𝙊𝙗𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣 ᪥ 𝙄𝙧𝙤𝙝 𝙄𝙄 ˡᵉᵍᵉⁿᵈ ᵒᶠ ᵏᵒʳʳᵃ

𝚃 𝐰 𝚘

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𝚁 𝐞 𝚝 𝐮 𝚛 𝐧
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       𝙄𝙍𝙊𝙃 𝙂𝘼𝙑𝙀 𝙐𝙋 𝙃𝙄𝙎 own boots and an entire layer of clothing to Halah for the trek back to the United Forces war ship, and it is no match for the bitter cold. Halah shivers uncontrollably from the moment they stumble out the door. Her right arm hung around his shoulders and Iroh's around her torso holds her up for the most part. The sweat-soaked ends of Iroh's hair freeze against his forehead, the nerves in his toes so numb from the snow melting into his thick socks, they burn with every step and a thick layer sticking to the soles of his feet increases the difficulty of carrying an extra human through the treacherous winter. The two are silent aside from Iroh's ragged, uneven breaths and Halah's chattering teeth. Each desperate gasp Iroh takes results in a cloud of steam momentarily blocking his vision and causing him to stumble every few seconds. No matter how hard Iroh trained, nothing could have prepared him for hauling a body through the Northern Water Tribe.

          The roughly ten minute journey felt like a torturous ten hours once Iroh collapses onto the entrance ramp, and immediately the crew scrambles to get him and Halah inside. Droplets of water trickle from his defrosting hair and race down his cheeks. The warmth rushes Iroh's eyes and he coughs at the stinging in his tightening throat as he sheds his remaining clothing and stumbles away from the mess of soldiers. One person after another berates a half-frozen, barely functional Iroh with harsh words and jumbles of questions demanding to be answered, and in turn are ignored by the ringing flooding his ears. He drags himself away from the chaos in the entrance hold.

        "H-Have someone d-draw... me a bath, p-please," Iroh stutters as he passes the healer approaching him with wide eyes. He raises a trembling, frost-bitten hand in the direction of Halah. "M-Medical attention... her."

The healer scurries away, a frantic nod being her only reply, and Iroh continues to his cabin, keeping himself steady with numbed fingers trailing the wall. The ship slightly lurches into motion as Iroh stumbles through the doorway, the sudden movement causes his shoulder to ram into the door frame and shove him to the ground. He curses at the floor and decides to crawl the remainder of the way to his bed. The quilt flies from the bed and wraps around the shivering man. Iroh can barely lift his hand to ignite the various candles and wall torches around him to offer more heat to the space. A wave of nausea pulls him to the floor as his body settles into the blanket, his eyes become heavy and the tremors slow. Just as he is about to succumb to slumber, a sharp knock at his door jolts him upright.

"Your bath is ready, sir," a voice calls through the door before their footsteps can be heard quickly retreating down the hall.

Iroh ignores the slight vexation in the man's voice and hauls himself up, dragging his feet to the washroom across the hall. It took every muscle in his body just to grip and twist the doorknobs to get there. The washroom is shrouded with steam to the point Iroh has to hold his arms up to feel around the room—with what feeling he is regaining in his hands. The scalding water burns his freezing toes, but nonetheless he submerges himself up to his shoulders and his body relaxes, and the events leading up to his hypothermic state begin sink in now that he has found himself alone, finally.

The fire bender takes this time to prepare himself for the onslaught of accusations and potential betrayal shown by his crew, for the true purpose of their travels had come to light the moment he dragged Halah onto his ship. Lying to his most trusted staff for many years carved a gaping hole of guilt through his stomach, though it was a risk he had no choice but to take in order to protect countless people—himself, those boarding his ship, the known Avatar and his family, the population of the world entirely—and to keep Halah's existence a myth until it was proven she was still alive. But, now that she's been rescued, where is he to go from here? Surely, there is now a bounty not only on his head, but Halah's as well. Amon will want her back, and, no doubt, he will do everything in his power to get her back. The man has no fear in adding one of the most notorious fire benders to his kill count.