Still got exams to pass, still got Korra in my head, what am I going to do? I know that maybe this kind of story probably wouldn't happen like this in reality but I'm too tired/lazy to try and make it more realistic. Hey ho. Anyways, read and enjoy as usual.
Miss Buch xx
When your love is pouring like the rain,
I close my eyes and it's gone again,
When will I get the chance to say I love you?
Gotta Get Thu This, Daniel Bedingfield
"Jinora! I can't believe you told them!" Korra jumped up, almost knocking over the table.
"Hey, don't have a go at her just because you're so messed up!" Mako stood up too.
"What?!" Korra took a step back in surprise.
"I mean, maybe we can fix you!" Her eyes went wide as her hands shook by her sides.
"Tenzin, get the kids out of here, I'm going to curse the temple down." She said darkly. Tenzin all but grabbed Meelo by the head and ushered his daughters out of the dining area. Korra was the type that when irritated, tended to swear a lot, and Mako had just majorly upset her, and he wanted to keep his children innocent for a long as possible. "I thought that you of all fucking people would support me and Asami in this! I'm gay, and all I wanted was support from you lot, because spirits know how the city is going to react to this, and you just fucking threw it back in my face! I'm confused and stuck, because just like you, I thought there was something wrong with me. But now I know better than that. And after all we've been through, this is the thing you can't accept about me and needs fixing? How many times have we saved each other's lives, saved the bloody world and got hurt and broken everywhere in between? I'm fucking gay Mako! When you told me you were thief and I never hated you for it. Or when you killed Ming-Hua! I always accepted you, why the hell can't you do the same for me and Asami? What happened to always having my back, not matter how fucked up things get?!" Tears were spilling onto her face now as the island started to rumble beneath them. Down the corridor, Tenzin was on the radio to Asami, telling her to take a speed boat out to the island because he was worried it was going to sink soon and the ferry wasn't quick enough. Bolin stood up.
"Korra, please." The Avatar turned to him quickly. "He doesn't mean it like that."
"Well how does he mean it then?! Because it sounds like I'm a poorly trained polar-dog that needs to be fixed!"
"It's just not natural!" Mako shouted back. "Girls aren't supposed to like girls! It's disgusting!"
"Says who?!"
"That's just the way things are!"
"Are you fucking kidding me?! I opened the spirit portals and changed the whole world, but as soon as I am in a relationship with someone of the same gender, that's too far against the norm for you?" The shaking was getting worse now, and the tea on the table was starting to slosh around inside the cups. Bolin was looking nervous – he knew the incredible amount of power that Korra had, and she may well send them all sky high if she really wanted. "Do you agree with him Bo?" Her eyes suddenly looked hopeful, praying that he wasn't the same as his brother.
"Well-I…I-mean-"
"Did you just fucking stutter?!" Korra was this close to becoming emotionally unstable enough to burn their faces off but instead ran out, straight through the doors of the temple and into the back gardens.
Asami arrived around fifteen minutes later, frowning at the repeated minor earthquakes she could feel running through the ground. She jogged up the house to be met by Naga, who licked her face with a surprisingly dry tongue. "Hey Girl, do you know where Korra is?" The polarbear-dog tilted her head at her and then lifted her nose to point towards the other side of the island. Asami gave her a pat on the head in thanks and walked into the temple. Tenzin came around the corner, almost walking into her.
"Asami, you're here."
"What happened?" At that point Bolin and Mako had also reappeared from the dining room. Their faces gave her enough of an explanation. Bolin was looking all disappointed and miserable, and Mako tried to stand tall and look confident, but his eyes wouldn't meet hers.
"What the hell did you do?!" She asked them – those were their guilty looks, and she knew them by heart. Bolin looked at his feet, but Mako felt the need to say something.
