You & I

The Ball: part 2

Y/N's POV
I flicked my eyebrow up, "what did you have in mind?"

She chuckled to herself, "oh, you'll see!"

I slowly nodded, trying to figure out what on earth she could've had in mind as she tapped her brother, "keep her entertained, for the time being."

Iroh and I exchanged confused glances but went back to speaking to some of the guests around the room, trying to keep everyone happy.

—

The time finally came for Ursa to select one of the young men that she had met tonight to share a dance as the ball came to a close.

I stood beside Iroh, a few steps down from where Fire Lord Izumi stood with her husband, watching as Ursa gracefully made her way over to her mother and bowed.

There it was. That devilish grin that she has.

I didn't know what she was going to do, but I was sure that Iroh and I would get a kick out of it.

As she turned to face the room, she made her way over to many of the young men she had shared short dances with earlier, but visibly dismissed the idea of sharing her last dance with them.

She then made her way back towards us, her mother looking like she was going to explode; but instead of returning to the Fire Lord's side, Ursa stood in front of me with her hand out, "Princess Y/N of the Fire Nation, would you be so kind as to share my last dance with me?"

The entire room filled with gasps and I heard Iroh slap his hand over his mouth to contain his laughter.

I bit down the inside of my cheek to contain my own chuckles, before bowing to Ursa and taking her hand, "it would be my honour, Princess Ursa."

As I followed her onto the dance floor, angry mutters filled the room.

"Is she even allowed to do that!?"

"That village peasant has been nothing but trouble since she married into the royal family."

"Is the Fire Lord really going to allow her daughter to act so childishly!?"

I held onto Ursa's waist as she placed her hand on my shoulder, with our other hands clasping together as we twirled around the room.

We were both holding in our laughter as we glanced over at the disgusted faces of the noblemen.

I turned back to Ursa and chuckled, "your mother is going to kill you."

She huffed, "let her, I'm making a point. Did she really expect me to be impressed by these dull sons of noblemen and generals? I mean, honestly, Y/N, when they were trying to impress me, I almost died from second-hand embarrassment!"

I twirled her around and raised an eyebrow, "oh, yeah?"

"You see that guy stood over there next to General Zei? He tried to brag about his father's military status, he said his father had trained him well, that he'd be able to 'protect me' or whatever."

I peered over at the scrawny guy stood beside General Zei and couldn't stop myself from letting out a small laugh, "you could take him in a fight, easily."

"I know! That's what I told him and then he got really offended and upset about it."

"You probably hit his ego a little too hard- you could do much better, anyway."

My eyes caught onto my husband's as he stood watching me dance with his sister, holding his hand over his mouth, practically red containing his laughter.

As the song came to an end, Ursa and I stepped away from each other and both bowed, before I returned to Iroh's side as Fire Lord Izumi concluded the ball.

—

Once the guests had cleared out, I heard my mother-in-law clear her throat in Ursa's direction.

She quickly looked over at Iroh and pleaded with her eyes for him to help her but he just threw his hands up as if to say: 'I am not involved, you're on your own, kid.'

"Iroh, Y/N, I'd like a word with Ursa, alone, so if you'd be so kind as to leave us here."

Iroh and I obeyed, leaving Ursa to face her mother's wrath.

—

It wasn't until I was laid against Iroh's chest on our bed, with his hands running through my hair, that I finally had a moment to speak to him about what happened earlier.

"Iroh?"

I felt his fingers stop stroking my hair as he asked, "are you okay, my love?"

I nodded into his chest and mumbled, "does it bother you that people speak badly of you for marrying me?"

He slowly sat up, pulling me to sit up, too. He sighed, caressing my cheek before pulling my chin up so my eyes met his, "it bothers me that they think they can speak ill of you, darling, but I couldn't care less what was said about me."

I pulled my eyes away from his and laid back down, mumbling, "oh, okay."

He laid back down with me and pulled me towards him, kissing my shoulder, "I love you."

I gently brushed my hand up and down his and whispered, "I love you, too."

After a few moments of silence, Iroh asked, "does what they say bother you?"

I shook my head, "if it doesn't effect you, then there's no reason for me to be upset. I just hate that I'm making you look bad."

He peppered kisses all over my shoulder and up my neck, before pulling me to turn over and face him as he brought his lips to mine, "I have the most amazing, beautiful, brave, kind, loving, extraordinary wife in the entire world- darling, how could you ever make me look bad? You shine brighter than the sun, they just can't bear to see you doing better than they are."

I couldn't wipe the smile from my face as I stole another kiss from his lips, "I'm so lucky to have you."

He chuckled to himself before muttering, "I'm the one who's lucky."