Through All These Years
Chapter 2: Hope
With every inch that Korra's ship sailed, Asami felt like part of herself was getting pulled away. She kept her arm up, waving as the ship steadily faded into a speck on the horizon. Maybe if she reached far enough, she could pull Korra back.
She understood why Korra had to leave. Or at least, she hoped she did. Maybe the Avatar was homesick, or maybe the weather in the South Pole was better for her health. Maybe Republic City wasn't the right environment for her recovery.
Whatever the reason, Asami would be here when Korra returned. She refused to lose another person that she cared about. If there's anything Asami learned from her time with the Avatar, it's that family is more than just shared blood. It's loyalty, and being even if it means putting yourself in a sticky situation.
Asami looks at the back of Tenzin's head, the arrow of the Air Nation sloping up and into the air. Tenzin was inherently Korra's family in another life, but that meant nowhere near as much as the bond that brought her to risk her own life for him and the rest of the airbenders.
In fact, Asami thinks, over the past few months, Korra has done more for everyone on this dock than anyone has ever done for her. If Korra could do that, well, the least Asami could do is fix the world around her as much as possible, if only to lift that burden off the Avatar's shoulders.
No matter how long it took or how much she had to do, Asami would follow in Korra's footsteps. Hopefully one day Korra can know how much of an inspiration she was and still is.
. . .
That night, Korra flailed in her bed, the sheet long banished to the cold floor of the Southern Palace.
Pain flashes through Korra's body as she shoots among the boulders at break neck speed. Zaheer catches her as air surrounds her head as he holds her in place with a glare. She's terrified; her first instinct no longer to fight back like she always has, but to run away. Zaheer leans in, his rage palpable. "Why?!" he demands.
"What?" she asks. The terrorist's face morphs into a friendly and familiar form. Jade eyes and red lips and wavy silk hair calm her but only slightly. She still wants to run. "Asami?"
Her hands move to the sides of Korra's cheeks and stroke them tenderly. "Why did you leave me?" She asks, much more gently than Zaheer had.
"I-I didn't, I just-" she stumbled on her words as the scenery changed from the rough cut of the boulders to a quiet, inky darkness.
"Why did you leave us?" Dread settled into Korra's heart.
"What do you mean?" she asked with confusion laced into her voice. Their surroundings started to fade into a muddy grey. 'Us' could be anything… that's a lie. Korra knows 'us' is everything. What kind of Avatar leaves their duty? Or maybe 'us' was… something that Korra hadn't even had time to think about over the past few months.
"I love you..." The muddled outlines of Republic City's skyscrapers began to take form. Her heart skipped a beat.
"...Asami...I-" Korra didn't know what to say. Of course, she loved Asami, she was one of her closest friends, maybe even her best friend at this point, maybe something more. But only heroes get the girl, and Korra was useless.
The city took final shape. Bright lights shone through the night in the city. The sound of Satomobile engines buzzed far away from their quiet spot in the street. Wind blew through the street, silently at first, slowly growing with each breath Korra took.
"And you should love yourself too, Korra," Asami's voice gently whispered. Honesty, compassion, and faith painted Asami's face, more beautiful than any amount of make-up. Breaths passed, and with every beat of the heart, Korra calmed.
Maybe she didn't have to be a hero. Maybe she just had to be Korra.
"And then maybe you can love me too." Asami's breathy tones rolled off her tongue, a puff of sweet air on Korra's face.
"I do..." Korra started to lean in when, suddenly, Asami's face melted back into the hard expression of Zaheer's. The silent wind turned quickly to a roar.
Korra let out a wordless scream as the pain of liquid metal settled back into her system. Her vision turned red as the previously peacefully streets of the city were suddenly set ablaze. Fire burned the facade of the skyscrapers back into that of the boulders. The screaming wind surrounded Korra's head and left her breathless. Her lungs, her arms, her legs; all screamed in agony, louder and louder.
Korra awoke with a jolt, shaken awake by the sounds of her own screams. But there were no comforting arms around her. No sweet nothing flowing in a gentle stream over her. Korra curled into a ball knowing nothing but fear and agony.
She had never felt so alone.
. . .
