Prompt: Funeral
Characters: Iroh, Lu Ten
Pairing: None
"I'm sorry, my son."
Iroh knew what it was to blame oneself for every injury and hardship suffered by one's child, no matter how minor, regardless of whether it was one's own fault or not. What was immeasurably worse was knowing that this was his fault, and that there was nothing he could do to make it right.
He had instilled his son with the Fire Nation's propaganda (tragic, he thought, that only now did he realize what it was), he had encouraged Lu Ten's military career, he had brought Lu Ten with him for his insane campaign. Now, his son had been laid to rest on foreign soil, and Iroh was left with nothing but his grief.
Was this the grief he had brought upon others?
Many of the soldiers who had fallen to his men had been young. At least some of them must have had living parents. What must they have felt, knowing their sons would never come home?
At least their parents can be proud that they died defending their country. I have to live with the fact that my nation is the aggressor.
Iroh might have deserved some share in the grief that he had laid upon others—but Lu Ten had not deserved to die.
"Dad… I can't sleep."
It was what Lu Ten had always said whenever he wanted Iroh to sing him to sleep, and so Iroh had sang to his son one last time before his eyes had closed for good.
Please find peace in your next life, and may that life be free from others' wars for power. Slowly, Iroh stood. I may never be able to bring back the lives I have taken… but I promise, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you—all of you—have peace in your next.