"You two – you just aren't right" He muttered. Now Asami was a smart woman, and as soon as he said that, she knew exactly what he was talking about. When she and Korra had arrived back from the Sprit world, Jinora had greeted them to take them to their respective homes. Asami had needed to go and meet Varrick, who she had left in control of her company (perhaps against her better judgement) with Zhu-Li second in command to stop him from destroying the city. The meeting had lasted several hours, as she demanded to be brought up to speed on everything he had done, where her money had gone, what they had saved etc. However, Jinora had known exactly what was going on between them and had guessed immediately. The two women had asked her to keep it quiet until they were ready to tell everyone. Of course Jinora had told her parents, who had been overheard discussing it by Ikki, who had of course, told Bolin and Mako. Asami narrowed her eyes for a second at him.
"What did you say to Korra? And where is she?"
"She's out back." Said Tenzin. Asami didn't care that she didn't have the answer to her previous question, she just dropped her bag and ran across the wooden floors of the temple, reached the other end and almost tripped down the steps outside. She turned to see Korra beating the crap out of the strongest tree on the island, hence the minor earthquakes she had felt earlier. At least she wasn't bending. That would have taken half the temple down. No. Instead she was slamming her fists and occasionally launching a kick into the tree. Asami could see that she had broken the skin on the knuckles of both hands as one of her arms shot around to collide into the trunk with a dull thud. There were splinters of wood caught in her skin and clothes, and sweat dripping from her hair. There were tears on her face too and that was what made Asami's heart break. She made her way over and gently slid her arms around Korra's waist, dropping her head onto her shoulder.
"Stop now sweetheart. Please." The Avatar froze and then relaxed when she realised who it was. She was still shaking, perhaps through adrenaline or anger, she didn't know. "Breathe for me Korra." She tried hard to control herself, but she was so hurt by what Mako had said and she didn't know what to do.
"I can't believe he would say those things." She muttered angrily. Korra hadn't noticed the pain in her hands yet, and looked down when she felt something sticky running over her fingers.
"I know. And there is going to be a media shit-storm when this gets out."
"That's my point – I just wanted their support. But if this is what our friends are like, what about the newspapers?! I don't want to have to keep this a secret!" Asami turned her around and pulled her into a proper hug.
"I know. And we aren't going to. If they aren't going to accept us for this, then they aren't meant to be our friends. Now, do you want to go back inside and get cleaned up?" Korra sighed.
"I don't know. I just feel like if I see them again I might do something I'm going to regret. Mako is still recovering from those burns, and I don't want to hurt him more, but he's made me so angry!" Korra's breathing was hitching again as she tried to quell her emotions.
"I know. I'm angry too."
"How can you be so calm though? I was ready to start an earthquake twenty minutes ago!"
"It's not worth the energy expenditure. Save it from when the papers go crazy." Korra took a deep breath and nodded.
"Ok. Let's go inside." Asami gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and the pair walked back into the temple, heading for Korra's room so that she could clean up properly. Korra took off her arm wraps and washed her hands in the bathroom that was attached to her bedroom. Using her bending with still slightly shaky hands, she passed some of the now glowing water over her knuckles, healing the broken skin. Asami came in with a hair brush and started to work through the tangles as she healed herself. Korra still kept her hair short (mostly because Asami said it looked nice, but also because it meant she didn't look like the horrific Avatar Sate version of herself that she still saw occasionally) so it was easier to work with now, and Asami was a magician with a hair brush, and her hair was knot-free pretty quickly. The CEO always made her feel so relaxed and centred, and Korra had no idea how she did it.
"Do you think you are ready to talk to them? Calmly?"
"I think so." The pair made it over to the dining area, where Pema and Tenzin were having a quiet talk. Pema had been with little Rohan during all of this and Tenzin had been filling her in on what had been going on. The older woman practically jumped over when they came in and pulled them both into a hug. She didn't say anything, but the two women hugged her back, thankful for the mother-figure that neither of them had right now. Pema let them go and wiped her eyes before returning to her husband.
