October
Asami Sato was tired of people assuming that she was some prissy, helpless daddy's girl just because she was an heiress. She had needed a change of scenery, and some new challenges and, after stumbling across a national community service program called Americorps NCCC and watching videos on their website about teams of college-aged people traveling across America performing disaster response, she had her solution. She'd never thought about it before, but her martial arts training combined with her degree in engineering made her perfect for this kind of work.
Everyone back home thought she was insane for leaving behind her socialite lifestyle in New York in favor of living out of a duffle bag for a year and wandering across the country in an ill-fitting and overly casual uniform doing community service, but she'd drunk deeply of the "leave your mark" Americorps motto and she wanted to do her part to make the world a better place.
She was determined to excel in this program, and knowing that the impression she made during training would affect her team assignment, she got to work cultivating a reputation for competence and leadership from the moment she arrived at the NCCC southwest regional base in Denver.
The Denver base housed several hundred corps members divided into four units—Earth, Water, Fire, and Sun. The base was located on the grounds of a former college complete with dorms, classrooms, a cafeteria, and a library; and the college setting blended with military rules and terminology made for a unique atmosphere.
Asami's first three weeks of Americorps training went according to plan, but everything changed when the wildfire season started.
In response to this year's unprecedented wildfire season, dozens of members were transferred to create additional emergency firefighting teams within the Earth Unit and Asami found herself on a team of misfits pulled from the various units and led by Tenzin, the Sun Unit's most eccentric team leader.
Or rather, now that Tenzin was her team leader, she'd have to start referring to it as the Air Unit or else he'd go off on one of his trademark monologues. But seriously, Tenzin insisting that they referred to themselves as "Air One" rather than "Sun One" was the least of her problems considering that she'd ended up on a team with Mako and Korra. Asami had made out with Mako a few times during the training institute, secure in the knowledge that she wouldn't really have to see much of him afterwards since he was Fire Unit and she was Sun Unit. So of course, of course he got transferred to Sun Unit and ended up on the same team as her. As if that wasn't bad enough, her current crush, Korra, ended up on the same team too. Oh, right, and Mako's brother was also on the team. Perfect.
In response to this turn of events, Asami was even more resolved to take on every team responsibility she could. The extra work wasn't just about keeping herself busy in an attempt to ignore the way Mako and Korra were constantly making googly eyes at each other. Asami had big ambitions: she'd take on every team responsibility she could, then she'd get elected assistant team leader, then next year she'd get hired as a team leader. She was Asami Sato, dammit, and she was going to juggle being service learning coordinator, independent project coordinator, peer helper, and vehicle maintenance officer and she'd look damn good while doing it! That last part was harder given the NCCC uniform of frumpy cargo pants, grey t-shirts and steel-toe work boots, but the ever reliable Sato family butler had used his connections to find a good tailor in Denver who was able to discreetly improve the cut, if not the style, of the ridiculously casual outfit she was forced to wear on a daily basis.
Late November
They were a few weeks into their Round One project distributing disaster response supplies to communities affected by intense flooding in rural Arizona. And, maybe it was a mild form of Stockholm Syndrome after weeks of close confines and near constant contact with each other, but Asami found herself becoming rather fond of her teammates.
Bolin was goofy, Mako was arrogant, Korra was grumpy, and Tenzin was obsessed with "the glorious history of the Air Unit," but when everybody just quit fighting and worked together they were a great team.
They were a quirky team, for sure, made all the quirkier by the arrow paint-job on Oogi, their 15 passenger government-issued van, and Tenzin's insistence on calling them Air One instead of Sun One, but she'd certainly rather be here than in one of the lockstep Earth Unit teams.
And it turned out that, other than the whole "Air Unit" thing, Tenzin was actually an incredible team leader. He'd been working for NCCC for more than a decade—first as a corps member, then a team leader, and eventually moving up to one of the top positions in program administration. She still couldn't figure out why he'd chosen to leave that high-level job in order to be a team leader again, a role usually filled by someone half his age, but she was happy to have access to his expert advice.
