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When Korra wakes up, something feels wrong. It feels like there's ground beneath her rather than her bed, and she can't feel her familiar blankets across her. In fact, this is really uncomfortable. She opens her eyes, and very nearly screams.
Where the heck is she? She's outside somewhere, definitely not in her room on the Island, and she's surrounded by huge, dark green vines. She's never seen anything like them before. Not to mention that beam of light sticking up out of the ground. She has no idea what that is.
Korra scrambles to her feet, looking around wildly, wondering if she's dreaming, if she's hit her head, if this is all some weird hallucination. The ground is covered with vines for several metres in every direction, all centring on that strange beam of glowing yellow light. The buildings beyond the vines look abandoned, overgrown with greenery, but they're also strangely familiar. This looks like Republic City, if someone decided to transform it overnight into some kind of vine-y wasteland.
There are strange beings – like animals, but also not – floating and running and dancing all around her. She guesses they could be spirits, but how is that even possible? Spirits aren't meant to be here. And... where are the humans?
She starts walking, half-stumbling over some of the vines, a small flame lit in one hand, ready to strike at anything that comes near her. But the spirits, if that's what they are, ignore her, most of them drifting away or melting out of sight, until she's alone.
Or... is she? Korra runs forward, struggling to keep her balance on the strange terrain. There's someone else here, lying on the ground several metres away. The spill of black hair is oddly familiar, but it's not until she gets closer that she realises why.
The person is Asami Sato, Mako's girlfriend. Korra thought she couldn't be any more confused, but this proves her wrong. What possible reason could that girl have to be here? Especially as Mako is nowhere in sight.
She can accept that she might wind up in a situation like this – she is the Avatar, after all – but Asami Sato? Shouldn't she be reading a fashion magazine or something?
A small voice in Korra's mind chastises her: that's not fair, is it? You don't really know her, and it's not her fault about Mako.
And another, louder voice clamours at her: is she okay, is she hurt?
The worry surprises her. Sure, she'd be concerned about any person that she saw in this situation, whether she liked them or not, but this is more than a vague, polite concern. It's a kind of instinctive fear she doesn't really understand.
She kneels down next to the girl and studies her. She doesn't seem to be hurt, just unconscious. Her breathing is steady, and her pulse is strong when Korra presses her fingers to the side of her neck. Asami's skin is really soft, Korra notices. Then she shakes her head, wondering where that thought came from.
“Hey, um, Asami? Can you hear me?”
The other girl's eyelids flicker, and then she slowly blinks her eyes open. “Korra? What the... where am I?” She sits up, staring around her in utter disbelief. Korra wonders if she'll burst into tears or call out for her father. She does neither of those things. She looks around like she's calculating, trying to come to some kind of conclusion. “What is this? Where are the others? I... I don't remember getting here.”
“Me neither,” Korra says, moving away from her. “And I have no idea where we are, or what's going on, or if anyone's coming to save us, or whatever else you're going to ask.”
Asami frowns at her. “All of those are perfectly reasonable, logical questions.”
Korra sighs. “Yeah, fair enough.”
Asami gets to her feet, a frown still in place, like she's trying to remember something. “Did you... did you touch my neck?”
That is definitely not the question Korra was expecting to hear next. “What?”
Asami freezes, looking confused for a second, then shakes her head. “Oh, uh, nothing. Maybe it was a dream.”
Why would she dream about me?
“I checked your pulse, whatever,” Korra says shortly. “Now, I need to figure out how to get us out of this.”
“Don't you mean we need to figure it out?” Asami asks, her tone sharper than Korra was expecting. "You're not the only one who's capable of that, you know."
“Yeah, sure, sorry.” Korra actually means it, and some part of her is ashamed. Way to make all the assumptions about someone, Korra.
They've barely had time to look around them again when there's the sound of running footsteps from one of the overgrown streets around them, and voices calling their names.
“That sounds like Bolin!” Korra says. “Come on!”
To her surprise, Asami keeps pace with her as they run towards the buildings, calling their friends' names back.
They almost run straight into them, a group of people who are both familiar and absolutely, terrifyingly, different.
