CHAPTER IX: PREPARATION
"Let's assume that this plan will work," Korra said, "and we do manage to get away from Republic City in secret. Even then, Tenora will think we're still here on the island, and he may attack again!" This new plan, the idea of smuggling Korra and Asami out of the City, did not seem logical to Korra. She wasn't willing to let her friends protect her, at least not like this.
"I agree," Asami added. "I don't want…to put you all in harm's way. If Tenora…does attack again while we're gone…" She didn't finish that sentence, as they all could tell what she meant. If Tenora, or more of his lackeys, assaulted Air Temple Island again and they weren't here, he may lash out at whoever is. Neither Korra nor Asami wanted to place Tenzin's family or the new airbenders in that position.
Tenzin stood up now, and he gestured at Lin and the metalbenders. "I understand you may not want to leave, but you haven't heard the whole plan yet. Lin?" he said, letting the Chief of Police have the floor.
Lin picked up where he left off. "I've contacted my sister, and she and her Metal Clan have agreed to lend their 'expertise' in this matter." Korra remembered how Lin had mentioned that her sister, Su Beifong, had once associated with petty criminals in her youth. She assumed that that was what Lin was referring to. "Su and her metalbenders should arrive by this evening, though they'll stay on the outskirts of the City for now. Under the cover of night, they'll meet us here on the island and take you two with them. They'll also leave a fair number of extra security to stay here on the island." Lin then indicated her own metalbenders. "While you two are gone, Tenzin and Pema have agreed to house my three Metal Teams here as well, and together with Su's forces we'll make a temporary base of operations here until this whole Tenora case gets resolved. If Tenora does attack again, we'll be more than ready."
Now it was Meelo's turn to speak up. "Yeah, we'll be ready!" he said, banging his fist on the table.
Pema stood up, blushing at her child's interruption, and she came over and led him and Ikki outside, much to their own dismay. Both kids protested, but Pema shushed them, and that was that.
Something still bothered Korra about this plan, though she couldn't say what. Tenzin and Lin seemed to have thought of everything already: they were to be smuggled out in secret and both Beifong's Metal Teams will stay here and protect the island, so it all sounded reasonable. But it felt almost cowardly to Korra, and she didn't like it one bit.
"Why don't we just stay and have your Metal Teams come here?" Korra asked Lin. "That way, if Tenora comes back I…" She clamped her mouth shut. Korra had wanted to say 'if Tenora comes back I can fight him,' but she realized that that wasn't an option. She really did hate being stuck in this wheelchair.
Tenzin's brow furrowed, and he caught on to what Korra had wanted to say. "Korra, I know it's not like you to run from a fight, but neither of you are in any condition to stay here." Now Tenzin looked at Asami. "Miss Sato, we have reason to believe that Tenora needs you alive, though for what, we don't know yet. He has attacked Air Temple Island twice to get to you. Whatever his plan is, he needs you. That's why we're doing this."
Asami remembered Tenora's words: You have something that I require, Miss Sato…And you're going to tell me where to find it. Asami still had no clue what he wanted. She had racked her brain over and over, but the fact was that if Asami had access to something, Tenora did too. After all, he was the vice president of her company. She couldn't fathom what he needed her for, but it still gave her chills. Tenzin was right. Whatever it was, it was bound to be bad.
"Where will we go?" Asami asked Tenzin.
Kya turned around in her chair to look at Asami and Korra. "We're sending you two to the Southern Water Tribe, to be treated by our mother. While you're there recovering, hopefully we can resolve this Tenora issue."
Korra perked up at Kya's words. She loved Katara, and she wondered why they hadn't sent her there to be healed before now. Although, her injuries had been rather extensive up until now, so she supposed it made sense. She also couldn't wait to see her polar bear-dog, Naga.
