Summary: Asami thinks of her girlfriend like a port: open to every bit of her.
Genre: Romance, Fluff
Rated: K
Author's Note: This piece is dedicated to tumblr user minuiko and was inspired by their Inktober image featuring a sleeping Korra and Asami. I found the soft, sephia tones endearing and the style very eyecatching, along with the quote "All I want is to be your harbor". It felt very fitting for Korra, who hails from a land of snow, ice, and water, so I wrote a piece about them in the South, waking up one sleepy, cold morning.
Asami woke up to Korra's toffee brown face, nose wrinkled up slightly, lips parted in sleep.
This was Asami's favorite part of anytime she woke: Korra's slumbering face, brow knit ever so slightly, lips parted, dark brown hair spread across the pillow, head always turned towards Asami. It was how she had slept since they first shared a bed: one arm on top of the blankets to keep them on her side, and the other, near Asami, seeking her presence unaware.
It warmed Asami's heart, made her ache a bit for Korra despite her being so close. It wasn't a painful ache: just a desire to be near, to be closer to her girlfriend. It was indescribably, a feeling like being adrift at sea.
Yet laying next to her felt like Korra was the beacon, Asami a boat on the sea, hand bobbing towards her, green eyes settling on Korra's lids, slowly easing towards her. Korra felt and smelt like home, like the open ports of Harbor City: accepting and filled with adventure, a cityscape of playful snow drifts, lilting voices, and the sweet scent of moon peach buns, laden with honey from the Earth Kingdom and seeded with sweet winterberries and candied nuts. Korra felt as vast as the sea, as deep as the border oceans, fathomless in beauty and kindness.
And she was next to Asami, open to her, open to her everything.
It was such a candid realization, one that struck Asami and shook her fully awake, dragging her instantly from the sleepy stupor of interrupted rest and into the pale dawn of the Southern morning. She exhaled sharply, lip curving into a sleepy smile and pressed her unpainted lips to Korra's brow. Korra let out a huff and shifted, lazily opening her blue eyes and looking at Asami.
She smacked her lips, tongue thick with sleep and shifted, pressing her forehead to Asami's lips once more. "Hey there, sparky," she whispered, voice a bit dry.
"Hey there, champion," Asami replied. She dragged her lips down to Korra's cheek, kissing gently again. Korra let out a breath, the salty sweet smell of watermelon tea filling the air between them.
"You alright?" Korra asked. She cleared her throat and shifted, pressing against Asami, arm shifting from on top of the blankets to wrap loosely around Asami's hip.
"Yeah, just..." Asami faltered and felt her cheeks heat up. She was thankful that the light was pale and not strong: in the shadows, Korra couldn't see her blush.
"Take you time," Korra stated. "I've got all day for you." She chuckled and hooked a finger beneath Asami's tunic, resting her hand against the hot skin of her side. She dragged a finger and Asami giggled lightly, blush fading at the tickling sensation.
Asami didn't say anything, just let her laughter fade off. Instead, she shifted her head, tilting until her lips matched Korra's. Korra moved on instinct, pressing her lips to Asami, moving them slowly, lazily, like waves gently lapping at the bay. Asami responded, and together, the pushed and pulled, ebbed and flowed, breath mingling, the taste of salt and sweet and sour resting on their lips.
And in that moment, in the slow, lingering kiss, Asami felt anchored, and like possible, she could become Korra's harbor, a place for her to always return and settle down. And she let herself laughed at that, voice like a bell ringing Korra home.