Disclaimer: I do not own A:tLA or LoK.
A/N: This was supposed to be done for prompt 1 of Korroh week (ocean) but then I decided to make one cohesive story line connecting all prompts for the week. So yeah, I hope you enjoy this :)
Part 1: Tui and La
"Do you remember the Siege of the North?
The question startled Korra, she paused from sipping her tea and laid the cup down. She directed her gaze towards the young General sitting across the table, her expression inscrutable.
"What do you mean?"
She knew exactly what he meant. It was just a question as to why he's not asking the real question. Iroh just seemed so logical and calculating, she'd never imagine him to ask her a question with no logical answer.
"Are you asking if I remember anything from the old stories about the Siege of the North?" She asked,hedging around the real question.
"I'm asking if you have any memories from Avatar Aang's experiences that night."
Well, he definitely gets down to business. What else can she expect from the same guy who punches fire at an oncoming bomb, hoping that it doesn't fuck up? She gave him an unimpressed look, her lips twisting into a pout.
"Of course I don't."
"Seriously?"
"Did I stutter?"
To her surprise, Iroh gave a dejected huff. She raised an eyebrow at his reaction, he was acting very strange today. First with the silly questions and now the childish reaction. She wasn't an authority of maturity in the first place, her tendency to pick fights and dive headfirst into battle wasn't the pinnacle of rational action, but even she knew when someone acts out of character.
"Why do you ask? Why that specific night?"
"Because Grandfather told me about it, once."
Ex-firelord Zuko. Of course, he was there the night it actually happened; back when he was still hunting Avatar Aang and his life was so complicated. Korra grew up to stories told by Master Katara, hearing her experiences during the war. Except, of course, she'd heard it all from her point of view, from the Water Tribe's accounts of the events. She could only imagine how it all panned out from Zuko's perspective. Perhaps he'd seen it all with this yawning sense of horror, how everything is unraveling so fast and so sudden. He probably realized how cruel people can be, how the quest for power comes with a dreadful price.
She wouldn't know how Zuko saw all of it, she only knew that it probably wasn't one of his cherished memories.
She wouldn't know how much details he divulged to his grandson. Korra wouldn't blame him if he glossed over a lot of details. He could have edited all the bad bits and gave the most watered down account of the event. She'd understand, Iroh is so precious to him. If she were in his position, she couldn't bring herself to taint him with stories of past mistakes and festering wounds that will never fully heal.
The Fire Nation did something so horrible to the Water Tribes that night, not only to the northern Water Tribe, but to every waterbender in existence or the generations yet to born. Korra wondered whether wounds so deep and so painful, wounds that bled rivers of blood and left scars marked with selfless sacrifice, ever healed fully once Aavatar Aang restored peace to all four nations.
She wondered if she was reopening those wounds, sitting here with the Fire Nation prince (even though it is a time of peace). Would princess Yue be horrified if she saw Korra, a child of the Water Tribe, getting friendly with a firebender.
Perhaps not, Yue wouldn't mind. Master Katara used to say that she was kind and so very selfless. Maybe that was why she had the strength to sacrifice herself. Korra could never imagine herselfdoing the same in her situation. She was after all, like all human beings, inherently selfish and self-preserving (it's not a bad quality when it comes down to the most basic survival). Even as the Avatar she is still so painfully human, and so Yue's unparalleled act of selflessness seems so unfathamobale to her.
But as the Avatar, however, Korra knew that someday she'll make the same sacrifice, maybe even greater.
She stared at Iroh and felt her heart twinge at the thought.
Iroh's questions made her think that maybe Zuko left some crucial details out, that the old Firelord didn't divulge everything about his life. Korra's not so sure if she's the one who can provide it all. She's just a teenage girl, after all.
He probably grew up to all those stories about Firelord Zuko during the war, and as he grew older he realized all these stories didn't provide the clearest picture of his family's past.
Descended from a line line of Firebenders, his family tree is marked by madness and desires that raged as hot as their flames. His ancestors have brought the world to it's knees as well as carried it from the ashes of ruin.
His grandfather made so many mistakes in his youth but has since then atoned for his nation's sins. He's a very complicated man and even with the luxury of growing up as his beloved grandson Iroh still saw him as an enigma. Iroh hoped to understand him, all of him, someday.
Korra scowled deeply. He's a fool if he thinks he'd understand through me.
Korra's just a girl. Yes, she's the Avatar but what would she know about the past? She knew that Iroh began befriending her in hopes of getting a clearer understanding of things past. Too many times she'd hissed at him, so frustrated with his motives.
