Chapter Text
Asami sighed softly and leaned back in her office chair as she dropped a thick stack of finished paperwork on her desk. The CEO closed her eyes for a moment to soak in the rare sense of total fulfillment only a completed to-do list could provide, a small, satisfied smile tugging at crimson painted lips. Between renewing contracts with the Beifongs, putting out a PR fire at the San Francisco office from their home in Alabama, and capitalizing on the recent flop of some subpar products Cabbage Corps had released into the market, this week was nothing short of a ball-buster that had left even the formidable and collected Asami Sato in need of a stiff drink most nights.
She took a slow, cleansing breath and rolled her shoulders a bit to shed the pressures of the outside world like a heavy coat and spun around in her chair to face the window in her office, feeling herself relax further as she settled into the beautiful view that had become her life. The dark-haired woman closed her eyes and laid her head back as a crisp fall breeze cascaded through the open window; not so forceful as to disrupt the hard work that lay on her desk, but just strong enough to carry the symphony of drying leaves in its wake as it ran its ethereal fingers soothingly through her dark curls. She hummed softly in satisfaction and closed her eyes, sinking deeper into her chair and allowing the moment of peace to wash over her with a deep sigh of contentment.
Asami had never pegged herself as a country girl by any means; she was the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, after all, how could she possibly be content in such a quiet, sleepy setting such as this? If someone had told her a year ago that she’d be living in a quaint little farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, Alabama, she would have laughed in their face. ‘Well, no,’ she amended in her head with a small smirk. Multi-million-dollar CEO or not, she still had manners after all, but she would not have spared such a ludicrous concept a second thought, let alone entertained the theory. Everything about Asami was born and bred to make fast things go faster . Cars, business deals, deadlines, even racing toward the future itself with her inventions and innovations. To be a Sato was to race life itself.
But nothing in that high stakes world of speed and progress had ever made the heiress’s heart race faster or pound harder than the soft, faint alto voice the breeze now carried from the meadow beyond her open window. Emerald eyes immediately opened, eager to catch a glimpse of the one place Asami Sato truly belonged as a short mop of unruly brown hair crested the hill of the yellowing meadow, trailed by a happily bouncing white ball of fur. Bright rays of the warm, late-afternoon sun danced across chiseled shoulders and arms, catching in tiny beads of sweat that made Korra’s dark skin sparkle as she carried two wicker baskets full of a variety of apples from the orchard on the other side of the property. Another sigh escaped full, crimson lips, this time full of love and adoration for the woman who she had at one point thought responsible for turning her entire life upside down.
Asami knew better, now.
What Korra had done was bring Asami back to life, breathing purpose and meaning into what was simply a good show for the public; going through the day-to-day motions expected of her as a Sato. Her time with the beautiful therapist had taught the CEO so many things, helping her to become more introspective and confident in herself as her own person rather than a namesake or a figurehead. Some lessons came easily, Korra’s natural charm effortlessly worming its way throughout several of Asami’s hard-learned life lessons and dismantling them, altering them to give her the safe spaces she needed to feel and process her emotions. Little by little, the spunky, ocean-eyed therapist helped the tightly wound heiress learn to breathe a little deeper through unassuming, loving moments that were simply...Korra. Moments of silently watching their favorite reruns on the couch together and merely being a solid, quiet presence; the way Korra would ask gently leading questions to encourage the normally withdrawn CEO to open up, not just to Korra but to herself; not to mention exhibiting patience Asami was certain the saints and apostles of old could only dream of aspiring to.
Some lessons were much harder earned for Asami, however, failing even more spectacularly than her first attempt to cook. The slow learning curve often meant these tough lessons were the sparks of the couple’s rare fights and out fallings. Her mother’s passing and her father’s subsequent distancing from her had taught a young Asami that a solid, safe landing was simply an illusion afforded only to the lucky. Once combined with Hiroshi’s eventual betrayal and her consequential scramble to keep her family’s legacy alive, a too young, too vulnerable woman was forced into a black hole of fierce independence and solitude. A black hole fed by the pride of her fellow board members and her father’s associates as they watched the innocent, smooth skin of a beautiful young woman harden to impregnable scales of stone and feminine wiles in the blistering forges of business and negotiations. “There’s that Sato ruthlessness that keeps Future Industries in the black,” one would say to the other proudly as she sealed the deal on yet another multi-million dollar project. “She’s Hiroshi’s girl, alright,” the other would agree with a knowing smirk. “She’ll keep every stone they throw at her just to build a castle with them out of spite.”
