Dragon At Heart

Chapter 24

24. Wish You Felt Better

Lieutenant Jee knocked on a door. There was no answer.

"Sir", he called through the metal door, "It's Lieutenant Jee. May I enter?"

Jee and Iroh went back a long time. They had met for the first time seven years ago when Iroh had still been one of the leading generals of the Fire Nation. Although they had only talked briefly, the Lieutenant had immediately been impressed by the General's strategic wit and understanding of both, his own troops and the enemy troops alike.

Although Iroh's decision to end his 600 day siege on Ba Sing Se had made him rather unpopular among most circles, Jee had never thought the man worse for it. On the contrary, even.

There's no dishonor in facing the facts and admitting your enemy is better than you. Especially not when the alternative is to keep fighting until all your men are gone.

Jee hadn't known Iroh very well before been put on this assignment, but his respect towards the old General had only increased, if anything, as the Lieutenant had spent three years watching how the man patiently guided a difficult teenager through endless rocky patches.

Though, now that Jee knew more of Zuko's past, he understood Iroh's attitude towards the Prince much better. He wasn't a spoiled Royal prat like Jee had sometimes thought when Zuko had really gotten on his nerves.

The Prince has had a really hard life. He's been through stuff that most grown men couldn't have handled. After Zuko's own family abandoned him in such a traumatizing way, the kid needed someone to look after him.

So, although this loving and peaceful old man hadn't exactly matched Jee's previous idea of General Iroh, he and the entire crew had nothing but respect toward the old man. Also, Jee knew that the Dragon of the West was nowhere near as harmless as he lead people on.

The Dragon of the...

Jee gulped. He really hoped that it was just a nickname.

"Come in", Iroh's voice finally answered from Prince Zuko's room. His tone wasn't cold or uninviting, but the mere shortness of his statement told Jee that the old General wasn't in his usual chatty mood. Not that Jee was surprised by this.

The Lieutenant himself had been worried and upset upon learning that Prince Zuko was back but that he wasn't well.

Jee had immediately asked if Iroh wanted them to find a healer for the boy, but Iroh's only answer had been a quizzical: "Thank you for the suggestion but it wont' be necessary. This isn't a natural illness."

After that Iroh had ordered Jee to call all the crew back from their search. This hadn't taken very long, because the news of Zuko's return had spread fast. All the crew was now back and ready for further orders. Except that there hadn't been any.

The old General hadn't left his nephew's side since coming back.

The crew weren't expected to look for a healer or find a healing facility. They weren't going after the Avatar while Zuko was ill. In short, they had no orders or obvious destinations.

Which had left a lot of time for gossiping.

Jee wasn't sure what to make of this story about Prince Zuko being a dragon. It sounded impossible. People didn't just turn into dragons or vice versa. And still...

When the water spirit had attacked the ship during the storm it had mentioned something remarkably similar. The spirit's words had been least of their problems at the time, but despite the howling wind, everyone on deck had heard that particular part.