Four Seasons, Four Loves
By Lorelai Kline
A/N: I was just so bummed about Mako's death that I had to do something to honor his amazing spirit. For those of you that don't know, Mako played several well-known roles that my generation grew up with. He voiced Aku, the evil villian that had bipolar, in "Samurai Jack", and probably the most beloved role in "Avatar: The Last Airbender", Uncle Iroh. To pay homage to his memory I've decided to write a small one-shot that also focuses on his memory as Uncle Iroh. I got the song from one of the episodes and to hear it sung is both heartwarming and melancholy. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, because if I did Uncle would live forever.
Four Seasons, Four Loves
Toph sat quietly on the bank of a river that the gaang had made camp by. Her sightless eyes looked past the water, but she could feel the cool breeze blowing up from it and onto her face. She had her knees drawn up to her chin and her arms around her shins, making her look like a little ball. She could hear Sokka ranting about something stupid while Aang and Katara tried to calm him down and she could feel Zuko training not too far from her location. She had told them all that she was going off to train too, even taking Aang's kite as a walking stick and Momo as her seeing-eye lemur, but it hadn't been the truth. Her makeshift cane sat untouched off to her side and she had told Momo to go find himself a snack.
Toph closed her sightless eyes and sighed as tears began to spill from beneath her lashes. One of her dearest friends had become a casualty of this war and it had deeply shaken Toph's spirit. She could tell Zuko was suffering too; How could he not be? Iroh was his uncle and seemingly his only ally. Toph had sensed him crumbling a few times, though no one else seemed the wiser. It took a lot for her not to reach out to the angsting teenager, she felt like Iroh would've wanted that very much, but now was not the time. The pain in Zuko was still too raw, as it was in her.
So instead of doing anything productive, Toph sat on a riverbank and cried softly as she mourned the loss of her beloved friend. While she wept she remembered all the moments she shared with the dragon of the west. All the times they drank tea together and he gave her sound advice in the forms of clever anectdotes and poigniant stories. Other times he would just sing to her. She loved his soft warbling lilt. It was soothing and melancholy at the same time and it made her feel at home in his presence. In a way, Iroh had become as much of a family member to her as he already was by blood to Zuko.
The wind whipped up around Toph's softly shuddering form and she began to hum her favorite tune that Iroh had taught her. It was a slow and solemn song, but it was still beautiful and it fit this moment of pain and sorrow so well. Without realizing it, Toph had started to sing. She started out with a soft whisper that slowly got louder until her voice carried on the wind that blew past.
"Winter...Sping... Summer and fall" she began slowly. She could hear Iroh's rich voice accompanying her as she continued.
"Winter... Spring... Summer and fall" she sang as she began to choke on painful sobs. However, even though it hurt to do so, the small earthbender felt she had to finish the song.
"Four seasons... Four loves... Four seasons... Four loves..." She choked. She felt her heart clench and her eyes burn. Suddenly the confident blind bandit had become an emotional wreck and she couldn't find it in herself to be disgusted at her own fragility. She was, afterall, a twelve year old girl.
Toph couldn't feel anyone approach her as she hiccupped softly and clenched her fists. It wasn't until they spoke that she even knew someone was nearby.
"Who taught you that?!" the voice barked.
Toph jumped, startled by Zuko's voice and the fact that she'd actually let her guard down. Loosing Iroh must've affected her more than she thought. As she mused silently Zuko became impatient.
"I asked you who taught you that song!!!" He shouted, his temper flaring as much as his volume.
Toph scoffed in his general direction and rolled her filmy eyes for effect.
"TELL ME!" He demanded, and Toph could feel heat licking the earth around his feet.
"Ooh no... Princess is pissed enough to use scary firebending. Whatever shall I do now?" Toph wailed in mock helplessness. She wasn't about to let the arrogant prince see her weakness. She hopped to her feet and kicked a trail of rocks underneath him, knocking him onto his back. As he struggled to get up she sauntered over to him and stood over him threateningly.
"If ya gotta know, your uncle taught me the song. I figure I got a right to sing it just as much as you got the right to be a pain" she growled.
If she could see his face she'd be satisfied by the look of startled shame that crossed his features. As it was that she couldn't see him she still couldn't help but feel bad for ranting at someone who was so obviously grieving in his own obnoxious way. She sighed and stomped the ground, lifting Zuko back to his feet with a push from a boulder against his back. She then thrust her open palms toward him and expelled all the sediment from his person.
Once she was satisfied that she had done enough to redeem herself and allieviate her guilt she turned around and began to stalk off toward camp. She heard Zuko sigh and take a few steps to follow her.
"Wait" he said with a defeated tone.
"Yeah?" Toph asked defensively, though she did feel a prick of curiousity.
Zuko took a few steps closer to her and sighed again. The blind earthbender was starting to feel impatient, but decided to be considerate for Iroh's sake.
"Did... Did he ever teach you "Brave Soldier Boy" when you were together?" Zuko asked quietly.
Toph smiled sadly and turned around so that she was facing him.
"Nope... Can't say I've heard that one" she said.
"It's my favorite" he replied before sitting down with her on the river bank and proceeding to teach her the lyrics.
As they sang and grieved together a jolly firebender looked down upon them through the clouds and smiled as he sipped the most delicious ginseng tea he'd ever tasted.
The End
A/N: So, I hope you like it. I feel better having written it, that's for sure. Anyway, review please!!! I'd really appreciate it.
Lor
P.S. THANK YOU SO MUCH Goldylokz for pointing out my UBER error about Mako. That could've been REALLY embarassing for me getting the two mixed up so easily. Bleh... I've been having brainfarts non-stop. I'm actually sort of ashamed of myself for that boo boo. I'M SO SORRY MAKO!!!! Two out of three isn't that bad, though... Right?