Author's Note: This fic was written as my own contribution to the Korrasami Wedding Day event, with my own personal twist on it. I hope you all enjoy.
Content Note: I won't spoil anything, but the first part is pretty emotional. It was quite hard to write, but I'm happy with how it turned out in the end.
Far in the future…
"Hiro…"
It may have been weak, but the sound of his name coming through his mother's lips caused Hiro to wake in an instant. He smiled softly at her as he focused on the hospital room. "My apologies, Mother. I must have dozed off for a moment."
His mother shook her head, almost imperceptibly. It was quite obvious her body was failing her now, though he could still see the fierce light in her eyes. "It's fine," she said, smiling at him. After a moment, she continued, "Hiro… Could you get your sister? I think it's about time."
"About… time?" Hiro said. He pushed himself to his feet, taking a few steps toward his mother. He eyed the machines monitoring her vital signs, trying to remember what he'd learned about how they worked. "Are you sure? The nurse said you still had a few days at least. And nothing looks wrong here."
"I have plans of my own," his mother said, the side of her mouth curling up in a half-grin. "And today is the day. I can feel it. Korra will be here in a few minutes, so please, go get Ranna."
"'Korra'…" Hiro said. "But, Mom's…" Hiro's eyes caught his mother's. There was no delusion there, and no joke. His mother was speaking the truth as she saw it, and he could see in her eyes that she was still the same Asami Sato who had raised him from birth. She wasn't likely to be wrong. "All right. If you say so, Mother," he said. It wasn't like death had ever stopped the Avatar before.
His mother smiled at him thankfully as Hiro turned and headed toward the door. He opened it slowly, being careful not to hit anyone in the hallway with it. As he did so, he caught sight of his sister entertaining her grandchildren. She'd bent a small flame above her fingertips, and was doing her old "magic" trick of passing the flame from finger to finger by having it flicker in and out of existence in the blink of an eye.
As Hiro watched, Ranna held her hands in fists, with just her index fingers up. Above her left index finger, she'd bent a small flame. She knocked her fists together, transporting the flame to her right index finger in a flash. Then, she turned her hands around so the index fingers were on opposite sides, and repeated the same trick, causing the flame to leap a much greater distance.
"Wow…" her grandson said, gazing at her hand in amazement. "How did you do that, Gran Gran?"
Ranna looked at him for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to divulge the secret. She glanced up briefly at Hiro, then back at her grandson. "It's simple, Tanak. It's magic," she said.
Hiro rolled his eyes at this, though he smiled at his sister. "It's not magic, Tanak. It's firebending," he said, taking a step toward the group. For some reason, this comment caused the three of them to burst out into a bout of laughter. "Am I missing the joke?" Hiro said after a moment.
"I told you I could get him to say it," Ranna said, winking at her grandchildren. She looked back up at Hiro and said, "According to the kids, this is your catchphrase. And apparently, they're right. 'It's not magic, it's firebending'; 'It's not magic, it's science'; or 'It's not magic, it's nanotechnology.' Which, by the way, I'm still half convinced is indeed magic."
Hiro laughed and shook his head. "It may be magic to you, but it works. It saved me from losing my leg just last year. And if we want to talk magic, let's talk about your ability to boil a cup of water without creating a flame."
Ranna waved her hand. "Now that is just firebending. Perhaps having the Avatar as my mom helped a little, though."
Hiro nodded. "Speaking of which, would you mind coming in to see Mother?" He didn't want to go into details in front of Ranna's grandchildren right now. They were too young to fully comprehend what was happening, and their parents could explain it once they returned. "She says she's about to see Mom again."
Ranna's eyes widened. It was quite clear to her what this meant, though it would certainly pass over the heads of her grandchildren. She nodded, then turned to ask a nearby nurse to watch over the children. With a groan, she pushed herself up from her chair with her cane and followed Hiro into their mother's room.
"Mother, are you…?" Ranna said as she entered the room. She stopped talking soon after passing through the doorway, just a step behind Hiro. "...Mom?"
Beside their mother's bed was a pale blue spirit. It wasn't until Ranna said the word that Hiro realized who it was. It was his mom, Avatar Korra, though younger than he'd ever seen her in person. Aside from being colored blue, she looked much like she did in photos from her youth.
Hiro felt his eyes tearing up. After she'd passed away, he thought he'd be lucky if he even got a brief message from her many years in the future, indirectly from the next Avatar. Seeing her in person like this… it should have been impossible.
Then again, "impossible" was never a word that stopped Avatar Korra or Asami Sato.
His mothers didn't seem to notice him, though. As Hiro looked closer, they seemed to be doing something together. Asami's eyes were glowing white, as if she were in the Avatar state herself. Her body was slowly beginning to glow blue, and Korra's spirit seemed to be reaching out to the glow, doing something with it.
"Mom… Mother?" Hiro said.
Asami's eyes slowly moved away from looking at Korra, looking at Hiro, and then his sister. A smile crossed her face as she spoke. "Be well, Ranna, Hiro. I love you both, my children. Our children."
