#01 - Ring
The rings of smoke finally dissipate from the funnel of the ship as they dock in Republic City, but General Iroh darkly notes that one can hardly tell where the smoke from his ship ends and the dark billowing smoke from the city’s destruction and mayhem begins.
#02 - Hero
Agents of the United Forces quickly locate the Avatar, who has been hiding in a small apartment with three of her friends, and she is quickly tauted as their savior, their hero once she steps foot onto their ship, but her downcast eyes and permanent frown suggests that she sorely disagrees with the sentiment.
#03 - Memory
After Asami and her friends are fed and treated like royalty, a tall, handsome man walks into the dining room; Asami feels like she knows General Iroh’s face — in the crevices of her memory, she can see his jawline, his golden eyes, his deep black hair, but then she realizes that she’s thinking about the face of the former Fire Lord that has been plastered on posters, described in schoolbooks, etched onto statues.
#04 - Box
A gold crownpiece sits in a red and gold ornate box in the corner of the room and Asami mentally slaps herself for not making the connection sooner.
#05 - Run
They all run through hellos and introductions, but Iroh lingers for a moment longer when he is introduced to Asami Sato; he knows about her father, her wealth, her company, but no one ever told him about the deep green of her eyes or the pleasantness of her voice or the attractive curve of her neck.
#06 - Hurricane
But war is upon them and they must prepare for the hurricane of battle and the deluge of loss so Iroh pushes any thoughts about the Sato girl far from his mind.
She hides in the shadows, with her motorcycle helmet under her arm. The Firebending boy should be leaving work any minute now, she thinks as she presses her lips together.
Her orders are clear and concise — and she knows she’s the only one who can complete it. It will be painful and it will be tedious, but at the very least, Amon will be satisfied with her contribution. As if the money secretly funneled from father wasn’t enough, she thinks darkly. But she catches herself. This is what she wants — recognition outside of her father’s monetary shadow, a chance to prove that she’s worth more than every yuan in her father’s possession.
She is immediately broken out of her reverie when she catches a glimpse of the Fire Ferret’s signature red scarf. She secures her helmet, revs her engine, and speeds towards her target.
She wants the impact to hurt him — he is a Firebender, after all — but she knows she can’t kill him. Not that she’s killed anyone before — but if she had just extended her hand and set a quick succession of punches across his pro-bending body —
No, it’s time to apologize now. It’s time to charm him.
And the second she lets her hair fall from her helmet and sees the blatant fire in his cheeks, she knows she has.
Well then, she forces her smile to be kind and apologetic, masking her indifference and condescension. I suppose I’ve found my self worth.
Now she knows what Amon had known — her self-worth is not measured in her father’s yuans, but in the redness of the debilitating blushes that are cast towards her direction.