It was after one of these high-stakes meetings months ago that Asami had truly realized how dark her path often was and what it would cost her if she couldn’t reconcile the life she had chained herself to with the life she so desperately wanted to make with Korra. The events of the past several days had brewed a volatile storm within the dangerously exhausted CEO. An incredibly crucial investor was suddenly being indecisive about signing an all-too-important contract for Future Industries’ latest innovation in public transport, the Sato-Rail. The Sato-Rail was poised to be the modern world’s great relief with smooth, swift, clean energy public transportation and was their most publicized undertaking of the past decade. Asami had little choice in the matter and was forced to fly back to her home office in San Francisco to settle the investor’s worries and ensure all went as planned. Between the endless hours, lonely nights of fitful sleep, and missing the light of her life that was Korra, the heiress’s nerves were all but fried by the time she was finally able to video chat with her girlfriend.
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“Hey, beautiful,” Korra cooed sweetly at her from her laptop, her bright, lopsided smile lighting up Asami’s office more than any fluorescent ever could. “How’s everything going?”
Asami gave a small, derisive chuckle as she ran her fingers through her hair and rolled her eyes a bit. “Beautiful is the last thing I am right now,” she countered bitterly. Korra winced a bit at her girlfriend’s tone, dark features turning sympathetic and understanding. “That great, huh?”
The CEO sighed and nodded as she shuffled papers around her desk distractedly. “The shipment of the solar panels we need has been delayed again , the city is trying to insert some last-minute ridiculous clauses into the contract last minute to try to cut corners for the budget as though Future Industries wasn’t already fronting nearly 60% of the initial cost of this product and, on top of that, Mr. Ganlan has just requested yet another last-minute meeting with me to discuss only God knows WHAT else,” she ranted, the papers she was shuffling in her hand becoming more wrinkled and disheveled as she gathered them in her mounting frustration before she finally found the schedule she was looking for, placing it on the desk in front of her with an irritated smack. “So, now I have to figure out how the HELL I am supposed to get everything done-“
“Asami, just tell him you don’t have the time,” came Korra’s calm, matter-of-fact voice. For the first time since the video chat had started, Asami actually looked directly at her girlfriend’s image on the screen, albeit to look at her as though she had grown a second head. “Yeah, like that’s an option,” she muttered sarcastically with an eye roll for good measure, though the suggestion took a bit of angry wind from her sails with the sheer desire to do just that. “Why isn’t it?” Korra countered calmly. “You’ve already been more than accommodating to his needs by flying out there and meeting with him as much as you have, the least he can do is work around your schedule at this point. It’s only fair.” Asami took a quick breath to calm her rising temper, not because Korra was wrong but because she was so very correct – if only “fair” and “right” was how the business world worked.
“It just doesn’t work like that, Korra,” she said with an annoyed huff, green eyes dulled by exhaustion and stress poring over a schedule covered in various colored ink marks and missing the growing concern in loving ocean-blues on the other side of the country. “If I skip lunch, that gives me a half hour to-“
“Asami.”
The raven-haired woman blinked at the serious tone from her normally light-hearted girlfriend, looking back at her laptop to see the dark-skinned woman’s attitude had shifted from “uplifting and distracting girlfriend” to “problem-solving therapist”.
And Asami Sato was not in the mood.
“What,” she said more than asked in another annoyed huff, her eyes returning to her schedule. “Sometimes, ‘I don’t have the time’ doesn’t literally mean that every second of your schedule is accounted for. Sometimes it means ‘I don’t have anything left of myself to give.’ And that’s okay. It’s crucial to a person’s mental health to establish and enforce those kinds of boundaries, otherwise we get burned out. Just like you are now.” Though the words were spoken gently and the love in her tone evident, the CEO couldn’t help but bristle at her girlfriend’s implications.
“Yeah, well, that sounds great in whatever fantasy world you imagine me living in at the moment, but the real world isn’t going to slow down simply because I need a breather, Korra,” she spat, the bitterness of her words dripping from her tongue like poison. “And that’s because it’s not about ME. There are hundreds of thousands of lives that could be improved once the Sato-Rail is a reality and I’m not going to do anything that has even the possibility to jeopardize that just because I’m tired. I’m going to be a responsible adult and carry this through whatever hurdles I must to get the job done. I figured you of all people would understand working toward the greater good.”
