After the war

Firelord Zuko

"W-wait, I'm confused... I'm Firelord Zuko... what are you talking about?" Zuko resumed a standing position and pushed his hair back with both hands as he paced around the room.

"And to think that you're the first would make you an arrogant fool" Ozai chided Zuko as he watched him pace back and forth.

"I'm the second of my name..." Zuko sank down into his chair, staring at a spot on the floor near his feet.

"Yes, you are."

Zuko leaned forward and buried his face in his hands.

"You look so much like him, if he were alive I could believe that you were his son, unfortunately that burden is mine to bear" Ozai wore a glare that burned through Zuko's soul as he sat listening in shock.

"Yes, unfortunately I am your son... now, I must know about my namesake, who was he? what was he like?" Zuko rested his elbows on his thighs and leaned forward slightly.

"He won the civil war"

"How did he win? And you said he had red hair, I've never seen anyone with red hair in my life" Zuko had so many questions swimming around in his head, he was struggling to gather them all.

"Hundreds of years ago bright red hair was the most common colour in the Fire Nation, Fire Lord Zuko was the last one with red hair, because he didn't have an heir red hair died with him" Ozai slowly sipped his tea as he explained the answer to Zuko's second question, the answer to the first was going to take a lot more explanation.

"So, how did he win the war?"

"You know what the civil war was about, don't you Zuko?" Ozai asked.

"It was a battle for power between the Fire Sages and the Firelord right?"

"Yes it was, It was a battle between Firelord Zuko and the head Fire Sage, Shiron. Firelord Zuko would go around to meetings and rallies that were held by Shiron's supporters and set off an explosion inside, while he shielded himself from the explosion, everyone inside died"

"How did people not know it was him? Someone must have tried to stop him!"

"He wore a blue mask, a mask that was passed on to a theatre troupe that your mother kept"

"The blue spirit mask..." Zuko's heart fell as he realised he wasn't the first one to use this mask to do morally grey activities undercover.

"Indeed"

"So he kept his throne via fire and blood"

"Not just fire and blood, any survivors would be taken as prisoners of war, the Firelord would then give them a choice, be imprisoned in the Fire Nation's highest security prison, or join his army and fight against Shiron" Ozai paused to take a sip of his tea and hold his cup out for Zuko to refill it.

The Firelord raised an eyebrow.

"Refill my cup, and I'll continue explaining your namesake's history to you"

Zuko made a noise of begrudging agreement and refilled Ozai's tea.

"He sounds like a strong, level headed man, why did you name me after him? Considering how disappointed you were with me from the day I was born"

"We named you for him in hopes that you would pick up on his unique bending style and take on his ruthless, headstrong nature, unfortunately you lived up to the meaning of your name"

"What unique bending style? What meaning of my name?" Zuko asked incredulously, grasping at the inordinate amount of questions running around in his mind.