Author's Note: Hey everyone, before we proceed, I just wanted to thank everyone of you for reading and supporting this story, it does mean a lot, though, reviews would be even more appreciated. Anyway, as I see in my stats that this keeps being one of my most read stories, here we go. Btw, I think, this is the first story of mine to reach 20000 words, I'm amazed. I also think, this is the longest chapter I ever wrote, thus I think, a little self-appreciation is in place, yay!
Somewhere in the Fire Nation, 100 AC
They flew on Appa for the second day in a row, disguised as a cloud, well, a pretty fast and talkative cloud, they searched for a hiding place. All of sudden Aang turned towards the others, "I think I see a cave below."
Lu Ten moved towards the edge of the saddle to get a look of it while Sokka hissed at him, "Sh! Keep quiet!", Lu Ten rolled his eyes. The Water Tribe boy wanted so desperately to be the leader of the group, without realizing that his commands were a bit unnecessary at the moment. As if somebody could hear them up in the skies.
They landed near the cave and Sokka started to examine it, while the others began unpacking everything from the bison's saddle. "Great job with the cloud camo, but next time, let's disguise ourselves as the kind of cloud that knows how to keep his mouth shut."
At this point his comments were unnerving not only to Lu Ten, but for the rest of the group. Toph turned towards the Water Tribe boy, "Yeah, we wouldn't want a bird to hear us chatting up there and turn us in.", she said sarcastically.
Sokka answered her, his voice lowered in a hissing tone, "Hey, we're in enemy territory. Those are enemy birds."
Lu Ten put a sleeping bag down from Appa's saddle and raised an eyebrow at this. He walked over to the boy casually, and said in a nonchalant voice, "Sokka, these are toucan puffins. They are feeding off fish. I don't think they pose a danger to you.", everyone laughed as one of the birds jumped on Sokka's head and screeched, "Besides,", Lu Ten added, "If you're mistrusting them, just because they happen to live here, what do you make of me?", suddenly the laughter subsided.
The Water Tribe boy looked to the ground, "Sorry, Lu Ten. I tend to forget that you're Fire Nation.", to which the firebender smiled. Then he put the sleeping bag in Sokka's arms, "Come on, inspector, help us out.", so, they finished unpacking everything from Appa's saddle together.
Afterwards, Sokka dropped himself against the cave walls, spreading his arms he whined, "Well, this is it. This is how we'll be living until the invasion begins. Hiding in cave after cave after cave after cave…", his head dropping each time he said the word 'cave'.
Lu Ten chuckled, "Where is your positive attitude, Sokka? I hid in enemy territory a few times in my life, and let me tell you, what you need is not necessarily a cave, it is some new clothes."
Aang beamed at this, "Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out. If we get Fire Nation disguises, we would be just as safe as we would be hiding in a cave."
Toph added, "Plus, we could get some real food out there. Or does anyone prefer cave hoppers?", she punched into a wall and a good number of insects hopped out. Momo preyed happily on them, but the rest of the group was rather disgusted.
A short while later they sneaked up to a home where clothes hang out to dry on a line. Lu Ten had stayed a bit behind. He had looked around a bit on their way here and found that he knew the area. He didn't expect to run into familiar fields so soon, but there was hardly an area he knew better, except possibly for Caldera. The prince smiled at the memories playing through his mind. He didn't have time to relive them now, but maybe the past could help him out with a few things. Anyways, the teens were getting ready to steal some clothes. Hastily he closed the distance. A quick overview of what hang on that line showed him that they would all find something, except for him. Sighing he cut into the group's conversation, "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but as far as I see it, nothing there will fit me. Luckily, I know this area. And I know where I can get some civilian clothes. I wanted to visit the place anyway. So, if you don't mind, I'll take off for today. I'll be back for dinner, I'm sure you can manage to stay out of trouble for the time?", he looked at each of them.
The Gaang looked at each other, then back at him, until Aang smiled, "Sure. Where are you going?"
Lu Ten's smile got sad, "Well, my in-law's old house is not far. If I'm lucky, it was left untouched. And maybe I can even find a clue where Lian is now."
Leaving the teens with their search for clothing, Lu Ten got back on his way. He still wore Fire Nation armor, so, he just took the street. When he saw someone coming his way, he quickly looked 'accidentally' the other way, he didn't need someone remembering his face, not here and not now.
