The Importance of Pai Sho
-: An Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction :-
"Uncle, why do I need to learn this?" Zuko complained, sitting crossed-legged on the ground on one side of the board. "It's just a stupid game!"
Iroh huffed.
"Nephew, Pai Sho may be a game, but it is a game of cunning. You must be able to see several moves ahead and keep your own strengths and weaknesses in mind, even as you are searching for those of your opponent." Iroh took in a deep breath and moved one tile forward with his finger. "Despite having many masters it can be enjoyed by all, from the hard-working farmer coming in from the fields to the ruler of a nation seeking refuge from the duties placed upon him by his birthright. Rich or poor, woman or man, water or fire, earth or air, Pai Sho has no boundaries. It does not discriminate. Knowing that will help you in your quest."
Zuko growls. "Uncle, I have no quest. When I was banished I might have been able to restore my honour, but now I'm a traitor - nothing will bring my honour back."
Iroh raises an eyebrow. "Is it your honour that you truly wish to mend, or the division within you?" Eyes softening, he lays a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Whichever road you decide to walk, Zuko, Pai Sho will teach you how to navigate the twists and turns that will invariably stand in your way."
In silence Iroh watches the fire scorch the board.
He does not stop Zuko as he storms away.
When he was young, Iroh joined the Order of the White Lotus.
He was a prince, a general and a member of the fire nation, yet found himself accepted by members of the other nations because of his skill in the game and for the first time seeing himself not as a separate piece, but as part of a whole. As had told Zuko, each element drew from different areas - the diversity and strength that had made the Earth kingdom so strong, the community and love that had united the water tribes despite the vast distance that separated them, the peace and freedom that had so closely connected the air nomads to the spirit world, and the desire and will that had kept the fire nation going even after a hundred years of war - but it was understanding all four elements that made a person truly whole.
Iroh learned this by playing Pai Sho.
He also learnt it from the people he met, who treated him as an equal, even though they knew who he was and what he could have done to them.
Master Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe, who told Iroh of the moon spirit and how it influenced not only the powers of a waterbender, but the very balance of the spirit world. Iroh listens, but he is young and impetuous, like Zuko, and doesn't fully understand until he is staring into the face of Koh.
King Bumi of Omashu, who showed Iroh that to appear foolish and weak in the eyes of others is in itself a powerful weapon, one that Iroh uses to great effect when captured by Earthbenders.
Jeong Jeong and Piando, both fire nation, who enlighten Iroh and show him, even without saying it that what he had been taught was not necessarily what was right.
Despite this, he continues to fight for his nation. It is only with his nephew's banishment that he contemplates walking a different path.
He takes his first step on it as a traitor.
No longer a general, no longer a prince and now, no longer a member of the fire nation, he is still a member of the Order of the White Lotus and in a world divided into nations by the individual talents of those who lived in them, Pai Sho united them.
Perhaps, Iroh thinks, it could help to unite the chaos in his nephews soul.
The next day there is a new Pai Sho board on his desk.
Iroh smiles.
Disclaimer: Iroh, Zuko and anything Avatar-related is (c) Michael DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko/Nickelodeon.