A/N: Alright, well here's chapter three. Once again I hope you guys enjoy it, and tell me what you think. A big thanks goes out to those of you who have already hit that follow button, I hope I can continue to entertain you with this little story of mine.
It was late when they finally stepped through the portal and returned to the material world. The rest of their hike had been spent alternating between cheerful conversation and companionable silence. They arrived in the in the vine filled crater that used to be downtown Republic City and made their way toward the street. Once they reached the sidewalk they released each other and smiled.
"I should get to Air Temple Island and let Tenzin know I'm back. Though I doubt he's awake." Said Korra. She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck nervously, suddenly feeling very sheepish.
"Alright. I'm going to head back to my place for a few hours' shut-eye before taking the first ferry over." She leaned down slightly and pecked Korra on the cheek, causing the Water Tribe girl to blush and smile. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Alright bye." She watched Asami climb into the Satomobile she had left on the street before they had left and drive off before turning around and making her way toward the Air Temple. As she walked, her hand idly found its way to her cheek and was rubbing the place where Asami's lips had been minutes ago.
Korra couldn't believe how lucky she was to have someone like Asami as her friend. On top of running a giant company, she was smart, loyal, resourceful, brave, beautiful-
Wait. Beautiful? Since when did that matter?
She had always been aware that her best friend was beautiful, but now, it was almost like she had started to realize just how beautiful she was. The memory of the growing number of kisses being placed on her cheeks made her feel warm all over. She found herself wondering what Asami's lips would feel like on her own.
She paused, had she just thought that? She was probably just tired. She shook her head, and, realising that she was already at the docks and that they were devoid of any ferries, dove headfirst into the water.
With a little help from her waterbending she reached the docks on Air Temple Island in record time. She strolled towards the temple, taking refuge in the calm that had settled over the island with the late hour. She slowly made her way toward the doors to the dormitories when she was suddenly barreled over by a giant mass of white fur and friendliness.
She hit the ground with an oomph and laughed as she brought her hands to her face trying to stop the tongue of her five hundred pound best friend from licking every inch of it.
"Naga, stop it!" she laughed before embracing the polar bear dog. "I missed you too girl."
"Korra? Is that you?"
Korra looked up when she heard the sleepy voice call her name and saw a very tired looking Ikki and Jinora standing in the doorway. She stood up, made her to the two girls and wrapped them up in a big hug. "Yeah, it's me. Asami and I just got back about an hour ago."
"We missed you." Ikki mumbled into her shoulder.
"I missed you guys too," Korra replied, pulling away to look the tired girls in the eye before movement caught her eye and she smiled devilishly at the figure trying to sneak his way around the three girls.
"Kai, you do realize this is the girls' dorm, right?"
The boy froze and both he and Jinora turned a hilarious shade of red.
"Kai sneaks into Jinora's room every night so they can cuddle together." Ikki said with a mischievous smirk.
"Oh, really?" Korra asked, finding extreme amusement in seeing the normally composed Jinora and always clever Kai so flustered and stuttering incoherently. "And does your father know about this little sleeping arrangement?"
"No, please don't tell him-"
"We weren't doing anything I swear-"
"It's just we don't get a lot of time to spend together-"
"Oh, man, Korra, please don't tell anyone-"
"Dad would be so mad-"
"I don't wanna get kicked out of the Air Nation, I love it here-"
Korra and Ikki laughed at the teens' embarrassed ramblings. "Relax, guys. I'm not gonna tell anyone, I think it's nice that you want to spend as much time together as you can before your responsibilities call you away."
They visibly relaxed and Kai came to join the girls sitting on the steps outside, while Naga nuzzled Korra's shoulder affectionately before laying down at their feet.
"So how was your vacation in the Spirit World? Weren't you supposed to gone for another week or two?" Kai asked.
Korra sighed, but Jinora answered before the Avatar could. "Dad asked me to find her and tell her about the people going missing."
"Oh, that sucks." Kai said.
Korra chuckled at the boy's empathy. "Don't worry about it. But I do need to talk to Tenzin, you wouldn't happen to know if he's still up would you?"
"He probably is. He's been spending a lot of time meditating, so I would check the gardens first."
"Alright, I will, thanks." She stood up "You guys should probably get back to bed, and Kai?" Both him and Jinora froze. Korra smirked. "I recommend using the window instead of the door next time."
