WOW Nostalgia
Iroh looked outside at the late night storm and saw the shadowed figure of a woman walk into the building. As soon as he recognized his friend, he rushed to get a towel for her, for she was soaking wet. “June, my dear” he scolded playfully. “What on earth are you doing? You could catch your death on a night like tonight”
“I need a place to sleep.” she said, holding her side. She was breathing heavily and had trouble keeping her eyes open. Her arms had several bruises on them and she looked like she just lost a fight. “I’m sorry! I messed up things really bad.” June removed her hand on her body and her clothes were stained with blood.
“Spirits above” Iroh muttered as he ran to the hurt girl. “Shh, it is fine, my dear. Do not blame yourself, for blame is as harmful for the spirit as a wound is for the body. Come here.” Iroh picked up the girl with surprising ease and brought her to the cot in the back where she slept on occasion. He gently placed her into a sitting position. “June I need to take off your shirt so I can tend to your side, do you mind?” He looked worriedly at the girl who looked like any moment she could pass out.
She removed her shirt and revealed several other open wounds on her body. Then, she grabbed Iroh’s hand. “Stay here, please.” She barely muttered the words. She felt dizzy and could barely distinguish Iroh’s figure from the rest of the background, her body feeling heavier and her eyes tired. Despite her current state, June still found enough strength to hold a solid grip on her caretaker’s arm.
“June I need to get some water to clean your wounds, otherwise, who knows what could happen.” He tenderly held onto her hand. “I will be in the other room for only a moment, and then I won’t leave until you are better. Do you understand, June?” He looked at the wounds on her side and ribs, trying to gauge what caused them and what was best to treat them. He carefully touched one with his finger, and June hissed in pain. The old man shook his head. “I will be back in a moment.” Iroh gently removed June’s hand from his own and quickly walked into the other room.
She nodded her head gently. Her eyes followed Iroh as he left in the next room. “I’ll be fine.” June said almost whispering. “Just stay here with me.” She looked at her wounds and put her hand back on her side to try to prevent the blood from getting out through the cut. Her whole body started hurting from this, but she kept her hand in place. “Iroh, come back.” She got up, but her legs were to weak to hold her up, so she just fell back down on the cot.
As Iroh returned with a pot of steaming water, with medicinal leaves brewing inside, he saw as June tried to get up and subsequently fell. He ran to her, placed the pot down beside the bed, and cradled her in his arms. “June” he scolded softly “I am right here, you aren’t doing your body any good by fighting it.” He looked down at her and held her chin so she groggily looked at him. “I am not going anywhere, and do not get up again. Do you understand me?” Although the words seemed harsh, June could see that Iroh had nothing but tenderness is his face. She nodded almost imperceptibly. “Good. Now this will sting a bit, but I am right here.” As he was speaking, he propped June up against the wall again, took the cotton sheet laying on the floor, ripped a strip of it, and placed it in the water. When he finished he gently placed it against, what seemed, the spot with the most damage.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” she argued. She didn’t like having people worry for her because she thought they’ll think she’s weak. She remembered taking care of her dad when he used to come wounded like this. The medicine Iroh applied on her was indeed stinging. She put her hand on the cotton strip wanting to remove it, but then changed her mind. She then sat still holding Iroh’s hand. “I’m sorry” she muttered again, her voice breaking.
He looked at the broken girl, broken in ways more than one. “June, you need never apologize for showing emotion, or hurt, or pain. It is not weakness to show it, nor strength to hide it. My nephew thought similarly to this, and he is still recovering from the scars it left behind.” He tenderly held her hand. “My dear, you do not ever need to be afraid to be true to your heart.”
She looked into Iroh’s eyes. She could barely keep herself from bursting into tears both from the pain in her body and the pain in her heart. June slid down the wall and sat on the ground. “I need to t-” she stop abruptly. There were so many things she needed to tell him, but she did not have the strength to tell him right now. “I need to lay down” she tried to cover it up. She kept holding his hand, grasping it even stronger like she was afraid that he’ll leave again.
