Asami woke up first, which was usually the case, and quietly removed herself from the bed and tried not to disturb Korra.

Last night had been wonderful, but Asami found herself stuck in a bit of melancholy towards the end when they'd returned home to go to sleep. Korra was leaving today, a situation that was familiar to Asami, but for some reason she was having a harder time accepting it this time.

It felt like going through the motions when Korra woke up. They chatted idly as Korra packed her things for the trip. Asami did some paperwork as Korra sat on the upstairs balcony and did her stretching and meditation to make sure she was ready for anything that might come her way.

It was lucky that Korra was so focused on her mission because she didn't notice the way Asami's smile faltered or how her voice wasn't as bright as it usually was.

Just as Asami was about to take a shower and begin her own day, the doorbell rang throughout the house.

Before Asami could even react, Korra was in her face, kissing her with all she had.

When the kiss broke, Asami felt Korra's hands slipping out of her hair. She was breathless. "What…was that?"

Korra smiled. "I figured I wouldn't be able to do it with everyone here so…that was my goodbye kiss."

Goodbye. Asami hated that word.

Still, she smiled again.

"I see, well it was a very good kiss. Way to remind me what I'll be missing tonight." Asami teased as they heard one of the house staff open the front door downstairs. "You listen to me. You be careful, okay? I mean it. No risks, no fighting unless you absolutely have to. Find out what's going on and come home. Okay?"

"I'll be careful, I promise but…you know I'll do what I have to if they're hurting people." Korra's voice carried a more serious, unarguable tone. It was her duty to protect people.

Asami nodded, her head downcast. "I know. I'll see you in two days." She said before chastely kissing Korra again just as the sounds of footsteps came closer.

By the time Opal, Mako and Bolin found them Korra and Asami were on opposite sides of the room as Korra picked up her glider and threw her pack over her shoulder.

"Hey, ready to go?" It was Mako who spoke first as he lead the group up the stairs. Bolin and Opal were right behind him hand in hand.

"Yep, do you know how to get there?" Asami asked.

"Opal does." Bolin answered proudly, making eyes at his girlfriend who sighed and smiled at him.

She glanced to Korra. "My mom was very insistent that we study all the kingdoms. So I know how to get just about everywhere."

"You're not coming, Asami?" Mako asked as Asami sat down at her kitchen table.

"I can't. I have a lot of stuff I need to catch up on at the factory. The board might remove me completely if I miss anymore time."

"But aren't you like…the boss?" Bolin asked, clearly confused.

Asami merely smiled. "Yeah, but it's more complicated than that. As the boss I need to be seen taking charge, doing things. I'd love to come, you have no idea how much, but I can't." As her sentence trailed off she turned her glance to Korra who was frowning a bit.

"We should probably head out. It's a pretty long trip." Opal said, glancing between Korra and Asami with a strange look.

Everyone hugged Asami goodbye and made their way downstairs. Korra had already given her goodbye kiss and didn't want to ruin that so she merely mouthed an 'I'll miss you' in Asami's direction and took note of the sadness in the girl's eyes as she left the mansion.

Asami went out to the balcony and watched them fly off. She watched for as long as she could.

She would miss Korra like crazy, but they were gone now and she couldn't wait around for two days doing nothing. She had to get her feet back on the ground here in Republic City.

First, she had to talk to someone.

—

Asami was never one for self-pity. The world was, and always would be, harsh. It was a fact she accept when she was a little girl and watched her mother get cut down by a fire bender. Even at the young age she was then, she fought like hell to pick herself back up and push forward. More so at least than her own father did.

Her dad worked hard, in fact, he buried himself in it, and for that Asami understood what it meant to be on her own from a very young age. Her dad probably wasn't around as much as he could have been. The staff of her home were always there but Asami never really wanted to depend on them much either.

Why spend time around people, learning to accept them in your everyday life when they were just going to leave you someday anyway?

That was the bitterness of her mother's death reaching out and effecting her everyday life. It took her a long time to push past that. To allow people into her life again.

Really, Mako was the first person she allowed herself to be close with.

She and her father got along well enough. He was a good father, she never questioned that. He was sweet and gave her the world. He supported her in anything she did and all Asami every wanted to do was create, just like him. She wanted to create and strived to find the ability to make something that couldn't be destroyed.

But the world was harsh, as she'd always known, and everything was built to someday be taken down.

Still, she pushed forward. Even when her father betrayed her, tried to kill her. Even when Mako chose Korra over her. Even when the spirit vines destroyed the city she grew up in. The city she loved.

She took the time to fix all that, rebuild it all over again. It was all she knew to do.

Asami saw it coming before Korra did. Because Asami always calculated the people she allowed into her life. Bolin and Mako were easy. She cared deeply for them but she didn't, necessarily, need them. She could go months, even years without seeing them and be okay in knowing that they were safe and happy. That was fine.

But as she grew closer and closer to Korra after harmonic convergence, Asami began to realize that she was struggling to make it through days without seeing the avatar.

It was a friendship at first, but Asami marveled at how quickly that all happened. They had fought together before certainly, but when things between Korra and Mako fell apart, Asami suddenly found herself with an avatar looking for a friend. And it only snowballed from there.

They fought together, worked together. Escaped the henchman of a crazy queen together. It felt like they were untouchable sometimes when they were together.

But then something happened, and Korra turned herself over to evil people bent on destroying the world.