Tenzin looks almost the same, wholly recognisable. But he's the only one. Bolin, simply put, does not look sixteen anymore. He could be in his early twenties, Korra thinks, and he's changed his hair. Not as drastically as Mako, though (why doesn't her heart thud at the sight of him?), who looks almost staid, his hair carefully slicked back, and a kind of maturity in his face and bearing that definitely wasn't there the last time they spoke.
And the other two figures? One of them is entirely a stranger, a young woman with bobbed dark hair, green eyes, and light brown skin, wearing a red and orange suit. The other, the youngest of the group... she looks like Jinora. But there's no way, right? Jinora is a little kid, ten years old. This girl could easily be sixteen. She's so much taller than the Jinora Korra saw... what, yesterday? And strangest of all, she has a blue arrow on her forehead, marking her as an airbending master.
“Wh-what?” Korra asks blankly. “What happened to you guys?”
“What happened to us?” Bolin asks. “What happened to you? You've been missing all day, and apparently Bum-Ju told Bumi about some strange spirit activity! And... why do you look so weird?”
“Us?” Asami asks, sounding as confused as Korra feels. “It's you guys that look wrong. You were... you were sixteen the last time I saw you, Bolin, what happened?”
“Sixteen? You're the ones who look sixteen! Or, well maybe a little older,” Bolin amends. “But young!”
“Way too young...” the girl who looks like Jinora says thoughtfully. She sounds like Jinora, too. “It's like something's changed them.”
“But I'm not–”
“You're the ones who have–”
“What happened to–”
“I think we should–”
“All right,” Tenzin says firmly, cutting through the noise. “Let's get back to the Island and figure this out there.”
Korra can't think of anything better to do, so she trails in their wake, ready to lash out at a moment's notice. Maybe this is all some strange illusion. Maybe it's dangerous. Either way, she's going to be prepared.
Asami walks close to her, closer than Korra would have expected. But she finds it oddly comforting. Of all of them, Asami is the only one who looks the way Korra remembers her looking last time they saw each other. Of all of them, Asami is the only one who seems to be as confused as she is.
She catches the other girl's eye, and Asami shoots her a small, strained smile. A little bubble of warmth rises in Korra's heart at the sight, and she finds that smiling back doesn't feel like pulling teeth.
It feels like the most natural thing in the world.
Asami is beyond confused. She doesn't want to let on – because hey, she's Asami Sato, being the intellectual one is kind of her thing – but she has absolutely no clue what's going on. Korra is the only person who looks the way she should. No-one is acting right, either. And even her own mind is screwing with her. She shouldn't be thinking about the way it felt when Korra's fingers touched her neck. She shouldn't have wanted to keep her eyes closed for a moment longer to keep her there. Okay, maybe it's not the first random, weird, inexplicable thought she's had about Korra, but normally she's better at ignoring them. They don't mean anything.
They journey to the Island mostly in silence, everyone shooting strange glances at each other all the while. Korra stays close to Asami, which Asami is grateful for.
When they're all sat at a table in one of the rooms on the Island, Korra staring around her in confusion like even the room is wrong, they finally speak.
Mako starts off. “Let's get the facts clear first. Korra, Asami, you were supposed to be going to the Spirit World. Korra told me this morning that you planned it as an anniversary trip.”
“I... what?” Korra asks, blankly. “Spirit World? Anniversary?”
A girl who looks to be twelve or thirteen, who burst into the room just after they arrived, maybe one of the Airbender kids – Asami doesn't know them that well, but she thought they were younger – frowns at them both and then speaks super quickly. “You know, your two year anniversary together! Because you went to the Spirit World at the beginning, so you wanted to go there for a bit, revisit some of the places you went to!”
“The beginning of what?” Asami asks, even though she has a guess, and it's one that confuses and bewilders and maybe (just a little) excites her.
“Your relationship, duh.”
“Our... what?” Korra asks, her eyes wide.
“We're...” Asami trails off. She wants to sound incredulous, she really does, and she is, kind of, except... it makes sense. Ugh, it makes so much sense. The reason why she really cares what Korra thinks of her. The reason she minds so much that Korra doesn't like her. The reason she thinks about Korra the way she does sometimes.
What doesn't make sense is what's going on now. Why these people seem to know... what? Their future?
“What relationship?” Korra says, apparently very far from being on the same page.
“Can we get back to the point here?” Mako asks.
“This is the point, Mako!” Bolin says, wide-eyed. “They don't remember!”
