Chapter 3: Love


Summary:

Korra and Asami wander the spirit world, reveling in their newfound connection and the wonders around them, when they stumble upon a truly magical place. Korra reflects on her feelings regarding Asami, past, present and future. Asami decides to go swimming, but Korra forgot to bring her bathing suit!


They wandered together aimlessly for hours, letting the spirit world take them at whim. There had been a slight worry that the impetuous plan to come here right after Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding was going to leave them exhausted in short order. Such was not the case. They were both positively brimming with vigor. Was it some rejuvenating property of the spirit world? Iroh had once said that the spirit world shapes itself according to your emotions. Particularly for the Avatar, the living bridge between worlds. With the fresh new emotions roiling to the surface, no longer being wrestled into submission by inhibitions and fear, sleep was the furthest thing from mind. Perhaps this was the source of their manifest tirelessness in this otherworldly place?

The spirit world was more animated than Korra had ever seen it. It wasn't the glowing daylight and green fields she remembered from her very first visit, but an incredible night-time landscape, gushing with nocturnal vitality. The sky was deep blue, sprinkled with twinkling pinpoints of starlight, violet hues rimming the horizon. A bright and unusually large full moon bathed the world around them in silvery light, obviating the need for producing their own light source. The breeze was alive with fragrant scents, carrying the exotic music of night-loving spirit fauna. Benign spirits in a boggling array of configurations, aglow with their own internal light, walked, flew, floated in their midst, in the distance. Everything pulsed with unseen energy, as if in time to their heartbeats. The whole world celebrated them.

It was an extraordinary scene. Korra hardly had time to notice. Her attention was entirely on this marvel of a woman with her, and the new bond that she had awoken between them. The vibrant world around them was a mere background tapestry painted in real time to accentuate everything that was beautiful about her. Korra reveled in her, watching her take in all the sights, interacting with the spirits. Seeing the open wonder in her face, feeling her joy radiating in waves of palpable warmth. The shared laughs, the thrill of her delicate fingers entwined with her own. The quickening of pulse when their eyes met. Korra was a thrall, moonstruck, consumed entirely by this woman who had just stolen her heart, Asami Sato.

Their wandering carried them into a forest with a menagerie of bizarre trees, twisted into impossible shapes and growing at peculiar angles, some with glowing veins of various colors. Large luminescent spirit mushrooms grew here and there, some of them quite talkative! On they wandered, until they heard the sound of rushing water, and sought after the source. They found that the forest was home to a sizable stream, silvery blue from the brightly moonlit sky, scintillating with the various reflections from the luminescent plants and spirits. Taken in by its unearthly beauty, they wandered upstream by its side, seeing where it led.

The spirits and their utter infatuation with Asami, no doubt mirroring the Avatar's own heart and mind, had started to become a bit overwhelming after a while. As if in response to Korra's budding desire for them to be left alone, the spirits spontaneously became much less intrusive and curious, flitting about on their own without distraction, giving them their space. I'll have to remember that one! Not irritation, not anger… just a desire to be left alone. Simple! She was getting better at this spirit world business! She smiled broadly, walking hand in hand with Asami, talking and laughing, playing, free to focus their attentions on one another as they explored the beautiful and alien nightscape.

The stream led through a thickening of trees. It sounded much louder ahead in the distance, and they advanced onward to investigate. The stream was sourced by a waterfall here, glittering down the rocky surface of a massive outcropping of earth and stone. The outcropping was nestled into the side of a densely forested hill, a path winding up on one side of the waterfall into the dense growth. It was all too inviting not to explore, and just a little intriguing that all this water seemed to be coming from up a hill. They walked up the path to discover an incredible sight.

