Shiro Shinobi: "My, folks, it certainly has been an exciting time here in Republic City! Following the defeat of Kuvira, the city is in great need of repair. The shattered Earth empire is in disarray, and more spirits than ever are wandering the mortal world. While things aren't necessarily perfect, it seems as though our heroes could finally have some time to themselves, including our Avatar! Korra and Asami have set off for a much-needed vacation for two. What awaits our heroes in the spirit world?"
It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust after stepping out of the light of the spirit portal, but once they focused, Asami was greeted with some of the most stunning landscape she'd seen. Large, thick trees dotted the flowered meadow in which they stood, and the dark violet skies beyond were interspersed with sharp, white mountain peaks. Nearly breathless, she sighed. "It's beautiful."
"Isn't it?" Replied Korra. Their hands were still intertwined as they stepped away from the portal toward a patch of wildflowers. "The most beautiful part of it all is that I'm sharing it with you."
"Korra, that was terrible," chuckled Asami. "Was Bolin giving you pointers before we left?" Her warm smile was quite genuine, however, because Asami actually loved hearing Korra speak to her like this, even if it was a little corny.
"He might have given me a few… tips. Sorry. It's just, you know that my track record with relationships hasn't been very strong, and he and Opal seem to have a great thing going, so I figured it couldn't hurt to take some of his advice."
"Just be yourself. I love you, Korra, so you don't have to try to impress me. The spirits only know how many times you've already done that." Asami looked down at Korra's hand and brought it up to her lips, kissing it stepped closer and into her arms, nestling her head into the crook of Asami's shoulder. "You've saved the world, and trust me, you've got the girl. I'm here to spend my vacation with Avatar Korra. My Avatar Korra."
"I love you too. I can already tell that this is going to be a great week," said Korra softly, bringing her head up and moving to plant a firm kiss upon Asami's lips." They lingered there for several moments, or it could have been hours. Korra couldn't tell. "Come on," Korra said, eventually breaking the embrace. "Let's go for a walk and explore a bit before we have to set up camp."
The two set off through the meadow and away from the spirit portal. It wasn't long before they started gaining some attention. Slowly, various spirits started to emerge from behind trees, under the blanket of flowers, and even from seemingly thin air to spy on the couple. They were keeping a reasonable distance, though not out of fear. It was obvious that they were interested in the pair of newcomers, and it had been a very long time since many of them had seen a human. One dragonfly rabbit spirit, a light pink one who had currently chosen to maintain a physical world size, dared to fly close enough to garner some attention from Asami.
"Hey little guy," she cooed. "Do you know of any good places for us to visit while we're here?" The spirit squealed happily and darted about a bit before rushing past them an motioning toward the edge of the meadow, slightly away from where they were headed. Asami looked at a bemused Korra, who gave half of a shrug and motioned after the rabbit with a swoop. They took off after the spirit hand-in-hand.
The trees started to become denser and greener as they went. Soon, the vegetation had started to become so thick that it threatened to bar their way. Thankfully, there soon came a break in the treeline, as a natural, nearly perfect forest path spread out before them. The ladies continued after the little spirit, with still others in tow a safe distance behind,marvelling at the sights and sounds of the spirit forest canopy. Korra thought to herself: This is so perfect. I haven't felt this at peace in… well, ever! I can't believe this is happening, and I can't believe how lucky I am to be spending it with someone as amazing as Asami.
"Is something funny?" asked Asami. Korra snapped back from her musings and realized her gaze had shifted naturally to Asami while sporting a wide. goofy grin. Her face reddening a little, Korra broke the smile and eye contact for a moment. Remembering what Asami has said a few minutes ago, Korra didn't try to hide her feelings or put on a show, however.
"I was just thinking about how amazing all of this is and how lucky I am to have you." replied Korra. It was Asami's turn to blush. She combed both hands through Korra's hair and pulled the Avatar to her by the head to meet her lips again. "Very lucky," repeated Korra.
