A/N: Cross-posting this from AO3 because it's gotten a decent response there! I haven't used in a while, so I'm sorry if anything is mislabeled. If you want to follow me on tumblr, I'm ai-ge-smak-daun dot tumblr dot com. :)
Sleeping during car rides has never been a problem for Korra. As a matter of fact, falling asleep just about anywhere has never been a problem for Korra. More than once she's ended up curled up in Mako's bathtub after partying a little too hard or drinking a little too much. She always awoke well-rested and ready to face her day, unlike her hungover friends.
Now, she shifts in her seat uncomfortably, wishing she'd spent more time practicing staying awake on long trips. She's fallen asleep twice now on the four hour bus-ride, and each time had startled herself awake, afraid that she had missed her stop or someone had stolen her things.
This time, she wakes to a tapping on her shoulder.
"Hello. Miss?"
Her eyes fly open, and she tries not to jump at the sight of a man in a vest and cap in front of her. Still, her hands jump up to her chest and she gasps.
He takes her in for a moment, and his eyes turning sympathetic after he finishes sizing her up.
Great, she thinks, I must look pathetic.
"Sorry, kid. Last stop."
"Right," she says stiffly.
He walks back to the driver's seat and plops down. Everyone else has already gotten off the bus, she notes, and she can't help but wonder how long she was asleep. She stretches as she stands, joints popping as she reaches for her suitcase in the overhead compartment and giving it a hard tug.
Her luggage is heavier than she's expecting, and it hits the top of her head with a loud thud. She thinks she hears a hint of a laugh from the front of the bus, and avoids the drivers eyes as she drags her suitcase down the aisle and the stairs. She's embarrassed herself enough already.
She gets off the bus and glances around, trying her best to look alert despite her sleepiness. Her father taught her one of the keys to traveling safely was never to let herself look vulnerable.
She's happy to see there aren't many people at the terminal. An old man who seems to have fallen asleep reading a newspaper sits to her right on a bench. He has a bag of luggage at his feet. Two young women stand together against the back wall, looking at the bus schedule and talking angrily under their breath as they trace their fingers across the map.
Korra's glad she memorized her route before she left. She hasn't made the trip to her old town in... well, never actually.
She swallows thickly at the thought. She hasn't been to Republic City in years, and she's afraid nothing will be the same. She's not even sure what she'll do when she gets there. Her friends probably don't want anything to do with her at this point, and she can't blame them.
Three years without contact is a long time.
She sits on a bench along the back wall and hangs her head.
Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place, her father's voice echoes in her head.
She tries to ignore the stinging in her eyes at the thought of her parents, and the twinge of betrayal that snags in her chest along with it. Yeah, she hasn't bothered to visit them in years, so she really can't blame them for not thinking of her whereabouts this summer... Even so, they Skype frequently and she would have at least liked to have heard about their big trip cross-country, if not invited to tag along.
It wasn't until she called her father in tears after having the door slammed in her face did she find out that there wouldn't be a home to return to. It hadn't been a proud moment for her. Sniveling to her parents on the walk home after a break-up, only to be immediately rejected once again. She remembers asking if she could at least come stay at her childhood home while they were away.
"Honey, I'm sorry, we've already rented the house out on AirBNB."
She managed to regain her composure enough to convince her parents to hang up the phone before she lost herself again. She found her way back to her dorm room, the one she'd barely entered since the beginning of the year, and bought her bus tickets.
She had only one option left.
Republic City, here I come.
Her phone buzzes, pulling her out of her thoughts, and she frowns. Who would be calling this time of night?
She picks up her phone and her lock screen stares back at her. It's one of those gross coupley photos that she personally would've never set herself, but once it was done she couldn't figure out how to undo it. She was never good with technology. The picture is from not too long ago, maybe a month at most, even though it now seems impossibly far away. From another lifetime, even.
I really need to figure out how to change that, she thinks before focusing on the task at hand. Her phone is still ringing. She studies the number.
It's an unknown caller with a familiar area code: Republic City. Her thumb hovers over the decline button, but something stops her. Maybe it's the nostalgia of returning home after three long years, but before she knows it the phone is rising to her ear.
"Korra?" the voice on the other end of the line asks.
She almost drops the phone.
/
Packing has never been Bolin's strong suit.
Even so, he's too proud to ask for help. He doesn't want to hear Mako's "I told you so's" that he's sure he'd have to endure if he admits to his brother he needs a hand getting ready for their trip.
Mako urged him to start packing at the beginning of the week. As with nearly everything else, Mako had an idea of how proper packing should be done: in a timely and efficient manner. He'd explained his methods to his brother several times, even though he knew it was falling on deaf ears.
Every time he used something in the morning, Mako told him to put it in his suitcase after. That way, everything he used to get ready would be in his suitcase by the time he had to leave, and no necessities would be left behind.
