IT’S THE MIDTERM?!”
You know that feeling when you’re dreaming and you feel like your fall— and then all of a sudden you wake up? Or when the carnival ride suddenly drops? That was Asami’s heart right now.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Follow me,” Kuvira whispered quietly.
Now we’ve done it. She’s going to take us to Tarrlok and Noatak and we’re going to fucking die.
Korra’s arm was still over Asami’s shoulder as they hopped behind Kuvira.
“What’s wrong with her?” the counselor asked Asami without looking back.
“She tripped. Her ankle’s twisted.”
Kuvira turned and glared between the two of them with narrowed eyes and then suddenly moved to grab Korra’s other arm and support the Water Tribe girl.
Asami thought that they were heading towards the Brother’s house, but then Kuvira took a sharp turn and they walked up the steps of the main building. Kuvira opened a door to a classroom and they slipped inside. They sat Korra down at a desk.
“Help me get a look at this,” Badgermole whispered to the engineer.
They tentatively pulled Korra’s shoe and sock off. Her right foot was swollen and red.
“Fuck, dude.”
“That’s all you have to say, Kuvira?”
“Shut it, Twinkletoes. I’m going to grab a first aid kit and some ice.”
She left them there. Asami was 100% sure that this wasn’t standard protocol for when Camp Staff caught two members of the same sex together.
Within three minutes, Kuvira had returned.
“Hold this to your ankle,” she said to Korra, passing an ice pack to her.
Kuvira sat down on one of the desks, looking like a teacher. Her hair was down and she looked out of Camp Amon character— wearing jeans and a heavy coat. Huh. You would think she’d be in pajamas.
“Now, do you want to tell me the real story?”
Asami looked at the carpet sheepishly and Korra just stared at her ankle with a blank expression. They were refusing to address the elephant-koi in the room.
“I followed you in the woods, you know. Once you had left the shack. It was pretty fucking clear what you two were up to.”
She never swears.
Asami glanced up at Kuvira, who’s green eyes had some sort of… softness. But then she leaned forwards with a stern expression. A spike of fear raced through Asami’s heart.
“Look, guys. Do you understand what rules you’ve broken?”
The two girls nodded without making eye contact— as though they could put out the shit-storm that was about to hit them.
Instead of berating them, Kuvira swatted Korra’s hand (the one holding the ice pack) and let out an exasperated sigh. She knelt down— tightly bandaging up the girl’s ankle. The anxiety was getting to Asami, and she nervously stood there fidgeting with her hoodie.
“Here.”
Kuvira handed Korra some Ibuprofen and a Dixie cup of water. The girl gratefully took the medicine.
“You’re going to want to sleep with that foot elevated. Use a pillow or two.”
“Um… alright.”
“You can’t be seen together alone again. Why don’t you go first, Korra? Coast should be clear.”
Korra blinked and shuffled out of the room.
What the ever-loving fuck?
Kuvira peered past the vinyl blinds and watched Korra get safely back to Cabin 16B.
“Count your lucky fucking stars, kid.”
“Uh… thanks?”
“That’s ‘The Spirit World’, isn’t it? That shack in the woods?”
Asami bowed her head. If they were going to go down, she might as well confess. “Yeah.”
“What’s in there?”
“Some empty bottles of vodka and some cinderblocks,” she admitted.
Kuvira smirked. She smirked? She was smirking.
“Don’t go in there for the next few days, alright?”
“What?”
“I need to check that place out, and make sure there’s nothing in there. To be honest, I was expecting Tarrlok and Noatak to come out of there.”
“What’s going on? I don’t understand.”
The counselor walked out of the room, only pausing to say, “Just trust me on this. I’ll let you know when you guys can go back. Goodnight, Sato.”
Asami felt as though her world had been turned upside down. If only she knew.
. . .
“Hey Dad?”
“Hey Sweet-Pea. Want to help me test this visual processing board?”
“Sure.”
“Alright. Stand there and smile. Don’t show your teeth, the camera’s too sensitive for something so bright!”
“DAD!” she said, playfully swatting his arm.
Hiroshi let out a hearty laugh and sat down at the computer.
“Now, if my programming is bug-free—“
“Which it won’t be.”
“— this piston will move when the camera recognizes your facial features.”
“Why on Earth would you need a piston to move when a camera sees me?”
“Think of the possibilities. Robotic reactions that are completely based on visual interaction! Not just recognizing what’s in front of you, but decoding it and analyzing images to make decisions!”
“Alright, sounds good.”
They played around with the processor for a while until Asami had determined that her father was in a good mood.
“Hey, um, Dad?”
“Hey Sweet-Pea?”
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
Hiroshi looked up and took off his glasses. He grabbed both of his daughter’s hands and squeezed them.
“Is everything alright, Asami?”
“D-Dad… I’m gay.”
Hiroshi sat there for a minute, and then slowly let Asami’s hands go— where they dropped to her sides.
“What did you say?” he asked through clenched teeth.
“I-I’m gay, Dad. I like girls.” There was a definite tremble in her voice.
Suddenly, he violently smashed the computer processor. Days of work tumbled to the floor and Asami winced.
“Dad!”
“Asami, you can’t be gay! We have a name to think of! You’re next in line to take over the company! We have a reputation! Do you think businesses will want to deal with a… with a lesbian?!”
