Legend of Korra belongs to Bryke and Nick.
The room was dark, not even a sliver of moonlight pressed its way past the closed shutters. Two forms occupied the bed, one rigid and the other against the smaller, almost frozen one's side. Only soft breathing kept the room from silence.
Asami lay wide awake, her body aligned with every curve and contour of Korra. The Avatar was on her stomach, unaware of her girlfriend pressed so tightly against her. For once, she slept soundly. Yet, the engineer could not sleep. Every night for the past week, Korra had woken up screaming and one rather terrifying night, in the Avatar State. Though she could not bear the suffering of the traumatized teen, those moments of fear and thrashing were proof that she was alive. Asami was as close as her girlfriend's injuries would allow so she could feel Korra breathing. Her own breaths were thunderous in her ears, drowning out what she desperately was trying to hear from the waterbender.
She had been terrified when Korra fell. She had been so certain that she would never speak to her again, that her last pleasant memory would be a final hug. The heiress had never been so glad to have been wrong, yet this joy left her unprepared for what did come. When Korra woke to find herself unable to walk, the life went out of her eyes. Asami had never experienced such encompassing fear. It was everywhere, digging into her bones. So she lay with Korra to ensure she kept breathing.
Wiping hastily at her eyes, Asami settled back down, refusing to let her thoughts take her again. She focused on the subtle movement she could feel against her arm, the vibrations of the Avatar breathing. Not even the steady movement or the comfort of what the movement meant could lull the nonbender to sleep. She glanced over at the desk against the wall, considering the schematics she knew were spread across its surface. She ached to return to work, to be useful, but the thought of leaving Korra for a moment, defenseless to her demons, left her breathless, her chest burning.
"Asami?" The heiress nearly toppled out of bed in surprise, barely suppressing a shout. The greatly injured teen had propped herself up on her elbows, her expression still glazed with sleep.
"Go back to sleep."
"I'm not tired."
"You can't even hold your head up. Go to sleep." Asami attempted to keep her voice light but she could feel herself cracking apart.
"I had a dream that I was walking again." Korra almost smiled at her girlfriend's sharp intake, but her eyes remained dull as she gazed where she thought the older teen's head was.
"Where were you walking?" It felt like someone had driven a burning piece of metal down Asami's throat and the fact that she could only imagine how Korra felt left her sick to her stomach.
"To you."
"Korra…"
"I'm not sleeping. I'm tired of sleeping. I'm sick of this bed." She didn't shout but there was an edge to her voice, an angry, bitter sting.
"I wasn't going to tell you to sleep." Asami slid off of the bed, her nightgown falling around her.
"Where are you going?"
"Nowhere." The heiress rounded the side of the bed, halting before the waterbender who was now struggling to sit up more. Asami helped her as best she could, Korra clearly fighting herself as she switched from pushing her girlfriend's hands away and allowing her to help. "Do you want to try something?"Korra was now settled at the end of the bed, her legs dangling off.
"I did my exercises today. I thought you didn't want me to overdo it?" The darkness kept Korra's vicious look from Asami, but her tone was clear.
"You're not going to walk. We're going to dance."
"Asami-"
"If you don't want to, that's fine, but I think it'd help." Korra recognized Asami's "I'm letting you think you'll get your way but I'm definitely telling you what to do" tone. Part of her ached to fight, to shout and jerk away, but she was tired. So tired. Tired of everything and especially of lashing out at Asami, who never yelled back like Mako or let her have her way no matter what like Bolin.
"Alright. Can we turn on the lamp at least?" Asami froze, having already taken Korra's arms to pull her up. She knew her face was stained with tears and desperately did not want the Avatar to see. This was a worry Korra did not need to have.
"It'll be fun in the dark." The heiress continued to arrange the younger teen, having Korra wrap her arms around her neck, bracing herself for a refusal or just anger for what she had said. It did not come, however, Korra allowing herself to be moved, not entirely sure of what they were about to do. She panicked though as she was brought off of the bed.
"I can't stand for too long, Asami…"
"I know. It's just to get you settled. Are you holding on tight enough?"
"Yes? What-HEY!" Asami had wrapped her arms around Korra's waist and lifted her up, not high, but enough to keep her feet off of the ground. She moved slowly around the room, letting Korra's feet brush the tops of her own, almost like they were dancing that way. "Um. Aren't you going to get tired pretty soon? I'm not exactly light?" The young tycoon didn't have the heart tell her that she had lost quite a bit of weight and was in fact much easier to carry now.
"Then we'll go back to the bed or you can rest on your feet for a bit if you think you can."
"Okay." Korra settled into the strange dance, her head in the crook of Asami's neck. She fit better than usual thanks to the boost. After several circuits of the room and very brief periods of rest on her feet, the waterbender broke the, for once, comforting silence. "This is because of my dream, isn't it?"
"Yes. I can't help you walk to me yet but you can walk, well dance, with me."
"Why?"
"Why what?" Asami slowed, the duo practically not moving.
"Why do this? Why are you here?"
"Because I love you."
"The Red Lotus succeeded. There is no Avatar anymore. I'm useless. Why are you here? There's no obligation anymore because I'm done. I'm broken." The engineer jerked them to a halt. She took one arm away from the bender's waist to pull her chin towards her, their lips brushing as she spoke. Her other arm quaked as it took the brunt of Korra's weight but it held.
"Korra, you're not just the Avatar. You're Korra. And I love you, all of you. I don't think you're broken but yes, I love that part too. Do you want me to leave? Is that why you're asking?"
"Yes! No! I'm keeping you from your life, from your work."
"What life, Korra? What would I be doing if I hadn't met you? I'd be in prison or in a mansion all alone. Work? I talk to them every day. Everything is fine. And you are much more important than the company. No, not because you're the Avatar, but because I love you. I want to help you heal, I want to be here."
"What…what if…I never heal? If I never walk again?"
"Korra…"
"Tell me!"
"Where would I be? What would I do? I'd be right here, with you. I'd push you around in that wheelchair I'm making. If I was the one who was hurt, who couldn't walk, would you leave me?"
"No! Of course I wouldn't! I-" She took a sharp breath before resting her head on Asami's shoulder, tears beginning to make their way through the thin fabric. "I'm sorry." The nonbender walked them over to the bed, setting her girlfriend on it. She stood between her legs, running her hands up and down her back.
"Let it out. It's okay. You haven't cried once. You can't keep this all bottled up. I'm here for you, we all are."
"I'm not crying into Mako's shoulder." Asami gave a rather strained laugh, tears attempting to escape her own eyes.
"I would hope not."
"I love you." The heiress could not stop the tears. She had not heard those words in so long.
"I love you, too. We'll get through this." She helped Korra lay down to sleep and moved to join her on the bed, but strong hands stopped her.
"Work on the chair. I know you won't sleep. I'm not going anywhere either." Asami took a shaky breath before pressing a kiss to Korra's lips. It was a wonder they found each other in the dark. They both fell into the kiss, "I love you" not being the only thing missing. Korra broke them apart, pushing the taller teen away gently. They smiled at each other though neither could see.
Asami went to work, the lamp at the desk throwing shadows across the room. It wasn't the same, but Korra's shadow wavering was comforting too.