AN: I was just kind of writing random Korrasami and it turned into this. So here's to hoping you all enjoy it! Thanks again to those of you who read, review, and favorite my work. Sometimes it helps me come up with more stuff like this.
Their trip to the Spirit World following the defeat of Kuvira had been a great getaway.
And even after Korra and Asami had returned from their vacation, things had been fairly calm. Rebuilding Republic City piled work onto the two of them, but physical exhaustion from such effort was significantly better than the emotional exhaustion they had been dealing with leading up to the final battle.
Asami had even been coping rather well with the death of her father, finding enough time to grieve with her supportive girlfriend but also keeping occupied with all her work.
Until the city had been rebuilt enough for the press to be fully up and running again.
The first wave of stories painted heroic tales of how the giant metal monster was taken down. The second wave had a lot to do with Kuvira's imprisonment and what it meant for both her former Earth Empire and Republic City.
But the third wave of stories pertaining to that fateful battle centered around Hiroshi Sato: the Equalist villain who made a sacrifice in the name of redemption.
As this set of stories brewed, Asami found herself being bombarded with reporters wherever she went; each of them spitting personal and painful questions her way.
The engineer was getting put more and more on edge with every article that appeared in the paper and every attempt of an interview she had to face. She had been learning to handle how she felt about her father's death, but it still wasn't something she found herself able to describe. And even if she could, it wasn't anyone's business but her own.
By day three of her seeing headlines with her family name plastered everywhere she was ready to break. She felt like all the healing she had been experiencing was unraveling as the press continuously forced her to relive the moment her dad had ejected her from the hummingbird suit. She even found herself flashing back to the time where her father had been seconds from killing her.
If it hadn't been for Bolin, Asami would have been the Sato to die in a battle for Republic City.
Desperate for an escape, Asami fled to Air Temple Island. It was doubtful the press would follow her there, and she was almost positive she would find Korra there.
Pema could see how Asami was barely hanging on as the she told her that Korra was in her room. But she let her go, knowing the Avatar was the best chance at helping the poor woman.
"Hey!" Korra greeted enthusiastically when the CEO entered her room. "You're going to love this story about how today Bolin and I-"
The Water Tribe native found herself cut off with searing kiss. Asami had crossed the room in all of two strides and placed herself in her girlfriend's lap, pale hands clutching her tan face. Not immediately understanding something was wrong, Korra responded happily, dragging her fingers up and down Asami's thighs.
They traded deep, frantic kisses for several minutes, Asami pulling Korra's body tightly to hers. The engineer needed to feel close to someone and feeling her girlfriend's chest rising and falling heavily against hers was one way to do it. Korra was surprised by the intense forwardness, but didn't protest, instead choosing to run her hands along the CEO's sides.
Determined for more, Asami pulled back for an instant to pull off her jacket and toss it across the room. Diving back in for another kiss, she took one of Korra's hands and began guiding it under her shirt.
At that point, Korra became almost positive something was wrong.
So she broke their kiss, panting laboriously as she searched Asami's eyes. Sure enough, the green orbs gave her away. The pain in them was evident, barely masked with some lust.
The Avatar bit her lip before speaking up gently, "Asami, what's wrong?"
The engineer didn't say a word. She didn't trust herself to speak. She was pretty sure she'd break if she did.
Without an answer, Korra started getting a bit anxious and began to babble, still a bit heady from their make out session, "It's not that I don't want you. Believe me, I do. But something isn't right."
"Sorry," was all the older woman mumbled.
Korra wracked her brain to try and figure out what could've caused this when she remembered the newspaper she'd seen lying around in the kitchen earlier.
The younger woman sat up a little higher, which was difficult to do with Asami still straddling her. She then raised her hand to cup the engineer's cheek, causing Asami to actually meet her eyes.
"Asami, I want you, but not like this," Korra explained. "Clearly you're upset, and I feel like I'd be taking advantage of you if I let this go further. I don't want our first time together to seem like sympathy sex."
Korra's words had Asami thinking back to all those years ago when her warehouse had been completely robbed and she'd kissed Mako because of how vulnerable she felt. She had certainly wound up regretting that decision, and she didn't want to regret anything with Korra.
Asami wound her arms around Korra's waist and buried her face into her collarbone. She couldn't keep the tears from falling as the Avatar wrapped her arms around her in return.
Korra was never the best at comforting people. She was always better with actions than words. And she knew that Asami wasn't entirely sure how she felt anyway, so Korra figured it was better to just let her cry it out than try and have her talk about something she didn't understand. So she just sat there and rubbed Asami's back gently until the engineer eventually dozed off on top of her. The stress and sorrow had simply wiped the older woman out. She'd lost her last blood relative who she had just managed to forgive and the press kept shoving it back into her thoughts. Korra doubted she'd slept much lately and probably needed the rest.
