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The night of Zuko's Agni Kai, he had a dream. It was after he learned he was banished, so his mind was drifting onto the Avatar when it started. 

In it, he saw his future self being  friends  with the Avatar. And despite never seeing the Avatar since he had disappeared 97 years ago he was certain it was him.  He saw him enter the Avatar state.

It was the most bizarre dream he had ever had. He knew time travel wasn't a thing, and so he couldn't have actually seen them, no matter how real it felt. Also, his older self said something in the dream, telling him that one day he'd end up in his position. He scoffed at that ridiculous thought now. He needed to capture the Avatar and bring him to his father so he could go home and regain his honor,  not  become friends with him. But there was something deep down inside him that sparked at the thought of having friends, but he snuffed it out the second it appeared.

He left the next day on the ship with his crew and Uncle, with one final thought:  I won't stop until I find the Avatar.

------

It was a month after his banishment when the physician said that the burn had healed enough for the bandages to come off. 

As Zuko sat in his quarters aboard their ship, staring at the ceiling, his mind wandered back to that strange dream he had the night of his Agni Kai. He couldn't shake off the image of his older self, standing alongside the Avatar as friends. It was absurd, impossible even. But still, a part of him couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have a friendship like that. His dream self called them his family, and he remembered how the others seemed so happy once he uttered those words.

Iroh entered the room, his gentle presence filling the space. "Zuko, it's time to remove the bandages. The physician says your burn has healed nicely."

Zuko nodded silently, grateful for his uncle's support. He turned to face Iroh as the older man helped him unwind the bandages. The feeling of the fabric peeling away from his skin was both relieving and nerve-wracking. What would his face look like now? Would he still be recognizable?

As the last of the bandages came off, Zuko's gaze shifted to the mirror nearby. What he saw reflected back at him was a face changed by fire, marked by pain and shame. It was a reminder of everything he had lost.

Iroh placed a comforting hand on Zuko's shoulder, his eyes full of understanding. "You are still the same person, Prince Zuko, no matter what scars you bear. Your journey is just beginning, and it's not defined by the past, but by the choices you make in the present."

Zuko met his uncle's gaze, feeling a flicker of hope stir within him. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for redemption, for a future where he was able to go home with his honor and his father would welcome him back. "Thank you, Uncle," Zuko whispered, a hint of gratitude coloring his words.

Iroh smiled warmly, his eyes twinkling with pride. "Remember, Prince Zuko, destiny is not always what we expect it to be. Sometimes, the most unexpected paths lead to the greatest discoveries."

With those words lingering in the air, Zuko felt a newfound determination coursing through his veins. He may have left the Fire Nation behind, but his quest for the Avatar was far from over.

After Uncle left the room, Zuko's stare remained on the mirror. He couldn't help but trace the outline of the mark with his fingertips, feeling the rough texture beneath his touch. It was the  exact  same scar as his dream self had. 

Suddenly, he grabbed the nearby plate he had left from lunch and threw it at the mirror, shattering it. He wouldn't become that person, he couldn't.

He picked up one of the mirror shards from the floor. He wouldn't become friends with the Avatar. He  would  capture him, and he  would  go home. He had no idea how his subconscious knew what his scar would end up looking like when it created that dream, but he refused to let it dictate his fate. 

He brought the mirror shard to his head and shaved his hair off, leaving only his phoenix tail. Now he definitely didn't look like his dream self.

He knew that by cutting his hair off like that, he was marking himself even further with the fact he was banished and brought shame to his name. But he deserved it, he was no longer the person he was before, the Agni Kai, the scar, that day had killed the boy he was before. 

------

Three years had passed before Zuko had finally found the Avatar. He was in the South Pole when a giant beam of light pierced the sky and he knew that there was only one being, only one person who could have created it.

He set his course to the village. The people there would know where the Avatar was. They'd probably been hiding him from the Fire Nation to keep him safe. But Zuko had finally discovered him. 

When he got to the village, though, he had to stop for a second. There was a girl and a boy there that looked....familiar, but he couldn't place them anywhere. 

The boy tried to fight him off, tried to get him to leave, but his only weapon was a stick. Zuko rolled his eyes, took the stick from the boy, and poked him with it before breaking it in half. But then the weird boomerang thing came back and hit him over the head. 

But eventually, the Avatar did arrive and he was....12. Zuko couldn't understand how the Avatar remained looking like a child. He'd been missing for 100 years, he should be seven times older than him.

