"You what!?"

Tenzin sighed to himself as a statue at his side cracked in half and slid to the ground in pieces. He really needed to find a place for Korra to train that was far, far away from priceless airbender artifacts.

"I invited Asami Sato to dinner tonight. You are the Avatar, Korra. A public figure. Republic City is not like your tribe at the South Pole – people don't know you here and they will judge you by the company you keep. Joining a pro-bending team was bad enough; I need to make sure that your association with the Sato family will not do anything to hurt your position."

"I'm not associating with her. She's just some girl who fronted the money so the Fire Ferrets could go to the tournament and Mako would have to date her."

"Be that as it may, the Sato family is one of the richest and most important of the non-bending families. With this business with the Equalists, you have to be more careful."

Tenzin turned and retreated inside the house. Korra knew better than to follow him, at least, even as she twisted in the air, sending a few angry flames licking towards the sky. It didn't really matter anyway, she'd put up with worse – Tarrlok and his gifts came to mind and she shuddered. Maybe she could just rush through her meal and pretend she had airbending practice. Or a stomach ache. Or...

"Korra! Come get ready for dinner!"

Korra gritted her teeth and trudged up to the house. Asami wasn't even there yet and she wanted her gone.

XxXx

Korra pushed grains of rice around in her bowl, wondering idly if she could make a little tower of them for fun before realizing that that would probably take some of the airbending that she couldn't do yet. Even though she had washed and changed for dinner, she still felt awkward and out of place next to Asami's natural grace and sophistication. It didn't help that Asami had completely charmed the whole room the moment she walked in, deftly keeping up the conversation around the table with the ease of long practice. Except for Korra, who after a few short phrases had refused to be drawn in.

"So you own the Fire Ferrets, Asami?" Ikki piped up, unable to hold back her curiosity for long.

Asami laughed. "No, I'm just a big fan. I couldn't stand the thought of the Ferrets not being able to go to the tournament so I gave them a little money. Like a donation."

"The Fire Ferrets are the best!"

"Who's your favorite player?"

"Silly, Korra's the best! She's the Avatar so she's gotta be the most powerful bender in the world!"

Asami interrupted the budding fight between Ikki and her brother, to the palpable relief of their parents. "Each of the Fire Ferrets have their own skills to add. I don't think I could pick a favorite." She sent a sideways glance at Korra, who didn't know quite what to make of it. "But Korra is definitely very special."

Meelo just looked at her in mild confusion. "Well duh, she's the Avatar."

Tenzin sensed that it was time for a tactical change of subject. "I've heard you're very successful yourself on the racing circuit, Ms. Sato."

"I've grown up around satomobiles all my life, it wouldn't do for me to embarrass the family name by losing." She smiled. "But I truly love it. I suppose it's just in my blood."

"Perhaps sometime we could come see you race; that is, if Korra can manage to stay out of trouble."

"I think I can manage to sit in a chair and watch satomobiles without destroying Republic City." Korra grumbled. Honestly, she wasn't a complete idiot. If the bad guys would just accept that they couldn't beat the Avatar and give themselves up there wouldn't be any problem at all.

Her train of thought was rudely interrupted when she felt a soft hand gently squeeze her arm. "It would be an honor to have your family and the Avatar join me for a race sometime, Lord Tenzin. I promise to personally keep an eye on Korra."

Korra just stared at the hand still on her arm. To her horror, she felt her face flush. She was suddenly, totally aware of the way Asami's perfume floated on the air, light and delicate but somehow overwhelming her senses. She felt energy crackle in the air, an undercurrent in Asami's words, and was amazed that she seemed to be the only one to notice. She realized that this was the first time Asami had ever actually touched her.

"ExcusemeIhavetogetsomeair!" The Avatar didn't run from anything, but maybe it was time for a tactical retreat.

Once outside, Korra took a couple of deep breaths to clear her head. She still didn't know exactly what had gone on in there, but she was sure it had something to do with Asami and she was very, very happy to be out of that room. The door slid open, but she didn't turn around; it was probably Tenzin coming to berate her for being impolite to their guest.

"Are you okay?" Asami's lilting voice almost caused Korra to jump straight up into the air.

"Y-yeah, no, I'm fine. It was just a little, y'know, hot in there." Her laughter sounded nervous even to herself, but Asami didn't seem to notice. She just sat down on the wooden deck next to Korra, staring up at the stars. Korra watched, enraptured, as the pale light of the moon softened the planes of Asami's face, playing gently over her dark hair and illuminating a single white flower that was pinned over her right ear.

"You really are a very good pro-bender, you know."

"I- thanks. Don't let Mako hear you saying that, he'll get jealous." Korra joked, trying to relieve some of the tension between them, but Asami just looked at her with those unreadable green eyes.

"Do you want to know a secret? I only went out with Mako so I could get to know you." She ducked her head, a light blush on her cheeks. "I couldn't very well run into the Avatar..."

"You did? But why?"
"I'm really envious of you. Whatever you want to do, you just do it. You seem so...free."

"You, jealous of me? Why? I mean, you're so beautiful and..."

"You think I'm beautiful?"

Somewhere in the back of Korra's mind her rational side was screaming abort! Abort! But she shook it off. She'd come this far and now she had to say something.

"Well yeah, I mean, obviously your beautiful, I-" She was intensely grateful that her dark coloring prevented her from looking like a tomato right now, but Asami didn't seem to notice her stumbling, gracing her with the first true smile she'd ever seen from the other girl.

"Korra, I-" Asami seemed uncharacteristically indecisive, and Korra was just about to ask her what was wrong when Asami suddenly pressed her lips to hers. Korra let out a strangled gasp before melting into the kiss. It was wonderful, like bending for the first time, like she imagined flying would be. A thought occurred to her and she pulled back slightly, smiling at Asami's disappointed frown. Gently, she caught the delicate flower, re-pinning it above Asami's left ear.

"Better."

Korra's smile widened into a grin as Asami reached up to finger the flower as if she couldn't quite believe it was there. Soon, however, she had other things to think about as Korra recaptured her lips in a deep kiss.