“So they're not just physically younger...” the other Airbender girl says. “Their memories match their ages, too.”
“What could have caused this?” asks the young woman with the bob.
“What relationship?” Korra says again, still staring.
“You and Asami,” says the younger girl, looking nearly as confused as they are. “You know! Being girlfriends.”
“Girlfriends?” Korra repeats faintly, looking like she might be about to pass out. Asami bites her lip against the unexpected pain that rises in her heart at the sight. Is the idea really that awful to Korra? How can things possibly change so much that Korra wants to be with her in the future? If this even is the future...
“Yeah! Dating! Together! In love!” the same girl says, looking between them both, wide-eyed.
“I'm dating her?” Korra asks, looking at Asami in absolute shock. “But what about...?” Her eyes flicker to Mako, and another thing Asami has been suppressing comes flickering to the surface. Maybe Future Korra is with her (which still blows her mind) but the Korra she knows...? That Korra might just have feelings for Mako.
As for Mako himself, he's staring at them both with obvious awkwardness. “Um. We're getting off track. Does either of you remember anything about what might have happened?”
Asami shakes her head, and she sees Korra doing the same, still looking as if she's been punched in the face.
“What's the last thing you do remember?” Tenzin asks, studying them.
“Um, going to bed,” Asami says, once it's clear Korra's not about to answer. “In my house.”
“The Sato mansion?” Bolin asks. “Whoa, I think they might be even further back than we thought. You two do at least know each other, right?”
“Yeah, of course,” Asami says, unable to look right at Korra. She's pretty sure she's blushing as it is, and she doesn't want Korra to see. “We haven't known each other long, but... we do. She was supposed to be... coming over tomorrow. To mine. Because you and Mako are – were – staying there now.”
“So that makes us... post-arena fiasco, right?” Bolin says, looking round at the others.
“And pre-Hiroshi...” Mako trails off, darting a glance at Asami.
“What about my dad?”
“Uh... anyone know what could have caused this?” Mako asks, deflecting the question.
“Time travel!” the younger girl squeals. “Like in books!”
“They were in the Spirit World,” says the girl with the Airbender tattoos. “So, maybe something to do with the spirits?”
Tenzin nods, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Good thinking, Jinora.” He looks at Korra, who still seems to be on the verge of passing out, and Asami, who's trying hard not to panic. “Korra, Asami, do you think you could give us a few minutes? I'm sure this has already been very confusing for you, but I promise, we'll figure it out.”
“Yeah! We can't have you two forgetting about your awesome love!” says the younger girl.
“Um, and we need our Korra and Asami back,” Jinora says, frowning at her, then looking thoughtful. “Although agreed, that is a pretty fundamental part of them.”
“We can go, right, Korra?” Asami asks, standing up. She wants to know what they're planning, but she also needs a moment to process. Not that any of this is really possible to process at all.
“Sure...” Korra says blankly, getting to her feet mechanically and following Asami out of the door.
They walk a little distance away, till they're standing close to the water, alone.
“So, uh...” Asami says, trying to think of something to say. What are you supposed to say to the girl you hardly even know, and who might just have a crush on your boyfriend, when you suddenly find out that in the future you're apparently dating her, and then realise that actually makes a lot of sense? “This is... surreal, right?”
“I'm dreaming.” Korra says it flatly, like a fact. “This has to be a dream.” She pinches her own arm, hard, then winces. “Or maybe not. Shit. What do I... how do we... what the... I don't... how can I be dating you?”
Asami fights the little flicker of pain that rises again at Korra's incredulity. It doesn't make any sense at all. “I guess people change?”
“But you're... and I'm... and Mako... and girls...” Korra says, making even less sense than Asami's heart right now. Then she frowns a little. “How are you not confused by this?”
“I am,” Asami says weakly. “I really am. I mean, spirits, and everyone being older, and...”
“But not the 'us being girlfriends' part?” Korra asks, raising an eyebrow.
“I... am,” Asami says again. “It just... makes a little more sense than it should, I think.”
“Does that mean you...?” Korra's cheeks flush, and she looks away. “Does that mean you like me? Like, the you of now?”
“I... don't know,” Asami says honestly. “That's not really the point, is it?”
“I guess not...” Korra says, but her eyes are still wide, and she's looking at Asami like maybe she's realising something too.
