The Legend of Korra belongs to Nickelodeon.
"They've already had dinner but you can give them some lychee juice before bed. Iwa only drinks lychee juice from her blue cup. The one with the little fire ferret carved in it? And Yan can only have a little bit or he won't sleep. And Pabu has to and I mean has to be in Roka's bed before you set her down. She won't sleep unless he's already there and no it doesn't matter if you set him in after."
"Bolin."
"And don't forget to lock all the doors and put up the safety gate! The twins have started to climb out of their cribs to visit Yan and it's adorable except they wake him up and he gets mad and it's just a mess."
"Bolin!"
"Oh! And you have to leave the hall light on!"
"BOLIN!" Everyone jumped to stare at Opal. She took a deep breath. "Bolin, honey, I think the Avatar and the CEO of Future Industries can handle watching our kids for a few hours."
"I know. It's just…we haven't spent any time away from them."
"This was your idea."
"I know! It's just that now that we're leaving…I don't really want to leave." Opal blinked at her husband's pouting face for a moment before wrapping her arm around his and dragging him to the door.
"And we're leaving. Bye!" She groaned as the earthbender escaped her gasp to rush past Korra and Asami, who had stood silently, eyes wide, during the entire exchange. He scooped up his three children, the three year old twins frowning and his infant son staring at him blankly.
"Farewell my darling children!"
"Daddy put us down!"
"I know you will miss me dearly but do not fret! I will be back soon!" He finished with a flourish, squeezing the children in his arms. "And with your mother." The afterthought spurred Opal over to him in an attempt to keep Bolin from further traumatizing their children.
"You don't want us to miss our reservation do you?"
"They'll hold any booth for Nuktuk Hero-" Opal narrowed her eyes.
"I will eat without you." They stared at each other.
"No you-" She marched out the door, throwing a "Bye kids!" over her shoulder which was answered with a chorus of baby babble and "Bye mama!" Bolin nearly threw his kids in the floor, but did manage to put them down safely and quickly. He pressed kisses to their foreheads before losing a fight with the coat rack and leaving it on the floor as he rushed out the door. "Opal wait!"
Korra and Asami looked at each other for a moment before they burst out laughing. They stopped when they noticed twin pairs of bright green staring up at them. Korra dropped down, smiling.
"Hey, girls."
"We're hungry." Asami was not even sure which one of them spoke.
"Alright then. You heard your dad. You can have some lychee juice."
"Cookies." Korra laughed, ruffling their hair.
"Sorry, guys. No can do."
"Cookies." Korra was beginning to feel like she was talking to her cousins. She suppressed a shudder. Asami stood behind her awkwardly.
"How about a game?"
"Cookies!"
"Asami can teach you guys how to play Pai Sho. The pieces look like cookies!" The Avatar shrank beneath the glare of the twin toddlers. Asami shot her girlfriend a startled look. Before she could thank her for throwing her under the bus (she mentally scoffed at the shoddy workmanship of the Cabbage Corp public transport), she spotted Yan crawling toward the kitchen. She chased after him, picking him up before he could get in to anything. When she turned around, she found her girlfriend on her back, lifting Roka and Iwa like dumbbells, the girls giggling and kicking. Asami shook her head, smiling. She was amazed but hardly surprised. She bounced the gurgling seven month old in her arms while Korra juggled the twins. They caught each other's gaze, their smiles widening. Asami looked away first, her heart heavy.
"Aunt Korra! Aunt Korra!"
"Roka! Roka!" Korra grinned as she continued to include the kids in her workout regimen.
"Put me down!"
"Awww. What? Are you not having fun, Iwa?" The twins turned in sync, attempting to pout at the Avatar through their smiles. "Alright. Fine." She sat up, clutching the kids to her chest. She squeezed them, causing them to squirm and kick, their giggles widening her grin. When they finally stopped wriggling, she placed them on the floor, beginning to tickle them mercilessly, one hand per twin. By the time Korra released them, the girls had long forgotten about the cookies they had so desperately wanted.
Meanwhile, Asami was enjoying her peaceful time with young Yan, her cheeks hurting from grinning at the almost constantly smiling baby. She even took to tickling for a few moments, delighted to hear the boy giggle.
