Letters From Iroh

Direction

{A/N: I know I'm moving pretty quickly with this, and I hope that's okay with everyone! I knew the (befittingly enough) direction I wanted to go in when considering the ending of this story, but never actually planned on writing much after the tenth chapter. Yet, since people enjoyed it enough to ask for more, I went ahead and honored the one/two/three requests I got for the ending. That being said, I know I could have written a looooooottttt more, but it's my goal now to finish all my uncompleted fan-fictions before law school, which WILL be in the fall of next year, or if some unbearable tragedy strikes my family and/or me, the fall of 2020. The olympics are in Tokyo, and there's a full moon on Halloween, so, eh, one way or another, it'll be the time to go, if not begin. Well, that's a partial explanation of the short-winded (for once) nature of these last chapters! I hope they're good, (for lack of a better term) even though they're much shorter than my usual thing! Let me know if you think they're entertaining. I will be finishing the rest of my works in-between studying and getting healthier (as I've been CRAZY sick. ick.) Aight then, here goes:

Love you guys!

~Britt}

How we managed to corral everyone off the vessel was beyond me, but we did. We made it, and not one person got hurt. The spirit didn't leave; not for a moment within the chaos did it let up, but it was fortuitous we followed Korra's lead, and, I suppose, mine.

We knew it desired something more from us. Once we were on the rocks, the escalating battle truly took a turn for the worse. I remember wanting to cry, but willing myself to stay strong, and I know now what it's aims were. It's ambition came at a price, and it was one I knew I wasn't willing to pay.

When we made it to the cliffs, Korra started attacking first. Still, the spirit kept dodging her, going back towards the center of our formation. Asami broke in, then Mako, then Bolin and eventually Iroh joined. He stuck by me until he had to defend someone else for a change. I remember their expressions, Korra and Asami's most of all, when I told them I wasn't ready. They just stared at me, like I was telling a bad joke. We didn't have time for a pep-talk, so inevitably, I was left alone to help more of the others gain more solid footing, After everyone was secured and reassured of their safety for the time being, I kept watch. I stared on until I couldn't take it anymore. Iroh attacked it directly, and I had to act.

That's when it happened. That's when the spirit turned. It grew angry, hostile and ferocious, rearing up, attacking twice as stringently, its strength monumentally damaging, and I realized something as time seemed to slow down. I thought about the places I'd seen the same spirit attack, considering everything that had brought it to this point.

First, it was in the middle of nowhere, seemingly isolated by the Southern Water Tribe. I couldn't figure out what it wanted back then. After that, it came to Ember Island of all places. It seemed strongest there. Now, it had followed us here, but not once, in all of this, was there a time when it had attacked without one thing being present: me. This whole time, this spirit, one so spiteful and agitated, could it have had a problem with me? It didn't attack the fleet when they were alone. It didn't cause any issues with anyone until I showed up. Could all of the complications I'd been fearing be true? Could me coming here really be that bad?

There was only one way to find out. I inhaled, and jumped, capitalising on a moment of solitude. I regretted it only briefly, my fear of falling less profound than before as I hit the water and I began to discover exactly why this thing was so so angry. It had nothing to do with Korra, nor her uncle, but I'd only come to realise that later, too. It also had little to do with me personally, at least not in the way I thought. In fact, it had much much more to do with Iroh, which befitting though it was, was hardly fair. It wasn't his fault.

The moment I came back up, I felt hot, almost burning, like the first time I'd done something impulisive like this, and I kicked my feet, propelling myself forward. My eyes met those that had instilled so much fear in my heart, and then, angrily, I yelled at it. Korra had stopped to assist Asami salvage some of the machinery in an attempt to gain more air support, and Iroh, Bolin and Mako were doubling back to make sure there was enough solid ground for the non-benders to remain secure. I guess I was helping there more than I thought. They prepared only to leave for mere seconds, and I was glad I didn't know then what I know now, that it was targeting him. I wouldn't have left my post if I did. Still, the opportunity proved fruitful. Though I was hardly a spiritual force to be reckoned with like Korra was, I went ahead and tried. I tried reasoning with the unreasonable.

"What do you want? What's your problem? Are you angry at me?"

I was met with no reaction, but it didn't advance as planned. I had at the very least, its attention.

"What is making you attack us? Is it something we did to you?"

Still nothing.

"Somewhere you live?"

A flicker of light. A new colour. I was onto something with that.

"Do you live in the Water Tribe?"

Nothing.

"I live that way." In hindsight, that was probably the wrong idea. Wait. No. It was definitely the wrong idea. "I don't know if you can talk, but if you can understand me, I want to help you! I live in Republic City, and that girl you're fighting, in a past life, she worked to found that place on peace. The man with us, his grandfather, he was someone I'm sure you saw on Ember Island, if you went there before his time, who wanted that, too. Show us why! Why are you so mad?"

I should have stopped talking, but I didn't. The moment I called out Korra and Iroh, mentioned places they had been, the spirit advanced, moving forward in its attack I'd only succeeded in briefly stalling. Thinking it was going after them, I advanced too, planning to warn them now that they were back in range, but instead, it blasted past us, diving back down into the waves, heading in the direction I had just pointed.