Courting

Fate had indeed blessed the young prince. After many months of secretly rendezvousing with the peasant girl who stole his heart, it turned out that she was the daughter of a noble man. And that meant that Iroh could marry her, which he planned to…but, officially, they needed to be courting each other for a while before their wedding.

So Iroh had a chance to show her the palace in which she would be living in. He would be able to court and flirt and impress her wide in the open, this time not afraid of being caught.

"So my princess…what do you think of my garden?" Iroh escorted her around the grounds, showing her each lavish inch of her future home.

"It's lovely." Meng Ha said.

"But it is not as lovely as you." Iroh winked at her.

"Well, at least I know that the real you is not very different from your alter ego." Meng Ha joked about Iroh's alias that he used when he snuck out of the palace.

"I hope that is not a bad thing."

"No. I'm actually thankful. I was worried that you were going to be…much different in the presence of other rich men and women."

"Oh no. I am a rich man, yes. But I went into the village to get away from all of that stress and pressure."

"Sounds a bit immature." Meng Ha smiled at Iroh.

"Well, look at what that single act of immaturity brought me. A beautiful girl who I am about to happily marry."

"I don't remember saying yes to you." Meng Ha said, smugly.

"Do you want me to get down on one knee and beg?" Iroh smiled.

"No. You've proven that you are sincere."

"Then what must I do to prove that I love you." Iroh froze. Noble men were not supposed to speak directly of love until being married for many years. But, rather then look at him rudely, Meng Ha only blushed.

"Well…" She smiled "…for starters, you can show me your secret ways of sneaking out of the palace."

Iroh looked around. The guards were slacking off again.

"This way." Iroh grabber her arm and led her to the edge of the garden. Behind one of the bushes was a little hole that no full grown man could squeeze through. But a young girl and a fit young man could fit if they tired.

"This is your big secret, huh?" Meng Ha giggled.

"Only one of them." Iroh smiled.

"Wanna leave now?" Meng Ha looked behind them to check if the guards were watching. "No one is looking."

Iroh hesitated for a moment. Then smiled and said "Let's go!"


"Prince Iroh? Lady Meng Ha? Dinner is ready for…" The guard didn't see anyone in the garden. "Prince Iroh?! Lady Meng Ha?!"

He looked around and panicked.

"What's wrong?" Siku walked out from behind him.

"Uh… Prince Iroh and Lady Meng Ha…" The guard pointed at the empty garden.

Siku's eyes widened and he yelled at the top of his lung. "You have got to be kidding me!!!!"