Disclaimer: Legend of Korra is not mine. Yes it is. No, stop it.
Warning: Imperfect grammar and chaos. Rated T because I like the letter T.
Summary: Korra fell in love with Naga at first sight. So did a certain Sato girl. They can't say the same thing for the polar-bear puppy, though. Modern AU in which Asami's mother is still alive, Hiroshi is perfectly content without a billon-dollar international company to manage, Tonraq and Senna drive everybody crazy with their shenanigans, and Asami and Korra get to live the perfect childhood they'd always dreamed of. Well, almost. Hilarity ensues. No bending.
It was so sudden- the desire for a pet. Granted, Korra was an only child, but she was coddled and fussed over and so very much loved by her parents. She was hardly lonely. On the contrary: family and friends surrounded her in a tightly knitted bunch, showering her everyday life with laughter and love. Most of her neighbours were willing to let her play with their pets, so she wasn't surprised when her parents were a little concerned when she demanded one for herself.
"Sweetie, we aren't against the idea, but what brought this on?"
Maybe it was when she saw Bolin cradling a ferret in his tiny hands- bloodied and hurt- before healing it and promptly announcing that he would be keeping it as his pet. Maybe it was the pretty girl that smiled at her when she walked past the new animal adoption shop in the newly renovated local mall- Republic City Mall.
Or when she saw the white puppy, all alone in this big, big world, snarling at her with the most frightened eyes she'd ever seen on a single being through the clear window of said shop.
All she could do was shrug her shoulders and avoid their concerned looks.
"I don't know."
Korra felt like her nerves were on fire as she nervously tiptoed and twisted the doorknob to the shop. The light ding-ling of the bell echoed throughout the store, signaling the arrival of a customer, as well as sending several dogs into a frenzy. She looked around, noting the homely atmosphere of the place and the different species of dogs. She kept an eye out for that girl with emerald eyes as well, feeling disappointed when she was nowhere to be found.
"Welcome to Sato's Dog Adoption!" A pretty young woman walked out from behind the counter with a smile. Korra silently noted her dark hair and green eyes.
'She must be her mom,' Korra thought.
"We're here to adopt a new family member. Our little one here's wanted one for weeks now. Threatened to 'run away' if we didn't," Tonraq said amusedly. Korra shot him a glare- well, as much of a glare as an eight-year old could muster.
"You didn't have to tell her that!"
The young woman laughed softly at the frown on Korra's face. "Well then, you've come to the right place. Most of the animals that we've taken in were either strays or those left to us by their owners," she bent down to Korra's level. "They were hurt by very bad people but they're all better now. So you have to promise me that you have to take really good care of whichever one you choose, okay?"
Korra nodded vigorously in response before giving her a thumbs up.
"Don't worry, I'll take awesome care of her!"
The young woman gave her a wink in return.
"Korra, why don't you go and explore? Dad and I will be here if you need us."
"Okay!" And with that being said, Korra waddled off with all the grace of a fired cannonball, her blue jacket almost falling off her shoulders in her quest for the perfect dog. Well, she already had one she wanted, but it wouldn't hurt to look at all the other dogs too. Senna and Tonraq watched their daughter dash off with smiles on their faces.
"What a cute girl." They turned their attention to the shop owner, who had taken to standing behind the counter again. "How old is she?"
"She's eight, but with all the sass of a teenager," Tonraq quipped. The shop owner laughed as Senna swatted her husband's arm playfully.
"I have a daughter myself. She 's nine. I bet they'd make wonderful friends."
"Sounds like a play date is in order."
"Indeed." Senna reached over to shake her hand with a warm smile.
"I'm Senna and this is Tonraq."
"I'm Yasuko. My husband, Hiroshi, isn't here right now, but my daughter's in the back." Yasuko turned and walked over to a door before peeking her head in and calling for her daughter.
Soft footsteps made themselves known to Senna and Tonraq before a head of dark tresses peeked out from the side of the counter and a young girl wearing a cute dress, around Korra's height, skipped over to stand in front of them.
"Hello, I'm Asami Sato. It's nice to meet you!" She bowed slightly and stretched out her hand in greeting. Tonraq cocked an eyebrow, impressed with her polite manners.
"How come Korra doesn't talk to me like that?"
