It was a slow day for Korra upon her return to Republic City, it seemed that summer had come whilst she had been gone, making the days longer and more tiresome and so freaking hot. Why can't it be winter? She thought, miserably. She loved the cold. The cold was like home to her and despite what others (Mako, Asami, Bolin) might think, it was exciting. Snow could be adventurous and new and at least there were delicious, comforting stews or soups to eat. She huffed out in annoyance, turning her mind back to the present problem. Evidently, things hadn’t been entirely idyllic whilst her and Asami were on a vacation, as Lin Beifong had sent a messenger to tell her she needed her help and she would tell what it was when she got to her headquarters. Asami offered to drive her there, after she got one of her cars, of course, no way would she be seen driving in something else. So they had walked to her house, (which had been looked after evidently, as everything looked clean and unaltered) Korra had joked about needing a butler like that and Asami had just smiled and said "You will, if you want." and Korra hadn't gotten the implication of it at that moment, not til later, that Asami wanted her to move in with her. Korra waited as Asami searched for the keys and then they headed down to the garage, where she kept all of personal model cars. Asami had opened her car door for her, which Korra thought was a bit over the top. She could do things for herself now.

Korra had inhaled and held her breath for a moment, before releasing it when Asami started the car. She wasn't mad at Asami. No. She hadn't done anything. Korra was the one with the problem and worst of all, the problem was all in her head so she had no proof it existed. Asami might believe her, smiling sympathetically, but then there'd be pity in their relationship. Asami would feel she had to care for her, as if she were a burden. Korra clenched her fists, she'd rather die than that. Tenzin wouldn't believe her but pretend to, until she was out of earshot, than he'd run to his room and start looking for some 'cure', suggest she take a break for 'her health'. Ugh, no way, she thought. This was a problem she'd keep to herself. It wasn't something she could discuss with others, not unless she wanted judgement or pity or people to be afraid of her. In an effort to calm herself down, she turned her gaze to the passing surroundings. She had to blink rapidly to get her eyes adjusted to the bright summer sky.'

The city looked the same, well, if being destroyed looked the same as usual. The vines were still there, green as ever, the spirits navigating cautiously as always with their human counterparts, careful to not not touch the vines, or to affect them too much with their spiritual powers. Strange things could happen if they did, Korra had heard. It could be rumors. But the Spirits do seem to avoid touching the vine, she thought as Asami drove her to her work, if being me can even be considered work, she frowned. She rested her head on her arm, gazing boredly out at the city she had once found exciting.

She had been hoping for more days in the Spirit World, but she had felt like something was pulling at her, and she just knew. Knew it was times to return to her duties… if she even still had any. Was she even needed? Did the World truly still need an Avatar? Still, she obeyed, shaking and waking Asami who was sleeping beside her at the base of a huge true, which instead of leaves had butterflies of all colors fluttering at the top, emitting off multicolored lights. It had emitted a healing and hopeful feeling and seemed to be a collection of pure spirits, untouched by shadow. It had been so beautiful and had affected them deeply at first, sending what felt like like a burst of energy towards them, nearly knocking them off of their feet. Then, as they regained their balance, a pleasant and oddly ... fizzy feeling of tranquility and also a feeling that felt like pain medicine had been injected to them, at it's highest without being lethal dosage.

Korra had nearly cried, whilst Asami had cried. Asami and her stood there for what felt like hours, but must've been mere moments, until finally Asami sighed, wiping at her tears, before she laughed, her voice sounding hoarse and Korra wondered if Asami had actually sobbed while Korra was looking at the tree. She supposed she had to have done so. Korra raised a hand to her face, to make sure she hadn't cried. I must not appear weak, she thought, I can't. I have to be the strong one, it's my job.

To her relief, her face was dry. She sighed and turned to Asami, to make sure she was okay. Asami had her face tilted upwards, her lips turned up in what looked like an amused smile, her eyes were fixated on the treetop, her eyes following the spirit butterflies.

"I must've looked silly, crying over a tree." Asami said. "I mean, that of all things..."

Korra walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. She enjoyed the warmth she felt through Asami's shirt. These past few days her and Asami had begun to learn about one another and what they liked in a relationship, what level of intimacy and physical contact they could stand. Korra felt her face heat up and she cleared her throat before speaking.

"It's not silly, I think the tree was trying to heal us or purify us? Maybe they felt a negative energy or spirit about us and wanted to get rid of it so they wouldn't start to be affected by it?" she said, trying to comfort Asami, like Asami had done for her in the past. But her attempt to comfort her came out clumsy and weird sounding as usual. She was bad at these type of things.

Korra had never wished she was talented at talking and comforting people more than she had then.

In the past Korra would've been glad if Asami was hurt or cried, due to her jealousy and anger over Asami and Mako, Korra couldn't imagine feeling that way anymore. To see Asami upset now made her start to feel physically sick and to see her cry... it felt like someone was cutting into her. She couldn't stand it and would try to prevent it if she could. She knew sadness and crying were natural, at times, but Korra hated them anyways. They made her feel small and helpless, like she had when Kuvira had defeated her, when she had been tortured and the ensuing fight that had followed, when her Uncle had tried to kill her and Raava, when Amon had taken away her bending. It had nearly killed her. She never wanted Asami, let alone anyone, to feel that way.

