#spikings

1.     “I was hangin’ with you and then I realized”

Two words cut through the silence in the young CEO’s office. “Let’s spar.”

The water Korra was disinterestedly manipulating into different shapes almost fell to the ground as she suddenly turned to look at her friend. She echoed, slightly confused, “let’s spar?”

Asami’s eyes were already on her, blueprints detailing upgrades for her electric glove forgotten on the large oak desk in front of her. A small smile crossed her face as she leaned back into her chair. “Yes, let’s spar. That is what I said.”

“No, yeah, I mean…I heard you, I just…” Korra faltered.

“What’s wrong?” Asami smirked. “Worried I might beat you?”

Korra glared at her, but it held no heat. “No, that’s obviously gonna be your concern.”

“Oh, so you agree that I should be worried about beating you?” Asami laughed.

“That’s not what I meant! You…I – ugh.” The Avatar shut her eyes. “Forget it.”

“Korra,” Asami countered gently. “I’m just teasing you.” She paused, and Korra didn’t have to meet her gaze to know the look of concern her friend was giving her. “I was just thinking maybe it could do you some good to get moving instead of sitting here and waiting for Tenzin to get back and tell you what Unalaq is planning next.”

Korra sighed and focused her attention back to the water before replying. “You’re probably right,” Korra said. “It’s just, I hate sitting here, just…just waiting, when I should be out there stopping my uncle from starting whatever sneaky plan he has in the works!” The liquid curved into small cylinders of ice, each sharpening to a deadly point before flowing back to a fluid sphere.

“I know…or at least, I can imagine,” Asami paused, watching as Korra impatiently tossed the sphere from hand to hand. “But I do think some physical activity might help you feel better – I know it works for me.”

Korra shrugged half-heartedly, “I guess it might help.”

Asami was determined. “Tenzin will be back soon. This way you will hopefully feel better and then you can act more assuredly no matter what news he brings. I know it’s no bending arena and I’m no Bolin, but my dad…” she tapered off. Korra turned her attention back to the engineer.

Clearing her throat, Asami continued. “Well, my dad made sure to include a room for martial arts training and practicing in this building because I took lessons as a kid. That way, when he was at work and I was here too, I could practice. It’s not a bad place to work-out, I mean, there’s a sparring mat and some gear.”

Asami chuckled sardonically before continuing, “but I guess looking back now, it’s pretty obvious it was all just a ploy to keep an innocent child out of whatever diabolical plots he was part of at the time.”

Korra returned the water to the empty vase on Asami’s desk – thinking fleetingly that the huge office room could do with a little bit of cheering up, maybe with a few moon-lilies in the vase – before voicing her decision.

“Let’s do it,” Korra said, offering a hand to Asami who had retrained her gaze to the blueprints in front of her. Asami looked up, and her eyes reflected the same push and pull of anger and sadness that they always seemed to whenever she thought of her father. “Just the two of us, no Bolin necessary.”

Asami took her hand and let herself be gently guided from her chair. Her eyes flashed with a familiar mirth, and Korra could already feel the tension in her body receding. “No Bolin necessary?”

“Nope,” Korra proclaimed proudly, giving Asami’s hand a squeeze before releasing it. “I love the guy, but he and I are decidedly not good sparring partners. And besides…” She glanced at Asami. “I have a feeling you and I are going to be just the opposite.”

“I do too,” Asami said with a smile. Pausing only a moment to seemingly collect herself, Asami started towards the door. “Well, follow me, Avatar, and I’ll show you what a true master of the martial arts can really do.”

Korra grinned, and the rest of her anxiety and apprehension seemed to fade away in the same moment. “Alright, Ms. CEO. Please, show me the way.”

There was no doubt that Tenzin would only bring bad news about Unalaq, but at least Korra could pass the time in an enjoyable and productive way – kicking Asami’s butt at hand-to-hand combat.

Or so she thought.

--

           It only took about two minutes before Korra realized that their sparring match was not going to be an easy win. True to her word, Asami proved to be an extremely talented martial artist: dodging, weaving, and landing blows that most other opponents (such as Bolin, who, as lovable and talented as he was, could notkeep up with Korra on the mats) wouldn’t be able to.

           “I have to admit,” Korra huffed as she dodged a particularly powerful punch from Asami. “I’m impressed.”

           “You almost sound surprised,” Asami countered as she ducked in turn, keeping her wrapped hands up to protect her face. “You aren’t still thinking of me as a prissy, helpless little girl, are you?”

           Korra paused just long enough to accidentally let Asami land a kick to her side.

           “Oof,” Korra grunted, widening her stance to regain her balance. “Definitely not, but I didn’t anyways. You proved the contrary very early on.”

           “Glad to hear it,” Asami managed as she barely blocked a quick combination Korra threw.

           “In fact, I think you underestimate yourself too much,” Korra continued. She dipped her body weight forward and moved past Asami, forcing the other girl to switch up her stance and landing a punch on Asami’s shoulder along the way. “You’re pretty incredible.”

           “Nice one, and thanks,” Asami said, only taking a brief second to acknowledge the blow, “but are you sure aren’t just saying that because I’m kicking your ass?”

           Korra snorted and threw another punch, which Asami dodged easily. “Kicking my ass? As if. I’m not even trying that hard.”

