Work Text:
It is a universally-acknowledged fact that Korra could be an emotional mess in both the best and the worst of times. On this particular occasion, in the early spring of Korra’s return to Republic City, it was one of her best. The moment the Avatar touched down in Republic City, she was practically rugby tackled to the ground by her friends and overwhelmed by hugs and happy chatter. Korra was glad to see them all: it had been too long. Ikki and Meelo had grown, and Jinorah’s hair had grown back, but not enough to hide the blue tattoo on her head. Rohan was bigger too, but still sat safely in his mother’s arms.
But the person her eyes search or the most, had barely changed at all. They settled on the familiar figure stood near the end of the pier. Asami still stood at a ridiculously tall height, and her long, sleek black hair still stretched down her back and settled just above her tailbone. Her clothes were still the greyish black suit with the faded red lapels, and tall boots that were made-to-measure for her elegantly slim legs. She was older now, and looked more mature with an experienced wisdom now present in her piercing green eyes. Korra noticed Asami was the stood apart from the rest, along with Lin, both of not joining in with the overly enthusiastic welcoming. The Avatar broke away from the hugs and approached her old friend.
“Asami!” She breathed, wrapping the Future Industries CEO in a tight hug that lifted her off of her feet. As the two embraced, Korra realised just how much she’d missed her, and the smell of lavender that Asami seemed to always smell of. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Asami smiled back at her, a relieved almost tearful grin. “I’ve missed you too, Korra.” She replied. There was a pause, then the dark-haired woman breathed another big smile and wrapped the Avatar in another hug. “God, I’ve missed you so so much. Please don’t ever leave again, okay?”
“Yeah, please don’t.” Lin agreed grumpily. “I’m not having another Kuvira situation: it was bad enough the first time.”
Korra laughed as Asami released her from the hug. “It’s good to see you too, Lin. Glad to hear you’ve missed me.” She turned back to Asami, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear and keeping her hand there. “I won’t leave again. I won’t leave you again.”
Asami rested her cheek into Korra’s palm, and held her own hand to it. “Good.” She affirmed.
She opened her mouth to speak again but was interrupted by Bolin’s arm wrapping around Korra’s neck. The earthbender laughed loudly. “Argh, I’ve missed you, Korra! Whadda ya say, sparring match for old times sake?” Pabu hopped onto his shoulder, squeaking in agreement.
Mako clapped a strong hand on his brother’s shoulder. “C’mon, little bro, I think Korra wants some time alone with Asami – let’s leave them to it, yeah?”
The younger bender groaned but complied, and Korra flashed Mako a thankful smile as they left. The others followed suite, each wishing Korra well and hoping to see her later, to which she agreed. She probably wouldn’t keep up with most of them, but she did make a mental note to at least visit Tenzin and the kids soon. Considering they were her second family, Korra had missed them a great deal as well.
They were soon left completely alone on the pier. Korra sniffed and tried to subtly wipe a tear with her sleeve. Asami looked at her curiously.
“Korra? You okay?” She reached out and touched the Avatar’s shoulder, just like she’d always done when Korra was sad, or distant. It had always calmed the brunette down. When Korra hung her head, Asami squeezed her shoulder tighter. “It’s alright to cry, you know. Understandable, considering you’ve been away for almost as long as you were last time.”
Korra let out a heavy sigh, still trying to hold the tears in. She crossed out of Asami’s grip and flopped onto a nearby bench. She lay, face down, for a few minutes and then turned onto her back so that she was staring up at the sky with her hands resting on her stomach.
“What are you doing?” Asami asked, raising an eyebrow and placing a knowing smirk on her face. “Taken up a new form of meditation?” She teased.
“I’m trying not to cry, Asami!” Korra cried dramatically, starting to fan her face. Her eyes tilted upwards as she kept trying to stop the flow of tears they both knew were coming. “This is a very emotional day!”
The dark-haired woman shook her head and rolled her eyes before she joined Korra on the bench, providing a pillow for the brunette’s head. The Avatar grinned up at her.
“Knew that’d get you to sit down.”
Asami rolled her eyes again and instead found a place for her hands to settle by threading them into Korra’s short, brown hair. “Do you remember the last time we were on this pier?” She asked quietly, turning her attention to the gently lapping waves.
Korra followed her gaze as she poked her fingers together. “No.” She admitted, glancing back up to Asami’s face. She had that reminiscent look on her face off that Korra had run away from the first time she’d seen it, and the second time. Probably every time, but she was too ashamed to admit it. Something about that face terrified the Avatar. But, this time, she didn’t know whether it was the waves or after all this time but Korra wasn’t afraid. “How long ago was it? Four, five years?”
