Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Korra, only the plot of this story.
Chapter 4: Rivaling Tempers
"You're stepping on me," grunted Tenzin.
Bumi laughed, in perfect rhythm with the waltz that was playing.
"You're supposed to be Twinkle Toes Junior, you should have seen it coming." One, two. With each passing step, the two brothers-who were easily the oddest pair on the dance floor- got closer to the center, where a certain world leader was dancing with a certain crown prince.
Three, four. Within a heartbeat, Bumi pulled Korra out of Prince Iroh's arms, and traded places with her.
"How's Toph's little ray of sunshine?" Bumi asked Prince Iroh.
Prince Iroh, who was more than secure of his masculinity and his preference for the opposite sex, did not bat an eyelash as he twirled Bumi in a circle, nor did he question Bumi's motives, and instead just waited for the former Commander to share, little by little, whatever information he could not keep to himself.
"I know something you-"
"Do know that your Uncle Sokka told me of his favorite nickname for you, correct?" Prince Iroh interrupted. Eyeing the entirety of the guests around him, he scanned the room for Korra. "Bumi-rang, we can play this all night." In the corner of his eye, a flicker of green-royal green- brushed too closely next to that of a not-crimson. "But I'd like to finish my dance with the-"
At once, the small, petite hands dressed in the Royal Earth Kingdom engagement robe pulled at the other man's casual green dresswear, both disappearing behind a brilliantly red banner with the insignia of the Fire Nation. A minute passed before Bumi watched as Prince Iroh straightened his impossibly straight back even more, end his joke of a waltz with Bumi, and pull a small, mousy Earth Princess away from her escort that was not wearing Fire Nation insignia.
Bumi shrugged at his absence, and extravagantly waltzed himself back to where Korra and Tenzin were quietly-or not so quietly- arguing about.
"Korra, need I remind you why we are here? This is a dangerous mission!" Tenzin lectured. "Or have you failed to notice the Dai Li that are around almost every corner? It's bad enough the Earth Queen refused to greet us, we can't get distracted by a prince in his Royal Blues!"
"Actually, he's wearing red, Tenzin, only active military wears Royal Blues at civil engagements." Bumi thoughtfully chimed in. "Prince Iroh's wearing Fire Nation regalia, which, naturally, would be red. Still called Royal Blues, though."
Neither Korra nor Tenzin acknowledged him.
"Of course, I'm aware, Tenzin. Prince Iroh was telling me about the Fire Nation's airbenders! They're the only ones that haven't gone berserk over new bending. And leave Prince Iroh out of this! He is not distracting me!" She exclaimed, surprised at how hot her face felt as she said those words.
Knowing Tenzin was right, Korra felt it was time to regroup with the party she had come with. But as Korra, Bumi, and Tenzin glanced around, Bolin and Asami were nowhere to be seen.
The sounds of the orchestra had long disappeared for Bolin and Asami, who had spent the last few dances ducking and crouching behind walls to avoid any watchful Dai Li agents or Earth Kingdom guards.
"The spirits have a reason for leading us down here, Bolin. This might just be where the airbenders are hidden. In close quarters to the Queen, so she can keep an eye on them and always be aware of their progress.
A small, opaque spirit that resembled a koala-bird hovered before them, guiding them through hallways even dimmer than its skin tone. As they walked past a series of doors, a whistling and rumbling was heard from the left of their trail.
"Asami, if your hunch about the airbenders is right, great, that explains why those spirits are serving food at an Earth Kingdom party, but if you're wrong, why does it matter? What these spirits are doing." Bolin clarified. "If they want to hold plates at formal events, it just makes it easier for humans and spirits to get along, right?"
Asami glanced at Bolin, and realized that, even though his upbringing was much harsher than hers, he had never experienced the full extent of what mindless manipulation could be like.
