I do not own The Legend of Korra or any of it's characters.
...
Asami drove slowly through the snowy streets of Republic City. The snow was thick, scrunching under her wheels.
It'd been a long, tiring day at Sato Industries. She'd attended two meetings in the morning, sorted out a mechanical issue in one of the factories, and then been to two more meetings in the early evening. She couldn't wait to get home, have a glass of wine and put her feet up for an hour.
It was already dark, and the street lights didn't offer much light because the snow was coming down so heavily.
Glancing at the time, and then her speedo, she decided she was going a little too fast and gently pressed the brake pedal. She didn't want to ruin her newly refurbished vechle. She'd worked hard on it, spending the majority of her free time working on it.
Rolling slowly at exactly 13mph, Asami gasped, almost jumping out of her skin when a snowball smacked loudly onto the side of her window.
Still gasping for air, she rolled down her window, the splat of snow falling off in one big clump. She peaked her head out, noticing a group of five or so men, looking to be around their mid twenties.
"Hey lady." One of them said gruffly, "Get out of the car. Now."
Asami reached into the passenger seat, where her shock glove was tucked into her bag. She remained silent and watched the group of men.
"Didn't you hear him?" One of the other men said. He was wearing all black, apart from the red stitching in his jacket. Asami assumed he was a fire bender. "Get out of the car!" He yelled angrily.
"Leave me alone." Asami warned, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice.
She wasn't scared; hell, she could hold her own very well with all of her self defence training. But it was dark out and snowing heavily - she'd be at a disadvantage, given the circumstances.
Suddenly one of the men summoned a large block of ice from the ground, and hurled it in the direction of Asami's satomobile.
Just barely in time, Asami swung open the door and hurled herself out of the car before the waterbenders attack smashed straight through her window. Shattered glass rained down upon her, bouncing off her jacket and settling uncomfortably in her hair.
Asami winced, the sting in her hands informing her that she'd scraped them as she pounded to the ground. Before she could register anything, the voices were back.
"Get her!"
A rough hand wrapped around her upper arm and before Asami could do anything, the hand suddenly released its bruising grip on her arm and she felt an icy coldness on her face and through her hair.
"She asked you to leave her alone." Said a new voice.
Heart racing, Asami frantically looked up and saw a woman, stood slightly crouched, with one hand outstretched.
She snapped her head in the other direction to see the assumed firebender encased in a block of solid ice, his nose and the top half of his head peaking out. He tried to speak, but no sound came, the ice trapping his entire body save his nose upwards.
"Who the hell do you think you are, street scum?" The waterbender who had thrown the ice block at her was yelling at the unknown woman. He soon dropped into an offensive bending stance. His cronies also did the same, setting the feet and raising their hands, ready for a fight.
Asami assessed the situation quickly. Her shock glove was in the satomobile and there was no way she could grab it before someone noticed. The unknown girl couldn't take on five benders by herself, could she?
The waterbending thug didn't wait for an answer - fast as lightning, he thrust out his arm and thick snake of water shot towards the girl.
Asami watched, out of fear and amazement as the girl pivoted, bringing her hands behind her back and bending the jet of water back towards the sender at double the speed. The water froze at the last second and struck the thug in the chest, sending him to the ground and leaving him wheezing, struggling for breath.
Asami ducked and yelped as a blast of fire barely missed her head. She closed her eyes in fear and fought the memories of her mother's death desperately. Her breathing was quickening by the second, and she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes.
She felt the rumbles of earth, heard splashing of water and the hiss of hot flames. After what felt like hours, but was only a minute or so, Asami felt a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Hey. Are you okay?" She heard a soft, caring voice.
Asami hesitantly looked up.
She was met with the face of the woman. Asami was kind of startled by her disheveled appearance - the girl had mocha skin, smudged with dirt and dust. Her hair was matted and dusty, and the wetness of the snow made it cling to the sides of her face.
"Can you hear me?" She asked gently.
Asami nodded. The girl helped her to her feet.
Asami brushed the snow off of her jacket and glanced behind her.
The five men that attacked her were all sprawled out on the ground, groaning and grumbling. The firebender still remained frozen in a huge block of ice, while the others were dazed on the floor.
The woman stepped past Asami suddenly and pointed an accusing finger at the men. "Get out of here now, or you'll regret it."
The dazzled men seemed to consider their options before gingerly raising to their feet. The water bender, who now had a furious black eye and a giant hole in his parka, unfroze the block his friend was encased in.
As soon as he was freed from his icy chamber, he thrust out his fist and a blast of blazing amber came hurtling towards the two women.
Asami's saviour waterbent a wall of shimmering aqua to absorb the blast before pushing her hands out, the water turning into hundreds of icy shards in a matter of seconds.
