Eternity

In which we visit Iroh, and go to the Firelight fountain.

I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Last Airbender: The Legend Of Korra, but I do own…wow…this is getting WAY too hard…

….

"There it is mummy!" Announced Kya excitedly as The Jasmine Dragon came into view.

Aang and Katara had to attend an important meeting in Ba Sing Se updating them on the current status of the world; as much as they had wanted, children weren't allowed to these meetings. The only exception was Kasami.

Katara was holding Kasami and Kya was walking close to her. Aang had Tenzin holding one of his hands and Gyatso holding the other. They were approaching Irohs famous tea shop for him to watch the children. Iroh had volunteered when he had heard about their situation; he loved these children very dearly and was going to close his tea shop early today to take them on a tour of Ba Sing Se.

"Your right Kya" Said Katara, leading them up the steps of the famous tea shop where they were greeted by a familiar man.

"Uncle Iroh!" Three voices yelled together as they rushed forward to hug him; the customers in the shop were a little startled by the sudden noise but soon went back to drinking their tea.

"It is very good to see you, it had been far too long" Iroh said to the group at large.

Although they had no relation; as with Zuko and Mai, the children liked to call him Uncle Iroh. Iroh didn't mind, he also referred to them as his Nieces and Nephews.

"How is the little Kasami?" Iroh asked, peering into the blankets in Kataras arms that held the infant

"Sleeping at the moment" Aang said with a smile.

"We have to go now kids, be good for your Uncle!" Katara kissed them all in turn

"We will" came Gyatsos voice as he got kissed by his mother a second time.

"Good-bye!" Said Aang as he took his wife by the hand and led her down the street in the general direction he knew the meeting was.

….

"What are we going to do today Uncle Iroh?" Asked Tenzin as Iroh led them to the back of the teashop where he lived, it wasn't big, but it was enough for Iroh to be comfortable, besides, he spent most of his days in the tea shop anyway.

"I have to run the tea shop for another hour, but then I am going to take you kids to one of my favourite places in all of Ba Sing Se!" explained Iroh, earning him inquisitive looks from the children.

"Where are we going?" Asked Kya.

"It's a surprise!" Irohs eyes twinkled as he walked back into the teashop to serve customers.

….

Tenzin and Gyatso sat either side of a large Pai Sho table situated in the middle of the living room. The pair had no idea of what they were doing or what the rules were, but they were having fun trying to figure out how to play the game their Uncle loved so much.

Kya had decided to help Uncle Iroh, she walked into the kitchen where she saw several tea pots on a flame; heating the water. Every time her Uncle came out and emptied a tea pot to make a customer some tea, she would use her waterbending abilities to fill it back up.

Iroh smiled as he watched Kya helping him, "She reminds me of Lu-Ten, the way he always wanted to help his father" Iroh thought

He jumped as he heard a crash coming from his living room, running into the living room he saw Tenzin and Gyatso hurrying to pick up the Pai Sho pieces. They had accidently begun using Airbending and had blown the tiles everywhere, luckily nothing had been broken.

"They remind me Lu-Ten as well, working to correct their mistakes, always learning from them" Thought Iroh, as he carried the tea he had just made into the teashop to serve the customer who had ordered it.

….

The Jasmine Dragon was the best tea shop in Ba Sing Se. Owners of other tea shops would often come and buy some tea to find out his secret, but they could never copy his superb abilities. "The secret ingredient…is love" Is what he always answered with, when asked what his secret to such great tea was.

The owners of the other teashops would also often ask where he bought his tea leafs from; he grew a lot of his tea but also bought some of a merchant in the lower ring. When they had found this out, the merchant was flooded with orders. They had the exact same ingredients but still failed to mimic his magnificent tea. The merchant later thanked him for the great deal of business he had been getting from those who didn't want to give up. There were still people trying to copy him but they would never succeed.

Ever since the residents of Ba Sing Se had found out that the Fire-lord, his wife, and his daughter frequently visited the tea shop, he had begun to have a lot more customers, they had come for a chance to meet the royal family, but had become regular customers when they tried the tea.

Apart from the delectable tea, people also came to The Jasmine Dragon for advice. Iroh was renowned for his excellent advice, which almost always helped them to solve their problems. Sometimes they just needed someone to listen too, other times, a gentle nudge in the right direction. He never told them what to do, for if he did, he would just be a dictator, he told them about his past experiences and hoped that they would be able to choose right from wrong and solve their own problems.

Iroh loved his tea shop because it let him make a positive difference to people lives.

…

Iroh hung up a "closed" sign to the door when there were just a few people left drinking their tea.

