The end is near…
Not much left to go now.
But first, one more gentle moment…
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
So many words. So much to say. Hours, endless hours, he had spent considering this moment. Searching for the right words. For what does a man say when he comes back from the dead?
Did he apologise?
Was he joyful or solemn?
He had no idea. This was one side of merry Uncle Iroh that he had never seen.
But he had to choose. He must speak now. But what did he say?
It was curious, that for all his eloquence and articulation, every one of those many, many words failed him that night, when he felt he needed them most, and all he could utter was a strangled whisper of
"Father…"
The grey head, shaggy and long, turned slowly. Lu crouched by the bars. Then his father's gaze was upon him, and he realised he had no need for any words. The soft blue eyes had the same caring warmth that they had always possessed. Even despite his death, Iroh had always been there for him.
The old man smiled.
"I am dreaming."
"You are not dreaming. This is real."
"If only, my son. If only, Lu…"
Lu felt tears in his eyes. He hadn't cried since… since he had left. Now he was returning.
"I am here father. Come to me. I am here."
The solemn head shook "You cannot be. You died, my Lu Ten. I saw your body. I lit your pyre."
"Come to me. Touch me. This is real."
"I wept over you…"
"I lived. I am here."
Iroh was walking slowly forwards, shuffling, step by step,
"I stopped the attack…"
"I am here."
Iroh was at the bars. Lu watched with indescribable feelings as his father's left hand reached out, the backs of his fingers brushing his son's cheek. The older man's touch was like a rebirth. A Lu Ten that had died in the ashes of that counterfeit funeral had sprung out again.
The Lu Ten of simple things: The joys of philosophy, the honour of battle, the virtues of family. The hand began to drift away; he took it in his own and held it. A side of Lu Ten that had been drowned for so long in deceit and deception.
A light seemed to appear in Iroh's eyes then. Lu saw a whole future in that light. An escape, an end. He was with Iroh again. His father.
The Dragon of The West smiled, weak but meaningful. "How did you survive?" he asked pathetically.
Lu answered with equal lameness. "I met… captured… an Earth Kingdom man who had learned to sculpt a face from clay. I used it to fake my body."
"That's impossible." replied his father, "some-one would have noticed."
"My lieutenant knew about it. He carried it. Other than him, you were the only one who went near the fake body…"
"I would have noticed…"
"You were supposed to. You must have been crying too much."
"Oh!" Iroh gave a loud, passionate sob- but it was more like a laugh.
There was a short silence. They felt each-other's hands trembling as they clung to one another still through the bars.
Iroh sniffed, "Why?"
Lu shrugged inadequately, "The Nation needed a spy. Some-one who could talk… and lie. Who better than a dead man?"
He looked away, "I am sorry…"
"It's okay."
These words alone gave Lu the strength to look back again. He saw not a hint of rejection in his father's comforting gaze.
Lu hadn't seen this man in… years. That Iroh didn't press the matter was touching. Lu realised, truly, for the first time, that all the old man's somewhat agitating habits; his flippancy, and optimism, his compulsive need for tea; all added up to nothing in the face of such open caring. Lu Ten knew then and there, with a great deal of respectful pride, that he himself would never have been capable of such genuine forgiveness.
A powerful silence wore on, but it seemed there was no desire to break it. father and son were united. Neither one looked for anything further.
Then Iroh said, with startling passion, "Seeing you again, Lu, has completed my life."
Lu choked. His own emotion was surprised him.
"Then why not leave?" he proposed suddenly.
"What do you mean?"
"That is what I mean. Now I am here again… We could go and live together, alone." He smiled feebly. "Live in the wilderness. Then we could sit round fires and discuss philosophy."
"Yes," agreed Iroh, smiling, "Debate until the world is old. And plenty for me to eat…"
"And plenty to talk about. Why not just disappear? Escape all of these lies and deceits? What is there here for us?"
"Would you really want that?"
"Yes, father- more than you realise. More than I realised, until I met… someone."
"Aang…"
"Yes. He makes a simple, repetitive life seem strangely attractive, eh? No idea how. He would never have it."
"Yes, I think he would," said Lu distantly. "That is what he really wants. Just to travel around. To meet and make friends, see places, all again and again until his death. Nothing to struggle against, no-one to lie to. And that is what I would like, after all these years of fighting. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
Iroh leaned on the bars, his smile now firmly irremovable. "I had never expected this of you, Lu. Becoming a hermit like your father?"
"It was always a secret passion of mine. You spiteful old man."
And they laughed. They laughed and laughed. What else were they to say? For such a reunion has more power than words can express- and laughter often has more power than any other sound.
