and so i said...

Iroh: For the better?

Zuko:

Suki, already working overtime:

King Kuei and Zuko end up talking a LOT post-war. Kuei is kind of fascinated by Zuko. The Earth King has been sheltered his whole life and is still often steamrolled by advisors and generals. The Fire Lord is on the opposite end of the spectrum, which means everyone looks to their teenage leader for answers (even if they don’t necessarily agree with said answers). Because of this Kuei takes notes from Zuko on how to conduct himself as a leader.

Zuko, on the other hand, would be baffled if he knew people thought of him as confident or self-assured. 

On one occasion, when he was tired and stressed and possibly coming down with a cold, Zuko flatly told the Kuei to “grow some balls” and deal with his advisors. 

(Zuko is embarrassed when he remembers this later. Not because he didn’t mean it, but because That’s The Earth King. And also it was vaguely sexist. He’d been around Toph and her foul mouth too often)

Another terrible thing Zuko has said when he was so stressed he was on the verge of passing out or setting something/someone on fire: “My family has a history of mental illness, do not test me right now. I WILL have a breakdown in the middle of this meeting. That is a threat.”

(He wasn’t threatening to hurt them, the way Ozai or Azula might have. He was threatening to break down in tears and maybe tear out his crown and throw it at the wall. His advisors had known him long enough that they knew this. The threat still worked.). 

Like. Based on the staff’s previous experiences with Ozai and Azula they’re probably already terrified of the new Fire Lord by virtue of his family alone. There’s definitely a rumour going around that Zuko just usurped the throne cause he knew his father would be distracted by the avatar.

And when Zuko is Fire Lord, no one can still get a read on him because he abrupt and short and doesn’t seem to appreciate all his staff do. (Cause, you know, after three years on a boat and then wandering through the Earth Kingdom for another few months before camping out with the Avatar, the last thing Zuko needs is someone whose job is to brush his hair for Agni’s sake)

But slowly the staff start to realize he’s just awkward as all hell and has no idea what he’s supposed to be doing, because up until Lu Ten died he was fourth in-line to the throne, and when he was banished he never expected the crown, so now he’s just fumbling around trying to make the world a better place but with no training on how to be the Fire Lord.

And, bit by bit, he starts to win them over. He remembers their names and their birthdays and asks about the guard’s mother and her hydrangeas. He checks in with the maid to see how her daughter is doing in school. He commissions a painting from the server.

In return they start to do little things to make his life easier. (The cook brings in a platter of snacks during a meeting that happens to include Zuko’s favourite food and Fire Sage Hiro’s fire flakes so the old sage isn’t as grumpy. His tailor designs clothes in wonderful fire nation colours that are cut differently from Ozai’s robes so people will stop whispering about how much he looks like his father. The cleaner always puts his notes for the day on top of his desk so he doesn’t lose them in his disastrous library.)

And somehow, without really realizing it, they all come to have a fierce respect for Zuko. So much so that when a new servant comes in and is all “hey is it true that Fire Lord Zuko hates turtleducks” the staff shut that shit down immediately

8-year-olds watching Nickelodeon that day:

Firelord Zuko: *Looks at Iroh*

Iroh: *nods*

Reincarnated as twins.

[x] Bonus: