Republic City was ran by the Equalists. The Equalists, the most influential crime syndicate in the world. They held their finger on the pulse of Republic City. Nothing happened without their knowledge, and every action came with their approval or disapproval. Both were followed with consequences. Their reach extended past the city limits, and Republic City was their priority. But, to the average citizen, if you weren't a threat, or a member of one of the lower gangs, the triads, you would be fine. The Equalists were to be feared, surely. But to most, they served as a somewhat benevolent protector.
Korra managed to stay out of their radar. Most students at Republic City's university did. Well, most- those who didn't try to get involved in the organized crime underneath the city, or poke around where they didn't belong.
Korra hardly had time to poke around. Between probending, schoolwork, and university athletics, Korra kept herself busy and out of trouble. It kept Bolin and Mako out of trouble too, when they were with her, which was often.
Korra was leaving the gym. It was late, and it was snowing. Snow wasn't a problem to Korra, coming from the South Pole, but she was a little frustrated, almost sure that the qualifying rounds of the probending tournament held over the weekend would be cancelled.
Hands shoved into her coat pockets, she trudged across the campus with a frown, barely noticing the fat snowflakes pouring down around her.
The snow had accumulated decently on the ground already. The pavement, or what she could see of it, was white as well, most likely hiding a layer of ice. Korra figured anyone who tried to drive in the developing mess before her was truly crazy. She knew all of her friends would be holed up in their dorms.
Korra wove her way between the academic buildings, heading toward the library. Across the street from the library, just off campus, was where Korra's apartment was. She had been lucky to find an apartment so close to campus, let alone one big enough for both her and Opal. But she had refused to live without her dog Naga, and campus rules said no pets. Korra had thought the dorms were a little cramped anyway.
As she cut through the parking lot behind the library, she noticed there were maybe a dozen cars back there.
"Well I found the stranded people," Korra thought to herself.
She started to weave between the cars, intent on crossing the street, when she realized one of the cars had the motor running. Curious, she looked, and found the culprit to be a black and red hard top convertible. No lights on, but the engine was running, and Korra could see someone sitting inside, thanks to the light of the street lamp.
She made her way over to the car, eager to help, worried that the driver would end up stranded here, like so many others had when the snow descended.
When she drew closer to the vehicle, the window rolled down, and Korra could momentarily feel the warmth of the cars heater, leaking out of the open window.
"Need any help?" Korra asked, leaning down and poking her head inside.
The light clicked on, revealing a woman in a red winter coat, her face flushed from the cold, piercing green eyes staring back at Korra.
"No I was just trying to warm my car up before heading home." The woman response was laced with her breathlessness that came from the stinging cold air outside.
"In this weather?" Korra's eyebrow shot up, "it's best to just wait it out. Roads are probably bad right now."
The woman in the car sighed and leaned her head on the steering wheel.
"I'm a commuter," she huffed, her face hidden by her hair, "I don't really have a place to wait it out in. Most of the academic buildings are closed. It's late."
"Well," Korra began, rubbing her neck, "I live across the street. You can spend the night if you want. I have a futon."
Korra didn't know where the offer came from, but she knew the snow was cold, and that being stranded in the snow was even colder.
"I don't think-" the woman began, but suddenly stopped, "you know what, that sounds great. I'm not going to sleep in my car, that's for sure. Give me a second."
Korra backed her head out of the window and stretched. Looking across the street she could see the lights on in her apartment. Opal must be home. She heard the window roll back up beside her, but she didn't think much of it. After a minute or two, the light clicked off inside the car, and the woman emerged, purse on her shoulder.
She shut the car door and clicked the key fob to lock it. The car beeped as indication, and as Korra watched she couldn't help but feel as if the woman was familiar. As if noticing Korra was staring, the woman turned to her, and looked her over.
"Korra, right?" She asked, stepping around the front of her car, "from the Fire Ferrets?"
"The very same," Korra answered with a nod, "and you seem pretty familiar."
"Well I go to all the matches-" she began, "but I'm Asami, Asami Sato."
