Title: Loneliness
Pairing: Roku/Sozin
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar
Notes: I wrote this for a challenge which I had to incorporate a poem into fic. The poem I used is "Sent North on a Rainy Night" by Li Shangyin
You ask me what time I'll return, but I cannot give a time,
The embrace between the two men ended. Roku could tell that Sozin didn't want him to leave. But he had to. It was his duty to train and master all four styles of bending. He was the Avatar, he now had more duties than Prince Sozin. Roku didn't blame him, the first time he left to train the trip went three times longer than expected.
Tears flowed down both men's faces. They were unsure of when they would meet next. Roku wished that Sozin could travel with him but, like his duty to serve people as the Avatar, Sozin had the important job of preparing to rule the Fire Nation. Spending much time together was impossible with their conflicting schedules.
Sozin wanted to know when Roku would be back, but the Avatar found it best not to answer or disappoint.
The rain in the hills of Ba at night overflows the autumn pools.
As the days passed, Sozin's sorrows increased. Sozin hated Roku for being the Avatar. Many of his subjects suspected it was because he was jealous of the Avatar's power, but in truth, he was lonely for Roku. But that was something the public would never understand.
But it wasn't Roku's fault; the world was too needy. The Earth Kingdom was the worst. It seemed he needed to go there about once a week. The diverse cities and people always seemed to have conflicts brewing. Sozin believed that how the Earth Kingdom was organized wrong, it had too many kings, which lead to too many conflicts.
Life would've been so simple if the Earth Kingdom had only one ruler. Perhaps then Roku could spend more time at home with Sozin.
When can we trim the candle together by the western window,
Every time they reunited, it was wonderful. They both enjoyed what little time they had together. They always made sure to embrace every second. They would often spare to make sure that the other was keeping up his training, like they used to do when they were younger.
It would have been fine if things had stayed that way, but they didn't. Ta Min began to show an interest in Roku and the Avatar's time became even more divided. He understood that Roku had been interested in Ta Min since they were young, but Sozin was still saddened. To him it felt like Roku had no time for him anymore. By the time Roku had time to spend with him, it was too late. There was nothing in their relationship left to salvage. It was as if the candle had exhausted itself and could not be relit.
And talk together of the rain in the hills of Ba at night?
The Fire Lord had tried to confront Roku about his feelings numerous times, but it never worked. Roku listened well enough, but always misunderstood Sozin. He thought it was Sozin's jealousy over Ta Min that was breaking them apart.
Sozin's sorrow overflowed. But his sorrow was not like water, life-giving but potentially erosive, but like oil, explosive and destructive.