I still don't own LoK nor Anastasia's plotlines. Here's where it deviates for the most part from Anastasia's plot.
The interruption in question was yet another messenger hawk, this one bearing the Fire Nation crest on it. Iroh had frowned as he took the message from the hawk, and then as it flew off. He read it before scowling and putting it away in his bag. Just after he did, he burrowed into the pile of blankets and coats that had become a shared bed for the two. She could tell his head was giving him grief, which was why she joined him to try to give him comfort.
The abandoned building that Iroh and Kailee had made their temporary lodgings in had created a sort of bond between the two, and it was here that they remained for the upcoming days as the rain and snow continued to fall. During their time and stay while the horrible weather continued to come down, they didn't do much more than get to know each other.
Likes, dislikes, habits, even a bit of sparring was done in the fist fights. Iroh kept trying to bend, although he couldn't know why, but nothing ever came out. As the time passed, the two began learning different other ways to communicate, like through seismic waves in the earth. It was extremely difficult for them since they weren't earthbenders, but they finally managed to get it down to a rough and rocky, if not unpolished, art.
Iroh had even managed to get a job working at a prison as a prison guard for any benders that were there. He was quick enough on his feet, and Kailee had taught him how to block chi, so he soon became the first nonbending prison guard to remain there for more than two days. Over time, he saved up all the money that he wasn't spending on food to try to buy a few tiny luxuries for Kailee, even if it did take a long time.
Kailee fell deeper and deeper in love with Iroh as the days turned into weeks with the two of them living in the abandoned mansion. One day when he had gotten home from a long day at work, she'd worked a few muscles out in his shoulders and had even drawn up a bath for him, which she knew he'd need if the day was particularly long. Iroh was nervous, she could tell, but she still couldn't tell about what.
Finally, as she left to leave him to his bath, he spoke for the first time in more than a month since his bending had been taken away. And although it was only a simple "thank you", it made Kailee's heart soar to hear his voice again.
LOK
"You requested to see me, Fire Lord and Lady?" Korra asked respectively bowing.
"Yes. You know of our son, General Iroh the second?" they asked, and she nodded.
"Last I checked he was on the way to the Northern Water Tribe to try to get someone who was mute to Master Katara to see if she could heal them."
"He's gone," the Fire Lord said gravely. "His fleet, his own ship in particular, was attacked by a very, very powerful waterbender. The lieutenant said that he was unconscious after defeating her and forcing her to retreat, and that he was in a stupor for a few days. But when they made temporary port to pick up supplies, he vanished."
"Was there anyone who would want to hurt him?" Korra asked confused, "Did the waterbender have a name?"
"Tarala, from what she called herself," the lieutenant said stepping forwards. "She-she wasn't just waterbending. She was bloodbending, although it was the full moon…"
"Bloodbending?! Did she get one hand on his forehead and the other on his chest?" Korra asked panicked, and the lieutenant nodded.
"Yes, but that was only from what the mute was able pantomime on what she saw had happened. She disappeared along with General Iroh, I'm afraid," the lieutenant said bowing his head. "I thought she was making it up, I should have checked…"
"What do you mean by when this waterbender put one hand on his forehead and the other on his chest?" Iroh's father asked worriedly.
"That stance is one taken when you're taking or giving bending," Korra said, and they put their hands over their mouths in horror as Iroh's mother buried her face in her husband's shoulder. "I can give it back to him, as the Avatar, but I'm worried about any possible permanent damage that could have been done."
"There must be a way to find him," she sobbed. "There must be a way to find my son!"
"Well, there was the method that Fire Lord Zuko used to find General Iroh the first," Iroh's father said contemplating. "But where would we find one of those beasts?"
"I'm pretty sure it was in the Earth Kingdom," Korra said putting a hand on her chin. "At least, that's the gut feeling I'm getting."
"I put my son's life in your hands, Avatar Korra," the Fire Lord said nodding gravely. "Please find him and bring him home to us."
LOK
"Kailee," Iroh rasped as he held out his prized music box. "Do you know this tune?"
"What tune?" Kailee said with wide eyes, "Where did your bird get this?"
"I remember the music box playing a tune," Iroh said pulling out the pendant of her necklace. "But for the life of me I can't find out what it was."
Kailee put the necklace pendant in the bottom of the music box and twisted it a few times until the music box opened and began playing the tune. They both stared at it like awestruck children for a while, with only the song notes being heard.
"That's the tune that I remember only one phrase to," Kailee said stunned as it finished.
"You know it?"
"I don't know how, but yes. It's familiar, but the only words I remember are 'once upon a december', which really doesn't make any sense," Kailee said contemplating.
"Then would you like to create new lyrics?" he asked, and she nodded vigorously.
Aww! This is where they start to forge a bond! It'll get pretty gushy from here on out.
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