A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter of this story. It took a lot of thought on how these two would have met, and let alone marry, but I hope that you guys will be happy with what I have planned. Again, I don't own Avatar, and the only characters I own are Kourin and Seung. Enjoy the fic and please remember to leave only constructive reviews.
Iroh was unable to find his voice to respond to what he heard. His only son had a wife, and son that he kept a secret from his own father. It was impossible, there was no way that this was true. So many emotions were flooding him, but one that stood out the most is pain. "Why are you doing this? Did I harm you in the siege, and this is some sort of revenge?" he asked, tears falling down his cheeks. Kourin was startled at first when she heard this, and was stunned he'd even think such a thing.
"How can you say that!? I have no motive to do this. He couldn't exactly tell his father he had married an Earth Kingdom girl without putting us at risk. If I could have, I would have gone to you long ago with this, but I couldn't. The only thing I hope to gain in telling you this is having my son have his grandfather in his life" she cried out, clenching her fists as her shoulders began to shake.
When Iroh was finally able to look into her eyes, he could tell she was sincere and what she was saying was indeed the truth. "I'd like to know how you and my son met, and how you were able to marry him?" he said, calming down by taking a sip of tea. Kourin took a deep breath, drying her eyes, and soon began to tell Iroh her story. "It was about three months into the siege of Ba Sing Se…."
Lu Ten was on night patrol that night, to make sure there would be no surprise attacks on the Fire Nation camp. He could have taken more important duties since he was the son of the crown prince, but he wanted to prove he was a good soldier without his lineage getting in the way. As he was about to head back to the camp, he heard noises coming from near by.
He slowly made his way over to where he heard the noises to see two of his fellow soldiers harassing a young Earth Nation girl. He was going to leave until one of the soldier tried to rip her clothes off. Even thought she belonged to an enemy nation, that didn't give his fellow soldiers any right to have at her like that.
"You there, why are you not at your posts?" he demanded, storming over to them. "P…Prince Lu Ten, we were just..." one of them said, but Lu Ten interrupted him, "There is no excuse for not doing your job, now get back to your posts!" The soldiers quickly left leaving the poor trembling girl in the presence of the prince of the Fire Nation. This girl was part of the kingdom that his was fighting, and he should have killed her then and there, but seeing the look of pure fright in her eyes tugged at him.
He slowly made his way over to the girl. He placed a hand on her shoulder, bent down a bit, and whispered in her ear, "You better hurry home, or else you may not be so lucky to live." The girl looked up at him with a shocked expression, and nodded, quickly scurrying off. As she reached the small entrance of the city wall, she turned to him, and said, in a soft feminine voice, "Thank you", before disappearing out of sight.
A few weeks, the encounter with the Earth Kingdom girl was forgotten, and a battle was raging. They had nearly penetrated the outer wall of Ba Sing Se when the earth bending warriors began to grow in numbers. His father, General Iroh, had called for the soldiers to fall back. As they began to retreat, Lu Ten felt the earth shift under his feet, and before he knew it, he was flung off into a direction far from the battle field. The last thing that Lu Ten remembered was hitting the ground, and seeing a pair of soft green eyes looking down at him.
Le Ten began to stir, a feeling of pain washing over him. As his vision began to clear, he noticed he was no longer out on the field, but in a home. He tried to get up, but the pain was too intense, and he lay back down. "So, you're finally awake" a female voice from the door said. He turned his head, and realized this was the girl that he had rescued from his fellow soldiers. "Yes, where am I?" he asked.
"You're at my home in the city. I was coming home from working at a farm I help out at not too far from the outer wall, when I saw you laying there are bruised and bloodied. After what you did for me, it wouldn't have been right to have left you there so I covered your armor with my cloak, and sneaked you into the city" she explained, sitting in the chair next to his bed. She dipped a cloth into a bowl of water near his bed, and gently cleaned the blood from his face. "I don't understand, I'm the enemy, but you still helped me" he said in a soft voice.
The girl smiled at him, and said simply, "Even if we come from different nations, do we both have beating hearts beneath our chests " Lu Ten was startled by her answer, but remained silent. "How do I know you won't give me up to the Earth Kingdom soldiers?" he asked, a bit suspicious of the girl. "If I wanted to do that, I would have done it while you were unconscious" she explained. Lu Ten nodded a bit, and looked away.
"May I ask your name?" he asked his rescuer. "My name is Kourin Li, and I already know who you are, Prince Lu Ten" she said, bowing a bit. "Please, there is no need for formalities, just call me Lu Ten" he said. Kourin simply smiled, and said, "You must be hungry, I'll go make you some rice porridge. Please try not to get up, you have several gashes and broken bones" she said before exiting the room. Lu Ten lay back on the bed, his mind wondering how long he would have to stay in this home.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter on how Lu Ten and Kourin met. The next two chapters will be flashbacks on how their relationship grew and how they got married. Please, leave a review with any thoughts and constructive criticisms.