Korra also felt a sudden wave of anxiety rush through her body. Going to the South Pole meant going home. She was going to see her parents again. Korra hadn't seen them in quite some time, and the anxiety she felt was because she was going home with Asami. As Korra had explained to Pema earlier, she'd never dated anyone during her life in the Southern Water Tribe, which also meant her parents didn't know about her bisexual orientation. Hopefully that conversation would go over as well as it had with Pema. Korra couldn't think of any reason why her parents wouldn't welcome Asami, but she still felt a deep anxiety that wouldn't go away. It was like the panic she had felt after Pema had walked in on her kissing Asami: it swept over her and temporarily blocked out everything else, and she suddenly felt cold.
Korra didn't hear whatever was said for several moments. Her mind was turning at the speed of light as she imagined every possible scenario. In Korra's mind, she saw really only three paths this future conversation could take. The first one was positive, with her parents wholeheartedly accepting her and Asami. In truth, she thought that this would most likely happen, but the other two options reared their ugly heads in her brain.
The second path consisted of what would happen if Korra's parents didn't accept her newly-revealed feelings for Asami. Korra imagined this scene as if it was happening right in front of her. She saw her mother's stricken expression as Korra tried to relate her feelings for Asami, followed by her father's raised voice denouncing the whole thing. She saw herself crying, yelling at them to try to understand, to see things from her point of view. Korra realized that this catastrophe was so far away from reality, as her parents had always supported her in whatever she chose to do. But it hurt her soul to even think that this might happen, despite the very high improbability of it.
The third route that this conversation could take was more ambiguous than the other two. Here, Korra imagined her parents simply being confused about it. This created a situation where Korra was made to feel embarrassed about her feelings for Asami, and consequently she drew further and further away from her parents. In some ways, this scenario was worse than the previous one, but it made Korra question, if only for an instant, if she actually was embarrassed.
Was she embarrassed about liking Asami, about liking other girls? She didn't think she was, as her talk with Pema had given Korra a much-needed boost in self-confidence. But the mere thought about telling her parents had caused a wave of anxiety to whirl through her. Korra thought she heard her name being called, and she was abruptly brought back to the present.
She felt Asami's grip on her hand tighten for a second. "Korra?" Asami said.
Korra's eyes refocused as her train of thought slipped away. "Huh?" she said, looking around crazily for a second.
While Korra had been thinking, Kya had stood up and walked over to their table. Lin and the metalbenders had also left the room, and everyone else was beginning to get up from their breakfast. Korra guessed that the meeting was over, and apparently Kya had been saying something to her and Asami.
Kya resumed her speech. "Give me another half-hour, and I'll have the water all set up." With that, she turned and left the dining room.
Korra turned to Asami. "What was she saying?"
"Are you…feeling OK, Korra? You…look a little…pale." Asami's face took on a slightly worried expression, and she reached up to feel one of Korra's cheeks.
Asami's hand was warm, and Korra's skin rippled with sensation at her touch. She reached up to hold Asami's hand against her for a moment longer, savoring the warmth.
"I'm fine," Korra said at first, but then she back-tracked a little. She figured that if she wanted this to work with Asami (and she really did), she might as well tell her what was bothering her. Before now, Korra had come to rely on Asami when she needed to get something off her chest, and she wanted to sustain that tradition into this new relationship.
"Actually," Korra said to Asami, keeping her voice a little lower, "can we talk?"
"Of course. Want to now?" she asked, nodding her head at the door to indicate leaving the dining room.
"Yeah," Korra said.
Korra wheeled herself back away from the table, and Asami stood up, being careful to keep her neck and chest level. They thanked Pema again for their breakfast and quietly left the dining room.
As they made their way toward their room again, Korra tried going over what she wanted to say in her head. How should she tell Asami that she was afraid of what her parents would think? There really wasn't any way to say it that Korra could think of that would make her sound less silly. Also, she didn't want to hurt Asami somehow. They had only just managed to relate their feelings to each other, after all, and Korra didn't want her parental anxiety to come off as being embarrassed of Asami.
Korra decided silently to be resolute. She wasn't embarrassed that she liked Asami. She would just tell Asami what was on her mind and hope for the best. Korra was certain she would understand, anyway.
