Ok, heads up, I recently figured out that Iroh is not in the Fire Nation navy- he's part of the United Forces... so from now on, everything military is going to be United Forces. F.N.S. Western Sun will now be U.F.S. Western Sun, for example (for United Forces Ship). And a welcome aboard to MusicWritesLife, AnimeFreak145, Itachisneko, and HopeHappily! Read on, I hope I'm not too cheesy...

Chapter 14

Time: Past, Iroh is eighteen, Ryoku is seventeen.

Location: Imperial Palace of the Fire Nation, the Firefly Ballroom.

It was a night of epic and glamourous proportions. The "Firefly" ballroom was aglow from floor to ceiling, light from chandeliers and candelabras glinted off of shimmering walls and was promptly eaten by sumptuous velvet curtains. Sparkles were thrown off by sequined gowns, and seemed to emanate from the pressed suits worn by the attendees. It was the graduation ball of the United Forces Academy, and the students and staff, previously restricted to fatigues, had adorned themselves with every color of the rainbow, and every texture available. Even the fireflies attracted to the glittering affair were outclassed.

The students danced, and the staff danced, and all of the sponsors sat in the shadows and smoked cigars. They traded stories of their old days in the military while their wives swapped tales of the home front, as well as their unheeded advice on modern fashions. It was with these folk that Iroh the Younger made himself welcome, and set about charming those present, a talent that had served him and his family well. On the other side of the ballroom there was another student who didn't dance.

Ryoku leaned against the wall and watched the swirling masses of dancers. After the graduation ceremony, Sgt. Holberson had told her to expect an unusual meeting at the dance, but hadn't elaborated on anything specific. Despite the lack of information, Ryoku was glad that she had an excuse not to dance; at first she had been looking forward to the ball and all the girly things that came with it, but once she arrived and saw her classmates attired in silks and velvets, she began to feel very plain.

"Now there's a look of self-pity if I ever saw one," growled someone to her right, Rio glanced over and saw a grizzled old man in full dress blues leaning against the wall next to her.

"You wouldn't happen to be the unusual meeting I was told to expect?" she asked, brushing off his remark.

"'An unusual meeting'?" the man chuckled low in his throat, "Greta likes to be dramatic."

Ryoku gaped, or nearly did, "Do you know Sgt. Holberson personally?"

"We served together for eight years." The man said, "I'm the other Sgt. Holberson."

"She's married?" gasped Rio.

"Yeah, to me- so you can tell all those adolescent boys you know that if they so much as look at her the wrong way, I'll tear out their eyes and eat them with breakfast." Growled the other Sgt. Holberson.

"Yes sir." Rio smiled weakly, "I don't think you need to worry about that…"

"Are you implying something about the physical appearance of my wife?" inquired the sergeant in a manner that was too polite to be harmless.

Ryoku blanched, "No, no, just commenting that Sgt. Holberson is perfectly capable of tearing out eyes herself…"

"And you'd be right!" he laughed, "That's why I married her!"

"So… is this all you wanted to talk to me about?" asked Rio nervously, "Because..."

"What, do you have some more moping about your socio-economic status to do?" replied Hoblerson, snagging a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. "Or would you rather step outside with me and discuss some classified stuff?"

"As a matter of fact, I might." Ryoku nodded decisively. "It is simply criminal for a person such as myself to be afflicted with the company of such lowlifes."

"Atta girl!" the sergeant laughed as if he were gargling rocks, and disappeared through the French doors leading out to a balcony over the gardens. He surprised some young lovers who had draped themselves over the stone railing. They were treated to a short, sarcastic "Get back inside before you hurt yourselves by accident!"

After they left, he turned to Ryoku, "Would you be interested in joining the Special Forces?"

She gaped at him again, "But they only take the best!"

"And?"

"W-well," she stuttered, "I'm not the best!"

"And why would that be?"

"My grades are average, I graduated as an average student, I'm an average bender, and an above-average number of people don't like me," said Ryoku a little sadly. "I'm not special enough for the Special Forces."

