142 AG-

My name is Qin Lee, and I guess you could say that I've seen it all. I've been in the Fire Nation Armed Forces since the year 93AG, the year before Crown Prince Iroh began his siege of the Great City of Ba Sing Se. I've served the Fire Nation for 16 years. I began as a simple Private in the Firebending Corps in 93 AG, and retired as a Colonel in 109 AG. I've seen a lot of action in my career, and I've made a lot of mistakes, but I suppose I'm here now to talk about them. My daughter asked me to write this memoir, and I suppose, being 67 now, I might as well get on with it. I know those heroes that served with the Avatar during the War all told their stories, so here is mine.

75 AG-

I was born in the year 75 AG on the hottest day of that summer to my parents, Taro (my father) and Aiko (my mother)—both wealthy merchants living in the city of Varron on the Island of Infernus to the East. From the moment I was born, I was often told, it was readily apparent that I would be a firebender. "The Spark", the doctors apparently said, was in my eyes. I began Firebending as a small child; on accident of course, but I once lit my nursery on fire. When I was little, my parents hired a private tutor who taught me not only standard subjects, but also rudimentary firebending. Accordingly, I entered school with a greater knowledge of Firebending than most of my classmates.

"Qin," my teachers would tell me, "you are destined to serve the Firelord."

I suppose that ended up being true, but in ways I didn't like. School was hard, but I managed to be considered moderately popular amongst my classmates, and my great skill at firebending certainly helped keep bullies away.

My parents and I had a great relationship, even though my father passed when I was sixteen. My mother was a kind woman, but was stern with me when I needed it. I have her to thank for my sense of humility and honor; those, of all her lessons, were the lessons that stayed with me, even when I was in my… flawed stage. For her, honor meant doing the right thing and doing what was right for the people.

"Qin," she'd tell me, "always remember to have honor in all things."

For me, I took this as meaning honor to my duty. Duty, for me, meant service. Through School, we were taught to worship Firelord Ozai as a God on earth. For all we knew, he was. The firey avatar of the Fire Nation's ambitions- kids in my school would whisper stories of Ozai's incredible mastery of firebending; some even said that he could shoot lightning out of his fingertips. For me at the time, a moderately good firebender, such a concept was unthinkable to me, but I learned that later on.

On the day I turned eighteen, in the year 93AG, I graduated from my academy and formally joined the Firebending Corps. Tearfully, I said goodbye to my mother. I remember the moment as if it was yesterday. It was midday, and the other recruits were saying goodbye to their loved ones. My mother, a little shorter than me, had hugged me for a while, and then held my face.

"Qin Lee, take care of yourself. Please, please do not come back in an urn. It would kill me," she said, sobbing.

I smiled, and hugged her again, kissing her on the forehead.

"Don't worry, mom. I'll come back."

With that, I left with the other recruits on a massive warship bound for the Capital Island. I would indeed return to see my mother again, but she died soon after I left from my first leave. I suppose the one thing I regret most about my life is that I spent such little time with my parents. Although we loved each other very much, we often spent time going our own paths. Would that I had spent more time with them…

Ahh, I suppose I'm being the downer here. My sarcastic years didn't begin until basic training, so you'll have that to look forward to, at least. For now, however, I'm done. I go now to drink some tea with my family; one of the many things General Iroh taught me.

EDIT (6/26/15): I don't know how I missed this with all of the comments, but I have indeed put down two names for Qin Lee's mother. I know there's also some contradiction in regards to Qin Lee's father and some unfortunate and sloppy retcons- that's mainly due to the fact that the first half of this fic was largely being written on the fly (don't worry, I'm now working off of an outline). Sorry for not updating with a new chapter, I've been pretty busy lately, but I'm looking at getting one in this weekend.

If you're new to this fic, welcome to the ravening beast that is The Story of Qin Lee!

It's not a story of extraordinary benders who are heroically saving the world from Firelord Ozai against insurmountable odds- it's about one Firebender who does his best to survive in a world of warfare, cruelty, corruption, and occasional bravery.

Enjoy,

IGdude117