Found – Chapter 2
A/N: Due to the positive response I have received already, I will continue writing chapters, at least until when Korra returns to Republic City. If by then people still want more, I will write to the finale as well as an epilogue. Please let me know what you'd prefer. Once again, thank you joehnna for giving me permission to use your work, and please check out joehnna's profile on DeviantArt.
Korra awoke with the dawn, the window catching the soft pink skies of the east that cast a lovely blanket upon the morning. No harsh light had breached the horizon as of yet, and still the young Avatar felt no desire to sleep in as she once desired as a younger girl. Instead, she chose to gaze at the skies for a few moments, before indulging in the view of the sleeping beauty that comforted her the night before.
Her pale skin glowed dimly with the soft colours of the morn, her long dark curls framing her angular features perfectly, a few stray locks falling from the constraints of her hair-tie. Elegant eyelashes gently kissed her soft cheeks, shielding the tea green gaze that slumbered beneath her eyelids. Her make-up was removed at some point in the night, leaving her face bare. Her lips, usually dyed a bold red, were instead a perfect peach pink, looking as soft and sweet as the fruit itself.
Korra knew that she held a deep affection for the lovely flower that slumbered beside her, since before Zaheer had overturned and destroyed her life. Her kindness, honesty and compassion touched her heart greatly, and her resourcefulness, grace, intelligence and prowess impressed her immensely. The distance between them made Korra miss her more and more as time slowly dragged on, amplifying her feelings sky-high, causing her to realise how much she truly loved the strong beauty. And yet, she dared not pursue her heart, wishing not to break it or weigh her down with her troubles and her suffering. It was one of the the biggest reasons for leaving for the South Pole in the first place: she worried about Asami having to suffer her, a sentiment she still believed in, given how she treated Katara when she had outbursts of frustration and agonising sorrow.
She softly brushed her fingertips down Asami's cheek and jaw, revelling in the rare and never before seen sight of Asami's untainted face, natural and naked before her. She still to this day wondered why Asami wore make-up, and it has now increased after seeing how gorgeous she truly is. Alas, that was a discussion for another time: she needed to wander the town to clear her head, and perhaps grab some groceries for today's meals. Learning from her past mistakes, she wrote a brief note and placed it in Asami's outstretched, half curled hand, before quietly leaving the room.
She bought two street meals for breakfast, not feeling up to cooking this morning, along with ingredients for lunch and dinner, and a fire lily and some sweet pastries on a whim, knowing how much Asami adored them. Korra then bought more medical supplies to replace the ones she used two nights prior, before heading on her way back to her apartment, allowing her mind to wander into the storm of her thoughts.
"I am so grateful to Asami for searching for me," she thought, "and yet, I hate that she had gotten dragged into my disasters once again. She had been treated with jealousy and rudeness by me, had her boyfriend stolen by me, her father arrested because of me, and yet she stays by my side. I have never forgotten her tender touches and words of care and concern, her eyes reading my thoughts and feelings through my own. Watching over me, fighting for and beside me, cradling me and caring for me, which put her behind in her work at Future Industries, how does she do it? Above all, why does she do it? I need to ask her soon, not yet, but soon."
The apartment was in sight, and Korra strode inside with purpose; through the foyer and into her room, although keeping quiet in case Asami was asleep. However, the young engineer was awake, looking up from the note between her fingers to meet Korra's stare. She looked even more radiant in her slightly groggy state, her eyelids drooping lazily over her lightly glazed gaze, and her lips curled upwards in a tiny, yet genuine smile of content and relief.
Korra hoped that her face wasn't too red, as she could feel her face flush from the heavenly sight before her.
"Uuuh, I have breakfast!" Korra announced, slightly too extravagantly, causing her to kick herself mentally before calming herself down with the clearing of her throat, "Um, I've just grabbed some chicken-hog stir-fried noodles from a street stand. They are quite delicious, if I do say so myself."
Asami smiled slightly more, making Korra's heart break with love, saying "Thank you, Korra: I am quite starved."
Kicking her feet slightly as she placed her groceries on her small kitchen counter, she approached Asami with her meal and chopsticks in one hand, holding out the fire lily with a small, shy smile "Here: I thought that you may like one."