But it didn't matter in the end. The Avatar had given himself up and Zuko would finally be able to go home. That was until the two water tribe peasants showed up. 

Zuko couldn't understand why his brain kept nagging at him that he had seen the three children somewhere before. But it was only after they had freed the Avatar that he realized why he felt like that. They were the two people in his dream from three years ago. So was the Avatar.

Could it be possible? Could these children be the same ones he had seen in his dream, the ones who had unknowingly planted the seeds of doubt in his mind?

Shaking off the intrusive thoughts, Zuko focused on the present. Now that he knew that the Avatar had returned, now that he knew he could be captured, he would finally be able to go home. 

------

Zuko blinked his eyes open and realized he was lying on the ground with the Avatar sitting near him. Zuko remembered the Pouhai stronghold, he remembered that he had saved the Avatar from Zhao, but he didn't remember why he had passed out. 

He tried to move, but his head hurt, and that was when he remembered the archers. Just then, the Avatar began to speak.

"You know what the worst part about being born 100 years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with." Zuko had no idea why the Avatar was telling him this, but he was still a bit hazy from the hit, so he remained silent. 

"Before the war started I used to always visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us? We'd get in and out of  so much  trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had." The Avatar's tone softened as he looked directly at Zuko.

Surprised by the Avatar's openness, Zuko was struck by his sincerity. "And he was from the Fire Nation, just like you," he revealed. "If we knew each other back then, do you think we could've been friends too?" Those words stirred something deep within Zuko, prompting him to spring to his feet and launch fire towards the Airbender. The Avatar jumped out of the way and used the trees to escape.

As Zuko watched him, he thought back to his promise. The promise he made to himself that the dream could never come true under any circumstances. If Zuko ever became friends with the Avatar his father would never accept him back and regaining his honor was the most important thing.

------

After Azula had tricked him into thinking his father would accept him home, he cut his hair. After the tail was gone it started slowly growing back over his whole head. 

It took weeks before it reached the length his dream self had. 

Zuko found himself staring at his reflection in the mirror, his hair now resembling the style from his dream. It was surreal, almost as if fate were mocking him. He couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that settled in the pit of his stomach. What did it mean? Was his subconscious trying to tell him something?

No matter what decision he made, or what actions he committed, he always returned to the dream. He hated it.

Ever since the Avatar returned, the dream grew more insistent, its whispers of doubt gnawing at the edges of his will. He could not escape its pull, could not shake off the feeling that it held some deeper meaning he could not grasp.

And then Ba Sing Se happened. He was trapped in the catacombs with Katara. Being trapped brought them to talk, he didn't know why he told Katara about his mother, it was just....when she mentioned her own it just slipped. 

And then she told him about the spirit water she carried on her person and she could use it to heal his scar. Zuko was stunned by the display of kindness from the girl. He'd spent so long chasing them and had done so many things that she should hate him for. It would also diverge him from the dream. 

Or would it? If he accepted her offer he would owe Katara. He would be in her debt, would that make him change his mind? Would that make him decide to join the Avatar, despite him not wanting to?

But as he looked into Katara's eyes, he saw more than just an enemy. He saw empathy, understanding, and perhaps even a glimmer of forgiveness. Could it be that his dream had been nudging him toward this moment all along, urging him to embrace the unexpected?

The memory of his dream self, standing alongside the Avatar as friends, flickered in his mind like a distant flame. It was a vision he had tried to bury beneath layers of determination and duty, but now, faced with Katara's offer, it resurfaced with renewed clarity.

In that fleeting moment, Zuko glimpsed a different path stretching out before him, one paved with trust instead of treachery. But to walk that path meant confronting his deepest fears.

He never was able to give Katara her answer. At that very moment, one of the walls exploded, and the Avatar and his uncle entered the catacombs.

He was glad they came. He was glad he didn't give Katara an answer. He was so close to saying 'yes', to accepting her proposal. But he knew that he would regret it later on. He knew he would regret that he let his enemies help him. He was suddenly angry at himself for ever even considering it.

------

He had betrayed Uncle. On the way back to the Fire Nation he couldn't stop thinking about seeing Iroh in chains. Azula had reassured him that he did the right thing, but Zuko couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt that weighed heavy on him. Betraying Uncle Iroh, the one person who had always stood by him, was a decision that haunted him even as they sailed back to the Fire Nation.

