There were explosions and shocking discoveries during our stay in the safest city in the world, Korra became the first metalbending Avatar, and a monarch fell.
I'm Asami Sato, and this is my story about what happened between Zaofu and Ba Sing Se.
Asami woke up to sirens blaring in the middle of the night when she heard distant explosions, and then an explosion that sounded as if it was just outside her room.
She threw back the covers and leapt out of bed, and was out the door in a matter of seconds. She was startled when she saw Mako and Bolin on the ground.
If they were fighting, then where was Korra?
"We can't let them take her." Mako said, making everything click in her head, Korra was being kidnapped. She grabbed Mako's arm as she took in the blur of events.
"I don't think they'll get far, look!" she pointed at metalbender attacking the kidnappers, only to be knocked back by a blast of air, focused by Zaheer's staff.
Just before she despaired, Lin pulled metal plates up in front of the kidnappers; Wei, Wing, Suyin, and Kuvira and a metalbender soldier also pulled up metal walls, eventually trapping them in a metal cage, complete with a roof.
"We have you surrounded, it's over." Kuvira's voice called out to the villains, "Release the Avatar!"
Asami almost smiled. Almost, but then Ghazan bent lava under the metal, Lin leapt back to their point while Bolin said something about it, what though, Asami couldn't discern.
Not that she cared about anything said, her eyes were on the unfolding scene and then, as the plates fell away, Korra, and Korra was all the way out in the center of the lava moat in the plaza, right in front her, and she couldn't get over there. She felt like something inside was slowly fraying.
Asami risked a glance and found that the bald man—Zaheer—started airbending smoke from the lava, around them, but a metalbender's cable caught his wrist, and he was pulled off the platform.
P'Li was created an explosion to ward off an attack, and found where Asami, Lin, and the brothers were hiding; Asami knew that because an explosion struck what sounded like a plate behind her, right where there wasn't one there before.
She looked up and saw Suyin and her twin sons, their fist set as though they just bent something…that plate just behind her.
"How did they get in?" Lin asked Suyin as she joined them. That was a good question…weren't they supposed to be perfectly safe here, between protocol and defensive measures?
Another explosion, if someone didn't do something that would get Korra back right now, she was going to leap out and hope the Spirit Portal Korra chose to open gave her airbending. She tried before, after Varric's airbender finder failed to detect Korra. Sure, Korra had to airbend at it for it to get a reading, but she felt inspired at the time, maybe she didn't know yet. She thought it was stupid, so tried it when no one was around.
"I don't know, but we're not letting them escape!" Suyin yelled, determined. Asami wished she could be so confident. In her haste she'd forgotten her glove, now she was useless, everything was out of her hands anyway, but she could at least help fight Zaheer.
Metalbenders had constructed a bridge of plates and started to run across it, only for a blast of lava to smack the plate and knock them back.
Watching was becoming too frustrating for her, she wanted to hit something!
"There's no way to cross that moat." they needed to brainstorm, her words meant to start everyone thinking, and that seemed to work, if Suyin's next words were any indication, either that, or Su was already throwing something together.
"We don't need to cross it." Suyin said, looking up literally and figuratively, "Lin and I can drop in from the dome on cables."
Asami looked up at the point above the lava moat and felt her heart ache. They couldn't get there without the combustion woman—P'Li—hitting them.
"That's a great idea." Lin said sarcastically, "Except we'll get blown up the second that third eyed freak sees us." Asami didn't know if she was more angry at the truth Lin spoke, or the fact her crush was still over there, across the lava, where she couldn't get her…that's it, if someone doesn't find a way to fix thing, she's going with her plan to try to airbend, Bumi Jr. almost died when he got his powers, maybe Asami's body, mind, spirit, chi, whatever lets people bend, needed some motivation to reveal her powers to herself.
"She's a combustionbender." Suyin said, as though correcting Lin's statement, "If one of you can stun her, her powers will be knocked out temporarily."
When Suyin said to stun her, Asami remembered earlier when Bolin whacked Wei upside the head.
"Bolin can land a shot." Mako said, confirming her silent observation.
"I can?" Bolin asked. He had to; Korra was special to Asami, she would do everything she could to protect her next time.