Asami smiled a wide, toothy grin as she took the meal and flower, looking reverently down upon the fire. Korra shuffled slightly, her heart nearly going into an arrest, especially as Asami looked into her eyes and told her "You are so sweet, Korra. Thank you."
"Y-You're welcome," she replied softly, busying herself with fetching her own meal and utensils. She was starting to sit down on the floor cross-legged, when Asami's voice filtered into her ears.
"You don't need to sit on the floor you know," she informed her gently, "Come, sit with me."
Korra gulped slightly and did as instructed, sitting like before on the bed, preparing to indulge in the greasy, tasty street food within her grasp. The aroma of the tasty noodles and meat wafted strongly into their nostrils, leaving both to eat quickly without another word or thought.
After consuming their unhealthy, but oh so tasty and filling breakfast, Korra threw out the containers and used chopsticks into the rubbish bin, stretching before wincing as her ribs protested harshly. Asami went to stand up to help her, but Korra merely held up a hand and told her "Sit back down: it's only in minimal pain, and I was the one who forgot that she was injured. I will live."
Asami slowly retracted into her seated position on the bed, watching her friend intently as she moved to sit down beside her, gingerly. She took this time to stare at Korra as she shifted into a meditative pose, after telling her that she does this to mentally prepare for the day (which made her cringe in sorrow, knowing how she is mentally tortured daily). Her soft brown skin shone in the sun's enveloping gaze, making her lightly bruised face seem gentle and serene as opposed to when she first saw her that darkened night. The young Avatar's hair was cut short in a stylish, if not slightly shaggy bob cut, making her look more mature as opposed to her youthful yet endearing wolf-tails. She'd lost some weight, she noticed sombrely, not in terms of losing fat, but in terms of muscle mass, making her more lean, yet still looking slightly fragile without the muscular frame the young Avatar once relished in. Asami wished even more so than ever to have remained by Korra's side all of those years ago.
However, even so, Korra still looked gorgeous within her eyes, injuries and all. She'd always admired Korra's resolve, her dedication to her duty as a worldly arbiter and her fierce and strong spirit. When that fire and drive was stripped away from her, Asami's heart broke alongside hers, begging to the spirits to return all that was stolen from the lively and compassionate young woman. As time passed, seasons coming and going agonisingly slowly, Asami never stopped yearning for the Avatar to return to her, happy, safe and well, with that radiant smile beaming like the summer sun at her. She was a fool to have believed that Korra would be the same after she had recovered, but she will do everything within her damned being to see that smile once more. Even if Korra seldom was happy for the rest of her life, she resolved to have her smile in that genuine manner once again, for her to have at least once memory of ultimate happiness within her life.
Asami knew that she had fallen for the young Avatar all those years ago, whilst escaping the desert and staying by her side as she meditated to find her assailant, and staying at her side at every given moment before the final confrontation. She remembered clasping her hands to her heart as she prayed to the spirits for Suyin to save her when the young Avatar was dying of poison, fear gripping her heart unyieldingly until Korra coughed and smiled at her father. Asami longed to talked to Korra about her growing feelings for her, but knew that with Korra's current state, it would've been unfair and mistimed. So, the CEO waited, sending hundreds of letters, clutching the only one she received to her heart, and sending her thoughts out to Korra as she gazed up into the night sky from the balcony of her bedroom at the estate. Maybe one day, she will talk to Korra about how she feels, but it shall not be this day, nor several days to come. Her beloved friend needed her help, and she will serve her loyally, and will not falter, nor fail her, come what may.
Korra then opened her eyes, flushing slightly as she noticed Asami's intense, yet loving gaze.
"Uuum, is there something on my face?" she asked, feeling a bit bashful.
Asami removed herself from her thoughts and replied "No, you just looked very peaceful. Are you prepared for the day?"
Korra nodded and informed her "I feel at peace for now. Still, with me temporarily out of commission, and with no fight to go to, I don't see us doing anything today. I don't like not doing anything."
Asami's lips curled into a smile and jabbed "That sounds familiar."
Korra, being the now wisened young and inspirational woman she is, stuck her tongue out in retaliation, knowing that she couldn't save face against the intelligent woman even if she tried. Asami giggled with mirth, Korra matching her for a bit before she thought of something to do.
"I have an idea on what to do today," she stated.
"Yeah?" Asami responded quizzically.
