Fire Lord Zuko, Year 101 After Sozins Comet

Disclaimer: All characters appearing are over the age of 18 and aged up from their canon portrayal as necessary!

Fire Lord Zuko awoke from his sleep with a headache. Again, he'd had a dream, but this one was a lot weirder than any of the ones that had come in the nights before. As he dressed himself, he wondered if the stress and pressure of the throne were getting to him. He had sworn to unite the world with the help of his friend, Avatar Aang, but it proved to be much more difficult than he had expected. Former colonies of the Fire Nation that had settled along the coast of the Earth Kingdom were refusing to be returned to a country they had no ties to, as they had become their own people, a blend of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom that had become its own culture. Only with the mediation of the Avatar had a conflict been averted.

Zuko had to admit that he was perhaps too inexperienced and naive to expect his nation and the world to easily adapt to his ideal vision. The century of war had caused wounds that would take decades, if not another century, to heal. Odds were he wouldn't live to see his vision realized, but that didn't mean he'd give up trying. Still, he'd been **** enough to seek out his father, powerless, deprived of his bending and imprisoned, and ask for his counsel. Though his father only mocked him instead of providing advice, his secret meeting led to his girlfriend, Mai, ending their relationship. Though the crisis had been averted, Zuko found himself alone again.

Though he wasn't entirely alone. His friends were still there for him. So, about a week after this particularly weird dream, Zuko consulted with Aang about its meaning, if there even was any. Aang himself was confused. He told him that certain spirits could certainly influence the dreams of humans, this was something the young Avatar hadn't heard of before. Of course, Zuko had omitted the... lewder aspects of the things he'd been told in his dreams, but Aang still managed to give him something to ponder: Perhaps it hadn't been a spirit that caused his dream, but his own desires? His heart wished to see his family in harmony again, so why wouldn't he have a dream like that?

Zuko sat on the edge of his bed that night, his friends words echoing in his head. "Perhaps I should first rebuild my family before I can rebuild the world?", he wondered out aloud. And, truth be told, his family was a mess, had been from the very start. His father and his mother had never seemed particularly loving to each other, now that he thought about it. His mother vanished one day during his childhood, leaving him and his younger sister alone with their father. And while Azula seemed to be everything their father wanted, he struggled to gain his approval. In fact, Fire Lord Ozai deemed it a good punishment to burn half his face off and banish him for years because he spoke up about a particularly callous strategy for the war. It was difficult for him to find any sort of forgiveness for the man, but Ozai had once been young too... he too was the result of their grandfathers parenting. Perhaps he could try and connect with him?

Then, there was Azula. After their father had more or less abandoned her too, she had not taken it well, lashing out at everyone in her blind rage. For her own safety, Zuko had her sent to a mental institution on an island off the coast of the Fire Nation. He couldn't remember a time where they had truly, genuinely getting along. She had been too much of her fathers daughter and he too much of his mothers son for them to see eye to eye and yet... what kind of brother was he if would simply lock her away for the rest of her days?

And then, his mother... Ursa... for years he had wondered why. Why she had left, why she hadn't returned. Where was she now? Was she even still alive? Now that he was Fire Lord, surely he had the resources to find her. And if, if what that dream had told him was true... he had more than enough to reunite with her.

Mulling his options over, Zuko laid down to sleep. He resolved that, no matter who he picked first, he'd try to seek them out first thing in the morning...