"Oh!" Korra exclaimed, "Asami! Mako's ex-girlfriend."
Asami made a face at Korra's outburst, but laughed.
"The very same," she replied, mimicking Korra's voice, and she continued laughing.
"Well I promise Mako isn't in my apartment," Korra joked, starting toward the street and motioning for Asami to follow her.
"I'm sure he's told you horror stories," Asami sighed.
"Not really," Korra laughed, opening the door to her apartment building, "he's too awkward about stuff like that."
They trudged up the stairs for a few moments before Korra continued.
"He doesn't like telling me about exes, which makes sense. I'm sure he'd love knowing you were here."
Asami chuckled, but otherwise remained silent as the came to the landing on Korra's floor.
"By the way," Asami asked as Korra shoved her key in the lock, "can I borrow your phone? Mine's dead, and I need to call my dad and let him know where I am."
"Sure," Korra grunted, pushing the door open.
As soon as Korra opened the door, she was greeted by a deep bark and the appearance of Naga, eager to greet her.
"Easy Naga," Korra laughed, ruffling the dog's ears, "hey Opal! You up?"
"Yeah" the voice was a muffled reply from the other room, but soon the other woman appeared from down the hall.
"Asami!" Opal exclaimed with excitement, her smile broad when she saw her near the door with Korra, "what brings you by?"
"Korra offered to let me sleep here since the roads are too bad to drive." Asami replied, smiling.
"That sounds exactly like her," Opal laughed, "always the hero."
Korra blushed, her cheeks becoming dark, and she shoved her phone to Asami, muttering about getting blankets. She sulked off down the hallway, and Opal couldn't help but look at Asami and grin wider.
"I think we embarrassed her," Opal giggled.
She started laughing then, and Asami laughed with her. They stopped when Korra came back, having recovered, bearing blankets.
"I keep the apartment cold, even when it's snowing." Korra shrugged, "so I hope this will do."
"I'm sure it will be fine, thank you." Asami smiled as Korra set the blankets down on the table, "I'm going to step outside and call my dad now, if that's ok."
Korra shrugged, and Opal nodded, allowed Asami to duck back into the hall of the apartment building.
Asami typed her dad's cell phone number out of memory and hit the dial button on Korra's phone. It rang sharply a few times, before clicking to voicemail. She should have known he wouldn't answer an unknown number. Still, she waited until his voicemail finished, in order to leave a message.
"Hey dad, it's Asami," she said as soon as the phone beeped, "I just wanted to let you know I won't be home tonight. Roads seemed too icy. I'll be home in the morning once they've been cleared. I'm safe, my phones charging so you can call if you want. I know it's late. Love you."
She waited for a moment before hitting the end button, and hoped her father would at least check his voicemail, if he wouldn't answer calls.
She sighed and turned back into the apartment behind her, clicking the lock button on Korra's phone almost instinctively. Upon her return, she found Korra curled up on one end of the futon, with Opal in the armchair nearby.
"We decided we wanted to watch a mover, since it's only eleven." Opal piped up happily.
"A mover sounds good," Asami shrugged, plopping down on the futon, "what're we watching?"
"One of the Nuktuk ones," Korra rolled her eyes, "Opal loves them because Bolin is in them."
"Really?" Asami's eyebrow went up, "I've not seen any of them. Are they any good?"
"If you ask Opal," Korra laughed, "they're fantastic. They're entertaining to say the least, but not high quality."
"Oh the quality is fine," Opal shushed Korra, "you just don't like Varrick."
Korra hummed in response and folded her legs underneath her, offering no more opposition.
The mover was good, as far as Asami was concerned. Korra would go on and on at appropriate intervals about how "real" water tribe warriors would act, and Opal would always shush her when Bolin had any dialog.
By the time the mover finished, Asami's eyelids were growing heavy, and Korra had been yawning for fifteen minutes at least. Opal shuffled off to bed first, and Asami could hear her brushing her teeth in the bathroom down the hall. Korra stood up and stretch, her gaze falling upon the futon where she had been sitting.
"If I could remember how to open this thing, it'd be great." Korra muttered, knocking one of the throw pillows into the floor.
