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Asami sat on a small couch, a blue and white Afghan blanket (woven by Korra years ago) draped over her knees as she curled up, poring over a book. She reached up to adjust her reading glasses as she turned the page, peering closer at the letters. They seemed slightly blurry to her, even though she was mere inches away. She wondered fleetingly why the glasses weren't doing their job, that maybe it wasn't the lenses at all but her vision that was finally faltering beyond repair, but she pushed the thought away quickly. No, it must just be shoddy craftsmanship.
Korra was seating next to her on the floor, sitting with her legs stretched out and back to the couch. Her hands were out in front of her, slowly creating a circular motion as she tended to the fire warming the two of them up.
Asami closed her book quietly to watch, admiring the glow that the fire cast on Korra's white hair. She remembered a time when Korra had vehemently hated the graying of her hair, had begged Asami to find some way, some chemical composition, to change her hair back to it's normal color. It was only when Asami had taken her hand and stroked her locks, telling her that this is it's normal color now, and it's just as beautiful, if not more, that Korra leaned in to her touch and gave up her quest.
Along with Korra's cerulean eyes, which still had their signature sparkle, Asami thought Korra had a certain Princess Yue vibe to her. At times she looked ethereal, her brown skin only slightly wrinkled even in her old age, with plenty of laugh lines and crinkles painted on her face in all the right places.
Asami felt content as she watched Korra continue to bend the fire in a circular motion until her arms began to shake with the effort. Asami shook her head, smiling. The woman sometimes forgot that she was 80 and not 18.
She put a hand on Korra's shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Honey, don't bend yourself out," Asami said softly, her tone loving.
Korra whipped her head around fast and Asami was hit with the image of a young Water Tribe girl with hair fastened in wolf tails grinning at her before her mind grounded itself in reality again.
"That was one of my old firebending training exercises," Korra said, smiling. Her eyes were fixed in a far off place, thinking of memories from long ago.
They shared a moment of silence before Asami spoke. "Do you miss it?" she said, playing with a strand of Korra's now-thinning hair.
"Of course," Korra said breathlessly. "Being able to flip, and twist, hell, even to run! I would give anything to be able to do it again. But..." she turned to take Asami's hand that had been holding her hair, locking gazes with her.
"I'm so happy where we are now. We've been through a lot, Asami. We deserve our peace and quiet!" Korra laughed at her words, thinking of all the crisis's they had dealt with in the past, and Asami joined in her laughter.
They had been through a HELL of a lot. Dealing with non-stop threats during their young adult lives had matured them quickly, more quickly than any of them would have liked. But it came with the territory of being the Avatar, and the Avatar's friend-turned-girlfriend, and both of them knew they wouldn't have had it any other way. Being in non-stop life threatening situations and lengthy separations had enabled therm to see and realize their feelings clearly for each other, without all the murky territory that sometimes accompanied teen and young adult relationships. Well, that is, if you don't count the Mako love triangle thing. But even then, Korra and Asami had never truly disliked each other. They just needed time.
After defeating Kuvira and her regime and returning from their trip to the Spirit World, Asami and Korra had been inseparable, and the world had enjoyed an unprecedented era of relative peace.
In their late 20's, Asami had proposed to Korra during one of their Turtle-Duck date nights. Korra had looked so peaceful with her eyes closed, stroking Asami's hair, and Asami was grateful that she had brought her ring with her, because it was in that moment that she knew no one else would ever love her like Korra would, and she would never love anyone else like she loved Korra. When she had nudged Korra, taking out the ring and asking her if she would spend the rest of her life with a prissy, beautiful, elegant rich girl, Korra had practically gone overboard, bending sparkling showers of water around them (much to the delight of the other people in Turtle-Duck boats) and blasting the boat out of the water like a geyser as she pulled Asami into a kiss, accepting her proposal.
They had held two wedding ceremonies, an intimate one for close family and friends held on Ember Island, and a second, publicized one in Republic City.
Asami remembered their first ceremony like it just happened yesterday. She remembered the sweet smell of tiger lilies as Ikki scattered them down the isle. Remembered the tears welling up in her eyes as she placed a picture of her father and mother in the front row, right next to Korra's parents.
