Amethyst

A/N: I bumped up the rating a bit on this story, just to be on the safe side. ;) Had a hard time writing this chapter. I got my blood drawn in my left arm so I pretty much wrote this one handed while my inner elbow gushed blood for a couple hours. .

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Order

Asami never thought herself as a girl who followed the natural order of things. She liked to jump the gun and get to the exciting part early. But she quickly realized that Iroh was a man of order, and didn't deviate from it much. While she appreciated the slow build up of their relationship, there were times where she wished he wasn't so prim and proper.

For the most part, he respected her boundaries with a gentlemanly flare: he averted his eyes politely when she had an embarrassing moment; he held his hand out for her when she exited the car; he always held the door open for her to enter first. Asami appreciated the actions, but she was a woman of independence, and the natural order of things wasn't so natural in her mind. She liked catching him off guard by switching things up a bit.

She loved seeing the flustered look on his face when she beat him to the door and held it open for him. She loved being the one to drive them around places because it put her in charge of where they were going for that day. But most of all, she liked wearing shorts when the seasons finally started to warm up. He tried valiantly not to stare at her long legs and she smiled when she caught him looking.

Iroh wasn't a man of spontaneity and Asami learned quickly that the best way to get the better of him was to do something different than what they had planned. So, on one of their "dinner and tea" nights, Asami drove them to the harbor instead of the tea shop and parked her Satomobile in a dark spot along the docks. He looked over at her questioningly and she smiled at him.

"Not to be rude, but I thought we were going for tea?" he pointed out.

She shook her head. "I had something different in mind for dessert."

Unbuckling her seatbelt, Asami started to unbutton her jacket. Iroh watched her, waiting for an answer to his unspoken question, until she started to pull her shirt over her head. His face turned an instant shade of red and he whipped his face to the side.

"A-aahm!" He choked on his words, struggling not to look at her. "Wh-what are you doing?"

Asami smirked. "Going for a swim."

"In the harbor?" he squeaked.

"Oh, come on," she said as she yanked off her boots. "Don't tell me you haven't gone for a midnight swim before."

"Of course I have," Iroh said in defense. "But this-" His face was as red as a tomato as he stared straight out in front of him.

Asami gave a short laugh. "You don't expect me to swim in my clothes, do you?"

"O-of course not-"

"Then what's the big deal?"

Iroh looked at her in disbelief before turning away again, his blush becoming even deeper. "This is indecent."

Asami paused in her undressing to give him an amused look. "That's what makes it exciting."

He was at a loss for words as she threw her discarded pants into the backseat before vaulting out of the car. She put her hands on her hips and grinned at her discomforted companion still sitting stiffly with his seatbelt on.

"Are you coming?" she asked. He turned his face away from her. She grinned, leaning over the door of her car. "Don't tell me the great and powerful General of the United Forces is too scared to go swimming in his underwear."

He stiffened.

"I am a Prince of the Fire Nation," he said with a touch of pride. He looked at her unabashed, and met her taunting eyes. The fire she saw in the golden depths sent an excited shiver down her spine. He didn't turn away. "I am not afraid of anything."

She grinned. "That's what I want to hear."

He quickly ditched the fancy UF uniform and joined Asami in a whooping shout as they went running off the dock and jumped into the water. To their dismay, the water was absolutely freezing, and they both gave protests about the temperature when they surfaced again, but laughter permeated the air and they swam and splashed around until their toes and fingers were numb. General Iroh might have been a man of order, but nobody could say that he didn't know how to go with a moment and have some fun.

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A/N: Eh, I dunno. Prompt was a little weird for me today. But, we're halfway done with the story! Yay! Please review!