A Soldier Through Time CH 2
This is a nightmare. I hit the water and was knocked out. There's no way this is real.
The prince and a man with gray sideburns and a permanent scowl lowered a rope ladder into the water and Iroh grabbed it and hauled himself up. Flopping exhausted on the cold metal floor of the river boat, he lay there, numb with disbelief, staring up into the masked helmets and the one scarred eye. The frowning sideburns man kneeled down and touched his forehead, damp and steaming. If possible, the man frowned deeper, and turned to his superior.
"His body is firing up from stress and shock. He needs to get up and bend."
Iroh had no other inclination that to close his eyes and wake up on the right ship.
Preferably in the right time.
"Get up." That voice, so familiar and yet strange. "I order you to get up and bend."
He could feel himself being propped up and braced up in the arms of a masked firebender, then opened his bleary eyes to see the older soldier's face go stern, before he drew back his arm and drove the heel of his hand sharply into Iroh's gut.
The strike prompted an uncontrolled burst of fire from his mouth. The man struck again and again until Iroh belched blue flames, blue with fear. At this color, the soldier's arm stilled with surprise. Iroh coughed cinders and wiped his mouth of smoke.
"Feeling better, soldier?" The hand that had punched him rested gently on his shoulders.
"That was supposed to make him feel better?" The prince's voice twisted in indignation. "You just punched him in the stomach!"
The man turned sharply toward the scarred boy. "You may not know this, your highness, but this is a war! Men die, men are crushed, men drown. This one was in shock. The soot shows an explosion. Boat probably blew to bits. Everyone gone. Maybe his brothers were serving with him. He's been afloat Agni knows how long. He's not going to get up and bend a perfect kata just because someone of noble blood orders him to."
The tension was palpable, and Iroh choose this moment to groan dramatically.
"Did you have to punch my innards out? I had a nice spicy dragon eye omelet this morning and let me tell you, that tastes just GREAT coming back up."
Looking around, Iroh shook his head one last time to get this vision out of his head. "Where am I?"
The grizzled soldier attempted to step forward, but the scarred boy intercepted him.
"You are aboard my riverboat. I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation."
The face was younger than his own, angry, and stubborn. And it was not going to revert to his grandfather anytime soon.
"I am Lieutenant Jee." Iroh swiftly bowed.
"I thank you for administering that bracing treatment."
Lt. Jee actually cracked a small smile, and grandfather looked miffed that he had bowed to his lieutenant and not him.
I have got to stop thinking of him like that.
"Who are you?" Iroh paused for a moment to think up a name, only to remember the best lies were founded in truth.
"Iroh."
"A good name." remarked Jee. "For a worthy namesake. Prince Zuko." Jee turned to said prince. "We will be taking him aboard?"
"Yes." The voice was cautious and tinged with irritation. "We could use another firebender. As long as he bends more and eats less that his namesake."
With that, grandfather who was not grandfather but Prince Zuko marched into the cockpit and ordered them to return to the ship.
"He could take a few pointers from you." Muttered Jee confidentially to Iroh. "And I mean in respect, not firebending."
Iroh wisely said nothing.
oOo
Iroh knew who he was named for. Vaguely. He had never been a history buff.
Something was telling him he would be regretting that soon.
Iroh knew his mother had named him for her grandfather. Which would make the first Iroh his great grandfather. But his family tree was generally messed up. He had no father, a half great aunt, and another great aunt who had gone crazy. Plus, his family had been bent on world domination until his grandfather had taken the throne. So, it wasn't so strange that Iroh didn't know exactly where his namesake fit into things.
At this point, he had no idea where HE fit into things.
They had climbed aboard ship, the metal clanging under their feet, Iroh's bare skin steaming in the air. The riverboat had been stowed away, and Iroh had followed Lt. Jee and grandfather (Prince Zuko, PRINCE ZUKO) to a small room to get him registered in the ship's log.
"Name?"
"Iroh Mei"
"Bending status?"
"Firebender."
"Age?"
Was negative seventy something years an option? Iroh went with the simpler answer.
"Nineteen."
"Next of kin?"
The room went silent, and every breath shook Iroh's frame. Kin. Next of kin. Family. His breath began to shudder and sparks flew with each pant. Family. Mother. Grandmother. Commander Bumi. Grandfather. Family. Family. His breath blazed blue, he could hear Jee shouting, see Zuko staring at him unsure of what to do.
