Hello!
Thank you for the positive responses that I got from my last chapters! Reading them and knowing that you like my story really make my day. Big thanks for Nicole The Dragon Rider, Laugers song, Cameron Dallas, Foreverandtrulyyours, Avera-of-Light, shipperofmany, It's-all-about-the-magic, KitsuneHime18x and karez94 for the follows, favorites, and reviews during the gap between the first chapters and the new one. BIG LOVE!
I got the inspiration and the general theme for this fanfiction from Nieriel Raina's Uncharacteristic Fury (you can find it here at s/5102872/1/Uncharacteristic-Fury). If you are the fan of The Lord of the Rings and your OTP is Faramir-Éowyn, make sure to read, review, and favorite the story!
Anyway, I tried really hard to come up with this chapter. I was so busy with my assignments and papers and my head was almost exploded ha! I think I made the chapter in more words than before so I hope it would make up the slowness in updating.
Enough with the blabber, enjoy the reading!
The Bundle of Joy
-III-
He clenched his teeth as his usually warm amber eyes followed the movements of the airplane thoroughly. He had his hands folded on his chest. He spread his feet the length of his shoulder. The expression of his face was as hard as stone. No workers dared to be around the General of the United Forces.
The first thing Iroh did after he got off early from the United Forces meeting was to come home. He took some honey cake he knew his wife would love on the way home. He already imagined his pregnant wife, with a little bump of a four and a half months pregnancy on her stomach, greeted her with a wide smile because she did not expect Iroh to come home at this early hour. The image itself already made Iroh chuckled.
However, when he arrived at the Sato Mansion, where he and his wife lived for now, he did not find any presence of the raven haired beauty. He searched every floor and every room the huge mansion had, but he did not find her. Felt a little bit odd since his wife told him that today was her day off, he decided to call the Future Industries office.
Truth to be said, his wife was indeed at the Future Industries. It would be good thing if Asami only did paperwork and stayed behind the desk during the time. The General did not expect his wife to be at the area of flight test—and she was the one behind the flight control.
He watched the bright painted plane, contrast with the dark clouds behind it, for almost half an hour already. The plane seemed to fly closer to the ground and Iroh took it as a cue that Asami had finished her test flight. A tall and slim silhouette walked closer to the hangar where the stiff General was standing.
"Iroh!"
A frightened shreak echoed around the hangar, completed by a pair of widened jade eyes. Asami Sato certainly was not expecting a view of her husband waiting for her in the hangar of the flight field of Future Industries. She did not expect Iroh would be off the meeting by now, at all.
The General of the United Forces kept his stiff and frowned expression, an expression he did not know he would show to his wife. The coldness of his eyes made Asami uneasy for this was also her first time looking at this side of Iroh. However, a proud woman she was, she held her head high and tried hard to look the way she always been.
"What are you doing here, Iroh?" Asami asked, "I thought you were in a meeting?"
"I think we both know that ignoring the elephant in the room is only going to make this worse, Asami," Iroh said with a sharp tone that almost made Asami shiver, "What are you doing here?"
"As you can see, I was testing the new Future Industries' Aeroplane," she (tried) to answer casually, "I don't see anything wrong with it."
"I believe you have your workers to do the job. Why it was you who were flying the thing?"
Asami started to feel annoyed. Did not she explain it before to him—she was only flying the plane, safe and sound, and in only several minutes. Nothing big. Her brows started to frown and she pursed her lips as she speak, "The pilot who was responsible for today test is taking a permitted absence, and another one is in a hospital! There was no one else to test it and the project is already passed the deadline. I could not risk postponing it longer as the client want the model to be shown immediately, or else he would not bother to make a deal with us. I thought you, all of the people, will know to sacrifice your own need to fulfill your responsibility!"
She did not realize that she was speaking in higher tone than before. As she finished speaking, she immediately regretted it. The figure in front of her was not the Iroh she has been accustomed to—he was different. The man standing across her was a cold, stone-hearted looking General with fury and rage boiling inside of him. It was like looking at him when he just lost a battle with the worst output United Forces has seen.
"That doesn't mean that you abandon the biggest responsibility you have," he said as he slowly erased the spaces between them, "I would not sacrifice the halves of my life even for silly responsibility that I know someone else could take care."
Asami wanted to take steps back but her pride only strengthen her stance. Iroh kept moving closer and closer until they could feel each other's breath.
"Have you been deaf before? I told you nobody else was capable to test the plane! I were the only one to—"
"I don't care!" Iroh cut her, "Did you not see the sky above you, Asami?! It was pitch black! The weather is unpredictable these days and the wind is so strong! The wind can blow your plane away and you won't be able to control it in any way you know!"
"But—" she wanted to shout and argue before she remembered that he was not just some other man she knew. He was her husband, and liked it or not, she had to give him some respect. She hesitated for a moment before she continued, "—I know how to handle the machine, Iroh. It was not my first time flying a plane in a bad weather condition, right?"
"But you certainly never flown in the middle of hurricanes and storms," He lowered himself so they were on the same height, although Asami refused to see him on the eyes, "I'm a sailor, Asami. I know the types of clouds. This cloud," he pointed at the sky, "Today, is certainly not the typical rain clouds. The cloud has been lingered here for several days already. Even the most skilled pilot ever will find it tricky to escape once you trapped inside."
Asami could not say anything back. Honestly, the pilot who was admitted to the hospital of Republic City faced the storm two days ago and the plane indeed, crashed. The pilot was the best Future Industries has. It was also the reason why the project went so slow and passed the deadline already.
The raven haired woman tried to look directly into her husband's eyes. The previously cold amber now was glittering with worry, anxiety, and scare. She realized that Iroh was not just bluffing around, throwing tantrum at her. He actually cared about her.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Iroh!" she immediately covered her face with her hands, unwilling to show her embarrassed tears which streaming down on her cheeks, "I knew it was dangerous but I was really frustrated about the project and I completely ignored the safety of myself.. And worse of all, our child! Oh really, Iroh, how could I do the irresponsible thing to our child?!"
Iroh was startled because of her sudden changes, but he quickly dismissed it. He took her hands with his own and kissed her forehead dearly. The General then wrapped his love with a tight and warm hug, trying hard to not crush her.
"I'm so sorry too, 'Sami," Iroh whispered, "I let my emotion took control of myself too much. I shouldn't yell at to you as you only do your job. But I can't help it… I was too scared of losing you, losing our child…"
The way Iroh responded was only made her cry harder. It was not because she felt guilty, although partly it was. It was because Iroh was so different—the other men would not say sorry like Iroh did. They would only rub the mistake on her face and let their pride of winning the argument ran through their veins. However, Iroh did not do that.
"Shush, my dear…" he said as he broke the hug, wiped her tears with his calloused thumb, "…At least you're okay now, and that's all I need."
Asami finally let out a small chuckle, "We are both fools, aren't we?"
"We are indeed, we are indeed," he snorted a smile, "I love you."
"I love you too."