"They- those spirits- remind me of myself when my father ran Future Industries. Oh, don't look at me like that, of course my father never had me serving guests food on silver platters. But he may as well have." She said sadly. Glancing around for their spirit guide, Asami ran her fingers through the spirit's feathers, reminding herself that it was here, with them, willingly. "Whenever a big client or business partner refused to go through, he always asked me to deliver the final blow in a sales call. Whatever it takes, he would say to me. I thought the meetings would stay professional, but there were times when I had to draw lines between his clients' hands and my personal space. I didn't know what I was doing, Bolin, and I thought it was my fault, that I was somehow encouraging those business "men," so I was too ashamed to tell my father. But deep down, I think my father always knew, and that was why he sent me." Asami sighed, realizing that her father was never the man she thought he was. "They always signed the contracts. Whatever it takes."
Bolin stayed quiet, shocked and angered at her revelation and what it implied. Asami was beautiful, and he had no doubt that even in her earlier teenage years she was gorgeous. But to be her father's pawn, without knowing it for so many years, made his blood boil with anger.
Eager to let his frustrations at not having been able to help her out at the time, he pushed open a wall with a giant fistful of bending power. He gently guided Asami to the new opening, and held her shoulders, demanding eye contact.
"That will never happen again. I won't let it." Bolin said firmly. His eyes, usually a soft, gentle emerald, looked several shades darker as they pierced into Asami's. "Not to you, and not to spirits."
"And hopefully not to the other airbenders we still have to bust out, Bolin, so can we get out of here?" Kai said, emerging from the deeper side of the hole that was once his solitary confinement, now opened because of Bolin. "I haven't eaten in days."
If Bolin hadn't been so overjoyed to see his "little" brother, his high pitched squeal may not have given them away to the Dai Li. But his extremely loud earthbending was also a dead giveaway, too.
Korra's best bet was near the food court. She knew that. She had already surveyed the room twice, but the sheer size of the food court rivaled that of Asami's kitchen, so she knew she had to make at least one attempt to locate her friends there. There was no need, she told herself, to look for Prince Iroh.
No reason at all for her to focus all her attention on the peripheral view of a blue sash and red coat with golden epaulets of Fire Nation royalty, or for her eyes to zero in on the Earth Kingdom beauty standing very closely to said uniform. But when another man dressed in Fire Nation regalia rudely pushed Korra aside and walked towards the two people she was observing, she knew she could not look away. She saw the two members of the Fire Nation's Royal Family close their fists, and had no doubt that harsh words were being exchanged. Both men whipped their heads down to the smaller member of their party, the Earth Kingdom's princess, and glanced at each other again, before the shorter of the two walked away briskly.
Prince Iroh's cousin once again pushed past Korra rudely, but before she could reach for his uniform to make him apologize to her, the ground under her feet began to rumble. Bending the earth below to her will, Korra solidifies her stance and reached out for the young man's collar, and secured him to her side.
"Do you know who I am?" Both the Avatar and the member of the Royal Family stated in the same instant.
"I'm the Avatar."
"I'm the Duke of the Fire Nation."
Their voices overlapping, both quickly began to spurt out insults about the insignificance of the other, until their words were no longer audible because of the rumbling under Korra's feet. Suddenly, the pillars supporting the hall were beginning to crumble, and the banners that so proudly represented two of the four nations were falling from their postings.
Men dressed in dark green robes appeared from the throng of guests, and made to hold up the pillars with earthbending. As one, their bodies created supports for the falling frames of the palace; but before they could cement the ground beneath them, a giant crevasse broke through the center of the dance floor and created a giant dust cloud from within.
Korra automatically bent the wind around her into a sphere to prevent herself from being blinded by the dust, or from asphyxiating by it. Feeling a strange pressure on her leg, she realized that the proud Duke of the Fire Nation was clinging to the side of her dress like a child, cringing in fear. Outside her protective bubble, the guests of the reception party made haste for the escape and safety that the two main doors offered. Kicking the spoiled nobleman back into the ensuing dust, Korra tried to earthbend the dust particles down to the ground, but to no avail.