It was a great idea, really, and Bolin did listen the first few times he told him about it, but... he had a habit of waking up just a little too late to be able to pack in the mornings and make it to work on time and one thing lead to another and...
It's the night before they leave, his suitcase is still empty, and he only has less than twenty-four hours until they're leaving for a month-long trip.
He sighs.
Packing is exhausting, he thinks as he flops back on his bed. God knows I can't ask Mako to help. Who else is there?
Bolin grabs his phone, frowning when he sees he has no new messages. He scrolls through his contacts, searching for someone that would understand his dilemma.
He skips right past the first name in his phone. He's seen how Asami packs- she brought over all her luggage the night before, one bag piled high after another.
No thank you, he thinks. And obviously Mako is out of the question.
He gets to the K's and stops.
Bolin frowns. Korra. He hasn't talked to her in so long, but he's sure that if anyone were to understand his situation, it would be his old friend. They'd always shared a similar temperament that annoyed the hell out of Mako but allowed them to become fast friends when they were children.
Man, I haven't heard from her in ages, he thinks, biting his lip uncertainly.
He dials before he has time to change his mind. He counts the rings, waiting for the fourth followed by a tell-tale click to voicemail.
Just wishful thinking, he thinks, and just a moment later the ringing cuts off. There's a moment of silence, and he realizes after a few seconds without Korra's voicemail message starting - there's someone on the other end.
"Korra?"
"Uh, Bolin?" comes the reply, and he grins in spite of himself at the unmistakable sound of Korra's voice on the other end of the line.
"I can't believe you picked up!" he exclaims without thinking. He hears a sound through the speaker that could be just a breeze, or it could be Korra letting out a dejected laugh.
Judging by the long beat that follows, he figures its the latter.
"But never mind that," Bolin breaks the silence after a moment. He hasn't spoken to one of his oldest friends in - god, it must have been years now. There'll be more time to talk about the nitty gritty of why she disappeared off the face of the planet later. "How are you? Where are you?!"
This time her laugh is more genuine. He grins.
"Currently at a bus stop, but I have a feeling you're asking in a more general sense," she says, her tone light. He laughs in response, but doesn't probe further. He's known Korra his whole life, and even if they haven't been close in a while he can tell when she doesn't want to be pressed.
"A bus stop? Are you coming home?" he asks instead.
Mako will be so happy, he thinks. At least, I think he will.
They rarely talked about it, but neither he nor his brother had heard from Korra since she left for college three years ago. Not a visit home or even a letter.
"Should be there by 3 a.m.," Korra says. "I'm waiting to transfer busses now. I've already been going for hours," she says, and the tiredness that has seeped its way into her voice confirms it.
Bolin checks his watch. Three o'clock?
That's only a little more than three hours away!
"Where's your stop? Do you need a ride? I can drive now, I have a car and everything!" His words come out in a rush but he doesn't bother to stop them. He's always been excitable, especially when it comes to his friends.
"Whoa there, Bolin," she says, her tone teasing. "You sure you're old enough to be driving?"
He scoffs. "By a long shot. I turned 19 last month," he boasts.
Korra sighs on the other end of the line, not sure whether or not to address the elephant in the room. Bolin doesn't seem nearly as angry with her as she thought he had the right to be, but it still doesn't feel right to ignore the way she'd just left him and his brother behind when she went off to college.
"I know," she says after a moment. "Hey listen, I'm sorry I didn't send a card or anything. Things have been... weird here for me lately," she explains.
It's a weak excuse, but he lets it slide. "No worries."
Tears well up in her eyes in relief, and she brushes them away before they have a chance to fall. Bolin always had a big heart, but she's still touched he's willing to act like no time had passed, like she hadn't ruined everything.
She decides right then to make it up to him. "Anyway... now that you mention it, I will probably have a hard time catching a taxi at three in the morning."
"Yes!" he shouts, forgetting how late it is. He waits for the telltale loud bang on the wall from Mako telling him to keep it down, but none comes. He's sure to lower his voice when he speaks again. "Let me pick you up! We can go visit Mako and Asami first thing."
"Don't you think they'll be asleep?" she teases.
"Fine," he huffs. There's a moment of silence while he considers their options. "Oh, I know! We can stop at a diner first. I know one not too far from here that makes the meanest omelette with cream cheese and chives. And their bacon, Korra, my god."
Somehow she gets the feeling he's not really all that upset about this turn of events.
Bolin always was a fan of the bacon.
"Okay," she answers simply.
A shocked laugh barks at her from the other end of the line. "Wait- really? That easy?"
"Yes, really. I'll text you the address."
Bolin can't stop smiling even after they've hung up the phone. For a few minutes he sits there in stunned silence, wondering if he should go tell Mako about what just happened. His brother is an "early to bed, early to rise" kind of guy - he decides against it.
A celebratory snack will have to do.
