Chapter 28: Life Goes On

One day six months after Korra had left Republic City for the convention in Ba Sing Se, the phone in Asami's office at Future Industries rang. "Asami Sato," she said when she answered it, still writing on the invoice she was filling out.

"We're done. I'm coming home."

Asami gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth, causing all the spirits sleeping on the rug nearby to look up at her. "What?"

"Didn't you hear me?" teased Korra. "I said we're done, and I'm coming home. The Constitution is ratified, and we've scheduled the first election for one month from now. I'll have to go back to Ba Sing Se for a couple of days for the election, but we're done and I'm coming home."

"When?" asked Asami with audible excitement.

"That depends. Did you still want to live in Tom Regent's old apartment near the portal with me? Because I stopped by the RCPD building and got the key from him and he signed the lease over to me. So if you wanted to live here, then I guess technically I'm already home. But if you wanted to live in your mansion, I'll need a couple of minutes."

Without answering her, Asami hung up the phone and got out of her chair, snatching her jacket off the rack and putting it on as she left her office. Her foreman Lee gave her a puzzled look as she practically ran past him in the hallway. "Everything alright?" he asked.

"Everything's perfect. I'm taking the rest of the day off." She started down the stairs, but had second thoughts and poked her head back out into the hallway. "And I'm taking tomorrow off, too."

She parked her satomobile in the lot behind the building she and Korra had decided they wanted to live in. When Tom Regent had been released from prison and joined the BTF, he had decided to move someplace else that didn't remind him of all the terrible things that he and his family had done. He had offered the place to Asami when he been at Asami's factory trading in his SUM. She had mentioned that she and Korra were looking for an apartment with a good view of the spirit portal, and his penthouse apartment had a balcony that overlooked the entire crater.

Too impatient to wait for the elevator, Asami raced up to the top floor via the stairs, taking them two at a time. The stairwell opened right up to the apartment's front door, and she grasped the knob and threw it open.

She entered the apartment to see Korra standing outside on the balcony with the sliding glass door wide open. When she heard the front door she turned from her contemplation of the spirit portal and grinned at Asami. "Welcome home," she said.

"You too." Asami crossed the distance between them in four strides and threw her arms around Korra. "I can't believe it," she said in to Korra's shoulder. "I can't believe you're really here."

"Believe it, baby," said Korra. "And I'm here to stay."

"I've waited such a long time to hear you say that," replied Asami, and she brought their lips together for a kiss.

"I've waited such a long time to say it," murmured Korra, her lips brushing against Asami's as she spoke.

One kissed turned to two, two turned to three, and soon they were moving towards the couch, working simultaneously on removing each other's clothes while still trying to keep their lips together.

They fell to the couch in a tangled, laughing mess, and for a minute they wrestled playfully for control until Asami managed to pin Korra on to her back and sit astride her waist. When she leaned down to kiss Korra, her hair fell like a curtain all around them. She put her hand on Korra's face, tilting her head to deepen the kiss.

When she pulled back to look in to Korra's blue eyes, she was rewarded with a dazzling smile. Korra placed her hand over Asami's heart and said: "I love you, Asami." And true to the promise Asami had made a few months earlier, she remembered Korra's gift. "Thank you for waiting for me, and for being so patient."

"I would have waited for you my entire life, Korra. In some ways I think I have been waiting for you my entire life. You're my destiny."

"Well you don't have to wait any longer. I'm your girl now."

"You always have been," replied Asami, and then there was no more need for conversation. Instead, they let their bodies and their actions show each other how they felt.

A month later, the Earth Republic elected Genly Ai of Gethen as its very first President. He would go down in history as being the only presidential candidate to win the presidency but lose the popular vote in his own home state. Genly's first official action as President was to have the new Constitution engraved on the walls of the Earth Palace's main assembly chamber. His second was to go before a justice of the peace and take Therem Harth as his legal partner. And his third was to take on Mako as his chief of staff.