The sight of Korra at the end of the aisle still made her heart stop, as she had never had anyone look at her with such love and devotion. The moment she had seen Korra, bright smile and watery eyes, waving at her like a dork, soon-to-be her dork, Asami had hiked up her dress and ran the rest of her way to Korra, determined that they would never be apart again.
Korra had caught her, twirling her before setting her down. "Asami, you're stunning", she had said, hugging her close.
Asami squeezed her back, smiling as a tear finally escaped her composure. "Korra, I love you so much."
And now they were here, still together, still smiling and happy even though old age had taken many things from them.
They had outlived both Mako and Bolin, the best friends that either woman could have asked for. Katara, Tenzin and Pema, and Tonraq and Senna had all passed as well, each one leaving Korra and Asami's hearts raw and sore. If they didn't have each other, things would have been unbearable.
Losing family members and friends is something they had never even thought of dealing with, because growing up, it felt like they would all live forever. Like they were all invincible. And when the time came for the spirits to claim their souls, it was sudden, always sudden. And though the pain faded with age it never truly went away.
Asami and Korra had become good at replacing the hurt with happy memories, choosing to remember the best of their loved one's lives rather than thinking about their absence. It almost always worked. And when it didn't they held each other, Asami finding comfort in Korra's ever-strong arms and Korra in Asami's soft hair and embrace.
Korra shifted a little bit and Asami knew it meant that she wanted to get up. She put her book down on the table, and slowly bent to throw the blanket off of her legs. She gripped the arm of the couch tightly as she swiveled her knees, gingerly rising to her feet. She grabbed her cane that was perched up against the couch and shuffled her feet to the kitchen, leaning heavily on the stick for support.
All her years of bending over open Satomobile hoods and various mechanical contraptions had done a real number on her back, and around the age of 78 she had to start walking with a cane to be able to walk upright. It didn't bother her all that much, she was just grateful that she could still use her legs, unlike her dear wife.
Asami reached the kitchen and pulled out Korra's walker from the corner it was hidden in, using it to walk back over to Korra.
The Avatar had greatly lost the use of her legs around age 76, after she had torn the ligaments in them by getting hit by a cab, moving way too fast for a woman her age to push an unassuming child out of harm's way. She wasn't wheel chair bound, but she could not walk without assistance.
Asami never asked her why she hadn't used bending to save the girl, because she knew that Korra's memory had started to falter sometimes around that time, and she wasn't as quick to command the elements as she once was. Asami did not want to make her feel incompetent by bringing it up. Besides, the act itself was brave and fearless, and Asami did not want to ruin Korra's great deed by asking her how she could have done it better. It seemed like a trivial thing to bring up, especially since a discussion on the matter would inevitably lead to hurt feelings, something Asami never wanted Korra to have.
Once Asami reached Korra, she sat on the edge of the couch, using every ounce of strength she had to hoist Korra up next to her. Her arms instantly ached with the strain and she had to sit a moment to steady her breathing.
Funny how age makes the simplest of tasks seem so difficult.
"Did I tire you out, Asami?" Korra wiggled her eyebrows, and Asami let out a loud laugh.
Her mind flashed back to a memory when Korra had surprised her at her office, arriving unannounced with take-out in one hand and flowers in the other. Asami had canceled all her meetings for the rest of the day and the couple had made love all around Asami's office. On the floor, in the closet, even on her desk. And Korra had said the same thing to her when they were done.
Asami smiled. One thing Korra hadn't lost was her way of unrelenting teasing and sense of humor.
"You sure did," Asami said, nudging her. "Let's get you up and going."
Asami slowly rose again, extending a shaky hand towards Korra.
Korra looked up at her wife with adoring eyes. "You've always taken care of me, Asami," she said as she took her hand, pulling herself up as she let go and steadied her hands on either side of the walker. Asami rubbed her back lightly. She was reminded of a time when a young Korra was wheelchair bound, crippled from poisoning by the horrible Zaheer. Asami closed her eyes and willed the memories out of her mind, not wanting to think of how hurt Korra had been, the reason why she had left Republic City, and Asami for those three years.