           Asami’s eyes glinted with a spark of mischief that Korra hadn’t seen since the day the engineer had taken her on the racetrack. “Oh no?” she countered. “Let me make this a little harder then…”

           Faster than Korra could follow, Asami dropped herself to the ground and rotated her legs around her in a sweeping arc that caught Korra’s ankles and forced her own legs to give out from underneath her.

           The Avatar hit the ground with a resounding thud, and only moments later, Asami had her pinned to the mat. All of the air seemed to leave Korra’s lungs as she looked at Asami’s bright emerald eyes and the small smile on her face. Both girls were breathing heavily, and a faint sheen of sweat covered their faces. Korra found her heart racing, which made sense after sparring, but it felt different than usual, a little more…nervous? She shook the thought as Asami’s weight shifted off of her and she moved to stand up.

           “Kick my ass, huh?” Asami said as she offered a hand to help Korra up.

           Korra grinned and accepted Asami’s hand. “Apparently not,” she replied as she stood. “You might have actually beaten me there, Sato. Not a lot of people can say that they bested the Avatar.”

           Asami laughed as the two walked towards the storage compartments to put away their gear, and Korra felt lighter than she had in days.

Their suspicions had been correct – they were the perfect sparring partners.

2.     “I didn’t think it was true, I was surprised”

The next time Asami and Korra sparred felt very different from the first, but Korra chalked it up to the fact that she had just lost her connection to all of the past avatars. Not to mention the fact that she’d turned into a giant blue spirit and beat up her uncle, from what Bolin had explained to her a few days after Harmonic Convergence.

“Spirits, it was crazy!” Bolin had exclaimed. “Like, I knew you’re good at bending, obviously, being the Avatar and all, but man. Your hand-to-hand combat skills are better than I thought! It was, wow…it was just, blam and pow and then smack and then Unalaq just like, disappeared into a shiny light! I mean, how cool is that?!”

           “Bolin,” Korra had replied, only slightly exasperated. “Weren’t you still in the spirit world when this happened?”

           Bolin had blushed and admitted, “well yeah, but I filled in the rest after the giant blue version of you went after Unalaq…and besides, my little bro Meelo filled me in! He told me everything he saw from Air Temple Island.”

           “He’s not your brother, Bo,” Korra had said with fake sternness. “He’s way too gross.” The two had continued to bicker during the rest of their celebratory dinner downtown with Mako and Asami.

           Now, almost a month after the fight, Korra finally felt up to trying something for stress-relief instead of dwelling on her severed connection, practice bending drills repeatedly, or spending an entire day trying to move the ridiculously stubborn spirit vines that had popped up around Republic City. Thinking back to just a week before, when Asami had attempted to teach her how to drive, Korra smiled. Finally, she knew exactly what she needed to do to keep herself busy. Grabbing her glider, she shouted a quick goodbye to Pema, who was bouncing Rohan on her knee in the courtyard and launched herself off of Air Temple Island towards the city.

           It only took Korra a few minutes to reach the Future Industries tower. Landing with ease on a wide ledge, she folded her glider and knocked quickly on the expansive windows she knew led to Asami’s office.

           “Korra, hi,” Asami greeted her warmly as she opened one of the large frames to allow the Avatar into the room. “Is everything alright?”

           “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” Korra replied, watching as Asami closed the window and moved to stand next to her desk which held a recently filled vase of fresh moon-lilies, courtesy of Tenzin at the request of the Avatar herself.

           “Well, you usually don’t just show up at my office in the middle of the afternoon…” Asami explained. “Not that I’m complaining, it’s a welcome change from the boring meetings I’ve been in all day but…”

           “Are you busy?” Korra asked, suddenly feeling very embarrassed of her random visit. “I mean of course you’re busy, you’re the CEO…I can go! I can easily go and just let you keep doing your stuff, I just thought…well…maybe you could use a break? Or something, I –”

           Asami quieted her with a brief touch of her hand on Korra’s shoulder. “No, don’t go. You caught me at a good time. Besides, you’re right, a break sounds nice. What did you have in mind?”

           Korra gave her a crooked smile. “Well, I was thinking we could maybe spar? I know we haven’t since we did a few months ago, but with everything finally settling down…it could be a nice way to unwind.”

           Surprise filtered across Asami’s face momentarily before it was replaced with a small smile. “Back for a rematch?” she asked good-naturedly.

           “I don’t think it’s going to be much of a match,” Korra retorted. “Pretty much all I’ve been doing is practicing and mediating, and it seems like you’ve just been cooped up in here.” She gestured vaguely around at the office.

           “You don’t learn, do you,” Asami said with a teasing tone as she pushed in her chair and began to make her way around the large oak desk.

           “Actually, I’ve been told I’m a very quick learner,” Korra shot back.

           Asami laughed – a full, happy laugh – and a small fissure of electricity seemed to jolt Korra at the sound. She pushed it aside, writing it off as relief and excitement at hearing Asami laugh after everything that happened with her father and now Harmonic Convergence, too. Korra couldn’t imagine that spirit vines popping up all over a city in which you’re the CEO of the most prominent technology and industry business would be an easy thing to deal with.