Iroh could see how conflicted she was, and how exhausted. He gently said “Tonight, did you hurt your head?” As he said this he gently treated the wounds on her body, sponging the blood off of her skin and slowly wrapping them so that they could no longer soil her body.
June shook her head. “I don’t think so.” she ran her hand through her hair. “Gah, this night….I wish it never happened.” She closed her eyes shut to keep her tears from rolling on her face. Despite all the pain and shame she was feeling, she was happy to be here with Iroh. As much as she wanted to erase all memories of tonight from her head, she did not want the night to end. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to-” she started crying and propped her head on Iroh’s shoulder to hide her face.
Iroh’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he quickly held the crying girl. He sat there stroking her hair and softly holding as she sobbed into his shoulder. “My dear girl” Iroh said quietly, almost to himself, “how long have these tears waited to flow?” Then louder so June could hear, he comforted her. “June, the strongest person in the world is nothing if they cannot cry. You are safe here.” Iroh continued to hold June as her tears eventually slowed.
June looked up at Iroh’s face. She hesitated for a second and then kissed him. She waited for so long to do that. “I’m so sorry.” she apologized again. “I shouldn’t have come here. I’m only causing you trouble.” She then wiped the tears on her face and tried to get up. “I need to leave and deal with my problems. I don’t want them to come here.” Her body wasn’t completely healed and she just fell back to the ground as she tried to get up. She frowned, being angry at herself.
Iroh looked almost angrily at her. “June, you are in no shape to leave, and you know it. In addition, if anyone is to come into my shop, they will deal with me, not you. You need to rest and you are not to leave that cot until I say that you are fit enough to.” June could tell the anger in his voice was due to his concern for her, but she could see hints of the Fire Nation General appearing in his eyes. However, the glint immediately vanished, and he tenderly wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks. “My dear, you are exhausted, in every sense. Your body will not heal in a minute, and neither will the ache in your heart. Come.” He lay down on the cot and beckoned the wounded girl to lay next to him. June nestled her head in his shoulder, and could feel his voice rumbling in his chest as he spoke. “If you have the strength, tell me what hurts your heart so. If not, it can wait until the morning. Either way, I will not leave you, do not worry.” Iroh looked down at June; she looked weary, hurt, and exhausted, but also much more peaceful then when she stumbled through the door only a short while ago.
She felt safe and happy to be next to Iroh. She took a deep breath and started explaining herself. “I-I did some things that I’m not proud of. There was this guy who came into the tavern. He said he has a job for me. His offer seemed pretty interesting so I accepted. Then he sat down and bought me a drink and we started talking. He was so sly, and I believed his every lie. After enough drinks he asked me to stay with me over night so I brought him into my room. Only then he revealed himself. He was an assassin sent to kill me. Apparently I have a bounty on my head. I tried to fight him off, but he was stronger and better trained that I was. As you can see he gave me these wounds.” she paused for a second to catch her breath. “I don’t know everything that happened because I passed out for a little. Luckily I was still alive, but he was still there. I didn’t know what to do. There was really no way for me to escape. I still had my whip on me so I coiled my whip around his neck and waited for him to die. It took him a while and during all that wait he had the strength to use his sword to deal more damage to me. Then I escaped from the tavern and came here, but I can’t stay here for long. I’m going to put you in danger. And I don’t want to, because-” she stopped again. “I don’t know how to tell this. It’s so hard.” she softly squeezed Iroh’s hand.
Iroh could see how much pain she was in, and he placed a finger on her lips. “My dear, there is no point in making yourself feel worse. This man was clearly bent on your capture, and would go to any lengths to make that happen. Do not blame yourself for what happened. Blame eats up at your very soul, and does much more damage than a sword could ever do.” He stroked June’s hair quietly. “As I said earlier, do not fret about me. There is no bounty hunter in the world who can take a guest in my shop.” Iroh squeezed June’s hand in return. “My dear, I will never judge you, I will never think badly of anything that you do. You do not ever need to be afraid to tell me anything.”
