"Let's go on a vacation, just the two of us," Korra had said, as she and Asami sat on the steps together watching the sun set over the spirit portal and listening to the hum of dancing guests enjoying themselves across the terrace at Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding.
Asami couldn't help but smile as she remembered that evening. She and Korra had sat there for hours, long after the sun had set, the stars had begun to shine, and the noise of the crowd had hushed, talking about everything and nothing. After all the activity and stress of the past few months, it had felt so good to just talk about unimportant things and let time pass without worrying about deadlines or about a gigantic mecha suit trampling Republic City.
She had chosen the spirit world as their destination; it was a place Korra had talked about a lot, what with being the link between the physical and the spirit worlds. Asami wasn't sure what thrilled her more: being able to see a little more of Korra's world – a place she'd only heard Korra's stories about – or the idea of being able to spend time alone with her best friend.
But, Asami wondered, was 'best friend' really the best description anymore? Or did Korra feel the same way Asami had felt lately – a nervous fluttering of her heart every time they saw one another? There hadn't been much time to explore that before, when they were trying to save Republic City from Kuvira. But now… now they had nothing but time, together.
Korra ran up the stone steps and pounded on the door of Asami's mansion, a small green backpack slung over her shoulders and a grin on her face, despite the early hour. She heard the sound of feet racing down a set of stairs inside the house, and then the door opened, Asami's face framed between the door and the jamb.
"Korra!" said Asami, smiling. "You're early!"
She shrugged. "I know."
"I'm still packing," Asami said, "but you're welcome to come in." She pulled the door open wider and Korra walked in.
"I can't remember the last time I had a vacation," said Asami as the two of them headed up the stairs together. "So I'm trying to figure out how much to pack. I was all set, and then I decided it probably wasn't enough."
"If you can't remember your last vacation, I'm even more glad we're doing this," said Korra with a smile. "We both deserve some time off."
"Yeah. I've left Future Industries in capable hands for the next week or so, but it feels kind of weird to leave someone else in charge of my company."
"Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone to be the Avatar in my place while we're gone," Korra joked, and Asami laughed and turned to look at her; they held each other's gaze for a brief moment, and Korra's heart felt like it did a somersault.
At the top of the stairs they reached Asami's room, where there was a pile of clothes out on the bed, as well as an empty grey backpack. "What's the weather like in the spirit world?" asked Asami, selecting a lightweight jacket from the pile and stuffing it into her bag. "Should I prepare for warm or cold?"
"It's nice," said Korra. "Not cold at all."
Asami nodded, then tilted her head to the side and looked back at Korra. Then she grabbed a thicker jacket and added it in the bag anyway. "As much as you know I value your opinion, Korra, you are from the South Pole. You're never cold."
Both of them laughed. "Okay, bring a parka," said Korra.
Korra continued to dish out other slightly unhelpful suggestions while Asami finished packing her bag; the final product was twice the size of Korra's bag, but then again Asami had also put a lot more thought into her packing and remembered to include the important things Korra had forgotten, such as food and a small first aid kit. In truth, Korra had been far too excited to get going rather than spend time thinking about packing, and had just stuffed a change of clothes into a bag – she hadn't even bothered to zip it up all the way. So she waited as patiently as she could while Asami stowed her extra clothes back in her wardrobe, and then the two of them were ready to depart: down the stairs, out of Asami's mansion, and into the thicket of flattened vines in the crater at the heart of Republic City, bathed in the glow of the new spirit portal.
Spirits floated and drifted effortlessly through the air around them as they approached the portal, half illuminated by the energy of the portal and half in the shadow of twilight around them. When the two friends reached the spirit portal, Korra reached out and Asami took her hand, and together they stepped into the golden beam. The very air seemed to light up around them; Korra looked up at Asami and smiled, and Asami smiled back.