"Why would your grades be bad?" asked the sergeant conversationally.

"Well… I'm dyslexic…" Rio answered, "So I'm not good at writing."

"And I know that in addition to your homework, you were also helping to manage the palace gardens," pointed out Holberson. "The wife tells me some things."

"Yeah, so? " Rio asked, "Special Forces agents don't need to know how to garden."

"It tells me that you know how to manage people," Holberson said, "That's more important than being able to fire-bend the biggest boom."

Ryoku colored, "Well-"

"Besides, after a couple months of our basic training, you'll be able to bend your behind off," growled Holberson proudly. "And fight with just about anything, too."

He continued, "You would be surprised at how much we know about you, Ryoku Zaio. Greta's been keeping an eye on you for years. We know that your real last name is Iyakaku'lani but your family changed it when they emigrated from the Mara'i islands. We know your mother died when you were ten, and we know that you got into the Academy on a scholarship because your dad's a drunk and spends all of his money on that-"

"Hey!" snarled Ryoku, "You don't get to call him that!"

"Why not, that's what he is," said the sergeant nonchalantly, "We both know your mother's death broke him."

"Don't say it like he's useless!" she snapped, "He's not! I may not like him a whole lot, but you don't get to insult my family like that!"

"And we know that you're loyal to a fault." Holberson poked Rio in the forehead, "That's what makes you special. We know that you don't give up on anything- especially someone you care about. We don't want the best of the best," he gestured to the dancers inside the ballroom, "We want someone who's willing to do anything to protect what they love."

Rui deflated, and then she smiled. "Then I guess I'm your girl."

"Now don't get me wrong," began the sergeant warningly. "It's going to be hard, harder than anything else you've ever done. We're going to find where you're weak, and use it to break you into tiny little pieces. But when we build you back up, you're going to be stronger than you've ever been."

He turned and looked out over the dark garden behind them, "There's going to be war again, Ryoku, I don't know when exactly, but when it happens we'll need people like you to protect the Fire Nation, maybe even the world."

"Then I'll do it," said Rio simply. "Whatever it takes."

"Pack up tonight." Sgt. Holberson gave Ryoku a card with an address and a time. "Be there by noon tomorrow morning and you're in the program."

She saluted, "Yes sir!"

He waved it off, "Yeah, yeah… And when you see me next, I'm Agent Wolf, not Sgt. Holberson. Got it?"

Before she could answer, he had disappeared back inside. Even though she searched later that night, she never found him again.

…

Iroh stood in front of a plain green door deep in the palace. It had taken him an hour and three servants to find it. He looked at it for a moment, and then knocked, softly.

It opened and revealed Ryoku, dressed in the plain gray fatigues from their academy days.

"Hey, Snowbell." She smiled at him, almost shyly, and opened the door wider, "Come in."

"I met your friend Mina," Iroh said as he walked into her room. It was mostly bare, a pack leaned against the wall next to a sheaf of papers on the desk. There was a single chair, and a bed against the far wall. "She helped me find this place."

"Really? Good." Ryoku walked over to the pack and rummaged in one of the pockets. "She's great, isn't she?"

"Very friendly," Iroh responded. "How many stories did you tell her about me?"

"Oh, as many as I told you about Mistress Yang and her chamber maids of death." Rio withdrew a small package from the pack, "Why do you ask?"

"She didn't want to look at me," said Iroh. "I wondered if you made me sound scary."

Ryoku laughed, "No, she's just a little shy."

"She said she co-manages the gardens with you."

Rio nodded, "She keeps the books and things for me."

"You told me you were helping your father with the garden," Iroh raised his brows at her. "You didn't tell me that including doing his job."

"It wasn't at first," she sighed. "But he got worse the longer I stayed away at school. He just can't work the way he used to."

"I could have helped."

Rio cocked at eyebrow, "You had a worse grade than me in biology."

