The Guardian

Chapter 7: The Second Charge

(A/N: WOW, it's been a while since I've worked on this story. This was actually the first story I ever published on this account, and it was abandoned for a while. However, as I am on vacation right now and the ocean inspires me, I've been updating ALL of my stories. So, without further ado, enjoy the chapter and shoot me a review.)

SEVENTY-ONE YEARS LATER

It would be many, many years before I received another charge. I did not know if this endless waiting was meant as punishment, or if it was truly just the natural order of things, as They said. It did not matter to me, whichever was true. If protecting was not an essential part of my existence, if I did not feel the continual ache to find my charges, and certainly if I were not waiting for Aang, I would have left long, long ago.

Guardians are meant to be unwaveringly obedient to the Council. It is in our nature. In truth, we are just like our masters. It is only the excessive time we have spent around humans that cause us to feel pale, ghostly imitations of their emotions.

But I...I was not obedient any longer. At least not absolutely. I didn't know of any other guardian that had ever been in existence that this had happened to. Perhaps none had ever felt such an upsurge of human emotion as I had. Even Leo and Enzo, dearest to my heart, did not understand.

They could never understand.

I did not outwardly challenge the Council. I would have been destroyed before I could even make a move. That was the extent of their ruthlessness, their arrogance. However much I hate it, though, those who possess ultimate power can afford to be arrogant. No, I certainly could not externally dispute Them, but even the Council could not see into the deepest, most secret depths of my heart.

I felt more human than I ever had, more than any Guardian has surely ever felt. Perhaps the depth of emotion I felt actually made me human.

Oh, how I wish that could be true. If I were truly human, I would not feel the ever-present urge to protect. No matter how much I fought it, I was and always would be just an empty vessel trying to imitate that which I wished to be.

It had been more than seventy years since Aang had been immured—I could think of no other word for it. I had no idea when—or if—he would be freed. I watched over him every day. Without fail, I went to him, used every ability I had to ensure that he stayed alive.

It was one not-so-special day, when I returned to the Upper World after some time with Aang, that the Council came to me. All fourteen of them were in my residence when I entered. They rarely appeared to Guardian all at once, so I knew that it was something very important.

"My Ladies," I said, bowing and hating myself for it. "Blessed be."

They didn't return the sentiment.

"It is time," said Lady Superbia, "for you to find your second charge." I gazed at her for a moment, saying nothing. Every fiber in my being screamed with relief that its need to protect would be fulfilled, but another part of me wanted nothing more than to dispute the Council.

"Of course, my Lady." Damn them and their power.

When I was taken before the Soul Stone once more, a sickening sense of de ja vu came over me, and for a moment I could not move. Here, standing in this place once more, as I had with Leo so many years ago, I could feel the needs that were the basis of my existence pushing to the surface. I fought them back like bile, but my feet seemed to take on a mind of their own, and I involuntarily stepped towards the Stone.

"Don't fight it, Guardian," said Lady Patientia. "This is who you are."

No, it's not. It's not who I am. You can't force me, you can't force me... I repeated the words over and over again in my mind. I didn't want this, I needed to fight it. They couldn't hold this power over me. They just couldn't...

My finger touched the Stone.

One day, I swore to myself, one day I would find something to break free of this...this curse. One day, I would be able to fight it. I had to be.

The image of the man before me reminded me nothing of Aang, and yet the same feeling that had risen in me when I first saw the Avatar, one of warmth and familiarity, washed over me now. As I looked closer at the man, who was a bit plump, but strong and perhaps in his mid-twenties, I saw that perhaps he and Aang did have one similarity. In their eyes, though different in colour and shape, there was a kindness that many humans did not possess, or rather were not capable of possessing.

"His name..." I whispered, my words lingering between a question and a statement.

"General Iroh of the Fire Nation." It was Lady Superbia that spoke. "His bending skills, though admirable, are not the reason we see such a power in him. That is a mystery for you to solve, Guardian. Go to him."

"Cease these vain attempts to deny your nature," said Lady Patientia. Her words, though they were meant to discourage, did just the opposite, only strengthening my resolve against her, against all of this. "Your attempts are futile, Guardian. We have faith that you will not fail us again."

I almost laughed. That was why she thought I was fighting the urges? Well, I suppose it was better than if she knew that I actually hated all of the Council, and everything they did.

"Of course, my Lady," assuring that my tone held no trace of mockery, but secretly disrespectful all the same. "I will go to my charge. General Iroh..." I lost all sense of hatred when I spoke his name. I would protect him as a Guardian should, but not for the benefit of the Council or their damn universal balance. Simply because he deserved to be protected.

…...

"A protector, you say? How curious." General Iroh was, as I had quickly learned, a very odd man. Though it was certainly there, if one looked close enough, his eyes barely betrayed a flicker of surprise when I appeared to him. Perhaps this was because of his place in the Fire Nation Army, or perhaps it was, as aforementioned, because he was a very strange man indeed.

He listened to my explanation without a fight, and took in every word intently. He was, I assumed, for a human, almost too trusting of me. Almost immediately, he took every word I said as fact and did not argue. Though I was grateful, I was also very confused.

"I don't understand, General Iroh—"

"It's just Iroh, please."

"Very well, Iroh. I don't understand how, as a human, and a military official no less, are not more suspicious of me."

"Ah, yes," replied Iroh, taking a sip of his tea. It made the whole room smell of ginseng. "But I have learned, in my years, that many things can be found out about a person, simply by the look in their eyes. It is, I suppose, a talent I've acquired."

I smiled, genuinely. "I rather enjoy your company, Iroh."

"And I yours, Miss Delaine. Is there anything else we should discuss?"

"Will you tell me about yourself, Iroh? Your age, your family, anything. I would like to know you better."

A smile graced the man's lips as he lifted his teacup once more. Taking a sip from it, he looked away from me, over to the far wall of the darkened room we sat in. It was a fair-sized room, fit for a man with wealth, and decorated with many scarlet and gold tapestries and paintings. The ornate quilt on the bed matches these, all of it bouncing off the wood-paneled walls and giving the room a fiery sort of glow.

"I am twenty years of age now, two years younger than my brother, Ozai. We are the sons of the King and Queen of the Fire Nation..."

…...

The conversation that I shared with Iroh, a man whom I barely knew and yet felt so close to, would remain concretely imprinted in my memory for many, many years to come. Talks such as these began to make up my existence. I would spend my days watching over Aang, and then going to Iroh.

I learned from the unusual man in more ways than I would have thought possible. In twenty years of a human life, he had gained more wisdom than the Council could in an eternity. I liked him very much. When he went to battle, I accompanied him, watching over from above and assuring him I was there. I was not invisible to those around Iroh, but he chose to keep me a secret. I didn't particularly mind. I was not there for the benefit of anyone else.

Thirteen years after I met Iroh he was an even stronger man, and yet still infinitely gaining sapience and intelligence. It was then that a birth occurred in Iroh's family. His brother, Ozai, now the Fire Lord, had been given a son by his wife, Ursa.

They named him Zuko.

I never saw the infant, but I heard of him endlessly. The love and affection in Iroh's eyes was enough to make me feel a glimmer of care for the child as well.

If only I had known, back then, that this was the child who would change my life forever.

(A/N: Okay, not sure how well I like this chapter, but maybe it's just me. Don't worry, I'm not just going to brush over Delaine's relationship with Iroh like that. The next chapter will feature memories of her time with him, but other things (in the present day) will be happening simultaneously. Make sense? Probably not :P You'll just have to read and find out. I'll try to have another chapter out by next weekend, but in the meantime, please review!)

Hugs and tickles,

ChasedByTheShadows