Disclaimer: I own nothing, Avatar the Legend of Korra does not belong to me.
(But if it did I wouldn't have screwed up the airing of it-burn, boys!
I joke, don't sue me. But seriously. You broke my heart.)
See author's note at the end.
Fists
The two men appeared out of nowhere in the alley, obliterating the dustdevils made in their wake, and walked on to the narrow, moonlit cobblestone street.
"Did anyone follow you?" asked the taller of the two.
"Of course not. I happen to be an expert in covert operations, I think I can lose any tails that-"
A small gush of wind from the tallest air bender hushed the other man, as the two approached a small cottage decorated in Earth Kingdom finesse. Their cloaks graced the floor, removing any trace of their footprints in the finely manicured earth.
As they reached the gates, Tenzin rapped the metal lightly with quick bursts of air, and the wrought-iron gates fell to the floor, and the two airbenders passed through. Neither of them broke step; nor did they continue their banter. A figure emerged from the darkness, only his face illuminated by the light of the moon. For a second the three men stood quite still, fists raised two to one, until the former broke the silence with a laugh.
"It's good to see you again, old friend." Tenzin said, extending his forearm to the man cloaked in green robes.
"And you, as well. I hope all's well with Pema and the children." The former councilman responded warmly.
"Oh, don't mind me, Sayeed, it's not like I just happened to airbend on my own, too." The shorter of the two guests said.
"Bumi, I saw you from a mile away." the councilman chuckled. "I know you can airbend now. But it's great to see you, too. Please, come in, quickly."
Gravel cracked beneath their feet as they followed the path that led to the cottage- or really, manor, as it could finally be seen properly. Beams of light could be seen from within the home, but as soon as the men reached the front door, the lights vanished.
The grand foyer was decorated in momentos from a life of academia, with several degrees from the University of Ba Sing Se held on the wall, as well as multiple life-long achievement awards. Two gigantic pillars guided the benders into an even larger drawing room, where the councilman had several documents in front of his desk. He guided them to a small table surrounded by three chairs, and the men sat. A strange, circular object revolved above them, obscured by the lights focused solely on the table holding a kettle and teacups.A few cups of tea and comments at Bumi's expense later, Tenzin began his foray.
"Whatever the next event at the palace is, we'd like to attend. And by we, I mean, The Avatar, her friends, and ourselves." The air nomad said. "I have been looking forward to participate in something other than Republic City politics for a while."
Sayeed glanced at the two brothers, and slowly sipped from his cup. "My sister will be holding an engagement party for her daughter and a member of the Fire Nation's Royal family in a fortnight, I'll see what I can arrange." He paused, stirring the tea. "This is purely a social gathering, correct? Most of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom gentry will be there."
"Of course!" said Bumi, who seemed determined to contribute in the discussion in some positive way. "I haven't seen Iroh in years. I can't miss his engagement party. Do you know if they'll have cactus juice?"
"No. I've not the slightest idea." Sayeed answered.
Tenzin moved to steer the conversation back on point. "Sayeed, what do you know about air-" but as he opened his mouth, the doors to his study burst open and the strange orb revolving above them jumped to the ground, causing three cloaks to become stained with herbal tea, and six hands to be strapped to chairs by steel-like earthen fists.
Three men dressed in the very getup that Mako and Bolin had described a few days before approached them, and a high, clear voice addressed them.
"Master Tenzin, Count Sayeed, Commander Bumi-"
"EX-Commander!" Bumi exclaimed.
The voice, coming from one of the three Dai Li agents in front of them, or the single agent behind them, commanded the room, echoing from the walls. "Her Majesty the Earth Queen is susceptible to your actions, and though you are welcome to attend her daughter's engagement party, know that any action by any members of your party that raises alarm will result in your arrest and trial by jury-the Earth Queen herself."
"On what charges? We're not her subjects! She can't charge us with suspicious acts," Bumi argued vehemently, trying to free himself from the fists holding him down. "We have diplomatic immunity-"
"Then your diplomatic immunity had been revoked as of now," The voice continued as another fist wrapped itself around Bumi's face, effectively shutting him up. "Any suspicious activity, and you will be charged with treason or conspiracy against the crown, and treated as protocol dictates." None of the Dai Li agents opened their mouths, and yet the voice could be heard clearly, as if it really were in the same room. "This gathering is your first offense, the next will be a felony."
The fists tying the men to their seats dissolved into dust, and the darkness that had quickly consumed the drawing room vanished, leaving the whistle of the tea kettle and three startled pairs of eyes.
Korra was terrified to open her eyes. She knew what lay before her, but she wanted to keep her ignorant bliss as long as possible. Any second now, she would be face to face with one of her biggest fears, and she wasn't entirely sure how to handle it. Sitting in Asami's makeshift vanity set, Korra sighed, she knew she was trapped. Asami was carefully pinning hairs to her head on her left side, where a giant four clawed bathtub was once running with water to provide for a luscious bath that actually scrubbed Korra down to a practically new, soft epidermis. Jinora stood to her right, observing and learning from Asami, and occasionally holding Korra's hand when a hairbrush pulled too hard.
"I figured she'd be better off with neutral colors, and also I didn't want to lose my head." Asami confessed to Jinora as they examined Korra.
