It was difficult to pinpoint exactly when her feelings for Korra had begun. Asami had first become aware of her growing attraction during the Red Lotus's insurrection, but maybe it had started before then. Perhaps they had always been there, deep down, during the days when they had first met and were fighting over Mako. Figuring out if the Avatar had felt the same way had been more difficult however. At times like when Korra had written her from the South Pole she would have said yes. But then Korra had disappeared without a word to anyone until Jinora tracked her down. And then Korra had held her hand as they traveled into the Spirit World and Asami had felt for certain that her feelings were being returned. But once on the other side there was a kind of shadow written on Korra's face that Asami had never seen before and she pulled her hands away seemingly embarrassed.

The Spirit World was everything that she had ever heard or read about and more and Korra was pleasant company for the most part. But if she steered the conversation anywhere near the two of them then Korra would immediately change the subject to something else. They had brought enough food to last them two weeks and Asami had gotten tired of the evasions and resolved to force the issue once they had run out. She finished eating the last few bits of canned meat before putting the empty tin into her pack to be disposed of once they were back in Republic City. Asami nervously rubbed her hands together as she eyed the other woman "Korra, We need to talk."

Korra looked upward from the tin that had nearly been empty before Asami had even begun to eat her last meal in the Spirit World. She set the tin down and took a deep breath "I guess I know what this is about but please go ahead."

"There's no easy way to say this so I'm just going to come right out and ask. Why have you been avoiding talking about us? You know I'm interested in you and I'm pretty sure you feel the same way but you won't talk about this."

The Avatar tossed the empty disc of metal between her hands before answering "This is going to sound really stupid but it's because I feel guilty. After Aang died there was only one airbender in the world, Tenzin. And once they found me, two. If airbending was going to ever come back into the world, it would be through our descendants. I'm not saying the White Lotus ever tried to order me to have kids but there was always this idea floating around that if I had kids then they could possibly have any of the four elements. A lot of people didn't even think it would work but it was that or wait generations for Tenzin's descendants to rebuild the Air Nation. But if I was involved with you then I couldn't have kids..."

"But why would you be feeling guilty about that now? There's hundreds, maybe thousands, of airbenders out there now since Harmonic Convergence. And besides, whether or not you have kids is up to you, not them."

Korra grimaced as she dropped the tin into the smaller pack that she was carrying "Like I said, it's stupid and I'm still working on it, but yes, I am interested in you. Just give me some time."

The area surrounding the Spirit Portal in Republic City was mostly the same as it had been when the two of them had gone through it two weeks ago but with one very notable exception. A towering chain-link with spirals of barb wire and floodlights at the top encased the entirety of the vines around the portal in a rather large circle. In addition she could see small groups of two or three continually patrolling on the outside of the fence. Korra and Asami exchanged a concerned glance with each other before heading towards what looked like a gate in the perimeter.

As they drew closer, Asami recognized the insignia and uniform of the United Republic military on the men and women in front of them. There was a small cluster standing on the outside and the group jumped, startled, when Korra yelled at them "Hey! Open up."

One of the men, a lieutenant according to the insignia on his uniform, glowered at Korra. "The spirit portal is off limits to all unauthorized personnel an-."

"Unauthorized? You know I'm the Avatar right?"

Even without the benefit of hindsight that was the wrong thing to say but Korra was still irritated even when they had gotten back to Asami's mansion. "I can't believe they fined us for that. We went through the portal before that stupid fence was even put up."

Asami shrugged it off "It makes sense. We both know how dangerous spirits can be. Keeping people away from the spirit portal is for their own protection. And besides, it's not like I can't afford to pay our fines. Don't worry about it, I'm rich."

Korra muttered something unintelligible at that before glancing down the hallway in both directions "So where's Yin and her family? It seems awfully quiet right now."

"Oh they left with Wu before we went on our vacation. He asked them to come help him with the Earth Kingdom's upcoming elections."

