Elim hadn't been exaggerating when it came to the skill of the tailors who worked for her. It had barely been under two hours and yet they somehow had managed to make this dress fit nearly perfectly. The black dress hung loosely around her ankles but was snug at hip and waist. But the really stunning part was just what it did to her chest. Korra had always known her breasts were on the large side though she had never gone out of her way to flaunt that fact but this dress most certainly did. The majority of her bosom was covered but the dress's neckline was showing off the topmost swell of her breasts and it plunged downward in the middle to put Korra's inner curves on display. Just looking at her reflection in the mirror was enough to make the Avatar blush. "What am I doing? I can't go out like this. It shows too much, I look like a tramp."
"Nonsense Avatar Korra. Yes this dress is a bit daring but you're a vision of loveliness, not a tramp. I just wish you had your old hair style, it'd be perfect with this outfit." Elim looked down at Korra's feet as she brought the matter up again "Or that you were wearing the heels I recommended..."
Korra shook her head as she rejected the suggestion "Those high heels were too much for me. I could barely walk in those things. Running or bending would be completely impossible so I'll stick with this pair." She had tried but the shoes` Elim had picked out were nothing short of absurd and Korra had almost greeted the floor with her face after just a few steps. Not to mention they had been extremely uncomfortable and borderline painful to wear. And besides, she was still wearing shoes that matched her dress, just that the heel itself was far lower than what the first pair had.
The tailor bowed in response as she finally accepted her defeat in the matter. "As you say Avatar Korra. I've contacted the Prince and he will be waiting for you at the Forgotten Dragon. A taxi is currently on its way and will be here shortly."
Korra reached down to smooth out wrinkles in the dress that weren't there before a part of Elim's previous comments registered "What do you mean you wish I had my old hair style? No offense but why would my hair matter to you?"
Elim reached up instinctively to touch her own shoulder length hair as she started answering the question "Fashion has been my profession my entire life even when I was still a child. My specialty is clothing but I try to at least pay attention to the other areas as well, such as makeup or hair. One of the things that I've learned is that people have a tendency to imitate the styles of the rich or famous such as yourself. As such I follow them as well to know where the trends may be going. I don't mean to criticize your choices but I feel you looked better when you had those braids of yours is all. But I've taken up enough of your time. If you'll follow me Avatar Korra."
She then headed towards the door, one hand holding a bag containing Korra's clothes from earlier as she made her way back to the foyer. Korra followed along behind her to find the same man Iroh had left there with her waiting at the door. He smoothly bowed in greeting and held the door open for her before repeating his action with the idling vehicle's door. He closed it once she had gotten inside before getting behind the wheel and the car trundled into motion down the road.
By now the sun had begun to set and Korra could see small clusters of three people in some sort of uniform on both sides of the street. Each group was pulling a cart behind them as they moved between lamps hanging next to the door of every building on the street. She couldn't tell what they were putting in them but each lamp was lit before they would head to the next. "What are they doing?"
Her driver followed the direction of her gaze for a moment before shrugging dismissively "They're lighting citronella candles to deal with mosquitoes. It's the peak season for them right now so extra measures have to be taken. Malaria is a major problem at this time of year and Fire Lord Izumi believes that mosquitoes are responsible so this is her doing." He was silent the rest of the way however, but not for very long as their destination was only a few blocks away.
Like many of other other buildings she had seen in the volcano's mouth, the Forgotten Dragon was a pagoda but most of those were rather narrow and rose up into the sky with multiple stories. The restaurant was a squat rectangular building with only a single floor. The entryway was what the most unusual thing though. A pair of obsidian eyes stared at all who approached from above a smoking snout and it's lower mandible was hanging open so that anyone wishing to enter did so through the maw of a red dragon. A pair of doors rested right where the entrance to the throat would have been if that dragon was real and a hallway snaked to the right. As Korra made her way further inside, she saw two well dressed but heavily muscled men through the holes in a vine covered lattice. One of them started to move out from beyond it but his companion grabbed his sleeve and shook his head at him. The man took another look at Korra and she could see recognition dawn on his face before turning away as if she wasn't there.
The hallway continued a bit longer before she came to a woman wearing what Elim could have identified as a qipao dress colored red and gold. As Korra approached, she couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of menus or even reservation sheets. The hostess smiled politely and gestured towards her right as Korra approached her "The Prince is waiting for you at one of our private tables Avatar Korra."