He jumps out of bed, and makes it only a few steps before - "shit, ow!" - he stubs his toe on a the giant suitcase waiting empty at the foot of the bed. He collapses back onto his bed, clutching his foot and frowning at the sudden realization that he didn't even talk to Korra about packing.
He waits for his toe to stop throbbing before grudgingly grabbing a few shirts and beginning to fold them.
Not like I have much else to do for the next three hours, anyway.
/
Bolin punches in the address Korra texts him into his GPS, and is surprised when it leads him to a dark street with a small bus shelter on the south side. There's no one around, but the street is still not quite silent, with distant noises every few seconds that make him jolt in his seat uneasily.
Bolin parks across the street and locks his doors. He's glad he didn't let Korra get dropped off here on her own.
He doesn't have to wait long. Within minutes, the bus pulls up. He jumps out of his car, walking up just as the bus door opens. One by one, people straggle off, and one by one he's disappointed when each isn't his friend. Not one of them seems too thrilled with the whole early morning travel thing, and Bolin can't say he blames them. He'd downed two cups of coffee before he headed out to pick up Korra.
There aren't many people on the bus, he observes. Still, Korra seems to take her sweet time getting off, and after it's been almost a minute since the bus doors opened he worries that she ditched him, bailing at an earlier stop.
Then she appears in the door of the bus and he breaks out into a grin.
"Korra!" he shouts, rushing forward to meet her. He sweeps her up in his arms, resisting the urge to swing her around because, hey, they're in public and he's an adult. Still, he can't help but lift her off the ground with the force of his hug. She feels small to him now, and it's immediately apparent how much he's grown since they last saw each other. He was only sixteen, after all, a junior in high school.
"Bo," she says, her voice muffled into his chest, and he realizes that he's holding her a little too tightly. He drops her to the ground and she blinks for a moment before beaming up at him. "God, you've grown!"
"Naw," he says, hoping he won't blush. He's still not anywhere near as tall as Mako, even though he's grown to be much broader than his older brother.
She reaches up to tussle his hair and he laughs. "You look so different!"
"You're one to talk," he says. "Look at your hair!"
"Oh yeah," she reaches up sheepishly, feeling for the shoulder-length cut she'd adopted a few weeks ago. It took her a few days to get used to herself - she hadn't cut her hair since elementary school, but she just needed a change after her relationship went down the tube.
Right, she thinks, her smile faltering. The break up.
She feels the familiar heartbreak settling into her chest at the thought, and dammit she had been this close to forgetting about all this.
If Bolin notices the way she tenses, he pretends not to. He loops one arm through hers as he grabs her suitcase with the other. "C'mon, let's get your bags in my car,"
Bolin's two-door looks like an old clunker that he probably bought off Craigslist, but it suits him. The trunk won't close on its own and he has to tie it shut but he still beams at it proudly, and she can't help but smile in return when he announces her name is "Betty."
The ride to the diner is a short one. They spend most of it in silence after a few minutes of small talk about her trip.
Neither of them seem to know what to say next, so Korra contents herself watching the streetlights and signs pass as they drive into town as Bolin fiddles with the radio.
It's not long before she begins to recognize her surroundings. She didn't grow up here and never learned to drive, so she never knew the roads all that well. Even still, after all these years, it immediately feels familiar.
There's the ice cream parlor that Mako worked at the summer between our junior and senior year, she notes. The park we played a few scrimmage games of soccer at before school.
Even in the dark, Korra is fascinated by her old small town. She's almost disappointed when she hears Bolin's blinker clicking as they pull into a tiny, dimly lit parking lot
"We're here!" he announces, throwing the car into park.
The diner is small and boxy like an old train car, with stainless steel siding and a bright neon sign that flashes OPEN 24/7 in big letters. Korra is a bit wary at the sight of it, but chooses to ignore her instincts when she sees how Bolin's eyes light up in the neon glow.
There isn't anyone else in the diner at this time of night, which isn't a big surprise. The waitress seats them near a window at Bolin's request.
"Your chive and cream cheese omelette please," he orders in his best posh accent. "Can I get wheat toast on the side? Oh, and a bit of jam?"
"Sure thing," the older woman says. She smiles at him with a familiarity that makes Korra think Bolin must come here often.
She jots down a few words on her pad before turning her attention to Korra. "And what about you, hun?"
"Can I have a black coffee and the short stack, please."
"Alright. And will that be sausage or bacon for your side?" she asks, and as soon as the words are out of her mouth Bolin nearly jumps from his booth.
"Oh, how could I forget! Can I also have an extra order of bacon?"
"Bacon for me, too," Korra adds. The waitress chuckles and shakes her head as she closes her pad.
"That'll be right out," she says, before leaving the two of them alone. It's silent for a second before Korra decides it's her turn to start the conversation.
"Thanks again for the ride, Bo," she says with a warm smile.