This last part seemed to be directed at Korra, for some reason. Korra slowly turned her head, her eyes finally taking in the presence of Hiro and Ranna in the room with them. Slowly, a smile crossed her face. Tears began to fall down Hiro's cheeks as he felt his mothers both smiling at him one last time.
Both Korra and Asami's figure's began to glow more brightly by the moment. In a pale blue flash, the Avatar vanished from the room. All that was left was the vacant body of Asami Sato. Hiro stood in stunned silence for a long minute. He wasn't entirely sure that had just happened at all, much less exactly what it was that had happened.
Eventually, Ranna spoke. "You can say it if you want, Hiro. Just make it a good one."
"...Hmm?" Hiro glanced over at his sister. It took a moment for him to realize what she was referring to, but then he slowly shook his head. "This time, maybe it was magic. Or maybe it was just our mothers."
"Or both," Ranna said.
A few years from now…
"Asami."
The word was sweet, tender, and just barely enough to wake Asami up. She slowly opened her eyes, searching around to find the source of that sweet tone. She soon caught sight of the most lovely visage - in either the spirit or human world - gazing down at her, and she couldn't help but grin. "Mm… Good morning, sweetheart. Sleep well?"
"Amazingly," Korra said. "How could I not, after last night?" She grinned a bit, then pulled back, giving Asami room to get up if she wanted to. "You?"
"Quite well, thank you," Asami said. She shifted in bed, rolling over onto her side and propping her head up on her arm so she could look at Korra. There was something up right now. Something in Korra's eye told Asami that she had something in mind. "What is it?" Asami said.
Korra let out a chuckle. "I wanted to talk to you about something. And ask you a… pretty big question," she said. "About… you know, being with me."
Asami raised an eyebrow at this. "Um, Korra, you do realize we got married two days ago, right? And we're on our honeymoon right now. So if you're going to ask me to marry you, I think you already have your answer."
"Wha-? Um, no. I mean, not 'no,' that sounds wrong," Korra said. She blinked rapidly, looking up for a moment, and then back down at Asami. "Okay, I probably should have thought about how that sounded. Sorry. What I mean is… There's something more. ...Ugh, how do I say it without it sounding weird and creepy?"
Asami shifted her position. This was probably something she wanted to be sitting up for. She swung her legs around, sitting up at the edge of the bed. "I'm not sure I'm the best one to answer that," she said, "seeing as I still don't know what you intend to ask."
Korra let out a grunt and pouted for a moment. "Okay. Let me put it this way. I'm obviously not the best at talking and stuff. And eventually, there's going to be another Avatar, and they'll only have me to guide them. And no!" Korra held out a hand, cutting Asami off before she could cut in. "I know what you're gonna say. They'll probably be fine, but… maybe it could be better.
"So, just go with me on this for a moment," Korra continued. "What if it were possible for the new Avatar to have one more person's memories and wisdom to rely on? Someone who complements me, and makes up for the, you know, things I lack. Maybe a nonbender to give experience from that perspective, which is one no Avatar has ever had before. Basically… you. I've been talking with Raava, and we think we've figured out a way, so…. Would you… would you do it?"
Asami looked into Korra's face. She hadn't seen this much nervousness there even when Korra had proposed to her. Korra had later said that she hadn't been nervous because she'd already known the answer. Which meant this time, Korra didn't know what Asami's answer would be. And it seemed to matter to her just as much as her marriage proposal, judging by how vulnerable Korra seemed right now.
"Before I answer that..." Asami began. She reached out and took Korra's hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. She looked up into her love's eyes once more and said, "Tell me the truth, Korra. This is about more than the next Avatar, isn't it?"
Korra was silent for a moment, and then she slowly nodded. "I just… Well, I had a dream a while ago, and it occurred to me: I know I'll reincarnate when I die, but I don't know what happens to anyone else. Maybe everyone reincarnates, and only the Avatar remembers it, or maybe there's something else. But, well… I don't think a lifetime with you will be enough. This way, I know at least a piece of me and a piece of you will be together."
Asami had to blink to keep tears from filling her eyes. "Korra…" she said. She brought her wife's hand up to her mouth, giving it a gentle kiss. When Korra put it that way, there wasn't any question at all about it. She did have to do this properly, though. Asami pushed herself up from the bed, and then got down on one knee, looking up at Korra. "I think you're forgetting just one thing: It's my turn to propose," she said.
"A-Asami…" Korra said. She wisely closed her mouth after this, though. The corners of it curled up into a grin, and Asami could see tears beginning to well up in her love's eyes as well.
Asami took a minute. She needed to come up with just the right words. When at last she had them, she spoke. "Avatar Korra, my love, my wife. Will you do me the honor of being with me for eternity, letting not even death keep us apart?"
Korra could only nod at this. Tears broke free from her eyes, and she leaned down, capturing Asami's lips with her own. As their lips met, Asami let herself break down just a little as well. She wrapped her arms around Korra's back, holding her love close as she deepened the kiss. Korra was right. A lifetime would never be enough.
