"There's not even a stick to pull," Asami said. "You've never been on a sky bison, Iroh, let alone flown one. Shove over."
"What about your head?" he said. "You need to rest, and the dark spirits could come back at any moment. I should be up front. Besides, it's Tenzin's bison. If Tenzin is alive, they'll find each other. I might not have to do much if Oogi already wants to go back there."
"Don't be ridiculous, he's not a homing pigeon-rat. He's just as likely to fly you back to Air Temple Island, or somewhere with nice-tasting grass. He needs direction."
"Still..." Iroh said.
"Iroh!" Asami stamped her foot, losing her patience. "Get. In. The. Back." She narrowed her eyes. "Now."
Iroh got in the back.
Asami climbed up after him, sitting once again in the pilot's position on Oogi's neck. Iroh, behind her in the saddle basket, rifled through the blankets piled in the bed of the traveling compartment. He seemed to be searching for something. "Asami, where are the seatbelts?" he asked, lifting another blanket to look underneath. Asami smirked.
"Yip yip, Oogi," she said.
Asami thought hard as they flew through the night, trying to poke as many holes as possible in Iroh's theory. She'd been wrong about the dark spirits earlier, and the guilt of that mistake gnawed at her. If Iroh was going to try something dangerous, something that could make the difference between him being only briefly missed and military prison, or worse, she wanted to make sure that it was as airtight as possible. She would allow no more miscalculations.
The problem was that there was so much they didn't know. Iroh's information about the Spirit World had come mostly from books, supplemented by whatever fragments Asami had learned from Tenzin and Korra. But the spirit portals had been closed for thousands of years, and except for some long-dead air nomads who claimed to have been able to move between planes, no one had physically been there in living memory. Most of their information was old, theoretical, and at best second-hand, and all of it was from memory.
They were flying blind in so many ways. Despite the hope that seeing Korra's spirit had brought, they still had no idea what had happened to the rest of Team Avatar, either. There could be any number of situations waiting for them at the portal, and there was no way that Asami could plan for them all. Although she was closer to Korra, Mako, and Bolin, she knew that Iroh considered Katara's children as something akin to surrogate aunts and uncles. Though he tried to act otherwise, he was clearly worried about them. If they were in trouble, Asami had no doubt that Iroh would sacrifice even this last chance in order to help them. She thought briefly of electrocuting him and trying to find a way back herself if that happened, but that was hardly practical. For one, he was heavy.
The spirit portal loomed ahead. The bright white light of the portal itself lit the sides of the mountains in an eerie glow. The dark trees at its base looked almost black. Asami looked down, trying to scan ahead for any incoming threat, but she saw none. The Northern Water Tribe encampment seemed empty. No fires were lit, and although it was dark she didn't see any movement. It looked like it had been abandoned in the hours since her escape with Tonraq. Surprisingly, there were no signs of any dark spirits, either. There was a chance that all of the spirits at the portal had been among the ones that had assaulted the city, but she couldn't be sure, especially in the dark. If Iroh could feel the spirits in some way, it would be better to ask him.
Asami glanced behind her and was astonished to see that Iroh was fast asleep. He lay in the very back of the saddle basket, his head tipped back to rest on the rim, legs stretched out in front of him. Asami's mind was racing, going over every bit of information that she had again and again. How on earth could he have fallen asleep?
She supposed it made sense though. Except for the short time in Katara's spare room, Asami had been awake for nearly 36 hours. Iroh hadn't gotten much more sleep than she had, and on top of it all had walked or maybe run more than 12 miles and done a staggering amount of firebending. The gentle rocking of Oogi's saddle basket must have sent him right over the edge.
They touched down lightly just outside the trees that surrounded the spirit portal. Asami climbed into the saddle behind her as soon as they landed and crossed the basket. Iroh was still asleep. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. He must be exhausted. Up close, she saw that he needed a shave.
Asami stood over him, unsure of what to do. On the one hand, every minute counted. On the other, he looked more relaxed than she'd seen him in days. She didn't want to be the one to break that.
It couldn't hurt to do a little reconnaissance, she decided. She picked up one of the folded blankets, shook it out, and draped it carefully over him. His coat wasn't all that warm, after all, and he couldn't exactly firebend in his sleep. His head turned a little to the side, his lips slightly parting, but he didn't wake. Asami fought back the sudden urge to kiss him again. No. She'd been through that already. She was better than that. Some things just weren't for her, and that would have to be okay.
Five minutes, no more, she thought. She could give him that, at least.