Work Text:
"Now, if I can just maneuver this Air tile up and over in the next turn, I'll have my fourth harmony...."
"Come on, Uncle. In the bag."
"Ohhhh, I worked for hours on that setup!"
"You'll be able to come up with a thousand more just like it, once you've put your game board on its new table in the Amber Dragon, I'm sure."
Zuko grinned and jangled the little drawstring bag for Iroh's Pai-Sho pieces meaningfully, kindly holding it open for him.
Iroh sighed, comical regret lining all of his features. He had so hoped that he and his nephew could finish up this brilliant game they had started and then left off last night. Oh well, working out the finer details of their return trip was more important, ultimately--and this Pai-Sho board was the last item Iroh wanted to take home with him that remained un-boxed.
"Very well," he rumbled in good-natured defeat, sweeping the tiles off and into their sack. Zuko tugged the drawstrings with a satisfied, almost parental smile, and tossed the sack into the packing-box. Iroh himself carefully layed the Pai-Sho board in beside it. Nearby was a pair of chopsticks with beautiful ceramic handles, featuring typical Earth Kingdom coin-motifs--another little piece of Ba-Sing-Se to take home with him.
The "Amber Dragon" had not been built yet, but Iroh had already picked out the name to match its "sister shop," the imminent Jasmine Dragon here in Ba-Sing-Se. Now all he had left to do was hire a manager.
He was going home with Zuko, to wait out the construction of the Earth Embassy the young Fire Lord and King Kuei had agreed upon--and the expected "Earthtown" neighborhood that would grow around it, mostly made up of attendants for the ambassadors. Iroh was looking forward to making his home there, just a tiny stroll away from the Fire Palace and its gardens--practically a whistle's length from his beloved nephew. And in the meantime, well, he'd enjoy all the luxuries the palace had to offer.
There was also the return trip itself to enjoy. Fire Lord Zuko had plotted a fairly quick path back to the Earth Kingdom shoreline and the boat for home, with a few key stops along the way--the most important being the former Fire Nation colony of Sekitan, just a short ways from the harbor. Zuko was going to make a speech there, reassuring the locals about the hopefully smooth transference over to Earth Kingdom rule. And before reaching Sekitan, the two Fire nobles could, briefly, revisit some of the places they had scooted through as fugitives--this time surrounded by a much more comfortable retinue.
"...Do you have any regrets, Uncle? About the time we spent as refugees here in the Earth Kingdom, I mean?" Zuko asked almost randomly, leaning back on Iroh's apartment couch after he rolled up the map.
Iroh leaned back as well, scratching his long beard. "Hmmm... perhaps two."
"...The white jade bush?" his nephew guessed, raising his scarred eyebrow teasingly.
The older man let out a huge, surprised laugh at this. "Perhaps three!" he acknowledged, shaking with mirth for several seconds.
Then he glanced over at some parchments and calligraphy brushes sitting on the table, and stroked his beard again. "...Maybe one of them I can take care of right now."
***
Knock, knock. Iroh drew his hand back almost nervously, after tapping on the door of this very familiar establishment in the Lower Ring.
A very familiar face opened it. "Mushi!!" the thin little teashop owner, Pao, gasped. His long ponytail nearly stood up then, as he realized his apparent faux-pas. "I--I mean, Grand Lotus Iroh! Liberator of our city," he bowed.
The chubbier figure winced. Iroh did not enjoy being bowed to--especially by the people of a city he had once sought to conquer himself, in another, much darker era of his life. "There's no need to stand on ceremony, Pao," Iroh waved kindly, performing a bit of a "nod-bow" himself as he walked in. "As a matter of fact, I would say this visit was long overdue. In a way, I've..." the Dragon of the West laced his fingers together sincerely--"I've come to apologize."
"You, Mushi? Apologize to me?! What for?!" Pao's voice was as humbled as it was puzzled.
"Well, when my nephew and I were refugees, you were kind enough to take us in, to give us a job," Iroh rubbed one of the old tea-tables fondly, remembering it. "And then, when those men from the Upper Ring offered me a shop of my own, I jumped at the opportunity like an owl-trout!"
"Ah... well. That was only business--it's what anyone would have done..." Pao chuckled rather wincingly but graciously, nearly spilling the teapot he was holding as he gestured from side to side.
Iroh reached over kindly and rescued it. "Mmmmmm... golden pebbleflower brew, if I'm not very much mistaken!" his old amber eyes twinkled, as he sniffed the contents. "May I finish heating it for you?"
Pao nodded, smiling. Iroh slipped comfortably into the table, careful not to bump it over. He tickled the bottom of the teapot with his Firebending, causing it to whistle out a little puff of steam. No need to hide it, in this new era of peace.
"It may have been the expected reaction," he continued, now pouring their cups, "but it was rather rude of me to just stand there grinning about it before accepting, without much of a thought to you. And my nephew and I missed you, Pao, and the other friends we made here in the Lower Ring." The way Iroh's old fuzzy brows knitted beneath his crown showed that he really meant it.
