She was poised to strike. With which element was unclear, but she was poised. From the set of the legs it was probably air or fire, though the arms and wrists suggested water. Asami narrowed her eyes as she assessed the situation and planned her strategy.
Asami, Mako, and Bolin had been sparring with the Avatar on a daily basis during their stay with the Southern Water Tribe. Asami's lack of bending lead Korra to "take it easy" on her the first time they sparred. The end result was a very surly, ego hurt Avatar and two laughing brothers. Now Korra sparred with Asami the most in her effort to "even the score." And after her experience with the chi-blockers, Korra could definitely use practice fighting nonbenders.
The striking pose certainly indicated fire. Airbending was much more effective with negative gin, though Korra did have a way of letting her headstrong, eager to fight personality seep into her bending strategies. Asami would not put it past her to attack with airbending more often than she would use it for redirection or retreat. And when did Korra ever retreat?
No,she thought, it's definitely… her smile.
She had decided this. There were at least 12 distinctly different "Korra smiles" she had counted so far. 12 different smiles, and each one absolutely perfect. Her cocky smile, her gentle grin, and her playful smirk were all equally charming on that strong, tanned face. And now her smile was changing from a confident challenge to a devious smirk, which Asami knew meant-
Definitely fire! With a swift fwoosh, the Avatar sent a swirl of twisting flames toward Asami's feet. The heiress bent her body backwards, sailing over the bout of flames and landing in a crouch a few feet back. Spirits! I should have been more ready for that.She had to focus on the fight or she'd never hear the end of it. Shaking her head, Asami returned her attention to her approaching opponent. She was leaning forward to continue her attack, all limbs indicating a fire/earth combination that was always her follow up trick. Asami knew how to counter this perfectly, as Korra always kept her earth and fire attacks on the same sides of her body. Asami made to roll under the anticipated fire attack and looked into the eyes of her attacker. She was still smiling, now with a wild joy brought on by her pride in bending. That was her 5th smile, and Asami's favorite so far… Each smile made Asami's stomach jump, trapping her gaze in those wild eyes.
Those eyes… Not her smile, it's her eyes.
Not that that mattered when Asami realized she mixed up which side the Avatar used for earth and firebending. While Asami meant to roll away from earth and under fire, she ended up rolling right into the rut resulting from Korra's subsequent rock shower aimed at her previous location. Not the worst faux pas in the world, but definitely one she'd pay for. She gathered herself up as quickly as she could, knowing the uneven ground would only disadvantage her. Before she could get out of the rough terrain, Korra had redirected herself and was headed to corner Asami in this unfortunate location. Earth, right. Uhm, Korra usually uses earth to, uhm, crap! Flustered as the heiress was, her knowledge of the Avatar's fighting style was escaping her. She did know that standing here waiting was a bad idea, but why-
That was why. When Korra got just close enough, she dug in her feet and erected half a dome around Asami, leaving only a small opening leading squarely to her. She smirked again and her eyes gleamed with pure confidence. She was close enough now that Asami could see every shade of Korra's shimmering, blue eyes. Nothing else in her world had ever been so brilliantly blue. It was like the entire ocean was trapped in those beautiful eyes. The entire ocean, and all 12 of those smiles. They were entirely perfect, and perfectly unpredictable.
Those eyes… Get it together, Asami! You're trapped! What to do, crap, what can I do…?She was trying not to panic, but she'd never been this defenseless during a fight before. There had been the occasional blushing, but never such intrusive thoughts. Crap, uhm, if I draw her in then she'll be more vulnerable to quick attacks!It was risky, but she had no other choice. Instead of rushing her like Korra wanted, she carefully repositioned herself in a waiting pose inside the dome. Korra hesitated, knowing the heiress would be easier to counter with open space.
"What's the matter, all powerful Avatar? Can't take a prissy nonbender on in such a small space? Or are you afraid your big head won't fit through the opening?" Goading the hotheaded Avatar was always a huge risk, but Asami couldn't risk losing focus again by waiting. Korra's confident smirk turned into a snarl as she threw herself at the heiress. In such tight quarters, the two warriors were in almost constant contact… A fact that soon became impossible for Asami to ignore. The small area heated up extremely quickly, especially for the frigid air of the South Pole. Korra threw her entire self into her attack, determined to grab a hold of the elusive nonbender. Asami dodged, flipped, and swirled out of Korra's grasp time and time again, flying around the Avatar like a buzzing fly in a silent room. Korra threw fire, earth, and finally water at the girl, but she was at a disadvantage in close quarters. Asami twisted around Korra's side and grabbed her wrist at the same time, pulling it behind her back and out of the fight. Korra's eyes widened in surprise and anger, then glinted with a surge of innovation. Asami had forgotten she was on uneven ground, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the Avatar. Korra threw her weight backwards into Asami, whose feet were not yet squared enough to balance on the rocky surface. Korra wrestled her wrist out of Asami's now lax grip and turned her body over in order to pin the nonbender in place. Asami looked up in surprise, shocked by Korra's show of creativity. Her befuddled gaze was caught and held prisoner by Korra's triumphant one. Just from looking into her eyes, Asami could tell exactly which smile was dancing across Korra's bold lips.
