(Just a bit late for New Years but I couldn't resist!)
Asami had known Korra a grand total of ten months. The mess with Mako might have hurt but it had ironically brought them together. They'd gotten close and she thought that it was just an infatuation - a girl crush or a general fascination with her friend. That was before Christmas. It was her first Christmas without her father, and she had felt like her world was ending. After all, Asami had no family left. Somehow, Korra had sensed this, and practically dragged her to her place. In the glow of a little tree with a warm cup of hot cocoa in her hands and Korra's head on her shoulder, Asami had realized that she was in love with her best friend.
She'd only told Bolin - Mako might have been hurt and she cared about him too much to do that. He'd have to know eventually, but not yet. Not now. She'd wanted advice. Maybe she'd wanted validation and Bolin was never a person who judged. That was why she found herself standing on her balcony at five minutes to midnight on New Year's Eve, watching the clouds move across the moon.
It was a New Year, wasn't it? A chance for new things.
"Asami? You okay?"
She turned towards Korra, and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Korra leaned on the balcony railing and looked out over the city. "You have the best view in the city."
Asami just smirked a little. "I guess I do." She scrambled to think of what to say, or how to say it, or even if she should say anything. Asami Sato, the girl pursuing four different engineering majors, couldn't think of how to tell Korra her feelings. The irony hurt.
Glancing at Asami, Korra replied. "You look good too. Hot. Really hot." She blushed, and if she'd been alone she would have covered her face with her hands. It was still tempting.
It was three minutes to midnight and Asami's brain had come to a screeching halt. She was ninety-nine percent sure that Korra was trying to flirt with her and she didn't know how to handle that. "I uhm. Thanks. You too. With the being hot thing." Korra met her eyes and the words came tumbling out. "I've always thought that, I just never thought much of that or what it meant but you've become so important to me and I don't know how to say it."
At one minute to midnight, Asami looked like a deer caught in headlights while Korra blinked rapidly as she tried to parse through what Asami was saying. "Wow okay. I get that. You're my best friend." She took the other woman's hand. "And I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. And tell me if I'm out of line but do you want to go out to dinner Friday?"
"And here I'm supposed to be the smooth one," Asami whispered. She squeezed Korra's hand and nodded vigorously. "I'd love that, you have no idea."
"I like to think I have some idea, Asami." Korra tugged Asami closer as the countdown began inside.
"We're supposed to kiss at midnight…"
"Then shut up and do it."
Asami laughed, and at the count of one she leaned her head down and planted one right on Korra's lips.
When Bolin found them ten minutes later, neither had moved from their spot. He slowly backed inside, and threw an arm around his brother's shoulders. "So Mako. I've got some good news and some bad news…"