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haepipillbud · 9 months

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yo... I want more Iroh II fanfics. damn I’d like to read this as a whole fic.

pairing: iroh ii x reader

word count: 2644

summary: when you left to help korra defeat amon, you certainly didn’t expect to have a heart-to-heart with a man you have seen in 3 years

“i’m sorry,” you breathed out as you stumbled towards the gang. “they - they got lin. i failed them. i-i failed my family- “

you fell, bolin barely catching you before you hit the floor.

“tenzin and the kids got away, it’ll be okay,” he said frantically as you tried to catch your breath. “korra!”

korra slid to your side, mumbling, “no, no, no.”

you felt water cover your head, but your vision continued to blur.

“y/n,” korra said with wide eyes. “y/n, no-!”

the next time you opened your eyes, you were in the underground tunnels that housed the homeless of republic city. you felt well-rested and ready to go, completely different to how you felt right before you passed out. you recognized one of the hobos as bolin affectionately called them as the one who took you all in before.

“where are they?” you asked as you drank some water from your waterskin. it was honestly a bit gross, but you were really thirsty.

“oh, you’re awake!” he cheered. “your friends have gone to help the united forces come into the city. they’re by the docks!”

“thank you!” you called as you scrambled up and booked it to the docks, which weren’t too far luckily. as you skidded up next to korra and the gang, they all stared at you with wide eyes and jaws dropped.

“what are you doing here?!” korra exclaimed.

“you’re supposed to be-“

“why aren’t they being attacked?” you asked quickly. “amon should be firing. something’s wrong.”

and you were right.

bombs started going off in the water, which immediately had you diving in to freeze them and keep them from blowing up the ships. as you swam between the torpedos you swirled ice around, capturing them in it and stalling their explosions. as you came up for air, you noticed new flying machines dropping missiles on the ships.

“no!” you exclaimed, propelling yourself up to capture it in a water whip and drag it down to the ocean just before it made contact with a ship.

korra was doing the same beside you, protecting the united forces ships. suddenly, a missile slipped past you and went straight towards a ship before being sort of deflected by a blast of fire. and then a body went falling into the water and you immediately knew who it was.

“no,” you whispered, diving back into the water. you searched quickly and found him, grabbing his torso and bring him back up to the surface. he heaved a breath, gasping as his eyes landed on you. instantly they softened and he smiled.

“hey hotshot,” you said, grinning.

“hey icey. i didn’t think this is how i’d see you again,” he said.

“well, our lives are a little far from normal, so i’m not super surprised,” you admitted with a laugh. “now come on, i’ve gotta get you healed up.”

“i was prepared to deal with sato’s mecha-tanks, but not these new high-speed aircraft,” iroh said as you worked on healing his shoulder.

“i know. every time we think we have an advantage, amon outsmarts us,” korra said.

“no matter what our plan is he always has a better one,” bolin said.

“amon may be winning, but we’re not out of the fight yet,” iroh said determinedly. you smiled as you finished healing the burn, beginning to rub his awfully tense shoulders instead. he relaxed into your touch, goosebumps dotting his skin.

“i like this man’s confidence!” bolin exclaimed before he faltered. “so, how are we not out of the fight?”

iroh gently removed your hands from his shoulders as he stood, clutching his burn.

“the second wave of reinforcements is on the way, but i need to warn them,” he said. “do you still have a way to get a message out?”

“i know just the man for the job.”

you found your favorite hobo with his calling setup and all stood around to send it through.

“and who is the recipient of this message?” he asked.

“commander bumi, second division of the united forces,” iroh told him.

“tenzin’s brother?” korra asked.

“yes. a bit of a wild man, but the bravest commander you’ll ever meet,” iroh said.

“a bit? if you’ve ever met him you’ll know he’s a complete wild man,” you said with a laugh.

“wait, how do you know him?” bolin asked. you looked at him with furrowed brows.

“uh.. he’s my cousin,” you answered. when his, mako’s, and asami’s eyes widened even more, your brows furrowed deeper. “just like tenzin is. goodness, do you guys even know who i am?”

they shrugged.

“i just assumed you were one of korra’s friends from the south pole,” mako said.

“i - you know what, we’ll have this conversation later,” you said.

“ready sir!” mr. hobo said, typing as iroh began to relay the message.

“fleet ambushed and destroyed by equalist aircraft, retreat to red sand island until my signal. do not approach city until you receive the all-clear,” iroh said.

