Ever since Mako had broken up with Asami, the non-bender had seemingly taken it well, and made the shift from girlfriend to friend well enough and neither of the boys in the new team Avatar sensed any tension beneath the surface. Korra, however, wasn't so convinced. A suspicion that proved to be justified when Asami lost control of her emotions momentarily when Mako kissed the avatar on the cheek. Even though the kiss meant little to nothing, it was still a threat in Asami's eyes, and Korra was her target.
That following night, on the way back to the girls housing on Air Temple Island, Asami slowed her pace to a halt and stared out over the water.
"Asami? You coming?" Korra asked, turning around to face her.
Asami remained in a trance-like state,
"Pretty, isn't it?" She asked
"What?" Korra asked, advancing toward the other girl.
"How the lights from the city reflect in the water." Asami stated, still transfixed by the sight.
"Oh, yeah I suppose so. It's one of my favorite views-" Korra began, but was interrupted by Asami,
"It's almost like fire, you know? The lights? The water makes it look so amazing, so magic, and harmless, but the instant they form a union, it all turns to steam and dies away."
Korra got the feeling the heiress was no longer talking simply about elements.
"That's why fire needs control," Asami continued, "protection from …all other elements. Wind can extinguish fire, so can water, and throw enough dirt on it, and fire will smother out. I can only imagine how an extremely powerful trio of the three would hurt the fire, putting out the last spark with ease."
Asami was facing Korra now, a haunting coldness in her eyes. Korra was at a loss for words. She knew the girl was hurt over the breakup, and it was only natural to feel jealous, but this was creepy.
"Asami…..what…"the avatar began, to be answered with the light ringing of Asami's laughter.
"Wow! That was weird right? Sorry about that! Looks like I've been reading too much of Iron's weird poetry!" She smiled. Korra laughed uneasily, making a mental note to not let her guard down around the raven haired beauty.
The pair made the trek back to the girls housing in an awkward silence, seemingly unfelt by Asami.
The next couple of days were strange for Korra; she suddenly became very aware of her own actions around Bolin and Mako. She still had feelings for both of them and with the added craziness from Asami; it was too much for Korra to handle. She made a decision to not make any decisions, just to focus on her duties of Avatar and as a member of the fire ferrets.
At breakfast the next morning, when Mako offered to grab a plate for her, Korra nearly ran over an air acolyte to prevent the fire-bender from performing a very simple act of chivalry. Mako looked surprised, but shook it off as Korra had some weird quirks.
But if she wasn't going to let Mako do anything for her that also meant Bolin couldn't either, to be fair. So when she needed to go into town to pick up groceries for Tenzin, and Bolin offered to carry the heavy load for her, she denied roughly. To be honest, Korra wasn't too lacking in the strength department, but an extra hand would have been nice to carry the large load all the way from the city.
After a week of this, Korra laid on a hill overlooking the temple, sighing. This whole not making a decision thing was hard work and Korra began to miss the days of not thinking when she accepted favors from her friends, or gave them. Love complicates things, she realized. The sun was slowly setting so Korra decided to take a bath in the temple hot springs before dinner. On her way down the corridor in her robe, she passed Asami.
"Hey, Asami, what's up?" Korra greeted.
"Just got back from walking around the island with Ikki, I'm exhausted." Asami laughed, "Are you headed to the hot springs?"
Korra nodded in response.
"Oh that sounds so great right now, do you mind if I join you?" Asami asked.
Korra hesitated for half a second, but figured it was harmless.
"Not at all! I'll see you there!" She smiled.
Asami returned the smile and headed to her own room to change for the hot springs.
When she got to the springs, Korra found it completely barren of anyone else, a luxury that was hard to come by, she quickly stripped her robe and slipped into the hot relaxing waters. A long sigh escaped her lips as the heat found its way to her muscles and bones and relieving her of the stress she carried, if only momentarily.
It was then that she heard voices, yelling voices. And the paper sliding door across the water from Korra slammed open.
