Rocket Man (Iroh IIxReader)

Republic City was in chaos. Equalists were everywhere, kidnapping benders and anyone who tried to resist and destroying their homes. You propelled yourself forward on unnatural air currents and ran for your life to Air Temple Island, hoping that your orange glider would go unnoticed by the equalist fighters.

You reached the dock that allowed ferries to stop along the rocky shore, you hurled yourself off the edge, throwing your glider out in front of you and jumping. However, you nearly missed the glider when you were shocked to see a man rocketing through the air by fire bending himself forward. Letting out a quiet gasp, you caught the light wooden frame and pointed the nose of the glider up to catch a current leading to your home.

Unfortunately, when you were about mid-way between the two land masses, an equalist aircraft shot a torpedo into the water in front of you and a giant wave came up before crashing down on you. Disoriented by the crash and dazed by the turning of your body, you struggled to find the surface of the water, but eventually gave into the darkness that was slowly closing in on you.

The darkness would have to wait, though, because you felt an arm wrap around and start tugging you in the direction you assumed was up. Breaking the surface, you coughed and sputtered, trying to get air back in your burning lungs, and you saw the face of your rescuer. His shaggy black hair was plastered to his forehead, but you could still see his face. He was the flying man from earlier. His reddish-brown eyes stared at you for a moment before glancing in the direction of a voice.

"Oh!" you heard a gruff female voice say, "That's why you went back in." Your (e/c) eyes looked up to the voice and you immediately recognized the one of the newest tenants of Air Temple Island, Avatar Korra. She seemed to recognize you, too, for her sarcastic grin was replaced by a concerned frown. "(F/n)?" she asked you and you weakly nodded. "What happened!?"

You drew in a shaky breath, "Aerial attack. Torpedo. Glider," you coughed out. Your eyes widened as you remembered the last thing you had just said, "Glider!" you gasped out and attempted to dive back into the water, but the firebender kept you from submerging once more.

His grip tightened around you and you saw Naga quickly swimming through the water towards the three of you. "Just hold on a minute, I'm sure you can get another glider on the Island."

Struggling in his hold, you kept trying to get out of his grip to search for your glider, "Not this one!" you wailed to him. That glider was special, you had made it with your father at the Northern Air Temple. He had been a non-bender refugee, and your mother an airbender who had a long line of family housed in the Eastern Temple before the war that had wiped out all the airbenders but the previous Avatar.

Giving up when the last of your energy was wasted in resisting the embrace of the firebender and you allowed him to hoist you onto Naga, who had finally arrived. You sat in between the Avatar and the Fire Nation man and allowed your tears to fall, not worrying about anyone seeing them from under your soaked (h/c) hair.

Shivering a bit from the cool breeze blowing on your drenched robes you hugged yourself to trap the warmth in. It was slightly more effective in warming you than you'd originally thought, due to the firebender wrapping his one bare and one red-clad arms around you. He radiated heat, relaxing you slightly despite your first thoughts on the man. You heard the Avatar speak up from in front of you, addressing the man at your back. "So," she said, "You were named after your grandfather's uncle, am I right?"

He sighed a bit, "Yes, the first Iroh was a great general, he assisted my grandfather in his," here he paused, "journeys to find the Avatar."

Korra laughed, "Look, I know that your old man and my past life have had some bad times, but remember, without Zuko, Aang would have never learned how to firebend."

Now it was the man, Iroh,'s turn to laugh, "I doubt that. I think Avatar Aang was just trying to make him feel better about the past."

You'd heard this story before. Team Avatar. The group consisted of Avatar Aang, Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, Toph Beifong from the Earth Kingdom, Suki, the leader of the Kyoshi warriors; and, later, Prince Zuko from the Fire Nation. After the group of them defeated the Fire Lord, Zuko went on to become the new Lord of the Fire Nation.

"Your grandfather is a hero," you insisted quietly, sitting stiffly in his arms. His grip on you tightened.

You felt his head lower closer to yours, "Thank you," he whispered before falling asleep, tired from saving you and the rest of Republic City. You stayed completely still for a moment before relaxing completely, leaning against him while Naga's saddle propped the two of you up. After a few moments you slipped into sleep, chasing after the hero known as Iroh.