A/N
So, this is my first time posting a fanfic in about… 6 years? So please bare with me. I really love these two, and I had this idea for a story floating around in my head for a long time.
I've read so many fanfics over the years, and I really wanted to see more stories including trans characters, and this pairing fit the bill exactly for me. Please don't take this as me trying to 'straighten' this couple, I adore them as a lesbian couple as well, but I really think this couple are perfect for one of them to be trans.
I really hope you enjoy it. And like I said, it's been years since I've been able to stretch my creative muscles like this, so please, if you see something out of place, don't be afraid to call me out on it. I'm out of practice and could really use any constructive criticism from the community.
Anyways, enough rambling, enjoy!
The clanging of a small, hand-held bell signalled to the children out on the playground that school had started. The students readily formed lines, each according to their class number.
Among those in class 4 stood a short, chubby 10 year old who was frantically trying to tame her frizzy hair back into the ponytail her mother had carefully tied up for her.
"Korra!"
The girl jumped, turning around just in time to see a blonde, freckled boy running over to her; he too, looked quite clearly disheveled. She shook her head.
"Alec! You almost missed the bell!" She announced, her eyes wide. Alec simply rolled his eyes.
"We haven't even started walking in yet; jeez! What are you, my mum?"
Korra pouted and poked the boy's cheek. "You know Mrs Windslow hates it when you're late, I don't want you to get shouted at again."
This was true. As much as Korra loved to mess around and have fun with her friend, she was also acutely aware that he was treading on thin ice. The last time he had been late, Mrs Windslow had given him a week's worth of lunchtime detentions. It wasn't as if he could deny responsibility for being late either, his mum would always drop him off right on time, but he would often sneak off to the fields behind the school and play there instead. Korra had been tempted to join him many times, but, of course, Sod's law, the one time she did she was caught red handed.
It wasn't the telling off from the teachers that had worried her, it was the disappointed looks she had received from her father that had made her truly guilty.
She didn't get to see much of him as he worked long hours, which only meant that when he did return she would always be ecstatic to see him. He meant the world to her. Just the mere thought of being a disappointment to him made her insides squirm with worry.
Her thoughts were disrupted by Alec giving her a friendly shove on the back.
"Wake up sleepyhead, we're walking in!" He said, a cheeky grin on his face. Korra blinked and realized he was, in fact, right. The line was moving off ahead of her, and she had to quickly run to catch up.
Once they were finally inside the classroom, she waved to Alec as he headed across the room to take a seat beside a group of boys who all seemed pleased to see him. Korra didn't mind though, she had other friends too. She grinned as her eyes settled on the friend in question. She hurried over, grinning broadly.
"Opal!" She exclaimed, causing the dark haired girl to jump a little in her seat. Once she discovered the identity of her caller, her lips spread into a wide smile and she almost bounced in her seat.
"Korra! Korra! Hi!" She squealed energetically. Korra sat beside her friend and pulled her into a hug.
"It's been ages!" She exclaimed. "How was Spain?"
Opal, her long time friend and - quite frankly - her honorary sister, had been gone for two weeks. Her parents had even pulled her out of school to go away on a family holiday, something Korra envied greatly; not just because her friend was allowed to skip school, but also because she had missed her like crazy. The two of them were like peas in a pod, rarely leaving the other's side.
Opal giggled, returning the hug eagerly. "Oh, it was awesome!" She said as she sat back in her seat "Look! I got a tan!" She held out her arms proudly; arms that had once been pale and milky were now a pale brown. Korra's eyes widened and she poked her friend's arm in surprise.
"You're almost as dark as me now!" She said with a grin, holding up her arm beside her friend's for a comparison. "...Well, almost. I still win." She said, sticking out her tongue playfully.
Opal pouted and folded her arms. "No faaaiir~" She whined, sticking out her tongue in response. "One day I'll beat you!" Korra blew a raspberry in her friend's direction, but quickly stopped when she spotted a Teacher's Assistant - more commonly known as a T.A - eyeing her, one eyebrow raised. She and Opal looked at each other, then burst into fits of giggles. Sure, they were usually well behaved, but it couldn't hurt to have a little fun sometimes, right?
Soon the sound of Mrs Windslow's voice cut through the classroom chatter. She clapped her hands and cleared her throat.
"Good morning children." She said loudly, clasping her hands together.
"Good morning Mrs Windlow" the class replied in unison, some of them less enthusiastically than others.
The tall middle aged woman continued on. "Now, I want you all to get out your spelling books, we will be having another spelling test this afternoon, and I want you all to brush up on this week's words." A few students grumbled and muttered to themselves, but eventually the whole class had fished out their books from their bookbags and began reading through the list they had been given at the beginning of the week.
Korra sighed to herself as she got out her book, only opening it to the right page for show before turning to Opal.