The top of the hill flattened out into a glade, with stunning formations and features. The foresting skirted around a clearing home to a large swirling pool, a coruscating mirror of moonlight and ambient effulgence, stony formations lining its circumference. The base of the pool gave birth to the waterfall and stream that had led them here, spilling over a lower rocky ledge on the edge of the glade. At the head of this pool, two massive trees grew, nearly as thick as their arm spans, entwined around one another in a beautiful spiral rising far above the peaks of the rest of the trees ringing the glade, exploding into a glorious canopy. The canopy, covering roughly half of the clearing, was full of alien flowers with luminescent petals, orange glowing motes of pollen trailing in the breeze. Spanning behind the intertwined trees was a large stony outcropping. Two waterfalls cascaded down this stone, rolling around either side of the entwined trees, giving birth to the large mirror of a pool that was the centerpiece of the glade. One of these falls was emitting steam, as if it were hot.

From this vantage point it appeared these waterfalls were coming out of nowhere. The stony outcropping was easy to ascend, with footholds amongst the stone and roots of the great trees, almost as if nature had intentionally crafted steps to climb to its apex. At the top, they found two more, much smaller pools. Springs, actually. There was no other potential source for these bodies of water, and their surfaces were roiling, as if their contents were bubbling up from within the ground. As the waterfalls had hinted, one of the springs was steaming, and a quick test showed that the water was very pleasant, like a bath right below the threshold of being too hot. The other was icy cool. The combination alluded to an amazing dynamic of temperature in the larger pool they came together to form.

The vegetation ringing the glade bore a variety of fruits, nuts, and berries. Large fungi with heads that were more flat or concave than rounded grew in several places around the pool. They did not appear to be the conversational, spirit variety of fungus they had encountered earlier, as they offered no protest to their prodding investigation of them. Their caps were fascinating to the touch, having a velvety texture and giving beneath pressure with an indescribable soft sponginess. Korra tested its resilience with a few pushes, then crawled on to the cap of one and flopped down, feigning a snoring slumber. Asami laughed at her antics, and Korra laughed with her, but it really wasn't a joke. These things were comfortable, better than most beds she had ever slept on. Certainly far better than the hard flat pallets they called beds in the dormitories on Air Temple Island. They playfully dubbed the things 'bed-shrooms'. Those, the pool, the ambience, everything about this place was incredible. It was a miniature paradise! It was as if the spirit world grew this little utopian glade just for them! There was no question at all that this would be where they settled for the night, if not longer.

Before they settled in, Asami took a brief trip down the hill to the small creek to freshen up and remove her makeup. In their rush to get to the spirit world that night, she only had time to straighten up the mess they had made at the wedding, and she felt this was an opportune moment to get back into her own skin. It was an exciting prospect for Korra. Strange as it seemed, she realized she had never seen Asami without her makeup. Asami hurried briskly back down the hill, and in her absence, Korra worked on gathering a few fruits and berries from the surrounding plant life to share with Asami on her return. After gathering a satisfactory amount, she took off her backpack and plopped down beneath a tree with a large willowy canopy, its vegetation long drooping things wreathed in small leaves and glowing buds and flowers, weighing down the ends of the branches. She let her mind wander as she waited for Asami's return.


She thought on her past feelings about Asami. How long had she battled with that jumble of emotions over her? It felt so bizarre to think about what that had been like again. She was vaguely aware that Asami had been the source of a great deal of confusion for her for a while, but couldn't quite pinpoint when it started. She searched her memory for some clues.

Her mind tugged directly to that horrid span of years recovering after her battle with Zaheer. She did not want to think about that… but perhaps her thoughts had wandered to that time for a reason. Hesitantly, she delved in. Asami had never stopped sending her letters during that time, even though it took Korra well over 2 years to respond even once. A realization occurred. Korra was trying to decipher her own past feelings, but what about Asami?

She… was already in love with me then… ?

It made sense. Why else would she continue to send letters with no response? That pleading look in Asami's eyes when she had spoken the words… only now did it sink in, that Asami has probably had feelings for her for years. An icicle of guilt pierced her chest. The thought of Asami feeling alone, distant, unrequited… she hated that thought. Despised it. She wanted Asami to always be happy, fulfilled. Why hadn't she written back sooner? Why had she been such a bad friend?