Korra was here now, and Asami would always, always take care of her.
"I always tell the air babies, never get old," Korra said as made her way to the kitchen, panting lightly.
Even though Meelo, Rohan, Jinora and Ikki were in their 50's and 60's, they would always be Korra's air babies, and Asami found it so endearing.
"Should we make some tea, Asami?" Korra said as she took a seat at the kitchen table, keeping the walker by her.
"Absolutely," Asami said as she wobbled over to the tea pot, filling it with water. She fetched two small cups and returned to Korra, sitting next to her at the table.
"Ready?" Korra said, looking at Asami.
"Ready," Asami smiled at her.
Asami lifted the tea pot up while Korra warmed the bottom of it by bending some fire, and in an instant steam emitted from the spout. Asami put the tea pot down for a moment, resting her arms from the heavy weight before moving to pick it up again to fill their cups.
Korra put a hand on her arm. "Allow me," she said, giving Asami the lopsided grin the she always loved.
"Thanks," Asami said back, watching as Korra poured each of them a steaming hot cup of tea.
They had taken to doing little tasks like this together. Making tea, making the bed, cooking; everything, really, they found to be easier when they worked hand in hand. They always had made a great team.
The pair sat, blowing the steam from their cups before gingerly sipping from them.
"Remember that hair flip thing you always used to do?" Korra laughed, remembering all the times Asami had unabashedly shown off her thick head of raven black hair.
"Of course!" Asami said, smiling widely. "It was my trademark!"
Now she couldn't even raise her arm above her shoulder, let alone twist it back to tussle and toss her hair.
"I always used to call it your Charm Attack. Sure, you could kick ass in hand-to-hand, but hit someone with that Charm Attack? That's a knock out for sure. Worked on me." Korra smiled and shivered, and Asami wished she had brought the blanket to wrap her in.
Korra was always cold now, but she still refused to wear sleeves. She was nothing if not stubborn.
Asami remembered the night when she had asked Korra why she didn't use her firebending to heat herself up anymore, and was met with a blank stare.
"I can--I can do that?" Her heart had dropped in that moment, as Korra had broke down sobbing moments after.
Asami had cradled her poor head in her lap, lifting her face up to pepper her lips and nose and cheeks with kisses. "Shh, Korra, it's okay. We all forget things sometimes."
There were many moments like that, as the couple dealt with the hardships of growing old.
Asami remembered the day she had been trying to read an instruction manual for putting together a new appliance. The words seemed blurry and smushed together, and she was growing more frustrated by the minute. She thought that the manufacturer must have had a faulty printer, or didn't wait for the ink to dry before packaging.
Eventually, she was about to call the customer service number printed large on the back of the manual when Korra had come in, reading the first step out easily.
Asami had put the phone down, realizing that it was just her. "You can read that okay?" she had said to her wife, looking down at her feet.
Korra had returned later that day after grocery shopping with 10 different kinds of reading classes because she didn't know which kind Asami needed. It was then that Asami knew that her and Korra would tackle old age with grace and support from one another.
Sure, she missed supervising the assembly line at Future Industries, meeting with the top minds in the world to make living conditions better for people everywhere. She missed flying, driving a speedboat, feeling the wind whip her hair as she tore down the road at 100 MPH + in a sleek Satocycle, Korra gripping her waist for dear life. She missed sliding under an aircraft to tinker with it's mechanics, Korra pulling her out from under it and lifting her up into a kiss when she'd been working too long.
She missed all of it, but she knew that things couldn't last forever, and with Korra by her side, nothing could every truly be bad.
Korra seemed to be lost in the same train of thought, her eyes unfocused and tea going cold though she still cradled the cup in her hands.
"What are you thinking about?" Asami said, giving her a soft smile.
"I'm thinkin' about Naga," Korra said with a wistful grin, and even still Korra couldn't talk about her beloved polar bear dog without a sheen of tears coming to her eyes.
"I miss her so much. I can't wait to see her again, when you and I can ride with her through the Spirit World. She's going to be so happy to see us when we finally get there. She's gonna howl for the whole world to hear." Korra looked at Asami, one corner of her mouth turned up into a lazy, happy smile.