"Maybe I can help," Asami offered, standing and looking over the back of the futon, "here. You pull it out and pull the legs down."
Korra grunted and did as Asami instructed, the futon stretching out with a creak from lack of use. Once Korra was satisfied that it wasn't going to collapse, she retrieved the stack of blankets she had dragged out, and presented them to Asami.
"Why thank you," Asami teased, bowing her head a little.
Korra flashed Asami a crooked grin, but it lasted only a moment before her eyes wandered back to the futon. Her face instantly contorted into a frown, causing Asami to raise her eyebrow.
"What is it?" Asami asked.
"Opal?" Korra yelled, turning her head down the hall.
"Mmm?"
"Do you have any extra pillows?"
"Yeah," Opal replied, louder this time, "give me a second."
There was shuffling down the hallway for a few moments, before a pillow whooshed through the air, smacking Korra over the head. Korra huffed, trying to pull it off of her face, only to be met by Opal giggling from her bedroom.
"Goodnight, Asami!" Opal called happily from her room, "goodnight, Korra."
Korra grumbled out a response as Asami wished Opal goodnight, and Asami couldn't help but notice Korra was grinning despite herself.
"Here," Korra said finally, offering Asami the pillow.
"Thank you Korra," Asami smiled, dropping the pillow onto the futon with the blankets.
"If you need something, yell," Korra shrugged, motioning toward her room.
"I will," Asami assured her, "but I'm sure I'll be fine."
"If you need something yell for me first!" Opal shouted from her room, almost muffled by her door, "Korra sleeps like a rock!"
Asami covered her mouth and chuckled at Opal's outburst, while Korra glared down the hall.
"Good night, Opal." Korra grumbled, frowning.
Asami smiled to herself as sat down on the futon with a yawn.
"Night, Asami." Korra mumbled, trying to stifle a yawn of her own,
"Goodnight, Korra."
It was a rattling in the kitchen that woke Asami the next morning. She opened her eyes and yawned, turning her head slightly to look around until she remembered where she was. She stretched herself out before sitting up and turning herself toward the kitchen. At the kitchen table she found Korra, cheeks stuffed full of what appeared to be cereal, staring back at her like Asami had just caught her stealing from a baby.
"I told you your rattling that cereal around would wake her up." Opal scolded.
Korra shrugged apologetically, and Asami almost didn't see Opal at first, who was bent over rummaging through the fridge.
"It's alright," Asami yawned, "what time is it?"
"Ine-furry." Korra mumbled through her cereal.
"What Korra means to say," Opal said teasingly, standing with a carton of eggs in hand, "is that it's nine-thirty. Give or take. You hungry?"
"I can eat," Asami shrugged, "I usually skip breakfast."
"Anything in particular?" Opal asked, "I've got just about everything, and Korra has her cereal."
"Cereal is fine," Asami answered.
Opal moved over to one of the higher cabinets and retrieved a bowl as Asami stood up and made her way to the kitchen table. Asami thanked Opal when the bowl and a spoon were placed in front of her. Korra handed Asami the cereal box afterwards, silent except for her munching. Asami glanced over the box momentarily before pouring the cereal into her bowl. It was some sort of chocolate cereal Korra liked, no doubt primarily made of sugar, with little nutritional value, but Asami wasn't one to complain.
"Bolin called a few minutes ago," Opal said, looking over her shoulder at Asami, "he said the roads have been cleared. And that it looks like the probending qualifiers are still on schedule."
She said the last sentence while looking at Korra, who only nodded and gave a thumbs up as she finished the rest of her cereal.
"I'll go home when I'm finished eating then," Asami replied, waiting until she finished what was in her mouth, "I know I'll see Korra there. Will you be there Opal?"
"I should be," Opal shrugged, "Bolin says it's a confidence boost for the team whenever I'm there. But it doesn't seem to help Korra or Mako."
Korra snorted and stood to carry her bowl to the sink.
"Sorry Ope," Korra laughed, "it's only because Mako and me aren't head over heels in love with you."