“sent!” hobo man said.

“so… what’s our plan?” korra asked. we walked over to a complete map of republic city and the surrounding areas.

“now comes the hard part,” iroh sighed. “we need to ground those aircraft otherwise bumi’s fleet will never be able to retake the city.”

mako pointed at a set of mountains. “they flew in from this direction. the airfield must be somewhere over this mountain range.”

“everyone get ready. we leave at dawn,” iroh announced, everyone turning to leave.

“it’s time to take down my father,” asami said.

“wait,” korra called, grabbing our attention immediately. “i’m sorry, but i’m not going with you tomorrow.”

“what?” mako asked.

“why not?” asked asami.

“i’m sick and tired of hiding from amon - it’s time i face him,” she answered belligerently.

“that’s not a good plan. we need to stick together,” iroh said.

“i’m not waiting for him to hunt me down! my gut’s telling me it’s time to end this on my terms,” korra said.

“korra, i understand where you’re coming from, but this is dangerous. you shouldn’t be handling this alone,” you said.

“she won’t be,” mako said before walking to korra’s side. “i’m going with you.”

“you don’t have to do that,” she said.

“yes, i do,” he replied.

you caught bolin’s worried glance at asami and wondered what the story there was - from what you knew korra and mako were sort of a thing, a very complicated thing. korra had written about how she accidentally broke bolin’s heart, but that they were buds now, yet she had never mentioned asami since her letters stopped coming to you and katara as the rebellion picked up. but as you watched the group interact, you still couldn’t quite figure out what asami’s role in all of it was.

iroh hummed in thought. “my grandfather would respect the avatar’s instinct. so will i.”

you laughed out loud, catching everyone’s attention. you cleared your throat awkwardly. “sorry.”

soon, everyone was hugging korra and mako goodbye.

“stay safe,” you told korra as you pulled away from her hug. “don’t get yourself killed. tenzin would kill me.”

she laughed. “i promise. hey, thanks for coming back to help. i couldn’t do this without you.”

“of course. we’ll get it done, you just worry about amon.” she nodded before moving to say goodbye to bolin.

as you turned to see iroh, you managed to catch the tail end of mako’s goodbye with asami.

“oh,” you whispered as he told her he still cares about her. “oh!” she still cares about him too. “OH!” she kissed him on the cheek!

a deep laugh from next to you made you jump and you smacked iroh as he laughed even harder.

“still can’t resist the drama, can you?” he asked.

“it’s interesting stuff!” you defended.

“right,” he nodded, obviously amused.

“come on, let’s go rest,” you said, pushing his uninjured shoulder to turn him around. he stumbled forward with a laugh. “it’s been a long day.”

bolin and asami followed you and the general back to the fire, sitting across from the two of you on cushioned seats.

“so…” bolin trailed off. “do we get the story now?”

you quirked an eyebrow. “the story of what?”

“how you’re related to tenzin and commander bumi,” bolin said.

“yeah, like, seriously, who are you?” asami asked. iroh looked amused as you laughed.

“well, my name is y/n-“

“we know that,” bolin rolled his eyes. “come on, seriously. what’s your story? how do you know korra?”

“you know how korra’s dad is the chief of the southern water tribe?” you asked. they nodded. “well my dad was one of the chiefs before him. chief sokka.”

the two gasped. “he was one of aang’s closest advisors.”

“he was his brother-in-law too,” you chuckled. “katara is my aunt, making their kids my cousins. it’s also how i know him.” you nudged iroh with a smile. he grinned.

“my grandfather was best friends with her father, so they were around a lot,” he said.

“except, after my father passed and iroh joined the united forces neither of us have really been around,” you said, stealing a look at the firebender.

“how long has it been?” bolin asked.

“well, i actually visited firelord izumi and zuko pretty recently, so it’s only a month since i saw them. but it’s been three years since me and iroh have seen each other,” you replied.

iroh watched you with sad eyes as you avoided his gaze. he reached over and settled his hand on top of your knee rubbing soothing and somewhat apologetic circles. their eyes widened and asami bumped bolin.

“we’ll let you guys catch up then,” she said before dragging the earth bender away.

“oh, it’s alright-“

“no, i think you guys need some time to talk,” asami insisted, pushing bolin away again. he yelped, but she just kept moving him along until they were well out of earshot of the two of you, muttering something to him as they went.

an odd silence passed over you and the fire prince, not uncomfortable but not exactly comfortable either.