According to Raava, joining Asami's soul to the Avatar spirit would be relatively simple. Doing it without killing her in the process, however, was essentially impossible. And so Korra was left relying on clues from what might have been just a dream to find a solution. She brought Asami to the Tree of Time, which was connected intimately with the cosmic energy of the universe. When her memories had been lost, it had brought them back to her, proving its connection to the past.
If Korra was right, it might just be able to connect to the future as well. It wouldn't be nearly as easy, however. There would be resistance to even seeing the future, as knowing about it could change it. As Korra figured, her best chance was to go into the Avatar State. It would unlock her full power, and there was a chance she wouldn't remember what happened while she was in it, which might be necessary to preserve the future she saw.
When it was time, Korra sat down in front of Asami, and Asami in front of her. She crossed her legs, rested her arms on them, and emptied her mind. She let the surrounding energy flow into her, filling her. She kept just enough awareness to seek out the thread of energy corresponding to Asami's soul, and she reached out to it. Perhaps Asami felt this in some way. Perhaps she even reacted, but Korra was too far disconnected from the world to notice.
The thread didn't resist her contact. It was perhaps as intimate as she'd ever been with Asami, but her wife was more than willing to let her do this. Korra gently felt the thread, exploring its connections. In one direction, she found it quite easy to explore, and her tentative motions brought to her mind Asami's memories from that earlier morning. In the other direction, however, it was nearly impossible for Korra to discover anything.
Nearly impossible. In other words, possible.
Korra reached into her heart, connecting with Raava and triggering the Avatar State, and she pushed through.
Korra inhaled sharply. Her eyes shot open. Images flashed through her mind, but they passed too quickly for her to be able to make any sense of them.
"...Korra?" Asami said. "Are you alright?"
As her eyes focused on the room, Korra nodded slowly. "Yeah," she said. It was a bit jarring coming out of the Avatar State like this again. It had been a long while since she'd lost any memories while using it. She tried to sort through what little she'd seen. Had it worked?
Korra closed her eyes, relaxing once more. Raava. Did it work?
"You made it to the future, Korra. After that, all I can tell you is that if, at the end of her life, Asami will still be willing to join you, it worked, and her soul is now connected to us, and to all future Avatars."
A smile tugged at Korra's lips. Of course, Raava had to make sure the future wouldn't be changed by telling Korra too much. But that was all she needed to hear. Korra opened her eyes. "It worked," she said, meeting Asami's gaze. "We'll be together until the end now."
Asami's eyes filled with happiness. She leaned forward and embraced Korra, her lips coming into contact with Korra's. Korra leaned back just a bit, surrendering to Asami's kiss, and she closed her eyes again. She was complete.
Now…
"Korra?"
Korra's eyes opened up. It took her a moment to remember where she was. In the spirit world. On vacation. With Asami. Korra grinned, focusing her eyes on her friend. "Hey. Morning, Asami," she said.
"Good morning, Korra," Asami said. She ran a hand slowly through her hair as she spoke. "Um, this may sound odd, but… are you alright?"
"Hmm?" Korra looked up into Asami's eyes. There was a bit of concern there, but nothing serious. "Yeah. I'm fine. Had a nice dream," she said. It was a bit odd, she had to admit to herself. She remembered it more clearly than most dreams - almost as if it had actually happened to her. But it was a sweet dream, so she was certainly glad to remember it. She might even have to ask Raava sometime if something like that was even possible.
Asami nodded. "Okay. It just looked for a bit like you'd gone into the Avatar State in your sleep," she said. "Probably just a trick of the light." Asami reached a hand down to Korra, helping her up to her feet.
Korra let out a grunt as she stood up. It had seemed like a good idea when they'd gone to sleep to lean up against one of the nearby trees, but her back was telling her right now that perhaps that hadn't been the most intelligent move. Korra rubbed her back for a moment, turning around to glare at the tree.
"Huh…" Korra stared at the tree for a moment. It wasn't as big as the Tree of Time, and it didn't have an opening in it, but it did bear a resemblance to it. "Asami," she said, turning back to her friend. "You said it looked like I was in the Avatar State while I was asleep?"
Asami nodded again. "It did. Though with your eyes closed, it wasn't quite as obvious. But when I woke up, it certainly did look like there was light coming out of them."
"Weird," Korra said. "I actually dreamed I was going into the Avatar State inside the Tree of Time, which looked a lot like one of these trees. Maybe activating it in my dream triggered it in reality."
"I guess that makes sense," Asami said. She seemed to spend a moment thinking, and then she looked at Korra. "You said it was a good dream, though. You activated the Avatar State in a good dream?"
Korra tilted her head. "Yeah. I was doing something special. Let's leave it at that, okay?" It was probably a little premature to tell Asami that she'd dreamed about traveling into the future to bond them together forever. Okay, it was definitely premature for that.
Korra blinked. She turned to look at the tree again. Maybe it just reminded her of the Tree of Time. Or maybe there was really some connection to it. And if there was… and she had gone into the Avatar State in her sleep… She shook her head. No. It was probably just a dream.
Probably. She'd have to wait a few more years to know for certain.
"Korra?" Asami said. "Are you ready to show me around the spirit world?"
Korra grinned, turning back to her friend. "Never been more ready."