Amethyst

A/N: Y'know, I can really tell when you guys like a certain drabble. Too bad they all can't be awesome like the last one. :( Thanks for all the fantastic feedback, guys!

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Companion

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Asami rolled her eyes dramatically, dropping the paper on the table between them. Iroh looked up from the tea he was nursing. "How do they come up with these things?"

Iroh gently took up the paper himself. He read the title and shrugged a little. "Well, we did go to the Science and Technology Museum."

"Doesn't this bother you?" Asami asked, giving him a disbelieving look. "We're practically being stalked by these people."

He shrugged taking a sip from his tea. When he noticed that she didn't take his non-verbal response as an answer, he placed his cup down before looking at her seriously. "It wouldn't be any different in the Fire Nation. It's just something I'm used to. The ones in my home were relentless. They would report on the changes in tea I would drink."

She laughed in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Completely," he said with a smile. "'Prince Iroh II refused Jasmine tea today in favor of a cup of Ginseng! Is this the start of a new phase in tea?' It was out of control."

Asami laughed. "I'd hate to see what they'd say about us."

Iroh pulled a face as if his tea was too bitter. "Spirits… I hope they never find out."

She gave him a small, amused smile before taking a bite out of her eggs. She took a moment to fill out a few lines on her production reports before a thought had her tapping her pen absentmindedly against the table.

"It's kind of weird to hear you refer to yourself as a prince," she commented. "I'm so used to hearing 'General'."

He met her eyes, amused. "I tend not to use the title outside of the Fire Nation," he told her. "I'm third in line for the throne and after ten years with the United Forces, General sounds more natural to me now."

She smiled. "Third, huh? How many siblings do you have?"

"Three," he said with a sip of tea. "Two older brothers and a younger sister."

"The Crown Prince is Kuzon, right?" Asami asked. Iroh nodded. "What are your other siblings' names?"

"My brother is Shu, and my sister is Ta Min."

Asami smiled. "It must be nice to have such a big family."

Iroh gave her a tentative smile indicating that he thought otherwise. "They're okay in moderation, but holidays are complete chaos. You don't want to be anywhere near the Fire Palace when my grandfather, my mother and both my siblings are around."

Asami couldn't keep the grin off her face. "Tell me about them."

Iroh hesitated, giving the question some thought before talking. "Kuzon's livable, if not a little full of himself. He's only six years older than me but mother says we should have been born twins. Shu…" He shook his head. "Shu is really something else. He was always a bit wild, but one year he met Commander Bumi and we haven't been able to control him since." Asami laughed at the mental image of one of the Fire Princes acting as wild as Commander Bumi did. "Ta Min is tolerable," Iroh continued. "But since she was born so much later than the rest of us, we tend to spoil her rotten. She probably thinks its the best thing to have three older brothers dote upon her all the time."

She watched him take a long sip of his tea. "My mother is probably the most calm out of all of us, but Grandfather says she was a spitfire when she was younger. She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and incredibly patient, but when she snaps, hide." Asami giggled at the frightened look he made. "My grandfather likes to think that he's strict and imposing, but he's just a big softie. Recently he's gotten into the habit of telling really bad jokes and we just feel so bad that he honestly thinks that they're hilarious that we laugh every time."

Asami gave him a sad, bittersweet smile. "Your family sounds amazing." He disagreed with her, but she saw the pleased smile that curled up his lips as he finished off his cup of tea. "Do they all like tea as much as you do?" she asked when he reached to refill it.

Iroh shrugged. "Not really," he admitted. "Only my grandfather likes tea as much as I do. He says that he got his taste for it from his uncle, the first General Iroh. He passed away in the year of my birth, so my family named me Iroh as a tribute to him. My mother always comments about how similar I am to him." He swirled the cup in his hand. "Makes me wish I could have met him before he died."

Asami placed a comforting hand on his. He turned his hand over to gently wrap his fingers around hers. His thumb gently caressed the top of her hand while it took a quick sip of his tea. The touch made her fingertips tingle and sent a warm chill down her spine.

"Enough about me," Iroh said, placing his cup down to face her fully. "Tell me about you."

"What's there to tell?" she asked sarcastically, ignoring the nervous bubble in her stomach. "My entire life story is plastered across the newspaper all the time."

He gripped her hand comfortingly and she met his serious amber eyes. "I want to hear it from you."

She gave a small laugh, but was still touched by his interest. "Well," she started slowly. "Obviously my family is a little more… dysfunctional than yours. But, that was only in the last year and a half or so. My dad and I had a great relationship back when I thought I knew him well, and we were even happier when my mom was still alive." She swallowed the thick lump in her throat and avoided his interested stare. "We had a lot of great years, a lot of wonderful memories, but things got difficult when my mom died when I was six. Dad tried to make up for it, but he still had the company to deal with and I spent a lot of time on my own. Things were starting to look better between us, and I thought things might finally go back to normal b-but-" She flinched at the tremble in her voice and tried to brush it off with a sharp, unnatural laugh. She tried to pull her hand away, but he kept a firm, comforting grip around it and encouraged her to go on with his eyes. She took a deep, shaky breath and gave him a sheepish smile. "Well, you know the rest."

He nodded slowly, gently rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. The soft touch calmed her. "I wish I could have met your mother," he said. "It sounds like you loved her very much."

She gave him a sad smile, remembering the sound of her laughter, the joy in her light green eyes and the warm feeling of her arms hugging her tightly. "Yes," she said softly. "I really did."

Somewhere in the distance, a clock started to chime and Asami blinked out of her reverie, suddenly remembering the stack of paperwork still sitting in front of her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize how late it was-" she said in surprised panic, pulling her hand from his to stack her papers. She grabbed her bag and stuffed them in before standing up in a rush. "I'm sorry. This is just so sudden-"

"Miss Sato."

"I just got so wrapped up in the conversation-"

"Miss Sato."

"I forgot about the meeting-"

He caught her wrist. "Asami."

She froze, a warm shiver racing down her spine at the sound of her name. He held her eyes and gave her an understanding smile.

"It's fine," he told her. "We'll just meet up again later tonight."

Asami hesitated, but let her lips turn up in a pleasant smile. "Alright, but there better be a cup of tea waiting for me when I arrive."

He met her smile with one of his own. "Deal."

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A/N: I feel like I flubbed the ending a bit. Ah, oh well. Please review!