If Asami had been paying attention to anything but her own anger, she would have seen the brief flash of hurt in darkening blue eyes or perhaps the tightening of a defined jawline as Korra took a subtle, quiet breath to calm herself. “I do understand, baby,” Korra spoke gently, the sweet endearment slipping out in an attempt to reel her tumultuous girlfriend back to her. “But I also know that time and time again, this “fight fire with fire” attitude only ever leads to a bigger, more destructive fire and more painful consequences than people are prepared for.” Asami threw her hands up in annoyance before crossing them over her chest, not quite petulantly but not far from it. “You just don’t get it, Korra, and you never will. You have no idea what the business world is like. Having the biggest fire is the only way to win in my line of work. Fire is my ONLY hope.”
“Things will work out for you, baby,” Korra tried once more, injecting an optimistic lilt in her voice as she tried to relax her seething girlfriend. Though Asami had told her stories of how cutthroat of an attitude her position required at times, Korra had never seen her girlfriend this outwardly aggressive before, let alone been on the receiving end of her vitriol. “It’s been my experience that there is always hope, even if you can’t see it right away.”
“Then your ‘experience’ is incomplete, Korra,” Asami finally snapped, unable to help the sarcastic miming of air quotes in her anger as she grabbed a few pieces of her paperwork and waved them around in frustration. “And some self-help manifestation bullshit isn’t going to help the clusterfuck that is my life right now, so would you just back off?!” she nearly shouted as she slammed the papers back on the desk.
A sharp knock interrupted any reply Korra may have had to her outburst, followed by the head of one of the engineering interns poking meekly into her office. “E-Everything’s ready for your inspection downstairs, Miss Sato,” he nearly squeaked out, pushing his glasses up nervously. His timidness on top of his horrible timing only irked the already irritated heiress more because it meant her had overheard her outburst even through the thick door of her office. She clenched her jaw tightly to keep herself from snapping at the young man, keeping her tone as professional as she could. “Tell your supervisor to make sure the entire team is ready to make any necessary adjustments, we need to make up time with this project. I will be down momentarily.” The intern nodded vigorously before making a hasty exit, eager to escape the awkward tension of the situation.
“I have to go,” Asami said curtly as she stood and gathered up her papers once more before briefly looking back to her computer when she received no response. She paused just slightly as her eyes met Korra’s through the screen and guilt began to creep into her heart at the tan woman’s unreadable expression. Just as she opened her mouth to apologize, the familiar tone of her cell phone rang insistently from its place on her desk. She groaned in annoyance as she spied her troublesome investor’s name on the caller ID before taking a deep breath and turning back to her computer. “I’ll call you later, okay?” she said hastily before reaching out to close her computer, only to realize the call had already ended. She blinked in surprise at that – she hadn’t even said goodbye. The heiress closed her laptop a bit harder than necessary in frustration, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes and trying to resist the urge to rub them lest she ruin her impeccable makeup. She leaned her elbows on her desk and let out a slow breath to calm herself. As the heart she hadn’t realized was racing began to slow, guilt she knew she was right to feel began to creep into her mind between the lengthening pulses. Before she could ponder what that meant too deeply her phone’s incessant ring sounded once more, eliciting an annoyed groan. Duty called – literally. She made a mental note to apologize to Korra as she swiped her phone from her desk, bringing it to her ear as she exited the office.
Nearly two hours later, Asami closed her office door behind her, leaning back against it with a tired sigh. The engineer’s perfectionist attitude that helped her keep Future Industries on top was both a blessing and a curse when it came to projects such as these. While it ensured a quality of service and product that was unmatched in the mechanical world, it was also exhausting and lonely work. Her father had drilled into her from a young age that the key to quality control was for you to control your own quality. If you wanted something done well, then you should do it yourself - more people meant more mistakes to bear the responsibility for, whether they were yours or not. This led to countless all-nighters for both father and daughter alike as they involved themselves in every minor aspect of each company project to ensure the excellence that had become synonymous with the Sato name.
Asami glanced down at her cellphone to see that it had remained silent throughout her meeting. She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. Though her work ethic didn’t change from state to state, it had been a long time since felt the full weight of the stress she constantly chose to bear. Korra had a knack of pulling the engineer out of herself before she became too self-destructive, a quality that was both a godsend and a difficult adjustment for the overworked woman. ‘Binging on work is a two-headed viper, ‘Sami,’ Korra had told her one night as she dragged her away from her office to unwind and watch a few reruns of their favorite show. ‘While you’re getting all of your work from today finished, the added stress is poisoning your ability to do your best tomorrow.’
