Asami opened her eyes to a strange ceiling and for a moment couldn't remember where she was. She sat up and took in the simple furnishings and the sliding paper and wood door. The scent of incense and old pine hung in the air. The near-perfect silence was broken only by the muffled sound of distant waves. Air Temple Island. That's right, she thought, you don't have a home anymore.
She knew sleep would not return, so she rose and lit the lamp. Perhaps her morning exercises would help settle her mind. There wasn't much floor space, so she selected a basic Tai Chi form that wouldn't require it. With effort she managed to put in a performance that was passable if not skillful.
As she worked, sounds of life started to filter in from outside. She heard footsteps in the hallway, doors sliding open and closed, the occasional snatch of murmured conversation. She had lost track of time when a new set of footsteps paused in the hall instead of continuing past. There was a gentle rap at her door.
Asami slid the door open a crack. Korra stood in the hallway dressed in Air Nomad robes and holding a tray with two steaming beakers on it. "I saw your light," she said. "I thought you might like some tea."
Asami opened the door wider and stepped to one side. "Come on in."
There wasn't a table or chairs in the sparsely furnished room. Korra solved the problem by simply lowering herself to the floor, effortlessly keeping the tray balanced as she did so. Asami sat down opposite her and accepted one of the beakers. The tea was strong and bitter. "Thank you," she said. Korra gave her a nod and a crooked smile before taking a sip of her own.
They sat in silence for a moment as Asami wracked her brain for something to say. "I'm surprised to see you up. I thought you weren't much of a morning person," she said. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she suppressed a wince. What had sounded light-hearted in her head sounded more like a challenge in her ears.
Korra, however, didn't seem to mind and grinned at her. "Oh, I'm not. Horrible time of day. It should be against the law. But you know how it is. Had to get up to meditate."
"Well, that sounds…"
"Boring?" Korra said, filling in the pause.
"I was going to say 'peaceful.'" She paused and ventured a half smile at Korra. "Although I'll admit it always sounded a little too peaceful for my tastes." Korra grinned again and held up her beaker in a toast. Asami bumped her own beaker against it in response.
"I hope you were comfortable here last night," Korra said. "When I came to the island, I'd been sleeping with Naga in the hold of a ship, and I still found the pallet to be a bit of a shock."
"Oh, it was fine. It's no worse than boarding school." The last part was a white lie, but after all it wasn't the bed that was to blame for her not sleeping well. "It's nice here. It's…"
"…peaceful," Korra finished along with her and snickered a little. Asami felt a real smile tug at the corner of her lips and she chuckled a little. "It's all very Air Nomady," Korra added judiciously.
Asami raised an eyebrow. "One would hope so."
"Well, yeah. It's just that everything, and I mean everything, has some sort of spiritual significance in this place. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to mess up the Feng Shui just by breathing. And then I get this urge to move every piece of furniture two inches in a random direction." She scrunched her face up and made shoving motions with her hands.
Asami covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laugh. Korra grinned at her. "Well, go right ahead," Asami said gesturing around the room, "if it will make you feel better. Just don't push any of the paintings crooked."
"Oh, hey," Korra said, feigning indignation, "I'm not a barbarian."
Asami glanced around the room. "I like the scrolls." She pointed to the one hanging over the door. The brushwork was elegant, though it was in a script she didn't recognize. "I was noticing them all around last night."
"Yep. They're all Air Nomad sayings. Every room's got something different."
"I wonder what this one says," Asami said idly.
Korra's brow furrowed as she looked at the scroll. "Let's see. 'Every new morning sees a new world.' Or something like that. That's my best translation anyway."
"Can you read all the scrolls?"
"Oh sure. The one in my room says 'In stillness there is growth.' I'm pretty sure Tenzin intended that as a message for me."
"That's impressive."
Korra shifted in her seat and looked away. "I don't know about that."
"Well, it's impressive to me," Asami said. "I've always struggled with languages."
Korra gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "OK, I'm good at languages, but it doesn't really mean anything. It's probably just an Avatar thing. I spoke all of them in a previous life, after all."
Asami raised her eyebrows. "Does everything you did in a previous life come easy to you?" Korra looked startled, giving Asami all the answer she needed. At some point, someone had apparently made Korra believe she had to offer excuses for being good at things. Asami had a sudden desire to find that person so she could slug them. She shrugged trying to make it look casual. "So maybe it's really a Korra thing."
Korra stared at her for a moment. "Huh," she said at last, a thoughtful look on her face.
The two sat in silence for a while, and Asami's mind turned to the saying on the scroll. A new world. After everything that happened, it certainly felt like she was living in one. She felt completely lost. She glanced at Korra to find the other woman was looking at her with a concerned look on her face.
Asami gave her a weak smile. "Is it horrible to say I wish I was still living in yesterday's world?"
Korra shook her head. "Not at all." She looked down. "I'm sorry."
