"Avatar Korra, Ms. Sato would like to inform you that the gala begins in 20 minutes."

"Thanks Hyun, I'll be right out." Korra called out to Asami's head butler. She looked herself over in the mirror with a scowl. She had agreed to go with Asami to her annual 'Holiday Gala'. But she didn't know that would involve her wearing…a dress.

"Just put it on."

Korra evil eyed the light blue, v-neck dress Asami was holding in front of her and made a face. "No."

"Oh come on, Korra!,' Asami whined, 'This is like the 90th dress and this one is absolutely perfect. What else are you supposed to wear to my gala?"

The avatar shifted from one foot to the other and shrugged, "I don't know. Avatar stuff."

Asami's eyes widened and she simply shook her head. "No. You are not wearing that old get up to my gala."

"What is that supposed to mean?"Korra turned her nose up at the non bender's comment.

"That's not what I meant, I love the usual look,' Asami's eyes trailed over the smaller woman's lean and muscular form and she felt her mouth instantly go dry, 'But every girl needs that one dress that makes her feel absolutely sexy, So…please? For me?"

Korra crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the dress again. No. No way was she giving in on this. Asami flipped her long raven locks over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes. Those long, beautiful eyelashes.

Fuck.

"Avatar Korra, Ms. Sato would like to inform you that the gala begins in 15 minutes,"

"Yeah, Hyun, I know. I'm coming!"

The avatar ran her hands across the dress to smooth it out and huffed one last time. She had to admit, on anybody else, the dress would've been stunning. It hugged and dipped in all the right places, pushed things up she didn't know could go any higher. She hardly recognized herself. But enough stalling, she couldn't keep the heiress waiting. Korra made her way through the corridor and into the foyer, stopping in her tracks when her ocean blue eyes made contact with emerald ones. Asami was gorgeous! She was wearing a red strapless dress that slit on one side, exposing the CEO's long, smooth legs. Asami crossed one leg over the other and lifted her finger, motioning Korra over to her slowly. The smaller woman felt a lump grow in her throat and she crossed the distance between them.

"You know, for someone who doesn't accessorize, you sure do take a long time getting ready." Asami teased and tucked a strand of hair behind the smaller woman's ear. "Come on, our chariot awaits us darling."

Korra and Asami walked the red carpet to the overwhelming flashes of Republic City's finest "snap rats" as Korra so affectionately named the paparazzi. She knew it was good publicity, the city's promising young CEO industrialist and the Avatar. She had seen plenty of newspaper and leaflets, praising the luck of Republic City to have such "gal pals" dwelling within their own city limits. Once inside, the two friends went their separate ways to schmooze and stroke the high society's ego. The ballroom was decorated to the nines. Red, green and gold tapestries draped across the walls, garland and holly was wrapped around the columns. The most beautiful tree stood in the corner, decorated with tinsel and ornaments. As cozy as it looked, it definitely wasn't a family holiday setting

Korra hated these functions. She normally was able to avoid them by giving Asami an excuse about hanging out with Bolin, or babysitting the air babies for Tenzin and Pema. But unfortunately Tenzin and his family were in the southern water tribe visiting Katara and Bolin had gone back to Zao Fu with Opal for the holidays. She knew her mom and dad were disappointed she wasn't coming home to visit, but she didn't want to leave Asami all alone. That wouldn't make her a very good friend. Her thoughts were interrupted by an arm being slung over her shoulder,

"Wu in the house! Hey, Korra! Did you miss me?"

"Prince Wu. You made it." Korra rolled her eyes and removed his arm.

"Of course I did! You know, when Asami practically begged me to come, she knew I could save this little shindig from being a total disaster." Wu tugged on the lapels of his tux and smiled proudly.

"You are a true hero." Mako deadpanned and stood 'at ease'.

"I know right?" Wu bounced on the tip of his toes and scanned the room. "What does the lady situation look like tonight? I am like a beaver shark looking for my lovely lady prey."

Korra made a face and glanced over at Mako, who shook his head and mouthed a silent 'I know, I'm sorry'.

"So who does a prince have to cozy up to, to get a drink in establishment?"

Korra pointed to the open bar and watched as the prince danced his way over get a drink. "Wow. Wow. Who talks like that?"

"Yeah, I know." Mako laughed and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking the Avatar over. "You look really nice tonight, Korra. Asami get to you?"

"Actually yeah. You look nice too" She nodded and twirled her thumbs around, looking anywhere to avoid the current awkward situation.

"Well I better go keep an eye on that." Mako said and pointed over his shoulder at the prince, who was spinning around on a bar stool and singing a song about a badger mole.

