I forgot to post this in the first place but I haven't written anything in something like ten years. So I would appreciate it if you would post a review so I could get some constructive criticism and see if anyone actually likes this story. I'm going to try and post a POV of Korra and Luke once a month. If that means one chapter or two or more then, so be it. I couldn't get something out of my head so I wrote chapter 1 of Retirement. If all goes according to plan then, that will be posted on the fifteenth.

Chapter 1

Korra awoke to the feeling of cold snow on her face. Her head felt foggy not knowing where she was. She was trying to figure out why she was laying in the snow. The last thing she remembered she was under the Tree of Time sleeping next to- Asami, she thought. Frantically, she looked around for her, but it was hard to see and move with the snowstorm. Until finally, after a little bit of searching, she found her. Asami was laying face down in the snow about fifteen feet from her. Korra got up and ran to her as best she could.

"Asami!" She cried.

She picked Asami up in her arms. When she turned Asami over, Korra brushed the snow and hair out of Asami's face.

"Asami? Please wake up." She pleaded.

Asami opened her eyes and light green eyes met cyan eyes.

"Korra?" Asami said weakly.

"I'm here." Korra said, "Are you okay?"

She nodded and Korra leaned down and kissed her.

"Where are we? And why is it so cold?" Asami asked after they parted.

"I don't know. I think we might be back in the South Pole, but I don't remember crossing the Portal. It shouldn't have left us unconscious and some distance from it. Do you remember crossing back through the Portal?"

Asami shook her head while Korra helped her to her feet. They looked around and noticed something glowing in the distance.

"Is that the Spirit Portal?" Asami asked.

"Maybe."

Korra started walking towards it with an arm around Asami's shoulders and using mild firebending to keep them warm. As they drew closer, Korra realized it was the forest surrounding the Portal, still frozen in ice. It was like before she opened it all those years ago. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and in a way, it was.

"Is that…?"

"Yup"

"But why…?"

"I don't know"

"Should we open or I guess, reopen it?"

"I don't know why it's closed in the first place, so, sure, we can try," Korra said.

They walked into the ice forest and navigated through the narrow passageways until they reached the Portal. Korra wondered, in the back of her mind, where the Spirits were. As they came close to the Portal, Dark Spirits came from all around. The Spirits wrapped around and lifted Korra and Asami until they were left dangling from the ceiling. Then Korra entered the Avatar State and broke the hold away enough to touch the Portal, just like last time. Unlike the last time, three years ago, the Portal didn't open. She was so confused that she left the Avatar State and the Spirits took hold of her again.

"Korra! Do something! I can't get free!" Asami shouted while being held upside down by multiple Dark Spirits.

Knocked out of her daze from Asami's shout, Korra reentered the Avatar State to free them, using water and fire to cut the Spirits off them. With both of them free, they ran toward the exit, fighting Spirits as they ran. Once they got out, they kept running until they got a safe distance from the Portal and the Spirits. They struggled to catch their breath when they were finally away.

"What…What happened?" Asami panted.

"I don't know! It was like I was forcing it open." Korra thought about it for a second and said, "Maybe opening the Portals requires a lot of spiritual energy. Maybe because it wasn't the Winter or Summer Solstice or Harmonic Convergence when the Physical and Spirit Worlds are closest together."

"Okay, that makes sense. Then, when is the next Winter or Summer Solstice?"

"I have no idea what today is, much less when the next Solstice is."

"I think we should head to town, go to your parents and contact Tenzin and Jinora to figure out why the Portal's closed," Asami suggested.

"Good idea, but there are a few problems; we just ran away from my parents, we have no supplies, no transportation, it's about a day's journey and the Everstorm is here again, somehow. We'll freeze to death before we make it." Korra stated.

Asami smirked and said, "What happened to the 'I can do anything' Korra I knew?"

"I can do anything," Korra said smiling, "Especially when I'm with you."

Asami leaned over and kissed Korra. It was something she would never get used to nor did she want to get used to it. It just felt too good to get used to. "You're such a romantic. Now," Asami started, holding her arms open, "Come here and warm me up, so we can head back to town."

Korra smiled even bigger at the words, the kiss, then went into Asami's arms. Using her firebending to warm them up as they started toward the city. After a few hours of travel, Korra could feel her stomach rumble and apparently, so could Asami because she chuckled and said, "Someone's hungry."

