Korra was fidgeting nervously, sitting on the bed in the residents' call room. It was her first day in the emergency room as an Orthopedic Surgery resident, in the most prestigious institution for medical and surgical training – Republic City Hospital, no less – and she may or may not feel the need to throw up right now.

Bolin, noting her obvious uneasiness, sat right beside her. "Hey, are you okay? It's going to be fine, chill! Here, have some noodles!" He shoved a bowl of Narook's noodles onto Korra's lap. He was a year ahead of her, and probably the only senior who was accommodating enough to actually spend time talking to the first-year residents. The rest of them were too busy, tired, or snooty to care.

"Well, my twenty-four hour ER shift starts in fifteen minutes, might as well go to the battlefield, yeah?" She lifted the bowl off her lap, carefully placing it on the table. While she may not have the appetite right now, those noodles were still the best she'd tasted so far in Republic City. She looked at her watch, paying close attention to the second hand slowly ticking away to her imminent demise.

"Good luck, Korra! Don't hesitate to call when things get out of hand!"

Spirits, why did I choose this hospital to train. Why did they accept me anyway? There must have been hundreds of applicants from Republic City School of Medicine and Ba Sing Se Medical Institute. Who in their right mind would pick me over them?!

Korra practically skipped the whole way from the call room to the ER. She quickly scanned the area, gauging the amount of work she would have to inherit from the post-duty resident. So far so good. Doesn't look like anyone's going to die anytime soon. I think I'll even survive my first day!

~Thirty minutes later~

Shit shit shit. Raava above. "Someone get me a tray of sterile gauze, right now! We need to have this wound packed!" Korra was still talking with the doctor who just finished his shift, when a man who was shot on the right thigh was brought in. The wound was still bleeding, and on more careful examination he also had minor bruises all over his body, and a swollen right eye. Great, probably some drunkard who got in a fight. The wound doesn't look too deep, thankfully.

She interviewed the patient and the people who came with him, trying to take note of as much information as possible, all the while cleaning and packing the wound. Once faced with an actual patient, all her studies and previous training kicked in. Surgery, in particular, attracted her, because you needed to do everything fast, all at the same time. While doing things with your hands, you should already be thinking about your next course of action, predicting the worst-case scenarios, and simultaneously explaining to the patient what's going on. It was the science and art of multi-tasking, and what better way to apply it than on people's lives.

Once the bleeding was controlled, she talked to the patient, tried to calm him down. "I'm going to need an x-ray of your thigh, we need to know exactly where and how deep the bullet is. If it's shallow enough, I can remove it and stitch up the wound in a jiffy, alright?"

She was barely done finishing the necessary paperwork for her first patient when she heard a voice behind her.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for the Ortho Resident on Duty?"

Now what? Please let it be just a dislocated shoulder. Or a sprained ankle. A splinter on the finger? Please, bloody spirit portal, it's my first day, give me a break! Korra turned to see who was looking for her. And hello again Raava, sometimes I think you do love me, after all.

She was easily the most gorgeous woman Korra had ever seen. Pale skin that contrasted perfectly with long raven black hair that was up in a loose bun, with a few locks falling out and framing her face. She had on dark red lipstick (the shade that was meant to be smudged and kissed, Korra thought), and the most piercing green eyes that Korra could not help just staring at. Her jaw almost dropped, were it not for the fact that the woman was wearing a white coat, too. Keep your shit together, Korra. Be professional. God, she's damn fiiiiine. Stop it. Be cool.

"H-Hi, that would be the hot stuff you're looking at right here. What? I mean—I'm not as hot as you are, but. WHAT?! I'm a doctor. ABORT MISSION, KORRA, ABORT. I-I mean of course I'm a doctor, I have a white coat just like you. Heh. I mean, I mean—ugh."

Korra cleared her throat loudly, and tried her best to keep a straight face. She felt her cheeks suddenly grow hot.

The woman who had reduced her to an incomprehensible stuttering mess raised an eyebrow, and grinned, biting her lower lip.

Korra sighed and swallowed her embarrassment. "I'm Dr. Korra, Orthopedic Surgery Resident on Duty, at your service."

The girl in front of her tilted her head, her grin now evolving into a wide, full smile, and in that moment Korra swore she had just died and gone to heaven, because she was looking at an angel. A half-angel, half-goddess, half-vixen, if that was even possible. Mathematics suddenly seemed obscure and nonsensical right now.

They both stared at each other for what seemed like forever, until the said heavenly creature held out her right hand.

"Hi, Dr. Korra. I'm Dr. Asami Sato."