Archive of Our Own

A wall of icy air blew in to meet Korra as she shouldered the cafe door open to leave work for the evening. The door was blown open wider as her ever growing Samoyed, Naga, bustled through her open legs and down onto the porch steps below.

“Looks like the snow is finally settling in girl”, Korra cooed down to her best friend, as she ruffled her fur with one hand, locking the cafe door with the other. As she turned the switch on the frame of the shop door to start rolling the shutters down for the night, she couldn’t help but look up at with pride at the curved typography on the sign swinging gently above her door. Though Coffee Klub had only recently opened downtown, it was fast becoming a firm favourite amongst locals and tourists alike, and Korra had practically been swept off her feet by the ever growing buzz over the last 6 months.

As the shutters rolled further and further down, Korra allowed Naga to stay off her leash and watched with adoration as she excitedly sniffed around the snow dusted pavement beside the cafe. Despite the sun having set hours earlier, the reflection of the streetlights in the snow cast a beautiful golden light over her little corner of suburban heaven.

As the shutter latched closed at the base of the large bay window which adorned the cafe front, Korra released a contented sigh having ended another long day of good, meaningful work. Contented, she trotted down the short set of porch steps to meet Naga on the pavement, head scratch duly delivered on arrival at her best friends side.

The chill of the winter air, coupled with the late hour, meant that the small street was all but deserted of pedestrians and traffic. “Hmm, I wonder…”, Korra quickly glanced around, and upon deciding that they were truly alone, she ran headlong and flung herself headfirst into the nearest snow drift, landing squarely under the watchful gaze of an old Elm. Within seconds her furry companion had joined her, dropping heavily onto her chest, and knocking all the air from her lungs in the process.

“Hey girl, I was kinda saving that air for breathing”, Korra laughed as she tackled her puppy sideways and deeper into a snow drift.

“Lemme show you how we settle fights in the Water Tribe, girly” she joked as she mock wrestled her yapping puppy around in the snow.

She let out a further deep laugh as Naga got the better of her and shook vigorously, coating Korra in a fine layer of snow, which clung to her hair and parka as she resignedly flopped backwards. As much as Korra herself enjoyed playing around in the snow for old times-sake, she also hoped that it would exhaust her always over-excited puppy (in preparation for her rapidly approaching bedtime), and warm them both up in the process, ready for a short walk home.

As Naga ate the falling snow, and yapped at its audacity to continue falling on her favourite person despite her best guard dog attempts, Korra relaxed deeper into the snow. As she pulled her arms and legs up and down haphazardly to make the wings and the skirt of a wonky snow angel, Korra’s thoughts turned to home. She let out a long, drawn out sigh, causing the air around her to fog with the condensation of her breath. She was happy, here in Republic City, but she would be lying to herself If she said she didn’t miss the South, and the family and friends who made it home. Sure, she called her parents daily, and she had Naga, and a couple fo regulars in the cafe who she could easily see herself hanging out with. But as Korra laid in the snow, and let her thoughts drift, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something or someone important was missing from her life.

‘Ah, c’mon Kor, that’s not the festive Spirit’, she reminded herself as she sat up in the snow, rubbing her tiring eyes to push the negative thoughts away, before suddenly becoming aware of the eery silence that had descended on the street.

And the lack of yapping.

Shit.

Korra jumped to her feet, brushing off the remaining dusting of snow that was starting to melt though her dark jeans as she scanned the fresh white snow for her frustratingly white Samoyed.

“Naga! Girl!”, she called, then quietly, to herself. “Where have you gotten to now?”

Surprisingly on cue, Naga emerged from behind a snow dusted Elm, tilting her head to one side, as if to ask Korra why she was so worried about her whereabouts. She had obviously just been busying herself with a funny shaped branch. Honestly, humans.

Korra let out a short, relieved chuckle, and ran her hand through her short hair, dislodging some of the small snowflakes which continued their attempts to make her head their home.

It was at this moment that a high pitched, cheery laugh punctuated the reverie of the cold night air surrounding the pair. Korra looked up, startled, and peered around the nearest tree trunk to try and locate the source of that incredible sound. After a few seconds, Korra caught sight of a beautiful black haired woman striding down the pavement on the opposite side of the road. As she got closer and closer, Korra could see that she was chatting away on her phone, her beautiful red lips were pulled into a small smile as she chuckled along with whoever was lucky enough to be talking to her. For a brief second, safe in her seclusion behind the large Elm, Korra didn’t notice herself staring, or smiling, or even chuckling along with the woman she was calling - if she had arrived any sooner, she may have seen Korra making snow angels, and now that would have been beyond laughable.

A flash of white caught Korras eyes off to her right. As she spun her head quickly to locate the source of the movement, she caught sight of her positively vibrating puppy, hyped on the possibility of discovering a new playmate.

Korra locked eyes with her puppy, then flashed a panicked glance at the laughing woman, then back to Naga.

“Naga”, Korra growled deeply, in her sternest ‘please to Ravva let this dog understand the desperation in my tone' voice.

“Stay”.

Naga, seemingly unable (or unbothered) to sense this tone, raised her front paw tentatively and took one slow step forward, towards the woman.

“Naga. Stay!” Korra practically barked, this time sure that the puppy heard the characteristic twang of panic breaking her usually authoritative tone.

Hearing this as a challenge, Naga looked at the laughing woman, then back to Korra, then back to the laughing woman…before setting off in a headlong sprint towards the person she had decided would become her new best friend.

“No, no, no, nooooo” Korra whelped as she set off in an equally headlong sprint towards Naga, hoping to cut her off before the crazy puppy barrelled into the unsuspecting woman. As Korra grew within range, she flung herself at a parallel angle to the flying fluff ball…

…and missed her by mere millimetres, landing headfirst in a snow drift by the side of the pavement.

“Ooft, you little shi… Miss, watch out!” Korra all but screamed, reaching out a hand towards the carefree, laughing woman in desperation, as if she could magically bend the snow around Naga’s unsuspecting victim to protect her from the impending blow of a large teddy bear.

Sadly for Korra, no such bending ability existed.