"Oh, you are so precious!" Senna cooed as she bent down to shake Asami's hand. The nine-year old girl giggled and smiled back at them.
"Asami, why don't you go see how Korra's doing? She might need help choosing what she wants." Yasuko gestured in the direction Korra ran off to and the girl nodded back with an 'okay!' before walking off into the deeper parts of the store.
"You moved in recently right? I remember seeing you moving into the new house in the neighbourhood the other day. Our house is just a couple blocks down from yours. We're from the South."
"We're from the Fire Nation. We moved here because our good friend managed to snag a good deal for the house and my husband wanted to spend more quality time with his family in Republic City. Fire nation was pretty…" Yasuko struggled to find a suitable word. "Competitive. It wasn't an easy choice to make, but I think it was the right one."
"It sounds like you've been through a lot." Senna murmured sympathetically.
"It sounds worse than it is, actually. It just gets pretty lonely around here sometimes. I mean, Suyin's a great friend and all- she's like family to us- but it's just not the same and-" Yasuko stopped herself mid-sentence and lightly bopped her forehead with her palm. "I'm so sorry, I have the tendency to babble whenever I get the chance."
"You wouldn't be the only one," Tonraq muttered dryly, before he was left gasping for air as Senna elbowed him in the ribs. He shot her a withered dirty look that she responded with a deceptively delicate smile.
Senna turned her attention to the now slightly intimidated Yasuko. "Suyin? As in Suyin Beifong?"
Yasuko's eyes blinked in surprise. "That's her. You know her?"
"Know her? She's like family to us! We call her 'Su' for short. We always have her family over for dinner and vice versa."
"Really?"
"I'm surprised she's never mentioned us to you," Senna said. "Well, since you're practically Su's family, then you're ours too! We should meet up next week to do something fun. Oh this'll be so exciting!"
Yasuko was slightly taken aback by Senna's enthusiasm and looked over to Tonraq nervously, who had already recovered from the attack dished out to him by his wife. He gave her a pitiful look, mouthing, 'just go along with it'.
"Well, what did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking we could head down to the local paintball arena just a couple miles from here and play a couple rounds."
"You… play paintball?" Yasuko asked incredulously. Tonraq looked at his wife in equal disbelief.
"Wait, what?"
"Puh-lease, did you really think I was going to invite you over to look over recipes and bake cakes together?" Senna smirked. "Not that there's anything wrong about that. If you want to, we can do that. I don't mind either way!"
"No, no, paintball sounds great to me. I just… didn't take peg you to have those kind of interests." Yasuko said.
"Wait, what?"
"Never judge a book by its cover. I might not look like it, but I'm not your average housewife. Other than paintball, I also happen to skateboard and surf regularly." Tonraq's face turned pale. "Well, I used to before Korra was born. I've had to tone it down since then, so I might be a little rusty."
Tonraq crumpled to his knees, eyes wide in sheer incredulity of what his wife had casually mentioned. He looked up at her with teary ice blue eyes, and in a voice that mirrored his shattered soul, he said:
"Who are you and what have you done to my Senna?"
"There he goes again…" Senna could only pinch her nose bridge in frustration as her husband slumped to the floor, muttering brokenly. Yasuko, on the other hand, had to control the peals of laughter that were trying to escape her mouth. Only one thing came to her mind at that moment.
With these two around, things were going to be a lot more interesting.
Korra waltzed around the store, looking around curiously, stopping in front of several cages and occasionally glancing around in search of the pretty girl before finally getting bored and dashing off to where she'd seen the white puppy just several weeks ago.
A small bundle of white fur lay crouched in the corner, teeth bared, ears flattened and fur standing up on end at the presence of an 'intruder'. It was far away from its brothers and sisters that had rushed to where Korra was- at the front of the cage- but Korra couldn't care less about the excited mess of puppies practically slobbering at her feet.
She only had eyes for one.
"Hey there, girl," she whispered to the white puppy. A low menacing growl emanated from its throat. Its irises were almost like a snake's- intimidating and dangerous- and its claws looked sharp. "It's okay, I won't hurt you. I'm not like those bad people."
No response other than another deep growl and tensed muscles. She huffed in frustration. How was she supposed to help it if it didn't even like her?
