Whump! Iroh's head fell back on his pillow as he exhaled an exasperated sigh. He traced the pattern of the canopy of his bed, dreading the arrival of his father as the servants had no doubt informed him that he was awake now.
"My first command and I failed," Iroh mumbled to the empty room. He planted his hands firmly on the bed and groaned as he attempted to shift into a sitting position anticipating the arrival of his father. Laying down would be seen as weakness, and weakness is not tolerated in the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. It took several moments of struggling but he managed to pull his battered body into a sitting position, no thanks to his legs.
The battle for the bridge had been going so well, Iroh thought, and then everything got turned upside down.
Iroh thought back to what he was pretty sure he would always consider to be the worst day in his life. One of the biggest military catastrophes to befall the Fire Nation Army since before Sozin's comet had appeared in the sky.
"Captain, scouts are reporting about thirty Earth Kingdom soldiers near the bridge, sir." The runner informed him.
"Thank you," Iroh said glancing down from his komodo rhino. "That will be all." The runner nodded and turned to return to his position.
"Should be easy enough to sec-"Iroh's lieutenant was cut off by a boulder flying past his face. The next boulder tour through the squad of men just in front of the officers.
"They're in the trees," Iroh yelled. "Find them!" The soldier's leapt into action. Fire and rocks flaying back and forth. The screams of both armies filled the air. Iroh jumped from his komodo rhino, pulling his sword from its sheath in one smooth motion.
His feet touched the ground and he began to engage with an Earth Kingdom solider.
A jarring pain in his lower back, then the cool press of the ground on his face, and then nothing.
The next thing Iroh remembered was being carried through the streets of the capital and into the palace. The angry, disapproving look on his father's face as he watched.
Iroh had been brought to the best healer in the palace but she had said that she doubted even the healers in the water tribe could have fixed his legs. She had given him an elixir to help him sleep and his body heal but that was all she could do for him.
The doors to his bed chamber flew open, pulling Iroh from his thoughts. His father flew in, a storm of red and gold fabric. He stalked across the room, looking no happier than when Iroh had been carried through the palace doors three days ago. He came to a stop at the end of Iroh's bed. Azulon looked as regal as ever, as far back as Iroh could remember his father had always looked like he belonged in power.
The silence filled the room as Iroh and Fire Lord Azulon simply looked at each other. Iroh could feel the tension growing the longer his father watched him. He resisted the urge to squirm under the piercing eyes of his father.
"It is going to take months to clean up from your failure," Azulon told Iroh. "Not only did you fail to gain the bridge, the Earth Kingdom regained some of the road leading up to the bridge."
Iroh simply maintained eye contact with his father but there was nothing he could say to defend himself.
"I was willing to overlook your inability to bend, when you showed talent for military strategy." Azulon stated. "But now you are unable to command troops. You have become useless to me."
"I am not useless," Iroh retorted, struggling to retain his composure.
Azulon pierced Iroh with his gaze, "How exactly do you expect troops to respect you if you cannot even walk let alone defend yourself in any capacity?"
Iroh shifted his gaze to his hands in his lap, "I still have my mind, and I can help here, in the palace. Planning attacks and strategizing."
"A Fire Lord must be able to fight," angry creeping into Azulon's voice. "Do you expect the people of the Fire Nation to respect a man who can neither defend himself nor command the respect of his armies?"
"Prowess in battle is not the only way to earn the respect of the people," Iroh shot back not daring to meet his father's eyes.
"Never the less that is not the way of the Fire Nation. You are no longer fit to be the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation." With an air of finality, Fire Lord Azulon turned on his heel and marched out of his son's room, robe's billowing out behind him.
As the doors slammed shut behind his father, Iroh gave up the rigid posture he had been holding for his father. Allowing his shoulders to fall and his back to rest on the pillow with a sigh of relief.
Well at least Ozai will be happy, Iroh sighed. There's no way I will ever win back father's favor now.