This is a total AU that is set in the Avatar world but basically ignores most of the plot. Mostly eventual Irosami, with established Makorra and hints of Bopal. I do not own LoK or any of these characters. I do, however, want to go skiing.

Comments and feedback always appreciated.

Asami tucked the ends of her scarf into her purple winter coat and buttoned it up to her throat. Then she pulled on her gloves—not the nice leather ones she wore in the city but thick, cold-weather gloves that made her fingers look like sausages—and stepped out into the snow. So she took a little longer getting ready than Korra, Mako, and Bolin, so what? Korra and Mako were firebenders, and didn't ever seem to get cold, and Bolin had apparently met a cute girl from Zaofu when he'd checked in last night and was dying to get out and go find her today. Eventually, sensing more than a little frustration from her friends, Asami had told them to go ahead without her. She didn't like being cold, and she didn't like being rushed. She'd catch up soon enough.

She was halfway to the long shed where she'd checked her gear when the scent of strong coffee hit her nose. Asami glanced off to the right to the squat brown lodge a little ways down the hill. Smoke puffed happily from its two chimneys. As excited as she was to get going, a cup of hot, steaming coffee suddenly sounded like just the ticket. Asami wasn't any more of a morning person than she was a fast dresser, but Mako had drunk the entire pot this morning before she'd even woken up. Abruptly she changed direction and started heading down the hill. Her friends wouldn't miss her a few more minutes, and she could drink it on the way.

The lodge at Shuijing Shan Ski Resort was one of the best in the world. Asami pushed her way through the heavy doors into a room that looked more like a high-end spa than building high up in the mountains. Squashy brown leather couches dotted the room, clustered around small elegant tables and the two enormous fireplaces. Each couch and chair came with its own thick fluffy blanket, pure white, as well as comfortable pillows in various colors. The sound of a single tsungi horn drifted softly through the room from the radio behind the marble registration desk. The whole room had a kind of hushed, soothing quality to it. Even this early many of the couches were filled with small knots of would-be skiers, but there was little of the shouting or boisterous laughter Asami had often heard on the slopes. The lodge was a place of quiet calm. Quiet, calm, and coffee.

There was only one person in front of her at the counter, a young man perhaps a few years older than her wearing a puffy red parka and matching knit cap. He asked for a hot tea, then stepped aside so Asami could order her espresso. The drinks at Shuijing Shan were just as expensive as everything else, but she waved the green card they'd given her at check-in and the till rang up 0.00. There were benefits to being a friend of the Avatar.

Two months before, Korra had used a combination of earth and waterbending to repair two of the slopes, and had been given a complimentary all-inclusive weekend for four at the resort as a reward. Asami could have well afforded it on her own, and so had been touched to be included in the party. There was a part of her that was surprised they'd all remained friends after her and Mako's breakup, but they had. Korra and Mako seemed happy, and after the sting had worn off Asami was willing to admit they had more in common than she and Mako ever had. There was some awkwardness at times, not the least of which was the one date she and Bolin had gone on just to see, but for the most part Team Avatar had emerged stronger than ever.

Coffee in hand, Asami stumped back up the hill to the equipment shed, her boots crunching lightly on the snow. To her surprise the young man with the tea was in there as well. Apparently he'd had the same idea as she had, and seemed to be trying to finish his drink while he put on his gear. He flashed her a quick smile as she entered, then went back to fumbling with his boots. She could tell immediately that they were rentals, and that he had no idea what he was doing.

"Bottom ones first," Asami said as she sat.

"Huh?"

"Bottom buckles first. Make them snug but not too tight. Then do the top ones. It's just like lacing up a boot."

"Oh, thanks." He smiled at her little sheepishly. "That obvious, huh?"

Asami shrugged. "Everyone starts somewhere. The skis work the same way. Start with your toe at the front, then snap in."

"Right." The man leaned down again and unbuckled the boot, then started doing it more or less properly.

