Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or the song "Good and Evil" from Jekyll & Hide, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.

Author's Note: I'd been thinking about doing this song for a couple of weeks, since it seemed to perfectly illustrate Zuko's dilemma. After Iroh's conversation with him in The Avatar and the Fire Lord, I got more material to add to it and felt it might be time to move the idea up to the forefront. This song is often replaced by "Bring On the Men" in touring productions, but I like the powerful message of good being an uphill battle.

Good and Evil

Good and evil,
And their merits,
Men have argued through history,
As well they should.
My philosophy?
Any child can see:
Good is evil, and therefore,
All evil is good.

Good…evil…good…evil. The words ran through Zuko's head as he sat there across from his uncle, trying to make sense of everything he'd just learned. As though in a daze, he tucked the winged "crown" into his clothing. He pressed his hands to his head and closed his eyes as though that would stop the internal struggle, but of course, it had no effect.

"Why me?" he groaned at last.

"I just told you. Your heritage--"

"Azula has the same blood I do!" Zuko exploded, glaring at Iroh. "Why doesn't any of this bother her?"

"I'm not certain, but I think it has something to do with you being the crown prince," Iroh replied placidly. "You will have the power to change things as she will not."

"You were supposed to be Fire Lord." It was almost an accusation, and silence fell. Zuko had never brought this up in all the time they had spent together.

"True," said Iroh at last. "At first, I was too grieved over the loss of my son to care much, and once the coronation had taken place, it would have been…difficult to transfer the title. At the time, I thought it best to avoid a civil war and allow my brother to hold the throne I didn't really want anyway. I often wonder how things might have been different had I claimed my birthright. But it doesn't matter. With Lu Ten gone, you would have succeeded eventually. When you think about it, was it about the time of his death when you first realized this division within yourself?"

Zuko frowned as he thought this over. Now that his uncle had mentioned it, it did seem that his confusion and turmoil dated from that time, intensifying with his father's coronation and Zuko being officially declared the crown prince. He'd always assumed it had something to do with his grandfather's death and mother's departure, but maybe it was deeper than that.

How do you tell evil from good?
Evil does well,
Good not so good.
Evil's the one that is free everywhere,
Good is the one that's in a cell.
You must decide which is heaven
And which is hell.

"I'm not even sure I know the difference between good and evil anymore," Zuko commented softly, deciding not to answer Iroh's question out loud.

"Yes, you do," his uncle responded gently. "You just don't want to believe in the evil you see."

Zuko swallowed, knowing that Iroh was right. He'd seen the fear of common people at the mere sight of a Fire Navy ship. He now knew that his great-grandfather Sozin had left his old friend to die and begun an unprovoked war upon the rest of the world, including wiping out the Air Nomads, who'd had no formal military. The war had been continued by Zuko's grandfather and father, and he'd watched his sister strike down the Avatar without a second thought. None of this wasright, and deep down, he knew that.

"Most men do not wish to believe that their actions are evil," Iroh continued. "They find justifications for the things they do. Sozin, for example, began by thinking that rule of the world by the Fire Nation would be a positive thing. He would share his technology with other people and make sure they were clothed, housed, and fed. Eventually, of course, his original reasons were forgotten. He wanted world domination only because he wanted it. So, I ask you again, what do you want and why?"

"I don't know!" admitted Zuko. Iroh nodded, as though this was what he had expected to hear.

"I have told you that it is your nature to struggle between good and evil, but it is ultimately our decisions that define us. You still have a choice to make."

"We both made choices in Ba Sing Se," Zuko spat at him. "Yours landed you in this cell, while I'm free."

"Are you, Zuko? Are you really free?"

Good men maintain evil's a curse.
But it is plain good's even worse.
Evil's the one that they tell you to shun,
Good is the one to embrace.
Say that, and Satan will laugh
Right in your face!

Zuko reeled back as though he'd been struck. The response was just so unexpected. It seemed obvious that Zuko was the one walking free.

"Yes, I'm imprisoned," Iroh went on. "Yet my mind and heart are my own. Can you say that?"

Zuko remained silent. He now understood his uncle's question, and he didn't like any of the answers that came to mind. It was true that he was conflicted on more levels than he could count, and the palace life with its obsequious servants was sometimes stifling after the years of sea air and open roads.

"My father accepts me now," he said finally, resolving to focus on the positive. "I'm hailed as a hero, accepted as the crown prince. I even have a girlfriend! My life is perfect!"

Only it wasn't, and they both knew that without saying anything. Due to Azula's deception, Zuko was forced to live a lie. He was walking a tightrope, and he was all too aware that everything could come crashing down upon him if the Avatar was alive and word got back to the Fire Lord. His position was tenuous, but was Iroh's really any better? In any case, Zuko wanted to take every moment he could of his current status, in case it did fall apart. If this was a weakness in his character, he would concede it.

The balance between good and evil
Goes back to the start -
Adam and Eve and the apple
Tore Eden apart.

"Why do you believe the Avatar is alive?" Iroh changed the subject. Zuko explained about the waterbender and her special water. He left out the part about her offering to heal his scar, and Iroh didn't ask why she'd shown him this precious liquid.

"I think it's possible she used it to save him," Zuko concluded. "I don't know if it would work that way, but I'm sure she would try." He'd only spent a short time with the girl, but he felt like he had gained a few insights from her, including some truths that were very uncomfortable.

"There's something else, though, isn't there?" Iroh pressed.

"I – it's a feeling." Zuko looked down, unable to meet the older man's gaze.

"You sensed the Avatar at the South Pole. You were able to find him more than once when no one else could. Now, you know why. You are connected to him, through your great-grandfather."

"So you think I'm right?"

"I think you should listen to your instincts."

