"Lu Ten, your father and mine are brothers, right?" Zuko asked. "So why are they so different? Why's my father so harsh and yours so nice?"
Lu Ten couldn't help chuckling at the naivete in that sentiment.
"It's just the way things are sometimes," he said. It was a warm summer night, and the boys had decided to spend it in the courtyard while their fathers talked. Or argued, more likely, Lu Ten thought.
"But they had the same mother and father, and were probably raised the same way," Zuko said.
"That doesn't mean they'll turn out the same," Lu Ten said. "You and Azula are different, right? You're nice, and she's..."
"A big brat?" Zuko laughed.
"Yes, exactly!"
Zuko nodded, pulling at a few blades of grass.
"But I love Azula even if she's a big brat. Sometimes I don't think my father loves Uncle very much," he said. "That's really sad."
"It is, but remember how much older my father is than Uncle Ozai? They were never very close growing up, and now that they're adults things are more complicated." Zuko flinched.
"...just like you're much older than me?"
Lu Ten smiled and placed a comforting hand on his cousin's shoulder.
"We're not them. You and I will always be friends, no matter how much older I am than you and no matter how old we get, and that's a promise," he said. The words consoled Zuko, who smiled and leaned against Lu Ten's shoulder.
"Thanks."