"Ow, ow." She did not, however, enjoy the grabbing, particularly when it involved her hair. Unfortunately, he was fascinated with the shiny, ebony locks. She gently peeled his tiny fingers from the stressed strands. She scanned the room quickly, absently playing with Yan's fingers. She spotted what she was looking for and strode across the room, sitting down on the floor before picking up the rattle to her left. Settling the boy in her lap, she held the rattle in front of him, shaking it. She recalled a passage in a pamphlet she had been forced to read while waiting in the doctor's office that stated that playing such games with infants was important for their development, having them focus on and grasp objects. She moved the rattle back and forth, slowly bring the rattle to the child. He clapped his hands and reached for it, gurgling. He squealed, startling Asami into laughter, when he finally latched on to the beloved toy.
"No! I'm the Avatar!" Asami turned, catching sight of Roka running down the hall, Korra hot on her heels.
"I'm the Avatar!"
"No, you're the evil Firelord."
"I defeated the Firelord."
"No! Aang did and I'm Aang because my name sounds like Roku." Asami nearly fell over at the look of pure shock that crossed the Avatar's features. Korra stopped mid-chase, failing to dodge the pillow Roka "bended" at her. The pillow to the face seemed to awaken Korra from her daze, her face twisting into a mock glare. She threw the pillow right back, but Roka danced out of the way. The pillow soared past the girl and hit her sister square in the chest, knocking her down. Korra darted across the room, worry furrowing her brow.
"I'm so sorry, Iwa! Are you okay?" Cringing as she knelt by the tiny girl, Korra prepared for tears. To her surprise, the child jumped up, nearly bashing the top of her head into the waterbender's chin.
"I am not Iwa! I am Melon Lord!" Iwa and her twin laughed uproariously, beginning to pelt Korra with pillows and stuffed animals. The twenty-seven year old had no idea where they kept all of their ammunition. She was overwhelmed.
"Asami! Help!"
"No thank you. Yan and I are having our own fun." Asami had snatched up one of the poor stuffed creatures being used as weaponry, Yan chewing on his rattle while the badgermole danced in front of him.
"They're ganging up on me!" Pillows and toys continued to fly, Korra now hiding behind the couch. When she risked a peek at Asami, daring to look over the top of her makeshift fort, she received only an arched brow in reply. "Why can't we play 'Equalists?' Or 'Earth Empire!'"
"Those games are lame! Aang is the best!" Roka emphasized her point by hitting Korra over the head with her pillow.
"Yeah! And Toph!" Iwa aimed a couch cushion at the Avatar's middle. Korra gave an exaggerated grown at the impact. She slumped against the back of the couch, closing her eyes.
"You did it! You defeated me! Aang wins and the war is over. Now let's play another game." Korra cracked an eye open only to sigh and hit her head on the couch. The twins were unamused.
"You don't play right." Asami snorted on the other side of the room, the business tycoon lying on the floor facing Yan as the boy laid on his back, reaching up to play with the toys hanging over his mat.
The twins grabbed Korra by the hands and dragged her out from behind the couch, explaining the "proper" way to be the Fire Lord, which, apparently, meant a lot of nonsensical shouting and jumping around while being pelted with pillows. Once Ozai had been defeated for the fifth time, the girls finally relented and let Korra be the Avatar. The kids, however, refused to be the bad guys and the trio ran around the house fighting invisible chi blockers. When Asami appeared at the end of hall, having had to cut through the kitchen, Korra skid to a stop, grinning. The engineer was wearing her practically ancient Equalist glove, the electricity easily heard and seen even from several feet away. Iwa and Roka's eyes widened as they stopped behind Korra. They stared at the crackling glove for a moment before screaming and running away.
"That…that was mean." Korra had collapsed against the wall, gasping for breath as she laughed.
"No harm done." Asami smirked as she slid off the faithful weapon.
"Where do you even keep that?"
"I can't tell you all my secrets. How else will we keep it exciting?"
"Fair enough but here's a better question: why did you bring it? And don't tell me you don't leave home without it. I'm well aware that you do not." Doubt crept in as Asami arched her brow. They stared at each other for several seconds before Asami sighed. A smile crept across Korra's face at her victory.
"I just wanted to be prepared."
"I don't think Opal meant electric shocks when she mentioned discipline." The laughter quickly left Korra's voice as she watched her girlfriend shrink into herself, eyes fixed on the floor. "Hey, I'm kidding." She made her way toward the taller woman, taking her hands when she was finally close enough. "Is everything alright?"
"Sorry. It's stupid. I shouldn't have brought it."
"It came in handy. Kids love that kind of stuff. You made the game better." Asami still would not meet her eyes. "There's something else though, isn't there?"
"I..I just…you look so happy and I know we've talked about this but-" Korra cut her off with a kiss.
