CHAPTER X: INTO THE...

For the second time in less than three days, Korra had been abruptly awaken while she had been in the healing-pool with Asami. She supposed this particular event wasn't nearly as bad as a Chi Blocker ambush, but it was still jarring. Sleeping in a healing-pool while being treated by a waterbender is perhaps the best feeling there is, in her opinion. Though Korra had begun to think that this particular pool was cursed.

Korra had let go of Asami, who Kya had helped out of the pool and given her a towel, as well as a 'sorry' for waking her up like that. Kya's surprise purging had definitely scared the hell out of Korra, too. The first thing she'd seen as Kya started pulling the toxin out of Asami was her retching and clutching her throat and stomach in pain. Tenzin's sister had already stored the silvery drug in a little flask, and now she reached down to help Korra out of the healing-pool as well.

It took some doing on Kya's part, but she managed to get Korra up into her wheelchair. She shivered as she left the warm water, preferring to stay in the euphoria of Kya's healing.

Kya started patting down Korra's legs with a towel, but she stopped her. "I can do it," Korra said, holding out her hand for the towel. Kya didn't argue, and gave it to her.

As Asami dried herself, Kya had also given her some clean water to drink. Asami came over to sit by Korra on a bench while she drank.

"You alright?" Korra asked her.

Asami swallowed another mouthful of water. "Yeah, I'm fine. That was…weird," she said with a dry laugh.

Korra knew what it felt like to have something brought up and out of her body by someone's bending. It did not feel good. She remembered when Lin Beifong had metalbended Zaheer's poison out of her. It had felt like vomiting, but was much more involuntary. When you throw up, at least your body goes along with it eventually. But when something starts going up your throat of its own accord…well, it was weird.

"I just wish Kya would've at least warned me," Asami said. "I mean,…I woke up choking. I thought I might have fallen…in the water." She was shaking a little, though Korra couldn't tell if it was from Kya's bending or from leaving the warm water. She put her arm around Asami's shoulder.

"Nah," Korra said, trying to lighten the mood. "I wouldn't have let you drown."

Asami smiled. "Thanks."

"Although," Korra continued, "I am a pretty heavy sleeper. So the next time we sleep in a healing-pool, make sure to flap around if you do fall in."

Asami faked a shocked expression. "Korra!" she said, nudging her with an elbow, though she smiled at her joke.

Asami, now that she was dry, walked over to the screen in the corner of the room to change into her clothes. She was feeling much better, and apparently had decided she didn't need help dressing herself. Korra watched her walk toward it, and she was sure she blushed a little at the sight of Asami's well-toned, underwear-clad rear. Her peeping did have a purpose, though: Korra noticed that a lot of the bruising along Asami's ribs was gone, so that was good. As she reached the screen, Asami bent down to pick up her clothes from the nearby bench, and she looked up and saw Korra watching her. Korra didn't look away (though the redness in her cheeks probably deepened), and Asami flashed her eyes toward the door to see if anyone else was looking. Tenzin had arrived with Lin, but they were talking just outside the door with Kya. Asami bit the corner of her lip seductively at Korra and disappeared behind the screen to change.

Wow, Korra thought.

She remembered that she herself was still wearing only underwear, so Korra dried herself off and wheeled toward the bench that her clothes were on. She bent over the side of her wheelchair to pick up her change of clothes, putting the shirt on first. It was her usual dark blue sleeveless shirt with white accents, and she slipped it on over her head. The pants she had brought were also her usual baggy Water Tribe pants, though she'd left her leather skirt and belt in their room, along with her favorite arm band. Korra put her feet in first, then pulled the pants up and over her knees and gave a slight jump in place the get them around her bottom. She realized that she hadn't brought any shoes, so she remained barefoot.

Asami reappeared from behind the screen, though she wasn't dressed in her usual attire. She was wearing a loose-fitting, long-sleeved red tunic that hung down past her waist, almost to her knees, and some tan-colored leggings. She'd also tied a yellow sash around her midriff. In short, she was sporting the 'casual airbender' look, and in Korra's opinion, it didn't look bad on her. Korra knew that Asami hadn't worn her usual clothes because there were simply too many articles of clothing involved, a fact that Korra had previously teased her about over the years, and that it would've been too hard to get into them in her current condition. Because of this, Korra gave her a wry smile as Asami walked over to her.