She finished up her own equipment, stored her things in the locker and headed for the door. She cast a last look at her companion, but he seemed to have gotten the hang of things. A fast learner, then, if not a practiced skier. Cute, too. Asami couldn't see much of him, wrapped up as he was, but he was taller than her, which was a start, and seemed to be of the kind of lean-but-not-skinny build that was generally her type. Sharp jaw, slightly upturned nose. Suddenly Asami wondered how much her friends would miss her, and if perhaps Mr. Cute Red Parka could use some private lessons? She may be long past being envious of Korra and Mako's relationship, but that didn't mean she didn't get lonely sometimes. Today being case in point.

Suddenly the door swung inward. A petite young woman popped her head in, her short brown hair mostly hidden under a green and gray striped knit hat with a puffy white ball on the end. She had the kind of look Asami had always envied. Adorable, energetic. Asami knew she was pretty, but no one would ever call her perky. Not even with coffee.

"Iroh, aren't you ready yet?" she called. "My brother is about to murder you with a ski pole."

"Almost," said the man, obviously Iroh. "One minute." The girl nodded and closed the door again. The man grumbled something indistinct, but that sounded a lot like "I know where Baatar can put his ski pole."

Asami smiled at that, even if she was a little disappointed. But really, it was probably too much to hope that a good-looking guy was here alone, especially a novice. Hopefully his girlfriend or her brother would help him get the hang of it.

Asami didn't see him again until after lunch. She'd spent a mostly enjoyable morning on what Korra jokingly called her "practice slopes," but had decided to part ways for the afternoon. Korra was an excellent skier, being from the South Pole, and she, Mako, and Bolin all had the conditioning and reflexes of professional athletes. Asami herself was in very good shape, and could mostly keep up, but she didn't get quite as much out of the more difficult slopes as her pro-bender friends. What she liked was going fast. And, the harder the slope, the harder it was to go fast. At some point they became peppered with lumps and rocks and trees to up the challenge. She didn't quite understand the point of that. It would be like running a racing sato through an obstacle course. Interesting to try once or twice, but ultimately nowhere near as fun as trying to break 210 on a straightaway. So, while her friends moved up to the most difficult runs, Asami herself headed over to the jumps.

She was about halfway there when she heard a yell. She pushed herself back with her poles just as a skier whizzed by her. All she caught was a blur of red before there was a muffled thump off to the left. A pair of skis fell to the snow with a clatter.

Asami recognized him immediately. The young man from the equipment shed, Iroh, pushed himself to his knees, then rubbed at his face with one gloved hand. "I'm so sorry," he muttered. "Are you all right?" Then he looked up at her. His eyes widened. Up close, Asami saw they were gold, a bit lighter than Mako's. He'd lost his hat, and his short black hair was filled with snow. Yup. Definitely cute.

"Oh," he said, his face reddening. "It's you again."

She tried not to read too much into that. Instead, she walked over and held out her hand. Iroh grasped it and let her help him up. "Thanks for the warning, at least," she said as he started dusting himself off. "A lot of beginners only think of themselves. Are you okay?"

"Well, that's the second time today I've made an ass of myself in front of a pretty girl, and it's only 14:00." He smiled shyly. It made him look positively adorable. "But the only thing hurt is my pride."

Pretty girl? Asami's stomach did a little flop. She'd thought he was with the petite brunette, but maybe not. Perhaps she'd read too much into that, too. After all, it would be easy enough to assume she, Korra, Mako, and Bolin were two couples rather than a couple and two friends. Maybe Iroh, the young woman, and her brother were similar.

Well, what did she have to lose?

"I'm Asami," she said, and stuck out her hand.

The man grinned and shook it. "Iroh." He glanced down at his skis in the snow, then raised an eyebrow. "Asami, I don't suppose you're busy right now?"

"No, not particularly. My friends are up top, but I was going to do something different for the afternoon."