Another sphere of air made itself visible to Korra, and she sped on an air scooter towards her Airbending Master.
"Tenzin! We have to get out of here!" she cried. As Korra neared the circular pit of air, she realized that it was much bigger than any single airbender-even Tenzin- could make. Surrounding him were the other airbenders! who in turn, had circles the tables filled with food, stuffing themselves into a stupor as quickly as possible. Everyone always goes to the food section,Korra thought to herself. But as overjoyed as she was, Korra knew that the Dai Li agents would be turning on them quickly to gather their citizens.
As the dust settled, Bolin and Asami approached Korra with smiles on their faces.
"You did it!" Korra exclaimed. "But why destroy the palace just to get out, Bolin?"
Bolin looked shocked, but at the same time, not surprised at being blamed for something he didn't do. Asami raced to defend him, explaining that they were not the reason for the broken pillars or the falling tapestries. Korra's mind raced, and then halted. Even if they weren't the ones responsible for the destruction of the entire reception hall of the Royal Palace, with the airbenders in tow, they would be deemed responsible in front of the public.
The Queen must have had the Dai Li destroy her own home, then, Korra reasoned. Just to have an alibi in case we got away.
The Avatar steered herself away from her friends and rescuees, and headed toward the safety perimeter that was engulfing the Earth Kingdom's Monarch outside of the palace. Avoiding the wreckage around her, she realized that not only were the pillars broken and appearing to be ruins, they were also burned on some sides. Glancing around quickly, she searched for any Dai Li agents, but after securing the infrastructure of the building, they disappeared.
Appearing out of nowhere, a flaming rock threw itself onto Korra's projectile, and she only just bent enough air to erode the piece of earth into dust particles before it slammed into her. Looking madly for the culprit, Korra found its assailants a few meters away, bending both rock and fire at each other; a certain Earth Princess yelling obscenities at a certain Fire Prince, who was clearly trying to detain her.
Taking a deep breath, Korra executed a flawless sequence of earth and water bending; pinning Prince Iroh to his knees with earthbending, arms extended to the front of his chest, in a mockery of a stock to inable his bending. At the same time, she bent water from afar to freeze the Earth Princess' hands, as well.
Korra swore at both of them.
"What is going on?" She yelled, paranoia for the ever increasing sense of being watched by Dai Li increasing inside her. "What, why, just, WHAT?"
Prince Iroh had never looked angrier than he had been at this current situation. Stoic, silent, and above all shocked, he waited for Korra to release him from his earthen pillory. Korra realized what she had done to one of her greatest allies, and immediately released her hold on him. The earth encasing him turned to dirt, and he fixed his uniform without glancing at Korra. He looked quickly at the Earth Princess before him, and warned Korra not to release her, as he walked away toward the main entry of the remains of the reception hall.
"WAIT!" Korra cried, running to catch up to his pace. "What happened?" They were just nearing the main doors of the palace. "Why did you two go at it in public like that?" Soon, they would be surrounded by panicked citizens, and an angry queen." What did you do? What did she do?"
Prince Iroh turned sharply towards her, causing her to bump into his strong chest, and fall to the ground. Impassiveness sown into his features, he stared at her coldly, before offering his hand.
"She has been unfaithful to my cousin." Prince Iroh said, his jaw twitching with restraint. "I saw her pull a man behind a tapestry-just now-, during her engagement ceremony to my cousin, and practically grope him. She made a mockery of the Royal Family."
Frozen into a stupor, Korra said nothing, and let Prince Iroh continue.
"When I apprehended her, the man- or boy, because what kind of man does that?" He commented, "walked away at the snap of her fingers, but my cousin came up to us, and, well, jumped to conclusions. My arms were gripping her shoulders very tightly, and her lips were extremely swollen. He threw the first flame, but ran away just as fast."