Asami smiled her first real smile of the entire day as she remembered that night before glancing at her phone once more, this time to admire an adorably goofy photo of the beautiful, dark-skinned woman that had so easily stolen her heart. She had taken Korra’s advice and allowed the therapist to fawn over her, happily snacking on her guilty pleasure of Doritos with her head laying in her girlfriend’s lap while long, sure fingers lovingly carded through her hair. Red lips quirked into a small grin as she closed her eyes, indulging herself in a happy moment of reminiscing. Between the nails lightly scratching her scalp and the familiar, calming scent that she could only describe as Korra, she hadn’t even made it through one episode of Dick van Dyke before she felt her girlfriend’s strong arms gently scoop her into their protective embrace and carry her to bed.
A quick and intense pang of longing and loneliness pricked at the CEO’s heart, erasing the smile from her face as she suddenly found herself fighting back an unexpected wave of tears. She missed Korra terribly. She missed her smile, her laugh, her embrace, her love...she missed her , and thinking about the beautiful woman somehow managed to make the heiress feel better and worse at the same time. She groaned quietly to herself as she remembered how they had ended their last conversation and ran her fingers through her hair, unintentionally reminding herself of how deeply she wished it was Korra’s fingers instead. “God, I’m such an ass,” she mumbled to herself before finally pushing herself off of the door and sitting behind her desk, nearly tossing her phone on the polished surface and immediately opening her laptop. Perfectly manicured nails clicked rapidly as they flew across the keyboard entering her credentials before tapping impatiently on the desk as she waited for Zoom to load. The app barely had time to open before she had clicked on Korra’s name and folded her arms on the desk in front of her, eagerly awaiting her girlfriend’s beautiful face to replace the reflection of her own on the screen.
A frown slowly tugged at her lips as the dull ringing sound continued for several long moments before finally signaling that Korra wasn’t available. “That’s weird,” she mumbled to herself as she glanced at the clock. It was only five o’clock back at their home in Alabama – while Korra wasn’t likely to have any more appointments, she was sure to still be at her office finishing up paperwork. She clicked the call button once more – perhaps she was in the bathroom? Anxiety began to creep into her mind when the second call went unanswered as well. An elegant hand darted to her forgotten cellphone on her desk, quickly double checking for any notifications from Korra only to find her inbox still empty. Something wasn’t adding up.
The CEO’s formidable mind began to race as she replayed their last conversation in her head, her heart dropping further and further into her stomach as she did. Now that she was sitting in front of her computer once more, details she had been too frustrated and impatient to notice in the moment began to highlight themselves. The surprise on Korra’s face when the engineer had so bluntly shut down her girlfriend’s effort to be sweet to her, too wrapped up in her own bitterness about her day to care for the effort. The way Korra had taken a slow, calming breath of her own as she attempted to comfort her while Asami threw what could rightfully be called a temper tantrum. The hurt that had flashed across dark, beautiful features when the engineer had finally snapped and stooped to insulting her for no reason other than Korra was there to receive her wrath while the real sources of her frustrations were safely out of reach.
Worst of all, however, was the wall she couldn’t believe she missed being erected between her and the eyes she had come to love more than she thought was possible.
Even from thousands of miles apart, Asami could always tell what Korra was thinking – the therapist’s eyes were the most expressive the CEO had ever seen, and she had found herself wonderfully adrift in their oceanic depths nearly every day since that fateful meeting in the airport. As she played the moment over and again in her mind, Asami realized she almost didn’t recognize the gaze that had met her own on the video call.
“Fuck,” she cursed to herself quietly.
She really messed up.
Without a second thought, she hastily seized her cell phone from her desk and pressed the therapist’s name, a little red heart emoji on either side of it. She tried to ignore the dark thought that she had just screwed up enough to warrant their removal. Her fingernails drummed anxiously on the arm of her chair as she listened to it ring for what felt like an eternity before Korra’s chipper voice finally came through the phone.
“Hey there!”
“Korra...!” she breathed happily as a tidal wave of relief washed over her at hearing her lover’s normal, upbeat voice once more. “It’s so good to hear your v-“
“You’ve reached Korra! I’m sorry I missed you! Leave me a message and...”
Asami stared blankly at the polished surface of her desk, her chest physically aching from an emotional whiplash she had never felt before. She couldn’t remember the last time she had heard Korra’s voicemail. That, combined with the blatant difference in the dark-skinned woman’s tone between her voicemail and their last conversation was the last straw for the formidable CEO. She quickly decided against leaving a voicemail, roughly hanging up the handset in frustration. She scrubbed her hands over her face, makeup that was once so important now forgotten, and tried to take a few deep, calming breaths as she reasoned with herself.
