Disclaimer: I'm going to quote an awesome fortune cookie that my sister once got, "Ignore previous fortune." Unfortunately for me my last fortune said that I would one day own all that I desire.
Probably the best and worst person to go to for advice on the fairer sex is my uncle. He was quite the ladies man in his days, still is in fact, only the women are slightly older. He knows all the right words and how just to say them. He's never been turned down. He has a spotless track record when it comes to the ladies. But my uncle is also very nosey and could be considered a gossip, so when I went to ask him advice about love, he wanted to know who it was.
"No one special, just a girl." I tried to say as casually as I could.
"Is it Miss Katara?"
"What?! No! It's just in general." I felt my face heat up and prayed to Agni that Uncle wouldn't notice, but like so many of my prayers this one went unanswered.
"Ah so it is Miss Katara. I thought as much." I tried desperately to think of some way to deny it, but couldn't. 'How can one deny the truth?'
'I took my troubles down to Madame Rue
You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
She'd got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
Sellin' little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine'
Since I was banished I haven't had that much contact with girls. Most of them are repulsed by my scar, and knowing that didn't really boost my confidence. I told Uncle that every time I was around her, my tongue would tie itself in knots and I wouldn't be able to answer the simplest questions. He said that maybe I needed a Love Potion.
I asked him what that was; he told that young men that needed help in the love department often went to gypsies and paid them to make them Love Potions. The Love Potion would help them gain the confidence to talk to their special someone, and make them appear irresistible to their significant other.
"But of course that is all udder nonsense, you don't need a Love Potion Prince Zuko, just be your natural charming self I know you have it in you. When you were younger you could charm the birds out of the trees. I remember this one time…"
I blocked out Uncle's voice and thought about a Love Potion, where could I get one and more importantly would it work?
'I told her that I was flop with chicks
I've been this way since 1956
She looked at my palm and she made a magic sign
She said, "What you need is Love Potion Number Nine"'
I was jerked back to the present when Uncle asked me if I wanted some tea. I nodded absently, not quite out of my day dreams, mostly ones involving Katara and me alone. I focused long enough to notice Iroh put something clear in my tea, I didn't think much of it until much later, when I realized that he had put in a Love Potion. But by then of course it would be too late.
'She bent down and turned around and gave me a wink
She said, "I'm gonna make it up right here in the sink"
It smelled like turpentine, it looked like Indian ink
I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink'
Suddenly I felt this strange feeling taking over me. I excused myself from Uncle I staggered towards where I hoped there would be water, maybe if I got a drink I would be able to clear my head. When I got to the stream I noticed that I wasn't alone. Katara was there practicing her water bending.
I tried to ignore her, as I bent down to get a drink of water; I felt a curious sensation take over my body, something was pushing me towards Katara. I felt my confidence grow in leaps and bounds. I walked right up to her and did what I'd been fantasizing about doing since I'd first met her. I kissed her.
'I didn't know if it was day of night
I started kissin' everything in sight
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine'
As soon as my lips touched hers I regained part of my sanity and realized what I was doing. I pulled back and glanced around for something to focus on, while I tried to figure out how to explain my actions. I turned towards her and started to explain.
"Er… You see I was talking to Uncle and um…Well…" Then she did something that I never expected she put one hand on the back of my neck and pulled my head down and kissed me!
When we broke apart she whispered, her lips only centimeters away from mine, "Zuko you talk too much."
Then she kissed me again.
'I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink
I didn't know if it was day or night
I started kissin' everything in sight
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine
Love Potion Number Nine
Love Potion Number Nine
Love Potion Number Nine.'
Somewhere in the bushes hidden from sight, Uncle Iroh rubbed his hands together and almost chortled with glee. He always knew that Ginseng tea had that effect on people, why else would he keep drinking it, it certainly wasn't for taste. No he knew what Ginseng tea could do, that and a little bit of confidence.
Author's Note: Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Ginseng tea. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, American Ginseng promotes Yin energy, cleans excess Yang in the body, calms the body. …American ginseng promotes Yin (shadow, cold, negative, female) while East Asian ginseng promotes Yang (sunshine, hot, positive, male). …to traditional Chinese medicine, things living in cold places are strong in Yang and vice versa, so that the two are balanced. Ginseng from NE China and Korea is supposed to be very Yang. (A little bit of Zutara in there if you look at the meanings of Yin and Yang.)
Red ginseng is associated with stimulating sexual function and increasing energy, stimulating the body.
Just in case you wanted to know.