those amber eyes (slow updates)

The Infirmary

Iroh's POV
"So, what brings you back here then?"

She sighed,

"I don't know, it's relaxing. Keeps my mind clear, how about you?"

I deeply inhaled the sea breeze and sighed too,

"Same as you."

She leaned against the railing next to me and asked,

"We're back in the capital, so why are you staying on the ship? Can't you just go back to the palace?"

"How else would I supervise the situation here? I need to make sure everyone we rescued is okay, it'd be irresponsible of me to just leave."

"Hm, I don't think it's irresponsible at all, wouldn't a little leisure time be good for you?"

I turned away from the horizon and brought my eyes to her,

"What is that supposed to accomplish?"

She was still staring out to the horizon,

"It'll relieve your stress."

"Stress?"

She nodded.

"I'm not stressed."

"You might not realise it, but it's written all over your face."

I huffed and ignored her comment, but she continued,

"See anything interesting on your travels? I mean, since you picked us up on a ship, I assume you travel around on it."

Her eyes met mine, she seemed genuinely interested,

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you... I don't have time to take in my surroundings, there's always more to be done."

Her gaze softened as she placed her hand on my shoulder,

"You need to take time to live a little, take a step back, enjoy the little things."

I shuffled my feet.

Take a step back?

"I don't see what that would accomplish, Y/N."

She sent me a caring smile- now that I'm looking at her, she's actually really pretty, and corners of her eyes crease ever so slightly as she smiles.

I felt my heart rate slightly accelerate.

"Try it, and you'll see."

I sighed and looked back out to the ocean,

"So, there must be more people that you're worried about, right? Parents? Other family members? Friends? Boyfriend?"

From the corner of my eyes I noticed her hang her head as she pulled her hand from my shoulder and leaned back onto the railing,

"My parents are dead and Tojan and I have no other family left in Shu Jing. I saw a few of my friends being healed and I assume some of them died back home because I saw them fall back when it happened, I doubt your army got there in time to save them. And I- uh, I don't have a boyfriend."

My heart felt heavy, although I'd seen her shed a few tears on the night we met, she was so strong- she was carrying around so much trauma.

"Oh, I uh- I'm sorry to hear of your losses... but I'm glad that some of your friends are doing okay... uh- so, how is the healing coming along? Is that wound feeling better?"

She placed her hand on her wounded area and her face dusted pink,

"Oh, right. This. Yeah, the healer was amazing... He's really amazing... at his job, that is."

"I'm glad."

I noticed that she awkwardly twiddled with her thumbs, so I cleared my throat.

"Well, I'll be taking my leave now. Enjoy the rest of your day, Y/N."

She smiled and nodded to me as I retreated to check on the patients.

As I reached the infirmary, I walked past many private rooms where master healers we're dealing with intense wounding, Y/N would've probably been in one of those rooms earlier.

The patients with the smaller, less serious wounds were sat out in the open as the healers fixed them up.

I walked over to one of the healers I was familiar with, Kato.

"Good afternoon, Kato."

He turned to face me and saluted,

"Good afternoon, General."

"How long do you believe it'll take to have them all ready to return to Shu Jing?"

"When I last spoke to Nadena, she predicted a week at the most, sir."

"Do you know where Nadena is now?"

"I believe she's working with one of the more severely wounded patients, sir."

I thanked him and nodded, before sitting on an empty chair and waiting for Nadena to appear from one of the private rooms. 

When I knew exactly how long I'd have to wait to escort them back home, I could start planning my first move in combating the crisis that Shu Jing was dealing with.

As Nadena appeared from one of the rooms, she told the patient that followed out behind her to return in a day so she could check over him again.

I stood up and walked over to her.

She was about five or six years older than me, a little shorter than me with dark skin and chocolate brown hair that was cut above her shoulders, she had ocean blue eyes and a dazzling white smile.

As her eyes met mine she grinned and pulled me in for a hug.

"I was wondering when I'd get to see you, Iroh! How are you? How's the Fire Lord? Is she settling in well to her new position? Oh, how is Lord Zuko? You never told me why he stepped down so early!"

I pulled away and smiled back at her,

"It's good to see you, Nadena. I'm doing well, my mother has had the throne for two years now, she's doing well, too. I think she enjoys her position, she has plenty of guidance from my grandfather, anyway. How have you been?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. So? Lord Zuko stepping down? What happened?"

"He's doing well, after Aang died, he stayed in power for just over a year before telling us that he believed that the world was entering an era of change, he said that he had done his part in restoring the honour of our nation and that it'd be suitable for someone new to take the throne, that my mother would make a fine ruler for the now honourable Fire Nation."

"Wow, well your grandfather was a great Fire Lord. Anyway, what brings you here?"

I straightened my spine,

"Ah, right. I was hoping you could let me know exactly when the patients will be ready to return to Shu Jing? I have business to attend to that needs planning."

She bit down on her thumb nail and stood there in thought for a few moments,

"Well, I did tell my healers that it should take one week at the most, but if everything goes smoothly I can have them ready to go in five days time."