‘Come on, Asami. There are dozens of reasons Korra may not have answered or texted yet that have absolutely nothing to do with hating your guts. It’s Korra . She’s going to forgive you, if she hasn’t already. She loves you and she’s not going anywhere. She’s...’ The CEO forced herself to take another deep breath. “She’s not going anywhere,” she affirmed aloud to the empty room.
Emerald eyes glanced toward an old, worn photo frame on the corner of her desk. A young Asami beamed at the camera as she leaned back into her mother’s legs, clinging to the hands that rested lovingly on her shoulder. Her mother’s gentle smile that was so like her own sweetly complimented her father’s proud grin, one arm wrapped around his beautiful wife while his other hand rested atop hers on Asami’s shoulder.
To the casual observer, the photo presented a perfect, happy little family with no worries in sight - no hint of the heartbreaking future that was just around the corner. No one would have guessed the loneliness that would plague the youngest Sato, following her closer than her own shadow. Memories of the years that followed quietly hooked themselves into the young CEO’s mind, slowly dragging her further into herself.
Covering her ears against Hiroshi’s angry shouting from the floor next to him where she had been playing as he rebuked his faithful secretary. The sweet, older lady that had always been so kind to Asami had been just a moment too slow for his irritation to handle as she stayed hidden behind a desk that had always seemed too big for one person to her child’s mind.
The widowed CEO’s aggravated countenance as his chief project manager and longtime family friend implored him to take more time off to properly mourn, glancing pointedly at a silent Asami sitting alone in the middle a fine leather couch, emerald eyes welled to the brim with unshed grief. The swift retribution of a condemning pink slip in the name of insubordination that followed as a lifetime of loyalty was shown the door had forced her to shut her eyes tightly, lest she betray the weakness that her father deemed unacceptable.
Finally, she saw the back of a weary man, shoulders that were once proud and strong enough to lift his little girl joyfully above his head now laying the burden of his follies upon hers. It would be his last time speaking to her as a free man as he watched the police cars pull into the circular drive of the estate, half empty tumbler of whiskey in hand.
Asami shook her head with a small gasp as she physically tore herself from the montage of bitter memories. She bit her bottom lip uncertainly as her gaze fell to her silent phone once more.
“She’s...she’s not going anywhere...”
Her attempt to bury herself in her work to avoid overthinking herself into an upset wasn’t successful for more than a few hours before her mounting anxiety grew too painful. The fear of loss had pierced her heart with its sharp fangs and doggedly locked its jaws in place, squeezing harder each time emerald eyes glanced at the clock on her desk. Sleek and elegant hands indicated yet another merciless hour had passed without a word from Korra as time passed at an agonizing pace, punctuated only with baleful glances at her stubbornly silent phone and whispered mantras of reassurance.
‘She’s not going anywhere .’
It was nearly eleven before the CEO finally dragged herself through her front door, emerald pools rimmed red from exhaustion and clandestine tears that had, thankfully, waited until she was in the car to fall. Asami kicked off her heels and dropped her keys in the bowl next to the door before wandering into her kitchen. She glanced aimlessly around the sleek, modern aesthetic that looked straight out of a magazine and couldn’t help but feel like a stranger in her own home.
Because the person she considered her home hadn’t answered her calls all evening.
Asami tried to tell herself that the anxieties creeping into her mind were unfounded. That the dark-skinned woman’s sweet, lopsided smile would always be ready and waiting for her no matter how much of an ass she had been. That Korra was too pure, too understanding, too good of a person to hold what happened against her.
That Korra would be the one to stay.
Yet every call that went unanswered poked a hole in her certainties. Every time her own angry words echoed in her head made it harder for her to hear the reassurances Korra had whispered so lovingly in her ear before they fell asleep tangled within one another’s embrace. Every moment of distraction allowed her demons a voice convincing her there was a reason she was alone, that she never deserved Korra in the first place and this only proved it.
She was always too busy, always so wrapped up in her work, always the reason to cancel date nights to tend to one emergency or another, and now she had shouted at the only person who truly loved her out of sheer frustration. Not only that, but she had been cruel. The moment she knew she had run out of excuses for her behavior, she had immediately and viciously gone for the throat like the ruthless businesswoman she was. She had mocked the lifelong career and passion of the woman she loved more than anything in the world for no other reason than she had made the mistake of caring about the CEO.
Just like Hiroshi had taught her.
Tears sprang to her eyes once more as the heiress dropped her bag on the kitchen island before fishing out her phone and bringing it to life, only to confirm once again that Korra had yet to call her back or answer any of her texts. Asami bit her quivering lip as a fresh wave of tears began forcing themselves free before dialing Korra’s number for what felt like the hundredth time. She sniffled as she brought it to her ear, tucking a strand of hair back and trying to ignore the way her hand shook as she did.
