I Do Not Own Avatar or Miraculous.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Avatar's Grandson.

I'm angry at myself!

Those words echoed hollowly through Zuko's mind as he fingered the scroll in his hands.

I'm not sure I know the difference between right or wrong anymore. Zuko closed his eyes, wincing at the memory of Ba Sing Se. The memory of Azula killing Aang. He knew Aang was still alive. The man he'd hired hadn't reported otherwise, but now, after the beach and after numerous nights of pleading and begging his uncle for advice, Zuko didn't know what to think anymore. Aang was just a kid, but he was a kid that was a threat to Zuko and Zuko's nation. He was the Avatar, and that mattered. No one knew how much Aang mattered more than Zuko.

Then there was Zuko's newest development.

He was sitting far below the Dragon Bone Catacombs where the Fire Sages had buried his great grandfather Sozin. In is hands he clung to his grandfather's final testament for dear life, confused. He had been certain that his uncle had sent him the message telling Zuko to look there for answers, but instead, he read a story that every child of the Fire Nation already knew. Of course, Zuko was somewhat startled to learn that his grandfather had dishonorably left Aang's past life, Roku, to die. Zuko had been confused to even learn that Sozin had known Roku as well as he did, but it hadn't given Zuko any answers. In the end, Iroh's tip had led Zuko to another dead end with another pointless trip.

Zuko growled. He was hasty in replacing the final testament and leaving the catacombs. He wanted answers. He needed to know what was right. Who was the bad guy? Why did the war matter? What was he even fighting for anymore? Why did he feel like he'd done the worst possible thing all the time? Why did he feel like, ever since Ba Sing Se, he had betrayed his people? Himself? Zuko still stood with his people, strong and proud. He shouldn't have felt any shame or rage for the choice he made, even if Aang was only a little kid. He had served his country. He'd done what his father had wanted him to do all along. Zuko wasn't supposed to be angry. He was supposed to be glad.

Iroh was going to give him answers. Iroh had to, because if he didn't, Zuko wasn't sure if he'd ever be happy again. Cryptic letters and random trips to silly catacombs wouldn't cut it anymore. Zuko needed answers. Iroh was just creating more and more questions.

Zuko looked up, realising he'd come to his destination. The Fire Nation prison where Iroh was being kept. The guards didn't give him second thoughts as he marched in. Zuko was a regular visitor now. They just acknowledged Zuko's presence and let the boy pass as if he was never there in the first place. He came to the place where Iroh was being kept and marched right up to the prison bars, shaking the message Iroh had sent him with rage.

"You sent this? Didn't you?" Zuko demanded, "I found the secret history, which, by the way, should be renamed, 'history most people already know!' The note said I needed to know about my great grandfather's death, but he was still alive in the end." Zuko shook his head in anger, not really expecting Iroh to reply, because the old man never did speak anymore. He was more cryptic than ever and Zuko hated it. To Zuko's surprise, Iroh looked up and addressed him.

"No…" Iroh said softly, his voice raspy from so long without use, "He wasn't." Zuko jerked his head up in surprise, angry about the message, confused about what Iroh had said, and secretly happy Iroh had even said three words to him.

"What are you talking about?" Zuko pressed, praying his uncle didn't completely shut Zuko out again.

"You have more than one great grandfather. Prince Zuko, Sozin was your father's grandfather. Your mother's grandfather was Avatar Roku." Iroh said. Zuko stumbled back in surprise. What? He… he was related to the Avatar? That was impossible. The chances of it were insanely low. Would that make Aang his grandfather? Would that mean Zuko had tried to kill his own grandfather? That Azula had tried to kill her great grandfather? What did Zuko's grandfather have to do with any of Zuko's questions anyways?

"Why are you telling me this?" Zuko asked.

"Because," Iroh said, straighten up a little, "Understanding the struggle between your two great grandfathers can better help you understand the battle within yourself. Evil and good are always inside you, Zuko. It is your nature, your legacy." Zuko hung his head, contemplating what that meant. In the final testament, Zuko had learned his two grandfathers had started as friends, but ended as foes. They quarreled over what was best for the world and in the end, Roku had been killed and Sozin had achieved his dreams… at the price of Aang's people. Both Roku's death and Sozin's deeds seemed equally terrible.

"But." Iroh said, continuing, "There is a bright side. What happened generations ago can be resolved now, by you. Because of your legacy, you alone can cleanse the sins of our family and the Fire Nation. Born in you, along with all this strife, s the power to restore balance." Zuko raised an eyebrow. During their travels through the Earth Kingdom, Iroh had instructed Zuko and lectured him constantly on the importance of balance. Iroh calmed it was the Avatar's job to keep the balance. Now, however, Zuko realised Iroh had just charged Zuko, as the next heir to the Fire Nation throne, with the difficult task. Zuko was more confused than ever. Who was responsible for the balance of the world? The monk or him? If it was his job,then why was Iroh on Aang's side and not Zuko's? Perplexed at the thoughts, Zuko did not respond to Iroh's charge. Instead, he watched numbly as the older man reached into a small hiding place in his cell and pull out a small bundle. Iroh handed it to Zuko, a small smile on his lips.

Zuko uncovered it to find the headdress of the Fire Nation's crown prince.

