Y/N's POV
As we finished our tea, Iroh took our cups over to the owner who was behind the counter and stood there speaking with her. I sat with my hands in my lap, twiddling my thumbs before I felt a presence above me.
I turned to look up and before me stood a tall man, probably around my age with dark hair and green eyes, his hand was leaning against the table and he towered over me, he didn't say anything so I awkwardly asked,
"Umm... can I help you?"
He darted his eyes away and his now flushed face before he cleared his throat and asked,
"I uh- I saw you as I walked in and I thought you were really pretty... what's your name?"
Oh no. I'm not good in these situations. At all.
"Oh... Umm... I'm Y/N."
He turned back to me and softly smiled,
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ruo, so are you from around here?"
"No, I'm just here for work, I'm from the Fire Nation."
"Oh, the Fire Nation? That's cool, heard things are pretty hot there, you know... fire and all... ha. What kind of work do you have here?"
"I'm the aide to the general of the United Forces."
"Wow, that's kinda cool, actually. Anyway, I was wondering if whilst you were in the city, you'd like to go out sometime... on a date?"
"Actually, I have a-"
He turned to see Iroh now stood behind him and I awkwardly finished,
"-boyfriend..."
Iroh scowled at him before walking over to me and offering me his hand, before pulling me up as I awkwardly smiled at Ruo who didn't look like he really knew what to do.
Ugh. So awkward.
As we walked through the streets, Iroh didn't say a word to me, he was just holding my hand and pacing back to the house we were staying in.
I stopped in my tracks and pulled his arm so he'd stop, he turned to me with a straight face and raised an eyebrow,
"Yes?"
"What's up with you?"
"Nothing, I'm fine."
I mirrored his eyebrow raise and challenged,
"Iroh. I know you're lying."
"Ugh. What did that guy say to you?"
I felt a smile break out onto my face and I playfully gasped,
"Iroh! Are you... jealous?"
His face turned bright red and he looked away from me before clearing his throat and responding,
"Just answer the question, please."
I giggled,
"Oh my spirits! You are jealous!"
He turned around and kept walking, ignoring my remark. I ran after him and grabbed onto his hand, walking beside him.
"He told me he thought I was pretty, and was just asking me about myself and wanted to know if I'd like to go on a date, I was on the middle of responding to him when you came over."
We approached the house and as we walked in, Iroh asked,
"Did you think he was attractive?"
I softly smiled before wrapping my arms around his neck and pecking his lips,
"How could I? Have you seen how breathtaking my boyfriend is?"
His cheeks tinted pink as he pulled away and retreated to the bathroom.
I yelled after him,
"Hey! When you're done, do you wanna train with me?"
"Yeah, sure!"
Hours later, I freshened up before asking,
"So, where are we going tonight?"
"I told you, it's a surprise."
I groaned,
"But we still have hours until nightfall! There's nothing to do!"
"Well, do you wanna go for some food?"
I shrugged my shoulders,
"If you want, I don't mind."
Iroh's POV
We went out to a restaurant in the upper ring where we had noodles, I swallowed some before looking across the table at Y/N and asking,
"Is it just me, or does Earth Kingdom food lack spice?"
"You're so right, food back home is way spicier than this. It's still good, though."
As we were finishing up, I looked outside, the dark was starting to settle over the city. I took a deep breath before calling over the waiter for the bill.
Y/N pulled out some money and insisted that she paid for it, I protested,
"No, Y/N, let me, it's not a big deal!"
"If it's not a big deal, then it should be no problem if I pay."
We debated back and forth for a while, but in the end, she won.
I stood up and offered her my arm, she linked hers into mine as we walked down the quiet street of Ba Sing Se, she leaned into me as we walked and sighed,
"I love you, Iroh, so much."
I felt fluttering in my stomach.
How can it be that I've been with her for so long and she still manages to give me butterflies?
"And I love you, Y/N."
As we walked down the street, I led her down a path that I had asked for directions towards earlier and told her to close her eyes, I held my hands over them before pulling them away and she gasped,
"Wow, Iroh, it's so beautiful."
The firelight fountain was surrounded by fire lamps that reflected in the pools of water, sparkling in such a beautiful way. Flickering flames allowed the reflections to dance around the ripples of water, grandfather was right, it was a stunning sight.
I sat on the edge of the fountain and motioned for her to join me.
She sat beside me and gently tapped her finger into the water, creating another ripple, the reflection of the flames in her ripple danced in her eyes as she stared at it in awe.
After admiring her for a few moments, I pulled one of her hands into mine before reaching for the necklace in my pocket,
"Y/N, right, well, I'm aware that I haven't known you for long, but I feel as though our time together has been so amazing and so life-changing, I feel so blessed everyday waking up knowing that you're a part of my life and-"
Her head turned as a pretty little firefly-moth fluttered in between us and she leaned towards it trying to have it hand on her hand.
"I was well... wondering if maybe you would do me the honour of-"
SPLASH.
Water drenched the side of my body and I looked down to see Y/N sat in the fountain, still holding my hand.
I pushed the necklace back into the bottom of my pocket, maybe next time.
"Are you okay?"
She looked up at me and pouted, I chuckled a bit before helping her out and brushing my thumbs under her eyes.
"You're drenched."
She sarcastically responded,
"Really, Iroh? I didn't notice!"
She stepped back from me and bent the water out of her clothes and hair before dropping it back into the fountain.
"Hey, do you think you could help me out a bit?"
I pointed to the water down my side that she had splashed onto me when she fell in. She examined it before smiling,
"Nope!"
"Oh, come on! Please!"
She shrugged her shoulders and skipped to the other side of the fountain.
"Y/N!"
I felt a splash of cold water over my head and I groaned,
"You aren't funny!"
But she was giggling, I ran over to her and grabbed onto her waist, pulling her close to me, and whispering,
"Please, Y/N."
She darted her eyes away and her cheeks dusted a light pink.
"No."
I smirked, then kissed her cheek before gently pushing her jaw to face me and pressing my lips into hers.
As she melted into the kiss, she clasped her arms around my neck and after a few moments, she pulled an arm away and bent the water from my hair and clothes.
I smirked against her lips before pulling away and running down the street,
"Thanks!"
She furrowed her eyebrows and pulled some water from the fountain and threw it at me, but I put up a wall of flames and it evaporated in front of me.
She chased after me yelling,
"You're so annoying!"
As I chuckled, running back to the house.