Like maybe for her, as well, it makes a little more sense that it should.
Korra is reeling. Everything is so strange, so confusing. Spirits and everyone being older and she's dating Asami. She's. Dating. Asami.
In the future, that is.
Or the present, apparently.
And by the sounds of it, it's pretty serious. Two years? Anniversary celebrations? What Ikki describes as 'awesome love'?
She doesn't know to feel. It should be bad news, shouldn't it? That things don't work out with Mako? Only... it sounds like Future Korra is happy. It sounds like Future Korra found her person.
Present Korra (or Past Korra, if you ask the others) doesn't see how that could be a bad thing.
And she's starting to think it makes a little sense after all.
What doesn't make sense, though, is this landscape. The Spirit World, apparently. The others won't tell her any more than that. Too many shocks would probably be very bad for you, Tenzin said. I promise we'll fix this, guys, no need to confuse you any more, said the unfamiliar girl with the bob – Opal, apparently.
They're waiting outside some cave in a weird, glowing forest. Apparently Tenzin looked through some extensive book and found a spirit who might have done this to them. Something to do with time? Korra's not really sure.
And now Jinora has gone into the cave to speak with it. Because apparently she's some kind of spirit expert in the future?
She emerges after only a few moments, looking a little shaken. “It won't tell me why it did this to them. It says it will change them back, as long as they promise never to come near it again, and... as long as Korra stops meddling with the latest spirit conflict. It says their affairs are not her business. It's not a great deal, but it's the best we've got.”
Asami opens her eyes. For a moment, she's not sure where she is. Then she remembers, and sits up abruptly, looking around.
She's lying in a field in the Spirit World, and the others are gathered near her, looking concerned. Bolin says something to her, but Asami doesn't hear him. She's only looking for one person.
“Korra? Korra!”
“Yeah, this is definitely our Asami,” Jinora mutters.
“Is Korra okay?” Asami asks, getting to her feet. “What happened? Were we... younger, for a second?”
“You remember?” Bolin asks. “Cool.”
“It's... weird,” Asami says, impatiently. “It's like I do remember, but it's hazy, or it happened to someone else. More importantly, where is Korra?”
“Calm down, she's over there,” Jinora says, gesturing to a few feet away, where Tenzin and Opal are crouched down by someone.
Asami runs, dropping to her knees beside Korra's form. Her girlfriend is unconscious, but she seems to be breathing steadily. Asami reaches to check the pulse in her neck – even though Opal reassures her that Korra is fine – and sighs in relief when she feels Korra's heartbeat, steady and strong beneath her fingertips.
“Korra? Love, can you hear me?”
Korra's eyelids flutter, and then her eyes open, her gaze meeting Asami's. “Hey there.”
“Korra,” Asami says, almost sobbing with relief. Korra gives her a small, self-satisfied smirk. “What?”
“Asami...” Korra's smirk widens into a full-blown, self-satisfied grin. “Did you just touch my neck?”
Asami rolls her eyes, but she can't help laughing. “Spirits, Korra, we just briefly reverted back to teenage-hood and the first thing you do when we come back to ourselves is tease me?”
“What would you prefer I did instead?” Korra asks, still smirking. “Kissed you?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
Korra grins and sits up, leaning forward to kiss Asami on the lips, sweet and warm and reassuring.
Behind them, Tenzin clears his throat, Mako groans “seriously?”, and Jinora, Opal and Bolin all laugh.
“Well, no worries about permanent effects then, I guess,” Opal says.
“They're as Korrasami as ever, as Ikki would say,” Jinora adds wryly.
Korra breaks the kiss to mumble, “Go away.”
“We're not leaving you two here. The last thing we need is for you to turn seventeen again,” Opal says.
Asami sighs and gets to her feet, giving Korra a hand up after her. “Fine, let's go.”
As they leave the Spirit World, Korra seems to remember something else, and her eyes light with mischief again. “So, you liked me even when you were eighteen, huh?”
“Not knowingly!” Asami replies. “But... you know how you told me that when you were seventeen, you said to Mako 'when you're with her, you're thinking about me, aren't you?'”
“Yeah,” Korra says, wincing at the memory.
“Well, let's just say he wasn't the only one.”
For possibly the millionth time, Asami leaves Korra speechless.