Oh spirits, it's her lips. They were parted partially, enough to show her triumphant smile and to allow her to pant from the exertion of close range combat. Her bottom lip was starting to crack, and a bead of sweat ran down her face and into the corner of her lips. Asami was overwhelmed by the urge to wipe the bead away and hold Korra's face in her hand, which caught her by surprise. She had acknowledged that she had been admiring Korra from afar, but she didn't realize she had the desire to act on those urges. And it definitely did not help that Korra was taking so long to let Asami up.
"Uhm, nice job, Korra. We're officially even, and you're definitely getting better." And more attractive, if that's even possible. Korra smiled and got up, offering Asami her hand. Asami took it nervously and stretched out her back once she was back on her feet.
"Same time tomorrow, Miss Sato. I believe I still need to be officially beating you before I'm satisfied." She winked in her playful, absolutely oblivious way and sauntered off towards the dining hall. Asami watched her walk away for a minute or two, perhaps a bit longer than she should have.
"Hey, Asami! What happened to Miss Badass-Mofo-Avatar-Butt-Kicker-Fighter-Woman?" Asami jumped as Bolin's booming voice shocked her out of her Avatar-induced reverie. "I was expecting it to be a bit closer from yesterday's awesome brawl, but you barely seemed to be trying until the very end!"
"Oh, uhm, I guess I just wasn't up to fighting today," shrugged Asami. Heading towards the large hut against the western wall of the Water Tribe village, Asami tore her gaze off of the now far off figure of the native woman and focused her energy on keeping her retreat as casual as possible. As she strode toward her dormitory, she heard the snow behind her crunch under Bolin's stocky body. This indication that her friend was not going to lunch with the others made Asami nervous; Bolin never passed a meal, especially when the kitchen specialty is seaweed noodles. Asami glanced back at Bolin and immediately noticed the teasing smile playing across his excitable face, which only worsened the feeling in her stomach. Either he wanted to keep teasing her about the match… or he noticed how I was looking at Korra. Oh no, please no. No no no no n-
"Hey, lover girl, wait up!" This one assertion from Bolin triggered the fight that was missing earlier, and Asami snapped before the last word completely escaped from his mouth. The heiress grabbed the earthbender's wrist and flipped him over her shoulder and into the snow. Asami didn't even realize how hard that one statement hit her until she looked down at her knee digging into her friend's chest and noticed her manicured hand curled into a fierce fist by her cheek. "WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, HEY!" Bolin's arms flew over his face, which was currently in a shocked grimace. Asami relaxed her grip on the boy and stood up quickly, trying to recover. She brushed the snow off her newly designed dual purpose snow/driving pants and turned away, letting Bolin pick himself up.
"Uhm, I didn't mean to.. Well…" Asami struggled in exasperation to make her reaction to his accusation less obvious. Crap, why the Hell did I do that?"Spirits, Bolin. You can't just- Ugh, you should've learned to watch what you say by now! I don't want to be seen as some vengeful, conniving exgirlfriend who sets out to ruin her ex's new relationship! The idea of that is ridiculous enough to me, and if you go yelling that throughout the village no one around here is going to understand at all!" Asami sighed explosively and covered the rest of the distance to her building in seconds. "I do not need to be made into an outcast again, Bolin. Think before you speak!"
Asami laid awake in her cot, staring at the frozen ice ceiling of her room. Her mind couldn't stop buzzing, mostly with useless questions and mundane observations. For whatever reason, wondering how a building made of solid ice managed to insulate enough heat to make living bearable was much more demanding than sleep, not to mention seemingly impossible in its nature. And if the room was warm enough to remain comfortable, why weren't the walls melting at all? That's entirely illogical. If I'm warm enough to sleep without a jacket on, there's no way it's cold enough to make being unconscious under a few tons of ceiling ice safe. The second I go to sleep, this whole room is coming down. That's just my luck, anyways. Asami sighed and turned over, squeezing her eyelids closed in an attempt to refocus her energies and quiet her mind. Only a few moments of this and she knew it was futile, so she sat up violently and swung her legs out of bed. If she just had to think, she could do so while stretching her legs. Pulling on her shoes and a long jacket, Asami headed out of the dorm. She didn't even bother changing out of her nightshirt; she wouldn't be up long.