After about two hours of marching, he arrived at the old house. He remembered it in a better state, but as it seemed, the only thing that had harmed it was time and neglect. It was a tall, two-floored house made of white stones and with a once red roof. The front door was made out of dark wood and tightly locked. Lu Ten surrounded the building, he knew what he was searching for. The back door was as tightly locked as the front door.
A voice from the past reached through his memory, it was Lian's voice, "I'll show you how to come in whenever you like. You know about the back door, right? Here, see this key? It is always hidden under this flowerpot, the right one, not the left, so, just in case father or I forget our keys we can still get inside, and now you can too.", he smiled as he relived the memory, still hearing her laughter in the breeze. The flowerpot was heavy, even after so many years and no flowers left in it. He wondered, if that key had ever been needed. He couldn't imagine Lian lifting that thing.
The key was rusty and dirty, but it worked. Lu Ten stepped inside and needed a short break to stop his mind from bombarding him with memories and emotions. Dust had settled on nearly everything, but it still looked as if the owners could come around the next corner any minute. He walked through the kitchen into the floor and into the main hall. Remembering something he quickly stepped into the main entry. There hung a family portrait of Jeong Jeong, still with black hair, top knot and armor, his wife, a beautiful woman in a long dress, and his daughter Lian, maybe eight or nine years old. She smiled playfully at the viewer while her parents looked as proud as they could. Lu Ten smiled at the picture and bowed quickly. I hope you're alright, all of you, he thought.
After he had thus paid his respects, he went up to the second floor. As he stood in the floor he took a deep breath, before opening the first door. It was the bedroom that had belonged to his father-in-law. Somehow, he still felt like he was doing something forbidden. But he said to himself, if Jeong Jeong was here, he would most likely understand why he needed to do this. As he had expected, the room was extremely tidy. There wasn't even a single fold on the bed sheets, even after all this time.
Lu Ten opened the wardrobe and began searching for clothes that would fit him. He ended up with a black, high-collared tunic and a dark red robe with small golden details stitched into the sleeves, dark brown trousers and black high boots with golden details and matching forearm guards. He also took a dark red cloak that could cover the civilian clothes as well as the armor.
Packing his armor in a bag, he went on to search the room quickly for any trace where the former admiral could've gone to but found none. Not that he had expected one though, his father-in-law had always been thoroughly. Then he went on to Lian's room. He took another deep breath before entering.
Everything was still as he remembered it. For a moment he just sat down on the bed and ran his hand over the sheets, smiling and with tears in his eyes. Spirits, did he miss her. He remembered them running around the house, married just for a few weeks and finally her father had not been there for once. They played catch like children, and it was in this room where he caught her. They had both crashed on the bed and the child's play changed to a more adult activity. He remembered how her hair became undone as he pushed her against the cushions, his gaze wandered towards the head of the bed and spotted something that he wasn't familiar with, at least not in this room.
On the nightstand stood a picture, it was not too large, just so that one could hold it with one hand. He moved towards it and held it in front of him. He knew the motive, but he had never known that she had a copy made of it. It showed both of them, slightly turned to one another. They were both clothed in very elegant robes and Lian's hair was for once in a complicated updo, adorned with a lot of jewelry. He remembered, he would've never had this made, the risk of it being used as evidence was too great, but Zhang had talked him into it, saying, "Come on, buddy. You need a picture of your wedding. You guys will never look this good again.", he could still see his best friend grin at them.
On a whim he decided to take the picture with him. Whatever had happened to her, now he at least had a picture of her, could look at her face again, even if it was the sixteen-years-old variant of it. In the meantime, some things would've changed for sure. Just as he wanted to put it in his bag something moved behind the small painting. His gaze shot towards the paper. There was the edge of a folded sheet lurking from behind it. Carefully he pulled it out. It was a letter, and, on the envelope, there were only two signs, "Lu Ten". He was shocked for a moment, just staring at the closed letter. Almost hesitantly he opened it and began reading.
Lu Ten, my love,
I'm writing this because father and I will leave this place in a few hours. I know, everybody thinks you died in this stupid siege, but since your body was not found, I dare to doubt it. I don't know where you are, or what you're doing, and maybe you are really dead and I'm writing this in vain, but I do know that if you are alive, you will come and search for us. Father will probably be furious with me for writing this letter, but I'll hide it, so no-one will find it but you. He's sleeping right now, actually I should be sleeping too, but I cannot anyway, my back hurts so much.
