Iroh's Lost Family
Fai watched from a distance as an old man sang a song she had heard only once before. Her father had sang it to her when she was just a baby. Then he had left them forever. She had also taken into notice that this particular old man had merely used his fingers to light the incence sticks before he had said what sounded like 'happy birthday'. Fai approached him causiously.
"Excuse me?" She said softly to the man. He didn't seem to hear her, so she just got down on her knees behind him and listened to his song. When he finished, he instantly turned to look at her.
"It is not polite to ease drop." He said kindly.
"I'm sorry it's just...that man," she jestured the photo, "did you know him?" She asked.
"He was my son." He said unexpectedly.
"Your son!" She exclaimed. "What was his name?"
He smiled. "His name was Lu Tin. He died in the war." Fai covered her mouth as she stared wide-eyed at the photo, then back to the man.
"Is your name by any chance...Iroh?" She asked him.
"That would be my name. How do you know that?" He was just as shocked as she was.
She bowed before him. "My name is Fai, Grandfather Iroh. Lu Tin was my father."
"Your father!"
"Yes, I am a firebender and an earthbender. My mother is also an earthbender. I know this is all very confusing to understand, but I could take you to my home. You could meet my mom and-" Iroh had started to clean up. "We always have a celebration on my father's birthday. We like to celebrate the life he had, rather than mourn for what we have lost. We would be honored if you would join us tonight." She said happily.
Iroh smiled back at her. "I would love to join you."
"Thank you!" She said, hugging him happily. He laughed as he hugged her back. "Well come on! I'll show you where I live." She said after he had cleaned up and she took his hand. She led him to a small home just near the inner wall of BaSing Se. "Mom! I found someone to celebrate today with us."
A stout woman with a lovely face came walking outside with a small towel in her hands as she dried them from just cleaning the dishes. "Oh? Who do we have here?" She asked kindly.
"Pleased to make your aquaintance." Iroh said as he took her left hand and kissed the top gently. "My name is Iroh." He announced. "But if anyone asks, it's Mushi. Okay?" He gave a cheeky grin.
"Iroh? Where have I-You mean General Iroh?" She asked. Fai nodded.
"Mom, it's Dad's dad." She said happily.
The woman smiled. "Well, Mushi, I do hope that you can join us in our celebration tonight. Do you have any other relatives here with you?"
"Well, I do have my nefew, Lee." He replied.
"Well, Lee is more than welcome to join us too. My name is Loriano. But everyone else just calls me Lo."
"Thank you for the offer, Lo. But I think Lee will be sitting this one out."
"More than fine. Come. Make yourself at home." Said Lo as she made her way back into the kitchen. Fai pulled Iroh into the living room.
"I wanna show you our photo album." She said, rummaging through some stuff until she found a leather bound book. "Here." She handed it to him, then started flipping through it and pointing out pictures. "And here's me and Dad at the fireworks festival." She pointed out one where she was up on his shoulders, watching the show, then another where there was pie on his face. "That was the most fun ever!" She laughed.
"Here we are. I brought some tea. Lu Tin would have said, there is never a right or wrong time for tea." She said smiling. She pulled her sleeve back to pour it into tea cups and revealed a horrible burn mark. "In order to be with Lu, I had to sacrifice something else in return. That, or participate in an Agni Kai. I took the Agni Kai. I won, but not without injury. I had my enemy trapped and Lu came out into the field, picked me up, and brought me home. Two years ago when the order was given, he went back out into war and the last we heard of him was in a letter from another soldier telling us he was dead. I wept. Fai wept. And then we celebrated for a full two weeks that we were so blessed to have had him in our lives. Iroh-I mean, Mushi, I loved him very much. I gave him my heart and in return, a piece of him is always with me. I can feel it. A piece of him is also with you. Fai too. We never really lost him. Just having known him for as long as we did, is the most wonderful blessing of all time." She smiled and returned to the kitchen.
"She tells that story every year now. It's like she doesn't want to ever forget him. I don't mind though. I don't want to forget him either. He was a great man. A great Dad. And a fantastic husband to my mom." She smiled kindly as she watched Iroh sip at the tea. "You don't talk much do you?" Fai asked.