"Any time!" he says. After a moment his grin fades into something more serious. "To be honest, I was surprised you even picked up the phone."
She tries to brush it off, ignoring the guilt that filled her at his somber tone. "Oh please, I always have time for my little bro," she jokes, but he doesn't laugh. He looks away nervously, twiddling his thumbs in front of him on the table.
Oh no, here it comes, she thinks.
"Well, you have been kind of M.I.A. for a while," he says, shifting in his seat as Korra sinks into hers. She had hoped to avoid this conversation for a little longer. She thinks of changing the subject for a moment before deciding against it.
You owe it to him to be honest, she thinks.
"Yeah, I know. I just had a really hard time coming back to that house, after..." she trails off. It's hard for her to say the words out loud.
After what? Her aunt died? Asami left for California? She and Mako broke up? She doesn't know which to pick, so she just shrugs.
After everything , she thinks. Too many memories. She didn't think that town would ever feel right again with no Katara, no Asami and no Mako to fall back on. So she stayed away.
Until now, of course.
If Bolin was going to question her further, it's interrupted by the arrival of the waitress with their food. Their table goes silent for a few minutes as they both dig into their plates.
She watches him carefully, and doesn't have to wait long until he picks up the conversation again.
"You know, you could've stayed with any of us," he offers, even though the thought is far too late. "You still can - I mean, we only have the futon but you're always welcome to it, and Asami definitely has the extra space."
"Oh please, like you guys would want me moping around all summer, snoring in your living room. Besides, Hiroshi never liked me much anyway. I don't think the old bat wants me crashing at his place."
Bolin pales. "Oh... Korra, you haven't heard?"
Her fork stops mid-way to her mouth, and a thin line of syrup drops towards her plate. His tone makes her heart sink. "Heard- no, what?"
"Hiroshi died. Two weeks ago."
She puts the fork down, her face blank.
Bolin fidgets in his seat. "Yeah... sorry no one told you. He got sick a few months back. It was quick, but -"
"How's Asami doing ?" He almost doesn't hear the interruption it's so quiet. There's guilt in Korra's eyes as she stares up at him grimly, and he tries to tone down the feeling of satisfaction at the sight.
You'd know if you'd read her letters, he thinks, but bites his tongue. It's not his place, after all. He's not one to hold onto his anger, anyway. He'd much rather enjoy Korra now that she's here than spend their time together focusing on when she wasn't.
"She's uh... Well, you know her, she's tough. She's holding it together," he stumbles, but finishes strong with what he hopes is a convincing smile.
He doesn't want to worry Korra. Asami has seemed fine, after all, even if there's been something just off about his friend and the lack of grieving she went through when her father passed. The two hadn't been on good terms, sure, but Asami still loved her father.
"Holding it together?" Korra seems doubtful. "He was her only family... is she staying in that huge house all by herself?"
"Well no, actually- she's moved in with us. She and Mako..."
Now it was Korra's turn to pale. She didn't like the sound of that. "She and Mako what?"
"No no, it's nothing. It's just, you know, the long looks, the insane amount of time they spend together. They say they're just friends but a brother always knows, Korra," he says, tapping his forehead knowingly.
"Oh." She makes a noise somewhere between a cough and a choking sound. He waits while she takes a long drink from her coffee mug.
"Well, that's just great. I mean, for them. I'm so happy for them," she says, but her voice lacks all of Korra's usual eager sincerity.
"Yeah I mean, it's good to see him smile. He got pretty down when you and Asami both left for school. Speaking of... why'd you come back?"
"Oh, that," she waves her hand as she tries to laugh it off. "Yeah. I just, went through a pretty bad breakup. Lost most of my friends over it. My parents are on a trip and I didn't have anywhere to stay so... I came home."
"Oh," he says. She feels a little guilty at the disappointment on his face. He was hoping for something grander, that she had realized how much she missed all of her friends back home and how wrong she had been to cut them off.
"Well... it's his loss?" he offers, and she can't help the dark chuckle that escapes in response.
If only you knew how wrong you are, Bolin, she thinks.
"What about you?" she says, changing the subject. "Any big news?"
"Um..." he furrows his brow, trying to think of the most interesting thing in his life to share. "Oh! We're going on a trip tomorrow!"
"Oh really?" she asks, his excitement contagious.
He crunches down on a piece of bacon before continuing. "Yeah! Mako, Asami and I. Mako's been working for this rich family as a security guard. They have this son who is a total spoiled brat. Like, they bought him a beach house for his birthday, spoiled."
"Woah."
"Yeah, so Mako is going on the inaugural trip down and his bosses told him to invite a few friends since the brat doesn't have any of his own so he'll feel like it's a real party, you know? We're going to be gone for a whole month!"
The excitement is no longer contagious, and the smile drops off her face. Korra tries to hide her disappointment at the thought of the only three people she came back to see being gone for half the summer.