Apparently his dad had been a founding member of the program and was the original Air Unit Leader, which, while not quite excusing his monologue tendency, at least explained it.
"Why would they change it to Sun Unit?" he had scoffed on day one of their drive from the program campus in Denver to their project site in Arizona. "The program needs an Air Unit to create balance. Fire, Water, Earth, SUN! That makes absolutely no sense!"
At the time, she just thought he needed to get it out of his system, but weeks later he'd still occasionally go off apropos of nothing, "The sun isn't an element! And it makes us sound like an auxiliary of the Fire Unit!"
So yes, Tenzin was a model team leader except for his fixation on the unit name change. Well, that and the way he inexplicably seemed to be grooming Korra for one of the two assistant team leader positions.
Asami liked Korra, liked her a lot, but assistant team leader?! They were several weeks into Round One and most of the time Korra seemed like she wanted to be anywhere but here. She was constantly picking fights with Tenzin, she usually had her shirt untucked in flagrant violation of the uniform policy, and the only team role she seemed interested in was physical training coordinator.
From the way she constantly talked back to him and the way he constantly urged her to "live up to her potential," it was obvious that Tenzin and Korra had known each other for a long time, but they both pointedly never elaborated on their history and Korra's attitude didn't exactly encourage personal questions. Considering the other two members of their team were brothers, Asami could only shake her head at the rampant nepotism in Air One.
Early February
By the time that Korra and Asami were elected Assistant Team Leaders at the start of Round Two, Asami could hardly remember her earlier assessment that Korra was a bad fit for the job.
As she glanced across their job site and watched Korra deftly shouting instructions to a crew of 10 volunteers from atop a second-story ladder while simultaneously installing siding on a house, Asami couldn't help but observe that Korra really did have a knack for disaster response and, despite her lingering attitude and authority issues, she was really starting to show leadership potential.
Plus, not that Asami would admit this to anybody, but Korra being the other assistant team leader did have its perks. For instance, while Korra had yet to be much help on actually writing the bi-monthly team status reports they had to send back to headquarters, she was great company and Asami always looked forward to spending a couple of hours alone with her each week (even if it was, officially, time for balancing the team's budget and making supply requests).
"Seriously, Korra, could you at least pretend to be working on that summary about the homes we repaired this month?" Asami said with more fondness than she intended.
"I totally am working on it!" Korra responded unconvincingly with her hand still poised over her cellphone. "I just got distracted looking for some of my photos of the volunteers we were supervising." She shrugged and added, "I figured it would be a nice touch, adding some photos to the report."
"Oh, wow. That's actually a great idea!" Asami said, equal parts surprised and impressed. "You know Korra, I'm really impressed with how dedicated you've been this round." She paused, and continued a bit more tentatively, "Sometimes you act like you don't want to be here, but you have a natural talent for this work."
"Oh god, you're starting to sound like Tenzin!" Korra scowled jokingly, "Next you'll be telling me I should become a team leader."
"Well, that is the logical next big step after assistant team leader."
"Ugh, Asami, quit it," Korra groaned.
"I don't get you sometimes, Korra. You like the work, you're amazing at it, and being a team leader would be a huge honor. I've been working towards becoming a team leader since day one."
"Well, it's easy for you to be so passionate about it," Korra huffed, "You don't have Tenzin leaning over your shoulder acting like it's your destiny."
Korra paused and angrily blew a stray wisp of hair out of her face, "There are all these expectations for me but nobody asks me what I want."
"I'm sorry," Asami said, chastened, "And...I want you to know that I'm here for you. If you ever want to talk or, anything. I just thought being a team leader was something you wanted."
"It might be," said Korra in an uncharacteristically pensive tone, "I don't know. At first I hated this whole program, but I do care about the work and...The Air Unit would be hella strong next year with me, you, and Tenzin as team leaders."