For three weeks the same dream persisted. Each night, she would revisit the brink of death before Asami rescued her, only to bring with her a new dread. The guilt in itself of leaving killed her more within her dreams than the loss of air. Though those few moments that enabled her to see Asami brought a false sense of security. Despite the sadness, she felt more at home in that deserted fantasy street of Republic City than she did awake in the South Pole.
Small hope would bloom and she would have Asami back for a few moments. For breaths of a second she would feel like herself again, worthy of love and happiness… until Zaheer came and ripped her away over, and over, and over again, until pain was the only feeling Korra knew.
Soon, Korra broke and was unable to even approach her bed without feeling endangered. This constant teasing reminder of her failure slowly unraveled her sanity. Nights would frequently find Korra on the balcony as she stared over the comforting, pure white stretches of snow before her.
Quiet footsteps echoed behind her and she felt her mother's hands on her shoulders, hands that she knew loved her, Avatar or not, powerful or not. If only Korra could feel the same for herself.
"Can't sleep again?" her mother asked gently.
Korra stayed silent. Thoughts of her dreams, leaving her friends, leaving her duties, almost losing her life, losing herself in the process; all kept her incapable of forming words.
"Honey, your father and I have tried to give you as much space as you've needed, but we're worried. You're not sleeping, you're barely eating. We don't want to push you but it's been three weeks. Will you please go see Katara?" Guilt reared its ugly head once again. She got away from the city to relieve Asami of her burden, only to bestow that burden on her family.
Korra closes her eyes and makes the decision to show at least a smidge of cooperation for the efforts of her loved ones. "Alright. I'll go."
"You're going to get through these." Senna reaches and embraces her daughter in her arms. "Oh, I love you so much."
The hopelessness of her situation overwhelms Korra. Everything she's tried to hold in will now have to be put out into the open for Katara. But will the waterbending master can heal her? What if no one can?
What if Katara sees her as a disappointment to Aang's legacy? The thought shatters Korra's very spirit.
A single tear escapes its tight prison.
. . .
Asami wipes a sheen of sweat and motor oil off her face, and, with a sense of pride and finality, closes the hood over the engine. She smiles at her newest work of art.
Light glints and reflects off the sheen of dark blue that coats this special new Satomobile. Asami calls it Naga 2.0, not that it could ever replace the original, friendly fuzzy Naga 1.0.
It has been a couple weeks since Korra left Republic City. She should be due back any time now.
Any time now.
Asami slides into the drivers seat, turning the ignition, and drives out of the garage. This car is for Korra, of course, for when she gets better. There is no doubt at all in her mind that her friend will get better, and it has nothing to do with faith in the Avatar, and everything to do with her faith in Korra.
And this baby will be here when she gets back. Naga 2.0 makes it to the track, and Asami's foot pushes down, coaxing the machine to full speed. The wind whips past her, and Asami feels so alive.
Her mind flashes back to the first time she and Korra ever got in a Satomobile together, when she had finally seen what the Avatar's smile looked at when it was directed at herself. They'd come a long way since then. Ever since that day, their lives had been nonstop turmoil, but once Korra comes back, they'll finally have some room to breathe again.
Naga 2.0 screams effortlessly past another turn. The sun's rays beam beautifully off deep blue. Korra's gonna love this, though, Asami realizes this might be a little too much for a beginner driver to handle.
Oh well.
All the more reason to continue their driving lessons. Maybe they can come back to this track, where their friendship began. It had been too long since that first time. Asami smiles at the thought.
Any day now.
. . .
Bright blue eyes watch the ethereal glow of healing water traveling up and down a broken body. Korra wishes she could feel it. Her mind wanders back to the last time she was paralyzed by poison, back in Zaofu. Helpless. Able to do nothing but watch as her friends struggled to help her.
But at least that was temporary. At least there was some magic potion to wash away the shirshu toxins. No such potion exists for her now. Korra sinks lower into the pool of water.
"The poison did a lot of internal damage, " Katara sighs.
Obviously, the Avatar bitterly thought, but refrained from saying it out loud. She tentatively looked up at her old master. "Can you fix it?"
"I can help guide the healing process. But whether you get better or not is up to you," Katara answered forlornly. Obvious concern shone in her eyes, but Korra was unable to hold the gaze of the waterbending master. The younger woman stared dejectedly at the now stagnant water that failed to heal her. Funny. Useless. Just like me.
