"The orders from the Fire Lord are in, sir," a crew member of General Iroh's ship spoke solemnly.
"Thank you. What did she say?" Iroh responds, staring out the window of his room atop his ship.
"We are to leave the port of Republic city at 600 hours, sir." Iroh looked down.
"I see. Inform the rest of the crew."
"Yes sir." Iroh listened to the footsteps of his subordinate leave the room before turning around to examine its contents with sad eyes. He sat down at his desk and reflected upon the events that had taken place in the weeks since the fall of the equalist revolution.
It was celebration time in city hall: the equalist revolution had failed! The Avatar had the power to restore bending to those who had lost it! The large ballroom was filled with happy people enjoying fine liquor and live jazz. General Iroh had been socializing with most everyone at the party, except for one young lady standing in the corner, alone. He approached her when he saw the opportunity.
"Miss Sato, may I speak with you for a moment?" Iroh asked the beautiful youth.
"Uh, of course. And please, call me Asami," She said, smiling warmly at the general. He offered her his arm and they walked out of the main room and into a quiet hallway.
"I just wanted you to know that I admire you for what you did yesterday," Iroh stated, looking into her eyes.
"What do you mean?" Her attempts at feigning innocence were cute.
"No, for facing your father and confronting him about what he has done to you," he explained. Asami didn't respond right away. Her eyes shimmered, revealing tears waiting to make the voyage onto her cheeks. He put his hand on her shoulder. "I have always gotten along rather well with my parents, so I don't know from personal experience, but I have talked with my grandfather on several different occasions about how he dealt with his father's actions. He said that he felt his heart break even though he knew he was doing the right thing."
Asami was speechless. She buried her head in her hands and burst into tears. Iroh put his arm around her in an attempt to comfort the emotional young woman. She turned into him and sobbed into his chest. He held her for a few minutes as she wept. Her body felt so tense and fragile against his. He brushed her hair out of her face after she stopped sobbing and started breathing slowly in an attempt to regain her composure.
"Thank you," She said before standing on her tip toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. Their eyes locked for a moment before she fell back down to her regular height (with a little help from her heels) and walked back into the ballroom. He smiled to himself as he watched her walk away. He pondered what it was about her that he found so attractive. She was gorgeous, of course, but what really turned him on was her intellect.
Her looks are a nice perk though, he thought to himself , eyes lingering on her backside as she returned to the party.
Iroh grabbed some paperwork out from inside a folder and laid it out over his desk before sighing and going to work. There was something he found oddly soothing about completing his paperwork. When he sat at his desk, pen scratching on important documents, he shut the rest of the world out and just focused on reading his policies. Being a General during a time of relative peace (the recent equalist uprising excluded), he had climbed the ranks by being diligent and filling out a large amount of paperwork. Being prince of the Fire Nation probably didn't hurt either. He set his pen down to stack a bunch of recently signed documents, and it rolled off his desk to the ground. He mumbled to himself about his slightly angled desk as he bent out of his chair to pick it up. After he picked it up, he turned around, crouched down to the ground, and noticed something he hadn't seen before- a scrape on the side of his arm rest. He pondered for a moment before recalling where it had come from.
In the days after the party, the general and Asami had seen a fair amount of each other in meetings with Councilman Tenzin, the newly restored chief of police, Lin Beifong, and Avatar Korra. Sometimes he would catch her staring at him from across the table, with a fire in her eyes. The second afternoon after the celebration, General Iroh was reading his messages and writing his replies in silence, in his office atop his ship. He heard a gentle knock at the door. He looked up. It couldn't have been one of his crew, they always knock loudly twice and request permission to enter.
"Please come in," He called to his mystery visitor, who opened the door and entered the room. Iroh was surprised to discover his visitor was none other than Asami Sato.
"Miss Sa- I mean, Miss Asami, it's nice to see you," Iroh smiled at the gorgeous girl. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Well, General Iroh, I wanted to thank you for your kind words the other night," Asami replied, shuffling on her feet.
"Please, call me Iroh. And please sit down. I can't let a beautiful woman like yourself stand in my office while I sit hunched over a desk," Iroh continued smiling. He truly enjoyed the company of Asami. He wondered if she knew that. She took a seat across from his desk.
"Anyways, I was having a rough time at that party. You really made my night," Asami paused, smiling at the General. "Sorry I got a little emotional."
"There is no need to apologize, Miss Asami. I just wanted to make sure you were recognized for your efforts. I feel the press is only crediting Avatar Korra, Tenzin, and myself for our parts in ending the revolution," the General said softly, setting his pen down and sweeping his paperwork into a neat pile.
