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"Sounds perfect," you said glazing over the skyline of Republic City, the soft jazz music still swaying in the distance behind you.
You were glad to be home. Glad to finally have a moment of peace. You still thought of all the work that was left to be done after everything you had been through, but it had seemed to have stopped at that moment to finally give you a moment to be at somewhat solace.
Your eyes followed the abundance of spirit vines linking to the spirit portal like a messy plait. You wondered how the hell you actually managed to survive the giant purple mass that nearly destroyed everything that was left of the city. You were shocked and amazed. You had never understood your actual power until that moment. Ever since you had severed your connection to your past lives you thought you were hopeless. You thought that you were the worst Avatar to walk the planet. It turned out that neither was true. You felt a surge of pride and amazement. You felt relieved that you were safe for the time being. You felt relieved that she was safe from-
"Korra, are you okay?" the beautiful figure beside you said. You had snapped out of your thoughts and gently turned your eyes to meet the shining emerald iris's of the woman next to you. You had thought she was beautiful from the moment you met her nearly four years ago, but damn she was so beautiful now. Her long black hair draped over her shoulders perfectly like it always did. The red and pink fabric of her dress fitting over her figure accentuating her curvature. She was the reason your heart stopped ninety percent of the time.
Her eyes showing slight worry, you said, "Oh yeah, sorry. I was just thinking."
"About?" she asked, eyebrows slightly raised.
You sighed, "A few things," you said as your gaze went towards the spirit portal again, "I was just thinking about what Aang would've thought about all this. I doubt he ever imagined a spirit portal in the middle of the city. I never thought of the possibility but here we are." You looked out of the left sides of your eyes. Her gaze never leaving you, but instead of worry it was content.
"Korra, I'm sure he and all the other Avatars are so proud of you," Asami said with a smile, "I know I am, but that doesn't mean as much as your past lives." You turned your head to meet her gaze again. "What are you talking about? Asami, that means more than you think it does. I'm actually happy that I didn't disappoint the most important person in my life," you said grinning with a slight blush rising on your cheeks.
Her eyes looked at you like you were ten million yuans. Mako had definitely never looked at you like this and you were kind of glad he never did otherwise you would've missed this. Something clicked right then and there that this was meant to happen. You were so confused during those three years about your feelings for Asami. You didn't know if you meant it or not since you were going through so much. You didn't know if the signs before you were poisoned were real, but this was definitely real.
"What else were you thinking about," Asami asked, still smiling at you. You noticed she had a blush rise on her cheeks as well. You felt your body go a little numb. Your stomach had turned just the slightest. You didn't feel like you were going to puke out all the Varicakes you had eaten at the party but you did feel like a rock had sunken from your gullet into the anxious abyss of your stomach. 'Am I really doing this?' you thought, still staring at her, taking in her beauty again, 'Yeah I'm gonna do this.'
"I, um, was thinking about you," you said as you broke eye contact and looked at your hands in your lap. You felt the fire in your heart rise as it beat out of your chest. You wondered if it was actually trying to come out of your body, "I'm really glad that you haven't moved on from being in my life. I was worried when I was gone that I severed all of my relationships with everyone. But thank you for staying by my side. I don't think we would've defeated Kuvira without you."
"For those three years, I never doubted you," Asami said staring at the spirit portal, "I know recovery is difficult, and I knew it would probably be longer than a few weeks that you were gone. The selfish side of me had hoped you would come back sooner, but I was really worried more so about your recovery process." She breathed in a long breath and exhaled slowly, "I know how difficult it was for you the two weeks after Zaheer. But I meant what I said. I'm here for you always, Korra. You being gone never changed that."
You felt your lips curve into another smile. You were surprised that your cheeks didn’t hurt from smiling so much. You felt like you didn’t stop smiling from the moment Asami had walked into the wedding. How did you get so lucky to have a best friend of this calibre? Someone who was understanding. Someone who never gave up on you. Someone who always pushed you to be a better person and Avatar. Someone who you knew would never judge you. But she was also someone not afraid to tell you the truth to your face.
You both sat there for a while in silence. It was never awkward. You sat and listened to the music from the wedding still swaying in the breeze of the island. The soft waves of the bay crashing against the rocky foundation. You suspected the crowd of the wedding to be thinning out to just Airbenders and the rest of your friends and family. You still didn’t feel like returning to the reception feeling as though all people would want to conversate about was Kuvira and the rest of the clean up strategy. It had been a few days since the attack on Republic City. After the initial battle, you and the rest of Team Avatar had rounded up all of Kuvira’s army and sent word to the rest of the Earth Kingdom that The Great Uniter had no power over the states anymore. You knew that the clean up process of the Earth Kingdom was going to be messier, but you and the others had just focused on the city for the time being.