"You're not keeping me from anything, Asami. I have everything I could possibly want. Except apparently, a girlfriend who is as happy as me."
"I'm sorry I keep doing this."
"Nope. No more apologizing. Fun. We're here to have fun, alright?" Asami opened her mouth, but when she realized only more apologies would fall from her lips, she quickly shut it. Korra smiled, leading her in the direction the twins went. "Besides, this is the dream. All the fun stuff with the kids and we get to go home while Bolin and Opal have to deal with the tantrums and the dirty diapers. Wait." They stopped just outside of the living room. "Where's Yan?"
"He fell asleep. I put him to bed."
"Oh, good." Asami rolled her eyes, nudging Korra with her shoulder.
"I'm not entirely useless."
"I didn't mean it like that! You've been so good with him. He really likes you."
"Korra, relax. I'm not mad." A crash resounded through the house as they stepped into the living room.
"SHE DID IT!" The couple groaned, turning around and heading towards the chorus of voices. They found the twins in the kitchen, broken pottery at their bare feet. Korra quickly scooped them up as Asami carefully picking up the sharp pieces. While the waterbender soothed the shaken and scared girls, the engineer worked out, from the sticky pieces of ceramic, that they had broken a pitcher probably full of lychee juice. A very familiar pitcher. Asami burst out laughing, earning startled looks from the trio in front of her.
"Aunt Asami?" Iwa spoke over Korra's shoulder.
"You two won't be in trouble when your parents get home, don't worry." Asami laughed again at the confused expressions around her. "Korra, don't you recognize the pieces?" When it was clear that she did not, the businesswoman laughed once more. "It's our wedding present." Korra choked and blushed at "wedding," earning an amused smirk from her girlfriend. "Our present for Bolin and Opal's wedding."
"A present?! Then Mama will be mad!"
"So will Daddy! Daddy loves presents!" Korra and Asami shared a glance.
"Not this present. Your parents hate this pitcher. If you had to break anything, you certainly broke the right thing." Asami smiled as the girls relaxed and eased away from Korra. After she did away with the remnants of the shattered pot, she was shocked to turn around and find the girls right behind her. They wrapped their arms around her legs and looked up at her, grinning toothily. Overcoming her surprise, she smiled back, but their insistence at being carried gave her pause. She approached the strange dilemma as she did any typical calculation and after running through numerous scenarios and positions in a few seconds, she managed to pick the girls up and hold them comfortably. They squealed in delight, locking their arms around her neck as well as they could.
Korra grinned at her as she came into the living room, embarrassingly yielding a blush in response. Her girlfriend's grin only widened. Asami winced as the girls played with her hair, but she endured the pulling good-naturedly.
"Your hair is so soft, Aunt Asami."
"I want hair like yours."
"Thank you and I like your hair, Roka." She earned a toothy grin and a rather painful yank at the back of her head.
"Ooh! Can you braid my hair?"
"Yeah! Braid our hair! I mean, please, Aunt Asami?" Korra was sprawled in the floor, absently playing with Pabu while she watched her girlfriend laugh, utter adoration spread across her face.
The twins, once back on the ground, sprinted and tackled the Avatar, managing to knock the breath out of the distracted bender. Asami came to their rescue when Korra attempted to retaliate, settling behind them and drawing them close as she began to braid their hair. They fought briefly over who would go first but Korra tickling their feet soon distracted them, allowing Asami to start braiding Iwa's hair. She was already finished and had started on Roka when the kids remembered that they had been arguing. Iwa admired her braid, throwing pleased looks at Asami, who hummed as she wove black locks. Korra had moved to sit behind Asami, braiding her hair per Roka's request. The raven haired woman had blushed, prompting Korra to kiss her cheek as she moved. Unbeknownst to the twins, Korra had long since finished her work and had moved on to just playing with the silky braid and running her fingers over pale skin, sending surprised shudders down the nonbender's spine. Asami barely managed to keep from pulling Iwa's hair too hard in these moments. When she finally finished, she threw an elbow backwards, connecting with quite some impact, earning a satisfying grunt from the Avatar.
The twins were waning fast, Roka already leaning a bit heavily into her sister. Iwa failed to hide her second yawn and Korra descended, hauling the girls up.
"Alright. Time for bed."
"No!"