Korra wonders what Katara thinks when she looks at her. She bets Aang was never this useless. Ever since he was a kid he brought nothing but positive change into the world. Korra thought one day she could do that too… but if she never gets better… then she might as well have just died. Let a new Avatar take her place, to do what she can't.
Katara's voice interrupts Korra's dark train of thought, snapping her back to reality. "I know what it's like to go through a traumatic experience," visions of Zaheer flashed through Korra's mind. "But I promise you, if you dedicate yourself to getting better, you'll recover. Stronger than ever."
Her spirits lift slightly. Katara still believed in her. Korra's eyes squint with hope. "That's what I want." She turned to look at her healer with vindication. "More than anything." Blue eyes meet each other, communicating without words. You can do this they say.
"Then try something for me. Concentrate on your big toe." The young Avatar focused all her energy into the big toe of her right foot. "Visualize it moving. Breathe." She can do that. She can breathe. Zaheer isn't here to stop that.
She inhaled and put all her hope into that breath, then let it out and focused again. Move she thought. She felt something stir in the extremities of her foot. Move and you can go back to Republic City...move and you can be yourself again.
Suddenly, her toe twitched. Barely an inch, barely a millionth of an inch. But that millionth of an inch felt like miles of progress to Korra. She might be able to walk again. "Did you see that?" she said with elation. "It worked!"
Katara couldn't help but smile. It was nice to see a hint of hope return to Korra's spirit.
. . .
Asami stood on her balcony to admire the view of Republic City at night. Analytic eyes roved over the view to see what needed the most fixing. She had, after all, just gotten a contract to basically remodel the entire city.
She couldn't help but notice the traffic at a certain intersection by a wall of vines; the same wall of vines that Korra almost crashed into the day Asami tried to teach her friend out how to drive. An unfortunate obstacle in Korra's way. Maybe I should consider raised roadways, Asami thought. It had never been done before, besides in the form of bridges. It'd be a feat of engineering, but if anyone could do it, it was Asami Sato.
The city needed to grow around and with the spirits, not against it. If there's anything Asami has learned from her line of work, it's that for every problem, there is a solution that makes the world better.
Despite the late hour, the headlights of Satomobiles littered the streets, billboards shone, lively music played far in the distance. This had to be her favorite project so far. This was her city: this was the place she grew up in and knew like the back of her hand. There was plenty to do; redesign buildings, come up with a solution for getting around the vines, work on transportation, lay out a new park for recreation; more than enough to fill up her life.
So why does it feel so empty?
The young businesswoman looked up at the sky and was disappointed, as usual, to see nothing. The lights of her city blocked out the stars, and along with it the night sky that Korra would see.
A sudden pang of longing hit Asami's heart as she was suddenly reminded of how much she missed her friend. She knew Korra had to leave, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She wanted nothing more than to talk to the once goofy yet confident young woman. The previous months before the Red Lotus kidnapped Korra had, despite the unpleasant setbacks, been the best of her life. She and Korra had been closer than ever, and Asami had finally had a friend that was everything she needed, all rolled into one.
Don't get her wrong, of course she loved Mako and Bolin, but there were times when they just weren't what she needed. Mako was too overprotective, always trying to fix her problems when she just wanted to forget them. Bolin was sweet, and tried to cheer her up through distracting silly antics, but sometimes she just needed to process what was happening seriously. In both cases, the boys always tried to take care of her. Just like my father… Asami decided to ignore that train of thought for now.
Then there was Korra. Korra, who didn't treat Asami like she would break, who despite arguably being the most powerful person in the world, would let Asami take care of her for a change. Would let Asami teach the Avatar how to drive, Korra, who believed in Asami's ability to take care of herself and took her as a partner on missions. Korra, who wanted Asami as a sparring partner that the Avatar didn't need to go easy on. Korra, who would do things to make Asami laugh just for the heck of it and not because there was some shadow of sadness in the room. Korra, who made Asami feel like she was more than an heiress, more than her father's daughter. When everyone else saw Asami as delicate, Korra let Asami take care of her. Korra let Asami be her rock. Korra made Asami feel less like an accessory in someone's life and more like a friend.