With that she stood up and made her way towards the garden on the other side of the Air Temple, Naga padding quietly behind her. She thought of Jinora and Kai. Sneaking around to see each other and enjoy the other's presence as much as they could before their responsibilities to the Air Nation called them to distant places around the world. Of course the thought of the two teens spending their nights together reminded her of the nights she spent with her arms around a certain obsidian-haired CEO. She smiled as she remembered the time they spent together, even if it was cut short.
And for what seemed like the millionth time, she thought about how amazing Asami was and how lucky the Avatar was to have someone like her in her life.
She's had to deal with so much more than I have and she does it all while still smiling.
It was true. If anybody else had experienced the kind of loss and dealt with the challenges she had, they would be justifiably jaded. But not Asami. Despite all the hardships she had gone through, or perhaps because of them, the heiress was able to smile and laugh and even flirt.
Korra arrived at the meditation gardens and shook her head to get rid of the blush from the direction that last thought was going. It didn't take her long to spot Tenzin sitting upon an ornate hexagonal tile on the ground, his eyes closed and his legs crossed. Even from where Korra stood, she could see the tension in the airbending master's shoulders as he tried to find inner peace.
Fully aware of irritating he found being disturbed, Korra decided to instead take a seat in front of him and wait for him to talk to her. She folded her legs into the lotus position and leaned back slightly into Naga as the polar bear dog laid herself down behind companion. She sat there quietly, relishing the warmth and comfort that she found in her oldest friend. After a few minutes of relaxing, she decided that now would be as good a time as any to figure out the strange feelings she having about her best friend.
She sifted through her memories of herself and the heiress, going as far back as when she first returned to Republic City after having been away for three years. She tried to look at her interactions with Asami through an outside, objective point of view. She wanted to smile and frown at the same time. Smile because every memory of the head of Sato family was a good one. Frown because as she relived her interactions with her best friend, she was seeing more and more evidence that her feelings towards the other woman might not have been those of simple friendship, but something more.
Of course she saw evidence that her feelings were not going unreciprocated, but that only filled her with more confusion.
On the one hand, she was beyond happy that the girl who filled her with such warmth and happiness perhaps felt something similar for her. It made her heart flutter and made those feelings grow knowing that she did the same for her friend.
On the other hand, she felt guilty. Due to Korra being the Avatar, the odds of her living a long and happy life were not in her favour. She didn't want to be the one that broke Asami's heart when the inevitable happened and she was met with something that was too much for her to handle.
The obvious answer was to distance herself from Asami, keep the girl at a safe distance so that when everything finally came crashing down, she wouldn't be affected by the fallout.
This only made Korra feel guiltier as she realized that as much as she wanted to protect Asami, she wasn't able to give up the feelings the other woman gave her. How selfish could she be?
She didn't know how long she sat there, trying to convince her mind to do something her heart wouldn't allow. It could've been hours or seconds before she heard her name being called.
"Korra?"
She opened her eyes to see Tenzin sitting in front of her, the frown adorning his hard set face was betrayed by the softness in his eyes. She looked up to see the sky had change from the black of night to the dull grey that heralded the rising sun. She turned back to see her airbending master staring at her.
"Hey, Tenzin. I saw you meditating and thought I should join you. Sorry if I disrupted you."
"No worries, you didn't. I'm happy to see you," He sighed and Korra noticed just how tired the leader of the Air Nation looked. "I just wish it was under better circumstances."
"Yeah, well, it's never a dull day with the Avatar. How has the investigation been going?"
Tenzin sighed. "Not well, I'm afraid. Our only clue is that whoever did this leaves a calling card of sorts."
"What do you mean?"
"When we went to check each individual's home there we found this sitting on the victims' pillows." He put his hand into his robe and pulled out a small round disc. He handed it to Korra.
It was the same size and shape as a Pai-Sho tile, but instead of wood it looked like it was made of some sort of black gem. On the one side was a depiction of the head of what looked like a mix between some sort of giant cat and a large dog. The picture had its mouth open and was baring a set of sharp looking fangs. Behind it was a circle with lines sticking out in eight directions with the ones on the side branching up and down at right angles. On the other side was an image that Korra had never seen before.
