Heartbeat

A/N: So I'm back on my Legend of Korra kick, BECAUSE I'M SO FREAKIN' EXCITED ABOUT IT COMING BACK THIS FRIDAY! So yeah, I got this in my head. Rated T for now, may change.

*Also, please note that Iroh isn't 36 in this (which we don't even know if that's his canon age, since it's was mentioned in a joke of Bryke's.) He is instead a more reasonable 25 while Asami is 19 (so like 6 years older.)

When General Iroh II of the United Republic Forces, and Fire Nation prince, first laid eyes on Asami Sato, he saw nothing spectacular about her, except a very beautiful appearance. He'd mostly been focused on the battles occuring in Republic City.

It was during Amon's coup that he met her, as well as Avatar Korra and her other friends, and he had had no clue who she was until that awkward argument with her father, Hiroshi Sato, while they were tied up in prison. Iroh was surprised to find she was the daughter of Sato, he'd met the man before, and he'd never mentioned a daughter. Although, Iroh had always been convinced Hiroshi did not like him much, and he guessed it was due to his status as a firebender.

She was present at certain meetings afterwards, and a party the city had thrown to celebrate the electionof President Raiko. He remembered saying only a few things to her, but did love her dress, made by a famous Fire Nation designer.

The next time he'd met Asami, it was a month after the equalist attack. She'd been in a scramble to get Future Industries back in order after taking over, and was approached by the new President Raiko to renegotiate their weapons contracts to include Satoplanes.

He observed that she was shrewd, but struggling with her burdensome job. To ease tension, he asked "How is our plane order coming along?"

A beautiful smile appeared on her face, relieved to no longer dwell on the stolen Mecha Tanks giving her grief. "They're coming along quite well, I've even improved the designs from my father's original."

He noticed that after the words 'my father' her face fell somewhat, and he could suddenly see the bags under her green eyes. She met his eye for a moment, and realized she'd stopped talking. "I...I'm sorry for that. My father brings up some pretty bad memories for me. After he revealed the planes, I searched through the factory under his workshop and found the blueprints and test models. Based on those, I started producing newer ones to try to help keep the company afloat."

Iroh nodded politely, but got the sense that she visited the underground factory more frequently than she let on. He felt surprisingly curious about the heiress and caught himself staring a few times in subsequent negotiations meetings.

Iroh ran into Asami two months later, it was where he least expected to. He was in Yu Dao conducting army exercises, and dropped into a restaurant for a light lunch. He'd been comfortably seated, reading some papers and sipping a coffee, waiting for his food.

Looking up by chance he saw her enter the restaurant, and swore for a second she'd caught his eye. Shaking off the silly thought, he went back to his papers, but looked up to see Asami sitting in front of him a moment later. He choked on his coffee in surprise, and felt his cheeks burn with embarassment. "Ms. Sato," he said when he finally regained his ability to speak. "I apologise for that. Would you like to join me?"

Asami smiled, giggling slightly at his mishap. "I'm the one who should be apologising, I saw you sitting here and thought I would say hi, but I would hate to interrupt your work."

"It's no trouble, I was getting bored waiting for my food to show up to tell you the truth."

"Well thank you very much, General. What brings you here to Yu Dao?" she asked, her bright green eyes looking over his uniform and papers.

"Military training exercises. What about yourself, Ms. Sato?"

"Please, call me Asami," she said, accepting a cup of tea he poured for her with an appreciative smile.

"Ah, ok...Asami, but only if you call me Iroh."

"Well, Iroh," Asami began coyly, "My family had a country estate not far from here, and I'm in the process of selling it. We went a lot when I was younger, because my mother had her childhood here in Yu Dao, before she moved to Republic City as a teenager. After Dad started working with the Equalists, we stopped coming out here."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Iroh replied, genuinely sorry, but distracted by how much he liked her saying his name.

"Don't worry, my trip hasn't been entirely gloom and doom. I really enjoy this town, when I was in school I used to daydream about all the shenanigans I could get up to here."

"Where did you attend school?" the firebender asked against his typical better judgement.

"Well, I attended the Republic City Academy for Girls my whole life, but when I came here, sometimes I liked to pretend I was a normal schoolgirl. I was set to attend Ba Sing Se University until I had to take control of Future Industries. What school did you go to?"

"Only the best school in the Fire Nation. My mother decided I needed a proper princely education."

"Oh, that's right, you're the Fire Nation Prince! I forget most of the time." Asami said, somewhat embarassed.

"Even I forget sometimes," he murmured, staring at the pinkness of her cheeks.

"You've been all over the world haven't you?"

