The Reason Why Mom Loves Dad [ON HOLD]

GOING THROUGH THE SERPENT'S PASS TO BA SING SE

The result? 3 tickets to Ba Sing Se.

Zuko and Tenten could only look at Iroh with newfound respect.

"What should we do when we get to Ba Sing Se?" Iroh asked while stroking his beard.

"Maybe we can get Zuko a girlfriend~" Tenten teased with a smile on her face.

"N-No way!!! I'm not getting a girlfriend!!!" Zuko shouted in mock outrage.

"Looks like you're gonna be a sad lonely boy forever."

"Why, you!!"

And with that, Zuko chased Tenten round the ship. 

Iroh just looked fondly at them. Ever since Tenten joined them, she was the only one that could make Zuko smile like that.

At first, after Zuko kidnapped Tenten, she tried everything possible to annoy the hell out of him, hoping that he would dump her at some random island so she could do the mission on her own. But after one of their many fights, she discovered that the crew didn't respect him and decided to have a heart-to-heart talk with him.

Ever since their talk, they've been closer.  At some point, after Zuko's failed attempt at capturing Aang at the Northern Water Tribe, he sat them down and downright asked if they had feelings for each other.

But they just laughed and said that wasn't the case, and that they felt more like siblings. 

To be more specific, Zuko's exact words were: "She's the sister I never had."

That came as a surprise to Iroh, considering they were both different in every way possible.

Zuko had fair skin, Tenten was tanned.

Zuko had amber orbs, Tenten had plain chocolate eyes.

Zuko had pitch black hair, Tenten had brown hair.

Zuko was reserved, Tenten was social. {A skill that helped them most of the time}

Zuko was great at fire bending, Tenten hated fire bending. {They tried asking for her reason, but she never told them}

They contrasted yet complemented each other perfectly.

Iroh then pulled Zuko aside when Tenten went to a market to get supplies, and asked him if he was replacing Azula with Tenten.

All Zuko said was: "Azula will always be my sister, I can't change that. But with Tenten, I'm at ease. I'm not replacing Azula, but these days, I find myself wishing Tenten was my sister."

Iroh just sighed, because he knew it was true. When Azula came to take both him and Zuko back home, Zuko looked at her for a solid 3 minutes before realizing it was Azula and not Tenten.

Another reason Iroh wasn't on board with Zuko getting attached to Tenten was that he had kidnapped her. And Iroh was willing to bet his life that her friends were already looking for her. Tenten staying wasn't fair to her at all.

Iroh was sure that when this war was over, nothing would make Tenten stay here because she has a life back in her world. He just hoped that Zuko would have grown enough by then to let her go.

"Apologize!!" Zuko said as he grabbed Tenten and tousled her hair roughly with a grin, snapping Iroh out of his trip down memory lane.