They emerged in a field of purple flowers and twisted trees surrounded by white, craggy mountains, behind which the dark sky was infused with its first breath of light. Just as Korra and Asami had watched the sun set the day of the wedding, now they had arrived in time to watch the sunrise in the spirit world. After they stepped out of the beam of energy, they began to wander through the flowery meadow, still hand in hand. No words were exchanged, but Korra could see the joy in Asami's eyes as she looked all around her at her first view of the spirit world she'd heard so much about.
Eventually Asami suggested that they sit in the flowers to watch the sunrise. It was only at that point that they let go of one another's hands, but as soon as they'd sat down right next to each other facing the reddening sky, Asami leaned over to rest her head on Korra's shoulder. Together they watched as the eastern sky cycled through indigo, purple, pink, orange, yellow, and finally a new day. Sunrises were beautiful anywhere, Korra thought – the South Pole, Republic City, or Ba Sing Se – but here in the spirit world with Asami, it was the most beautiful sunrise she'd ever seen.
They spent the day walking and exploring with no clear direction in mind, had a picnic lunch under a thick gnarled tree while bumblebee rabbit spirits cheerfully flitted through the air around them, and met with one of Korra's old friends, the spirit of an old man who happily served them tea. Asami and Korra finished the day by camping near a river. Although the air temperature was perfectly comfortable and Asami wasn't cold, she still snuggled her bedroll right up close to Korra's, and they were perfectly content as the sound of the rushing water lulled them to sleep.
The following morning dawned as bright and sunny as Asami had ever seen. Asami considered getting up to swim in the river, but ultimately stayed curled up in her bedroll next to Korra's, cozy and warm, and waited for her friend to wake up.
"Morning," said Korra, startling Asami out of her thoughts as she gazed up at the purple leaves against the dazzling blue sky high above her, and she looked over to see Korra smiling at her.
"How did you sleep?" Asami asked.
"Great," said Korra. "Until you put your cold feet on me."
"I did not!" laughed Asami.
Korra made no motion to get up, and instead only scooted closer against Asami. "This is nice," she said, closing her eyes.
Asami smiled. "Yeah, it is. I almost don't ever want to get up."
"Well, we could just stay here forever," said Korra. "Although then we would probably just turn into energy."
"That's okay, as long as I'm with you," said Asami, and her heartbeat increased rapidly as she nervously awaited an answer. Had she implied too much?
But Korra smiled, and Asami thought she could see a blush on her face.
They remained cuddled up in the shade of the tree until the sun was high enough over the iridescent mountains that it got into their eyes, and only at that point did Asami and Korra finally get up and out of their bedrolls. Asami dug into her pack for breakfast for the two of them, and then they moved into the shade again and had breakfast and tea together – the tea instantly heated by firebending.
"I thought you couldn't bend in the spirit world?" Asami asked.
"If I get there through one of the actual portals, I can," said Korra. "Otherwise, you're right, I can't."
Asami zipped her bag back together, then looked over at Korra. "If you could only bend one element for the rest of your life, what would it be?" she asked.
"Hmm," said Korra, sitting up from where she had leaned back against the gnarled tree. "Probably water, because it's my culture." She paused for a moment, and then added, "And because it's fun to do this." She moved an arm, and a colossal wave leapt out of the river and drenched Asami, who shrieked at the sudden cold. But she recovered herself quickly – maybe she couldn't bend any elements, but she could give as good as she got. At the river's edge, she picked up a flat, smooth stone and drew it swiftly like an oar towards the bank where Korra was sitting. It wasn't a large wave, but it was enough to soak Korra, and both girls collapsed in laughter.
"You know, I had been thinking about going for a swim anyway," said Asami, who was dripping, both from Korra's prank and from subsequently standing in the river.