He leaned down and picked up his hat, not meeting her eyes. "Um, well." He twirled his wrist in a lazy circle and his palm filled with flames. Then he started melting the snow from the hat. "I don't want to interrupt. But if you have a few minutes to teach me to stop, I'd be grateful. You seem like you know what you're doing. Then at least I won't hurt anyone."

"Oh." For a moment she'd thought he was going to ask her out, or at least offer to buy her a drink. But he certainly needed the help, and it didn't seem like his friends had stuck around to give him lessons. Besides, wasn't this what she'd wanted to offer earlier? "Sure," she said. "But you know, the very first thing I learned wasn't how to stop."

Iroh finished drying his hat and pulled it back on, flattening his black hair against his forehead. "No?"

"No. I learned how to fall."

"Learning to fall is the most important part of skiing," Asami said. "Everyone falls. Even really experienced people. The trick is to not hurt yourself."

She and Iroh had made their way over to just short of the jumps. They weren't very popular, and the area just short of them featured a gentle slope followed by a long level area that made it ideal for practice. As a bonus, there was hardly anyone here, so Iroh might be saved some embarrassment, or at least not be too much of a hazard.

"Got it," he said. "So, how do I fall?"

"On your ass." His thick eyebrows shot up at that. "You got it. Not your hands or your knees or your face, but as much on your ass as possible, on one side or the other. Don't break your fall with your arm." She walked up next to Iroh and put one palm firmly against his shoulder. "Like this."

Asami shoved him. Iroh pinwheeled his arms and fell over sideways with a thump. To his credit, he landed right on his butt. There was a little hiss and a curl of steam where his hands sunk into the snow. He'd probably tried to firebend reflexively.

"You could have warned me," he said.

"No. Then you'd have thrown out your arm. It's a great way to break a wrist. Believe me, I did it when I was 11." She held out her hand and pulled Iroh to his feet. He was surprisingly heavy. "That was good. Now try again on your own. Just fall."

He looked at her questioningly, then bent his knees and pitched himself to the right. This time Iroh landed more on his side than his ass, but it was a good effort. He looked up hopefully. "Like that?"

"Close enough." She pulled him up again.

They practiced falling for a while, then moved on to stopping. Neither of them checked the time. Iroh proved a willing student and, as Asami suspected, a fast learner. It was funny to see him fall over and over, both on purpose and otherwise, not in the least because he seemed to find it funny himself. His laugh was quiet and understated, but nonetheless genuine for it. Despite his lack of skill Iroh was obviously athletic, too, and seemed up for the physical challenge of lots of repetition. After a while they got to talking, and he admitted to being a combat firebender in the United Forces. He said he got plenty of exercise, but hadn't grown up anywhere near snow. That, and his faint accent, meant he was probably from the Fire Nation proper and not just a place like Republic City.

Great, a small part of her thought. Another tall dark and handsome professional firebender. Do I have a type or what? But, well, everyone did. At least this time he'd almost run her over rather than the other way around.

Like her, it turned out Iroh was a visitor, and had come to Zaofu with his family to see old family friends of his mother's. It was a two week trip, so a number of the young people had decided to come up to Shuijing Shan for the weekend in-between. Iroh may not ski, but he liked being outside and trying new things and had decided to tag along with the group. At no point did he mention the green-eyed brunette, nor any other partner. Asami in turn shared that she was up from Republic City, and was spending the weekend here with friends. She tried to subtly emphasize the word friends. At no point did she mention she was the CEO of Future Industries though. Unfortunately, a lot of guys seemed to find that intimidating.

"Anyway, that's why I headed over to the jumps," Asami finished. They'd decided to take a break and had skied over to one of the benches. "I like going fast, and I don't really understand the kinds of runs that seemed designed to slow you down."

