Iroh sat shivering in a cold Earth Kingdom cell. He had gone through so much in the past 48 hours. Two days ago, he was the proud new owner of a tea shop with family by his side, and now he was alone and at the Fire Nation's mercy. He truly was an outsider- hated by the Water and Earth nations for his days as a Fire Nation general, and now traitor to the Fire Nation; he had nowhere to go. If he COULD go, that is. His dastardly niece Azula had made sure that the tightest chains possible had been placed on his wrists and ankles. Azula had also made sure to point out that if he tried to firebend his way of the metal cell, he would be cooked. Azula seemed rather happy at this idea, but Zuko had just stared at the ground upon hearing this comment.
Zuko.
The name, the very thought of his nephew was painful. His nephew's betrayal had hurt him more than anything he had ever known. A year ago he would have expected Zuko to do anything to regain his father's love, but he thought that he had changed over the past few months. He thought that Zuko had realized that Oazi's 'love' was only a motivator to have his son do the dirty work of capturing the Avatar for him. Iroh supposed that he had been a fool for that too.
At that moment it hit him. Iroh's emotions boiled over as he let out an angry sob. He had been so supportive to Zuko, through all of his mood swings and teenage rages. It had been several years since the death of his own son, Lu Ten, and Iroh had started thinking of Zuko less as a nephew and more like a son. What had he done wrong?
"Hey Dragonfly, shut up and take some food. It's all you'll get for today," a harsh voice said.
Iroh looked and saw a tray slide through the bottom of the door. He was rather hungry; however, closer inspection revealed his rations to be a slice of bread and a small cup of tea. Iroh gobbled up the bread, but savored the tea. Although it wasn't great, it was all he had, which wasn't much.
Iroh sipped the last of his tea and shifted his weight, trying to find a comfortable position, but failed. Sighing, he closed his eyes, and waited for sleep, which came rather slowly.