Zuko groaned and put his head in his hand; poker night always ended up like this. It was almost as bad as Pai Sho. Almost.

"That," Zuko said matter of factly, "is not a Royal Flush. You don't have an Ace!"

"What do you mean I don't have an Ace?" Iroh protested, slapping his cards face down on the table. He waved a Joker card in Zuko's face, who batted it away with his hand.

"That's the most worthless card in the deck," Zuko muttered.

"What? It's the most powerful," Iroh plucked a chip from the bowl in the center of their table. "The Joker can be any card of the four suits that you want it to be."

"I've never heard of this," Zuko yelled, standing up and pushing his chair back.

"That doesn't change the fact that it can," Iroh paused. "In Wild Card poker, that is."

"But we weren't playing -" Zuko began to object, but stopped as Iroh began cackling.

"Uncle!" He growled, but before he could go on the door opened to interrupt them.

A guard looked in briefly, then blinked multiple times, then looked in again; the image of the Fire Lord's brother and son hiding in a cleaning cupboard apparently taking a while to sink into his brain. It took him a moment to find his tongue.

"Prince Zuko, your presence is requested in the audience hall. The guests are asking for you," he bowed quickly and nearly gauged his eye out on a mop as he adjusted his position in the doorframe.

Iroh watched intently as his nephew's face turned bright red. "Tell my father I'm on my way," Zuko instructed the guard who immediately left the cleaning cupboard, as Zuko made for the door.

"Prince Zuko," Iroh called after him, "bring back a tray of chips with you, we're almost out. You're never going to win if you don't even know what game you're playing."

Zuko glanced back at him from the door, and smirked. "Don't worry, Uncle - I won't let you get away with that trick next time." He vanished from the cleaning cupboard.

Iroh sighed and spun the Joker card between his fingers; for a single, abrupt moment, the red and yellow clad figure almost seemed to move.

...

A/N: Well, because we all know this would happen. Plus, Uncle Iroh is my favorite, and I adore him. RIP Mako xo