Korra didn't want to admit it but she was pretty sure that she was to blame for the situation she was in. She hadn't planned it of course but for some strange reason the moment Asami left her alone after inviting her Mako and Bolin into her home she'd gone and investigated and somehow, she'd discovered the secret underground equalist base. She and her friends had been captured and Asami in a split decision had shocked her father before they'd all escaped. The first thing the officers did was put the entire estate in lockdown as they went through every single room all but tearing it apart to find any trace of the equalists.
Now the small group was standing silently as the airship made their way to Tenzin's island. The entire time Korra kept looking to Asami trying and failing not to think about all this was her fault.
You just had to go and stick your nose in it didn't you? Now not only did Asami loose her family and home you wound up causing Bolin and Mako to lose their new home. First you get arrested trying to stop a small crime and now you've ruined someone's' life. Great avatar you turned out to be.
Across the room leaning against the window Asami did her best to hold back the tears. She could still feel the slight tingling sensation from the gauntlet she'd used to knock her father into a wall as she'd rejected him. No matter how many times she replayed the image she still couldn't believe it to be true. To make things worse Mako had been keeping his distance since the cops had guided them onto the ship. He'd made it clear that he didn't think she was like her father or that the situation was her fault, but he'd still left her alone. Now the isolation was tearing her apart and she kept wishing it was all just a bad dream.
When the ship finally landed and the four of them dismounted Asami walked behind Korra her hands gripping her coat in a rage. If she was honest, she knew that Korra hadn't done anything on purpose and that sooner or later her father would have tried to recruit her. But that didn't stop her from getting angry every time she reminded herself that this had only happened after Korra showed up.
Tenzin was there to greet the teens and show them to their rooms.
"I'm sorry to say that we don't have that many rooms available at the moment."
Bolin ever the beacon of hope waved it off. "It's alright Mako and I are used to sharing a bed. Wait we will have beds, right? Not that it's a problem I mean mats are totally cool."
"Rest assured Bolin we have actual beds in our rooms now please follow me."
He showed the boys to the room they'd been sharing but as he walked down the hall which led to his daughters' rooms, he stopped in front of Korra's.
"I'm sorry to say girls but I wasn't kidding about the lack of rooms. Since you two are near the same age I hope you won't mind sharing."
Korra made a sound halfway between a gulp and sigh while Asami grit her teeth and walked in setting the single suitcase she'd been allowed. A couple officers had tried to deny her this or demand to know what was inside, but Lin had tore into them before telling Asami that she could take whatever she needed before leaving.
Nearly searched on my way out of my own home. I can't believe this is really happening.
As soon as the door was shut the two girls became aware of just how awkward it was. It got worse when Korra tried to break the ice and see where she stood.
Alright Korra just don't make things worse.
She opened her mouth to speak but it was Asami that spoke first. "I'd like to be alone."
She heard the anger in her voice and simply muttered "Yeah okay" before leaving. She'd just closed the door when she heard sobbing. For a long time Korra simply stood outside the door unable to move instead choosing to stay and guiltily listen until Asami stopped crying. Only then did she allow herself to move.
The following days were tense and awkward as the encounters between the girls were strained and each time one would end up saying something that made the other angry. Soon neither could be in the same room as the other for more then five minutes. The others had quickly grown worried but each time they'd tried to talk about they'd been snapped at and quickly given up. Pema seemed to be the only one immune as each girl would vent their frustrations to the expecting mother. Korra would vent about how the situation was her fault and how it was only getting worse no matter what she did while Asami would vent about how blind she'd been not to notice her father was supplying a terrorist organization form their home and how she'd possibly lost everything.
When the sun began to set Tenzin called an end to Korra's training. "You've been doing well Korra. You're finally getting the hang of the spinners." In the past Korra would have said she was getting better but now she simply walked passed the spinners giving one a good kick having been to slow to avoid it during her training.
She walked past Pema in the kitchen and toward her room wanting nothing more then to change out of her airbending robes and relax. She knew it wasn't the training that made her angry.
It's Asami, we're always at each other's necks. I want to apologize! Really I do, but every time I just wind up letting my anger and guilt combine! But she's not helping! Never even letting me get a chance before she snaps at me.
Not fully thinking she turned the knob and walked in just as Asami closed her book.
"So, you're back."
"Yeah."
Already getting annoyed she quickly pulled the robe off leaving her in her blue training clothes.
"Not even going to give me a warning?!"
"What? It's my room and I'm covered in sweat. Not like we don't have the same thing anyway."
"Our room Korra. Which means we need to be respectful and think of the other." Both were angry and the situation was getting worse by the minute. But things truly got bad when Korra needing a bit of space accidently tried to push Asami back just a couple feet but instead forget her strength and pushed her down. The moment seemed to slow down as Korra watched her body fall to the ground.
"Oh, shit I didn't mean…" Realizing what she did she bent down to try to help her up but when she got close Asami lashed out. For brief second Korra couldn't believe the pain in her cheek and could only stare.
"No, you never mean it do you, you simply act and cause trouble for those around you!"
Korra reached up feeling the tender skin of her cheek and after wincing pulled Asami up forcibly. "What is your problem! I didn't mean to push you!"
"Just like you didn't mean to out my father as an equalist! I lost my home because of you! Half the city now thanks I'm in league with them because of that."
"That wasn't my fault! Your father was an equalist long before I got to this city and I 've tried to apologize but you haven't given me a chance!"
"Like I'd believe you'd ever apologize! All you ever think about is yourself!"