           “Well, for a quick learner, you should’ve learned to not underestimate me twice,” Asami countered, motioning for Korra to follow her to the sparring space.

--

           It turned out, that Asami was once again right – for the most part. The first few blows the two girls exchanged were well-matched if not leaning in Asami’s favor. But Korra could feel the anxieties and fears she’d been harboring since Harmonic Convergence beginning to seep out of her subconscious and into her limbs.

           Asami threw a punch but hit nothing but air, Korra having swiftly sidestepped and instead driving a solid hit into the taller girl’s abdomen. Asami inhaled sharply but quickly retaliated, spinning around and delivering a sweeping kick to Korra’s side. Korra grunted as she was forced to stumble to the side. She tried to suppress the “fight-or-flight” reaction she could feel growing in her gut as she and Asami stepped back to circle one another, each with their hands held up defensively in front of their chins. This is Asami, Korra told herself, not Unalaq, not some giant spirit of darkness…she’s your friend. This had never happened before, at least, not the last time they sparred or any time more recently that Korra had practiced with Bolin or even Mako. She shook her head in an effort to rid herself of the thoughts before offering Asami a small smile.

           “Ready to give up yet?” Korra asked, trying for a confident air to assuage the doubts in her mind.

           Asami just chuckled. “Well I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but I actually landed the most recent hit here so, I think I should actually be asking you that.”

           Korra frowned, “are you always this infuriating?”

           Asami shrugged and replied, “not always,” before stepping forward and striking quickly.

           But not quickly enough.

           Korra ducked and sidestepped, grabbing Asami’s wrist as it sailed past where Korra’s shoulder would have been. Using Asami’s own weight and momentum against her, Korra twisted to then flip Asami over herself and onto the ground. Korra quickly followed and straddled Asami, effectively pinning the other girl with her hands above her head.

           For a moment, neither girl said anything, and suddenly Korra felt as though this was their first time sparring as she remembered being in this exact same scenario which was only now reversed. Their breaths mingled and Korra was abruptly taken aback by how close their faces were – it wouldn’t take much to just lean down and…wait, what?

            In her split-second of hesitation and confusion, Korra flashed back to her battle with her uncle and was bombarded with memories of the way Vaatu had pulled Raava out of her with surprising and disturbing ease. The proximity then was just a little farther away than Korra was to Asami now…the brief second of panic was all that was all it took for her to hastily push herself off of and away from Asami, who promptly sat up.

           “Korra?” she asked gently, still breathing heavily. Instead of shock and something else on Asami’s face that Korra had seen but not quite understood, her features now held concern and curiosity. “Are you ok?”

           Korra could feel the adrenaline coursing through her as she tried to take a few deep breaths…in…out…in…out…in a calming pattern just like Jinora had taught her months ago after Korra had a particularly vivid nightmare about Amon and found herself hyperventilating when she awoke. Vaguely, she registered, and appreciated, the fact Asami hadn’t said anything more and was simply sitting calmly about a foot away. The engineer alternated between glancing at Korra and down to her lap where she was absentmindedly wrapping and unwrapping the coverings of one forearm and hand.

           When Korra finally felt as though she once again had a handle on her mind and body, she sighed, “I’m sorry, Asami.”

           This just seemed to shock Asami once again. “What?” she said incredulously, “you don’t need to be sorry!”

           Korra trailed her hands down her face, heat blooming in her cheeks. “I’m sorry I lost control and that you had to see…that.”

           Asami regarded her for a moment, before gently placing a hand on Korra’s bicep and silently willing her to meet her gaze. Asami’s eyes were gentle, and Korra suddenly felt more embarrassed by her embarrassment than anything else, which was a far more ridiculous situation to be in and sounded like something Bolin would get himself into.

           “Korra,” Asami began. “You…” she trailed off before gathering her thoughts and trying again. “Okay, two things. One, you didn’t lose control, at least as far as I could tell,” she smiled slightly and continued. “All it seems to me is that I just got my ass kicked by the Avatar.”

Korra offered a slight smile and small laugh at the comment.

“And two,” Asami continued, with a renewed glint in her eyes, “don’t ever apologize to me for something like that – unless you purposefully do something to hurt me, which –” she gave Korra a pointed look that said let me finish as the Avatar opened her mouth to object. “Which, I know you’d never do – you never have to apologize to me.”

“Alright,” Korra agreed, finally feeling the rest of the adrenaline and the embarrassment begin to fade. “And what about if it’s by accident?”

Asami quirked an eyebrow. “Well, if you hurt me by accident…I guess it’d be more of a case-by-case sort of thing. I’m sure we could draw up a contract.”

“You’re a good business-woman,” Korra chuckled. “And an even better friend.”

Asami smiled, fully this time. “A woman’s only as good as her partners,” she replied. “And I’m lucky to have an incredible one right here.”

“You’re a sap, Sato,” Korra said as she stood up. She offered Asami her hand – as it seemed they did at the end of every sparring match, or at least the two they’d had. The other girl took it firmly, and Korra felt the increasingly familiar jolt of electricity course through her body from the contact. If she didn’t know better, Korra might’ve thought that Asami’s electric glove was on her hand. Realizing she’d been staring at their clasped hands, Korra blinked and shifted her gaze to meet Asami’s eyes – emerald green, sparkling, and filled with a little bit of that mystery expression from earlier when Korra had had her pinned.

