A/N: I don't own anything Avatar, but fanfiction lets me pretend that I do.

This fic is mostly introspective angsting from the major characters and features Zukaang, Katoph, Sukka, and Mailee love. It also mentions all of the canon pairs from the show. Please review, even if this is only the prologue. Enjoy!

Prologue: Advisor

The palace is a peaceful place under his nephew's rule, full of celebrations, festivals, and feasts. They hold forum meetings, often led by the Fire Lady herself, to pass new laws that uphold the will of the public. The Avatar offers his spiritual guidance to those seeking his youthful wisdom, and his blessings are a bounty on the land.

New bending schools are becoming populous in the Fire Nation, mostly because of the Master of the Southern Water Tribe, who welcomes any person dedicated to learning. The Kyoshi Warriors even arrive occasionally to recruit and perform for the people at the heavy persuading of their only Fire Nation member. New trade routes protected by the Blind Bandit herself run daily from the Capital to Omashu and Ba Sing Se.

In the peacetime, it seems that the public has also taken to making celebrities out of war heroes. The Wolf-Blade saunters around the grounds, teaching and planning, and sweeps his lovely wife into his arms with a kiss. The audience cheers and Kyoshi's Pride blushes and everyone laughs uproariously at his daring antics.

Iroh is not fooled.

He waits for the quiet moments during the day, hoping to catch his brood of children, for they have all become his own, at their lowest. When no one holds them on a pedestal, and they have no citizen to impress, and no victim to save they cannot hide what they feel.

Iroh sees them all in turn at one point or another.

Zuko has perfected the sad, weak smile of which his mother was so fond. He looks like a tethered pantherbear that has resigned his life to a cage. His nation is coming together, not without hitches of course, and even the people of his former enemies respect the amity he has sown among them. His world is finally returning to health, but Zuko feels every day is full of his own turmoil and only finds peace in the company of the Avatar.

Iroh sits him down and they plan the opening of a new historical library over tea.

Mai looks more severe than ever, having lost her dark girlish charms many years before. She is working hard to help Zuko, and visit the nations, and pass legislation in the strange new democracy the Fire Nation adopted two years ago. She uses her influential voice to sway the votes and overpower her adversaries, no longer relying on her sharp daggers. But Iroh sees the chink in her armor every time he mentions the island of Kyoshi.

They meet for lunch one sunny afternoon to discuss her pending legislation.

Aang's innocence disappeared the first time a man died for him, and his vision of love became skewed after his proposal. He plays with his gilded ring when he is nervous or when he finds no warmth from his dark-skinned fiancée. He travels the world far too often, perhaps trying to avoid his own problems by fixing everything else. Sometimes, when he thinks no one is around, he sits outside of Zuko's throne room and meditates.

Iroh goes for a ride on Appa, pointing out the finest fishing spots in his country to Aang.

Katara has dark shadows beneath her eyes that stand in stark contrast to her noble dress. Once, and only once, Iroh found her weeping outside, tucked between firelily bushes. The coal black eye makeup dripped down her face like tar, so she bent it to the ground and left without a word to him. He watched her return to the palace, brushing the dirt from her blue clothing, and raising her head as if she walked proudly to her death sentence.

Iroh visits her school, displaying the offensive strikes of Firebending for a fun lesson.

Ty Lee smiles just as frequently, but her tinkling laugh is nothing but a hollow echo from her childhood. She has become a warrior, not a flying acrobat, and every aspect of her personality reflects her new profession. She is not the leader of the women of Kyoshi, but is certainly respected among them, and they frequently allow her to make political visits to the Capital on their behalf. She is always willing to work with the Fire Lady.

Iroh takes her to a musical performance where they enjoy the Tsungi horn together.

Toph, although Iroh feels he rarely gets to see her, is too thin for her sturdy frame, and she slouches more than ever under the weight of her employment. Even Bumi has contacted Iroh and they both think something is wrong with their young Earthbender. He notices the way her eyebrows come together in suffering when Aang takes Katara's hand, and how she lifts her feet from the ground when they talk about the wedding.

Iroh watches her demonstrate her refined metalbending, clapping with fervor at her finish.

Sokka is becoming the younger version of his father. He wears a weathered face and scarred hands with a half-grin. His happiness disappears when he looks at his companions, especially his little sister, and Iroh believes that Sokka must ache to know she is unhappy. He finds the Southern Water Tribe warrior glaring into the distance, curling his lip in a most wolfish snarl. Sokka does not know what he should be fighting.

They paint an abstract landscape together, amused by the bright colors they choose.

Suki maintains her cool, gently prodding at her friends with questioning words and glances. She whispers to her husband that things will have to be all right in the end because they simply must, but her talking amounts to nothing when everything falls apart. Still, Iroh respects how earnestly she tries to hold them together, becoming like a healer instead of a fighter.

Iroh tries to learn her fan form for entertainment before giving up with a laugh.

Picturing the faces of these central political figures has become a sobering experience for Fire Prince Iroh. They are simply too young to have such broken stories so he is trying to subtly sew them back together, but every second he spends with one makes the day unravel for another. They tear each other apart and Iroh wants to give them so much more than his words. He wants to soothe their straining minds and bodies, or wrangle them into a room and throw all of their insecurities in their face. Iroh wants to shout, "Love the one you love!" and have them pair off the way they want to be paired. His children are trying to do right by everyone else, thinking that their lives will fall in place by default. They are wrong.

It kills him to see them hurting.

It kills him to see the war in their hearts.

He leans back in his plush red chair, folding up the map before him. Iroh knows he will get no more work done tonight when his thoughts are as scrambled as his childrens' love lives. He sighs deeply, praying that at least one of them will heed his unspoken advice. Iroh is getting too old to play matchmaker.