The Beifongs, and the rest of the Republic City Metalbenders had assisted in the clean up of the rubble. Everyone had to make sure that the building structures weren’t at risk of collapse due to the chaos. Luckily the actual clean up wasn’t as difficult as you thought it would be. It took nearly two and a half days to get the rubble to the side of the roads to make way for vehicles carrying supplies here and there. Citizens were still not allowed in the city, and a group of Airbenders with the help of Zhu Li had created a camp near the mountain side for those still stuck from the railways, airways, and bridges being cut off. You didn’t want to think about the rebuild as you really had no idea where to start.
“So when do you want to leave for our vacation,” Asami said, breaking the silence. You had genuinely not even thought about when you wanted to go. Was it messed up for you to leave the city in a time like this? You had just saved the city from destruction. People would understand if you took a little break, right?
“I’m not too sure,” you said, a little surprised at how low you sounded. ‘Did Asami notice?’ you thought as you raised your head up. Asami definitely noticed.
“I understand if you want to wait a little bit since the clean up process has just started,” Asami said sentimentally. You thought for a second, your eyes thinning in concentration. ‘Screw it,’ you thought.
“Let go tonight,” you said on impulse. Asami didn’t seem taken aback by this, but seemed to hum in agreement. “I can have a bag packed in less than half a hour, and I’ll let Tenzin and the boys know so no one thinks we’ve gone missing,” you said excitedly, “Do we need to go to your estate to grab your things?”
“No, I actually have an extra bag packed in my room in the temple,” Asami said. You looked at her questionably, “I had stayed here a few nights a week when you were gone. It was a nice distraction from work and honestly it was a good distraction from feeling lonely. Before Mako and Bolin’s family had used the estate, it felt way too large for just me. It felt agoraphobic being so empty, so I set aside a small bag for the occasional Air Temple Island sleepover when I wasn’t sleeping at my office.”
“You slept in your office?” you comically asked. Asami laughed and spurted, “Hey, I have a really nice office. I made sure to have a comfy couch and shower put in just for that reason.”
“If it is as great as you say it is, then the Avatar requests a personal tour to confirm,” you said grinning.
“Oh I didn’t know that you had to have an Avatar approved office for it to be nice,” Asami said jokingly, placing her fingers on her chin, “But I guess the stamp of approval does make it more official.” You sat and laughed as you thought about Metalbending an actual plaque to place in Asami’s office. Asami’s laugh was pure bliss in your ears. After everything she had been through the past few days, you were glad to actually see her smile. One evening after a clean up session, you had all planned to give Hiroshi Sato his last goodbye. It had been rough to say the least. Asami had taken the first few nights after the battle to mourn in private at Air Temple Island. You had checked on her every so often to make sure she was doing ok and to make sure that she was eating. She still held herself together during the first few days of clean up, but you could hear her quiet sobs from your room as the nights drew nearer. She finally broke at the small memorial service that was held at the temple. What was left of Hiroshi was buried by her mother’s grave. Because she didn’t want anyone to see her break fully, she buried him alone, and held a small service at the temple with you, Mako, Bolin, Lin, and Tenzin. She still broke down into more sobs as Tenzin spoke Hiroshi’s eulogy, apologizing for being such a mess. “Asami, it is ok to be a mess,” you had told her, your hand rested on her shoulder blade. She broke down even more after you had said that. Never sobbing loudly, but you could tell more and more tears streamed down her face than normal. You knew that it was super hard for her to let go since they had just formed somewhat of their relationship back, but you were glad that she could find things to laugh and smile at.
“Asami, can I ask you something,” you said as both of your laughs faded down. Asami nodded, still smiling. You felt the question stuck in your throat as you tried to speak. Only air came out. ‘Come on Avatar. It’s just Asami,’ you thought, ‘She wouldn’t be weirded out by this. Or would she?’
Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. You reached out for Asami’s right hand with your left, your pinky slowly intertwining with hers. She eventually moved her hand to where yours sat on top of hers, all of your fingers in between each other. You looked down at them briefly before looking at Asami. She had been looking down as well. Finally returning your gaze you said, “Asami, I know this might not be the right time with everything happening, but it is something that I have been thinking about for a long time and I don’t think I can really keep it to myself much longer. Asami, I really like you. As in like you more than just my best friend. I mean you are my best friend. You never stopped being my best friend,” you sighed as your rambling came to a halt, “What I’m trying to say is that I would really enjoy being more than just best friends.”
You stared at Asami with a frightened expression as you waited for her to reply. You felt her squeeze your hand and move it to your shoulder. You followed her fingers as they rested on you, ‘Oh no, I knew it. She doesn’t feel the same way. I’ve been reading everything so wrong. I’m such an idiot,” you thought as you watched her hand squeeze your shoulder.
