Iroh stood on the deck, his muscles finally relaxed after another long week.
He stared at the sunset, he couldn't explain it, but something felt wrong.
"Hey kid," Bumi walked up next to him.
He could see the unsettled look on his father's face.
"So it's not just me?" Iroh muttered. "Something feels off to you too?"
Bumi sighed, "I usually get a bad feeling when something's wrong."
Iroh nodded faintly, "Do you think it's a storm again?"
Bumi patted his back, "I don't think so kid."
Iroh's jaw tightened, "Have you sent any letters home?"
"I sent one to your mother a week ago, I'm just waiting for a response," Bumi said, rubbing his neck.
"Have you ever felt like this and turned out to have been overreacting?" Iroh asked, sounding like he was asking for Bumi to say yes.
Bumi shook his head, "I only ever feel this way when something's wrong at home."
Iroh looked at him.
Bumi crossed his arms.
"What do you think is going on?"
"I'm not sure," Bumi muttered. "But it's times like this that I wish I could be there."
Iroh nodded faintly.
Bumi sighed, leaning forward against the wall.
Iroh stepped closer to him, "I see now why you never took time for yourself when you came home. I didn't know how much you could miss someone while out here."
"It's hard," Bumi sighed. "Especially when you're sure something's wrong."
Iroh leaned against the wall in the same position as Bumi.
"I'm really worried, Dad," Iroh muttered, looking into the water.
Bumi nodded faintly, "You and me both."
"Is there any way you can have us set a course for home?" Iroh asked hesitantly.
"Not unless there's a confirmed threat at the homefront and I'm the one given the orders for the mission."
Iroh nodded faintly, lowering his head, "I don't understand, I've never felt like this."
"It's instinct," Bumi said. "Your gut is telling you something's wrong but you can't do anything about it. All we can do is hope we're overreacting."
Iroh closed his eyes tight, "Why can't there be some way to get home?"
Bumi sighed. He glanced around the deck before placing his hand on Iroh's shoulder, wrapping his arm behind the young man's back.
Iroh sighed, "Any chance this is just sea madness?"
"Unlikely, sea madness is a whole other level," Bumi said.
Iroh wrapped his arm around Bumi's waist, "Do you think they'll be okay?"
"I hope so," Bumi sighed. "But, remember who we're talking about. Your grandfather who was one of the people who stopped the Hundred Year War, your grandmother who took on Princess Azula just for your grandpa, your mother who willingly beared not one but two of my children."
Bumi held up two fingers, his tone becoming dramatic.
Iroh's lips twitched and he turned his head, covering his mouth when he laughed.
Bumi chuckled.
"And there's your sister," Bumi said. "That girl is full of surprises."
Iroh nodded, "She's still a little girl though. Her biggest surprise against me was managing to lock me in my room."
"First rule my Uncle Sokka ever taught me," Bumi said. "Never underestimate a woman."
Iroh smiled faintly.
Bumi chuckled, patting his back.
"Maybe it's nothing," Iroh rubbed his neck. "Maybe I'm just over thinking since I'm not there like I usually am?"
"It could be anything honestly," Bumi sighed. "I'm just not usually like this unless something happens at home. Once I felt like this, and a week later I got a letter from your mother telling me you broke your arm."
Iroh groaned, "You couldn't just let me have a moment."
Bumi smiled faintly, "Nope."
"Bumi."
Bumi looked at Zun, "What?"
"There's an emergency radio transmission," Zun said.
Bumi cursed under his breath, letting go of Iroh.
Iroh clenched his jaw, "Could I come, Dad?"
Bumi shook his head, "Sorry, kiddo, but no."
Iroh nodded faintly.
Bumi saluted him.
Iroh returned it before Bumi turned away and followed Zun.
Iroh slouched against the wall.
"Everything okay loser?"
Iroh glanced over as Sin copied his stance, leaning against the wall.
"Um, yeah, just kinda unsettled," Iroh muttered.
"What's wrong?" She asked, resting her chin on her fist.
Iroh shrugged weakly, "I don't know."
Sin looked up at him since she was eye level with his shoulder, "You can tell me."
Iroh shook his head, "No, I mean I really don't know what's wrong. Something's just nagging at me and I'm worried for my family now."
Sin moved closer to him. She nudged him with her elbow.
He looked at her.
"It'll be okay," Sin said with such confidence that Iroh actually felt the knot in his stomach loosen.
"Thanks Sin," Iroh smiled awkwardly.
Sin patted his shoulder, "No problem Dragon Prince."
"Why do you call me Dragon Prince?" Iroh asked randomly.
She tilted her head and shrugged, "Well, you're a Prince. And some key points of symbolism for a dragon is protection, loyalty, fearlessness, strength, and balance. Which are all traits you exhibit."
Iroh glanced at her.
She was staring at the sunset as it lingered in the horizon.
He smiled faintly, feeling his cheeks grow warm.
"I love sunsets," Sin said quietly.
"You actually love something?" Iroh teased.
Sin punched him, "Shut up."
Iroh laughed.
"Yeah, whenever my Grandma visited, we'd sit at the beach together and watch the sunset," Sin said. "Sometimes she told me her favorite myths about the sunset."
Iroh smiled faintly, "My Grandfather did something similar with me."
