Riko sat silent for the sixth appointment in a row. The therapist sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "Riko, we need to make some progress here or we can't help you."

Her silence continued. The man sighed again and stomped out of the room. Riko hung her head as he walked out. Outside she could faintly hear him talking to Korra. "This isn't working. I'm not wasting my time like this." He said.

"What?! We're paying you either way!"

"I'm aware, Avatar, but I have other patients who are willing to cooperate to get better. I could be spending time with them instead of this girl who doesn't even want help!"

"How do you know she doesn't want help?! She just needs time! She's not exactly the most open person in the world."

"I know and I've dealt with patients like this before, but if Riko doesn't open up soon, then it's not going to work at all."

Korra sighed roughly. "Just give her a few more chances."

Asami heard the front door slam, signaling Korra's and Riko's arrival home. She wandered out from her office and saw Riko stomp into her room.

Oh great, this can't be good. She thought.

Korra came into her view, marching up the stairs. Asami caught her arm as she marched by. "What happened?"

Korra growled. "That stupid therapist doesn't think Riko wants help because she isn't opening up yet. He just needs to give her time!"

Asami furrowed her brow. "But we're paying him."

"I know! I reminded him and he still didn't care!"

Riko slid into bed and stuffed her face into one of the pillows. After a while she glanced over to her dresser. Letters from the South littered the countertop. She groaned and turned back to the pillow. She'd been avoiding Karina's letters for a few weeks now. She tried reading them, but every time it would make her more depressed. She silently growled before heaving herself off of the bed. She snatched up a random letter and began to read it:

…Riko, I'm pretty sure you haven't bothered reading my last letters because you haven't replied to me since your first appointment. I hope you manage to read this letter in time. I don't want to surprise you when I show up at your door, presumably unannounced if so. That's your decision though. Maybe you're just ignoring me entirely. I guess I'll find out when I get there. I'll be arriving in Republic City in about 2 weeks. I just hope you get this in time.

Riko paused to look at the stamp on the envelope. It was sent exactly two weeks ago. Shit.

She dashed out of the room, dropping the letter. She made her way down the stairs when suddenly the front door slammed open. She gulped at the sight of an angry Asami. "Mom, I need to tell you something important."

"Don't start. I can't believe you stopped replying to her."

"What?" Riko stuttered, confused as to how she knew.

Just then, a tan woman walked in behind Asami, carrying a bag of luggage. "Wow, Asami, the place is huge."

Riko stopped breathing for a minute and went wide-eyed. She clutched her shirt as her chest tightened. Asami let up her anger. "Riko, you okay?"

Suddenly Riko fell to her knees, still grasping her shirt. Asami ran to her side. "Riko!" The girl started to gasp for breath. Asami rubbed her back to ease her pain.

"What's happening?!" Karina asked, wide-eyed.

Asami sighed. "She's having a panic attack, though I thought we were over this. She'll be okay."

Asami cooed in her ear, soothing her until she passed out in her arms. Her breathing was labored but there nonetheless. Asami carried her daughter to her room, with Karina following. They saw the letter on the floor. Asami sighed and set her in bed.

"Is this my fault?" Karina asked, feeling guilty.

Asami shook her head. "No dear, she didn't read your letters so this one falls on her. I'm glad you're here, though. She needs you."

"I was starting to doubt it when she stopped replying and I'm still doubting it."

Asami laid a hand on her shoulder. "There's no reason for your doubt. She stopped reading them because it made her miss you. She still loves you."

Her vision was blurry when it first returned, but her breathing was normal again. 'Was I imagining that?' She asked herself. She stirred in her blankets and clumsily sat up, rubbing her eyes open. She saw a figure sitting at the end of her bed.

"Mom?"

"Riko, you're awake! I'm so sorry!"

Riko's vision quickly cleared as she went wide-eyed. "K-Karina?! I wasn't imagining it?!" Her breathing started to pick up again.