"Baatar sounds a bit like your friends," Iroh said. "He likes technical skiing, I think. The precision of it. But he's an engineer. I'd like to think I'm more like you though. I think it'd be freeing, just speeding down a jump with nothing in the way. Like flying."

Asami frowned. "I'm an engineer."

Iroh flushed. "Um, I didn't mean anything by that. You didn't strike me as… you seem more… I don't know…" He trailed off, his face now as red as his parka.

She laughed and put a hand on his arm, trying to make it seem accidental. The benches weren't all that big. "Don't worry about that. There are different kinds of engineers, it's fine. I'm not even much like my father, and we're related."

His eyes flicked to his arm, then back up to her face. He didn't move it.

"Asami," he said suddenly. "I'd like to try a jump."

"What?"

He nodded towards the jumps. "If you're willing. I want to give it a go."

Asami looked past him to the four ski jumps, each of an increasing size. Even the smallest was probably beyond his skill level. Spirits, the man could barely stop. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not? If I know how to fall, I can just fall off the end, right?"

"Yeah, but that could be dangerous. Falling at speed is a lot different than falling when you're still."

Iroh looked down and his face fell a little. "Of course. I just wanted to try before the day was out. You made it sound fun."

The mention of the end of the day made Asami glance at her watch. Spirits, when had it gotten so late? She was supposed to be meeting the others at the lodge in less than five minutes. She looked back at Iroh, who gave her a small smile. "Time to go?" he asked. His voice sounded flat. He held out his hand again. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Asami. And thank you again for the lessons. You've been more than kind, and I'm sorry if I cut into your leisure time. I can get carried away when I'm interested in something."

Asami leaned back, surprised. Just like that, Iroh was ditching her? They'd wound up spending most of the afternoon together, and she'd thought they were having a good time. She really did have to go soon, but she liked him; liked him a lot. She couldn't remember the last time she'd met someone who made her feel so at ease. There seemed to be some natural attraction, too. There was something about the way Iroh moved, all leonine grace, that even in his falls had pulled at her. She'd have known he could bend fire just by watching him. And she kept catching him looking at her out of the corner of her eye, too. Even now, on the bench, he'd sat a little too close, their knees almost brushing. The way things were going, Asami had expected he'd at least offer to meet for a drink. But apparently not.

Iroh looked at his feet. "I suppose I should see what the Beifongs are up to, anyway. It's been hours. Maybe I can show them my stop." He didn't sound excited though. It made Asami feel more confused than ever. He didn't sound like he wanted their time to end any more than she did.

She looked past him to the four jumps, trying to do the math in her head. Iroh was tall, but if he didn't go too fast…

"Okay," she said, squeezing his arm. "One jump, the little one. But you have to promise to do exactly what I say."

Iroh's face lit up. "Really?"

"Not fast," she added quickly.

His smile broadened. "I can do not fast. But I thought you had somewhere to be?"

Then Asami got it. Iroh must have interpreted her looking at her watch as a signal she wanted to go. Spirits, that wasn't a lot of confidence there. She'd given him plenty of opportunity, but for whatever reason he might need a little more encouragement.

"I do, but I want to see you jump first," she said. She got to her feet. "Come on."

Asami stood on the flattened area below the jump, looking up. From down here, Iroh looked very high. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. She'd shown him what to do, which was really all about positioning and shifting your body weight. After a demonstration and a few stationary attempts he'd seemed to get it. As late as she was now, there was nothing left but to give it a try.

"Are you sure?" she called up.

"No. This is a terrible plan." Then Iroh pushed off. He leaned forward, just as she'd taught him, then at the last minute shifted his weight back. His skis left the end of the jump and he soared. It wasn't perfect, but for a first-timer it was very good. That was, until he landed. Iroh hit the ground with right foot just a little too far forward. He slid into a spin, which careened him off to the side—straight at Asami. He was going too fast for her to do more than shuffle out of the way, and she didn't make it. Iroh's left ski hit her in the ankle and she toppled over. He rolled on top of her, the two of them skidding another ten feet before finally coming to a stop. All four of their skis kept going.