"You have to take her out right before we drop down." Suyin noted, adding more pressure to the poor earthbender.
"I do?" Bolin asked, bewildered. He was given no chance to object, as the sisters moved out immediately. Asami leaned against the wall and cried quietly, she wasn't going to allow her emotions to jeopardize Korra's safety, so she couldn't draw attention. Mako noticed anyway, while Bolin muttered something about being happy that Opal wasn't here.
"Asami, are you alright?" Mako asked.
"I'm fine, just standby with the walkie-talkie and ignore me," Asami said, trying to control her sudden shift in breathing, which was now shallow and quick, as though crying required more air, "this is too important to mess up."
"Hey, we'll get her back." Mako said, trying to give her a reassuring smile, but still, every word she spoke was followed by a ragged breath.
"I wish I knew as much." she wiped her hand over her eyes and turned away, "Just block me out and do whatever you can for Korra."
She wondered hour many hours passed since the half-sisters left to execute their plan. She was so tense she must have lost track of time, she had turned around and now her eyes were focused on the corner the two metal plates in front of her made, and she didn't turn around or move as the walkie-talkie crackled.
"We're in position." Wing's voice announced over the walkie-talkie, Asami perked her head up to see over the barrier protecting them and watched, helplessly.
"Copy that;" Mako replied, "it's Bolin time." Asami held her breath while Mako gave his pep talk, hopefully it helped Bolin better than it did her, but then, she had nothing to attack with. Maybe she should pick up some boomerang skills.
"Alright, Bolin time…Bolin time!" Bolin yelled, Asami ducked as the brothers sent a flurry of attacks at the group.
"I can't get a clean shot!" Bolin yelled. Was Asami warm from the lava, or the intensity of the situation? It was troubling enough to make her cry, though she covered him mouth with her arm sleeves to avoid distracting the brothers.
"You have to!" Mako urged, as the seconds scratched their names into Asami's heart. She wanted Korra back here, she needed her back here…now, and safe.
Presently, the walkie-talkie crackled again.
"Are we a go?" Wing asked. Asami was sure that the world stopped for her to hear every word spoken.
"No go!" Mako yelled insistently. Asami's breath caught.
"Copy that, we're a go." Asami couldn't believe her ears…was Wing trying to kill Toph's daughters?
"I said no!" Mako yelled urgently, "Wait!"
Asami listened and felt like she collapsed sitting up…if that possible, she did it then.
"Korra." Asami breathed, a quick tear remembered her dear friend as it rolled down her face. She wiped its trail away and looked back up. P'Li was staring at the diving metalbenders
"Bolin, take the shot!" Mako urged. Everything was quiet until there was an explosion. He didn't stun her. Asami was numb, now, and time resumed its unkind march. She wondered, though if P'Li had to tilt her head so far back.
Soon she witnessed the explosion that occurred because of the shot that was missed, only to find that it had deflected the attack into a nearby building.
"Yes!" Mako yelled, waking her from her daze, "Good job, little bro!"
P'Li was knocked out, and Lin had Korra, Suyin knocked Ghazan on his back, and the sisters ascended with the Avatar, but just when everything seemed to be going fine, the woman who used water in place of her arms—Ming-Hua—grabbed Lin's leg and pulled at her.
"No." Asami gasped.
With a grunt, Mako blasted her Ming-Hua's arm, freeing Lin. Asami smiled again until Zaheer flew into the scene, but Suyin covered Lin's retreat with shards of metal, sending the man's flier down. Asami lost another tear as her emotional state shifted to the far extreme of joy, but just as it wobbled on the edge before falling over, Zaheer landed and pulled smoke up around his group, then blasted it around them, hiding them for a few seconds. Nothing mattered, though, Korra was safe out of the reach of these anarchists, and she would be alright. She smiled and left the brothers in her dust.
As she ascended the stairs to the roof, Lin carried the Avatar, but looked like she was grimacing, instead of her trademark scowl.
"If you want me to carry her-" Asami began, only to be interrupted by a gasp and sigh of relief.
"Here, take her, my back is killing me!" Lin held Korra out to Asami, who took her into her arms with a smile.
Lin pressed her hand against her back and leaned forward, "Ah, it must be the stress; we did almost lose the Avatar today."
