~Celestial Bodies~

2.4

"I've never seen them before," she whispered when she felt a presence behind her.

"How come?" asked Iroh, looking from the sky to her face. "You never went to the north pole?"

Rae shook her head, making Iroh's eyes widen slightly. He never expected her to have never gone to the north. He knew that a lot of the scrolls about the guardian were kept there, and he had imagined she'd probably visited since she had as much knowledge as it existed on her title.

"I was always refrained from it," she said, not taking her eyes away from the sky, "The White Lotus told me it wasn't safe. Even though I travelled, they tried to keep me as much as they could in either Republic City, the fire nation capital or Zaofu.

It's also one of the reason my Waterbending training was delayed. Before my 18th birthday, I barely got to travel to the South Pole. And they after I joined the police, I barely stepped foot out of Republic City."

"Why do you think the White Lotus never allowed you to travel to the Northern Tribes?" asked Iroh gently, tearing his gaze away from the woman when he saw the corner of her eyes meet his.

She frowned and shrugged, looking down at the snowy ground. Without another word, she started walking, letting the cold breeze ruffle her silvery hair.

At first, Iroh thought she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. She was walking, slowly and steadily, looking around the sky. But she seemed not to see the small natural stair in the ground, making her loose balance. Before she could fall, the general looped his arm around her waist and caught her.

"Are you ok?" he asked, his eyes wide with worry.

Rae blinked a few times, looking at her feet. "Yeah... I'm fine," she said, yet Iroh could hear the confusion in her voice. "I just... didn't see the stair."

Quite confused by what happened, Rae continued to stare at the ground. Yet her vision didn't seem to get any better. As much as she blinked, the blur didn't seem to go away. After a few more seconds of uncontrollably blinking and rubbing her eyes, Rae finally got her perfect vision back. Only then did she see the small stair and her ears tinted red with embarrassment. When she realized Iroh's hand was still wrapped around her waist, the pinkish colour extended to her cheeks.

She turned her head to look at the man and gave him a small smile. "I'm fine really," she whispered. Iroh nodded, yet his grip didn't let go. The two were frozen in their spot, neither moving, towards or away from each other.

"Are you sure you're alright?" asked Iroh slowly. It wasn't the first time he saw her distracted in this way. She had been like this ever since they came back from the South Pole.

Before Rae couldn't answer, they heard a shout in the distance. Korra came, running and panting with Naga behind her. Her eyes were full of anger and sadness.

"Rae!" she shouted when she finally saw the woman, "I need to talk to you!"

The Guardian walked away from Iroh, suddenly feeling cold. Yet she didn't stop until she was standing in front of the Avatar.

"What happened, Korra?" she asked, her voice laced with worry.

The young Avatar look down and shut her eyes. Rae placed a hand on her shoulder, gently not to startle her, and turned to Iroh. The man cleared his throat and said, "I'll be in my quarters, if you need me." Rae nodded and mouthed a 'thank you', to which the general nodded and gave a discreet smile.

Guiding her through the streets, Rae led Korra to a small bench. The view they had from the small hidden spot was wonderful and calming. When they were both seated, Korra sighed and put her head in her hands.