Korra laughed. "Perfect," she said, and dived in after Asami. They raced each other downstream for a bit, laughing and splashing the whole way, and Asami kept getting water in her mouth because she couldn't keep from grinning if she tried. It had been a while since she'd been able to have so much fun with Korra like this – she remembered a few such times, years ago, like the adventure of teaching Korra to drive, but those intervening three years when Korra had been away had been so hard, knowing that her friend was sad and alone and very far away. One thing those three years had been very good for, however, was in proving to Asami just how important Korra was to her.
"Asami!" Korra cried urgently, interrupting Asami's thoughts. Asami looked back to see Korra frozen in place, staring just past her with wide eyes. But before either girl could react, Asami felt the river drop away from beneath her – and suddenly, she was falling.
There had been no telltale rushing sound she would have associated with a waterfall; the ground was merely there, and then it wasn't, and she could see the edge far above her. Looking down – or around, she couldn't tell which direction was which – everywhere was just fog. There didn't appear to be a bottom. It seemed they had reached the end of the world, and she had plummeted off of it.
But she didn't feel the air rushing swiftly past her as she would have expected after falling off a cliff. A jellyfish spirit drifted by lazily, and Asami noticed that it wasn't speeding away from her, as would happen if she were truly falling. With the fog all around, she had no way to judge distance, so she began to wonder if she was in fact falling or floating. She tried to swim through the air towards the spirit, and it worked. She was floating! She wanted to show Korra, but Korra was still in the river, separated from her. And then she saw a shape in the fog, a human shape, zooming towards her.
Korra suddenly realized that what she'd thought was fog covering the horizon was in fact the edge of a cliff, and the river they were in soundlessly poured over the edge. She had only a moment to warn Asami, but not enough, before she watched Asami disappear into a sunny abyss. Without thinking twice, Korra climbed out of the river, ran the remaining distance to the edge, and leapt over. She'd be able to get back by using the Avatar state.
As she fell, the view clouded over in mist, but not too far away she could see a shadowy figure swimming through it. "Asami!" she called into the void.
"Korra?"
Korra could see the shadow approaching, and tried to swim through the mist towards her. When Asami reached her, she was smiling, holding out her hand. Korra grabbed onto her hand, and felt her face slip into a smile as well, but first and foremost in her mind was still the panic that they were falling to their deaths.
"We're just floating," said Asami. "I think we reached the edge of the world."
"So… you're okay?" asked Korra. "I saw you fall, and I was terrified."
"You… jumped off a cliff after me."
"Yep."
Asami's face flushed, but all she said was, "Thank you. And yes, I'm okay."
As their eyes remained locked on each other, Korra squeezed Asami's hand, and Asami clutched hers back. And then with her other hand, Asami pointed at an indistinct shape moving towards them, off to their left. "Look!"
Eventually it approached near enough for Korra to be able to distinguish a dragon bird spirit. It soared by, circled around them once, and then hovered near them, waiting; when Asami and Korra did nothing, the spirit nodded its head toward its back, beckoning them near. They maneuvered through the fog and over to the spirit and climbed on its back, and it glided away until the ground was visible again. From above, Korra could see the cliff where they'd fallen – there was just nothing past it, as far as the eye could see.
The spirit dropped them off, back on stable ground, once again within sight of the tree where they'd had breakfast and where their bags still remained in the shade.
"Thank you!" Korra called after the spirit, and they both waved as it swirled up and away. She and Asami watched the dragon bird disappear into the clouds, zigzagging through the air with ease, the sun reflecting off its shimmering sides. And when it became a speck in the distance, too small to see anymore, Korra looked back down, and right in front of her in her line of sight was Asami, watching her.
Korra felt as if she and Asami were standing in the beam of the spirit portal again, but the brightness here was just the sunshine, or maybe it was Asami. All she knew was she couldn't look away. And then both of them moved forward at the same time, slowly, and their lips met, tentative and gentle, for an incredible, beautiful moment. When she pulled back, Asami was smiling too.
And with that, Korra couldn't be sure if she was still on solid ground, or whether she'd started floating again. Either way, she was with Asami, and she was happy.