And now Korra was gone.
But why did she miss that girl so damn much. Asami tried to tell herself that it was because they were such good friends...but something made her feel as if that wasn't the case, not completely at least. Then there was the fact that, after spending practically every day together before hand, this month of absence had felt like an eternity.
It finally starts to hit her that Korra may be gone longer than she thought. Asami's heart sinks. How could she have been so selfish these past weeks? How could she be thinking about Korra coming back instead of thinking about what Korra is going through?
Why did Asami let Korra go without her?
Red lips part and take in a deep breath. If Asami can't be there physically, she can at least still be there for Korra emotionally. Korra will come home eventually. Asami just has to be patient, and be there when she gets back.
Deciding that it had been long enough (a month is a long time), she decided to join Bolin in writing letters to her now distant friend (literally of course, never figuratively). Asami returned to her room and sat at her desk, staring at a blank piece of stationary paper and contemplating what to write.
How is she supposed to do this? What is she supposed to say? Maybe she can just draw pictures like Bolin, though, Asami has a feeling hers just might look a little better. Asami sets to sketching absentmindedly, thinking of Korra. It had been a while now that they've been apart, so Asami hopes she still draw her friend as accurately as possible. She gets to Korra's lips and pauses, contemplating if she should draw a smile. I don't even think I can do it justice, Asami thinks. So, Asami decides to leave it at a simple, solemn line. If Asami was going to see Korra's smile again, it would be in person.
Asami stopped. This was going nowhere. Korra needed more than just a picture, and Asami doesn't think hers would make Korra laugh the way Bolin's would. But maybe, it would make Korra happy to know that Republic City, their city, was on the up and up, Asami was eager to tell her friend all about it.
Republic City may feel empty right now, but if Asami could share it with Korra, even from half a world away, well… maybe it wouldn't feel so empty anymore.
She pulled a fresh piece of paper out and started over. This one would be productive, engineered into something simple, concise, and useful. Not Asami's nonsensical art, Korra wouldn't care. Use your head Asami. You know better.
'Dear Korra...'
. . .
Korra's arms gripped the iron bars tightly and lifted her body off the ground, keeping the weight off her still weak legs.
It had been about two months now since she had left Republic City, yet her body still wasn't even half at its previous capacity. Not even half of a half. Or a half of a half of a half. What even was that? Korra was never good at math. She'd laugh if she remembered how to. Her smile was broken too.
And her mind? That hadn't even healed remotely. If anything, everything had gotten worse. Despite all her loved ones fighting to keep her hope alive, Korra had shrunken in on herself. For every step she took in getting better, it felt like her body resisted more and more each time. Every moment was spent dwelling on the past and the stagnation of her healing. Korra vaguely remembers Asami talking about diminishing returns, whatever that was. Korra thinks this is it.
She isn't worth the investment.
Just let another Avatar take care of this.
"The mind can be a powerful ally, or your greatest enemy. Now, I want you to try taking a step." Already, sweat began to bead on Korra's forehead, and she hadn't even started moving yet. How is she gonna do this when she can't even stand?
She focused all her energy into her left leg, trying to will it to move and gain some traction on the ground. Come on, she thought. Stop being so damn helpless. That's how you got here in the first place.
Korra gasped and her pupils suddenly dilated. She felt herself in chains again, felt quicksilver seep through her skin and tear into her muscles. Metal cut through her insides and destroyed her from the inside out. So much pain. The world spun out of control.
She can't breathe.
Her screams from her flashback rang in her ears and she brought her hands up to cover them. I failed.
"You're okay," Katara's comforting voice broke through the ringing, reminding Korra where she was. Since when was she lying on the ground? The waterbending master knelt and soothingly placed her hand on Korra's head. "Your body thinks it is still in danger, but your safe here." I'm not safe anywhere. "Use your mind to overcome the pain." Too much pain.
"Try again." The faith in Katara's voice is enough to get Korra to finally open her eyes, but not enough to make Korra have faith in herself.
Korra lifted her head up. She couldn't do this. Not again. Not if she'd feel that again.
"I'm done for today."
. . .
That evening sat up in her bed staring at everything and nothing when her mother knocked on the door. "Come in." Not like I can stop you. Not like I can stop anyone.
