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Small Fish on a Big Date
Korra stared at a map of the city, trying to determine which street was the most romantic. She had promised to take Asami out on a romantic date, but now she realized she didn't really understand what that meant. Flowers? Yes. An ice sculpture? Maybe. A cute restaurant? That sounded nice, but Korra didn't know how to find one.
It was time to ask a local.
ccoOoɔɔ
“Bolin, you gotta help me.” She'd found him at the brothers' apartment, and now the two of them sat at the table, drinking tea. “What do people do here for a romantic date?”
Korra had gone on dates back home. Kind of. If she counted sneaking away to a hidden cave to make out as a date. Or wandering around the village while the White Lotus followed her and her date's every step. Neither of which was very romantic, in retrospect.
Bolin grinned, lacing his fingers behind his head. “Sister, you've come to the right guy. Mr Romance, that's me. Here's what you gotta do.”
Korra leaned forward, clinging to Bolin's every word.
ccoOoɔɔ
Korra stood in front of the Sato mansion, sweating slightly in her formal clothes. A long, blue tunic with a fur collar, a cute pillbox hat, and clean pants underneath. A little warm in the spring sunshine, but perfect for once evening fell.
Finally, Asami opened the door and Korra wanted to die right then and there. Spirits, she was beautiful! Silky dark hair, sparkling green eyes that lit up when she saw Korra. She gave Korra a big hug and a little kiss on the cheek, accepted the flowers Korra handed her, then glanced over Korra's shoulder.
“We're taking Naga?” Asami asked, jerking Korra out of her trance of admiration.
“Huh? Yeah. Why?”
Asami looked down at her slinky red dress and impractically tall heels. Korra opened her mouth to say she didn't mind if Asami changed her clothes, but Asami spoke first.
“Let's take my car. Naga will be fine if we leave her in the yard, right?”
Korra looked back at Naga, who did a little tippy tap with her front paws. She looked like she wanted to go for a run, but that was just because they'd run here. Once she settled down, she would sleep until Korra came back.
“She'll be fine. Won't you girl?” She gave Naga's cheeks a squeeze, then led her through the gate into the grounds of the Sato estate.
Soon enough, she and Asami were pulling out of the driveway and trundling towards downtown.
“So, where's this place we're going?” Asami asked. “Do you have a reservation for a certain time?”
“It's a restaurant Bolin suggested. He said it's really authentic Fire Nation cuisine. I'm not too hungry yet, so I'm not worried about the time.”
Asami glanced at her, clearly confused. “Did you make a reservation?”
Korra frowned, equally confused. “I know people aren't as accepting here as in the South, but if I had any reservations, I wouldn't have asked you out!” She patted Asami's hand on the gearshift. “It'll be fine, I promise.”
“That's not what I... Did you tell the restaurant that we'd be coming? It's a Friday night and they might not have space.”
Korra blinked. Bolin hadn't mentioned anything about talking to the restaurant. “Is that a thing people do here?” Korra had limited experience with restaurants. There weren't any in the village, and here in the city she'd usually gone with Bolin, who had apparently taken care of anything like “reservations.”
Asami huffed out a breath, then smiled. “I'm sure it'll be fine.”
ccoOoɔɔ
It was not fine.
“Okay, look,” Korra told the host at the restaurant, while finely-dressed people stopped to watch the confrontation. “I understand that all of your tables are full, but I'm an earthbender! What if I make us a table out here?” She gestured at the sidewalk just outside the entrance.
The host gave her a withering look. “You can wait, but it will be at least an hour before we have anything available.”
“But--”
Asami grabbed her arm. “Korra. Let's just find someplace else.” She started pulling Korra down the street, but Korra had one more card to play.
“I'm the Avatar!” she shouted back at the host. “What if I give you an autograph?”
The host snorted and went back inside the restaurant, slamming the door behind him.
“Come on.” Asami linked arms with her and led her away from the restaurant. “I'd say we should go to Kwong's, but they're definitely booked. Do you have any other ideas?”