“I don’t want to cause you any more trouble.” she sighed. “I love you….and I don’t want you to do so much for me because there’s no way I can make it up to you.” She moved closer to him. Her wounds still aching but she ignored them. She was happy to be here right now. “I should have listened to you, you know? When you said I should consider another job.” She was starting to feel better inside. Her mind was calm, and she was not scared anymore.
Iroh chuckled quietly, making June’s head bob softly on his chest. “True love, my dear,” he looked tenderly at the girl, “is giving without need or expectation of receiving in return. You do not cause me any trouble when you are here, ever, and I do not want to hear you talk like that anymore. You are an absolute joy in my life, and every moment I spend with you is one that I treasure. And,” he looked at June, smiling “it is not too late to work with me, you know.”
“It’s not?” her face lit up as the Avatar’s upon seeing penguins. “If I could walk I would jump from joy.” she joked. “It’s going to feel awkward, you know, going from always being close to being killed to serving tea. Not that it’s a bad change. I love tea and everything related to it.” she put her hand on Iroh’s chest and looked him in the eyes. “You will not like this, but I have to do it. After I’m healed I’m going after the guy who put a bounty on me. I’ll kill him or negotiate with him to remove the bounty, and then I can start my normal life.” she said it as if it was that easy to make it happen. She was hoping Iroh would agree with her, but at the same time she wanted him to forbid her from doing such things.
Iroh looked sadly at her, a sense of gloomy nostalgia overcoming him. “You have to do this? Why, June? You are not the woman you used to be. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you ever used to be, And now you have come to a crossroads. I feel that it is time for you to make a choice, my dear. It is time for you to choose good. ” He stroked her hair as he spoke. “I cannot tell you what to do, June. I can tell you it is not wise to follow that path, even for one last time. It will suck you in, and I cannot bear to lose you to that beast. Not again, my dear. I can tell you that no good will come of returning to that man, but I cannot tell you to stay. That is a choice you must make.” Iroh saw the pain in June’s eyes and added softly. “Though that decision must be made, it need not be tonight. What you need most is rest.”
Then, almost as if a trickster spirit was waiting for the old man to finish, a banging started at the door.
June was startled by the banging on the door. She jumped out of bed holding her side. “It’s him.” she said quickly. “Ah fuck! I should have never done this to you. I’ll take care of it I promise. Just…” she paused and started looking around. “I’ll go out the window and lead them away. You stay here and be safe.” She knew she wouldn’t be able to defend herself from whoever was at the door. At least not in the condition she was in right now, but she was more worried for Iroh than she was for herself. “I hope I will see you again, my dear.”
Iroh looked at the girl incredulously as the banging on the door increased. “You are going to lay down. Now.” Although Iroh said it in a gentle voice, June didn’t dare to think what would happen if she disobeyed him. “I won’t have any nonsense about you doing anything other than sitting on that cot and resting. There is no one behind that door save Agni himself who could harm you with me here. Go to bed.” And with that, Iroh stood up, picked June up and laid her on the bed. He held a finger to his lips and walked over to the door. With every step he took, he began to seemingly grow older before June’s eyes, and by the time he opened the door, he looked like a frail, limping old man.
“Hello sir. Is there anything I can help you with? The tea shop is closed for the night, but you would be most welcome to return in the morning.”
She looked worried from the room to Iroh. She did not want to intervene since she didn’t want to go against Iroh’s will, but she was prepared to strike back if the man was any trouble for Iroh. “I should have told Nyla to hide” she thought in her head. She felt guilty for bringing harm to her friend, but she knew Iroh well enough to know that he wouldn’t do anything reckless.
The eerily handsome man slinked like a rat inside of the tea shop. “No, no, no.” he said eerily, “Just looking for a… friend… of mine.” The words seemed to ooze out of his mouth like slime. “I have reason to believe she is here, and if you are hiding her, old man,” He paused and brought his hand to his waist where a still bloody sword hang, “the consequences would be… unpleasant.”
Iroh, straightening slightly, said “I can assure you, there is no one of interest to you in my house, and it would be best if you left now. I do not wish for there to be any problems in my shop.”
During this entire interplay of bravado, June did as Iroh said and stayed quiet, hoping that there wouldn’t be any action behind their words.