Past the hostess was a floor covered with somewhere around forty small square mahogany tables covered in white floral linens. A few had plaques reading reserved upon them but overwhelming majority were occupied, a few by Fire Nation and United Republic military officers but the rest was mostly men and women wearing expensive looking clothing. The occasional puff of smoke rose into the air as people exhaled into the air after long drags on the cigarettes and cigars they held between their fingers. One man even held a long pipe made of jade and his table was notably isolated from all the others. At one end of the room several musicians stood atop a raised platform as they played a slow pace melody on their string instrument and there were even a few couples dancing a slow waltz to the tune nearby.
As Korra moved through the room she could hear conversations stopping as she approached and hushed whispers following in her wake. She couldn't see anyone openly looking at her but she could feels eyes on her from every corner. Her eyes scanned the room as she looked for General Iroh and it took a moment before she saw him seated at a table situated in a recessed alcove overlooking everyone else. Korra moved up the stairs and was about to pull out a chair but a waiter appeared from nowhere and beat her to it before pushing it back in once she had sat. Iroh gestured to the waiter "Ginseng tea for both of us. Komodo sausage for the Avatar and your fried clams from Jang Hui for me."
The waiter nodded to Iroh and he was gone as quickly as he had shown up. Korra frowned at the general as he leaned back in his chair "And who said you could order for me?"
Iroh chuckled slightly "My apologies but I thought it would be best. This place doesn't have printed menus of any kind so I took the liberty of ordering one of their specialties for you. You can ask them for something else if you wish."
Korra considered the suggestion for a moment before deciding against it. She didn't like that he had the presumption to order for her but his logic made sense. If there weren't menus then she wouldn't have any idea on what she actually could order but Iroh seemed to know this place well enough that it wasn't an issue for him. "No that's alright, I'll try it but it'd better taste good."
He let the last bit from Korra pass by without comment and changed the subject "So tell me Korra, what do you think of the Fire Nation so far?"
The Avatar bit at her lip as she tried to phrase it in a way that wasn't insulting. "Well... it's only been one day but I'm a bit weirded out. The way everyone keeps fawning on me because I'm the Avatar... it feels really strange that people are putting me on a pedestal."
Iroh grinned slightly "I can certainly relate to that, Prince of the Fire Nation and all though they aren't as bad with me as they must be with you. But that's one of the reasons I like coming to this place."
"What do you mean?" asked Korra.
"Let me ask you something, has anyone bowed to you here?"
The guards at the door had mostly ignored her, the hostess had merely smiled and the waiter hadn't done anything but move her chair back and forth for her. "No... no they haven't. Can't say I mind it either."
"This restaurant is an escape for nobles in the capital. Nobody can see us but each other and we're allowed to forget about ranks and ceremony for a time. I might be the Crown Prince everywhere else but here I'm just another patron enjoying his food. And it might be mean spirited of me, but I brought you here because I wanted to see how the others would react to the Avatar showing up. I'd say your arrival was as close to causing a scene as this place has ever come."
Korra grimaced at the idea of being an unwitting instrument for a practical joke "Everyone was looking at me and I could see them whispering to each other. Doesn't seem to matter where I go, everyone here just sees the Avatar and overreacts. I'm starting to feel like a freak or something already."
The waiter returned and left a pitcher of tea along with two cups on the table before leaving once again. Iroh picked the pitcher up and poured it out for the two of them "Oh, I think you missed why they were whispering to each other and staring. It's not because you're the Avatar. If I might be so bold, it's because you look downright amazing in that dress."
She looked at Iroh embarrassed by the unexpected compliment before hurriedly picking up her cup of tea and drinking it down for the sake of not having to reply to that. Iroh coughed politely into his elbow before refilling her drink and changed the subject "So tell me, why did you come to the Fire Nation? The city's been abuzz ever since you showed up unannounced this morning."
"Well... Asami got a letter from Fire Lord Izumi about a business proposition and she asked me to come with her." More like told her but it amounted to the same thing really "It was a spur of the moment decision but to be honest I didn't feel like going back to the Earth Kingdom after everything with Kuvira... at least not right away. I'll probably head over there to help Prince Wu once I leave the Fire Nation."
Iroh looked intently at his cup of tea and there was a trace of disdain in his tone as he replied "Ah yes, Wu's plan to turn the Earth Kingdom into democratic city-states. I'm a little surprised that you would be helping with this folly."
Korra bristled at the jabs he had just thrown out and she sat up straighter "Folly? Helping the Earth Kingdom evolve is folly?"
Iroh's tone was genial to Korra's ears but his words were anything but "Dethroning the monarchy and giving people the right to hold elections sounds great to the population at large and it may even be beneficial at first but in the long run it'll prove to be a mistake. The problem with democracy is that it'll inherently become corrupt as politicians begin selling themselves to the highest bidder."