Iroh threw her a look, "Well, still…"

Then he turned serious, "You said you wanted to talk."

Ryoku leaned against the desk next to the pack, "Yeah."

He was about to ask another question when she took a deep breath and blurted, "I'm going to join the Special Forces."

"You… what?" Iroh sputtered, "But I thought…"

"I knew you were going to go into Officer Candidate School, but my grades just aren't good enough." Rio sat in the chair and looked at Iroh, hoping he would understand.

"I had wanted to be a soldier on your ship someday, Iroh, but I think…" she looked down at her hands, "I think I can do more good this way."

"No, no. I understand." Iroh smiled slightly, but then he was grave, "But Rio, the special forces- they're called Spooks for a reason. They go through some really terrible stuff, Rio. They're on the frontlines all the time, and they-"

"Iroh." The sound of his given name shocked him, "I know all of that."

She looked out the window above the desk pensively, "One of the things I hated about my father before Mom died is that he used to call me his little 'lily'." Rio smiled bitterly, "After she died he didn't call me anything, but I hated how it implied that I was delicate, like I wasn't strong enough to live without a secure pool of water."

She continued, "But he's wrong. I'm not a delicate flower. I made it into the academy, now I've graduated, and I know I can do this."

Iroh gazed intently at her face for a moment, she felt the familiar sensation of being x-rayed. "Okay."

"So you're good with your best friend ditching you for the next year, and then fighting behind enemy lines?"

This time Iroh's little smile was strained. "No. I'm not just okay with someone I care about choosing to become a spook. But," he stood up and pulled on her wrist until she stood in front of him. He cupped her face gently, "You're right. You're one of the strongest people I know. And your father was right too; you are a lily- a lily made of iron. "

Ryoku's eyes were prickling with what felt suspiciously like tears. Iroh was still composed, a sight she cursed petulantly. "You're beautiful on the outside, but as strong as iron on the inside."

He stepped back, "So I know that eventually you'll come back to me."

She scrubbed her face with the back of her hand, "Iroh… that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"Well, that's why the ladies love me." Iroh waggled his eyebrows for dramatic effect, causing Rio to promptly punch his arm.

"Ow!" he rubbed his shoulder and glared, "What happened to you being mushy?"

"Brace yourself."

He assumed a defensive stance, "I was just joking!"

She laughed, "Not that- I made you something."

Iroh raised an eyebrow, "really?"

"Don't look at me like that." Rio handed him the package in her hands, "I don't really talk about the islands much, but I made you this."

He opened the package and brought out a leather necklace studded with ivory beads at irregular intervals. The leather was braided, contrasting with the carved surfaces of the beads. Where a pendant would hang was a perfect snowbell carved into a curved tooth.

"This is beautiful." Iroh slid the necklace through his fingers, "But…"

"It's a Mara'i tradition." She shrugged, "Dad emigrated from the Mara'i Islands twenty years ago, but he made sure I knew all about the traditions and stuff. When warriors first went into battle, the local shaman made these to protect them."

"Aren't there rules about non-islanders?" Iroh asked, "I wrote a report on Mara'i isolationism."

"Yeah, well, since when have I followed rules?" Rio grinned, "You're practically family anyway."

"Oh, the mushiness!" Iroh ruffled her hair, "What's with the pack?"

"I need to leave in about five minutes to make it to the rendezvous point to get into the program." She replied cheerfully, "I wanted to say goodbye before I left."

Spontaneously, Iroh hugged her. "Goodbye then… Lily."

"Shut up!" she snapped, trying not to smile as she hefted the pack onto her shoulders. "Don't call me that!"

"What're you going to do?" he taunted. "You'll be in some foxhole somewhere learning how to kill people with a paperclip."

She glared, "touché".

They walked together to the bus station outside the palace, and Iroh waved goodbye. They wouldn't see each other for another year- when Iroh was a lieutenant on the U.F.S. Eclipse, and he would address Ryoku as Agent "Iron Lily".