Title: Visions and Revisions
Rating: K
Characters/Pairings: Iroh
Summary: There is much to consider as he heads home…
A/N: Written for theavatar100 Challenge #90: The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock. Iroh aaaaangst.
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
-The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock
The wind is turning his nose and ears red, but the top deck has always been his favorite to sit place on board, so instead he carefully cups the tea in his hands and warms it, hoping that the warmth will spread through the rest of his bones.
There is much to consider – what he'll say when the crown is placed on his head and what robes he'll wear the first time he sits on the throne and who will be on his court. The Fire Nation flag will be flying over Ba Sing Se, but he can leave it in the hands of his advisors for a couple months while Lu Ten returns home to marry a girl from one of the noble families; his brother might try to wrangle the position from his son -
("It makes sense that we two brothers would control two kingdoms, right, my lord?" He'll whisper slyly in Iroh's ear, and Iroh will smile, and agree, and know that Ozai does not deserve the Earth Kingdom because he has not shed blood for it.)
So Lu Ten will marry a nice girl from a large family and return to Ba Sing Se to keep control of the Earth Kingdom, and Ozai will stay in the Fire Nation, right under Iroh's nose, and when Zuko comes of age Iroh will place him on his court, if he turns out to be trustworthy. Lu Ten has whispered that he can already see signs of treachery turning up in Azula, and Iroh thinks that he'll have to shove her off into one of the lesser noble families, one with a large country estate.
Yes, there is much to consider.
He asks the guards to bring him another pot of ginseng tea; the ship continues its swift journey back to the Fire Nation, and Iroh busies his mind planning the future that should have been in order to keep his mind from wandering to the cargo-hold of the ship, where a metal box containing his son's body lies.
Originally posted 05/01/2007. Bear with me while I clear out my backlog people.