"It's my turn to gush Grandpa's Boy," Sin teased.
Iroh held up his hands as if surrendering, "Okay."
Sin smiled.
Iroh watched her, noticing the gold ring she was playing with.
"Was that hers?" Iroh asked.
Sin looked at the ring before nodding, "Yeah, Grandma was around a lot. Mom, who's her daughter, says I act just like her, but for some reason I don't really remember how she acted."
Iroh looked at her.
"I just know that I loved and dreaded her visits," Sin said.
"Why's that?" Iroh frowned.
"Grandma always managed to show up in time to get me away from my parents when they were about to fight, never crossed my mind that she didn't know what was going on."
Iroh glanced at her, "What do you mean going on?"
Sin sighed, "My Dad was a terrible man. Let's just say, I came home from school one day to find my mom beaten and unconscious on the floor."
Iroh's eyes widened.
"I started getting in the way after that," Sin said. "Got a few scars from it."
"That's horrible," Iroh said. "I'm so sorry, Sin."
Sin nodded faintly, "Thanks, but there's a bitter sweet ending."
Iroh looked at her.
"I finally had enough," Sin said, playing with the ring. "Next time Grandma took me out, I 'accidentally' showed her a scar on my back."
Iroh furrowed his brows as Sin grinned.
"I was still pretty scared, I was only twelve," Sin said, pushing her ponytail over her shoulder.
"Grandma got Mom and I some tickets to the Ember Island Players," Sin said. "Dad didn't even care."
Iroh watched as Sin slipped the ring on, which fit perfectly.
"Mom and I went out, leaving Dad and Grandma at home." Sin tilted her head. "Came back to an empty house."
"Did your father do something to her?" Iroh asked.
"Nope," Sin shook her head. "Mom found a note, she told me it was a 'goodbye' note from Dad, she was so afraid of him she still tried to talk him up. I knew she was lying about the note, but I wasn't going to push. I went to my room and found the ring on my desk along with a piece of paper."
Iroh looked at her.
"It was a letter from Grandma."
"What did it say?" Iroh asked.
"Hey Firecracker, thanks for the tip. Here's a little something for your trouble," Sin recited as if it were a beloved poem. She showed him her hand with the ring on it.
"Did she do something to him?" Iroh asked nervously.
"Probably," Sin shrugged. "I just know that was the last time I saw either of them."
"I'm so sorry."
Sin shrugged, "It's just Grandma that I miss, but I kinda brought it on myself. She wasn't exactly a 'normal' grandmother."
Iroh glanced at her.
Sin smiled faintly, looking amused, "She was a rowdy woman. She did so much stuff no one would expect from a woman her age."
"Like what?" Iroh asked, seeing how excited she seemed to talk about her grandmother.
"She used to get into all kinds of mischief," Sin said. "A lot of the time she pulled me into it during our days out. It's actually how I learned to fight and found out I could bend."
Iroh frowned at her.
"Don't give me that look mister, 'my grandfather used to play fight me with real swords'."
"Touché," Iroh smiled faintly.
"She was a fighter," Sin said. "Anyone pissed her off she'd be on them like quills on a boar-q-pine."
Iroh smiled, seeing the light in Sin's eyes.
"She could knock a guy out with one punch," Sin said. "She'd protect me all the time, until one time a guy pissed me off and I Firebended for the first time. Grandma went wild, screaming, 'That's my girl! That Firecracker is with me!'."
Iroh laughed, "That explains that nickname in the note."
"And you won't tell anyone about it, Roro," Sin said the name like a threat.
"I never should've told you about Kitty's nickname for me," Iroh teased.
Sin smiled, playing with the ring.
Iroh pulled out his tile, "This White Lotus tile used to belong to my grandfather."
Sin looked at it, "Looks like it's seen a lot of love."
Iroh nodded faintly, "It was my favourite thing my entire life. I never left the palace without it."
Sin looked at him, smiling faintly.
"It felt like I had my grandfather with me whenever I took it," Iroh said.
"Is that why you brought it?" Sin asked. "So you'd feel like he's here."
Iroh nodded faintly, "Yeah, but it hasn't helped much lately. It used to make me feel better when I held it, right now it feels like it's sucking the life out of me."
"You miss him," Sin said. "A piece of rock won't get rid of the loneliness. Believe me, I know."
Iroh glanced at her as she ran her finger over the ring.
He looked down at the Lotus tile. The knot soon returned to his stomach and he sighed, slipping the tile back into his pocket.
He dropped his hand on the wall and closed his eyes.
Iroh blinked, opening his eyes when he felt something tickle his knuckles.
He glanced down, watching Sin's fingers as they danced over his knuckles, heading for his purlicue.
Iroh turned his palm up and started to curl his hand around her fingers.
Sin didn't pull away, laying her hand in his.
Iroh closed his hand around her fingers.
Sin placed her thumb against his knuckles.
"Thanks for telling me your story," Iroh said after a minute.
Sin was silent for a moment.
"Thanks for listening," Sin said quietly.
Iroh squeezed her hand gently.
Sin moved closer to him until her shoulder touched his arm.
For once, Iroh didn't feel his face grow red, he actually felt comfortable, something he couldn't recall since he left home.