Thank BG-13 who again practically wrote the ch

Asami's POV

I silently cursed. We had been so close to getting out of there. But of course the idiot had to open his mouth again. When I looked to Korra she was frozen, tense, fists clenched by her side. Her mother was a touchy subject; her whole home life was actually. Korra jerked out of my grasp and turned, swinging her fist. I actually 'felt'the force of the punch as it connects with the boy's jaw. He fell to the floor and I had to restrain Korra from finishing him off. She struggled against my hold, but I was stronger than I looked.

"Korra! Stop! He isn't worth it!" My tone was harsh and commanded to be heard over the crowd's urges for my friend to carry on.

After a moment of struggling she stilled, still glaring at the boy. With some hesitation I loosened my grip. She jerked and shoved me off of her, not hard to make me stumble but enough so that I wasn't holding her back. With one last glare at Tahno, she stormed off, grabbing and slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Running home to mommy?"

"Didn't you hear, boys? She don't have one!"

I almost thought Korra was going to turn around again, start another fight. But after a moment she just kept walking. I turned my attention back to the players. It made me sick, to listen to them as they taunted my friend. I almost thought Korra would have to hold me back. But instead, I sighed and sent an apologetic look to Mako before running after her.

When I found her again she was sitting against the wall of the concession stand, out of vow of the football field. Her face rested in her hands and she was shaking. At first I thought she was crying, which I hadn't seen her do in a very long time. I sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Her hands fisted against her face and she shrugged my arm off. I sighed. "Come on, Korra. Let's get you something to eat." At first she didn't move. Then she looked up to meet my gaze and I noticed that there were no tears. I was somewhat relieved and worried by this. Slowly she nodded her head and with a small 'yeah' from her we got up and walked to my car.

Mako's POV

"You have no idea how disappointed I am with every single one of you," I said as calmly as I could.

We were in the locker room. After the little incident, I had sent Tahno to the infirmary and his ass over here as soon as he was patched up. I wouldn't tolerate that kind of behavior. Korra was going to be part of this team, it was a set deal. Now just because she was a girl it didn't mean I'd take it easy on her, but I wasn't about to let anyone from my team humiliate a fellow teammate like today ever again.

"Korra is part of the team now and as a teammate you will respect her."

"That's bullshit Mako!" Tahno shot at me. "She hit me!"

"You messed with the wrong girl and paid the price," I shot back jabbing my finger at him. "Stop being such a little bitch about it and man up."

He stood.

"I didn't hit her back because she is a girl. Her job is to be in the sidelines cheerleading."

I narrowed my eyes at him and took a step forward.

"That girl is your teammate. Respect her," I said through my teeth. "As punishment, we are going to do a mile of bear-walks, bleachers and 300 sit-ups."

Everyone groaned.

"I could double it if you'd like. Now let's get to the field," I said. Everyone grabbed their gear and made their way outside. "And Tahno," I added. He turned to look at me. "Don't let it happen again. Or this team will have one less player."

Asami's POV

People often wondered why I was friends with someone like Korra. No one ever really asked but I could see the looks of disbelief every time I ditched them to hang out with her. The one person who did asked never asked again. Truth be told, I couldn't tell you what had compelled me to start up a conversation with the brunette all those years ago. Maybe it was the sense of loneliness that I felt coming off her. Maybe it was because I felt we at least had that in common. She had seemed so sad on that first day, and part of me had ached. Perhaps at first I was only being nice, polite like my mother had taught me to be. But after a couple of weeks I actually started to admire her impulsiveness and facade of bravado. Yes, I knew it was an act. Even back then.

Needless to say, we became friend rather quickly.

So as I say across from her in the cafe I tried to be patient. She would talk. It's how it always happened. "I didn't need you to do that," she started quietly.

I crossed my legs under the table and took on the persona of counselor. "Do what?"

"Restrain me. I could've handled him."

"I don't doubt that," I replied, taking a small sip of my soda. "But I wasn't about to let you kill him."

"I wouldn't have gone that far."

"Korra, I know you. You had that look on your face. You might not have killed him but you wouldn't have stopped till someone pulled you off. I wasn't about to let it get that far," I countered, my voice gentle and understanding. Korra didn't look up from her food, not having touched it yet. I knew what she was thinking. She had told me many times before that she didn't want to be the type that tried to fight her way through life. That was the day she had actually admitted to be jealous of how I handled things, of my control. How she was jealous of me. I could never understand why she felt that way.

"I hate my mom," she stated absently.

My expression softened. I knew what it was like to grow up without a mother. Mine had been murdered when I was about nine years old, when a thief broke into my home. Korra rarely talked about her mother. She had never met her, didn't even own a picture, but I knew she craved that relationship. "You don't hate your mom," I replied gently.

I saw Korra's face harden, her jaw clenching. "Yes, I do." There was enough venom in her voice to give a cobra a run for its money.

I sighed. I'd let her have her way for now. "Why then?"

"How could anyone just…walk away like that," she said, her voice slightly cracking. "How could someone leave thier kid behind as if she were nothing?"

"You don't know your mother's motives for leaving."

"It doesn't excuse her."

"I know, Korra, but perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to judge her without knowing her side of the story."

She scoffed at that before looking away. Her tough facade coming back into play. "I don't want to know her side of the story," she whispered. I gave a sympathetic smile before scooting my chair next to hers and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. I expected her to shrug me off again but she didn't. Instead, she took me by surprise hugged me, tightening her grip around my neck. I smiled sadly before returning the gesture, letting her know that everything was going to be alright.

Letting her know that she was going to be alright.