"Yeah, we'd give the snooty Earth Unit a run for their money," Asami chuckled.
"Ugh, the Earth unit." Korra said rolling her eyes. "Somebody needs to tell their Unit Leader Kuvira that just because she's in charge of the firefighting teams doesn't mean she runs the whole program!"
"Maybe it'll be us," Asami replied, perhaps a touch too seriously.
"Maybe," Korra said flashing her an adorable, lopsided grin. Then she shook her head and scowled in earnest. "Ugh, Tenzin would be so insufferably smug about the whole thing though. I don't even want to start contemplating the 'I told you so' lectures I'd be subjected to if I ended up making a career out of this."
Emboldened by how much Korra was sharing, Asami saw her opening and asked Korra with as much feigned casualness she could muster, "So, is Tenzin, like, your dad, or what?"
Korra laughed and almost fell out of her chair saying, "Oh god, Asami, you are so off base!" in a rather enigmatic and amused voice and flashing her another dopey grin.
Asami had been trying so hard since Round One to get over this inconvenient crush. Korra could be prickly and stubborn and outrageously, unnecessarily mysterious. But dammit, Asami had never been one for self-delusion and that voice and that smile made her want to stick around and slowly learn all of Korra's secrets.
At this rate it was going to take a long time to really understand Korra, but determination had always been one of Asami's top strengths and she certainly had plenty of opportunity since team members spent practically every waking moment together.
Except...Round Two would end in a few weeks and Round Three, the "shuffle round," was looming ever closer.
Lately, Asami had been pointedly trying not to think too hard about all the teams getting mixed up in Round Three. It wasn't just about this crush on Korra, either. She wasn't sure when she'd started thinking of Air One as her family, but she could barely contemplate the idea of them all potentially ending up on opposite ends of the region next round.
Early May
Asami had never thought that she'd be counting down days to transition week. She loved NCCC more than anyone, but the nonstop week of meetings and bureaucracy between rounds wasn't exactly a highlight. It was different this time though because she was so glad to have this miserable shuffle round behind her. Now all she had to do was write these reports, sit through the meetings, and then she'd be back on her real team, with her real teammates.
She supposed that Round Three could have been worse—she'd really enjoyed the work and while they weren't on the same team, she, Mako and Bolin had all ended up on projects in New Orleans and Tenzin was in Baton Rouge so they'd been able to hang out a few times. But that had just underscored Korra's absence.
They mostly hadn't mentioned it, but getting the rest of the team together socially during Round Three had felt wrong without Korra, especially since she was in some tiny, snowy town in North Dakota that didn't even have cell phone reception while they were living it up in New Orleans.
Korra mostly put on a brave front in the letters that she'd sent to Asami during shuffle round, but Asami could tell that her project was boring, her team was mismanaged, and she felt really isolated.
Asami felt that they'd really grown closer through writing letters though. That Korra opened up more than she would have on the phone or in person.
And finally this stupid round was ending and Air One would be reunited. Where was Korra, anyway? It was nearly the end of the first day of transition week and her team still hadn't made it back to base.
After spending too much time this afternoon in the main office waiting for Korra's team to show up, Asami had decided to make the most of this delay and sequestered herself in the base's library working on her debrief report. Team leader job applications were due by the end of the week, and Asami wanted to look her absolute best during tomorrow's project debrief. It would be the last time she'd interact with the unit leaders and program director before they made the hiring decisions for next year.
Just as she finished thinking "It's probably best that Korra didn't get back today, I have so much work to do and we would have gotten distracted catching up," Korra walked into the library sporting a super cute new haircut and looking way better in tan cargo shorts than should be humanly possible.
Asami sat there stunned—Korra had always been undeniably attractive, but how could this new bob haircut make her look both tougher and more adorable?!
Asami had recovered just enough to stop ogling and think "What is Korra doing in the library at this time of night?" when Korra spotted her, waved enthusiastically, and started striding towards her. Asami stood up from the table where she'd been working and moments later they met in the middle of the room and started hugging each other like it had been years since they last saw each other instead of just two months.