As such, Korra was forced to watch on in disbelief, as Naga continued headfirst into the distracted lady, knocking her backwards, clean off her feet, and into a deep bank of snow. Her shopping bags were sent flying up into the air, their contents scattered, and a small black device, which Korra assumed was the poor woman’s phone, was sent spinning in the opposite direction.

A faint, “umm…ow?”, carried on the cold breeze over to Korras even colder ears.

“Shit” Korra muttered as she pulled herself up and sprinted towards the woman laid spread eagled in the snow underneath a squirming mountain of fluff. It was only a twenty yard journey, but fuelled by fear and embarrassment, Korra made it in ten, her toned legs carrying her over to the pair in relative safety, only (nearly) going flying once on the ice.

She came skidding to a halt beside the two, landing heavily on her knees beside the victim of Nagas rugby tackle. Before looking down, she quickly threw a dirty side-eye at Naga, who had been busy administering a healthy dose of puppy kisses to the poor woman’s face. From the speed of the fluff-balls guilty retreat, Korra figured that her look had communicated more clearly than words ever could - midnight beef jerky privileges were firmly off the table… for like…all of time.

It was then that Korra finally turned to look down, bracing herself to lock eyes with a rightfully rightfully pissed off stranger.

“Miss, I literally can’t apologise enough for…”

Korra had not been expecting to be staring down into the face of someone who she could happily compare to some kind of angel.

She had also not been expecting to loose the ability to speak.

… ?

Or the ability to form rational thoughts. Yet here she was, quickly losing her cool over a woman who was probably literally freezing to death.

A small groan escaped the winded woman below, her oh so plump lips parted in what Korra hoped was shock and not pain. ‘Down, Korra’ she mentally remarked at her lips comment, ‘she’s literally incapacitated right now’. It was then that the woman's long lashes slowly fluttered, her lids opening, to reveal the greenest eyes Korra ever had the pleasure of gazing down upon.

It was this mind-blowing image that finally caused a drop of sense to fall into the puddle of slop that was Korras now melted brain as he she quickly scrambled to find a couple of verbs. Maybe if she were lucky, some nouns too.

“…you are…are you okay?”

* * *

It was the shock that hit her first.

Then the lack of air in her lungs.

“Umm…ow?”

If being sucker punched in the tummy out of nowhere wasn’t enough, Asami suddenly felt as though a literal elephant had decided to sit on her chest. She may have been convinced this was the case, had the elephant not started licking her furiously from chin to cheek, making sure not to neglect either side of her cold face.

‘Lets hope to Raava this is a dog and not the weirdest mugger ever’ Asami darkly chuckled to herself as she dared crack open a single eyelid to look up at her odd attacker.

Thankfully, Asami found herself looking up into the deep chocolate eyes of a ginormous Samoyed (puppy, she assumed - due the dogs lack of personal boundaries), and found herself instantly relieved. The only fear that remained in her brain in that moment was that she might actually, literally, drown in kisses…or suffocate under thick fur. There were worse ways to go, she supposed. In any other circumstance, she would have adored such a greeting, but by the spreading chill of melting snow at the nape of her neck, Asami figured that getting out of this drift was number one priority.

Closing her eyes tightly, Asami began summoning the courage to gently wrestle the yapping ball of fluff off of her chest, when she heard the crunch of footsteps fast approaching. Before she even had the chance to open her eyes, she felt the snow depress slightly around her, assuming that the puppy's embarrassed owner had run over to rescue her.

“Miss, I literally can’t apologise enough for…”, Asami heard the breathless apology above her, only the end of her rescuers sentence seemed to evaporate into the cold night air. ‘Weird?’.

Finally releasing the breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding, Asami dared open her eyes, slowly as to protect from the yellowing glow of the streetlights directly above her. From the second her back had hit the snow, reams of panicked thoughts had run through Asami’s mind. However, as she now lay spreadeagled in the snow, belongings flung in every imaginable direction, and sopping wet with Samoyed saliva, Asami Sato could only fathom a single intelligible thought:

‘How can eyes be that blue?’. Closely followed by a second; ‘death by kisses would not be the worst way to go, happily trade the puppy for the ow…’.

“…you are…are you okay?” Asami barely heard the cyan-eyed goddess above her whisper, interrupting her chain of thoughts.

Concussion.

That was it; she had to be concussed. Goddess? Never in her life had Asami Sato swooned in less than 3 seconds total, yet here she was, rightly or wrongly referring to the now broadly smiling woman above her as a deity.

As she mentally fumbled to concoct a semi-intelligent response in an attempt to make a good first impression on her rescuer, mouth flapping silently in the process, Asami decided that she must indeed be concussed. Asami Sato had been known on occasion to flirt (she was only human), but never had she been known to completely loose the ability to think. As the seconds seemingly dragged by, she could literally feel the snow melting away from under her body to allow the ground to more easily swallow her whole, down into a pit of embarrassment.

‘I am now, looking at you’, or ‘I wasn’t until you bowled me over’ were solid, half-decent one-liners that came to mind. Albeit arriving five minutes too late.

Because it was “…sure, how are you?”, that came to her lips first.

Shit. ‘Blown it, Sato’, she mentally chastised.

Asami scrunched her eyes closed faster than she knew was humanly possible, facepalming hard in the process, hoping that the beautiful woman above her didn’t think her idiotic. To her surprise, It was in that moment that Asami actually found herself thanking her concussion, or inappropriately turned-on mind, or whatever it was that she was blaming her stupidity on, as she was treated to the richest, purest, and frankly most delicious laughter that she had ever heard.

“There was me thinking my opener sounded dumb”, Asami barely heard as she opened her eyes just in time to bathe in the glow that the goddess’ adorably lop-sided grin rained down upon her. Signed, sealed and delivered only for her.

For the first time, in literally forever, Asami Sato found herself blushing. Hard. Her usually ice-cold demeanour melting away quicker than the four inches of snow under her, usually much smarter, ass. Despite her desperate desire to stare deeper into those beautiful cyan eyes, to make the woman feel just how much she was disrupting Asami’s usually steadfast composure, her nervousness got the better of her. Instead, she found herself strangely transfixed by the suddenly all too interesting design of the streetlight above.