First her parents left, now her friends. This summer was not off to a good start.
"Oh," she says, and winces internally at the letdown evident in her voice. "That's going to be really cool. You guys will have a lot of fun!"
Bolin doesn't seem fooled, if his frown is any indication. He looks at her for a moment before breaking out into another grin. "Hey, wait I have a great idea! You have to come with us!"
She grimaces. A pity invite, just what I need.
"Oh, Bolin, I don't know..."
He's not deterred by her reluctance. "No no, it'll be great! You're super sad over your lost love, Asami needs a little space to clear her head and Mako can really use the vacation, the guy is like so stressed out. We'll all have a nice relaxing vay-cay at the beach house and when we come back everything will be normal and cool again!"
Korra doesn't look convinced.
He sighs. "C'mon, everyone you came home to see will be on the trip. Mako will be so happy to see you, and Asami could probably use a gal pal. You know, someone to talk to?" he says, his voice turning up with hope at the end.
It's a cheap shot, but he's betting it will work. Asami and Korra are still best friends, he reasons. Sure, they haven't talked in years, but even he could see how inseparable the two were in high school. He was only a freshman, and didn't get to spend much time with his brother's senior friends, but he rarely saw the one without the other.
He can practically see her resolve breaking as a small smile slips onto her face. "Well, let's see how the others feel, I guess."
"Yes!" he cheers, pumping a fist in the air. Korra can't help but laugh at this, and it feels suddenly as if a weight has been lifted off her shoulders.
"C'mon, let's get out of here," she says, picking up their check and heading towards the door.
"Nu-uh-uh, I got it," Bolin slips the piece of paper out of her hand before she has time to protest. "Think of it as payback for all the ice creams you bought me when I was a kid."
She doesn't put up an argument, and follows him to the exit.
"Reunited, and it feels so good," he sing-songs as they walk to the car.
"Bolin," she groans, but she can't help but smile. In a few hours, she was going to be back with her friends, and maybe, just maybe everything could go back to normal again.
It's only a few minutes later, when they turn onto the Bolin's road does her excitement begin to fade. Yes, Bolin was happy to have her back in his life, but what about the others? Surely they'd felt her absence as sorely as Bolin, if not worse. She and Mako had promised to stay friends after they broke up right before she left for college, but she hasn't spoken to him since. And Asami...
Poor Asami, she thinks, remembering Bolin's revelation at the diner. She's been so alone and I didn't even know.
She's happy to see the house is still dark when they pull up. Mako and Asami are both early risers, but five in the morning is pushing it, even for them.
"Ready?" Bolin asks, taking in Korra's expression as she stares wide-eyed at the house.
"Nothing has changed," she comments absentmindedly, before turning to Bolin. He doesn't respond, but offers her a tight-lipped smile.
"C'mon," he says, and opens his door. She follows suit.
Bolin opens the door without much fuss. He turns on a dim lamp near the door. "Home sweet home," he sighs, and Korra has to fight down tears for what feels like the millionth time that night.
He takes a few steps into the small apartment, not noticing that Korra is frozen in place in the doorway. "Um, so Asami is sleeping in my room right now," he says, gesturing to the door at the end of the hall. "I've been on the couch, but I can sleep with Mako for tonight. If you want you can just leave your stuff in the living room?"
Korra nods, shaking off her stupor. She doesn't need him to show her the way. Even dimly lit, the apartment still looks the same as always. She drops her suitcase next to the couch and turns to face Bolin just as he lets out a big yawn.
"Tired?" she asks, feeling slightly guilty. He shakes his head but the drowsiness in his eyes gives him away.
"Go to bed," she insists. "I'm just going to shower first, if you don't mind?"
"S'not a problem," he says. "Bathroom's... well, you know where it is," he points with a sleepy smile. "Night, Korra."
"Goodnight."
She waits until she hears the door click closed before she gets up and starts to gather her shower supplies, making her way towards the bathroom.
It's small, and the light flickers when she turns it on. She's immediately greeted by her own reflection in the mirror, and she cringes.
I look beat, she thinks.
She turns the shower on, and grabs her phone while she's waiting for the water to heat up.
Sharp green eyes stare back at her once again. She swallows thickly before unlocking the phone, quickly navigating to her messages to get that picture to disappear. Not that this is much better - she wills herself not to check through their messages again, looking for just where it was she went wrong. Instead, she clicks on the thread with her parents.
"Got here safe!" she texts. "Bolin picked me up from the bus stop. Crashing at his place. Love you."
She doesn't expect a response this early in the morning, but knows that her mother will be checking for an update first thing when she wakes up.
She peels off her clothes before hopping in the shower. She almost groans at the feeling of the hot water, but knows she has to keep it quiet. People are sleeping, after all.
