zuko's life turns upside-down in the blink of an eye. one minute, he's a fire nation prince. the next he's told he's been removed from the line of succession entirely. fire lord azulon has a different plan in mind for him.
he is taken to an isolated manor on a remote fire nation island. it is impossible to escape from, especially for a mere seven year old child.
zuko does not even try. this is what grandfather wishes for him. he is honor bound to follow it.
(fire lord azulon, he corrects himself. he is not grandfather anymore. they are no longer a family.)
the training that zuko is put through is incredibly harsh, but for once, it's something he thrives at. azulon is pleased. his assessment of the boy's talents was not wrong.
(ozai is pleased. now he has two children that will gain him favor with his father.)
zuko's master has not a single trace of kindness in him. it is not necessary for their line of work. emotions only get in the way.
this lesson is harder for zuko to learn, but he masters it eventually.
(at least until he becomes Li, and things are suddenly much more complicated.)
for as long as there has been a fire lord, there have been assassins at their beck and call. they have no name, but those who know of them speak of them as viper-ravens, for the birds they use to communicate.
zuko's time as Li is the first time he's had the chance to just... be a regular kid in years. it's a strange feeling. he doesn't understand how this 12 year old monk can be the key to defeating the fire nation.
he doesn't mind helping the avatar accomplish his goals, to a degree. he can win small victories all he likes. zuko has his eye on the bigger picture.
in ba sing se, when it comes time to fulfill his final duty, zuko doesn't hesitate. hesitation has been trained out of him.
(once he is out of everyone's sight, he vomits. he swears he can still smell aang's charred flesh clinging to his nose.)
li's betrayal hits everyone hard. it's bad enough to learn that he was never on their side, but learning that he used them like he did? that's even worse. sokka doesn't know how he can face yue again when he helped vouch for the very person who killed her father.
but the fact that after all the time they spent together, he didn't even bat an eye before killing aang? they can't get over that. toph thinks she's going to be sick. she should have known, but she never noticed.
katara is so, so angry.
aang just feels sad. he and li didn't always see eye to eye about everything, sure, but he thought they were friends.
when ursa finds out what ozai and azulon did to her son, she's horrified- but she also doesn't recognize the young man who returns to the palace.
(it doesn't matter. he is still her son. she still reaches out to him.)
(perhaps this is what truly saves zuko in the end.)
ozai might have given zuko his place back in the royal family, but he still expects his son to fulfill his duties as an assassin. when your treasonous sister returns during the invasion- kill her.
(he thinks about how relieved azula was to see him alive. for the first time in his life, zuko's not sure he can.)