Seemingly reading this blush-filled silence as a sign of uncomfortableness, the once beaming woman above her quickly steeled her soft grin, a broad hand shooting up to rub the back of her neck nervously.

“Seriously, miss, I’m so unbelievably sorry for letting my pup get carried away like that. She’s usually so good off leash, but the snow…well… it just sends her crazy!”, her rescuer sweetly rambled on.

“Are…are you hurt”, the woman inquired, quieter now, as if she were too scared to ask whether she had caused Asami any pain.

Quickly clawing together any remaining composure that remained in her scattered brain, having just lost her marbles at the adorableness of the woman above, Asami finally managed to find her voice…and her manners, as she managed to flash the most genuine smile of her life.

“I…No! Thank you! I think?”.

Okay, so maybe ‘composure’ was pushing it a bit. ‘Solid start, Sato. Now find some adjectives!’ Her constant inner monologue chastised her.

“…and please don’t worry - your dog is beautiful, it's not at all her fault!”, Asami started again, stronger this time.

“If I hadn’t been so distracted by my phone then I might have….”

Shit.

In that moment, it seemed as though both women’s minds had synched, two sets of eyes blowing wide as both simultaneously recalled millennial factoid 101- phones and water don't mix - and somewhere in the almost tundra like conditions around them, Asami’s phone was doing just that.

As If co-ordinating to the same un-broadcast beat, both women dually leapt into snow patrol mode in an attempt to find the buried device. Except as Asami pushed herself up onto freezing elbows, the panicked woman above bent down to reach over Asami. The resulting collision of wind-chilled skin, punctuated by simultaneous “oompfs”, left Asami’s head spinning and her rescuers nose bleeding. The woman’s snow covered palms shot up to cup her tender nose, her once luminous eyes now obscured fully behind scrunched up lids and thick eyebrows.

“Oh, oh my Raava! Are you okay?” Ugh, I’m so unbelievably sorry”, Asami blurted out, in a pitch high enough to rival even the most freaked out of dolphins.

Sitting up fully onto folded knees, her snow dampened jeans and good first impressions were long forgotten. Asami’s heart nervously fluttered within her bruised ribcage at the realisation that not only had she just head-butted a complete stranger, but she had also probably ruined her chances of successfully asking for said beautiful strangers number…for reasons other than medical costs, anyway.

“Please, oh please, let me take a look?”, she delicately cooed, relief flooding her body as the woman across from her slowly bobbed her head in near instant permission.

Leaning forward on one outstretched hand, Asami smoothly removed her red leather glove from the other by nipping gently at the soft leather material covering the tip of her index finger with her wind-chilled lips. Trying to ignore the fierce blush this action elicited from her new friend was difficult to say the least, but fuelled by fear, and only secondly by desire, Asami powered through. As she tentatively reached over to gently peel the woman’s hands away from her rosy cheeks, Asami’s fluttering heart practically ruptured.

Asami had been expecting to see a veritable blood bath under the woman’s hands, but she had not been expecting to feel the rush of heat that flooded through her own fingertips as they brushed up gently against those of her rescuer. Like electricity, the warmth conducted down her fingertips, into her arms and chest, resolving itself to settle deeply on her cheeks, translating into the deepest blush biologically possible. Momentarily winded by this feeling, more than the fall or the Samoyed ever could, Asami pushed on with her endeavours. She continued to intertwine her slender fingers with the tan digits of this incredibly beautiful woman, succeeding in sliding the hand away from a face that Asami was strangely sure she would never tire of seeing. Though Asami had been grimly prepared for the small trickle of blood that barely coated the cupids bow of the woman’s lips (wow, now is not the time to stare at those, Sato), she hadn’t been prepared for the small, cheeky smirk plastered below it.

Asami cocked her head slightly in confusion at the woman, perfectly mirroring the look of the now settled Samoyed which sat beside them, ears pricking as she exchanged bemused glances between her owner and Asami.

“A total stranger just head-butted you in the face, and you’re smiling?”, she nervously laughed, fingers still loosely wrapped around the woman’s digits, almost not noticing that she had nestled their intertwined hands in her own lap.

“It doesn’t hurt so bad, and…” she paused as she reached up with her free hand to dab away the small stream of blood with a scrunched up cafe napkin.

“…well I guess it was worth the inconvenience. To, you know… see your eyes this close up”, the woman declared bashfully, her once cheeky smirk broadening by the second into the wonky, dopey grin before Asami.

Asami opened and closed her mouth several times over, doing her best impression of a floundering goldfish, as she tried to remain composed in the face of this blatant flirter. The woman’s confidence was obviously growing by the second, and my gosh, was Asami glad to of it. As the realisation hit her that this deity of a woman may also find her somewhat attractive, Asami’s once self-conscious brain kicked into overdrive, ready to prepare the cheekiest comeback imaginable. She opened her mouth for the third time, finally ready to make her move…

Ring, ring.

Ring, ring.

“Before you attacked me, I was reaching for your phone”, the supposedly injured woman teased, pointing at the offending device, her once dopey grin had now switched to full shit-eating mode.

“Well, I guess now we’re even”, Asami fired straight back, with the dirtiest, flirtiest, most dramatic wink she could muster. ‘Ten points to Ravenclaw!’, Asami roared internally, her own confidence finally clawing its way back as she watched that dopey grin slide right off the woman’s face. Feigning further insult, Asami theatrically released her gentle grip on the woman’s hand and slapping it to her own chest in mock offence, instantaneously missing the warmth it provided. Instead of focussing on the loss, however, she made sure to find time to indulge in the panicked expression on the woman's face - eyebrows upturned, eyes wide and mouth ajar in shock. Finally, finally, Asami had almost beaten this beautiful woman at her own game of attraction inducing, panic provoking, cheek reddening flirting. Asami felt like herself again, geared and ready to roll with those punches and give as good as she got.

Saying this, Asami almost dropped some of this newfound cool when after several seconds, the woman broke eye contact, glancing off towards the snow dusted elms beside them. Asami almost fully abandoned her previous bravado when her rescuer did the unthinkable act of motioning to stand up, rolling back onto her haunches, dark circular patches of moistness visible on the kneecaps of her faded jeans. Now feeling as completely dejected as the poor woman looked, Asami reached a panicked hand up to once again find the warmth in the fingers of her new friend.