When they reached their room, Asami again held the door open for her and Korra wheeled through. She came to a stop at the foot of one of the beds, and she lunged up and out of her chair to sit on the edge of the bed, using her hands to steady herself. Asami closed the door and walked over to sit next to her, pushing a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. That little motion distracted Korra for a second: she loved when Asami did that.
"So," Asami said. "What did you…want to talk about?"
Korra sighed, still not sure where or how to begin. She leaned back on the bed, propping herself up with her arms. One of her hands landed next to Asami's, and she began to absent-mindedly stroke Asami's knuckles with her thumb.
"Well," Korra started, "they want us to go to the Southern Water Tribe…" She wasn't looking up at Asami, but was instead watching her thumb as it went back and forth across her knuckles.
"Yeah, to see…Katara. For her healing," Asami replied. Even Asami had heard about Katara's special talent for healing, mostly from Korra herself. Asami suddenly remembered that Korra was from the Southern Water Tribe. "Will your parents be there?" she asked Korra before she could stop herself.
Korra must've winced slightly at the mention of her parents, because Asami suddenly understood what was bothering her. Or at least Korra reckoned that she did, because Asami's face suddenly took on an 'aha!' expression, though it wasn't as dramatic as that.
Asami spoke gently. "I'm guessing…your parents don't know?" When Korra just shook her head without saying anything, Asami understood. She held Korra's hand with both of hers. "I get it, Korra. Really…I do."
Korra looked up at her. Pema's kindness had been one thing, but what she saw in Asami's eyes now was wholly different. In her eyes, Korra saw not just kindness, love, or understanding, although those things were definitely there, but something else that seemed like it combined all three of those attributes to make something new. The sheer intensity of Asami's understanding made itself very clear to Korra in that moment, and she had done this just by looking at her.
Korra sighed again. "I just don't know what I'm going to say to them, other than the obvious." She looked again into the deepest part of Asami's twin emerald oceans, drawing strength and confidence from the beautiful woman sitting next to her. "I want them to understand. I'm almost sure they will, but…I don't know." She hesitated, then added, "I'm new at this, Asami."
Asami didn't immediately respond, and instead let go of Korra's hands to reach up and hug her. They sat like that for a second, and she whispered to Korra, "We'll figure…something out." Korra nodded her head in agreement against her shoulder, and Asami began to stroke her hair.
Korra suddenly felt very tired, perhaps because of the emotional hurricane in her mind that was centered on her parents, or perhaps because her stomach was full from breakfast. She slowly leaned toward the bed, gently taking Asami down with her until they were both lying down. They let each other go so that they could lie on their backs and look up at the ceiling, both of them lost in thought for a little while. Korra leaned her head onto Asami's shoulder and closed her eyes, still able to feel the warmth emanating from her skin. Asami then leaned over to her and rested her cheek on Korra's head, and they both drifted into sleep.
An hour later, their door suddenly flew open and an exasperated voice said, "Ugh, there you two are!"
Korra and Asami were still napping in the snuggle position that they had fallen asleep in, and Korra looked up to see who had come in.
Kya was standing there shaking her head with her hands on her hips, though she was smirking a little. "Come on, sleepyheads," she said, "I've been looking all over for you two. You wanna get healed, or not?"
Asami was awake now, and they both continued to lay there rubbing the sleepiness from their eyes. Korra had indeed forgotten about their healing session with Kya, though right now she'd much rather continue napping with Asami. They still hadn't said anything to Kya, and were groaning in place of answers.
Kya couldn't hide her smile now. "You two are unbelievable," she said with a sigh. "I'll be in the healing room when you're ready. And let's make it sometime this year, shall we?" She left the room, walking back towards the infirmary.
Korra and Asami both sighed almost simultaneously, and Korra sat up first. "Come on," she said to Asami, "I'll help you up."