As the hours passed, Zuko found himself grappling with conflicting emotions. On one hand, there was his father, praising him for his loyalty to the Fire Nation and his commitment to taking down the Avatar. But on the other hand, there was the memory of Uncle's disappointed gaze.

As he lay in his ship quarters that night, Zuko's mind drifted back to that moment in the catacombs with Katara. The offer of forgiveness, the chance for redemption—it lingered in his thoughts like a beacon of hope in the darkness of his uncertainty.

But with each passing day, Zuko's resolve hardened. He couldn't afford to show weakness, couldn't afford to let doubt cloud his judgment. Regaining his honor, and proving himself to his father, that was all that mattered. And he had finally managed that. After three years of his banishment, he was finally allowed home.

Yet, despite finally getting everything that he had always wanted, there was a part of Zuko that couldn't shake off the nagging feeling of guilt.

As the ship sailed ever closer to the Fire Nation capital, Zuko knew that he would have to face the consequences of his actions. Whether his father welcomed him back as a hero or cast him aside as a failure, one thing was certain—Zuko's path had been altered, and the choices he made from this point forward would shape the course of his destiny.

-------

His destiny had led him back to the Avatar. 

Joining the Avatar -  Aang -  was the one thing that he had tried to veer from since the dream happened, but it seemed like it wasn't just some random scenario his mind created, it was a vision into the future. Deep down, he had always known that his father would never accept him back after the Agni Kai. He just used it as an excuse to finally be rid of the failure of a son he had for an heir.

He should have known he never cared for him even before that. He'd always been a terrible parent, he'd wanted him dead when he was born because he didn't have the spark, he always chastised and yelled at him for being terrible at his bending and it got even worse when Azula surpassed him in her abilities despite her being 2 years younger. He should have figured it out when Ozai wanted to kill him to become Fire Lord. All he had ever cared for was power and nothing else. Zuko only wished he would have realized - he wished he would have  accepted  that fact sooner. 

His subconscious had been trying to tell him that since the dream. But what he still didn't understand was, how it knew what he and team Avatar would look like...

------

It took some time, but after going on ‘life-changing field trips’ with the others as they called them, he was finally accepted into the group. 

He honestly couldn't remember a time he was happier than with his friends. As he listened to their laughter, Zuko couldn't help but feel a sense of belonging that he had never known before.

When he first came to talk to the group, his only wish was for them to allow him to teach Aang firebending, but the more time he spent with them, the more he realized he  liked  being around them. He slowly realized how much he actually wanted them to be his friends.

He never had any friends before, but now that he had them, he couldn't imagine his life without them. They accepted him for who he was, scars and all, and stood by him through thick and thin. Sokka's witty remarks, Toph's blunt honesty, Katara's compassion, and Aang's unwavering optimism—they all brought something unique to the group, something that filled Zuko's life with joy and purpose.

He spent so long refusing to acknowledge his dream, but now, after finally accepting it, he wished he would have joined them sooner. 

------

Zuko was about to be crowned Fire Lord. He was ready to walk up to the stage and take the crown before proclaiming to the world the war was over. 

He walked to the door where Aang was already waiting for him. He stopped for a moment and smiled at his friend.

“I can't believe a year ago, my purpose in life was chasing you down,” Aang looked at him and smiled. “And now-” 

“Now we're friends,” Aang finished for him. He knew Zuko still struggled with the realization that the others  do  consider him as their friend and he knew those were the words Zuko needed to hear.

He saw how Zuko smiled at him, grateful. “Yeah, we are friends.” Aang stood up and faced Zuko.

"I can't believe a year ago, I was still frozen in a block of ice. The world's so different now." Zuko walked up to him and put a hand on Aang's shoulder.

"And it's going to be even more different. We'll rebuild it together." Zuko and Aang hugged each other then. Zuko felt a surge of warmth in his chest as he embraced Aang.

He couldn't believe how much his life had changed in just a year. From being consumed by his quest to capture the Avatar to standing on the brink of peace.

He and Aang had gone from being enemies to best friends and Zuko was so grateful that Aang was so forgiving.  

As he stood on the brink of his coronation, surrounded by friends, Zuko felt a sense of gratitude wash over him. He had faced his demons, confronted his past, and emerged stronger for it. 

------

After the coronation, they took Appa to Ba Sing Se to visit his Uncle. It was a moment of peace they were all finally able to celebrate. It had been so long since it had been present in the world.

Sokka decided to paint the moment, so it would be commemorated. Though Sokka's drawing skills were…not good. 