I am not Avatar Aang! And I never will be!
But the Avatar and the Firelord have a long history between them. Through generations, various reincarnations, their history is marked by tragedies and betrayal, as well as redemption and friendships that transcend lifetimes.
She wondered if she and Iroh were destined for something someday. He caught her eyes and she felt her heartbeat quicken.
"So you really don't remember turning into a gigantic Koizilla, attacking all those Fire Nation ships?"
"How about I punch you in the mouth?"
"What a charming lady you are, Avatar Korra."
It's nice being friends with him, though. Despite his tendency to be o formal and the obvious age gap between them, he is an okay guy. Plus, he makes great tea.
Beneath all that finery lies an awkward turtle duck… that happens to backsass her more times than she cared for.
She is the Avatar. Nobody should be able to outsass her by that virtue alone, right?
"Do you think they were lover?"
"W-Who were lovers?"
"Tui and La, of course."
Oh.
"Why do you say so?"
"Because La went berserk when Tui was gone."
"…"
"Korra?"
"They don't have to be lovers."
"Oh?"
"They didn't have to be lovers to care for each other. Maybe they were really old, great friends."
Like the old team Avatar. Spirits knew how much challenges they endured only to come stronger and closer than ever.
"Would you do the same for you friends?"
"Of course, I would!" She'll do anything for Mako, Bolin and Asami. She can't imagine life without them.
"How about your lover?"
Korra felt her next words die in her throat. She knew she'd do so much more horrible things if her lover was gone. She'd do unspeakable things indeed.
Her eyes flickered to Iroh and thought flitted through her mind. I would do so much more if I lost you.
And the thought horrified her, felt a chasm open in her chest, because she didn't want to think of Iroh in that way. Thinking that way meant she'd get hurt.
Most of all, she didn't want to think about losing him.
"So… the Moon and the Ocean, push and pull."
"Tui and La."
"I know that,"
"Do you?"
He gave her an annoyed glare that dissolved into a smile once Korra started giggling at his saw him smile and she felt like all's right in the world.
She's okay with this constancy, this push and pull between them. Being friends is enough.
"So the Moon and the Ocean are important to the water Tribes?"
"They're the life force of every waterbender that existed, exists, and will exist."
"One cannot exist without the other?"
"You can bet you one hundred yuan haircut they can't."
There it was, that annoyed glare. Korra couldn't help but stick her tongue out at him in response. She felt him staring at her mouth a little too long, his gaze focusing on her tongue, and his eyes cloud with some kind of desire. Her heart felt like it was jammed in her throat and she was slowly and sweetly chocking on it.
Spirits, what a horribly embarassing way to die.
"I'm sorry."
That quickly brought her out of her reverie and she gave him a confused look. Iroh tried composing himself better, trying to get his point across better,
"About everything the Fire Nation did that night. Even my grandfather's actions."
"Are you stupid?"
"What?" That surprised Iroh and he couldn't understand why Korra was livid.
"Why are apologizing? It's not your fault, even your grandfathers. If anything, it was Admiral Zhao who was in wrong, and he got his retribution. It's over."
"Yes, but he's Fire Nation and—"
"But nothing! You are you and your grandfather is your grandfather. He has lots of skeletons in his closet, I imagine, but they ae not yours."
He was stunned into silence at her outburst and his face softened, his shoulders relaxing. "You're right. I apologize. It's just that I still can't wrap my head around that fact that my old Grandfather, a hero and the most noble man I know, could have done those things. My nation's done some things I still feel like we're paying for them.
"We could've wiped out another race of benders."
"Well you didn't. Waterbenders are badasses and we're here to stay. I'm here to stay."
He chuckled then, and Korra knew that he's placated, for now. He still wants answers and he still wants to make everything better. Noble, heroic, swashbuckling Iroh who wants to save everyone and make a world that his grandfather would be proud of.
Just like her, who wants to be the best Avatar there is. By simply being the Avatar she knew she was born to serve the world, and she hoped that she can do just that.
"Korra?"
"Yes?"
"Sometimes I feel…"
And he paused and it felt like the longest, most deafening silence. Korra swallowed a lump in her throat and tried to act cool.
"Now that I've gotten to know you, sometimes I feel like I'm the ocean and you are the moon."
Spirits, that was the cheesiest line ever. Korra didn't know whether to scream at his uncool approach or cry at the implication of her words. Seeing as she's the rough and tumble tomboy Avatar, she did neither.
So she punched him in the face before running out of the room, leaving the General with a bloody nose and a bruised ego.