Zuko stared at the mask in his hands with tight lips. Blue with fangs and horns. A face like a demon's. How did this find its way here? He had abandoned it so long ago that it felt like another life. No. It was another life. Then he was a banished prince still trying to understand himself. Still trying to forge his own destiny. He didn't need to worry about that anymore though. Now he was the Firelord, friend of the Avatar.
He smiled fondly as he thought of Aang. Aang was always accepting of him. He hated himself sometimes for how he'd chased the boy around the world. But that was just another piece of his past. He shook his head and stood up, placing the mask almost reverently in one of the drawers of his dresser. He couldn't let his past stop him now. There were other matters to deal with that were much more important. Like the Earth Kingdom rebels. After a hundred years of the Fire Nation trying to break them down, the people of the Earth Kingdom weren't terribly trusting of Zuko, no matter what he or the Avatar said.
As Zuko stepped out of his room, a messenger greeted him. "Fire Lord Zuko, this just arrived for you," he said, handing the young man a scroll, "I apologize for coming directly to you, but the Avatar's messenger said it was urgent." The man saluted his Fire Lord before hurrying off. Zuko unrolled the message and frowned. Apparently the Water Tribe was skeptical of his good intentions as well. Zuko sighed, rolling the scroll back up and putting it into his robe. How could he show them all that things were going to be different? He clenched a fist, silently condemning his great-grandfather Sozin. Regardless of what he did, it was going to take a long time for them to make up for this. He began wandering towards the exit to the palace as he thought. Perhaps Uncle had a good idea.