Happy B-day uncle is a sweet and sensitive story,
about Zuko's holiday towards Ba-Sing-Se. He's having a very nice time with his uncle Iroh.
Iroh is sixty-three,
Zuko is seventeen.
Happy B-day uncle.
Iroh hung out of his window of his apartment and glared over the streets, he was nervous. The man held his bonsai tree into his arms and became impatient. "It was today, wasn't it?" Iroh whispered, his nephew had written a letter that he would come today for a short holiday.
It had been more than four months since he had seen his nephew again. They had frequently written each other, but writing and talking was not the same. He missed his son so much but Iroh understood that there was no other solution. These two men had different visions in life.
Iroh had chosen to life as a normal inhabitant of Ba-Sing-Se while Zuko on the other hand saw his future as a Fire Lord. The streets of Ba-Sing-Se darkened, Iroh waited for hours without any sign of his nephew. He looked toward the torch lighters; they were already working on the lanterns.
"Hi, don't strangle little Mushi!" A voice yelled from beneath the window.
Iroh smiled at the sound of his nephew's voice. "Huh, Excuse me! I was not strangling little Mushi, but hugging…" The old man replied foolishly to the boy who stood under his window.
"Uncle? Are you hugging plants?" The young boy replied hesitating with a smile.
"You aren't changed at all, my nephew. Come upstairs, so I can have a better look at you." Iroh closed his window and putted little Mushi back on his right place. The young boy knocked at the huge green door with a wide smile, this was like coming home again.
He was very happy in the Fire Nation, very happy with his girlfriend Mai but he missed his uncle so badly. Iroh rushed to the door and opened it quickly. "You're finally here!" The man yelled out in joy.
Iroh dragged the boy inside; Zuko hadn't the time to say anything. Even his luggage fell onto the floor as Iroh took his nephew close into a hug. His heart filled with happiness. "I'm so … so happy to see you again!"
"Me to, uncle. I'm so sorry that I'm late, I had some delays."
"That's not a problem, Zuko. You're here now." Iroh replied soft while he glared over the boy's luggage that were spread over the ground. A red bag probably filled with clothes. Next to the bag lay a large grey cardboard folder. What's that? The man thought curious.
"Sit down, my boy and have some tea." The old man pointed toward his seat, the young boy sat down and looked around. Nothing had changed since he had moved out. "I made ginseng tea, is that alright?" Iroh asked with a smile.
Zuko nodded slowly. "That's okay."
"So, tell me. How is the Fire Nation doing?" The man asked curiously as he sat down.
The boy looked into his uncle's eyes and smiled. "Great, we're making progress. The Fire Nation has changed a lot after war but still there are some problems to be solved."
"Well that sounds nice, nephew. It cannot all run smoothly." The man replied proudly toward his nephew. "And how are you doing as a Fire Lord? You seem a bit tired."
"I'm Fire Lord for eight month now; well it's harder than I thought it would be." The young Fire Lords replied as he glared at his cup of tea. "The meetings and work are ok, I like doing it but it's the constant threat of assassins. They confuse me…"
Iroh lowered his cup, he had heard about that. Four assassins had tried to make an end of his nephew's life and that case worried Iroh very much. "You've guards with you… I hope."
"They're sleeping over your apartment."
"Good my boy, we're already living eight months at peace. You made a lot of progress but not everyone will like your changes, I hope they will find another way to get rid of their frustrations." Iroh replied proudly and worried, being a world leader isn't so easy. It's far more dangerous than you may think but still he was so proud of Zuko and his friends. They saved this world and they tried to make a better place of it.
"Yeah, I hope they will…"
Iroh looked in his cup of tea; there was a slight silence for the moment. He thought about what he could say or ask, had tons of questions he wanted to ask but he's stuck for the moment. Zuko glared at the floor, he hated silences. This felt so uncomfortable to him. The boy grabbed his golden necklace out of his shirt and began to fidgeting with it.
Uncle Iroh smiled as he noticed the necklace, he knew Mai had given him one in the past too but Zuko lost it during his banishment. "A gift from Mai?" Iroh ask curious.
Zuko freed the necklace as he looked up with surprise. "Yeah, it's a birthday present."
Uncle moved closer and glared carefully at it, it was a golden necklace with a little square plate. Love you forever was written in calligraphy. It seemed so heart endearing, so cute to see his young tough nephew with such thing around his neck. "It's beautiful."
"So, how long are you two together?" The man asks serious.
Zuko rubbed the back of his head and stared in his uncle's eyes, he hated these kinds of conversations. "Thirteen months."
Iroh bit his lower lip and placed his cup on the table. "So, it's getting serious between you two?"
Zuko nodded slowly. "Yeah, we hope to get married at one day and having kids."
Iroh smiled by seeing his nephew blush so firmly, Zuko's always so shy to talk about his relationship with Mai. "You're already thinking about children?"