After a few more minutes their trek took them to a clearing. The trees gave way to a thin but healthily-flowing stream that emptied into a pool blanketed by lilies of a multitude of colors. The girls saw several tall, birdlike spirits bathing in the corner, while a catdeer rose it's head from drinking to assess them. Feeling thirsty herself, Korra drained a healthy portion of her flask of water and bent some of the stream's water to refill it. Then, a rather evil thought crossed her mind. She carefully bent just a bit more water into a small ball and snuck it behind her and above Asami's head. She let the ball drop square onto her friend's head.
The unexpected bath startled Asami, who immediately noticed Korra's smile morph into a devilish grin. Years of training kicked in and Asami deftly sidestepped Korra, putting herself between the Avatar and the pond. She grabbed Korra's arm and made a low sweep to put her off balance. A second later, Korra was flying head-first into the pond. "You may be able to bend all the elements, but remember how easily I can bend you!"
A drenched Korra replied, "Okay, okay, you win this one." She lept out and bent herself dry. "You know, this place is pretty nice. What do you day we set up camp here?"
"Sounds great!" replied Asami. Korra planted her feet and bent her knees, bringing her fists from her side up above her in an X. A pair of stone slabs rose from the earth to meet, forming a cozy but spacious tent. The two placed their packs within and spent some time observing the spirits and wilds, the quizzical Asami absorbing as much information from Korra's explanations as she could, while attempting to relate these processes scientifically to an equally curious (and partially confused) Korra.
As time stretched on, they noted that it must be getting late, though the spirit world had no conventional concept of time. Crawling into the tent, the two continued their conversations, turning to more abstract matters as girls grew sleepier. Eventually the talk became more somber, "I wish my father were here to see this," muttered Asami.
"I know, "said Korra. Varric's wedding had only been a couple of weeks after the attack, but it had been enough time to put affairs in order and take stock of the losses, including Hiroshi's funeral. It certainly hadn't been long enough to grieve, however. "It's because of your father that both of us are here to see this now. It's because of your father that I have you, and that makes him one of the most important people I've ever known. Korra propped up her head with one arm and extended the other to Asami's shoulder. "I can't make the pain go away, but I'll do what I can. I'm here for you."
"I know, and thank you, Korra," replied Asami. She reached out to place her forehead against Korra's, and the two stayed interlocked as they drifted off to sleep.
"You don't care about mom anymore!" Asami shouted
"I now see there is no chance to save you!" her father, moments from bringing his mech's hand down upon his daughter.
"Dad, we have to go! now" Asami cried.
"I love you," whispered Hiroshi, moments from Kuvira bringing her mech's hand down upon his daughter. Then she was rocketing away as she saw the giant hand come down over him.
The images continued to flash and loop in her subconscious, repeating her worst memories over and over, seeming to intensify with each new iteration. Then, as she reached out to her father one last time, a surge of emotion washed through her and she awoke with a start, Korra calling her name.
"Asami, you're alright! It was just a nightmare!" Korra said softly. The initial look of surprise on Asami's face faded to a thin-lipped melancholy. Suddenly feeling too exhausted even for tears, Asami fell into Korra's shoulder and was almost immediately asleep.
Korra sat there a little while longer, trying to process what had just happened. She had awoken to see her girlfriend in a fit, and as she reached down to rouse her, Asami's hand had extended up towards the roof of the tent, palm outstretched, almost as if it were trying to grab something, and a short jet of air had rushed forth and blasted the stone ceiling of their tent. Korra, however, was too stunned to appreciate the fact that their structure was so immobile. It didn't seem as if Asami herself noticed it, but to Korra it was obvious; Asami had just used airbending.
"Well of course he's an airbender now!" scoffed Varrick. "You just saw him airbend." Lin looked back at the squad car as it hauled away a particularly meddlesome member of the Triads who was attempting to use his newfound airbending to extort a local antiques dealer. "Is it really all that surprising that more would appear?"