It's the first time Korra's really been alone with her thoughts in hours. She doesn't let her them wander, knowing where they'll end up. Instead, she focuses her attention on the idea of this road trip her friends depart for tomorrow. Not that the thought of that brings her much happiness either.
As much as she wants to go, she's not sure Mako will want anything to do with her, and certainly not enough to want her to come on a whole month-long vacation. He was a lot more stubborn than his brother, after all, and he knew how to hold a grudge. And Asami...
Asami , she sighs as the girls name crosses her mind. She's just a room or two away now, sleeping, and its the closest Korra's been to her best friend in three years.
Korra's chest fills with dread at the thought of having to explain herself to the older girl who she had been so quick to abandon. She hates herself for letting her friend go through the death of her father alone. She'd always wished she was able to be there for her when her mother passed, and now this?
It was inexcusable, she knew. She was supposed to be her best friend. The two of them had been like peas in a pod all through high school. They'd stuck with each other through thick and thin. Asami was even the one who helped her get together with Mako.
Ugh, she thinks. What a disaster that was.
Things with Mako were quick and messy. Everything was always a fight, always drama. It was all so high school. Looking back, she doesn't think she even loved him at all. And if she did, it was nothing like...
She sighs, thinking about the face on her lock screen once again.
Nothing like her, she thinks.
Korra met Kuvira the first day of college. She'd arrived at the crack of dawn for preseason bootcamp - they took soccer very seriously at her school - and there she was. Team Captain and only a sophomore. She wasn't the most gorgeous girl that Korra had ever seen, not by a long shot. She grew up with Asami, after all. But there was something so attractive about the powerful way the girl stood, her voice commanding as she barked out instructions for drills.
Korra never thought she stood a chance.
Three years later, and she's proven herself right.
Everything had been fine with them for so long. At first, when Korra told Kuvira she didn't want to go public with their relationship status, she understood.
But as the months wore on, Kuvira didn't like the way Korra tried to hide their relationship even from their friends and teammates. It wasn't that she was ashamed, she'd try to explain. She was just a secretive person, she came from a small town and well, she wanted people to like her.
She didn't tell Kuvira she was scared of what her friends back home would think, of what her parents would think. Instead, she deleted her Facebook and any other social media her friends could find her on. She told her girlfriend she wanted a private life, and that worked well enough for a while.
Until Kuvira wanted Korra to come with her to the draft party, and Korra just couldn't. There would be cameras there, she explained. And when Kuvira's name got called, which it undoubtedly would, those cameras would be pointing at them, together.
She thought Kuvira would be understanding when she turned her down.
'Maybe you can take Bataar,' she'd suggested hopefully, but Kuvira balked at the idea of taking the team's waterboy. That night was the straw that broke the camels back.
Now, Korra is back home, single and heartbroken with no one to talk to. Her friends have no idea she'd even been dating someone, let alone a girl. In fact, they know nothing about her life.
Just the way you wanted it, she thinks bitterly.
If only she'd never left her home city, she can't help but think. People were accepting there; she wouldn't be as worried about this sort of thing. And it's true - Republic City is not exactly a progressive place. Despite its name, the town itself is surprisingly small and has the attitude to match. Not a city by any stretch of the word, in Korra's estimation.
She'd made the switch from big-time city to small-town country when she was in middle school. She was old enough to notice the change in attitude from loving and accepting to... well.
Republic City, she thinks bitterly.
She remembers when a teacher at the middle school was outed from an online dating profile a few years back. Parents turned up to school board meetings to protest his presence at the school; eventually, he was driven out of town. She heard he had to give up teaching, in the end. Asami's father had always been one of the loudest voices at those board meetings.
She shudders at the thought of her friend sharing the same mindset as her dad.
Wait, no - that's not what is causing her shivers, she realizes. The water in the apartment shower is cooling a rapidly, and Korra resists the urge to yelp as she jumps away from the stream.
"Stupid freaking..." she mutters as she reaches for her towel. Once she's safe out of the tub she reaches back in to stop the water, now ice cold.
Some things never change, she thinks to herself again. She dries herself quickly, careful to avoid the image of herself in the mirror.
Korra opens the door and sighs. Now that her eyes have adjusted to the flickering fluorescents in the bathroom, it's so much harder to see out in the dark hallway.
She walks slowly, arm outstretched on the wall searching for a switch, when suddenly -
"Oof!" She collides with someone, their heads clunking together in the dark.
"Ow!" she groans, rubbing her now-sore forehead.
"What the hell?" A light comes on overhead, and Korra lowers her hand to her eye to protect it from the sudden brightness.
"Korra?"
She blinks a few times, forcing her eyes to adjust. She's not really ready for what's standing before her.
Asami stands in the hall, her hair mussed from sleep. She's wearing track shorts, a thin tank-top and a soft, pink robe. Her eyes are wide in disbelief as she looks Korra up and down, seemingly unable to comprehend her friend showing up in her hallway at god knows what hour.