Korra had thought about Asami a great deal during that time. She had a lot of time for thinking about stuff then, and now that she reflected on it, it seemed that when she wasn't feeling sorry for herself, her mind did drift back to Asami more often than not.

I should write Asami back…

But I don't want to bring her down! There's no good news, I'm in pain all the time, I have nightmares every night, and I'll probably never walk again!

But she writes me all the time! Keeps writing me! I should just… write her, tell her that I'm doing better! That I'm recovering!

But I don't want to lie to her! I don't want her to see me like this! I can't tell her how bad it actually is… I just can't…

A thousand variations of this train of thought was a nearly daily ritual. Wanting to talk to her, write to her, see that compassionate face. But at the same time not being able to, afraid to let her know how hopeless, powerless, and afraid she felt, how much pain her body was in. Even when she had begun to make progress, when she was learning to walk again and the pain in her body was less than it had been, she still felt broken, still couldn't open up to her. It had taken over two years before she could finally bring herself to write Asami back, even though she thought about her every day. Even though Asami's letters were… the main thing keeping her going…

…I already had feelings for her then and was just too dumb to realize it

There it was, in front of her for years, and for some reason her mind would never let her grasp it. Everything was already there. The core had taken shape as they grew close to one another, before the Red Lotus had ever taken her captive. After she had nearly died, languishing in her broken state, Asami's support had become a lifeline. If those letters had stopped coming… she couldn't think about that. But now it was plain that she was already feeling the connection of something deeper than friendship trying to form, even as her mind had tried to convince her otherwise. Even as she neglected to return Asami's support, lost in the haze of her own misery.

This realization hurt. All those wasted years. All that time, needing Asami's support, and not being able to bring herself to reciprocate that support. What she felt for Asami now was so wonderful, so encompassing. If only she had understood what was going on then, maybe she could've…

It suddenly seemed as if it was raining. She looked up, an eyebrow quirked, seeing no hints of cloudiness in the moonlit sky through the canopy of tree and glowing flowers. The tree itself appeared to be… moving. It was making some barely perceptible heaving motion, almost as if it were… crying? Flowers had closed back to buds, the intensity of their glow muted. She smiled to herself, remembering where she was.

Right. Knock it off with the sad thoughts, Korra!

That exploration of her memories had started off as a search for her past feelings, and landed in a guilt trip for being a bad friend to Asami, for not realizing her feelings earlier. But as she considered the dark place she was in at that time, all that she could do now is come to terms with the fact that she just was not in a place where she could return anybody's romantic love, and that was that. They had endured, and Asami was with her now. That's all that mattered. She allowed one last twinge of regret, a memorial to the misery of those years. Then, resolutely, she laid that dark time to rest.

She thought instead on the positive aspects of their friendship over the years. The good times they had shared with one another, the adventures and perils they had survived. How well they worked together. How virtuous, kind-hearted, driven, and loyal she was, in spite of all the difficult times she had endured. How influential she was. Asami was changing the world every bit as much as the Avatar! Korra's heart swelled with pride. Asami was truly a paragon. She had called Korra strong, as if she herself weren't a living embodiment of fortitude. Korra had felt so weak, so many times before. The material world, the spirit world, how much her decisions had changed everything, were changing everything… it seemed like such an unknowably vast and nebulous concept to think about the whole picture. She was driven to fulfill her destiny as the Avatar, but sometimes it could be difficult to keep the gestalt of everything in perspective when she thought about reasons for being strong. Asami was singular, present, real. A reason she could grasp. An inspiration, a foundation from which strength could be drawn. A big grin swept over Korra's face. Asami had awoken her, said that she loved her. Korra would become worthy of that love, and somehow repay the gift that she had given. She would. She could overcome any difficulty, endure anything for her. A sudden sense of awe and ambition washed over her with a new realization. Her as the Avatar, Asami as the figurehead of Future Industries, spearheading the movement toward industrial symbiosis with the spirit world. They were two of the most influential people in the world, and together they were going to change it into a better place. The future was bright.

