Chapter 1
When Korra agreed to go home with her girlfriend for the holiday season, she never expected it to end horribly. But then again, she also thought that Sage had told her family about them. She hadn’t. What started out as a joyous, exciting trip in Korra’s mind soon turned into something out of a horrific nightmare.
Being shoved back into the closet was not how Korra imagined her first real Christmas in years would go.
“I didn’t tell my parents that I’m gay.” Sage had told her in the car an hour before arriving at her parents’ house.
“So, who do they think I am?”
Sage’s orphan roommate: for the next five days that who Korra was. It didn’t help that Korra lost her parents when she was 19, and that’s one of the main reasons why she vehemently hated Christmas. So, to be constantly reminded of that, like when Sage’s sister hugged her and told her that she was brave even if she didn’t need to be, wasn’t the best way to start things out.
On top of that, Korra then had to pretend to be straight. She remembers being asked by Sage’s mom if she had a boyfriend when she was showing Korra a photo of Sage and her ex-boyfriend. Korra’s always been an awkward, blubbering mess, but god, how did Sage’s mom not see through the blatant lie about going through a breakup and having an appropriate amount of ex-boyfriends?
Within the first couple of hours of them being at the house, meeting her two other sisters, Laura and Clarke (who had twins), Korra knew it was going to be the longest five days of her life. And dinner that evening was the epitome of that.
Not only did Sage’s ex-boyfriend, Hunter, show up, but so did Asami Sato.
“Asami!” Sage had exclaimed in fear and surprise when her ex-girlfriend had walked up to the bathroom that she and Korra had just exited.
“Sage.” Asami pressed her lips together in a forced smile and shrugged her shoulders, before looking at Korra who was behind Sage.
“I—” Korra mumbles.
“’Sorry, uhm… Asami, this is Korra.” Sage explains. “Korra is my…”
“Orphan. Roommate. We—I am an orphan but we live together. As friends.” Asami’s eyebrows raise at Korra’s obvious lie. “Like acquaintances.”
“Oh, please stop.” Sage mumbles under her breath and Korra ducks her head.
“Nice to meet you.” Asami replies before shifting sideways and walking past them. “So I’m just gonna sneak on by you guys.”
Sage apologizes and moves, grabbing Korra’s hand as Asami grabs the handle for the bathroom, turning back and looking at Korra with a semi-suggestive face as she walks inside.
“Was that the Asami?”
They saw each other again the following night, at a party they had all been dragged to. Sage’s father was running for mayor, and he had Sage by his side all night trying to get into the good graces of people who could help his campaign.
This left Korra by herself. While Sage’s sister, Laura, talked to her, Korra looked down from the balcony and saw Asami mingling around some other people with a wine glass in her hand. Their eyes met and Asami lifted her glass and raised her eyebrows at Korra.
The party was shitty, at least for Korra it was. Sage either spent time whisked away with her dad, or with her old friends from high school and that stupid ex-boyfriend of hers, and Korra just watched from a distance while drinking.
She had eventually stepped outside for fresh air and to once again call Bolin, her best friend. She told him the night before that it was going great and that Sage’s parents thought she was straight, to which he replied if they had ever met a lesbian.
But this night, she needed to vent. And she did.
“I told you, Sage is going to tell her parents everything right after the holidays.”
The conversation went on for a little longer before Bolin had to go. Korra stood outside in the cold, clouds of her breath lingering in the air as she sighs loudly.
Asami was around the corner with a cup of hot apple cider.
“Hey.” She said, moving a few fingers away from the mug to wave at Korra.
“Oh hi.” Korra looks over before averting her eyes back to the ground.
Asami approaches slowly, standing off to Korra’s side. “How’s it going?”
“Great.” Korra lies, avoiding looking over at her girlfriend’s ex.
“I’m just taking a break from trying to diagnose everyone’s mystery illnesses,” the doctor had told her, causing Korra to chuckle unenthusiastically.
“Hey, I was trying to eavesdrop or anything. I was out there,” Asami points to the side of the building, “before you came out. You didn’t see me but… uhm…” She looks at Korra with an almost pained look on her face. “I can relate.”
Korra had asked to what Asami could relate to. She just said nothing.
Korra gets ‘arrested’ the next day, at the mall when Clarke’s twins had stuffed an expensive necklace in her bag, causing an alarm to go off. Everyone in Sage’s family thinks she’s guilty, and Korra has to deal with the dirty looks and talks about how her crime would create a bad impression for Hugo’s campaign.
Not even Sage stuck up for her.
She gets uninvited to whatever the family was doing that night, so she decides to go out into the small town and sulk. She runs into Asami, again.
“No Sage?”
“No. She’s, uhm, with her family. I’m gonna meet up with her in a bit.” Korra replies halfheartedly before gesturing to the bag in Asami’s hands. “What’d you get?”
They talk about the white elephant party, and Asami sarcastically tells her it’s the best party of the year. Korra feels comfortable around her, and makes a joke, even.
“You know, I’m glad I ran into you because I’m having this thing where if I stick my finger in my eye,” Korra lifts her index finger. “It like really hurts.”
“Yeah, I mean that’s a classic case of, uhm—“ Asami pauses for a brief second. “Contact stupiditis, uhm… Because it’s a stupid thing to do. Once you get to the finger poking stage, you’re pretty much dead.”