“I was wondering when you were going to ask,” Asami said with a large smile. You were taken aback for a moment.
“You mean, you feel the same way,” you asked. Asami laughed and cupped your cheek with her hand.
“Korra, I have felt the same way arguably as long as you have. I just didn’t know if now was the right time or not,” Asami said. You still looked astounded by everything she had just said and she could tell you were probably in a state of shock, but her hand never left your face. Finally, you smiled at the realization that you weren’t an idiot and that you had been reading all the signs right. You reached your hand up and placed it on top of hers. As you leaned your cheek into her palm, you felt the both of you smile like you haven’t in a long time.
“So what is the question, Avatar,” Asami said mischievously, winking at you.
You gave her an amused glare as you heavily blushed. You knew she could tell by the way she laughed. “Asami, will you be my girlfriend,” you asked with a little shake to your voice.
“Yes Korra, I will be your girlfriend,” Asami said blushing heavily as well.
“Thank spirits,” you said as she placed her hand back down to the ground. She laughed and moved her body to face towards you, taking in every part of you. You didn’t know if you had something on your face or if she just wanted to take in the moment. You agreed on the latter as she never made a face of disgust. Asami Sato was finally your girlfriend. You had successfully asked the most beautiful woman in Republic City to be yours.
“We should probably get going if we wanted to leave tonight,” Asami said. You nodded and stood up. You offered your hand to her, and she took it gracefully. You pulled her up softly from the stairs. You stood looking at each other for a minute, before you both enveloped each other in an embrace. This was what you had been desperately waiting for. To be able to hug Asami Sato as long and as many times as you wanted. Her hair smelled of rose and her touch was gentle around your neck. It sent a shiver down your spine as you tightly embraced for a moment longer. She let go and reached down to grab both of your hands, your foreheads leaning together. You both had your eyes closed and savoured this moment for as long as you could.
“What happened to get going,” you said with a smirk. Asami laughed slightly and lifted her forehead off of yours. “I was just taking in the moment, Avatar,” she said with a laugh. You both heard a loud crash from behind you, breaking the moment up. You couldn't see what the cause of the crash was but you heard the voice of Varrick yell, “I’m ok! I’m ok!”
“Yeah we should probably head back,” Asami said, “I want to get out of here before Varrick does something more stupid than he’s already done.” You laughed in agreement and led her up the stairs. She stopped you suddenly when you reached the top.
“Asami, are you okay?” you asked curiously. She was smiling at you as she rested her hand upon your left shoulder again and gave you a kiss on the cheek. You felt your arm wrap against her waist and your smile grew as large as it could probably go. Her warm breath felt like heaven against your skin. She finally removed her lips from your cheek and said with a smile, ”Go let Tenzin and the boys know. I’m going to change and I’ll meet you out front in 15 minutes.”
You were frozen in place as you watched her walk away. Her figure swaying in distance getting smaller and smaller as she entered the girl’s dormitory. “Wow,” is all you could manage to say. It took you a minute to move from the spot you were glued to, but you finally left to find Tenzin. The party was as you expected. There were Airbenders, the Beifongs, and the rest of Team Avatar left. Everyone seemed to be cleaning up and you could spot Tenzin a mile away as he was scolding Varrick for jumping off of the stage into an ancient Airbender vase.
You managed to grab his attention before his bald head turned the violent shade of red that you were used to when you first arrived in Republic City. He took a deep breath as you placed your hand on his shoulder.
“Tenzin, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to the Spirit World for a little bit,” you said waiting for his scolding response. However, it never came.
“Korra, I think that’s a great idea. You won’t be going alone will you,” he said concerned that you would say yes.
“No, Asami is joining me. After everything that we’ve both been through we decided it might be nice to leave the city for a little while. We won’t be gone more than a week,” you said relieved of his sign of approval.
“Be safe, Korra,” he said bringing you into a tight fatherly embrace, “Also, is that a bruise on your cheek?” You felt confused for a moment until your eyes grew wide and realized Asami’s lipstick must’ve rubbed off on your skin.
“I,uh, yeah, I had meant to get it checked out before but just forgot about it,” you said nervously grinning. Tenzin knew you were lying as you both pulled back from your hug, your hand over the cheek Asami had kissed. Tenzin smiled at you and said, “Have fun,” before going off to scold Varrick some more. You smiled as you turned your head to see Mako and Bolin talking to Prince Wu. A part of you didn’t want to but you rubbed off Asami’s lipstick stain with your sleeve. You walked over to the boys, thankful that you had talked to Tenzin first. You didn’t want to have that conversation with everyone just yet, but you smiled thinking about Asami’s lips. You hoped you could feel them on your own one day soon, but for now you would savour all of your moments just being together. Feeling like you and her were the only ones on the world.