“But Dad, I can’t help it!”
“GO TO YOUR ROOM!!”
Asami ran out of the workshop and through the backyard. She darted through the Estate with tears streaming down her face until she could collapse into her bed. The servants didn’t know how to respond, only heading to the kitchen to make her a warm cup of tea.
“Oh Yasuko, what am I going to do?” Hiroshi said, back in the shop. He buried his head in his hands.
. . .
Asami wiped a tear away as she entered the cabin. Korra was sitting upright on the bed, patiently waiting for an answer.
Asami closed the door and sat down next to her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around Korra’s toned stomach as she pressed her face into the younger girl’s neck.
“It’s going to be okay,” she said.
Korra didn’t say anything, only letting out a sigh that vibrated against Asami’s forehead.
. . .
“Welcome to Camp Amon!” a boy said as he skipped over to the young, nervous lass.
“Um… hi,” she said, tugging at her raven hair.
The car drove away without even the driver saying goodbye. The green-eyed girl nervously grabbed her luggage and followed the boy (who was nineteen or twenty) as he gave her a tour of the place.
“Wait, are you even a counselor?”
“Naw, I’m a camper. I just look old for my age (it helps me get into the movie theaters). You just looked a little sad standing there, so I decided to give you a fun off-the-books first glance of our lovely Pit of Terror!”
The girl looked at him, running a hand through her black hair with a big goofy grin. Maybe her dad was the fool in sending her here.
They walked around, casually talking about the program and how stupid it was. The boy didn’t seem like the kind of guy who wanted to ever become straight. They walked up to a porch with a few kids already seated. The girl felt a swell in her heart. She’d never really spent much time with other kids her age.
“So how did you land here?” one of them asked her.
“I came out to my Dad, and… he took it rather well— obviously.”
They all laughed, and the girl felt her heart skip a few beats.
. . .
“Korra?”
“Yeah?”
“Nothing, I just had a bad dream.”
“It’s alright, Sams. Do you want to sleep in my bunk?”
“I don’t know if we should risk it. We literally just got caught.”
Asami was expecting Korra to answer, but instead she heard the other girl get up and shuffle around for a bit. Suddenly she felt someone take her hand from down below.
“What— are you on the floor?”
“I’ll sit here all night if it makes you feel better.”
“Oh my god, you goof. Fine, you know what? Just let me set the alarm so we get up before Zhu Li sees us. Get in.”
Korra let out a snicker of delight as she crawled in and wrapped her muscular arms around Asami.
She didn’t have to worry about anymore bad dreams that night.
. . .
“Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Hold on a minute. You two.” He pointed at them with a gaping mouth.
“Yes, Wu.”
“YOU TWO ARE TOGETHER!?” he whispered excitedly.
Both Korra and Asami kicked him under the table as Kuvira sat down.
“And how are we doing this morning?” she asked, pretending that she hadn’t seen the girls prancing around last night.
“Oh. Oh we’re just fucking spectacular,” Wu said with a giggle. “We’re just a mighty fine pot of gold here at Camp Amon. Oh, life is so fucking great Badgermole!”
Kuvira let out a confused laugh and shook her head. “Well, remember we’re going on our dates tonight, so enjoy it, alright?”
“No problemo, buck-a-fucking-roo!”
“What? Nevermind, I don’t want to know.”
“Wait… Badgermole, who’s your date?” Asami asked with a smile.
Kuvira hesitated, “Um, w-we don’t go on dates. Just you. We’ll be supervising to make sure you pass.”
Korra’s eyes widened, “OH MY GOD— IT’S THE MIDTERM?!”
“We’re only a third of the way through, dude.”
“Oh yeah… Raava dammit.”
The morning composed of the counselors readying the groups for dates. Asami had picked out a simple red dress, nothing too skimpy. But deep, down, she knew that it was the perfect fit— as if she was a Jedi using the Force, she could sense Korra staring at her ass while she did her make-up.
Korra had tried to wear a blue button up shirt, but Zhu Li let out a tsk tsk and ruffled through Korra’s suitcase. They were used to the lack of privacy by now.
“Ah-ha! How about this?”
It was a fancy but worn blue blouse (seriously Korra, there’s how many colors in the world?) with white trim. It looked like something you would wear to a gala.
Korra’s eyes widened, “Uh that’s one of my mom’s shirts. I was only supposed to use it for really important occasions. I didn’t mean to pack it, but I kinda brought everything that I owned—“
Asami felt a pang of guilt. How could she live in a mansion the size of a stadium when everything Korra owned could fit into a battered old suitcase? She tugged at her expensive dress and let out a small huff.
“It’ll do for the date,” Zhu Li said casually. “It’s much more feminine.”
“But… that’s only for really special occasions.”
“This is a special occasion!”
Behind the counselor, Asami threw her a supportive look. With that glance from her girlfriend, Korra took a sigh and grabbed the shirt from Zhu Li with a fake smile.
The kids (all forty-something of them) and all of the counselors (fortunately excluding Tarrlok and Noatak) filed into the bus. Varrick turned the engine on and bluntly swerved the old piece of junk out of the compound.
Asami was, as always, glad to have the camp behind her. Even if it was only for a few hours, she could already feel hope returning to her heart.