"Hi there," Korra almost jumped in surprise at the sudden presence of another and whirled around, only to find herself staring back into captivating green eyes and an all-too-familiar smile. "You're Korra, right?"
It was her!
"Yeah." She replied after a short pause, suddenly forgetting her own name as she felt her heart rate pick up at the girl's lovely smile. "What's your name?" she asked, looking down in an almost uncharacteristically shy manner to avoid piercing green eyes.
"Asami." Korra glanced up to see an outstretched hand and an expectant look on Asami's face. After a few seconds of Korra just standing there, Asami wiggled her fingers and laughed. "Come on, you do know how to shake hands right?"
Korra hesitantly extended her own hand and linked it with Asami's.
And the world stopped.
An electric jolt ran through Korra's entire body as skin met skin. Her wide eyes met Asami's, and her heart almost leapt when she found them as wide as hers, if not more, and her mouth hanging open slightly. It was almost impossible for Korra to tear her gaze or her own hand from the emerald-eyed girl, partially because of her own reluctance to do so but also because Asami's grip was so very tight.
A particularly loud bark snapped both of them out from their trances and both yanked their hands back as though the contact burned. Korra was confused. She was a girl. Asami was a girl. So why was she her heart beating so fast when they only just touched each other's hands? Girls weren't supposed to feel like this for other girls, right?
"So, um, have you chosen one yet?" Asami asked quietly, her voice wavering slightly, breaking Korra from her thoughts. She was clutching her hand close to her chest.
"What?" Korra murmured mindlessly, still reeling from the rush of emotions going through her.
She laughed and the tension and awkwardness from before instantly dissipated. Korra blushed at the sound. "A dog, silly!" Asami scooted over next to Korra and looked over all the puppies in the cage. "That's what you came here for right?"
"Oh, yeah," Korra looked at the one she wanted, still as alert and as isolated from the rest. "That white one over there," she pointed to it. "That's the one I want." It snarled ferociously again, almost surprising her with its intensity.
"Really?" Asami sounded surprised. Korra looked up at her and nodded determinedly.
"I saw her when my mom and dad took me to the mall to look around. She looked at me like she wanted to tear me apart," Korra laughed. "But at the same time she looked so lonely and… scared. I felt like I wanted to save her. It's hard to explain."
Asami slowly shook her head. "I know what you mean. I'm so happy you think that way. We found her on the roadside when we moved here. We healed her and made her all better, but we had to give her a lot of sleeping medicine for us to do it. If we didn't, she'd try to bite and scratch us. She doesn't even like my mom."
Korra gave her a strange look. "What?"
"My mom has this special magic thing with most of the animals we take care of." Asami rolled her eyes. "I know it sounds crazy but it's true. Well, except for Naga." She looked at Naga sadly. "That's what I call her."
Korra ran through the name through her mind several times. It sounded perfect.
"It's perfect."
Asami flipped her hair over her shoulder and puffed her chest out proudly. "I was the one who came up with it. It actually means 'dragon' in Malay," she leaned in to whisper conspiratorially into Korra's ear, "Don't tell my mom or dad, but she's my favourite."
"She is?"
"Yup. She's all tough and scary on the outside, but I'm sure she's just the cutest thing on the inside," Asami sighed. "I just wish she wasn't so scared of me. I'd love to cuddle and play with her."
A light bulb clicked in Korra's head.
"I could do it, y'know?" Asami looked at her. "Like, make her all nice and friendly again. Then I could bring her over to your house so that we could to play with her together." Korra flashed her pearly whites and Asami couldn't stop the warmth from spreading across her cheeks before grinning back.
"That sounds perfect!"
"Uh, mom?"
"Korra! I see you've met Asami."
"Uh huh," grinned Korra before raising an eyebrow. "…What's dad doing?"
Senna waved off the question with a casual flick of her wrist, having chosen to simply ignore the silent block of her husband rocking quietly against the wall.
"He's going through some grown-up stuff. Don't worry about it; he's going to be fine."
Korra shared an uneasy look with Asami, who had taken to skipping towards Yasuko and standing beside her.
"Okay, but-"
"Korra!" Tonraq suddenly scrambled to his feet and seized his daughter by her shoulders, eliciting a strangled yelp from the poor girl. "Do you remember your mom taking you to strange places when you were younger?"
