This time, Dr. Chimon made certain to be in the main infirmary when the Fire Lord arrived for his appointment. He was immediately concerned by his patient's appearance. The young man's good eye was dark-circled, he was too pale, and despite living in a palace he looked like he might have lost a little weight.

"Fire Lord," said Chimon, bowing, "how are you feeling today?"

"Fine," said Zuko.

Chimon raised an eyebrow skeptically.

Zuko blushed. "Just tired. The aftermath of a war is... complicated."

"I can imagine. Why don't you come into the examination room and let me see how you're doing?" Zuko did, and Chimon checked over his injuries. The burns were very nearly fully healed. As Chimon examined his patient, he asked questions. "How are you sleeping?"

"Okay."

Chimon paused. "Fire Lord, your eye is dark-circled."

Zuko reddened. "Not great."

"Are you having nightmares?" asked Chimon.

Zuko pulled away from the stethoscope and eyed him for a second. "Sometimes."

"How often?"

Zuko paused and eyed him again. He clearly didn't want to talk about this.

"Nightmares are not uncommon, especially among those who have experienced front-line combat, or been injured." Chimon gestured at Zuko's chest. "They're nothing to be ashamed of."

"Most nights," said Zuko. "Sometimes repeatedly. But I also end up working late. There's just so much to do. I know I should be getting more sleep, but..."

"It's hard to sleep when you know you're probably going to be woken by nightmares," said Chimon. "Can you tell me about these nightmares? What happens in them?"

"Stuff. Azula throws lightning. Or Father does. Or the Ocean Spirit grabs Zhao. That sort of thing." said Zuko.

"That's not good, but not surprising given everything you've been through recently," said Dr. Chimon. "Your chest is much better."

Zuko smiled slightly. "Does that mean I can do firebending katas yet?"

Chimon laughed. "Yes, within reason. Start slowly, and don't overstrain yourself. Not more than 10 minutes of katas to start, after a proper warm up."

"That's great," said Zuko. "Being able to take out some of my frustrations that way will probably help."

"Are you having problems with anger?" asked Chimon. In a firebending master of the royal house, that was potentially dangerous to anyone nearby. He'd heard stories about both Ozai and Azula... Zuko hadn't been powerful enough to be that kind of threat until after he returned from his banishment.

"I've had worse. But some of the politics are frustrating."

"Have you ever hurt anyone without meaning to?"

Zuko froze, and Chimon felt his heart sink.

"I... Toph. I'd just woken, it was dark, and I knew there was someone there. I threw out flames just above the ground, and..."

"I already told the servants and guards that if they need to wake me they should stand in the doorway and yell, and not touch me, especially if I'm having a nightmare."

"That's a good start," said Chimon. He followed that up by asking about Zuko's dizzy spells, whether he'd ever had nightmares or visions while awake, and if his stomach was bothering him. Zuko was obviously having problems, but the more Chimon asked, the more he clammed up. So Chimon changed the subject.

"About Princess Azula, I need to speak with you about her, as her next-of-kin who isn't in prison."

Zuko looked up. "How is she?" His voice sharpened. "Is anyone dead?"

"No one's dead," said Chimon. "But she is still showing signs of psychosis, and I don't think she can recover properly in the prison environment. It's hurting her. We need to move her to an institution specializing in caring for the mentally ill."

"Oh," said Zuko. He rubbed the back of his neck. "When I asked about her, the warden said that she keeps threatening to kill the guards, the Avatar, me, Mai... and a lot of other people. Can she be kept in a mental institution without her being able to escape or killing a lot of people in the attempt?

Chimon hadn't been sure how the Fire Lord would react to the idea of removing the sister who'd nearly killed him and was undoubtedly a major political liability from prison. At least he seemed to be listening. "Her firebending is weakened by both her emotional state and the medications she is on. She has not bent lightning since she was imprisoned. I believe a clear mind is required for that, yes?"

Zuko winced. "Yes. Has she made circling motions with seed lightning, then been exploded off her feet?"

