TOMOKO - burning gold. (atla)

o n e | SHIZUKI

"ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴡᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴜʀ ʟᴏᴡᴇꜱᴛ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴏʀ ᴏᴘᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛᴇꜱᴛ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ."
-ᴀᴠᴀᴛᴀʀ ᴀᴀɴɢ

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ten years ago

SHIZUKI ISHIDA HAD been General Iroh's closest friend since adolescence. Both first borns of nobility, the Ishida title carried much weight within the Fire Nation and upperclass Earth Kingdom circles for generations spanning even before the hundred-year war. Shizuki had been the first one permitted to hold Iroh's son, Lu Ten, when the new Prince was being introduced to the royal family after his birth.

The same was for Iroh when Shizuki's first born daughter was brought into this world. Iroh was the one to console Shizuki after the love of his life died in childbirth, and Shizuki was the only one to truly understand Iroh when Lu Ten parrished on the front lines in the Battle For Ba Sing Se.

Shizuki would often visit the royal palace, and his daughter would accompany him. The golden days were when you would hear the hearty laughs of Iroh and Shizuki in Iroh's personal office, sharing a cup of warm tea and reminiscing about their childhoods and the trouble they partook in their youth. A young Tomoko Ishida would stumble into the room where the friends sat together, and would raise her arms for her father to take her into his lap.

Shizuki would bounce her on his leg, and tickle her mercilessly until the girl all but couldn't breathe. The small smile that would grace Iroh's lips as he watched the father and daughter duo, and the warmth in his heart he would feel knowing that Shizuki would do anything for his daughter.

Shizuki Ishida had been executed today. At the hands of Iroh's own younger brother, Fire Lord Ozai, Shizuki Ishida had been executed for treason against the Fire Nation, allegedly planning to stage a coup with the help of Earth Kingdom officials. All upperclass officials, members of the royal family, and the public at large had been in attendance, including Iroh himself.

The only one who hadn't been there was Shizuki's little girl, something Iroh had made sure of. Although Iroh had little in much of power as the brother of the Fire Lord, he would be damned if the daughter of his greatest friend, someone he felt as if he were his brother, would see the execution of her own father.

Iroh hadn't looked. He couldn't. The final screams of his greatest friend would be enough to haunt him for the rest of his days. His nephew, Zuko, burried his face into Iroh's chest, unable to watch as well. Disturbingly, Zuko's younger sister Azula watched it all with wide eyes.

"I do not fear you, Ozai." Shizuki had said, standing tall and proud despite his fatigue and his arms bound behind his back.

The Fire Lord's icy glare not holes into Shizuki, but it was the truth. He did not fear him. Shizuki only felt sadness. Sadness for his country, sadness for his people, sadness for himself. But mostly, he felt sadness for Tomoko. His only child would have to live the rest of her days an orphan, with a name disgraced by her father. In Shizuki's final moments, his only consolation was he knew that Tomoko would be ok, because Iroh was to be her guardian.

Ozai started to move his body with fluid motion, sparks flying from his finger tips and dancing around his body. Shizuki blinked, and then closed his eyes. He only thought of Tomoko. Her chubby round cheeks that always had a rosy tinge to them. The freckles that dotted the entirety of her face. The ferocious dark curly hair that she got from her mother and the suborness from her grandmother.

Tomoko had been the last thing Shizuki Ishida would ever see.

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Tomoko sat on a window sill bench in her home, her gaze out the window. It was a grand building, with many rooms and servants and guards posted outside. Her breath fogged the glass, but she could see people walking around the grounds. One of the servant ladies, Oma, braided her hair.

Footsteps approached from the hallway, and the grand door opened. Oma looked up, and then moved from her position behind Tomoko and bowed to the man in front of her. Tomoko looked over her shoulder to see Iroh in the doorway, a grim look on his face.

"Uncle!" The girl exclaimed, a wide smile spreading across her face. She jumped from her seat and ran to him, wrapping her arms around him. "Papa never told me you were coming to visit!" She grabbed his hand and swung it excitedly. "Oma braided my hair, see!"

Despite Iroh's grief, the the ghost of a smile graced his lips at the precious girl in front of him. She was the spitting image of her father, with a round face and olive skin and a stocky stature. Shizuki's energy lived within her, and he knew that taking care of her was his duty.

Iroh glanced over at the servant woman, Oma, and the woman looked back at him with an equally grim face. Iroh's eyes were all that she needed to see to understand, and she bowed her head in both respect and grief, taking her leave. As the woman left, Tomoko shouted after her.

"Thank you Ms. Oma!"

The girl turned back to her Uncle with a curious look, and she saw the seriousness on his face. A look she had seldom seen before.

"Uncle." Her voice now quiet, looking up at him. "Where's Papa? Shouldn't he be with you?"

The question broke Iroh's heart. How was he to explain? The man took a deep breath, and tears fought to spill over as he closed his eyes.

"Uncle?" She asked, worried.

Iroh took her hand and brought over to the window sill she had sat at before, and pulled her into his lap. He gave her a weak and pained smile, and held her close.

"Tomoko, you first must know that you are loved. By me, by your mother, and especially by your Papa. He treasures you most in his heart, nothing can even come close." He started, the girl looking intently at him.

The rain started to pour outside, and darkness blanketed the Fire Nation. In a room in a home that was full of people, it was now so empty. A presence was gone. In a room, where a fire crackled and rain pelted the window, a girl learned of the fate of her beloved father. That she was going to be living with her uncle now, and that she was going to leave the only home she had ever known. She learned the horrifying reality that would be in for the rest of her days.

Her father was gone.