In the end, perhaps, it was all of those things. He was made of his principles, more than any other Avatar of his age, perhaps. He took the world on faith, because he had to. And he did have the confidence that came with that rock-solid belief.

But in the end, everybody deserved that chance - and he remembered well Zuko's hopes for his sister. And so, ignoring the itch down his spine, he nods, and just smiles.

"The best ones always seem that way until you try them," he replies. "But they grow on you. In you, really."