"What do you mean? questioned Lin. "We haven't seen anyone manifest airbending for years. Why would this suddenly start happening again?"
"Because of the spirit portals!" Varrick seemed almost annoyed now. "The first time Korra opened them, BOOM! in come the new benders. It could only be explained by the new influx of spirit energy that had entered this world. There hasn't really been a change since then because the energy must have somehow balanced out. Then along comes our Avatar and she CREATES A THIRD SPIRIT PORTAL! I doubt this has ever happened before!"
Lin was overseeing some of the restoration and initial development on the northeast side of Republic City, some of the area most-affected by the attack. Varrick and Zhu Li had taken it upon themselves to head up some of the urban planning for Future Industries in Asami's absence. "That still doesn't explain how random non-benders would suddenly start exhibiting signs of airbending."
"I believe I can offer a theory," Zhu Li calmly interjected. "It seems that the ability to bend an element relies largely upon having blood relatives with the ability. The more-powerful the bender, the more likely he or she is to pass it onto his or her children. When the Fire Nation wiped out all of the airbenders 175 years ago save Aang, they seemingly cut off this chain. I believe, however, that the potential was still there, among other non-benders who had family with airbenders, and that those direct descendants were the ones most-likely to acquire this power as spirits and nature attempted to restore balance. General Bumi was the first to exhibit these powers because he was the son of Aang. After that, the spirit energy likely worked backwards from there through airbender heritage."
"Wow!" said Varrick. "That's actually a pretty sound idea! I'll tell ya, I finally realize that this girl has some pretty good things to say, and then she never shuts up!" Varrick said with an over-zealous hug of Zhu Li, who looked both pleased and annoyed as she readjusted her glasses.
"So you're telling me that anyone who had an ancestor that was an airbender could potentially develop airbending?" Lin asked, obviously more annoyed by the thought."
"If my theory is correct, chief, then yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," replied Zhu Li."
"I've got to go inform Tenzin," sighed Lin. "We're going to need some help here."
When she awoke several hours later, Korra watched Asami as she slept and tried to take joy in the sight of her sleeping soundly. The young Avatar was a little hesitant to breach the subject. She was still trying to process what this meant. Was Asami an airbender? Did this happen only because they were in the spirit world? Why would it happen now? She was lost in these thoughts when she noticed Asami rousing.
"Good morning," Korra said softly. Looking down at Asami, Korra could see that her tossing caused Asami's hair to muss, and Korra realized that it was the first time she'd ever seen Asami without that meticulously brushed and styled hair. Despite this, she still found her lady utterly beautiful. She couldn't help but smile lovingly. "Did you sleep well enough?"
Stretching and running her hands through her hair, Asami replied, "I'm alright, but I had a nightmare. I think you know that. I remember you consoling me amongst it all. You're still there for me. Thank you."
"Of course I was there for you. I'll always be there for you," replied Korra. She stretched a bit herself and was getting ready to wash up, but she didn't want to take her eyes off of Asami. Perhaps it was the pale light shining through the trees and onto her porcelain skin, or the protectiveness Korra felt for her. Maybe it was just because, after all these years, she finally realized her true feelings. She didn't have any more time to wonder, though, as a giggle from Asami brought her back.
"I know you're into me, so I tried to let it slide, but after a moment I realized that if I hadn't stopped you, you may have spent our whole vacation staring like that." Asami ran her fingers through her hair again and a sudden realization came to her face and her mouth started to gape as she too now realized that this was her first 'unkempt' appearance for Korra. Her hands flew to her pack to retrieve her brush and she got to work straightening her hair.
"I honestly could, Asami," remarked Korra truthfully. Thinking for a moment, she continued. "Listen, Asami. I'd like to talk to you about something. Something that I don't know whether or not you'll understand. Something I don't even understand yet."
Asami turned and muttered through the blue hairpin in her mouth, "What is it, Korra?"