Here's what I know of the route we're going to take: We will take the ferry to the capital around midnight and then we'll take another one to the colonies. A lot of people are travelling from the colonies and back this day because of the summer solstice, the fireworks and festivities and so on, so we figured, we could pass unnoticed. From the colonies we'll then head out into the Earth Kingdom, whereto I'm not sure, but father seems to know a few people that will help us.
I'm sorry for the smear on the last sentence, the baby kicked. You know, being pregnant is not as easy as I thought at first. Not that it would be that terrible, but the last few days are wearing me out. The baby started kicking way more frequently, I bet it feels that I'm nervous. Also, the backpain keeps increasing, especially today. And I'm getting more and more anxious about how this will all end. I know, I've wanted a lot of kids, but now that it's almost about time to give birth, I feel like a nervous wreck. Spirits, I could use one of your reassuring hugs now. You can't imagine how much I miss you; I hope we'll see each other again soon. I love you so much, whatever happens, never forget that.
Forever yours,
Jeong Lian
The last few sentences were a bit blurred by tear stains. Lu Ten covered his mouth with one of his bandaged hands, the other one clenching to her letter. Tears ran down his face. He sat like this for a few moments, then he carefully put the letter and the picture in his bag, before allowing himself for once to cry, slinging his arms around himself. He let himself fall backwards on the bed and whispered, "I love you so much, please forgive me.", then he smiled. Her intuition had always been great, but to feel that he was still alive… Lu Ten shook his head. Incredible, just incredible. He felt the urge to stand up and run back into the Earth Kingdom, run until he found her, hugged her, kissed her. Them, he corrected himself, until I found them. He laid there for a while longer, staring at the ceiling and bathing in memories and emotions.
It was already afternoon when he raised again. He must've slept in at some point. Quickly he got up and took his bag, straightening his new clothes. Lu Ten took a last glance at Lian's room before he finally left the house, careful to lock the backdoor again and hide the key in the same space as it had been before. Calmly he walked back to the cave.
When he reached the entrance, he could already hear the teenagers' voices. Apparently, some kind of argument was going on. They didn't notice him at first, except for Toph of course. He walked over to her and bowed down to her. "Hey there, Sifu Hotman.", she greeted him. He smiled at her, "Good to see you, Toph. Why are they arguing?"
Toph shrugged her shoulders, "Twinkle-Toes got into trouble.", and before Lu Ten could ask, "No Avatar trouble, but he was suddenly gone around noon and only returned a few minutes ago. Apparently, he enrolled in a Fire Nation school.", surprised the firebender raised his eyebrows. Then he noticed Aang's clothing.
Lu Ten raised and straightened himself before he walked towards the other group members. He coughed, no one reacted, he coughed again, this time louder. Suddenly everyone was silent and looking at them. Then Aang smiled at him, "Hello Sifu Hotman! Looking good."
The firebender smiled, his eyes closed. "Thanks, Aang. But I have a question,", his voice raised a bit with a hint of anger or maybe annoyance, "Why on earth are you wearing a school uniform?"
Caldera, City Prison, 100 AC
Zuko walked towards a certain cell, he closed the iron door behind him and sat down in front of the cage, "Uncle, it's me.". The old man sat on the floor but turned away with a scowl on his face. With a more agitated voice the prince went on, "You brought this on yourself, you know. We could have returned together. You could have been a hero!", he gave his uncle a moment to answer, but none came, "You have no right to judge me, uncle. I did what I had to do in Ba Sing Se, and you're a fool for not joining me.", Zuko was getting more and more angry at his uncle, who continued to stay silent, "You're not going to say anything? You're a crazy old man! You're crazy! And if you weren't in jail, you'd be sleeping in the gutter, just like your traitorous son!", he turned away, ready to storm out and slam the door behind him.
But suddenly the old man had turned around in his cage and was now standing, gripping the iron bars, "You have no right to speak about Lu Ten! Absolutely none! My son was no traitor, he gave his life for this country, for this wretched war!", it was one of the very few times that Iroh had ever raised his voice. Zuko didn't think the old man had such a level of anger within him, but apparently, he had struck a nerve. By now, the old man had tears in his eyes and stared angrily at his nephew.