"What?" she asked Korra, though she knew perfectly well what Korra was smiling at.

"Nothing," Korra said, holding her hands up jokingly. "I just didn't know you had taken up airbending, is all."

Asami raised an eyebrow at her, echoing Korra's smile and joking tone. "Must've slipped my mind to tell you."

Just then, Tenzin poked his head around the sliding doors to see if they were dressed yet. Seeing that they were, he came in.

"So," he said, not even noticing that Asami was dressed almost like an air acolyte. "How're you both feeling?" He pointed most of this question at Asami, as Kya had just told him all about finding the drug in her and bending it out.

Asami replied first. "Much better, actually. It still hurts…a little to breathe, but I'll manage." Korra had already noticed that she didn't sound out of breath all the time, and she was glad that Asami was feeling better.

"What about you, Korra?" Tenzin asked her. What he didn't say was 'Can you walk,' as if he just assumed that she couldn't. Korra realized that she'd been in this wheelchair for months, but she was starting to wonder if anyone still had hope for her complete recovery, including herself. Despite feeling better every day, and especially now with Kya's healing, she still couldn't stand up for longer than fifteen seconds without support.

"I'm fine," was all she said. Tenzin's cheerful demeanor slightly abated at her words, but before he could say anything Lin came around the doors, followed by Kya.

Lin spoke to Korra and Asami. She had already told them that Su and the Metal Clan had arrived outside the City, and were going to wait there until nightfall.

"I suggest you two gather your things and be ready to move," she told them. "Su and her team should arrive around midnight, and from here they'll take you out of Republic City."

Korra had been wondering exactly how Su was going to smuggle them out of the City without anyone else knowing. "How are they going to sneak into the City?" she asked Lin. "By airship?"

Lin nodded. "They do have an airship waiting to rendezvous once they've picked you up, but they'll come get you in a submarine. That way, no one will ever see her coming or going."

A submarine. Korra had never been inside one, though she'd seen plenty at the Republic City docks and at Future Industries' factory with Asami.

"Thank you for all your help, Lin," Korra said. She didn't say any more than that: Lin wasn't exactly a feel-good-moment kind of person. But Korra had meant it.

"Of course," Lin said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to headquarters to rally my Metal Teams." She nodded to Tenzin and Kya, then left the healing-room.

Tenzin looked to Korra and Asami. "When Su arrives, Pema and I will come get you two," he said. He walked over to kneel down next to Korra, putting a fatherly hand on her shoulder. "Korra, I—," he began, hesitating for a moment. "I want you to know that I'm sorry for all that's happened here. Tenora is going to answer for his crimes, and especially so for his attack on you two." He looked over at Asami, who nodded her head. He turned back to Korra. "If anyone will know how to heal you, it'll be my mother. Just know that we'll be praying for your swift recovery."

Korra reached up to put her hand on Tenzin's. She had come to see him as a father-figure over the years, and she appreciated his protective instincts toward her.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Tenzin," she said. "And please, be careful if you catch Tenora. If anything happened to you, or anyone here…" She didn't need or want to finish that sentence.

"We'll be careful, Korra," he said. "I promise."

At that, Tenzin got up and left the room with Kya, and Korra and Asami made their way back to their room to prepare for their journey.


An hour later they were back in their room, and they had begun to pack all of their clothes and other necessities that they would need for an extended stay at the Southern Water Tribe. Korra didn't really have much to pack, aside from clothes and a few hygiene products.

Asami, however, had at least three times as many bags packed as Korra, and was now trying to stuff a bag of makeup into an already-full suitcase. For some reason, this amused Korra greatly, as she had finished packing fifteen minutes ago and was lying down on the empty bed. The other bed was loaded down with her and Asami's things.

She looked around the room at all of Asami's luggage. "Sheesh, are you sure you need all this?" she asked teasingly.