He didn't get a single detail right. Everyone had something to complain about. At the end, Toph made a joke about how she thought everyone looked great and they all descended into laughter. 

Zuko looked around the room at his friends, at the people he cared most about. His dream self was right, this truly was his family. In the end, he decided that this was exactly where he was always supposed to be.

------

Zuko was going to murder Sokka. The water tribe boy decided that he would help out the mechanic with one of his inventions. He'd been itching to try and invent something for quite some time, so he practically jumped at the opportunity. 

But Sokka had absolutely no idea what he was doing with the mechanic's plans and the device the man had given Sokka. He also kept trying out different things that definitely were  not  on the plans. Eventually, Sokka must have connected certain wires or pressed the wrong button or something, because suddenly Zuko was engulfed in a bright light.

He closed his eyes, to shield them away from the glow, but when he reopened them he was no longer in Sokka's bedroom. He was outside of the palace. And if that hadn't confused him enough, the fact it was suddenly nighttime definitely had. 

Zuko looked around, trying to decipher what happened. "Sokka?" He called for his friend. He looked around, but it seemed like wherever the machine had sent him, it only sent him. 

"Hey! Who goes there!" A voice startled him. He turned around and a squadron of guards came rushing towards him and circled him. "Who are you!" the one he assumed was the leader of this guard troop asked. 

It took Zuko a moment to realize that they actually didn't recognize him. They had no idea who he was, his own guards. Where had Sokka sent him?

The scar on his face should have told the guards who he was, but it seemed like they had no idea he had one. He remembered how, right after he got it, he wished that people didn't know that there was a scar covering his face because everyone always recognized him because of it and knew what had happened to him, they knew his shame. But this one time he really needed these people to recognize him by looking at it, it seemed like none of them had ever heard he had a scar which shocked him. 

"You are under arrest for trespassing on royal grounds." Another guard said, impatient, not waiting for Zuko to answer. The other guards walked up to him. Zuko couldn't have done anything. His mind was frozen, not understanding what was going on. 

They handcuffed him and escorted him to a cell underneath the palace. On his way there he overheard a conversation that made him realize what Sokka had done. 

"No, he banished him," one voice said. "Really? He banished his own son for it? Wasn't burning him enough?" The breath was knocked out of Zuko at those final words. The conversation between the two voices continued, but Zuko wasn't paying attention anymore. He-he was sent back in time. 

That explained why the guards didn't recognize him. To them Zuko is still a prince, a banished one, but still a prince, and if this was taking place right after the Agni Kai then they had never seen Zuko's scar before which was why he was unrecognizable. He was also 4 years older than he was back then and his hair was shorter, there was barely anything that he could do to prove to them he was in fact Zuko. 

------

Zuko had a lot to think about while he was in the cell. He had no idea how to get out, but he really hoped that Sokka would find a way to get his time machine to work and for his friends to come get him. 

Zuko was left alone in his own thoughts. He thought about the Agni Kai, and how horrible he felt after it was over, he still remembered how much pain he was in. 

Then a thought struck him. He came back in time on the same day as he had his dream about the future. But in his dream Zuko was safe, he was outside in the garden with his friends, not locked up inside a cell. It was probably just a coincidence that Sokka's machine sent him back to this particular day.

------

Hours had passed before he heard shouting outside. "Where is he?" He heard a voice say. One that sounded like it was talking with the power of a thousand ones at once. Aang.

Aang had come for him and he was looking for him. He was probably in the Avatar state at the moment if the way he sounded was any indication. 

Another voice followed his. "Wait, I feel him!" Toph. Toph was also there. They had found him. They came for him. Zuko smiled at the thought and he teared up from the relief. He was convinced he would stay here forever. That Sokka couldn't have gotten the machine to work again. 

But then a hole opened up next to him and Toph, Sokka, and Katara ran inside his cell. "Zuko!" Relief flooded his body at the sight of them.

"Hold on, Spakry, we'll get you out of here." Toph quickly walked behind him and undid his cuffs before hugging him.  

Zuko returned the hug, feeling overwhelmed. "Thank you," he whispered. Sokka and Katara quickly joined the hug, but then the shouting from outside reminded them they were on a time crunch. 

"Don't thank us yet, buddy. We still have to get out of here." They all got up and ran through the tunnel Toph created. He suddenly remembered that he saw a group of guards filling up a hole while he and Uncle were boarding his ship. 

