pulled away and pretended to be annoyed "I'm always right, dum-dum."

She managed to make him laugh a little, then pulled close to her again, soothing him like a good sister should.