The next morning, Asami was enjoying her morning session of training in the gym located in the south wing of her mansion. She was right in the middle of a sparring session when a butler told her she had a guest.

A little irritated, Asami sent a swift, powerful kick to her sparring partner, who fell back from the blow and groaned in pain, even though he was wearing sparring equipment. Even he knew there had been a change in Asami ever since the revolution had ended.

"Who dares interrupt my session?" Asami snapped at her butler. She knew she wasn't expecting anyone. Her long, dark hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and she wore a dark red jumpsuit that she always wore for her sessions. Even then, she wore high heels without the outfit. For some reason, she thought they were quite stylish.

"General Iroh of the Fire Nation." Her butler replied, bowing his head. "He wishes to speak with you momentarily. He told me it wouldn't take long."

Just from his name being mentioned, Asami's irritation washed away. She cleared her throat, sent a glance at her sparring partner and said, "Well I guess I shall speak with him. The session is over."

Her sparring partner shot a terrified glance at Asami's butler. The butler just shrugged in response.

Asami smiled to herself as she walked up the stairs. Of course she wiped some perspiration from her face with a handy towel and hung it around her neck. She didn't even bother changing into something else; General Iroh was waiting for her.

He finally came to his senses, Asami thought to herself smugly. She hurried up to the parlor, which was where he was probably waiting.

"I would like to speak with him," Asami informed her butler over her shoulder, "alone, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, Miss Sato." Her butler turned back around to attend to other matters.

Sure enough, there was General Iroh sitting in a chair, staring out at the window. When Asami entered, she was instantly his attention. She smiled down at the general, taking in his admirable handsomeness.

"Hello, General Iroh." Asami greeted calmly, a hand on her hip. She felt his eyes graze over her, seeing her "outfit".

"I apologize if I am interrupting something," He said quickly. "I just came here to apologize."

Asami's stance faltered. Apologize?

"Last night," He explained, "I was being rash. I should have never treated you in such a disrespectful manner. I wish to ensure you my sincerest apologies—"

"—why apologize?" Asami cut him off sharply. "I kissed you first."

General Iroh averted his eyes. "Yes. But I kissed you back."

"Is it such a terrible thing to enjoy the presence of a lady?"

"With all due respect, Miss Sato—"

"—call me Asami."

"With all due respect Asami," General Iroh tugged at his collar, "there is a fine line between enjoying a lady's presence and taking advantage."

Asami's eyes widened. He actually thought he was…taking advantage of her?

"You weren't taking advantage of me, General."

"Call me Iroh."

"Iroh." Asami said his name softly. It sounded sweet coming from her lips; it sounded right.

"Besides," Asami droned, walking in front of the general to stand over him, "who said you would ever be able to take advantage of me?"

General Iroh looked at her, shocked. "I would never do such a thing."

"Yes. But even if you wanted to, it would be impossible. I'm not a helpless girl, Iroh. My father had me enrolled in many self-defense courses. I helped the avatar take down many equalists. In the long run, I'm far from helpless."

Iroh's lips tugged into a smile. "Pardon me? Do you forget who I am?"

"Never." Asami breathed.

Iroh stood up, standing taller than Asami even with the high heels. "I am the leader of the United Forces, the prince of the Fire Nation."

"And?"

"I've been training ever since the day I learned to walk." Iroh whispered, leaning to finish the sentence with his breath running down Asami's ear. The dark-haired woman smiled to herself.

"I suppose you have."

General Iroh seemed to snap out of it and moved away, shaking his head. "I apologize again, Asami. I'm being so rash."

"How are you being rash? I honestly don't mind."

"I don't know you!" Iroh blurted. Asami enjoyed it, to be honest. Normally he was so composed; so formal. It was nice to see the more human side of the general. "Allow me to explain. I was raised to treat women with the upmost of respect. And how I treated you last night was inexcusably despicable to everything I had been taught." He looked Asami dead in the eye and declared, "You are a beautiful woman, Miss Sato. However, I do not wish to disrespect you in any way possible. And I am here to tell you that I am only here in Republic City for a few more weeks until I will return to the Fire Nation, when I am no longer needed here."

Asami scrambled for words. What else could she say? Of course she didn't want him to disrespect her—but what was there that he disrespected? He did nothing! Now what Mako did was disrespectful.