Asami gave up on trying to jam the little makeup bag into the suitcase, huffing and puffing from the effort. She folded her arms and looked around the room as well.

"What do you mean?" she asked Korra.

Korra sat up and chose one of Asami's bags at random, opening it to reveal its contents.

"Let's see," she said, poking around in the bag. "Assorted perfumes, shampoos, deodorant, a little box of tissues, and…oh look, more makeup."

"And?" Asami asked, not picking up on Korra's sarcasm. "I need all that stuff."

Korra smirked and closed the bag. "Just seems a bit excessive, is all."

Asami snatched the bag out of her hands, pouting her lips at Korra. "Well, we can't all be such obvious tomboys," she said, knowing that this would get a reaction out of her.

"I am not!" Korra replied, blushing a little.

"Hey," Asami said, laughing now. "Don't dish it if you can't take it."

Now Korra folded her arms, and mumbled under her breath. "Am not that big of a tomboy. I wear…perfume, and stuff."

Asami came over and sat next to Korra on the bed, having finally finished her packing. "Oh, don't feel so bad," she said to Korra. "Tomboy looks good on you."

"Yeah?" Korra asked.

"Yeah," Asami answered.

Asami reached up to Korra's face to put a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. The touch sent shivers of desire down Korra's spine, and she reached forward to put her own hands around the base of Asami's head, cupping it in her hands. Asami looped her arms around Korra's neck as Korra drew her in for a kiss.

Their first two kisses had been nothing like this one. Those had been dreadfully short, but in their own way they had also been magnificent. Now, as Korra pulled Asami toward her, she felt a fire begin to blaze deep within herself, as if she were feeding the flames of her desire with more desire. As this deeper, more passionate kiss lasted longer and longer, Korra gradually leaned back toward the bed, and without separating from her Asami followed. Korra laid on her back and continued kissing her, running her hands through Asami's lustrous black curls as she sat above her, straddling Korra's left leg. Korra then ran her hands down Asami's sides, resting them on her hips, and Asami reached up to cup Korra's face in her hands. Korra didn't know how long they'd been kissing, and she didn't care to know.

There weren't any thoughts running through Korra's mind. There was only Asami, only this moment. There wasn't anything else in the universe. There couldn't be, because it was all right here.

They continued like this for several more minutes, each not wanting to let go of the other. Finally Asami pulled away gently, and Korra opened her eyes to look up at her. Asami was smiling, but there was more to this smile than mere happiness. Without a word, Asami repositioned herself so that she was lying next to her on the bed, and she drew herself close to Korra. Not missing a beat, Korra reached back up to cup Asami's cheek and continued kissing her. Asami rested one hand at the base of Korra's neck, in the front right above her collar bone.

Now it was Korra's turn to pull way. She didn't want to stop, but she was afraid that if they continued for much longer she would lose it. Korra suddenly understood what the term 'love-drunk' meant.

They both were lying on their sides, and Korra leaned over to rest her forehead on Asami's. The burning desire that Korra had felt in her stomach had now settled to a manageable warmth that spread throughout her body.

Korra sighed happily. For a split second, she didn't think the word 'happy' was accurate enough for how she felt right now. She also didn't want to waste time to try to come up with a better word, so she left it at that.

'All we care about is your happiness,' Pema had told her. 'And if Asami makes you happy, then that's all that matters.' And right now, Korra was very happy.

Korra realized that she had reached over to the end Asami's hair, and was now twiddling it idly between her fingers. She knew she was a touchy-feely kind of person. Korra had to be able to do something with her hands to feel comfortable, whether that be drum them on a table, or play with Asami's hair. Asami didn't seem to mind, as she herself was also idly stroking the palm of Korra's other hand with her thumb. When she wore it down like this, Asami's hair flowed magnificently down past her shoulders a little, a cascade of raven-colored silk that never seemed to smell anything but divine. Korra's own hair was down as well, and it was nearly the same length as Asami's.

Lately, she'd been thinking about cutting it, though.

