"How's the super-secret defense planning going?" Korra asked, her words partially drowned out by the sound of cracking wood as her rock slammed neatly into a target. She lifted a few more fist-sized boulders from the ground, let them hover in an arc in front of her for a moment, then flung them at the target, turning it into a pile of rock and splintered wood.

"Pretty good so far," Asami replied, "Although it's not really 'super-secret.' Aren't they keeping you updated? You are the Avatar."

"Yeah, when they get anything finalized. I think it's too slow." She demolished another target.

"Tenzin's told me to listen to the spirits and see how it's working out. I figure if the spirits are that unhappy, they'll come to me."

The last of the targets collapsed under a barrage of stones. Korra dusted off her hands, then, with a smooth motion of her arms, pulled the boulders back into neat piles.

"Nice work," Asami commented, impressed. A small storm of applause broke out from behind the storage shed, only to stop when the two women turned to look at the young airbenders hiding there. A few sheepish grins, a whirlwind, and they were gone.

"Huh." Asami paused for a moment before asking Korra, "Have Jinora and Ikki been acting... weird lately?"

"What, weirder than usual?" Korra smiled. "They're just crazy kids, that's all. Nothing to worry about."

A bell in the Air Temple rang out the time. "I've got to go, " Asami told Korra, "Iroh wants me in his meeting with Chief Bei Fong."

"Heh, good luck with that. She's a tough woman to deal with."

~o~

The Chief of Police did not sound impressed with the folder of papers she tossed down on the table in front of her. "And?" she demanded, "How are my officers supposed to put this into effect?"

"It's pretty well arranged, Chief Bei Fong," Asami said, reaching across the table and dragging the folder to her. She flipped it open and pulled out a sheet marked with the United Defense Force seal. "Here's the summary. You'll set up officers at these areas and transport locations-"

"I know how it works." Lin interrupted. "What I need to know it how you plan to pay for all this. Surveillance isn't cheap, and I need to give my officers proper salaries for this extra work."

Iroh answered that. "The United Defense Force is supplying funds from a joint grant offered by the Fire Lord and Earth King. You'll have enough to prevent any complaints, and to keep the equipment in function."

"Hmm... Very well, I'll accept this. I'll report back on effectiveness in two months."

"Agreed, ma'am. We should have more intel by then as well." Iroh said, and saluted her, earning a small smile from the stern woman, who returned the gesture. Lin gathered up the files and tucked the folder into a bag.

She walked out of the room, and Asami turned to Iroh and said, "I think that's a success."

"I couldn't have done it without you," he responded. And though Asami couldn't have said why, she felt like she was glowing with pride.

~o~

"Where are my little airbenders?" a familiar voice boomed, and the three children giggled from behind the wall as their father tried not to show his exasperation.

"Uncle Bumi!" the kids chorused, running into the room and leaping up on the man. He laughed and kissed their heads, and pulled candies from one of his uniform's many pockets.

"Yay! Food!" Meelo cheered, winning a laugh from Jinora.

"And how is the little one doing?" Bumi asked Pema, who had just entered with Rohan bundled in her arms.

"Very well, thank you!" The Commander ruffled the baby's hair, and the boy blinked at him before deciding this was funny, and laughing.

Later, after much food and laughter and hugs supplemented by occasional exasperated glances from their father, the two girls took Bumi into the library, telling him they had a surprise. Jinora explained the situation, with Ikki interjecting comments here and there. Their uncle thought for a moment.

"I knew that boy would find someone eventually," he said, moslty to himself, then continued to the girls, "So you've got a couple that are perfect for each other and need some help realizing it? I think I've got just the thing."

~o~

Asami was soldering the last wires into a mecha's hood when Ikki ran up to her with an urgency she didn't normally see in the little airbender.

"Asami! Asami!" the girl shouted, "You gotta follow me, Iroh's in danger!"

At this, Asami nearly dropped the iron. Iroh, in danger? What could it possibly be that he couldn't deal with himself? And how could she help? But she followed Ikki anyway, determined to give whatever she could.