"'Strange places? What do you mean strange places?"
"Like the hooligan's hangout? The Landless depths of doom? Or the Death Arena?" Korra's nose scrunched up.
"The what now?"
"Tonraq, you're not making any sense." Senna calmly stated.
"But-"
"Korra was simply too young at the time. Of course she wouldn't remember."
"But still-"
"Did dad find out about those times you took me skateboarding?" piped Korra.
Both heads whipped around to stare at their daughter who had landed safely on the ground, having escaped her father's hold on her.
"You remember?" Senna asked, shocked.
"Of course, you brought me there lotsa times." Korra's baby blue eyes sparkled in excitement. "You shoulda seen her, dad! Mom's so good! She can do lots of crazy things in the air and she went so fast- like ZOOM! It was so cool! It was like she was flying!"
Senna grinned playfully.
"Do you want to go again?"
"HECK YEAH!" Korra roared, resulting in several dogs barking in tandem with the noisy group. Meanwhile, Yasuko and Asami could only stare at their new friends.
"Mommy?" Asami lightly pulled on her mother's long skirt.
"Hmm?" Yasuko looked at her daughter.
"I like them. They're really nice." Asami's gaze drifted to Korra spontaneously seating herself on her father's back, who had started weeping real Jesus tears, and demanded 'the horsey' to 'start moving already'. "And Korra's really funny too. I want to be her friend."
"Would you like to have a play date with her?" Yasuko asked, chuckling when Asami looked at her in reverence before squealing and hugging her in happiness.
"Yes!" Their embrace was broken after several seconds by the ramblings of the chaotic family still struggling on the floor.
"SHEESH GIDDY UP ALREADY!"
"Senna, help me," Tonraq wheezed as Korra jumped on his back again. "I-I don't think I'm going to make it-"
"Oh, woman up already. Korra, have you found a dog that you'd like to take home?"
Korra leapt off her father's back, Senna having successfully distracted her from almost permanently stopping her father's ability to stand up straight.
"Mmhmm! Naga's- that's what I named her- pretty mean and scary, but I like her a lot! Asami said that she's just a big ol' softie on the inside. I just have to super nice to her and she'll like me back!"
Yasuko looked slightly shaken. "Naga? As in the white polar bear puppy? That Naga?"
"It's okay, mom. Korra promised to take care of her and treat her good. She'll even bring Naga over for us to play with together once she's all friendly and nice again!" Asami said.
"Is there something wrong with this 'Naga'?" Senna asked cautiously. Tonraq stood up, a concerned look on his face as well.
"No, no, there's nothing wrong with her," Yasuko waved away their concerns. "She's just a little temperamental. And a little violent." She grinned sheepishly, mentally berating herself on her choice of words.
Tonraq crouched to Korra's height. "Are you sure you want Naga? She seems pretty scary to me."
"I'm not gonna change my mind. I'll take only Naga. No one else." Korra crossed her arms and stood her ground.
"You are as stubborn as your father, you know that?" Senna ignored her husband's spluttering and crouched down next to him, holding Korra's small hand in her own. "Sweetie, we just don't want to see you get hurt."
"I know, I know, but I want to help her." Senna and Tonraq looked at her imploringly. "She looked so lonely and scared and our house's super loud and fun all the time. I just think she'll like being there with me. She'll want to be part of our family."
Both parents couldn't help but smile at their little girl.
"I just don't want her to be alone anymore."
"We understand. We'll take her." Tonraq affectionately ruffled Korra's hair and turned towards the counter where Yasuko and Asami were watching the heartfelt moment between parent and child. "Where do we sign?"
"I'm sorry, you'll have to wait till my husband gets back. He'll be back by tonight. Naga's a special case and we never really thought someone would take a liking to her. He has the necessary paperwork needed to officially adopt her." Yasuko bowed apologetically. "I really am sorry for the inconvenience."
"It's fine. We can come over tomorrow. Whadaya say, munchkin? That okay with you?" Tonraq asked.
Korra could only grin widely at Asami's hopeful face.
"Course I'm okay with it! This way I'll get to play with Asami and all the other puppies tomorrow too!" Her grin grew wider when a light pink dusted over Asami's cheeks.