Senna popped her head in then walked towards her daughter with a smile. "Another letter from Republic City. Here." Korra ignores the false positive lilt in her mother's voices as she handed the envelope over.
Korra allowed herself a soft smile. Bolin had kept good on his promise, though usually Korra was too tired to write back, or at least, that's what she told herself. So tired. "Thanks."
After her mother left the room, she read the back of the envelope and felt her heart skip a beat. "Asami Sato, 192 Bosco Drive, Republic City."
With some trepidation, she carefully opened the envelope and read the letter.
"Dear Korra,
I miss you. It's not the same in Republic City without you. How are you feeling?
Things are going well here. I just got a big contract to help redesign the city's infrastructure, so I'll be keeping busy for a while.
Get well soon. I can't wait for you come back home. Maybe we can start those driving lessons again?
And Korra, don't be too hard on yourself okay?
Love,
Asami"
Korra leaned her head back and let out a long sigh. At the rate she was going, she'd never get back. Here she was sitting helplessly in her bed, unable to take one measly step. Meanwhile Asami could move mountains in Republic City. And all it took was me leaving.
Asami was obviously better off without the needs of a helpless Avatar holding her back.
Maybe she should stay out of her life all together. Out of all their lives.
Korra pretends to not notice that Asami had signed it with 'love'.
Korra pretends to not notice that Asami said 'come back home'.
No one needs a useless Avatar.
. . .
Sometimes, on nights when she's acutely aware of just how lonely the Sato mansion is, she stands on her balcony and stares at the Republic City skyline. It's nights like these that make her want to write to Korra, even though she never gets a response.
She likes to believe that Korra reads them, but sometimes she doubts it. A part of her fears that she pushed her away into leaving. She feels herself counting the days till Korra comes back.
Without any stars to look at, Asami finds herself focusing on the moon. There have been five full moons so far. Nights like these are the times when she feels closest to Korra. It's especially beautiful tonight.
Even with her limited knowledge of bending, Asami knows how important the moon is to waterbenders. The legend of Tui, and La, and the moon spirit that, now that Asami thinks about it, is probably related to Korra. The gears in Asami's head do their well-oiled turn. Tonraq was northern royalty… next in line… Yue was the princess… huh. Well how about that.
Asami laughs at the fact that Korra is technically a princess, and makes a mental note to tease her about that the next time she sees her.
Asami ignores the pang in her chest at that thought.
Maybe Korra feels strongest on these nights. She hopes so. The Avatar has been through so much, and she knows how her friend thinks. Korra thinks the weakness of her body reflects her own inner strength. Asami knows that it doesn't.
"Hi, moon," Asami says awkwardly. Spirituality never made it on the 'Things Asami is Good At' list, but she never shied away from trying. Trial and error all served a part in the learning process.
"Uh, so my friend, the Avatar, you probably met her in her previous life, and turns out she's actually your grand…niece? Or something…" Asami trails off, deciding that the moon might not care for rambling.
"Anyways, I was just hoping that you could… cheer her up? Maybe? I'm not really sure how spirits feel about the Avatar, bridge between our worlds and all, but maybe you can go to her? As a friend/grand aunt person?" Asami laughs at herself, realizing how ridiculous she must sound. But who cares? Anything for Korra.
She hopes that the moon reminds Korra that she's strong when Asami can't.
. . .
Blue eyes roam the vast expanse of snow beneath her. The balcony remains as one of the few places where Korra remembers that hope still exists. Despite the failure after failure after failure of trying to walk, here, she can be reminded that, at least in the past she did something right.
The aurora lights up the night sky from the spirit portal in the distance, the full moon reflecting off the waves of color in the sky, reminding her of all the good that came from opening the spirit portals. Nights like this, Korra can practically feel the increase of spiritual energy. She swears that the moon makes the lights shine brighter, as if the moon is thanking her for opening the portal.
Korra knows better than to think that that's a hallucination. If there's one thing that Korra still believes in, it's that spirits mean what they say and mean what they do, and the moon is a spirit unlike any other.
Maybe she can tell the next Avatar all about it.
She can't tell the past Avatar's about it, but Korra has a feeling that, somehow, they knew the Air Nation would come back from their sacrifice.
