AN: Thanks for being patient! Now that A Slight Miscalculation is finished (check it out on AO3!), I can focus on this story a lot more. Expect fast updates every couple of days.

She peers over the edge of the crib, staring down at Yasuko's face. The pup's eyes are closed, but her mouth is hanging slightly open in a snore, just the way Korra's does... Her own eyes begin to blur, but she blinks back her tears, determined to memorize every detail. If this is the last time she's going to see her daughter, she wants to make sure she remembers.

"Asami?"

She turns, swallowing down the painful lump in her throat. Korra is waiting for her in the doorway, a solemn look on her face.

"It's time, isn't it?"

Korra nods. "Mako and Bolin are waiting downstairs. We need to leave before sunrise."

But instead of turning, Korra joins her in the room, coming to stand beside the crib and folding an arm around her shoulder. "She's going to be okay, Asami." She gazes down at their sleeping daughter, and Asami has to measure her breathing to gain control over the splitting ache in her chest. "No matter what happens to us, she's going to be safe."

"I know. It's just..." She can't keep her tears back anymore. She turns in Korra's arms and pulls her into a fierce embrace, hot tracks rolling down her cheeks.

"I sent a letter to my parents. If... if neither of us make it out of this alive, they'll come to Republic City and get her. And hey, I'll be dead, so they won't be able to yell at me for not telling them about their only grandchild."

Asami chokes, shoulders heaving with a painful mix of laughter and sobs. "I—I can't believe you said that," she sputters, tilting down to bury her face in Korra's shoulder. But in some stupid way, the morbid joke makes her feel better, and so does the reassurance.

Korra's hands rub soothing circles over her back. "Don't cry, Asami. I'm not giving up. Both of us are going to give this everything we've got... together. We're going to make it through this, just like every other time."

But as much as she wants to, she can't quite believe it. Something about this moment feels like the beginning of the end, and she isn't ready to say goodbye. Not when her small, broken family has finally come back together again...

. . .

Asami cupped her hand over her forehead, gazing out across the rolling landscape. The early-morning mist and the lingering shadows beneath the mountains made it difficult to see, and the biting wind whipped her hair around her face. Sunrise was coming, and Team Avatar had already left Republic City far behind—Republic City, and all the people in it.

She sighed, trying to ignore the heaviness in her chest and the weariness draped around her shoulders. Her daughter's face appeared whenever she shut her eyes even for a moment, and she had spent the last several hours of the night closer to crying than she wanted to admit. You're doing this for her, she told herself, trying to strengthen her resolve. You and Korra are fighting to keep Yasuko safe. But even though she knew she had made the right choice, it didn't stop the pain.

"Asami?"

She turned to see Bolin kneeling beside her in the Sky Bison's saddle, brow furrowed with concern. "I'm fine," she said, proud of the fact that her voice wavered only a little.

Bolin gave her a skeptical look. "I didn't even get to ask whether you were okay yet." He glanced toward the bison's head, where Korra was sitting at the reins. "You're worried about her, aren't you?"

Asami nodded. "Her and Yasuko. Bolin, if we don't make it out of this..." She couldn't finish her sentence. She turned away, looking back out over the horizon.

"I get it."

She glanced sideways, surprised at how sincere his expression seemed. "You do?"

"Yeah. Opal and I, uh... before we broke up and got back together again, I had my heat."

Asami's eyes widened in understanding. She leaned closer, taking in his scent. In addition to smelling strongly of Opal, there was definitely something different about it. "Wait, does that mean...?"

"She doesn't know." Bolin glanced to the other side of the saddle, where Mako was taking his shift with the telescope. "Neither does Mako. I was going to tell them both, but then Korra asked me to come stop Kuvira, and..."

"You should have said something," Asami whispered. "You shouldn't have volunteered for something this dangerous."

"It doesn't matter, Asami. We're all in danger, whether we stay in Republic City or not. That's why you're here, isn't it? Because you think this is the only way?" His expression hardened with determination. "Kuvira might be dangerous, and really, really scary, and probably a lot crazy, but we've got everything to fight for. I'm not gonna let her win."

"Hey, Bolin?" Both of them turned to see Mako clambering across the saddle toward them. "Your turn with the telescope. I'm getting a headache from all that glare."

Bolin took the telescope from Mako's outstretched hand and began scanning the horizon, while Asami shifted sideways to make room for Mako beside her. "You all right?" he asked, in a low enough voice to keep the conversation private.

She nodded, even though she felt anything but all right. "Fine. Mako..." Even after a deep breath, it was hard to get the words out. "Korra and I have already talked about what will happen to Yasuko if neither of us makes it back to Republic City. But if she does, and I don't..." Fresh tears welled in her eyes, and she had to turn away again.

"I'm not going to turn my back on her, Asami. Three years doesn't change the fact that she's my friend. I'll make sure she doesn't have to raise Yasuko all alone."

She heaved a sigh of relief, grateful he understood. "Thanks, Mako," she said, wiping her leaking eyes with her sleeve. "I..."

"Guys, I see something!" Asami whipped back to face Bolin, only to see him pointing at something off in the distance. "Look, down there."

She leaned further over the edge of the saddle, and despite the blinding angle of the sun, what she saw made her heart drop straight through the bottom of her stomach. Large metal tanks crawled across the ground below, creeping forward like a cluster of ants. "Is that—?"

"Kuvira," Korra called back from the head of the saddle, tugging the bison's reins. They changed direction, veering in closer. "She's already crossed into United Republic territory. She's a week early!"

Mako frowned. "This doesn't make sense. There aren't any train tracks this way. How are they transporting that super weapon of theirs?"

