As Asami strolled unsuspectingly towards the Air Temple, her heart stopped. The large threatening yellow-eyed, black-and-green-scaled creature hissed at her, bearing its sharp large set of teeth. She opened her mouth to scream but was too paralyzed with fear. She couldn't even remember how to run. It looked like the black devil in the shape of an animal.

"Down girl," Iroh calmly said as he stepped from around the creature.

"What is that – that thing?" she took a step back though she couldn't keep the shrillness from her tone.

"She's a mongoose dragon. I brought her from the Fire Nation. I think she's jealous."

"She's jealous?" she said incredulously.

"Of another woman? Of course. But she'll relent eventually to let you ride her with me."

"You actually ride that thing? And you expect me to do the same? No! Nothing in the world could convince me."

"We must leave soon if we're to make the dinner reservations at Kuang's on time." Iroh petted the creature's head. It curved to his touch like a lover. "She's friendly once you get to know her. It'll be the ride of your life," he turned from the creature to Asami. "You can trust me, Ms. Asami."

Asami's green eyes flickered from the creature to Iroh and back. She took the tiniest step forward. "What if it tries to attack me?"

He cracked beautiful, rare smile. "Introduce yourself properly and she'll behave like a lady."

She eyed his open hand with suspicion but reluctantly accepted it. He smoothed her hand on top of the creature's head. Asami made a face. "Its scales are so cold and odd feeling."

It made a sound deep in its throat, clearly not appreciating the criticism. Its tail cut through the air in front of her. Iroh chuckled lightly at Asami's apprehension as she unconsciously jumped closer to him. She quickly became aware of this and moved out of his range. She calculated the situation as she coolly said, "Why'd you bring her in the first place? Couldn't we take a Satomobile? I can drive, you know."

"I brought her to battle with us but you know how that went. Luckily, I found her after Amon's disappearance. She's been indoors ever since so I figured it'd be good for her to stretch her legs."

"Does she have a name?"

He laughed; something she never thought she'd hear but wanted to hear a little more. "Although I've grown affectionate towards her, we do not customarily name our military riding animals. Do you name your Satomobile?"

"No, I guess not. General Iroh, you didn't warn me that you made dinner reservations. I'm not dressed."

"You are lovely regardless."

"I should at least get out of my riding uniform. You can wait for me out here, General," she upturned her nose and continued inside.

The creature looked up at Iroh and he shrugged.

/…./

She yawned, polished her nails against her dress, and got off the chair. She figured she's waited long enough. He may have gotten her off guard with the mongoose dragon but her second move for warfare is perfect: make him wait long enough to keep him guessing but also enough so they don't completely miss the reservation. She walked slowly out the door to find him patiently waiting with his arms behind his back. Her lips curved up as she watched his eyes widen. The long dark red dress had straps that looped around her neck, an exposed back, and a hot red torso piece. It was slightly more risky than she'd normally wear but it was worth the awe in his expression.

"You're…" he took a deep breath, "breathtaking, Ms. Asami."

Asami: 3 - Iroh: 1.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I had trouble finding the earrings to match."

"You'll find my patience is vast. Let's go." He jumped onto the creature's harness and held out his hand again.

She took a calming breath before she took his hand. Once he helped her onto the harness, he advised, "You should hold on tight, Ms. Asami. I wouldn't want you to fall."

Adhering to his word she wrapped her arms around his chest.

She wrinkled her brow. "I just realized something. How will it get off the island? And isn't it dangerous for your creature to go in traffic with all the other Sa-"

He pulled at the rein, giving the creature the green light. In a flash, the creature crawled at an amazing speed. It quickly ran over the water separating the island from Republic City. Gasping in wonder, she marveled at the sight of the water around her. She gasped for a second time when they entered the road and, at their speed, were about to hit a Satomobile. Iroh pulled the reins to the left.

OH SPIRITS, THE THING WAS CRAWLING ON THE WALL.

Asami screamed bloody murder and held onto Iroh for dear life. The man seemed to enjoy this, laughing boisterously the whole time. It ran over the buildings fluidly enough since its speed allowed it to do so.