The Balance Task Force in Republic City performed many important jobs involving the spirits. They mediated minor disputes between humans and spirits, calmed down a couple of raging dark spirits, performed search and rescue missions in the spirit world, and even officiated a wedding between two particularly eccentric turtle spirits, among other things. Not long after the BTF's creation, several spirits began to hang out at their offices, and the members of the BTF welcomed them as teammates. Soon it became rare to see Haku Ai, the foxlike head of the BTF, without the blue fox who had become his constant companion. Gradually, Republic City was rebuilt. Brick by brick, the humans and the spirits worked together to create a Republic City that was home to everyone within its borders.

A year after his election to the Presidency, Genly Ai formally requested the presence of the Avatar and the play-callers of the BTF in Ba Sing Se. He stood outside in the courtyard watching the airship approach with Mako by his side, just as they had stood side-by-side before the great battle that had taken place here.

The airship landed and its passengers began to get out. Present for the meeting were Korra, Asami, Lin, Bolin, Opal, Jinora, and, of course, Haku and his blue fox friend.

Haku stepped up to embrace his brother. "Genly," he said warmly. "It's been too long."

"It has, Haku. Thank you for coming."

"It's my pleasure. I'll always take any opportunity to see my brother."

"So what's up, Mr. President?" asked Korra, hands on her hips. "Why were you being all mysterious on the phone?"

"Follow me, Avatar Korra, and you shall see," replied Genly.

He led the group to the front of the Earth Palace, and then Korra understood why Genly had sent for them.

Growing along either side of the great stone staircase were spirit vines. They appeared to be creeping upward along the building, wrapping themselves around the massive load-bearing stone pillars that held up the roof.

Korra stepped forward to put her hand on them and closed her eyes. Reaching through them, she could feel the vines growing all through Ba Sing Se, poised to take over the city. When she opened her eyes, Asami was standing next to her. "What do you see?" she asked.

"They're all over the city," Korra told the group. "Some of them have already come through the surface in the lower rings."

"You're right," said Mako. "People have been reporting the vines all over the city, in every direction. They're already beginning to rip up streets and destroy some homes. It's not as sudden and violent as how it happened in Republic City, but it's definitely happening here too."

A sudden gasp made everyone turn and look at Opal. "I just remembered, you said this would happen," she reminded Haku. "The day you went to the spirit world, you said the vines might go to Ba Sing Se, too."

"I had my suspicions, but I didn't know for sure if it would really happen," said Haku modestly.

"Well, predicted or not, it's happening," said Mako.

"So what do you want us to do about it?" asked Lin. "Ba Sing Se isn't within our jurisdiction."

"True," agreed Genly. "But I was hoping that you may be able to mentor our own Balance Task Force here."

"Hmm," said Lin thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose we could spare the manpower for that now that Tom has his own squadron."

Genly turned to Asami. "And, Miss Sato, I was hoping I might be able to interest you in another infrastructure contract. Ba Sing Se will need to be rebuilt, although perhaps not as drastically as Republic City did."

"Wow," said Asami. "I'm not sure what to say. I'm flattered, Genly, really, but that sounds like a full-time job and Korra and I live in Republic City."

"Now hold on a minute," interrupted Korra. "Can I talk to you in private?"

"Sure," agreed Asami amiably. "Be right back."

Korra led Asami over to the courtyard where Asami had once helped her let off steam when they had been looking for airbenders. It was hard for her to believe that day had been more than four years ago. In some ways it seemed as though the time had just flown by, bent away like distance in the spirit world.

"Asami, I think you should take this contract," said Korra, reaching out to take Asami's hand. "There isn't anything keeping you in Republic City any more. The reconstruction is nearly complete, and the BTF is like a well-oiled machine."

"Maybe, but I don't think I could handle being separated from you again," admitted Asami.

"What?" laughed Korra. "Who said anything about separating? Obviously I'll come with you. Look, the only reason we were separated before was because we both had our own destinies to fulfill in two different places. I didn't ask you to come with me to the Earth Republic because I knew you really wanted to be in Republic City, just like I really wanted to be in Ba Sing Se. But now we've got nothing big going on except our relationship, and we can do that anywhere."