The two of them had only been gone for two weeks but the world hadn't been idle during their brief vacation in the Spirit World. Kuvira's trial had mostly been a speedy formality for everyone involved. The former leader of the Earth Empire had pleaded guilty to all charges and was subsequently imprisoned in an undisclosed location. Prince Wu had remained true to his word at Varrick's wedding and was currently in the Earth Kingdom beginning what would likely be a difficult transition to a democratic government. The Beifongs from Zaofu and Bolin, along with a large number of airbenders including Tenzin and his children, had gone with him. As for her friends still in Republic City, Lin was swamped dealing with the aftermath of Kuvira's assault on the city and Mako was stuck behind a desk while his arm healed. At least that's what all the letters they had received said. Korra and Asami had briefly mentioned that they were leaving for the Spirit World to Tenzin so the others had sent their letters to the mansion for when the two of them returned.

Asami handed the letter from Mako to Korra before picking up the last envelope on her office desk. All of the previous letters had the sending and receiving addresses written on the front but not this one. The front of it was completely devoid of any information on it. This hadn't been sent through the mail service, this must have been personally delivered by hand. She flipped it over, curious about who would go to the expense of having a courier physically deliver a message. On the back, sealing the envelope shut was a hardened glob of wax with a chop pressed into the middle of it. The Fire Lord's chop. "Greetings Miss Sato. I hope this letter finds you in good health … I would like to formally invite you to the Fire Nation capital to discuss what could be a mutually beneficial arrangement. Signed Fire Lord Izumi."

Korra looked up from Mako's letter as Asami read Izumi's message aloud. "An invite from Izumi? Let me see that." Asami handed the envelope over and Korra held it up between her and the lamp on the wall as she peered at the seal. "That's definitely her seal." She tossed it back onto the desk "A personal invitation from the Fire Lord herself. So what are you going to do Asami?"

What was she going to do? Hardly a difficult question for Asami to answer. "I'm going of course. I'm not sure what she wants but I have a feeling it means good things for Future Industries. I don't see why else she would take an interest in me. A better question is what you are going to do now. Stay in Republic City? Go help Wu in the Earth Kingdom? … Come with me."

That caught Korra off guard and her surprise clearly showed on her face "What?"

Asami picked the letter up and tossed it back to Korra. "Come with me. I'm not trying to be mean, but no one, including me, really needs your help at this very moment. They can make do for a couple of weeks or months without you and besides, have you ever been to the Fire Nation?"

Korra slowly shook her head as she considered Asami's impromptu invitation "No... I haven't."

"Well that settles it then. The Avatar should visit all the nations at least once. You're coming with me, no arguing."

Her first instinct was to resist being bossed around and fight back but the idea was quick to grow on Korra. She could do the most good if she went to the Earth Kingdom but the prospect of spreading democracy would mean going back to an area of the world she'd rather avoid for now. The scars from dealing with Kuvira were still fresh and she was still recovering from what Zaheer had done to her. Visiting the Fire Nation actually sounded like the more appealing option and she could always head to the Earth Kingdom afterwords. "All right's let's do it."

The airship Asami took them to was a lot smaller than the last Future Industries model Korra had ridden during their search for airbenders those three long years ago. But that one had needed room to hold all the people they had been expecting to find. This time it was just the two of them, well almost the two of them. There was one other person on board the airship, a man named Lee who served as the ship's pilot and mechanic. And even though the ship was smaller, it was no less luxurious than it's larger Future Industries counterpart. Korra wasn't one to complain though since it made their two day trip to the Fire Nation a lot more pleasant than stowing away aboard a freighter or sailing the seas on a catamaran.

Korra had been taught about the Fire Nation's geography and that many of the mountains and islands were volcanically active. It was another thing altogether to actually be able to look out of a window and see lakes of lava gurgling at the peaks of a hundred islands barely large enough to deserve the name. Or to watch the rock wall of a caldera give way letting molten rock cover the mountain side in flames and smoke until it met the ocean amidst great clouds of steam. As she watched the flow of lava, Korra couldn't help but remember that a volcano much like this one had played a part in the demise of one of her predecessors, Avatar Roku. Minutes became hours before the volcanoes were slowly replaced by fishing villages on the shores of islands covered in rolling plains of green grass. And if she looked hard enough, Korra could see small specks on the water down below, fisherman plying their trade in the same manner that their forerunners had done for thousands of years. Further inland and far from the fishing villages were the actual cities. Built on the banks of rivers or lakes, high walls surrounded them all and the only thing connecting them to each other were narrow bands of dirt where the land had been trampled into submission by those who traveled over it.