"This is a royal artifact. It's supposed to be worn by the crown prince." Iroh said. Zuko took the tiny artifact in his hands, and traced his fingers over it's intricate flame designs and metal work. It felt as if Zuko had just taken a burden into his hands, but it was a good burden. Zuko slowly realised that Iroh, the former crown prince of the Fire Nation before Ozai had taken the throne, had just named Zuko his heir. Zuko wasn't sure what to think. He had always known that the throne was originally meant for Iroh, but after Lu Ten had died, Iroh didn't have any heirs to give his position as crown prince to. It was why Ozai was the Fire Lord and not Iroh. But for Iroh to openly call Zuko he crown prince and symbolically name Zuko Iroh's heir…. It was like Iroh was calling Zuko his son. It was an unthinkable act, and if the situation had been different… if Iroh hadn't been in prison and Azulan had not died before Iroh could call Zuko his heir, it would have been the highest honor in the kingdom. Zuko knew he could not accept the gift from his uncle lightly, but he suddenly felt distressed.

He felt like he did not deserve such an honor from Iroh, the man Zuko knew he'd betrayed.

"Uncle, I can't accept this." Zuko said, awestruck.

"Why not? You are the oldest child of Fire Lord Ozai, the artifact rightfully belongs to you."

"No, it belongs to Lu Ten." Zuko said, his voice wavering, "You do know that, right?" Iroh got a sad look in his eyes.

"I know. But he is gone." Iroh said, "And you are here." Zuko trembled. Lu Ten was gone. His mother was gone. Azulon was gone. Roku was gone.

But he was not.

"Zuko, I cannot advise you any longer, I have taught you everything you need to know to become a great man. You are growing up. You are starting to understand that things aren't always as simple as they seem and people aren't always what you except. You, my prince, are changing. It is something you must figure out yourself. Only you can find the path right for you. I can help you and teach you what I know, but it isn't the same as experiencing it yourself. If you want answers to your questions, you must stop searching for them in me and look around you. You need to open your eyes, nephew. If you don't, you will never be happy and you will always be a tool used by others. Use the story about your two great grandfathers as an example and try and figure out just what it is that is bothering you for yourself. I can't help you. Not anymore than I already have." Zuko tucked the artifact into his satchel, still confused, but not as angry as before. He turned to leave.

"Thank you." He muttered. Iroh nodded, the sad look never leaving his eyes. Zuko left the prison contemplating Iroh's words carefully. Zuko needed to open his eyes. He needed to bring balance and atone for his people somehow. Zuko hadn't even realised that his people needed those things until Zuko stopped to think about how terribly the story between his two great grandfathers had gone. He was the crown prince. It was more than official meant he needed to be there for his people. He needed to get through the emotions that had been driving his crazy since Ba Sing Se and he needed to figure out what it was that bothered him so much.

He knew it wasn't leaving behind Adrien. The boy had told him that he would respect whatever Zuko chose. It certainly wasn't Gabriel. The man had always set Zuko on edge. Zuko did have to admit he felt guilty for what happened to Iroh though. Zuko wasn't sure if it was because Iroh was in prison now because of Ba Sing Se or if it was because he genuinely felt like he betrayed Iroh. He knew it wasn't Azula. As much as Azula got on his nerves and as manipulative and crazy as she was, Zuko couldn't really say he was mad at her or quite bothered by her. At least, no more bothered by Azula than any other sane person would be bothered by Azula. It wasn't even his father. Zuko barely knew his father.

That only left one thing, one person. Zuko was bothered about what had happened to Aang.

Zuko didn't really know the monk on a personal level. Of course, now Zuko knew the airbender's past life was actually Zuko's grandfather, but he never knew Aang. The only people on Team Avatar that Zuko seemed to actually know was Katara after the imprisonment in the city, and Adrien, Zuko's weird cat best friend who enjoyed puns way too much. But Aang? Zuko didn't know Aang beyond the few brief conversations they had. For so long, Aang had been simply the key to Zuko getting his honor back. Then, Aang was suddenly the very thing that threatened to take Zuko's honor away all over again. Zuko began to wonder, if only for a moment, what Aang was really like. If Zuko had known Aang the way his grandfather's had known each other, would things between them have been different?

Of course, the fact that Zuko didn't actually know Aang and was still completely bothered by what he and Azula had done to him raised some alarms. And maybe that was the problem. Zuko didn't know Aang. If it had been Adrien that Azula had tried to kill, Zuko knew he would not have hesitated to help the Avatar, even if it meant death or being imprisoned the way Iroh had been. But it had been Aang Azula shot with lighting. It hadn't been Adrien at all. It had been Aang, a twelve year old kid who had lost his entire people and was still struggling to hold the world up. A kid, Zuko started to realise, who had friends and jokes and a personality beyond just being the Avatar. A kid that Zuko had never gotten to know enough to see as anything other than the enemy, and when the enemy was killed or in Aang's case, was killed then revived, Zuko was suddenly forced to consider just what he'd done. Who wasn't the stranger he'd just hurt? Who was Zuko to have any right to act against him? What made the boy his enemy beyond the fact that Zuko was Fire Nation and Aang was the Avatar?

Zuko rubbed his forehead.

"Maybe Iroh is right." Zuko said, "Maybe I do need to open my eyes. Maybe if I had been thinking a little clearer in Ba Sing Se… maybe things would have gone better. Maybe if I'd taken time to watch Aang instead of chasing him everywhere, my opinion of him would be a little different." Zuko sighed. Of course, he couldn't really do anything about those things now. Still, that didn't mean Zuko wouldn't watch closer than he had ever watched before.