Letting go

Iroh woke up to someone slapping him on his cheeks. He immediately felt a searing pain on his side. He winced and instinctively grabbed his side. It was a mistake, as the pain got worse and he cringed. "He's alive!" Someone shouted. Someone familiar.

"Korra?" He asked, unsure whether to believe his ears. He realized he had yet to open his eyes, and when he did, his eyes were greeted by those of Korra.

"You gave us a scare there. Here, drink this and I'll try to heal you." Korra helped him up and shoved a water bottle in his hand.

"'Us'? What are you even doing in the Earth Kingdom?" Iroh asked before taking a sip. "Last I heard you were staying put in Republic City." He hadn't seen the Avatar since...well, since he last left Republic City, and that had been years ago. He drank some more, and Korra took the remaining water to heal him. Iroh closed his eyes to enjoy Korra's healing touch. His side still hurt, but the pain was subsiding.

"I was invited to greet the new king, as the old one died. I assume that's where you were going as well?"

Iroh nodded. When Korra was finished with him, he could finally concentrate on what was happening around him. He took a look at his surroundings. Korra had brought with him a tall man who was facing the other way and reading a map. He had a long brown cape so Iroh couldn't see who it was. Korra also had her White Lotus sentries with her, their attire distinctly different from the man with a map. Iroh didn't see his own men anywhere.

"Where are my men?"

"What do you remember?"

"Not much, we were headed to Ba Sing Se and then we were attacked by road bandits. Did you see them?"

"Your men are alright. Those bandits were counting on your men to panic when they took you out, but to their surprise, your men fought them off and are trailing them right now."

Iroh smiled. He had taught his men well, and he was proud of each and everyone of them. "So I'm the only one who's injured? How embarrassing for me." He laughed.

Korra gave him a sympathetic smile and helped him up. "Your men will join us later, so if you are up to it, we can just start walking."

Iroh took a few steps to test his condition. "I think I can manage."

He walked up to the Lotus sentries and introduced himself to the small group. He then saw that the man who had been gazing at the map had walked up to Korra and was showing her something on the map. He figured he'd introduce himself to him as well. When he got closer to him, he realized that the man wasn't as tall as he had initially thought, taller than Korra but slightly shorter than Iroh. When he reached him, the man stopped talking to Korra and tilted his head slightly in Iroh's direction. The man was more than attractive, he was beautiful and yet very muscular and manly at the same time. Iroh offered him his hand. "Hey, it's nice to meet you. I'm Iroh from the Fire Nation."

Just as he was shaking the man's hand, Iroh noticed that Korra was looking at him with a horrified expression on her face and tried to signal him something. Iroh was confused as to why that was, and turned his attention back to the man, who was now staring at him with a very peculiar expression. He opened his mouth to speak, but he then seemed to give up. He turned in his tracks and signaled something to the sentries, who all started walking towards Ba Sing Se. The man walked over to them to join their queue.

Iroh looked at Korra. "Did I do something wrong?"

Korra facepalmed. "You have already met."

"Oh." Iroh's time in Republic City had been so concentrated on Bolin that apart from his own men and team Avatar, he didn't even remember anyone by name.

Korra was about to add something, but Iroh assumed she simply wanted him to apologize to the man whose name he had forgotten. "Already on it!" He rushed up to the man. He settled to the man's pace and started walking beside him. He pushed the man with his shoulder in a friendly manner. "Look, I'm sorry I don't remember you. You have a very striking look, so I am sure I should remember you, but I really don't." He realized he had just complimented the man on his appearance. I should really stop talking now, he thought to himself.

"It's alright. I didn't look like this when we met." The man replied coldly.

"Oh. Well I'm still sorry." Iroh didn't know why, but he felt nervous. Something about the man made him feel anxious, even though he didn't remember ever meeting him.

"Back then, why did you leave Republic City, anyway?" The man gave a crooked smile, but kept his eyes on the road ahead of them as they walked. His tone was neutral, but Iroh sensed that there was something behind the seemingly harmless question.

"Oh, it just felt like it was the time to leave. I never stay too long in the same place." Iroh raised his arms behind his head. He had perfected the lie over the years. He almost believed it himself now.

"Really? I heard it was because you were messing around with some street kid and the town officials didn't take too kindly to it." The man still kept his tone light, friendly even, but Iroh was now certain that he was being mocked.

