Asami sat with Iroh and Katara at the kitchen table and sipped her tea. After running on adrenaline for hours, both during the assault on the spirit portal and after, it felt wonderful to simply sit and let someone else take charge. Iroh, seeming to sense her exhaustion, had started telling them about his raid on the Northern Water Tribe encampment—apparently, Katara hadn't heard most of the story either. He gave them a brief summary of his plan to take out the mecha tanks and what had happened after. Asami felt a faint flush of pride when he mentioned that his plan to use the tents to blind the machines had been inspired by her use of the parachute material in Fa Re. And according to Katara, Unalaq had brought the entirety of his mecha tanks to guard the spirit portal, which meant that Iroh's move had taken out more than two thirds of the army's machines. That explained the large numbers of decommissioned mecha that Asami had seen from the air, and why they'd found the encampment relatively lightly defended. Iroh may not know it, but his actions had probably saved the lives of everyone who had gone on the second assault.
Yet Asami, who had seen the camp first-hand as well as been captured herself, suspected that Iroh was making it all seem far easier than it had been. Even though she'd been only lightly restrained, she knew that Commander Bumi had gone to extraordinary lengths in order to free her and the others from being held as Unalaq's prisoners. It seemed unlikely that Iroh had simply walked away, especially given his obvious injuries.
In truth, he looked rough. He insisted that he was fine, but it was hard to ignore the cuts and bruises that he still sported despite Katara's healing, and he had the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes. They were better than six miles from the spirit portal at this point, and Iroh hadn't said anything about getting a ride in either direction. Even with a few hours rest, Asami thought it was an incredible testament to his physical strength that he was up and about at all.
"And they have a metalbender, Katara," he said as he finished his story. He looked at the old woman significantly, and her face darkened. "At least one. She… she might not be operational for a while, but where there's one there could be others. I hope that the Avatar is ready for any surprises."
Katara closed her eyes. "I was afraid it might come to this," she said. "Aang was so excited to bring our peoples together, you know. He'd gained so much personally, with us, and with his friendship with your grandfather and with Toph, that he wanted to share that experience with everyone. I loved him dearly, but sometimes he could be so… innocent. The triads, benders as mercenaries…" She shook her head. "I honestly think it never occurred to him that we wouldn't all just be friends."
"I think Aang's vision has done a lot more good than harm," said Iroh. He glanced at Asami. "And as for the rest, we'll deal with it."
"Korra is smart, and so are Tenzin, Bumi, and Kya," said Asami. She tried to sound reassuring. "If there are any surprises, they'll be ready." Katara nodded, but she still looked troubled.
"Asami," Iroh said, turning to her, his expression grave. "We need to know what happened to Avatar Korra and the others now. You said that you left them at the spirit portal. Please, tell me everything."
Asami nodded. Then she filled Iroh and Katara in on everything that had happened since they'd parted, starting with Korra's return with knowledge of Unalaq's plans and ending with how the rest of Team Avatar had stayed behind at the spirit portal while Korra sealed it for good. She conveniently left out any mention of Mako and Korra's reunion. There was no reason to humiliate herself further.
"They'll have a long walk without Tenzin's bison," she finished. "I'm not sure Varrick's plane will fly now, and even if it did they wouldn't all fit in it. I was planning to go back for them as soon as Oogi had a chance to rest a little. With any luck Korra will have closed the portal soon, but that doesn't mean Unalaq won't give them trouble on their way out."
Katara nodded, then stood with a sigh. "Thank you, dear. That's very kind of you." She pushed in her chair. "I think it's time to see to Tonraq again. You should rest. Both of you. There's nothing you can do right now, and I have a feeling you'll need your strength later." She started off toward the hallway, but as she passed behind Iroh's chair she reached one hand out and ruffled his hair, which he'd obviously tried to slick back in the bathroom. "You need a haircut, Iroh," she said. He ducked and made a shooing motion with his hands, but Asami saw him smile. With that, Katara walked off towards the bedrooms.
"So," Iroh said slowly, doing his best to smooth down his hair, "you came up with the entire invasion plan, which you then effectively executed. After which you were the only member of the team who was sent back with the wounded?" He looked hard at Asami.
"It's okay," she said, a little flustered. The decision had made perfect sense at the time. "It was all we could do to persuade Chief Tonraq to leave in the first place. Someone had to make sure he got to Katara before he changed his mind. As the only non-bender, it made sense for it to be me."
"Commander Bumi isn't a bender," said Iroh. "And a lot of benders could learn a thing or two from you. I know I have."
"But if it came to another showdown with Unalaq or his children…" Asami trailed off, trying to put a lifetime of insecurities into words that a powerful firebender like Iroh would understand.
"Sometimes I think that the most important thing a bender can learn is that power isn't everything," Iroh said, his voice serious. "It's not even most things. In any real fight I'd rank it third, at best, behind both strategic ability and raw courage. Both of which you have in spades." He met her eyes. "I'm glad you're here, Asami. But honestly, if it were my command, you're probably the last one I would have chosen to send back."
Asami didn't know what to say to all this. Iroh could just be being kind, but it didn't sound like it. She'd always been impressed with how he had spoken about non-benders. Unlike a lot of the people she knew from both her society and pro-bending fan circles, or even other members of Team Avatar, Iroh had never seemed to idolize bending ability.
"Thanks." It was the best Asami could come up with at the moment. It meant a lot to her that someone like Iroh thought so highly of her, even if she wasn't sure that she agreed with him.
Iroh moved one of his hands towards her over the table, then stopped. He closed his eyes, letting out a little huff of what sounded like frustration, and stood. He gave her another hard look, then shook his head.
"Mako is an idiot," he said, and walked away. She heard the front door open, then close again.
What? Asami had no idea what Mako had to do with anything. After all, it had been Korra's idea for her to return with Tonraq, not his. She sat at the table, baffled, unsure of what exactly she had missed.
Katara returned from tending to Tonraq a few minutes later. "He'll need a few more sessions," she said amiably, "but I think he'll be all right. That old bear is just too stubborn to die any time soon." She chuckled and wiped her hands on her blue robe.
"Now," she said, "about you." Asami looked up from her tea. "I'm serious, Miss Sato. There's nothing we can do right now to help Korra and the kids. There's a spare room at the end of the hall, and you're going to sleep in it. No excuses," she said as Asami opened her mouth to object. "You can try to get yourself killed again later, I promise." Asami put down her cup and nodded, then got up and walked down the hallway. Katara was right. She was exhausted.
Asami opened the door to find a small, pale yellow bedroom decorated with blue and white flower patterns. It looked homey and inviting; quaint, yet genuine. She stripped off her tactical suit and climbed gratefully into the bed. It was wonderfully soft, especially after weeks of sleeping on the ground, and she immediately found herself growing drowsy. Her last thought before drifting off was that the bed smelled very nice. A little like a campfire, perhaps, and like something else comforting that she couldn't quite place.