Chapter-105

"Are you sure it was your life that was at risk?"

With all the calm in the world, the old man took a tea set out of his bag, little by little beginning to prepare tea. Several minutes passed until the old man was satisfied with his tea.

"It is not the first time I have heard of bending masters who lost their powers. Many say that it is a punishment for their failures..."

"..." Azula watched as the old man drank his tea, letting out a soft sigh at the good taste.

"But I thought that it's more about a purpose. Everything has a purpose in this life, whether it's one that we can impose on ourselves." Taking a sip of his tea, he stroked his beard a little. "Think about it like this: Why create a bonfire? To warm ourselves on cold nights, and like any purpose, it is useless if it is no longer a priority."

"What are you trying to say?"

"You spent a lifetime learning and using fire only to make your father proud, to harm those who stand in your way to your purpose, to be the right hand of the fire lord and one day be crowned as one. Wasn't that your purpose?"

"…" The girl didn't have to deny it; her eyes said it all.

"When you were banished, your purpose lost meaning, and your flames went out. But apparently, you found a new reason to use your flames, right?"

"..." The image of Rína and the other girls burned into Azula's mind, and she tightened her grip on her scarf.

"My girl, it was love that gave you the will to manipulate fire again."

"Love?" A frustrated and mocking smile decorated the girl's face.

"Love is more than just a word; it goes beyond just a man loving a woman and vice versa. There is the love that two old friends who have spent a lifetime together can have, the love of a father for his son."

"And the love of a mother for her daughter?" The girl's question was laced with venom and hatred, making the old man sigh and shake his head.

"You know, a while ago, I met a woman who was about to give birth. Her husband was not there, and I had to keep her company. The doctors said she had to avoid labor; her baby grew too big, and there was a danger of bleeding during childbirth. The smartest thing would have been to drink a toxin that will kill the baby and be able to remove it in an operation to save that woman's life, but she refused."

"…"

"She wanted to see her baby, she wanted him to be born, to grow, to see the beautiful world that awaited him. She wanted him to live."

"…"

Iroh looked at his empty cup for several seconds, continuing with his story. "I had to see that woman scream, cry, suffer for hours. She was giving everything, enduring so much pain and putting her life at risk, all to finally hear the cry of a little sister who, for the first time, breathes the air outside."

"..." The girl's gaze was obscured by her hair, motionless where she was listening to every word of her uncle, who had a big smile on his face.

"I have never seen a woman so happy, and how she stopped crying in pain, to shed tears of joy for having that baby in her arms." Iroh couldn't help it; his eyes clouded with tears at that beautiful memory.

"…"

"You can think and say what you want, but I was there, watching your mother be the happiest woman in the world, being able to hold you in her arms, thanking the heavens for allowing her to have a little angel like you as a daughter."

"..." Azula's nails dug into the palm of her hands, with such force that she stained her fingers with blood, which dripped to the floor. But it was not the only thing that dripped to the floor—a stream of blood came down from the girl's face, a river of tears that she could not contain.

"Your mother loved you, Azula. She loved you like you have no idea..." Iroh slowly moved his old bones to stand up and carefully left the old house, but not before stopping and saying a few last words. "Not how many years have you been? I thought your mother thought you were a monster... but I told you the truth; now it's up to you if you believe my word."

"..." Outside the house was a silent Zuko, who had apparently heard everything and like his uncle, they walked away from the house, where only Azula's crying could be heard.

She cried, like she haven't done in years.

…..

The Avatar team felt that they were getting closer to their goal, a few weeks ago their monk friend learned waterbending and tomorrow he would start with the earth element, the path became shorter and brighter for them.

So they didn't see anything wrong with taking a break.

"Where were you?"

"It is a long story"

"Naruto stripped me and subjected me"

"What the fuck Toph?!" Naruto screamed in panic at an accusation like that, he could feel the deadly gaze of his friends on him, especially Katara's, which promised a lot of pain.

They both arrived at camp wet and tired, and without anything to eat, luckily for them Sokka had been able to hunt a deer.

"He made me do horrible things" said Toph who had her hair still wet and covering her eyes, and her clothes were very wrinkled and more or less in place.

"Anything in your defense?" Katara was already creating a large spike of ice, aiming directly at the Uzumaki's lower area, which turned pale.

"I just gave her a fucking bath! She's stupid, she walked through the stinky weed bushes and thought it would be a good idea to take a mud bath!"

"My hygiene is not your problem," the blind bandit growled angrily for feeling as 'dirty' as she felt now.

"It is if you sleep two feet away from me! Stinky feet!"

"I'm sorry to hurt your delicate nose, little girl."

"And shit! Learn to talk sense, you fool! I just threw you in the river and gave you a bath!"

"You are a pervert"

"My eyes were covered by my blindfold!"

"And you touched me while I was naked!"

"It's not like there's much to touch, you're flat as a board."

"Ohhhhhhh...Will you let me tell you that?"

"Sokka you're not helping!"

Katara scolded her brother who asked the least appropriate question to Toph, who stomped to be face to face with the shinobi.

"And you think you're big? You know, I can't see with my eyes, but I can see with my feet and scan people, what you have between your legs is so unimpressive, like the status two losers."

"Ohhhh, he said you have it small... Wait, what?" Sokka stopped scoffing when she realized what the earthbender said, "Do you know the size of our…things?"

"Yes, and you are only the biggest of the group, followed by the little girl and lastly light feet"

"I'm the size of a 13-year-old boy?!"

"Sokka take cover!" Katara screamed in horror when her older brother pulled down his own pants and saw his own.

" I don't understand what exactly this talk is about, but I don't like it," Aang thought lost, having to see Sokka's lower area.

"I am small?" Naruto also opened his pants to see himself, wasn't Naruto Junior impressive?

"Compared to the earthbenders of the earth tournament, yes" Toph scoffed, honestly wishing she could see what was happening, but it was enough for her to feel the boys' insecurity through her feet.

"Toph you can't compare sizes with teenagers and adults" Katara preferred to keep his eyes closed, not wanting to see anything he wasn't ready for yet.

"No?"

"According to people's biology, male members grow until they are 19 or 21 years old"

Naruto and Aang sighed in relief, that was good news.

"And is there a final growth spurt for 18-year-olds?"

Maybe not so good for Sokka, who hoped he could impress Suki in things other than bed.

The strangest talk they had had so far.