The heiress strolled down the hallways and out into the courtyard, wanting some fresh air. While she would always be a city girl at heart, she had to admit she loved how fresh and clear the air of the South Pole was. She closed her eyes and took in a deep, crisp, calming breath to clear her mind. She stood there for a while in peace, until her feet reminded her that shoes appropriate for strolling in Republic City were not as efficient when walking through the snow of the South Pole. Water seeped into her rather expensive shoes and definitely put a damper on her new found serenity. Asami sighed and headed back inside, flinging the snow off her feet.
Asami continued her stroll aimlessly, touring the building for nearly an hour. When she became aware of her surroundings at last, she looked in the nearest room and her heart stopped. It was much too unsettling to even pretend it was coincidence, and Asami was much too logical for that. Apparently even her subconscious mind always ended up on the subject of Korra, as her unwitting feet had shown her. The underdressed girl leaned her head against the doorframe and smiled at the always oblivious form of the sleeping waterbender.
"You'll have to tell her eventually."
Asami jumped and spun around, nearly slamming into the doorframe with as much overwhelming force as her erratic heartbeat. "Oh my- wow, Bolin. You just- How long were you…?" She sighed and dropped her oh so heavy head into her palm. "How long have you known?"
"Ah, come on, Asami! Name one person around here who hasn'thad a crush on Korra," joked Bolin in response. He winked one of his soft, green eyes and threw his muscular arm around her shoulders. In just that split second of expression, Asami saw the flash of residual hurt left over from his attempt at romance with their favorite wild woman. Is that what my fate would be, in the nearly impossible scenario in which I had the courage to tell Korra? She turned her pained gaze to the sleeping Avatar, blissfully unaware of anything happening around her. Asami didn't have half the confidence Korra so easily bore. She tore her eyes from the waterbender and instead occupied herself with a particularly interesting knot in the wooden flooring.
"It would never work," whispered Asami, closing her eyes to prevent the sudden buildup of pressure behind her eyes from escaping. For a girl so tall and determined, she felt incredibly small and powerless. Bolin's wide, soft hands grasped her shoulders and turned her to face him directly. When she refused to open her eyes, one of Bolin's great hands found its way to her chin, lifting her face up out of the shadow and into the moonlight.
"Hey, pal, this isn't like you. If there's anything I've learned about you, it's that you never, ever, give up on what you want. You're one of the strongest people I know, especially after watching Mako go after Korra and, you know, all that with your dad. Your whole world was gone in a second, and you still held together for the rest of us. You're a fighter, and a pretty badass one at that!" At the end of Bolin's speech, Pabu poked his head around the corner of the hall and scuttled over to Bolin's feet. In a second, he climbed up Bolin's leg and ascended to his shoulders, watching Asami with his beady eyes. Asami smiled and looked at the quirky fire ferret, still avoiding Bolin's gaze.
"You know, it wasn't so hard knowing that Mako was drifting away. It hurt, yes, but honestly…" Asami fidgeted and shifted her gaze now to the ceiling. "I couldn't stop looking at Korra the whole time. At first I thought it was jealousy, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't be angry at her. She was always so oblivious and focused on Amon and-" Asami took a deep breath and looked down at her shoes again, noting the water damage now sinking in from her midnight stroll through the snow, before continuing. "- I got so angry at Mako. Whenever he looked at her or touched her… Bo, I was so pissed."
"Hold on there, Miss Sato. This is serious time." Bolin's tone was a strange mixture of serious and comical, as only he could achieve.
"We weren't serious before? This whole thing isn't a joke, Bo-"
"Asami, you love her?"
Asami let out a small chuckle and finally returned the gaze of her friend. "You know, Bo, crazy talk is coming out of your mouth right now." Bolin's face contorted into a barely contained mess of excitement, his shoulders squeezing into his chest and shaking as though he were about to explode. "Bolin, are you oka-"
"This. Is. So. Crazy. CUTE!" Bolin's excitement exploded in a less than quiet manner, his arms entirely engulfing the heiress in a bone-crushing bear hug that sent Pabu flying to the ground and sliding through the open door. "This is seriously the cutest, craziest, most adorablest thing ever!"