Jinora's cry for help pulled Iroh away from his reading. What was going on? An attack? Was that Asami's name she was calling, was Asami in trouble? Anything that could threaten the fearless mechanic must be serious.

"What's happening?" he called out, pushing away a growing fear, falling into the combat mentality he knew so well. He turned to run to find Asami, dropping the scrolls from his hands.

Yet out in the courtyard, he found nothing but two young airbenders, hands cupped around their mouths to yell warnings about nothing. He had to stop short to avoid running headlong into Asami herself. The next few moments were a confused jumble of talking over each other, trying to calm each other, and corroborating stories until the pieces fell into place and they both turned to look at Jinora and Ikki, who were staring at the pair and making little effort to hide their gleeful laughing.

A peculiar sort of anger replaced Iroh's fear. He glared towards the girls, who quickly fell silent.

"Jinora, Ikki," he said, voice stern as he'd heard from his mother and grandfather so many times, "That was completely irresponsible, and more than that, dangerous. You shouldn't make false alarms, somebody could be hurt! I'd have expected you to know better than that." He would have continued, had the girls' uncle not spoke up at that moment.

"Hey, no harm done!" Bumi said. "Just a little joke. My idea. Consider it a practice drill."

"Fine, then. But still, it was unsafe." The young general couldn't think of anything else to say. Somehow, the fact that Asami was safe felt far more important than anything else.

~o~

"Now they just need a little push..." Bumi said to the girls later, as the three celebrated their success over steaming cups of tea.

~o~

"You really do love her, don't you?" Mako said, casually, while he and Iroh practiced firebending forms. They were out by the bay, as to not alarm the young bison or disturb any of the acolytes. Iroh finished the motion before he fully heard what Mako was saying.

"What?" He paused in surprise.

"I've seen the way you look at her. It's pretty obvious. I just wanted to say, she'd be great for you. I mean, I think it's a good match." He went back to his forms as if nothing had been said.

Asami? She was an incredible woman: talented, clever, beautiful, not afraid to face her fears or fight for justice. He had found himself wanting to spend more and more time with her over these past few weeks. Did he love her? He tried to imagine bringing her home to the Fire Nation and his family, kissing her, living with her, and found that he could imagine nothing better.

"You should go tell her, then," Mako told him, "She'd like that."

Iroh decided he would go see Asami. It wasn't too long before they had planned to meet to work a on report, maybe he could set things up early.

~o~

Jinora found Asami preparing for the next United Forces report, pulling books of glider plans from the library shelves.

"Asami! Your boyfriend is hot!" she said, leaning over to see what Asami was reading.

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend..." Asami replied automatically.

Jinora feigned innocence. "He's not? Well, I think he should be," she said, and drifted out of the room before Asami could respond, leaving her to think.

Boyfriend? Did she love him?

He treated her like a person, not like a flower to be protected or an object to be possessed. Not at all like the countless men who had thrown themselves at her in the past, eager for the fame of dating the inventor's heiress, or sometimes, to get their hands on her father's industry secrets. Some just decided they wanted her, and wouldn't back off. She had a lot of practice fighting off unwanted advances. Asami Sato wasn't nearly as helpless as most people assumed. And she'd met a man who understood that, met a man who knew she could fight evil just as well as any male, who appreciated her skills and saw her for who she was. And for all that he was the Prince of the Fire Nation, working with him felt like working with an equal. Yes, maybe she loved him. Did he love her? She desperately wished he did. But she couldn't know unless she said something... and she knew when to say it.

~o~

Their work, it seemed, had paid off. The reports were finished and filed, the latest correspondence from the United Forces had been approving. Asami always took courage from success.

"So, when we're done with this," she asked Iroh as they cleared the last scrolls and folders from the library table, "do you want to come to dinner with me?"

"What?" Iroh looked up, then back at his paper, and Asami could swear he was blushing.

"There's a nice little Fire Nation-style place in the city. Got all the best stuff. I love their fire-flake shrimp."

"Sounds like a perfect idea." He smiled, and Asami knew this was just what she wanted.