A beat of silence passed, and then Asami spoke as she dropped Korra’s hand. “Well, it takes one to know one, Avatar.”

Just like the last time they sparred, the two moved in tandem to return the equipment and clean the mats.

“Are you up for lunch?” Asami asked. “Bolin and I talked about it the other day and thought maybe the three of us and Mako could grab some today – maybe your favorite noodle shop?”

Korra grinned lopsidedly. “Do you even have to ask?”

3.     “I didn’t wanna believe my feelings for you”

           “No bending this time,” Asami warned good naturedly as she and Korra circled one another in one of Zaofu’s many courtyards.

           “Ah, yeah…” Korra smiled sheepishly, briefly bringing up her right hand to rub at the back of her neck. “Sorry about that.” A few days before, the two had been sparring in the Queen’s garden while they were waiting for news either about Kai, or Mako and Bolin. Korra had accidently gotten a little too riled up as they had discussed the Queen’s plan and used airbending as she had kicked the pad in Asami’s hand, which added a lot of force to the move.

           Asami hadn’t been too worried about the mistake, airbending luckily wasn’t as outwardly harmful as say, firebending, which was still something that Asami liked to avoid. Being good friends with Mako and Korra and seeing the good that firebending could do definitely helped with her opinion on the element…but it wasn’t that simple. Every once in a while when she saw firebending, Asami would randomly flash back to the day her mother was killed – not a happy memory, but trauma tended to stick with you like that.

           Shaking the thought out of her head, Asami smiled at Korra reassuringly. “It’s alright, it’s not like you hurt me.”

           “Well, I’m not trying to have you write up a contract, that’s for sure,” Korra responded playfully.

           Asami grinned and with impressive speed, lunged forward to land a quick combination of punches against Korra’s strong stomach and diaphragm. Taken by surprise, Korra had no time to block or sidestep, and stumbled backwards with an oompfh.

           Coughing as she regained her breath, Korra looked at Asami with wide eyes.

           “If I didn’t know better,” she managed. “I’d say you were trying to get revenge.”

           “Who me?” Asami asked innocently, though the spark in her eyes suggested she knew just what she was doing. “I hate to break it to you, but if you think that was revenge, you’re sorely disappointed.”

           “Hold on, what’s that supposed to mean –” Korra began before, once again, Asami rushed her.

           This was not Asami’s usual sparring method, Korra thought fleetingly as the two fell to the ground. Far from the norm of well-calculated and precisely placed hits she usually favored, Asami was going for what Korra would argue was more of the Bolin method – intense, sudden, and very physical approaches.

           Luckily, the patch of grass they’d decided to fight on was forgiving, and their fall was softened. Korra somehow managed to come out on top after the two tumbled past one of the metal sculptures that Huan had showed their group after their arrival the day before. Korra straightened, straddling Asami’s waist and frantically trying to pin down the taller girl’s arms. Asami obviously knew what Korra was going for. Right as Korra managed to grab her wrists, Asami laughed and arched, sending her hips, legs, and subsequently Korra hurtling up and off of her.

           Korra allowed her momentum to carry her forward, tucking into a roll and then getting back on to her feet. She took a few steps forward before raising her arms up defensively to her face and turning around to face Asami once again.

           The other girl was already standing, ponytail beginning to come undone and smirking slightly. Asami blew a puff of air towards her forehead in an attempt to clear away the strands of hair that threatened to block her vision.

           “Alright Sato,” Korra huffed. “If that’s how you want to play it…”

           She charged forward, but thanks to the distance between them, Asami had plenty of time to simply step aside to dodge Korra’s rush. Korra whipped around and managed to place a hit on Asami’s back as she leapt back to avoid Asami’s sweeping kick. They continued in this pattern for a few minutes – Korra stepping back to get out of Asami’s range as she continuously aimed kick after kick at the Avatar. Suddenly, Korra found her back pressed against one of the few trees in the metal city. Of course, she thought to herself sardonically.

           Asami changed tactics and lunged forward to try to keep Korra pinned against the tree. Korra shifted against the trunk and used her arms to brace Asami’s shoulders back as she considered her options.

           This was decidedly the least spar-like sparring match they’d ever had.

           “What made you decide to go full on wrestling today?” Korra asked as she grit her teeth. Asami wasn’t much bigger than she was, but their height difference gave Asami a distinct advantage as she pushed against Korra.

           “Eh,” Asami shrugged. “I thought I’d change it up, especially since Lin thinks that even Zaofu isn’t safe enough for you. If there’s a bunch of crazy benders out to get you, I might as well try to help keep you on your toes.”

           “I appreciate the sentiment,” Korra responded as she resisted harder. “But I can’t believe Bolin isn’t seeing this – I mean, he’ll never believe me when I tell him you went full on wrestler-mode – he totally thinks that’s just his thing.”

           “Well,” Asami said, bringing her face closer to Korra’s, who’s heart rate unexpectedly skyrocketed. “There’s a lot that Bolin doesn’t know about me…including how I fight.”