Korra thought about it. “We could go to the boardwalk. There's that lady there with the skewer stand. She's kinda mean, but the skewers are good.”
Asami gave her a flat look. “I'm not going to stand outside and eat meat on a stick.”
Korra almost opened her mouth to point out that there were other vendors on the boardwalk who sold other kinds of foods not on sticks, but she bit her tongue, not wanting to make Asami more mad than she already was. Spirits, they were off to a rough start.
But Korra still had high hopes. Specifically, Hope's Seaweed Shack, there across the street with a big illuminated sign, featuring a happy little pentapus holding some green noodles in chopsticks.
“How about there?”
Asami bit her lip. “I've never had seaweed before. Is it any good?”
Korra gaped at her. “Asami, you live on the coast! The ocean is right there! How can you never have had seaweed?”
“I don't know! The cooks never made it when I was a kid.”
Korra huffed. “Alright. We're fixing this. Seaweed is amazing. We'll start with some salted nori wafers, then a salad with sea grapes and ocean kumquats, a pancit choca with seaweed noodles, and for dessert...”
She led Asami up the creaking wooden steps to the Seaweed Shack and opened the door of the restaurant. It was dimly lit inside, with sticky floors and no host in a fancy suit to greet them.
A tired-sounding woman called out to them from the bar. “Sit where you like, I'll be with you in a minute.”
Asami leaned in close and whispered in Korra's ear. “Are you sure? We can keep looking.”
Korra almost agreed—they were both dressed much fancier than the rest of the customers here, and this place was not as cute as Korra had hoped—but then the kitchen door opened and the aroma of roasted seaweed wafted out. Korra's mouth watered and she changed her mind.
“Let's stay here. I've got a good feeling about this place.”
Korra picked a table next to the window and examined the decor while they waited for the waitress to come to them. They chatted for a bit, talking about how crazy Amon's coup had been, what was going to happen to Hiroshi, and what Asami was going to do with the company.
“I mean, I'm basically going to have to start from scratch,” Asami was saying. “So many of the techs quit after he got arrested...”
Korra nodded along, plenty interested, but also wondering where the waitress was. She thought she saw someone peek at them through the kitchen door, but it wasn't the waitress. A man with a pointed nose, vicious sideburns and a suit that had seen better days. She swore she recognized him, but couldn't pinpoint where.
“Don't you have someone who can help you hire people?” Korra asked, just as the man in the suit burst out of the kitchen door, a white towel draped over one arm. Was he the waiter?
He sauntered up to them, clearly nervous but trying to hide it.
“Say, you're the Avatar, right?” the waiter asked.
“I am,” Korra said slowly. Something about his tone was... off.
“Good.” He grabbed her by her tunic, pulling her to her feet. Korra yelped in surprise. “Fix me. You gotta fix me,” he shouted, his voice high and frantic. “I ain't been the same ever since Amon--”
“Don't touch her!” Asami grabbed the man's hand, breaking his grip from Korra's tunic.
Korra reached out, ready to grab the man's other arm and subdue him, but suddenly he had a knife and was pressing it against Asami's side.
The scene froze. The man in the suit—definitely not a waiter—had one arm wrapped around Asami, holding her in place while he threatened her with the knife. Korra stood with her hands in front of her, too scared to move with the knife poking a hole in Asami's dress.
Cold sweat dripped down Korra's back. Her eyes flicked to the rest of the room, where the staff and other customers stood watching the scene in horror and fascination.
She looked back to the man, desperately trying to place him.
“Shin?” One of Zolt's henchmen. Mako had mentioned him a few times.
Shin jerked. “Do it. Give me my bending back or I'll gut her.”
“I can't. I don't know how--”
Asami gave a subtle shake of her head and Korra changed tactics.
“--if I don't have any water.”
Shin narrowed his eyes, then jerked his head towards another table.
Slowly, carefully, Korra reached towards the other table and bent the water out of the glasses, pulling it towards her so it pooled around her hands. She focused her chi and a gentle blue glow swirled through the water.
Shin seemed to relax, hope bleeding into his expression as Korra brought the glowing water up to his forehead. His eyes fluttered shut as the healing began to work on all his small hurts, even if Korra couldn't fix what he wanted.