“Hey there! You’ve reached Korra! I’m sorry-“
Her calls were now going straight to voicemail.
“FUCK!” Asami cried out in frustration and threw her phone as hard as she could, watching it shatter against the stylish kitchen tile along with the rest of her hope. She sank weakly into one of the chairs next to the island with her head in her hands as the floodgates she had held back all day finally released. If her calls were going right to voicemail, it could only mean one of two things – Korra had either turned off her phone or blocked her number.
In one moment of stubborn stupidity, she had driven away the only person left in the world that truly loved her. No matter how hard she had tried or how deeply she often hated him, she had turned out no better than Hiroshi after all. As she wept in her kitchen, alone once more, she bitterly raged at herself for making all the same mistakes he had. She had watched his ruthlessness, single-minded drive, and know-it-all attitude destroy what was left of their family after her mother died only to nearly obliterate the company he had sacrificed it for in a cruel twist of irony. Yet, despite being at the chaotic losing end of Hiroshi’s failings, here she was stupidly following in the footsteps of his faults without a viable excuse in the world. As she sobbed alone in an empty kitchen, the truth she had always feared dragged her further into her heartache like an undertow.
She truly never deserved Korra.
Like father, like daughter.
“Asami...?”
Asami’s head whipped around so quickly she felt her neck crack. There, standing in the doorway of her kitchen was the source of both her suffering and her salvation.
Water dripping from dark, shoulder-length locks, towel in hand from a shower she must have just finished. Defined muscles tense with surprise outlined beneath a thin, blue tank top. Cerulean eyes alight with confusion and concern but, first and foremost as it ever was, unwavering love.
She was the most beautiful thing Asami had ever seen in her life.
The heiress tried to say her name, but only managed a choked sob as the dam of her chaotic emotions finally burst. Asami brought her hands to her face as she began to slowly curl in on herself, snapping the stunned therapist into action. Korra launched herself toward Asami as she began sobbing anew for reasons the dark-skinned woman had yet to understand. In what seemed like an eternity but was likely no more than a single second with how fast Korra had moved, the frayed CEO was fully engulfed in the strong, protective embrace her demons had sworn she would never know again. Asami buried her face into Korra’s neck and clung to her with all her strength, a dark and irrational part of her still convinced that if she lost her grip the woman would disappear.
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you, ‘Sami. It’s alright, I’m here. I’m right here, baby,” Korra cooed softly in her ear between gentle kisses peppered across every bit of her face she could reach. Strong fingers rubbed comforting circles into her back before reaching up and soothingly carding through her hair, just the way she had been fantasizing hours before. In that one devastatingly loving moment, every ounce of bottled-up stress, anxiety, and fear released itself as Asami wept openly in the safety of Korra’s arms. Thoughts of the future and regrets of the past were beyond her and none of it mattered anyway because Korra was here . Korra meant life outside the ruthlessness of the business world. Korra meant safety for every piece of her she had guarded her entire life. Korra meant she wasn’t doomed to be alone. Korra meant she was loved.
Because, to her, Korra was love.
Suddenly, every fear and insecurity she had began to fade, seemed so unfounded and impossible. What was she thinking? Korra would never leave her. Korra loved her with every inch of her being, and as she let herself drown in the loving embrace that she knew would forevermore mean her heart was home she wondered how she had been so convinced she had lost it forever.
‘But...what if I was close to losing her...?’
It didn’t take long for the single, demoralizing thought to break through even Korra’s protective spell, steeped in self-loathing as Asami’s mind had been all day.
“I’m sorry...” she managed to whisper into her girlfriend’s shoulder between sobs, fingers clinging even more tightly to the thin fabric of Korra’s tank top as the words quickly snowballed into a whimpered mantra. Korra frowned in confusion, her heart lurching painfully at the meek and broken tone of Asami’s voice. She had never seen the CEO so distressed or heard her sound so shattered and her mind raced to understand why. The whispered apology led her to assume it was linked to her rude behavior earlier in the afternoon, but the broken sob that delivered it baffled her.
Asami was the strongest person Korra had ever met for reasons that had nothing to do with her standing as an industrialist. The brilliant engineer had always been a shining beacon of calm, rational, think-first-act-second behavior, perfectly tempering Korra’s often rambunctious nature. Even so, she had never failed to check in with Asami thoroughly and often. Korra knew well that just because a person carried their burden well did not mean that it was not heavy. It was the reason she had made this last-minute cross-country trip in the first place – if being physically present helped her girlfriend in even the tiniest way, Korra would suffer the jetlag happily.