           On the last word, Asami let her lips brush Korra’s cheek before she abruptly stopped pushing against the Avatar, who was still returning the pressure, and stepped aside. Korra lurched forward and Asami, ever the innovator, grabbed hold of Korra’s wrist and used the shorter girl’s momentum to fling her away. Korra toppled to the ground, shock from Asami’s trick and the loose gravel keeping her from finding her footing in time.

           Korra moved quickly to try to sit up, but Asami moved quicker. Before the Avatar could even fully prop herself on her elbows, Asami was on her. She swept Korra’s arms out from underneath her and kept her hands firmly on her wrists, causing the Korra’s back to hit the ground. Still straddling her, Asami moved Korra’s arms to above her head, fully pinning the Avatar on the ground.

           Asami leaned down ever-so-slightly, but even with that slight movement Korra could’ve sworn her heart stopped. Why, she didn’t know, but it was all she could do to remind herself to breathe again. For a split second, Korra thought she saw Asami’s bright eyes flicker downwards away from her own, but she chalked it up to her shock the situation, and the fact that as soon as Asami’s lips had brushed her cheek, it seemed that they were all Korra could think about. Despite her attempts to calm herself down, Korra could feel the blood rushing to her face. Get a hold of yourself, Korra thought to herself impatiently.

           The CEO had different plans. She brushed her cheek against Korra’s in a painstakingly slow manner as she leaned even closer to be able to whisper near Korra’s ear.

           “Don’t forget to tell Bolin exactly how I beat you,” she said quietly. Korra’s heart seemed to stop again. “I hate to say it, but I have to agree…I have a feeling that he’s not going to believe you.”

           With that, Asami rocked backwards off of Korra and stood up, brushing off the gravel and dust from her clothes. She turned away from Korra and began to walk back to the Beifong estate, before pausing briefly and looking back at the Avatar, who remained frozen on the ground.

           “That was fun,” Asami said, a familiar, sultry look on her face – the same one that Korra used to hate whenever she would see it aimed at Mako during pro-bending matches. “We should do it again sometime.”

           Korra sat up more fully and opened her mouth to say something – anything, preferably clever – but found it as dry as the gravel dust in her hair.

           Asami laughed, flipping her hair that had long since come undone, and sauntered up the steps.

           Korra gaped after the other girl, willing the heat in her cheeks and the butterflies in her stomach to subside. Don’t make it weird, she chided herself. She’s your best friend…Still, Korra found herself at the mercy of her nerves, which at this point, were beginning to fray. She hurriedly stood up and dusted herself up.

           “BOLIN!” she shouted as she ran towards the guest house where the earthbender was supposedly napping. He’d have time for that later, but all Korra wanted right now was to explain, and try to understand, what in the world had just happened.

4.     “maybe it’s better if I just try to conceal the truth”

Asami sent Korra enough letters for her to be able to catch onto what the engineer was willing to talk about or not…and for the longest time, Asami would not mention anything about sparring. It felt as though Asami viewed it as this sacred thing, something that the two of them did, that they could do, only before Korra was poisoned by the Red Lotus.

At first, Korra didn’t notice it. Asami would talk about her day, mention the projects she was working on, the boring meetings she had to sit through, the frustrations of dealing with Raiko, and the pleasant dinners on Air Temple Island that would subsequently be followed up with a “everybody misses you” that never felt guilt-ridding, only sincere and understanding. Asami would mention Mako’s detective work, bring up Bolin and his antics as well as Opal, Jinora and Kai’s escapades with the Air Nation, and even relay that Yin and the rest of the boys’ family were in good spirits and health. She would reminisce in the way that only she could without causing Korra to feel bad and talk about the way they had managed to get out of the desert on their makeshift sand-sailer – “I’m telling you, Korra, sometimes when business seems bad, I really do consider prototyping one of those sand-sailers. I think there’s some real potential for them in the Earth Kingdom markets!” – and optimistically discuss how they would have to go to Narook’s Noodlery when Korra returned to Republic City, when she was ready. Asami didn’t push or rush her.

           But Asami never mentioned their sparring matches, not when she spoke of fond memories, or even when she wrote about what they would get up to once Korra was back. Korra was embarrassed to admit that she only picked up on this fact after about the fiftieth letter she received from Asami, about eight months into her absence in the Southern Water Tribe. A few times after she noticed this, Korra would sit and wonder why Asami wouldn’t bring it up. Each time, she couldn’t help but conclude that it was because that when Asami had last seen her, Korra hadn’t been able to move her lower body at all. It must’ve been that Asami was sparing Korra from the pain and embarrassment of thinking about when she could move, and so out of the kindness of her heart Asami had decided to omit any fond memories of their sparring sessions. It wasn’t like sparring was something that wasn’t memorable or a common occurrence – especially after Harmonic Convergence and even up to the day that Korra was poisoned, the two girls had sparred quite often. The two of them were so evenly matched that sometimes they could continue for almost an hour without either making much headway.