I don't need a connection to my past lives. I need a connection to my present life! I need you…

The trees had ceased weeping for her already, and their glowing buds were blooming, petals unfurling in a splendor of colors right before her eyes. She smiled, leaning back against the tree, eyes skyward, her thoughts shifting from lofty visions of the future to more present concerns.

She returned to the fresh memory of that first brush of Asami's lips on hers. The clarity that formed in her mind, and the newly awakened desire that had suddenly overtaken her. That absolutely mind-bending kiss that came after.

…mindbender. Whoever said Asami was a non-bender didn't know what they were talking about!

Korra was amused at that thought. Just several hours earlier, Asami was her best friend. A best friend that was making her feel really weird in lots of ways! But just a friend. That friendship had not changed. But then Asami had kissed her… said that she loved her… and Korra's world changed forever. Yep. Definitely a mindbender,she chuckled to herself.

The memory of that kiss directed her thoughts in a decidedly poignant direction. What was coming next? She thought about Asami's physical beauty. About doing more than kissing her. It was going to take some time to get used to this! Korra had never really thought about a woman this way before. Well… that wasn't completely true. If she was completely honest with herself, maybe there had been some times where such thoughts tried to form in her mind, particularly over Asami. She had mostly stomped those thoughts out, buried them, before they had a chance to take shape. It didn't seem right to think about your friend that way. But the physical attraction she felt to Asami now was undeniable, and strong. Asami had awakened so much in her. She thought she understood what sexual desire was all about, years ago, when she had first laid eyes on Mako. He was very handsome, athletic, famous, self-assured. The type of guy that would make any teenage girl's heart melt. It had worked like a charm on her. She had felt instantly aroused by him.

It was nothing compared to this. Rather than a fleeting crush inspired by idealized fantasies, Korra now realized this feeling had ripened and matured over years, if subconsciously, and Asami had now given it shape. There was much more to it than a mere biological urge, though the birth of her new awareness gave that aspect a keen exigency. She had always thought Asami was beautiful. But after the events at Varrick's wedding… her words, that kiss, the warmth of her body in her arms… her appreciation of that beauty had taken a very prurient turn. Every time she looked at Asami now, her belly turned somersaults. When she wasn't being transfixed by those mesmerizing eyes, hypnotizing eyebrows, delicate lips that had so recently awoken these new desires, she now found her eyes wandering the rest of Asami's body with newfound interest. The swell of her breasts. The curve of her hips flaring out from her slim waist. That perfectly formed bottom, hugged tightly by those well fitted pants, peeking out from the flare of her jacket. The tight V that formed from the snugness of her pants where her legs met her hips. Korra wasn't experienced at this sort of attraction, but her mind thrilled in the openness of those thoughts now, and her body's response to those thoughts was certainly… not ambiguous.

This particular set of emotions was likely to have some interesting consequences in this place, Korra mused. She smiled to herself, studiously not looking around to see what the flitting spirits here and there may or may not be up to in response to that line of thought.


Korra heard Asami returning. She looked to her excitedly, anxious to lay eyes on her again… and was immediately dumbfounded. Asami was returning alright, having removed a lot more than just makeup. She was striding toward her, her backpack carried to the side, wearing a revealing red two-piece swimsuit with black strings and trim. "Hey! I'm back! I thought it'd be fun to just jump right in for a swim, see if this pool is as nice as it looks. Wanna join me?"

Korra said nothing at first, rendered mute by the lithe figure gliding toward her. Her hair was unbound, cascading luxuriously over her shoulders, dancing in the light breeze. The moonlit night imparted an almost spectral beauty to her complexion. Core muscles undulated under pale skin with her motions, hinting subtly at their presence with the soft lines and shadows of her contours. Long legs, toned and graceful in stride, transitioned sinuously to rounded hip, slender waist, shapely chest and shoulders. Her body was simply stunning.

Asami smiled at her as she came to a stop, clearly pleased with the reaction she was getting. "Korra. Hellooo… swim?"

