Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender in any way, shape or form. However I do own all original characters and the plot. Please do not steal what I own. Thank you.
While Sokka escorted Katara out of the office to go calm down, the rest of the gang stayed behind to answer any questions Reila had. There weren`t many, surprisingly. Aang had apparently told her pretty much everything. There were a few details here and there left unsaid. But he had done a fairly good job otherwise.
After that the tour of the palace recommenced. Zuko had only shown Reila enough of it to get to his office. The rest was yet to be explored with her. The palace was rather large. Toph left the tour fairly quickly, not being able to truly see anything, leaving Zuko, Aang and Reila to look together.
The young Fire Lord took notice of the female airbender`s excitement over the large library and then the gardens. He actually thought she`d start jumping up and down at the latter. He was actually very proud of the gardens. After what happened with his mother, some things in the palace fell to the way side and weren`t bothered with. Then with Azula`s impending rule, even more so. The gardens had been in horrible conditions when Zuko took over. Thankfully uncle Iroh, himself and even Katara were able to restore it to its once former glory.
Speaking of uncle Iroh.
"Uncle!" Zuko called out as soon as he saw said man walking through the gardens. "Uncle! There`s someone I want you to meet!"
Iroh slowly walked over to the young benders, a content smile on his face. "What is it nephew?"
"I want you to meet Aang`s sister, Reila," the young Fire Lord spoke before starting introductions. "Uncle Iroh, this is Reila. Reila, this is my uncle Iroh."
"It`s nice to meet you," Reila said.
Iroh nodded. "It`s nice to finally meet the sister Aang has always talked about."
"You talked about me?" She asked, turning to her brother.
Aang shrugged sheepishly, "A little."
"All wonderful things," Iroh assured with a teasing smile.
Reila found herself slowly smiling back. Iroh seemed like a sweet old man. It was hard for her not to remind herself who he is. Or rather, who he was. In truth, it was hard for her to grasp just how vastly the Fire Nation had changed since she went into hiding. When your last memories of someone are horrible, only to find out how dramatically they`ve suddenly changed, it`s understandable to not be trust worthy at first. Or at all.
Aang trusted them, Reila kept assuring herself. If her brother could trust them, then certainly she could too, right? But was it really safe? Could someone she`d seen as the enemy for so long really be trusted? At least she knew, above all else, she could trust her brother. Aang had never given Reila a reason not to trust him. But did that mean, by extension, she was trusting the Fire Nation as well? She wasn`t so sure.
"Has my nephew shown you to your room yet?" Iroh asked, interrupting the young airbenders thoughts.
"No, not yet," Reila answered.
"Well then, how about I show you?"
With reassuring nods from both Aang and Zuko, she said, "Yes."
Iroh smiled and hooked their arms together, gently patting her arm for more reassurance when he noticed her hesitant smile.
"Are you going to bombard me with questions too?" Reila asked in a whisper when they were out of hearing distance of her brother.
He chuckled and once again patted her hand. "Oh, no. I imagine you have been through enough today. Perhaps another time over tea?"
Reila slowly began to smile. "I think I`d like that." Perhaps she could trust this sweet old man after all. Even if he is Fire Nation.
This was supposed to be up yesterday but I was having troubles uploading it. Thankfully everything seems to be working today. I had planned on making this chapter much longer but nothing was really coming out how I wanted it so I just settled for a short chapter this time. I am going to do my best to make the next chapter longer, though. Hopefully it comes out right. And I know I didn`t do the best job capturing the awesomeness that is Uncle Iroh, but I`ll definitely try to get it right in his other appearances. Anyways, I want to say thank you to everyone that has been reading and reviewing this story. Please keep it up, I would love to know what you all think. Thank you!