Amethyst

A/N: Hi guys! I hope you missed this, cause we're back for more! :) After re-starting this chapter five times and changing the overall idea twice, I think I finally found something that works. (Hopefully)

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Knowledge

Asami always liked the statues of the Gaang set up around Republic City, but her favorite was the one of Councilman Sokka erected in front of the Library of the World. As a non-bender and an inventor, Asami had a slight admiration for the old friend of Avatar Aang, and spent long hours in the library he had founded. She studied the books he had written himself, and daydreamed about the kinds of inventions she could possibly become famous for. It was during one of these visits to the library that she had come up with her greatest idea: the airplane.

She was fifteen and obsessed with books about air transportation when the idea came to her. She had practically ran home with her sketches in hand and gushed about her idea to her father over dinner. She didn't know enough about the inner workings of the Satomobiles that her father built, but she thought he would be able to figure something out to get her idea off the ground. She could still remember his face. He had been so proud of her.

She also remembered the sinking feeling that soured her disposition when she saw her invention truly take flight and destroy the entirety of the United Forces troops under General Iroh's command. It was hard to think that her invention- her idea- had been so utterly perverted by her father's dark ideals that nobody could look at it as anything other than a machine for war. For death and destruction. For the longest time after the battle with Amon, she couldn't even look Iroh in the eye knowing that it was her idea that had killed so many of his men and nearly cost his own life. It had hard for her to deal with that kind of an emotional weight, but even harder to keep it to herself.

She was disappointed that her one good contribution to the world of transportation had not turned out the way she intended, but she wasn't going to let that bring her down. After a good week of stewing about it, she finally decided to tell Iroh the truth. She considered meeting up over a nice dinner to have something nicer to lean upon if the night turned sour, but in the end, she decided that he deserved the utter truth. Her invention had killed his men, and she wasn't going to sugarcoat that admission to save herself a little guilt.

She called him up and asked him rather seriously to meet her at her home that night. Upon his arrival, she led him out the backdoors toward her father's old workshop. She hadn't ventured in the old place since Chief Beifong had uncovered her father's involvement with the Equalists, and seeing it made her stomach turn uncomfortably. Iroh, ever the perceptive man that he was, picked up on her animosity and caught her elbow before she could reach to open the heavy bolt on the door.

"Asami," he said seriously, turning her to look at him. She tried to avoid his eyes, but he wouldn't let her. "What are you not telling me?"

"There are a lot of things I haven't told you, General," she responded. He narrowed his eyes at the title. "This is only one of them." She tried to pull away and open the bolt again, but he tightened his grip on her arm. She shot him an uncomfortable look. "Please let go."

He met her eyes with stubborn authority. "No."

Internally, Asami started to panic. "You don't understand. I have to show you this."

"And what if I don't want to see it?"

She stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to see it," Iroh repeated firmly.

"But you don't know what it is," Asami said.

"I don't have to," he told her. She shook her head in disbelief and he gently turned her so that she was fully facing him. His hands were gentle upon her shoulders. "I can see the way this is affecting you. You're being unusually quiet. Your hands are shaking and you're avoiding my eyes." She dropped her gaze. "You think that you owe it to me to show me this thing, and it's eating away at your mind." His sharp gaze softened. "You're worried that it will change things between us."

Asami stared burning holes into the ground next to her feet. He was reading her like a book and it was unnerving her how precise he was being. She closed her eyes as as the guilt and the worry bubbled up so high that it caused her throat to contract tightly. He gently lifted her chin so that she would look at him again.

"The mistakes of your father are not your burden to bear," he said softly. He gently placed his warm palm against her cheek. "Don't do this to yourself, Asami."

She took a slow breath that caught somewhere in her chest. The pain that bubbled within her burned behind her eyes and the breath she took came out in the form of a sharp sob. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push away the maelstrom of guilt and disappointment that whirled around inside of her. Iroh was kind and gently pulled her into the curve of his arms as she fell apart. His embrace was warm and comforting and so sweet that Asami let herself feel the pain she tried to shove away. He held her close, softly running his fingers through her hair until she had calmed down. She took a few deep breaths before realizing that she had wet the shoulder of his uniform with her tears. Rubbing at her eyes, she embarrassingly tried to pull away from him, but he didn't let her go.

"Iroh…"

"Stay," he whispered quietly. She could feel his warm breath against her throat, and despite the shiver that raced down her spine, she felt herself relax in his arms. He was a warm and comforting entity that never failed to ground her back in the reality that was hers. Her thin silver bracelet glinted in the moonlight and her lips turned up into a soft smile.

Despite his moment of uncharacteristic selfishness, Iroh didn't press for anything else that night. He stayed to make sure that she would be alright throughout the night, and left after a couple of drinks in her kitchen. Neither of them went into the workshop that night. Asami eventually did tell Iroh about her involvement in inventing the airplanes that attacked his vessels, but he didn't hold it against her. He smiled and told her that despite their use for war, they were an amazing invention unlike anything he had ever seen before, and the pride in his voice made her genuinely smile.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review. :)