A/N: As I mentioned a while ago, I've recently taken a liking to Zuko as a character. I really wanted a happy ending for him as well, so I wrote one :D. Not much else to say ^^. Except of course, enjoy and review!

I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender.

Aang lunged forward, deflecting an especially powerful blast from Zuko's palms. He ducked quickly, kicking a flame at his opponent and teacher which the Fire Lord quickly dispersed. Zuko then lowered his hands to his center, bowing to the Avatar respectfully in a gesture which was promptly returned, both benders smiling in conclusion of their sparring match.

"Wow daddy!" The avatar's small daughter exclaimed, wide eyed. Aang grinned, turning around to approach the edge of the courtyard where his ever growing family sat, watching. He picked up his five year old daughter, Kya, and spun her around. She squealed with laughter, looping her arms around his neck as her older brother Tenzin, and mother, Katara watched, smiling, resting a hand on her seven month old bulge on her belly. She was pregnant with twins this time, which would, at their birth, raise the total of her and Aang's children to five. Next to the Avatar's family was the firelord's, his wife Mai, a daughter the same age as Tenzin, and her younger brother, Kenji who had just turned ten. His eyes, golden like his father's, were fixated on the fire lord's face, more specifically, on the scar that had been there for as long as he could remember.

"I'll tell you when you're older." He recalled his father telling him several times whenever he asked about it. Aang, he noticed just now, also had a scar, one in the center of his back. He wondered if Tenzin and Kya and Asha knew how their father had gotten his scar.

"I wanna learn to firebend like you!" Kenji's sister chirped as Zuko took a seat between the two families, wiping the sweat from his face. He smiled.

"You will, someday. But only if you're really careful. Fire can be dangerous." He warned.

"Your dad's right." Aang commented. "But he's a great teacher, so you should be just fine."

"Mommmm, I'm hungry." Asha, Aang's middle child whined, tugging on her mother's sleeve impatiently. She was easily the most outspoken of the three, a trait which she had inherrited mainly from Katara that, combined with Aang's impatience, made her quite vocal and difficult to ignore.

"Be patient, sweetie." The waterbender chastised, wincing slightly as she stood. Aang helped her up, placing a hand on her lower back to support her with a kind smile.

"You need to be extra nice to mom right now, Asha." He said gently.

"I know, I know, because my little brothers or sisters are in her tummy." The airbender grumbled, but then looked up at her parents and frowned softly. "I'm sorry Mommy." She recanted. Katara smiled.

"It's alright. We're actually pretty hungry too, so we should probably get going. Thanks, Mai. And Zuko." She told the fire lord and lady, taking Kya's hand as Tenzin hopped off of his perch on the small stone wall that framed the courtyard. Out of all the children, he resembled his father the most, sharing his eyes, complexion, and face shape and inheriting only his mother's thick brown hair.

"Bye Kenji!" He waved at his friend, who waved back, smiling. When the family had departed, Mai took her and Zuko's daughter, Mikka inside, glancing over her shoulder to see if Zuko was coming along. He nodded at her and started to follow, but Kenji stopped him.

"Dad." He said simply, halting Zuko in his tracks. Each time either of his children called him, he felt grateful that they would never have to go through what he did. They would never have to use the cold and informal "father" as he had been forced to use around Ozai. They would never have to earn his approval by becoming firebending prodigies. Would never have to act like members of the army for him, would never have to live in fear of what would happen if they so much as joked with him. And for that, Zuko was eternally thankful.

"Yes, Kenji?" Still, he often saw a lot of himself in his son. A degree of insecurity and a certain need for guidance, even if the ten year old wouldn't always admit it.

"You said you'd tell me about your scar when I was older. I'm ten now." Zuko fought back a grimace.

