Korra felt more shell shocked waking up the second time, ears ringing as she was buffeted by visions as Asami doted on her, when their skin brushed she saw what she wanted for the future clear as day. When there was space she saw the cross roads the heiress still stood at and the tall handsome shadow at the edge of her vision, that led away from her.

"Honey?" she snapped out of it, and couldn't help the confusion passing her face at the strange nickname Asami had just given her. The heiress' eyes flickered to the nurse reading her chart and back to her. Play along, the emeralds said.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Korra felt a smile tug her lips. Asami stopped folding clothes from their bags to rub her arms.

"I'm doing better, doll-face,"

"Don't push it." the heiress laughed as Korra's fingers curled into the front of her shirt and pulled her down to catch and kiss her. When Asami pulled away she took comfort in running her fingers through her hair.

"Right love birds, time to learn to change the dressings," they parted with fingers still entangled as the nurse barged in, water and rags and bandages ready to go. She gestured from Asami to the supplies and said, "If you would,"

Korra caught Asami's hand as she reached, and said,

"Wait, no,"

"Korra,"

"You don't have to, I can-"

"I do, remember, for better or worse."

Korra blinked slowly and studied her, still not loosening her grip as she struggled with her trust.

"You have a wife now, use it or lose it." Asami shrugged, combing her fingers through her hair and watching her eyes close instinctively. "You can watch me anyway, you're so clumsy with this stuff."

"Am not!"

"How many times have you cut your legs shaving?"

"I can't always feel it! Okay?"

"We're doing this." Asami told her matter of factly, lathering her hands with hand sanitising gel. "What's first?" she turned to the nurse, effectively shutting down Korra's protests with a turn of her head.

"Gently peel away the old dressings and wash the wound underneath."

Asami's tough facade wavered in the face of it, but had Korra let go of her hands, and she undid the buttons of her shirt. It was strange undressing her, slow, steady, with care, not frantic and full of pure want and need and without kissing her. In a way she felt more vulnerable, looking into straight into the power of her stoic encompassing gaze rather than between them, where the angry wounds were waiting for her.

They'd been there three days, and Opal had been an exemplar assistant, collecting their clothes from wherever they'd left them on the island. Asami was amazed to find she'd somehow had them dry cleaned.

As she parted the shirt Korra had been wearing to reveal the blue crop top she'd worn to the date with Kuvira an eternity ago. Asami shot her a derisive look, and Korra smiled bashfully.

"It's not too tight on my stitches." she explained.

The heiress eyes softened and she planted her lips on hers quickly, forgetting they had company.

"The procedure won't remain sanitary if you keep doing that." the nurse sighed.

"Sorry," the heiress blushed, scooping her hair behind her ears before hooking her thumb beneath the shirt and pushing it off her shoulders.

"One," Korra counted aloud, and Asami's eyes flicked back to her but she continued her work. The mood shifted when she took up the corner of the bandage spanning her shoulder and upper chest.

"These are looking better already," the nurse assured, looking over the angry red surface wounds. Asami smiled at her through pursed lips.

"Two," Korra added, "keep it up,"

"What are you counting?"

"We can't kiss til after right?" Korra asked the nurse who pulled a bemused expression.

Her grip tightened on Asami's shirt as she ran water over the wound, she was putting on her brave face and Asami loved her for it.

"Three," the heiress tacked on.

"Now use the soap gently, we want to disinfect as best we can,"

Asami only nodded now, afraid she'd start to cry if she opened her mouth again. For the next few minutes she did as she was told, moisturising scars and feeling Korra's grip tighten when pain shot through her. She felt a sense of pride running her fingers over the corners of the bandage on her shoulder, and then her ribs, clean and healthy looking.

Korra lay her cheek in the crook Asami's neck after, she let out the breath she had been holding.

"I got you baby," Asami wasn't thinking about the words as she held her, kissing her forehead.

"You're a natural," the nurse told her patting her back and leaving them in silence. When Korra sat up straight she wiped her eyes, and looked entirely defeated until Asami caught her cheek in her palm.

"Thank you. You didn't have to do that."

"Yes I did." Asami told her, "And I will be doing it when we go home, got it?"

"I-" Asami kissed her protest, pulling her shirt back over her shoulders.

"We'll talk about it on the plane…I know before, we had a lot to talk about."

She was referring to the time before the volcano changed everything, or so they thought. Korra remembered viscerally Asami leaving her in that shack, after she had all but driven her out.