"I was hoping we could remain acquaintances." General Iroh finished, giving Asami a friendly and noble smile. "And for your sake, please find a better suitor. I am not the one for you." He turned on his heel and strode from the room. Asami had to force herself not to follow him.

She frowned at the ground. He sounded so sure of himself, yet when she looked into his eye, he was lying.

He wants me, Asami thought to herself. I know he does. He's just trying to deny it. I'll just have to try harder next time. I only have a few more weeks.

"Hey Asami." Asami was shocked to see Mako standing at her door. She didn't feel happy or sad to see her ex-boyfriend here, she only felt confused. Mako lived on the avatar's island—why did he come here?

"Hi." Asami replied reluctantly.

Mako's cheeks turned red as he said, "I, uh, need your help."

"If it's money again then you need—"

"—no. It's not money." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "It's…well, I thought that since you were, you know, a girl, obviously, I thought you'd know what to do. And strangely, you were the first I thought of for help." He looked at Asami's cold eyes and his voice was desperate. "Look, I'm sorry we ended in a horrible way. It's was my fault. But I really need your help. Please."

Asami sighed, rolled her eyes, and widened the door. She was just about to go swimming when her butler told her she had a guest. Hoping it was General Iroh from yesterday, she was disappointed to see Mako.

As she led him to the parlor, she couldn't help but wonder why she dated Mako in the first place. She had roots from fire nation, though she was no bender, so maybe she was attracted to fire benders. But Mako? Perhaps she pitied him.

It was then Asami had a great idea.

When Mako sat down in the parlor, she gave him a sly smile and said, "I'll help you, if you help me."

"Sure." Mako smiled at her, not getting it. "What is it?"

"Advice."

"Oh."

"So does this have to do with Korra? Are you having girl problems?" Asami couldn't hide the teasing tone in her voice.

Mako was blushing again. "Well, it's more about me."

"Spit it out."

"Well, whenever I see any guy talk to her, I get incredibly jealous! Frankly, it's making Korra mad and it's like I can't control myself. It just happens." Mako's eyes turned pleading. "How can I fix this?"

"Why aren't you asking Bolin this?"

"Because he wouldn't know." Mako hung his head, mumbling, "I thought you'd know from first-hand experience."

Asami's eyes narrowed and her chest hurt. It had felt like she had been stabbed. "You jerk! I can't believe you would use me like this!" And remind me of what you've done to me!

She couldn't lie. That stung.

"That was an entirely different thing." Asami continued. "You were cheating on me, Mako. I had the right to be jealous. Besides, I'm pretty sure Korra's not cheating on you."

"I know she's not." Mako ran a hand through his hair, which had gotten slightly longer. Asami then realized Mako didn't look too good. Did she see the hint of some facial hair rooting on his chin? He didn't shave—which was very unusual for him. "I feel so bad about what I did to you, Asami. I've never been a very good person, always making horrible decisions. But I thought I could redeem myself by starting fresh with Korra, and I'm messing things up again."

"I know why you're so jealous."

Mako looked up. "Why?"

Asami shrugged indifferently. "It's got a lot to do with psychology. Since you cheated on me, you are paranoid. You think Korra will cheat on you someday."

"Well what do I do?" Mako said. "I can't go back and erase what I've done."

"The solution is simple. Calm down, and trust Korra. Trust is a key thing in a relationship. When I lost your trust, everything went downhill. But all you need is to trust Korra that she wouldn't cheat on you. And who cares if some guy talks to her? She's allowed to have friends, right?"

"I know. I'm just saying."

"Just calm down. Count to ten. Because if you let this jealousy cloud your happiness, your relationship is going to crash."

"Right. You're right." Mako stood up. "Thanks a lot Asami." He began walking away.

"Mako."

He was in the doorway but stopped at the sound of his voice and looked over his shoulder at Asami. "Yeah?"

Asami decided then that she didn't need his advice; she just wanted to ask one question.

"Did you ever like me?"

Mako's face turned sheepish. "Yes. But…I liked Korra more."

Asami walked up to Mako and slapped him as hard as she could.

A/N: I know this is a short chapter. But I'm already halfway done with the other one :D I shall update as soon as possible. Also, this story isn't going to be over ten chapters long. Just saying.