"Kenji…" He sighed. But his son's golden eyes were still fixed intently on his father's face, on the scar. Zuko shook his head. "Alright, come with me." Kenji smiled, following his father out of the courtyard. "I guess you are a big kid now. But before I tell you about this, you have to understand that the Fire Nation was very different when I was a kid." Kenji nodded, amber eyes shining with curiosity as Zuko led him through the passageway that connected the sparring courtyard to the adjacent one which held several trees and a fountain with the turtle duck pond he liked to visit with Mikka. Zuko sat down next to the pond, reaching inside of his pocket and drawing out a fistful of crumbs, offering half to his son. Kenji accepted them, tossing some into the pond and smiling as the turtleducks gathered around.

"How'd you get it dad? Were you fighting bad guys? I bet you were saving people with Uncle Aang. Is that how he got his scar too?" He pressed again, growing impatient. He liked feeding the turtle ducks, but he wanted to know what his father had promised to tell him. Zuko chuckled slightly.

"Be patient or you won't hear the story." He admonished gently, scattering some of his own crumbs into the pond and smiling fondly, remembering how he used to sit and do the same with his mother. Kenji groaned.

"Being patient is hard." He grumbled.

"I know. I used to be really bad at it too. I still am sometimes." Zuko said, touching Kenji's shoulder.

"Really?" The boy's curiosity was once again piqued, sensing that his father was finally getting ready to talk about his past.

"Yeah. It's not easy for a firebender to learn, but it's very important if you want to be a real master." He explained.

"You sound like Uncle Iroh." Kenji pouted. Zuko laughed.

"He probably taught me more about patience than anyone else. His brother wasn't as patient though." He said, the smile fading. Kenji crossed his legs and looked curiously at his father, suddenly all ears.

"My granddad?" He asked. Zuko nodded.

"Yeah. My father, the one Aang defeated when we were kids."

"When you guys saved the world!" Kenji interrupted enthusiastically. He'd heard that story many times from both his parents and his friends Tenzin and Asha. Zuko allowed himself to smile again, recalling that despite all the suffering it had cost everyone, the world had after all come out alright in the end.

"That's right." He affirmed. "I used to come here all the time with Grandmom when I was a kid trying to stay out of his way." Kenji could already think of several questions he wanted to ask just from hearing that, but for once, he kept silent, sensing that he would get his answers if he just listened. "My father…even before he was fire lord, didn't have a lot of time for the family, except for my sister because she was a firebending prodigy."

"You're a good firebender too though!" Kenji pointed out, unable to stop himself as the words flew to his lips too quickly for them to be controlled. Zuko smiled, reminded once more of how glad he was that both of his children had turned out kind, considerate princes and princesses, and not in the least like Azula or Ozai, even if they could be a bit impulsive.

"I was. But it took me longer to learn than my sister. Anyways, when my father became Fire Lord, he was more busy than ever. I wanted to prove that I was just as strong as my sister, and that I could be the son he wanted so he would love me." Kenji's eyes widened.

"He didn't love you?"

"He didn't love anybody, and it took me a long time to understand that. When I was thirteen, I wanted to go to one of his war meetings so I could learn about what the Firelord did." Zuko paused, mentally puzzling over how to say the next part delicately so as not shock his son too badly.

"And?" The ten year old pressed.

"Uncle Iroh didn't want to let me. But because I was impatient, I bugged him to the point where he took me with him, but he warned me not to say anything so I wouldn't get in trouble. But then, my father talked about an invasion that would sacrifice an entire army division to win a battle, and I spoke out anyways because I thought it was wrong. My father punished me for it. He ordered me to fight an Agni Kai against him, but I refused. So he burned me right here." He touched his scar, and Kenji gasped, amber eyes unblinking. "And banished me." He stopped there, as Kenji had heard the rest of the story before.

"Wow…that's horrible, I'm really glad you're my dad and not him." He said, and Zuko chuckled, partly in relief that his son didn't appear to be too traumatized by the tale.

"I am too. And I want you to know that I would never let anything like that happen to you or your sister. I love you both very much." He said sincerely as his son emptied the last of his fistful of crumbs into the pond. The young firebender looked thoughtful.