Zuko turned his head towards him, almost whispering he said, "Uncle, Lu Ten is not dead. I met him in Ba Sing Se, but he didn't want me to tell you that he's alive.", the prince let out the part of how Lu Ten got to Ba Sing Se, and the part where his cousin had asked him to keep an eye on Iroh for him. He left the old man that way, eyes widened in shock, staring at his nephew. Wave after wave of different emotions washed over the former general. His son was alive? But how? And why didn't he want him to know about it? Then again, maybe this was all just a lie. It wouldn't surprise him in this family.
Somewhere in the Fire Nation, in a certain cave, 100 AC
Lu Ten was laying down inside the cave, waiting for Aang's return from his second day at school. In the end, he thought, maybe the idea wasn't so bad to send the boy to school. Some order and discipline would probably have a good effect on him. On the other hand, there was hardly anything to do with this much free time. His heart longed to see Lian again. Since he had visited her old home he missed her even more, if that was possible. With her, spending free time was never boring. He could just lay in the grass next to her and watch her all day long. But without her, every hour seemed to last an eternity.
All of sudden the airbender came running home with a speed Lu Ten had never seen before. The boy was seemingly panicking. He stopped at the center of the cave and breathed heavily for a few moments. "Guys, we have a problem.", everyone looked at him questioningly, "I got involved in a fight in the school yard, and now the headmaster wants to see my parents to discuss my punishment. What are we going to do?"
Sokka shrugged his shoulders, "What we always do. Pack everything up and search for the next cave."
Lu Ten sat up, "I don't think that's a good idea. If he disappears like that, it will draw an investigation."
Toph raised an eyebrow at him, "And what do you suggest we do, Sifu Hotman?"
Lu Ten stood up, "I suggest, he's going to get his father to speak to the headmaster.", he smiled as everyone's jaw dropped and walked towards his bag. There he began putting on his armor.
"What are you doing?", Sokka asked.
Without turning towards him, Lu Ten answered, "I want this guy to respect me, Sokka. I'm not going to let him be the only person of authority in the room.", finally he put his cloak over the armor and gestured for Aang to follow him, "Come on, son. We don't want to keep the headmaster waiting."
The children on the schoolyard stared in amazement as 'Kuzon' walked his way towards the principal's office, the bandaged hand of his father on his shoulder at all times. They didn't know the new boy had a military background, and judging from his looks, not from the colonies.
Nervously Aang shot Lu Ten a glance, earning himself a slight but reassuring smile. The firebender whispered, "Don't worry, boy. We'll get this done."
The headmaster waited for them in his office, sitting beneath a portrait of Fire Lord Ozai. Hastily the man stood up when he saw Lu Ten enter. He had not anticipated that the boy's father was a navy commander. Aang and Lu Ten bowed and all three of them sat down. Noticeably there was another chair left empty, presumably for the boy's mother.
The headmaster began talking, "Thanks for coming, Commander…"
Lu Ten answered nonchalantly, "Wei. I am Commander Wei Zhang, of the Eastern Fleet. Now, why did you call me here?"
The headmaster was visibly sweating, "Commander Wei, your son has been enrolled here for two days and he's already causing problems. He's argued with his history teacher, disrupted music class, and roughed up my star pupil."
Lu Ten raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? That doesn't sound like Kuzon at all, you see, my son is rather a little too shy at times. I fear that this could all be my fault entirely, headmaster.", he said, closing his eyes and raising a hand to his chin. "You see, I left my son with his mother in the colonies for a good part of his life, since I had to serve our great country in the war. Thus, I wasn't there when she died of an unknown illness this spring.", Aang remembered to play along and looked at the ground, seemingly with tears in his eyes, "Then I got injured and was sent home, only to find my son alone and almost starved", Lu Ten casually showed his bandaged hands, "and I decided to take him back to the homeland, where my family comes from. He knew I always thought him a bit weak, so I fear, after the loss of his mother he wanted to impress me by appearing stronger, roughing up your student like that. I'm very sorry for the trouble he caused, headmaster. It will not happen again, right, son?", he raised his voice at the last two words and laid a firm hand on Aang's shoulder.
The airbender whispered a "Yes, Father. I'm sorry, Father, it won't happen again."