"One should never rush tea, one should be allowed to drink it, savour it, and muse over problems in their life in order to find a solution" he thought. Instead of rushing the people left in his shop, he decided to go make Kya, Tenzin and Gyatso a cup of tea.

With help from the children he made his favourite brew- Jasmine tea. They all had a good time learning from Iroh how to make tea.

When they were done, he added plenty of milk for the little ones and handed the tea out.

Gyatso thought his tea was delicious.

Tenzin thought his tea was a little bitter, so Iroh added some sugar to sweeten it.

Kya thought her tea was a little hot, so Iroh added some more milk to hers to cool it down.

In the end, everyone had a slightly different tea to cater for their different taste, but they all thought it was delicious.

It reminded Iroh of life. If you just work toward making small adjustments to your life, you can end up with a very happy and fulfilling one.

….

When everyone had left, Iroh wrote a note informing Aang and Katara of where they would be if they come back early and telling them to help themselves to anything. After that, he led them out of his shop and into the heart of Ba Sing Se.

They had a wonderful time walking and looking at all the different stalls and street performers that littered Ba Sing Se, sometime customers would come up and talk to him, complimenting his tea or thanking him for his advice.

Finally they ended up at their destination.

The Firelight Fountain.

Iroh use to come here with his son.

The lamps made the water sparkle and reflect in the most beautiful way.

The lamps had been lit, so when they approached he heard the children's reactions.

"Wow" Breathed Kya as she approached the fountain. "It's beautiful"

Tenzin didn't say anything but he thought this place was the most wonderful in all of Ba Sing Se.

Gyatso gasped as he saw the fountain, the light was dancing on the water and casting the most beautiful reflection.

"This is the Firelight Fountain" Explained Iroh as he sat down. He gazed up to the moon- it was almost full, they had spent longer on their journey here then he had realised.

….

A young boy held the hand of his father as they journeyed through the magnificent city that was Ba Sing Se; they eventually came across a fountain. The father used his Firebending to light all the lamps that hung around the fountain and floated on the water. The young boy gasped as he took in what was in front of him, the light was dancing with every movement of the water. They spent a long time there, splashing the water to watch the reflections and running around. The young boy's favourite game was to chase his father.

They ran and ran through Ba Sing Se until they eventually found themselves in an area full of grass; it was bare except for a single tree. The father leaned against this tree to catch his breath- suddenly his son jumped out from behind it. He used his hands to mimic a Firebending move.

"I got you dad!" He yelled. The father fell to the ground, pretending to have been hit with the blast. The boy jumped onto his belly and laughed. They stayed like that for a while

"I love you dad" He whispered as he fell asleep on his father, running through the city had taken more out of him then his father had thought.

His father scooped up the young boy into his arms and made their way back to their house where he would tuck him in and wish that he had pleasant dreams.

"I love you too Lu-Ten, more then you will even know."

….

They spent a little while at the Firelight Fountain before heading back. Aang and Katara were waiting at The Jasmine Dragon when they entered.

"We had the most wonderful time!" Exclaimed Gyatso, rushing to hug his mother and father.

"Uncle Iroh is the best!" Tenzin added, being drawn into a hug by his father

"We went to the most beautiful place, and Uncle Iroh made us some tea!" Said Kya, kissing her mother on the cheek

"That's wonderful Kya" Replied Katara, shifting her grip on Kasami as to give more hugs.

"I even helped to make the tea and everything!" Said Gyatso, looking proud at his achievement.

"They weren't too much trouble were they Iroh?" Asked Aang.

"No trouble at all, it was a pleasure!" Iroh replied truthfully.

These children reminded him of his son. He missed his son, after he had found out he had died, he had journeyed to the spirit world to join him. Lu-Ten made him realise that he should spent his life trying to make others life better. He would join his son one day, and when he did, it would be for eternity.

….

For AceyJacey

A/N As always, that you so much for reading this story! I had gotten a review from AceyJacey asking about Iroh. Thank you so much to all my wonderful readers and reviewers, you guys make this all worthwhile!

Please review with comments, questions or ideas; I will address all reviews in future chapters so please send them in!

SheWolfQueen- Thank you so much for reviewing again! It makes me so happy to know that people are following my story! Thanks for the amazing compliment and I will try to update as much as possible. In about 2 weeks I will have a 2 week break so I will update heaps more!

AceyJacey- I'm really sorry if you are disappointed that Aang and Kataras family didn't go visit Iroh, but the next best thing is them visiting Iroh, right? Your review was one of the most amazing I have ever received. That is exactly what I was aiming for in this story, and it is what I pictured too. With wonderful reviewers like you, how could I stop this story? ^_^