A year ago, Zuko rode into the town on a stolen ostrich horse, alone, haunted by the spectre of his sister, hunting the spectre of the Avatar, hungry and tired. This time, he comes fed, rested, and prepared.

News about the end of the war have reached even the most remote corners of the Earth Kingdom, but that's about all, the details aren't known to everyone. So it's no surprise that the town greets him with hostile stares and fearful faces, with mothers ushering their children inside and men reaching for the hilts of their swords. Here and there, he can see recognition in someone's eyes, remembering the stranger who spewed fire and proudly declared himself Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, and it does nothing to lessen their apprehension.

He rides through the town and out the other side. When he reaches Gansu's farm, the man is outside, tending to his animals. There are scars where there weren't any a year ago, a limp that wasn't there before, and it breaks Zuko's heart.

When Gansu sees him, he looks like he's seen Death incarnate, and it breaks Zuko's heart all over again.

"What do you want?"

A pitchfork makes for a poor weapon, but the message is clear: he is prepared to defend his family, to the death if necessary. Zuko slides off the horse and approaches, empty hands held out. Unthreatening. Unarmed. It does little to ease the man's defensive stance.

"Gansu. I'm not sure if you remember—"

"Oh, I know who you are."

Zuko lowers his hands. Gansu does not lower the pitchfork.

"I come in peace."

The 'I'm sure you do' dies on the man's lips when his wife pokes her head out of the door. Sela, too, looks older than before. More tired.

"Gansu? Who is it?"

She catches sight of Zuko, and fear and anger take over her face, too.

"Leave. We don't want anything to do with you."

Behind her, he can see Lee, hiding behind her legs.

"Please. Allow me to explain myself. I've come to apologise."

Gansu at least lowers the pitchfork. Zuko takes that as a good sign.

"The last time I was here… things didn't exactly end on a good note. I deceived you about my identity, and you were right to be angry about that. I got your son into trouble, and when I had to get him out… well, you know."

I am Zuko, son of Fire Lord Ozai, crown prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne!

"I want you to know that I deeply regret the hurt I've caused your family. I was confused, and I had lost my way. It was wrong that you had to suffer for me to find it again."

The pitchfork finally comes down. Lee comes out from his hiding place, escapes his mother's grip.

"Are you really the prince?"

Zuko kneels down to come face to face with him, and out of the corner of his eye, he sees Lee's parents tense again.

"Not anymore", he softly explains. "I helped bring down my father and end the war. I'm the Fire Lord now."

That part, apparently, is news to them. It doesn't surprise Zuko. They probably only heard about the peace months after it happened, perhaps from a travelling merchant or when the usual recruitment drive didn't happen.

"You're… the Fire Lord?"

"Uh-huh."

Gansu has put down the pitchfork and Sela has come out of the house to stand by his side. Neither seem particularly sure what to say. Zuko stands back up to face them.

"When I was here, those soldiers… they said your son had been captured."

And Gansu did go to look for him. He has the scars to prove it.

"Did you ever find out what happened to him?"

The pair silently shake their heads, and a few tears steal themselves from Sela's eyes. The uncertainty is always the worst; Zuko has spoken to enough widows and orphans to know that. Many never find out what happened to their husbands, brothers, and sons, and it's worse than any news either way. Today, he is here to change that.

"After the war, I sent out people to find him, messengers to every garrison in the region."

The hopeful looks are the next worst thing. Hopes he know he has to disappoint.

"I'm sorry."

The tears fall freely now, from Sela's eyes into her husband's tunic as she buries her face on his shoulder, from his eyes down into his beard, from Lee's eyes to the ground.

"He died a month after his capture. I… just thought you'd want to know. There's a gravestone for him, at the memorial yard in Ba Sing Se."

They're not grateful now, not when they are mourning a boy they've hoped for a year might come home. But they will be, in time. Will be glad to know, even if it devastates them in the moment. Will know to lay him at rest in their thoughts.

"I can only tell you how sorry I am to not have better news."

When he leaves them, it is with enough money for multiple trips to Ba Sing Se, with tickets for the ferry, and passports to the Upper Ring, where the memorial has been erected, a huge field of graves for those whose bodies have been found and gravestones for the ones who haven't. But before he leaves, he takes Lee aside. Sits down with him.

"I've brought you something."

This knife is slightly different. Slightly shorter, with a different sheath, without uncle's inscription.

"I'm afraid I don't have the old one anymore, but I want you to have this, as something to remember me by. Maybe don't attack any soldiers with it, though."

He gets up and heads for his ostrich horse.

"Where are you going?"

"North. I have a lot to do."