"Yes. There's so many beautiful places out in the world, filled with so much history. My grandfather usually has a story about all of them too, 'Your Great-Aunt Azula took over this city once...Commander Bumi got his name from the King of Omashu...once I stole the Avatar in the middle of meditation from this spirit pond in the the North Pole...I spent a lot of time hiding here on Ember Island, but speaking of islands, I once was attacked by this weird serpent on Kyoshi Island.' I swear, he's more traveled than I am and the stories he tells are incredible. There isn't adventure like that anymore." Iroh said, the pair chuckling as he imitated an old man's voice.

"I wish I could meet him," Asami said dreamily, as she studied the menu. "I've been reading up on Avatar Aang and his friends and I find them all such fascinating individuals."

"Well, I sincerely hope you get that opportunity someday."

Asami eyed Iroh for a minute, briefly gave the approaching waiter her food order and then quickly glanced back to Iroh. "Do you think you could introduce me to him if you ever have the time?"

Iroh met her eyes and smiled, caught up in her excited gaze, but them shifted uncomfortably thinking of his grandfather. "I'd love to introduce you and your friends to him, but I honestly have no idea where he is half the time. It seems when he's in town, I'm away, and when I'm in town he's away. Last I heard, he was in Ba Sing Se making tea."

"Tea?" she questioned with a smirk. He shifted uncomfortably once again under her gaze and nodded. "My grandfather had an Uncle Iroh, who ran a teashop called the Jasmine Dragon. He passed his love for tea unto my grandfather, who gave it to me."

"Well, now you must most definitely make me tea sometime!"

"Should we cross paths again, I'll see what I can do. Provided, it's not in an underground hobo city."

The tinkling laugh he got in response made his heart pound like a drum.

Almost 3 months later, the General found himself at a party being hosted by one Asami Sato. The heiress was celebrating her new partnership with the Southern Water Tribe shipping magnate, Varrick. The man was sort of nutty in Iroh's opinion, but he was glad to see Asami's business getting back on its feet.

The Sato mansion was large and beautiful, and not unlike the palace he's grown up in. The party filled it with warmth and laughter, but he was sure when everyone went home that wouldn't be the case.

Seeing the hostess across the room, he felt warmth climb up his cheeks as he remembered the lunch they had had in Yu Dao. Admittedly, it was strange of them to dine together when they had only seen each other in serious situations, but nontheless, the General considered it an enjoyable high point to an otherwise boring trip.

Against his own wishes, he found his heart fluttering as he approached Asami. She looked lovely in a plum colored dress, and had the firebender boy he remembered from Amon's attack on her arm. He found it quite strange considering he'd heard that this Mako fellow had been dating Avatar Korra, but managed to hide his surprise.

Asami saw him and smiled dazzlingly. "Iroh, I'm glad you made it! I was a little worried you would skip out on your promise to make me tea."

"I would never dream of it Ms. Sa..I mean, Asami."

"You're looking quite well since the last time I saw you," she said politely, flipping some black curls off of her shoulder, revealing some creamy skin.

"And so are you," he replied, studying her longer than he admittedly should have. Mako shifted tensely next to her, his arms crossed, and his eyes roving the room. "I'm going to find Bolin, I think he's talking to Varrick," the former pro-bender said before leaving the heiress' side.

"Ok," she said, her face falling slightly. "It's a shame he left, I was hoping we could get a dance."

"You could dance with me if you'd so desire," Iroh offered, surprising himself. Asami smiled and nodded, taking his hand and leading him to the dance floor.

If Iroh thought he was warm before when he looked at Asami, touching her now made him stiflingly hot, even for a firebender. The pounding of his heart even seemed to echo loudly in his ear, muffling all but his dance partner. Even his nose was teased by the pleasing floral scent of her.

"You're a fantastic dancer!" she exclaimed, her green eyes looking even brighter due to the purple of her dress. He smiled, "You're not too shabby yourself."

Their closeness on the dance floor was soon interrupted by Mako's return, and Iroh found himself politely allowing Asami to return to her apparent boyfriend with disappointment. He was going to need a cold shower after this to clear his mind.

He surprised himself one night, when he'd heard Asami was back in town after having traveled around in the Earth Kingdom for a while. He'd seen Asami a few times since the party but it had mostly been quick contractual meetings about Future Industries planes and such things, although after one of them she had invited him to sit in on one of her rather exhilarating test drives. He was fascinated by her control over the vehicle, and she'd been surprised at his reaction.

"You handled that rather well, General. Most of the people I take on these test drives are terrified of traveling so fast." she had said after the drive was over, removing her driving helmet.