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm a growing girl," Korra said, quoting Bolin, they both laughed. "Let's find some shelter and something to make a fire with," Korra said. They walked for another half hour or so until they found a cave, unfortunately though, they didn't see anything to burn.

"I'll go find some wood and hopefully, some food. You stay here." Korra said.

"No!" Asami yelped. Even she seemed surprised at the outburst, "I mean, what will I do while you're gone? You're my heat source."

"I'll clear out the cave of snow and close it off from the wind with my earthbending. I'll heat the cave up as much as I can with firebending before I go, as well." Korra looked at Asami. "You'll be fine."

"It's not just me I'm worried about," Asami said, looking down.

Korra tilted Asami's chin up. Korra stood on her toes and met Asami in a kiss and said, "Where's that confident 'I can do anything' Asami I knew and just told me to be? Besides, my dad taught me how to hunt and survive in these conditions."

Asami smiled at that and said, "You're right. We'll be fine." With that, Korra began clearing the cave of snow with a combination of air and waterbending. She closed the cave with earthbending and heated it with her firebending. Then said her farewell to Asami and started her search for wood and food.

Korra returned about, what she surmised was an hour and a half later, with some wood and an already skinned and cut Tiger seal. Since she didn't want to gross Asami out with the whole process. When she entered the cave, she found Asami asleep on the makeshift bed Korra made from earth. So, as quietly as she could, she made a fire pit, started a fire and began to cook the meat. She assumed Asami would wake up from the smell of food, right on cue, as it was almost done, Korra felt arms around her waist and a chin on her shoulder.

"Hi, I didn't want to wake you until it was done," Korra said.

"Hi," Asami said her voice still laced with some sleepiness, "What did you find?"

"You probably don't want to know."

"Probably."

They sat like that until it was done and only moved to eat, in a comfortable silence. When they finished eating, Korra said, "We should be at the city by tomorrow night."

"Sounds good," said Asami, "Now can we go to bed?"

"Of course," Korra said with a yawn. With that, they climbed into bed, snuggling as close to each other as possible, for warmth and comfort. Korra didn't have any nightmares that night, she only had maybe one a night anymore and could sleep through them now. Anytime she was with Asami, it seemed like all her fears went away.

Korra awoke as Asami tried to get up, apparently, in her sleep, she had pulled Asami into a Polar Bear Dog hug. Korra muttered an apology before releasing her grip.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Asami said.

"No, it's fine, we should probably start heading out anyway," Korra said as she stretched.

"I thought, 'all mornings are evil.'" Asami said, amused at Korra's past statements.

"I kinda grew out of that when I was on my own, having to move around a lot and all."

They packed up what little they had, some leftover meat from last night, made sure the fire was out and set on their way. They made it out of the Everstorm in about an hour and a half, stopping every once and a while to eat and drink, with Korra purifying water with her bending along the way. Close to nightfall, they finally made it.

"What happened to the city?!" Korra asked rhetorically.

The city no longer stretched as big as Republic City, but only as big as one of its districts. The Palace was gone, standing in its place, in the center of the city, was a town hall nowhere near the size of the Palace.

They made their way into the city, where they found a woman in old traditional Water Tribe clothing who was closing what seemed to be an old food cart. Korra and Asami looked at each other and shrugged.

"Excuse me, but what happened to the city? Last time we were here it was so much bigger."

"Bigger? The tribe hasn't been a city in decades due to the Fire Nation, and even then, it wasn't this big. Why don't you two have coats? It's freezing out here."

Korra was still lost in what the woman had just said to process that she had asked something, but Asami was quicker to catch up, and said, "We lost all our supplies due to an encounter with a spirit."

"An encounter with a spirit? Are you two okay?" The woman asked.

"We're fine thanks to Korra here," Asami said, gesturing toward her.

"Well, you should go see the Avatar about spirits attacking you." The woman said.

"The Avatar?!" They both exclaimed, not believing that they weren't recognized.

"Yes, he's in town with his friends. Oh, look. There he is with one of them now." The woman said as she pointed to a couple, as they walked hand-in-hand. "Katara!" The woman yelled, "There's someone here who needs your help!" The couple turned toward the voice.

"Aang?! Master Katara?!" Korra exclaimed in disbelief.