Summer Train. Chapter 1
It is after the war and Zuko and Katara have yet to sort out their feelings for each other so Iroh sets up a little vacation for them...
Katara
The Fire Nation Colonies could have gone a lot worse. The pride of the Fire Nation had raised largely in conquest for the last hundred years and that wasn't exactly easy to erase. Over the course of the war the Fire Nation had made massive advances in technology. Unfortunately that technology had a lot of side effects the world had to learn about. The colonies were a prime example. The colonies were extremely new and they were centered around massive factories the provided jobs for the colonists. The factories also dumped waste into the land which made farming nearly impossible and was completely wrecking the natural environment around the colonies. I spent three months with Toph trying to minimize the damage and create a better system for the factories to use so we wouldn't leave a host of prickly fire nation colonists behind to cause trouble.
Long story short by the time I made it back to the Fire Nation Palace I was exhausted. Iroh and opened up a second tea shop in the fire nation capital called The Second Dragon. He had left the Jasmine Dragon under the watchful eye of Jio. As soon as I sat down at the Second Dragon there was a steaming cup of tea in front of me.
"You need a vacation." Iroh told me his face serious.
"No hello Katara?" I grumbled, "how have you been Katara? It's nice to see you after all this time." I took a sip of the tea nearly burning my tongue. "The first thing I hear is that I obviously look like crap and need a vacation."
Iroh laughed heartily at my sour mood. "I missed you Katara it is nice to see you. But," his eyes grew serious, "you do need a vacation and I know just the place. An old friend of mine is starting up a luxury train that is going to tour through the outskirts of the fire nation."
"Will they go past the volcanoes?" I asked intrigued.
"I believe they will spend a few days stopped near the volcanoes." Iroh's eyes were twinkling.
"I've already traveled the world you know." I reminded him, sipping my tea more carefully.
"Bah!" Iroh scoffed "You flew around on a smelly Bison trying to evade my nephew. That is hardly a relaxing vacation. Imagine being able to enjoy the most beautiful parts of the fire nation without having to look over your shoulder."
The offer was tempting, I sighed, "When exactly would this luxury train be leaving?"
Iroh smiled, he knew I was hooked. "Three days"
I finished my tea and headed for the door calling back to Iroh, "Then I guess I have some packing to do."