"Open your eyes," he commanded.

How does he know that she had them closed? Little by little, she looked out. All the way from up here everything looked like play toys. She smiled at the new angle of seeing. Her hair whipped around her, the clip long gone. It's not so bad after a while… in fact, when the restaurant came into view, Asami was somewhat disappointed. Touché, Iroh, touché.

The creature landed on the ground with a thump.

"Wow."

"I assume you enjoyed youself?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Do you want to get down or should we skip dinner?"

She couldn't explain why she didn't want to let go. Perhaps it was from the lingering fear and adrenaline. Regardless, she forced herself to get off the creature.

"My hair, it must be ruined. How can I go in and act civil after that?" she pouted, trying to fluff her hair into place.

"Believe me, you're the picture of grace," he assured her, placing his large hand on her bare back. "Let's go in?"

Asami placed her hand in the crook of his arm. The two walked in poise, looking the part of an elegant, perfect power couple. The connoisseur led them to their table in the middle of the restaurant.

"Every man in the room is jealous," he quietly said to her.

She quickly and subtly scanned the room to find that it was in fact mostly women that were sending dirty looks in their direction. Assuredly, Asami Sato would not stoop to their level by responding but she did pull Iroh closer. She's definitely learned to be a bit more wary of other women. Don't be jealous girls. I'm sure you'll find someone like this in, oh, never.

Iroh pulled out her large, pattern-detailed chair before taking a seat himself. He asked the connoisseur, "What is today's special?"

"An extravagant dish served to Fire Nation Royalty, sir: smoked sea slugs with a side of clams."

"I should know. I had it last week. Is there any dish more diverse?"

"Perhaps you would enjoy the traditional Earth Kingdom dish: steamed fish with an appetizer of omashu cabbage wraps."

"That sounds good. And you, Ms. Asami?"

She handed the man her menu. "I'll have the same."

Iroh stopped the waiter before he left. "Bring out your most expensive bottle of wine."

"Very good, sir," the connoisseur nodded and scurried away.

In a tone proper for a lady, Asami informed him, "You should know I'm not impressed by money, General Iroh."

"I believe I was doing myself a great service. It assures me it's not boxed wine."

She smiled, her eyes lighting up. "Only the purest of selfish intentions."

"Exactly," he nodded gravely.

"You must tip the connoisseur generously for complying with your request."

"I plan to."

"Do you even know what boxed wine tastes like?"

He cleared his throat. "I haven't had that pleasure yet."

Leaning forward, she whispered in a conspiratorial tone, "Neither have I."

He replied tongue-in-cheek, "A lady should never subject herself to such lowly pursuits at any rate."

"Absolutely. It should be left for the peasants." Helpless to stop herself, her smile widened.

It felt strange yet somehow refreshing to tease each other like this. Asami has had her fair share of wealthy suitors. Plenty of them had been polite but they were all generally too arrogant. She had given up trying to fulfill her father's great expectations, instead dating ordinary boys. That wasn't too bad an experience until Mako. But Iroh was different from all of her past boyfriends. He was charming, adventurous, funny, and despite a past dismissal of his rank, he must have worked hard to get it. Not to mention the fact he was completely and utterly gorgeous.

The connoisseur arrived with their wine and appetizers. She pulled her cup away from the man once it was half full. "So, General Iroh, how did you climb up the military ranks? You had the title before Amon. I mean, as we haven't had a war since the Hundred Year War, it is hardly likely that you won a battle."

"And you're correct. I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear about it though. It's mostly a lot of hard work, paperwork, and diplomacy. I suppose you can say I'm also naturally talented at all things war."

"I bet it doesn't hurt to be heir to the throne either."

He grudgingly gave her that point.

She complimented, "But you're certainly the best fighter I've ever seen."

"Well, Ms. Asami, you yourself are a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Where did you learn to fight?"

"My father had hired some experts train me so I would never be vulnerable. It was pretty cool and obviously, it came in handy. I'll admit though, I'd love it if you could show me some moves later on. I might not be a fire bender but with a glove, I'm pretty close."

He bowed his head. "It would be my honor, Ms. Asami," and he meant it.