Road to Ba Sing Se | Zuko

11

"As you guessed, prince Zuko was born into the Fire Nation's royal family sixteen years ago. His father, my brother, and I are not very similar in our outlooks on life. Fire Lord Ozai is a strict man with high expectations."

"You're the Fire Lord's brother?! Geez, he must be really old." Keya sized up the old man in front of her, as if guessing his age. She knew that only the oldest sons became king.

Iroh gave her a deadpan look. "I'm the eldest." He clarified. "But... after I lost my son... I no longer felt the need to rule. Besides, I have no other heirs to the throne, so Zuko would become Crown Prince to the throne one day, whether I ruled or not."

Keya looked at him with saddened eyes, her mind filled with more questions. Questions for another time, perhaps. She could tell how much the simple mention of his late son brought back a lot of pain in her friend, so she decided to leave the matter alone for now.

"Young Zuko always tried his best to get his father to take him seriously, to approve of him. One day, Zuko begged his father to join a war meeting. To his surprise, his father relented. At the meeting an army General proposed a plan that would require the sacrifice of many young Fire Nation soldiers."

"What?" Keya gasped. "But-but I always thought that the Fire Nation considered themselves too honourable to hurt their own? The soldiers I've met liked to claim that, at least." She added, curious to see what the truth was.

"The Fire Nation has always prided itself on its honour and strict rituals, but there is no honour with pride. It is a misconception that has plagued my home for the past hundred years. Even so, that does not make it any less real to those who live in that culture. Prince Zuko is a great example of that." Iroh took a moment to think about the structure of his tale. "So, when Zuko heard of the sacrifice that was to be made, he felt that it was morally wrong. He was right, of course, but that did not make his actions any less egregious to those around him: the Prince spoke out against the General's plan. In doing so, he had offended the General."

"Oh no." Keya held a hand to her mouth in worry for the prince, despite the story taking place in the past.

Iroh nodded grimly and sighed. "Yes, I feel like you are beginning to see where this is going. In Fire Nation culture, offending someone is a grave mistake. Zuko had to join an Agni Kai with the man that had been offended. However, when the young Prince stepped out to fight, he quickly found out that it wasn't the general that he had to duel. You see, in offending the Fire Lord's personally appointed general, he had indirectly offended the Fire Lord himself."

The girl sat up straighter. "But that cannot be! Does that mean that Zuko had to duel his own father? Who would do such a thing?"

"Indeed, Keya. Such questions may arise in that situation. As a matter of fact, Prince Zuko ended up refusing to fight. His father punished him severely for his supposed act of cowardice. You can still see the effects to this day."

Keya felt bile rise up in her throat. Her stomach twisted and turned when she realised what the man had meant. "You mean to tell me that his scar...?"

Iroh nodded.

"I couldn't watch. In the end, Prince Zuko was banished from his home. Never to return unless he captured the Avatar. That was over three years ago."

A small tear slipped from Keya's grey eyes. Her heart ached after hearing of some of the hardships that her supposed enemy had gone through. Suddenly, a lot of mannerisms that the Prince had clicked into place.

"So when I said that 'no one would ever attack their family member', I directly contradicted what his father had done... That must have brought a lot of pain back up. Oh, I feel guilty now that I realise what it meant to him. That's why he got so upset." Keya frowned as she thought back to their fight earlier. It all made sense now. How sad.