Fortunately, it didn't take too long before Zuko was able to limp his way to the dining room, where his Uncle and Umara were sat chatting unintelligibly about about one thing or another.

"Zuko!" Iroh cried jovially as he walked through the door. "Umara let me know you would be a bit late, she insisted that we wait for y—what happened to your leg?"

Zuko shot a look at the smug looking girl sat across from his Uncle. "She attacked me!"

Umara rolled her eyes. "Oh, I did not! If I attacked you, you would have fought back." she shrugged innocently with a snide flick of her eyebrows.

"She's lying! She came in my room and attacked me!" Zuko bellowed at no one in particular, hardly aware of his Uncle's presents in the room.

Iroh half heartedly attempted to interject, though he couldn't manage to get a word in.

"Fine! Only because you attacked me first!" The normally soft spoken girl was beginning to raise her voice in kind.

"Stop saying that! You fell!" Zuko snapped back.

"Well, technically, so did you!" Umara chortled a bit as she shouted.

The two glowered at each other from across the room. Iroh considered intervening once again, but decided against it. It was a nice reprieve to see teenagers actually behaving as such. Plus, they seemed to have forgotten he was even there.

"Drop the act," Zuko growled as he begrudgingly took a seat at the head of the table. "I know you're up to something!"

Umara slammed the fork she had just picked up back onto the table. "Oh, Agni. I was flirting with you. How much more obvious did you want me to make it?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about! It's just like that stunt you pulled earlier! You're trying to get in my head!"

Iroh raised his eyebrows as he saw a distinct shift in his nephew's aura as he shouted defensively at his friend. The anger had abruptly melted into turmoil.

Umara stared quizzically over at Zuko for a moment, nonplussed by the accusation. "You mean when I hugged you!? I have a secret ulterior motive because I gave you a hug!?" She shrieked as she aggressively smacked her hand against the table.

Zuko's face was beginning to contort painfully as he glared misty eyed at his adversary. "Exactly! You think you're so clever. It's obvious you're planning something!" He hissed as his voice rose a few octaves.

Umara ventured a quick, bewildered glance at Iroh, who was doing his best not to look interested in the conversation. He had expected Zuko to be a bit resistant to the surprise reunion, but this was something else entirely.

"Why? Why does me giving you a hug and flirting with you mean that I'm 'planning' something?" Umara raised her eyebrows cynically as his composure continued to decompensate.

"...Because why else would you want to?!" Zuko's facade finally broke as he tearfully bellowed back at her.

The broken sound of his words hung heavily in the air as the room dissolved into a heavy silence.

"What do you—" the bewilderment abruptly fell from Umara's face. "Oh, Zuko...No..." she cried out in a strangled mewl. "Don't thi—"

"Just get out."

Umara's eyes shifted worriedly back to Iroh, who inclined his head reassuringly toward the door. She stole a last, uncertain glance at Zuko before reluctantly scampering out of the room.

. . .

"You know, it is unbecoming of the Prince of the Fire Nation to speak so harshly to a young lady." Iroh shrugged as he casually picked at the food in front of him. He knew he had to choose his words carefully, lest he make the situation more volatile than it already was.

His nephew continued to lour pensively at his food, hardly aware of his Uncle's voice. He seemed to have caught his own self off guard with his outburst.

"Zuko," Iroh prodded carefully. "Perhaps you should consider going to speak with your friend, I do not think she intended to upset you—"

"I think I've said enough for today." Zuko muttered shakily as he let his head fall into his hands.

Iroh considered for a moment. He didn't want to disrupt his nephew's introspection by provoking his temper, but he had been offered a rare chance at some receptiveness.

"I can appreciate why you are feeling this way," he began gently. "When we do not view ourselves in a good light, it is easy to get lost in the shadows within our own minds. When this happens, the torches of love that others hold for us can light the way out, but only if we do not allow our own insecurities to smother them."

"That doesn't matter," Zuko grizzled as he tearfully lifted his head from his hands. "Even if Umara was being genuine, her feelings are misplaced. I'm not the person she remembers."

Iroh suppressed a frustrated sigh. Zuko was often stubborn, but it seemed now that he was, on some level, being intentionally obtuse. Though, he did give the girl credit, not even a day and she had already managed to break through to his nephew in a way that had eluded even him.

"I am not going to tell you what you should or should not do in this situation," Iroh shook his head impatiently. "Though, you may want to consider at least bringing her something to eat. She is looking a bit gaunt lately, in case you have not noticed." He raised his eyebrows pointedly at his nephew.

Iroh knew he hadn't noticed. Zuko had been so caught up in his own self pity that he hadn't bothered to pay attention the fact that the poor girl looked like she hadn't eaten or slept in weeks.

Zuko glanced uncertainly a few times between where he sat and the previously occupied seat next to him before stiffly rising and grabbing both his and Umara's plates from the table. He shot a final, pouty glare in Iroh's direction before stomping out of the room.

Iroh couldn't help but chuckle, albeit a bit painfully, once Zuko had left the room. Regardless of the extreme circumstances, there was something quite refreshing about the conversation. It had been a long time since he'd gotten to help a young man navigate 'girl problems', after all. He'd been so preoccupied with the war when Lu Ten was younger that he hadn't fully appreciated such moments. All Iroh could hope was that he would be able to help his nephew find his true place in the world: he didn't want to lose yet another child to the twisted ways of the Fire Nation.