1 Rescued

In the Fire nation, on a mountain path, surrounded by trees, a boy can be seen walking in the rain. He looks exhausted as he stumbles and falls into the mud, before getting up and continuing onward.

"Hey! You damn brat move out of the way!" He heard a shout from behind him, but the boy ignored it and kept walking. A man wearing armor resembling that of an elite Fire Nation soldier came up behind the boy, grabbing him by the arm and throwing him to the side of the road. "All clear. Keep moving." The soldier said, turning back to a palanquin that was being held by a few slaves.

"What happened?" A voice eminated from inside, calm and collected. "A brat in the middle of the road. Nothing of concern, General Iroh." The soldier responded. The slaves started walking again.

"Stop." Iroh said. The slaves once again stopped. Iroh jumped out of the carriage and looked around. Looking behind him, he saw a boy slowly getting out of a ditch on the side of the road, breathing heavily as he once again started walking.

The boy's hair and skin were covered in mud and dirt, he wore grey, torn rags and his feet were mangled and torn. His head hung in front of him, along with his arms, hiding his face. Iroh approached the boy, taking off his outer robes and wrapping them around the boy.

"Poor child. Come. You will sit with me." Iroh said, picking up the dirty child in his robe and bringing him back towards the palanquin.

"But Sir…" The head guard said, stepping aside as Iroh walked past him. Iroh gave him a glare. "How can one be so heartless as to throw an obviously suffering child to the roadside? Then again, how heartless could I have been if I were to let it happen? Now get a move on. We still have a few miles to go before we reach the Capital." The guard looked hesitant, but eventually sighed and bowed. "Yes, General Iroh."

Then straightening his back, the guard looked to the slaves and other guards. "You heard him! Get a move on!" The guard said, turning around and facing forward once again as the procession started moving once more towards the Fire Nation Capital.

Meanwhile, Iroh sat in the palanquin with the boy. He removed the robe. The boy looked at him, and Iroh couldn't help but widen his eyes at what he saw. The boy had violet eyes and a large scar on the left side of his forehead.

"Thank you sir." The boy said. "You are very welcome! Sadly I have no tea at the moment, but when we reach the Capital I will be sure to get you some! Have you ever tried Jasmine tea? It's my favorite!" Iroh said enthusiastically and with a smile.

The boy shook his head. Iroh smiled wider. "Are you cold?" He asked, to which the boy nodded. Iroh held out his palm and a small ball of flame appeared. The boy looked at the flame in awe, his mouth forming an 'O.' "You are like me?" He asked.

Iroh looked at the boy, confused. "What do you mean I am like you? You are a fire bender?" The boy tilted his head. "You can control flame?" I rob elaborated. The boy nodded. Then he leaned in closer to Iroh. Iroh tilted his head so the boy's mouth was by his ear.

"You are very nice sir. So I will warn you. Don't show that to other people or you will end up like me." The boy whispered, his face turning sad and fearful at the end. Iroh looked at the boy, a mixture of confusion and pity appearing on his face. 'Just what happened to you, boy?' He thought as the boy slowly fell asleep.

—Five Years Later—

"Xiao! Come and get ready! My brother invited us to a feast!" Iroh shouted from the doorway. A young man of about thirteen years of age stopped his training, wiping the sweat from his brow and looking at Iroh with a smirk. "Yes Master! Give me a few minutes to get cleaned up and then I will be ready." He said, grabbing a towel from the side and walking passed Iroh and into the house.

Xiao was short for his age, which was thirteen, standing at only 4'8 in height. He had dark brown hair tied in a messy bun and violet eyes, a large scar on the left side of his forehead. (Imagine Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer)

"Alright. After you are done getting ready we will have some tea before going." Iroh said as he walked back inside, his hands in his sleeves. "Okay!" Xiao shouted back as he walked towards the baths. He poured himself some hot water before getting in and scrubbing himself clean. He got out and rubbed himself down with a towel until his skin was slightly red.

Feeling refreshed, he then walked out of the bath house and to his chambers, where he slid on a black undershirt and pants, donning a violet kimono on top that matched his eyes. He went to slide on his shoes, pausing and staring at the scars covering his feet. A sad smile made its way onto his face, before he shook his head.

'Come on. Don't think about that. It's been five years since that happened. You're okay now." He thought, putting on a large smile and going to the mirror, where he tied his long hair that was hanging damp by his shoulders once again into a messy bun.

He walked out of the room and went to the dining area, where Iroh was waiting with a pot of tea, steam coming out of it as he took off the lid and began to pour two cups. Xiao walked over and put a hand over Iroh's, stopping him from pouring the tea before taking it out of his hands and pouring it for him. "You do not need to do this. I still do not understand why you banished the servants from this wing." He said as he poured them both a cup of tea.

Iroh sighed. "How many times do I have to say this? I'm old, not crippled. I appreciate your care but until I am unable to walk I will always be able to pour tea for a friend. Also, I already told you, the servants made fun of you, and I didn't like that so I got rid of them. Simple as that." Iroh said with a grandfatherly smile. Xiao smiled kindly. "I owe you my life, you should not make more sacrifices for me, I will just owe you more." He said looking sad. "I just wonder if I will ever be able to repay this debt." Xiao said, chuckling lightly.

"You will repay your debt by living your life happily. Besides, you are best friends with my nephew, that in itself should make you consider this debt paid, and I bet he would agree. You must remember that ever since his mother left, Zuko had no one left. That is one of the reasons I was returning to the Fire Nation, not just because my dear brother called me. By being his friend, you have given him one extra person to lean on."

Iroh said with a smile. Xiao smiled lightly, looking down at his tea with a distant look in his eyes. All of a sudden, he perked up, smiling widely. "Well, we don't want to be late do we? Let's get going!" He said, gulping down his tea and slamming the cup on the table, before getting up and walking out of the room. Iroh chuckled and followed him.

{A/N}

This is an AU so I don't want any comments saying shit about how this isn't how the story went. Iroh's son has died at war and after that happened he did go through a depressive phase, but he was called back to the Fire nation during it. On his way he met Xiao and picked him up. As you can see, he has started treating MC as he would his son, while the MC feels that he owes Iroh his life and therefore is serving him as both a son and servant. How this came to be will be explained in the next two chapters.

Read the story description to understand where this fic. Is going. Thank you! :p