Zuko alludes a couple of times in the show to there being a time when his family was "actually happy", and I imagine that before Ozai decided that Zuko was a failure, he probably treated him the same way he treats Azula in the show, which was way Zuko was s sure his daddy loved him, and why he would try so hard to get those days back, I think. Then of course, when he does get home, while he's also deciding he doesn't like who he has to be to keep his father happy, he's also completely forgotten how to handle his father actually approving of him and being semi-affectionate towards him, because for years before he left, his father saw him as a useless waste of space. Now wait, he wants to listen to what he has to say? That must be a frightening adjustment, and must have thrown into sharp relief just how bad it had gotten before his exile.
He also must have felt what Azula always did, now he has his father's love back, now he has to work like hell to keep it. (and that's without what his sister's holding over his head about who killed the Avatar, and oh, he might just be alive...) Screwed up family.
Which makes anything that touches on their relationship before it went sour a little more disturbing than sweet.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-06-06 02:49 am (UTC)He also must have felt what Azula always did, now he has his father's love back, now he has to work like hell to keep it. (and that's without what his sister's holding over his head about who killed the Avatar, and oh, he might just be alive...) Screwed up family.
Which makes anything that touches on their relationship before it went sour a little more disturbing than sweet.