“I, I’m sorry, I promise I was only joking!”, it was now Asami's turn to ramble on.

“It really wasn’t your fault that I fell, and I still feel really bad that I hurt your nose, just please - don’t go yet, okay?”.

In any other scenario, Asami would have retched at the notes of desperation sinking into her usually resolute tone. Somehow, that was the last thing on her mind right now.

Ring, ring.

Ring, ring.

The woman, who had now sadly risen to her full height, wrapped her broad hands tighter around Asami’s slender digits and motioned for the second hand to join hers. Anchoring the pair of them in the snow with her strong, steadfast stance, the woman gently pulled Asami to her own feet, Asami never breaking eye contact with those deep blues in the process. Asami stumbled forward a little on standing, completely unintentionally of course - thankfully the woman didn’t seem to mind, her cheeks bunching slightly in a small smile. Stood so close to each other for the first time, Asami now realised just how tall she felt, and just how surprisingly petite her new friend was. With nearly a full heads height difference between them, Asami had to repress the sudden urge to flatten out the tufted strands she could now see atop the woman’s adorably bobbed head of hair.

“I promise I won’t go, I just wanted to let you get that”, the woman said, quickly releasing one of Asami’s hands to bend at the knees and collect Asami phone from where it had landed in the step of snow beside them.

“Someone could be really worried about you right now” the woman added on her return to the world of standing, extending the cold device towards Asami.

The thoughtfulness woven into her voice and demonstrated through her actions stoked a growing warmth within Asami - a warmth both ignited and nurtured by this fabulous woman. Asami couldn’t help, and frankly did not want to help, the blossoming smile on her own face, or the gentle squeeze of her fingers around the woman's palm. She hoped her touch had silently communicated that, in this moment, she was sure nobody else in the world was worrying more about Asami than the beautiful woman holding her hand.

She was sure she had struck home, when the woman cheekily added “hopefully not a special someone though”, her naughty demeanour instantly returning, topped with her pièce de résistance; a perfectly timed giggle/wink combo.

Asami couldn’t believe the audacity of her own damn self when, without a second thought about the connotations, she instantly retorted, “Wouldn’t you like to know”.

Reaching over and plucking her phone from the woman’s stiff fingers, mouth stilled by the shock that her own pick up lines may be working, Asami quickly swiped ‘slide to answer’ before she was fully overcome by shock at her own ballsiness. Not once did she allow herself to break eye contact with the woman before her, worried that if she did, she might fully give in to awkwardness.

“Hi, Op! Sorry for hanging up on you like that”, Asami spoke excitedly into the cold device pressed all too close to her face.

“I just bumped into an old friend in the snow is all”.

Despite her initial bravado at the smooth intro, Asami found herself suddenly panicking; she really hoped that she hadn’t crossed a line by referring to this literal stranger as an ‘old friend’. It was in this moment, however, that Asami realised that she didn’t even know her ‘old friends’ name. Before she had the chance to worry further however, Asami found herself radiating thanks out into the universe for sending her Opal Beifong, for as if on cue, she provided Asami with the ‘in’ she had been searching for since she met this beautiful woman, minutes prior.

“Oh, her name? Its…’

Asami softy withdrew her fingers from Korras walm palm to gently cover her iPhones water-logged microphone, pulling the device a ways from her face as she looked back at the woman with excited, questioning eyes.

Re-demonstrating their pre-made psychic link, the woman before her chuckled slightly, lightly shaking her head in good natured humour, before levelling an unexpectedly deep gaze at Asami.

The woman's voice seemed to lower slightly, losing a half octave in pitch as she invited Asami to swim deeper into her cyan eyes.

“Korra. My name is Korra”.

Korra. Of course she was Korra. How could Asami not know.

The first 24 years of Asami’s life had been devoid of that specific combination of vowels and consonants, yet as she heard those two beautiful syllables spoken in such a timbre for the first time, she couldn’t help but feel as though she knew them, intimately.

Korra. It was so simple, sweet, and yet so her. Asami loved it.

“Korra. Her name is Korra”, she beamed straight back at the woman in front of her.

As if hearing the woman’s name hadn’t been mind blowing enough, saying it aloud was an altogether different experience. To put it bluntly, Asami had very nearly lost her shit hearing it fall from her own lips. The motion seemed to have a similar effect on Korra, as Asami noticed her once again scratching at that non-existent itch at the nape of her neck, a nervous grin splashed across her cheeks. Adorable. Her adorable, new, old-friend, Korra.

As Asami continued her journey to regain full CEO level confidence, she tentatively reached out a finger towards Korras non-head scratching hand which hung loosely at her side. In a move which once again stoked Asamis growing internal warmth, Korra stepped back and raised both hands, making gentle shooing motions towards Asami, encouraging her to take the call properly. Sated that Korra had promised not to run off just yet, Asami also withdrew slightly, listening to opal innocently ramble away on the other end of the line. Little did she know that unfortunately, Asami Sato was paying very little attention to her musings.

A cruel, twisted thought then rose to the forefront of her mind, a wicked smile rising to her lips even at the notion of her predetermined plan.

Asami made sure to level her deepest ‘come and get it’ gaze at Korra, letting it mature under intense cyan scrutiny for several seconds, before she dramatically tossed a large tress of raven hair over her shoulder as she spun around on her heel. Giving Korra the warmest cold-shoulder of her life may have been the bravest thing she had done since their meeting, however having heard the strangled groan of wanton attraction that choked out of Korras lips once her back was turned, she was sure her ‘hard to get’ technique would pay off.

‘C’mon Korra, be brave’, Asami dared wish as she squeezed her eyes closed, desperately trying to sound interested in Opals tale of performing fire-ferrets, her back to the woman who had ignited a now blazing fire of excitement inside Asami’s usually cool mind.

And maybe somewhere else too.