The Ice Sculptor nodded but only had the strength to kiss her cheek and share the sorrow they felt then. Balancing foreheads in the quiet as Asami clasped the buttons shut.

There was a brush of curtain that caught the corner of their eye, and a small eye peeking at them from the lip.

"Hey there," Korra whispered.

"Why are you hiding?" Asami offered her hand to Ikki, who still looked a little shell shocked at seeing Korra his way.

The girl paced closer clasping her hands, eyes wide, looking somewhat like a baby pangolin, shy and enamoured. Asami guided her up and sat her on the bed on Korra's left.

"This is the good side," she explained, to which Ikki responded by hugging her immediately. Korra didn't show any signs of pain as the girl buried her face into her.

"I'm so sorry Korra!" she finally wailed, and it was like a damn had been broken because Ikki let of a train of thought apology that was as heart-wrenching as it was unintelligible. "We made you go to the volcano and you knew it was a bad idea and that this would happen and it did and yo-ma-so-much-blood,"

"Ikki I didn't know - those were just jokes," Korra cradled her, "You guys saved me, you got help, you got out. We're all safe,"

Soon footsteps followed, Jinora and Meelo, the three of them were finally in their own clothes and looked to anyone like normal kids.

"How are you guys feeling?" Korra asked. They rushed and Korra flinched.

"One at a time!" Asami put her arms out as if to catch them, and Korra surmised.

"Hug Asami for me."

Once again the heiress was encapsulated by little arms, until one by one they traded with holding Korra by her good side. It was a ridiculous show of weirdness, but it struck Asami hard all the same.

"What?" Korra asked cradling Meelo, and watching Asami wipe away tears.

"I think I want kids." she sniffled and Korra's face dropped with shock, "Not now!" Asami assured.

Korra laughed and the kids sniggered nervously with her, she wiped her eyes and reached for the heiress. Gingerly she arranged her arms around her neck and felt the smoosh of three other bodies envelop the good sides of Korra.

As soon as visitors were allowed, the dam broke and a wave of pseudo family waded in. Balloons and bears and flowers in tow. Bolin did his best not to crush her, Mako of course was internalising everything, Opal had already whisked their suitcases away ready for the private jet to carry them away as soon as Korra was getting discharged.

Pema and Tenzin thanked Korra for the thousandth time, and after Korra's insistence left the hospital a grateful family, whole, scared, but together.

Korra had to try not to cry for fear or tearing stitches, so Asami let her crush her hand as she sat beside her.

Kya cupped her cheeks and studied her gaze.

"You're walking ok, you have to tell them if you're feeling any pain-"

"The painkillers they gave me are covering me for that," Korra told her, peeling her fingers from her face and lowering her hands. "I'm fine Kya really, I'm just glad the kids are ok,"

"I know you Korra, I know what you're like," Kya was bristling now, unbecoming of someone who had been heretofore known as a bohemian hippy, "You don't have to keep it all in."

Korra shrugged although it pained her, gripping the back of her neck, unable to deal with the emotions being presented to her.

"I'm ok now. Maybe you should sit down you look stressed."

"That'll be the stress," Kya snapped, "Four of my people almost died."

"I know," Korra defended "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," in lieu of giving her a hug took her free hand and squeezed it, "Just concentrate on getting better. "

"I will, I'll be better off when I go back home." again she shrugged, looking away from Asami as she added, "I miss my bed."

Logically Asami knew it, but hearing Korra say it effectively meant the honeymoon was over, and in her heart of hearts she'd give anything to go back to that sweet spot before the nightmares started.

"You're heading back to Republic City? So soon?" Kana asked.

"There's hospital's there, I don't think I'll be too good at couples scuba diving again without risk of infection."

"So Asami's-?"

"Of course I'm going back with her," the heiress squeezed her hand and announced loudly, punctuating the point. Korra rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile as Asami leaned forward conspiratorially, to which Kya and Kana dutifully met with eager ears. "I told them we're married,"

Kana clapped her hand over her mouth to keep her squeal of glee in, when Kya simply gawped at them.

"Last time they wouldn't let me near her," Asami whispered, "I'm just filling in for family, so don't blow our cover."

"The idiocy of that statement aside, because you are clearly more married than most married couples, we could not rock that boat." Kya couldn't help but grin at the fools in front of her, having the gall to act bashful and surprised. She took the chart from the end of the bed and studied it, when she was satisfied she added. "Let me know whose apartment you're staying at because my mother and I will be coming to visit."

"Wait what?"