"I think we're going to speak to everyone now." Asami said. Ikki and Meelo burst in at the point, having been eavesdropping the entire time. Jinora came in behind them, sighing and flicking some hair out of her face. Korra raised an eyebrow at them.
"Can you get Mako and Bolin for me please Meelo?"
"I'm on the case!" He exclaimed, bouncing out of the room and then forming an air ball that he could travel around the temple on.
"No airbending inside the temple Meelo!" Tenzin shouted after him, but his son just cackled away down the corridor. The Fire Ferret brothers soon entered the room and everyone seated themselves. Asami was sitting next to Korra, and decided that she should speak first.
"I suppose everyone here knows now, but I'm going to say it anyway. Korra and I are together now." She looked at the brothers sitting opposite. "And you are just going to have to accept it, even if you don't like it. You can't stop it, and you certainly can't change us. So yes, we're gay, and hoping that none of you think that there's anything wrong with that."
"The airbenders believe that love is love, and it doesn't matter what gender the person is, where they come from, or what they look like." Asami blushed a little. Neither of them has said the 'l' word yet, mostly because they had said it way too quickly with their previous significant other, both times being Mako. So they were playing it safe a slow, and just working out what they wanted and where they were going as time went by.
"Thanks Tenzin." Korra said quietly.
"Is that it?!" Meelo asked "You guys so over dramatic!" And with that he got up from his seat and walked out of the room. Jinora's palm hit the point of the blue arrow on her forehead in exasperation at her brother. Asami gave him a rueful smile and then looked back Mako and Bolin.
"This still isn't right." Mako said quietly. Korra stiffened next to her, and Asami reached out for her hand and squeezed it gently before taking a breath.
"What about it isn't right to you?"
"It's just not right. Girls are supposed to like guys."
"Well we both liked you, and look what happened. That didn't turn out so great for anyone." Mako blushed for a second. "Korra is the Avatar, and I'm the head of Future Industries, we have difficult enough lives as it is without throwing in being gay on top of it. The press are going to find out eventually, and neither of us are comfortable with keeping this a secret, so when the media eventually start making things even harder, we are going to need your support. That's all. And if you can't give us that, then I suppose we can't be friends then." Bolin's eyes started to water. Oh no. He's going to do that gross crying face. No don't do it Bo – no, aw come on! Too late. Korra's face crumpled into a sympathetic look as Bolin burst into tears with an oddly high pitched little wail and put his head in his hands. Mako turned to him, rubbing a hand on his back.
"Now look what you've done!" Korra nearly stood up and water whipped him in the head, but Asami held on tightly to her hand.
"We haven't done anything. I'm just telling you how it is."
"I don't want to leave you guys!" Bolin sniffed heavily and rubbed his eyes.
"You don't have to."
"But I can't ditch my brother either!" The earthbender looked at his older brother with red rimmed eyes. "We can't leave them Mako. If we do, then we're standing in the way of our best friends being happy. Is that really what you want to do? It shouldn't matter who they fall in love with as long as they're happy, right?" The firebender pursed his lips, frowning at his brother. His eyes flicked back to Korra and Asami, and then Tenzin and his family. It looked like he was outnumbered on this one.
"I-I don't know. I mean, you guys are my friends, and I don't want to lose that, but still…" His brother was looking up hopefully at him, having just wiped a running nose on his sleeve. "It just makes me really, er, uncomfortable."
"We understand that. And I'm sure for a long time, especially when you were on the streets, you were told that being gay is one of the worst forms of existence. It shouldn't exist, its wrong, you can get called terrible things. Korra and I know this, and we are ready to face it head on. You don't have to be there to back us up if you really don't want to. But there is nothing wrong or horrible about us, is there? We're just different, and that isn't always a bad thing. We aren't going to hurt anyone using our sexuality, and we certainly aren't going to force anyone else into being gay." Mako was still frowning.
"Ok." He said quietly, after having thought it over.
"Really?" His brother's face burst into a smile.
"Really. I said I would have your back. I'm not going to stop now."