           But finally, after almost a year passing since she’d left Republic City, Korra finally wrote Asami back. She told Asami how she was sorry for not writing sooner, it was just that she needed time to figure everything out, but she missed Republic City a lot (and her, but Korra was too nervous to include that, for some reason). She asked the CEO to not mention her response to Mako or Bolin, and it wasn’t that Korra wanted to hurt the brothers’ feelings, it was just that it was easier to write to Asami about this stuff. Korra explained how she’d done extensive healing sessions with Katara and was now well enough to not only be walking around by herself, but also get back to bending. She wrote about how she’d first practiced water with her father in the weeks soon after she’d regained her mobility, and then fire, earth, and air later on her own. Finally, at the end of her letter, Korra wrote:

I’ve also really missed our sparring sessions; they always make me feel better. I hope you’ve found another way to keep yourself occupied. When I’m back, I’ll kick your ass, Sato.

She’d debated for a few minutes whether she should add anything more, or just sign off before decided to simply add:

           Thank you, for writing.

           Yours, Korra

It felt awkward, and it didn’t feel like enough, but Korra had figured that nothing really would at that point. What are you supposed to say after you’ve been gone for a year with no contact?

--

           It wasn’t like they had all the time in the world to mess around once Korra finally returned to Republic City, but Korra intended to make good on a promise she’d made to herself: after being gone for three years…she definitely owed Asami a sparring match.

           After the chaos of their lunch-turned-rescue mission for Prince Wu, Korra and Asami finally found a small chunk of free time in the old Sato mansion, where Wu was staying with Mako and Bolin’s family. Mako had tried in vain a little earlier to try to show Wu some self-defense moves, but he had left the room not even half an hour later grumbling about how Wu “wasn’t even trying” and “couldn’t even hurt a fly,” which Korra interpreted as almost sounding endeared with the odd Prince, but she was smart enough not to say anything to the firebender as he stalked down the hall. She and Asami watched him retreat with Wu and Grandma Yin (for some bizarre reason) following shortly after. After they had disappeared, Asami turned to Korra, who had just been working up the nerve to suggest a match.

           “You mentioned something about sparring,” Asami said, “in your first letter back.”

           Inexplicably, Korra felt heat rise to her cheeks and fought down the urge to rub her neck as she tended to when she was nervous. “I did, yeah…” she managed. “I did mention sparring.”

           Asami looked at her with vague curiosity and a slight, amused smile. Asami’s face was a little more angular than it had been three years ago, and her eyes, while still young and bright, held more sorrow and exhaustion now too. Korra couldn’t help but notice the way her new hairstyle made her look older, and more mature…which, granted, she was. With a start, Korra realized she was staring and not listening, but it was a moment too late.

           “…so, do you want to?” Asami was asking.

           Korra blinked.

           “Sorry,” she offered. “I, was, uh…I got distracted. What did you say?”

           For a moment, Asami’s cheeks looked flushed, but Korra assumed it was a trick of the light.

           “That’s okay,” Asami replied. “I was asking if you wanted to spar, since, well…it’s been so long.”

           Guilt flooded Korra at Asami’s words, despite it being obvious that the CEO had no bad intentions. It was anything but accusatory…the gentle way Asami had said it suggested that she too was sad about the missed opportunities of the past three years. Korra swallowed her wave of emotions and gave Asami a small smile, all previous awkwardness forgotten.

           “I did tell you I’d kick your ass, didn’t I?” Korra said.

           Asami just laughed.

--

           It was almost like no time had passed. The two exchanged blows for almost fifteen minutes before Korra gained the upper hand. With a few well-placed punches, Asami tapped out, giving the first round to Korra.

           Ten minutes later, round two went to Korra as well after the Avatar used the trick she’d learned from Asami three years before of sweeping her opponent’s feet out from under them. Asami was oddly quiet, more focused than she had been at the restaurant or even earlier in the day, and a lot less physical than the match they’d shared in Zaofu before the Red Lotus had showed up. It didn’t necessarily feel like a bad quiet, but Korra could tell that there was definitely something on Asami’s mind that was causing her to fight differently.

           “Round three?” Korra asked Asami, trying to get a better read on her. “I’ll give you a chance to show me you didn’t actually let up on your work outs while I was gone.”

           That got a smile from the other girl. “You’re on. Can we take a quick break first though? I’m a little tired.”

           The two sat down and drank some water. Korra let the quiet of the room continue for a minute or two before she broke it, her nerves getting the better of her.

           “Are you mad?” she asked Asami softly, not looking at the engineer.

           “What?” Asami responded. “Am I mad?”

           Korra just nodded.

           There was a pause, and Korra felt her heart sink before Asami continued.

           “No, Korra,” she said. “I’m not mad.”

           Korra lifted her gaze to look at Asami, who was staring ahead thoughtfully.

           “I’ve just got some things on my mind…” she turned to give Korra a small smile. “It’s nothing bad, though. Just something that I’ve been thinking about more, lately. I’m okay. It’s just a lot, you know? You’re finally back, and I’m so glad…it’s just going to take a little adjusting.”

           “Yeah,” Korra replied. “That makes sense…and for the record, I’m sorry…when we’re both ready and we have more time, I’d be happy to talk more about everything, if you wanted. For right now, I want you to know I’m glad to be back, too. I’ve missed this…I’ve missed you.”

           Asami softened. “I’ve missed you too. And yes, I’m sure we can talk about it another time when we don’t have to prepare to fight a dictator and save the world.”

           Korra laughed. “I sure hope we get a break soon, all of us. Besides, then I’d have more time to keep beating you in these matches.”