"It's… it's nothing. It's just, we're here in the spirit world, finally together, and I just don't know how to process all these feelings," Korra lied.
"I know exactly what you mean, Korra. I've had these feelings for a long time, and only recently have I had the nerve and ability to voice them. When I realized for sure that you felt the same way, I was ecstatic. There was always something stopping us, slowing us down. First the spirit wilds in the city, then the Earth Queen, then Zaheer… I'd thought I'd lost you for sure, then. Not seeing you for almost three years though was when I really realized how miserable my life was without you.I tried a few dates and being social, I tried burying myself in my work. I even tried to set my mind right with my father, who had been writing me every week. Try as I might, my feelings for you mixed with my conflicting thoughts about him seemed to make the loneliness worse. I have nothing but joy right now, and if I had nothing else but you, I'd still be alright."
Asami's words moved Korra, and she found herself doubly renewed in her feelings for her. She drew Asami in close and pressed her lips against hers. The kiss was passionate but soft, and Korra very quickly found Asami's lips parting under hers. Cupping her head in her hands, Korra pulled Asami close into her, hesitant to part with her for even a second. For her part, Asami could give as well as she could get, and Korra was getting a little too much into the embrace. It was when her hands started to wander that Korra remembered the evening's events and realized that distractions wouldn't help her solve this new mystery. Hesitantly she pulled away.
"Asami, I actually have a question to ask you." There was no use in putting it off. "I'm sorry to bring this up, but do you remember anything about your nightmare last night?"
Catching her breath, Asami replied, "It's okay, Korra… and I remember enough. It was my father. I saw him, saw how he hated me, and how I in turn had hated him. I saw our last moments together."
"Do you remember… anything else about the dream?" Korra pressed, curious to know if Asami had any felt the airbending she'd seen.
"Not really. The next thing I remember was waking to the sight of you reassuring me" She let the thought linger a moment. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know how, or why, Asami, but I could have sworn I saw you airbend last night. Right before you woke up, you had reached out above you, almost as if you were trying to grab something in your dream, and a stream of air flew from your palm. I don't know if it was real, or a spirit world illusion, or what it was, but it looked an awful lot like bending to me."
"Korra, we both know that I can't bend. Neither of my parents were benders, and certainly neither one of them were airbenders. I think you might have been seeing things."
"I thought that too, but I started to think about it a little," replied Korra. "I remembered how Bumi gained his bending after harmonic convergence, as did Opal, Kai and all of the other new benders."
"I don't know, Korra. It seems a little unbelievable to me. If I start feeling any different, however, I'll let you know. Come on, let's go find some spirit world fruit to eat with what we brought. I'm starving!" Asami started off toward the other edge of the grove, with Korra only a few steps behind, still wondering about the earlier events.
Their morning had progressed well, with them moving past the forest and into a large meadowed area. The weather was perfect. The sky was starless but still shone a deep and radiant blue. Tall, fat, white clouds were interspersed throughout, and though the air was still, the women felt as though a cool breeze was constantly washing over them.
"This place just keeps outdoing itself," mused Asami. "Did you know this was where we were going?
Korra nodded. "Yep! I've only been here once before, and it wasn't under the best circumstances. I was in spirit form, and was a small child, so I couldn't truly appreciate it. Now, however… It's amazing." With her hands on her hips she took a deep breath. "Come on. There's someone I'd like you to meet. I just hope we can find him."
They didn't have to wander long before Korra spotted what she was looking for. As they crested a small hill, they could see a quaint little cottage near the edge of the meadow. It was an earthen yellow with thatched hay roofing, and small wisps of smoke could be seen rising from the chimney. As they got closer, they noticed a large, thick tree stump that had been smoothed and polished to serve as a table surrounded by several chairs. They were empty now, but Korra could remember them filled with all types of spirits on her first visit. They approached the front door and Korra rose her hand to knock.
