Disclaimer: All Avatar characters belong to Mike and Bryan
One Saturday morning, before the sun came up and it was still dark, the Fire Nation prince Iroh, a retired general and an uncle to the new Fire Lord, Zuko, got up.
Now, there are various reasons why such a venerable man would wake so early, especially since the firebenders wake up with the sun, not before it – for example, his Excellency had not recover from the educational trip to the Earth Kingdom (in regards to restitutions) and had too much on his mind to sleep and rest easily. In truth, though, the reason was much more prosaic: the sweet, sweet smell of tea. Moreover, not just any tea – the traditional southern Fire Nation tea, something that Iroh was not able to drink ever since his wife died. Not quite drooling with anticipation, but feeling much more upbeat than the night before, Iroh made his way following his nose.
Iroh found the source of the sweet, sweet smell (to him, at least) to one of the royal palace's tearooms – a small, private chamber, big enough for two couples or less. There, on the small table in the middle of it stood an obsidian-inlaid teapot full of tea, and two or three cups – the usual set. "Ah," Iroh crooned to himself, "my precious."
"Ah, your Excellency? What are you doing here? I didn't wake you up, now did I?"
Iroh blinked, and looked at the girl who has been extinguishing the candles in the early morning's grayish sunlight. Her clothes, though not particularly revealing, did remind the retired general that there were other pleasant things in life, besides tea.
"Oh no," he hurriedly shook his head. "You were very quiet, miss-"
"Mai, Mai of the Sata'n clan. I am your niece's handmaiden," the girl replied primly.
Iroh blinked and looked over the girl once again, who blushed briefly, but then stared back at him. "You're Hong's daughter, aren't you?" he said quietly.
"Yes, you have worked with my father when, um, Fire Lord Zuko sent you as the ambassador to the Earth Kingdom," the girl – Mai – replied. "How did you find the trip?"
Iroh briefly paused, glancing rather longingly at the tea set. As brief as that pause was, Mai caught it. "Where are my manners?" she back-pedaled without breaking her stride. "Please, sit – I'll serve you tea, you find the figs on the appetizer plate to your right."
"Figs?" Iroh raised an eyebrow.
"My mother always taught me that you cannot have a proper cup of southern black tea without the southern figs," Mai replied, even as she poured Iroh a cup. "Plus, these figs are the closest thing your niece can enjoy in lieu of sweets."
"Indeed?" Iroh asked idly. He had heard that Azula was unusual in many things, including her meals, but right now, he would rather have tea instead. "And what about you? Do you like black tea?"
"I find that it is a good tea to stimulate the brain and make you think," Mai replied.
"Oh? About what?"
This time there was a distinctive blush on Mai's white cheeks. "Your, uh, nephew – I mean Fire Lord."
"Zuko," Iroh nodded, enjoying the informal rights of an uncle. "I do remember that – you two used to dance together at my son's parties didn't you?"
"Yes," Mai exhaled, rather than answered. "We did."
There was a distinctive lull in the conversation. Iroh sipped another sip of the strong licorice-flavored tea and went in. "Don't worry," he said softly, "I promise I won't tell. What had happened?"
"After the two of you returned from Ba Sing Se," Mai said softly, "Zuko changed. He was determined to stop the war and restore our nation to the place from which it had fallen."
"Right."
"To do that, he had to stop the war – at that time he was convinced that Fire Lord Ozai will be willing to do that – after the Day of the Black Sun that had changed. However, before that, he established contacts with my clan and my family regards our recent military history regarding the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes."
"No Air Nomads?"
"You gave him the Air Nomad papers when you two first departed to look for the Avatar."
"I forgot," Iroh said, a bit ruefully. "Life can be a bit hectic when you reach a certain age."
"You are probably right," Mai said. "Anyways, before Zuko and Ozai had their final falling-out, Zuko established contacts with my clan."
"And it paid-off," Iroh commented, "as we can both see."
"It did," Mai nodded. "The thing is, the clan's elders… they have their own ideas and views, and a popular one is that, um, I should marry him…" the last words were both rushed and quiet, yet Iroh caught them perfectly, because he was expecting them for a while now.
That was the only reason why he did not choke on his tea, when he heard them. "And what do you think?"
Mai looked askance, picked up a fig, then changed her mind and sipped some of her own tea. "I don't know. The elders – and others – have their reasons, one of them being concerned that some other "political nobody" like Lady Ursa will become the Fire Lady. Of course, if Zuko heard them speak of his mother that way, he would react in a not very pleasant way, but the feeling is there, and they are pushing me to make my suit."
"And what do you feel?"
"Part of me wants to go with the flow. Zuko and I… we… well, we danced together and…" Mai shook her head, clearing her mind. "Part of me is resentful, you know, that I am forced to make my decisions in accordance with the decisions of others – it just rubs me wrong. Moreover, a part of me is afraid of getting married at all… I just cannot be sure if I do or do not want to be married." She looked back at Iroh. "I am sorry that I am bothering you with my female babblings, your Excellency-"
"Please, call me Iroh," the retired general said with a smile, "and you are not bothering me at all – in fact, I find this situation pleasantly reminding me of my past: I had a family of my own, you know?"
"You still have a family," Mai shook her head. It was Iroh's turn to look rueful.