They laid like this for another minute or so before Asami pulled Korra's chin up gently, kissing her again. Korra reached within her soul to reignite the flame of passion again, expecting another long round of lip locking. But it was a short kiss, and Asami pulled away to lay her head on Korra's shoulder. Korra leaned over to lay fully on her back, bringing Asami with her. She rested her own head on top of Asami's shimmering black curls.

It occurred to Korra that they hadn't said anything this whole time, and she was secretly glad. She didn't know what to say at a moment like this, though she also thought that there wasn't anything that needed to be said. Somehow, Asami silently agreed. So they laid there and said nothing for another hour, preferring instead to simply exist in each other's presence.


Korra hadn't fallen asleep, but she guessed that Asami had slipped into sleep at some point. For about thirty minutes now, she had been breathing deeply and calmly against Korra, who only continued to idly play with the ends of Asami's hair.

Asami now rose her head up from Korra's chest and looked at her. Korra lightly kissed her forehead and hugged her a little tighter for a second, and finally, after nearly two hours in each other's arms, Asami separated and sat up. She grunted a little on account of her ribs, but it wasn't as bad as before Kya's latest healing session.

"There's no clock in this room," Asami said.

Korra couldn't stop a small laugh. "No," she agreed, "there isn't."

Somehow, this was the perfect icebreaker. It effectively allowed them to speak freely again, even though the silence between them had been pleasant rather than uncomfortable.

"How long do you think we'll be gone?" Asami asked her. She had resumed stroking Korra's palm with her thumb.

Korra sat up with her. "I don't know," she replied. "I guess it depends on how fast we both recover." She looked intently at her own legs, hoping beyond hope that Katara would be able to fix them. Surely if anyone can, it'd be her.

Korra had also been wondering how long they'd be at the South Pole. She'd even been juggling the idea of staying at the Southern Water Tribe even after they were both fully recovered, at least for a while. Then the memory of Tenora's attack on Asami resurfaced in her mind, and she knew that she wouldn't let herself stay. Korra wanted to help bring the bloodbender to justice, especially to dish out her own brand of retribution. Lin's police still hadn't found him: he most likely had fled the City after Tenzin warded him off.

Asami followed her gaze to briefly look at her legs. She grasped Korra's hand in a reassuring gesture. "I'm so sorry, Korra." She didn't know what else to say to her blue-eyed friend.

Asami (and Korra, for that matter) also didn't quite know how to refer to the young woman sitting with her. Especially now, after their recent bout of kissing. That extended make-out session had firmly established that they were definitely no longer 'just friends,' but was Korra now Asami's girlfriend? Neither one of them had even said that word yet, but she supposed that it didn't really matter.

"Want to go outside?" Korra said to change the subject. "Take one last walk around the island before we leave?"

Asami smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Altogether, Korra and Asami had missed lunch and dinner, though the latter meal had only just finished when they had got up. They had gone into the kitchen to grab some fruit, then went around the dining room and had gone outside to stroll around Air Temple Island.

There had been a fair number of air acolytes training in the courtyard when they had started their walk. A few had been floating through the air in their flight-suits (Asami again pictured Korra wearing the skin-tight material), and a couple of them were zooming around on balls of air, balancing themselves on top. Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo were nowhere to be found, but they passed by Bumi trying to take flight and waved at him, causing him to fall flat on his face from about five feet off the ground. They laughed gently at his ungainly flying skills, to which the older man pouted.

They had gone to watch the bay from the Air Temple docks, and had sat on the beach together for a while. Korra had her wheelchair with her, but she got down to sit with Asami on the sand. For a long time they had sat there watching the waves crest softly against the beach, tracking the sun's progress down behind Republic City as it had slowly set. Asami had laid her head on Korra's shoulder, who put an arm around her.

After a while, they had left the beach and were now outside on the porch where Korra had talked with Pema.

The sun was now behind Republic City, and had fully disappeared behind the mountains in the distance, but it was not quite fully set. This gave an orange halo to the very tallest of these mountains, and that glow descended on the towers of the City to paint the reflective glass with muffled light. The City's own electric lights had begun to turn on one-by-one, giving the whole place a slight sparkling and flashing effect.

