disclaimer: I own nothing from the lok/atla universe.

AN: hi readers! this is my first attempt writing a full length story of a pairing that i simply adore. the plot mainly follows the storyline of the korra finale except rewritten to include my own headcannons. the romance doesn't develop until later on in chapter 5 and onwards. thank you for reading and commenting and favoriting. enjoy!

Chapter 1

I wish you didn't have to see me like this.

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Streaks of tousled hair clung to her face and her lips (her lip gloss sure was annoying during times like these) with wet droplets sliding down her sticky forehead, only further highlighting the significant effort she put in to fight. The midday air was chilly and loud with booming explosions and desperate calls of camaraderie for help or trouble but for her, all she could feel was the sweat in her left palm slipped underneath the Equalist glove and on her back, black cloth sticking to her skin. How long will it take, she thought, before this is all over? A quick glance upwards and Asami could see the sun high up in the air, though mostly covered by clouds; it had only been a couple hours since the war commenced, much less time than Asami originally thought.

"There are too many Equalists," she grumbled as she looked ahead in the horizon: Equalists gathering up in front of the warehouses, some flying off in airplanes to attack the fleet of the United Forces, and the rest slaving away to Amon and Lieutenant's orders. Asami was usually not one to complain but the last remnants of hope for the war were carried by her comrades General Iroh and Bolin and also Mako and Korra somewhere off facing Amon – and she held on tightly to this glimmer of hope for it was all that she had left.

"So what's our plan of attack?" Bolin, standing in the back, placed a hand on General Iroh's shoulder.

Iroh shrugged Bolin's hand off and pointed to the nearby airbase. "Our plan is that we are marching in and destroying all the airplanes we can to prevent the Equalists from reaching Commander Bumi's fleet. The United Forces are not prepared to deal with the new high speed aircraft. We don't want to risk anything."

"So basically there is no special plan?"

"Sounds great," Asami nodded impassively, the fake enthusiasm in her voice very apparent but she still gave Iroh a courteous smile and she walked towards the airbase with him following closely behind.

The truth was that being closer to the airbase only meant one thing to her. Asami let out a small exasperated sigh; it's time to face my father. Her green eyes glinted with determination but all of that was overcast by the question of doubt in her mind. She didn't want to defeat the Equalists and confront her father Hiroshi Sato who had betrayed her in blind vengeance for her mother's death. No, no, of course she did. She wanted to. She had to. But she was scared. In fact, she was terrified. The last confrontation (when she found out the truth) left her promising herself that she never ever ever wanted to see her own father like that again. The intense look in his eyes that day never brought any fulfilling resolution to the question why?

Behind, Bolin turned behind to face Naga, the polar bear dog. "Stay here," he ordered the pet, and motioned again for her to sit down when Naga moved forward to follow him. "Stay . . . Good girl!" When the polar bear dog finally obeyed him, Bolin trailed off in the same direction Asami and Iroh headed.

"Hm. Weird." Asami narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the surrounding area right outside the barriers to the Equalist airbase. "I would have thought that my dad would put an electrical fence around to keep intruders out. I guess not." She searched around for any fence posts but there were none. A few seconds later, she let out a small sigh of relief. "For a moment, I thought we really would have been electrocuted . . ."

"Please stay alert, Miss Sato."

"General Iroh, you can call me Asami, and I am alert – OOF!" The first attack by the Equalists caught Asami by surprise. Her father had taught her self-defense and some fighting moves when she was younger; although her father certainly did not intend Asami to use her fighting skills for this purpose, Asami secretly thanked her father under her breath. Despite being a nonbender, Asami still proved herself a worthy opponent.

Several minutes passed by as the fighting ensued.

"Get help! Get help!" the Equalist subordinate screamed at the top of his lungs to the others behind him. Suddenly a massive sea of men and women appeared wearing the same black uniforms, their faces hidden by the masks.

