-CHAPTER 1 - Hidden Feelings, True Emotion-
It was a busy day, and unfortunately the hours that seemed to drag on for what felt like forever, now appeared to be only minutes long at a time. The summer night's air was warm, yet strangely cool as it gracefully touched my radiant skin. One foot giving support while I leaned back against a pillar. The other fell free over the side as I lightly tapped my heel against the railing in a rhythmic pattern with the ticking of the nearby clock from my bedroom.
"Why can't I get rid of this strange itch at the back of my mind? Ugh, it feels like it's been there for months." I said to myself, not knowing why it was there to begin with, but yet at the same time felt so familiar.
"Is something wrong?" Said a familiar and sweet voice of my friend.
"Oh," I said, somewhat startled that someone had gone through my room to see me...yet I clearly left the doors open as I'm reminded by the opulent curtains flowing in sync with the gentle breeze. "Hi Asami. Not really...Well-sort of...I don't know..." I started to trail off, bringing my legs up to meet my forehead as I buried my face into my knees. I looked back up to meet the gazing eyes of the face that was now showing genuine concern. Asami gave her all-knowing, friendly smile like a best friend would. Wait. Is she my best friend? Asami started to speak.
"I thought I'd check on you. You seemed somewhat secluded, even after being back with everyone." She said, stopping at the railing where my feet lay. "Tea?"
I smiled a little as I took the cup she offered. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be. I just have a lot on my mind." I said, staring at the contents of the cup.
"Like what?" I started to feel more nervous, but didn't understand why.
"Well, I've been thinking..." Asami raised an eybrow.
"What about?"
"Well," I started to say, as I lightly waterbended the tea around in a circular motion. I looked back at Asami. "What was your childhood like?" Asami seemed perplexed at my apparent and sudden interest in her past. Her previous life.
"Oh, it not as glamourous as you may think." She started."
"Come on. The Great Miss Sato had a horrible upbringing?" I teased, lightly tapping my foot against her shoulder.
"Ha, yeah. As a kid, I was always bullied, being so prim and proper. Being 'daddy's little girl,' always being tormented by the other students. That is, until my teenage years." My brunette friend began. I subconciously berated myself for staring, being so enamored - Is that the word? - with the story Asami was telling me.
"Oh?" I answered, being intrigued. Asami let out a sigh.
"That was when my dad insisted on me taking self-defense classes. He always said," she continued in her imitating voice of her father. "You need to be able to take care of yourself, no matter what. Anything may happen. So I took the classes to appease him. I hated it at first but quickly found I had a knack for it, obviously." Asami finished, holding her arm as she looked at the ground beneath her.
I suddenly started to feel a pang of longing...and slight loneliness. "It must have been great: having a childhood and all." I replied, looking back out at the ocean.
"What do you mean?"
I looked back at Asami with a somewhat sad expression on my face. "I grew up in a compound until I was 18. Everyone back home was afraid that the Red Lotus would take me, or worse. Long story short, most of my entire life was mainly Avatar training and being with my parents." I tried to hold back the tears I knew were about to start. Asami came a little closer to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. My heart seemed to skip a beat, but why? Ungh, this damn itch!
"I can't imagine what that must have been like, and I don't really know how to even begin to, but I'm here for you, whenever you need." I smiled back at her, putting my hand on top of hers.
"Thank you."
As the awkward silence started to settle in, the wind began to come out of nowhere. "Would you like to go inside?" I asked, to which Asami giggled slightly.
"Sure, I'd like that. Would prefer it, actually."
I turned the extra lamp back on at the other end of the nightstand as I sat on the side of the bed across from the chair that Asami chose as her current resting place. I kicked my slippers off and let out a sigh. Asami further broke the silence.
"Something on your mind?" She asked. I hesitated to answer.
"I...I don't know." I started.
"It's OK. You can tell me anything. I know you want to talk, and I'm here to help get anything off your chest." Said Asami. I wordlessly looked at her. "I can keep a secret. I promise."
"Well, actually there is something I wanted to ask another girl, but everyone that I know is pretty much my mom's age...or older." I stated in a more awkward tone than I had anticipated.
"OK, shoot."
"How-How do you know when you're in love?" I asked, sheepishly.
"Oh!" Replied Asami, putting the tip of her finger to her chin. "Well, I guess to put it simply, you just know."
"That's...really not putting it 'simply.'" I laughed.
"What I mean is, that you basically just know: Like, you spend a lot of time with that someone. You're always happy to see and be around that one person, and miss them when they're not around or if you haven't seen them in a while."
"Oh, I see." I flatly said.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Tell me."
I sighed in defeat. "OK...well, It's obvious that I dated Mako for a while, and at the time I THOUGHT I was in love, but then I realized later on that it was more of an infatuation." I said as Asami looked back at me with concern. "Then there's Bolin, and yeah, I know that he had a crush on me, but I only see him as the brother I never had, and I'm glad that we have the relationship that we have now. Then there's you." I paused shortly after.
"Me?"
I laughed at her apparent confusion. "Yeah. I mean, you're smart, brave, outgoing, beautiful." I started to say, not realizing she was sitting beside me until she was already there. I felt the tears coming back. "I guess what I'm trying to say is...is that I wish I had what you had." I looked at her, sympathy written all over mixed with a saddened expression. The tears started to flow and I could feel myself choke inbetween barely audible sobs. "Sure your life wasn't all a fairy tale, but I would have dreamed of that kind of life over being confined to a camp." I continued, trying to control my breathing. I looked back at my feet as I rubbed the pale blue carpet underneath my toes. "I'm also glad that you're in my life, as well as Mako and Bolin and the rest. I'm happy that I met yo-" I said. As I attempted to look back at Asami, I instinctively reacted to her face being so close to mine that I instantly tried to back myself away, however I slipped in the process, Asami falling on top of me, standing her upper body on her hands, placed on either side of my head. My eyes wide with shock, mind rapidly trying to fathom exactly what was happening. After a few seconds, my mouth finally caught up with my head, eyes still wide looking back at her. "What are you do-!" I yelled in a hushed whisper, unable to move my lips to finish as hers were pressed against them, her hands running through my hair as she pressed her body down on me. A million thoughts began to race through my mind. With every one wanting to slap her, there were 10 that wanted more of what had just happened. I didn't know what to think, so I just continued to stare at her, still wide-eyed in shock.
Asami looked back at me after the kiss with a loving expression that quickly turned to embarassment. "Oh-...oh no. I'm...I'm so sorry. It's just that with all the signals I thought...When you blushed after I complimented your hair...I...I thought that...you...you...I should go."
"Wait!" I said as Asami had quickly turned around. A worried look on her face.
"I..."
"...Korra, I-"
I smiled. "It's...It's alright. Just..."
"I won't...I mean I..." She looked down.
"...Give me some time. OK?" I said to my best friend. Asami looked back to me. "...I wasn't expecting that...but I didn't stop you, either." I said with a warm smile that Asami matched shortly after.
"OK...I'll-see you tomorrow?" She said, to which I smiled a bit more, and with that, Asami left my room. I watched a bit longer through my window before the night slowly obscured my view, while taking in the moment that had just come to pass. I laid back down on my bed, and turned off the lights. I sighed in contentment, looking over at Naga as she started to nestle a bit where she was sleeping. I slowly closed my eyes.
The itch was gone.