The engineer had been looking for comfort in the form of sex, but instead found it by just being around someone she cared so much about.
Asami repeatedly attempted to apologize for her behavior the next morning, but Korra wasn't having any of it.
They were there for each other. No apologies were necessary.
It had been weeks since they'd seen each other.
Korra had been suddenly summoned to go and help with setting up a republic in the former Earth Empire, and was originally only supposed to be there for a couple days. But as officials continued to bicker those couple of days had turned into three weeks.
Asami and Korra had already spent three years apart that they hadn't planned to. So to be apart for anymore than a week when their relationship was still so new had left them both dying to see each other again.
Their reunion when the Avatar surprised her girlfriend at her office had been sweet and brief.
But now that they were back at Asami's place in her bedroom they were making up for lost time.
Korra had already discarded Asami's jacket and shirt and was enjoying running her hands along the bare stomach of the woman on top of her. Their lips were locked tightly as the engineer's fingers bunched Korra's tunic at the bottom and tugged.
Getting the hint, the younger woman lifted herself off the bed enough to make it easier for her girlfriend to rid her of the blue fabric. From there, Asami dipped her head to start planting kisses all along Korra's neck and shoulders. Eventually Asami's hands found their way to the bindings covering the Water Tribe native's chest. The CEO raised her eyes to meet Korra's, seeking permission. Korra responded by pulling her into another passionate kiss.
Before Asami could undo the bindings, she noticed a change in her girlfriend. They had broken their kiss, leaving Asami capable of seeing Korra's bright blue eyes become distant. The Avatar froze for a split second as well, but then tried to play it off by bringing her hands to Asami's back and pulling the engineer down closer to her.
But Asami didn't go along with it.
Instead she used one hand to keep herself up and brought the other to take one of Korra's hands off of her back and lace their fingers together.
"Korra," she called. "What is it?"
"It's…it's nothing," the younger woman attempted to lie.
Asami wasn't happy that Korra was trying to play whatever it was off as nothing. So she rolled off Korra and lied down next to her, propping herself up with a bent elbow to face her girlfriend. She was stubbornly prepared to stay that way until Korra would at least admit something was on her mind.
"You know I won't believe that. Did I do something wrong?"
Blue eyes widened in alarm. "No! Not at all. Oh Spirits, I'm completely screwing this up."
Asami was almost tempted to chuckle. It was typical of Korra to think she'd made a mess of things and frantically try and backtrack.
"Then do you want to talk about whatever crossed your mind?" the engineer offered, bringing her free hand to soothingly stroke the other woman's forearm.
Korra sighed. "I thought I'd be fine with this. But right after I basically told you to go for it, I remembered that you've already seen me naked before. And that was when you were taking care of me after I was poisoned."
"Oh," was all Asami could come up with.
She wasn't sure how to feel about that. It was true that she had seen Korra naked plenty of times already considering she'd spent weeks dressing and bathing her. The possibility that all of that could make things kind of uncomfortable for Korra now hadn't ever made its way into her head. But now that she thought about it, she could see why it'd bother her.
"I don't have a problem with the fact that you've already seen me naked," Korra explained, her words slow as she was still tying her thoughts and words together. "It's just that I can't help but remember how vulnerable and weak I felt then. I was absolutely useless."
Asami brought her hand up from Korra's arm to stroke her cheek with her thumb. "You were never useless. And now you're back better than ever."
The CEO knew that better than anyone. It'd taken Korra three years to finally feel useful enough to return to Republic City. And even at that, she hadn't totally regained confidence again until she had defeated Kuvira. She had admitted as much when Asami had brought her tea in the gazebo. So for her to return to that place for even an instant must've been a scary thing for her. She'd moved on, but there was always that constant worry in her head that the world really didn't need her anymore. But Avatar or not, Asami knew that if nothing else she needed Korra. And she knew the woman could use a reminder of that from time to time to quell her fear.
"I know. I'm past all of that now. Just flashing back to that feeling for a second kind of threw me through a loop. That's why I tried to just keep going, because I kind of already had pushed past it. But I kind of ruined the moment, didn't I?"
A soft laugh escaped Asami's lips at the sheepish expression on her girlfriend's face.
Asami tucked herself into Korra's side and pecked her on the cheek. "Kind of. But I'm glad you did. I don't want you to feel that way when we're together; I'm here to make you feel confident."
"You do," the Avatar assured her. "Sorry for killing the moment though."
"No apologies, remember?" the engineer admonished. "We're here for each other."
Korra just grinned and held Asami closer.