Yet, she had never seen the heiress like this before and it was something she didn’t think she could ever have prepared for. Every sob, every whimper, every hitched breath was another crack in Korra’s heart and she struggled keeping her own emotions under control as her mind raced to decipher the cause. Clearly, the therapist was missing something, and she wouldn’t discover what it was or how to help until she calmed Asami down before she spiraled any further.
“You’re okay, sweet girl. I’ve got you, ‘Sami. I’ve got you,” Korra continued to murmur soothingly to her as she waited patiently for the broken sobs to slow to quiet sniffles and shaky breaths. After a long moment, she very slowly pulled away just enough to cup Asami’s face tenderly in her hands as she tried to encourage her to meet her gaze. “Hey...hey, can you look at me sweetheart?” she implored gently, using her thumbs to wipe away the now quiet tears that had slowed, but seemed to refuse to cease entirely.
“I love you, Asami,” Korra murmured as soon as watery emerald eyes met hers. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need, I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere, okay?” Korra blinked in surprise when the reassurance was met with a watery laugh of what sounded like relief. She tilted her head in confusion, which only elicited an adoring smile before Asami wrapped her arms around the therapist’s neck and hugged her close once more. “I love you too, Korra. More than you could ever know,” she whispered in her ear as she buried her face in her girlfriend’s neck once more, no longer to hide away but to simply breathe her in.
Before meeting Korra, Asami couldn’t fathom the influence a single person could have on someone else’s adult life. As a self-made, fiercely independent person, she had led most of hers believing that self-reliance was the key to a satisfying, successful life. Of course, she believed in the value love could add to it, but as a pleasant supplement only, never a key necessity to happiness – never something she needed .
She needed the smell that was uniquely Korra to soothe her frayed nerves. She needed to be held in Korra’s warm embrace to stop her traitorous mind from its wild spinning. She needed to hear exactly those words from Korra’s lips to breathe properly once more.
She needed Korra .
Korra smiled softly as Asami’s grip finally relaxed, arms that once shook with tension and tears now returning her embrace contentedly. It took nearly all of the therapist’s will power to refrain from asking what the raven-haired woman in her arms was thinking, but she knew from years of professional experience that Asami needed to be the one to open that door in her own time. Instead, Korra contented herself with simply holding the woman in her arms again, willing her embrace to squeeze the stress and tension that prompted her surprise visit from the CEO’s body.
“I thought I’d lost you...” came a soft whisper several long moments later, so quiet Korra almost didn’t catch it. Cerulean eyes blinked in surprise before she pulled away just enough to see the heiress’s face. “How so?” she asked carefully, trying to catch Asami’s uncharacteristically avoiding gaze.
“I was horrid to you, Korra.” Though she tried valiantly to hide it, the tremble in the CEO’s voice was unmistakable. Shaking fingers angrily wiped at tears that threatened to renew themselves as she pressed on, her words spilling ever faster as she spoke. “You were trying to help, and I-I just spat in your face ! I was so rude and hurtful and all you did, all you ever do, was try to look out for me and when you wouldn’t answer any of my calls I-“
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, ‘Sami,” Korra interjected gently, taking Asami’s face in her hands once more and soothingly brushing her cheeks with her thumbs. “Baby, I didn’t ignore your calls because I was upset, I swear! I don’t have my phone.”
The rare expression of confused bewilderment on the brilliant CEO’s face would have had Korra chuckling adoringly had it not been born of such an emotionally charged moment.
“What...?” Asami asked hesitantly, her exhausted mind finally seeming to have officially been broken. “B-but you always have-“
“I left it at home by accident, I’m sorry,” Korra interrupted gently as she tucked a lock of raven hair behind her girlfriend’s ear, searching her emerald gaze for the pieces of the emotionally charged puzzle that was coming together in the therapist’s mind. “I had called Bolin to ask him to take care of Naga last minute and left it on the table in my rush to make my flight. I haven’t had it all day.”
Asami’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly a few times as her frazzled brain tried to decide what to do with this new information before a sudden thought popped into her head. “But...wait, why didn’t you call from the apartment to let me know you were here?”
Korra couldn’t help the quiet chuckle at the slight pout in the heiress’s tone, giving her girlfriend a small, adoring smile. “Because I was trying to surprise you, dork,” she said teasingly as she began to gently run her fingers through raven locks once more, her smile softening as she watched the tension slowly ebb from the CEO’s face and shoulders under the soothing touch. “Besides, you clearly had a lot on your plate and I didn’t want you stressing out about trying to come home early.”