Asami slowly turned and carried her down the stairs, "So, where's Wei and Wing?" she asked, curious where the brothers ran off to.
"They were fist bumping and high fiving the last we saw them." Lin shrugged, "They were celebrating pretty loudly."
"Hmm." Asami hummed, signaling the end of her questions as she glanced down at Korra's face. The Avatar seemed uncomfortable. She passed a guard who said something about shirshu darts. That explained why she seemed so…limp.
Korra surprised Asami by opening her eyes a little and forcing the muscles on the edge of her mouth up into a smile before dropping the effort altogether.
"Don't worry, Korra, we're safe now." Asami felt all warm and fuzzy now, as she walked into a room where Aiwei stood.
"I'll get some antitoxins in a minute." He muttered as she passed him, into the room, and set her on a green couch that had a pillow on one end. There were two of them, facing each other across the coffee table between them.
"Here you go." she muttered, turning to hear that one of the sisters was going to find Mako and Bolin, while the other stayed in the hall…not watching her. She took this rare time to stare at Korra's face, sure, she might be asleep now, but she was always beautiful.
Her eyes fluttered open and she grunted in acknowledgment, then looked down at her hand and groaned as she squeezed her eyes closed.
"Korra, are you alright?" Asami asked, startled at the display.
"My arm won't move." Korra sighed.
"That's because of the shirshu toxins, or at least, that's the name I thought I heard the guard say, Aiwei's going to find something to fix that." Asami's hand held one of Korra's, and she gazed down at her, "Korra…could we talk some…maybe tomorrow, when you're feeling better?"
"What about?" Korra inquired.
"Well, that's kind of a surprise…just try to get some rest, it's nothing life threatening." She said, patting her hand reassuringly.
"Did you see that shot?" Bolin asked his brother, jumping up in front of him.
"That would've put any Pro-bender to shame." Mako replied, clasping his brother's shoulder, and then turned to Asami, "How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine, Korra's back, so Zaheer probably hasn't gone too far." Asami stood up and turned to face Mako, "I'll just sit over here; it's been a long night."
She sat in the middle of the couch and leaned back into it, and let out a calming breath, gazing at Korra, who had closed her eyes again. She wanted to hold onto Korra and pull her close, but seeing as how she was weak, she needed her rest. She was going to tell Korra tomorrow and share the longest hug on record. She smiled a little and sighed again.
"Are you alright?" Bolin asked, startling her.
"Huh, oh, yeah," she ran a hand through her hair before sending it to rejoin it's counterpart, clasping them together, trying to be calm, but she kept wondering where Zaheer's group was, Korra was almost taken away tonight, never again, not if she had anything to say about it.
Lin and Suyin came into the room, Aiwei following closely with a green bottle in his hands. He knelt by the Avatar's side, held a hand under her head and tilted the bottle some, "This should neutralize the shirshu toxins." He told her, and Asami saw Korra move a finger.
That's some fast acting antitoxins, she thought to herself.
"How could you let this happen?!" Lin snapped, glaring at Suyin as Korra bent her knee to place a foot firmly against the cushion of the couch, "You assured this was one of the secure places in the world.
Somewhere between "most" and "secure", Korra tried sitting up some, and though Lin was yelling, Asami smiled, feeling like she'd been pulled into a dream. Mako and Bolin both stared at her, and she looked back at them.
"What, she's sitting up," Asami pointed out, "that's a good thing."
"Yeah," Bolin agreed, "but Lin's…not a fun person to be around when she yells, even if it's her sister."
"It's not just a fear of losing my job," Mako frowned, "but she even scares me…maybe it is…but even still, I smiling's tough around her."
"I guess I was so afraid that Korra would be taken from us," Asami made a point to say "us", at least until she told Korra about how she felt…whenever that would be, "that now, I just can't help myself."
Suddenly Korra leaned up even more, sitting straight up, holding her head, Asami watched intently, and almost left the seat.
"The guards," Korra grunted, "it had to be one of them."
"I agree." Aiwei voiced his support for the Avatar's hunch.
"Question them all!" Suyin exclaimed, "Whoever betrayed my city will suffer the consequences!"
