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Zuko had his head in Sokka’s lap, and Suki had her head on his shoulder. Katara was putting tiny braids in Toph’s hair. Aang was sitting on Appa’s back, braiding colorful flowers into his fur. The warmth of the fire and Sokka’s fingers brushing through his hair was slowly putting Zuko to sleep.
Toph was finishing telling some story about one of her favorite Earth Rumble matches, something about how she knocked the guy up into the rafters. “…and then, I had to sneak back into my house, that was crawling with guards, and hide my trophy under my bed so my parents couldn’t find it! I have no idea how they never caught me.”
“So your parents wouldn’t let you go anywhere on your own, but also didn’t notice you sneaking out to become a pro wrestling champion?” Katara asked drily. “Sounds like you had a really normal life.”
“Yeah, being the greatest earthbender in the world makes my life super normal and boring,” Toph laughed. “Just a normal kid with a normal family.”
“God, do any of us have a normal family?” Suki asked.
“Our mom died when we were kids and our dad was lost at sea for years,” Katara said. Sokka nodded.
“I didn’t really have parents,” Aang piped up from where he was sitting on Appa’s back. “Monk Gyatso was kinda like my dad, I guess?”
“My parents are probably the most normal,” Toph volunteered. “They’re just kinda shitty and overprotective.”
“Toph, language,” Katara warned. Toph huffed.
Zuko laughed. “I definitely don't. I mean, my mom’s dead, my sister’s crazy, my dad’s also crazy, I mean, he gave me this-” He gestured to his scar. “Uncle’s decently normal, I guess.”
“What?” Katara asked. Zuko looked around and noticed the rest of the group staring at him.
“My…uncle’s decently normal?” he repeated, confused.
“No, not that. The part about your dad,” she said.
“Oh, that he gave me this?” He pointed to his scar again. “Or that he’s crazy?”
“Your dad gave you that?” Katara asked.
“Yeah…?” Zuko replied hesitantly, lifting his head out of Sokka’s lap. Everyone was still staring at him, and he was getting uncomfortable with all the attention.
“I thought you just had, like, a training accident or something,” Sokka said. “God, that’s awful.”
“Eh, it’s in the past, right?” Zuko shrugged. “What's happened has happened.”
“Why…did he do that?” Katara asked, her calm tone clearly forced.
“I spoke out of turn during a war meeting. Father challenged me to an Agni Kai. He won, obviously, and burned me and gave me the scar. Then he banished me, and sent me to capture the Avatar to restore my honor.”
“And how old were you when this happened?” she asked.
“Thirteen.”
“Thirteen?!”
Zuko jumped at the collective roar from the group. “Yeah, thirteen. Like I said, it’s in the past. I’m over it, it’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal?!” Katara exploded. “Your father burned you for- for speaking out of turn? In a stupid war meeting? When I get my hands on him-”
One of the waterskins sitting behind Sokka exploded, spraying him with water. For once, he didn’t complain about getting wet, just brushed the droplets off his face. “Why would he do that? He’s your dad.”
“He’s the Firelord,” Zuko murmured, staring into the fire. “He’s not a good person.”
“Being the Firelord doesn’t have anything to do with it!” Aang exclaimed. “Becoming the Firelord isn’t going to make you a bad person. Your dad is just a bad person, period.”
“How do you know?” Zuko asked. “How do you know I’m not going to turn out like him?”
“Because you’re nothing like him, Zuko,” Katara said softly. “You’re kind and caring and good and nothing like him. You have more honor than the rest of the Fire Nation put together. You’re going to be a great Firelord.”
Zuko stared into the fire, watching the flames dance. You have more honor than the rest of the Fire Nation put together.
The fire suddenly sparked, lashing out at Zuko, too close to his face. He flinched. Sokka noticed, and put a comforting hand on his back.
All of a sudden, everything was too hot. Far too hot. He shook off Sokka’s hand and stood up. “I’m going back to my tent,” he announced.
Sokka reached for his hand. “Zuko, wait-”
“I’ll be in the tent,” Zuko repeated more forcefully. He walked away, and no one tried to stop him this time.
He laid down on the blessedly cool ground. He could hear the murmurs of the group talking, and then soft footsteps walking up to his tent.
“Zuko?” Sokka asked from outside the tent. “You okay? Can I come in?”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
Sokka brushed the tent flap open and sat down beside Zuko. “You wanna talk about it?”
“What is there to talk about? It happened, my dad’s a piece of shit, we’re past it.” Zuko laughed bitterly. “You know, my father always said that Azula was born lucky. He said that I was lucky to be born.”
“Well, your dad’s a piece of shit!” Sokka burst out. Zuko looked at him, surprised. “Sorry. But it’s true! Nothing he says is true. You can’t dwell on his lies.”
“He’s right, though. I was lucky to be born. I wasn’t worth anything to him, so why should he care about me?”
“You’re his son, Zuko! And you’re not worthless! God, how could you even think that? You’re so important, and you’re so loved!”
“Yeah, by you guys. Not by him.”
“Fuck him! Who cares what he thinks?”
“I care! No matter how many people tell me to not care about what he thinks, he’s my father! Yeah, he’s a liar, and a coward, and an awful person, but I still care about him! I think I always will! I’ll always care what he thinks, and I’ll always care that I wasn’t enough for him! Okay?” Zuko let out a breath. “I wasn’t enough for him, and there’ll always be that little voice in my head saying that I’ll never be enough for anyone else either.”
“That's okay, but Zuko, I need you to know that you are enough. For me, for all of us. We’re your family now. We love you. I love you. Okay?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Okay.”
He leaned into Sokka and held him in a tight hug. His hands were comfortably cool on the back of Zuko’s neck.
“I’m gonna have to stop Katara and Toph from killing your dad,” Sokka whispered in his ear, making Zuko laugh.
“Good luck,” he whispered back.