“Korra, do you ever keep track of time?” The other woman teased; her fingers still tangled in the brunette’s hair. She shook her head so that the tips of her hair tickled Korra’s face. “It was seven years ago – when you went back to the South Pole to get better again.”
Korra smiled at the memory, although she remembered that she hadn’t smiled at the time. In fact, she’d been far from it. “Yeah, I remember you offering to come with me. Jeez, we were practically kids back then. You were going to look after me, you old softie.”
Asami jokingly bumped Korra’s head on her knee. “-because you were miserable! You’d been poisoned and were in a wheelchair! I wanted to help you.” She pouted. “I would’ve come with you, you know.”
Korra laughed. “Of course, I knew that! I just…I didn’t want you to see me like that, that’s all.” She reached up and teasingly squeezed Asami’s cheeks. It was strange, she felt drunk but she hadn’t had anything to drink. Something was making her entire body tingle. “Anyway, I wrote to you.”
“Once!”
“Still, only to you!”
Asami popped an eyebrow, and smiled. “Tell me, Korra, is that when you realised you were in love with me? When you wrote me a letter that one time?”
Korra’s entire body froze, and her hand dropped down to her lap again quicker than lightning. Asami didn’t change, merely stared out at the sea and kept massaging her hands into Korra’s hair. That seemed to relax the Avatar, as she curled closer into Asami’s stomach. The CEO noticed how Korra didn’t answer, but that didn’t seem to faze her.
“I knew I was in love with you the day we spent in Ba Sing Se doing the Earth Queen’s dirty work.” Asami recalled thoughtfully, a smile flittering across her face. “It was when those guys on bikes showed up and you pushed me behind you to defend me, although we both know I’m more than capable than handling myself. I have to say, I think it started when you crashed my Satomobile into a lamp post.”
Korra giggled. “Don’t know what you were thinking letting a girl from the Southern water tribe get behind a driver’s seat. The only thing I know how to drive is Naga.” The laugh faded and Korra’s eyes glanced back to the sparkling waves. “I first realised I was in love with you just before I left to go back to the South Pole. After I got injured, you looked after me. You helped me into a wheelchair, you cleaned all the cuts and bruises, you did my hair and you were there for me, even when I didn’t feel strong enough to reply. You’ve always been there for me, Asami.”
Asami nodded her agreement, but a frown was knitting her eyebrows together to make a neat crease in her nose. “Why did we never act on this sooner?” She questioned, her voice sad and serious. “We’ve both felt this way for seven years – what stopped us?”
Korra finally sat up and took Asami’s hands in hers. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years is that we can’t rely on our past to always provide the answers – because they’re not always there. When I could connect to my past lives, sometimes even they didn’t have the answers. We can only focus on the now.” She stood and rubbed the back of her neck. “Besides, it’s probably because you’re too shy to tell anyone how you feel, ever.”
Asami punched her in the arm. “Shut up.”
The pair shared a chuckle as Korra stood, taking Asami with her by the hand. A small gust of wind picked up Asami’s hair in the breeze and made it tickle Korra’s cheek again. The brunette took Asami’s other hand.
“Asami, while I was away, I had a lot of time to think-“
“You usually have that when you go on a meditation retreat for six months.” The other woman teased.
Korra returned a knowing smile. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, I couldn’t stop thinking of you – and all these missed opportunities you talk of. I don’t want to miss anything else. I mean, I’ve known you for what, a decade now? You’ve always been my closest friend and I think, deep down, I’ve known I loved you more than a friend. Honestly, I don’t know why I’ve never acted on it before – I suppose I was scared that you wouldn’t feel the same or maybe you still liked Mako.”
Asami took a gentle, but firm hold of Korra’s shirt and pulled the Avatar towards her. The moment their lips touched; it was like everything finally fitted into place. Korra felt like her body was made of air, like she was drifting off of the ground and Asami was who kept her on Earth. The kiss didn’t last long, but as soon as the two pulled away, they were both slightly breathless. But, after a second kiss, and a third, and a fourth – the two couldn’t resist the urge to laugh anymore. In fact, they laughed so hard that they had to hold onto the other’s shoulders to keep themselves from falling over.
“There,” Asami chuckled and patted Korra’s shoulder. “-that shut you up.”
Korra rolled her eyes and pulled Asami in by her waist. “C’mon, let’s catch up with the others. They’ll be wondering where we are.”
“I’m sure they’ll survive without us.”
“You know what they’re like.” Korra grinned. “Leave ‘em for too long and they’ll go nuts.”
Asami groaned reluctantly, but let Korra take her hand and start to lead her off the pier. In fact, she let the Avatar tug her all the way home through the streets of Republic City and into her own bedroom.