"Circling motions, but no seed lightning and no explosions, and she becomes distressed when nothing happens. Are you a lightning bender?" That would make any anger problems all the more dangerous.

"Well... I can redirect it," he snorted, "providing I'm not in mid-air at the time, but I can't produce it." He looked thoughtful. "Actually, I should try that again now I'm not so conflicted... maybe later."

"Maybe later," said Chimon. "No experimental firebending until I clear you for that, please!" He shook his head. "Azula?"

"If you think it is safe to move my sister to an asylum, and that it would be better for her, then do it. I'll sign for it." He chewed his lip. "I don't want anything bad to happen to her. She's still my sister."

"Thank you. I really do think it would be best for her."

"Do you think I should go and talk to her?"

Chimon paused. It might be good for Azula, or it might be a disaster. It would definitely be more stress that Zuko really didn't need right now. "I don't know. Once she's properly settled in at the new place would probably be better than now. You will likely get screamed at, threatened, and she may try and to physically attack you. She is convinced that her mother spent her entire life plotting against her, and that everything that has happened is part of a vast plot to undermine her. She really isn't very rational right now, and everything she says needs to be considered in light of that fact."

Zuko nodded. "I guess I'll wait on seeing her, then. Take good care of her, okay?" "I will do everything I can to help her," Chimon promised. Dr. Chimon made some suggestions to help with sleep, involving meditation and the like, and gave a prescription for a relatively mild sleep aid. Then it was time to talk about Zuko's mental health.

"It looks like your experiences in the war the past year are causing psychological symptoms. This isn't uncommon among front-line soldiers, and your youth may be an exacerbating factor. There are reasons why soldiers are not supposed to be sent to the front lines before they turn seventeen."

"Is that why my sister went crazy?"

"It certainly didn't help. Though your father's behavior towards both of you-"

Zuko's good eye went wide. "What about Aang? Katara? Toph? Aang and Toph are twelve! I know he gets nightmares, and if the Avatar loses it..."

Chimon hadn't even thought of that, and the idea was terrifying. "You might want to talk to him about getting help." Chimon swallowed. "But he is not my patient. You and your sister are, so my responsibility is to help you stay healthy."

Zuko nodded. "This is like after my Agni Kai with father, isn't it? Screaming nightmares, and rage at the universe because I couldn't admit my Father was the one I should be angry at. That was worse than this. I was a total jerk to my crew, and my Uncle."

"You've dealt with this before, then." If not terribly well, by the sound of it.

Zuko nodded. "I managed." He frowned. "But I can't afford to act like I did back then."

"There are things we can do to help. A major one involves talking to someone trained about what happened, and letting them help you through it. I can help you with that, or we could find someone else, if there's someone you'd prefer."

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. "Was that what Uncle... I'm bad at feelings."

"You're sixteen. I wasn't very good at feelings when I was your age either." He gave Zuko a level look. "I strongly recommend not trying to cope with this on your own."

After some further reluctance, Chimon got him to agree to see him every week. He was more troubled by this development than he'd let on – war trauma was unpredictable and hard to treat. Add in the current stress he was under, and psychosis in his immediate family... there was potential for this to go very wrong. And an insane Fire Lord wasn't something the Fire Nation could cope with right now.

Notes: I know most of the fandom headcanons Zuko as having cPTSD or something similar, and having checked symptom lists and causes, I agree. Not that I have any formal expertise in this area! But he's not the only Gaang member who has nightmares or explosive fits of temper. Aang is having trouble too. The main things Aang has got going for him in the post-series timeframe compared to Zuko are a) his trauma took place over a shorter period and started later (as Periphyton just pointed out), b) he seems to have a better support network than Zuko both during and after the war (comics), and c) the lack of assassins and people blaming him for every wrong they've experienced at Fire Nation hands. But a mentally ill Avatar would be just as problematic as a mentally ill Fire Lord, if not worse. At least Zuko can't turn a city into an island by himself in the space of a few minutes.