"What about Tenzin and his family? And Bolin and Opal?"

Korra shrugged. "I won't lie and say I wouldn't miss them, but as long as you and I are together then that's all I need. Besides, this contract isn't like the convention. We'll have plenty of free time to go back and visit."

The more Asami thought about it, the more she liked this idea. Ba Sing Se really was a great city, and she knew Korra would appreciate seeing the results of all her hard work at the constitutional convention firsthand. "So, say we decide to move here so I could take this contract. I know what I would be working on every day, but what would you do here?"

"Just what Genly said—I'll mentor the new BTF. Plus I can be around to help if the Earth Republic needs anything else. They're still so new, there are bound to be disputes we didn't anticipate at the convention." Korra reached out and brushed back a stray hair on Asami's forehead. "Asami, you are the perfect person to do this job for Ba Sing Se. Just because there's no battle going on doesn't mean we should stop having adventures together. Moving to Ba Sing Se could be really fun. Mako is here, and the university is here. Maybe I'll even be able to take some classes.

"And most of all, the spirits are here," continued Korra. "Maybe it's meant to be this way. Maybe the spirits aren't just supposed to follow you, but you're supposed to follow them as well. I have a good feeling about this, Asami. I'm telling you, it's perfect."

Korra watched as Asami's expression changed from doubt, to trepidation, to interest, and finally to a hopeful, excited smile. She could practically see the city of Ba Sing Se being rebuilt in Asami's mind; it was just the sort of challenge she loved sinking her teeth in to. It made Korra happy to see that spark of innovation behind Asami's eyes. Future Industries was as much a part of Asami as her fighting skills were, and even though Asami claimed she'd be fine with losing her company, Korra knew that there were few things in the world that she enjoyed more than her work. "There she is," said Korra as she returned Asami's smile. "There's my girl."

"Here I am," replied Asami. "How did you know that I wanted this before even I knew I wanted this?"

"Does it really surprise you, even after all this time? I get you, Asami."

"Yes, Korra, you really do." Asami stepped forward in to Korra's arms, and the two of them hugged for a timeless moment in that courtyard, bathed in the warm sunlight and a different kind of warmth that came from within.

When they rejoined the group, Asami smiled happily at her friends and said: "Well, it looks like Korra and I are moving to Ba Sing Se."

Everyone burst in to a variety of responses. Bolin made an unhappy noise, but Mako grinned at them. "That's great!" he said. "It'll be so nice having the two of you here."

"I'm pleased to hear you say that, Miss Sato," said Genly. "I know that Ba Sing Se will be in good hands with you."

"You can't leave Republic City," complained Bolin. "I'd miss you too much!"

"When do you think you'll go?" asked Opal.

"Oh, I don't know," said Korra thoughtfully. She put her hands in her pockets and rocked back and forth on her heels for a moment. "I think it'll have to wait a couple of months."

"Really? Why?" said Asami with surprise—she was eager to get started and had thought they'd plan to move as soon as possible.

"Because I was hoping we could have our wedding ceremony near the spirit portal." Dropping down to one knee, Korra pulled something out of her pocket and took Asami's left hand. Before Asami could register what was happening, Korra had slipped a ring on to her finger. "Asami, you are everything to me. You're my best friend, my lover, and my partner. You keep me grounded and present. I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side. I want all of my adventures to be with you. I want us to take every step of our lives together. With every day we spend together, I'm more and more sure that we were meant to be together. You're my soulmate. Will you marry me, Asami?"

Asami smiled and nodded, her eyes filled with tears. "Yes, of course I will marry you, Korra. That sounds perfect."

As Korra jumped up and scooped her in to her arms, everyone else came forward to hug them and offer congratulations. The spirits who were Asami's frequent companions appeared and became corporeal to hug their two favorite humans in celebration. And inside Korra, she felt Raava glowing with her happy warmth. When she looked in to Asami's green eyes, she knew Asami could feel it too.

Yes, they both thought, it really did sound perfect.

THE END