Iroh clenched his jaw. His past mistakes involving Bolin were still a touchy subject to him, and he definitely didn't appreciate the fact that they seemed to be common knowledge now. He only hoped Bolin had been able to move on even with people knowing about him and Iroh. "Yes, well, you shouldn't believe everything people say." The man fell silent, and for a moment, Iroh thought he had succeeded in convincing the man to drop the subject. Unfortunately for him, he had not.

"The name of the kid escapes me, though. I never saw a more pitiful creature than him when you left him. He wailed on those steps for hours. The sound of that crying...why, you could break a man's heart with that. It was your men who eventually took him home, did you know that?" The man finally looked at him and flashed him a condescending smile. He was clearly challenging Iroh, baiting him to respond. He was purposefully trying to hurt him, and Iroh was quickly losing his patience. "Stop it."

The man ignored him and continued, staring once again at the road. "Pathetic boy, that one. He stayed in bed for a month and didn't eat anything, all because his poor general grew tired of him and left. After all..." he stopped walking to face Iroh, "...the general had already had his way with him once. Why would he need to stick around for seconds?"

Iroh lost it. He grabbed the man by his cape. "Don't talk about him that way!" He raised his hand to punch the man, but the man was quicker. His fist landed in Iroh's cheek and the impact caused Iroh to fall on his back. The wound on his side started bleeding again, but he didn't have time to worry about it. He got up again.

"Talk about who that way?" The man asked mockingly.

Iroh formed a fireball in his hands. "Don't talk about Bolin that way!" He blasted the fire towards the man, but the man quickly Earthbent the ground to form a protective barrier between himself and Iroh. Once the fire vanished, he sent the barrier towards Iroh, who prepared himself for the impact when Korra stepped in. She Earthbent the barrier back into the ground. "That's enough, Bolin." She shook her finger at the man, pretending to scold him. She then flashed him a wide smile. The man broke into a wide grin as well. It was the first real smile Iroh had seen him display. Actually, the grin reminded him of someone. He then realized what Korra had just said.

"Bolin?" Iroh asked. He couldn't believe his eyes. Bolin tilted his head towards him and gave him a smug smile. "General."

Iroh grasped for words, but they simply wouldn't come.

"Come on you two, you can catch up once we're at Ba Sing Se", Korra said and pushed Iroh ahead. Iroh realized that the sentries had stopped to watch their fight. They needed to hurry if they were to make it to the coronation in time.

Iroh walked in a daze. Bolin had grown up. He had definitely been a kid when Iroh last saw him. He was taller, or at least he seemed to be. Maybe it was just the confident way he was standing that gave Iroh that impression. His body had changed, and even his face looked completely different from before. In Republic City his face had been all cuteness due to baby fat. Now his face was more round. He was a very attractive sight. Iroh sighed. He shouldn't have been thinking things like that.

He had often thought of Bolin after he had left Republic City. He had stopped himself from writing to the boy many times. He had then thought about writing to Korra, just to make sure Bolin was doing alright. He hadn't done that either, as he was afraid Korra would tell Bolin about the letter. So he had worried. He had imagined Bolin's reaction to him leaving. In some scenarios, Bolin got over him quickly and started dating some nameless kid soon after he left. In others, he had ruined Bolin's life and trust in relationships, and the boy would do something stupid like hurt himself. He secretly glanced at Bolin, who was walking ahead of him. It was at least good to know that Bolin was alive. But the way he had taunted Iroh back there...what kind of a person had he grown up to be? Iroh had never known Bolin to be cruel. Had he hurt him enough to change his personality completely?

In Ba Sing Se, they were greeted like royalty. Korra was given her own quarters for her stay, as she was the Avatar and also the only woman travelling with them. Bolin and the Lotus sentries were given one room and another one was given to Iroh and his men, who had only joined them at the gates to the city. The guide was apologetic about the lack of space. She told them that everyone who was anyone was invited to the coronation, so there literally wasn't any more rooms that they could spare. Iroh and the captain of the sentries together assured the guide that they were more than used to sleeping in confined spaces. The guide bowed and left. Iroh and the sentries settled their things in their rooms. Iroh decided that this was as good a moment as any to talk to Bolin. He wasn't sure what he wanted out of the man, but he felt he needed to at least try to clear the air between them.

He found Bolin in the hall. "Would you like to talk?" He asked Bolin bluntly. Bolin gave him a faint smile. "Sure."