Avatar: The Last Airbender
Classificatory Matters
by Star_less
…it is complete, Prince Zuko.” said the nurse. She wasn’t smiling. Her smile had dripped down her cheeks. She indicated the pit in front of him; the fire swelled and disappeared only to then fill rapidly with water, the clearest water he had ever seen. Zuko peered timidly down at his reflection. It rippled softly.The blue-green of the pit was now coursing up through his arms, albeit faintly – and there, rippling with him, high on his shoulder, was an upside-down heart with a line through the tail.Prince Zuko, the heir to the throne, was a Little. Every citizen across every nation is classified into one of three: Little, Caregiver, Baseline. As royalty and heir to the throne Prince Zuko's classification is pulled forward. Zuko had his life mapped out in front of him; a journey which changes course when he's classified as a Little - a decision which clashes with his father's insistence he come out as Baseline.