When they had finally finished, and their eyes were tearful with their laughing, Iroh suddenly sobered. There was something else in his eyes now; the barest spark.
"But have you considered what you would be leaving?"
Lu shrugged. "I have considered. All I can see is lies, treachery, deceit, subterfuge, conspiracy."
He sighed and leaned against the bars himself, putting less than an inch between them. Their physical closeness was reassuring.
"Almost a year ago I joined the chase for the Avatar. It was exciting at first but only at first. Day after weary day passed, just trailing him.
Then I caught up with him. I had always known my task would be difficult, but not in the ways I had expected. Aang was so trusting. That made it easier. But in some ways, it made it harder also…
And I told so many lies. I was- quite literally- living a lie. My reasoning told me I was obliged to do this. For duty. Had this boy not destroyed half a fleet?"
"Yes," whispered Iroh, "but that was war. In war, does one murder justify another?"
Lu nodded his understanding. He had felt exactly the same words.
"Now the Avatar is captured and helpless. The comet has ended the war. Even now I- and no doubt you- can feel it. It felt good at first. Now it is like a torrent of insanity."
"The two are often difficult to differentiate," Iroh agreed. "Madness can be a type of pleasure."
"But all my duty was misplaced," continued Lu bitterly. "Azula is insane. I do not attempt to ponder the thought of what a world empire will be like, but with her on the throne, it is all too obvious…
But then, Ozai knows this. He must know what she is doing; that she is attempting to eliminate her brother, your nephew. And he allows it, as some sort of twisted test. It is all insane, father!"
"Indeed. The result of one hundred years of war, I think. No matter the discipline or the technology, for whatever reasoning, in the end, war breeds only chaos."
"Well said."
They pondered their own thoughts for several moments. In this distant prison tower the comet seemed emotionally as well as physically more distant. That felt good. Outside, Lu had almost forgot what it felt like to be without it…
All at once he felt a squeeze on his left hand. He looked down. His father's hand was still clenched around his own.
Iroh's eyes were closed, his lips set.
Lu's breath caught in his throat. There was so much weariness in that lined face…
Slowly Iroh's eyes opened, and he stared at his son with a kind of loving sympathy. Then he said quietly.
"But that wasn't what I meant when I asked. I meant, 'have you considered what you are abandoning?'"
Now Lu's grip tightened.
He gazed at his father with new awe. The Dragon of The West's free hand rested on the bars now. Lu watched as the cold steel glowed suddenly white with the burning heat, and began to melt away.
Their faces were just an inch apart. Iroh said,
"What you said is true. Almost true. You have forgotten one thing, my young son. It is not all insane. Now there is Aang in there as well, and he is a gold ring in a swamp. And your cousin, Zuko, whose honour is like a beacon in a valley of mist. To leave them is to abandon them to their fate."
There was a large hole in the bars. Iroh stood smoothly and, without releasing his son's hand, stepped through.
"With the comet," he continued, "We have perhaps the slimmest chance to rescue them. We would almost definitely die, however…"
"Father," Lu interrupted, "If this is what you think we should do, then we do it. I follow you."
"No, my son." Iroh put his hand up. "You will make the decisions this time, for it was my choice to make the move that I thought had killed you.
As I say, the comet is here, and we have that barest sliver of a chance at victory, in whatever form.
But if you wish to follow your own course, I will go also. There is no loss of honour in this decision. It is not discreditable to refuse to rush to your death."
The two hands parted. They needed no physical connection anymore.
Lu stood still and stiff, considering. Finally he answered:
"I never saw it that way, Iroh. For that I am fool enough, but there is something else. Aang- or Zuko- would have seen that immediately. To them, the question would from the beginning be, 'what are you abandoning' rather than leaving.
So they are better men than I already. And they both deserve the trust they put in me- are the only ones who ever deserved it, save for you. You said there was no loss of honour. But there are two good men to lose. And-"
He cut off suddenly, and stared remotely away, his head slightly tilted. It was as though he had found, to his joy, a firm conclusion on at least one matter. In a world of shifting chaos, he had discovered one firm, absolute truth.
He went on, his voice filled with pride:
"It seems the world would be better if bad men gave their lives for the good men who show them the way. Who do so much for them without thought of return. It is so unfitting that it is often the other way around…"
"That is what makes them good men. One more time then?"
"One more time, father."
Lu smiled, more at ease than ever before.
"And after that, we will find the most remote mountain in the Fire Nation, climb right to the top, and never come down again. Clear?"
Iroh smiled. "Yes, general. Clear."
A very emotional scene. Well-written? Just boring?
R&R.