"HOW DO YOU GET LOST ON A TINY ISLAND, BOLIN? HONESTLY I-" Mako stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the naked bathing avatar, his face turning as red as his scarf. Korra scrambled to cover her body with her arms and hands, as her robe was hanging beside Mako's hand.
"Mako! What the hell!" Korra yelled, flushed.
"I-I-we got lost and…" He stammered, trying very hard to keep his eyes on Korra's face, but found them gravitating downwards .
"MAKO! WHERE'D YOU GO, BRO? I THINK I FIGURED OUT WHERE WE-"Bolin ran into Mako and sent the duo into the hot water, now at Korra's feet. Korra screamed and sent a wave towards the two boys in sheer reflex.
The earth and fire benders of the fire ferrets emerged from the water sputtering. Bolin looked annoyed, but then the realization of where he was and who he was with became apparent on his face. Confusion, understanding, surprise, enjoyment and embarrassment all followed one after the other on the earth benders face in a matter of seconds before he turned his gaze away from Korra.
"Oh man, I'm so sorry Korra, I didn't know…we were lost and…."Bolin said with a face redder than his fire ferret's fur.
"JUST GET OUT! BOTH OF YOU! BEFORE ASAMI-" Korra began, but she was too late.
The non-bender was standing awestruck in the doorway that the brothers had only moments before inhabited, she was clutching a wash cloth and clad in a fluffy pink towel. Her hands shaking from rage, Asami turned on her heel and left the scene in a huff.
"Asami! Wait!" Korra started, ripping Mako's scarf off his neck to provide a scant coverage for her short journey to her robe which she quickly donned and followed the other girl down the hall way. Bolin and Mako were left, completely clothed, in the hot springs stunned at the events that had just transpired.
"Dude…she took your scarf…and-" Bolin started
"I know." Mako said, blushing.
A silent pause between the brothers allowed for the song of a bird to echo into the courtyard.
"Did you see where it was sitting!" Bolin whispered as he began to blush himself, "Did you see her…"
"I KNOW, BOLIN! I KNOW!" Mako fumed, stepping out of the springs and storming away.
Bolin remained in the hot springs, fully clothed and leaning against the rocky edge, looking at the sky above him.
"Wow." He mused, replaying certain moments in his head again and again.
Korra sprinted down the hallway after Asami, an awkward feat as Mako's scarf had become trapped under her tightly wrapped towel and was now creating a very weird wedgie as she tried to catch up with Asami.
"Asami! Wait! That was nothing! Nothing happened! It was an accident!"
Asami came to a screeching halt, she turned quickly, so quick in fact that it caught the avatar off guard and she too had to screech to a stop to prevent from tackling Asami.
"Oh give it a rest Korra! You mean to tell me that you just HAPPENED to be naked in a hot spring and my boyfriend and his brother just HAPPENED to be in there with you? I thought we were friends!" She screamed.
"Ok, well first off, Mako's not your boyfriend anymore…but-" Korra began, but was interrupted by a scream from Asami as she attempted to storm off. But the avatar grabbed her wrist.
"Listen to me!" Korra pleaded, "It really was just an accident, the boys got lost and Bolin's just clumsy and it looked a lot worse than it really was." Asami looked unconvinced, Korra sighed.
"Ok look," Korra surrendered, and told her all of her accounts with the boys and how she felt about both of them and how she had come to the decision to not choose either of them, to save all four of them. After about a half hour explanation, Asami seemed reluctant to let the fiasco go, but Korra eventually coaxed a smile out of her face.
"So, friends?" Asami asked.
"Friends." Korra smiled, "You wanna go down to dinner? It should be ready soon."
The other girl nodded and they began walking back to their rooms.
As Korra turned the handle to her room, Asami laughed.
"What's so funny?" the avatar smiled.
"Oh, just the thought of you and Mako together, it's just so absurd!" Asami giggled.
Korra's face remained in a polite smile until the door clicked in front of her, when she immediately stomped the floor beneath her, creating an impromptu dummy and destroying it seconds afterwards with a flaming fist. Her breathing was heavy and the flame from her hands was mirrored in her normally cool blue eyes.
Honestly, if Asami thought she would win this battle, she was dead wrong.