Carved around the outside was what looked to be a dragon eating its own tail. On the inside, near the bottom of the dragon was a small circle covered with strange lines and a small diamond shape in the middle that looked somehow familiar to the Avatar. Sprouting from the small circle were a pair of wings that pointed straight up and took up the remaining space within the strange dragon. She brought it closer to her eyes and noticed that the wings were on fire.
She handed the disc back to Tenzin and raised an eyebrow. "What does it mean?"
He accepted the disc and replaced it within his robe. "Nothing good. Whoever placed them on the victims' pillows was very good. No fingerprints, nothing disturbed, nothing taken. They got in, placed the disc, and were out without ever being noticed."
"Wait, you said they were on all of the victims' pillows. Does that include the airbender's?"
"As I said, they are very good. They managed to get in and out of Otaku's room without being spotted once on an island full of White Lotus agents and flying airbenders."
"Wow. That is scary."
"Indeed. I shudder to think of what could have happened if this person decided to go after one of my children."
"I don't think they would." Tenzin raised an eyebrow.
"Why not?"
"Asami and I met Iroh again in the spirit world. After talking to him for a while we think we might have figured out a motive behind the abductions."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Though, before I tell you I need you to tell me what you know about the victims. Preferably the two probenders and the police officer."
Tenzin's eyebrow arched for the second time in as many minutes before he shrugged. "Alright, well other than the fact that they are probenders, there isn't anything about the two that is particularly high-profile. They are both students at the University of the United Republic. It's about a day away by car in a rather secluded area in the mountains and isn't a part of any city or state in the Republic."
"Then what were they doing in Republic City?" Korra asked.
"They were here to play a game. It wasn't until they never showed up at the victory celebration on campus the two days later that anyone knew they were gone."
"So they were taken during a time where no one knew exactly where they were and weren't expected to be anywhere until a couple days later."
"Exactly."
Korra sat silent for the next couple minutes. Every answer seemed to produce more questions. She wished Asami was with her, she would've had it figured out by now.
"Well can you tell me about the police officer?"
Tenzin nodded. "She had just been made detective, she was one of the top two in her class along with her partner. They had spent the night out celebrating when they were ambushed. Her partner says she didn't see anyone before she woke up, and when she did her partner was gone and she could barely move. We think she was chi-blocked."
"Anything else?"
"They were supposed to receive their first job from Lin the next day, but when Riko came in alone and told Lin what happened she tried to put her into protective custody. Riko argued with her and said she refused to cooperate unless she was part of the investigation. So she was assigned as Mako's partner and has been helping us under the condition that she stay at the temple until this thing is over."
Korra chuckled at the idea of Mako being given a partner, a rookie, and almost felt sorry for the poor girl who had to deal with the prickly firebender, knowing full well how difficult he could be.
She felt her brows lower as she frowned in confusion. There wasn't a lot evidence supporting her and Asami's theory, but at the same time, none of the new information disproved it.
"So," Tenzin said. "After hearing all this, what do you think?"
Korra sighed. It wouldn't hurt to share her ideas with her mentor, though she didn't think she was quite capable of taking all the information she had received and connecting it properly. She looked up once again and saw that the sun had risen fully. "I'd rather wait until Asami gets here. She's just as much involved in this as we are, and she'll be able to properly tell you what we think is going on."
Tenzin furrowed his brow in confusion, but eventually acquiesced. "Alright we'll hold off on the subject until later." He smiled at her and Korra could see him relax after having had the chance to talk about his troubles. "I was surprised when I saw you."
"Why's that?" Korra asked. She had told Jinora that she would be back in around a day or two.
"You were meditating." Tenzin said, his eyes sparkling happily.
Korra felt a slight heat in her cheeks as she remembered the subject of her earlier self-reflection. She chuckled and scratched the back of her neck nervously. "Yeah, I guess I had a lot on my mind."
"Would you like to talk about it? I may be able to offer some advice."
The large bell at the top of the tower started to ring, signaling to the island that it was morning and to go down to the large dining hall to break their fast, and cutting Korra off before she could answer.
While waiting for the ringing to stop, she looked across the bay at the city and noticed a lone boat leaving the docks and headed toward the island. She remembered Asami's promise to come visit on the first ferry. She turned back to the airbending master.
"Maybe later." She said
"Of course," he answered before standing and offering his hand to Korra. "Come, let's have breakfast and you can see everyone."
