Little Soldier Boy (Iroh II)

Chapter 32

Fire Lord Zuko stepped out onto the upper deck of the ship.

He looked up at the sky, seeing the stars glittering overhead.

One month in captivity and he forgot how bright the stars could get when away from the palace.

He shivered as a cold breeze blew over the deck, blowing back his long graying hair.

He crossed his arms so that the openings of his sleeves linked together and he could trap some warm air in his robes.

He was given a set of robes from Bumi, which were a little large, but he didn't mind.

The ocean breeze was colder than he remembered.

Zuko flinched when he heard a door slam within the boat.

Even out on the ocean, leagues away from any land mass, surrounded by loyal soldiers, he still felt like something was out to get him.

He cast a glance around the deck.

His eyes fell on a young man, standing at the edge of the deck.

He stood with his hands on the rail, staring out at the seemingly endless body of water.

He wore a set of white pajamas under his red United Forces jacket and a pair of black slippers.

Zuko released a long sigh and made his way to the railing, placing himself next to the young soldier.

Now that he was next to him, Zuko could see the soldier held what looked like a circular tile between his thumb and index finger.

He held the tile so tight that the nail bed of his thumb had turned white.

The soldier didn't look at the Fire Lord, but Zuko could see the moon reflecting in the boy's amber eyes.

Boy: that's what Zuko saw, but he knew he was looking at a man.

He looked at the man's chest, seeing multiple medals and ribbons pinned to the left side of his jacket.

"Four months and you're already decorated," Zuko said with a weak smile.

The soldier didn't respond, grazing his thumb over the tile. He still didn't look at Zuko.

Zuko sighed, looking up to the sky, "Beautiful night."

The soldier's bottom lip sucked in a little bit as he bit his lip.

"When you were a baby," Zuko said, his eyes shifting across the stars. "On clear nights, I would sit in the garden, with you in my lap and you would stare at the stars."

The soldier didn't respond.

"I would stare at you. The stars reflected in your eyes in such a magnificent way. Sometimes I wondered how you were real, you seemed like something I only had in my dreams."

The soldier's throat twitched as he swallowed a breath.

"I remember once, you were so mesmerized by a cluster of shooting stars," Zuko said. "That you reached at them. You literally reached for the stars."

The soldier blinked and shifted his gaze to the sky.

Zuko laughed lightly, "It was then, that I knew you were going to be a great man."

Iroh looked down at the tile in his hand.

Zuko looked at the soldier.

"I'm sorry..." The young man finally spoke. "I'm so sorry that I let you down."

"Let me down?" Zuko frowned.

Iroh squeezed the tile in his fist, "If I didn't leave, maybe I could've stopped them from taking you."