“I’d really like to drink some alcohol.” Korra breathes out into the cold air, trying her hardest not to think of the last 48 hours. “Do you know where I can do that?”
They end up down the street at a gay bar that was having a drag show. They occupy a booth and get a couple of beers. Korra tells Asami that after the events of that day, she still doesn’t have a white elephant present. Asami says she can help since she knows places that aren’t malls.
“What did you mean last night?” Korra finally breaks a silence that had fallen between them. “When you said that you could relate?”
Asami shakes her head, a kind of shocked look on her face. “That was just a comment based on an assumption I was making about you and Sage.”
Korra looks down at the table, before reaching for her drink. “I think it’s probably an accurate assumption.” She hesitantly takes a sip while Asami makes a face as if she’s deep in thought. “You don’t have to talk to me about this stuff, I kn—I know it’s weird.”
“So, what has she told you?” Asami is quick to ask, pointing at herself.
“That you dated in high school. That you were her first girlfriend. That’s about it.” Korra looks at Asami. “Is there more?”
“Yeah, a little.” Asami shrugs, her hand softly hitting the table. “I mean, yeah. Yeah, growing up we were totally inseparable. We were best friends, and in freshman year we became more than friends. We started dating… but, nobody knew that, obviously. And we would leave these little love letters in each other’s lockers. And one day, one of Sage’s friends found one of the letters, and she asked Sage what it was about. And Sage just basically said that I am gay and that I wouldn’t leave her alone. And then within a couple of days, everybody at school found out, and everybody was so awful to me.”
Korra’s shocked beyond words, and all she can mutter out was “I’m sorry. I’m so… sorry.”
“Yeah, so the thing I can relate to is just… being in love with somebody who is too afraid to show the world who they really are.”
The rest of their night had gone well. Asami had gotten her to sing with drag queens, and Korra found herself having fun. Until Sage texted her and told her to meet her at another bar.
Korra did.
When she realized that all of Sage’s friends were there, and so was Hunter, Korra left. Sage told her she wouldn’t be out too late.
She didn’t come home until 2am.
The morning that followed was one of Korra’s least favorites. She had gone upstairs into Sage’s room to ask her about her night, make sure she was safe… But what she gotten instead was Sage essentially gaslighting her before telling her that she needed space.
And space Korra gave her.
She called Asami. They went shopping for a white elephant present for that evening. Sage texted Korra apologizing.
The rest of the events of that day and night were a bit of a blur for Korra. She remembers bits and pieces, like her heart to heart with Asami, but everything else was… shit.
“What are you drinking?” Asami asks as she walks up next to Korra who was watching Clarke’s twin sing some Christmas song.
“Oh, it’s a, uhm, a spiced—” Korra loses her train of thought. “Alcohol.”
“Gross,” Asami reaches for the glass. “Can I have some?”
“Yeah.”
Unbeknownst to the two of them, Sage sees this interaction.
They end up in the living room, talking about Christmas, but Korra’s not listening, she’s watching Sage who is glancing their direction every so often instead. It even gets to a point where Asami says that she killed her parents and Korra just responds with “that sounds fun.”
“Okay, what is happening?” Asami asks genuinely, but the question is ignored when Hunter walks into the house and immediately says hi to Sage, who is acting a little too happy to see him.
Korra finally scoffs at the sight. “Heh, I don’t know. Yesterday, I never felt closer to another person in my entire life, and now I… I don’t know her. And I thought she loved me and that she was happy, but I—I see her here and she’s so terrified of what everyone thinks, and it’s just making me wonder who the real Sage is.”
“Maybe they both are.”
Korra nods hesitantly. “I was gonna ask her to marry me tomorrow.”
And then a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her with encouragement. “Uhm, I’m gonna get you a real drink. Okay?”
Bolin showed up next, literally yelling and booming into the Howell’s family home. He tracked her, of course, because if the NSA can do it, so can he. When he tells her that they should go, they see Sage and Hunter talking, Sage’s hand running up and down Hunter’s arm, flirting.
Korra walked over and told her it was over, that she was done, and left. Sage follows her into the basement as Korra packs her things and they get into yet another argument.
Clarke overhears it.
The sisters get in a literal fight and when Clarke outs Sage and Sage blatantly lies about her involvement with Korra, the brunette leaves.
And that’s where everything goes blank.
Korra has had months to think about it, to think about their break up. Asami had followed her and Bolin out, and offered condolences, but it wasn’t enough to fix the broken, shattered pieces of Korra. Not at the moment anyway.
Korra leaves with Bolin. They go back to Pittsburgh and Korra stays with him. She texts Asami, but she gets no reply. It was fine, though. She knew Asami was a doctor and probably busy.
It hurt a little more as the time went on. Sage and Korra officially broke up, and Korra moved out. She had updated Asami frequently about what was happening, but the doctor stayed silent, though it doesn't stop Korra from trying.
Because there was Asami Sato, Korra’s now ex-girlfriend’s ex-girlfriend, and she knew that maybe she shouldn’t be feeling this way about her, you know, lesbian trope and all. But she felt comfortable with Asami, and she can’t quite pinpoint the exact moment it happened, either; but as time goes on, Korra knew it had to do with the worst five days before Christmas ever.
Korra (20:02): I know you haven’t replied in months, but is it weird to say that I oddly miss talking to you?
Asami (21:34): no, it's not