<div class="floatright">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/0/0a/Iroh-Dragon-of-the-West-avatar-the-last-airbender-8933996-900-990.jpg)</div>He came into the room silently, but as powerful as the beat of a dragon's wing.  If he had interest in the sexual tension between Sokka and his nephew's favored girl, it didn't show on his face.  None of the joviality that he'd become known for shown through at all.  There were precious few times when Iroh ever allowed seriousness to overtake his composure.  Life was meant to be filled with smiles, he often said.  So when the smile faded, it was clear something was most certainly wrong.<br/><br/>The last time his demeanor had broken had been when he had to announce the fall of Ba Sing Se.<br/><br/>"There's news, isn't there?" Sokka asked. "That's why we're changing course."<br/><br/>"My nephew, the true Fire Lord," titles being used were a more grave sign, "Has commanded your presence in his war chamber."  He made it clear that the point was being made to both of them.  He let the words hang in the air, burning hot into the walls.<br/><br/>"Something's wrong," Sokka said, as much to himself as to Suki. "You're holding something back."<br/><br/>Under other circumstances, Iroh might have been proud of a student learning to read a situation so well.  But this was not the time to give the Leviathan of the Water Tribe a pat on the back.  "Our purpose remains the same.  We've changed course because we've learned we were heading the wrong way," he explained.<br/><br/>"But, we're looking for the Avatar.  The other way is just Fire Nation," Sokka reasoned.  He didn't have to put anything further together, the way Iroh looked down and turned away told him the whole story.  They'd been doing almost nothing but chasing ghosts for close to a year, only to learn that the very thing they sought was in the hands of their enemy...