In that remote village of the Earth Kingdom which was being visited by the Fire Lord, there was only the sound of the leaves which were shaking under the wind in the noon. But in the room which was using to rest by the two firebenders, there was no sound at all, everything was silent. The young firebender looked closely at his father who was sitting in front of him. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. Zuko could never think his father who could always make joke could have a painful past like that.
"Well, I was just like you before, I couldn't do anything against my father. Because of that, in the next week, the betrothal ceremony started…" Iroh stopped for a second to take a sip from his tea cup. The bitter tea had gotten cold but Iroh didn't even heat up the tea cup as he drunk the whole tea cup. Finished, the old firebender closed his eyes before returning to telling the story.
"And at the night of the ceremony, we did the thing that we should never do. It was the first time and also the last. But, we received an amazing gift afterward…" Iroh smiled and looked up at his young firebender. Hearing that, Zuko opened his eyes widely and quickly raised his head to look at his father, realized what was the general going to say. "That was you, prince Zuko..." Iroh pulled Zuko into an embracement.
Zuko smiled as he hugged his father back. "It is Fire Lord Zuko, Uncle." Zuko joked as he hugged the man who was the most important of him more tightly. "And thanks for giving birth to me." Hearing that, Iroh brought a hand up to the back of Zuko's head and smiled happily.
After some father and son moments, both of them parted and Zuko scratched his cheek. "Father, you know, if we leave now, you can still make it back for that romantic picnic."
"But we still haven't visited the oasis." Iroh said while standing up and going heating the tea pot.
"Look inside yourself, Father. What do you want?" Zuko tried to imitate Iroh's voice and pointed at his father while grinning.
"You trained a lot, didn't you?" Iroh smiled pleasingly at his son's trick.
That night, in a marketplace of the outer ring of Ba Sing Se, Iroh and Zuko walked pleasantly down the lane. That was a long time since the last time Zuko visited this place. It hasn't changed much even the war was over. In the night, the whole marketplace was lighted by the lanterns of several stands and shops. He looked at the market with a feeling of nostalgic in him. This place taught him a lot of thing, the way Fire Nation "shared" its greatness to other nations, why people kept coming to Ba Sing Se as refugees… and it also was where he got the first date. Zuko turned his back to talk to his father but he couldn't see anyone behind him. The old tea maker already began examining a basket-selling shop. Zuko sighed while coming near his father.
"Father, what are you doing? I thought we will go home immediately!" The fire lord nagged.
"Well, I just want to buy this basket." Iroh examined the basket while turning his head back and answering to his son. "It looks nice, doesn't it?"
"If this is for containing the tea set, may I suggest this one?" The owner realized the tea maker worked in Pao's tea shop back then.
"No, this time it is a romantic picnic." Iroh smiled and handed over some coins and picked up the basket. "Son, what do you think about this lavender basket?" Iroh showed the basket to his son who was standing with arms crossed.
"Huh? I thought he is your nephew?" The shop owner looked at the two men in question. Iroh and Zuko quickly exchange a look, unsure of what to say. In the end, Zuko quickly answered with no expression on his face. "He adopted me."
"Oh, I see. Well, thanks for buying."
The shop owner bowed to two men. Iroh bowed to the merchant and walked away with Zuko. On the road, Zuko started the conversation. "Father, do you really think it is still time for a romantic picnic?"
"It's okay. We just only want to have a date." Iroh shifted the basket to his right hand. "You are thinking about Jin, right?" Iroh gave Zuko a small nudge with his elbow. A large, goofy grin appeared on the old man's face.
"Stop it, father. She and Mai tried to kill me." Zuko shivered as he thought about the last time he saw Jin. Mai showed how better a knife thrower she was and gave Jin a chance to try it. And the target was right on Zuko's head. Then, an idea flashed across his mind. "Father, do you know the firelight fountain?"
Iroh scratched his cheek while thinking about that sparkling place where young couples often have a date near it. "I think I am a little too old for that."
Zuko glanced at his father and shook his head. "You should have said that a lot of times before, you know."
