The Fire Lord's Ward // MakoxOC

Family

They were all standing outside of Asami's mansion when the door opened. Mako's grandmother stood in the center of his family, her face aglow.

"Are you..." she rose her hand up toward the prince.

Mako grinned at his grandmother, "Grandma, this is Prince Wu. He needs to stay with you and the family for a little while."

The prince knelt down in front of the older woman, "It's an honor Grandma Mako." She fainted as soon as his knee hit the ground, Mako rushed to catch her.

"She loves royalty," he said with a shrug. Wu ran off to the bathroom and the woman opened her eyes, peering over at Eri.

"My darling!" She jumped up from Mako's arms and embraced Eri tightly. Their relationship had been a comfortable one since they'd first met.

Mako groaned, "She's still the favorite."

Korra and Asami laughed at his deep frown.

"Of course I am!" Eri smiled back at the others as she was ushered inside for cookies, "Grandma loves me for my smile."

"And your fame," Mako grumbled following them inside.

-

Eri sat with a cup of tea in her hand as she watched Mako "spar" with the prince. It lasted about 3 seconds until "Wu Down" was called and the prince was on the floor. Grandma was on him in a second offering dumplings and lemonade. Eri had to laugh at the disappointment on Mako's face.

"I know, I'm a wimp. I'm not like you Mako. I wasn't raised by a pack of cops in the woods," Wu said looking down.

Mako gave Eri a glance as she held in a giggle, "you don't know anything about me do you?"

Wu looked up at Mako with his wide green eyes, "Nope, drawing a blank. How is it that I don't know anything about you?"

"Because you've never asked?" Mako crossed his arms as the prince stood in front of him.

"Well I'm asking now! What's your favorite color? What's your favorite food? Is there a special lady in your life?" Wu asked grabbing his arms.

Eri's eyes widened in disbelief. How could he not possibly know?

"I'm engaged to Eri," Mako's face deadpanned at the prince. "You helped me pick up the lights for the proposal."

"I thought it was for a mover!" Wu looked confused. "Tell me more about this love life. Was there a girl before Eri?"

Eri took this as her cue to leave. She knew Mako would be fine and she didn't really want to relive the Mako/Korra love fest. It made her cringe to think about.

-

Eri walked through the garden, reveling in the alone time. Between Wu's incessant complaining and the unspoken tension between Asami and Korra - Eri really couldn't be happier to be secluded.

She found a bench surrounded in cherry blossoms and decided it was as good a place as any to meditate. It had been far too long since she'd been to the spirit world. She sat on the ground, fists touching each other as the blossom petals blew past her in the gentle breeze.

Connect to your center and enter another realm. Zaheer's teaching echoed through her mind and as much as she didn't want it to, it helped.

She opened her eyes to see the now familiar hut in front of her. The area was cleared out, there wasn't a single spirit in the area.

"Iroh?" She looked throughout the courtyard, calling for him and searching in any nook or cranny. "I wonder if he's gone on an adventure."

Just as she'd spoken her thoughts, a man walked out into the clearing.

"Um, hello?" Eri called out to him. The spirit world sends you what you need, not what you want, she remembered.

"Hello child," the man smiled down at her. "It's been a long time."

"Do we... do we know each other?" Eri had never seen this man before. HIs eyes were blue but his clothing were from the fire nation.

He chuckled, "I know you, but it seems the knowledge is not shared."

Eri looked at him and cocked her head in confusion, "Well, I'm Eri. What's your name?"

"My name is Azak. It's a pleasure to see you again my dear," Azak grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"Do you mind if I ask how we know each other?" Eri asked, rubbing her arm.

"Of course," Azak smiled at her, "I'm your father."