He didn't know how it happened, really. When his son was born, he was certain the boy would be a powerful bender; his pedigree was impeccable, after all. His father, the Fire Lord, his mother a water bending prodigy. It was only natural to assume that the product of such a union would stupefy all those who looked upon him.
Things hadn't quite gone how Zuko expected they would.
He wasn't quite sure when he realized that his son wasn't the child that everyone expected that he would be. He had seemed normal at first. He had pooped, and cried, and ate, and cried some more. According to his wife, that was perfectly normal behavior.
When the boy was two, Zuko had been delighted to find that the boy had a great intellect. He'd prided himself for that fact once the boy's intelligence was discovered. Unfortunately, the prince of the Fire Nation used his astounding mind to trap his father in various humiliating situations. The Fire Lord walking through the palace in a courtesan's dress had been one of his son's tamer inventions.
By the boy's fourth birthday, Zuko had noticed that the child had an unhealthy obsession with food. The boy would eat the contents of his plate, then that of his mother's, and then that of Iroh's before he would finally turn to his father with pleading eyes. Zuko had blamed that on Katara, much to her annoyance.
By the time his son was ten, Zuko resigned himself to the fact that the boy would never bend any element, and that the child of the Blue Spirit was hopelessly useless when it came to broadswords. However, what he lacked in talent, he more than made up for in charm. It seemed as though the boy always had a girl or two mooning after him.
It wasn't until the boy's twelfth birthday that Zuko identified the source of the problem. Two blue eyed men sat side by side, exchanging the finer points of fire nation and Water Tribe cuisine. One was his son, the other… his wife's idiot of a brother. The pair frowned the same way, laughed the same way, and had the same ridiculous sense of humor and sarcastic tone.
Zuko, Fire Lord and master Fire Bender, had fainted upon the conclusion that his son was just like Sokka.
And what was worse: the idiot water tribe warrior never let him forget it.
I would really appreciate if you guys could give me prompts, challenges, or requests for these drabbles. Although I'm shamed to admit it, I'm beginning to run out of ideas. So, all help is welcomed, and I promise I'll try to do a drabble for every idea extended.