Avatar: Alphabet Challenge: Diplomacy
Title: Diplomacy
Rating: K
Characters: Zuko, Iroh
Summary: He may be Fire Lord, but there are still lessons to learn.
A/N: Written as part of my Alphabet Drabbles challenge, as requested by flameraven, with the prompt "enlightenment". Set post-series, with spoilers for the fate of both Zuko and Iroh.
enlighten
-verb
1. to give intellectual or spiritual light to; instruct; impart knowledge to
Almost immediately after the tea shop is reopened, Iroh puts Zuko back to work, making him brew the tea and serve their friends on their frequent visits. When Zuko balks, protesting that his tea is not nearly the quality of his uncle’s (and that he just cannot bear Mai’s teasing anymore) Iroh grins at him cheerily and asks him to put on a pot of Ceylon.
When Zuko loses his temper soon after - and it is only a matter of time, because honestly, figuring out reparations and peace treaties are simpler concepts than measuring the balance between light and heavy in Ceylon tea - and demands to know why Iroh is making him do this, the old man gently takes the (now boiling over) pot from him and sets it down.
“You will find, Zuko,” he says casually, stirring and sniffing the tea to determine if there is any chance in salvaging it, “That as a Fire Lord, there are times that you can’t just tell people what to do; you have to convince them that they actually want to do it. You have to make them think that it was their idea first. And in my experience,” he pulls a face, and then dumps the pot out the nearest window, “being able to serve a good cup of tea is the first step in that process.”
Zuko blushes and looks to the floor. Iroh smiles encouragingly. “Maybe Ceylon was too complicated,” he muses, his attention wandering back towards the barrels at the back of the room.
Shaking his head, Zuko wonders why he’s ever surprised when his uncle is right anymore.
Rating: K
Characters: Zuko, Iroh
Summary: He may be Fire Lord, but there are still lessons to learn.
A/N: Written as part of my Alphabet Drabbles challenge, as requested by flameraven, with the prompt "enlightenment". Set post-series, with spoilers for the fate of both Zuko and Iroh.
enlighten
-verb
1. to give intellectual or spiritual light to; instruct; impart knowledge to
Almost immediately after the tea shop is reopened, Iroh puts Zuko back to work, making him brew the tea and serve their friends on their frequent visits. When Zuko balks, protesting that his tea is not nearly the quality of his uncle’s (and that he just cannot bear Mai’s teasing anymore) Iroh grins at him cheerily and asks him to put on a pot of Ceylon.
When Zuko loses his temper soon after - and it is only a matter of time, because honestly, figuring out reparations and peace treaties are simpler concepts than measuring the balance between light and heavy in Ceylon tea - and demands to know why Iroh is making him do this, the old man gently takes the (now boiling over) pot from him and sets it down.
“You will find, Zuko,” he says casually, stirring and sniffing the tea to determine if there is any chance in salvaging it, “That as a Fire Lord, there are times that you can’t just tell people what to do; you have to convince them that they actually want to do it. You have to make them think that it was their idea first. And in my experience,” he pulls a face, and then dumps the pot out the nearest window, “being able to serve a good cup of tea is the first step in that process.”
Zuko blushes and looks to the floor. Iroh smiles encouragingly. “Maybe Ceylon was too complicated,” he muses, his attention wandering back towards the barrels at the back of the room.
Shaking his head, Zuko wonders why he’s ever surprised when his uncle is right anymore.