I am very sorry for all the code mishaps! I find myself triple checking and the code still shows up in the main story. Thank you for being awesome and sticking it through with me. Special shout out to all the commenters on this story for kindly pointing it out and not ripping my head off. You're the best.


"Korra!" Mako greeted her with a hug.

"Hi, Mako," she hugged him back.

"Hello, there! Prince Wu, rightful heir to the throne and this guy's boss. I bet he's told you a lot about me." Wu flexed his shapely eyebrows.

"Nope, not a thing." Korra said in minor disgust.

"Then, we have sooo much to talk about. You are going to love the food here. I know the chef personally. Let's start with a round of the spicy octopus fritters. And, keep the cucumber-aloe water flowing, gotta keep this princely skin hydrated."

"I thought it was just going to be the three of us," Asami angrily whispered to Mako as she saw Wu getting comfortable in the booth.

You had one job, Mako. One job. Asami fumed in her head.

"Sorry…I- uh, I couldn't ditch him, but he promised to be on his best behavior," Mako said sheepishly.

"Hey, pop into the Avatar state for me. I wanna see your eyes glow!" Wu said.

"What?! No!" Korra scowled.

"So… can you go into the Avatar state again? I was worried when you told me you couldn't," Asami pouted.

"Wait, when did she tell you she couldn't?" Mako shot questioning looks his two ex-girlfriends. "What's going on between you two?"

"I wrote to Asami when I was away… I told her not to tell you. I'm sorry." Korra said.

"Well, why didn't you write to me or Bolin?" Mako fumed.

"I don't know… I guess I didn't know what to say."

"A 'hello' would've been nice."

"Mako, if it makes you feel any better, she didn't write me either." Wu said.

"Why would she – never mind." Mako crossed his arms in frustration.

"I'm sorry, I didn't stay in touch, but I'm back now and I want to know everything that's going on with you two!" Korra said excitedly as she turned towards Asami.

"Well, I kind of have big news…" Asami took a deep breath. "I went to visit my father for the first time. He'd been writing me letters and…I guess I finally felt ready to forgive him."

"Are you sure you can trust him? He might just be manipulating you again."

"You think I don't know what my own father is capable of?!"

"No, I didn't mean—"

"You don't get to disappear for three years and act like you know what's best for me!"

"It's not like I planned to be gone for that long, I wanted to come back but I never felt ready until now."

"As much as I'm enjoying this little catch up," Wu slipped out of the booth. "My royal bladder is about to explode. Mako, come on, I need you to stand guard."

"I'm not going to hold your hand every time you need to empty your royal bladder. Go to the bathroom on your own for once." Mako said.

Wu frowned and said, "Fine…"

"Do you always go to the bathroom with him?" Korra asked Mako.

"I don't go with him, I just stand there in the general vicinity while he- I don't want to talk about it." Mako slumped further into the booth.

"I wonder what's taking Wu so long. He's not one to miss out on lunch. I'll go check up on him." Mako said with a hint of concern in his voice.

"I'm sorry Korra. I shouldn't have snapped at you. It's just been really hard for me to deal with this mess with my father," Asami said apologetically.

"No, you're right," Korra said. "I just really want to make sure you're going to be alright..." To hold or not to hold her hand? The struggle…

The desire to just lean into Korra and feel that she was really here, with her, was strong, but it did not seem like the right time. "Let's go check on Mako and Prince Wu," Asami said.

(Going along with the episode, Prince Wu gets kidnapped. Korra, Asami, and Mako rescue him just in time.)

Off the train tracks:

"Not exactly what I imagined for our first day together," Korra said.

"But it was kind of like old times, except for the getting on each other's nerves part." Asami said.

"Actually, that is like old times for me and Korra." Mako said, rather proudly.

Getting on each other's nerves is like old times? Asami looked at the former pair with disguised disdain. Geez, what kind of relationship did you two have? Anyway, Mako, you're going down like a game of Pai Sho. This is going to be easy. I'm not losing this one again. That pout in the restaurant was just the beginning. Asami thought to herself. She was also slightly irritated from dealing with Mako today.

"How are we going to get back?" Mako asked as he examined the deserted landscape.

"There! Let's climb that staircase to get back to the city," Korra directed.

As they climbed a weathered staircase on the side of the mountain, it started to rain. The handrail was made of wood and covered in splotches of moss.

"Ah, my hair! I got this permed this morning!" Prince Wu squealed. He grabbed onto Mako's arm, trying not to slip.

"Come on, it's just a little sprinkling of rain," Mako said,

However, the rain started pouring harder and harder, until it was hard to look up to the end of the staircase without getting your eyeballs pelted.

