Author's note: Yes, Cheng is someone I made up, not someone from the actual series. Ju-u-u-u-ust in case anyone wondered.
DISCLAIMER: Fanfics are like LEGOs, y'know? Even when you build something out of them and say "I made this", you know that you didn't make the blocks. In plain English, I'm saying that this is my story, but not my characters, settings, etc.
"You look like a man who has some advice to dispense", the man seated at the teahouse table said as he looked up to see a much older man - he knew from visits before that his name was Iroh - approached and took a seat across from him.
"You have keen eyes", the elder replied. "And with your head hanging so close to the table, you look to me to be a man who could use some advice. Am I right?"
"Keen eyes yourself." The man closed his eyes and placed his fingertips to his forehead.
"Most people", Iroh went on, "would go to drown their sorrows at a bar."
"But word is that you make the best tea in Ba Sing Se", the other replied. "...and I'd rather drown my sorrows in something that doesn't taste like something off the bottom of a harbor."
Iroh gave a hearty laugh. "I am flattered by your words, stranger. Might I know the name of the man who speaks so highly of me?"
"Cheng Li", the younger said. "I keep records of the city's cart-traffic."
"A very important job", Iroh said with a nod. "Without it, these streets would be in chaos, and no one would be able to get around."
Cheng gave him a small smile. "So we are both keen-eyed flatterers, are we?"
"Let us be tea-drinking keen-eyed flatterers then." Iroh stood. "I will bring some of my favorite jasmine brew. Just wait here."
Cheng did just that, and when the older man returned he took the cup offered him and sipped with a relish. "This is why I come to this place."
"Alcohol may make you forget about what troubles you for a time", Iroh said as he sipped from his own cup, "but tea reminds you that there are good things as well as bad, and that if you out-live the bad the good will come naturally to you."
"I want to believe that, but sometimes I wonder."
"Well then, perhaps you should stop trying to drown your sorrows and exorcise them instead." Iroh added a bit more tea to his cup. "Would you like me to listen to them?"
Cheng sighed, as if setting down something that had been there for a long time. "It's the war with the Fire Nation."
Iroh's face fell just slightly, but if Cheng noticed he made no indication. "Many people are troubled by that, yes. Myself included. My nephew and I have suffered at the Fire Nation's hands more than once." Which, he reflected, was true, even if not the whole truth.
"I wonder about my son", Cheng continued. He is thirteen years old, and this time of war is all he has known. Though the Earth King and the administrators of Ba Sing Se would have us believe that all is well, many of us know the truth - that the Fire Nation is gaining ground, and it seems like nothing can stop them."
"So now you wonder if being young in a time of war will have a negative effect on his life."
"That's part of it, yes. But I also wonder if he will ever grow up to know peace." Cheng emptied his cup, and allowed it to be refilled. "Sometimes I also wonder if he is better off than I am. He may know the fear that comes from living in an age when nations are battling with each other and the death toll mounts almost daily. He may yet see the day when friends or even family members must go off to offer their lives in defense of our own nation." He let his head sink down a bit and rubbed his forehead once more. "...but unlike me, the thing he has been spared in his life is the sting of having lived in tranquil peace, and then losing that peace."
Iroh nodded slightly, and for a time he was quiet, staring into the steam coming from the top of his cup as thought the answers he needed could be found there. "You are right that losing peace is a terrible thing. My own son lost his life when the Fire Nation first laid siege to this city years ago."
"I'm very sorry" Cheng said, lowering his gaze respectfully.
"As am I. But whenever I remember that day, and my own heart begins to despair, I remember something my father once told me." Never mind that his father had been Fire Lord at the time, and that he was referring to the strength to conquer other nations... "He told me that the greatest strength of all comes from within your heart, and that if you trust in that power completely, it will come forth in full measure and you would be invincible."
He reached across the table to put a hand on Cheng's shoulder. "The Earth Kingdom and its people are like rocks. Alone they may be small, but when united in mind and spirit they form a huge and mighty mountain. And even though fire might be able to ruin a building or a forest, there is no fire in the world that can consume a mountain."
"Except for a volcano", Cheng pointed out.
"Now just whose metaphor is this?"
The other gave him a grin. "I certainly hope you are right. They came so close to breaching the city recently - if not for the Avatar..."
"Enough of worry", Iroh said with a quiet sternness to his voice. "Now, let me tell you the most important part." He waited for Cheng to nod. "Winter is a harsh time for everyone and everything, from humans to grass to fish in the sea. But every time winter finally goes away and spring returns, all of life awakens once more. Flowers bloom, trees regain their leaves, and life is good once again. And so if your heart is strong and you keep your chin up through the hardest of times, eventually you will again find your peace."
Cheng smiled. "I see I made the right decision coming here to listen."
"I am glad that you think so. However, there is one more thing that I must tell you."
"Yes?"
"While your son might not have known peaceful times himself, you must tell him of them." Iroh gave them each one more refill. "My nephew is much like you say. My brother raised him to believe that all there is in life is strength and honor. That is not entirely bad, but when things are quiet he always seems unable to live with it." Finally, he stood. "Your son should learn that the first step to knowing peace is to find it with yourself. If you have that, then it will always be with you, and it will lend you strength even when everything else is in shambles."
Cheng stood too. "Thank you. I'm very glad you decided to talk to me." He reached into his pocket. "What do I owe you for the tea?"
"It's on the house tonight." Iroh's mouth quirked into a very small grin. "...but if you're willing to tip, you can leave your troubles here and go home without them."
And as he bowed his way out, Cheng did exactly that.