Lu Ten smiled apologetically at the headmaster. The principal was obviously grateful that this military person didn't cause any further trouble. In a militaristic society, you could be messing with just the wrong person and end in the coal mines yourself, or worse.
As they stepped out of the school the sun was setting and a cold breeze hit them. Aang shuddered a bit. "Thank you for bailing me out, Dad.", he said, giggling a bit. Lu Ten chuckled at the kid, "No problem, son. But you should be careful not to get into trouble again. Who knows how many times I can bail you out.", recognizing that the monk was shivering from the cold air he shared his cloak with him for the rest of the way.
"I know, we should leave rather soon, but I'm not ready to leave yet, Sifu. I really had fun with kids my age for once, just like a normal child. I want to do something for them, but I don't know what.", Aang said with a sad voice.
Lu Ten thought for a moment about it, "Hm, back in my days we used to throw secret dance parties. But maybe those kids are a bit too young for that."
Aang beamed, "That sounds cool. It would show them a taste of freedom. Do you think, we could throw one in the cave, Lu Ten?"
Lu Ten sighed, "I guess we could. I mean, we can't offer drinks, but maybe we can organize a few musicians, candles and so on."
Walking happily beside him, Aang asked, "Lu Ten, maybe this is a bit of a personal question, but did you meet your wife at such a secret dance party?"
The prince smiled slightly sad, "No, actually not. I met Lian when my father dragged me along to meet Jeong Jeong for a war meeting. She served us some tea. Later I excused myself, because I was only seventeen and all the tactics talk made my head smother. I saw her sitting in the garden and she caught me staring at her and invited me to sit with her. We began talking and in the next time I found an excuse to visit Jeong Jeong more and more often. Since it is quite a bit of way to Caldera, I always needed to stay more than one day and sometimes Lian would drag me along to one of those parties."
Aang looked at his Sifu, the man was obviously reliving his memories, smiling and looking in the far distance, "Didn't you have guards with you?", he asked curiously.
Lu Ten looked down on the monk, "Well, only a few since this was our territory and I was myself a good fighter. We used to drag them along with us, so everyone had some fun."
The Avatar hesitated for a moment, "Sifu, in your in-law's house, did you find something about your wife and child?"
The firebender's expression saddened a bit, "A little. Not much though, my father-in-law was always prepared, always thoroughly, he didn't leave a trace behind. Lian on the other hand, … apparently, her intuition told her that I was not dead. She left a letter for me, hidden behind a copy of our wedding portrait. It doesn't tell where they are now, but at least, what Jeong Jeong had planned. If everything worked out like he had planned, they took a ferry to Caldera and then another towards the colonies at the morning of the summer solstice. The solstice would cause a lot of people to take the ferries hence and forth so they could blend in and from there he wanted to flee into the Earth Kingdom, where you found him. Alas, where Lian and the child are, is still a mystery. She was still pregnant when they left."
The monk could see that, even though it had held no specific information, the letter gave Lu Ten hope. Hope that everything was alright with his family. "I'm sure they're fine. Wherever they are.", he said, trying to sound reassuring. It earned him a smile from the firebender.
They walked a while in comfortable silence. Suddenly a question shot through Aang's head, "Sifu, are the dances I learned back with Kuzon still modern?"
Lu Ten laughed at him, "The most not really, Aang. Please don't do the 'Phoenix Flight', that thing has been out for like seventy years."
"Camelephant Strut?"
"Possibly, but don't overdo it."
"Uh, can I show them how to dance in Ba Sing Se?"
"They dance in Ba Sing Se? Well then, why not, but don't mention you've been there, please.", suddenly Lu Ten stopped for a moment, "You know, why don't you invite Katara to dance. There are dances for two, you know."
Aang raised an eyebrow, interested in what the prince had to say. Lu Ten turned towards him, so they faced each other, "This one is out of the play 'Love among Dragons', which is still pretty popular. My aunt loved it very much and since my uncle is not a big dancer nor a big theater fan, I used to dance it with her.", he took up Aang's hand in his and began twirling him around.
At some point Aang started to laugh, "Sifu, stop! I think I'm going to throw up if you continue like this."
Lu Ten grinned at the airbender, "Lian's favorite dance was called 'Breeze on a Fire Lily Field', it works like this.", he began dancing with Aang again, this time the movements were slower and more elegantly, wider steps and each of them turning around after a series of steps.