Despite her current struggles, Korra doesn't regret for a second the sacrifice that she made. The thought is enough to lift her spirit.
For tonight, at least.
. . .
Korra dejectedly sat in her wheelchair and stared at the two metal bars. This scene had become familiar to her over the past six months; disgustingly familiar. Six months and she still hasn't made any progress. The only progress that she felt was progress in memorizing every inch of those metal bars from the viewpoint of her wheelchair. It's not like she could go anywhere else.
By now, as she could tell from the mountains of letters on her bedside table, her friends have gone on with their lives. Mako was keeping crime off the streets, her job, Bolin was helping to re-stabilize the Earth kingdom, again, her job. Then there was Asami who was rebuilding the city after all the damage, giving the people hope, also her job. Everyone was fulfilling their responsibilities. Meanwhile, she was trapped here, and she couldn't even walk.
"Whenever you're ready."
Korra sighed. Would she ever be ready? Would she ever even get anywhere?
"What's the point. We've been at this for six months and I can barely take a couple of steps without collapsing." She inwardly cringed, every time she had failed because of flashbacks replayed in her head. She stared angrily at nothing; something she had gotten used to doing in the past months.
"I know you're frustrated but-"
"Of course, I'm frustrated!" Korra interrupted.
"A crazy man poisoned me and now I can't dress myself or cook for myself, or- or do anything for myself." She began to gesture wildly.
"And this whole time, my friends have been off helping the world while I'm stuck here with you and you can't even heal me!" All motion in the room froze. Even Naga's tail had stopped swaying. Did that really just come out of her mouth?
"...That came out wrong." The distressed woman brought a hand to her face in shame. How could she say that to Katara after all the woman had done for her? Useless and disrespectful.
"It's...alright. Let your anger and frustration flow like water." The wise master walked over to her pupil and knelt beside her, showing that she was ready to listen; properly this time.
More calmly this time, Korra began to express her frustrations once more. "I am trying to understand why this happened to me, but nothing makes any sense. I'm tired, Katara. I'm so tired."
"Korra, I know you feel alone right now. But you're not the first Avatar that's had to overcome great suffering. Can you imagine how much pain Aang felt when he learned that his entire culture was taken from him."
The master had a point. Korra looked down in parts shame and remorse. "That must've been so awful." Her words felt meek when she thought of the gravity of that situation; she couldn't imagine what she would do if the Southern Water Tribe had suddenly disappeared. If she had lost her family, her friends, everyone that she loved.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Katara began again. "But he never let it destroy his spirit. He chose to find meaning in his suffering, and eventually, found peace."
"And... what am I going to find if I get through this." This had to be for something. There had to be a reason for all the pain and suffering.
"I don't know," Katara offered with a small smile. "But won't it be interesting to find out?" Interesting? Maybe. Scary? Totally. But was it worth it? Was it worth going back out into the world to risk getting back into this situation? Was it worth it if she could find whatever it was that the cosmos wanted her to find? It has to be.
"Close your eyes," Katara continued. "Visualize yourself walking toward Naga."
So Korra did. She shut her eyelids and saw her broken body making its way to her loyal friend. She saw herself limping back to Republic City, back to her Avatar duties, back to her friends, to Asami, Mako, and Bolin. The ache of longing settled into her gut.
She wanted to get better. She needed to. She couldn't be stuck here anymore, and she refused to go back to her friends in the state she was in. She had to get better if she wanted to go back. She had to be able to help again.
Naga whimpered, as if sensing her master's struggle.
"Can you see it?"
"Yes," Korra whispered, allowing a shred of hope to shine through. She sees herself, stopping crime with Mako, helping beaten up towns with Bolin, helping Asami integrate the people of Republic City with the spirits and vines, being more than a burden.
"Now. Take that first step." Korra took a deep breath and took that first step forward. Her left leg moved hesitantly, shakily, but planted firmly on the ground. She gritted her teeth in determination, focusing all her energy on her right leg.
Left leg.
She sees herself and Mako, stopping triads who would dare hurt the innocent.
Right leg.
She sees herself and Bolin, passing out food, and hope to those in need.
Left leg.
She sees herself and Asami, hand in hand as they find their way through this new world of spirits and humans, benders and non-benders.
