The Zhu Li's engine hummed as the ship carried them inexorably towards Harmonic Convergence. Korra gave up on sleep and threw the covers back. It was past midnight and quiet, and all but the essential personnel were fast asleep. Korra wondered how anyone could sleep with the closest thing there was to the end of the world fast approaching, but at least it meant she wasn't likely to run into Mako or Bolin. They had been nervous for days, barely meeting her gaze since she'd returned. What exactly had happened during those weeks she couldn't remember? Ah, well. There would be time enough to figure that out if they survived.
Korra stopped walking. Asami's stateroom door was open, and light flooded out. Asami herself sat at a desk. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders in gentle, freshly-washed waves and her dressing gown was lavender instead of her usual red. Korra bit her lip. Leave it to Asami to look absolutely gorgeous even before battle.
Korra narrowed her eyes. Or maybe not completely gorgeous. There were ink stains on Asami's fingers as she furiously scribbled in a ledger. "You're working?" Korra asked. "We're about to find my uncle who wants to unleash Vaatu, and you're working?"
It wasn't until Asami looked up that Korra realized she had spoken aloud. "I couldn't sleep. I needed something to keep my mind off everything. And there's a lot to be done to put Future Industries in order now that Varrick's in jail. I'm going to get everything back. Probably a good chunk of his company too." She sounded oddly glum for someone who was about to be the richest, most powerful woman in the world.
Korra took a step inside. "What's wrong?"
"I—it's silly."
She looked so miserable and guilty that Korra's heart broke. Seeing Asami unhappy always felt vaguely unnatural, like waking up before dawn. She was the one who had had to risk everything to be Korra's friend and help her, the one who always did the right thing, but the universe didn't seem to be taking notice. "Asami, I got swallowed by a dark spirit. My definition of the word silly isn't what it used to be. Talk to me."
"All right." Asami sighed and put down her pen. "Varrick made a lot of cuts to Future Industries. More than he needed to keep us afloat. People who practically raised me lost their jobs. We're doing almost nothing in terms of philanthropy." She swallowed. "And I… I sold weapons to the triads. The same kind of people who killed my mom. I was in bed with a man who tried to kidnap the president!"
"You were desperate. You didn't know what he was going to do."
"But I did know he was slime. Even when I was signing that contract, I have a little voice whispering in my head that this was a bad idea. And I didn't listen because I was so scared of losing everything. I didn't even want to believe Mako."
"Hey, at least you not listening to that voice in your head didn't cause your uncle to take over your home and maybe end the world." Korra looked at the floor. "No such thing as staying neutral whenever a bully wants to abuse his authority. I could have stopped all this if I hadn't been looking to get my ego stroked."
"Korra, manipulating others is what people like Unalaq do." Asami's voice was gentler than Korra deserved. "And he was your teacher. You had every reason to believe that he was right."
"Except for that little voice."
Asami was quiet for a long moment. "Then… Then I think it's something you need to start listening to. You're the Avatar. You have a thousand lifetimes of experience." There was the barest hint of a smile on her face. "And you're pretty amazing without all that."
The fact that someone like Asami considered her amazing was enough to leave Korra's mouth temporarily dry. "Really?" she croaked.
"Really." Asami took Korra's hand and squeezed it. "I believe in you. You just need to believe in yourself."
Touching the spirit portal was like touching lightning. Korra could feel the energy racing through her. Raava pulsed within her, waiting for Korra to do what Wan had done so long ago. Spirits would be on one side of a great divide, humans on another. The world would go back to the way it was. A little less enchanted, a little less magical.
It shouldn't be that way, whispered a little voice in her head. Spirits and humans will only learn to live together by living together. They don't need a bridge; they need a mediator.
Korra froze. Could she do that? Upend life as it had been for ten thousand years? Change everything the Avatar was supposed to be?
Things have already changed. And now the voice sounded like Asami. The person who, somehow, still believed in her.
Korra let her hand fall.