Eventually the capital itself began to appear on the horizon and it steadily grew larger as their airship approached from the eastern sea. As more and more of the city came into view Korra was finally able to see the places Katara had spoken of on the rare occasions that she had been willing to recount the failed invasion on the "Day of Black Sun".

At the very mouth of the bay, a pair of enormous dragons flanked a tall stone pillar and thick metal chains long since turned green could be seen descending beneath the water's surface between them. A massive stone wall guarded the entrance to the harbor itself and then there was the Royal Plaza. An enormous corridor leading towards the city with towering cliffs and fortified towers on either side. The defenses wasn't completely unbeatable but it would be a difficult battle even with modern inventions like mecha suits or biplanes. That Sokka and Katara had gotten as far as they had was a testament to the forces they had been able to gather for their ill-fated attack born out of desperation.

The rest of the capital beyond that was broken up into a few areas but the most striking was what lay at the top of the mountain. An enormous caldera kilometers in diameter and filled to the brim by the residents of the Fire Nation's capital city. The radio in the cockpit crackled to life as they gazed out the forward windows. "Fire Nation air control hailing unknown vessel. Transmit identification and prepare to land at the Harbor City airfield, over."

Lee, the pilot, glanced up at Asami "All yours Miss Sato."

Asami pulled the microphone off it's hook and pressed down on the transmit switch. "This is Asami Sato aboard The Canary out of Republic City. Passengers are myself, my pilot Lee and Avatar Korra."

There was a long and deafening silence after she let go of the switch. Asami exchanged glances with both Lee and Korra as they waited for a response. Eventually the other side spat out a burst of static and the man from air control was speaking once again "My apologies for the delay but we require confirmation that the Avatar is on board before clearing you for landing."

Strange and stranger but Korra just shrugged and took the mic "This is Avatar Korra speaking. What's the problem? I'm just here for a visit."

The man started laughing nervously and there was a clear note of tension in his voice "Problem? There's no problem, disregard earlier landing instructions. There's a private airfield on the east side of the caldera. Proceed there and land at your convenience, a delegation will meet you there."

Korra frowned as she hung the mic back up "What was that all about? That got really weird once he heard I was on board."

Asami could only shrug since she was as ignorant on the subject as the Avatar "I don't know Korra but I have a feeling we're going to find out. Take us in Lee, no point waiting around here."

The airfield they had been directed them to was rather small and there were only a few airships, all even smaller than theirs, resting on the ground. Lee leaned forward as he looked around before spotting a single person waving a pair of red flags at them. "Guess that's where they want us to land Miss Sato." A few moments later and the ship settled onto the ground with a barely perceptible bump. Either Lee was very familiar with this ship or a highly skilled pilot, possibly both. He flipped a switch and the ramp at the aircraft's rear dropped to the ground and the three of them disembarked and looked around but there was nobody but the man who had signaled their landing spot.

It was quiet at first but there were sirens in the distance that steadily grew louder and louder as the three of them waited. The source soon became clear as a small fleet of expensive looking cars flanked in front and behind by police vehicles with blazing lights and sirens raced onto the airfield at high speed. A few seconds later and the caravan came to a stop in front of them with screeches that made the mechanic in Asami wince sympathetically. The doors of the police vehicles opened first and the cops inside were quick to spread out as they formed a perimeter encompassing the airship and the vehicles in addition to Korra and Asami. Once the circle had been established the occupants of the other cars began getting out and forming up in a cluster of around twenty people or so in front of the Avatar.

None of them looked familiar but Korra had seen enough Fire Nation dignitaries to recognize that these were nobles from their clothing. Various shades of red, gold and black along with an abundance of silk and finely woven cotton. But all of these expensive looking robes and dresses were wrinkled and their wearers hair looked decidedly unkempt and one man in the back was dabbing something onto his cheek. Korra frowned at Asami but her friend didn't have an answer for what was going on as the nobles milled about though with frequent furtive glances at the Avatar.

Finally a woman with black hair that was slowly fading to gray and rectangular glasses over her sharply defined face emerged from a limousine. Unlike the others, her clothes looked impeccable but a few stray hairs drifted down to rest on her cheeks. She gestured at the nobles who had preceded her and without hesitation they dropped to their knees and lowered their faces to the ground. Fire Lord Izumi was the last to lower herself but she only went down to a single knee and bowed her head.

"We are honored to welcome you to the Fire Nation, Avatar Korra."