Korra becomes suddenly all too aware that the only thing she is wearing is a towel. She shifts uncomfortably, hiking the fabric higher across her chest. "Sorry, um-"
"What are you doing here?" Asami asks, and Korra grimaces at the sharpness in her friend's tone, the disbelief.
"Bolin picked me up at the bus stop a few hours ago. I'm uh... home for the summer?" she offers, hoping to crack the hard look behind her friend's eyes.
Something in Asami seems to soften as she takes in the sight of her old friend. "I'm glad to hear that," she says, and Korra only has a second to absorb her words before she's being pulled forward. Asami's arms are around her before she has time to process what's happening. Her breath catches as she's enveloped in her friend's embrace, her face suddenly buried in thick, black hair. The smell is comforting, and she nuzzles into it. She only gets to enjoy the warmth that fills her chest for a second before it's over.
"It's so good to see you again," Asami says, pulling back a little to look her in the eye.
"You too," she responds. She smiles nervously, unsure of herself and ground they're on.
Asami's gentle smile puts Korra at ease. She follows her as she makes her way towards the kitchen.
"Go get dressed, I'll make you some breakfast," she says, gesturing to the living room. Korra doesn't feel like arguing, and her stomach grumbles in spite of the fact that she'd just eaten hours before.
I guess I haven't been eating that much, lately.
She throws her clothes on in the dark living room quickly, ending up in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Korra silently slips back into the kitchen, watching as the girl moves from cabinet to cabinet with way too much grace for this early in the morning, first stopping to pull out a bowl, then a pan.
Korra has so many questions for Asami, she doesn't know where to begin. She decides to start with an easy one.
"What are you doing up this early?" she asks, glancing at the clock. It's not even six in the morning yet.
I knew Asami was a morning person, but this is a bit extreme, she thinks.
Korra doesn't see Asami's frown as she turns to face the fridge. "I've been... having some trouble sleeping. Adjusting to a new place, you know?" She pulls out a carton of eggs. "Scrambled okay?"
"Right, yeah, of course. Scrambled is perfect," Korra answers.
"I've been using the quiet time to work on some blueprints," Asami continues without missing a beat. "It's hard to think once Bolin is up," she chuckles.
Korra can't help but beam back at the girl and her familiar antics. "You haven't changed one bit," she says as she watches the other girl crack eggs into the bowl. A splash of milk and garlic powder join the yolks as Asami whisks them briskly.
"Well, I can't say the same," Asami laughs, glancing up from her work. "I'm loving the hair, though."
"Thanks," Korra says. Her cheeks flush, and she looks down embarrassed.
The sound of egg hitting the hot pan makes her look up. Asami's brow is furrowed in concentration as she looks around for a spatula.
"So... I uh, hear you're going on a trip," Korra says, carefully avoiding the fact that Bolin had invited her to tag along. She expects excitement from Asami, but instead gets a long sigh.
"Yeah..." Asami says. She doesn't look up from the pan as she pushes the eggs around with a spatula.
"You're not excited?" Korra asks, surprised. After all, it's very unlike Asami she knows to not want to live it up on a beach for a month.
She must be taking this really hard, Korra thinks.
"I don't know..." she says, biting her lip. "The boys think its a good idea. I don't want to crush their spirits, but I just don't see how it's going to help."
"Right," she agrees, even though she's not really sure she understands. She's never lost a parent before, never mind two.
Asami turns off the stove, scraping half the eggs out of the pan and onto a plate that she sets in front of Korra before turning back to her own.
"I just... can't wait for this summer to be over," Asami breaks the silence, unaware of the way Korra practically shrinks at the suggestion. They've been reunited for barely fifteen minutes Asami is already plotting her escape?
It had stung so much the first time Asami left her. Senior year, and the two had been planning to run off to the city together for years. Korra would play soccer at some Division I school and Asami would get her engineering degree in preparation for taking her over her father's empire. They'd been planning it since freshman year. They even had a Pinterest board dedicated to it.
That all changed the day Asami came home with an acceptance letter from Stanford.
Korra frowns, trying to shake it off the thought.
Play it cool, Korra.
"Why, so you can run off to California again?" Korra jokes half-heartedly. She regrets the words almost as soon as they've left her mouth.
Not cool, Korra.
She knows she has no place, after all she's put her friends through, but she still is bitter about the way Asami was so quick to leave her and abandon their plans without any sort of discussion. She'd left for orientation just days after telling Korra of her decision to move across country.
Asami laughs at the jab, but there's something darker behind it. Her eyes narrow. "Says the great disappearing woman." She bites her lip for a moment, considering her next words. After a beat, she sighs and turns to look Korra directly in the eye.
"You know I wrote to you, right?" Asami asks. She tries not to let her voice betray her, but still the bitterness seeps into her tone. It's hard not to be bitter, after all, when the girl you considered your best friend leaves for college and doesn't so much as write.
