Life was so unfair. So, she justifies that she should be able to cheat.
Korra has still fuming as she sneaked into a cargo ship about to leave the ports of Republic City. Tenzin forbade her from coming to an international event held this weekend due to not finishing her air bending training, again. Tenzin seemed to be under some delusion that she would stay put at Air Temple Island, meditate and study those delicate ancient scrolls he seems to love so much while he departs to the Fire Nation and attend a grand soiree in honour of the seventy first anniversary of the Hundred Year War's conclusion.
Wrong.
Korra managed to fall asleep on a large pile of hay feeling both bored and tired. She had to be careful as to not get caught by security or the crew. These days, both are equally bad in terms of dealing with stowaways. She had found a strategic position where she could see everything around and no one could see her.
She was woken up by the sound of loud bells ringing repeatedly. It meant that they had either arrived or are being attacked. At the moment, Korra couldn't really care less about pirates and just slipped past a few sleeping animals and inconspicuously jumped off the ship's railings. She figured out that the least likely way to get caught was to get on and off a ship just after they have left and just before they arrive. Korra still refused to believe otherwise.
Korra liked to flaunt her ability to bend all the four elements, especially having easily mastered the three of them. There were no questions about that, so she was easily able to use her water bending to get her to shore. After drying herself careful not to wreck her only dress, she took a first look at the fire nation.
It was beautiful.
No one had noticed her due to the amount of people moving around the ports, trying to get shipments, people and anything else they could fit into a ship, in and out. There was shouting from all directions and it was so noisy. Carriers were driven around making the crowd condensed into the side bringing Korra into them. Somehow, she managed to catch a familiar sight.
General Iroh was stood merely twenty meters away from her. The general was talking to a man before shaking his hand heartily and turning around walking towards the opposite direction. The general must be here for the soiree, Korra thought. Aside from being the general of the United Forces, Korra learned that Iroh was also the prince of the fire nation. Surely, the only reason he must be here is to attend the Anniversary that was being held no doubt in his childhood home, the fire nation royal palace.
It had occurred to Korra that she didn't really know how to get to the palace. Maybe smuggling herself into the fire nation was not the best idea that she had lately. Korra however could argue that the idea's worth was debatable. Besides, Korra could probably easily follow Iroh into the palace. That is if she could locate him again.
Korra sprinted towards the direction where she last saw him and glanced around trying to see if he was still around. The trouble for Korra was that most of the people around were similar in looks which made her search for Iroh a bit more difficult. Korra caught a glance of his pristine hair and silently thanked the spirits for Iroh's genes for his height made him easier to distinguish from the crowd.
She darted towards him pushing through the crowds. The people were frantically walking around turning and stopping, talking and walking most likely trying to get home for supper time. The sun was already setting and everyone was getting off work early today due to the anniversary meaning it would be harder for Korra to get to her destination faster.
Korra cut in front of a woman and she huffed glaring at her. "Sorry. " She muttered looking down. Every time she managed to get near Iroh, she gets pushed back by the crowd. I take it back, Iroh's genes made him to be athletic and take extremely long strands making him disappear faster and farther away from her.
Iroh sharply turned left into an alley and Korra cut into a few people walking intending to follow him. The light was dimmed and she could only really know generally where she was going. Suddenly, Korra felt someone grab her from behind and pushed her roughly against the wall. It had happened too fast and Korra couldn't really react or get herself free seeing as the person held her hands together tightly and slightly bent, making it impossible for her to bend.
"Who sent you to kill me?" He growled.
Korra recognized his voice and squirmed slightly urging him to let her go. "General?" She gasped. "What the hell?"
"Avatar Korra?" He said surprised. He let her go and turned her around no doubt to check whether she was actually who he thought she was.
"Who else would I be?" Korra said rubbing her wrists. Korra wanted to fault him for being so physically strong but rather admired it. Korra made a mental note to ask him for a spar sometime.
"I didn't recognize you." He admitted. "Sorry."
"Didn't anyone ever tell you to not stalk people, Avatar?" Iroh said amused. "Or that it's not okay for a girl like you to be here in the fire nation alone when you're supposed to be on the other side of the world."
"'Might have, at some point." Korra said. "It doesn't really mean that I listened."
"Obviously." He rolled her eyes.
"Hey, you're going to the palace and I don't know how to get to the palace." Korra argued. "It seemed like a good plan."
Iroh shook his head and turned around. He walked towards the end of the alley, away from where she stood.
"Where are you going?" Korra called.
"To the palace, are you coming?" He replied.
Korra didn't answer him and instead jogged to where he stood to wait for her. Iroh sighed then grabbed her hand pulling her into the crowd of people. Once he was satisfied that Korra was following him, he let go of her hand. Korra was careful to not lose him as he started to slow down to stare at their surroundings. They passed by several markets and residential areas, both getting more grand as they get closer to the palace.
"So, how have you been?"
"Alright." Iroh said. "Work has been fairly quiet. How's the training going?"
"Nothing's new." She shrugged. "I got grounded because I couldn't pass my air bending test though."
"So that's the mystery reason to why the avatar declined the invitation to the anniversary dinner." He said smiling.
"I'm going to be in so much trouble when we get there." Korra grunted. "Is it far the palace that far away from here?"