Iroh was, for the first time in his life, completely alone.
He could feel the heat of his own breath burning him, his vision went smoky.
I'm alone. All alone.
Then, the was a warm firm grip, holding him securely in a warm hug, anchoring him to the warmth. A calm voice was soothing him, giving him gentle guidance. In. Out. In. Out. Control your chi. Corral it in your belly. In. Out. In. Out. It's alright. It's alright.
"It's alright. Here." A small porcelain cup was pressed to his lips, and a steam of jasmine reached his nostrils.
"There. It is all right, young one. There are times when even the strongest of us could use a cup of tea."
Iroh followed the white beard up to smiling lips, then looked into amber eyes.
Two amber eyes, neither squinting.
They fused with his own, so alike, looking in each other's faces for someone they had lost.
"Lu…" the man softly breathed, before briskly turning to Jee. "You can send the healer back now. Some tea was all he needed."
"None." Iroh gasped out.
"No what?" asked Zuko sharply.
Looking the Prince in the face, Iroh got up from his knees.
"None. No next of kin.
Not since the explosion."
"How about I do the rest of the record? I have beautiful calligraphy. Although my friend Piando was much better." Prince Zuko handed the parchment to his uncle, who took up the brush while never breaking away from Iroh's face.
"Military experience?" gruffly asked Zuko.
"Nephew." Uncle Iroh admonished. "You cannot know a man merely by his credentials. How could you tell from my credentials that I am a tea connoisseur and fond of ladies with nice…"
Zuko went red. "I get it uncle!"
"What I am saying is you must walk a mile in his shoes to know him."
Zuko gestured to Iroh's bare soot covered feet. "Nice shoes."
"Just let me ask the questions, Nephew."
"Now…Iroh. How interesting! How will they tell us apart, both of us so handsome!"
"I think we can manage, uncle."
"Now, where are you from, Iroh, the slightly less handsome?"
"Uncle…"
"Capital City, Iroh the slightly more rotund."
"Ha, ha ha ! Good one! Now, you seemed very upset earlier, about your family."
Iroh bowed his head. "I, just discovered, I will never see them again."
The laughing old man's face became sad. "I know what it is like to lose someone you love. But sometimes, sharing memories of them makes them come alive again, if only for a moment."
So Iroh opened his heart to the living legend who bore his name.
"My father, I never knew him. Don't even know who he was. My grandfather…" Iroh's eyes flickered to the angry teen sitting across from him. "He raised me, really. Taught me everything I know. Put up with all the cinders and ashes I sent sparking, and never flinched. Loved me. Endlessly."
"Grandmother, she was the one I could talk trash about people with. I learned all my curse words from her. She wouldn't put up with any of my cinders. Smacked them right out of me."
"Sound like quite the woman." Uncle Iroh's eyes brightened as he scribbled this down.
"Uncle…" Zuko groaned.
"She's taken. She'll never admit it to anyone out loud, but once she did something really dangerous. I think she beat up a crazy firebender? All while saying she loved Grandfather more than she feared anything."
The old man slumped considerably at this. "Oh, well."
Zuko slapped his hand to his forehead. "Uncle…."
"What about your mother?"
"Mother was…" Firelord Iroh wanted to say. "Tough. Proud. She was the only person who could catch me every time I lied. That drove me crazy. I was always, angry with her. For what, I'm not really sure. I would say… " Iroh lowered his head in shame. "Horrible things. In public, during important meetings. Just say 'stupid' over and over again. Or say something like 'in dragon dung' after every sentence she said. I don't even know why. I guess, I wanted to punish her. For not having my father around. I wanted my father so much I disrespected my mother. I told her she was weak, a worthless nonbender, too strict, to smart, to serious, spent too much time following me around. Now I know, she was just…. Trying to spent time with me. Trying to show me I was more important that her work. But I was just so angry, so blind…."
"And now, it's too late. I may never see her again. I may never see any of them again. And I'm..."
"Sorry." A wrinkled hand covered his own. "You are truly sorry. And love covers a multitude of sins. You know they love you, love you even now. Death cannot stop love."
Iroh smiled at his great granduncle and grandfather and replied. "Time can't either."
Sorry this is short and not much substance. My boss has heaped work on me right before the holidays!
I am drowning in the terror of the workplace.
Anyway, hope you like this. PLEASE REVIEW!