* * *

It had only been minutes sos far, but Korra didn’t think she would ever, or could ever, acclimatise to that viridian gaze. Korra knew, however, that she would take as much time as the woman would deign to give her to test that hypothesis. She was pulled from her day-dreaming as the woman's once playful gaze, turned downright smouldering, begging Korra to dare come closer. Before Korra could even contemplate such a move, she was promptly buffeted by an icy gust as curls of midnight black hair whooshed past her face as the woman turned sharply on her heels.

Korra hadn’t allowed herself the mental pleasure of registering just how flustered she felt in hearing her name fall from those beautiful lips. The very physical effect this had on her body, however, was relased in the guttural “uhhh” which unexpectedly escaped her in that moment.

Now the woman had paced several steps away from their crash site, quietly chatting away, Korra allowed herself a half second of self-indulgence. Slapping both palms to her face theatrically, she silently wailed skyward, attempting her best Edvard Munch rendition. Topping off her release of nervous energy with her best high school musical style jump, Korra then took a deep, brain freezing breath as she briefly evaluated her situation.

Korra’s puppy had literally floored a stranger. Said stranger had thankfully been unharmed and was surprisingly very understanding. Not to mention hotter than Sozins comet to boot. Aforementioned stranger had then proceeded to flirt with Korra. And Korra was pretty sure she had blown it. In summary; not a great start, but still room for significant improvement, and Korra would be damned if she left without at least learning the name of Naga’s victim.

Keeping a close eye on the aforementioned stranger as she distractedly toed the snow whilst talking away, Korra spotted her window to finally attempt a good impression. With a full head of luscious raven curls obscuring her line of sight, Korra sprung into action, taking the opportunity to begin collecting the woman's shopping which was scattered around the clearing. ‘Straight from the freezer aisle’, Korra gently chuckled to herself, eyeing up the array of groceries scattered before her in the snow and plotting a course between them. Korra’s chuckle deepened as she realised why her nosey puppy had sought out this perfect stranger in the first place.

A small wheel of edam thrown off to the left - check. A packet of salami tucked below to the right - check. A misshaped Roquefort firmly squished between Nagas toe beans…check?

“Oh shit! Nagaaaa, you’re really not helping here girl”, Korra mentally facepalmed as she tentatively lifted the unfazed Samoyeds paw, revealing the mess of blue-y, greeny-y cheese smushed into the snow beneath. As if this revelation was as new to Naga as it was to Korra, the pup excitedly leapt into her best downward dog pose, tail wagging furiously as she buried her muzzle in the creamy mess below.

“Seriously? Girl, when you’re in a hole stop digging!”, she chastised. “We don't wanna upset the pretty lady anymore than we already have”, Korra mumbled under her breath as she wrangled the dog by the scruff of the neck, fishing though her parka pocket with her free hand for Naga’s threadbare leash. Gently tugging the puppy up, coaxed away by Nagas last beef jerky treat for the foreseeable future, Korra attached the clip to the puppy’s collar and then wrapped the loop of the leash handle around her own ankle as she continued her shuffle across the snow, collecting the shopping on her way. A few pricey looking deli items later, and Korra had filled the woman's well-worn Future Industries canvas tote to the top, eyeing the interesting choice of branding with a small pout on her way.

As Korra heard her new friend’s call coming to an end, she found herself running swift fingers though her unruly mop, checking herself out briefly in the reflection of a packet of Salami in the bag below. The woman before her seemed to turn in slow motion, causing Korra to almost blow out the cheekful of air she’d hamstered away. Any self-consciousness she had been harbouring melted away as the woman before her broke into a gentle smile, having retrained her sight on Korra.

“Catch you later, Op. G’bye”, the woman cooed sweetly down the phone to her friend, never breaking eye contact with Korra.

As she pocketed her phone, she set off towards Korra on a painfully slow tangent, swinging her hips wide as she did so. As the veritable angel sauntered closer, complete with a leg length to rival any VS wannabe, she came to a stop directly in front of Korra. She was somehow too close and yet far too far away all at the same time. As though the evening hadn’t been emotionally exhilarating enough, it was at this moment that the woman reached over to wrap her thumb and forefinger gently around the tip of Korras chin. It was only as she gently close Korras mouth did she realise it had been hanging low at the sight of her new friend approaching like that. As the heat rose to Korras face, the rapid thumping of her heart fully obscured the ounce of rational thought left screaming in her head, urging her to be brave - ‘just say something, anything’.

The woman beat her to it.

“As much as I enjoy ‘pretty lady’, I think I’d prefer to hear you say my name”.

As the woman removed her fingers from Korras taught jaw, the lingering warmth of her touch remained, fingerprints seared forever onto Korras flushed tan skin. She swallowed hard at the realisation that the woman had heard her semi-private conversation with Naga.

“Please, call me Asami”, she smiled devilishly sweet, as if understanding the effect of gifting her name to Korra would have on the already crumbling woman.

Korras head was spinning. Once at finally learning this beautiful woman's name, and twice at the realisation that she would have to once again use her words. ‘Quick, letters! Find some!’

“Nice to finally put a face to that lovely name of yours”, Korra beamed back…before realising her error, tumbling headlong into a second mistake in an attempt to fix the first.

“Wait, that’s not…lovely face!”. Great. ‘Try again woman!’

“Asami, wow, what a name! Im Korra…but wait, you already knew that?”.

Pulling a genuine, honeyed laugh from Asami felt like a victory, even if it was at her own expense.

In all honestly Korra would not have minded had Vaatu risen up from the depths of whatever hell-hole he was currently residing in to drag her back down with him. Usually so cool and composed under pressure, Korra now felt as mushy and warm as the expensive French cheese plastered to her dogs paws. Korra finally decided that it must be this woman: Asami, who was driving her all too quickly to rack and ruin - that was the only logical explanation for this cluster-fuck of incompetence. ‘My god - its Asami - now that you know her name, call her by it for Raavas sake!’ she reminded herself, unable and unwilling to return to a time and place where that specific combination of letters didn’t exist in her vocabulary. ‘You've lost a couple of Agni Kai’s, but you can still win the war’, she soothed herself internally.

“Okay let's start again”, she began.

“Hi Asami, I’m the idiot formerly known as Korra - and I believe you’ve already met Naga, who is super sorry by the way”.

