Love in a life time

Snow

Iroh was surprised at how cold the South Pole was. His father had warned him, yes, but it still surprised him. He looked out on to the bay and great watchtower that his grandpa had built to keep his home safe. Iroh had heard many stories about his grandpa (many from his grandfather) but he never expected the Sothern Water Tribe to look like this. The ten year old looked over the ships railing in aw while behind him his sisters huddled a their mother to keep warm. Iroh's father placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You ready to see the city old sport?"

Iroh nodded and soon the ship was docked. Iroh waited impatiently by gangplank while his mother tried to corral his youngest sister. Iroh rolled his eyes.

"We need to get off the ship Zula!" Iroh yelled impatiently.

His eight-year-old sister just gave him a dirty look and stuck out her tongue. Iroh shook his head and was finally happy when they were finally stepping off the ship. Then like fate hated him, his father struck up a conversation with the harbormaster. Iroh pouted and looked about the dock. There wasn't much, a lot of boxes and…Iroh paused, Was there someone hiding behind that crate? Iroh walked over to it and found a dirty looking girl glairing up at him. She pressed her finger to her lips.

"Shhhhh!"

Iroh raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean shhhh!"

The girl groaned. "I mean what I said shhhh! Or they'll find me! and stop standing there!" She grabbed him and pulled him down so they were both hiding behind the box. "You'll draw attention."

"I'll draw attention? Wait who's after you?"

The girl crouched and pulled him up so that he could just see over the box. "You see those guys in white and blue?"

"Yes, they're white Lotus."

She pulled him back down. "Yeah, well they're also pains in my butt and if they find me they're going to drag me back to the compound and Sifu Katara is going to give me such a lecture." She crossed her arms. "I don't want that I just need some time alone."

Iroh blinked in disbelief. "You're that avatar, you're avatar Korra."

"Got a problem with that outsider?"

"No, I just, hey! I'm not an outsider, I'm a quarter water tribe!"

She looked him up and down. "You don't look it."

Iroh crossed his arms. "Well you don't look like the avatar."

"Tough, cause I am the avatar and you've got to deal with it!" Korra cringed after her outburst and soon the White Lotus men had run over to her. Iroh didn't remember mush since it seemed to happen so fast but soon he was in the car headed to his grandpa's and Korra was being taken right back to where she didn't want to be.

Iroh's father chuckled. "Looks like you got your grandfather's knack for tracking down the avatar Old Sport."

Iroh nodded. "Yeah, great. Father is she trapped here?"

"She's not trapped Iroh, she's just being trained. I'm sure you'll know exactly how she feels once you're enrolled in the academy in a few months."

Iroh looked out the winder at the falling snow. "Great."

.o.

Iroh's grandpa's home was warm but cramped. Iroh ended up sharing not only a room but bed with his sisters. He tried his best to ignore them. Really he didn't mind Lafey, she was his twin and they had shared a room since conception but Zula was another story. Zula liked all the covers and talked in her sleep. Finally fed up he left the room pulled on his winter gear and slipped out of the hut into the snow.

Though it was past midnight the sun still shown brightly in the sky. Iroh looked at it (not directly) queerly.

"Welcome to the land of the midnight sun, outsider." Iroh jumped and turned to see Korra leaning against the hut. She looked rather smug for a nine year old. "No one told you about it did they?"

"Uh, no."

She shrugged. "Not surprised they don't tell people much here. Not unless you ask and then the answer is usually no." Korra paused. "Hey outsider, do you want to go penguin sledding?"

"Hey! My name's not outsider."

"Then what is it?"

"It's Iroh, Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation."

Korra did an exaggerated bow. "Well then Prince Iroh would you join me for a rousing outing involving penguin sledding?"

Iroh pouted. "Now you're just mocking me."

"No, I'm asking you if you want to go penguin sledding and mocking you. So you in?"

Iroh shrugged. "Why not there's nothing else to do here except freeze I guess."

Korra smirked. "That's the spirit! Now come on!"

.o.

Abject terror, that's how Iroh would describe penguin sledding. Conning some poor animal to let you ride them down steep inclines of snow, which hopefully did not end in the ocean emphasis on 'hopefully'. The two now soaking wet clung to each other trying to find somewhere to get out of the whether before they froze to death. They found a small cave and huddled together after making a fire and stripping their outer layers off.

That's where they found the two, shivering but thankfully not frost bit. Iroh was lucky that the adults were so worried about them they had forgotten (at least for the moment) to be angry. Later once Korra had been taken back to the compound Iroh was thoroughly lectured on the matter and in a fit of anger Izumi forbid Iroh from ever seeing Korra again. This backfired spectacularly as the next night Iroh snuck out of the hut and into the compound just to see her.

.o.

Korra sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. "So your mom told you explicitly not to see me again and the first thing you do is sneak out and see me?"

Iroh nodded and Korra couldn't help but smile. She liked this kid. She patted the space next to her. "Sifu Katara had me doing so many exercises today I'm bushed, but we can lay down talk if you'd like."

Iroh shrugged and lay next to her. "Sure, I've never really done that before well I guess me and Fay talk to each other at night but she doesn't seem all that interested in talking to me now that we've gotten older."

Korra looked over. "I've never done this with anyone. Just sit, or lay, and talk."

"Don't you have any friends?"

"No, well I have Naga." She pointed to the small white lump at the end of the bed. "But she doesn't talk much."

