"A very long time, and thankfully the Avatar has some wonderful friends helping him. As for the whys of the war..." he sighed, pulling lightly on his beard.
"The blame can be laid nowhere other than the feet of my family where it belongs. What my grandfather told us his reasons were and what they actually were were not the same, of course. But what was taught to our people was that we wished to bring the advancements of the Fire Nation to the rest of the world so that they could all share in our prosperity. But what we gave them was not technology or prosperity. We brought them scars and death. Pain. Loss." He shook his head. "Some of us learned better in time, not not nearly enough of us."
He would not lessen his part in the pain spread to the rest of the world. "Whole cultures and species reduced to few if any surviving members. War is not the glory we were sold on. It isn't helping anyone. It is simply fighting and killing, each side so certain they are correct. That they're doing what they have no choice but to do. What they have to do."
no subject
"The blame can be laid nowhere other than the feet of my family where it belongs. What my grandfather told us his reasons were and what they actually were were not the same, of course. But what was taught to our people was that we wished to bring the advancements of the Fire Nation to the rest of the world so that they could all share in our prosperity. But what we gave them was not technology or prosperity. We brought them scars and death. Pain. Loss." He shook his head. "Some of us learned better in time, not not nearly enough of us."
He would not lessen his part in the pain spread to the rest of the world. "Whole cultures and species reduced to few if any surviving members. War is not the glory we were sold on. It isn't helping anyone. It is simply fighting and killing, each side so certain they are correct. That they're doing what they have no choice but to do. What they have to do."