Notes: Part of an unfinished drabble meme I've had sitting around for a few months now. Figured I might as well post them. :)

::Mermaid's Melody::

Iroh wipes the shavings off his flute and gives it an experimental blow. The note sounds high and clear, carrying far over still water, and he smiles, pleased. Setting the knife aside, he leans against the prow and begins to play, picking out the half-remembered melody his mother always used to hum when he was young.

The trip to the frigid south is long, but the fishing is good this time of year, and Iroh finds something serene in being alone with his small boat and the wide, wide sea. Perhaps next year he'll bring his nephew along. The boy has little interest in fish, but he could only benefit from a little peace and honest work.

He isn't sure how long he plays when a splash and a flash of movement catches his eye. Iroh looks, and the flute falls from his lips, forgotten.

The mermaid is beautiful. She is iridescent scales and dark skin, with wide eyes bluer than the ocean. She ducks down when he looks at her, but does not flee, leaving only those so-blue eyes and the dark spill of hair floating around her visible above the water.

She watches him and he watches her, and after a moment her gaze flicks to the flute in his hands.

Slowly, slowly, so as not to startle her, he brings the flute to his lips once more and begins to play.

Just as slowly she rises from the water, and she is smiling.

Iroh plays for the pretty mermaid, as she drifts along beside his boat, and once he runs out of songs he plays whatever comes into his head.

She doesn't seem to mind.

Iroh has to stop eventually and she frowns just a little. "I am honored that such a lovely lady enjoys my music, but I have nothing left to play." He does not know if she can understand.

At the sound of his voice she ducks down into the water once again, but still does not flee. So Iroh takes his flute and reaches down, holding it out to her and saying softly, "Perhaps you have a few songs of your own?"

She watches his hand warily and it is several minutes before delicate fingers rise from the water and pluck the flute from his grasp. The mermaid cradles the flute against her chest and trills, smiling at Iroh like the sun.

And then she is gone, vanished beneath the water once more with a flash of fin.

Next year, Iroh decides, he is most definitely bringing his nephew.