It had taken her awhile to befriend Asami to understand her, to begin to trust her more than she had anyone, save for, maybe, Mako, but he was her best friend. Then, it had taken what seemed like an incredibly small time to love her. It had felt so natural to her, that she never questioned it, and through Asami's writings to her, she knew that the other woman felt the same and when she reunited with her, she knew it the moment Asami complimented her hair.

"Got your mind elsewhere?" she heard a voice say, jokingly, and she was brought back forcibly back to the present.

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Must be the tree." she said, rubbing her head, in confusion and embarrassment.

Asami turned to face her, taking her eyes off the tree. They had shared their longest kiss to date at that moment.

So it was with a heavy heart and thinking of all their missed opportunities, of all the kissing they could have done, of all the tenderness and wildness that was their relationship. But it was time to return and she couldn't muse on yesterdays or tomorrows, she wasn't even sure of what time that had happened. Time was strange here. It seemed to move backwards at times, so slow it felt like a day could last weeks and sometimes days seemed to replay themselves. Then at other times, days would last mere minutes. You could never be sure of the time.

She reached out and gently shook Asami, whispering her name, not sure why she felt the need to be quiet. Maybe it was because the atmosphere was so silent and pure feeling, that she feared being loud would awaken some negative energy and hurt the butterflies. Asami's eyes fluttered open, her eyes blurry from sleep and unfocused, after Korra whispered her name again, Asami blinked a few times until her eyes were cleared and they focused on Korra. She smiled sleepily, before yawning and stretching her arms over her head.

"What is it?" she asked, groggily.

Korra sighed before speaking, "We have to go back, Asami, I'm sorry. I... think I'm needed there now."

Asami's smile disappeared but she nodded. "Alright, when we get back, though, we're taking my car, okay?"

Korra had been a bit taken aback. She had expected Asami to fuss a bit or at least be semi-sad. Asami just seemed to calmly accept it. It hurt a bit, the selfish part of Korra had thought that maybe Asami would beg her for more time and that she wanted more quality time with her. The Avatar part of Korra, however, knew that Asami was handling it correctly, Still... a bit more make-out time with Asami would've been nice.

When they got to the station, Lin was outside, alongside Mako. Lin looked the same; stressed out and not happy, and Korra wondered if she had even smiled since the wedding. Probably not. Yet, her lips twitched upwards for a brief moment upon seeing them. Mako had a stoic expression, but his eyes weren't cold, and Korra knew he'd be smiling if he was off duty. Korra smiled. He loves to impress Lin, that's for sure. She thought fondly.



Asami stayed in the car as Korra got out, leaning over before Korra got out, to kiss her quickly on the cheek, saying softly in her ear, "Have a great day, honey." Then she winked and Korra got out of the car, still dazed by the kiss and the nickname. Wait. What? When had they nicknamed each other? I haven't thought of a name for her! She thought, panicked, her mind racing to find a nickname that fit Asami. But before she could even say anything else, Asami was backing up, waving at her, a smug smile on her face.



Then she was gone, racing off back to her office, ready for the day ahead. Korra almost envied her. Then she remembered that she and Asami had just shared a kiss in front of Lin and Mako.



Korra's face had heated up and she had prayed that no one had seen them.



When she had gotten the nerve to look up, Mako had been determinedly looking at the ground, his face red, Lin had had her arms crossed over her chest, but to Korra's surprise, she had looked almost... happy? When Lin realized she had seen her, she switched back to her neutral expression and cleared her throat.

"Okay, Korra, the reason I summoned you here is because-" Lin began and Korra zoned out. Mako could fill her in.



By the time she had finished helping Lin, Korra was feeling worse and a lot more angry. She had been called back from the Spirit World to stop petty thieves who were using their bending to steal from stores and sell them on the black market? Annoying. They hadn't even been hard to capture, especially with the help of Mako as her partner. Mako looked as good as ever, his hair seemed a bit longer, and his eyes more serious, but he was wearing what appeared to be a red scarf around his neck, and Korra had a feeling it'd been made by his grandmother. She had smiled at that, glad that Mako and Bolin now had a big family. Mako had been quiet at first, seemingly unsure of what to say or do while they worked. She figured he must be a bit embarrassed. It had to be awkward working with your ex girlfriend, who had recently gotten with his previous ex girlfriend. Korra had winced inwardly. Yeah, it was definitely awkward. She resolved to end that awkwardness, if possible. She didn't want that to hover over them forever.



After a while of her cracking half hearted jokes and commenting on how nothing had really changed since her departure, Mako had eased up, his shoulders slowly relaxing. He had started to laughed and reply back, even making a few bad jokes when they were out of earshot from the others. It was fun and not as awkward as she had thought originally. They walked together by the nearly empty roads, the sky was completely dark and the stars were visible, the sound of crickets serenaded them as they joked and exchanged stories about their time apart. By the end of the walk home, Mako had even smiled at her and hugged her. It had felt like old times, only without the romance bits, which was fine with her. When Mako left her, waving and saying he'd see her tomorrow, Korra slouched in exhaustion and felt as if she had been run over by one of Asami's experimental cars gone haywire.