For nearly an hour the sounds of screaming and objects being thrown were the only sounds that came from the room. Tenzin and Pema stood just down the hall Tenzin wanting to stop this but being held back by Pema.
"I need to put a stop to this. Perhaps move the girls to different rooms."
"Tenzin you know I love you, but this is something the girls need to work out themselves. Once they get it all out, they should calm down." A very loud thud seconds later did cause her to get a bit worried.
"But Korra…"
"Is a good person and has control enough to not use her bending when she is having an argument. Now you leave them be and I'll check on them later."
He gave one last look at the door before trusting his wife's judgement and walking away to mediate.
Back inside the room Korra and Asami were winded and tired as Korra pinned Asami on the ground. Their fight had mostly been vocal as each girl had called the other the worst things they could think of before it had devolved into a wresting match with Korra as the victor. Now with now where to go Korra knew this would be the best chance to finally apologize.
"Look I'm sorry alright! I never wanted anything like this to happen alright."
Asami unable to move simply glared angrily at Korra. "I know I'm in the wrong, but I have strongly wanted to apologize but every time I start to feel guilty about what you've lost which made me angry at myself and that made me close up. But I am truly sorry that you're in this situation. I can't imagine losing everything in one day like you have."
Looking down she was surprise to find Asami no longer looked angry. Slowly she got off her. Once she was, she waited for Asami to slap her again but instead she took a deep slightly painful breath and took a moment to think about what Korra had said. She was still a bit angrey but not a Korra, at least not anymore. Her father however still held the brunt of her anger.
"I'm sorry to Korra. I shouldn't have slapped you. I've just been angry and had nowhere else to put it."
Already feeling a bit better she moved next to her gently placing her hand on Asami's shoulder. "Look I'm not going to say I didn't deserve it. I've been a bit of a jackal donkey lately, But how about now that we have the chance, we try to talk it out."
"Alright, Look Korra I know you didn't do it on purpose, and you shouldn't feel guilty about it. I mean I was living with a secret base under my home for I don't even know how many months or years by how large it was and never realized it. So you can stop letting that eat you up."
"Thanks."
"But can you answer me this?"
"Okay what?"
"Why don't you like me? Ever since we first met I've gotten the feeling that you hated me."
Korra groaned and thought about how she'd treated Asami before. The cold shoulders and half serious dirty looks when she thought she could get away with it. " If I'm being honest I don't hate you Asami truly I don't. I think I was just jealous of you and didn't know how to deal with it."
Asami hearing this became confused. "You were jealous of me? But why?"
"Because the first time I saw you I couldn't help but think about how you had everything and how I was struggling. It's stupid I know."
"Korra you're the avatar why would you be jealous of me? I'm not even a bender."
"Well I mean you're rich, smart, funny. Not to mention your family is famous for creating the satomobiles and you're by far the pretest person I've ever met. Compared to you I'm far to muscly to be considered a girl." She looked away for a moment feeling a bit insecure. She'd always been proud of her strength but she'd come to realize since coming here that she wasn't exactly girly. "Take away my bending and I'm just a girl from a frozen wasteland who barely has a month of experience being in the real world."
Asami for a moment couldn't believe what she was hearing. She'd been told that the avatar was the most important person in the world. The master of all four elements and the one who would bring balance to all the world.
But she's still a teenager. A teenager who's only been here a month and has to not only master her airbending training but also go against a terrorist organization trying to tear down everything. And I thought it was stressful to just have a famous last name. Can't imagine what it's like quite literally living in the shadow of your past self and being held to their degree.
"Korra you're more then just your bending or what your past self did. When I first saw you I was a bit awestruck, yes bending all four elements is impressive but you also became a probender in less than a day and publicly challenged Amon. Something no one else has had the courage to do. Plus you're honest and like people for who they are, that's something that most of the people in this city lack."
Korra smiled a bit and looked around followed by Asami. Once they surveyed the damage they started laughing. The bed was flipped over and the pillows were bleeding feathers. Most other objects were randomly thrown over the place.
"We kind of went crazy, didn't we?" Korra asked feeling much better now that their shared room had suffered the brunt of their anger management. Asami stood up and helped her flip the bed back. "Nothing a little elbow grease can't fix. Besides a destroyed room is a fair price to pay for moving past all the anger and guilt. Now we can start fresh as friends."
"Really!? We're friends!" Asami was caught off guard at Korra's excitement.
"Well yeah, that Is if you want." She really hoped she hadn't said anything strange.
"Of course, I do. I've never had a female friend before. In fact, the only girls I've ever talked to was Katara who was an old lady. Her daughter and my unofficial aunt Kya who visited ever so often and then Ikki and Jinora who are sweet but still children. The only people my age I've ever hung out with have been Mako and Bolin, so I'd love to have you as a friend. In fact, why don't we do this right."
Asami could only watch as Korra franticly searched the room before pulling a large green bottle from a false floorboard. "Alright what's going on now?"
"Well in the south when two people right a wrong the celebrate a new beginning by drinking. My dad sent this as a present a week ago for when I mastered airbending but I think this is a better time to drink it. I mean we don't have to; What with both of us being underage and it's an old tradition, so it's not really used that often. Not to mention I don't even know if it's good." she stared to ramble get quitter thinking this was stupid.
As her words got softer and she tried to play it off Asami couldn't help but smile.
She's adorable when she's embarrassed.
"I'd love to actually."
"Great!"
Quickly breaking the cork, she poured Asami a glass before pouring one for herself. Once both girls had their drinks, they raised them up. "To new friends."
"To new beginnings."