           Asami snorted and got up, walking back towards the mats. “You always do this, you think you can actually beat me,” she joked.

           Korra set down her water and stood up. “Oh, so you’ve just been letting me win today?”

           Asami’s features took on a familiar air of mischief and confidence. She raised her hands up into a defensive position and smirked, the tone of next words sending a jolt of heat to Korra’s stomach.

           “Why don’t you come and find out?”

           Korra exhaled, and walked onto the mat, squaring up to the taller girl once she was close enough. Trying for a similar air as Asami’s, Korra channeled every ounce of confidence she had into a smooth response. “All right, Sato. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

           Asami wasted no time in going on the offensive, forcing Korra to duck and weave to avoid getting punched. With the ebb and flow of the blows they exchanged and the fluid motions of their attacks and defenses, the two almost seemed to be dancing.

           “I’ll admit it,” Korra huffed as she landed a kick. “You’re just as good as you were three years ago…if not better.”

           Asami smirked. “I know.”

           Korra grunted as a blow landed on her stomach. “Then did you just let me win those first two rounds?” she managed.

           “No,” Asami replied, dodging so Korra’s fist missed her own abdomen. “I’ve never let you win when we spar, and I never will…you always underestimate yourself, don’t you?”

           Korra shrugged and jumped back to avoid Asami’s swift kick. “It’s possible,” she admitted.

           “Have you ever let me win a match?” Asami asked, blocking Korra’s punch by making an ‘x’ with her forearms.

           “Nope,” Korra said.

           “Not even in Zaofu?” Asami pressed.

           “What do you mean, not even in Zaofu?” Korra asked, lunging forwards to force Asami to retreat a few feet.

           “There were at least two times during that match in the courtyard when you should’ve beaten me,” Asami explained. “Why didn’t you?”

           Korra tried her best to simultaneously avoid Asami’s offensive blows and remember back to Zaofu…they had been sparring in one of the courtyards, there wasn’t a lot of grass, or trees – Korra felt her face flush as she remembered the way Asami had…well…distracted her at the tree, and then once again on the ground. Butterflies reanimated in her stomach.

           “That doesn’t count for anything,” she scoffed, throwing a combination punch and ignoring Asami’s searching gaze. “You…cheated.”

           Asami caught Korra’s wrists and twisted them, forcing Korra to remain still as the CEO stepped forward, so they were almost chest to chest. “Oh, I cheated?” her voice suggestive.

           Korra glared at her and tried to free her arms, but for the moment, they were fully stuck. “Yes,” she replied dryly. “You cheated.”

           Asami stepped forward again. “And how exactly did I cheat?”

           Korra swallowed, all too aware of the height difference between them and trying in vain to ignore the pounding of her heart. She growled in frustration. “You distracted me!”

           Asami raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying herself, which only served to frustrate Korra even further. “I distracted you?” Asami repeated. The corner of her mouth twitched, as if she was fighting down a smile.

           Korra twisted and freed her arms, quickly grabbing Asami’s right one instead and pinning it behind the taller girl’s back. Instead of turning Asami so that they would face each other, Korra pressed forward against Asami’s back and kept her arm there. It was a much harder position to get out of, and if Asami now couldn’t see her blushing face, well, that was just an added bonus.

           For a moment, Korra debated how she should reply, before she decided it’d be best to conceal the full truth. “Maybe,” she managed, which didn’t sound very convincing but also wasn’t as vulnerable as a ‘yes.’

           “Well,” Asami said softly, still facing away from the Avatar. “Did you ever consider the fact that I fully knew what I was doing?”

           Korra felt her grip on Asami’s forearm instinctively loosen before she tightened it again. “What, distracting me to cheat?” she asked, “or cheating to win?”

           Korra felt Asami’s body tense up a second too late before the other girl had easily swapped their position, rendering Korra immobile with her arm tucked behind her back. Asami held her there, pinned closely.

           “And here I thought you said you were a fast learner,” Asami joked before trailing off. There were a few beats of silence. Korra shuddered as Asami’s hot breath puffed against her ear as the taller girl continued quietly, almost uncertainly. “Korra, I…the thing I’ve been thinking so much about is y–”

           Korra felt as though her entire body was on fire. What Asami might be suggesting…no, it couldn’t be…Korra had fought down those feelings for the past three years for spirit’s sake…was it possible that Asami, well…returned them? Was there a chance that they both wanted the same thing? Because if Asami wanted what Korra wanted, well –

           Korra panicked…and promptly flipped Asami over her shoulder and onto the mat where she landed with a grimace and a grunt that sounded a lot like “you.”

           As Asami lay on the ground in front of her, Korra took a few steps back, both to properly resituate herself to continue fighting and also to try to clear her mind. How was it that it always seemed to be during sparring matches that she and Asami had some of their most intense discussions? A voice, sounding strangely of Katara’s, responded quietly in Korra’s mind: your body will reflect your emotions and your emotions will reflect your body. Korra huffed and tried to ignore the response, which she was pretty sure was a reminder Katara had repeated often when first teaching Korra waterbending. It didn’t even make sense, it was just more of the philosophical mumbo-jumbo that Tenzin was always telling her…at least that’s what she would’ve thought three years before, but now, well – now it made sense. Of course it was during sparring matches.

