#firstdate
Life… life got a whole lot better.
Two Months Later:
“Who knew you could fit eight people into a Prius?” Bolin commented.
“Not comfortably.”
“Just please drive the speed limit,” Kuvira whined, “The last thing I want is for one of my former co-workers to find us stuffed inside with a bunch of kids— like one of those clown cars.”
Bolin was driving, Opal had shotgun and was navigating. Shao was sitting on Kuvira, Asami was sitting on Korra, and Wu was sitting on Mako. In hindsight, they probably should’ve taken another car. But it wasn’t a terribly far trip.
Sure enough, within half-an-hour, they were at the beach. It was a gorgeous day— not too hot and not too cold. They all leapt out of the car and started grabbing beach towels and coolers.
“You really do keep your promises,” Mako said to Opal. She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
The others began to excitedly sprint down to the beach, but Korra and Asami took their time on the sand. It was a new terrain, after all.
“You don’t have to wait up for me. It’s not like I haven’t fallen… like… fifty times already,” Korra joked. “If I take a tumble, I can get back up.”
“Nonsense. You’re my prototype tester! What if it’s not a suitable design for sand? I have to know!”
“Well if the others eat all the food before we wobble over there, don’t look at me.”
“Maybe you can satisfy my appetite later,” Asami whispered.
Korra blushed from her cheeks to the top of her ears. She took a few steps and stumbled a little.
“Ugh… it’s not solid ground.”
“Yeah. It’s sand, sweetie.”
Korra took a moment to steady herself on Asami’s arm, and then gave her girlfriend a kiss. Together, they managed to stumble over the dune and make their way to the gaggle of buffoons awaiting them.
Working together. Collaboration. Theirs was a relationship of synergy.
. . .
“Look at you, all dressed up in your Harmonic best!” Asami laughed.
Korra nervously tugged at her hair and chuckled. She was in her blue shirt— you know… her mother’s special shirt for only the most important occasions. And it truly was the most important of occasions.
#firstdate
Asami, as always, looked snazzy in scarlet. She was wearing a beautiful red dress with all the right ribbons and frills. She was… she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
“Hey there…” Korra murmured. She wrapped a hand around Asami’s waist and pressed their foreheads together. She managed to sneak in a peck on the lips and the engineer couldn’t help but let out a happy sigh.
“Didn’t anyone tell you not to kiss someone on the first date?” the older girl whispered.
“Yeah… I think it was Mako.”
Asami went pale for half a second, and Korra burst out in a fit of giggles. There the girls stood, in the entryway of the restaurant, embracing and laughing their asses off while a waiter stood nearby— ever so confused. Never mind that they… you know… saw each other every day.
“Come on, let’s sit down before they yell at us.”
They slid into a booth and Asami poked Korra’s shoulder playfully.
“They can’t yell at us! I’m the CEO of Future Industries and you’re the Hero of Homosexuality! The Lesbian who brought down Camp Amon!”
“SHHHH do you want everyone in Kwongs to know we’re dating?!”
With a roll of her eyes, Asami grabbed Korra roughly by the collar of her jacket and planted a long kiss on her lips. There were some gawkers from other booths, but in truth the moment belonged to the two of them.
When they broke apart, Korra gave her girlfriend a big smile.
“Maybe I do,” Asami whispered.
“Yeah. Yeah, I think we deserve that.”
. . .
“Korra,” she groaned, gripping the younger girl’s chesnut hair as she continued her work.
“Mmmm?”
“Korra!”
“What?” the younger girl asked, poking her head up from between Asami’s legs. “Is everything alright? D-did I do something wrong?”
“Don’t fucking stop!”
Korra, though utterly confused as she was, continued her exploration with her mouth. Gradually, the intensity built and built until Asami couldn’t handle it much longer. She gripped one of her bedposts just as the wave of pleasure hit her and let out a scream. Thankfully the staff had been sent home that night.
“KORRA!”
She felt like she was traveling at a million miles per hour. She could do this more often. It wasn’t until she felt the other girl’s hands slowly trailing up her stomach and Korra’s mouth on hers— tasting something wonderfully tangy and unfamiliar— that she felt as though she could move again.
“You are really, really gay,” Asami whispered as she fell back onto the pillow, trying to catch her breath.
“That good, Sunshine?”
“Mmm hmm. Korra?”
“Yeah?”
“Your turn.”
. . .
Six Months Later:
It is with great hope that we accept you into our academy, Republic City University. The combination of your heroic actions and your initiation to lead an internationally recognized business despite dire circumstances impresses the Council of Admissions greatly, and it is with great dreams that we welcome you into our halls.
Best of Luck,
Office of Admissions
RCU
“Korra,” the engineer whispered. “I got in.”
“What!? As if you didn’t have a guaranteed entry into every university in the world?!”
Asami blushed a little and Korra scooped the older girl up into her arms spinning her around and laughing. The CEO pressed her forehead into Korra’s neck and sighed happily.
“How did we get to be so fortunate, Kor?”
The younger girl chuckled, “Well… when you’ve hit rock bottom— the only place that’s left to go is up.”
. . .
“Are you sure this is safe?”
“What? It’s like a peddle-boat, but in the shape of a Turtleduck!”
