Little Soldier Boy (Iroh II)

Chapter 7

Iroh sat on a staircase above deck. He stared at the stars silently.

He was in his pajamas, since he was usually too tired to change once the exhaustion kicked in.

The light of the celestial bodies made his eyes sparkle.

Iroh felt like the stars were brighter out on the sea.

Tonight, the moon was brighter than everything else.

Iroh glanced over his shoulder when he heard footsteps coming down the metal stairs.

He stood up and gave a salute, "Commander."

Bumi raised a brow and shook his head, "We're off the clock."

"I know, but--"

"But nothing. It's the middle of the night and in about two minutes we'll be off this ship."

"What?" Iroh frowned.

Bumi shoved a robe into Iroh's chest, "Come on. We're going to visit someone."

Iroh nodded faintly, shrugging the robe on. He looked down, it was a traditional Earth Kingdom robe.

Iroh and Bumi walked off the ship and exited the docks all together, heading into a somewhat large village.

"Where are we going Dad?" Iroh asked, feeling more comfortable with calling his father as such since they weren't surrounded by soldiers.

"You'll see," Bumi said.

Iroh nodded faintly, following the man.

After about a ten minute walk out of the village, Bumi and Iroh came across a house, surrounded by figures Iroh couldn't identify.

"What is this place?" Iroh frowned.

Bumi walked to the house and knocked on the door.

"Do you even know who lives here?" Iroh scolded, knowing his father would and has walked to a strangers house in the middle of the night for no apparent reason.

The door jerked open a crack.

Iroh jumped at the sudden movement.

The door slammed shut and immediately opened wide.

"Bumi!" A woman squealed, bursting out of the building.

Bumi laughed, catching the woman in a tight hug.

Iroh blinked fast, completely thrown off by the interaction.

The woman pulled away, holding Bumi's elbows and Bumi held her arms.

"I thought you weren't going to be here for at least another day!" She said excitedly.

"I wanted to surprise you," Bumi chuckled.

Iroh frowned at his father.

"Get in here!" The woman said, pulling Bumi into the house.

Iroh stepped in front of the door and hesitated.

"You too, kid," Bumi waved his son in.

Iroh stepped in hesitantly.

Now that they were in better lighting, Iroh could see the woman had Auburn hair and vivid blue eyes.

He looked around the room, tilting his head when he noticed the building had a heavy mixture of Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe decorations.

One thing that caught his attention was a golden Earth Kingdom styled headpiece hanging on the wall over a displayed Water Tribe styled machete.