"I was wondering when you were going visit, Korra," an old and rough, but very soft and kind voice called from behind the door as it opened slowly. Standing before them, with his arms folded within the sleeves of his long, green robe, the plump old man smiled warmly through squinted eyes.
"Iroh! It's so good to see you!" exclaimed Korra, dashing forward to hug him. Asami watched the exchange and couldn't help but smile at the genuine nature of it. Korra released the hug and gestured toward her. "I'd like you to meet-"
"Asami, isn't it?" interrupted Iroh. "While it's true that we've never met, I've heard quite a bit about you from my friends here. I also heard that we have you to thank for finally helping our Avatar understand love. I am happy to know that Korra has finally found that someone who can help her understand true love." Both girls were blushing now, but Iroh didn't give them any time to be uncomfortable. "Come in, please. I've just put some tea on, and would like to exchange stories."
They talked at length about everything that had happened in the last few years, from Korra's struggle with her near-death experience and years of recovery to her defeat of Kuvira. As Korra related the events, Asami chimed in with her perspective, along with various embellishments about Korra's performance. Iroh looked upon the two as they spoke and realized that his words had come true once again; That when Korra and Asami had started this journey, they hadn't been looking for each other, but here in the spirit world, they seemed to have found exactly what they didn't know they were looking for.
Asami spotted a Pai Sho board in the corner and was intrigued. Iroh noticed this and turned to her. "Do you play Pai Sho, young lady?"
"Oh, I do, General. I was just thinking how great of an honor it would be to play against one of the most brilliant strategic minds in history!"
"Please, my dear, it's just Iroh now, but I can hardly turn down an open request for a game of Pai Sho. Would you like to humor an old man with a game?"
Asami looked expectantly at Korra, who realized that this would likely take a while. She didn't mind the wait, however, and smiled and nodded in approval. Moments later both the old man and the young genius were eyeing the board intently, developing their strategies and positioning their pieces. Korra stood up and stretched, then announced that she was going to step outside for a walk.
Korra's walk took her from the cottage south, to the edge of the meadow and near a darker forest. She remembered being so frightened of this place in her young spirit form, though while it still appeared dark and somber, seemed a lot less fearsome. She peered into the dark depths of the thicket, lost in thoughts about the day and about Asami. She was barely focused upon what lied within the brush when a pair of red eyes flashed to life slightly above her.
A large, shining beast shot out of the thicket above her and dashed above her head. It flew a quick circle above her and then slowed, gliding slowly back towards the treeline. Able to get a good look at it now, Korra could tell it was a dragon bird spirit. This one didn't seem to be the one that had helped her all those years ago, however. This spirit was a darker orange, not yellow, with streaks of dark violet and red. This was a dark spirit. Remembering that her emotions could affect the spirits, Korra reacted quickly, attempting to impose a feeling of calm upon the spirit as it dove toward her. Korra had to break her concentration and leap out of the way, however, the spirit remained unaffected.
As the dragon bird came around for another attack, Korra readied herself in defense. As the spirit dove again, Korra stood her ground this time, clapping her hands together before her. A blast of wind disrupted the beast's dive moments before impact, and Korra followed up with a spinning jump kick that released an arc of flame at the spirit. The spirit shrugged off the fire with little difficulty and beat its wings furiously at Korra. The force knocked her off balance and the spirit landed, snapping out with it's beak. Korra managed to lift herself away with a handspring and bent the air around her, vaulting her backwards. What's going on here? Korra asked herself. She was pretty confident that she could defeat this spirit fairly easily, but she wanted to avoid doing any real damage if she could. She decided that she wanted to get back to Iroh and Asami to get some advice on what was happening.
Sensing her shift in thought, the dragon bird turned its attention to the cottage and took off. Rushing after it, Korra was soon in shouting distance. "Asami! Iroh! Look out!" The two came hurrying through the cottage door just as the dragon bird had made it within striking distance. Without hesitation, it dove toward the pair. Asami and Iron split and dove away, with Iroh coming to a rest near his door while Asami had rolled off the porch to come to a crouch on the dirt trail leading up to the house. "What happened?" shouted Asami to a rapidly approaching Korra.
