This chapter has literally nothing to do with Mako.
ATTENTION! the following chapter contains traces of Korrasami. If you do not ship Korrasami but wish to continue reading, you are not allowed to lose your sh*t in the comments. This is a hater free zone. You have been warned.
To the reader who wanted to know why Asami didn't try to contact Mako sooner, and again to the reader wondering how Korra could go from being with Asami to loving Mako.
Asami knew she was pestering Lin Beifong, but she didn't care.
Every day for the past week Asami had stopped by the police station asking if the chief had received any word on Mako.
"Like clockwork," Lin muttered when she saw the heiress approaching her in the hallway. She waved off the officer she had been talking to and turned to face the frenzied young woman.
"Any news?" To any other person, Asami would appear every bit the calm, levelheaded engineer that she usually was. But Lin saw right through her. Her eyes were wild, her skin was ashy, and her lips were swollen like she had bit through them. Her fingernails looked like she had been gnawing at them all week, and her voice quivered just the tiniest bit.
When Lin shook her head, Asami collapsed onto one of the benches lining the wall and wrapped her arms around herself. Tiny sobs escaped her.
Lin was at a loss. Emotions and comfort were not her strong point. She awkwardly patted the young woman's head.
"Are you going to be okay?" Asami shook her head no. Not wanting to leave her crying in the hallway, Lin grabbed Asami's elbow and lead her to her office. She closed the door and sat Asami down in the chair across from the desk. Lin sat in her own chair and folded her hands under her chin, waiting for the heiress to collect herself.
"Sorry," Asami sniffled. "I'm a wreck, I know." Lin handed her a handkerchief. Asami accepted it and delicately dapped her eyes. She rested her hands in her lap and sighed, looking down. "This is my fault."
Lin clicked her tongue. She was tired of everyone else claiming responsibility for Mako's disappearance. "How is this your fault?"
"I should have reached out to him sooner, but I was too busy being the 'Fixer of Republic City'. I got so absorbed in my own little world, I forgot that there were people who needed rebuilding too." She brought the handkerchief up to wipe away a single tear. "Everyone's gone, and it's all because of me."
"Don't take the blame for Mako being a knucklehead," Lin said gruffly. "Besides, Bolin never dropped him a letter either, and he's Mako's brother."
"But I was right here!" Asami wailed. She didn't care that she was acting like a child in front of the chief of police. "I could have called, or stopped by the office. Something. Mako probably left because he feels like he isn't needed or wanted anymore. All of this could have been avoided if I had–"
"Enough," Lin was done with the pity party. "If Mako ran away to get our attention, he's got it now. We will get answers out of him when we drag his sorry behind back to Republic City. Now until we actually hear something, I want you to go home and focus on rebuilding this city. Have I made myself clear?" Asami clamped her lips shut and nodded. She wiped the mascara from her face, straightened her jacket, then quickly exited the chiefs' office with her head up.
….
On her way to where she parked her Sato-Mobile, Asami passed a newsstand. She always liked to keep herself informed as to what was going on in the Earth Kingdom, but lately she had been buying the Fire Nation papers. She picked up a copy, glancing at the cover story absentmindedly while fishing for her wallet.
GANG ACTIVITY ON THE RISE
Asami's eyes widened. She threw a wad of Yuans at the vendor and dashed to her car. She didn't know why, but something told her Korra needed to know about this.
The ship docked just before nightfall. Korra hugged Bolin goodbye.
"Good luck with your search."
"Good luck with your...basic military training?" honestly, she didn't know how else to put it.
"Thanks!" Bolin beamed. He was so proud of himself for this accomplishment, and Korra was too. Bolin was dedicated to helping others. Korra just hoped that his brother was still walking the straight and narrow.
The port city of Omizu-Okuri was a more luxurious version of Republic City. Every surface was reflective. The streets were litter free. Buildings were built out of deep red bricks or rich wood. All of the people were dressed to the nines. Sato-Mobiles were much longer here than they were back home. Korra ducked into an impressive looking hotel.
"Is there a phone I could use?" she asked the woman working at the concierge desk. The woman paused for a moment before a bright smile was plastered across her face. She pulled a key off of its hook on the wall behind her.
