I was never strong enough. In his eyes, I was the disappointment. The weakling. While my sister showed such great potential at such a young age. She was everything he looked for in a successor to the throne.

I spoke out in a meeting; I didn't really think about it, nor did the consequences hit me until after.

[Zuko looked directly at him, gaze hardening. He didn't need to touch a hand to the facial scarring to prove his point.] The mark of the banished prince. My father gave it to me just before I was stripped of my birthright and cast out.