Dedication: To everyone else whose lives were ruined by the Book 3 finale. Amen.
Notes: I'm still crying about the finale omfg someone hold me
Aubade
by mirajens
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Days are spent in a wheel chair and in misery.
Wake up, get cleaned, get dressed and take a stroll. This is all done with the help of Asami. Sometimes Senna comes along, but the older woman understands that it is not herself that Korra needs, but her best friend who does all the talking and explaining for the girl who has lost her spirit.
Asami is worried, but she hides it all under the smile twice as wide since the Avatar almost lost her life.
People are scared for the girl in the wheelchair to break, but the one pushing Korra forward both literally and figuratively is also on the verge of crumbling.
Still, Asami sings a mantra of hope in her head whenever heartbreak threatens to ruin her.
Korra refuses to eat. This is also routine, and it worries everyone. There is untouched food in front of the dark-skinned girl, but everyone pretends they don't notice, and they struggle to cheer her up with lame jokes and little anecdotes she finds she can't care about. To Korra, the world is now shades of gray, but sometimes she sees slashes of red that is Asami's lips and she doesn't know it, but color begins to seep back into her world.
Asami talks a lot whenever she is in Korra's company. The two girls literally spend the whole time together with Asami taking up residence in Korra's private quarters so she can watch over her friend, or attend to Korra's needs at any time.
Asami speaks about things that range from mundane to imperative. Through her, Korra gets news about the chaos in the Earth Kingdom and the latest gossip from probenders they listen about in the radio. To Korra, it seems as if Asami never stops talking, but she doesn't find it bothersome. Sometimes, Korra is guilty of tuning Asami out just like she does to most people who visit her. Asami knows this, but she doesn't mind. She knows hearing as opposed to witnessing is tedious.
One morning, Asami breaks.
It surprises Korra, but it doesn't, because Asami has stayed strong for so long and no one expected tears from the pretty girl who seemed to have her life so put together. As she putting shoes on Korra's feet, she begins to sob as she struggles to loop the strings of the footwear. Trembling begins from her hands to her whole person, and suddenly she is a weeping mess at Korra's feet. Korra does not know what to do but weakly reach for Asami's ice-cold hands and radiate the little warmth she can manage.
Asami apologizes and Korra says nothing even though for the first time, she finally finds words to say.
But they don't need words. At least, not now.
Asami likes the sunrise more than the sunset.
There is something beautiful about seeing the blossoming of hope in a form of the sun shyly rising from his hiding place behind the mountains. Asami tells this to Korra one early morning when they are watching sunlight greet the new day, and the first smile in the longest time quirks up the side of Korra's lips.
Things are beginning to look better.