"I'm sure the Avatar would much prefer to make a call from the privacy of a room, no?" she handed Korra the key and pointed down the hall. "Let me know if there is anything else we can do for you, Avatar Korra," she called.
"This is going to get old fast." Maybe Bolin's disguise idea wasn't too far off.
…
"Republic City Dispatch, where can I direct your call?"
"Sato Manner."
"Hold on a moment." Korra waited to hear Asami's voice.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's me."
"Korra! It's so good to hear from you," she could hear the relief in Asami's voice.
"I just got in to the Fire Nation. Bolin is continuing on to the Capitol."
"How is Bolin doing?"
"He's fine, he's doing okay,"
There was a pause on Asami's end. "How are you doing Korra?"
"I'm great," Korra said with a little too much enthusiasm, "Anything happening on your end?"
"No, nothing here. How about you? Made any breakthroughs with your energy sensing?" Korra hesitated.
"I can tell you anything right?"
"Of course," the older girl replied. "What is it?"
"There has been-" Korra didn't know how to phrase it, "a development, of sorts."
"What do you mean?" Asami asked anxiously.
"Weeeeell," Korra exaggerated the word, buying herself some time to think.
"Spit it out Korra," Asami said dryly.
Korra exhaled. "It's about Mako...and me."
"Oh?"
"It has recently been brought to my attention that he and I are more connected than either of us knew."
"Yeah and?" Asami had to drag the information out of Korra.
"And I guess what I'm trying to say is," Korra took a deep breath, "Weresoulmates," she mumbled.
"Sorry what?"
"We're soul mates." Korra repeated slowly. There was silence on the other side of the line. "Hello? Asami, you still there?"
"Yeah…I just…wow. That's…quite the revelation," she said in a flat voice.
"I didn't come up with it on my own. Iroh helped me figure it out."
"Iroh? Fat man, full of wisdom, loves tea, that Iroh?"
"Yeah, that's the one."
"Well, I guess I can't argue with that."
"He said that not all soul mates are romantic. That lovers come and go, but the Avatar needs someone who means more to them than that."
"And that's Mako?"
"Yes," Korra rubbed her face. "I'm sorry if this hurts you in any way."
"No. It's strange, but in a way I understand." Asami reassured her.
"I don't," Korra muttered.
Asami's voice softened. "Think about it. Really think. What does your heart tell you?"
"That relationships are complicated and things were better off when it was just me and Naga."
Asami laughed at that. "What else does it tell you?" she prompted, though she already knew the answer. "Come on Korra. Mako offers something no one else can give you. Our brief, what-ever-it-was was nice, and it served its purpose. Everyone knows that the Avatar only falls in love once. You might be interested in other people, but in the end, you're going to end up with who ever it is you were meant to be with. Whether it's me, or Mako, or someone else down the line. "
Korra sighed. "Your right."
"Of course I am," Asami joked. She quickly changed the subject. "Hey, before I forget, I was reading the international news and I saw something about gang activity increasing in the Fire Nation. I don't know if that has anything to do with the Mako situation, but you should still check it out while you're there."
"Okay," Korra nodded. She was about to hang up, but she needed to confirm one thing to put her mind at ease. "Asami?"
"Yeah?"
"Still friends?"
"Practically sisters."
If you love someone, let them go.
A/N: so, I said I wouldn't confirm or deny Korrasami, but I kind of just...did. I'ts so hard to avoid. Literally, it's everywhere! In all honesty, this chapter really does not develop the story too much, but it's nice that Asami is still involved. My co-author suggested I bring Asami back into the story. She might keep popping in and out, but the main players here are really going to be Mako, Korra, Bolin, and any other original characters I think of later. (Brief appearances by Lin perhaps!)
And since I dropped the soul mates bomb on you guys I think I should clarify: the love Korra feels for each person in her life is different. She might love Asami, but be connected to Mako on a deeper level and vise versa. Romantic or platonic, totally up to you. I don't want to offend anybody and bash their ship.
P.S. Omizu-Okuri is Japanese for water-carrying
Love each other. Respect all life. And don't run with your spears.
Emmy