Asami glimpsed sideways at the other two. Iroh and Bolin were firebending and earthbending somewhere nearby trying to take out as many Equalists as they could; she could see both fire and rock being hurled around violently. Turning her head away, she pivoted to stand face to face with the enemy and readied herself in her fighting stance, knees bent at shoulder's length apart with her right leg rested slightly in front of her left. When the enemy plunged towards her, Asami ducked, dodging the dropkick aimed at her face and instantly reciprocated the attack. Using the Equalist glove that she wore, she took a firm grasp at the Equalist's wrist and electrocuted him.

Light green eyes dropped down to her glove. "Ironic how useful this has been in fighting against you guys," she murmured, clenching her fingers together, and the tips of her mouth ever so slightly curled upwards at the thought of the power she held.

Bolin squinted, thick brown brows drew together. "There's just too many of them! I don't know how much longer we can hold them off, much less get to the planes." Boulder after boulder he threw, but after each rock there always seemed to be an Equalist to replace the one knocked down.

"Just keep fighting," Iroh coolly replied. His smooth voice commanded confidence but a quick exchange of looks with Bolin showed that he was as uncertain as the earthbender was. Iroh turned the other way, his eyes widening in shock. "Asami! Watch out!" He cursed violently and leapt for her. Strong arms punched the air, shooting wild flames out.

Combat with the Equalists proved to be difficult. Chi-blockers were tricky to deal with; they couldn't get too close to the chi-blockers since the risk of being temporarily paralyzed was too great, yet these chi-blockers were always approaching and trying to invade personal space. And being electrocuted just plain hurt.

Iroh scrambled in front of Asami but there was no hope anymore. They were surrounded and in defeat, gave each other pitying looks.

"You should just surrender yourselves," the Equalist nearest to them sneered, his voice ringing with bitterness. A few of them in the back chided similar comments.

"Amon is going to destroy you benders!"

"Hey, hey, now!" Asami scowled. She jerked away from Iroh and stomped up to face the Equalist, hands clenching furiously into fists. "I'm not even a bender. Amon can't unbend me because I'm not a bender!"

The Equalist stared blankly at her, completely disregarding her statement. "I'm sure Mr. Sato, your father, will be pleased to see you."

"Asami, I don't think now is the time for this." Iroh reached for her wrists and pulled her back gently.

She glared darkly at the Equalist, gritting her teeth. "Don't even mention – AHH!" The immense impact of the sudden electric shock left her paralyzed, sending chills straight up her spine and sharp bolting pain all over her limp body. Immediately, she collapsed to the ground.

"Asami!" Within a second, Iroh's face twisted into despair, cautiously eyeing the electrified kali sticks in front of him. In a desperate attempt to evade capture, he shot out more flames with his hands but there was no use. He didn't even have enough time to reach down to lift Asami up. He met the same fate Asami had.

Collapse.

Ugh. The pain from the shock was overwhelming; she had to struggle with even an action as insignificant as opening her eyes. Everything was so . . . so blurry and disoriented.

Flickers of sunlight. Black masks. White snow and the scent of evergreen trees.

Focus, she told herself and the word rang through her head like the chime of an old bell. She could feel the rough patches of the ground, some pebbles here and there, and the jagged discomfort of ropes tied too tightly around her wrists as the Equalists dragged her and unconscious General Iroh away. She could hear the soft slight buzzing of the airplanes distantly flying off for Republic City and the low chatter of Equalists discussing what to do with the two prisoners.

A large growl distracted Asami. Naga! From afar, she could somewhat make out the obscure faces of Naga, Bolin, and perhaps even little fire ferret Pabu. Thankfully, Bolin was safe and had managed to escape. She had wondered what happened to him. Bolin waved at her, yelling, "I'll come back for you!" before riding away on Naga's back, his voice echoing through the mountains.

Asami turned her head. Slightly startled by the closeness of Iroh's face, she noted how handsome he looked and how peaceful he seemed. It was the first time she realized just how attractive he was. She admired him for some time, but good thing he was unconscious because she'd feel so embarrassed if she were ever caught staring at his face. She definitely would not let that happen and shook away the thought.

She tossed her head back and closed her eyes.

Only the thoughts of confronting her father remained. Her heart was racing. Her breathing cut into short, abrupt breaths. Every inch of her body tingled with fear, the hair on her skin prickled with apprehension, and her stomach twisted into tight knots that could never be undone.