Right leg.
She sees Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo, enthusiastically telling her how well the Air Nation is doing, as she flies with them to help.
I can do this.
Her arms began to quiver feverishly, screaming for relief. She wanted nothing more than to just collapse right there as she had so many times before but she was so close. She could see it.
Blue eyes closed in pain to take a shaky breath and opened back up. Naga was so close. Republic city was so close.
Left leg.
She sees herself and Asami, finishing that driving lesson that sparked their friendship.
Right leg.
One more step to go. Her body was tired. Arms ached, thighs ached, muscled ached, pain. Her leg lifted and moved past the end of the bars.
Korra fell into a hug around Naga and stayed on her feet.
I did it.
. . .
For once, the nightmares didn't come. At least, not on the level of terror that they usually came packaged with. For once it felt like a regular dream.
The two bars were cold in her steely grip. Her arms still ached, her feet barely scraping the ground. The view of her pathetic legs filled Korra's vision. She couldn't stand to look at them. But she was standing.
She turned her attention up, towards the end of the bars. A beautiful woman in a tailored leather jacket stood there with her hands clasped over her heart. Obvious hope mixed with fear shined in her beautiful jade eyes.
"Come on Korra," the woman encouraged. "Come back to me."
"I'm working on it," Korra strained to say through gritted teeth. She shifted her left leg forward first and hesitantly took the first step. Right leg. It was easier this time. Less resistance. Left leg, even easier. Left, right, left, right.
With every step, the weight slowly lifted off her shoulders, as if the closer she got to the beautiful woman, the less overbearing her struggle felt. Soon she was at the end of the bars, face to face with those green eyes.
"You did it, Korra." She was smiling now. "I missed you."
The woman reached out and put her arms around the Avatar, who fell into the embrace eagerly. The moment seemed to stand still in time.
"Now come back for real. . .you're almost there," the woman whispered, then began to dissolve into nothingness until Korra was left holding nothing.
She awoke, stricken by the sudden loss of a mere figment of her dreams.
She missed the real thing.
. . .
Lightweight fabric, aerodynamic, collapsibility. Asami had to admit, she was quite proud of her design. It was no replacement for gliders, but rather something else entirely. With this, long distance travel wasn't the goal, but rather swift maneuverability for more efficient aerial combat.
". . . The ability to fly . . . I hope you realize that you're brilliant, Miss Sato. This is a revolutionary breakthrough for the airbenders." Tenzin said proudly to the engineer. "How did you come up with this?" the master asked.
"Well, it's not really flying, exactly, but it does simulate it. And, as horrible as Zaheer was, he did an amazing, and useful, feat with airbending. Imagine what that power could do in the hands of the right people." Asami smiled. "And who better than the Air Nation?"
That, and the side project helped keep her busy when she was on break from working on Republic City's infrastructure. She couldn't bear her free moments these days. Too much time to think equals too much time to dwell on the past equals being too out of it to successfully continue working. She needed something to work on constantly, otherwise she'd go insane. Thus, resulted the countless "revolutionary" inventions made from the muse of loneliness, but Tenzin didn't need to know that.
"Ah, I see . . . Though I do have one question . . . why do all these designs use Korra as a model?"
She could come up with the excuse that all the natural born airbenders were too young, or that she needed a certain physique to properly match a master bender, but she knew those were all lies. Certain physique indeed.
Asami blushed.
Tenzin pretends to not notice.
. . .
Sometimes, on nights when terrors haunt her dreams, she just stands (finally, finally she can stand on her own now) on her balcony in her wheelchair and stares at the moon: a small comfort. Tonight, it's a full circle shining radiantly in the night sky.
The story of Yue comes to mind, of how Sokka's first love gave up her humanity to save the existence of such an important aspect of nature. As a natural water bender, the story had always fascinated her. After all, the moon was the original waterbender.
But even more fascinating than that was that Yue couldn't bend. With solely her spirit, she had single handedly saved not just the world, but what all the waterbenders lived for. To her, that was amazing. It was Yue who taught Korra that power came from will, not from bending, and that a nonbender with enough will could save the world.
Maybe it was completely unrelated, but she couldn't help but think of Asami when she gazed at the moon.
A hint of strength resettles in Korra's bones.