Zuko's POV
I woke up to the sound of footsteps scurrying outside my room, I jumped up and ran to the door but instead of finding the person, I found a note:
You need to know the story of your great grand-father's demise. It will reveal your own destiny.
In the morning, I stood in front of the painting of my great-grandfather, Sozin, staring at it- trying to find some sort of answer.
Then I heard my sister's voice:
"It's never too early for a sitting with the court painter, Zuko. Make sure he gets your good side."
"Wait. I need to ask you something. What do you remember about our great-grandfather's history?"
She paused and turned to me,
"Ah, Zuko, it's so strange how your mind works. Fire Lord Sozin began the war, of course. He spent his early years secretly preparing for it but he was as patient as he was clever, he famously waited for the comet, later renamed Sozin's comet and used its power to launch his full-scale invasion of the world. In the end, he died a very old and successful man."
"But how did he die?"
"Didn't you pay any attention in school, Zuko? He died peacefully in his sleep, he was ancient."
Then she walked away and I turned back to the painting, there was something I must've been missing.
I slumped onto my bed, rereading the note that was left for me:
"What does it mean!?"
I threw it to the side and it landed on my lamp, revealing hidden writing.
I gasped,
"The Fire Sages keep the secret history in the dragon bone catacombs."
I watched as a Fire Sage entered through the passage way into the dragon bone catacombs, and waited there for hours upon hours until he finally left and entered myself.
In front of me was a statue of my great-grandfather, I blasted flames into the Fire Nation emblem holding his cloak on, sending fire through his eyes and mouth and unlocking the door.
In the room I found a box that read:
The final testament of Fire Lord Sozin.
As I feel my own life dimming, I can't help but think of a time when everything was so much brighter, I remember my friend- Roku.
I gasped, Avatar Roku was best friends with my great-grandfather.
They were best friends, they shared a birthday, and on their sixteenth birthday, Roku was proclaimed the avatar.
Soon, the day came that my friend, Roku, had to leave the Fire Nation and face his destiny as the avatar. He needed to travel the world so he could master the other elements.
My great-grandfather gave Roku a royal artefact, a headpiece that was supposed to be worn by the crown prince before he left to fulfil his duty.
Twelve long years passed before I saw my friend again. When Roku returned, he was a fully realised avatar, and I had changed as well.
After all those years, they were still best friends, and great-grandfather was the best man at Avatar Roku's wedding.
On wedding days, we look to the future with optimism and joy, I had my own vision for a brighter future.
He had an idea to share the prosperity of the Fire Nation with the rest of the world, we were successful and experiencing peace and wealth, his intentions were not ill. Roku shut down his idea, but my great-grandfather went ahead with it anyway.
Years later, Roku saw a Fire Nation colony in the Earth Kingdom and stormed to the palace, where they fought and Roku destroyed the throne room leaving my great-grandfather hanging above it, sparing his life in the name of their past friendship.
Twenty-five years later, a volcano erupted on the island that Roku called home.
Roku's island was a hundred miles aways, but I could still feel it rumbling and see the black plume of smoke. I had never seen anything like this catastrophe.
Fire Lord Sozin came to Avatar Roku's aid, but in the end, Sozin left his best friend there to die.
With Roku gone, and the great comet returning, the timing was perfect to change to world. I knew the next avatar would be born an air nomad, so I wiped out the air temples. But somehow, the new avatar eluded me. I wasted the remainder of my life searching in vain. I know he's hiding out there somewhere, the Fire Nation's greatest threat- the last air bender.
I turned it over to keep reading, but that was it- there was nothing more.
"That can't be it, where's the rest of it?"
I had an idea of who sent me that note, so I made my way to the prison tower and faces my uncle:
"You sent this, didn't you!? I found the secret history, which, by the way, should be renamed 'the history most people already know'. The note said I needed to know about my great-grandfather's death, but he was still alive in the end."
Uncle then replied,
"No, he wasn't."
"What are you talking about?"
"You have more than one great-grandfather, Prince Zuko. Sozin was your father's grandfather, your mother's grandfather was Avatar Roku."
I felt my eyes widen and my heart pound,
"Why are you telling me this!?"
"Because understanding these struggle between your two great-grandfathers can help you better understand the battle within yourself. Evil and good are always at war inside you, Zuko. It is your nature, your legacy. But there is a bright side, what happened generations ago can be resolved now, by you. Because of your legacy, you alone can cleanse the sins of our family and the Fire Nation. Born in you, along with all this strife, is the power to restore balance to the world."
He pulled out a brick from the wall and handed me something from inside,
"This is a royal artefact, it's supposed to be with by the crown Prince."
I sat down and sighed,
"I can't just- I don't know what you want me to do, uncle. I have a life, I can't just leave everyone behind... I can't leave Y/N behind..."
Uncle sent me a knowing smile,
"I thought you might say that, there are things about Y/N's past that you should know, that she should know."
He pulled a little bracelet from the same hole in the wall and handed it to me.
It was made of ice, but it didn't melt.
The front of it had Y/N's name engraved onto it.
"What is this?"
"Turn it over, Prince Zuko."
The back had the names 'Akaden & Katia' engraved into it.
"What does that mean?"
"This bracelet was on your friend's wrist when General Zorian and Azira picked her up from the orphanage."
"She's... adopted?"
He nodded.
"So, where are her parents?"