           Coming back to reality, Korra looked down at Asami, who was gazing up at her from the ground with an expression full of incredulity mixed with embarrassment. Korra felt herself panicking, and in a desperate effort to steer their conversation back in a safer direction, she blurted: “why didn’t you ever mention sparring?”

           Asami just blinked owlishly. “What?” she managed.

           Korra fidgeted with her wrapped forearms, this was decidedly not a safer direction. “In your letters,” she explained. “You never said anything about our sparring matches – which is completely fine, I just…” she sighed. “Why not?”

           Asami looked at her for a moment before standing up and taking Korra’s hands with her own, effectively pausing Korra’s anxious fiddling. “Honestly? I didn’t know how to bring it up, I mean…you had so much going on when you left and I didn’t want to add any stress,” Asami huffed, absentmindedly brushing her thumb along Korra’s knuckles in a surprisingly calming manner. “Really what it was is that I missed it too much. I couldn’t handle you being gone and remembering how much I enjoyed getting to spend this time with you. I’m sorry.”

           Korra gave Asami a sad smile. “Don’t be sorry, ‘Sami,” she squeezed the CEO’s hands. “I missed it a lot, too, probably more than I’m willing to admit.”

           Neither girl spoke for a moment, before Asami broke the silence. “I know you said don’t apologize, but I am sorry that our sparring conversations always seem to go this way.”

           Korra’s smile was brighter this time as she chuckled. “I was just thinking that, but not in a bad way!” she clarified as Asami’s eyes widened. “It reminded me of something Katara would tell me when she was first teaching me how to waterbend, ‘your body will reflect your emotions and your emotions will reflect your body,’ which I used to think was stupid, but honestly makes a lot of sense now.”

           “It does make sense,” Asami nodded, before smirking slightly. “So that explains why the Fire Ferrets’ performance plummeted after Bolin saw you and Mako kissing, right?”

           Korra shoved Asami’s shoulder playfully, glaring at the taller girl. “I really regret telling you that sometimes,” she sulked. “But, yes, that would be an example of it, I guess.”

           “And you judo-flipping me a minute ago was what, then?” Asami asked.

           Korra choked on air. “W-what?”

           Asami took a deep breath. “Well, I was admitting that I’ve been thinking about you a lot and then it seemed like you maybe panicked based on that brutal flip that ended with me on the mat?”

           “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Korra scoffed, trying to ignore her increasing heartrate.

           “No?” Asami asked, gentle and a little nervous. She carefully extracted her right hand from Korra’s grip and brushed a few stray strands of Korra’s short hair back behind her ear. The Avatar gulped.

           Pull it together, Korra admonished herself. I can be smooth…I think. Steeling her nerves, Korra brought her free hand up to lightly grasp Asami’s right wrist, holding the girl’s palm against her cheek. Korra turned ever so slightly and brushed her lips against Asami’s palm, watching with pride and amazement as the engineer’s eyes fluttered closed at the contact. Finally, Korra let herself think back to some of the most notable moments of some of their previous sparring matches: the jolts of electricity from Asami’s touch, how flustered she would get at close-contact with the taller girl, the way she had completely given in to Asami’s distractions in Zaofu, and most importantly…the growing realization over the past few years that she wanted to kiss her best friend.

           It was about time she did something about it, what, with the impending doom of Republic City and a dictator quickly approaching. Three years had been too long already, why wait now?

           “Asami, I…” Korra trailed off as Asami’s eyes opened and met hers, warm and inviting. Korra swallowed, and Asami smiled softly. “Can I ki –”

           “KORRA!” Bolin’s voice shattered the moment with even less grace than Ikki’s question to Asami years before at Air Temple Island: “did you know Korra likes Mako?”

           The two girls jumped apart as if they’d both been electrocuted, which – with Prince Wu running around the Sato mansion trying on random clothing, including the retired electric gloves – was entirely too possible.

           Bolin rounded the corner into the sparring room a second later, barreling in at top speed.

           “Bolin!” Asami recovered first. “What are you doing! What’s wrong?”

           Korra just glared and tried to settle the heat of annoyance and disappointment in her stomach. “Bolin, I swear to the spirits if this isn’t good I’ll –”

           “Mako just got back with our big special delivery of Narook’s noodles! There’s enough for all of us, even Grandma Yin and the extended Mako-Bolin fam! I just thought I’d let you guys know,” the earthbender explained excitedly, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room.

           Korra growled. Asami put a calming hand on her shoulder.

           “That’s great,” Asami managed a smile. “We’ll be right there.”

           Bolin grinned, offered two thumbs up, and raced back out of the room, off to alert the next unlucky group he’d intrude upon.

           Asami slowly turned to Korra. “Well, I guess we did talk about getting Narook’s once you got back,” she offered, fighting back a wide smile.

           Korra groaned, dragging her hands down her face. “I cannot believe him sometimes.”

           Asami laughed, loudly and fully, and bent down to kiss Korra’s cheek. The Avatar flushed.

           “C’mon Korra,” Asami offered her hand, and Korra took it immediately, lacing their fingers together. “Let’s go get some food before Bolin and his cousins eat all of it.”