"Thanks, Bo, but-" Her response was cut off sharply as Bolin's hug ripped the air from her lungs for a moment. Suddenly, she heard a soft groan through the doorway from Korra's room. Bolin must have been much louder than he meant to be, and he wasn't regaining any reserve at the moment. "Bolin, bequiet!"Asami hissed as she heard Korra roll over again through the open door. Pabu recovered from his landing and made his way up further into the Avatar's room, out of sight. Both Bolin and Asami stood perfectly still until they heard the quiet question drift through the doorway to the lurking pair.
"Bo…?" Asami winced as she realized they had woken up their unwitting topic of conversation. She motioned Bolin to respond, but he had a look of frozen panic on his face that told Asami she was on her own. She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders back to loosen the tension built up in her body.
"Uhm, Kor-" she coughed at the attempted change in volume, having been whispering this whole time. "Hm. Korra? You awake?" Asami closed her eyes tightly and silently hoped the Avatar had already fallen asleep again. A few seconds passed, allowing Asami to relax. She pushed Bolin by the shoulder in mock revenge and made to tiptoe away.
"… Asami." Asami froze as she heard Korra's sheets rustle a bit, and she knew the Avatar was awake now. She sent a pleading look to Bolin, whose only response was to beam at the heiress and push her through the doorway with a thumbs up. Asami stumbled for a second, then turned to face Korra. Pabu had taken the liberty of licking the Avatar's face as she rubbed her eyes. Asami cleared her throat and searched for her confidence.
"Yes, Korra, it's me. I, uhm…" She looked over her shoulder at Bolin, who smiled warmly and nodded her forward. Asami steeled herself and locked her hesitant, green eyes with Korra's wild, blue ones. She watched the waves crash for a few seconds and felt them wash away her doubt. "Korra, we need to talk." Pabu jumped off the bed as Korra shifted her body to a sitting position. Asami's eyes never left the sleepy waterbender, even when Pabu circled her right boot lovingly before returning to Bolin as he crept away.
"Mm? Mkay, yeah. Uhm," the Avatar mumbled almost incoherently, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Korra was notoriously bad at waking up, especially in the middle of the night. A colossal yawn fought its way out of her mouth before she could speak again. "… just, uh, come sit over here." She patted the space next to her on her bed and fell back down in an ungraceful pile.
Asami couldn't help but smile at Korra's persistent and endearing lack of etiquette. But Korra's invitation, as simple and characteristically oblivious as it was, sent Asami's stomach into a mess of nervous knots. She took a deep, calming breath and crossed the distance between them with a few tentative steps. A few feet felt like the entire length of the South Pole itself. Asami sat herself on the edge of the bed and gathered her confidence, preparing herself to let this secret out.
"A-saami? You alrighhh?" Korra yawned again through her words, not even awake enough to finish her sentence. She turned towards the heiress and flopped her arms around her waist, as if to play throw her like one of their sparring sessions, but lacked the energy to move Asami even an inch. Asami's entire body tensed, trying completely in vain to ignore how Korra's right hand fell onto her thigh, not to mention how her left hand managed to brush the bit of open skin Asami's nightshirt left bare. "You might as well sleep here, it's so late…" She flopped back onto her bed and her face fell towards the window, away from Asami. Korra was fading fast, so it was now or never.
"Korra, I- I have to tell you this. I like you. Yeah, it probably sounds stupid and I know you probably don't feel the same for me, but it's just…" Asami was stammering and speaking far too quickly, but she couldn't stop herself. "Gosh, it's just that you are all I can think about. I can't help it. I try to focus on sparring and communications with Future Industries and helping Pema and Katara but every single time, no matter what I'm doing, your face and your smile, your eyes… your lips… I just can't think around you. I- Korra? You awake?" With the break in her rambling, Asami noticed that Korra was breathing much slower and not even partially reacting to her words. The Avatar was curled on her side with her back to Asami, and it seemed clear that she had drifted back to sleep. Asami let out a deep sigh and pulled off her boots before laying down next to the sleeping woman. If Korra was escaping through sleep, she'd make sure she listened in the morning. Asami turned towards Korra and, in a moment of boldness, slowly ran a hand through her waves of dark brown hair. As her fingers brushed the back of her neck, Asami breathed out a longing breath and whispered softly, "I love you, Korra." With one final look, Asami curled up next to Korra and closed her eyes to drift to sleep.
As the moonlight shone through the open window, reflected light danced in the wavering blue eyes of the very awake waterbender laying still in the night.