Karina quickly climbed into her bed and held her in her arms. "Shhh, shh, it's okay. You don't have to worry. I'm not upset."

Riko clasped on her shirt and hid her face in her neck. The girl continued to coo in her ear until she calmed down. Slowly, the earthbender wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

"I'm sorry I stopped responding to your letters. It just made me upset sometimes."

"It's okay, Riko. I'm not mad, I understand. That's why I'm here now, to help you." Karina replied.

They sat like that for a while. Riko finally relaxed in her hold. She grinned at the waterbender. Karina smiled back and began running her hands through the girl's hair. She smirked as Riko sighed in content at the touch. The girl just loved that.

"Ya know, you're lucky I sent a letter to Asami, too. Otherwise, I think she would've been madder at you for this whole mess."

"That was smart, Karina." Riko replied contently. "So I'm guessing she picked you up from the docks."

Karina nodded and placed a kiss on her cheek. Riko chuckled and cuddled closer to her. She must've been in her room longer than she thought for Asami to go to the docks and back.

"Well this is definitely a different side of you I haven't seen in a while." Someone commented from the door. The couple looked up to see Korra leaning on the doorframe. "I like it, though. Maybe you'll finally open up to that stupid counselor of yours." Korra walked away to give them time alone.

Riko's smile faltered and she looked away. She forgot all about that. If she didn't change soon, they were going to drop her from the program.

Karina nudged her with her hand to look at her. "It'll work out, babe. I'm here to help you in any way that I can."

Two days later, Riko sat on the couch at the counselor's office. It started as usual. The man asked a question to try to get her to open up, and then she'd sit there silent for the rest of the time. She never bothered with laying down on the couch like you're supposed to do and sat cross-legged in the middle. The clock ticked impatiently as her thoughts ran wild in her head.

"Trust me, I want to go with you, but you need to recover first. After you make some progress I'll come up to visit."

Karina had said that to her before she left the South. Riko hadn't even made much progress in the past month, other than taking her medicine. So why did Karina come?

Riko sighed abruptly, making the counselor sit up straight. He waited for a minute for her to say something. When she didn't, he asked, "Is there something on your mind, Riko?"

She bit her lip, debating whether to open up to the stranger. She had to talk about something, even if it seemed irrelevant, or so she thought. She looked up uncertainly at the man. "Is it wrong to love the opposite gender?"

The counselor blinked at this, surprised by the random question. "Well, Riko, here in Republic City, things are changing for the better. Gay rights are becoming less of an issue, but that's different in other parts of the world still." He waited to see if she would interject, but she looked intent on listening to what he had to say. "I know many of Avatar Korra's fundamentals come from the Southern Water Tribe, so that's what influenced her, you, your siblings, and in a way Mrs. Sato as well." Riko began to look at the man in a new light. He continued. "The Southern Water Tribe is very open to things many other nations aren't. In the South, it's not unusual for two girls or two guys to be together. But because of this, the two water tribes split apart, forming two separate tribes."

"The two tribes aren't together because of that?!" Riko asked.

The man nodded. "It was a part of it. Did Korra never tell you that?"

"I-I… Well, my sexuality never occurred as a problem before."

"And it is now?"

"Er, no, but…" Riko looked down. "I'm trying to open up here."

The man smiled. "I know. You're doing well."

An hour later, the man emerged from the room. All three women there jumped up. He smiled. "She did well, Avatar Korra, Mrs. Sato. I believe we made some progress."

Korra jumped around happily while Asami thanked the man. Riko dragged herself out of the room, seemingly exhausted. Karina tackled her in a hug. "Good job, babe!"

Riko placed a hand on her back. "Thanks, but I'm tired. Can we go home?"

Karina laughed and led her to the car. Her two moms looked to the man. "Should she be this tired?"

The man chuckled. "It's okay. Sometimes this occurs when a patient first opens up, because they have so much bottled up and they finally release some of it. It's mentally exhausting, but she'll be fine. Let her take a nap when she gets home."

Riko didn't even make it home. She fell asleep before Asami started the car.