"It's so good to see you again!" Asami said mid-hug.
"You too"
"And I'm loving the hair!" Asami immediately wondered whether she was maybe acting a little too excited to see Korra again, but then Korra tugged on the end of her bobbed hair, said "Thanks, you're looking snazzy as usual," and blushed and it was totally worth the potential awkwardness.
While Asami stood there trying not to gape, Korra pulled her over to the far wall of the reference room and the two of them sat down on the floor.
Maybe Asami's crush had reached a new, desperate level and she was just projecting but this conversation and the vibe between them felt different. Asami didn't have time to investigate that train of thought though, because once they settled on the floor, Korra started speaking again.
"Thanks for taking time to write letters to me all round," she said sheepishly. "I know there were plenty of more exciting things to do in New Orleans."
"I...of course, " Asami stammered, "I was always happy to hear from you."
"Thanks. I had a rough round and you were the only person I felt like I could talk to," she said, looking anywhere but at Asami.
Without meaning to, Asami blurted out, "Really, you didn't talk to Mako all round?! I just assumed, since you guys are...kind of a thing."
Korra laughed and made eye contact with her again, "Me and Mako?! Oh Asami, that is so First Round."
Asami wanted some time to think about that bombshell, but Korra immediately veered off on a change of subject.
"Asami, this is top secret knowledge, " she whispered with a conspiratorial smirk, "but I can't resist telling you that Tenzin is getting promoted to Unit Leader next year! Which means he'll get to change the name so the program really will have an Air Unit!"
Asami's wasn't even going to ask how Korra knew about program hiring decisions, she was too busy being happy for her team leader and the future of the Air Unit.
"That's incredible news!" she beamed, vaguely aware that she was speaking too loudly in the library but not being able to stop herself.
"I'm so happy for Tenzin. And, selfishly, I hope this means he'll have enough clout to keep me from getting assigned to work with Kuvira in the Earth Unit. I mean, if I get hired as a team leader."
"Oh my god Asami, of course you're going to get hired, you're incredible! And obviously Tenzin wouldn't let another unit scoop you up."
"Actually, this is a bit related to the favor I've been meaning to ask you." Korra continued, starting to look a bit sheepish again, "I was wondering if you'd teach me to drive during Round Four?"
"Teach you to drive? Yeah, of course!" Asami replied. "But wait, how is this related to our conversation?"
"Well," Korra paused, "I had a lot of time to think about it in North Dakota and...I think I do want to stay in the program and be a team leader next year, but team leaders have to know how to drive the vans."
There was something about the way Korra was grinning at her that made Asami feel reckless and bold.
"You know what? Screw working on this debrief!" She stood up and extended a hand down to Korra who was still sitting on the floor. "The Air Unit needs you next year and so do I. It's time you learn how to drive, right now!"
Korra flashed an even bigger smile at her. "Now?! But how would we—"
"I'm sure Tenzin will lend us the keys to Oogi if we explain why."
Asami knew that blowing off working on the report meant she probably wouldn't be getting highest marks on the team debrief tomorrow, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
She had a feeling Round Four was going to be the best round yet. And next year, with the Air Unit being reinstated, they'd finally bring balance to the program.
The End
Notes:
Americorps NCCC (pronounced "N triple C" and standing for National Civilian Community Corps) is a team-based branch of the Americorps National Service Program focused on disaster response. Pretty much every detail about NCCC that I've included in this fic is accurate except they'd never let someone give one of the government vans acustom paint job . The Southwest Service Region, based in Denver, really does have an elemental theme for their units but the Air Unit is inexplicably missing. And well, after I remembered that, this fic just sort of wrote itself.
Many thanks to Zazial and Eccentric_hat for speedy beta work. Thanks also to hestialuna's friend, who doesn't have a fandom alias so shall remain nameless, for making the original "AmeriKorra" pun that inspired this AU.