An hour later, Ursa and the team Avatar appeared at the firelight fountain. The light was lit but there was no one here but them. The members of the Gaang got close to their companion and looked at the fountain together, leaving Ursa, Toph and Mai alone. Toph grumbled against Mai who just appeared in Iroh's house to give them a message. "Mai, do we really have to wait here? I can't see anything but those couples keep praising this fountain."
"I don't know. That messenger lord didn't say anything." Mai said it while showing no emotion at all. But Toph could sense that Mai was annoying as well. Before the Earth Kingdom girl could begin teasing, her earthbending told her that there was a man who was getting closed, but it also told that was a friend of her. Looking at the alley where Iroh was going to come out, Toph shouted happily and ran into that direction. "Uncle!"
Everybody except Mai was too surprised to say anything. Some seconds later, cheerful Toph dragged Iroh who was wearing a long face out of the alley. Seeing that, Ursa smiled and began walking to her husband's direction. After telling Toph to quit dragging him, Iroh took a deep breath and faced his beloved wife. But before he could start the conversation, Ursa pulled him into a tender hug, to his surprise. Raised his hand and hugged Ursa, the general smiled happily. "Those kids are still here, you know."
Both of them parted and Iroh started to talk while scratching his back. "Ursa, I have to tell you something." Iroh lowered his head "I did something without asking your opinion."
"What are you talking about?" Ursa asked confusedly but suddenly, her emotion changed into angry as she glanced at her husband and stood with arms akimbo. "Did you find for yourself a concubine?"
"Uh, no no no." Iroh shook his head several times and grinned goofily. "But I did find for myself a son."
"What!?" Ursa still have her arms akimbo as she asked in surprise. The Gaang gaped at the line was just release from the old general's mouth.
After did some gestures to show that he didn't have anything to his pocket, Iroh grinned and said joyfully. "See, there was no old scroll on me."
Realized what did that mean, Ursa covered her mouth with her hand and gasped. "You gave it to him!?". The Gaang looked at the couple and still didn't know what was going on here. With tears flows down her cheek, Ursa asked in a voice choked with emotion. "How did he react?"
Seeing his wife like that, Iroh hugged Ursa and comforted her. "Don't worry, my dear. He accepted it pretty well." Iroh broke the hug and placed his hands on her shoulders and joked. "Because of that treachery, I have something to make it up to you."
Drying her tears, Ursa smiled at her husband. "You mean you can make it up to me with this date?"
The general laughed. "Of course not, and I am sure that gift is amazing enough to make you cry in happy." Finished talking, Iroh clapped his hand and a sound of music being played on sungi horn started to resound, to everyone's surprise. Iroh closed his eyes and began enjoying the "Four Seasons". On the music night on the ship, even he convinced a lot of time, Zuko still didn't play it. And now…
Looking at the music's direction, everyone could see there was a person who was playing the sungi horn while walking down the main road. When the man got close enough to being seen under the light of the candles, the Gaang smiled happily as they recognized their friend. Ursa couldn't do anything as she didn't know for sure this was a dream or not. Her beloved son, the son she couldn't see for ten years now was standing in front of her and smiling. Ursa raised her hand to cover her mouth and the tears flows down her cheeks. Suddenly, a hand placed on her shoulder. "What are you waiting for? Go get my gift."
Ursa nodded and after giving her husband a kiss, she ran into her son and threw herself into Zuko's arm in a hug. Looking at the family reunion, the female members of the Gaang began crying as well. Aang and Sokka ran close to the fire lord's family and shouted joyfully. Sokka feigned dry his tears and talked in voice choked with emotion. "This is so beautiful. I think I will have to redo the team Avatar's painting."
The two firebenders turned their attention to the Water Tribe boy and looked at him like he has grown a third head. "What!?". Iroh got close to the boy and smiled while placing a hand on the boomerang boy's shoulder. "Just draw a painting like the last time with my wife in it and you will know what." Then, the general laughed and patted on the boy's shoulder before turning back to his family, leaving the water tribe boy gulped and begun being bathed in sweat…
A/N: Well, this is the final chapter XD Please read and review :D