"Are you okay?" Iroh gasped. His face was right above hers, and she could feel his breath hot on her cheek. He'd lost his hat again.

"I think so. You?"

"Yeah." Iroh pushed himself up, then seemed to realize the position they were in. His whole face turned scarlet.

"Hey!" someone shouted. "Hey, asshole, get off her!" Something hit Iroh with a thump and he grunted, flung to the side by some unseen force. Then Korra's concerned face appeared above hers. "Asami, oh shit, are you okay?"

"Fine," Asami said, sitting up. She looked over to see Mako standing right above Iroh, his goggles pushed up into his spiky hair, one fist blazing.

"Did he attack you, Asami?" he asked.

"What? No! Mako, it was an accident!"

Mako glared down at Iroh, but let his fire go out. He didn't move away though. "I think you at least owe her an apology."

"Wait," Iroh said. He looked at Korra, confused. "Avatar Korra? Asami, these are your friends?"

Korra cocked her head, as if taking him in for the first time. "General Iroh? And wait, how do you know Asami?"

"We just met," Asami said. Her mind whirled. General Iroh? That Iroh? He'd said he was a firebender in the Forces, but he hadn't said he was head of the whole damned thing. There were plenty of men named Iroh in the Fire Nation, and she hadn't put two and two together. Then again, she'd told him she worked at a design firm. Maybe telling potential dates you were the top slot in the military, let alone royalty, was just as off-putting as telling them you were CEO of a Block 50 company. The thought made her laugh.

"Asami was teaching me how to ski," Iroh said. He cast a wary eye at Mako, then slowly got to his feet. "The jump was a bit of a stretch, but I wanted to try it before I lost her."

Lost her? He made it sound like she was running away, but she was right here...

"Iroh! There you are." Asami turned to see the petite brunette with the bright green eyes ski up, followed by a tall man in thick square glasses, two somewhat stocky teens and, of all people, Bolin.

"What's going on?" Bolin asked. "Wait, Opal, is that the friend you were looking for?"

"Yeah. And it looks like he may have collided with your missing friend as well?"

Korra looked around the group. "How do you guys feel about all having dinner tonight? Iroh and I work together sometimes, and it seems the rest of us are just getting acquainted."

Iroh reached down to collect his hat. His hair was full of snow again, and there was a faint blush on his cheeks. "I'd like that," he said, to no one in particular.

"Me too," said Asami. She caught Iroh smiling out of the corner of her eye.

Bolin cast a glance at Iroh's friend, Opal. "Definitely."

Korra grinned. "It's settled then."

Iroh walked over to where Asami still sat in the snow. "Go ahead, we'll catch up. We have to chase down the skis."

Korra looked from Iroh to Asami and back again, then shrugged. Behind her, the tall man in the glasses quirked an eyebrow. "Right, Iroh," he said. "Skis. Got it." Then he turned and started heading back up the path.

Iroh leaned over and held out a hand, a soft smile on his lips. "May I?" For the first time, Asami let him pull her up instead. "You were right, by the way," he said. "That jump was very fun. I'm sorry about the landing, but I'm not sorry I tried."

Asami shrugged. She noted that he hadn't let go of her hand. "Sometimes you just have to jump, you know?"

Iroh looked at her, a strange expression on his face. "Yeah. I do." He cleared his throat a little. "Um, so, would you like to do something again tomorrow? Not the teaching part, not if you don't want to, but I could watch you do the jumps yourself, or even just buy you a coffee, or—"

Asami laughed, cutting him off. "Iroh, I'd love to."

He broke into a grin. "Okay! Good." She felt him quickly squeeze her hand. "That's good. Now let's go find those skis."

Iroh led her down the hill in the direction the skis had slid, his warm hand still clasped firmly in hers. They took their time finding them.