At 10:32 PM, Asami's slick black Satomobile finally pulled up into the front gates of her estate. "Long night, Ms. Sato?" asked the security attendant as he opened the gate for the young CEO. "Unfortunately, yes." sighed Asami in reply as she passed the attendant's booth. She swiftly parked the car in front of her mansion and headed inside, tired from the week's work load. Friday nights were always the most tiring nights of the week, and Asami wanted nothing more than to change into her silk robes and cuddle up by the fireplace before drifting off to sleep.

"Good evening, Miss Sato" greeted her butler, Lu. "I was not sure of the time of your arrival, so I put away your dinner. Shall I set it out for you?"

"No thank you, Lu, I think I'm just going to go to bed early tonight. It's been a long week".

"As you wish, Miss Sato", replied the butler, with a small nod of the head. Asami turned toward her room to leave when he spoke up again, however. "Oh, Miss Sato, my apologies. It nearly slipped my mind. You received a letter today. I have placed it on your bedside table. I think you may be of mind to read it urgently", said Lu with a small smile.

"A letter?", said Asami frowning slightly. Who sent letters anymore? Surely it couldn't be anything work-related. They would have been able to send a telegram or use a radio communicator. But then who else? It couldn't be...

Thanking Lu and bidding him goodnight, Asami hurried to her bedroom and spotted the letter laying there on the cherry oak table. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw who it was from.

The return address read:

Avatar Korra

Harbor City

Southern Water Tribe

I can't believe it. After all this time... after 2 years, she's finally written back, Asami thought to herself, staring at the letter in her hands. The envelope itself was a cyan blue, and when she turned it over, she noticed it was enclosed with a water tribe seal. Anxiously but excitedly, she opened the envelope, her fingers moving slower as she realized that Korra had recently held this letter in her own hands. Her heart ached weakly knowing this was the most 'contact' they've had since the day Korra left for the Southern Water Tribe. Her eyes read the words addressed to her almost feverishly.

Dear Asami,

I'm sorry I haven't written to you sooner, but every time I've tried, I never knew what to say. The past 2 years have been the hardest of my life. Even though I can get around fine now, I still can't go into the Avatar State. I keep having visions of Zaheer and what happened that day. Katara thinks a lot of this is in my head, so I've been meditating a lot, but sometimes I worry I'll never fully recover. Please don't tell Mako and Bolin I wrote to you and not them. I don't want to hurt their feelings, but it's easier to tell you about this stuff. I don't think they'd understand.

I hope you're doing well, and I want you to know I've missed you too. I should be heading back to Republic City soon, though, shortly before Prince Wu's coronation day. It's only 6 months from now. I can't wait to be back in Republic City. My parents and Katara have been great support, but I feel like I've hit a wall here. Even though I'm not 100% yet, I need to be back where the action is and where my friends are. I think it'll be good for me. I'll be setting sail alone in a few months time. I'm hoping the trip there will let me clear my mind, as well.

Take care until then, Asami. I'll see you soon.

Your friend,

Korra

Asami soon finished reading the letter through for the 3rd time. She didn't know how to feel. Of course she was excited that after all this time, she would finally be seeing Korra. It had been far too long, and the idea made Asami more excited than she remembered being in years.

But then there were the parts about Korra still having visions of Zaheer and the day she was poisoned, and how she couldn't go into the Avatar State. This worried Asami. She knew Korra, and she knew that something like that would not be easy on the Avatar's mentality. Although it sounded like Korra had made great strides towards recovery in the last 2 years, she still wasn't quite there, and knowing Korra, that would be eating at her. Asami only knew she had to be as supportive as possible upon Korra's arrival in the city. Sometimes having a good friend by your side can be a light in a sea of darkness. To Asami, Korra had always been that light. That safety. She would do whatever she could to be there for her in return.

And then there was where Korra had signed her name. Your friend. Asami didn't know what she would do without Korra as her friend, but a part of her wanted more than that. So much more. Pesky thoughts of this nature kept slipping into her mind, and she didn't know she would react when the girl she had been developing feelings for would be right in front of her again.

But for now, she could only wait.