"That seems," Asami struggled to find the word, "extraneous," she paused, "and odd."

"Isn't Katara too busy saving the world or something?" Korra asked.

"You just saved her grand babies, she'd be happy to take time out of her schedule to treat you,"

"I can't ask-"

Kya snapped the chart shut and said,

"It's done,"

"You know how to read medical charts?" Kana asked.

"My mother is a doctor and father was a sea-paramedic, of course I can read a medical chart."

"Yet you spent your time travelling the world and slumming it with me, they must've been so disappointed,"

"My mom would've never said that!" Kya exclaimed, "out loud." she corrected. Kana smiled at her like she hung the moon, the memories of their slumming it days still fresh in her mind.

"Wait what does this mean? What treatment?" Asami interrupted their reminiscing.

"My mother has been ran the successful trials for using Tilapia skin to heal burn scars effectively."

"Tilapia as in the fish?" Korra asked incredulous.

The heiress gawped for a minute for before grabbing Kya's cheeks and kissing her forehead.

"You should be doing this," she gesticulated to Korra, swiping tears from her eyes, standing and hugging her tight.

"She's going to put fish on my burns," Korra exclaimed.

"You don't want it, we won't come," Kya folded her arms and Asami answered.

"We want it, she's just being dumb, we want it,"

"Fish!"

"She'll come around." the heiress winked at her, smile radiating so much hope that Korra might just have believed it herself. Still she couldn't help the gnawing sensation at the back of her mind.

Korra had taken flown in a plane just once before, on the way to Ember Island. She would have loved to be able to afford to fly back to her native southern homeland, but the ferry was sufficient enough. It was loud and hot and full of families visiting for the holidays, she supposed Asami had spoiled her with first class, and again now for some reason a private jet.

"I feel like we're about to personally punch a hole in the O-Zone layer." she said reclining back in a chair in the otherwise empty cabin. Despite the two large luxurious airplane seats they were perched in the cabin took the form of an air-hotel room, equipped with large bed, maxi-bar and an audio visual system that can and has made grown men cry.

"Please you think I would let a Future Industries Private Jet that I designed would create a carbon footprint?"

"I forget your inventions are powered by dreams,"

"And slingshots." Korra peered through the curtain just to make sure she was joking. "Stop," Asami got off her seat and took her hand, "You're going to be fine."

"Makes a change," Korra smiled, "You comforting me on a plane,"

"I have a debt," Asami leaned up and hovered her lips a breath away from Korra's, "I think we wound up with six kisses in the end right?"

"We had one so,"

"Carry the one, times a three, I'm no good at math so…twelve?"

"You designed this plane-?" Asami kissed her anyway. Her fingers tangled with Korra's on the arms of the chair.

"If all passengers and crew could settle into their seats and put seatbelts on, the plane is about to depart."

The captain interrupted, but Asami continued, biting her lip and feeding her fingers into her hair.

"You remember the part where the doctor said no sex for three weeks, right?" Korra murmured half heartedly as Asami nibbled her neck just enough to have her eyes fluttering shut.

"I know," Asami whispered into her ear. "That doesn't mean I don't get to make you feel good."

She stood to her full height and Korra couldn't help but look up at her best friend in awe. She sat back against her chair, crossing her legs, biting her smile.

"I can't believe I just said that." the heiress laughed, "I didn't mean it to sound so dirty,"

"it was filthy," Korra smiled back, feeling the tug as the plane began to accelerate. It was heart wrenchingly endearing as she watched Asami cover her grin as she giggled.

"I did not see this vacation going this way." she admitted.

"I knew something like this would happen."

"You knew the volcano would go off while you were on it?"

"It was only a matter of time before I told you. I thought I'd be making this trip alone." Korra looked out of the window and watched as they were launched off the ground.

"You think I'd leave you after you told me? That we'd argue so much you'd have to storm off via plane to get away from me?"

"I didn't know what to think, all I did was imagine the worst, which is easy to do when you're …scared." the last word came out and a part of Korra regretted it, because she knew what Asami would ask next.

"Are you still scared?"

She could dance around it, she could try to protect what they were cultivating bit by bit, but she was too exhausted to keep from being honest.

"Yes,"

Asami studied her for a minute, the way those crystal blues held her, the way she looked as though she was hurriedly attempting to rebuild walls now that they were returning to their old lives. As though everything that happened on Ember Island meant nothing. The heiress had to fight then to remain calm.

"What are you afraid of?" she couldn't help the hurt in her voice, it tasted sour tainting the sweet Korra's lips had left on hers.