"Ugh, sure…I'm going to my room." Korra announced, and Aiwei produced a key from his pocket.
"We've assigned you new quarters." He explained.
"Thanks, I'll just go get some-whoa!" Korra fell on the coffee table and gasped as she caught herself.
"Korra, here," Asami stood up and ran around to her while Aiwei steadied the Avatar, "lean on me."
"I…sure," Korra said, shyly reaching for Asami's arm to hold, "t-thanks."
Korra dropped the key in Asami's other hand and then wrapped both arms around Asami's right arm, her head was lowered and she shuffled her feet in a manner that seemed indicative of a very groggy person.
"If you want, we can all camp out here." Asami offered. Korra looked up at her and smiled.
"Just help me to my room." She looked like she was thinking all of a sudden, "We can talk about whatever it was you wanted to talk about there."
Asami felt uneasy as they weaved through the halls to Korra's newly assigned location, which was a room with no windows and more security than they had needed but didn't use earlier, before the failed kidnapping.
"Uh…where's the key?" Korra asked, Asami smiled and held her hand open, "Oh, right…I'm so tired!" she laughed.
"Me too, but all that excitement's keeping me from falling asleep now, I guess." Asami giggled.
Korra unlocked the door and opened it, "So, uh…what's the thing you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Ah, well…it's kind of…I was hoping to tell you later, when you felt better," Asami explained, embarrassedly holding her arm, "but I've got a bit of a crush on you."
Korra took one of Asami's hand in whichever one didn't have the key, wanting to not scratch Asami's hand, "Are you sure it's not life threatening?" she asked, grinning sheepishly, and standing on her tiptoes.
"I—uh…you—umm-" Asami didn't expect their noses to be so close, but Korra was probably trying to make her blush now.
"See, I've had this really big…big crush on you, sometimes I thought," Korra blushed, "that maybe I'd find the right way to just…tell you."
"I—I've been thinking for a while," Asami continued, feeling short of breath, "but now I have to tell you…I almost lost you, and that made me realize I don't have a crush on you…I'm afraid I might be in love."
Asami wondered her red her face was now; sure it was comparable to her lipstick right now.
Korra threw her arms around Asami's neck and murmured tiredly, "I'm glad to hear it…because I've been feeling like I'm about to fall any minute now…and I don't mean because I'm sleepy, either."
"Maybe I should carry you." Asami whispered, running her fingers through Korra's hair.
"You won't mind?" Korra asked tiredly.
"I think Naga might object," Asami noted, as the polar bear dog walked pass her and into the room, "but I'm personally alright with it."
"Hmm, works for me." Korra muttered softly before stepping to the side and bending her knees a little. Asami lifted Korra and carried her into the room, set her on the bed, and pulled the covers over her, all under the watchful eye of Korra's animal companion.
"Good night, Korra," Asami turned to Naga, who was now laying on the floor, watching her intently, "and you too, Naga."
"Good night, Asami." Korra muttered, and Naga barked once, wagging her tail as Asami turned the lock on the door and closed it, "Are you still there?"
"Hmm, yes, I'm making sure this lock works right, Kuvira doesn't know where Zaheer has gone," Asami explained, "so I'm making sure it hasn't been tampered with."
"Oh, thanks." Korra happily, then yawned again.
Asami made sure the lock kept the door closed and then unlocked it, opened the door, set the lock, and stepped outside, pulling the door closed behind her, then tried the doorknob, which wouldn't was locked.
"Good night." She called through the door, and heard Korra tiredly reply in kind.
So tomorrow wasn't planned out…not even the night was, but while this occasion was a good surprise, couldn't there be a more negative detour from a plan? She wanted to protect Korra, but she was thinking about the Avatar, of course when they got back, their separate duties would try to hold them apart, with Korra flying to the capitals around the world, but maybe Asami would be able to find some breaks to go with her…when they got back.
Author's Notes: thanks to Maleficent-darkgoodwitch2416 for the sweet prompt! As a prompt, it's similar to "The Legend of Korrasami" in that it will have more than one chapter, making it ineligible for the "The Bender and the Engineer" series, but as it's own thing…it's incomparable. Anyways, due to stuff, I might not be able to update how I want to, that's alright with everyone, right?
KHH out!