"And what kind of government do you prefer? Despots? Monarchs?" Korra openly scowled at her dinner partner sitting across the table from her. Iroh started to reply but the waiter reappeared with a pair of plates in hand. The sausage occupied most of Korra's plate but it also held peeled lychee nuts and rice cakes shaped like an oval. And for some reason there was also a jug of milk as well. As for Iroh, his clams had been wrapped in dough before being fried and there was a small cup of noodles along with a mound of rice beneath the clams.
"I feel that the ideal system of rule is to have a benevolent dictator yes. A single leader can have more of an impact on improving his people's quality of life than any bloated mess of an elected government ever could."
Korra picked up her knife and fork as she sliced off a piece of the sausage and took a bite. She had heard stories that Fire Nation food was spicy but some things had to be experienced firsthand. The kick started in the roof of her mouth but quickly raced upwards through her sinuses and in seconds Korra's eyes were watering. Iroh must have been expecting a reaction like this as he had poured out some of the milk into a cup and was holding it towards her. Korra grabbed it immediately and chugged it down, the white liquid coming as a great relief. Iroh gestured at her shallow bowl of honey "Dip your sausage in that before eating it and use the milk if it's not enough."
She very hesitantly tried it on the next piece fearing it wouldn't work but the added sugar was enough to make it tolerable but only barely. Korra followed it up with a drink of tea before she recalled where the conversation had been before the spices attacked "Just like Kuvira? I don't need to tell you how that worked out."
Iroh shrugged his shouldersm an unusually dismissive response for someone who had come a hair's breadth away from being vaporized by Kuvira's spirit energy cannon during her attack on Republic City. "Can dictators be corrupt? Absolutely and she's a perfect example of what happens when a dictator gets out of control but if we're being objective then we should look at a dictator at the other end of the spectrum."
She rolled her eyes at that "So is this where you bring up your mother or grandfather?"
The general shook his head after swallowing a piece of clam meat "No, not them. I was actually thinking of you Avatar Korra."
That took her aback "What? Me? That doesn't make any sense. I'm not the leader of anyone and I don't rule anything. I am not a dictator."
He took another sip of tea and started pouring more out for himself "Aren't you? Nobody chooses whose going to be the Avatar. They aren't elected or chosen by anything other than mere chance of birth. But the ability to bend all the elements gives them nearly unlimited power to say nothing of the social status the Avatar holds in all the nations. And if that weren't enough, you're of royal blood even if you hadn't been the Avatar. Your father was once first in line to be Chieftain of the Northern Water Tribe. If things had gone differently you'd be his heir right now."
Korra's fork stopped en route to her mouth. "I'm not going to lie and say any of that isn't true but I still don't think I'm a dictator. I might have power but I only use it if I have to."
Their waiter made his third appearance of the evening and he offered a folded note towards Korra. She reached out and took it hesitantly. "What's this?"
The waiter pointed with his fingers together to indicate an older looking man with more salt than pepper in his hair seated not too far away. "From the gentleman." Korra unfolded the message and began reading.
'Greetings Avatar Korra,
My name is Luzon and I'm the headmaster of the Iba Academy, one of the firebending schools in the city. Word of your arrival has been spreading throughout the city today and I would like to beseech a favor. It has been a long time since the Avatar has graced our city and I would be honored if you would hold a seminar for my students.'
After she finished reading Korra set the note down in the middle of the table. "Do you wish to write a reply madam?"
She pursed her lips for a moment as she considered the man's request "Tell him I accept his offer but only if students from all the other academies nearby are invited."
"Very good madam." With that he was moving away to whisper her reply to the headmaster. After a minute Luzon nodded and he raised his drink towards her as their eyes met across the room.
Iroh gestured at the note "May I?" Korra shrugged and he picked it up then tucked it into one pocket after reading it. "A seminar by the Avatar herself. There's going to be quite a large crowd showing up for this. I'm tempted to attend myself though I'm not sure you'll like that after our conversation here. I have to apologize for tonight, I was hoping to show you a good time but I let us get dragged into an argument over politics. I know my views might seem old fashioned to you but let's agree to disagree on the matter and I promise not to call you a dictator again. Perhaps we can do better another time."
Korra shoveled the last few bites of her meal down. Iroh's apology wasn't much, but it was something at least "Apology accepted. Thanks for dinner. Is my ride still out there?"
The man who had dropped her off was still waiting behind the wheel of his car in the parking lot. A short drive later and Korra was at the villa where she and Asami were staying. Asami had gotten home first and was curled up on a couch, book in hand. She looked up as Korra came inside and the book slipped out of her fingers to land on the floor when saw just what the Avatar looked like in that dress.
Asami's mouth opened and shut more than once before she remembered how to form words and something came out "Where did you get that dress? What have you been doing?"
Korra grimaced. Where to begin?