"Anything else would clash with the dress. Good call on your part." Jinora commented, thinking of the dress they had spent hours searching for, that was waiting in another room.
The Avatar herself was in a stupor. Her eyelashes, already naturally long, were elongated mascara, cocooning her blue eyes in an indescribable way. Her naturally tanned skin glowed, and even her hair looked wonderful, pinned in a conveniently high twist, still leaving room for her bangs.
"Asami." Korra panned.
"Is it too much? We can take off the lip shine, I just thought you might like to-" Asami rambled.
"It's perfect. If I could fight mercenaries and totalitarians without sweating all of this off I totally would." Korra replied, oddly happy. "Thanks."
The airbender and entrepreuner were shocked into silence, and guided the Avatar into her dressing gown in the dressing room next door. A sleek, periwinkle blue gown that was several shades lighter than Korra's eyes had a white sash over the hem, aimed to signify the fur in a Water Bender's regular and ceremonial winterwear. The thin material hugged Korra's muscular curves, elongated her neck with its square cut, and made her seem even taller than she was.
"I knew it was a good idea to invest Sato Enterprises into the fashion world." Asami said, finding her voice. "When this is all over, you're going to be my new spokesgirl, Korra."
"Why would I when you can just model for your own company? Without paying a dime for a model, either," her polybending friend replied, trying to evade any fashion commitments other than her comfy boots and blue pants ordeal. And Asami looked every bit the model. Leaning towards a trend popular in the fire nation, she had a dress tailored at an empire waist and let loose in waves past her legs, all in a dark red, her favorite color.
The two women had come a long way: all the petty trivial issues between themselves and a boy who called himself a man had caused unnecessary distance between the two, who found in the other a comfort that only a sister could offer. Unlike the former fire ferret brothers, both these women chose to remain in contact, to spend their free time together, and to help each other grow.
Jinora, however, had a sister and two brothers, and had no problem interrupting them. "Just remember, you're going to see how many drunk officials can brag about capturing airbenders." She told them sternly, walking to space in the lounge connecting all of the young women's rooms, full of chairs and a coffee table. Jinora was like Korra in that way, she knew what she wanted, and she went for it. And she wanted Kai safe.
A gentle knock on the door showed Mako, Bolin, and Tenzin standing opposite, waiting for the two ladies to finish getting ready.
"It's about time! I probably could have dug a hole through the entire Earth Kingdom Palace by the time you all finished your-" but Bolin couldn't have finished his sentence if he wanted to. "You- that- dress- blue- Asami- fire- I-"
Mako was just as surprised too, by both of his stunningly gorgeous ex-girlfriends, who now were both completely out of his reach. Tenzin coughed, warning the young men that he considered one of those girls like a daughter to him, and he would not hesitate to act like an overprotective father.
Bolin's stammering somehow turned into compliments for each of his girl friends- his friends that are girls, girls that he just happens to be friends with. Mako managed small praise to both of them, and pulled Bolin by the collar to stand tall. Tenzin managed to regain the attention in the room, and motioned for every person to follow to the Satomobiles that would be transporting them to the Royal Palace. Walking, he gave a brief recap of what had happened with the Count, and reiterated to every single young adult to be extremely tactful in what they did and who they spoke to.
The car ride was brief and quiet. Jinora and Mako had stayed behind, since they had no "famous idiosyncrasy" to allow for a pass to the "biggest engagement party in the Earth Kingdom." Avatar Korra, Mover-Star Bolin, and Asami Sato of Sato Enterprises were to be accompanied by the Former Commander of the United Forces Bumi, and his brother, the world's only Airbending Master, and former Councilman, Tenzin, all stuffed into a tiny Satomobile that had no goals of reaching 20 ostrich-horse power.
"Mako will be waiting outside the palace gates with Naga in case anything goes wrong, and Jinora will be circling the perimeter with Oogi," Tenzin said, before the group exited the small vehicle. "But understand this: if we are discovered trying to break into palace grounds where we are not meant to be, if we are caught doing anything suspicious, if we fail to find where the airbenders are, it will be as enemies of state."
This story is officially an Alternate Universe. From what I've seen in Legend of Korra, I-sadly- have no expectations of the character arch that I hope to see emerge, i.e. General Iroh and Korra. Even still, they belong together in my head, and that's all I need. It's an Alternate Universe, which means that characters who belong together will be together, in any kind of script. An AU allows a character to say to their partner, I will find you. Every me loves every you.
On a separate note, I'd love to hear your input. And with that, I leave you. God bless you all! Know that General Iroh's time is coming, and that good things come to those that wait.
Obviamente esta historia ya no es nada como la del show. Pero para mi, la historia del General Iroh y Korra debe ser contada, aun si nunca será animada. En un Universo Alternativo, los personajes pertenecen juntos, pase lo que pase, en cualquier manera que estén puestos juntos. Es decir del uno al otro, te encontrare, de una manera o otra. Cada versión de mi ama cada versión de ti.
Bueno, espero oir de ustedes, y sus opiniones, tambien. Nos leeremos pronto! Que Dios las bendiga! La hora del General Iroh es por venir, ya saben que la paciencia es la madre de la ciencia. (Nunca he escuchado ese dicho, y como vivo en Estados Unidos, mi español es un poco flojo)