Korra struggled away from her ogling to manage some form of reply. "S… sorry. I was just realizing that I've never… seen that much of your skin at once before. It's… nice."

Asami laughed. "Hm. Well, thanks, I guess. You're… nice, too. But you haven't answered my question." Asami dropped her backpack, took a few running steps, and dove gracefully into the silvery pool, producing almost no splash as she broke through the surface. She emerged with a sharp intake of air, tossing her glistening black hair over her head, an expression of shocked wonderment on her face. "Oooh, wow. The water's amazing! Korra, you've got to get in here! Are you gonna come join me, or not?!"

Korra was struggling to take it all in. This scene, the sounds of the night and the cascading waterfalls, the glowing plants and spirits all around them, this unearthly pool, and the woman she had just fallen in love with, scantily clad, beckoning her to join for a swim. It was unreal! After a moment, speech caught up with her again. "Wha? Oh! Swimming! Yeah! I am so on board with that! Except… I didn't think to bring a bathing suit with me… "

Asami had found a shallower portion of the pool, no longer treading water, though still submerged to her shoulders. "Hmm. That is a problem," she replied, tapping her lips, a devilish grin forming on her face. "Well. It is just the two of us. I guess we don't really need swimming suits at all. Do we?"

Korra flushed brightly, eyes downcast, grinning at Asami's sudden and really arousing forwardness. "I… I guess not… it is just us, after all… " Though she had spoken her agreement to the provocative idea, she still felt frozen in place, unable to make her body comply.

Asami took the reins again. "Okay, scaredy-catrabbit, it was my idea, so I'll go first. But then it's your turn. Fair's fair, right?" Her arms folded behind her, working on the clasp on her top, and after a moment she produced it over her head, spinning it on her finger, then flinging it off to the side, out of the pool. Her eyes never left Korra's. Korra could not see the newly unveiled flesh at this distance, the water's surface a shimmering reflection of the moonlit sky and glowing flowers overhead. But the desire to see that flesh was a buzz in the background. This tantalizing show Asami was putting on was beyond compelling. Asami took a deep breath, disappeared under the water's surface for a few moments, then emerged with a sharp exhale, flinging her wet hair back and meeting Korra's gaze again with a decidedly sinister smile. She raised her arm, the bottom half of her swimming suit spinning on her finger. She tossed it to the side. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it? Now it's your turn!"

Korra was wide-eyed, a big crooked smile on her face, utterly absorbed in Asami's sultry display. She was so drawn in that it took a moment to realize it was her turn. Upon snapping back into herself, she scratched the back of her head with one hand, trying to work up the courage to fulfill her end of their bargain. "Well… fair's fair I guess. But you gotta cover your eyes first!"

"That's no fun," Asami said, protruding her bottom lip playfully.

Korra laughed at the adorable expression. "You, got to hide in the water! And I'm embarrassed, okay? So don't look!" Korra said, drawing a circle on the stone with the toe of her boot. She produced her own signature pouty lip for added effect.

Asami grinned and rolled her eyes, sighing in feigned exasperation. "Okay, fine. I won't look." She made an exaggerated sweep of her arms, placing her fingers over her eyes. "See? Not looking."

"Alright. Okay. I'm gonna get undressed now," Korra replied, more to confirm it with herself than anything else. She studied her clothes for a moment, then looked to Asami once more. "No peeking!"

"No peeking," Asami repeated, while quite possibly peeking.

Korra turned around grinning, soaking in the excitement of this sexy turn of events. She removed her waist pelt and arm bindings, then took a deep breath and quickly slipped out of her shirt and undergarment, her breasts exposed to the night air. She folded her arms over her naked chest and hesitated, looking over her shoulder. Asami was smiling, hands over her eyes, humming tunelessly. Korra bit her lip, willing herself into conviction, then quickly slipped out of her boots, britches and underpants. She turned slowly and stood there for a moment, bare as the day she was born, looking to the alluring beauty that had so easily coaxed her out of her clothes. Korra wasn't particularly experienced with being sexy or seductive, but Asami's teasing had emboldened her, and she was going to tease back! Steeling herself, she ran a few steps, and just as she leapt she shouted "You can look now!" She arced gracefully through the air, folding into a straight-legged front flip at the apex. A burst of airbending and her body whipped through the motion several times over, spinning her into a perfect dive, as she bent a small funnel of water to meet her for an extra touch of flair.