“That can’t be stable. It looks like it could tip any second!”
“I’m Water Tribe! I’m lifeguard by default! Quit analyzing our date with your science!”
“I can’t help it!”
“Alright… the only solution is to go slow… and not move around in the boat… which means we have to cuddle—“
“Yeah, you totally planned this out, Kor.”
“Pssssshhhh! What? No I didn’t!”
. . .
Sometimes, though, the times weren’t always good.
One Month Later:
Korra woke up— the same nightmare as usual. Tarrlok and Noatak and the underground. She had learned to live with it. Though when she turned over to cuddle her girlfriend and fall back asleep, she realized that Asami’s side of the bed was empty. Still warm, but empty. Which meant she was somewhere, awake, in the Estate.
Korra slipped her prosthetic on and grabbed a robe from the closet. She stood at the bed for half a second, and then grabbed a blanket. Sometimes blankets make everything better.
The halls had a certain eerie feeling to them— as though Hiroshi was everywhere… watching. On more than one occasion, Asami had suggested that she buy an apartment. Korra hadn’t understood at first— I mean it was a giant fucking MANSION… but now… now she could see what bothered the older girl. There were ghosts here, and Asami was having to live with that.
She found her girlfriend on the balcony overlooking Yue Bay, hugging her arms tightly around herself. It was winter, and she was in a nightgown— no doubt too proud to admit she was cold. Korra silently draped the blanket around Asami’s shoulders, startling the older girl for a second. But then Asami pulled the fabric tightly around herself and let out a small sigh.
“This is the most beautiful city in the world. I’m glad my parents let me move here.”
Asami didn’t say anything, only shrugging. Korra took that as a sign to continue.
“It’s polluted though. You can’t even see the stars from downtown— all the orange light blocks everything. In the North and the South… we have these great big light shows that make the skies blue and green and it’s better than fireworks. And the stars! Asami, you can there are more stars in the sky than hairs on your head!”
“That sounds beautiful,” her girlfriend answered quietly, not bothering to look at Korra.
“Yeah. But I was always too busy trying to find the stars when I first came here… I didn’t ever look at the horizon.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you see that big tower, the one all lit up… all the way over there?” Korra pointed. “The biggest one in the whole city?”
“Um…”
“You built that tower, Asami. Future Industries, a beacon for STEM! It’s absolutely incredible! It’s more amazing than all the stars in the sky! You did that! You are so smart and funny and you totally think things through (unlike me). You’re the most beautiful girl in the world, and you don’t let anyone stand in your way! I admire you so much.”
“Korra… how can you be so nice to me? My father designed those explosives—“
“Your father is exactly where he should be. He’s sitting in prison, slowly understanding that what he did was wrong. I believe… no… I know that someday he will feel a great remorse for what he has done. I’ve forgiven him.”
“How?”
“Time. Time can fix or crumble you, but only if you let it.”
“I-I need a lot of time.”
“That’s alright. It’s the one thing your father is going to have a lot of while he’s in prison. He can wait. It’s going to be okay, Sunshine.”
“Korra?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you so much.”
The Water Tribe girl smirked and stood on her tippy-toes to give Asami a kiss on the forehead, whispering “I love you, too” into the engineer’s ear. They walked back inside holding hands— and the Estate seemed to have a warmer, welcoming feel to it.
. . .
Korra woke up screaming. It was the Raava-damned nightmare again. Sometimes it would be the Bloodsnow Brothers, and sometimes it was worse. Sometimes someone had died in her dreams. And this time, it was a really bad nightmare— one where the victim was Kuvira.
Looking over at the bed, she remembered with a sob that Asami was away on a business trip at Ba Sing Sei.
Fuck.
Korra grabbed her prosthetic and stumbled to the bathroom— desperately trying to get the image of the bloody broken woman she cared for deeply out of her mind. She stepped into the shower, still wearing her boxers and camisole. Hot, steamy water shot down on her and she closed her eyes.
A flash of light and the intense feeling of shrapnel ripping through her shot into Korra’s head. She dropped to the floor of the shower screaming and holding her head in her hands.
The water, usually calming for someone from the… you know… Water Tribe, wasn’t doing jack shit.
So she stumbled out, panting and feeling as though someone was about to kill her. She took a glance in the mirror. There were dark bags under her eyes, which were bloodshot and sickly looking. Her hair was scraggily and unkempt, and also soaking wet.
Raava, I’m a mess right now.
Korra didn’t know what to do, so she violently pulled drawers open— unsure of what she was searching for.
Scissors made their way into her hands, and then her hands made their way to her hair.
Bit by bit, Korra snipped her usually beautiful hair to pieces, crying and shaking. It wasn’t an even job, and it looked absolutely awful. Korra dropped to the ground— a sopping-wet mess.
Fuck, I need to… I need someone…
At some point she had grabbed her phone and dialed a random number— so you can imagine how strange it was for her to look up thirty minutes later into Wu’s bright green eyes.
He didn’t judge her. He didn’t scorn her. He merely dropped down to the floor of the bathroom and talked to her for a long, long time— holding her and whispering that she was okay.
She was okay.
Korra closed her eyes and leaned against Wu. She needed to fix the damage Camp Amon had caused her.