"We missed you too, Mushi," Pao smiled softly, marveling at the way the Firebent cup curled so warmly, so harmlessly in his hands. "No one has ever been able to make a pot of jasmine or ginseng quite as perfect as yours."
Iroh flushed happily at the compliment, taking a sip from the pebbleflower mixture in his own cup. It had been a long time since he had tasted this Earth Kingdom specialty. "I have a business proposition for you, Pao," he finally stated, after a deep, satisfied sigh.
"...What is it?" The thinner man clutched his tea in anticipation.
"I want to give you and your family the same opportunity you once gave to us," Iroh's gentle smile grew from cheek to bushy cheek. "How would you like to be the manager and joint-owner of the Jasmine Dragon?"
Pao's mustache flopped at either side of his open mouth, his hat falling right off his head in shock. "The J-Jasmine Dragon??! ...We could go and live in the Upper Ring?! You really mean that, Mushi?!!"
Iroh's familiar chuckle returned as he picked up the green cap, dusted it off, and handed it back to his friend. "Of course, Pao! On one condition. You are to balance the books, greet the customers at the door in your usual kindly way... but under no circumstances are you to make the tea yourself. THAT, I will delegate only to the local masters I have hand-picked!" he winked.
The two men laughed heartily then--it was not a sore subject, after all. Pao had often self-depreciatively joked about his watery teas, ever since "Mushi" had come on the scene and transformed his kitchen (even Pao's newer employees apparently still practiced Iroh's methods--this golden pebbleflower brew was quite pleasant). Just as "old Mushi" cheerfully admitted his inability to fit into any standard-sized apron.
They discussed the particulars as Iroh drew out the parchment-papers he had brought with him. Pao and his family could take up residence in Iroh's apartment, provided they always allowed him and Zuko (and any other future family members the Fire duo might bring with them) to bunk with them during their stays in the city. Iroh would still be popping into the Jasmine Dragon off and on, of course... and would be sure to have a cup or three every time, both as a pleasure and as a random inspection!
The old Firebender also wanted Pao to continue an idea he had been brewing (no pun intended) for a long time: a charity supper and tea festival, once a month in the Lower Ring. Iroh had a great sympathy for the poorer folk in the lower end of the city, remembering what it was like for him and Zuko to be refugees themselves. Besides standard charity donations, he quite liked the idea of a free banquet, combined with a "talent show" of sorts--an opportunity for anyone with a teamaking penchant to try their hands at several ingredients that the Jasmine Dragon would wheel out. The winner of each month's tea-mixing-and-brewing contest might even land a job at their establishment! Or would at least be a shoo-in for other, local teahouses, if the Jasmine Dragon itself wasn't currently hiring.
Pao loved the idea. Iroh loved it more. He would enjoy visiting their old neighborhood, and these tea festivals he had founded would be the perfect time to do it. Hopefully Zuko's visits with King Kuei's court would coincide with the festival days, and Iroh would be able to attend at least one or two of them personally every year, while his nephew handled political matters.
He was already daydreaming happily about all the new and exciting tea blends he would get to try. To that end, Pao had even given him the rest of the golden pebbleflower box.
"It's the least I can do, after the great kindness you have shown us today," the skinny little shop-owner was fluttering around cheerfully with his whole, excited family by the time the contracts were finished.
Iroh slipped the parchments back into his bag, and hugged the large tin box close to his heart. "What a delicious piece of Ba-Sing-Se to take home with me," he grinned; "we don't have pebbleflowers in the Fire Nation, you know. These tea leaves should give me at least a whole month's worth of pleasure!"
Pao, his wife, his children, and the old Fire noble all laughed heartily again--that pebbleflower box contained enough teabags to last a normal person almost a year, but Iroh was Iroh.
The pudgy Firebender drew his cloak about him as he stepped back onto the cobbled street. It was still winter, and while the sun had come out and melted most of the snow, a few piles of it still remained in cracks and under eaves. He shivered a bit--this cold air was not particularly kind to his old bones.
As Iroh tucked his new box of tea into the parchment-bag, he suddenly heard a distressed noise.
"Meeeewww. Meeeeeeeewwwww!!"
His amber eyes softened sympathetically as he saw an old, gray bearded cat stuck near a gutter. Apparently it had fallen there, as its fluffy tail was caught in the tight space between the gutter and the building's side.
"Awww, poor kitty. Here, let me help you!"
Iroh reached over and tugged the animal's tail free as gently as he could, holding its base with his other hand to keep it from hurting. Noticing, then, that the cat had a collar, he scooped it up in his wide sleeves before it could run off.
Rongrong, the roughly-carved tag on the collar said. 142 Wai Lane, Lower Ring.
"Why, it seems you have gotten separated from your family," Iroh observed, smiling gently at Rongrong. "Let's take you home!" Wai Lane, he remembered, was just down this street-corner beside Pao's shop.
Rongrong was a bit skittish at first, but his hazel eyes slowly relaxed as this old human made him more comfortable in his arms. Iroh used his Firebending just slightly, not to raise a flame, but simply to warm the palms of his hands. The cold kitty purred as he rubbed him.
