"Asami", an over-excited Avatar screamed as she entered the Sato Mansion, then almost flew up the stairs to the office her girlfriend worked in. The engineer sat at her desk. In front of her were two men in business suits who looked really important. The three of them were discussing something while pointing at some papers in the middle of them.
"One moment", the heiress excused herself and went to greet Korra. The blue necklace she had around her neck made the Avatar smile. They had not been able to get legally married, but nobody could forbid the Avatar from giving her girlfriend a betrothal necklace.
Asami greeted her with a hug, then stated: "I thought you were to arrive in the evening. I'll need one or two hours at least."
"No." All three business people looked confused at the Avatar, but only her girlfriend knew that she was usually surprisingly patient when it came to waiting for Asami for the benefit of Future Industries. And even though she had been away from home for two weeks, her refusal made no sense. "I've something for you", Korra explained in an unusual earnest tone, "and I have to show it to you NOW."
Asami bit her lip in thought, then turned to the men: "We'll have a short break. I'll be right back." As she followed her girlfriend out of the room, she motioned for her butler to care for her guest. "I really hope this is important", she murmured, already bugged because she just knew it was not.
"You know how we were sent to mediate in the civil war over in the town of Chin", Korra started while walking back to the entrance, "I think we did a good job, but even before we arrived a lot of people had died."
"What has that to do with anything", Asami wanted to know as they arrived at the front door; her tone had calmed down since she could see the war had worn Korra out, but after her question she smiled brightly.
"Everything. You'll see. Close your eyes!" Asami did. "Now open them."
As she opened them, she took a step back in shock and almost fell. Korra had a small toddler on her arms, with brown skin as hers and dark hair. As the little girl looked at her with a shy expression, she saw the green eyes - together with the Earth Kingdom cloth the heiress assumed the kid was of mixed heritage.
"Who...who is she", she stammered, unsure of what to think, if anything.
Korra just smiled: "She is one of the children that lost her parents, and the orphanage can't possible house all of them. I wanted to bring all children to live with us, but instead…" She trailed off, but Asami understood: the girl caught her eyes because she looked as if Korra and Asami could have been her parents - if either of them had been born a male.
At this point she wanted to scream at her impulsive behavior or even hit her, but she just could not. She saw how the child clutched to Korra, and even thought it was a reckless and stupid stunt, she could not be mad her. So she went over to hug the other two.
"Hi there", she said as the girl looked at her, and then to Korra for guidance.
The Avatar smiled at the little one: "That's Asami, the one I've been telling you about." The kid nodded and made an adorable greeting gesture together with a half bow.
"What's you're name", Asami questioned and noticed how her own smile got bigger.
Korra almost jumped up and down at this, but let the girl do the talking: "Tara."
The heiress mouthed a "no way" to Korra, but she just nodded, still bobbing up and down: "Her parents named her Katara, after our dear old friend."
This was nothing very surprising - whenever one public beloved figure died, the people started naming their kids after them to honor them. And sadly, Master Katara's death had been four years earlier, colliding with the birth of the little one.
"It's really good to meet you, Tara", Asami said and caressed the child's head.
"So… uh… we keep her, don't we", Korra asked, a bit unsure, but got a playful swat against the arm not holding the kid and a stern announcement.
"Of course!"
Then Asami's gaze wandered to little Tara, and she tried to imagine herself as mother. That's when the door on the upper floor was slammed. One of the business man appeared on the top of the stairwell with a questioning look.
"I'm sorry, I have to", Asami told her girlfriend and kissed her cheek, then hugged the kid, "she's really the best surprise ever. Just show her everything while I get the suites out. We'll go shopping for toys and cloth and everything later."
She jogged up the stairs, flashing her business partner an apologizing look: "What do you know, my wife just had a baby."