Letters From Iroh

Wind Of Change

I woke up to golden sunlight shining strongly into my room. It was warm, and I was sweating. I had a dream the night before about the day Iroh and I went to the beach.

It was a couple months after our initial encounter, after he asked me to meet him in the cabin that was reserved for members of the Fire Nation Royal Family when they came onboard for political meetings. It was a lot prettier in my dream, but the cabin in its actual state of being was incredibly lavish and just fancy. I remember he invited me into the cabin like I was an actual Fire Nation Royal. I admit that Iroh and I, by that point weren't anything special, but he did call on my cabin frequently, and I admit I was writing him a lot the weeks before I became a permanent member of the crew, when I went back to the University for a few weeks before getting a letter from my headmaster that I was to continue my studies on board the ship.

After that, as I recall, I had signed up for permanent classes on board the ship, so I didn't ever have to leave. It worked out well, since I was in line to be the top student in my class, my headmaster wanted me to keep my job. I remember he was highly impressed with my navigational tactics, and, well, the fact that I saved the General's men kind of made the papers. I remember after I got into the cabin, Iroh shut the door, and told me to put on a blindfold. I secretly thought the action humorous, but put it on anyway.

He told me to leave it on for fifteen minutes. I did, and sat there for exactly fifteen minutes before hearing the sound of the boat docking. "Wait. Why are we? Where..." I asked, as Iroh took off the strip of fabric from my eyes.

"Look outside." He said, excitedly.

"Wow! Iroh, are we in the- are we on Ember Island?"

"Yep!" He said with a smile. "It's the crew and I's week off. We'll technically it's everyone's week off, yours, too. The crew, the cooks and the- err, studious people are headed to tour the beach house that used to belong to the Fire Lord. It's turned into kind of a tourist trap. If we wait here for about half an hour we can go to my favorite part of the beach. It's kind of back behind a cliff, and the water is the lightest blue I've ever seen. It looks almost like polar region water. Do you want to- or, I mean if you don't want to..." His voice trailed off.

I remember not knowing what to think. I remember that I was just so shocked that the General of the entire United Forces had me sitting in a room reserved only for royalty and was looking into my eyes in a really nice way and was stuttering like ateenage boy asking a girl to dance. I didn't know what to say. So, I remember trying to be smooth. I reached out and took his hand, trying to lift it off where he was resting it. I remember after that he kind of-slipped and had to adjust himself because he was only using that hand to support himself. Damn it. I thought, jerking back awkwardly, my face reddening. "I'm sorry, Iroh. I shouldn't have done that, I should have tried to grab your other- no wait! I shouldn't have tried to initiate anything- no wait! I'm not implying anything No Wai-" I looked down. Iroh was holding his hand over mine.

"It's fine, love. Do you want to go with me? It's going to be just us there."

"Yeah." I squeaked. "I do."

"Okay. I'll go get changed into my swimsuit. You have one right? You didn't expect to not have any leisure on my ship did you?"

"Yeah. I have one." My voice was eight octaves to high. I lowered it a bit. "Yeah- I uh, have one in my cabin. I'll go put it on. I'll meet you back here in forty-five minutes." I said, with an upward inflection.

"That sounds great, but that's way too long to just be by yourself. Do you want to eat first? The cooks always make themselves a meal and leave it in the cooler. I bet they'd not notice if it went missing. How about you come to the galley in fifteen minutes?"