The sky was perhaps even more beautiful than the scenery underneath it. Behind them, the sky had darkened to near blackness from the sun's absence, and the stars had begun to shine brightly. In front of them closer to the City, the sky was a muffled orange-red as the last signs of sunlight slowly bled from the horizon, following their source down behind the earth. The entire picturesque scene was so perfectly visible from this one location, this slightly elevated porch on the side of Air Temple Island. Asami was sitting next to Korra on a bench, who had gotten out of her wheelchair to sit next to her again.

Asami sighed longingly. "I'm gonna miss the City," she said, still looking out at the glowing towers. "Despite everything that's happened, this is my home, y'know?"

"Yeah," Korra said, laying her head on Asami's shoulder this time. "Republic City is a crazy place, but there's nothing else like it."

Asami thought back on all of her adventures she'd had with Korra. They'd been through so much together is such a relatively short amount of time. Only a few weeks after meeting Korra, she'd helped her take down the Equalist Movement and had exposed her own father's betrayal. Electrocuting Hiroshi had been the hardest decision she'd ever made thus far in her life, and Asami suddenly realized that she had never regretted it. She still didn't regret taking down her own father to save her friends, but at the time she'd been a wreck afterwards. Korra had filled the void that her father had left, supplying a comforting shoulder to cry on and an attentive ear to listen with. Mako hadn't been as successful in that respect, though he had tried, and Asami still valued Mako's friendship highly.

But Korra had always been there for her, even after their rocky love-triangle with Mako. Asami and Korra had been very close even before this new phase of their relationship. If she had to be smuggled out of her own home to escape a crazy bloodbender with anyone, she was glad it was with Korra.

By now the entire sky was getting to be fairly dark, and the tops of the mountains behind Republic City no longer glowed with orange light.

Asami turned to look at Korra as she lifted her head away from her shoulder.

"I guess we better get some rest," Korra said, "before Su gets here."

"Yeah, you're right," Asami said. She helped Korra get back into her wheelchair, and they made their way back inside.

The living quarters were quiet, as everyone had already gone to bed, though there were a few lights still on in some of the rooms. Asami and Korra got back to their room to discover the mess that they had left: Asami's luggage was scattered all across the room.

Upon entering the room and seeing all the excess, they both began to laugh. If they had been Pema's children, they surely would have gotten a fierce scolding for this.

"Come on," Asami said. "Help me sort this all out."

They stacked all of their belongings in a neat little pile on one of the beds, with the bulk of it consisting of Asami's things. Asami found it somewhat funny (and attractive) that they had both stacked all of their luggage on this bed without making a plan first. The implication of this was that they'd share the same bed for their little nap.

Now that they'd gotten all the luggage settled, Korra had parked her wheelchair at the foot of the empty bed, and was now lying on her back with her hands behind her head. Asami had been making some last-minute adjustments to her various suitcases and bags, and she turned around to see Korra watching her. Asami was bent over a little, and had her back to Korra.

Asami raised an eyebrow at her. "Like what you see?" she teased.

Korra hadn't noticed that Asami had seen her peeping, and the blush that came to her cheeks was perhaps the deepest shade of red a person's face can get. Asami couldn't say exactly why, but Korra's blushing had always turned her on immediately, and especially so now.

Asami stood up and turned to face Korra. The blue-eyed Avatar's face was still glowing bright red, and with Korra's overall dark complexion, that was saying something.

She walked over to Korra and placed her hands on the edge of the bed to peer down at her. "This is the second time I've caught you staring today," Asami said, still using her teasing tone.

Korra caught on to the tease and played along. "I'm so sorry, Miss Sato," she said. "You're just so pretty, I can't help myself."

Asami placed one of her hands on top of Korra's. Still using her fake-scolding voice, she asked, "And what do you think we should do about this peeping problem you have?"

Apparently this question had stunned Korra, because she didn't say anything for a moment. She just laid there and looked up at Asami.

Asami continued. "I think you should be blindfolded, that way you won't be tempted to look." She smiled at Korra. "Does that sound fair?"