Iroh looked at her curiously then answered, "Let's put it this way, I don't usually walk to the palace."
Korra groaned.
"You didn't really think this through, did you Korra?"
"No." Korra sighed.
Their walk was a quiet one and Korra was eager to break the comfortable silence. They'd been like this for about half an hour or so and this was wearing out Korra's patience. She never really liked being patient or silent for a long period of time being an avid talker. She knew that her companion was different. He was calm and reserved, only ever being otherwise when at war. I guess war can get to anyone.
"Why aren't there many Sato mobiles around?"
"There are. But, it's the anniversary; no one is going to be outside travelling tonight." Iroh reasoned. "We're almost here."
Korra looked up to see that they were indeed near the palace. There wasn't really anything around the palace and she could clearly see that there were many people present for the occasion. Korra felt a bit nauseated by the thought of having to go in there and face an unfamiliar mass of people. She wondered if Iroh would let her go back to the harbour and to Republic City, pretending none of this ever happened. If he ever told on her, she'd deny anything and everything. But, that wouldn't be fair on him, would it?
Sensing that there was really no turning back now, Korra tried to stray her thoughts toward her surroundings instead. Korra stared away to the side walk and towards the other side of the picket fence. She could see a large open area and wondered what they could be growing. There must be something that they would be growing due to the fences they had built up around it. It was neither rice fields nor farming crops. As they got nearer, Korra saw that there were plants growing on the vast grassland. She caught a glance of the flowers, a single type of flower she recognized from home.
"Pema always has a bouquet of those flowers by the front door." Korra said.
Iroh looked momentarily confused before he followed Korra's line of sight and nodded.
"Fire lilies, did you mean?" Iroh said. "They're just about to bloom right now in time for the fire lily festival next month."
"Cool." Korra said. "They look like they're actually on fire."
Iroh smiled. "Fire Lilies commonly signify fiery passion. They're beautiful aren't they?"
"Yes." She replied. "Kind of like fire bending I guess."
"Why would you say that?" Iroh said looking at her curiously.
"It's because I like the feeling of bending fire more so than the other elements." Korra admitted. "I don't really know why, but it's the truth."
"Power." He answered for her. "We feel power when we fire bend. It's precise, destructive…"
"It's control…" She added. "It's… I just can't think of the right word for it." She thought back to all her fire bending training, to all the stances and the smallest sparks. It had excited her every time, the small golden embers emitting out from her fingers her feet her mouth. Korra remembered being mesmerized looking at the master's demonstrations, all the forms. It was all from something, one thing like love, like… "Passion."
"Fire has always been about passion." He concluded.
Iroh stopped in front of the gates and Korra chose to stand behind him. The guards took one look at him and immediately opened the gates for him. Prince Iroh has arrived home. Iroh walked inside before glancing backwards and waiting for her. Iroh offered her his arm and Korra gratefully took it. She didn't have to do it alone. They passed a large garden with a small pond in the middle. Korra saw several candles lit on small marble tables scattered around the garden. All the light had mostly come from the inside.
They passed by more guards on their way to the ballroom who were too still for Korra's liking. There were several people around the place who had paused and bowed to Iroh before he greeted them back and they returned to their business. Korra marvelled at the sheer size of palace and the decor. She found herself particularly fascinated at all the paintings on the walls. Eventually, Korra couldn't keep staring at her surroundings busy and had to face reality.
Iroh had still not let go of her arm when Korra started to her the murmurs of people becoming louder. She had to stop him for a moment and asked him, "Do I look alright?"
"Yes." He answered sincerely.
Korra took a deep breath and nodded. Iroh took this as a single for them to go on and continued on their way. They turned into a corner and Korra could see the ballroom full of people. There was a man waiting at the door separating the abandoned corridor from the ballroom. He had appeared to have recognized Iroh and curtsied.
"Prince Iroh, it's a pleasure to welcome you home and the Anniversary celebrations." He said enthusiastically.
"Thank you, San Hi." Iroh greeted. "This is Avatar Korra, by the way."
"It is an honour to meet you, Miss." San Hi said. "No doubt, you want to join in the celebrations, yes?"
They both smiled at him, Iroh because of meeting someone that reminded him of his early days at the palace and Korra because of her nerves that do not seem to be calming down anytime soon. San Hi turned away from them and cleared his throat, calling the attention of most people near the door.
"Presenting, His Highness Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation and his guest Avatar Korra." He said. Even though he had spoken in a normal volume, it had still managed to echo around the ballroom.
There was a polite applause as Iroh had lead her through the crowds before they ended short of the high table, sitting the Fire Lord and her family, and most of the world leaders. She was met with curious looks but Korra saw none of that. Instead, Korra found herself staring into eyes identical to her own and the stoic face of her father, not at all expecting her at the event. Her gaze moved to the end of the table where Republic City representatives were sat, particularly to the last air bending master in the world who looked like he was ready to explode.
She started to think of excuses to tell when asked and reminded herself to emphasize Iroh's innocence in all of this. Korra held on to Iroh's jacket even tighter.
Let the party and anger commence.
A/N: I hate the new Chanel ad; that stupid line got stuck in my head and now I wrote it into this.