Amethyst

A/N: Only 7 more to go! I really am going to miss writing this when it's over. :,( I would have posted this earlier, but I got distracted by the opening ceremony of the Olympic games. (Oops, but it was so cool.)

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Outside

Asami cast a quick glance out the nearby window in the kitchen of the Air Temple, her eyes instantly drawn to the sparring form of her fiancé in the courtyard as he evaded a blast of fire aimed for his head. It was only a few days after Iroh's surprising proposal, and after some discussion, they decided to make a trip to Air Temple Island to announce their news to their friends. She had been considering coming to talk to Pema and Korra on her own already, When they arrived on the island, the inhabitants were already separated into different groups: Tenzin and the air kids were practicing their sparring with the Fire Ferret brothers in the courtyard while Korra and Pema were spending some quiet time in the kitchen. It was easy for Asami to slip in her announcement while she was helping Pema wash the dishes while she tried to calm Rohan into a nap. Their reactions were quite different.

Korra spit out her noodles. "Engaged?"

"Oh my," Pema said with a dreamy sigh.

Asami couldn't resist blushing and tried to focus on washing the dishes. "It's really not that big of a deal," she tried to play off. "Just a matter of time… I guess."

"Not a big deal?" Korra was saying, her mouth open in disbelief. "I feel like you're way too indifferent about this whole thing. Do you have any idea what this means?"

Asami raised an eyebrow. "That we're getting married?"

"No! I mean, yes. But no." Korra gave her an excited grin. "It means you're going to be marrying into the Fire Nation Royal family. You're going to be a princess!"

Asami avoided her eyes and gave a nervous laugh. "Well… I don't know about that…"

"What do you mean?" Korra asked. "It's sort of a given thing when you marry into royalty." Asami shrugged a little uncomfortably, not really wishing to argue with her at that moment. She glanced away, a curl of nervousness twisting in her stomach when she caught Pema's knowing gaze.

"That's not really it, is it?" the older woman said. "You're having second thoughts."

Asami pressed her lips together trying not to look at Korra's sharp look of confusion.

"What? Why?" the girl Avatar asked. "Aren't you excited? I thought you loved him."

"I do," Asami confirmed. "It's just…" She struggled to find the right words to express herself. Eventually, she sighed in defeat.

"It's alright to be scared," Pema said, lovingly stroking her youngest son's hair. "It is a big commitment."

"It's not that I'm scared of marrying him," Asami said. "I just…" She sighed again, dropping her eyes. "It just seems like a lot. So many things have been changing lately that it's hard to find something to focus on. I only just regained the reputation for Future Industries after my father's mistakes when barely over a year ago I didn't even know he was an Equalist. Everything just feels like its changing faster than I can keep up and with this whole wedding and princess thing, I just… I don't think I'm ready."

Through her fast-spoken explanation, Pema listened with a sharp ear and a careful smile. When Asami finished what she had to say, Pema waved for the younger girl to come sit beside her at the table. Sighing, Asami put the dishes down and dried her hands off to sit next to the young mother of four.

"Now, there's a story I want to tell you, and I'm not going to lie, it's about me," Pema said. Asami gave a small smile at the woman's sharp sense of humor. "When I was sixteen, I fell in love with a man that was nearly twice my age. For the longest time, I admired him from afar, hoping and wishing that he could see how much I truly adored him because I was too shy to approach him about it. It wasn't until I was twenty that I found the courage to tell him how I felt. Now, for the longest time I wished and dreamed about the day that he would love me back. I wanted the change so badly, but even I wasn't prepared for how quickly things did change.

"When Tenzin asked me to marry him, I was so happy that I didn't even think about my response. I immediately said yes, and it wasn't until a couple days later that I realized what that would mean. I was suddenly faced with the realization that by marrying the only airbender still alive I would be looked upon to have healthy, airbender babies to ensure that the nearly wiped out airbenders continued to persevere. The thought of having all that pressure and expectation put upon my shoulders was frightening enough to have me running to break off the engagement." Pema looked over at Asami who was listening with rapt attention. "Do you know what made me stay?"

From across the table, it was Korra who answered. "You loved him."

"Close," Pema said with a smile. "He cooked me dinner."

The two girls looked at her in confusion. "What?"

Pema laughed. "It honestly sounds silly, doesn't it?"

"He must really be an amazing cook then," Korra commented. "To keep you from running with food."

"I wish I could say yes," Pema said. "But it was absolutely horrible! The noodles were undercooked and stuck to the bottom of the pan and every vegetable was burnt. He was so embarrassed, and kept insisting that he did know how to cook and that one day he would prove it to me." She laughed to herself and looked down to readjust Rohan's blankets. "But that's what did it for me. I realized that beyond all the expectations and pressures I would have by being the only airbender's wife, I would be Tenzin's wife, and knowing that I could spend every silly embarrassing moment of my life with the man I loved was worth any change that could possibly come my way."

Asami's lips lifted in a soft, empathetic smile at the happiness in Pema's eyes.

"So," the older woman said. "The moral of the story is to focus on what you know will stay the same, not what you think might be different." She looked up to meet Asami's eyes. "Its so easy to see how much he loves you, and I'm willing to bet my entire vintage flying lemur statue set that he would do anything to make you happy. So, if you honestly don't think that you're cut out to be a princess of the Fire Nation, which I find ridiculous because you'd be a perfect princess, all you need to do is talk to him."

Asami gave a soft chuckle. The woman definitely had a way with words. Already, the doubt weighing on her mind was feeling so much lighter, and she was starting to see the things she looked forward to in marrying Iroh. Asami reached over to give Pema's hand a grateful squeeze. "Thank you, Pema."

"You're welcome," she said, returning Asami's squeeze with one of her own. "Now enough with this silly girl talk thing. There are hot men outside sparring and I'm missing out."

Asami laughed and Korra looked shocked. "I can't believe you just said that!"

"What?" Pema asked, carefully standing up. "Just because I'm happily married and a mother of four doesn't mean I can't enjoy what's on display in front of me. Now hurry up! I have no problem leaving both of you behind and enjoying the show by myself."

Asami and Korra shared a brief look before grinning and getting up to follow the airbending master's wife outside where they joined her in laughing and carrying on lightheartedly as good friends did. And of course, they watched and cheered and teased their men from the sidelines until their faces blushed red, Tenzin's the brightest of them all.

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A/N: A little bit of fun because Pema is amazing. :) I want to take a moment to genuinely thank every person for reading this story. It means so much to me to hear that so many people are liking reading this and I cannot thank you all enough for all the fantastic feedback, suggestions and thoughtful messages I have received. I posted a much longer thank you on my tumblr page, so I'll keep this short, but I wanted to get this out for the people who follow me here as well. So thank you all so very very much!