title; all about us
author; the lady hydrangea
song(s); everything - lifehouse
category; the legend of korra
genre(s); romance
pairing/character(s); iroh ii/korra, asami
rating; K+
word count; 1,230
summary; Tea helps. Tea always helps.

you're everything

.

you are the strength that keeps me walking.
you are the hope that keeps me trusting.
you are the light to my soul.
you are my purpose, you're everything.

- everything ; lifehouse

He doesn't think it's good enough. Doesn't believe she'll like it. It's too red.

With a frustrated sigh, he sends the ring back and tells the jeweler that he'll be back later when he's not so out of sorts. He'd been to every jeweler on the island before they left, visited just about every jeweler in the Fire Nation in search for the perfect ring but he'd yet to find one that would suit her well enough. One that he was sure she would love.

"General Iroh?"

The General tensed immediately, fearing he'd been caught by the very woman he'd been hoping to surprise. Quickly, however, he realized that the voice echoing in his ears did not match the voice of the woman that had called out to him. Turning his head in the direction of the voice, Iroh located the source of the voice and visibly relaxed.

It was only Asami.

"Miss Sato," Iroh greeted her with a curt nod, not sure if he should be worried about her being there or not, "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Ah, well, I wanted to look around." she mumbled, scratching the back of her head in a nervous manner, "Korra, Mako and Bolin are doing some training, and I didn't want to interrupt. To be honest I kind of thought you'd be doing the same."

The tension quickly made its way back in between his shoulders as Asami glanced past him, a thin brow arching upwards at the sight of the jewelry shop he'd just exited.

"Yes, well…" Iroh mumbled, quickly trying to cover his tracks, "I had other business to attend to."

Asami crossed her arms over her chest, that dark brow seeming to quirk up even more. "At a jewelry shop? Really?"

He assumed he could have covered for himself a bit better if he truly wanted to. If he truly tried, but he was in dire need of some assistance, and who better to help him find a perfect ring for Korra than her best friend?

"I was looking for a ring." Iroh admitted, fumbling with the white gloves he'd stuffed in his pockets earlier, "For Korra."

Asami stared at him for a moment, expression stoic and he was ready to say it was all a joke just to get some kind of reaction from the heiress when she broke into a large grin.

"You're going to propose to Korra!?" she shrieked, jumping up and tossing her arms around his neck, leaving him momentarily dumbfounded.

"It's about time, too!" she continued, pulling back just as Iroh came to his senses, "Did you get the ring? Can I see it? When are you-"

"Miss Sato." Iroh interjected, holding her by her shoulders at arms length, "I have not gotten the ring. I've been having a bit of trouble finding one, actually, and was hoping that you might be able to offer me some feminine expertise on the matter."

Asami's lips curled up into a smirk, causing Iroh to wonder if he would regret asking for her help.

"I'd love to help."

Without another word, she took him by the hand and led him back into the jewelry shop, leaving him with the thought that the day was going to be a long one.

.

He had been right.

The day had been a long one. Far too long. But after an endless amount of searching, he'd finally found the perfect ring.

Of course it was far more trying a task than he'd expected. He'd explained to Asami that he would have preferred to do things the traditional way, to carve her a betrothal necklace and follow the customs of the Water Tribe to show Korra just how much she meant to him, but he was nowhere near having the proper skills to make a decent looking necklace, worthy of Korra. And he certainly didn't want to have someone else do it for him; it felt too impersonal.

After listening to his reasoning, Asami remembered a quaint little shop she'd passed by - that he could not believe he'd missed in all his searching - and after practically turning the whole shop upside down, spotted the perfect ring.

The band was pure silver, with a beautifully cut sapphire sitting in between to small freshwater pearls.

Just one look at it and he knew that was the one. The perfect ring for Korra.

With Asami's agreement, he purchased the ring and after a few words of thanks, he parted from the heiress and made his way back home.

The ring was currently resting in a small blue box in the pocket of his pants as he made his way into his room, exhaustion finally taking over. He'd just finished hiding the tiny velvet box when Korra walked in with a cup of tea in hand.

"Long day?" she asked, handing him the cup, the tea's delicious scent - White Jasmine. Always Jasmine - filling his nostrils as he took it from her, taking a small sip, "I didn't catch sight of you the whole day."

"The day was a brutal one." Iroh answered with a small smirk as he sat on his bed, leaning back against the headboard as he pulled Korra into his lap, "But the tea helps. Tea always helps. How was your training?"

"Tea always helps." Korra mocked, pulling a soft chuckle from his lips before letting out a heavy sigh. Leaning back so she was resting against his chest, Korra murmured, "Brutal, too. You would think Mako might lighten up because Pro-bending season just ended, but that thought would be wrong. Very, very wrong."

Iroh frowned, taking another sip of his tea before setting the cup on his bedside table and resting his chin atop her head, "He's not in a very good mood as of late, is he?"

"I think he's finally noticing that Bo and Asami might have more than friendly feelings towards one another." Korra mused, tapping her chin with her index finger, as she slipped her other hand into Iroh's, "Which is kind of funny, because the two of them haven't even really come to terms with that, but kind of sad because I think Mako genuinely regrets ending things with Asami all those years ago."

Iroh tried not to roll his eyes; the memories of Korra and Mako's relationship - no matter how brief - were never pleasant, and though he and Mako weren't the best of friends, Iroh had to feel for the boy. He'd been on the unlucky end in life one too many times.

"Maybe he does regret it, but maybe like you, Asami Sato isn't the person the fates have in mind for Mako." he said, his eyes falling shut as he intertwined their fingers, "He can't let himself cling to a person that isn't meant to be his."

A soft hum left Korra's lips in response to his words, and for a moment Iroh thought she was falling asleep on him, but just as quickly she was pushing herself to her feet.

"Korra?" he muttered, brows furrowing in slight confusion.

"I think," she began, "I'm going to have a cup of tea."

Before he could stop her, she was out of the room and halfway down the hall, leaving Iroh chuckling as he tried to take another sip of his own tea; tea helps.

Tea always helps.

a/n; so, this piece is a bit longer, yes? i'm very set on having all prompts filled in this and have it completed by the fourth, so i might have the next chapter up later today, if not early tomorrow so i can have another chapter or two up as well. but anway, please do let me know what you think! this is my first time writing anything in regards to TLOK/ATLA, so i would love some feedback. also, bosami? love? hate? i personally ship all the ships, and while i totally fell in love with masami, and i've always loved makorra, mako was a real jerk to them, so i'm holding a bit of a grudge. plus, korroh and bosami are just too cute in my head, okay? and irosami friendship can have so much potential, as much as i enjoy their romantic ship, i think i'll stick to korroh and an irosami frienship, haha~