A loud thud shook the mountains around them, and a huge shadow stretched across the landscape. Asami stared, her mouth falling open in shock, but it still took her several moments to process what she was seeing. Stomping behind the tanks was something enormous—a giant, gleaming tower of metal. Each thunderous step it took kicked up pluming clouds of dust, and its body stretched all the way up to the lowest hanging clouds. Welded to one of its arms was a sleek metal barrel, and she gasped as she realized what it was.

"Apparently on a giant mecha suit!"

"Bolin," Mako barked, "did you know Kuvira was building that thing?"

Bolin threw up his hands, clearly well on his way toward panic. "Oh, did I forget to mention it? No, of course I didn't know!"

The mecha raised its arm, pointing it straight forward, and Bolin scrambled to the front of the saddle, shouting into the back of Korra's head. "I know what happens next! We gotta get out of here, now! Now!"

Korra pulled the bison's reins just before an even louder boom rocked the sky. Asami felt the heavy jolt pass through her, vibrating inside her chest. She ducked for cover, but not before a purple flash filled the air and she caught a glimpse of an avalanche skidding down one of the nearby mountains. When they whipped by on the next turn, she was horrified to see that over half the hillside had been blasted away. Kuvira's weapon had torn through the mountain range like it was a wrinkle of wet sand.

"We have to get back to Republic City," she said, crawling up to join Korra and Bolin at the front of the saddle. "Someone has to warn them."

"Already on it," Korra said. Her face was set with determination, and her eyes flashed with anger. "Kuvira may have brought the fight to us, but we're not going to stand down."

Asami's stomach lurched, and she fought not to tremble. Korra's words should have brought her comfort, but all she could remember was the brilliant purple explosion and the hole in the side of the mountain. Unless they found a way to stop Kuvira's mecha, Republic City—and Yasuko, her father, and all her friends—weren't going to stand a chance.

. . .

By the time they arrived back in Republic City, Asami's fear had hardened into grim determination. She remained silent and thoughtful as they dipped down toward Air Temple Island, running through their limited options in her head. General Iroh's forces can hold off the tanks and the airships, at least for a little while, but that giant mecha is another story. If we don't take it down, Kuvira will be able to wipe out the entire city. But stopping something so enormous was easier said than done. Huge as it was, she doubted Korra's bending could bring it down, even in the Avatar State. There has to be another solution. I just need more time to think...

Unfortunately, time was something they didn't have. The bison touched down for a landing, and Asami saw that a small crowd was already rushing out to meet them. Tenzin, Raiko, Lin, and Suyin were all there, looking almost as fearful as she felt. "Korra, are you all right?" Tenzin asked, stepping to the front of the group and meeting them mid-way down the temple steps. "Why are you back so soon?"

Korra squared her shoulders. "It's Kuvira. Our intel was wrong. She must have known Zhu Li had the information."

"What are you trying to say?" President Raiko asked, peering at her from over his glasses.

"Kuvira's army is only a few hours away."

A look of horror crossed Tenzin's face. "No, they can't be! We're not ready..."

"And that spirit weapon of hers is attached to a giant mecha suit," Korra said, and Asami couldn't help but catch the flash of fear in her eyes and the urgent note in her voice. "It's over twenty-five stories tall!"

After a moment of shock, Raiko turned to Lin. "Get General Iroh on the line and tell him that the attack is happening today. We need to lock down the city."

With a nod, Lin hurried off.

Tenzin reached out, placing a reassuring hand on Korra's shoulder. "I'll tell Pema to find Wu and get the remaining citizens to safety, immediately. We can't have innocent lives in jeopardy."

"That's a start, but what should we do?" Bolin asked. "We don't have the kind of firepower we need to bring down something that big."

Asami took a deep breath. This has to be me. I need to come up with some kind of plan... but first, I need some help. "Let's go to my factory. Maybe we can get a few of those hummingbird suits up and running. Meanwhile, my father, Varrick and I will try to come up with a way to stop the mecha."

"We're coming with you," Suyin said. "You're going to need all the help you can get."

Asami nodded in agreement.

"All right," Korra said. "I'll head to the front lines and help General Iroh."

The words sent a lance of pain straight through Asami's chest. She turned, about to protest, but Korra took both of her shoulders in a gentle grip, gazing directly into her eyes. "I'll be careful," she promised, but Asami didn't miss the waver of uncertainty as she spoke. "I can do this. I've got to do this. And you need to make sure Yasuko is okay."

"I need to make sure you're okay," Asami insisted. She didn't care that the others were probably staring, listening to their private conversation. Leaving this morning had been hard enough, but she had taken some comfort in the fact that no matter what happened, she would be at Korra's side. Now, there were no guarantees. She couldn't be there to watch Korra's back, to make sure nothing happened to her, to make sure she didn't...

"I'll be back soon," Korra said. "Go do what you do best."

Asami blinked rapidly, but her emotions were too intense to release in tears. Her eyes remained dry, and after a long moment, she dipped her head. "You too."

"I love you," Korra whispered, cupping her cheek and resting their foreheads together for the briefest of moments.

Asami swallowed around the burning lump in her throat. It's not fair. I waited three years to hear her say those words. Three years to say them back. And now...

"I love you, too. Be safe."

After a kiss that wasn't nearly long enough, Korra let her go, hurrying back over to the bison and leaping into the saddle. Asami didn't watch her go. She turned, inhaling slowly. There wasn't time for worry or grief. The best way to protect her mate was to find a way to take down Kuvira's mecha, and she was determined to do just that. Her own life, and the lives of all the people she loved depended on it.