Disclaimer: The Legend of Korra belongs to its creators. I do not win any kind of money from this fanfic.
Author notes: Well, writing this was an experience! This was actually my first in many senses (my first time writing in English, my first time writing about a crack ship, my first time writing about the Legend of Korra), so expect some clumsiness and stuff. I'm especially worried about the characterization, so if anybody has a comment on that, I'd love to hear your opinion! I'm still kind of a noob.
I'll explain the reason of this story at the bottom notes. For now, read and enjoy!
On a normal situation, Opal wouldn't have taken Asami's invitation.
Why would she? They barely knew each other. Yes, she'd seen Asami a couple of times, and they had talked enough for Opal to know that the engineer was a nice person. Yet, from that to agreeing to take a drink on her apartment there was a fairly big gap.
But here she was, wasn't she?
She wasn't sure what had convinced her. Maybe it was the way Asami looked to her as Tenzin gave her a discourse on how she should put her family's feelings aside, on how she was an airbender now. A look that wasn't of pity, or anything like that, a look that was… understanding. And man, didn't she need some understanding right now. Maybe it was that hand on her shoulder, those soft words, that smile that she gave Opal while inviting her to take some sake at her house and talk a little. Maybe it was just the stress and the idea of a nice bottle of alcohol to forget everything for a while. Probably, though, it was all of that.
"Please, have a seat." Asami closed the door behind the airbender's back. The apartment was big, and nice. It had that touch on its decoration that really seemed appropriate, all of those warm colors that made her feel at home. "I'm glad you agreed to come over."
The sofa was big and comfortable. Opal let out a sigh of satisfaction. When was the last time she'd been in such a nice place? She loved airbender island, of course, but sometimes she missed that kind of luxury.
"I'm happy you invited me on the first place! And kind of confused, too", she admitted. Asami sat next to her and shrugged.
"I thought you could use some relaxing, you know? I kind of understand what it feels like. To not be able to put your family aside, even if you want to. To be betrayed by your family, too."
Of course she understood. Opal knew a thing or two about the whole Hiroshi issue - she knew enough to be aware of the fact that he tried to kill her once. Asami looked sad, but that only lasted for a second - soon, her attention seemed to be centered in Opal again.
"It's just - I don't get it. I don't understand why Baatar Jr. would… choose that woman over his own family!" She clicked her tongue before continuing, clearly upset. It was hard to find someone to vent these things with, so now she'd just take the chance. "Over his sense of justice too, apparently. You don't know how awful it is over at the Earth Kingdom."
"I have an idea. Because of what you told Tenzin and all that." Asami looked reflexive. She got up to take two glasses and a bottle of sake before continuing. "It sounds pretty bad, indeed. Like something that should be taken more seriously."
It was nice to feel listened once in a while. Opal took a sip of sake and kept talking.
The conversation lasted for a while. At first, Opal had been worried that the entire meeting would be just her talking about her problems and worries. But, in the end, it was nothing like that. First of all because Asami seemed in her zone comforting her. But also because she took her time to talk too. About her father, the loneliness, the feeling of all her friends just going separate ways. In the end, they were a lot like each other.
And there was… something else, too. Something about the way Asami looked at her, the warmth of her body that was more and more close to hers until they weren't touching just by a little. "This is nice", she thought. She wanted that moment to last forever.
They didn't kiss that night, or the one following it. It was too soon, though Opal could swear Asami was feeling the way she did. In any case, they had other ways of showing affection. Putting one hand on the other's, hugging, all those things that, for now, were more than enough. And, for the time she stayed in Republic City, Opal decided that she didn't care about where the relationship was going.
She just knew this feeling was something she wanted to keep for a long time.
A/N: The entire thing about this story started long ago, when I was reading every single post from tumblr user lokgifsandmusings. One of these posts specifically caught my attention. It was the author's first attempt at crackshipping. The post described a few ships, how and why they'd work together, and how they'd get together on the first place. Of course, I loved every single one. But one of them, Asami/Opal specifically, really caught my attention.
I never did anything about it until now, because of my anxiety when it comes to writing ships and stuff. Dialog and relationships aren't really my strength, and when I don't really have a dynamic to stick to in canon I just get lost. But! Recently, the author edited that post into an article for the page Fandom Following, and I just told myself "you HAVE to write this!" And I did! If it was a good idea, it's up to you.
Here is the link to said article. Well, kind of a link to the link. Whatever.