Prologue: A troublesome time
It's been a couple of weeks since Iroh last departed from United Republic and it bothered a certain young earthbender to death. He had hoped the general would return to the city anytime soon, but he hasn't. "How disappointing," Bolin muttered under his breath, throwing his arms up in the air as he rest his back against the soft fabric of the couch. Things were bad enough with the fact that Pro-Bending arena was nowhere near completion of its restoration, meaning he won't be able to get back to fighting soon, too. Mako was busy doing his police job, whatever that was, leaving the poor guy all alone in their apartment..With Pabu, of course, but he still felt kind of lonely. "I wish you could be here with me, Iroh.." He quietly dreamed about their reunion, about how the General's strong arms would hold him close to his chest.. The thing that bothered Bolin the most was the fact he never managed to say his true feelings towards him, he never got to say "I love you".
Days passed and Bolin finally came up with the idea to write him a letter. It took him hours to go from "Hello there, General! Bolin here!" to something slightly more formal and he had to give a credit to Jinora for getting there. Of course, she wasn't the one writing the letter in Bolin's place, but she did in fact teach him how to write them properly. After all the hard work he scanned the piece of paper from top to bottom and, unable to help himself, jumped up from his seat in joy. "It's finally done. Man, I'm so proud of myself."
"So proud of yourself for what-?" Asked a familiar voice from the hallway. It was Mako. What was he doing home so soon? "Um," the earthbender's eyes looked up for a moment as he tried to think of a good lie, "My cooking." With a confused look his brother entered their living room where, as he had suspected, he didn't find any food served, but rather Bolin with a piece of paper in his hands. "But you aren't cooking anything."
"Right-" Mako arched his brow at him. "What's that?" He questioned him about the letter. Bolin's eyes suddenly widened and his fingers clasped so tightly on the letter it looked like he might tear it apart. He was nervous and the firebender could tell that, just why? "I-It's nothing." Bo replied before prompting himself back on his legs and rushing out of their apartment. "I have to go."
"Um- Okay. Bye." Answered Mako as he looked back at his brother leaving.
The second Bolin slammed the door closed he rest his back against it and let out a soft exhale. "That was close. I can't have Mako know I like Iroh, he'll just turn my life upside down." Concluded the male. He then raised his hand to bring the letter to the level of his eyes, noticing the minor damage he did, but ignored it. He can't just go back in and rewrite all of this! No, it's best if he'll send it to Iroh right away.
About a week later the letter had finally reached its destination and was being successfully delivered to Iroh.
"General?" One of the officers knocked onto the door to his cabin. There was no answer. "General Iroh, sir?" He knocked again, until finally a rich, yet sleepy voice replied. "Yes? What is it?" It's almost midnight.. Whatever it is it must be something important. "There's a letter for you." A letter? That's interesting. "I'm coming." With a soft exhale he got up from his bed, collected himself and walked steadily towards the doorway. When he finally opened the door, standing there with an unbuttoned uniform and quite the sleepy face he saw one of his junior officers holding the letter he mentioned. "Sorry to bother you sir at this hour of day," he bowed down his head, "but there is a letter to you from someone named Bolin."
"Are you sure?" Iroh rubbed his eyes gently and then took a second look at the man in front of him. "Of course. Here is it, sir" He looked at the folded piece of paper and took the hold of it without a second thought, then said "Thank you," and closed the door behind him. After a moment of standing there like that he walked over to his desk where he took a seat and unfolded the letter.
It read:
"My dearest General Iroh,
I'm sure this has taken you by a surprise, but I could not stop myself from writing you a thank you letter for your help against the Equalists. It meant a lot to all of us to have you as a part of our group! Me especially and for this it was truly saddening to see you go off so soon, we had a grandiose celebration that I'm sure you would've liked. Unfortunately, the passing weeks have been very hard - the arena is still closed and even if it reopened I don't exactly have the best option of teammates. Nevertheless, I'm still full of hope and looking for a brighter future with slight trepidation in my heart.
Anyway, I was wondering when you'll be making your appearance in the city again? Perhaps we could spend a night out sometime? I look forward to hearing from you!
Yours sincerely, Bolin."
A soft smile formed on the General's lips as he finished reading the letter. It was heartwarming, knowing that there's someone waiting for you back in United Republic. Especially if it was someone you felt genuinely fond of.. Iroh's hand lowered as he put the letter on his desk. His lips then slightly parted before saying, "Don't worry, Bolin. I'll be back in the city soon enough."
So, after seeing episode "Korra Alone" I realized that I had to redo my prologue before I proceed even further. Yes, more chapters are in progress right now and while it's proceeding very slowly I can assure you that I will publish them soon.
I hope you enjoyed reading! Stay tuned for more! Don't forget to write reviews!