Korra regained her thinking skills, and in the same mock-teasing voice said, "If you think that'll cure me."

"Oh, I do. I'm sure it will," Asami said, standing back up.

She walked over to one of her suitcases and dug around in it for a moment, her hand resurfacing with a thick woolen scarf. Walking back over to Korra, who was now smiling broadly, Asami held out the scarf in her hands.

"I think this'll do the trick," she said. She leaned over and wrapped it around Korra's eyes twice, tying it securely behind her head. Korra started laughing softly, and offered no resistance to the blinding scarf. When Asami had finished blindfolding Korra, she stood back up to admire her work.

"Oh yes," she said, now assuming the voice of a healer. "I don't think you'll be having any more peeping troubles."

Korra was now giggling uncontrollably. "Th-thank you, Miss Sato. I'll be forever in your debt." Asami herself was struggling to keep a straight face, but she wanted to be silent right now.

She let Korra sit there for a minute or two in blind silence, until the smile left her face. Korra was obviously wondering what Asami was doing now, and she had started patting the bed around her to look for her.

After she figured that Korra had suffered enough, Asami leaned on the bed and took her face in her hands, planting her lips firmly on Korra's. The Water Tribe girl lost no time, and immediately accepted the embrace with her blindfold still on and had found Asami's neck with her hands. Korra wrapped her arms around Asami's neck and gently tugged her down onto the bed with her, with Asami lying on top of Korra.

Korra's getting good at this already, Asami thought.

After another long moment of lip-locking, Asami pulled away and noticed that Korra was still blindfolded. In the bliss of this moment she had forgotten somehow, and she laughed. Korra must've realized what she was laughing at, and she started laughing too. Asami reached around Korra's head to tug the scarf loose, and she threw it aside and began kissing her again.

There was not a single thought in Asami's head except Korra Korra Korra.

With one last little lip-touch, Asami pulled away again and laid next to her. She was breathing a little heavily, still mostly due to her ribcage. Mostly. Asami was sure that her faster-than-normal heartrate and flushed skin were due to her increased appetite for Korra's lips, but sure, her ribcage still hurt plenty. She nestled her head softly on Korra's chest, loving the slight up-and-down motion that came with her breathing, and Asami was also holding one of Korra's hands. Korra was playing with the ends of her hair again, which very nearly reactivated Asami's aroused state again, much like her earlier blushing had. But she was also tired, so she just laid there and snuggled against Korra.

I don't know how she does it, Asami thought, but everything she does is attractive.

There was a knock at their door, just a very quiet thump-thump-thump, though whoever it was didn't wait for an answer before coming in.

It was Tenzin, and Asami saw that Pema and Lin were behind him. At first, Asami thought to disentangle herself from Korra to avoid any potential embarrassment. But when Korra made no move to separate, and indeed continued holding her hand and playing with her hair, Asami just laid there and looked up at them, though there was no disrespect in her gaze. Tenzin apparently sensed that he had perhaps walked in on an intimate moment, and he coughed uncomfortably for a second and looked behind him to Pema and Lin.

They both just shrugged, so Tenzin turned back to Asami and Korra.

"Su Beifong and her metalbenders have just arrived," he said, back to his usual all-business tone. "They're unloading their extra security right now, but they'll be ready to depart soon."

"Alright," Korra said. "We'll start loading our things." She still hadn't let go of Asami's hand.

Tenzin nodded, and he, Lin, and Pema turned to leave. Before walking away, though, Pema turned around and smiled at the two of them.

After they had gone, Asami helped Korra into her wheelchair and they had each grabbed as many suitcases and bags they could carry and were heading to the Air Temple docks. Korra teased her again about the excess of her luggage, saying they should've hired a crew of air acolytes to haul all of Asami's things to the Metal Clan's submarine.

When they came outside to the front pavilion of Air Temple Island, the one overlooking most of the training courtyard, they could see the submarine in question floating silently at the dock. There were several people standing around it on the shore, and Asami wondered just how big this sub really was, as only a small portion was above the surface. Dozens of metalbenders poured out from the opening at the top, and the ones that were still inside the submarine were lifting crates of supplies up for others to take into the Temple. The whole scene was bathed in darkness, though the moon reflecting off of the water and the smooth metal of the sub provided just enough light to see by.