The man flinched violently and covered his face with his arms, waiting for the fatal strike, for the ice spikes to pierce through his clothes and skin.
Asami watched in amazement as the shards hovered mere centimetres from the firebenders body, as well as the rest of his cronies.
"Leave, now. I don't want to see your faces ever again." The waterbending woman warned threateningly, her voice almost low enough to pass as a growl.
Soon, the group of thugs were scurrying away, some limping or clutching their arms.
She dropped the ice crystals to the ground and rushed over to Asami.
"Are you sure you're okay? Did you get hurt?" The mocha skinned woman asked, eyes skimming over Asami's face and body, checking for any kind of injuries.
Asami took a shaky breath before standing up straight. Images of the attack on her mother when she was a child flashed through her mind, but she pushed them away. Now really wasn't the time. "I-I'm fine, thank you. I can't thank you enough for what you just did for me."
The other girl smiled awkwardly. "It's no problem. I was, uh, passing by and saw the whole thing. I couldn't let those jerks hurt you, spirits, what they could've done to you!" She exclaimed angrily.
Asami could see the other girl was clearly getting worked up. It made her smile internally, this girl clearly had a heart of gold. She'd have appreciated it more if she weren't so shaken up; the firebending had only made it worse.
"Because of you, nothing happened. And I'm very grateful for that." The raven haired woman said sincerely, trying to calm down the other woman.
Asami held out her hand, gesturing for a handshake. "I'm Asami, by the way."
The other girl glanced at Asami's hand before glancing down at her own. Hesitantly, she reached for Asami's hand and gripped it in a firm handshake.
"Korra." She said, quickly breaking the handshake.
Asami finally got the chance to get a real look at this girl, at Korra. She'd noticed the dirty splotches on her face and the crazy mess that was her hair. Asami took in what Korra was wearing.
The woman was dressed in a blue parka, which didn't look all that warm. The parka was also dirty, with patches of muck and dirt here and there. There were holes in her baggy sweats, and her boots looked like they'd seen much, much better days. She was dressed like a water tribe girl, and looked like one, but Asami couldn't see any cultural sashes or anything like that. She knew Korra was a water bender, so it was a little strange.
"I, uh, know what you're thinking." Korra'a voice broke Asami from her thoughts. Asami quickly snapped to attention and looked at Korra, who was rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
Asami frowned, not really understanding what Korra was getting at. "You saved my life. Why would that make me uncomfortable?"
The waterbender looked towards the ground and shifted her weight in the thick snow, "I'm really dirty." She mumbled to the ground.
"Korra, you just saved my life. I don't care." Asami quickly wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders and wrapped her into a hug.
She felt the bender stiffen slightly in her arms before she felt an awkward pat on the back. Asami realised that she probably felt uncomfortable.
"Is there any way I can repay you?" Asami said as she stepped back.
Korra's blue eyes met Asami's, "No, it's okay. I'm just happy you're okay. Just be careful around here, okay? Especially at night, it's not always safe."
Asami, slightly shocked that Korra didn't want anything in return, stepped back a little and quickly assessed the damage to her vehicle. It could be fixed quite easily. "I can't thank you enough."
Korra gave her a tiny lopsided grin. "Don't mention it. Stay safe, okay?"
Asami nodded, wanting to just say thank you again and again. Asami stepped into the satomobile and restarted the engine. "You have a heart of gold, Korra." She said, loud enough for Korra to hear.
Korra, who had started walking away, stopped for a moment, just barely glancing over her shoulder towards the raven haired girl. She gave the slightest of nods before beginning her journey again.
Asami drove home with no issues, thankfully.
When she finally settled into bed, after a hot shower and a steaming cup of tea, she struggled to find the sleep she so desperately needed.
Images of her mother's pained face flashed through Asami's mind, bringing hot tears to her eyes.
And Korra. That mysterious waterbender who'd showed up out of nowhere; and practically saved her life. Who knows what those awful men had in store for her.
She shivered at the thought and burrowed deeper into the covers.
Asami exhausted her mind for the next hour, just thinking. About her mother, those thugs in the street, Korra's admirable kindness and courage.
A grateful smile spread across her lips before sleep took her.
...
A/N 1: I have no idea where the idea for this story came from, but it was an interesting topic, so I thought, why not give it a try? This is also my first LoK fic that I've posted.
A/N 2: As mentioned in the story description, Korra is the Avatar, and is also homeless. More will be revealed later in the story about her situation and her past.
A/N 3: I know Asami can handle her own and everything but I needed her to be vulnerable so Korra could meet/save her.
A/N 4: Thanks for reading, chapter two should be around soon! Until next time.