Korra swung her own legs over the foot of the bed and eased over the side and into her wheelchair, then wheeled around to get Asami up. After they were both out of bed, they each gathered a change of clothes from the pile Pema had placed on the dresser last night. Asami also saw the letter that Pema had brought her, and she noticed that it was the one she'd received from FlameCo the other day. Asami hadn't opened it yet, and she put it back on the dresser. She would read it after their healing session.
They needed a change of clothes because they were to undress down to their undergarments during their healing, much like swimming in an actual pool. And also because they were both still wearing pajamas, as they hadn't changed when they had awoke this morning.
As they made their way past the other rooms in the living quarters and made a left towards the infirmary, Korra wondered if this particular healing session was going to end as abruptly and violently as the last one. She sorely hoped not, and she looked up at Asami walking next to her, who looked back down at Korra. Judging by Asami's facial expression, Korra figured that she'd been thinking the same thing.
Korra also wondered, as she had done so many times before, if this session would be the one to fully restore the use of her legs. She so desperately wanted to walk again, to run again, without having to rely on anyone or anything. Meelo had been right: Korra had been in this wheelchair for an awfully long time, and frankly she was tired of using it.
Despite how much she detested this wheelchair, that feeling paled in comparison to how much she missed her bending. Zaheer's poison had somehow damaged her Avatar spirit during the time it had run its course through her body, the result of which had left her powerless. Her muscles weren't alone in their near-uselessness, as she had managed to bend only once since Su Beifong had extracted the poison from her system. And even that had been in a time of great need, when Asami was getting beaten by those thugs. Korra had previously asked her healers (though she now questioned their diagnosis) and Su if perhaps not all of the poison was out, though Su assured her that it was. That metal poison had just cut her deep, right down to her soul, and it was going to take a while to properly heal. Korra had long ago stopped hoping for every healing session to be the healing session, the one that would restore her bending.
Looking up at Asami next to her, though, it was hard not to have hope.
They arrived at the healing room's sliding doors, and Korra braced herself for an instant as Asami opened them. The last time Korra had opened these doors, she had seen Tenora bloodbending Asami, and she was very thankful when all she saw this time was Kya waiting for them on a bench, arms folded.
"Well, it's about time," she said to them, though her tone was more teasing than scolding. Kya pointed to a standing screen in a corner of the room. "Let's get you two undressed, then we can start."
Korra and Asami walked over to the screen, and Korra was about to follow Asami behind it to help her undress (she still couldn't quite lift her arms over her head to get her shirt off) when Kya laid a hand on her shoulder.
"I got this, honey," she said to Korra. Asami gave Korra a little nod, then went behind the screen with Kya.
Korra pouted a little, though only for an instant. She had wanted to help Asami undress.
She decided to undress herself out here while they were behind the screen, starting with her pajama shirt. It was a long-sleeved shirt, and she unbuttoned it and pulled her arms out, shivering a little as the air touched her bare arms and stomach. Next Korra untied the waistband of her pajama pants, reaching down to grip the hem and tug the pants loose from her legs. She made a little jump in her wheelchair to get the pants from under her bottom, and she discarded both the shirt and pants next to the screen. She was now undressed enough, wearing only her bra and some thigh-length briefs, and she rolled her chair over to the side of the healing-pool.
Asami and Kya came back from behind the screen, with Asami just as undressed as Korra was. They locked eyes for a moment and both blushed slightly, but Kya didn't notice. Korra noticed that Kya had also taken Asami's bandages off, which revealed the extent of her injuries. Most of Asami's ribcage was a semi-dark yellowish color, and there was quite a bit of dark bruising around the base of her neck. Korra winced a little when she saw it, as this was the first time she'd seen Asami without the bandages.
Kya helped Asami into the water first, then came over to Korra and helped her up out of the chair and into the pool, where she sat next to Asami. They were up to their necks in the water, and Korra noticed that it had been warmed up for them. It felt good to just sit in it, even though the healing hadn't started yet.
"Alright," Kya said. "You two just relax, and I'll see if I can't make you a little better." Korra thought Kya was selling herself a little short, as she really was a very talented healer.