The self-depreciative dig was not missed by Asami, an act which pulled a small scowl from the woman, however this was quickly replaced by a toothy grin as she was formally introduced to Korra’s canine companion. Korra physically exhaled with relief to see Asami gently scratch Naga’s tufted jaw, any bad-blood between the two melting away following their second meeting, one which had been decidedly less painful than their first.

“Oooh you’re not a bad girl are you baby, you’re just excitable is all!”, Asami cooed down at Naga.

Korra looked on, almost jealous of her dog as emerald and chocolate eyes locked in a swirl of hazel. Korra would have been lying, to her heart and the tips of her reddening ears, had she pretended to be unfazed by the depth and richness of that tone, too far gone to let herself dwell on the contents of Asami’s words.

In an attempt to remind Asami that she did still exist, and that she was in fact a very good girl (unlike Naga), Korra bent down sharply to shamelessly cash in some brownie points for helping with the woman’s grocery re-packing. Beaming with the best ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ smile she could muster, Korra extended the tote towards Asami.

“Sorry again, but meat and cheese is kinda Naga’s Kryptonite”, Korra chuckled.

“Well, I can’t blame a girl for having good taste In charcuterie”, Asami countered as she reached over to collect the tote from Korra, who was totally not blushing…again, as their knuckles gently grazed over one another’s.

As Asami hitched her full tote smoothly onto her shoulder, Korra noticed a small FI logo embroidered onto the lapel of woman's coat, her brain whirring into action and storing the information away for later. Before she allowed her synapses to get too carried away, she spotted her second window of the evening opening a little wider, as her broad hand shot up to nervously ruffle baby hairs at the nape of her neck.

“Thanks for being so so calm about this whole situation, but is there any way I can make good on my puppy nearly breaking your back?”.

Before the woman could fully open her mouth, to no doubt shoot down her offer, Korra interjected with her characteristically nervous ramblings.

“I just shut up shop for the night, but I kinda run Coffee Klub just behind us” Korra said as she waved a wild arm in the vague direction of her cafe. “The least I could do is make you a hot drink for the rest of your walk home?”, she ended on the highest inflection she could muster, suddenly all too aware that Asami could construe this question as far too invasive. Or worse, call her out on her weak attempt at asking her out.

Her worry only deepened by the second as the woman before her remained silent, quietly confirming Korras fears about overstepping.

“Kinda run Coffee Klub?”, Asami unexpectedly quizzed, tilting her head in that adorable way that almost made Korra giggle with her resemblance to Naga.

Korra released a nervous laugh, “as if that’s the part you question”, shaking her head from side to side in relief, albeit tinged with a little disappointment.

“But yeah, by kinda run, I mean I kinda own Coffee Klub”.

As the beautiful woman who was obviously well out of Korras league had pretty much ignored Korras offer of coffee, she figured she may as well leave this incredible chance meeting with a cool story to recount to her parents on their next FaceTime. Not to mention it was also a great opportunity to smoothly glaze over the light bruising her ego just received, courtesy of Asami.

“Like, how you kinda own Future Industries?”, she asked tentatively.

Asami blinked, once. Slowly.

Korra didn’t know much about fast cars, or fame or even fortune, but she knew about business (at least as far as her own was concerned). She knew how difficult it was to balance work and an often non-existent home life, to manage people and to manage money (even if Coffee Klub hadn’t quite made it on the Fortune 500 yet), and the most difficult act of all; to find time for herself in the midst of it all. As she looked deep into those emerald eyes reflecting the amber glint of the streetlights around them, Korra found herself staring into the soul of a kindred spirit, her own dreams and wishes and fears shining right back at her. In that moment, she realised that it didn’t matter how nervous she had felt to ask Asami for more, she wanted to get to know this incredible woman better. More than she had read about her in the papers, seen of her in news coverage, or heard about her at small-business conferences. She wanted to know the real Asami, convincing herself more and more with every passing second that Naga hadn’t chosen to say hello to this amazing woman purely for her tote full of salami.

“Kinda like that, yeah” Asami laughed airily.

“I guess we both kinda like modesty too, huh?”, Korra added. Desperately hoping that she hadn’t overstepped even further, she dropped her eyes to the floor.

The ensuing silence was only broken by a tired yawn rising up from Nagas fluffy jowls. Korra was positive now that she had disrupted the once exquisite tension that separated her and Asami. ‘Some meet cute, huh’, she groaned internally, kicking herself at first messing up flirting, and then friend-making in the space of less than 5 minutes. ‘Idiot’.

As Korra found herself falling deeper and deeper into the chasm of her own self-destructive thoughts as the seconds stretched out before them, she could have sworn she caught a slight uptick growing at the corner of Asami’s mouth.

“Classic diversion technique”, Asami began as the most mischievous smile Korra had ever seen on someone, other than herself, began spreading across the woman's face.

“You’ll have to work harder in future, Korra, if you think you can throw me as easily as that”.

“Huh?”, Korra asked, now finding it was her turn to tilt her head in true confused Naga fashion. Firstly at the meaning of the statement in general, and secondly at Asami’s specific use of the phrase ‘in future’. ‘Wait’, Korras mind whirred, ‘she’s coming back for more?’.

“Did you hope I’d be too freaked out to notice that you just asked me on a date?”, Asami laughed deeper now, her honeyed voice catching in the frosty night air, refusing to dissipate.

Crap.

Korra had hoped that this was the case, and now she felt truly caught. Not the part about freaking Asami out for sure, but definitely in changing topics had she hoped that the exquisite woman before her could forget that someone as relatively boring as Korra had made a pass at her. ‘Bad!’, Korras constantly running internal monologue metaphorically slapped her, reminding her that she had every right to think she was good enough for someone as intelligent and beautiful as Asami. ‘Bad Korra, bad. Must do better’.

“I really didn’t mean to freak you out, and I'm sorry if I caught you off guard, but yeah…”, Korra’s hand once again returned to its second home on the now reddening patch of skin on her neck, “…I guess maybe I did. Sorry, Asami”, she mumbled, feeling slightly unworthy of making eye contact with the woman right in that second.