As they approached the dock, Asami saw Tenzin, Pema, and the Beifong sisters talking together. Su noticed them and walked over to greet the two of them.

She came over and hugged them both, with Asami and Su kneeling down a little so that the hug would encompass Korra as well.

"It's been too long, you two," Su said. "But we'll have to catch up on the way out, we should probably get going as soon as you're ready."

Korra was eyeing the opening to the submarine apprehensively. Asami followed her gaze and realized what was troubling her: the door to the sub was a hatch on the top, with a ladder leading down into the rest of the boat. Wheelchairs don't make good climbing gear.

"Um," Korra said nervously, pointing at the sub. "How am I…?"

Su smiled compassionately. "Oh, don't worry about that. That wheelchair is metal, so it'll be no problem to lower you in."

"I've got more things back in our room," Asami said. "We'll need to make another trip."

"Or two," Korra mumbled. Asami ruffled her hair playfully.

Tenzin came forward to join them, along with Pema at his side. Lin had gone off to help Su's metalbenders.

Tenzin spoke up, having heard Asami. "We sent a few of Su's people to gather the rest of your things," he said. Asami nodded her appreciation. He turned to Su next, saying, "Thank you for this, Su."

Su waved it aside. "Save it Tenzin, we're burning moonlight here. I've got two fugitives to smuggle."

The airbender smiled, and he and Pema came forward to say their goodbyes to Korra and Asami.

Pema was beginning to tear up, and she apparently couldn't wait any longer. She grabbed hold of both Asami and Korra in the sort of bear-hug that only mothers are capable of.

"Please promise me you two will stay safe!" she whimpered.

"Ughh…OK, we promise," they both replied, struggling to speak against her crushing hug. Thankfully, Pema released them and stepped back next to Tenzin, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Tenzin stepped forward now, and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "I also want you to remain safe. And please, write to us when you can. If there's any update on the Tenora case, I'll send word to the Southern Water Tribe immediately." He smiled at them both in turn, though his fatherly gaze lingered more on Korra. Asami didn't mind: she knew Korra had a deep respect for Tenzin, and he basically was like a father to her.

A sudden force about waist-high slammed into Asami and Korra, and Asami felt three pairs of arms wrap themselves around her legs and Korra's neck. Looking down, she saw that it was Tenzin and Pema's three children, who all spoke at once.

"Be careful—write me a letter, too!—don't go—when will you be back?"

Pema frowned at them. "You three should be in bed!" she scolded.

Meelo turned his face up to look at Asami. When he saw that she was looking down at him, he released her legs and jumped back a pace.

He saluted Asami, saying, "Don't worry, pretty lady! I'll catch that nasty bloodbender!"

Ikki and Jinora laughed at him, as did Korra and Asami.

Pema shushed her three children and led them back up to the Temple, turning to wave to Asami and Korra again. Tenzin said one last goodbye, and followed her.

The metalbenders who'd been sent to gather Asami's luggage returned single-file to unload their cargo into the submarine. "See, told ya," Korra teased.

Su spoke next. "Alright, Korra. Let's get you inside." Korra's faced paled for a second, but Su reassured her. "Just sit still, I've got you." The experienced Beifong planted her feet firmly on the ground and gestured both hands at Korra. She then made several quick and strong motions, causing Korra's chair to rise up a foot off the ground then travel smoothly through the air, coming to a stop above the entrance to the sub. Korra was slowly lowered into the ship, and Asami walked over to the dock to join her. Su went down first, then waited underneath Asami to help her ease down the ladder.

As Asami descended into the submarine, the temperature of the air around her increased, not feeling too-unlike a boiler room. The darkness of the outside sky was eliminated and replaced with the yellowish electric lights of the underwater vessel. When she reached the bottom of the ladder, Su gestured at the top to close and seal the metal hatch.

They were inside.