Another mixed bag of a chapter, I'm afraid.

And as for the fact that it seems Kuvira is going to be the villain of Book 4: she's voiced by Zelda Williams and saved Tonraq's life at the end of Book 3, so how the hell was I supposed to know that she'd end up go all "I Am The Mellon Lord!" on us?

It's Good To Talk

Life with Korra was a compromise.

The Avatar had slept all through the night following the birth of her son, her body recovering the strength it had lost. True to their word, the White Lotus kept watch on her all through the night, making sure that she didn't start bleeding again. Asami insisted on staying in the room with her, and eventually feel asleep in her chair, legs curled up beneath her, her bathrobe wrapped around her like armour against the storm that continued to rage well past dawn. It was strange how full of life the house was the next day; aside from the normal family, staff and White Lotus sentries, there was the medical team, Senna and Tonraq, Mako and Kuvira with Sen, and Lin, who had arrived a little before dawn, the storm having kept Republic Cities criminal element mostly off the streets for the night. And while the hard-nosed chief of police would never admit it, she had warmed to the strange, miss-matched family that had adopted her as one of their own.

It was mid morning when Korra finally woke, feeling more than a little groggy, but insistent on seeing her son immediately. Asami had fetched him from the nursery and carefully set herself down on the bed next to her wife, handing him over but not letting go until she was sure Korra was strong enough to hold him.

"Hey, kiddo, you were hard work, you know that?" Korra asked the squirming bundle in her arms, "But spirits, were you worth it!"

"I guess with a name like his, he has a certain reputation to live up to." Asami lent over and kissed Korra on the top of her head, her arm dropping down around her shoulder to hold her close, "I'm just so sorry I wasn't here."

Cradling her son in the crook of one arm, Korra reached round for Asami's free hand, lifted it up and kissed the back of it.

"You weren't to know. Hell, I had no idea what was going to happen until it started." She assured the woman she loved with all her heart, "And can you imagine what would have happened if you hadn't stopped me? I would have gone into labour on the back of Naga, and then..."

"Lets not even think like that." Asami rested her chin on the crown of Korra's head as Aang woke and started to cry.

"Well, looks like someone's hungry." Korra sighed as she struggled to undo the buttons on the old shirt she was wearing, struggling at it with her one free hand.

Asami giggled at the sight, then reached down to help, remembering just how difficult she'd found it with their daughters.

"Just don't get any funny ideas." Korra warned as her son started to suckle, "The way I'm feeling, it's going to be a while before normal relations are restored, and I have no intention of starting something we can't finish properly."

"Maybe we'll finally take that second honeymoon to Ember Island you keep promising me?" Asami smiled coyly, "Or is that just a ploy you use to make me all submissive in bed? Like that time with the silk scarf and the strawberries and the..."

"Damn you, devil-woman!" Korra protested, feeling more than a little flustered at the very pleasant memory of just how they had celebrated their forth wedding anniversary, "I told you not to start anything we can't finish!"

"Sorry." Asami sighed, "It's just that it's been a couple of months now since we last made love, and your boobs are right there..."

"And right now they are strictly off-limits to everyone but our son." Korra pointed out, tapping her wife on the nose, "You said exactly the same thing to me after the girls were born." She looked around, "Speaking of which, where are the little terrors?"

"If there's any justice in the world, they're sleeping." Asami lent back against the headboard, slightly frustrated but otherwise content with her life, "The storm kept them awake most of the night, so I sent them back to their room after breakfast."

"Damn, must have been a bad one." Korra looked out of the window; the sky was still over cast, but the rain had at least stopped, the wing having died down to little more than a stiff breeze. "I hope Tenzin got off okay."

"He had two dozen airbenders channelling a bubble of calm air around Oogi until they got up above the storm." Asami assured her, remembering the truly remarkable sight from the night before, "They should be almost there by now."

"'sami." Korra had a slightly distant look in her eyes, "What's the fastest airship you've ever built?"

Not realising what she was walking into, she had admitted that Future Industries had just finished testing a new prototype for the United Forces that was, over long distances, just as fast as a sky-bison. She was very proud of the project, having taken a keen interest in it from the get-go and making a couple of suggestions that had been taken up by the design team. The hope was that it would cement Future Industries position at the forefront of aeronautical engineering and innervation for years to come, allowing them to regain ground lost to Cabbage Corp when they had stolen the Earth Kingdom contract out from under them. There was already interest from both the Fire Nation and the Southern Water Tribe, which if they translated into real sales, might finally get the board off of Asami's back. She had gone on at length about aerodynamics, power-to-weight ratios, lift capabilities and the revolutionary new engines that Varrick had come up with that used magnets in the drive-shafts to reduce ware and improve efficiency, not realising that Korra wasn't paying her the slightest attention. Indeed, Korra was already planning her most audacious escape since they had run off to the Fire Nation together.

Later on, Asami had come to the conclusion that that had to have been the most heavily loaded question in the long, torrid history of loaded questions.

Once Korra had announced her plans to use said prototype airship to travel to the South Pole, Asami had been left conflicted: she loved Katara, the waterbending master having played an instrumental part in her life for years now, but there remained the fact that the doctors insisted that Korra needed bed rest. But of cause Korra had already thought of that, and pointed out that she'd be just as comfortable in bed in a cabin on an airship as she would in her own home, and the airship would be more than capable of carrying a full team of doctors. There'd also be room to carry their children and her parents, who'd need to head back as well. Asami had tried hard to find a loophole to get out of it, but Korra was proving to be a decidedly cunning strategist as she grew older, learning to temper her more implosive instincts. In a last desperate bid to foil the plan, Asami had pointed out that she couldn't just commandeer the airship without the permission of the Future Industries board of directors. She had felt sure that, after being reprimanded for her often reckless use of company property for private purposes, the board would flat out refuse to release the airship, and there was little that Korra would be able to do about it in her bedridden stated.

