Asami lay on her bed, listening to her steady breathing. She lay like this for hours, still and unmoving. She should be crying, balling her eyes out, but no, she just lay there motionless. Because she had run out of tears, along with her will to survive.
Hours earlier, Asami had gotten word about Iroh, her lover, her husband, her friend. Korra had walked into her room and stood mournfully at the door. "Korra," she asked curiously,"Korra? What's wrong?" It was when Korra looked up at her that she realized that something was definitely wrong, and she was not alright. Her blue eyes were puffy and rimmed red, and she was crying. Her breath was hitching, and she couldn't seem to calm down. "Korra?"
Korra's blue eyes flickered towards her, and they were full of such a sadness that Asami had wanted to cry along with her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Asami," she had whispered. Asami narrowed her eyes and looked back at her.
"Korra? Korra, what's wrong? You're scaring me. Is everything alright?"
"No. No, it isn't. Asami...Iroh, he died in battle."
Just like that, her world stopped. Her eyes widened and her breath caught, and she made a small squeaking sound from the back of her throat. Asami had started to hyperventilate. Her voice started out as a whisper, but soon found its way up to desperate shout. "No, no, no...NO! No, I won't believe it! Why are you telling me this?! What kind of friend would pull a sick kind of joke like this?! Why are you doing this to me Korra? Why, tell me! Iroh isn't dead, he's just away helping with the battles. He is, I know it!"
By then, she was shaking while anger, remorse, and grief flooded through her. Korra had started to say something, started to move towards her in an attempt to calm her down, but Asami was on a full-on-rage mode. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins, and she picked one of her pillow and flung it at Korra. "NO! GET OUT!"
Korra had done what any wise person would have done, and ran out of her room, leaving a trembling and broken-down Asami behind her.
For hours she lay alone, crying occasionally. At other times, Asami would stroke her pillows, remembering all of the good times she and Iroh had together. Their first date, their first hug, their first kiss, the night that they expressed their profound love for each other, the times when they had laughed about anything, and the time when Iroh had proposed to her. All of these things seemed so distant now, as if they had never even happened. Oh, but they did. That night, Asami murmured a prayer before sleeping, which was her equivalent to staring up at the ceiling for the rest of the night.
Iroh, I hope that you're doing well up there in heaven. Why you would leave me now, I don't know, but I want you to know that I will and forever always love you. Even though you're not with me anymore, you'll be deeply treasured in my heart. I will never forget you, and I hope that you do the same as we will meet in different lifetimes to be together again. If one person were to forget the second, it would be as if the second had never existed. But you did, Iroh, and I will always remember you, for denying that you existed will be denying my place here on Earth.