"So...how'd Uncle Aang get his scar?" He asked, still curious.

"That was from my sister, Azula." Zuko sighed, frowning.

"Oh yeah! The one you and Auntie Katara defeated together! Right? Uncle Aang was there too?"

"No, Uncle Aang was fighting my father at the same time as Katara and I were fighting Azula. About two months before that fight, Uncle Aang and Aunt Katara were battling Azula at Ba Sing Se. They were trying to protect the city, and she was trying to take it over and kill Aang. She shot him in the back with lightning and he almost died, but Katara saved him." Zuko felt a pang of guilt at the memory of that awful night. In truth, the image of a twelve year old Aang falling with smoke coming from that gaping hole in his back had haunted him in the weeks after he'd returned to the Fire Nation with his "honor." It had been partly that that had triggered the change in him. There was no justification for doing something so unspeakably horrible to a child, especially one sacrificing his life trying to protect people. Kenji stared at his father wide eyed. He seemed to have read his father's mind, for he then asked

"You changed sides after that right?"

"A couple weeks afterwards, yeah. It was one of the hardest things I ever did, but it was also one of the best decisions I made."

"Wow." The Firelord and prince sat in mutually thoughtful silence for a moment, before Kenji spoke again

"If Azula's my aunt and Ozai's my granddad…does that mean I'll be like him when I grow up? Because I don't want to. I want to be like you." His tone held the type of innocent sincerity that only a child's could, golden eyes looking hopefully to his father, his role model. Zuko couldn't help but feel touched. None of the "honor" that his father could have given him had he chosen to fight for the Phoenix King could have possibly matched the genuine admiration his son gave him. This is what I changed for. Well, he thought to himself. That and Mai. He recalled their moments together after the war in which she had apologized to him for not taking his side right away and confessed that she admired his bravery, which had given him one of the most satisfied, not to mention enamored, feelings he'd ever had the pleasure of experiencing. He'd felt much more satisfied and happy with himself that day than he ever had earning any form of acceptance from Ozai.

"Of course not, Kenji. When Azula, my sister, was your age we could tell that she was going to be like my father. She used to bully her own friends and take my things and insult me for fun. You don't treat people the way she did. I've seen you, you're nice to Mikka and all your friends. Someday, you'll be an even better Fire Lord than me." Kenji beamed up at his father, brightening instantly.

"You really think so?"

"I know so." Zuko answered. He meant it. He could already tell that without the negative influences his father had grown up with, the fire prince would have a much easier time finding his way and becoming a man. And he didn't show any signs that he could possibly be related to Ozai except perhaps his impatience and occasional stubbornness, which could also be attributed to Mai's side of the family. "If you ever have a hard time though, just remember that your mom and me are both here to help you make the right decisions. And if you know that what someone else might be doing is wrong, don't let them stop you from being brave and doing what you know is right." Kenji nodded.

"I promise, Dad. I won't ever let you down." The fire lord smiled.

"I know you won't." Zuko reached down to ruffle Kenji's hair. The prince didn't like wearing it up in the traditional topknot unless he had to dress up, and Zuko didn't force him to. There was no point, he believed, in making his very energetic young son to dress fancily if all he was planning on doing that day was relaxing in his own home or playing with his friends outdoors. Though, if the royal family had to make a public appearance, Mai made sure all of them looked presentable, even if one of them had to trap Kenji in a corner first.

"Oh yeah…Dad?" He asked again after another moment of silence between the two.

"Kenji?"

"I think I like Asha but I don't know what to do." He said quickly in a hushed voice, face flushing. Zuko smiled knowingly.

"Just wait for her. I have a feeling she likes you too." He winked. Kenji beamed.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome…but you have to promise not to tell mom. Or Mikka." Kenji lowered his voice again, glancing nervously around the courtyard to make sure no one overheard. Zuko chuckled.

"I promise."