Storm
Asami negotiated the lurching corridor with relative ease. She’d been on enough ships to get used to the pitch and roll, even in a storm like this. A good thing too; she’d ended up with a large number of that slimy bastard Varrick’s ships in the compensation deal for his embezzlement, and the contracts she had brokered with Tonraq and Desna and Eska would give her the funds she needed so badly to keep Future Industry not just afloat but profitable. She felt a little bad about profiting from the collapse of a business, but given the CEO had tried to screw her over she couldn’t summon up too many tears. Thunder cracked and there was a crash rather closer to hand. Asami stopped short of her cabin. She knocked on the door she thought the sound had come from but received no answer. At the next clap of thunder she heard the slight yelp. Asami tried the door handle, mildly surprised to find it unlocked, and stepped into the cabin.
At first glance there was only Naga, curled up in front of the desk. The bed was empty, unmade blankets spilling off the side. Asami looked around.
“Korra?”
“I’m not here,” came a small voice. Asami had to force herself not to laugh. Then there was another flash of lightning and a thump from somewhere behind Naga. Asami blinked.
“Korra, are you under the desk?”
“...no.”
“Can I join you in not being under the desk?”
There was a pause, and then Naga shifted. She eyed Asami slightly suspiciously as she joined Korra in the cramped space, folding her knees up to her chest. Korra was hunched in on herself, as if expecting their makeshift ceiling to cave in. There was a bottle in her hands.
“And where did you get that?”
Korra gave her a look.
“Asami, I’m the damn Avatar. I just stopped a civil war, defeated the spirit of chaos and, just in case I needed a little extra sway, my dad’s now the chief of the tribe. You really think a guy in a store is going to refuse to serve me?”
Asami had to admit she had a point.
“Can I ask why you’re...”
Asami didn’t get a chance to finish because there was another flash of lightning. Korra flinched. “You’re kidding me.” Asami said, in disbelief. “You’re afraid of this little storm? Korra, you know you can create lightning, right?”
Korra scowled at her. “I know. I just...I don’t really like lightning, ok?” her gaze dropped and she mumbled something that didn’t make any sense, and then repeated herself a little louder at Asami’s request. “It killed me once, ok? Or Aang, at least. And now that’s pretty much all that’s left of him because I got him killed all over again.”
Asami was beginning to feel she’d gotten in over her head.
“Aang’s been dead a while,” she began gently, wondering just how drunk Korra was, and got another glare.
“I know that! But he was still...” she touched her chest. “But I let Unalaq kill him! I let them all get killed again and now...now I’m alone.” She took a drink. “Ten thousand years of Avatars. And I broke the cycle. Now it’s just me and-” there was another flash of lightning and Korra winced. “and this stupid fucking fear. I mean, I had to hang onto that? Even without everything else?”
Yep. Asami was definitely in over her head.
“you don’t know a lot about avatar stuff, do you?” Korra realised.
“About as much as you know about mechanical engineering.”
“So bugger all then?”
Asami nodded.
Asami glazed over slightly as Korra went into a slightly confused, rambling explanation that was in no way helped by the half bottle of whiskey that Korra had drunk before she’d arrived. Still, Asami understood loss well enough, even if she couldn’t get her head quite round the spiritual specifics.
“It wasn’t your fault, Korra.”
Korra snorted.
“Who opened the portals and let Unalaq get all freaky with Vaatu again?”
Asami tried to block out the mental images. Korra really needed to pick her words more carefully.
“I nearly got Jinora worse than killed, broke the Avatar cycle, and nearly let the world plunge into chaos and darkness.”
“But you...”
Korra did not seem to be in the mood to be cheered up.
“And I straight-up murdered my uncle. Aang managed to take out freaking Ozai without killing him, but oh no, worst Avatar ever here, I just had to rip his soul apart.”
“Ok, that’s enough.” Asami said firmly. She adopted a more gentle tone. “No one blames you for how things turned out. You did the best anyone could in the circumstances, and even your cousins weren’t exactly torn up about Unalaq.”
“I made Katara cry,” Korra muttered. "When I told her Aang was..."
“No. Unalaq did. Or Vaatu, or Unavaatu or whatever. Not you.” Asami could tell Korra wasn’t really taking any of this in. “Maybe I should get Mako...” she began, but she saw the shift in Korra’s expression. At least this was familiar ground. Over-familiar, in fact. “Oh boy. What happened this time?”
“I broke up with him. Again.” Korra took a swig from the bottle and Asami found herself wondering just how much of this she’d even remember in the morning. And wondering what would happen if she said some of the less than charitable thoughts that had been floating around her mind ever since Mako had dumped her. “I got my memories back and realised he’d been...well, basically lying his ass off.”
Asami did not want to discuss relationship problems with Mako with Korra. She was a good person, or at least she tried to be, but this was too much.
“You know something?” Korra asked, in the tones of one who is going to tell you whether you want to know it or not. “Him. And Bo. First guys, first people I’ve ever...oh what’s the damn word...f...f...”
she snapped her fingers as she tried to recall the word and Asami tried to resist the urge to put her hands over her ears. Really? Bo too? “...friends!” Korra finally exclaimed triumphantly, to Asami’s relief and shock. “I mean, aside from occasional visits from my cousins, him and Bo are the first people my age I’ve ever even been around.”
A lot of things suddenly made sense. It wasn’t an excuse, but it was at least an explanation.
“I thought it was going to be like Aang.” Korra admitted, gesticulating as much as she could in the tiny space. “You know? Run into someone, click, boom, happy ever after. Same with bloody Roku. And Kuruk. And Kyoshi, well, I’m not even getting started on Kyoshi. Not me though.”
Asami considered reminding her that at seventeen there was plenty of time to worry about finding a partner, but Korra just lapsed into silence, staring into the bottle. She seemed to have forgotten all about the storm outside. Asami had never seen Korra looking this small before. She reached out awkwardly, putting an arm round Korra’s shoulders. The Avatar leant against her, and let Asami take the now three quarters empty bottle from her grasp.
Asami wasn’t quite sure when they dozed off. When she woke she had an agonizing crick in her neck and Korra wasn’t faring much better.
“Thanks for last night,” she told her later, as she did her best to ease the tension in Asami’s neck. Waterbending was certainly a useful gift. “Uh...well that sounded...yeah...um...”
“Relax,” Asami told her. “Look, I get it, ok? If you need to talk or just be around people...” She left the sentence hanging.
“Thanks,” Korra said sincerely. “It’s um, it’s easier with you, you know? Talking about this stuff.”
“Any time,” Asami promised. She closed her eyes as Korra worked. “Don’t be a stranger, ok? When we get back to Republic City. Hell, maybe we can finally get you driving.”
Korra snorted.
“I’d have figured you’d had enough near death experiences for now, but sure.”