Destroy, just like everything else in the world.

But this was different. Because they wanted Korra. Her friend Korra, the girl she'd become so close to. The girl she cared about so much. This sweet, amazing girl who fought so bravely and without question against anything that challenged the peace she worked to keep.

And they wanted to destroy her, just because she was the avatar. Not because they knew her, or she'd wronged them. No, because of something she couldn't control. Because of her destiny and her gifts.

For as long as she lived, Asami would never forget the sight of Korra lying on that rock after her fight with Zaheer. She looked so small and fragile. She was broken and for the longest time, stayed that way.

Asami clung to Korra after that. Every day she made it a point to take care of Korra. To help her through it all. To sit with her at night when she had nightmares and assist her in bathing and changing clothes.

It was more than friendship by then. Asami knew Korra thought herself a burden but it wasn't. Not to her. It was a privilege to be the one Korra allowed to help her. No one else could, nobody else even dared.

That was Asami's territory, and she liked that.

But then Korra left. Asami offered to go. She passed it off as a casual gesture but the truth was she was desperate to go. But Korra declined. Korra needed to figure it out on her own. Asami respected that. She was the same after her mother was taken from her.

That still didn't change the fact that Asami found herself alone, again.

It was a long time after her mother died before she let anyone else in. And now Korra was in. She was a part of Asami now. More important that probably anything else. Not that she really had much left.

The thought of losing Korra, as she had lost so much else, was the worst feeling imaginable.

So on the quiet walk from the dock towards Air Temple Island, Asami allowed herself a little pity. She was alone again, if only for two nights. And it was more daunting than she'd ever let anyone else know.

By the time she found Tenzin sitting in his kitchen drinking tea, all that pity and sadness was gone.

"Tenzin." She called, drawing his attention as he rose from his stool.

"Oh, Asami, it's great to see you. Would you care for some tea?"

Smiling, Asami pulled up a seat at the table. "Sure. Wait…" she stopped him, Tenzin's held the kettle over a cup and froze stiff at her words. "You don't put salt in it, do you?"

"What?" His brow furrowed tersely. "Why on earth would I do something like that?"

"Well…Korra does, I thought it might be something she picked up here."

"We are vegetarians not lunatics." He seemed a bit indignant as he poured her a cup and handed it to her.

Asami couldn't help but laugh. "Just Korra then. I love that girl but sometimes I think she was born on a different planet."

Tenzin flashed a slight smile. "Yes well the Southern Water tribe is a bit…" his voice trailed off and Asami stopped mid sip to see him staring at her wide eyed over her cup.

That's when her last sentence played back in her mind. Love. Dammit Sato, you're supposed to be the one who keeps it together!

"This tea is wonderful." She said, brushing aside any awkwardness and pretending to ignore whatever may linger.

It's in that moment that she genuinely appreciated Tenzin's ability to take conversational cues as he balked for only a minute before setting his cup down and refocusing.

"So, what brings you by this morning, Miss Sato."

Asami again smiled. "Actually, I was wondering what you knew about Victus Khan?"

"Oh yes, I imagine you deal him with quite often at your work." Tenzin sat back down in the chair he was in before she arrived. "He's a very well to do man, he's been hard at work putting Republic City back together and helping people get back on their feet."

Suddenly the tea doesn't taste as good. "So I've heard. I just…do we know anything about this guy? He comes out of nowhere with all this money and just…starts putting buildings and businesses back together?"

"You did once." Tenzin returned, making Asami frown. It's true, but everyone knew Future Industries. Well…everyone thought they did, before it was found out to be an Equalist supporting nuthouse.

"I'm just…worried. I think he might be in it for the wrong reasons."

"Those reasons being?"

Asami shrugged. "Fame? He seems very persistent on everyone knowing it was him who fixed everything. Even going as far to make sure no one knows what Future Industries is doing in it's own efforts."

Tenzin nodded, taking all the information in. He was good at that at least, seeing things from all angles.

However, when he rose from his chair and sat his empty cup on the table, she could see the sympathy in his eyes.

"Perhaps we've all just become a bit jaded, Miss Sato. Expecting the worst because we've seen so much of it?" Asami cast her eyes to her cup. She had honestly been wondering that herself. It was not pleasant to hear it from someone else. "Maybe we could find out more tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?" She asked, standing up as well.

"Khan is hosting a party to celebrate the reopening of the city's largest school. He's holding a silent auction to raise money and has even acquired the services of a fire bending, oh what's the word, magician I believe…"

Asami quirked her brow at the grin on Tenzin's face. How the hell did this Khan guy seem to lull everyone under his spell?

Still, it was the perfect opportunity to meet this guy and finally size him up. Like any respectable rival would.

"Okay, sounds like that might be fun. I'll have my people get a few spots for Future Industries at this opening."

"It's a shame Korra couldn't come." Tenzin said, almost as if he was baiting her.

Asami found herself chuckling. "Right. Korra's the most beautiful girl in the four kingdoms but getting her in a dress is like pulling—" she stopped mid word and saw Tenzin again giving her that look.

Standing up a bit straighter, Asami pushed her chair back to the table. "I should be going."

"Right." Tenzin responded quickly, his gaze still telling as ever.

"Thanks for the tea, and the advice."

A long pause loomed over them. Tenzin nodded.

"Right."

They both then turned on their heels and walked in opposite directions.