"Okay Nami, now screw that in there." Asami directed. The young girl did as told, using the wrench to secure a bolt in the machine. Together they put a few more bolts and wires in the car. "Alright, let's see if it runs." Asami said, running to the car. She turned the ignition and the car roared to life. She cheered and picked Nami up, who cheered as well.

"Good job, what's the occasion?" Someone asked from the garage entrance.

Asami looked up and saw her oldest child. "Riko, what're you doing out here?"

"I just came to see what you were doing," Riko replied, shrugging her shoulders carelessly.

"Where's Karina?"

"She's showing ma how to cook some new water tribe thing."

Asami let Nami down and carefully took in her older daughter's appearance. She recently showered, with her hair sopping wet still. She had thrown on some old training clothes and had fresh wraps on her arms. She stood as if she didn't have a care in the world, but Asami had a feeling something was off.

Asami pointed Nami over to some tools to pick up, then walked to the entrance where Riko hadn't budged since she walked in. "What's going on?"

"I could be asking you the same thing." Riko replied tensely, crossing her arms.

"What're you talking about?"

"How long has this been going on?" Riko asked, pointing to Nami and the garage.

"Umm, maybe two weeks. Why are you asking?"

"No reason." Riko said and began walking away.

"Um you wouldn't ask if there wasn't a reason!" Asami called and grabbed her before she wandered far.

"I was just curious about what my brother and sister have been up to lately." Riko replied a little more honestly.

Asami let go and Riko turned to face her. "I just wanted to show her some things on the car. One of you has to be able to drive, right?" Asami said playfully.

Riko smiled. "Yeah, I guess you have a point."

So Asami and Nami were working on cars together. Riko peered into the kitchen to see Korra and Karina still cooking up a storm. Where was Kohaku? She wandered around the house until she found him in the backyard playing with Naga.

'Damn, I thought he would be feeling left out too. I guess not.' She thought to herself.

Riko snuck by him and made her way to the training yard. She sat in the middle of the arena. She sighed as she played with the dirt on the ground and watched as it slipped through her fingers. Abruptly she stood up. Her expression was determined and she got into an earthbending stance.

Breathe, innn and outttt, steady.

Karina was really starting to grow on Korra. They laughed as the stew started boiling over and raced to catch it. Karina shuffled through the shelves looking for spices.

"Gah!"

The waterbenders looked at each other. "Ummm…" "That sounded like…"

"Riko!" They both yelled and sprinted outside.

They stopped short of the courtyard entrance as a small rock rolled towards them.

Riko looked up and saw her mother and girlfriend. She didn't smile at them though, still focused on her bending. Her breathing was labored and dirt covered her body. She groaned as she tried to bend again. Her arms began to shake with fatigue. She threw a boulder at the opposite wall and then crouched on one knee in pain.

Korra couldn't help but to smile a little bit. Riko was trying again, at everything. Karina bent down in front of the girl. Riko looked up through her shaggy hair, still breathing heavily.

"Hey there, kid. Your hair's all puffy." Karina said, running her hand through the wild hair.

Riko smacked her hand away. "Don't call me a kid. That makes it sound like I'm younger than you."

"You are younger than me." Karina laughed.

Riko smirked playfully. "You know what I mean. You're only two years older."

Karina rubbed away some of the smudged dirt on her face. "Look at you. Now you have to take another shower."

Riko groaned, annoyed, and laid flat on the ground.

"It was incredible, 'Sami! You should've seen it! She was really bending again!" Korra exclaimed as the couple got ready for bed.

Asami chuckled as she brushed her teeth. She rinsed her mouth out before speaking up. "I believe you, hun. She'll probably be at it nonstop now."

Korra came up from behind her and held her by the waist. She nuzzled into her neck. Asami giggled and laid her head on Korra's.

"I can't believe I'm married to the most powerful being in the world and have a family with her." Asami whispered.

Korra lifted her head to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean Korra." Asami retorted.