Opal faked a glare, and elbowed Korra playfully. Asami chuckled and looked up from her cereal.
"It's ok, Korra," Asami joked, "I'll be there too, to cheer on my valiant rescuer."
Opal giggled, and resumed cooking her breakfast, while Korra blushed beside her.
"No fair," Korra grumbled, "you're at all the matches anyway."
"She ought to be," Opal piped up, "her dad's company is your sponsor after all."
"Oh shit," Korra huffed, smacking herself in the forehead, "I forgot all about that."
Asami couldn't help but laugh then, but it only seemed to make Korra's blush darken.
Korra distracted herself by washing the dishes piled in the sink, while Asami finished her cereal. It didn't take either of them long, but Korra seemed to linger.
"I should get going soon," Asami said, waiting until Korra finally shuffled away from the sink, "I'll wash my bowl and fold the blank-"
"No no no," Opal insisted, "you were our guest. We'll take care of all that."
Asami opened her mouth to object, but Korra piped up instantly, agreeing with Opal.
"It's our job as hostesses." Korra affirmed.
Asami sighed but smiled at the other women.
"Thanks a ton for letting me stay here guys."
"No problem," Korra replied, as Opal nodded, "you want one of us to walk you to your car?"
Asami shook her head and began gathering her things, having to resist the urge to clean up after herself.
"You should come by more often," Opal told her, when she finished putting her coat on, "we could make it girls night."
"Sounds great to me," Asami smiled, "I'd love the company. I'll see you guys at the probending match later?"
"Sure thing!" Opal nearly squealed, "in fact, I'll sit with you!"
"Well I won't be doing any sitting," Korra teased, rolling her eyes, "I'm glad someone will enjoy it."
"Oh hush," Opal huffed, "you enjoy beating Tahno up."
"True, true," Korra nodded, "we'll see you later Asami."
"Bye guys," Asami laughed, letting herself out of the apartment, "behave!"
She called the last part out over her shoulder as she shut the door behind her, and she could almost swear she heard Korra mutter "never" just before the latch clicked.
The probending arena was packed full of people, despite the snow on the ground outside. The roar of the crowd was deafening even before you entered the stands, and they would surely be more rambunctious two weeks later when the actual tournament took place.
The Fire Ferrets were third in season overall, in terms of their win loss record. They trailed behind the Wolfbats and the Rabaroos. There were sixteen teams in all, and those ranking in the top eight were playing in four separate matches. The next day, those that ranked in the lower eight teams would play, and the winners from both days would secure their places in the tournament.
Asami found Opal outside the arena waiting on her when she pulled up in her car.
"Hurry, Asami! Hurry!" Opal exclaimed, bouncing excitedly, "they're waiting on us inside!"
Asami parked as quickly as she could find an empty space, and rushed to Opal who could hardly hold still in her excitement.
They found Bolin, Mako and Korra near the entrance to the stands, already in uniform.
"Took you guys long enough!" Bolin said enthusiastically, grabbing them both for a hug, "we play first! We didn't think you'd ever show, Asami!"
Asami smiled and patted Bolin on the shoulder.
"You know I never miss a match." Asami said, feigning defense.
Bolin pouted, releasing Asami, and she smiled over his shoulder at Mako and Korra.
"Hey guys." She said, waving.
Mako grunted a hello, and Korra stepped closer with a crooked grin on her face.
"Hope you're ready for a good match, Asami." Korra bragged, "We're going to decimate the Tigerdillos."
"Don't get cocky, Korra." Mako warned, "I don't want to get our asses handed to us."
"It's ok, bro!" Bolin grinned, slapping Mako on the shoulder, "we have Opal for good luck, and our sponsors here to cheer us on. Speaking of sponsor, Asami, what are you wearing?"
Korra, Opal and Mako looked Asami up and down, trying to find out why Bolin had a problem with her clothes.
"Uh..." Asami began, "clothes?"
"You don't have any Fire Ferret gear!" Bolin complained, motioning at Asami's clothes, "call yourself our sponsor and you don't even dress out!"
