You & I

Departure

When everyone was being organised into the ships, I felt the guilt wash over me; my parents will find the note I left and they'll never want to see me again... they'll know the truth...

I followed the instructions of a captain trailing behind other soldiers onto one of the ships until I heard:

"Y/N! Y/N WAIT!"

Iroh? I turned around, the general was right infront of me, he turned to the captain,

"There's been a slight mistake, Miss Y/N is needed on the leading ship"

The captain nodded and saluted Iroh, I left the line of soldiers and followed behind him. 

"What was that about, general?"

A slight pink brushed over his cheeks,

"I -uh- just wanted you on my team, that's all"

I felt warmth rush to my cheeks. He really made me feel appreciated, something I'd never really experienced until I met him.

During the entire journey to Republic City, I followed him around the ship, keeping him company, talking with him, helping him with his duties.

Despite all of the pressure he was under, he still sparred with me everyday. He insisted that he couldn't let me slack off, I didn't mind, I enjoyed his company and I enjoyed sparring with him, one day, I was gonna kick his butt and it'd be legendary.

I found Iroh leaning over the edge of the boat, staring at the horizon.

"Hey, you, what's on your mind?"

He looked over at me and I stood next to him staring at the horizon too, he looked back to the horizon before replying to me.

"It's nothing really, I've led the united forces into many nations, but Avatar Aang has never summoned us, he would normally call on team Avatar"

Iroh's POV

Y/N placed her hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes.

"Well he probably called you because he knows how amazing you are, don't look so worried, everything will be fine. What do you have to be worried about?"

In reality, I was worried that something might happen to her, I knew that she was capable of taking care of herself, but in the last few months, Y/N had become very dear to me. I cared for all of my soldiers, but this time, I was going into what could be a terrifying battle with my best friend, and the battle field is no place for love.

"Nothing, I suppose... you ready to spar?"

Y/N nodded at me and we made our way to a space on the front of the ship that we had sort of dedicated to sparring together.

"Remember, you can bend, but this isn't the water tribe, there's always the issue of terrain, you won't always have water to bend..."

In the time that we had been training together, Y/N had developed so much as a solider and as a person. Her self confidence had clearly risen and her skills increased rapidly, she was like a caged bird finally being set free.

I assumed my stance before bringing my back leg forward sending a blast of fire in her direction, she dodged it without bending and ducked forwards to attempt to sweep kick me- predictable. I jumped backwards sending flames towards her from my heels. She bent herself a liquid barrier just in time before sending arrows made of ice towards me, which I dodged.

Her improvement in the time we had together was almost unbelievable. She had easily become one of my best soldiers. Our sparring session would last ages until one of us gives up or is knocked overboard. Since Y/N became a talented healer whilst growing up in her village, small injuries sustained when sparring weren't an issue as she'd patch us both up afterwards.

After a lengthy sparring session, Y/N sat at the edge of the boat, her feet dangling over the ocean. She turned to me and smiled, patting the spot beside her.

We sat in silence for a while, enjoying the sea breeze and the view, I gazed over at her, she was beautiful, no doubt, her soft, h/c locks flew in the wind, her enchanting e/c eyes shone in the sun.

"Iroh, I never thanked you, for all you've done for me. You showed me a path that helped me realise that I don't have to waste my life away in some man's kitchen, tending to his every whim. You helped me become someone that I am so proud to be. You're selfless, it must've been so aggravating to pretend to be in a relationship with me when you probably have so many young ladies that would die for a date with you."

For some reason, that sort of hurt.

"But more than anything else. Thank you for being my best friend, Iroh, I don't know what I'd do without you."

I didn't know how to explain it, but Y/N made me feel ways I had never felt with anybody else. Just seeing her face made me feel warm inside. I asked myself, only once, was I in love? But I dismissed that thought, because even if I was, Y/N didn't want to be some man's wife, she wanted to be free, to be her own person, seek her own adventures, and I could never even think about taking that away from her, besides, I don't even know what love is.

She leaned her head on my shoulder and we sat peacefully together staring into the horizon before we were interrupted by an announcement yelled from above.

"We are now approaching Republic City!"