Just as Korra gathered enough words to speak, the airbenders, along with her original team arrived behind her, having waited for the harsh fight to end and the food to disappear into their stomachs. Prince Iroh retreated back into his stoic face, and helped the airbenders exit before him. Standing incredibly close to the Avatar, Prince Iroh fixated his eyes on hers, and spoke from his heart.
"My temper rivals yours, Avatar Korra, when people I love are in danger."
Bright flashes of light surrounded the Avatar and the Fire Prince, but the flashes were artificial. The paparazzi that had photographed the guests' entrance were now documenting the freak accident that had occured inside the Royal Grounds of the Palace, and the emminent ending of the party. Questions were being shot at Korra, but she sent the paparazzi and reporters away with a rush of wind, far enough away to not be overheard, and even then, she erected a small mountain to put a distance between herself and the throng of reporters. In a small corner of Korra's mind, she registered the look of loathing on the Earth Queen's face as she yelled instructions to her agents only a few meters away.
"KORRA!" Asami yelled. Both Korra and Prince Iroh turned and ran towards Asami, ignoring the fact that at any second, they could all be arrested by Dai Li agents. Asami was bent over a body, crying into Bolin's arms. Korra sprinted towards her friends, and only took a breath when she realized that Mako was in fact, breathing and in tact.
Hands aglow, she ran them over Mako's face, groaning as she emphatically experienced the pain he was going through because of the bright red, angry lash on his face following the burn down his neck and upper body. It wasn't until she healed him that she remembered that Mako was supposed to be patrolling the perimeter, with her best friend.
She paused, and looked around slowly.
"Where's Naga?" Korra asked quietly, deathly afraid of the answer.
Asami's green eyes locked onto Korra's blue ones, and she shook her head.
Prince Iroh put his hand on Korra's arm, and peered down to Mako's healed body.
"My cousin took her." He said quietly, positive of his deduction. Prince Iroh was a master firebender, he recognized his own cousin's handiwork just as well as his own. Fire whips were the Duke's signature style, he said aloud.
"HE WHIPPED NAGA?" Korra said. She was standing, quickly starting to hover above the ground, as she heard the Prince's words. Her hair standing on end, Korra's eyes began to glow a shimmering an inhuman shade of white, she began to bend the elements around her, destroying the ground below her.
Korra could only barely hear the cries of her friends, much less her own thoughts. There was so much rage inside of her, so much anger and hurt at the thought of what had happened to Mako and Naga, because of her.
One voice, however, resonated.
"Get everyone out of here! I'll get the Avatar!" A deep baritone voice cried loudly. "NOW, Bolin! Meet us at Lake Laogai!"
Korra saw -through a heightened light spectrum that only the Avatar State could offer-her friends retreating from her, the airbenders she had tried to rescue running away, and only a
man dressed in uniform standing below her. The four elements she was bending around her stilled in an orbital helix, but slowly picked up their rhythm.
"Korra," Prince Iroh said, repeating her name softly, almost crooning it to her.
The world's most powerful woman began to come back down to the earth, nearer to that soothing, controlled voice. As the band of earth, wind, fire, and air began to dull their sharp rotations around their center of gravity -the Avatar- they quickly dropped to the floor, creating mud.
Avatar Korra fell into Prince Iroh's arms, and her vision-even that in the Avatar State- went black.
Author's Note
Why did I take so long to upload? Because I didn't know the official name for epaulets. I was going to put 'fringey things' bhut somehow I didn't think it sounded too well.
I hope to finish before the 4th season premieres Oct 3, just because I feel I'm shipping a relationship that has no potential, sadly, and I'd rather see it completed before the possibility is completely tarnished by the canon.
earth, wind, and fire. Did anyone catch the syntax? hahahaha x) guys, it's SEPTEMBER! Do you remember? When it was like September? God, I wish I lived through the eighties. Or at least see EW&F perform at least once live. This was my nod to their work.