June heard the conversation the two men had, and she quickly recognized the stranger’s voice. She met him before when she was a little girl and her dad took her with him to take care of a bounty. The stranger standing at Iroh’s door, used to be a bounty hunter as well. Not a skilled one though. The first time they met he put June, her dad, and himself in danger, and the reason why he is still alive today was because June’s dad had mercy on him and rescued him. She was relieved to know that the man was no real danger, however she had no idea if the stranger acquired any more skills after they last met.
As June remembered her previous encounter with the man, the current one seemed to be heating up, and quickly. “Perhaps I just take a quick looksie, old man.” June heard a few footsteps and then the sound of a bowl crashing to the ground. “Oops.” The bounty hunter sneered, “My mistake.”
Iroh dropped all pretense of age at the blatant disrespect towards his tea shop. He walked over to the man and picked him up with one hand by the scruff of his collar, the other hand instantly erupted into flame.
“You are to leave my premise immediately.” June shuddered instinctively at the quiet ferocity in his voice. She had known he was one of the most feared and respected generals in the Fire Nation army, gaining the title the Dragon of the West, but now she saw why. With his flaming hand, he grabbed the sword from the man’s belt, and the hilt began to melt, letting off an eerie dying hiss as it wilted. “If you, or anyone else, return to my shop with the intention of harming June, your sword will not be the only thing harmed by this fire. Are we in agreement, friend?”
Iroh dropped the man, who instinctively grabbed his sword, only to howl in pain as the still melted hilt burned the palm of his hand. The man dropped his weapon and ran out the door, disappearing in the rain. Iroh calmly picked up the still hot sword and placed the hilt in the sink behind the counter.
June was awed by what she just saw. “You were amazing! Did you see the look on his face? And you were so great. You were all like wow!” she could barely find words to describe her admiration for the way Iroh acted earlier. She got out of bed and went and hugged him. “You’re my hero!” she smiled softly. “Also, sorry I disobeyed you and got out of bed just now.”
Iroh smiled at the girl and chuckled. “It is a much better reason now then the last time you tried to get up.” He guided the girl back to bed, letting her put most of her weight on him. “You know, I had no intention of heroics, but if saving the future of a woman I love is heroic, let it be that way.” Iroh stoically ignored any mention of his actions at the front of the shop.
“Well about what we talked earlier….I’ll just let go of the past and start a new life here.” she said and then stopped abruptly, noticing what Iroh just said. “You…you love me?” June smiled. Her heart was beating faster than ever. She was confused about what’s going on with her since she never felt this way before. She put her arms around him and kissed him again, this time not letting go so fast.
Iroh saw it coming from miles away, and yet it still didn’t prepare him for the exact moment June kissed him. In that kiss, it felt like the years of hardship, the years of fighting, of pain, of sadness, of loss, melted away. He was a young man again, falling in love as only the young can, and it was intoxicating. Iroh wrapped his arms, carefully as not to risk hurting her, around June’s slender waist and kissed her. He entwined his fingers in her beautiful black hair, wanting to be even closer to this remarkable, entrancing, strong, beautiful woman.
She pulled him closer to her as she continued kissing him. With just one kiss she had forgotten everything bad that happened that night. The assassin at the tavern, her journey to Iroh’s shop, the pain she felt as he was treating her wounds, the fear in her heart when the other man showed up, and the fear she had to tell Iroh what she felt for him, were all gone from her mind and her soul. She didn’t want this end, she went on and started putting more into their kiss and holding Iroh tighter in her arms.
Iroh chuckled inwardly as he felt June try to intensify their kiss. But if the years had taught him anything, it was that patience could be one of the most rewarding pleasures of all. He gradually ended their kiss and smiled at the beautiful woman in front of him, as she looked at him in confusion. “My dear” he said warmly, “this is a most wonderful day for us both, and know that your love for me is not unreciprocated. But let us not forget that you are still injured. I would not want us, in our thoughtlessness, to do you more harm.” Iroh quietly led the young woman to her cot, and gently lay her in the bed. He then got up and moved his next to her so that the two mattresses were combined into one large one.