“Hey, there,” the Angel before her murmured, for the second time that evening sweetly grasping Korras jaw with soft fingertips to draw her chin upwards, locking eyes with her as she did so. The tender, almost apologetic look she gave Korra in that second, made Korra really want to believe her inner monologue. Made her want to believe that Asami was silently communicating just how worthy she thought Korra was to be in her life in whatever capacity, and maybe just how worthy she was to be in Korra’s.

“Its okay, Korra. I promise.”, Asami’s gentle tone lilted.

“In fact, it's kinda really okay”, she giggled, leaning ever closer to Korra, positioning her plump, ruby red lips mere millimetres from Korras now burning cheek.

“But for now, I think I need something stronger than coffee, if thats okay with you, Korra”.

Asami physically punctuated the rich desire woven into her rhetorical question by physically pressing those exquisitely soft lips to Korras cheek in the most chaste kiss heavenly possible. Having felt like she had travelled to her ancestral home and back in 5 seconds flat, Korras mind reduced to mush, her eyes blowing wide with shock, cheeks deflating with the release of nervous breath. As Asami pulled back, she brushed Korras wind-chilled cheek gently against her own in the process, sending a pleasantly cool chill down Korras spine. Asami eyed her through hooded lids, long lashes heralding each heavy blink, interrupting the sexiest staring competition Korra had ever partaken in. Smiling sweetly at her, she looked completely content to sit and wait for as long as Korra needed to form cohesive thoughts.

And, Raava, did Korra have a desire to form cohesive thoughts. It was just that Korra was really struggling to perform in the thinking department right now.

Whilst she waited for rationality to return, Korra thought she saw the briefest flash of fear beginning to tint Asami’s previously confident outlook, her eyebrows knitting together slightly as she worried her bottom lip. The realisation hit her then that this stunning woman had kissed her, and Korra had then remained silent for a solid 10 seconds afterwards, with a look of bemusement plastered across her face. The fear that Asami could construe this silence as lack of consent was the metaphorical shove Korra needed to make the leap into the unknown.

“That is more than okay with me, Asami”, she replied in a pitch barely above a whisper, overlaying her broad palm atop Asami’s soft fingers that were cradling the apple of Korras cheek. Still unable to get over one, knowing this beautiful strangers name, and two, hearing herself say it aloud.

“…and so was that”, she added airily, referring to the sweet kiss that Asami had gifted her, both to reassure the woman of its giving, and because she needed Asami to know the warming effect it had on her in the receiving.

A second gaping yawn from the Samoyed below, who had sandwiched herself between them, gently pulled both women back to their surroundings. It was as if they had been somewhere foreign; a spirit world, where the only people in existence were her and Asami, and of course the fluff ball at their feet.

Asami slid her hand away from Korra’s soft cheek to scritch a scratch atop Naga’s head, Korra’s totally not-at-all real jealously towards her own puppy now doubling for the second time this evening, and manifesting in a small pout.

Korra couldn’t handle the two sets of puppy eyes looking back at her, as she was forced to give in to her adoration for the fuzzy pup between them. Reaching down to join in on the loving, her fingers went to work, tickling around the slightly cheesy fur beneath Naga’s jaw. ‘Nice’.

“Sadly, I don't think this tired teddy bear would last long at Kwong's tonight”.

Korra referenced the upmarket eatery that was well out of her price range, in both a weak attempt to impress her ?date, and gently let Asami know that any evening fun would have to be cut short to accommodate her sleepy pup. Date or not, Korras first love, Naga, had to come first tonight.

“Good thing that Kwong’s is severely overrated then”, Asami chuckled, drawing her attention back up to Korra and levelling her best ‘seriously?’ look, solidly in her direction.

“Didn’t have you pegged as a Kwong’s sort of girl?”, she smirked at Korra as she continued.

“I’m full of surprises”, Korra quipped, her lop-sided grin spreading across her face, equalling the intensity of Asami’s.

“Good”.

The desire laced into that single word thoroughly threw Korra. Physically she was here, playing with her puppy and staring into the most beautifully green eyes she’d ever met, but mentally she had been flung into Republic City harbour, and she wasn’t convinced that she wouldn’t drown. ‘Well, shit’, she internally drawled.

“As much as I’d love to take you to a bar right now”, Asami continued, “I actually already have evening plans tonight”.

Oh.

Korra now felt as if she were physically drowning in Republic City Harbour too. She knew that Asami had made no promises, and Korra knew that the woman had been likely just testing the waters with her for the last couple minutes, but Korra couldn’t deny the sinking feeling she felt in her chest in that moment. ‘Maybe you have run out of luck for today, Kor’.

“Well that’s okay”, Korra quietly struggled out, eyes downcast towards her yawning companion.

“Maybe some other time, yeah? I guess if…”

“No!”, Asami brusquely interrupted, causing Korra to startle slightly in the process.

“No! Korra, please”, Asami breathily chuckled, suddenly radiating a nervous energy. She reached a tentative hand forward, as if to touch Korras arm, to prevent their shared moment of bliss from slipping away.

“Sorry,”, she restarted. The woman took a deep breath, seemingly grounding herself, before reaching her hand further forward to rest it gently on Korras forearm.

“What I was tryyyyying to say”, she chuckled, ruffling the sleeve of Korras parka slightly with her gliding hand.

“Was that I already have evening plans tonight, and if it's not too much to ask a near total stranger”, she paused to grip Korras quilted forearm a little tighter. “I’d love it if you’d care to join me”.

Korra had mentally prepared herself for several reasons to fall out of Asami’s mouth in the moments following her admission, but that that had not been one of them. Korra chose then to reenact Asami’s goldfish impression from minutes earlier, her jaw swinging slightly in confusion, before Asami enlightened her further.

“Im making dinner for a couple of friends, well, dinner is pushing it I guess, just a charcuterie board really…” she chuckled slightly as she jiggled the bustling tote bag on her shoulder, “…because I literally cannot cook to save my life”.

At this, Korra found herself chuckling along with her. She knew this woman was cute from the get-go, because well she had eyes, but evidently Asami had been hiding her adorableness away for later. Thankfully, Asami had been unable to contain it any longer.