Asami caught her eye and looked up towards the ceiling.
Korra nodded back and mouthed the words, “Three... two... one.”
On one, she wrapped the water around Shin's head, froze it and lifted, yanking him upwards by his new headband.
Shin screamed, thrashing and flailing. He managed to kick Korra in the head before Asami grabbed her by the wrist and hauled both of them out the door.
ccoOoɔɔ
Naga didn't understand what was going on. Korra, the best human in the world, had left her alone in this strange place. Alone, and wearing her saddle! Saddle meant running, and here she was, stuck behind a fence.
Naga howled, lonely and confused. Korra had said stay, but the saddle meant go.
She didn't want to stay here, in this unfamiliar place, not running. She stood up on her hind legs, put her front paws against the fence. The metal creaked, weak and flimsy. She pressed harder, harder, until the fence was bent low enough she could jump over.
Naga jumped, grinning and wagging her tail. She put her nose to the ground and sniffed.
Korra! She'd found her scent!
Naga took off running. Korra would be so happy to see her!
ccoOoɔɔ
“Are you okay?” Asami peered at Korra's head under the glow of a street light.
Korra rubbed at the spot where Shin had kicked her, wincing. Her fingers came back smudged, but not bloody.
“Here. Let me tidy you up.” Asami pulled a tissue from her purse and dabbed at Korra's forehead. “See? You can't even tell.”
Korra buried her face in her hands and groaned. “I'm so stupid! Why do I always mess everything up?”
“Hey!” Asami put a hand on her shoulder. “There was no way you could have known Shin would be in there. And you took care of him without anybody getting hurt.”
Korra snorted. “Only because I followed your plan.”
“Which you figured out with only meaningful looks and nods!” Asami squeezed her shoulder. “And I'm sure you could've come up with your own plan and it would've worked just fine.”
Korra gave her a weak smile. “Thanks.” She sighed, rubbed her face. “What do you want to do now? We could just go back to your house. You have food there, right?”
Asami snorted. “Yes, I have food there--” A grumble from her stomach interrupted her and she blushed.
“Your place is pretty far, though,” Korra said, tactfully ignoring the noise.
“The boardwalk is just over there,” Asami admitted. “I bet we can find a vendor with seaweed things.”
ccoOoɔɔ
“See, this isn't so bad,” Korra said. The two of them sat on a bench looking out over the bay, paper bowls full of seaweed salad and grilled fish in hand. A big yellow moon hung low over the horizon and the waves washed against the rocky shore with a gentle, rhythmic sound. In the distance, ships cut through the water, only visible by the lights outlining their shapes. The air was cold, but Korra held a handful of flames to keep them both warm.
“No, this is nice.”
Asami held up her bowl and Korra did the same. “Cheers.” Korra let her little fire go out and scooped seaweed and fish into her mouth.
“This is really good!” Asami said, sounding genuinely surprised.
“I told you!”
They ate in silence for a minute, an indication of hunger and good food.
“Is it supposed to make my tongue ithy?” Asami asked.
Korra laughed through her mouthful of fish. “What?”
Asami set down her bowl, swallowed and touched her cheek with her fingertips. “It'th ithy.”
Ice crystals formed in Korra's veins. She summoned her flame again. “Open your mouth.”
Asami did, but Korra didn't even need to look inside to see that her whole face was puffy and red.
“Can you ficth it?” Asami asked, her words muffled, but with a note of panic.
“Uh, uh, maybe!” Korra jumped to her feet and spun, pulling a tendril of water from the bay. She pushed her chi into it, making it glow, only to gasp in horror. Green-brown flecks of seaweed floated in the water, illuminated by the healing light. Asami was having a reaction to seaweed! She couldn't heal her with this!
She let the dirty sea water splash onto the boardwalk. “Doctor. Gotta get a doctor.” She grabbed Asami by the arm. “Where's the car? Can you breathe?”
