It's finally finished.
Korra breathed out slowly, releasing what felt like a breath she'd been holding onto forever. A colossal weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders, leaving her able to breathe deeply for the first time in years.
It was all finally finished. For the next few weeks Korra would only have to worry about herself and the beautiful engineer that she was holding hands with. Never had she felt more happy; nothing could ever compare to. She, her friends and her loved ones had saved the world again. Republic city was safe and she could finally, after years of stress and turmoil, relax.
Intertwining her fingers with Asami's, the spirit portal twisted and swirled above them. The physical world faded away and for a perfect moment all that existed was Asami and Korra. Together. At last.
Right now. She thought. Right now is where I want to stay forever.
As the glow dimmed the green vines that surrounded them before were replaced by an expanse of purple flowers, stretching out around the two young women, only broken up by the broad-trunked trees that were now in full bloom. The dark dramatic sky replaced by a startlingly beautiful sunrise. A warm breeze embraced their skin and rustled the pink blossoms just enough that some would gently float away from their perches.
The engineer breathed in at the sight of it. Korra watched the way her lips parted and how her golden-green eyes widened at the view. Stray hairs gently drifted across Asami's forehead in the breeze. She hadn't stopped smiling since they had entered the portal, and Korra hadn't been able to take her eyes off her since.
"Oh Korra," The engineer breathed, her eyes glistening as the light of the portal reflected off them. "This is..."
"Beautiful." Korra said, eyes fixed on the woman she was holding hands with. Asami turned back, eyes fluttering when she caught the hungry stare that she was receiving from the Avatar. A pink blush spread across her cheeks, something Korra had only rarely seen, and spirits was it adorable. The red tinge only made her even more beautiful and her timid expression made the Avatar's heart beat quicken.
It thumped against her chest so hard that she found herself secretly wishing that the other girl wouldn't be able to hear it. Hoping that she wouldn't be able to tell how much she was affecting her. That she wouldn't find out that her beautiful golden-green eyes made her heart want to leap out of her chest when she looked at Korra like that. Or how when Asami's thumb brushed against hers the electricity of it would excite every nerve in her body. Or how her slightly parted lips made Korra want to kiss her. Or how...
Wait how long have I been staring?
"I-I-It's beautiful isn't it?!" Korra choked, letting go of one of Asami's hands and moving it up to rub behind her head nervously, glancing away from her and struggling to pull her mind from her fantasies. "The spirit world, I mean." She looked around, feeling the heat in her cheeks as she began to blush. Spirits, that was embarrassing. How much more of a creep can you be Korra?
Asami blinked, looking away from the Avatar and focusing her attention on their surroundings. "Yes it really is. Thank you, Korra." She felt the woman squeeze her hand.
Korra smiled, "You don't need to thank me. This was something we both needed."
Korra led the other girl away from the portal and into the field ahead. She hadn't been able to appreciate the beauty of this place on her first visit, and now that she was back here with Asami she found that the most beautiful thing around was, well, her.
They walked in blissful silence for a while, fingers still intertwined and Korra's heart still beating fast against her chest. Asami made her nervous and only now did she know why. Korra hadn't really realised it before, only ever thinking of Asami as just a special friend. She was someone she could confide in, someone that would support her and someone that she could trust. Asami had been there for her and had understood when no one else did. Bolin and Mako were both good friends but they just hadn't ever been able to get it like Asami did.
She was special to Korra, but only on the night of Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding had she realised just how much. Korra saw her feelings reflected in Varrick's expression that night. How happy Zhu li made him was exactly how happy Asami made her. Zhu li had been his rock, and Asami was hers.
And when Asami took to the dance floor in that beautiful red dress, she realised how deep her feelings really went... and oh boy, did that make the avatar nervous.
They came to a stop underneath one of the blossoming trees. Asami reached up towards a branch with her free hand, catching one of the slowly floating blossoms as it fell. Korra watched her as she inspected it, eager to discover as much about this new place as she could. The flower had delicate pink petals, it's middle erupting with darker smaller stems which would slowly pulsate.
"Amazing..." Asami whispered to herself before turning back to Korra. "Is it a spirit?"
"No, not exactly," She paused, "At least it doesn't feel like one."
The engineer thought for a moment. "What does a spirit feel like?" she asked, her gaze fixing on Korra's eyes again.
"Uh... just kind of alive? I guess." She replied thoughtfully. "I'm not really the best person to answer that, I think Jinora is way more in tune with the spirits than I am."
"Hm..." Asami moved closer to her, tucking a few loose strands of hair behind Korra's ear and fixing the pink flower in place. "So what does this feel like?"
Korra's face turned pink. She stared upwards at the engineer, who was suddenly a lot closer to her than before. She felt absolutely intoxicated by the girls beauty.
"I... It feels..."
"Hm?" Asami moved her hand up to Korra's cheek and brushed her thumb against it. The contact made her head swim.
"It feels..." Korra could hear her own heart beat pounding against her ear drums. Asami moved her face closer, her gaze fixed on Korra's lips. "It feels... OOF!" Something slammed into Korra's side, sending her flying towards the ground.
"What are you doing? Get out of the way!" A whiny voice said from somewhere above the purple flowers that now towered over her.
"Ugh..." Korra sat up and rubbed the back of her head. Flying away from her was a large scaly looking spirit, it's little wings struggling to keep it airborne. It dropped to the ground to turn its head around and snort at her before bouncing back up into the air and hurrying away from them.
"Ouch..." A familiar voice said from beside her. She turned quickly to find Asami in much the same position as her.
"Are you okay?" Concerned, she stood up quickly to check.
"I'm fine, just... what was that?" Korra offered her hand to Asami which she gladly took.
"A spirit in a hurry apparently." She pulled up the girl with ease, nodding her head towards the brown blob in the distance.
"I see." Asami huffed, seemingly annoyed.
"I'm sorry, that doesn't normally happen." She apologized quickly, not wanting Asami's first impressions of the spirit world to be bad. She intertwined their fingers again thankfully causing the other girl to smile.
"Eek! It's the Avatar! Borro knocked over the Avatar!" Cried something from behind them. Around Korra's shoulder flew a small bird like spirit, its long exotic tail bouncing up and down as it hovered in front of the two girls. "But you're okay right? Right Avatar?"
"Uh... yeah, I'm fine." She responded, raising an eyebrow. The spirit seemed to relax instantaneously, sinking slightly in the air. "Few!" It chirped. "Borro is just grumpy sometimes, I'm sure he didn't mean to knock you over though. We're all trying to hurry there of course, he probably just didn't see you!" It said excitedly.
"Right..." The high energy spirit was way too excited for Korra right now. As much as she liked interacting with them she couldn't stop thinking of Asami was about to do, or how close her face was...
"Hurry where exactly?" The engineer asked, intrigued by the hovering spirit.
"Where?!" It gasped, "You mean you don't know? The Avatar and the Avatar's friend don't know?"
Now Korra's interest was piqued. Whatever this spirit was getting at, it seemed to be something important. Something she was supposed to already be aware of. "Uh... no?"
The spirit flew around their heads excitedly, flapping it's wings and bobbing it's tail. "It's a Birthday! A very important Birthday! There hasn't been one like this in eras!"
"A birthday for who exactly?" Asami questioned.
"The birthday of the new Lion turtle spirit of course!" It chirped.