Asami stared at her. "What on Earth for?"
"Well, I wanted to take your mind off things, and I ended up accidentally ambushing you with something that brings back how much you lost last night. I promise you, putting you in this room was not supposed to be a message for you." She shrugged, still avoiding Asami's gaze. "Also I'm sorry for taking your world away from you."
Asami sighed. "But you didn't. It was my father who did that. If we're being honest, the world I miss isn't really the one I was living in yesterday. It's the world where he was still a good man and I understood him. I don't know how many mornings have passed since that was my world."
Korra frowned moodily. "Yeah, I get that. It doesn't really feel like a helpful observation when everything is going wrong. This sure isn't the world I thought I was going to be living in when I left home. Air Nomad culture is all about enlightenment. But enlightenment and comfort aren't really the same thing. Even I figured that one out."
"So what are we supposed to do with our new world?"
"There's really only one thing we can do." She looked Asami in the eye. "Do our best and try to make tomorrow morning's new world a better one."
Asami nodded. What else could she do? "Sounds good. I'm in."
The rumble of the airship's motors had eventually lulled her asleep. Now hours later, the morning sun shining in her face through the porthole, she awoke, stiff from spending the night in a chair. She looked around blinking and saw Tonraq, already awake. Or perhaps still awake judging from the circles under his eyes. One glance at his bleak expression was enough to tell her that Korra wasn't any better.
She stood, trying to stretch the soreness from her body, and looked to the figure in the bed. Even in sleep, Korra's face was drawn in pain, sweat standing on her brow as if she were still engaged in a fight. Unable to bear the sight, Asami turned and laid a hand on Tonraq's shoulder. He looked up at her and gave her a hollow smile.
"Can I get you something?" she asked. He furrowed his brow as if this were one of the most difficult questions he'd ever been asked. "I'll go get some tea," she volunteered.
He nodded. "Thank you." She turned to go and he caught her sleeve. "Asami. Thank you," repeated, and she was sure now that he wasn't referring to the tea.
She felt a pang of guilt at his gratitude. Asami had no special claim to a place by Korra's sickbed, so she'd cheated. She'd offered to stay with Tonraq so he wouldn't have to leave his daughter's side if either of them had needed anything. She had to swallow past the tightness in her throat before answering. "Don't mention it."
A groan came from the bed. Both of them turned immediately to look. Tonraq scooted his chair closer and leaned over his daughter. Asami stood behind him holding her breath.
Korra's eyes fluttered open and she turned her head slowly toward them. She stared at them for a long moment. "Dad," she said at last, her voice coming out in a rasp. "'m I dead?"
"No!" He took her hand. "You're not dead. You're going to be all right."
She closed her eyes and breathed out. "Good. Then you're not dead either. Was afraid that was a dream."
"You're going to be all right," Tonraq repeated thickly.
Korra's eyes cracked open again. "Hey, 'sami," she said, meeting Asami's gaze.
"Hey, Korra. How are you doing?" What a stupid question, she thought. She kept a warm smile on her face as she cringed inside.
Korra closed her eyes tight, but not before Asami could see tears forming in them. "Hurts."
"I was going to get your father some tea. I'll bring some for you too with some pain killers."
Korra nodded gingerly and didn't open her eyes. Asami bit her lip and left on her errand.
Her path to the galley passed through the lounge. She stopped in surprise. About a half dozen people were scattered about the room in various states of wakefulness. The ones who weren't asleep looked about as well rested as she felt.
Mako saw her first. He sat up sharply, jostling Bolin awake in the process. "What's the news?" he said.
"She's awake," Asami said carefully. "And talking. She was happy to see that Tonraq was OK."
"How is she feeling?" Lin asked, perhaps sensing her evasion.
"Not good," she admitted. "She said she's in some pain." There was silence as this was digested. Everyone knew as well as she did that if Korra was willing to admit to pain it was probably pretty bad. "I'm sure once she's had more rest everything will be fine," she lied.
"I'll go see her," a voice behind Asami said. She whirled around in surprise. Kya stood in the doorway of one of the staterooms off of the lounge.
"Like hell, you will," Lin said. "You should be lying down yourself, and you know it." A mulish look grew on Kya's face.
"We're all concerned," Tenzin said in a conciliatory tone, "but Lin's right. It would be wiser…"
"I'm fine," Kya said unconvincingly. She was leaning against the door frame in a way that suggested she was relying on it to keep standing.
Lin and Tenzin were clearly correct. Kya was in no condition to be treating anyone. Part of Asami wanted Kya to win the argument anyway, and that terrified her. "I don't think Korra would want you to neglect your own injuries for her sake," she said.
"True or false," Kya grated out. "I'm the only healer on this airship who can treat her."