"I love adrenaline," he had responded, and it was true. He loved his job, and had been quite an adventurous child.

"Is that why you haven't made me tea yet? Not exciting enough?" Asami questioned as she adjusted her hair, flipping it out of her face.

"No, even the most swashbuckling generals make time for a good tea break! Next opportunity we're both in town, I promise I'll make you tea." he said, bestowing a gentle kiss on her hand as he prepared to leave the Sato estate.

"I'll hold you to that," she said, with a giggle and a wink.

He was only trying to keep his promise he told himself, as he spontaneously decided to call the Sato home. His heart pounded as the phone rang, wondering if she would answer.

"Hello?" finally came Asami's voice on the phone, and Iroh smiled despite himself.

"Hello, Asami, it's General Iroh. I heard you met my grandfather after all?"

"Yes, I did! He was fascinating, just as I suspected!"

"Well I did tell you he has many stories. Never hesitates to tell you either."

"So, Iroh, were you calling to ask how my meeting your grandfather went or do you have another reason?" Asami asked, and Iroh felt his heart drop to his stomach as he contemplated the reason for his call.

"Well, I...uh have some time and I had promised you some tea so since I found our lunch in Yu Dao quite enjoyable, I was wondering if you would like...some tea?"

He heard her quiet for a moment, making Iroh more nervous than he'd expected. "Sure, I'd love some tea! Come on over to my home, I'll have a kettle set up and everything."

Iroh was sure he'd never driven faster.

Asami surprised him by answering the door herself. "Hello Iroh, it's been awhile! Actually, I don't think I've seen you since my party!"

He found himself without words, an unusual predicament for the well-spoken general. Instead, he sheepishly grinned and held up a tin of tea leaves. "I brought tea."

She opened the door allowing him to enter the estate, smiling sweetly and leading him to her kitchen. "So what are you going to make for me?"

"Ahh, it's a family secret I'm afraid, going back to my great great uncle General Iroh the First. He was supposedly even better than my Grandfather at brewing tea, and taught him. It's become sort of a family tradition I suppose."

Iroh felt Asami's eyes on him, hanging on to his every word about brewing tea. His eyes flicked to hers. "Would you like to try making it?"

Her eyes brightened, and she eagerly walked around the counter to where he was and took the teapot from his hands.

"What do I do?" she asked. He smiled sheepishly and took the metal teapot back from her hands. "I actually need the teapot so I can boil the water."

Her sudden burst of laughter scared the daylights out of him. Raising an eyebrow, almost afraid he had done something wrong, he shot her a questioning look. She wiped tears from her eyes as she tried to compose herself. "I'm sorry I laughed, that just reminded me of something that had made me angry at...Mako and yeah..."

"Am I angering you?" Iroh asked worriedly. Asami shook her head, squeezing his arm reassuringly. "Quite the opposite, actually."

The fire nation prince noticed her hand remained on his arm, actually trailing down, and gently caressing his muscles over his jacket. His temperature spiked and before he knew it the pot was boiling in his hand, steam angrily leaving the spout.

Asami looked up at him with a coy smile. "Are you going to teach me how to make tea then?"

Keeping his eyes on hers, he gently set the pot down on her stove and took her hand in his own. "I drink enough tea, I think. Besides, there's something I wanted to confess..." he started, the words spewing out of his mouth much to his own surprise. Before he could continue, however, he felt Asami's soft lips on his own.

Going stiff with surprise, Iroh found himself give in immediately after. Asami slowly pulled away and blushed, looking at her hand in his own in embarassment. "I'm sorry, I was too forward..."

His heart pounding excitedly, he cupped her cheek in his hand and pulled her back, kissing her back. They remained this way for a minute or two, enjoying the softness of each other's lips.

"What did you have to confess to me?" Asami asked him after pulling back again, a slightly pink hue in her cheeks.

"I really enjoy your presence, and I was hoping we could see each other more often, as more than...business associates," he sputtered out breathlessly.

Her smiled widened, and she looked into his eyes. "I would like that a lot, actually."

"Dinner tomorrow night, then?" he tried to ask as casually as possible. She nodded, "But don't think that will get you out of teaching me how to make tea, Iroh."

With a chuckle, the firebender picked up the teapot again to boil the water that had since cooled somewhat.

A/N: What'd you think? Love it? Hate it?

Think I should continue? Think I should consider adding smut one day?

Leave a review and tell me all about it! If I do continue though, I'm warning you that I may not update for a little while, as I may be waiting for Book 3 to give me a lick of inspiration.

-MyHikari