Biting her lip, she straightened up and with a bit of apprehension, she unlocked Asami's front door with the key she'd been given in the Spirit World. When the door opened, Korra inhaled sharply at the sight. Of course, as she had expected Asami's house was clean and as usual, a near replica of the house her and her father had shared, only with differences of color and furniture. It was grand and beautiful, but far too much for Korra's taste. Each to her own, Korra thought, shrugging.

With a yawn, Korra headed up the stairs, remembering that Asami's bedroom was on the third floor, and the third door to the left. As she walked, she wondered if Asami had gotten into bed already, or if she was undressing or if she was working. Korra personally hoped it was the second. She felt her face heat up, not in embarrassment, no.



Korra was honestly a bit ashamed to admit that the thought of loving a woman had, well, never crossed her mind back when she was younger. True, she had sometimes gotten overly attached to some of her female friends, felt her face heat up whenever one of them would undress, she had just thought it was a usual friendship thing. In hindsight, it seemed ridiculous that she had thought that, but Korra had been naive. So naive, Korra thought, sadly, I didn't know anything at all. I thought I did, but I didn't.



When her and Mako had broken up, for the final time, and her and Asami had grown closer, those old feelings had resurfaced. Only stronger and Korra had once again dismissed them, until she returned to Republic City, and Asami had hugged her, those feelings had bubbled up so strongly at that moment she'd been forced to name them for what they were: love, attraction, desire. At first, she'd been afraid to say anything, afraid that Asami, despite the way she smiled softly at her and hugged her, the way she laced her words with friendliness that verged on the point of flirting, would reject her. Or worse, stop being her friend. That was worse to her than the prospect of being rejected, even if she were rejected, Asami might continue to be her friend and Korra could learn to be content with that. But if Asami were to stop... Korra was afraid of what she might've done in her fragile mental state, it might've sent her back down a spiral.



Thankfully and amazingly, Asami had accepted her feelings seemingly instantly. When the two of them entered the Spirit World portal, face to face, Asami had locked eyes with her and smiled tenderly, despite all the evil and pain she'd been through, Asami could still smile like this at her, confirming her feelings for her. It was a miracle to Korra. A wonder of the modern world. It was better than a dinner of fried fish, better than snowball fights back home with her dad and mom. It was like all the happiness in the world coursed through her at that moment and she was the luckiest being. Even as the Avatar, she doubted anyone else was happier than her. It was impossible in her mind.

When she got to Asami's bedroom door, she briefly hesitated, her nerves bubbling back up in her stomach, as if she were a teenage girl sneaking into their partner's room. After a moment or two passed, she decided it had to be now or never. With a trembling hand, she reached out and opened the door quickly, stepping in, and shutting it behind her. She exhaled in relief before turning and walking to the bed in the center of the dark room. She is asleep then.



Korra smiled as she looked at Asami's sleeping form. Asamis' face was stress free and looked younger, she was laying on her stomach, her arms underneath her pillow, her face on top of them. She was so lovely that Korra had to just look at her a minute longer before she undressed quickly and silently, not caring that her clothes landed on the floor and would be wrinkled in the morning, and sat on the side of the bed in only her underclothes. She was glad it was dark in the room, incase Asami awoke, she felt self conscious next to the beautiful woman, who had... everything Korra didn't, in terms of body. (Admittedly, Asami did not have the strength or muscles Korra did.)

She jumped (and nearly airbended Asami off the bed) when Asami placed her fingers over Korra's. Korra let out a shriek and felt as if her spirit along with Raava had jumped out of her body. If they did, she hoped they came back as they were pretty important to her.

"Sorry," Asami murmured. "Wait. Did I scare you?"

"Me? No! Not at all!" she said weakly, trying to laugh but all that came out was a creepy sound that made her look even weirder.

"Oh. Well. You ready for bed?" Asami asked, not sounding at all convinced that Korra hadn't been scared.

"Sure." Korra said, her heart starting to speed up again, her stomach still a bundle of nerves and stress from before the Spirit World and Kuvira, from her duties as Avatar, and most of all the fear she'd disappoint Asami in some way or another.

Asami lifted her cover invitingly and, heart pulsing, Korra climbed in, her mouth dry. It was warm and cool and Korra sighed in relief, her body feeling as if it were melting from finally being allowed to rest after such a hard day, emotionally and physically. Asami giggled sleepily, before curling up beside her, and Korra felt as if her face would tear apart if she smiled any harder, and then she felt Asami's head on her chest. Korra looked down and found that Asami had tilted her face upwards.

Asami smiled upon seeing her questioning look and her eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight that spilt in from her window. Korra wanted to kiss her and she realized suddenly that she could. Asami had no parents to interrupt them, her butler was smart and didn't come unless he was called or if there was danger and Asami was in no danger. Well, unless being kissed to death with danger and Korra didn't think it was, not in her book. She'd made sure to only kiss Asami a reasonable amount.