"But I thought you were the most powerful being in the world." Korra smiled.

Asami blushed and looked away. "What are you talking about Korra? That doesn't even make sense."

Korra chuckled and pulled her wife back to her. "What I mean is, you have full control over the Avatar, making you the most powerful person in the world."

Asami's blush deepened. "Korra…you're such a dork." She smiled and gently kissed the waterbender.

Korra gave one of those wide idiotic grins and hugged Asami tighter. "It's true, though."

Asami giggled and wrapped her arms around the other's neck. Korra lifted her off of the ground and made her way to the bed. "Korra!" Asami screamed and laughed as the Avatar threw her onto the bed. Korra crawled into bed with her. She straddled her and gently laid a hand on her cheek. It was simple things like this that made Asami blush. Korra smiled and placed a slow, sensual kiss on her lips. Asami moaned slightly and wrapped an arm over her shoulder. This was a sure sign of things to come tonight.

Karina woke up early the next morning and crawled out of bed. She looked back at her girlfriend. She was snoring lightly and drool slipped down her chin. She chuckled and began her trek to the kitchen to make breakfast. However, she was startled when she heard snoring coming from Korra and Asami's room. Weren't they supposed to be at work?

Karina thought for a minute before walking back to Riko's room. She didn't want to but she needed to wake her up. She shook the girl. Her current snore caught in her throat and she coughed. She sat up drowsily and looked up at Karina with sleep in her eyes still. She groaned, her attempt to ask what's up.

"Riko, aren't your parents supposed to be at work?" Karina asked.

Riko wiped the sleep from her eyes to see more clearly. "Ngh, yeah. Why?"

"I heard snoring from their room as I walked by."

Riko sighed, knowing the possibilities of what could have occurred to make them oversleep. "I'll go check on them." She groaned as she slipped out of bed and flopped to the floor tiredly.

Karina sighed at Riko's attempt to wake up. "I can check on them if you want."

Riko chuckled from the floor. "Noooo, you don't wanna do that." She grabbed the dresser and pulled herself up and wandered down the hall.

She blinked the sleep from her eyes, listening to the obnoxious snores coming from the other side of her parents' door. How did that not wake anyone up? She sighed and knocked on the door. "Mom? Ma? You up?"

She waited but got no response and the snoring continued. She growled to herself. She was going to have to physically wake them up, again, not something she enjoyed doing.

The door creaked as she opened it. Korra had her head on Asami's chest, drooling in the process. Asami wasn't going to be happy with that, but for now she had an arm wrapped around her as they slept. Thankfully, they were at least covered by the blanket.

Riko mumbled to herself before going to the bed. She shook Korra first, then Asami. "Korra. Asami. You need to get up. You have to go to work."

Korra kept on snoring, but Asami managed to squint open her eyes. "Riko? What're you doing in here?"

Riko laughed quietly to herself. "Do you realize the time, mom?"

Riko made a beeline for the door as her mother looked at the clock. "AH, KORRA GET UP! WE'RE LATE!"

Korra jumped and fell from the bed. "Wha? What's going on?"

"Get up! We overslept!" Asami yelled at her. She was already rummaging through drawers for clothes and ran to the bathroom.

Korra looked at the clock finally and gasped. "SHIT! Lin is going to kill me!" She found clothes to wear and also made a dash for the bathroom.

Riko was innocently waiting by the front door when they finally emerged, clothed again. She smiled as Asami grabbed her and planted a kiss on her head. "Thank you Riko!" She yelled and then ran to her car. Korra followed closely behind. She skidded trying to stop in front of her daughter. She quickly hugged her and gave a kiss to her forehead as well. "Thanks Riko!" She then ran out the door and whistled for Naga. The polar bear-dog whizzed past Riko, making her hair fly about and fur waft by in the process.

Karina appeared from the kitchen with an apron on. "Wellllll, that was certainly interesting."

Riko chuckled and walked into the kitchen with her. "Nothing out of the ordinary for us."