Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra belong to Bryke and Nickelodeon.
Korra awoke, finding herself bound and muzzled. She thrashed and shouted, unable to perform even the simplest movement. The contraption in which she was imprisoned held her upright, her back strapped tightly to cold, unforgiving metal. Her eyes alighted on her cellmate. Asami was across the room chained to the wall, her head hanging and her face bruised.
"Asami! The Red Lotus! Where are they taking us?" The raven-haired teen lifted her head, her eyes glazed with obvious pain and confusion.
"Red Lotus? We were taken…" She swallowed thickly, working around what must have been a painful knot in her throat. "by the Earth Queen."
"The Earth Queen?! Where are the guys?"
"Who? What guys?" Asami's brow furrowed in confusion as she attempted to focus her eyes.
"Bolin and Mako! Asami, what did they do to you?" Korra began struggling against her restraints, a horrible weight forming in her stomach.
"My head feels…weird. Why…why were we captured? What did we do?" The Avatar froze, her form pressing against her personal prison. She swallowed audibly, her breathing beginning to pick up.
"The Earth Queen hates us remember?"
"Why would she hate me? I've never met her. This is ridiculous. I should be back in Republic City. I'm sure my dad will have me out soon though." Korra collapsed as much as she could against the metal behind her, the slack in her restraints being miniscule.
"Do you know who I am?" Asami's face screwed up concentration before she gave an almost sheepish look. The waterbender took a shaky breath. "I'm Korra. The Avatar. Your girlfriend."
"What? I'm dating the Avatar?" Korra wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry as the heiress leaned as much as her chains would allow, checking her out. "I doubt my dad is happy about that." The muzzled teen banged her head in frustration and anger. They had hurt her; They had messed with Asami's mind.
"He doesn't know."
"How'd we manage that?" The Avatar couldn't help but to slightly enjoy the fact that she said "we" despite her obvious confusion.
"He's in prison. Your father aided in an attempt to take over the city. He was part of a movement-"
"NO! That's not true! My father isn't a criminal!" Asami began thrashing violently against her chains, blood dripping down her wrists. "You're lying! None of this is true!" Korra remained silent as the taller teen continued to fight against her bonds, a mental struggle evident on her features as well. Tears began falling from the heiress' eyes, torturing the teen who ached to comfort her. "Why…why can't I remember anything?"
"I'm assuming you were trying to take me to safety when you were captured. Either you hit your head very hard or it was the Dai Li. Brainwashing is kind of their thing."
"I…I just…there's nothing. Everything is black before now. If you're not lying to me and my mind isn't tricking me…I'm missing months." She had calmed some. Korra hated the defeat that was prevalent in her green eyes. "How long have we been dating?" The question came hesitantly. The waterbender could tell that she was hoping it was true, that she could believe.
"A few months. We've been friends longer than that though."
"And what did my dad do to…get arrested?"
"That's a long story, Asami."
"Well, I don't think we're going anywhere anytime soon." After she received silence from the Avatar, she pressed on, latching on to what had given her the most hope. "Do you love me?" The suddenness of the question jolted Korra, causing her to hit her head rather hard. The hesitance in her words, hesitance for the wrong reason, sent ice down her spine.
"Yes."
"Do…I love you?" Korra took a shaky breath.
"You've told me you do." Asami fidgeted with her shackles, blood continuing to drip around her wrist and to the floor. Silence reigned for several minutes.
"So we're on the run from the Earth Queen?"
"Not quite."
"I'm missing a lot aren't I?" Korra gave somewhat hysterical laugh.
"Quite a lot. For a normal person it'd be too much but for what we've gone through, there's not a word to cover what's happened and how much you've forgotten."
"Do you think it'll come back?"
"I don't know. I certainly hope so."
"Because you love me."
"You seem pretty pleased about that." Korra managed a smile at the flushing teen, not that she could see it through the material covering her face. "Have you overheard where they're taking us?"
"Yes. We're being taken to Ba Sing Se. That's why I knew we had been taken by the Earth Queen. I heard the guards talking about it. There had been…some sort of fight. I kind of got the impression that someone else had captured us and the Earth Queen's forces had taken us from them. I see…flashes of it here and there. You were unconscious the entire time, I know that. I…was carrying you on some sort of dog." Korra perked up, pressing against her restraints.
"Naga! My polar bear dog. Have they said anything about her? Did they take her?" Asami looked down, unable to look the excited Avatar in the eyes.
"I don't know. I didn't hear anything." Korra sighed, resting back against the metal. Aches were beginning to set in. She figured the upright position was meant to keep her from getting any rest or semblance of comfort. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault."
"I wish I could remember. I wish I could remember you." The Avatar took a deep breath. It wavered on the way out as she fought back tears.
"Me too." Chains rattling and slight movements were the only sounds.
"It's weird. They said we're on our way to Ba Sing Se, but I don't feel us moving."
"You're right." Korra quickly became lost in thought as Asami hung her head in what the Avatar assumed was an attempt at rest. She found it rather funny in a heartbreaking way that she had just been in the mecca of metalbending and now was rolling toward her death in a metal cage, on the road where Toph had discovered metalbending. She had had flashes earlier in what she assumed was the same day, there was no way to tell time in the cage, of her past, the Avatar's past. She had been Aang for a few moments, surrounded by his friends. These instances happened sometimes and she wondered still if she was actually alone or if her past lives were still with her, somewhere.
"Korra?" The Avatar jerked in her specialized prison, brought out of thought as she looked at who she hoped would be her girlfriend again. "How did we meet?" She had half a mind to remain silent as she had earlier but there was something in Asami's eyes, something that pulled the words out of her mouth.
"It's not the real beginning of what you've lost, but it's our beginning." The damaged teen's eyes lit up as she turned as much as she could to face Korra. "We met at a gala…"