"Thinking yeah, but we'll wait until we're ready for that… I mean it's not the good time now with the pacification." The young boy looked toward his hands. "And I don't want to become a father at seventeen."
"You've time enough, Zuko." The man closed his eyes and enjoyed the presence of his nephew. "Does she… come over to sleep?"
Zuko choked on his tea and placed the cup on the table. "Sometimes…"
Iroh grinned and nodded slightly. "She's a very nice girl; you two fit each other very well."
The next day
Iroh walked calmly outside of his room and peeked into the other bedroom. The young Fire Lord laid stretched out over his bed, his green blanket was fallen down onto the ground. The boy wore a green pajama pants and a dark green shirt, which was fallen open.
His chest was bare; his skin was still very white. The only difference was his new scar, a large scar that was located on his sternum. Iroh grinned by seeing his nephew like this, even as the Fire Lord. Zuko slept even more restless then before.
The boy was moaning in his sleep. "Don't want… play." Iroh didn't fully understood what he was saying, but it was something about Tom-Tom.
Uncle Iroh closed the door in silently.
Zuko woke up after a while. He stared at the ceiling and thought about tomorrow. Tomorrow was his uncle's birthday; he didn't knew what to buy. A tea set? No, uncle has tons of tea sets. The boy sighed deeply; he had no idea what to buy.
The boy stood up and hurried to refresh himself.
"Good morning uncle!"
"Ah, good morning beautiful sleeper!" Uncle Iroh replied sarcastically.
"Yeah, I'm sorry uncle. I overslept."
Iroh looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Well it's your free weekend after all."
Zuko smiled back at his uncle. "I need to stand up early every morning at home; I need to wake up around six o'clock and sometimes earlier."
"Getting up early has never been your thing."
The boy smirked at his uncle, while he looked into the closets. I need to find a hint. after a moment the boy bumped onto some old pictures. Those where pictures of uncle Iroh and Lu Ten, most of the picture were half burned up. They were burned after the explosion on Zuko's ship; Iroh had tried to save them.
Zuko smiled at the pictures and had an idea. That night Zuko didn't sleep, he took his grey cardboard folder out of the salon and sneaked it with the pictures into his room. The boy closed his eyes and hoped this would work. He took a blank paper out of the folder and glared carefully at the old pictures of his uncle and cousin.
He had chosen the most recent picture, the one who was burned the most. On this picture stood his uncle in his General uniform and Lu Ten in his soldier uniform. They stood before the walls of Ba Sing Se. It wasn't very clear to see, but he remembered it very clearly. Zuko smiled at the picture. "Just give it a try, you did this before!" He whispered as he tried to encourage himself.
Mai had encouraged him to find a hobby to relax. Zuko tried many things, besides drawing and fighting he couldn't find something.
The boy had finished his drawing early in the morning. It looked pretty good, but it wasn't perfect. Well in Zuko's eyes, it's never perfect. He looked outside his window and noticed the shops were already open. The boy hurried himself and smuggled the picture outside.
Iroh stood at his stove; he was making breakfast as he suddenly heard the door. "Zuko is that you?" The man asked with a frown.
"Yeah it's me, uncle." The boy walked closer. "Happy birthday!" He replied enthusiast as he gave his uncle a hug and a little kiss.
"A present?" The man asked while he peeked at the large package.
"Yeah, unfortunately I couldn't find red paper…" The boy said disappointed.
"Oh, but I also like green. Can I open it?"
Zuko nodded nervous, he began to regret what he had done. What if his uncle reacts negative? Iroh opened the paper fast. "Oh, I see! It's the backside of a framework." The man muttered with a funny tone. Iroh stood there for several seconds. Not a landscape, please not another landscape!
Zuko inhaled deep, he wanted to grab the frame out of his hands and ran away with it. Uncle Iroh turned it slowly and couldn't believe his old eyes. It felt like there floated electricity trough his body. The young boy closed his eyes and knew this was a very wrong decision.
"Were does this picture come from?" The man asked with tears in his eyes.
"I…I made it myself." The boy replied hesitated. Iroh stood perplex and started to cry. "It was a foolish idea. I...I didn't want to hurt you." The boy whispered.
Uncle Iroh looked into his nephews eyes and shook his head. "I never had such beautiful gift in my life before…"
"I'm glad you like it." The boy whispered again.
"The lost of the pictures had hurt so much but now by having this huge picture, … it's so valuable. Especially when it's made by you." The man stroked his frame tenderly. "I didn't even knew you where such an artist!"
The boy closed his eyes and smiled.
"Look I'm going to hang him over there, in the salon. Next to our picture!" The man pointed to the spot.
Zuko had helped his uncle to hang the framework up. It hanged next to a picture of Zuko and Iroh at the opening of their tea shop. "It's hanging uncle!"
Iroh observed his wall and smiled pleased. "It's perfect. My two children finally stand next to each other."