“I wish to stay here in case you need me during the night, but I do not want to squish you!” He laughed contentedly as he lay down in the giant bed with his new beloved.
She went closer to him. She laid her face onto Iroh’s chest and held his hand into hers again. June was looking deep into his eyes, and this time the way she looked at him was not filled with concern or guilt, but with love. She smiled to him. “You know I never believed in this love stuff. I think you’ll make me change my ways completely” she laughed. A thought just occurred to her. “How would you feel about having a giant shirshu as a pet? You won’t mind if I keep Nyla, would you?”
Iroh chuckled. “I have sailed the world, have seen it’s wonders, I have taken care of flying bisons and hotheaded nephews. What is one shirshu to me?” As if on comedic cue (this is based on a kids tv show, you know), Nyla’s tongue burst through the back window of the shop and smacked Iroh across his free arm, completely paralysing him.
June was embarrassed by what just happened. “What the hell Nyla!” she shouted. “No licking friends, only bad guys. I told you a million times.” She went to her bag and got a small vial and then helped Iroh drink it. The liquid in the vial cancelled Nyla’s paralyzing toxin and Iroh was free to move again. “I’m sorry for your window” June smiled awkwardly. “I can fix it for you somehow. And about Nyla….if you want I could tie him up until he gets used to you.” she sighed.
Iroh rubbed his arm where the shirshu had tonguelashed it and smiled. “That little vial would have been helpful the last time Nyla licked someone he wasn’t supposed to” Iroh said as he remembered the first time he had met the shirshu and his headstrong owner. “And do not worry about the window, I am sure it will be fixed in time, it is a warm night, it cannot bother us now.” He lay in the bed and beckoned June to join him, reveling in how natural this felt, after all this time… Iroh’s thoughts wandered to a faraway time and place, but similar situation; laying on their bed, laughing about something trivial, being wonderfully in love…
She sat next to Iroh still staring into his eyes lovingly. She placed her hand on Iroh’s arm where he got stung by the shirshu. “Don’t worry, it will go away in a few minutes.” June assured. “I had it when Zuko and I got paralyzed, I just didn’t have the means of getting to it. But it wasn’t that bad, now that I think about it” she smirked. Her face got closer to Iroh’s and kissed him softly on the lips.
Iroh awoke from his daydream with a start when June spoke, and then was more pleasantly awoken by her soft kiss. “No,” he said in between kisses, “It wasn’t that bad at all.” Iroh gently held the small of June’s back in one hand, always minding her wounds, and caressed her face with the other, going between kissing her lightly and gazing at her beautiful face. Iroh could barely believe what a lucky man he was, to have such an elegant and stunningly beautiful woman to call his love.
She continued kissing him. She liked the feel of his lips on hers. June felt like a different person when he was holding her. She felt so free and careless with him, and although it was not in her nature to lose control of everything, she just let him lead her. She stopped kissing him for a little just to gaze upon his face and eyes, then continued pressing her lips softly onto his. She was more happy than she’s ever been in her life, and there were no words to express what she was feeling.
Iroh knew how rare it was for June to completely relax, to let herself be guided, but he also felt he did not want her to feel rushed; whether or not they truly wanted to was a different story altogether. Iroh grudgingly broke their kiss another time to look at her. “June, my dear, it is best if we sleep. We shall still be here in the morning, and I am sure that your body will thank you for the rest” He chuckled as he lovingly touched the bandages on her side. “Will you be able to sleep, my dear?” He asked, the concern for her well being was displayed plainly on his face.
"Sleep sounds good." June smiled. She saw the look of concern on his face. "Yes, I will be able to sleep." she assured him, then kissed him again once more. She looked at him again and caressed his face before closing her eyes and going to sleep.
Iroh watched his little sleeping beauty as she lay in his arms. He cradled her and made sure she was comfortable, all the while singing to himself quietly.
Winter, spring, summer and fall. Winter, spring, summer and fall, four seasons four loves, four seasons, for love.
“Goodnight, my love.”