"But I think you'll like this one best.", the firebender continued, "It is called 'Duel Dance', and is mostly done by couples consisting of two benders. It is a very free dance, the only rules are that you start like this,", he went into an actual bending stance, one of his arms raised with the palm showing, and motioned for Aang to mirror it, so their arms crossed. "Then you take two steps to the side in a circular movement and then you're basically free to do whatever you like, just focus on your partner while you dance. Most folks tend to include a lot of bending forms without bending of course.", Aang found this way more pleasant than the other dances. "Oh, and Aang, one last tip. When you're ending the dance, twirl her around, catch her and kiss her, if you like to, of course.", Lu Ten said, winking at him.
In the cave, the others weren't exactly thrilled at the idea of throwing a dance party, but in the end they all agreed to help. As Toph sensed the guests approaching Lu Ten gestured towards Appa's hideout, "I'm going to spend the evening next to our fluffy friend. It would be a bit weird having your father at the secret dance party, wouldn't it?", thus he smiled and walked out of the cave.
He packed everything onto Appa's saddle. It could be that they needed to make an escape, as innocent as the dance party was. Then he took out the picture he had obtained at Lian's house and looked at it in the dim light. He stroke it gently with his thumb. Suddenly he heard something crack behind him and turned towards the Water Tribe Boy.
"Hey Sokka", he said, "Don't you want to join the party?"
The teenager slowly sat down beside him and shook his head, "No, all these kids, I don't feel like I belong there.", he noticed the picture in Lu Ten's hand, "Hey, what is that?"
Lu Ten smiled at him, "This is a copy of Lian's and my wedding portrait. I took it from her room.", he handed it over to Sokka. The boy looked closely at it.
"You look like you haven't changed at all, except for the scar. And your wife, she's really beautiful. How did you manage to get such a beauty to marry you? Royal bonus?"
Lu Ten chuckled and took the portrait back, "Since we married in secret against my grandfather's will, not so much. If this would have come out when he was still alive, it would have probably ended with Lian in prison."
Sokka looked surprised at him, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
Lu Ten put a hand on Sokka's shoulder, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you've had some rough times in your life as well."
The Water Tribe boy nodded, "Yes. When I was nine, my mother was killed in a Fire Nation raid. They wanted Katara and Mom sacrificed herself for her.", Lu Ten had known that from Hakoda, but stayed silent, "Honestly, I'm not even sure that I'd know how she looked like.", that took Lu Ten off guard.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Sokka.", Lu Ten said in a compassionate tone, and after a while he added, "I've also lost my mother."
Sokka looked up at the firebender, who was looking in the distance. "How did she die?", was the only thing that came to his mind.
"Childbirth. My childbirth.", Lu Ten said almost silently. They both sat down in a somewhat awkward silence until they heard some noises from the cave. Suddenly the wall next to them disappeared and Toph, Aang and Katara stormed out, the earthbender closing the wall behind them again. Quickly they all got into Appa's saddle and Aang explained while flying, "That kid that tried to punch me in the school yard told the headmaster. He came with soldiers. Luckily the other students helped us out. But we have to leave now.", and a little while later he added, "It was a lot of fun though."
Caldera, City Prison, 100 AC
"I brought you some Komodo chicken. I know you don't care for it, but I figure it beats prison food.", Zuko said as he slid the tray into the iron cage his uncle was held in. "I admit it, I have everything I always wanted, but it's not at all how I thought it would be.", he took a deep breath, "The truth is, I need your advice. I think the Avatar is still alive, I know he's out there. I'm losing my mind.", he gripped the iron bars, and his voice became desperate, "Please, Uncle, I'm so confused, I need your help. I'm sorry what I said about Lu Ten, but when I fought the Avatar at Ba Sing Se, he used a firebending form that Lu Ten created himself, that he only showed me for what I know. How could he know it if Lu Ten didn't show him? Back when I met him, he told me, he's in good company and that I shouldn't ask about it, but I guess I figured out what he meant. I just don't get it. Why would my cousin betray his country, his family, even you?", he still didn't get a response from his uncle. That drove him mad, he turned sharply towards the door, "Forget it, I'll solve it myself! Waste away in here for all I care!", the prince left his uncle's cell, not seeing the single tear that ran down Iroh's face.