"Well I mean you guys definitely deserve the credit! You have a nice new scar on your arm to show for it," Asami replied energetically. Iroh touched his arm carefully.
"I had almost forgotten about it, to be honest," he lied humbly.
"Does it still hurt?" She asked curiously.
"Only a little bit," He lied again. There was a short silence before Asami posed another question.
"Can I… Can I see it?" General Iroh was a little taken aback by her question. No one had ever asked to see his arm. It was still healing. He felt uneasy about showing someone so beautiful something so mangled and ugly. She noticed his discomfort and added, "I can take it. I'm sure I've seen worse injuries to factory workers."
"Sure," Iroh said quietly before taking off his jacket and rolling up the sleeve of his undershirt. He unwrapped the bandage on his upper arm and revealed his gnarled mess of skin. Asami was instantly out of her seat, standing next to Iroh examining the scar.
"Wow, this is pretty bad," She said, touching his elbow gently. "Ah, I don't mean, it looks unhealthy or anything, I just…"
"Don't worry, Miss Asami. It is pretty bad," Iroh chuckled softly. Asami pulled his arm closer and leaned towards the scar. "You can touch it if you want," he added. "Just be gentle, please." She wrapped her hand that had been barely touching him around his elbow. This touch sent a jolt of electricity through the General's body. What was it about this girl that he found so attractive? He shouldn't be doing this. She is so much younger than him. He is the General of the United Forces. His thoughts raced as she gently examined his scar. They slowed to a stop when she looked into his eyes.
"You're pretty special," she said softly.
"Um, thank you, Miss Asami," He replied awkwardly, not breaking eye contact.
"I've never met a man in my life who is as insightful and observant as you." Iroh swallowed. "I've been the center of attention my whole life but I've never felt more appreciated by anyone than I did the other night." She leaned closer to kiss the seated general on the cheek. She pulled away, eyes still locked with Iroh. She started to stand back up but the General grabbed her hand and pulled her back down into a kiss. The kiss started out soft and innocent, but a spark was ignighted and it quickly turned more heated, more passionate. Asami nibbled the bottom of Iroh's lower lip. He pulled her down into his lap, and in the process of crossing her legs, her heel had scraped the apholstered side of Iroh's chair's armrest.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Asami pulled away from the embrace, still sitting perpendicular in Iroh's lap.
"It's quite alright, Miss Asami," Iroh smiled. "I'm still more interested in what was happening before your footwear scraped my chair." He looked into her eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist. She draped her arms around his shoulders and, smiling, pulled him into another kiss. Iroh moved from Asami's lips down to her neck, covering it with affectionate nips before working his way up to behind her ear and gently sucking for a few short moments. A moan elicited his partner's lips. Suddenly, Iroh snapped out of his trance and realized what he was doing. He kissed her lips one last time (after all, she is so good at kissing) before straightening up. He cleared his throat.
"Well, Miss Asami, this has been lovely, but I, uh, have to get back to work," he said, disappointed in himself. Asami smiled softly.
"Ah, I forget. You're a professional," Asami replied, standing up from his lap.
"Yes, I suppose I am," Iroh smiled. Asami turned around and started walking out of the room. "Miss Asami?" He called out to her just before she reached the door.
"Yes?" She stopped and turned to face her former kissing partner.
"I would be honored if you would join me for dinner tonight," he said, pausing to swallow uncomfortably. "Do you care for fire nation cuisine?"
"I love fire nation food!" Asami replied excitedly. Iroh loved Asami's enthusiasm.
"Great, I'll pick you up from Air Temple Island at 7, then," he stated.
"See you then," Asami smiled and waved before turning around to exit the room. As soon as the door closed, Iroh slumped back down onto his desk. What was he doing? She was 7 years younger than him. He knew he had to return to his duties around the world relatively soon, his fleet was to stay in Republic city until the situation could be declared officially stable. He never got involved with women when he was on the job. But there was something different about Asami. Her ferocious determination, intelligence, and combat skills were like nothing he'd ever seen from a girl her age, or any age for that matter. He was torn out of his daydreaming by two loud knocks at the door.
"Permission to enter, sir," a crew member spoke from outside.
"Permission granted," Iroh called back and watched one of his men enter through the door.
"Tenzin would like to speak with you in city hall, sir." Iroh stood up.
"Tell him I'll be there in 10 minutes," the general stated and started to leave his office.