"Hold on Bo," Korra said, tapping Bolin's arm, "I'll fix it."
Korra wove her way through the crowd, disappearing momentarily down the hallway toward the locker rooms. She was gone for only a moment, before returning with a Fire Ferret t-shirt brandished above her head like a trophy.
"Pabu on the front," Korra grinned, handing Asami the shirt, "Future Industries on the back."
Asami turned the shirt over in her hands, and just as Korra said, the Futures Industries logo was emblazoned across the back. Across the shoulders in bold black letters was 'Korra', Asami smirked.
"Oh so I get one with your name on it?" Asami teased.
"Yeah," Opal grinned, nudging Asami, "and I have one with Bolin's name."
"Yup!" Korra and Bolin replied in unison.
"No one ever wears my shirt." Mako grumbled.
"You'll get a good luck charm too someday, bro." Bolin piped up, trying to comfort Mako.
"I'll put it on now, Korra. Thank you." Asami smiled, trying to avoid any tension and cut the conversation short.
Asami took her coat off, and shrugged the t-shirt on over her blouse.
"Fits like a charm!" Bolin exclaimed, "Now we need to make it official. We should sign it."
Mako mumbled some sort of protest, as Opal fished through her purse until she found a permanent marker. Bolin took it from her quickly, scribbling his name onto the left shoulder of Asami's new shirt. He passed the pen to Mako next, and Mako followed the same motions as Bolin. Korra signed it last, right below her own name on the shirt and grinned. When the pen was returned to Opal, the buzzer for the teams to get ready for the matches sounded.
"We better go guys!" Bolin yelped, rushing halfway down the hallway toward the locker rooms.
"We'll be in Asami's booth!" Opal called out as Mako and Korra jogged after him.
Asami was worried they hadn't heard Opal, but a thumbs up from Korra before they rounded the corner convinced her otherwise.
Opal grabbed Asami by the arm and half dragged her through the dissipating crowd, until they reached the entrance to the booths. They walked briskly into Asami's booth, where they could see the elevators raising to pick up the teams on either end of the arena. They could see Korra and Bolin leaning together and talking as the elevator took them to the center platform, and the pair of them turned and looked up toward the booths. They couldn't make Asami or Opal out from such a distance, but they knew where Asami's booth was, and both of them shot a thumbs up before climbing onto the platform to start the match.
The Tigerdillos had climbed onto the platform as well, and the teams were taking their positions, waiting for the referee to give the starting signal. When the signal finally came, the crowd erupted as the teams began fighting over the first zones of the arena. The Tigerdillos' firebender put all his attention toward Korra, who was effectively dodging his attacks while trying to respond with some of her own. Bolin hurled several discs after both the fire and waterbender, trying to draw some of their fire as Mako spent all his energy on their earthbender.
One well timed dodge on Korra's part, sent the Tigerdillos' firebender face to face with Mako, who sent him reeling into the next zone. This opened Korra up enough to help Bolin with the other waterbender, who was drawing dozens of streams of water in a matter of seconds, trying to push Bolin back a zone as well. Korra managed to knock her off her footing enough for one of Bolin's earthen discs to send her tumbling over the line and back a space.
The three of them tried to deflect the attacks of those that were already in the second zone, while simultaneously trying to push their earthbender over the line as well. Two was good, but they were trying to put up a fight for the second zone. Their break finally came, with about half the time remaining in the first round, when Mako opened the earthbender up to a neck-rattling headshot from one of Korra's water blasts.
As soon as the earthbender was across the line into the second zone, the referee blew his whistle, signaling the Fire Ferrets to move forward. Opal was practically bouncing in the seat beside Asami when they moved into the next zone, and Asami found herself more into the match than normal, feeding off of Opal's enthusiasm.
The Tigerdillos rallied once they were in the smaller area of the platform, keeping the Fire Ferrets from gaining anymore ground for another minute or so, but when the timer indicated the remaining thirty seconds of the round, Bolin send a swift combination of discs into the Tigerdillos' firebender, pushing him just over the line and into the last zone. Opal squealed with delight when this happened, grabbing Asami's arm enthusiastically.
