[Dream][Week 6, Day 1]Reunion
[OOC Note: Iroh's wife is barely touched on in canon. Mostly we know she existed because of Iroh's son, and that she wasn't around by the time Lu Ten died. So I followed the old fan classic of 'make shit up'. I'll probably tack an OOC post in the journal for my own reference about fanon I establish for Iroh in Kannagara.
[Dream is SFW.]
Li's had a reputation of being the best restaurant in Upper Ring, and probably in Ba Sing Se, to the point where any other restaurant owner named Li -- and there were a lot of Lis in the Earth Kingdom -- would add another word to their shop name, lest they seem presumptuous. And Iroh had never eaten there, between settling in at the Jasmine Dragon and being arrested by his niece and then liberating the city, and finding the Earth King, and the pardon from the Earth King, and repairing the Dragon...
... well, this was as good a time as any. Better than most.
The maître d' pulled out Ya Lin's chair, and then Iroh's. They both sat, Iroh still in the clothing he wore around the shop, Ya Lin looking incongruous -- though still beautiful -- in the finery of a Fire Nation noble. She was just as he remembered her, which meant she was thirty years younger. What a pair they made, him as the aging merchant still in work clothing and her in silks and jewels and in the prime of her life.
Silly old man, Iroh thought to himself.
She was studying the menu, lips pursed. "Mmm... what shall I get?" He knew that it wasn't a rhetorical question. Ya Lin was usually happy eating whatever dinner brought to her study or workshop. But she was happy to accompany him to try new things. In turn, he followed her to bookstores, where she demonstrated the art of knowing exactly which poets and diarists he would like best.
It wasn't the same since she died. But now is not the time for such thoughts.
"I've never come here before," he tells her. "I don't like eating alone and Zuko and I weren't well off while he was here."
Ya Lin nods, as if she knew Zuko all his life, as Iroh had, even though she had never met her nephew. "I see. Is Earth Kingdom cuisine that different?"
"Very regional," Iroh said. He started in on a long list of what he had observed about food in the Earth Kingdom, and she nodded.
They must have ordered, because there was food in front of them now, hot vegetables in sauce and buts of meat over rice. It was artfully arranged on the plate so that all could be seen and displayed. An ephemeral thing, plating food was. Ya Lin was staring at it, then picked up her chopsticks before delicately putting a carrot in her mouth, chewing and swallowing. "It's an interesting art, don't you think? Beautiful, even knowing it will only last a moment."
Iroh was reaching for his own utensils, but he paused, has hand hovering over the table. "A metaphor," he commented, giving her a smile. "For life." He wanted to kiss her, then, but the old specter of being Crown Prince had returned with her. He had loved his wife with all the passion of the Sun, but any show of weakness would have made her a target. They behaved as restrained near-strangers in public, so the enemies of their throne think they were merely another noble couple thrown together for politics.
In the end, it hadn't been an assassin's knife that killed her, but her own failing heart. A bitter irony for one of the most passionate women Iroh had ever met.
But tonight was theirs. And in Ba Sing Sei, he wasn't Crown Prince Iroh, or General Iroh, but Iroh the tea merchant.
He took her free hand, then, running his thumb over her skin. She was always too thin, dear Ya Lin, even in her hands. He could feel the calluses from her work -- her active mind refusing to let her hands sit still. She looked away from her dinner, one of her secret smiles bringing the corners of her mouth. "I thought you were looking forward to this. Your dinner's getting cold." There was warmth in her voice, all the warmth of the Sun.
"I could eat at Li's any night; tonight is for us." He brought her hand up to his lips, giving it a kiss.
Ya Lin chuckled. "I take it we're not staying for dessert?" she asked.
"If you like, we can." Iroh said. "But I'd be happy to make you something at home." He grinned at her, taking joy in the openness between them.
She smiled back, slipping her hand from his grasp to loop it around him. There was the scrape of her chair against stone as she moved close to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'd like that. The food's not bad, but I think I'd prefer a bit of Fire Nation spice." She laughed at that, as if she had just noticed the double entendre as she spoke.
Iroh could feel the heat of her body through their clothing, her fingers tracing small circles on his back through his robe, and he fumbled for the coins to pay the waiter for their barely-touched food. Normally, he would say it was a crime to waste such fare but... there were a few things more important good food.
There was nothing like love to make a man feel young, or outside time. As they stood up, he drew her in for a kiss. Perhaps not the best time, since her lips still tasted of the sweet sauce she had been eating. But there was no time for the present. After a moment... a long moment... she drew back. "We're never going to get home if you keep behaving like that," she kidded.
"We have time," Iroh said. "We have all the time in the world." But he did start walking, arm still around her, keeping her close to him as he lead her back...
--
[Morning sun streamed through the open window. Through the Hitomi, Iroh is visible lying on a futon, the sun hitting his face. He twitches a bit, eyes scrunched up, as if trying to block out the sunlight. He turns over a couple of times, before sighing and sitting up. He takes no notice of the Hitomi.]