So of cause it went without saying that it was the one damn time the board actually approved the loan of their newest and most expensive prototype to the Avatar. Asami had been shocked at their sudden and totally unexpected change of stance, then realised that Tonraq would be joining them, and he'd see first-hand just how amazing the new airship she had helped design was. And as Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, he'd be in a position to place an order for an entire fleet of airships for his nations growing military. For Asami, who had been extremely careful to never use her family connection for business felt more than a little ashamed that she'd walked right into an ambush without even realising it.

Korra had simply smiled, hugged her and wished her better luck next time.

Revenge was, however, a dish best served cold, and Korra had been none to pleased when Asami had brought out her old wheelchair from storage, insisting that, if they were going to make this journey, then Korra was going to rest whether she liked it or not. Being wheeled out the house to the waiting car had brought back unpleasant memories for the Avatar, but she secretly had to admit that she wasn't completely sure she would have made it on her own. With Korra holding Aang and their daughters in the back, Asami drove them out to the former Equalist airbase in the mountains outside the city, long since taken over by Future Industries as a testing ground for prototype aircraft of all types. The trip was made as part of a small convoy, Senna and Tonraq following with the doctors in a car behind them, with police and White Lotus escorts and outriders for and aft. Mako, Kuvira and San were waiting by the airship to say goodbye, the firebender obviously distraught that his newborn son would be leaving so soon, but well aware of the complex boundaries that were the foundation of their somewhat unusual family. Lin had also been waiting, a duffel bag at her side, the slightest hint of a hopeful expression on her face. Korra had taken one look at the Chief of Police and simply nodded; in many ways, Katara had been a second-mother to Lin, with Toph often working every hour she wasn't sleeping. It went without saying that she'd want a chance to say goodbye, if it really was time.

Their airship took off with a minimum of fanfare, escorted out of the city airspace by a pair of police patrol ships, then set out south-west across the Mo Ce Sea, the captain slowly building up to maximum power on the engines. Before long the city and the mountains that surrounded it had vanished below the horizon, the sky a clear blue with the storm having dissipated. It was a bit cramped on board for the first few hours; the ship was built for speed, not comfort, and there was only so much room to go round. As it was, Korra and Asami found themselves sharing bunk-beds, the protesting Avatar relegated to the bottom bunk by her wife, who didn't want to risk anything by letting her take the top like she had wanted. There was just enough room in the cabin for the small crib that held Aang, their daughters sharing a cabin with Tonraq, while his wife bunked down with Lin. It was far from perfect, and there had been more than one argument, but soon everything was stowed away and nerves started to calm.

The one amenity the ship did have was a small observation deck on top of the gas-bag: intended to house a lookout, it offered unmatched panoramic views. As soon as she discovered is existence, Korra had insisted on seeing it for herself, leading to what could polity be called a disagreement with her wife. It was on the verge of getting nasty when Lin had walked over and slapped both women around the back of the head and told them to stop upsetting their children. It was the shock more than the pain that stunned the two women, but it gave them a chance to calm down, Korra offering to see if she could ascend to the observation deck by way of airbending, promising to drop the subject if she failed. Asami agreed to at least let her try, but only if she went up first and secured a rope, the other end of which would be tied around Korra to catch her in case she fell. The precaution proved unnecessary, the Avatar closing off all the connecting doors before generating a vortex that effortlessly lifted her up to the top of the airship. Once there, they spread out a blanket, and sat back to watch the sunset.

"I miss the stars." Korra looked up at the myriad of twinkly lights that seemed to fill the wide open sky aver their head, "You can't really see them in the city."

"Too much light pollution." Asami mused as she pulled another blanket around them, holding her wife protectively in her arms, "I can remember the first time I really saw them; my father took me on a business trip, and we stopped overnight in this small inn on the road to Harbor Town. I must have been maybe seven, it wasn't that long after my mother died, and I was having trouble sleeping, so I went to the window just to have something other than the same four walls to look out. It felt... it felt like the entire sky was alive with light."

"One winter when I was very young, back before I was moved to the White Lotus compound and was still living at home with my parents, there was the most amazing aurora." Korra smiled at the fond memory, "Colours I'd never seen before; reds and greens and purple and gold, all racing back and forth like waves crashing on the beach. I can remember by father holding up in his arms and telling me that there were the souls of long-dead warriors, battling to keep our world safe from evil spirits, and the only the noblest and bravest of our tribe would be selected to stand that eternal guard over the night."

"You guys have some pretty strange myths down south." Asami chuckled, "Anything else I should know about?"

"Well, there is the myth that a couple who make love under an aurora will have a son who will grow up to be a mighty warrior and leader of his people." Korra cringed, "Probably shouldn't mention that my mother once told me that I was conceived under an aurora."

"That... would actually explain a lot about you." Asami hugged and kissed her wife, "That would explain a whole lot indeed."

"Shut up an enjoy the view." Korra swatted her arm playfully, "We have an hour at best before Aang wakes up and wants feeding."

Yes, life with Korra was a compromise, but Asami knew it was all worth it.

To Be Continued...