Disclaimer: Avatar does not belong to me.
Chapter 1: The Escape
The ocean breeze was soft as the hatch lowered, exposing the foggy night sky and dark waters off the east coast of the Earth Kingdom. Iroh stood upon the deck of the launch, now being lowered from its docking bay. He gazed back toward the bay floor, which was scattered with bodies of the ship's personnel, laying there unconscious in varying degrees of injury. Iroh's eyes fell upon one body in particular, that of a young man with a burn scar on the left side of his face.
Iroh thought of his escape from the brig on Azula's ship. He had woken to find the door to his cell ajar, and the two guards outside his cell asleep, the faint odor of sleep incense still in the air. He carefully padded down the corridors of the massive ship, but it seemed almost unnecessary. Everyone he came across had been rendered unconscious by various methods. He'd followed the trail of bodies to the docking bay where he had discovered the launch prepared.
As the launch hit the water he turned to see a table with a few assorted items on it. He set course away from the larger vessel and went over to investigate. Upon the table he found a scroll, a box, and an item he knew all too well. He gently picked up the pearl dagger he'd been presented so long ago, and had sent home as a present. Opening it, his eyes slightly watered at the inscription 'never give up without a fight.' He then turned to the scroll. It wasn't much, just a small rolled up piece of parchment with short message.
Take this launch to shore, and go where you want. The ship's engine will fail soon. I heard a rumor that the Avatar's bison was heading south. Remember, I'll be back for the dagger someday.
P.S. There's ginseng in the box.
He gazed back at the ship he was escaping, a tear sliding down from his eye. He had to admit this was one of the most thought out things the boy had done. Although Iroh's wizened mind began to see some of the many worst-case scenarios. He just wished his nephew wouldn't be so hard on himself with some things, remembering the gash on Zuko's head from hitting the rail. He smirked as the large ships engines made a ghastly sound.
Iroh turned to the charts in the small wheelhouse, plotting a course for the Island in which the Eastern Air Temple. If what the young Avatar had told him was true, he figured that that was where they would head for safety after the events at Ba Sing Se. He set the lock on the helm and went out on deck. He watched as the ship slowly faded from view in the fog.
"Good luck, my ne…" He began, but he found himself thinking back on the last three years and the four after he returned from the war. He finished with the word he felt much more appropriate, "son."
A/N: I'd like to apologise for not posting for a while, but my schedule has been a little chaotic. I may go back to 'Bewildered Soldier' sometime, but I got kinda stuck with its plotline. Not to mention the other stories floating around my head. Oh, and before anyone asks or assumes, I'm NOT making Zuko Iroh's biological son in this.