The Unpredictable Fire Adventurers [General Iroh II x Reader] [Legend of Korra]

『a group forever

Dinner passes in a mostly silent fashion. A few passing comments amongst the group and a few questions from General Azusa are the only noise to grace the feast. Fire Lord Izumi utters not a single word while Melina glowers from her chair.

But the moment the Fire Lord places her utensils neatly on the plate, she presents her thoughts. "So, is there anything you'd like to say after all this time away?"

The question feels loaded. A lot can be said to his mother, but Iroh isn't sure what type of answer she wants to hear. Does she want an apology? Does she want a playthrough of his adventures? Or does she simply want to hear about his discoveries?

"Dear, you need to be more clear," General Azusa states gently.

She notices her lack of context and eases up slightly. "I'm asking you, Iroh, your reason for leaving and your return. Surely if you were miserable here, you wouldn't want to return, yet here you are."

Her tone feels chilly as always, but you garner it's more of a habit than anything. Iroh, however, doesn't respond well to it and grits his teeth. You can sense his desire to be defiant and tell her nothing, but where will that leave him? Back to square one with his troubles.

You snake your hand onto his lap to grab hold of his wrist, capturing his attention. He whips his head to face you and watches as you nod your head. It's a silent plea to answer his mother, to tell her what he discovered in himself. Not to give in to his emotions so quickly.

Iroh heeds your appeal and takes a deep breath. "I'm sure I would have been hunted all my life if I had not returned, but that's not why I'm here..." He ponders on how to summarize his journey, and his mother remains silent to allow him his time. "I..." 

Flashbacks of the day he escape flood into his mind. He had to sneak pass guards and conceal his identity while in the city. He stole a scarf from a market and made his way to a local ferryman. The giant bag of gold coins secured him a journey, but by chance a girl stood next to him. Hurt and anguish were the only emotions plaguing him, enough to ignore the fact that the girl pretended to be part of his group in hopes that his bag of coins covered her fare too.

He erupts into a laugh as he remembers that girl being you. "I... You just walked behind me when I gave that ferryman money!"

It takes you a moment to register what he refers to and smile timidly. "Oh, so you did notice haha..."

Another chuckle rolls out his mouth, but it's then he knows what he has to say. "I've never felt more free and alive out in the world."

Fire Lord Izumi arches her eyebrow, "You are just a child, Iroh. Of course you wouldn't experience such freedom until you were older."

He shakes his heed in disagreement. "That's not what I mean. I always knew my purpose wasn't to become Fire Lord but something more worldly. My happiness... I found it in traveling the world and helping it."

"You can do so when you become Fire Lord," she quips.

"No, I can't. I'm not blind, I know that if I become Fire Lord, my people come before the world. And after meeting the different nations and leaders, I realize that I don't want to cut myself off from this world that gramps worked hard in repairing." The security in his voice demands her to take him seriously, and it's then that she realizes that she no longer speaks to a boy that always went with the flow of things.

He knows himself better and knows what he wants. She always concerned herself with his flippant nature. He didn't want the title, and truth be told, she had always known that but hoped it was just a phase. However, in reality his indifference was a coping mechanism for his depression.