"I'm not even tired." Korra laughed as each of their refusals were punctuated by yawns. Asami had vanished to ensure Pabu was in his proper place on Roka's bed and to check on Yan. By the time she tracked down her girlfriend, Korra had finally gotten the girls settled in bed, Roka curled up with Pabu while her sister clutched a stuffed rabaroo. The couple smiled at each other, Asami moving to wrap her arms around Korra's waist, hugging her from behind, leaning down to rest her head on her shoulder. They watched the girls for a few moments before quietly existing the room, shutting the door softly behind them. Asami broke away to tidy up the living room, much to her girlfriend's displeasure. Korra was tempted to help but instead she threw herself on to the couch, enjoying her view.
"Hey, Korra."
"Yes?" It took the Avatar a moment to snap out of her daze. She had been too distracted while her girlfriend was bent over as she straightened the kids' toy box.
"I know why they only wanted to play that Hundred Years' War game." Korra sat up, her eyebrows nearly in her hairline. Asami whirled around grinning, holding a stack of books. "The Avatar and the Firelord. The Hundred Years War: For Kids! The Personal Memoirs of Chief Sokka of the Water Tribe, the True Hero of the Hundred Years War. This one even has pictures!" Asami squeaked and spun around as Korra leapt up and reached for her, but the maneuver did little. Korra picked her up and fell backwards on the couch, bringing the squirming nonbender, books and all, down with her.
"I'm going to kill Bolin."
"That's not fair, they could be Opal's." They laughed.
"Did you hear that he tried to get Toph to sign one of his biographies of her?"
"She bent him through a wall, didn't she?" They laughed again, Asami wriggling out of Korra's grasp enough to drop the books on the floor. She quickly returned to the tight embrace, turning so that they were face to face. Their eyes locked briefly before flickering down to focus on the other's lips. They leaned forward and just as their lips brushed, Korra flipped them, pinning Asami to the couch with her hips as she began to tickle her girlfriend mercilessly.
"Korra! Are you serious?" The Avatar just laughed and continued her assault, Asami's attempts at escape futile, though she certainly gave it her all, nearly managing to throw the bender off of her. After struggling for a few minutes, Asami attempted a new tactic, running her fingers beneath Korra's tunic. The shorter woman groaned, her efforts hiccupping at the contact. Asami grinned wickedly, the only warning Korra received as pale fingers slid higher. Before she could half praise, half scold her, however, the young tycoon began her own assault, nimble fingers rendering the all power Avatar into a quivering giggling mess.
"Hey! You guys are supposed to be playing with the kids, not each other!" The end of Bolin's cry was followed by an "oof" as his wife's hand connected with his stomach. Opal came in smiling at the antics of her friends, swinging over the couch to plop down on top of the couple and join the mayhem. After several minutes of elbowing, shoving, more tickling and a final high pitched shriek from Bolin, who was still standing at the door in shock, of "Watch the books!" the trio on the couch untangled themselves from each other, sitting as primly on the couch as their previous activities allowed.
"Well, I guess we'll be going then." Korra stood, offering a hand for Asami to take as she rose from the couch.
"Thanks again guys. We really appreciate it."
"Anytime!"
"But not too soon." Korra and Asami kissed Bolin's cheeks as they passed him on their way out the door, throwing a finale wave to Opal. When he finally awakened from his daze, Bolin spoke nearly too quickly for Opal to understand him. She cursed all his time spent with Varrick as he rambled.
"Shouldn't we have asked them how the kids were? Did they drink lychee juice? Why were they digging through my books?" Bolin continued but Opal was already beginning to tune him out just enough for her to maintain her sanity as she herded him into the kitchen to fix him some much needed tea. "What time did they go to bed? What games did they play? Oh! Is that why the books were out? Did they read to them? I bet Asami read to them." The already exhausted airbender handed her husband a cup of tea. "Does it smell weird in here to you?"
"Bolin, calm down. I'm sure the kids were fine and had a wonderful time. Korra and Asami did not seem too freaked out." After some tea and a few more calming words, Bolin and Opal made their way to bed.
Hours later, the sun just beginning its ascent into the sky, Bolin wandered into the kitchen for his daily glass of juice.
"What happened to the pitcher?" Bolin frantically searched the kitchen, opening all of the cabinets. Opal, having trailed behind him, found her husband in this panicked state and sighed. She walked past the unfortunately typical morning freak out and fixed herself a cup of tea, the earthbender rushing around her. She opened her mouth to reassure Bolin for the third time that week that the pitcher was somewhere in the house, but as she glanced into the trash can, she thought better of speaking, a small smile pulling at her lips.
She silently thanked Korra and Asami, deciding that they were definitely going to be babysitting again.