“how was-“

“i missed you-“

you stopped immediately, realizing that you weren’t just going to make small talk. he stopped, wondering if that’s what you wanted. you cleared your throat.

“i missed you too. it’s been too long since i’ve seen your face.”

“and i’m sorry about that,” he said solemnly, hanging his head over his knees as he watched your reaction to his words. “life is busy and i know that’s no sort of excuse, but-“

“both of us got caught up in what we were doing,” you dismissed. “you with the united forces, me with the tribe and the avatar. the real question is why didn’t we make time?”

“we did what we could, talked when we could. we did make time, we just couldn’t afford to take two weeks off just for travel and then only see each other for a day. our jobs don’t allow it,” he said decidedly.

“yeah, i guess you’re right.” you tucked your feet under you in a criss cross as you smiled softly. “i did love it when you called though.”

“yeah, me too,” he said, smiling too.

“you know, i was talking to your mom.” he looked up quickly and you avoided his gaze.

“y/n-“

“you don’t get to avoid this now. you might be able to over the phone, but not when i’m sitting right here,” you said, your expression hardening.

“i don’t want to talk about this right now,” he said, but you ignored his wishes.

“she said you might be going home soon. to prepare to become firelord.”

“i’ve still got a couple years-“

“do you not want that?” you asked quickly. “i mean, do you want to go home? because if you do that means-“

“i know what that means, y/n,” he said with a sigh. “but i don’t know want to leave the forces. i can’t. i feel like things are only going to get worse with the world from here now that the first person has challenged the new avatar.”

“you can still help from the fire nation. you can command their armies like you do with the united forces. i mean, they are supposed to be under your rule here soon and-“

“i can’t go back,” he said sharply. “not yet. i’m not ready.”

“well, that’s… that’s just selfish.”

you stood up abruptly, beginning to walk off before you heard him stand as well.

“selfish? i’m serving the world right now!”

“your duty is to your country, iroh!”

“i’m getting involved so they don’t have to, that is me fulfilling my duty!”

“what about your duty to me?” you spun around, tears in your eyes. “it’s been ten years of waiting for you to go back. to choose the fire nation. to choose me. i’m tired of not being with you! i want to settle down, to start a family! i don’t want to end up like my dad, finally have a kid at age fifty and die twenty years later. i want a life with you, iroh - not a life of waiting around for you.”

he didn’t know what to say.

“i-i,” he really didn’t know what to say. eventually he settled on, “it’s not you, it’s-“

the tears flowed freely down your cheeks as your hand came up to clutch the betrothal necklace clasped around your neck. “does this mean nothing to you?”

he stared at it for a while, remembering how much time he spent carving the water and fire symbols into it, how he’d had katara pick out the leather and fabric and how he’d unintentionally gotten sokka’s blessing back when you’d first started dating, when you were only teenagers.

“you know, i wouldn’t mind if this kid ended up my son one day,” he had said to iroh’s grandfather zuko, wrapping an arm around the nineteen year old’s shoulders. “he’s a good one. he treats y/n like she’s a queen.”

“one day she will be,” iroh had promised, not intending to say something like that so assuredly to her father as if he’d already planned the proposal. he paled, but sokka just grinned.

“i’m glad to hear that, son. my princess deserves to be a queen,” he breathed out, squeezing iroh’s shoulders. “i’m glad you can see that too.”

“it means everything to me,” he replied.

“it doesn’t seem like it,” you said. you began to pull at it, but he rushed forward, his eyes wide.

“don’t!” his voice quieted to a whisper. “please.”

you kept your hand on it as your lip trembled.

“do you know what i’ve given up for you? i was the chief! i put my entire life into my tribe!” you let out a laughing sob. “but then you said you were planning on going home. you proposed. we were going to be married. so i passed it down. i gave up my birth right for you because i thought that you were going to respect yours. and then you went back out onto the seas, leaving me heartbroken! but you told me to wait, that it wasn’t going to be long. it was long, iroh! way too damn long!”

“i know and i’m sorry,” he whispered.

“are you? are you really? because you still won’t come home,” you said.

“i will,” he said. “i promise you i will.”

“when? tomorrow or in another ten years?” you asked.

“y/n, please,” he tried, but you shook your head.

you gently unclasped the necklace and placed it in his palm. his fingers curled around it as he stared at you in disbelief.

“return this to me when you actually want me to wear it.”

#iroh ii can like #get it

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