Life is the Best Metaphor

It all started with a servant girl, peeking through a curtain right before Fire Lord Zuko's coronation.

"...can't believe that a year ago my purpose in life was hunting you down," the imposing Fire Lord to be was saying to the sitting Avatar. "And now..."

"And now we're friends," the Avatar smiled at him.

"Yeah..." the Fire Lord smiled as well. The servant girl put a hand to her mouth. It was so different from when she saw Fire Lord Ozai or Princess Azula smile. It was... soft. And a bit shy. "We are friends."

"I can't believe a year ago I was still frozen in a block of ice," the Avatar stood up. "The world's so different now."

"And it's going to be even more different." Fire Lord Zuko walked up to Avatar Aang and put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll rebuild it together."

And then, to the girl's astonishment, the two hugged. Like... she didn't even know royalty could do that. When was the last time she saw any member of the royal family express affection this way? Or any way...? She had a feeling Fire Lord Zuko's reign would become something... truly amazing.

She was a bit of a gossip, much to her shame - especially after a few drinks of wine. Despite her initial resolve to keep what she saw to herself, that evening she ended up blurting out everything to her fellow servants, who in turn proceed to spread the rumor about the Fire Lord and Avatar's close friendship.

The story took very well, since the sudden and dramatic end of the war and their new Fire Lord inspired an endless amount of debate among the Fire Nation. The people found the fact that Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang were close friends quite ironic. After all, they all remembered how their once banished Prince was meant to capture the Avatar, not befriend him. Ember Island Players second (improved) edition of "the Boy In the Iceberg" helped to elaborate on that, praising their current Fire Lord's once unbreakable determination of fulfilling such impossible quest against all odds.

The point was, the story's ending was considered both humorous and inspiring, and in this new time of peace, people appreciated things that could lift their spirits in both ways. Eventually, the rumor became fact, and fact became a saying. And from there, it was only a matter of time until it reached their esteemed Fire Lord's ears.

It was an ordinary day for Zuko, who was expecting a Water Tribe delegation next week - which naturally included Aang, seeing as the was the last Southern Waterbender's fiance. The Fire Lord was walking down the corridor when a commotion got his attention:

"...I can't stand him, mom! La Yin is just the worst!" the boy screamed at his mother, who Zuko recognized as one of the newer servants.

"Now, son," the woman scolded, visibly trying to keep her composure, but the Fire Lord could tell she was going to lose her temper soon. "I know it wasn't just you, but you still need to apologize."

"No! I hate him! You can't make me!"

"That's it!" the boy's mother finally snapped. Then she said something that made Zuko gape in absolute shock. "Hikaru, you are hereby banished until you find the Avatar and restore your honor."

"Moooom!" the boy whined petulantly, as if he was just told to finish his vegetables.

"I mean it, Hikaru! Now go!"

"Fine!" little Hikaru shouted in great offence, stomping away as loudly as he could.

The mother sighed, turning around and turning pale at the sight of Zuko.

"My Lord!" she exclaimed, quickly getting on the knees and bowing. "Please forgive me! I know my son wasn't supposed to be here, I-"

"Uh... No harm done," Zuko spoke awkwardly, staring. "Please, rise."

She stood up, very flustered. "Is there anything you need, my Lord?"

"I..." He kept looking between her and where the boy had disappeared. "I'm sorry, but what was that about?" He couldn't help but ask, utterly baffled.

"Huh?" The confusion on her face lasted for a few seconds, then her eyes landed on the left side of her face. Her expression filled with horror instead. "I- Oh spirits, I am so sorry my Lord, I wasn't- I was just- I-I wasn't thinking!" The woman stuttered in total mortification. "It's just an expression! I'd never- mock you, my Lord, I swear...!"

"An expression?" Zuko blinked in confusion.

"More like a proverb?" she offered, red in the face. "I honestly don't know where it came from, I just heard some of my friends saying it, and it kind of..."

"You're banished until you find the Avatar," Zuko repeated slowly in disbelief. "Is a proverb?"

"And restore your honor," she added, nodding. She twisted her hands nervously, clearly still afraid of punishment. "It basically means until you find your enemy and become friends with them."

Zuko's jaw dropped slightly. "It... does?"

"I'm so sorry my Lord! I shouldn't have said it!" she said in distress. "I swear I will never say it again! I'll stop my friends from saying it too, I promise!"

"No, it's... fine," Zuko responded, rubbing his face.

A proverb. Oh, spirits. His uncle was never going to let him live that down.

"You did nothing wrong. I won't order you to stop using a... proverb," the Fire Lord told her. "You can return to your duties."

"You're... not firing me?" she muttered in surprise, then quickly covered her mouth.

"Of course not. Like I said, it's just a proverb. And it's not even false or particularly insulting." In retrospect, his life was a hilariously ironic set of events. "I'm not punishing you. You can go."

"Thank you, Fire Lord Zuko!" the woman bowed again, then left.

A week later, when Zuko told Aang, Katara and Sokka the story, the three laughed until they were rolling on his shiny palace floors.

The End.

Author's Note:

I know there is additional "cannon" content for the show, like the comics and Legend Korra stuff, but honestly? I liked how ATLA ended and those things only spoiled it for me. Don't get me wrong - I liked the comics and LoK... at first. There are SOME redeeming qualities. But... I honestly don't like the themes and what they did with the characters. The whole thing was just a giant mess for me. So, I don't intend to use those as a reference for any of my fanfics. I might borrow a couple of ideas, but aside from that, I'll pretend like the comics and so on never happened. In my mind, Zuko is a fantastic Fire Lord who is loved by almost all of his nation ("almost" means people like those generals who were ok with burning the Earth Kingdom - naturally Zuko fired and replaced them eventually, so aside from a couple possible "enemies", he didn't have much opposition in his own country. Not with his rightful claim to the throne). He deserves all the devotion from his people that is equal to his own to them. My point, Zuko's awesome, he's an awesome Fire Lord, everybody loves him. Fight me. :P

Thank you for reading, please leave comments and add to favorites if you can, but most importantly - read on and enjoy! :D