The other two teammates held their ground, however, and the buzzer soon rang out in the arena, bringing the end of the first round with it. The scoreboard lit up red, showing that the Fire Ferrets had won the first round, and the referee blew his whistle once more, causing both teams to resume their starting positions.
The second round did not go so well for the Fire Ferrets. They lost the first zone quickly, and were forced to play two minutes of the three minute round on the defensive. They didn't regain the ground, however, and the second round went to the Tigerdillos. Opal seemed a little irritated when the scoreboard had the second tube turn blue in favor of the Tigerdillos, but she leaned over and assured Asami that the match would go just fine in the third round.
As it turned out, Opal wasn't too wrong. The first minute of the round went poorly for the Fire Ferrets, and ended with Mako being knocked completely off the platform. Korra and Bolin managed to regain their ground despite the loss, and Korra, in a way, avenged the loss of Mako by sending the Tigerdillo's waterbender head first off the platform into the water below. Opal leapt out of her seat when the waterbender toppled over, leaning over the railing of the booth and hollering down below to Korra and Bolin, who were deaf to her cheers over the roar of the crowd.
Korra and Bolin had trapped the remaining two Tigerdillo's in the last zone of the platform, and fought desperately for the last minute of the match to push either of them into the water after their teammate, but were unsuccessful. Still, having gained the most ground in the round, they were awarded the point, and ultimately won the match. Opal was nearly beside herself with her excitement as Korra and Bolin climbed onto the elevator to head back to the locker rooms, broad smiles on their faces as they waved to their fans cheering them on from the stands.
Asami and Opal waited in the booth for a few minutes after the match, while the other teams got ready to begin the next one. Eventually, Korra and Bolin found their way to the booth, having changed from their uniforms and showered in the locker room. Bolin hugged Opal enthusiastically when they burst into the booth, shouting about the tournament standings that would be released in a few days. Korra sat down silently next to Asami, with a grin still etched into her face.
"Good job out there, Korra" Asami beamed, patting Korra's shoulder.
"Thanks," Korra chuckled, scratching her neck.
Bolin sat down on Korra's other side, immediately going into strategy talks to Opal as the other teams began their match.
"Who's playing?" Asami asked, looking down at the platform.
"Wolfbats and Platypus-bears." Korra grunted, her eyes wandering from the platform to Asami, "I'm only interested because I hate the Wolfbats."
"We all hate the Wolfbats." Bolin corrected, before resuming his talk with Opal.
"Well, maybe they're not so tough," Asami shrugged, trying to sound reassuring. To be fair, she had never really paid attention to any Wolfbat matches, unless they were against the Fire Ferrets.
"We're hoping they'll play before us in the tournament," Korra explained, "gives us an advantage if they're worn down more than we are."
Asami hummed in acknowledgement, and drew her attention to the platform as the first round continued.
"Thanks for the shirt, again," Asami told Korra, as the referee flagged one of the Wolfbats for a foul, "and for letting me crash at your apartment. You should let me make it up to you."
"No need," Korra shrugged, waving Asami's objection away.
"Psst—Asami," Bolin whispered, or at least tried to, "Korra won't turn down food."
"Bolin." Korra objected with a glare.
"I'll take you to dinner then!" Asami laughed, smiling in thanks to Bolin, "Anywhere you want to go, as futon rent."
Opal snickered from beside Bolin, and Korra's cheeks darkened.
"Uh…hmm…" Korra stuttered, looking at Asami, "you know what sure. Dinner sounds perfect."
"Let me give you my phone number then," Asami replied, pulling her phone out of her purse, "and I can text you tomorrow and we can set a date and time."
"Suits me," Korra shrugged noncommittally, patting herself down for her phone, "here."
She handed Asami her phone and waited while Asami punched her number into Korra's contacts.
"Just text me," Asami smiled, when Korra held her hand out to get Asami's phone and do the same, "It's faster."
Korra nodded and did as she was told, and Asami found herself smiling when her phone lit up a few moments later with a text that said "it's Korra, your waterbending snow hero".