"I'm guessing you don't have to do this one?" She asked, to which Opal grinned and nodded.
"I only got back yesterday, so I get a free pass this week." She said, sticking out her tongue yet again, which warranted a pout from Korra. The dark-haired girl then she raised an eyebrow at her friend. "I don't know why you're complaining, you always get them all right... you're like, a genius or something!"
Korra shrugged, a smug grin crossing her face. "Yeah, that's why it's so boring." She said, rolling her eyes and turning them back to the book in front of her.
It was true, she did always get them all right, but not because she studied them or anything like that, since she didn't; she had just developed a simple yet effective strategy.
The tests would always be carried out on the next full two pages of their book, so all Korra had to do was ensure that the words were written on the left hand page, so that when she turned to the next one to begin the test, all she had to do was push the paper down hard enough so that the words would be somewhat visible. Then all she had to do was copy them, but of course she had to ensure that she looked like she was thinking hard, as she didn't want to be found out.
That was the thing with Korra; sure, she misbehaved… a lot... but she hid it very well under a guise of an angelic little girl who could do no wrong. As a result, if she were to do something that would be seen as wrong, and hid it well enough, more often than not one of the boys would end up getting the blame for it. Sure, it was a somewhat worrying trait for an 8 year old to have, but effective nonetheless.
So, instead of studying the words in front of her, she reached into her pocket to pull out her new favourite toy: her tamagotchi. She glanced about, hoping that the slight hubbub of noise created by the other students would hide the bleeps and pings the little machine produced when played with.
So focused was she, that she failed to notice a change in the atmosphere of the classroom; it was only when Opal nudged her did she finally look up.
"What?" She asked, her tone somewhat irritated as her focus had been taken away from the tiny screen. Opal raised an eyebrow.
"Are you really that deaf? Look!" She said excitedly, pointing to the desk close to the front of the classroom. Korra followed her finger to find herself staring at someone who was completely unfamiliar to her. She looked back at Opal, then back to the unknown person.
"Erm..?"
Opal huffed. "Didn't you see? We've got a new person!" She exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her seat excitedly.
Korra looked back across the room to find that, yes indeed, the kid across the room from them was dressed in their school's uniform.
She was tall and slim, with dark black hair that drastically contrasted her porcelain white skin. Currently, she was seated alone, and clearly very nervous about her current situation. Her eyes were focused directly onto the desk in front of her, her hands clasped together tightly.
Korra removed her gaze from the girl back to Opal, who was beaming.
"You know what that means, right!?" She said, clapping her hands together excitedly.
Korra sighed. "You mean the rule… right?" She replied flatly, clearly unimpressed by the whole situation.
'The rule' was something that was unspoken, but held a lot of meaning with the students. Not many students transferred mid-way through a year, so when they did, it was always seen as a challenge to see who could befriend the new student first. Korra never bothered, however, as in her mind she had enough friends; why use up all that energy?
Opal nodded. "Yes!" She squeaked. "And it's a girl! So most of the boys won't try! I might stand a chance!"
Korra huffed. "You don't need any more friends, you have me." She said, folding her arms grumpily. Opal playfully pushed her friend's shoulder.
"Aww come on, don't be such a meanie Korra! You know you'll always be my best friend, right? I just wanna, you know, make some more friends sometimes. Come ooon, pleaase?"
Korra looked over to see her friend pouting again, her eyes wide and watery. This was a tactic she used a lot on Korra, and it almost always worked.
Korra sighed. "okaaaay, fiiine." She said, only to be hugged tightly around the neck by an overly-enthusiastic Opal.
"Yay! Thank yoooou!" Her friend squealed, causing Korra to roll her eyes. Opal sat back and grinned. "If she's my friend, she'll be your friend too! I won't leave you behind, promise." She said, an honest smile gracing her lips.
Korra knew she meant it, despite her own stubborn outlook. Opal had always been there for her through thick and thin. She trusted her.
Returning the smile she nodded, pushing her friend in return "I know. I know." She said warmly. "You're never getting rid of me."
Opal giggled. "Yeah… I didn't think I could."
The two swatted at each other playfully before focusing back on their books.
Break time eventually rolled around and found that Korra had sat herself on the grass verge at the edge of the playground, tucking in to a packet of crisps she had managed to grab from her family's snack cupboard. She was shoving another handful into her mouth when she heard a familiar voice calling out to her.
"Korra!" She looked up to see Opal hurring over to her, her hand firmly grasping onto that of the new girl from before. She looked like she was being practically dragged along behind the over-excitable girl, but she was smiling this time at least… albeit nervously.
Opal finally reached the seated girl, grinning widely. "Korra, this is Asami. Asami, this is my best friend in the whole wide world..." She said, turning to the pale girl and gesturing to Korra in a dramatic fashion. "Korra!"