Korra smiled and accepted the hand offered, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. They made their way to the kitchen in a comfortable silence. Once they arrived, Korra was greeted with the familiar smell of Pema's exquisite cooking. She stopped to inhale deeply and enjoy the feeling of home that the Air Temple provided for a moment before being wrapped in a bone crunching hug.
"Korra! You're back!" Korra laughed before returning the hug.
"It's good to see you too, Bolin."
Bolin put her down and smiled. "Oh, things are great! I went and got a job helping build new houses for people whose places got blown up when you made that new spirit portal. Not that it's your fault or anything! I mean that whole situation was pretty messed up. But it's over now, and because of it, I get to help a whole bunch of people and get paid doing it."
"Good for you Bolin!" Korra said with a smile. She may have only been gone a few days, but Bolin's boyish charm was easy to miss.
"Yeah, turns out Future Industries will pay quite well for a lava bender to help flatten out land for construction." Standing next to his younger brother was Mako. He looked down at Korra and smiled. "It's good to see you, Korra." He wrapped her in a hug which she returned.
Once they parted she laughed, "With the way you guys are acting, you'd think Asami and I were gone more than a few days."
Mako scratched the back of his head and wouldn't meet her eyes. "Yeah, well, it's been pretty hectic since you left."
"Hectic is an understatement." Korra looked around her two friends and saw Tenzin's wife standing. She smiled and wrapped the mother in hug.
"It's good to see you, Pema." She said.
The older woman smiled before jerking her head in the direction of Tenzin, who had made his way around the group and was taking a seat next to where Pema had been seated. She looked around the table and noticed two things seemed unusual. The first being the conspicuous lack of Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin's children.
"Where are Bumi, Kya, and the kids?" she asked as she took a seat between Tenzin and Bolin.
"Kya and Lin are in the city working on the case, Bumi and the children are with the rest of the air benders doing early morning practice and patrolling the city." Tenzin answered. Well that answered the first question.
The second, however took the form of the woman who looked to be few years younger than her sitting across the table from her. She wore a white shirt with a light, brown vest that sat unbuttoned on her shoulders. Her legs were covered in a pair of tan sweat pants. Her long red hair was braided and went down to the middle of her back. What intrigued Korra, though, was the fact that she refused to meet the Avatar's eyes choosing instead to glare defiantly at her food, though the effect was ruined by the blush that painted her lightly freckled cheeks.
Remembering her earlier conversation with Tenzin, Korra stuck her hand out across the table and offered it to the woman. "You must be Riko. It's nice to meet you."
The girl looked up and finally met the Avatar's with what was probably supposed to be a brave or defiant look, but only served to make her look more shy. She reached out and shook Korra's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Avatar Korra."
"Just Korra's fine." She looked from the shy girl, to Mako who had taken the seat next to her and was quietly focusing on his food. "So, you're Mako's new partner, huh?" The girl blinked once before nodding. "I'm so sorry."
Mako looked up and glared at the Water Tribe girl before returning to his food. Riko laughed softly before answering, "It's not that bad. He's been showing me the ropes and I've actually learned quite a bit over the last few days."
Korra smiled, happy that Mako was doing a good job as a mentor to the younger woman. She leaned across the table as if she were about to share a secret with Riko. "Well, if he gives you any trouble, let me know. It's been a long time since the last time I got to knock some sense in to him, and I really do miss it."
The entire table laughed, as Mako put down his plate with a hint of a smirk on his face. "Ha ha. Very funny, Korra." He stood up and bowed to Pema, "Thank you for the meal, Pema. It was delicious."
"It was no trouble, Mako. We enjoy having you here."
Mako smiled before turning to Riko, his posture hardening somewhat. "Come on Riko. We've got worked to do." And with that, he was out the door.
Riko pouted at her unfinished plate before standing offering a bow and quick thanks to Pema and following Mako out the door.
The rest of breakfast had passed with plenty of talking and laughter. Korra found herself thankful that she had such a close collection of friends and family around her. Of course, these thoughts, as most did nowadays, led to her thinking about Asami.
The conflicting feelings and confusion from earlier returned and she noticed Tenzin eyeing her curiously. She smiled and shook her head at him before standing up. She thanked Pema for the fantastic meal, and made her way to the hall outside the dining area and was plowed into by a mass jet curls and porcelain skin.