"We're a lot alike, aren't we?" Iroh chuckled conversationally. "Old and fat and gray and fluffy, and none too fond of the cold!"
Rongrong nuzzled closer in agreement, the typical beard of his species brushing into the old Firebender's as he did so.
They didn't have to stroll much further, as just then, a rather frantic figure rounded the corner. Iroh's eyes lit up as he recognized her--it was another friend from their days at Pao's tea shop!
"Jin!" he waved happily, still cradling the cat in his other arm.
The young lady gasped as she saw his grinning face, much as Pao had. "Mushi!" Her own grin began to surface at this surprise meeting, but was still hampered by the worried crease of her eyebrows. Then, suddenly, those disappeared too, and her grin became even more complete. "Oh, and you found Rongrong!!"
Jin ran up and hugged them both, one of her ragged sleeves gripping the old man's back, the other scooping up her apparent indoor pet. She was dressed as warmly as someone of her family's station could probably afford, in layers and a poncho. And she still had the same braided pigtails that Iroh remembered.
"It's wonderful to see you again, my dear," he beamed, patting her shoulder before letting go.
Jin's smile became somewhat more somber as she let go as well. She inclined her head in a little bow. "And you, Sir Iroh. Thank you, for--" she looked down at the gray bundle in her arms, and then back up at him. "--For everything."
Iroh lowered his eyes humbly, knowing what she meant.
"What are you doing back here in the Lower Ring?" Jin finally asked, the events of the past and the present still mixing so strangely in her mind.
Iroh told her as they walked together. It turned out that Jin had some very big news of her own--her father now worked as one of the Earth ambassadors' valets. The diplomatic circles of the city had been all abuzz with plans for the new Fire Nation embassy. And since the ambassador her father served had been selected as of the permanent representatives, Jin and her family would be moving with him to the Fire Nation Capital too!
Iroh nearly jumped with joy at this news. Another little piece of Ba-Sing-Se coming home with them! And this one would be something much more precious than a simple pair of chopsticks, or even a giant box of tea (soooooo delectable though it was)! This one would be an actual family of friends from out of their past--including a young lady who had already made more of an impact on his nephew's life than she knew.
"Lord Zuko and I will be starting our journey home tomorrow, so we will be waiting well ahead of you," he reassured her. "Perhaps the Amber Dragon will even be completed by the time you arrive! You and your parents will have to come over for tea!" Iroh clapped his hands happily. He hoped he hadn't slipped and called them "the possible in-laws" out loud. His mind was filling with many honeyed thoughts for his nephew's future, and perhaps was racing a little ahead of itself!
Jin gave an uncharacteristically shy smile for a moment, nearly burying her face in Rongrong's fuzzy back. "It still seems so surreal that I once knew you two as Lee and Mushi. That, that I went on a date with Fire Lord Zuko, who ended the war... and that I was served tea by Sir Iroh, the Dragon of the West, who rescued all of Ba-Sing-Se!"
"Oh, some may call me Sir Iroh--or Prince Iroh, or the Dragon of the West--but I will always be old Mushi too," Iroh chuckled sweetly. "And I will always be happy to serve you your usual cup of orange honey chai."
Jin's pleased smile grew from behind the chubby ball of fur. "...You even remembered my favorite order."
The old Firebender couldn't resist leaning forward and petting Rongrong himself. "I imagine I'll need to get a saucer of milk ready for this fellow, meanwhile," he cooed to the bearded cat, ruffling his ears affectionately. "You are a handsome boy! Yes you are!" (Was there a bit of teasing self-flattery in Iroh's voice, given his comparison between the two of them earlier? Yes, yes perhaps there was, but only a good-natured smidgeon.)
Then he added what he knew Jin wanted to hear most of all. "His Royal Majesty 'Lee' will be happy to see you too, of course!"
Jin's hazel eyes shimmered joyfully, while Rongrong's bugged out slightly from being squeezed so hard. "Really?"
"Absolutely!" Iroh nodded, telling the truth. "He's mentioned you several times, these past few months, whenever we've reminisced."
Jin nearly bubbled over with delight. "I WILL come see you, Mushi!!" she promised. "And Lee!! I--I mean, Lord Zuko. I was kind of scared at first, at the thought of moving away from the city I grew up in..." she admitted, quietly for a moment, but quickly rebrightening; "but knowing you two will be waiting for us at the Capital makes it so much better! --What kind of dress do you think he would like me to wear? Something green for Earth, or red for Fire?..."
Iroh chuckled pleasantly again. "Whichever your heart desires, Jin," he let her know, having a bit of experience mixing styles himself. "Just bring your lovely smile, and I know that will coax one out of my nephew too!"
Jin's aforementioned smile nearly split her features now. She giggled and ran off with a spring in her step (and Rongrong on her shoulder), pigtails bouncing.
Iroh grinned hugely to himself as well, wriggling with delight. He took off dancing down the street in the other direction, bursting into a familiar old song.
"Ohhhhh it's a long, looo-ooong way to Baaaa-Sing-Se, but the girls in the city, they look so preeeeettyyyyyyy!..."