Korra reached out to Mako in an unmistakably wanting gesture. He caught her hand and pressed it to his face. The simple, loving moment was almost too much for Asami. She felt her eyes begin to burn, and turned away. Mako glanced at her as she left, feeling a pang of regret for hurting her. But as he redirected his attention to Korra, the regret was smothered by more pressing emotions.

Asami wandered the Air Temple, looking for a distraction from her thoughts. She couldn't blame Mako for leaving her for Korra. The Avatar had an undeniable draw. It wasn't beauty-though by no means was the girl ugly-but something more primal than appearance. What could it be? Perhaps it was the bending. Korra was on the Fire Ferrets. Together, Mako and Korra made an excellent team. Their bending complemented each other's. Asami, not for the first time, felt a fierce ache to be able to bend. What element would she bend? She couldn't even imagine bending air. It was too wild for her. Earth? Perhaps. But, again, it simply didn't feel right. Thinking about water bending made her shudder, with the recent revelations about blood bending.

The only element left was fire, and something about it drew her. At the same time, it hurt to think about. All she could remember was Mako, smiling tenderly at her wonder as he made a dancing flame shift from orange-gold to a vibrant sapphire blue.

A gust of heated air whooshed by her face, ruffling her hair and watering her eyes. She halted in her tracks and whipped her gaze back and forth, searching for the source. As she turned to the left, she caught sight of Iroh, arms raised, jogging toward her. He called out to her. "My apologies, Asami! I didn't see you!" He was far enough away that it gave her a moment to collect herself. He had shed his shirt in the heat, and wore only loose breeches. The sight of his pale, muscled chest stirred a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. She ignored it, and tried to force some indignity on her features, which seemed like the proper emotion to feel.

"How could you not see me? I've been told my beauty lights up a room. That should have been plenty of warning. Maybe you've been playing with too much fire. It has probably affected your vision in an unfortunate way." Her tone was scathing, though her eyes danced. Hopefully Iroh had a good enough sense of humor that she could get away with that type of comment.

Iroh's thick eyebrows drew together and down in consternation. While his expression remained worried and apologetic, his tone was teasing. "Your beauty blinded me with a light so bright that I had no idea where to direct my fire. While your company delights me, perhaps you should avoid men while they are training. That way, there will be no," he paused, eyes suddenly glittering with mischief, "unfortunate accidents."

Asami's mouth twitched, but she resisted the urge to grin widely. "How dare you! I could have you whipped for that threat to my person!"

"Asami, my dear, I would take the whip and much more for you." Iroh grinned in much the way that she had been tempted to. "What brings you here? I'm very rarely visited while I'm training."

She glanced around, taking stock of her surroundings. She stood at the edge of a huge clearing, too perfect a circle to be natural. The grass that grew everywhere on this fertile little island had been burned away with what must have been a very controlled blaze. None of the surrounding trees showed signs of fire damage. Then she glanced back at the general, who stood with his hands on his hips and one black eyebrow raised.

"I...Uh..." She trailed off, words failing her as a mingled rush of jealousy and despair hit her with the force of a Satomobile. Something must have shown in her eyes, because Iroh suddenly leaned forward, hands raised as if he would embrace her.

"Asami? Are you all right?"

Before she could stop herself, a sob burst through her mouth. Horrified at herself, she turned away and fled to the temple, leaving Iroh bewildered. He started to follow, then decided against it. Maybe he should leave this issue to her closer friends. He and Asami had been through a revolution, but they certainly hadn't met very long ago.