In lieu of a reply, Asami simply closed her eyes and focused on the fingers lovingly carding through her hair. For some reason, her brain was struggling to hold onto any rational thoughts. All she knew was that Korra was here and that meant everything was going to be okay. She leaned forward just enough to rest her head on Korra’s shoulder and sighed softly, content to quietly bask in the other woman’s presence for a few moments.
“It’s been a long day,” Korra murmured into ear after a while, the fingers that had been playing with her hair now gently brushing across her cheek. “You must be exhausted. Let’s get you into bed. You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.” Asami simply nodded against her shoulder, trying to muster up the energy or will to move from her much-needed sanctuary.
Korra had other plans, however.
In the blink of an eye and a small squeak of surprise, Asami was dramatically scooped from the kitchen chair and into Korra’s strong arms being whisked away toward her bedroom, a triumphant grin on the therapist’s face. Asami couldn’t help the quiet giggle that escaped her at her lover’s playful antics, a small and adoring smile tugging at her lips as she was gingerly deposited on the edge of the bed with a dramatic flourish.
Korra smiled down at her lovingly for a moment before reaching out and cupping her cheek with one hand, watching quietly as Asami eagerly leaned into the comforting touch. When emerald eyes finally glanced back up at her, her heart clenched seeing the remnants of an emotional tempest swirling in their depths. Though the weight on the CEO’s heart was heavy, she knew better than to push her to talk about it – she trusted Asami would take that step when she was ready. Still, she hated seeing the woman she loved so unsettled and lost within herself. She sighed softly to herself before dropping to a knee before Asami, gently grasping both of the dark-haired woman’s hands in hers.
“Let me take care of you tonight, Asami.”
Before she had a chance to protest, Korra’s lips were on hers in one of the softest, most tender caresses Asami had ever felt in her life. A barely audible whimper escaped her at the pure, emotional catharsis that simple, loving touch created within her, only heightened by the words whispered against her lips.
“Please, ‘Sami. Let me do this for you, okay?” she murmured, cupping Asami’s face and brushing her thumbs across her cheeks as she looked imploringly into her eyes. “You are the strongest, most amazing person I know. I see you on the days you move mountains, Asami. But, I also see you on the days like today, where your soul is so tired from pushing so hard. Please. Let me show you that whatever day you have, EVERY day you have, that you are strong and beautiful...and so very, very loved.”
-------------------
That was all it had taken to break Asami’s resolve that night. After that, she had fallen into the safety of Korra’s loving embrace and hadn’t left it the rest of the night. She smiled wistfully, remembering that night and all Korra had done for her when she finally surrendered herself to her whims. She had drawn them a hot bath filled to the brim with bubbles and cradled Asami against her, diligently washing her hair for her while the fragrant water soothed her frazzled nerves. Korra then dug through her linen closet to find the softest, fluffiest towel of them all before dutifully drying every part of her, encouraging Asami into complete relaxation. An encouragement she continued to give, even as she carried her to bed and proceeded to wipe every thought from her brain with deliciously skilled lips and hands.
She blushed slightly, biting her lower lip as her mind’s eye lingered on those particular memories. Her soul had never felt freer than when she had given complete control of herself to Korra that night. To this day, anytime she started to feel the weight of her world become just a bit too heavy, surrendering herself completely to her lover’s control for a night was exactly what she needed. That trusting submission had been an integral step in letting go of the iron grip of constant control instilled in her by her father. She trusted Korra, and Korra alone, with the real her. Because Korra saw her like no one else did. Because Korra loved her like no one else could. And, most of all, because she trusted Korra with that power.
That night, after she and Korra had made love, Asami confessed everything in her heart. She told her about Hiroshi, about her fears of both living and not living up to the standards and expectations he set for her. She admitted the desperate fear of abandonment that had quickly taken root in her when her calls went unanswered and let Korra kiss that helpless feeling from her soul. Korra had encouraged her to tell her every horrible thing Asami thought of herself – then asked her to let Korra love her anyway, convincing her she was not the darkness that she had endured but the light that refused to surrender. Her words that night became a mantra of hope Asami repeated to herself when she felt those age-old insecurities start to rear their ugly heads.
“Stop looking back, Asami. You’re not going that way.”
Asami was brought back to the present by the sound of the front door opening and closing, followed by a phrase she wanted to hear every day for the rest of her life.
“’Sami? Are you home, baby?”
“Yes,” she whispered to herself with a smile before standing to greet her love. “Yes, I am.”