"Or not," Mako admitted.

"Guys!" Korra tried to shout above the howling wind and rain. She was in the last of group. "Hold on, I can make a shield."

They stopped in their steps as Korra ran up and water bent a giant air bubble. They walked up the stairs faster than before. Asami still managed to slip on the wet steps though. Korra caught her by the hand and pulled her back up.

"Thanks," Asami said gratefully.

"Anytime," Korra said sweetly.

Then, by some coincidence, Prince Wu slipped. Mako heard a splash and a thud. "Wu down! Wu dowwwwn!" Wu held onto his knee, intensely wincing.

"What? Where does it hurt?" Mako asked worriedly.

"My knee, my royal knee! Oh-hu-hu, I'm ruined!"

Korra rolled her eyes. With a wave of her hand, she sent a healing glob of water to Wu's knee for a couple seconds. Then, she flicked her hand again to remove the water and threw it over the stairs.

"Oh! I'm healed! I'm healed! Korra, you're an angel!" He said as he still sat on the floor. "You know, you're really good with your hands," he said flirtatiously, his hand imitating a pawing tiger.

"Get up," Korra commanded. "Let's go," she said moving past him as he got up on the steps.

Asami had an urge to step on his royal toes. She graciously stepped over him though.

When they reached the top of the steps, Mako asked, "So, any ideas for how we can get back to civilization?" They looked all around them, only a single narrow road, tall trees, and ominous thunderclouds that went on and on for miles.

Asami looked up to see if she could see any tracing of the sun through the clouds. "If I could just get a read on which way is West…"

Korra closed her eyes. She concentrated on her arm. Then, she shot a single blast of air through the bubble encasing them, the low lying clouds, and the clouds above, just enough for the sun to show its shadow.

Asami read from the shadow which way to go. "There's a train station down that way," Asami pointed. "We can manage to get there by foot in time for sunset."

"I don't see it," Mako said squinting hard.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Korra said sarcastically.

"You can't, it's hidden among the trees," Asami said as she started walking without Mako's validation.

As they walked in a single file line over the next five minutes, Wu started to get restless. "So, how about for some tunes? It'll be like we're on a wild camping trip!"

No response.

"Don't worry guys, I'll get Team Avatar out of the dumps in this rainy weather!" Wu started singing with much bravado, "Rain rain go away, come again-"

"Wu, can you please…!" Mako said agitated. "When you sing, the sound just echoes in this bubble!"

"Sorry, was that too high? My badger moles seem to enjoy it. Strange how you guys wouldn't like it. Badger moles are experts on pitch." Wu cleared his throat and sang an octave lower, "Raaaain raaaain go away come again another dayyyy! If you don't, I don't care, I'll get water benders to—"

"Oh, look!" Asami cut him off. "The rain is starting to stop." It was true. The loud pitter-patter of rain on the bubble around them started to subside. They could hear their footsteps again, and Wu's echoing voice was no longer ringing in their ears.

Korra popped the bubble, breathing a sigh of relief from housing that sound-magnifying bubble with Wu. She rubbed her ears vigorously. She shot Asami a thankful glance. Asami returned it. Korra spotted a train station a few hundred meters behind Asami.

"Hey, look! The train station Asami was talking about! Oh shoot, did anyone bring any money for the train?" Korra asked.

Mako flipped out his empty pockets, and he looked at Wu. Wu checked his pocket. "My coin purse must've rolled out while I was being kidnapped. Or the guards stole it. Good thing I only had 55,000 yuans on me," Wu said care freely.

"What?! Didn't I tell you to only bring 200 yuans with you when you leave the palace?' Mako scolded.

"Guys, it's okay," Asami interrupted. "I built this station, remember? There are some free perks to building the city's infrastructure." Asami said it as if constructing railway systems was an everyday thing.

The train reached a main station. The line they were on led to the Air Temple Island Ferry while the transfer line across the way led to Republic City Downtown.

"Well, this is our stop," Mako off-boarded with Wu who was still humming tunes to various songs. "Have a safe ride back, you two, together. Wait, I just mean you two are on the train together just not toget-or you-ergh, nevermind," he said as he pinched his nose for letting that one slip out.

The train door closed.

"Call me," Wu mouthed to Korra through the train door window.

Korra cringed and scowled at him. "Ugh, he just doesn't know when to stop," she commented to Asami.

Asami was giggling. "I'm not sure if I'm mainly laughing because of Mako or Wu, or it's both."

