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Chit Sang found Zuko sat by himself. Zuko excused himself from dinner a while ago. Sokka, Suki and Aang had gazed after him before being pulled back into conversation and Toph absently made sure she knew where he was at.
“Prince Zuko.” Chit Sang said in greeting.
“Just Zuko is okay. Not really much of a prince anymore.” Zuko grinned, ruefully. A tiny pause. “I mean - Uh - Hello, sir.”
Chit Sang frowned, but other than that, he didn’t acknowledge what was just said. He plopped himself next to the boy.
“I wanted to thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. You should thank Sokka. He’s the one who-“
Chit Sang gently interrupted. “No no, not for the prison break. For what you, by yourself, did.”
Zuko’s eyebrow rose in question.
“For speaking up for those soldiers.”
Zuko inhaled sharply.
“I - Don’t thank me for that. I didn’t actually save them. Didn’t actually do anything.”
“But you did. I was in there that day. I was a guard. Heard the plan and heard you protest. I agreed with you. A bunch of us agreed with you actually.”
Zuko didn’t say anything.
Chit Sang sighed.
“My son was in the 41st.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No. Don’t be. You did what you could.” He paused for a moment. “I sent him a letter. I told him the plan and told him what you did. I told him that Prince Zuko valued their lives. My son wrote back, he said he heard some stories. He heard that a member of the royal family suffered for them.”
A tear slipped down Chit Sang’s face.
“He told me you gave them hope for the future, even if they would never be able to see it.“
There was a pregnant pause. The man seemingly had to pull himself together.
“After the slaughter happened, word got around about what had actually happened even more. Me, some other guards and some servants spread the story around as best we could without getting caught. There were a few riots but they were quickly taken cared of.” Chit Sang grimaced. “I don’t know if you know this, Prince Zuko, but I think a lot of the fire nation thinks you’d make a much better Firelord than Ozai.”
Zuko sat silently, he felt his heart pounding in his ears. He was trying to process all of Chit Sang’s words. It was A Lot.
“The story getting out was why I was arrested. They arrested every guard and servant that was in there that day. They couldn’t trace back who said what but they assumed it was us who spread it, so they just charged all of us with treason and sent us all to The Boiling Rock. Which was as good as killing us. Well, until you guys showed up of course.” Chit Sang smirked a little.
“I’m sorry I was going to try to escape without you guys. I hadn’t realized you were The Zuko yet. I just hadn’t seen you since you got… well you know.”
“I-it’s okay.” Zuko forced himself to say.
He honestly didn’t know how to feel. First Chit Sang was telling him his son died, then how the majority of fire nation believed in him and then he was being told sorry. Zuko’s mind was reeling.
“Prince Zuko. When you become Firelord know that the people of the Fire Nation are there for you. The people who saw and heard that you stood up for them. Not for yourself but for them. People who lost someone to the war, people who just want to live in peace, people who don’t believe all the propaganda they’re force fed, people who can see that Ozai is a cruel man.”
Chit Sang stood and offered Zuko a bow, not a kneel the people usually give to the Firelord, but a bow for an equal, someone who is worthy of respect.
Zuko shakily stands up and returns the bow.
“I- You-“ Zuko pauses and took a calming breath. “Thank you for telling me all of this. I won’t let you or our people down.”
Chit Sang smiled.
“I never doubted it.”