"We need to speak to you" his uncle said, walking into the room, being followed by Ikem and Ursa.
"Did something happen to Azula?" he immediately asked. His uncle had already assured him that he had seen Azula and that she looked fine and even told him she alright, but he didn't think there such thing as 'being too careful' in a situation like this.
"No" Ikem closed the door behind himself "But we heard of what you've done to some of the guards and servants who were criticizing her."
His answer angered Zuko "They were insulting their princess and spreading rumors about her. They have been doing so for months, even though she has not done anything to harm anyone since she stopped supporting our father" he corrected, still not quite believing they were actually upset that he had stood up for his future wife "I simply punished them accordingly"
"Firing them would have been punishing them accordingly. You made them see you one by one, with armed guards surrounding you, and said they would be imprisoned or banished the next time they dared committing treason" his mother sounded genuinely scared "This could easily be used against you. People could twist it enough to make others believe you're just like Ozai"
"What they did was treason" he doubled down on it "Since when has any royal family in the world ever allow their subjects to question their honor? They say Azula is manipulating me, that she'll kill me when she no longer needs my help to stay in power. They're making serious accusations about their princess - their future Fire Lady - and spreading them without any evidence simply because they don't want us to get married. Tolerating that would be dangerous. Ozai's supporters will twist literally anything to fit their story; I can't just do nothing and allow my own supporters to see me as a puppet while my enemies are still out there."
"Zuko, this isn't going to help" she insisted.
"What is going to help then? Letting people make Azula out to be some horrible monster and hope they still see me as good guy despite how 'evil' my sister is?"
"Zuko, please" Iroh said, giving him the same exasperated look he always shot at him during the years he spent banished "I know you want to protect your sister, but don't you think you went a little too far?"
"No. If anything they should be glad I decided to be so merciful. Any other Fire Lord would have done much worse to anyone who insulted their sisters, and their brides" Zuko made sure to emphasize the last word. Most people were constantly avoiding bringing up the fact that Azula was no longer just his sister (at least in front of him), and he was sick of it. They'd be telling the whole world soon, so people should get used to him treating her as such, especially their family - whether they liked it or not didn't matter as long as they kept it to themselves.
Which they were very much not doing at the moment.
"You're supposed to be different from them. Better than them."
"I know, uncle. And I am trying. I know I have a duty to rule as wisely and fairly as I can, and to protect my people. But I also have a duty to my sister. I'm not letting anyone belittle, mock, disrespect or threaten her in any way"
"No one was threatening her" Ikem interrupted.
"Yet. She's already at a vulnerable position, having been my father's most loyal supporter and then having a breakdown. People think of her as a thing that is broken beyond repair and as this monster that is brainwashing me into doing her biding, and I will not tolerate it. Especially when she's not even here to defend herself, because she's trying to look out for me. This is the least I can do and I should have done it sooner."
"Honey, please listen" his mother started, but he didn't let her finish.
"No. I've been having to take drastic measures since we found about this insurgent group, and you guys have been supporting me and trusting that I would know how far is too far. You're only treating this differently because you don't like that I'm not backing down on my decision to marry Azula and won't let anyone try to dissuade me."
"That's not what this is about" his uncle argued, but Zuko did not believe it for a second. He knew all three of them much better than that.
"Yes, it is. And it's not going to work. I love her. If you guys can't accept this, then maybe you're not supposed to be around us either."
His words left them astonished, and Zuko turned his back on them, leaving the room.