Korra smiled and nodded, thankful for the escape from the unbearable moment.

Asami smiled politely as President Reiko told his latest party anecdote, motioning the bus boy over to refill her wine glass. She had always hated these galas, ever since she was a little girl when her parents dragged her to them. She would much rather be in her garage right now, in her greasy jumpsuit, covered in transmission fluid and dirt. She laughed softly when Reiko finally delivered the punch line to an unbelievably long joke. In moments like these, she could feel the absence of her parents immensely. She remembered how, when she was a little girl, they would take her to go get hot cocoa, as a reward for behaving so well during the evening. She would cuddle up between her Father and Mother and they would drape a quilt around them, laughing and watching the snow fall on the city streets. She suddenly wanted to do something special for her friend, as a thank you for being with her tonight. A night when she needed a friend more than ever.

The Avatar nodded, half listening to the man speaking with her. Ichiro was the new CEO heir of Cabbage Corp and he had cornered Korra on a new business proposition. He wanted to run an advert that showed the Avatar crashing into a cabbage vendor, that then highlighted his great grandfather, the original CEO's, most famous saying: "My cabbages!" New Avatar, new Cabbage Corp. While the idea did amuse Korra, she didn't think it was right to basically pimp herself out for endorsements. She politely declined, much to the man's chagrin. He bid her a good evening and sulked away, mumbling under his breath, "Guess you have to be sleeping with the Avatar to get a favor or anything."

Korra furrowed her eyebrows and began to ask him about his remark, when the sound of a loud smack rang out through the ballroom. She looked to where the sound originated and saw Prince Wu, holding his cheek and a beautiful woman storming away. The young prince looked around in embarrassment as all eyes were on him. He called for Mako and quickly slipped away to the corridor, with the firebender behind him.

Besides the assault on the royal one, the night had passed by uneventful. Every time Korra tried to talk to Ichiro to get him to explain what he meant by his comment, he simply smiled and walked away to find some other important people to talk to. She was getting annoyed and was on the verge of bending the answer out of him, when a certain royal found his way to her.

"Korra! Ko-rrrrrrrra! Ko Ko!"

"Hey Wu. You a little drunk?" She asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"A little! Nothing tastes as fine as Earth Kingdom rice wine."

Korra looked him over, "Hey, you okay? What happened? What'd you say to her?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Wu sobered up quickly and stared at his feet. "I thought girls liked confident guys?"

"Girls like confident guys…but they hate cocky assholes."

Wu nodded and took another sip of wine. "Thanks Korra. You, Mako and Asami…are the closest things to real friends I've ever had. People who don't care that I'm royalty and aren't afraid to tell me the truth. Even if it's about me being a douche. "

"If you ever tell anyone I said this, I will deny it and bend you all the way to Ba Sing Se, but…We like you too." She punched his arm playfully.

He smiled and looked above them, wiggling his eyebrows at the mistletoe hanging above them.

Korra rolled her eyes and grabbed the lapels of Wu's tux, pulling him to her. She smiled genuinely and kissed his cheek. "Don't say I never gave you anything."

The prince smiled giddily and puckered his lips. Korra put her hand up and covered Wu's face. Despite her annoyance, she couldn't help but laugh. "Just couldn't stop while you were ahead, could ya?"

He shrugged and smiled and bowed to the Avatar, calling for Mako. She waved goodbye to them.

Asami walked over to her friend and nudged her with her hip, "Hey darling, what was that all about?"

"That was a present to a friend, who needed the boost." She said and nudged the industrialist in return. "By the way, you owe me."

Asamil laughed and placed a hand on her hip. "I owe you? Do I now?"

"Hell yes! I have schmoozed every dignitary to secretary, I kissed Wu! And just because I don't want to do some cheesy advert for Cabbage Corp, apparently, you and I are sleeping together…."

Asami raised an eyebrow at Korra's last comment and smirked at the still ranting Avatar, waving her hands to emphasize her point. She looked above them and realized that Korra was still standing under the mistletoe. She took a step closer to the smaller woman, closing the distance between them until they were breathing the same air. She put a finger under the Avatar's chin and lifted her face to meet her own. Their lips met softly and slowly moved against each other. Asami sighed into the kiss and pulled back on the younger woman's bottom lip. "Happy Holidays Korra." She ran her thumb across the younger woman's lips, cleaning up the smudged lipstick. "Half an hour, then we're out of here." She said brushing hair out of Korra's eyes and rejoining the other party guest.

Korra watched the sway of her hips as Asami walked away and gulped.

Fuck.