"Ah, well I really don't have friends either, I have sisters which I'm told it just as good." Iroh wrinkled his nose. "I don't think that's true though."

Korra shrugged. "I guess it's better than a polerbear dog who doesn't talk."

Iroh chuckled. "I think I'd take the dog over listening to my sisters wine about things."

Korra looked over at him. "What do they wine about?"

"What don't they wine about would be a better question."

.o.

It was early morning when Iroh slipped back in the hut and into his bed hoping no one was the wiser. He didn't seem to get in trouble so he figured he was home free at least until he did get caught. That was four days later when he fell asleep next to Korra and was discovered by his Great Aunt Katara who was terrifying when angered. After that he was drug home and enrolled early into the academy.

Korra, who was under the close eye of White Lotus guard, met Iroh a year later at the shipyard. She gave him an appraising eye and looked him up and down. "You didn't say goodbye, last year."

Iroh scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, well they really didn't give me a choice. I'm surprised they're letting me see you. Great Aunt Katara looked pretty mad last time I saw her."

"She forgives easy enough." She looked him up and down. "So how was the academy?"

"Horrible. They make me run and memorize all this stuff. My father said training to be the avatar is similar so I now know why you ran away so much."

"Have you made any friends?"

"Absolutely none." Iroh shrugged. "I'm starting to think I'm a very unlikeable person."

"I like you." Korra said nonchalantly.

Iroh smiled. "Well at least one person does."

Korra hocked her arm in his like she had seen people do on the street when they walked together. "Come with me! I've got so show you Naga! She's grown so big!"

.o.

"I'll miss you so much!" Korra hugged Iroh close. "I don't want you to go."

Iroh stepped back. "Same, I don't want to go either. I'll miss you Korra. Write me?"

Korra smiled. "Sure."

She watched as he bored the ship and stood by the railing. He waved to her until he was a dot in the harbor. The ten year old sighed knowing it would be another year until she'd see him again. White Lotus guards escorted her back to the compound where she practiced her waterbending. She bashed a dummy with a barrage of icicles. She didn't want to wait almost a whole year to see her only friend again. She felt so isolated she wanted to cry but she held them in. She was the avatar, she had to walk this path alone and she couldn't cry about it now.

.o.

Korra didn't have to wait a year; she barely had to wait five months before she saw Iroh again. But it was too somber an occasion for her to enjoy his visit. The visit was black, everyone wore black, all the flags were black, and the sky seemed permanently black. He wasn't there long but one night they did sneak out and sat on a high wall of the compound and talked under the starts.

Iroh pulled his legs close to him. "I'm afraid Korra this might be the last time I'll visit this place."

"Why? You can't not come! I'll go mad!"

"I don't think you'll go mad but we only came down here to visit my Grandpa. Now that he's-he's gone I don't see a reason for my family to travel all this way."

Korra pouted. "That's not fair! I don't want this to be the last time you ever come here." She started to cry. "I'll miss you and you'll forget me."

"I won't forget you Korra." Iroh smiled. "You're unforgettable. I bet if I ever get amnesia I'll still remember you."

Korra giggled. "No you won't that's impossible to get amnesia and remember me."

"Well let's hope we never have to test that theory." Iroh smiled and then the two moved on to talk about other things until the sun came up and a guard found them still talking a fine layer of snow on their shoulders. Then it was another bitter good-bye that was possibly a final one. That night Korra slept in the stable with Naga just so she could be near something.

.o.

When Korra was thirteen Katara pulled her from her bed and got her dressed long before her training was supposed to start. The old master didn't tell her anything as she pulled her to the harbor in the early morning light. Korra was grumpy until she saw the ship with red flags dancing in the wind. Not waiting for permission she run into the bay and water bent herself through the water and on to the deck of the ship where Iroh was waiting.

He looked different, three years had made him taller and he looked more serious than before. Korra hesitated unsure if this was her friend who sent her all the letters that made her laugh than the prince pulled her into a hug.

"Surprise!" He smiled as the snow started to fall on to the deck.

Korra looked around. "How did you? Why are you?"

"My grandfather is coming to visit Great Aunt Katara. I begged him to let me come with him and he finally relented. Though in exchange I had to promise to be good and not break the rules."

Korra smirked. "And how honest were you when you made that promise?"

Iroh grinned. "I might have crossed my fingers."

Behind him the ship docked properly and Fire Lord Zuko disembarked to greet his old friend. He offered Katara his arm as they walked to the coach waiting.

"They're already plotting." Zuko confessed.

"I tried to warn you in my letters, Zuko. It wouldn't take five minutes and the two would be up to something."

"I thought you were exaggerating." Zuko shook his head. "Either way thank you for inviting me down here and allowing Iroh to come to."

"Well that's why I invited you. I hoped you would bring the young prince with you. Korra's half way through learning earth bending and she's started to loose interest. She's so lonely it'll be good for her to have a friend visit even if for just a few weeks."

Zuko nodded. "Well he begged to come to see her and I fear Iroh has similar difficulties at the academy. It's true he'll be a great commander and be respected by all who serve with him but he's failed to make one good friend in the lot." He looked back at the two now walking of the ship laughing. "I believe this visit will be mutually beneficial."

Katara nodded. "You know if it's a success I believe we should make it an annual thing."

"We'll see Katara. We'll see."

A/N: Ok so I realized I don't write a whole lot of Korroh falling in love stories and so I want to fix that. This is going to be a short series that I hope to wrap up in four chapters. So please comment if you feel so compelled and I'll see you later!~C.C.