She plunged into the depths of the pool, the sudden envelopment of her body an exquisite rush. The water felt incredible. She could feel the flows from the separate springs swirling around her, hot mixing through cool. It was exhilarating. She broke the surface, perhaps a bit more than modesty demanded, and gasped. She was now naked, in the water, with Asami. Naked Asami.

Asami was looking at her with a wry grin. "You are such a showoff."

"You love it," Korra grinned.

"You have no idea… " Asami replied.

They played in the water, laughing, splashing, flirting. Korra showed off with some particularly flashy and intricate water bending techniques, inspired by the lended strength of the night and full moon. Occasional glimpses of their nakedness escaped the mirror of the water's surface now and again, heightening the slow build of tension.

Asami had begun to inquire in wonderment about the markings on Korra's back. Korra had forgotten about that. She couldn't really see it unless checking it out in a mirror, so she hadn't really given it a whole lot of thought in a while. Spirits left a mark on you when they entered your body. This was what had happened when Raava had re-fused with her. White markings reminiscent of the shape of Raava's physical manifestation covered her back, contrasting with her darker water tribe complexion. Considering she had a memory of a man who had halfway become a tree, this was a pretty fortunate outcome from their fusion! A lot of the people that had helped her when she was incapacitated had certainly seen it, though she'd never shown it off to any of her closer friends before, afraid it might freak them out. Privately she thought it looked pretty neat. Asami appeared to agree. A lot.

Their water sport drew them in closer to one another. Asami was intent on studying Korra's markings further, not able to see much through the reflective water surface except the parts that were on her upper back. At Asami's insistence to see it in better detail, Korra had another sexy inspiration. She turned her back, moved through a form and extended her arms to part the water to just below the small of her back, so that Asami could see the markings in full. Perhaps a little lower than strictly necessary, just because. She looked over her shoulder with a cocky expression, delighting in her own boldness. Asami unexpectedly stepped into the parted water. Korra glimpsed her nakedness from the corner of her eye, sending a spike of arousal through her body. Asami began tracing lightly along the patterns with her finger. "Korra, it's… beautiful… " The glimpse of Asami's nudity, the tickling sensation of Asami's fingers tracing her back, the obvious appreciation in her voice; it was all a little too distracting for water bending! The gap she had created closed in with a rush around them. Asami squeaked and flung her arms around Korra's shoulders.

"How do you expect me to waterbend with you all poking me and stuff!" she giggled, turning around in Asami's arms to face her. Bare skin slid over bare skin. Their eyes locked. A lump formed in Korra's throat. In a matter of seconds, the energy between them transformed from flirtatious mirth to distilled sexual tension. Their breathing became heavier. Asami's fingers lightly swept her ebony hair away from her cheek. Her eyes were a burning question.

Korra slid her arms under Asami's, moving in closer, slowly, feeling Asami's breasts and belly in contact with her own. She felt concentrated pulses of excitement surging from her core, radiating through her thumping chest, through her limbs, urgency building between her legs. Asami's breath was warm on her face. She was trembling. She was beautiful. Korra closed in and kissed Asami's lips softly, feeling their warmth, their wetness, then parted from her, staring her answer back at Asami. Seconds passed, the fire in Asami's eyes transforming from question into unfettered need, and she swept in, closing the gap hungrily. Korra opened into her kiss with a moan, desperately, deeply, tasting her, wanting her, hungry for her tongue, her flesh, all of her. One trembling hand laced fingers through Asami's hair, the other slipped to the small of her back, securing her nakedness firmly to her own. Asami's thigh pressed, begging entry between Korra's legs, as they plunged from the heights of burgeoning tension into wide open abandon.