“Anyway, my friend who just called - Opal - she’s the best by the way, well she wanted to tell me that our other mutual friend had to cancel”.

At this, Asami removed her touch from Korras coat arm. Clasping her hands together before her, she ran her fingertips softly over cold-reddening knuckles, her previous wave of nervousness seemingly flooding back with vengeance.

“You see, that leaves a spare seat at my table…”, Asami said all too quickly, flinging her once clasped hands open animatedly, before her fidgeting continued.

“…and seeing as Naga has already sampled the menu…”, she paused to tickle naga once again, doubling up as an excuse to do something else with her flailing hands, before continuing.

“…and with her being a minor and all, and also a dog, I figured she may need some adult supervision”.

Korra remained silent, trying to guess when and where it was that Asami was happy for her to provide an answer.

“That would be you, Korra. If you’d have me”.

With her convoluted attempt at delivering an invitation drawing to a close, Korra really couldn’t restrain the hearty laugh joyously falling form her own lips. This woman, this incredible woman, had captivated Korra in all of, what, ten minutes? And the fact that Asami had been worried for a single second that she could mess that up, was beyond comical to Korra.

Reaching down, Korra collected Asami’s near trembling fingers in a reassuring, warming hold. Korra hoped to all that was good and sacred that they had been shaking with the cold and not embarrassment at her question, but she didn’t delay her answer any further for fear of inadvertently confirming Asami's worries.

“Of course I’ll have you, Asami”, she cooed, before quickly realising how that had sounded. Oops.

“What I’m trying to say, is that I’d be delighted to chaperone Naga at your dinner”.

It was a good thing that seconds before, Naga had bored of the pairs ‘will they, won’t they’ antics, and had proceeded to lay down in the snow some ways away from them, for upon hearing Korras reply Asami literally bounced up and down with excitement.

“Oh my Raava, seriously?”, the woman squeaked, “I thought, for sure Sato - you’ve blown this”, she admitted nervously, giggling through her own words as if to lessen their impact.

“Not just yet, Sato”, Korra winked.

With her 2 seconds of bravery over for the time being, Korra unceremoniously bent down to un-loop Nagas lead from around her ankle, passing the corded fabric over to a perplexed looking Asami. She looked back at Asami with expectant eyes, indicating with her hands for the woman to pass her back the tote full of shopping. Thankfully, Asami happily, if confusedly, obliged. Once she had hitched the heavier than expected bag onto her broad shoulder, Korra beamed back over to Asami, ready to enact her plan.

‘Right, C’mon, Kor. You've got this’, she repeated several times over, mentally psyching herself up to follow this near complete stranger home, for dinner, with other absolutely complete strangers. ‘Gotta life life on the edge sometimes, remember?’. She was sure her Mum would not approve of this mindset, or her last minute change of evening plans, but there was just something about this woman that made Korra feel safe. Saying this, Korras neck had never prickled as much, her heart had never beaten as fast as it did now, as she tentatively reached down to take Asami’s free hand in her own. Their fingers slid together easily, locking as if by some grand design they had been forged to be connected as one. ‘Once you say that magic ’S’ word, you know there’s no going back for Naga, so make sure you do this right, Kor’, she reminded herself. Secretly super proud at her impromptu new nickname for Asami, and her equally intense fear of ruining the delivery.

Holding out her free hand before them, gesturing noncommittally up the street towards the direction that Asami had once been heading in all those minutes ago, Korra smiled brightly.

“Lead the way home, Salami”.

For once, spectacularly on cue, Korras usually uncoordinated puppy eagerly sprung up onto all four paws, causing Asami to also jump in the process. Frantically swinging her gigantic head around in all directions to assess just where this salami was hiding, she finally spotted Korras outstretched arm. Akin to receiving a military order to attack, Naga leapt into action, crouching slightly on her haunches before launching herself forward with all the power and grace of a hungry polar bear.

“What the… Ahhhhh”, Asami began before her whelp was lost to the pull of the puppy at her wrist and the chilly nip of the winter wind around them.

As both women were yanked forwards several metres, their hands locked together primarily for safety, closely followed almost equally by pleasure, Asami’s cries of exclamation quickly morphed into an exuberant cheer.

“Whoa girl! You’ll get plenty of Salami when we get home, promise!”, Asami cooed as she gently tugged on Naga’s lead, indicating that she needed to slow down if she wanted her passengers to arrive at there destination in one piece.

Korra’s smug chuckle then died in her throat as Asami glanced across to level a killer side-eye in her direction.

“That promise goes out to both of you”, Asami teased as she blew an air kiss over to Korra, winking simultaneously.

“Knew you wouldn’t blow it, Sato”, Korra laughed back.

As both women burst into a fit of laughter, Naga settled into a slower pace, pulling them along fast enough to escape the brunt of the freshly falling snow, but without rushing them through the veritable fairytale meeting that they found themselves falling through.

As she fell further into steady step alongside Asami, Korra looked up into the sky. A gentle trickle of wind passed through the woman's raven hair beside her, planting delicate snowflakes on her exposed cheeks and lips. Korra had always been a big fan of the cold, and here in this moment she had never been more thankful for snow…or charcuterie. As she caught Asami’s beautiful eyes admiring her from mere centimetres away, separated only by an eager puppy and a flurry of snowflakes, Korra felt pretty damn lucky.

Gone was Korra’s uncharacteristic nervousness, her self-consciousness abated by the glow of the viridian gaze she would continue to bathe in for the remainder of the evening. A chance encounter in the snow had warmed Korras lonely soul more than she had ever thought possible, or had ever truly realised was needed. Even if their perfectly impromptu dinner plans turned to chaos; Asami’s friends thinking unkindly of Korra, Korra not knowing which set of expensive cutlery to use first, or Naga once again deciding to publicly embarrass herself, none of that seemed to matter to her anymore. This woman had accidentally slipped into her life, this incredible woman - Asami - and she would be damned if she let her slip out of her life as easily.

As Asami tightened her grip on Korras hand, and sent her one hundredth toothy smile of the evening in Korras direction, she was struck by a realisation that only confirmed her earlier suspicion: It hadn’t been a special something that had been missing from her life, but a special someone.