"Mai, can I be honest with you? I admit that I have a bit on my own mind, and though your tea did wonders to relieve my thoughts, I feel like speaking aloud would help me some more."
"Of course, your Excellency – Iroh. Speak."
Iroh took another sip of the tea, re-warming it up slightly – black tea was good only when hot. "Now then," he said, "my family. As you are aware, Ozai, my brother, when he became Fire Lord, he did much to disperse our family's immediate power base, suspecting rightly or not that they would support me over him in a familial dispute. This left me essentially with Zuko and Azula, my nephew and niece. Azula and I… we did not get along too well, she was too much like Ozai, and then there was Zuko – yes?"
"Sorry, it's just that Zuko once told me that he always thought that Azula was more like you, she just lacked some sort of a nucleus that you had."
"He did, did he?" Iroh rubbed his beard. "Interesting… At any rate, as you have become aware by now, Zuko and I established a relationship. Unfortunately, it was not as sound as I thought, and after three years… it resulted in a confrontation of sorts." He paused. "Did Zuko tell you that?"
"From what I understood he tried to do things your way, but the more he did, the more issues he developed towards you and your leadership." Mai paused. "Iroh, please, he does respect you and your opinions, but he nowadays is interested in making his own, and at least trying to stick to them with a fight." She paused, "and isn't that what you wanted, anyways?"
Iroh gave Mai a rueful look. "They say when Spirits want to punish a greedy and foolish man they give him exactly what they asked for. For most of the three years we spent looking for the Avatar, I wanted Zuko to change, and now that he had, I belatedly realize that I really should have thought this better – I did not know my nephew at all."
"That puts you alongside me, and Azula, and maybe Ty Lee, though I won't bet on that. Our little acrobat girl can be quite misleading herself," Mai murmured. "Zuko was always quiet – still is, but now his silence got teeth to it, I suppose. That and a lot of fire bending techniques that aren't exactly known to the wider populace."
"Aye and he invented them almost right under my nose," Iroh said with a chuckle that did not have too much humor in it. "I have misjudged my nephew severely and under Ba Sing Se I paid for my hubris. And afterwards, it did not get much better."
"I am sorry to hear it – Iroh."
"Don't. It is my karma. I always thought of my nephew as being naïve, when in reality he stopped being so some time when I couldn't see it." Iroh emitted another humorless chuckle.
"I never thought Zuko was naïve – more like idealistic."
"Aye, and during the exile much of that idealism was destroyed," Iroh agreed. "That is not the point. Miss Mai, can I tell you it, though?"
"Of – of course."
"From what I could remember, I always thought Zuko took after his mother's side of the family, and from that thesis, I built my strategy. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Zuko may have taken after his mother when he was young, but now, ever since Ba Sing Se, the more I spend time together, the more I see his grandfather, my father, Fire Lord Azulon in him – and that is where my karma comes in. Throughout most of my life I enjoyed the benefits of being related to the Fire Lord of Azulon's nature, and now I reap the penalties."
"But – but Zuko doesn't-"
"Oh, he doesn't, all right. No petty cruelty or malice like Azula would inflict upon me in a similar position. What he does, is use me as a person, rather than a family member. My trip to the Earth Kingdom was an example of that."
"Father did say that you were rather shocked when the people of western Earth Kingdom preferred to stay with us, rather than Ba Sing Se's scepter."
"But Zuko probably wasn't," Iroh shook his head. "There's such a concept in life as a calculated risk, and Zuko took it. He knew that the people of western Earth Kingdom had too many good memories of us, and too few evil. He played on that knowledge and won."
"And that's bad?" Mai asked confusion in her voice.
"It's what his grandfather would do, and he, unlike Ozai, never postured. He just seized the day and went for the throat."
There was a lull in conversation, as Iroh sipped some more of his tea and Mai stared at him, looking a bit shocked.
"I haven't offended your sensitivity, have I?" Iroh suddenly asked in concern. "I'm afraid that my military career rather roughened my vocabulary some; just like it had my life. I, like my friends, was a man of military bent, but now the war is over, and it is men of politics, like your father, who are rising to prominence. The world of old is truly laid to rest, it's just that this silly old man had not fully understood all the implications of that, and is now paying the price" He paused. "And as for your concerns – don't worry. If you are concerned about your clan's elders, ask their wives about my father's family life, especially about my mother, who was actually an estranged cousin of his. That will put a hurdle into your elders' path and give you a window of opportunity to think about your life and your choices. Thank you for the fine tea and company on this fine morning."
Instinctively, both Iroh and Mai looked outside. The sun finally rose, but it was still dim and rather obscured by clouds.
The two Fire natives exchanged a look. "You're welcome," Mai said primly. "What shall you do now?"
"Now I shall pack and go to this fine sanatorium that Zuko suggested I'd go to recover from my faint back at the Earth Kingdom," Iroh said, notes of his old humor coming back into his voice. "Zuko is a good person, you know? Once again, thank you for your fine tea."
Iroh got back on his feet, nodded respectfully, and left, leaving Mai alone with her thoughts. Emotionlessly, she got back on her feet as well and looked outside once more, where a pair of turtle-ducks was busy playing in a pond. Iroh, sadly, was unaware that his last attempt to put a hurdle into Zuko's path has failed. The future course of the Fire Nation has been set.
The Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom will not know what hit them.