Korra looked at her and understood what she said. Korra burst into laughter. Asami's giggle erupted into laughter. They both laughed loudly as they stood by the train door. Korra had to hold onto her stomach since she was laughing so hard. After a while, Asami noticed the other train passengers looked uncomfortable, but she kept smiling and maintained her happy demeanor. "Oh my,'" she said wiping laughing tears from the corners of her eyes and catching her breath. "I think we're scaring the other passengers. We should go to the other train."

They crossed into another train car, but it was filled with people.

"Follow me," Asami said. They scooted between people standing in the crowded train car into the first-class train car.

There was an attendant guarding the door as it slid open. Behind him was another door on the outside of the train car, ornately decorated and labeled, "First Class Private Car 1." His eyes grew big as he recognized Asami Sato.

"Miss Sato, welcome," he said formally and scooted over to let her pass.

"Thank you," she said with a slight nod of her head. Korra followed close behind her, impressed.

As they entered the red and gold decorated room, Korra could almost smell the faint scent of roses in the air. The red velvet floor seemed to glow against the gilded curtains. There was even a cherry wood vanity table, glossy in the light of the crystal chandeliers. Two chairs and a love seat were placed on either side of the train car. "Wow, you do travel in style," Korra commented as she looked around her.

"Oh, I never ride back here. President Raiko requested these cars to be specially made for the high-end clients of Republic City."

"Well, it is nice."

Right after Korra said that, the train made a sharp swerve on its usual track. Asami let herself lose her balance as she fell into Korra's arms, Asami's face nearly slamming into Korra's shoulder. Korra instantly raised her arms to give Asami support.

"I'm sorry," Asami said as she pushed off of Korra's forearms to steady herself. Her face was hot.

Korra could see that Asami was trying to hide her face. Korra was also a little flustered. As Asami made a quick pivot to turn around, Korra managed to stutter, "It's—it's okay."

"Do you want anything to drink?" Asami asked as she reached for a nearby cabinet stocked full of deep colored glass bottles.

"Gee, it's been so long since I drank…" Korra said, remembering her last strange experience with that colorless liquid in the desert. "Is there water?"

"Oh yeah, well, I meant still or sparkling water, I don't remember you actually drinking," Asami said as she pulled out two glasses and an ice bucket. "Or, did you pick up some habits while wandering?" the CEO said, trying to sound more playful and less resentful.

Korra leaned against one of the love seats. Man, that is soft, she noted to herself. "Uhh, well…" She let the ice cubes clanging into the wine glasses fill in the silence. Asami mechanically filled the two cups of water and handed one of them to Korra.

"Thanks," Korra said, trying to buy herself some time.

Asami figured Korra wasn't ready to talk about what happened those three years. "How's Naga doing?" she asked cheerfully.

Korra's face lit up. "Oh yeah, she's great! I think she got a little out of shape since I wasn't there to play with her. But she's so much more obedient and knows even more tricks than I could have ever imagined. Katara must have spent a lot of time with her. Like, she can even flip and kick something upside down, with one paw!"

"That's great! She can flip in mid-air?"

Korra nodded excitedly. "Yeah! And she can alternate between her left front paw or the right front paw or her back two."

"How long does it take to teach a polar bear dog a trick?"

"It depends. Fetch was pretty easy, it was just a couple hours. It's really how many treats you go through. Oh, spirits… I remember it took a whole month's worth of a catch of fish to get her to learn how to roll over."

The engineer laughed. "That's intense."

"Yeah, my parents weren't too happy with that. This was before I learned to cut the fish in half instead of giving her the whole fish."

"Oh yeah, that would double your supply."

Korra shrugged. "I'm still learning."

"Hey, speaking of learning, I never got the chance to teach you that move during our sparring session."

"Oh yeah! What did I call it?"

"The one you called, the flying Asami flipping scissor kick."

Korra chuckled. "I remember now! We should have some time now. Up for another sparring session? I need some practice."

"Of course. Let me see…" Asami said as she visualized her mental calendar. "I should be free tomorrow morning? Oh wait, mornings are eviiiil," she tried to imitate Korra's voice. She switched around some appointments in her head and made a note to tell her secretary.

Korra laughed and smiled a crooked grin.

"How about tomorrow afternoon at around 2pm?" Asami suggested.

"Sounds great! That fits perfectly after the city council meeting about Kuvira and the Earth Kingdom's status."

"Right… About that…" Asami hesitated.

Korra waited for Asami to finish. The attendant opened the door.

"Uhm, nothing. It's our stop!" She led the way out of the train car.

Korra walked with Asami to her car at the Air Temple Island Ferry parking lot. "See you tomorrow?" Asami asked as she gave Korra a close hug.

"2pm, sharp," Korra said as she indulged in the brief moment of holding Asami close to her again.