A Name

The news came to Iroh in the pre-dawn dark and consisted of only four words. The messenger passed the message on to him with such weight that his speech practically fell off his tongue and crashed into the room. it broke the silence as it fell and then, moments later, it broke Iroh's heart.

"Your mother has died."

Iroh donned his robes in a hurry and raced down the corridors of the palace. The way was intermittently lit by bracketed torches, creating islands of light in the hallways. Iroh's young feet brought him in a rush to the edge of his mother's rooms. He stopped in front of them and bowed immediately. The Fire Lord stood in front of the doors and did not seem to notice his son.

Iroh's breath hiccuped in his throat. he waited for his Father to address him but not a word came from the Fire Lord. Tentatively, Iroh let out a question, small and precise.

"How, Father?"

Fire Lord Azulon's head flicked towards him, his golden eyes cold and hidden of emotion. "The labour was too difficult, my son. The child has killed her."

Iroh felt a sharp pain hit him under his ribs. He bent his head and held his sides. The pain was unfamiliar but he understood it nonetheless. It was grief.

"And the child, Father?" he asked anxiously.

Azulon's eyes narrowed and a flash of emotion burned through them for a moment before icing over once more. Iroh thought the look might be anger. "Your brother lives."

Iroh felt relief mix nauseatingly with his sadness. Mother had died, yes, but he had a brother. He had a brother!

"A curse is on that boy."

Iroh raised his head and cocked it in confusion. "On my brother?"

"He is ill luck," Azulon muttered to himself. "And I would do well to rid myself of him."

Iroh could not quite believe what he was hearing. "You're going to kill him?"

Fire Lord Azulon looked at Iroh with those cold eyes. But the ice in them was thin now; emotion began to seep through. "The omens speak of what this child is. He has already killed my wife and your mother. Who will be next? He is Calamity."

"He's a baby," Iroh replied, "and no more responsible for Mother's death than you or I, Father."

"And the omens?" Azulon countered.

"My Lord will not be controlled by petty superstitions into killing his own son," Iroh answered confidently.

The Fire Lord considered.

"Please, Father," Iroh begged. "Show mercy."

The Fire Lord regarded Iroh for a moment and then nodded. "You speak wisely often, my son. Perhaps you speak wisdom now."

Iroh came and stood beside his Father. "Any wisdom I have comes from you, Father."

"No," Azulon said quietly. "It came from her."

The Fire Lord's cold eyes finally broke with emotion and Iroh suddenly saw his Father in a very different light. The Fire Lord was old and frail, his beard more grey than black, his posture stooped in grief, his face shadowed by darkness. Iroh, in that moment, lost the vision of the great man he always beheld his Father to be. Now, he was just another man. Mourning his wife.

The doors opened and a nurse maid approached the Fire Lord with a bundle in her arms. She bowed as she proffered him the boy.

"Your son, Fire Lord Azulon."

Azulon straightened and hid his grief. He callously eyed the baby in the nurse's arms. "The omens are rarely wrong, Prince Iroh. But, for your sake, I hope they are."

And with that he turned and walked away. Iroh watched his Father's image recede into the dark. He could not understand why it made him feel so sad.

"Your Highness?"

Iroh turned to the nurse maid and saw she now was offering the baby to him. Iroh took him hesitantly and studied the cause of so much grief. His younger brother was beautiful with features taken from both Mother and Father.

"His name?" he asked quietly.

"Ozai, Prince Iroh."

For a moment Iroh went numb in shock. Calamity. His Father had named his son 'Calamity'. But then the inflection in the nurse's voice made it clear. It was not the same word. Close, but not the same. Still, the name would be a reminder to Iroh and to his Father. Calamity was hidden under Ozai.

Iroh looked at his brother and smiled. How could anything so innocent be a curse? Iroh put hidden meanings in names aside and held his brother. The grief in his heart began to ease a little as he listened to his brother breathe quietly. No, there was no evil in young Ozai's heart.