Never fails... why do good dreams always come at the end of the night?
[Iroh stands up, slowing staggering into the other room, still half-asleep.]
[Dream is SFW.]
Li's had a reputation of being the best restaurant in Upper Ring, and probably in Ba Sing Se, to the point where any other restaurant owner named Li -- and there were a lot of Lis in the Earth Kingdom -- would add another word to their shop name, lest they seem presumptuous. And Iroh had never eaten there, between settling in at the Jasmine Dragon and being arrested by his niece and then liberating the city, and finding the Earth King, and the pardon from the Earth King, and repairing the Dragon...
... well, this was as good a time as any. Better than most.
The maître d' pulled out Ya Lin's chair, and then Iroh's. They both sat, Iroh still in the clothing he wore around the shop, Ya Lin looking incongruous -- though still beautiful -- in the finery of a Fire Nation noble. She was just as he remembered her, which meant she was thirty years younger. What a pair they made, him as the aging merchant still in work clothing and her in silks and jewels and in the prime of her life.
Silly old man, Iroh thought to himself.
She was studying the menu, lips pursed. "Mmm... what shall I get?" He knew that it wasn't a rhetorical question. Ya Lin was usually happy eating whatever dinner brought to her study or workshop. But she was happy to accompany him to try new things. In turn, he followed her to bookstores, where she demonstrated the art of knowing exactly which poets and diarists he would like best.
It wasn't the same since she died. But now is not the time for such thoughts.
"I've never come here before," he tells her. "I don't like eating alone and Zuko and I weren't well off while he was here."
Ya Lin nods, as if she knew Zuko all his life, as Iroh had, even though she had never met her nephew. "I see. Is Earth Kingdom cuisine that different?"
"Very regional," Iroh said. He started in on a long list of what he had observed about food in the Earth Kingdom, and she nodded.
They must have ordered, because there was food in front of them now, hot vegetables in sauce and buts of meat over rice. It was artfully arranged on the plate so that all could be seen and displayed. An ephemeral thing, plating food was. Ya Lin was staring at it, then picked up her chopsticks before delicately putting a carrot in her mouth, chewing and swallowing. "It's an interesting art, don't you think? Beautiful, even knowing it will only last a moment."
Iroh was reaching for his own utensils, but he paused, has hand hovering over the table. "A metaphor," he commented, giving her a smile. "For life." He wanted to kiss her, then, but the old specter of being Crown Prince had returned with her. He had loved his wife with all the passion of the Sun, but any show of weakness would have made her a target. They behaved as restrained near-strangers in public, so the enemies of their throne think they were merely another noble couple thrown together for politics.
In the end, it hadn't been an assassin's knife that killed her, but her own failing heart. A bitter irony for one of the most passionate women Iroh had ever met.
But tonight was theirs. And in Ba Sing Sei, he wasn't Crown Prince Iroh, or General Iroh, but Iroh the tea merchant.
He took her free hand, then, running his thumb over her skin. She was always too thin, dear Ya Lin, even in her hands. He could feel the calluses from her work -- her active mind refusing to let her hands sit still. She looked away from her dinner, one of her secret smiles bringing the corners of her mouth. "I thought you were looking forward to this. Your dinner's getting cold." There was warmth in her voice, all the warmth of the Sun.
"I could eat at Li's any night; tonight is for us." He brought her hand up to his lips, giving it a kiss.
Ya Lin chuckled. "I take it we're not staying for dessert?" she asked.
"If you like, we can." Iroh said. "But I'd be happy to make you something at home." He grinned at her, taking joy in the openness between them.
She smiled back, slipping her hand from his grasp to loop it around him. There was the scrape of her chair against stone as she moved close to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'd like that. The food's not bad, but I think I'd prefer a bit of Fire Nation spice." She laughed at that, as if she had just noticed the double entendre as she spoke.
Iroh could feel the heat of her body through their clothing, her fingers tracing small circles on his back through his robe, and he fumbled for the coins to pay the waiter for their barely-touched food. Normally, he would say it was a crime to waste such fare but... there were a few things more important good food.
There was nothing like love to make a man feel young, or outside time. As they stood up, he drew her in for a kiss. Perhaps not the best time, since her lips still tasted of the sweet sauce she had been eating. But there was no time for the present. After a moment... a long moment... she drew back. "We're never going to get home if you keep behaving like that," she kidded.
"We have time," Iroh said. "We have all the time in the world." But he did start walking, arm still around her, keeping her close to him as he lead her back...
--
[Morning sun streamed through the open window. Through the Hitomi, Iroh is visible lying on a futon, the sun hitting his face. He twitches a bit, eyes scrunched up, as if trying to block out the sunlight. He turns over a couple of times, before sighing and sitting up. He takes no notice of the Hitomi.]
Never fails... why do good dreams always come at the end of the night?
[Iroh stands up, slowing staggering into the other room, still half-asleep.]