Asami woke slowly. She could hear Korra beside her still snoring lightly. She turned to face her lover, carefully making sure she didn't shift the blankets too much and let the cold air into their warm cocoon of blankets. She smiled at Korra's sleeping face. The Avatar's mouth hung slightly open as she drooled on her pillow. Her hair was mussed from their lovemaking the night before, and Asami thought she looked beautiful. She leaned forward and placed a kiss on Korra's forehead. Korra stirred and eventually opened her eye, swiping her hand across her mouth with a sheepish grin.
"Sorry," she murmured.
"At least you didn't drool on me this time."
"What time is it?" Korra asked.
Asami rolled over and reached into her pack. She pulled out her pocket watch. "Eleven."
"We should get up, I want to get a fire going." Korra said.
"Can I stay here until you get the fire going, please?" Asami batted her eyelids.
"Alright city girl." She kissed Asami gently and then quickly pulled on her clothes and headed out of the igloo Korra had constructed the previous night. It wasn't that Asami was cold, but she needed Korra out of the igloo and that was as good an excuse as any. Asami waited until Korra was outside before opening a small hidden pocket in her backpack. She pulled the necklace out and looked at it. Her heart beating faster as the reality of the situation started to sink in. I'm going to ask her to marry me. She ran her fingers over the soft blue leather band and traced across the blue stone set into a platinum cog.
She had spent months thinking of how to craft the perfect engagement necklace for Korra. The question of whether or not to make a necklace in the first place had been difficult. All of her research had suggested that it was a Northern Water Tribe tradition to give out betrothal necklaces. Yet, the more Asami thought about getting Korra a ring, the more she realized that it would be a bad idea. There simply wasn't a material that could stand up to all of Korra's bending types.
She heard footsteps approaching and tucked the necklace under the blanket. Korra peeked her head inside. "I've got it all set up if you want to join me," she said.
"I'll be out in a minute. Make sure it's really big." After Korra left, Asami tossed the blankets aside and quickly pulled her clothes on. She carefully placed the necklace in a pocket. "Alright, Sato. You can do this," she muttered. She left the warmth of the igloo and saw the Korra had made a large bonfire. Korra also earth bent a bench nearby.
"Here, come warm up." Korra patted the spot next to her. Asami grinned and sat down.
"Oh wait! Let me get the blankets!" Korra jumped up and dashed back into the igloo. Asami looked around at the frozen tundra. She did not understand how all the south-pole residents could live for so long in the sheer darkness. After so many days without sunlight, the first sunrise was scheduled to happen that afternoon. Everyone else in the Southern Water Tribe would be watching from town, but Korra insisted on taking her out to the tundra, away from the light pollution, Korra had said.
"Okay, there we go." Korra brought the comforter out and draped it around Asami and herself. Asami leaned into Korra and felt Korra wrap her arm around her waist.
"Thank you for doing this with me."
"As long as you plan on keeping me warm, I don't mind keeping you company."
"It…it's more than that," Korra said softly.
Asami raised a brow. "What do you mean?"
"When I came here to recover…I was in a dark place. It was difficult for me just to hold onto the hope that I would walk again." Korra took Asami's hand and laced their fingers together. "Whenever I was at my worst, I thought about you. I worked so hard so I could get back to you." Korra met Asami's eyes. "I wanted you to share this sunrise because…you brought the light back to me."
Asami tightened her hold on Korra's hand. "Korra…" She leaned forward and gave her a kiss.
Korra pulled away and nodded at the horizon. "Careful. I don't want to miss it." Asami turned her gaze toward the mountains in the distance. A soft golden glow turned the sky from black, to blue, then brilliant shades of color crowning the mountain. The rays of light began to spread across the valley lighting Korra's village. Fireworks exploded across the sky and Asami swore she could almost hear the celebration. It was a perfect moment. It was the perfect moment.
Asami took a deep breath. "Korra?"
"Hm?" Korra tore her eyes away from the sunrise.
Asami reached into her pocket and clutched the necklace. "I'm so glad that even though I wasn't able to be there for you, physically, I was able to help you somehow." She pulled out the necklace and held it up so Korra could see. "I hope I can always be your sunrise." She waited for Korra to say something, to do something. She watched Korra's gaze fall to the engagement necklace. Her eyes widened, and Asami watched the smile spread across her lips. Asami smiled as well, but then Korra laughed.
Asami's face fell. "Uh, what – why are you…"
Korra leaned in and kissed her before she could finish a sentence. "I love you," she said. Korra fumbled for something in her pocket and pulled out a necklace. The red ribbon and stone caught Asami's eye. She gasped.
Korra smiled softly. "You beat me to it."
Asami laughed and pulled Korra into a hug. "I love you so much." She pulled back enough to look her in the eye. "So does that mean yes?"
Korra kissed her deeply. "Yes, Asami." Korra pulled off her gloves and carefully tied the necklace around Asami's neck. Smiling, Asami gently touched the stone.
"It's so beautiful."
Korra turned her necklace over in her hands. "Leather with snaps?"
"I figured given your job, you might need something a little more rugged." Asami brought the necklace up to Korra's collar. "If you could…" Korra nodded and pushed her jacket hood aside. Asami leaned forward and looped the leather necklace straps around Korra's neck. She attached the platinum clasps in place and pulled back. "You don't know how much thought went into this," she said.
Korra touched the necklace. "It looks like you put a lot of thought into it."
Asami shook her head. "No. I mean, I was scared about what to make it out of. What if it was too flimsy? What if someone metal bended it and choked you? What if it got caught on something?"
Korra cupped her face and smiled. "It's beautiful, and I'm sure you've thought of everything."
Asami couldn't stop smiling. "I'm surprised you chose red for mine. Isn't blue traditional?" She kept reaching up to touch the necklace, to reassure herself that it was there.
Korra chuckled. "You always wear red Asami and besides, when have we ever been traditional?"
Asami glanced back toward the sunrise and took Korra's hand. "I suppose we never have, have we?" They watched the sky change colors. Asami leaned her head against Korra's shoulder. "So, where are we going to have the ceremony?"
"Uh…"
Asami glanced up at her fiancé. "What?"
Korra grinned sheepishly. "My parents might have already asked if they could host one down here."
Asami raised a brow. "We're not getting married today are we?"
Korra laughed. "No, I thought you'd probably want to plan it with my mom."
Asami leaned into Korra and sighed. "I'm going to marry you…you're my fiancé."
"Pretty incredible, right?" Korra sighed and pulled the blanket tighter around them. "You know something?"
"What?" Asami asked.
"I never imagined that we would end up here when I first met you." She paused and gave Asami a kiss on the cheek. "But I'm so glad it did."
A/N: In honor of Korrasami Wedding Day (Awesome tumblr event, check out #korrasamiweddingday), Sy and I have written this short proposal story between Korra and Asami. Enjoy the fluff, and we'll go back to working on our chapter fics now :D
Just so you all know, we (Sy and Michelle) will stream on Twitch live this Friday at 5 pm Pacific time. The channel is Luraline, and we play games like Tomb Raider, Dragon Age, Minecraft, Don't Starve, anything we want to play, really. And we'll be talking about original fiction and fan fiction we work on. We even sometimes read excerpts from unpublished works! See you there.