"Back in the South Pole, I would do this with my mother and father if we had a lazy night," she began, "Pretty much, one person says one sentence, then the next person builds on from that sentence and as you go back and forth with your sentences, you create a story. I once did this for two hours straight with my parents, and we created a story about a prince who meets a wild girl, who lives mainly on her own, except for when her parents return from their long travels. She grew up not liking the premise of wearing clothes: she had them, but neither of her parents liked wearing them either, so they did everything starkers unless they had to go into a town. The prince learns how to live in the forest, adopting her disliking of clothes, and grew to love the girl, and that's where we ended it because I fell asleep."
Asami chuckled at the little story, claiming "That's so adorable!"
Korra blushed and rubbed the back of her neck, rambling "Yeah, mind you, I was a little kid at the time, and I tried to get mum and dad to not make me wear clothes, as it was restrictive and I hated them as a child. Needless to say, it didn't work."
Asami kept laughing until she agreed enthusiastically "Let's do it! I want to see what we can create with this!"
Korra grinned and laid down on the bed, Asami doing the same, but in the opposite direction to Korra, so her head was by Korra's feet and vice versa. Korra exclaimed "I'll go first!" before thinking hard about a sentence to begin with.
"Okay," she announced, "I have one: 'Deep in the swamps of the Earth Kingdom, lived a smelly old swampbender named Murky.'"
Asami sniggered again and thought before adding "'Murky believed himself to be the best swampbender the swamp has ever seen, but, he was actually a hopeless swampbender.'"
Grinning cheekily, Korra responded "'Murky came across a grumpy, smelly and old swampbender called Grimy, and challenged him to a fight.'"
"'Alas, Grimy was the best swampbender the swamp had ever seen, and kicked Murky's butt into the mud, with Murky throwing a childish hissy fit in retaliation,'" Asami built on.
By the time Korra and Asami had finished the story, Murky had tried to overtake the swampbender tribe with the help of a stinky pollution spirit called Slop, causing mass panic before Grimy took him out single handedly and cursing him to an eternity of baths and soap. They also made a few more stories, one of a non-bender who created a way to reach into the universe and land on the moon, another of a firebending circus act that struggled to make ends meet before revitalising the culture of a nomadic fire nation group that abhorred dance and art. Another was of a dramatic water tribe couple who couldn't waterbend that died at sea due to drowning in a sinking ship, and one was of an air nomad who ate meat by accident and spent twenty years without speaking whilst helping animals on a farm to repent for his crime. When they finished their last story, which was of an earthbender that was afraid of earthquakes, the two women stopped, exhausted from story telling yet not exhausted enough for laughing themselves silly over the prospect of an earthbender being afraid of an earthquake.
After recovering, both of their ribs sore from the laughter (Korra more so than Asami), they noticed that the evening was close, with the sun's rays about to disappear, much to their surprise.
"Whoa! I've forgotten how much time can fly when making up even one story, let alone six of them," Korra mused in shock.
"Welp," Asami shrugged, "we may as well fix ourselves something to eat. I don't know about you, but telling stories all day is exhausting, and it making me ravenous and thirsty."
"Agreed," Korra nodded.
The two young women cooked themselves up a simple meal of fried koala-sheep with vegetables and rice and ate in silence, washing down their meals with a healthy serving of water and sweet pastries. They then spent the rest of the evening in silence, Korra meditating and Asami reading a book of hers called 'Solitude and Sensations', a book that Asami briefly explained to Korra, seemingly rushed and embarrassed, that it was about a woman in isolation who found her love by chance. Korra didn't believe for a second that it was only about that, but she will continue ribbing her about it at a later date.
When Asami finished reading for the night, she saw Korra sprawled on the bed, snoring softly as she slumbered. Not wanting to wake her, and knowing that she needed to rest to heal properly, Asami resigned herself to the floor, the threadbare rug surprisingly comfy and clean.
However, it seemed that rest was not to be bestowed upon the young Avatar that night.
The one-line-each story game was something that I did once with my best friend when we were younger, and that plot that Korra recounted was the plot we created together. We wasted two hours of night time making that story. However, I apologise for the cliffhanger, but I want something extra within the next chapter. Nonetheless, thank you for the positive reviews thus far, and don't forget to check out joehnna's profile and gallery on DeviantArt.