Asami nodded and pointed back the way they'd come. Korra took two running steps in that direction, then stopped, realizing Asami couldn't keep up. Between the tall shoes and the swelling in her face, there was no way.
“Let me carry you.”
“What? No. I can walk, I dutht can't talk.”
“But--”
Asami gave her a mean look, the edge of it undercut by her squirrelmonk cheeks. Korra would have laughed if she wasn't so worried.
“Fine.”
They walked, quickly, back past Hope's Seaweed Shack, past the fancy Fire Food restaurant, around the corner to where Asami's car was parked.
“You drive,” Asami said.
“I can't drive!”
Asami thrust the keys at her anyway. “You can figure it out. Ith not hard.”
Korra looked a little closer, realized that the swelling had gotten worse. Asami's eyes were squeezed half-shut.
“Okay, right.” Korra knew how to sail a boat, how to operate a snowmobile. She was the Avatar, and she could drive a car!
She made sure Asami was situated, then put the key in the ignition and pressed the starter button. The engine growled to life. With one foot on the clutch, she pulled the gearshift into what she thought was reverse and stomped on the gas.
The car snarled and sprang forwards, jolting up onto the curb and crashing into a streetlight. A ribbon of steam snaked out of the cracked hood.
Asami groaned, tilting her head back and putting her hand over her eyes.
“No, no, no, no.” Korra swore, trying to put the car into reverse, but it only jolted again and sputtered as the engine died.
She was trying to restart the car when she heard a bassy bark somewhere in the distance.
“Naga?”
Another bark.
Korra got out of the car and shouted. “Naga!”
Korra's best friend in the whole world bounded into view, panting and wagging her tail.
ccoOoɔɔ
Korra sat with Asami in the sterile emergency clinic while they waited for the medicine to take effect. Already the swelling had gone down, but the doctor had wanted Asami to wait at least a little while longer.
Once they had a moment of privacy, Korra spoke up. “Asami, I'm so sorry. I wanted this to be special, but I messed everything up.”
Asami gave her a small smile. “Yeah, you kinda did. But it wasn't all your fault. I shouldn't have told you to drive. I could have insisted we leave the second restaurant after I had a bad feeling. And I definitely didn't need to eat that seaweed.” She poked at her puffy cheeks.
Korra huffed out a breath, almost a laugh. “Okay, yeah. But I still want to make it up to you. I mean, if you want to. I'd totally understand if you never want to see me again.”
“Korra!” Asami grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Of course I want to see you again. We'll do something simpler. Go for a walk on the beach.”
Korra looked up. “That sounds perfect.” She leaned in close for a kiss. “Is it okay if I...?”
Asami started to lean in, but then shook her head. “My face still hurts.”
“Right. Sorry.”
They sat holding hands, not saying much, until the doctor came back and told Asami she was okay to leave.
ccoOoɔɔ
Korra dropped Asami off at her house with a final apology—this one for Naga knocking over Asami's fence—and a chaste kiss. She and Naga made the long trek back to Air Temple Island, still kicking herself over the failure of an evening.
Korra slept in late the next morning, and woke up groggy and still mad at herself. But, she had promised Tenzin that she would train with him, so she hauled herself out of bed and trudged down to the training grounds.
“Avatar Korra!” One of the air acolytes shouted, jogging towards her from the docks, a brown paper envelope in their hands. “A courier just dropped this off for you.”
Korra frowned, taking the envelope. It was the wrong shape for a letter, and this was the wrong time of day for the usual mail carrier. She flipped it over to see smooth calligraphy on the front. <From Asami Sato>.
Unable to hold back a smile, Korra opened the envelope. Inside she found two pieces of paper. The first was a note.
<Korra, please don't feel bad about last night. It was the best date I've ever had! I'd be more than happy to do it all over again, even the seaweed.>
The second was a drawing of a bench looking out over the bay, with the moon hanging low over the horizon. Ships sailed in the distance, outlined by their lights. Two girls sat on the bench, leaning against one another, looking out at the bay.
Korra's smile grew even bigger and she hugged the papers against her chest. Maybe last night hadn't been so bad. And next time, it would be even better.