Glowing soul-flames floated in the air between the giant mushroom canopy above and the grassy ground below, softly lighting two forms that lay still beneath the Spirit World's night sky. Korra and Asami were position with their bodies facing away from each other, but their heads were side-by-side as they rested on their sleeping bags, using their backpacks as pillows. They both smiled contentedly at their surroundings as they spoke to each other in low, excited voices.

"I can't believe you managed to say that with a straight face," Asami said, doing her best to suppress a giggle.

"Well, I pretty much had to," Korra said. "I don't know about you, but I like my face where it is."

"Oh, so do I," Asami said, reaching her hand over to give her friend's opposite cheek a light pat. "Though you wouldn't have had to worry about your face if you could control that mouth."

Korra huffed good-naturedly. "Who do you think I am? Besides, I knew he wouldn't do anything to me. I was more worried about you, honestly. This place has a lot of strange rules and, well, you're developing a bad habit of finding them out the hard way."

Asami sighed. "I guess curiosity isn't a very adaptive trait in this world."

"Not really," Korra said with a smirk as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Probably why all the spirits I've met tend to be pretty dull if they're not crazy." She shifted onto her side to face Asami. "But that's why I like having you here, Asami. You make the Spirit World a lot more fun than it has any right to be."

"You're shameless," Asami said, giving her a look from the side. "I almost wish we never had to go back."

Korra laughed at the thought, though her eyes unfocused for a moment, considering what that might be like. Then her brows quirked as another thought struck her. "Say, did you ever tell anyone we were leaving?"

"Of course," Asami said, cocking her eyebrow. "Well, I let the board know I was taking a personal trip, but I didn't say where. I don't really have anyone else to tell, honestly."

"Oh," Korra said. "So… not even Mako or…?"

"Korra, did you not tell anyone you were leaving at all?" Asami said with a flat, unimpressed stare.

"I… I didn't really think of it at the time," Korra admitted, turning away as her face turned a dark red. "I was too excited. Besides, I figured you'd at least tell Mako and he'd let everyone else know…"

"Why would I tell Mako?" Asami said. "We haven't been that close for years, and you two have a lot more mutual friends. I would have thought if you'd have told anyone it would get back to him soon enough."

Korra moaned. "Tenzin's probably gonna send out a search party for me."

"Or just Jinora," Asami suggested. She rolled over onto her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows and gave her friend a look that was halfway between amused and exasperated. "Don't work yourself into a tizzy, dear. You could probably just get one of the spirits around here to take her a message before things get out of hand. It won't be so bad, though it would have been nice if you'd thought ahead."

Korra shrugged and looked up at Asami with soulful eyes. "Well, at least I'm not quite as bad as I was when we first met, right?"

"Right," Asami said, laughing as she put her hand on Korra's shoulder, giving it a light rub.

Korra fell into a contemplative silence after their laughter subsided. "Hey… Asami?"

"What's up, Korra?"

She shifted uncomfortably, reaching up to play with her short hair. "Well… you don't mind if I ask you something… a little personal, do you?"

"Korra," Asami said, her voice syrupy. "We wrote to each other about personal things for three years. I think I can handle it, now."

"Well, that's different," Korra said, avoiding eye contact with her. "I mean, we weren't face to face and I could think about what I was going to say… and it's a different kind of personal… I think."

"Just spill it, girl," Asami said, giving her a prod.

Korra grunted irately and then sighed. "So… you and Mako… did you two ever do anything more than… kissing?"

Asami's eyebrows went straight up. "Oh, my. Now that is a personal something." She grinned cattily at her friend's obvious embarrassment. "Don't worry about it. I'll have you know that Mako never made it past second base."

"'Base'...?" Korra said quizzically.

"We didn't do anything more than that," Asami said, shaking her head. She gave Korra a thoughtful look before her eyes widened. "Wait, you and he didn't…?"

"No!" Korra said. "No, I… I mean, there was one time he wanted to and… and I knew it was something we were supposed to do, but… it felt weird, I guess."

Asami frowned. "And it didn't go any further, right?"

Korra shook her head. "Mako actually stopped it when he saw that I wasn't comfortable. I… I felt like I failed, though. Like it was something I should be able to do with someone I love, but I just… choked. Like a picken."

Asami snorted, covering her mouth and nose to stifle it.

"What?"

"Oh… nothing," Asami said. "Just… I'm sure you're not the only one with the choked picken that night."

Korra stared at her uncomprehendingly for a moment. Then the corners of her mouth began to creep toward her ears and she pointed her finger at her. "Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! I see what you did there." She laughed. "I'm gonna have to keep an eye on you."

"You mean you haven't been?" Asami asked, nudging her. "I should be offended." She sniffed. "But what brought this on, anyway?"

"Well," Korra said, putting her hands behind her head as she stared up into Asami's eyes. "I guess I've just been thinking."

"Quelle surprise," Asami retorted.

Korra reached up, apparently tired of playing with her her own shorn locks, and began to twist one of Asami's black curls around her finger. "I just… wondered if that was how it was supposed to feel, I guess. I thought maybe you'd had… more experience with it than I did."

"I'm afraid Mako was my first—and only—boyfriend, same as you," Asami admitted.

Korra tugged lightly on the strand of hair wrapped around her fingers. "I can't believe you'd only have gone out with one person before Mako. You weren't like me, locked away at the South Pole all your life."

Asami laughed. "Well… you're right. There was someone else. But we weren't really official. Daddy didn't approve, and… when he caught us together he was a bit upset."

"Why?" Korra asked.

"Well…" she replied, averting her gaze as she withdrew her touch from Korra self consciously. "The person I liked wasn't a boy. Daddy wanted me to get married and have heirs, and… and he said it was 'weird'."

Korra licked her lips. "You mean… you kissed a girl?"

"And I liked it," she said with a faint smile. "After all, there's not much difference between a man's lips and a woman's, right? Why shouldn't you be able to kiss either?"

"I… I never thought of it like that," Korra said. "But… Mako's lips were always a little too rough… and he always had this rough patch of stubble that rubbed me the wrong way no matter how well he shaved. I always liked that he was kissing me, but I don't know if I liked the kissing, itself." She looked back into Asami's eyes, who furtively met her gaze. "Do you… do you really think kissing a girl is the same as kissing a guy?"

"Well, I guess there's really only one way to find out," Asami said, giving her friend an encouraging smile.

Korra looked down with an embarrassed grin. "Well… would you mind if I… you…?"

"Really?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," Korra said. "I mean… I've wanted to try for a long time, but I just… didn't think I was supposed to…"

Asami was already lowering her lips toward Korra's, her long, pointed chin brushing the tip of the Avatar's nose as she met them with her own, cutting off anything more she was going to say. The contact was brief, but she felt her heart swell in her chest and warmth spread through her body. She broke contact and retreated back to see Korra's glassy eyed stare.

"Korra?" she prompted uncertainly. "Are… are you alright?"

Korra blinked and put her hand to her lips. "Asami?"

The warm feeling in Asami's gut began to freeze as she moved to a sitting position. "Y-yes?"

"I think…" Korra said cautiously. "I might be 'weird.'"