"We should be getting home, then. It was wonderful meeting you, Yasuko." Senna shook her hand before waggling her eyebrows. "I am going to destroy you at paintball."
"Likewise." Both women laughed as Tonraq blanched at the prospect oftwo badass women in the neighbourhood. They were going to slaughter him.
His attention then moved to his daughter, who was talking animatedly with Asami. Both had large smiles on their faces and Asami laughed at something that Korra had said. His lips crept in a knowing smirk as he caught sight of their interaction and the subtle red hue on his daughter's face.
'Interesting.' Tonraq silently noted and filed that information away for a later date.
"Bye!" Korra waved to Asami in wide arcs as they walked out of the store and Asami waved back as enthusiastically.
"Bye Korra! See you soon!"
Both Senna and Yasuko looked at her daughters with knowing looks.
Korra stood in between her parents as they walked through the mall and to the car, holding their hands and laughing at her father's jokes.
"Korra, we are so proud of you. You wanted Naga not because she was tiny or cute or because of how she looked, but because you wanted to help her." Senna smiled down at Korra. "You'll make a great pet owner, I'm sure of it."
"Your mother's right," Tonraq started. Korra looked up at him with her innocent baby blue orbs and he felt his heart constrict in love. "Helping someone or something because it's the right thing to do and not because it'll make you look good is what determines the kind of person you will be and the kind of friends you'll make in the future."
Korra squeezed her parents' hands with a content grin and the trio walked in satisfied silence.
Before Korra dropped another proverbial bomb on her poor father.
"Mom, did you tell Dad that you brought me surfing too?"
"WHAT?"
"Korra, please have some tact the next time you talk." Senna sighed.
"What's tact? Is it chocolate? Can I eat it?"
"Senna, you brought her surfing? When she was a BABY?"
"No, you can't eat it. Tact is carefully thinking about you're going to say before you actually say it, in a way. And she wasn't a baby; she was four years old! That's hardly baby age."
"Oh…"
"FOUR YEARS OLD."
"She's our daughter. She handled it like a pro. I wouldn't be surprised if she does go pro in a couple of years."
"Can we buy some chocolate? Talking about it made me want some."
"No daughter of mine's going to battle sharks and outsurf tidal waves. Or attract boys while doing them."
"Stop exaggerating. You make it sound like she's going to be some water gladiator fighting wars out in the sea."
"I really want chocolate."
"Honestly, how the spirits did I not notice ANY of this?"
"You were really swamped with so many things at the time. Even If I had taken Korra skydiving and walked around the house naked afterwards, you still wouldn't have noticed."
"CHOCOLATE!"
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
"Did you not hear the 'if'? I'm pretty sure I emphasized 'if'."
"FEED ME, HUMANS!"
"Korra, promise me you'll never leave me even when you grow old and lose your hair and all your teeth."
"Oh my god."
"EW DAD WHAT I DON'T WANT TO LOSE MY TEETH OR MY HAIR!"
"PROMISE ME."
Senna rolled her eyes and groaned at the chaotic but lovable mess that was her family.
"You two are so lucky I love you enough to tolerate your nonsense."
Pulling on the jacket sleeves of the bickering father and daughter, she dragged them to the car and started the engine.
Author's note:
This is going to be very light-hearted. No drama or angst, or at least very little of it. Tonraq and Senna play major roles because Dorky/Overprotective/UnnecessarilyDramatic!Tonraq and Badass/Sassy/VoiceofReason!Senna are my aesthetic.
Also, if you haven't noticed, Asami's mother is still alive and she will be. I'll make sure of that. Hopefully. If there are inconsistencies in this chapter and in future chapters, let me know.
Updates won't be very consistent because it's hard for me to be very committed to this story. This is going to be a 'oh I have spare time, well then better update that LOK story I wrote centuries ago' kinda thing because I'm really paranoid whenever I write and I constantly tweak every single thing and that in itself is not healthy for my everyday life.
Leave a review to praise or critic or complain about shit because I'd feel really motivated to update if I see people letting me know what they think.
And yes, their shop's name 'Sato's Dog Adoption' is cheesy as hell and so 2D that The Roadrunner couldn't run through it so suggestions would be much appreciated. I'm not sure the name even makes sense.