Chapter 2: Through the Ages
When Korra was 13, Fire Lord Zuko came on his seventh visit to the Southern Water Tribe compound since the death of Master Sokka.
When The Fire Lord stepped down from his ship, Korra waved happily to him, delighted at the idea of another vacation. And then, to her great surprise, another figure stepped down along with him. He was outfitted in regal armor, so she couldn't recognize him at first, but soonafter realized it was Prince Iroh.
He was bigger now—maybe this was because he was wearing armor—and looked less surly. In fact, he looked downright jovial. She had only seen him three times and he did not often make the visit with his grandfather.
"Prince Iroh was annoying his mother so much that she actually ordered him to come away with me," Zuko commented wryly, giving his grandson a pointed look. Iroh grinned cheekily.
"So I made him practice commandeering the fleet through the journey here," Zuko finished with a smile, watching Iroh's grin rapidly devolve into a frown.
"I take it that things are going smoothly over there?" Katara chuckled.
"Indeed. I expect to officially hand over the throne to my daughter in the forthcoming year. And how is the Avatar doing?"
"I'm doing fine," Korra quipped. "How long are you staying this time, Uh.. Sir, Fire Lord, Your Highness..."
Zuko chuckled. "We'll see. I haven't much work to do these days, but I thought it would be a good experience for Prince Iroh to reconnaissance with General Bumi and get some training under his belt."
Korra, having suddenly remembered his presence, twisted her body to assess the young man standing stiffly by the right-hand side of the Fire Lord. The jovial smile was gone and his face was once again, blank. Korra blinked at his unmoving form curiously.
It always took a few days for Korra and Iroh to get back into the gist of their friendship. After all, friendships hindered by year-long lapses in meetings usually required extensive re-familiarizing.
However, it always took an alarmingly small amount of time for the two to become re-acquainted. Over the years, Korra had grown into a strong, self-assured young woman. She was generally easy to get along with. And she was eager to spar with Fire Prince Iroh, having just begun her Firebending lessons.
When Korra was a curious 13 and Prince Iroh was a rash 19, she had convinced him to kiss her, just so that she could see what it was like.
Iroh, having finally finished his curriculum as a prince, had spent the vast majority of the past two years reveling in the youth he had never experienced. He would often roam the streets of Caldera City with his friends, pretending to be someone he was not.
He was rash these days, and he didn't care.
Korra, on the other hand, was curious, sly and persuasive. Such attributes normally formed when one grew up in a compound and had only the amusement of trying to trick her guards.
Prince Iroh was definitely not the worst person to look at. Somehow, she had convinced him that she sorely needed the experience just for the sake of understanding what it would be like. She had also slightly inebriated him with cactus juice stolen from the White Lotus guards and unknowingly slipped into his drink.
He shrugged, said fine, and ignored the corner of his mind telling him not to humor a quick and witty 13-year-old Avatar. She was thirteen—what would it matter? So he gave her her first kiss, and pushed his lips against hers.
Korra was convinced that her stolid skepticism about those stupid love-story scrolls would be proved once she finally got someone to kiss her. She seriously doubted simply pressing your lips against anothers' could sew magic and truly just wanted to see if kisses were all that big of a deal. She had expected nothing to change. To her great surprise, the kiss itself was not as impacting as the aftereffects were. Instead, everytime she saw Iroh after their kiss, she would tense. Perhaps that meant that kisses really did mean something, if suddenly she got butterflies everytime she looked at him.
It annoyed her simply because she did not have romantic feelings for him. Sure, he was nice to look at it, but he was so deathly boring and depressing sometimes.
Whereas, the first time she'd met him when he was 16, he was upset about his so-called fate, he now seemed to own and take pride in it. To the point where it was really irritating.
When General Bumi came to the compound to greet Fire Lord Zuko and his mother, Master Katara, Korra almost laughed at how Prince Iroh had quickly stiffened his back, saluted the General, and diligently offered to be hazed in his request to be taken under the General's tutelage.
Afterwards, Iroh had regarded her calmly, having notice her criticize his abrupt 180-degree change in demeanor.
"You, as the Avatar, are permitted to have a quick mouth. I, on the other hand, will always be a Prince. Some people think I'm above everyone else, but I'm actually underneath them: I will always serve other people. I have to sound like a Prince, or else I won't be a Prince. But because you are the Avatar, your words are justice in itself. Thats why you don't have to act, as I do. You have no demeanor to retain. You are your demeanor."
Prince Iroh and Fire Lord Zuko stayed three weeks that time. Iroh would train with General Bumi while Katara had off-time from her official firebending training in favor of personal instruction from Zuko. When Zuko was busy and Iroh was with Bumi, Korra would perch herself on the ledge of one of the compound roofs and chuck pieces of ice and rock at Iroh from her hiding place, simply to watch the tick in his forehead grow as he attempted to retain a demeanor of peace and simultaneously give attention to Bumi's words.
The year that Korra turned fourteen, Prince Iroh's mother was named Fire Lady and Ambassador Zuko visited the Southern Water Tribe for the eighth time. This time, it was to attend an official ceremony in which Prince Iroh, at the age of 20, would be named a Colonel of the United Forces by General Bumi.
Korra flicked a piece of ice at the back of Iroh's head from a rooftop as he got his badge pinned to his chest.
Iroh would have seethed and anger, not one to tolerate this type of annoyance, save for the fact that he found a mischievous grin gracing his face instead.
Avatar Korra, as immature as the fourteen-year-old was, was also simultaneously a breath of fresh air from his real life. Although she shared many of the same duties and responsibilities as him, she never failed to somehow make him feel younger, and less burdened with the weight of the world.
Ironic, considering the person who literally had the weight of the world was, rather, she herself.
With a private grin on his face and his back turned to her as he faced to the ceremonial proceedings, he focused on his awareness and melted the snow off the roof she was perched upon. The grin turned into a full-blown smile when he heard a shriek and the loud thud of her petite body promptly plopping on the ground.
When Korra was sixteen and Iroh was 22, he noticed that he paid much more attention to the letters from Master Katara than he probably should.
The one time that his fleet had detoured the Southern Water Tribe to survey the borders of some Earth Kingdom shipping routes, he had only been able to stay one day, but it was long enough to notice... that Korra had grown into a woman.
And although it was awkward at first, and he had stuttered, they truly were good at re-familiarizing themselves quickly. Before he knew it, they were pitching snowballs at each other and laughing like they had not had an 11-month gap in acquaintance.
For as long as he could remember, she had always made him feel younger, chiefly because she didn't allowed the weight of the world sitting on her shoulders debilitate her demeanor.
When Korra was 17 and Iroh was 23, Avatar Korra telegraphed him for help on behalf of Councilman Tenzin and Republic City.
A/N: Next chapter: my headcanon for the upcoming episode 11, based off of the prelude I did right here ;) Please leave reviews and your thoughts on this!