"Oh, I bet she will! I can't wait to see her either. She was such a good friend." Asami said, remembering Naga's unwavering loyalty, her warmth, and her kind nature.
Korra still kept her sadle on a bundle of blankets in a basket in their room. Both women always gave it a kiss before going to bed for the night.
Another comfortable silence stretched between Korra and Asami until Korra broke it.
"I'm ready, Asami," Korra said, expression solemn. Asami didn't have to ask to know what she meant. She had known it was coming soon. It was inevitable. Korra was ready to part with Raava, to let the Avatar cycle begin anew and let the Spirit World claim her soul. She knew Korra would reach this decision eventually. As the Avatar, she had done her part to protect and change the world, bringing balance along with peace for the past couple of decades. As Korra, she had enriched the lives of all lucky enough to know her personally, made them strive to be better people and look for the good in life.
She had changed Asami irrevocably. Korra was her beacon of light, her sweet baby, the one that helped her to accept her emotions rather than fight them, the one who had taught her that it's okay to trust, to love again after she had been betrayed so many times, had lost so much. Korra loved her when she was a grumpy bed-head at 6 AM, dragging her feet before an early meeting. She loved her when she was frustrated and mad when the machine she was tinkering with wouldn't start up. Had held her when she would cry on the anniversary of her parents' death, and proudly held her hand when Asami passed down control of Future Industries to Rohan (who turned out to be quite the mechanical mastermind). She had seen her at her best and her worst and loved her all the more for it. And so if this was Korra's decision, if she was ready to go, then Asami would too.
"I'm going with you," Asami said, and slowly moved herself closer to Korra so that she could reach up a little to stroke Korra's soft cheek, and Korra shivered into her touch.
"Asami, you don't have to do that," Korra said before Asami placed a finger to her lips.
"Korra, I wouldn't be able to live without you. I will follow wherever you go. My life truly started when I met you, and when I married you I vowed to never leave you. I'm not going back on that promise," Asami said, placing a light kiss on Korra's lips.
Korra squeezed Asami's hand, looking at the table.
"I love you, Asami."
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Later that night, Korra and Asami helped each other change into their pajamas, Asami into a simple, pale pink nightgown and Korra in a button up flannel set.
As they settled in bed, Korra pulled Asami close to her. A tear slid down her cheek as she buried a hand in Asami's thick silver hair, her smooth pale skin and evergreen eyes shining in the moonlight.
"You're my forever girl, Asami," Korra said, smirking playfully.
"Okay, Avatar Aang," Asami laughed softly, kissing her forehead.
The pair got lost in each other's eyes for a bit, seeing memories and hopes and dreams and nothing but love before Korra grasped Asami's hand under the covers.
"Do you want to go on a vacation? Just the two of us?" Korra said, her voice shaking as she choked back tears.
Asami was surprised to feel tears of her own wet her cheeks. "Oh, Korra," she smiled through her tears. "It sounds perfect."
She lunged forward and captured Korra's lips one more time passionately, knowing that it was the last time she would taste Korra in the physical world. Korra pressed back fervently, her embrace around Asami tightening.
"I'll see you soon," Korra whispered as the women closed their eyes, clutching each other tightly, fitting perfectly together, two halves making a whole.
A silence filled the room as each woman drew their last breath, their chest rising one more time before they let it out, all the air in the bodies leaving them.
The air was still for a moment, the room pitch dark, until Korra and Asami began to softly glow, golden yellow flecks rising from their physical bodies like tiny daffodils caught in a breeze.
Korra's eyes glowed once before shutting again as Raava quitely left her, whispering "Go in peace."
The room flashed white as Raava departed, and when the light subsided the golden flecks had taken the form of Asami and Korra, in their early twenties, looking just like they did before they left for their Spirit World vacation the first time. They were young and beautiful and hopeful, slowly falling in love, and as they faced each other, hands clasped, their forms began to glow with a blinding yellow light before disappearing, leaving the room dark again save for the soft moonlight casting it's glow over Korra and Asami's peaceful physical bodies.
And though they hadn't heard it in years, residents of Republic City could have sworn they heard a polar bear dog howl that night.