Iroh trudged into his room, being quiet so he wouldn't wake Cho, who was out cold on his bed.
The other fire bender was laying on top of his blankets, but he had shoved himself against the wall.
Iroh closed the door and climbed onto his bunk, kicking off his shoes as he face planted the pillow.
He had ended up sleeping the whole night until Bumi woke him up so they could get back to the ship without being caught.
Since they were leaving early in the morning, Yue offered to take them all to the docks on Haro.
At least he could cross, Ride a Saber tooth Moose Lion, off his unexpected experiences list.
Iroh jerked his head up when he heard the piercing sound of the bugle in the hallway.
He groaned, slamming his face back into the pillow.
Cho was already on his feet and wide awake as if he hadn't been dead asleep a mere moment ago.
"Look alive, lazy Prince!" Cho teased, having seen Iroh drop his head back down.
"It's too early to be alive," Iroh groaned.
"Not in the Forces it's not!" Cho chuckled.
Iroh sighed and sat up, he was relieved he was rested after sleeping most the night, but getting woken up still wasn't pleasant to the sleeping mind.
He jumped off the bed and started getting ready.
Once Iroh was dressed, Cho opened the door to the hallway.
The two stepped into the hallway.
"Hey, we're neighbors!" They heard someone laugh.
Iroh glanced over his shoulder.
Pelo stood behind them with his wide smile.
"Oh, morning Pelo," Iroh greeted, giving a salute.
Pelo returned the salute.
"Cho, this is Pelo," Iroh said, gesturing from Cho to Pelo. "He saved me from getting trampled yesterday. Pelo, this is Cho, my bunk mate."
Pelo and Cho saluted each other.
"Are you a bender?" Cho asked.
"Way to just jump in buddy," Iroh shook his head.
Cho shrugged, "I'm curious."
Pelo chuckled. He lift his hand and quickly clenched his fist.
Iroh instinctively reached for his pocket when he felt movement. Before he could react, Pelo had bended the stone tile out of his pocket and was levitating it over his palm.
Cho's eyes filled with excitement.
"Can I have that back?" Iroh asked. "It's, um, sentimental."
Pelo nodded, he stopped levitating the tile and tossed it to the fire prince, "Sorry, it was the only non metal thing I could sense close by."
"You're a metal bender?" Iroh asked.
Pelo nodded, "Yeah, my aunt let me attend a Beifong metal bending academy when I wanted to further my skills."
"That's awesome!" Cho smiled.
"What about you guys?" Pelo asked. "Are you benders?"
Cho nodded, "Yeah, we're both fire benders. Ro can bend lightning too."
"I haven't had a lot of practice," Iroh said hesitantly.
Pelo nodded, "That's still impressive."
The three flinched as the second bugle sounded.
"Above deck soldiers!" Lieutenant Zun ordered from down the hallway.
"Yes sir!" The three saluted and turned to march up deck.
They made their way above deck and stood side-by-side in the lineup. Pelo was on Iroh's right and Cho was on his left.
Iroh glanced down the line when he noticed a lone blue soldier in the sea of red and green.
Kayoda stood between Sin and a female Earth Kingdom soldier.
Though he didn't know the situation, Iroh was glad whatever it was, Bumi was able to allow Kayoda to join the crew early.
"Where's the Commander?" Pelo whispered to Iroh.
Iroh glanced up the staircase he had been sitting on last night, which led to the Commader's cabin.
The light was off, so Iroh knew he wasn't in the cabin.
Bumi never stayed up late, but he was always awake early. Many times when he was beginning to stay up late, Iroh would be going to bed just as his father was waking up.
Iroh raised a brow and smirked a bit when he heard the all too familiar, adrenaline powered, scream of the Fire Nation's Prince Consort.
The other recruits all looked around in confusion.
Commander Bumi came soaring overheard, swinging on a rope. He landed feet first in front of the line up and somersaulted forward to save his ankles from the shock.
He hopped to his feet, "Attention!"
The line up watched in shock, even after yesterday's big outburst they still seemed unsettled by the Commander's suddenly eccentric mannerism.
Iroh smirked faintly, delighted to see his father finally enjoying himself once more.
Bumi turned on his heel and began to make his way down the line.
Once the line up was dismissed, everyone went below deck to the cafeteria.
Iroh picked up his tray and met Cho and Chi at one of the tables.
"Just let it go, Chi!" Cho muttered to his sister as Iroh sat down.
"Let what go?" Sin asked as she claimed the seat next to Iroh.
Cho waved his hand, "Nothing, Chi's just being annoying."
"But there's--"
"Chi!" Cho hissed through his teeth, "Shut up!"
"Cho's embarrassed?" Sin tilted her head, "I'm intrigued."
"I'm not embarrassed," Cho muttered. "I just don't want to talk about it."
Iroh furrowed his brows, seeing how tense Cho seemed.
"Whatever it is Cho, you don't have to tell us unless you want to," Iroh said, feeling like it was the right thing to say. "We're all friends here."
"In that case, can I join?"
The four Fire Nation recruits looked over to see Pelo standing at the end of the table.
"You want to sit with us?" Cho frowned.
Pelo nodded with a shrug, "I would like to, but if you don't want me to--"
"No, that's not what it is," Iroh shifted closer to Sin and patted the open part of the bench. "Please."
Pelo gave his wide smile and sat down, "I knew we'd be friends."
Iroh smiled and gave a chuckle, "Sorry, Pelo. We were just expecting everyone would be separated in our own nations for awhile."
Pelo scoffed, "Come on this isn't High School."
Iroh looked at him.
"We're not a world divided. It's the United Forces, emphasis on 'United'."
The Fire Nation recruits glanced at each other, somehow, none of them thought of it that way.
Iroh glanced around the cafeteria. Unlike their table, every table had a solid block of either red or green.
He noticed the blue soldier at a table all alone.
"You know what," Iroh said, pushing himself off the bench. "You're right."
Without another word Iroh walked to Kayoda.
The rest of the table watched as Iroh stood next to the table.
Soon, Kayoda stood up with her tray and walked to the table with him.
Chi scooted closer to her brother, opening the seat for the young woman.
Pelo's smile turned to a prideful grin.
Iroh gestured to the woman, "Kayoda; this is Sin, Pelo, Cho, and Chi. Everyone, this is Kayoda."
Kayoda waved, "Um, Iroh said this is a welcoming group."
"We are," Sin nodded, looking Kayoda over.
Chi nodded enthusiastically.
"As Pelo said, we are the United Forces," Iroh held his tin cup up.
The others followed him, understanding what he was doing.
"To Unity," Iroh said.
"To Unity," The rest of the table cheered, catching the attention of the rest of the room.
Commander Bumi had walked in the doors just as the table made the toast.
He grinned, crossing his arms as the recruits clinked their tin cups together.