𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐫'𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 | lok [editing in process]

004. rough times ; parts one & two

Her lips suddenly tugged into a smirk and echoed, "Date?"

I slapped my hand over my mouth, backing away with nervous laughter. "What? No, no, no! Date is actually. . . modern slang. . .used for hanging out—okay, okay, I meant date as in a date." I added the last part with a sheepish murmur as she sent me an unimpressed look. "Alright, I may or may not like him as more than just friends. . ."

She letted out a small excited squeal, clasping her hands with a dreamish expression. "Oh, I'm so happy! Finally, my daughter isn't going to be alone for the rest of her life—"

"Mom, for the last time, we're not getting married!—"

"Uh, Katrina?" I heard Iroh hesitantly called out from the living room, making me slap a hand over my mouth once again, suddenly realizing how loud I must've said that. With an embarrassed intake of air, I stepped into the living room with a dismissive hand.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! I. . .uh. . .me and my mom were just conversing about the, uuhh, marriage proposals I had been sent! I was just telling her that I just am not ready to, you know, get married just yet!"

His eyebrows rose up, concerned. "Marriage proposals?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, gulping. "Oh, yeah! Lots of guys usually send me those 'cause, you know, I'm really beautiful and talented unlike most of the girls in our hometown! B-but, don't you fret about that! I declined all of 'em. . ."

Glancing over my shoulder to see if Mom wasn't there, I smirked and whispered with a wink. ". . .all for you, General."

Iroh's eyes sparkled with amusement as he leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "All for me? Well, I must say, I feel incredibly honored." 

"You should be!" I jested in a matter-of-fact tone, gently leading him to sit down on the couch. "Anyways, tell me about your day."

He leaned his head back, humming. "Well, I had to spend most of the day with Master Katara, listening to her childhood stories about my grandfather. It was quite hilarious. I'll make sure to tell you about it sometime."

"Oh, yes please!" I chuckled, turning my body slightly towards him as I leaned my head against an propped elbow that rested against the back cushion. "Actually, kinda' off topic, but I'm curious. How many times did that little lady mention her wondrous mother?"

He started counting on his fingers and as it reached to six, I gasped with a chortle. "Shut up, even the touching her necklace thingy she always does? You know, I actually made this weird bet with her when I was young that if she ever mentioned her mother fifty times throughout my lifetime, then she owed me dumplings for a whole year. I don't know, I was hungry when I made that bet."

"Her dumplings are really delicious," he agreed.

"Right? Anyways, she probably forgot about it but she's over at forty-six mentions, so I need to go remind her about that."

His eyes widened, taken aback. "You remembered?"

"If there's a yearly supply of Master Katara's dumplings on the line, who wouldn't remember?"

We both erupted into laughter and talked more about his time here at the Southern Water Tribe. Of course, the mood started to change once the question of my day was forwarded to me. I letted out a small sigh, nonchalantly saying, "Nothing much, just that my tribe is literally about to go to war with the North and we have to depend on my little sister, who, for some reason, seems to care more about my silly uncle."

"Seems like everything's going great," he responded sarcastically before softening his tone. "But if you need someone to talk to, I'm always here."

I smiled, glancing down at my fingers as I fiddled with them. It was still so hard to comprehend these past days, with the troops disrupting the peace of the South to Unalaq threatening to release my secret to Korra, whose relationship with each other had been quite unstable so far.