"I was listening. Then I was replaying your mother's story in my mind so that I could remember it forever too. I am glad that I raised him to be such a good boy. He always waas so I expect nothing less. Here. Feel free to come to my tea shop at any time."
"A tea shop? Dad would have loved that, Grandfather." Fai said, taking the slip of paper. She then got up and ran into the kitchen to show her mom. Then she came back. "Ready to celebrate?" She asked Iroh.
"You bet." He said as he stood and joined then in the kitchen. They had a big dinner and then cake with no candles.
"Tanjoubi Omedetou!" They cheered in unison before digging into the cake.
"It was wonderful meeting you today, Mushi. Feel free to come next year too. Or any other time at that. Your company is always welcome." Said Loriano.
"Thank you for having me over. Both of you. Thanks to you, this day will never feel as painful as it had before." Said Iroh.
"Would you mind if I walked you home?" Fai asked.
"Not at all." So, Fai waved to her mom then walked with Iroh. "So, you said you could firebend and earthbend? How is that even possible?"
"Well, I got my firebending from my father and he taught me what he could. But...originally, I couldn't earthbend. I just knew that my mother could. So one day I headed and and found the cave of two lovers. Oma and Shu. I learned my earthbending from the badgermoles there. They're great teachers." She explained. Then she stopped and placed her hand on the ground. When she stood, she had something unique in her hand. "Here, a candleholder." She said, giving it to him.
"Thank you." Iroh said as he took it from her. She then pulled a candle out of her pocket and placed it into the candleholder then lit it with firebending.
"If ever you are lost or in the dark, the light of love will guide you and help you to see." She said. "My father said that to my mom the day he met her. And on their wedding day. You are family, Grandfather." She then smiled and turned around to go home.
The next day Iroh opened shop with Zuko. "Where were you all day yesterday, Uncle." Zuko asked.
"I was out." Zuko groaned and continued setting up until a very pretty girl walked in and stole his attention. He turned away out of shyness and went to the back room. The girl ordered some tea and sat down. She had a small book with her and was reading it. This was not that girl he had gone on a date with the night before. "Here's your tea." Zuko said a while later when he served it to her.
"Thank you. Would you sit down with me?" She asked. Zuko looked back at his uncle who nodded then sat down with her. "My name is Fai. Sorry to steal your uncle yesterday, Lee." She said.
"He was with you? What would you want with a stinky old man?" Zuko asked.
"He's my grandfather." Said Fai. "We were celebrating my father's birthday."
"Oh. Sorry. I guess we're family then." Fai nodded.
"Yeah. I'm your second cousin...or something. Let's just say we're cousins. Too confusing to keep up with."
"My name is Zuko." He said, giving her his real name.
"I figured. Granfather told my mom and I you were Lee. To protect your identities. I can understand that. When my father was around, he called himself Hiroshi. To protect his identity."
"What was he running from?"
"Never running away. My father wanted to be with my mom more than anything in the world. My mom fought with her life for my dad, I just wanted to give a few words of advise. When you are lost or in the dark, the light of love will guide you and help you to see. Never run away from something, but rather, run towards something. Start something with a goal in mind, not blindly. While being blind can sometimes be of benefit for surprises, when unsure, open your eyes and look at what's in front of you. Sometimes the greatest of things are right under your nose and you don't even realize it. You have a wonderful uncle, Zuko. Take care of him and he will take care of you too. He loves you greatly as we all do. Just as my mom loves me." She then payed for her barely touched tea, stood up, and left.
Zuko picked up the money and took it over to the register.
"What did she tell you, Lee?" Iroh asked.
"Nothing." He replied, then went back to work. Even though her words may have bored him or even annoyed him, he did take them to heart and mind and he will take every word she said seriously. He would give it a lot of thought. And, he would take care of his uncle, just as she said to do.
I know I had a couple of O.C.'s in here, but I really hope you liked it. I'd had this story idea for a while and now I have it all typed up. I came up with some of it along the way but I had a basic idea to begin with. Review and tell me if there should be a sequel and what should be in it. I tried to revolve it around the actual story line so if there is a sequel, I still want to do that. Thank for reading! XD