Zuko was finding this conversation increasingly awkward. His method of dealing with his suspicion had been to hire an assassin. Somehow, he was pretty sure his uncle would not approve of that. It was time to extricate himself from this encounter.

The key thing about good and evil -
Each man has to choose.
Heaven and hell is
A hell of a gamble to lose!

"I have to go," said Zuko, rising to his feet.

"Your fate is not yet determined," Iroh commented without looking up. "You still have time, but not much. You must decide whether you will be on the side of good, balance, and love or of evil, chaos, and destruction. The choice is yours."

As Zuko left, he was aware of what his uncle had not said – namely, that Zuko had better be right in his decision, or the consequences would be dire and permanent. He walked back to the palace without really thinking about it, allowing his feet to carry him without conscious direction.

He'd just been told that he was the only one who could bring balance and cleanse the sins of the family. It was too much pressure, and Zuko didn't want to deal with it. He would rather not have known.

Suddenly, he realized that this must be something of what the Avatar felt. There must have been a time, as there was for Roku, in this airbender's life when he had not known who he really was. What were the conditions surrounding his discovery? Why was he so much younger than Roku had been when he learned the truth? Had he been overwhelmed by the new sense of responsibility? Come to think of it, how had he managed to show up at the South Pole after 100 years as a twelve-year-old? Now that he knew the precise timing of Roku's death, Zuko knew when the new Avatar was born. Nothing seemed to add up.

As I peruse
This world we abuse,
It's hell that we choose,

And heaven must lose!

This was not the first time that Zuko had entertained such thoughts, of course, but at the present, they were particularly unwelcome. The last thing he needed right now was yet another similarity between himself and the Avatar. He wondered if Azula knew about their shared heritage and if she would care if she did.

Zuko went to his suite, where servants drew him a bath and laid out loose-fitting silk trousers before respectfully withdrawing. While removing his cloak, he felt an unfamiliar weight. He reached in and drew out the small crown, gazing at it curiously. He lay it on a small table beside his bed, not certain whether he would have the courage to wear it. It had been worn by both Sozin and Roku, connecting the two of them.

Sleep was elusive when Zuko took to his bed. He had slept better on the hard ground than he customarily did in this luxurious feather bed, but that was a realization he tried not to think about. As an outcast, he'd thought he didn't know who he was, but it was only now that he was pretending to be the person he believed he was supposed to be that he understood that he was more lost than ever.

Zuko sat up, taking a moment to really look at the room. He had merely been using it as a place to sleep and store his clothes since returning home, but he finally allowed himself to recall the refuge it had once been to him. This was the very same bedchamber he had used in his childhood, and it was at once familiar and strange. The room had not changed, but he had, and he somehow felt that it didn't quite fit him anymore.

Taking in the details – the curtains, the four-poster bed with its hangings, the ornate furniture he never used, and the expensive artwork and other ornaments – he compared it with the sparseness of Iroh's prison cell. What sane person wouldn't prefer to be here? Surely being comfortable in your own mind could not compare with the creatures comforts he now enjoyed.

Evil is everywhere,
Good doesn't have a prayer,
Good is commendable,
Evil's dependable,
Evil is viable,
Good's unreliable,
Good may be thank-able,
Evil is bank-able!

The last thing his eyes rested on was the Fire Nation heirloom. Zuko lay back down, thinking over his options. What was he supposed to do to restore balance? Seek out the Avatar and help him? Surely they would never accept him, especially the waterbender. He could call off the man he'd hired, but that in itself would be dangerous if anyone were to intercept the message.

He could finally try to find his mother and see if she knew any more about her family's history. He suddenly realized that he did not know how his parents had come to be married. If Iroh knew about Ursa's heritage, it stood to reason that Zuko's father knew it as well. He couldn't help but wonder whether the attempt to unite the lines of the royal family and the Avatar had been intentional. If so, he couldn't see the point.

Maybe there was something Zuko could do from where he was, in the inner circle of the Fire Nation again. In every scenario, though, he could only see himself getting imprisoned, attacked, exiled again, or even killed. He just wasn't ready to make such a sacrifice at this point in his life. Just when he'd regained everything that had previously been lost, no one could expect him to voluntarily give it all up for complete uncertainty. The path of balance might be good for the world and for the soul, but it was also dangerous and hazardous to your health.

Zuko rolled over and fell into an exhausted sleep. Maybe the course he was on was not exactly commendable, but it was at least reliable. It was all he could count on, and he aimed to stay on it until it ran out.

Evil's for me, and not good.
It doesn't suit me
To be Robin Hood.
It's easier by far from the way that things are
To remain good at evil
Than try to be evil at good!

--

Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Strix Moonwing, Avatarwolf, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, La Vixen de Amor, chocolatecoveredbananacheese, Aangy, and honorary member SnakeEyes16

Author's Note: I had to twist things slightly, but I think the overall message of the song is probably what's going through Zuko's head. You may have noted the slight allusion to Dumbledore in The Chamber of Secrets, when he told Harry that it is our choices rather than our actions that define us.

Review responses:

SnakeEyes16: Well, that was kind of how Hahn talked to Sokka, when he said Yue came with "the most perks" or words to that effect. I might have exaggerated slightly, but I'm glad you liked it.

Wishing Only Wounds the Heart: Yeah, I feel the same way. That song cracks me up!

intricate designs: You're the second person to say the last chapter was realistic, though I felt I made it a bit of a caricature while still keeping Yue and Hahn mostly in character.

libowiekitty: So if you liked the ending, does that mean you didn't enjoy the funny parts? Or just that you preferred the more serious, foreshadowing closing?

Aangs fangirl1214: Welcome back to this one, too! Since we don't know all that much about Yue, I sometimes worry that my stories about her tend to repeat themselves. I'm happy you thought it was a good insight into her character.