A/N- I own nothing, because I come from a fandom who knows how to differentiate kids who share a name with an OG badass who isn't nearly as big a joke in his position of power as he pretends to be. I make no apologies, because I love these Soldier As.
The newly-promoted Lieutenant Iroh stood before the Fire Nation ambassador's house, his Republic City uniform pressed, shoes shined, hair slicked back as best he could, posture straight, and gloves not one wrong move away from going up in flames, he swore. He wasn't looking for a fight, but he fully expected that the mere sight of him on these premises could lead to an international incident. He took a deep breath and knocked.
"Ah, come in. She'll be with you in a moment, I'm sure." The man who had stuck his nose around the door opened it a little further, backing up to allow the lieutenant entrance, and then returned to his paper.
Iroh attempted some basic pleasantry, but a voice rose from the rear of the open-floor entryway, announcing the ambassador to the republic before she made her way through the paper dividers. "Who is it?"
"Your nephew, dear," Hiro replied without looking up from his reports.
"Moofy!" Councillor Honoria was striding forward in joy for about three steps between coming around the screen and catching sight of Iroh for herself, and then she sprinted the rest of the way, taking his cheeks in her hands with worried clucking, turning his head this way and that. "Who dishonored you, darling boy? Some loose girl? A soldier without respect for our royal line? Oh, once they see me coming they will wish they could fight this with force."
"Hello, Aunt Honoria," Iroh attempted to calm her down before she could build up to a proper rage. Whereas her husband seemed unruffled by earthquakes and active volcanoes, Princess Honoria of the Fire Nation preferred to worry a problem to death - even one so minor as a haircut. "No one shamed me; I chose to cut my topknot of my own free will."
"Nonsense, Moofy, you are a prince - the crown prince - and I must see to it that no one takes advantage of your sweet nature." She certainly seemed to miss the irony as she directed him with wordless imperiousness toward a seat, hands at his epaulets as if he were still a child. His uncle took a sip of his coffee, sliding Iroh a cup without making eye contact. "Our nation's history may have its dark spots, but our traditions are to be respected and no stuffed-shirt sargent is going to pressure my little Moofy into cutting off his Moofy-poofy." The ambassador dropped a kiss into her nephew's pomade, and then was right back into her full-tilt rant. "I am Firelord Izumi's hand-picked ambassador and have seen this republic grow from some jumped-up abandoned colonies under my father's hand and I'm not afraid to set the whole city back in line if I have to. You and I carry the blood of Avatars and kings, Moofy, and don't think that just because I might not bend fire as well as my sister doesn't mean that I can't bend people to my will. If they want to try us like the upstarts tried our ancestors, then I will show them what a daughter of Firelord Zuko can do."
There were times when Iroh wished he had had siblings, or even a first cousin by blood - his mother had plenty of tales of the warmth and lessons of growing up with a little sister, his captain could leave the whole unit rolling with the pranks he and his sister had pulled on their younger brother, and twins like Eskna and Desna seemed inseparable. But then there were times when he was jealous of those hypothetical siblings and children of Honoria for not existing. "Aunt," he cut in, as soon as he felt he could get half a word in edgewise and not be completely dismissed. "You sound like Great-Aunt Azula in Grandfather's stories."
"Aunt Azula and her Sun Tribe would know plenty about regaining what has been lost. Do you need me to take you to her, pet? I will get you a leave of absence from your regiment; we'll bring Hiro and make a family trip of it." At least she'd leaned into his side, willing to conspire with Iroh if not listen to him.
"I mean like in the scary ones that made Grandmother snippy."
Honoria had the gall to laugh. "Well, Aunt Azula probably remembers how to do some of that, too. Start packing, Moofy, we'll leave in two weeks, as soon as I finish wrangling the rest of the council."
"There's no need," Iroh insisted. It wasn't that he would mind seeing his great-aunt, but there were duties of his own he needed to accomplish. "I'm fine. This was my decision."
"But why on earth would you do such a thing?" the ambassador asked plaintively, sounding far more like a child than one of the highest members of the republic and Fire Nation.
"Probably because you keep calling Lieutenant Iroh 'Moofy,' dear," Hiro said, flipping back another page. "Congratulations on the promotion, by the way."