As they exited he was certain that this was the exact spot of the hole. He furrowed his eyebrow. If the tunnel remained from their time travel escapade, then could it have been real? Could his dream have actually happened? Could it have not been a dream?

He didn't have time to think about it. Aang had taken care of the guards well. It seemed like he eventually used his bending to create a sort of vortex around them that kept the sound inside. 

Aang, as soon as his gaze landed on Zuko, exited the Avatar state and threw himself directly at him. "You're safe!" Zuko embraced Aang tightly, feeling a surge of relief wash over him. "Thank you for coming," he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

Aang pulled back, his eyes filled with concern. "I'm just glad we found you in time," he replied, giving Zuko a reassuring smile.

Sokka clapped Zuko on the back. "Come on, let's get out of here before they send reinforcements," he said, leading the way out of the palace.

As they made their escape, Zuko couldn't shake off the feeling of deja vu. Everything seemed so familiar, almost as if he had experienced it before. But he pushed those thoughts aside, focusing on the present moment and the urgency of their escape, that was until a voice stopped them in their tracks. "Someone's behind us," Toph declared and got into a battle stance. But then the person who greeted them was not someone Zuko was expecting.

"Um, exc-excuse me?" A soft voice asked, which made Zuko froze. That was-that was his own voice. He knew that he had traveled back in time and that his 13-year-old self was present in this timeline, but he had never imagined he would come face to face with him. 

Zuko turned slowly, his heart pounding in his chest as he faced his younger self. The boy stood there, confusion evident in his eye as he looked at the group of strangers who had just burst into the palace.

"Are-are you me?" the small voice asked, his voice wavering with uncertainty.

Zuko exchanged a glance with his friends, unsure of how to proceed. This encounter was unexpected, to say the least, and he wasn't sure how his younger self would react to meeting his future self.

And then he thought back to the dream. To what that version of Zuko had said to him. "Yes, I am." Zuko walked up to his younger self and looked at his eye. He stared at the bandage covering his other one, knowing very well what this child in front of him was about to go through in the next four years. 

"Listen, Zuko." It was strange saying his own name while he was talking to someone else, who was technically also himself....he shook his head. There was no time for him to think about that, it was too confusing. "You are about to go through a lot of changes in your life, and it's not going to be easy. But I want you to know that you're stronger than you think. You'll face challenges and setbacks, but you'll also find courage and strength within yourself. And most importantly, you'll find people who care about you, who will stand by you no matter what."

Zuko's younger self looked up at him, his unbandaged eye wide with wonder and uncertainty. "But... why are you here? And who are they?" he asked, gesturing to Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph.

Zuko took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. "I'm here to help you. And these are my friends. They're here to help us too, they're our family."

His younger self looked at the group with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. "Family?" he repeated as if trying out the word for the first time. He stared at the faces of the people behind him and saw happiness radiate off of them caused by Zuko's words.

Zuko nodded. "Yes. People who will support you, challenge you and stand by you no matter what. Trust me, you're going to need them."

"But what about Dad and Azula and Uncle?" His younger self asked. Zuko tried to remember the words from his 'dream' to say the exact words that had been said to him. To say the exact words that made him doubt things about himself and his life. He hesitated for a moment, grappling with how much to reveal. "Dad and Azula... they might not always understand you, but Uncle... Uncle will always be there for you, no matter what."

"Now go back to your room before Dad finds out you're gone." Zuko's younger self nodded, still processing everything that had just transpired. As he turned to leave, Zuko couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness for the boy he once was. He wished he could protect him from all the pain and hardship that lay ahead, but he knew that wasn't possible.

"Zuko? Are you sure it was a good idea to tell him all of that?" Katara asked the Firebender. Zuko turned around and watched his younger self retreat back inside. "Don't worry about it, he'll only think it was a dream. I mean, that is what I thought." Katara only stared at him. 

"Wait, you knew this would happen?" Sokka asked him, not understanding why Zuko hadn't warned them about it. 

"I brushed it as a dream when I woke up. I- I didn't want to believe what he - I said was real," he admitted to his friends. They all stared at him, they all knew the struggles Zuko had gone through. Even he sometimes has moments where he doubts that they are his friends, so the fact that he had said it out loud to his past self was a significant moment of vulnerability for him. "I guess I just wasn't ready to accept it then," he added, his voice barely above a whisper.

"And now?" Aang's tentative voice asked him. Zuko smiled, shyly at the boy. "I'm glad it wasn't a dream."