Kya stood back behind them and started waterbending the healing-water, causing an artificial tide to sweep back and forth across Korra and Asami. The water also began to glow slightly, filling the whole room with a calming blue light. Korra began to feel the soothing euphoria that normally accompanied waterbending healing, and her eyelids soon became very heavy. She scooted over closer to Asami and laid her head on her shoulder, and also laced her fingers through Asami's under the water, taking hold of her hand.
Asami leaned her head against Korra's as well, and they fell asleep like this once again.
Kya continued to bend the healing-water back and forth across the two injured women after they'd fallen asleep. Physically speaking, Asami's injuries were more serious than Korra's at this point. When Kya closed her eyes and concentrated, she could see what the water could feel. She saw brief glimpses into the anatomy of each girl. It wasn't like looking into a carcass, though. It was more akin to an understanding of how their bodies worked and felt than it was to an actual image of their insides. When she was healing, Kya felt a strange connection to her patients. She didn't know how to explain it.
She could almost see the broken bones inside Asami's body. The bottom two rows of Asami's ribcage were broken, each one of them. Her collar bone had taken severe damage as well. It was a wonder that Asami didn't whimper in pain all day, though Kya had heard her shortness of breath when Asami spoke. Again, Kya wished that she was Katara, and she was glad that these two would soon be treated by her legendary mother.
As she continued flowing her tide of healing-water, Kya felt a strange presence inside Korra. She'd noticed this when she had been healing these two the other day, but at the time she'd been more worried about helping Korra and Asami regain consciousness. Now that they weren't in any immediate danger, she honed in on this weird aspect of Korra's body.
Kya couldn't see or feel exactly what it was, but through her connection with the water she began to get an idea. Korra's entire musculature, while well-toned and seemingly strong, was been inhibited by a strange force that Kya couldn't quite trace. She pushed the tide of water back across Korra, renewing her insight into the poor girl's injuries. There, she saw it. Kya charged the healing-water with a slight increase of energy to match the two girls' heartbeats, and she was shocked at what she sensed.
Inside Korra's muscles, throughout her entire body, was a substance that Kya didn't recognize. It was so prevalent inside Korra that it was no wonder Kya hadn't noticed it before: it was everywhere. It pervaded every aspect of the young woman, though it was concentrated most heavily in her legs. Kya pulled the tide back and surged it forward again to make sure she wasn't imagining things. Sure enough, now that she'd seen it she couldn't ignore it. It was like someone had dipped Korra into a vat of muscle-inhibitors, and her body had absorbed them like a sponge. This substance wasn't necessarily destroying the girl's muscles, but it was somehow preventing them from receiving the full benefit of Kya's healing.
When a waterbender is healing someone, especially like now when the patient is fully submerged, they have some control over the person's internal systems. For example, the very rich and famous denizens of Republic City were notorious for drinking heavily all night, just to see a healer in the morning to purge all the alcohol out of them. An experienced healer can do that, though it was sometimes a dangerous process. If the healer wasn't careful, they could cause some serious internal injuries. Kya thought about kick-starting Korra's circulatory system to rapidly filter this substance out of her blood, but she just didn't want to risk it. She didn't see any immediate threat from this strange inhibitory material, other than reducing the effectiveness of her healing, so she decided against it. Kya would leave that to her mother.
Kya gasped aloud suddenly. She just remembered that Tenzin and Lin Beifong had actually uncovered this information just yesterday after they had interrogated Korra's previous healers. Their own leader had been one of Tenora's henchmen, and he had spiked his healing-water with some mystery drug at the bloodbender's command. Tenzin had said that he thought this was why Korra had been seeing little progress in her recovery, and it suddenly made sense to Kya. This drug had seeped its way into every limb and extremity of Korra's body, and somehow her body had wholly accepted it. Kya hoped that Katara would know what to do, because aside from an extreme amount of bloodletting, she didn't know how else to get this drug out of Korra.
