Title: Games of Court
Rating: G
Pairings/Characters: Ursa, Iroh
Warnings: none
Word count: 886
Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to the nice folks at Nickelodeon.
Author's note: Thanks to jin_fenghuang for the beta! Originally written for the Soundtrack challenge.
Prompt: We Could Be Friends.

Ursa clicked a pai sho tile decisively onto the table, her elegant hands drifting back over the board to retrieve her teacup. Iroh's eyes followed their movement – not with suspicion, although he knew her to be a crafty player, but with interest and appreciation. She held her cup lightly, removing the lid to waft the aromatic tea under her nose before smiling appreciatively. Her golden eyes lit with warmth and good humor as she took a sip.

That made it all the harder to confront her.

Iroh smiled pleasantly in return, turning back to the pai sho board. Her peony and willow had formed a pincer on his white lotus tile, cutting him off from his half formed bright and limiting his options. He would need to begin again, or distract her attention away from that area of the board long enough to avoid that gambit being halted entirely. His brother's wife was a more cunning player than he had originally suspected. Which was entirely the problem.

He rotated a tile between his middle finger and fore finger, deep in contemplation.

"I was very sad to hear that Lady Yu left the court recently. She was quite a dear friend of mine." Ursa gave a quiet, sympathetic hum. Her posture belied her indifference as she straightened on her dengzi. Iroh eyed her reaction, pressing further, "I know she was responsible for quite a lot of gossip – and mischief! – but I have always found that the most enjoyable part of court life, don't you agree?"

"You must forgive me, but I've always found it dreadfully tedious," Ursa replied. She leaned in, voice pitched low and soft as if giving a confidence to him. "I try to avoid the court whenever possible."

His smile flickered and a sudden, hard weight settled in his stomach. He had not expected her to lie to him. He didn't know why, but he simply had not.

He was coming to learn that he had underestimated Ursa – or more accurately, overestimated her. He had met her when she was nothing more than a lovely, naïve girl, as enmeshed in the world of politics as she was quietly terrified of it. It was not that he had never expected her to learn the ways of the palace, but he had hoped it would not change her. That Ozai would not change her. But now here she was, baldly lying to his face about her hand in getting Lady Yu – Iroh's own eye on the royal court and his personal powerbroker – exiled to the colonies.

Iroh placed his tile, moving aggressively to break Ursa's line of defense.

"It is difficult," he said, voice tight with anger, "to keep track of courtly business while I am at the war front, as I'm sure you realize. I confess it will be harder still without Lady Yu. You can see my problem."

"Oh, Iroh, why didn't you just say it? We're family. I could easily spend more time at court and send you letters."

She reached across the board, touching her hand lightly with his.

"You have two young children – and a husband filled with much ambition," he replied, eyes narrowing at her. She cocked her head, acknowledging the hit silently. "I would hardly be a good brother if I imposed on your time."

She met his eyes, holding his gaze for several minutes before appearing to make a decision.

"It is not only his ambition," she stated.

"You would do this to me?" he asked, losing all desire for subtlety. "You would steal my throne?"

Ursa laughed, suddenly and loudly with all the amused surprise that glittered in her eyes.

"Is that what you think? Iroh, my dear brother, that is not it at all," she replied, her smile still light in her voice. "Ozai seeks power at court and I intend to help him, but he hardly wishes to be Fire Lord. You know my husband. He has no taste at all for bureaucracy, nor any head for military strategy. You should come and watch him lose at pai sho sometime!"

Unsatisfied, Iroh drew back from her.

"You think he will be satisfied?" he asked.

"He will," she said with confidence. "Iroh, truly, no harm was meant. We will work together, strengthening the court so that it will be ready when you ascend the throne."

He wanted to believe her, but he knew Ozai, had seen that unpleasant gleam in his eye when Lu Ten proved to have no bending talent. Unsettled, he watched in silence as she laid another tile. Clumsily. It did nothing to break his attacks on her defenses. They played in silence for several moments; Ursa with courtesy, and even apology, and Iroh with a tension he did not enjoy feeling around her. He couldn't strike the doubts from his mind, could not explain the two images of her in his mind. One was cunning, underhanded, perhaps even ruthless. The second was frighteningly naïve.

"I wish I could have known you earlier," she said eventually, trying to draw him out of his musings. "Away from the court, I mean. I think we could have been friends."

He forced a smile as she laid another tile, turning the tide again in her favor.

"I think we could have been."

Instead, they were family.