Kya was more right than wrong. And that was on Asami. She had staffed the crew, had neglected this simple precaution. She was the one who had decided that surely having the Avatar along was good enough. Kya almost certainly hadn't meant direct criticism, but Asami would probably never forgive herself for the oversight. Steeling herself, Asami locked eyes with the older woman. "As a healer, can you look me in the eye and tell me that if it were someone else in your condition that you would let them perform an exacting and strenuous task?"
And what if she says yes? Will you escort her to Korra knowing that she's probably lying? Fortunately, Asami was spared the dilemma; Kya looked away and cursed quietly to herself.
Lin stepped past Asami and took Kya gently by the arm and led her back into the room. "Come on, let's get you lying down." Asami looked down at her feet. The door to Kya's room closed with a quiet click.
"Thank you, Asami," Tenzin said.
I'm a horrible selfish person, and people keep thanking me. "Excuse me. I'm supposed to be fetching tea and pain killers," she said and fled the room.
Asami kept sane by keeping in motion for the next hour. Korra needed help sitting up and almost couldn't hold her teacup without assistance. She soon declared her desire to get more sleep and asked for solitude. Asami didn't like to leave her, but Tonraq agreed to his daughter's request, and Asami had little choice but to do the same. She then went to arrange breakfast for her passengers. When people began to gather in the galley, she excused herself to check in with the flight crew on their progress.
The flight captain was rumpled and unshaven but looked alert. He presented her with a status report before she even asked for one. "We have been proceeding at maximum safe speed to Republic City," he told her.
"Why not Zaofu?" she asked. "It was closer."
If the man felt any resentment at being second-guessed, he didn't show it. "The prevailing winds negated most of that advantage. And I figured that we'd find better healers for the wounded in Republic City."
She nodded. There was more than just civic pride behind that judgment. "Understood."
"Sparks is standing by, and as soon as we're in range she'll alert emergency services to meet us at the airfield."
"Very good. Please extend my compliments to the entire crew." He straightened up at that and gave her a respectful nod, a gleam of pride in his eyes. "How long have you been on duty?" she asked.
He gave her a rueful smile. "Most of the night." He glanced at the chronometer. "My lieutenant is relieving me at the top of the hour."
"Rest well. You've earned it."
Now the look he gave her was appraising. "You too, Ma'am." She gave him a weak smile before leaving the bridge.
She knew she should take his advice. She hadn't slept well in Korra's room. And when they landed there would be more to do, and she would need to be alert. She should go to her stateroom and try to get a little sleep. Instead, she went to the observation deck.
As she hoped, there was no one about. She went to the window and leaned her forehead against the cool glass. She shut her eyes tight as water stung in them. "It's not fair. It just isn't fair," she whispered. Why did it take a disaster for her to recognize what had been growing in her heart for months? What was wrong with her? "I don't want to live in this world. I want the old one back."
Except which one? Assuming the wish could be granted, she was too selfish to go back to the world before she knew Korra. And after… Was there really a long stretch of time where the two of them weren't lurching from one disaster to another, either separately or together?
How had she found happiness with so many objectively bad things happening around and to her?
Well, the answer to that was obvious. Asami might wish the disaster that gave her the insight undone, but by damn she wasn't going to let it go now that she had it. She'd earned it.
She took a deep breath, straightened up, and started back to the upper deck where Korra lay in pain, still fighting despite it all. "We'll do our best to make tomorrow's world a better one." Maybe that was the point of the saying. One damn thing after another, but you kept on going because the alternative was worse.
For Korra to feel for Asami the way she felt for Korra would be a miracle unlooked for, but that didn't matter. What Korra needed now was a friend, and Asami could be that for her. One new morning, one new world at a time.
Overhead a startlingly blue sky peaked through a sheltering canopy of branches. Asami blinked her eyes in momentary bemusement. The night before, they had laid down on an open plain, with nothing above them but more stars than Asami had ever seen before in her life. "That's different," she murmured.
"Is different good?" asked a voice beside her. She turned her head to see Korra lying beside her, propped on one elbow and smiling warmly at her.
Asami smiled back. "The most important thing from last night is still the same," she said. "Although what are you doing awake before me? Are you sure you're not secretly a morning person?"
"Maybe I just needed something worth waking up to. You're beautiful when you're asleep. Not surprising, considering you're beautiful when you're awake."
Asami put a hand up to her hair; as she expected it was a tangle after sleeping on the ground. Also, she could feel the drying remains of a stream of drool at the corner of her mouth. "I think you might be biased."
"Probably," Korra agreed. "But I'm also right, so it all works out." Korra leaned forward, hesitantly. Asami sat up to meet her in a gentle good morning kiss. After, Korra's grin grew even broader. "A yuan for your thoughts."
Asami's thoughts were a whirl. How could she sum them up? She'd half expected the night before to be a dream. For so long she had resigned herself that some things just wouldn't be. This morning, they were her life. Then the memory of another morning with Korra gave her the words. "It's a New World."