"That's what I'd like to know!" replied Korra as she came to rest next to Asami. "One minute I was enjoying a walk, then the next minute this spirit comes at me! The two girls hurried to the cottage porch to rejoin Iroh.
"There are good and bad spirits just as there are good and bad people, Korra," advised Iroh. "Imprisoning Vaatu did as little to stop all evil in the spirit world as stopping someone like Amon would in the physical world. I've had a couple of dealings with one of these before. This is just an example of a spirit gone bad."
"Well, what can we do?" asked Korra. "I didn't want to have to destroy it!"
"You may not have a choice, Korra," replied Iroh. "Part of the responsibility of being the Avatar is accepting the fact that you cannot bring peace to those that do not want it. They must be dealt with in order to maintain peace, though it saddens me to suggest it."
"Alright. Then I'll either drive it away or take it down!" resolved Korra.
"I've got your back," said Asami. We should lure it away from the cottage so you can get a clear area to take it down!" Trusting her love, Korra didn't try to suggest that Asami stay back. She wanted to protect Iroh, who was only a spirit now and unable to bend to defend himself, and Asami had proven her worth far too many times to have Korra question it. They split in two directions as they ran from the cottage, moving toward the meadow's edge. As she passed a small stream, Korra made a long, low sweeping motion towards the water, lifting a large stream into the air and wrapping it around her. Her arm shot forward towards the dragon bird, almost whiplike, complete with a snapping motion in her wrist. The water followed suit, and soon was rushing up at the spirit. A moment before the jet hit, Korra willed the water's form to ice, intending to freeze a wing and bring the bird down. The water-ice connected with a satisfying crack, and the beast lost some altitude, still managed to stay relatively straight. Wasting no time, Korra had already switched stances and was pulling a trio of meter-wide stones from the ground to follow. Two were narrowly dodged, but the third connected to the crippled wing and the spirit began to tumble.
Asami was already near where the spirit was intending to land. She assumed a low stance, ready to strike or dodge, and called out to the spirit. "Hey! Over here! Why don't you attack someone who can't utterly destroy you on a whim?" As ridiculous as the taunt seemed, the spirit appeared to have understood Asami's words and had fallen for them. It lashed it's head around to snap at Asami, who easily sidestepped. Several more pecks came, but the bird's movement was still limited by his apparent injury. Asami chanced a glance over to Korra, who was already approaching, and smiled. She was so happy that she could keep up with Korra even without all of the fantastic power her girlfriend had. It wasn't until she saw Korra's look of fierce determination turn to that of fear that she turned back to the spirit.
The spirit had broken free of the ice, and so quickly. It was suddenly surprisingly mobile, and hopped up above Asami. It came down at her, razor-sharp talons threatening to tear into her. Korra was still about 20 meters away, unable to stop the strike. Her fear suddenly mixed with rage and her eyes started glowing. In the Avatar state, she could see all of this happening in slow-motion, but even with her increased speed, Korra was going to be a second too late…
The dragon bird spirit was thrown from above Asami with a concussive force of air. The blast had sent the spirit reeling and it apparently had lost its bearings. Still in the Avatar state, Korra wasted no time in trapping it within a sphere of air, holding it as she wreathed it in the other elements. Bringing their full fury down upon this creature who dared to threaten her precious Asami, Korra almost lost herself in her state. Finding herself again, she released her elemental hold on the spirit, which now seemed to weak to offer even a token of resistance. It hobbled away back toward the dark thicket, barely in flight, though Korra swore she could see it's hue brighten ever-so-slightly as it left.
Turning her attention back to Asami, Korra rushed over to her. She discovered Asami locked in a pose, her eyes slightly blank, her mouth slightly open. One arm was outstretched while the other was tight at her side, both fists clenched.
"You… You were right, Korra," she stammered. "I can… I can airbend."