It had been a few days since the sand benders had led the group out of the desert. As soon as the group had made it to Ba Sing Se, Tera had split from the group saying that she had business to attend to in the city and that she would meet up with them in about a week from then.
Over the course of the week, Tera had found and watched Iroh and Zuko throughout the week. Watching and waiting for the perfect time to reveal herself.
Right at this moment she is crouched on a rooftop watching Iroh, who is walking pleasantly down the lane and stopping to examine a basket being sold by a merchant.
"If this is for a romantic picnic, may I suggest this lavender one?"
"No, it is not a romantic picnic, but it is a special occasion." Iroh hands the merchant a few coins and picks up the basket. Iroh turns to leave the market stall when a closed flower in a vase catches his eye. He slides the vase out of the sunlight and into the shade. "The moonflower likes partial shade." Iroh bows to the merchant and walks away. Iroh examines another merchant's stall which sells 'liuqins', which are a type of Asian lute which is a stringed instrument. The sound of a crying child catches Iroh's attention and he turns around to see a boy sobbing in the middle of the street and his mother trying to console him.
The child crying, "Wahh!" "Shhh. It's ok. Shhh." The sound of music being played on one of the liuqins is heard as Iroh approaches, singing a tune with a smile on his face. He gets down on one knee next to the boy as he sings.
Iroh singing, "Leaves from the vine, falling so slow. Like fragile, tiny shells, Drifting in the foam. Little soldier boy, come marching home.
Brave soldier boy, comes marching home."
The boy's frown instantly turns to a smile as he reaches up and pulls Iroh's long beard. "Yeowch!" The child laughs, "Hahaha!"
Iroh smiles and pets his beard. The boy's mother takes her son by the hand and leads him away as Iroh stands and looks after them with a very pleasant look on his face. Iroh enters a courtyard planning to pass through.
Four boys are in the courtyard with a white ball playing a game. One of the boys hits the ground with his foot and the ball shoots up and back down. He kicks it and then follows up with some earthbending. A patch of earth rises to create a path for the ball as it rolls along. Another player earthbends to impede the path of the ball before it reaches the goal. This causes the ball to launch up and into the direction Iroh is standing. He moves out of the way just in time, but the ball rips through the window directly behind where he was. A crash and a loud voice is heard from inside.
An obviously angry man shouts "Hey!" Iroh walks over to the boys as they gather around him to listen to what he has to say.
"It is usually best to admit mistakes when they occur, and to seek to restore honour-" Loud smashes are herd and all five of them look up, startled. The five of them look towards the window as a very large body and head are visible through the hole.
"When I am through with you kids, the window won't be the only thing that's broken!"
Iroh continues, "-but not this time. Run!"
The boys and Iroh all run in different directions. Tera, who's still following Iroh laughs at the situation. Then jumps from off the roof to follow Iroh on the ground.
Iroh walks towards a tree on a hill within the city as the sun is setting; Leaves gently fall from the tree as Iroh approaches the trunk of the tree that looks over the great city. Iroh places the basket down and removes his hat. He then rests on his knees and piles some rocks at the tree's base.
Searching through his basket, he removes several things and places them at the bottom of the tree. He pulls out a sheet of paper and looks at it for a few seconds, closing his eyes and bowing his head, before placing it down as well. Finally he pulls two joss sticks, which are sticks of incense that burn, and lights them with his fingers by clicking the tips and places them down as well.
Iroh has just made a small memorial for his son, Lu Ten. The memorial is little more than the burning joss sticks, a few apples, and a bag of unknown contents. Most importantly, a sketched picture of Lu Ten sits against the rocks, one that Tera his mother had drawn. He was quite handsome and had the same hair features that his father once did.
"Happy Birthday my son." He begins to cry. "If only I could have helped you." He begins to sing his song from earlier, only this time he has difficulty keeping his voice from cracking under his grief.
"Leaves from the vine, falling so slow. Like fragile, tiny shells," Tera walks up behind Iroh and falls to her knees. She is also crying, she wraps her arm round Iroh resting her head on his shoulder. She too starts to sing, making Iroh jump. Together they sing in grief over the loss of their son. "Drifting in the foam. Little soldier boy, come marching home. Brave soldier boy, comes marching home."
Iroh turns and hugs Tera tight still crying, "I thought I would never see you again" he whispers in her ear. Tera hugs him tighter, but says nothing, her tears falling quicker down her face.
They sit there in their sorrow.
YOU ARE READING
Atla: The Return of a Legand
ActionIt had to have been a millennia before Sara had left Earth-199999. She had stayed until everyone she knew had long passed, the last to move on to the afterlife, was Loki. Even though she is well aware of the concept of death. Not even she, The crea...
