Note: rewrote this in 1st person because that's all I seem to be good at.
When my father and his friends had come home from the war there had been parades and cheering. The whole village had come to celebrate the return of the heroes.
Now I am returning home and my village simply stares at me in hostile silence. This confuses me. Why do they look upon me as the enemy? I had served honorably as a fire nation soldier, and while it wasn't the profession I would have chosen for myself, I acquitted myself wonderfully on the battlefield, and had been at the front lines when the great walled city of Konkoku, second only to Ba Sing Se, had fallen. But these stares make me feel as if I had done something dishonorable.
I simply stand taller in the face of all those stares and berated myself for my reaction. So what if my village didn't understand what I did? I hadn't done anything wrong. I was simply serving my country in any way it needed me. There is no reason to feel ashamed.
But still, I can't help remember the offer that my superior made me as the Firelord ordered the army to demobilize; my superior was planning on going into business and wanted someone he could trust to help with it and invest some funds into it.
I then see my mother in the middle of the crowd waiting for me. She is the reason I turned down that offer. I have had a close relationship with her ever since my father had been drafted into the army when I was four. She had been alone in raising me and we became extremely close then. There were times when I had even forgotten I had a father. Then my father died soon after being discharged from an old war wound, and I had to take care of my mother this time.
I barely restrain the urge to run to her and bury myself in her arms. I am an adult now, no longer that little boy whose whole world was his mother. But I could not stop my pace from quickening as I walked towards her. As she got closer I notice her give me a troubled smile, as if she wasn't sure of how she felt about me coming back and I felt the desire for a hug vanish and instead felt like getting on my knees and sobbing right there.
I didn't of course, I simply slow down and when I reached my mother I greet her in a cool voice, "Hello mother, I hope you are doing well," a far cry from the warmth and security I had hoped would be in our reunion.
She greets me back, saying, "Welcome home Ryuu."
As far as I am concerned, no statement could be farther from the truth. I shouldn't have come back. This place is no longer my home. The war made sure of that.