Kya now turned her attention to Asami's nearly-broken form. The two girls had been asleep in the healing-pool for about forty minutes now, and Kya was getting tired herself. But she didn't want to stop, so she pushed her tide of water back across the two of them for perhaps the thousandth time. This back-and-forth motion of water was critical to swift healing.
Kya first focused on reducing the amount of bruising around Asami's neck and ribs, letting her water encompass the young woman's body with healing energy. The human body is a wondrous thing, Kya thought. With the proper care, a person's own body is sometimes the best healer there is. Waterbenders only speed up that process somewhat. However, the human body can also be stubborn at times. After discovering the drug inside Korra, Kya immediately recognized it inside Asami as well, though it was much less potent. Korra had been subjected to it for months, but Asami's body had accepted the substance just as readily as Korra's had.
Whatever it is, that drug is dangerous, Kya thought. Their bodies don't even know it's there. But this gave Kya an idea.
Since Asami had been given the drug only once, she wondered if she could at least purge it out of her, since it was too pervasive inside Korra. In Asami, this drug wasn't decreasing Kya's healing nearly as much as it was for Korra. For this reason, Kya decided to at least try.
She halted the motion of the tide, and instead gathered all the healing energy in the pool around Asami. The healing-water around Asami began to glow much brighter, coating the young woman's body with a thin layer of light. Kya closed her eyes again, and used the full extent of her waterbending prowess to give Asami's blood circulation a jolt of beneficial energy, causing her heart and liver to temporarily work in overdrive. Kya didn't want to do this for long, and she hoped it would work before causing any lasting damage. But if it got to that point, Kya would simply let go of the water, and it would end.
Asami's skin became flushed all over, as Kya's actions had caused her to breathe a little faster. Just a little longer, she thought. I can almost see it.
Her plan was to force the toxin to seep back into Asami's stomach, and then perhaps purge it from there. Slowly but surely, it started to work. Asami's blood flow had increased dramatically, and it gradually collected all of the drug from throughout her body. Now that it was pooled together more densely, Kya could sense that it was water-based, which meant two things. One, she could force it out of Asami by bending it. And two, Asami was about to get a rude awakening.
A few more seconds went by and Kya released her hold on Asami, as all of the mystery drug had now collected into Asami's stomach. She waited a little longer for the young woman to calm her breathing, and her skin gradually resumed its light complexion. Kya braced herself. She figured it might be best to do this while Asami was still asleep, that way her body couldn't react as quickly to what Kya was about to do. It's like ripping off a bandage, she told herself. Do it fast.
Kya spread her feet a little farther apart in a stable stance, and waterbended the toxin up out of Asami's stomach.
Asami's eyes flew open and she lurched forward, knocking Korra's head off of her shoulder. Korra also woke up at this, looking over at Asami, terrified.
"Asami!" Korra yelled, looking back at Kya. "What're you doing?!"
Kya grit her teeth, struggling to yank the substance out of Asami. "Relax—please, Korra."
Kya waved her arms in a fluid motion, then pushed her hands palm-out towards Asami. The heiress doubled over in the healing-pool and opened her mouth in a retching gesture. Korra yelped at the sight, and Kya pulled her hands back toward her body, miming a pulling motion.
Asami lifted her head in the air, and a thin stream of silvery liquid spewed from her mouth. It was out.
Kya gathered all of the toxin in the air, waterbending it into a sphere of silver fluid. She pulled it toward her, looking intently at it.
Asami was leaning over the side of the healing-pool, still dry-retching and coughing for breath. Korra had her arm around her, but she was giving Kya an angry look.
Kya sighed heavily. "Korra, don't look at me like that. Do you even know what this is?" she said, pointing at the floating silver sphere. It was no bigger than a marble.
Asami wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Is that…why that one healer's…water felt different?" Korra looked at the silver liquid, her arm still around Asami.
"Yes," Kya said. She gazed at it like a scientist, wondering what on earth it was made from. "Now that we have a sample…" she trailed off, as the sliding doors to the healing room opened suddenly.
It was Lin Beifong.
"I just got word from Su. They've arrived just outside the City."