At first, Asami believed her letters weren't getting delivered. Maybe she didn't have the right address or Korra's school really sucked at delivering mail to its students. She went so far as to call her parents to make sure she'd had the right address. They told her they were sending packages without problems. Korra was probably just busy adjusting to school life, they said. Eventually she'd just had to accept that Korra didn't want to hear from her any more. She was embarrassing herself.
She stopped writing after the first semester.
"Yeah..." Korra's arm reaches over her head to scratch at the back of her neck sheepishly. "About that. I'm sorry I never wrote back, I just..."
She trails off, her eyes falling as she fails to come up with the words to explain why she let one of her closest friends slip away. There aren't any. If she's being perfectly honest with herself, she doesn't have an explanation.
She sighs and shrugs, and Asami gives her a tight-lipped smile. She had hoped for something better than a wistful sigh and a distant look, but she's more than used to Korra's inability to communicate. Still, she finds herself disappointed that this time, after all these years, nothing has changed.
"It's fine, Korra," she says, and it isn't (it so isn't, she thinks) but she doesn't feel like pressing the matter will make it any better.
Just then, the door to Mako's room opens. The older boy walks out, barely stopping to glance up at Korra as he makes his way into the kitchen.
"Hey," he says simply when he comes to a rest against the counter, seemingly unsurprised by Korra's presence.
Bolin must've told him about picking me up after we got in, she decides.
He grabs an apple out of the bowl on the counter and throws it in to the air before biting into it.
"Mako," she says with as much warmth in her voice as she can muster. He's eying her suspiciously from across the room. "It's good to see you."
"Welcome back," he offers in return, still unsmiling. She's not surprised. They hadn't left things on the best of terms, and she had a feeling distance had not made the heart grow fonder in Mako's case.
She gives him a tight smile in response, focusing instead on her eggs. She'd made things awkward with Asami, Mako clearly had no desire to see her.
She's thinking of a way to make her escape when Bolin stumbles out of the room.
"Oh, hey guys," he says, rubbing his red eyes. He'd only gotten two hours of sleep at most. "We're all up a little early, aren't we?"
The others just look at him as he smiles blearily. "Oh, hey, Korra! I mean, Korra's home, guys!"
An awkward silence fills the room as Mako shrugs disinterestedly and Asami nods.
"I uh, guess you all already caught up. Good, good," he says, finally sensing the tension in the room. "Got any coffee?"
He makes his way over to the machine and pours himself a mug leftover from last night and pops it in the microwave.
"Big day today, huh?" He asks as he settles in next to Mako, waggling his eyebrows at Korra.
Crap, she thinks. He's going to bring this up now?!
Mako just grunts in response, and Korra sinks further against her seat.
Bolin isn't unnerved, oblivious as always. "So... I was thinking, what if Korra comes with us on our trip?"
Her heart practically drops out of her chest at his words. Mako furrows his brow and brings his hand to his chin, and Asami blinks in surprise.
God, Bolin, she thinks. Couldn't you have brought this up when I was in the bathroom or something?
She wishes she had had a chance to talk to him, tell him about how obviously not thrilled Mako was with her presence and how she should probably sit this one out, as much as she didn't want to. Instead, she threads her fingers together nervously, suddenly very focused on the plate in front of her. She waits for Mako to break the silence, tell Bolin what a terrible idea this all is.
I should have never told him I wanted to go in the first place, she thinks. I knew this is how it was going to turn out.
She's surprised when it's Asami that finally speaks up. She's even more surprised with what she says.
"That's a great idea!"
When Korra finally has the nerve to at the other girl she's grinning, her eyes sparkling in a way Korra hasn't seen in years.
"It'll be so fun! It'll be nice to have a girlfriend along for the trip. It was going to be a real boys club otherwise," she lets herself laugh for a second before stopping, suddenly sheepish. "Uh- as long as you, like, wanted to come that is?"
"Of course I want to come!" Korra is quick to supply. "If no one minds?" She risks a glance at Mako, but his face is unreadable.
After a moment with no response, Bolin clasps his hands together excitedly. "So, it's settled? Korra's coming?"
Asami nods, grinning and Mako just shrugs.
Good enough for me, Korra thinks.
"Well... I'm game if you guys are," she finally says, and Bolin whoops. Even Mako can't help but crack a smile at his brother's antics.
"The gang is back together, everyone!" Bolin shouts, throwing his arms in the air. "Group hug!"
Korra barely has time to register his words before he's bounding towards her, reaching over and hooking an arm around her waist to pull her across the counter into a hug with the others. She ends up with her arm around Mako and Asami is in the tucked under it. Korra rests her chin on top of her head and closes her eyes, allowing herself to relax into the embrace of her friends.
The gang is back together, she thinks, and smiles.