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068. Nostalgic- Irohana- IrohxKatara

TW(Trigger Warning)

Iroh has passed away, but at least Kana still has his garden.

Kana could still remember his face. The way he would smile at her and call her 'his flower lady' instead of Fire Lady. It always put an amused smile on her lips. But he was gone now, somewhere in the spirit world. When he first died, she had considered going to the there to find him, but she put that thought behind her.

She knew the consequences that could bring. The same thing had happened to Avatar Kuruk, and the world had fallen out of balance… She couldn't let Aang fix the world by himself, that wouldn't be right. Or as Iroh would say: That wouldn't be honorable.

What was with his family and honor? She thought to herself with a wistful smile, while putting the spade back in the dirt. She turned it over and let the moist soil fall back to the earth, brushing her finger along a rose petal and sighing.

She could remember the first day she had come to the palace. She had stumbled across Iroh gardening, and couldn't help but be curious. She had never seen an entire garden was composed of tea plants, with only a single baby rose bush in the middle. She remembered asking him what the point of having roses in a tea garden was, as she sat down next to him.

He had told her if she could care for the tiny flowers, and make them bloom, he would tell her. Kana set out to learn this little secret of his, and everyday she sat next to him, caring for the roses. The heat was a constant problem, but she wouldn't let anything deter those roses' growth.

At some point he had commented that if she were so protective of flowers, he would hate to see anyone who tried to mess with one of her children. That had made her blush, and made him laugh. Since then they had settled into a routine of throwing playful barbs at one another. That's when he had come up with Flower Lady, and she had returned with Tea Lord.

That was probably her favorite memory of him. That or perhaps all that wasted time coming up with useless poetry. Together they had made up the proverb: You Rise With The Moon, I Rise With The Sun. It became possibly the most famous in the world, even with the war going on. Who didn't like the comparison of two opposites, when the two who created it were hopelessly in love?

Kana liked to believe that they still were, wherever he was in the spirit world; she liked to believe he still thought of her. Just like how everyday she sat outside in their garden, and still thought of him. She imagined he did, as his reincarnation visited almost every hour she was out here.

He had even taken over a nest up in the trees, where three abandoned eggs sat. She had found the poor eggs one day on accident, and had taken them inside, using her Firebending to keep them warm. But when she had come back from her gardening expeditions, the Fire Nations only non-predator bird was sitting on them. What was more surprising though, was the fact that the bird was a male.

She didn't shoo him away, or move the nest for a few days. All she did was grab a few worms at the gardens for him to eat. He was suspicious the first day, but accepted the offering anyways. His beak had brushed her finger, and that's when she knew. That bird was her 'Tea Lord.'

Five days passed, and the little Iroh bird allowed her to move the nest to a tree overlooking the garden. She had cried when putting it down, and the bird had jumped on her head in a calming manner. She still shed some tears, but they were ones of happiness. Kana had thought she'd have to wait for the next life to see him again, but she didn't.

It was a true miracle.

Kana turned over another spade of dirt, and caught sight of a worm. Her hand darted out, and she threw it in the air, the little Iroh bird darting down to grab it before swooping back to his now empty nest. The last baby had left a week before, and she could tell he was a little put down by that fact. She was happy that he had come back as a gentle creature, she didn't think he had it in him to be anything but. Perhaps more powerful then a little bird, but he was always full of surprises.

She laughed then, and held out a hand for him, letting him land on her finger. She placed him on the ground right beneath her rose bush, and he started to hop around, hunting for the first time in a month. Kana knew that Iroh was still technically in the spirit world, but that part of him that needed to live was in this bird.

"You never told me why you had planted a rose bush in your garden." She murmured quietly. "I guess I'll just have to wait to meet you in the spirit world, huh?" The little bird just continued to hop around, acting oblivious to what she was talking about. Without so much as a chirp, he fluttered his wings, and floated into the air around her roses. He zipped around looking for something, and before Kana could stop him, he pulled a bulb from the flowers.

He flew towards her, hovering over her hand until she opened it. The little bird dropped the bulb, then plucked a tea leaf from another plant, and dropped this too, into her palm. She stared down at it, feeling Iroh's slight weight on her knee, and realized why he had roses in his garden. You could make tea from a rose bulb.

She laughed gently, her shaking causing the little bird to zip from her knee back up into his nest. She glanced back up at him before returning her gaze to her palm, tears burning in her eyes. She knew that he didn't remember her, that he just had a feeling that he could trust her. But that was enough. It was enough to know that their friendship had transcended life times, and that maybe one day, so would their love.