Iroh

It was a strange feeling trying to fit into my old armor again. But then again, why wouldn't it have been? The armor was made to fit a young warrior ready to protect a soldier diving headfirst into battle. Somebody like my son. Not me. Not anymore.

It was a sad realization when the I couldn't fit the straps of the chest plate around my belly. Had it really grown so much? I wanted to laugh, but the reality of my surroundings prevented me. I had seen war before. I had survived and thrived. The battle of the burning falls, the battle of the frozen hills, the ambush of the shaking plains. Battles that had all earned their names. Battles where I, and all of my men, had earned their victory.

Today was something else entirely though. Today was the culmination of everything my career had been leading to. The one thing that would fill the void left by all other military engagements I had partaken in. The single event that would determine whether this conflict would continue, and millions more lives would be lost, or if it would come to one final climatic end.

I, as well as, or at least I hoped, everyone in this camp was looking forward to experiencing the latter option.

But there was a concern there that would never be alleviated. A concern born from the idea of fighting alongside all I really had left in this world. My only son. All that was left of my wife. And he would be at the forefront of the battle today. His life would be in more jeopardy than anyone else's.

If, however, I had not known who my son was, I might have gone so far as to pull him off the lines, but I knew who the boy I had raised was. He was a master firebender. He was a brilliant strategist. And he was a leader that inspired respect and loyalty. I knew, that by today's end, he would have the pleasure of walking those walls, and seeing what his army looked like from the top of the world.

And while I may have been the father of probably the most capable leader our nation had to offer, I was still just that, a father. And I was worried for my boy.

"Father." His voice said as he walked into the command pavilion, one of the last tents still standing. In 5 minutes time, it would be down, packed in the back of some truck, and I'd be at the front of a formation of a hundred of the Crimson's best firebenders while Lu Ten would be in the seat of a tank, leading thousands of others, both of us ready to face imminent death.

But right now, I put that aside to take one look at him, my son. He had shaved, I saw, his side burns perfectly cut, not shrouded by the helmet he held under his left arm. He, contrary to his father, was the perfect image of a soldier in his prime, fitting perfectly in his officer's armor, a stunning image any Fire Day festival connoisseur would want to see leading the military parade.

I forced back the emotion coming to my eyes and forced myself to see him now in the eyes of a General looking at his right-hand man. "Lieutenant General." I replied.

He knew it was no show of anger towards him, but an all-too-common display from me to not allow my emotion to get the better of me. He understood. That's what mattered.

"The rest of the camp has been disassembled and is being loaded into the vehicles. The firebenders are in formation awaiting your command. The infantry is in reserve and the armored is fully equipped for the climb."

"You've given the time tables to the gunners?"

"Yes sir. The moment we begin our climb, the artillery will stop. The Earth benders won't have enough time to spring a trap. If they do, we'll be ready. The tanks have been equipped with extra hooks, retrofitted with more impact-absorbent armor, and treads lined with scaling hooks. We're ready."

"Then I imagine I better get going. You get to your armored. I'll be there shortly."

"Yes sir."

"And Lu Ten?"

He paused, understanding. "Yes, father?"

"Be safe."

And he left, leaving me alone to figure out how exactly to fit into my armor.