There was silence for a few seconds, then Asami raised a hand mealy and gave a shy wave.
"Hi..." She said, her tone soft and quiet as her green eyes met Korra's blue ones.
Korra blinked, then swallowed her mouthful of crisps. "Hi." She replied, returning the wave awkwardly. She wasn't the best at making new friends, despite how confident she often appeared.
Opal beamed, bouncing up and down happily. "Yay! We can all be friends now!" She turned to Asami. "I'm gonna go get my lunch box, you sit with Korra, 'kay?"
The pale girl barely had time to reply before Opal skipped off, singing happily to herself.
Left by themselves, the pair exchanged awkward glances for what seemed like ages. Eventually, Asami took a step forward, smiling shyly. "So... can I sit here?" She asked, gesturing to the patch of grass beside Korra. The dark-skinned girl nodded, her mouth already full again with crisps.
"Yeah, it'sh ok." She replied with her mouth full.
Asami smiled a little before sitting beside Korra, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Korra glanced over at her, and instantly felt bad. She was clearly very nervous about being in a brand new school, and here she was giving her the silent treatment.
She swallowed her crisps and cleared her throat, deciding she should at least try to cheer this girl up. She was awkward but not heartless, after all.
"Sorry about Opal..." She said, looking over at the girl beside her. "She can be a little… you know." She said, waving her arms around a bit for emphasis.
Asami smiled and shook her head. "It's okay." She replied, fiddling with the collar of her jumper. "If she hadn't come say hi, I would probably still be sitting in the classroom alone." She looked over at Korra. "So… you're her best friend, huh?"
Korra grinned and nodded. "Best friend ever. Her mum and my mum are like, best friends too." This was true. Almost every weekend her mum would take her over to Opal's house, where she and Sun, Opal's mum, would spend most of their time chatting over coffee while Korra and Opal ran riot. She loved it there. Sure, Opal's twin brothers were a pain sometimes, but they eventually learned to leave her alone.
Asami let out a soft giggle. "Wow, I wish I had friends like that." She replied softly, her smile dropping and a sigh leaving her lips.
Korra glanced over at her, feeling that pang of guilt rise again. She reached out and patted Asami on the shoulder in a somewhat awkward fashion. "Hey, you're gonna make friends here, I'm sure of it." She replied with a grin.
Asami looked up at her. "You think so?"
"Well, yeah..." Korra replied, chuckling a little. "Now Opal likes you, you're stuck with her, and she and I are stuck together like glue so you're gonna have to deal with me too."
Asami's eyes widened. "You mean, you want to be friends?"
Korra smiled and nodded. "Yeah, sure."
Even though she had been hesitant at first with meeting someone new, Korra could honestly say she liked Asami. She was quiet, polite and clearly very shy about making new friends. Korra could relate. After all, she had basically stuck by Opal's side her whole life and never dared talking to anyone else besides Alec, so maybe this would be good for her too.
She grinned at the pale girl beside her as Opal came scurrying back, a small bag of sliced apples in hand. She glanced between the two girls and beamed.
"You guys friends now?" She asked, looking over at Korra with a grin on her face. Korra raised an eyebrow; so this was her game… leave the two of them together to make them become friends. Opal was clearly a lot cleverer than she gave her credit for.
Regardless, she smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we're friends, right Asami?" She asked, turning to the pale girl beside her. Asami nodded, a genuine smile on her face this time.
"Yeah, we're friends."
Clearly, saying that had a lot of meaning to Asami, as her eyes almost lit up when she said it. Opal grinned.
"Yay! Cool! You wanna sit with us in class now? There's a free seat."
Asami shyly nodded, looking over at Korra with a smile on her face. Korra returned it.
"It'll be great to have someone else to talk to, she can get a bit annoying sometimes." She said, pretending to whisper as she gestured to Opal, who pouted and swatted at her.
"Hey! I'm amazing!" She protested, causing Korra to laugh loudly as she responded to the swats with some of her own.
"Yeah, yeah, calm down, I'm joking."
Opal whined and folded her arms, preparing a response, but was interrupted by the sound of the bell.
Korra groaned and stood up, brushing the crumbs off of her skirt and throwing the empty packet of crisps in the nearby bin.
"Time to go back, I guess." She said, turning to Asami with a smile. "You coming?"
The taller girl nodded, standing up, and to Korra's surprise, took her hand in hers.
"Yeah" she replied, smiling warmly this time.
Korra returned the smile, ignoring Opal's protests as she grabbed hold of her other free hand and began to lead them back to the classroom.
This day had certainly gotten off to an interesting start.
So there you go! First chapter! I've already got the second one in the works, but before I polish that off I'd really appreciate feedback on this one.
Thank you all so much for reading. See you in the next chapter!