"You forgave Iroh. What does that mean?"

"It means nothing, not to us." Asami shot back, chin tilted up ready for battle.

"He's not going to a have a do-over ready at your apartment?" Korra thought she had purged this, but as they soared closer to home, she wondered aloud what kind of home they'd return to, the old and dark, or the entirely new.

"I left him behind on that island Korra, I'm going home with you,"

"So we're moving in together now?"

"Of course not, I just-"

"Have to go back to the apartment you shared with him and take apart your old life."

"I mean I didn't exactly get the chance to before I was sort of a mess."

"And then what?"

"And then life goes on! Now something is clearly plaguing you so why don't you go ahead and say it?"

"I can't help it. I feel like this is…too good to be true, that this is pity, you fake married me out of pity, and are now going to be what my nurse-maid? What are you getting out of this?"

"You Korra, it's always been you! It's why I took care of you the first time," Asami was standing now, chest heaving, "I know this isn't you talking, I know you love me, and you've gone through just about every crisis under the sun in the space of about a week but I'm telling you I'm here for you and it hurts to have you question that."

Not to mention I told you I loved you, she wanted to scream it but it stung too much to even utter the words. Korra had been through a lot, it's what the heiress kept telling herself every time she pulled away.

"And I am telling you," Korra told her softly, and slowly the heiress lowered herself to her knees in front of her "That this can't be one sided," Korra leaned forward and offered her hands, to which Asami took, hesitant. "There's so much you have to do now, and I don't mean me…I can't watch you go from one bad situation to another."

"You're calling yourself a bad situation?"

"I think we can admit I am pretty grotesque right now,"

"Stop it." Asami cupped her jaw, "I won't hear it."

"This is going to be hard, and dare I say it boring, I won't have you wasting all your free time with me."

Asami sat back on her heels looking up at her.

"I think we need to do this for real." she surmised.

"What's real to you?"

"We said we'd date. That we'd wait before sex, well now we have a literal ban."

"I'm not sure I'm in a fit state to go bowling with you right now."

"We can have dinner at your place like normal people. I'll come by to change your dressings every day like I promised, and if you want me to go, I'll go, or we can eat and watch TV and it'll be just like we always were except I get to hold you in my arms, and you can breathe finally,"

She watched as Korra stared at her unblinkingly, weighing the options of self inflicted isolation or this compromise that Asami had hashed out on the fly. The heiress felt like it was the most important pitch she'd ever had to make.

Finally Korra nodded tensely, she felt it in her hand as her thumb grazed her cheek.

"Good," Asami said standing straight again, "I'm going to bed," she said simply, peeling her shirt over her head when she was behind Korra's chair, and tossing it back to her. "Join me when you decide to stop pensively staring out the window and brooding like Mako."

Korra felt her lips smile, but it took a moment before she found the drive to follow. She still felt drained, and played with the chemise in her hands as she listened to Asami slip into bed and the near silent hum of the jet engine. When she opened her eyes again the cabin was dark, only the oval refractions of moonlight set a path on the carpet for her to follow. She stood with a wobble and saw the heiress' back peeking out the top of the duvet, lying on her front with an arm in the empty space where she should have been.

She undressed gingerly, and while she was soar it was manageable, and saw on what would be her pillow the folded clothes ready for her to change into. It wasn't until after she'd struggled putting it on did she realise she was wearing the last Ember Island is for Lovers T-shirt of Kya's and she wanted to roll her eyes only she was buffeted by that warm hopeful bleeding sensation in her chest.

The Honeymoon is over, she thought, but we aren't.

As she slipped into the bed she noticed that Asami had turned her head on her pillow to watch her, vigilance in her tired stare. Korra caught her hand, and wordlessly they slotted together. Asami on her left side, her lithe body melted into her comfortable and soothed, running her lips absentmindedly over the collar of her shirt simply because the skin and cotton lit up her sleep-dulled senses; everything of Korra's her lips touched felt feather like in softness.

She had come to learn that the heiress was a sensory person, she loved touching and being touched, and now that Korra let her, she couldn't get enough. Perhaps that was a bi-product of having been left at the altar, that this wasn't love just need. The Ice Sculptor berated herself for thinking it.

Korra wondered silently if this doubt would always plague her, even as Asami hooked her left leg over hers and Korra found herself kissing her forehead.

They left the airspace of Ember Island very much the same way they entered it, Asami clinging to her asleep, only this time, Korra could cling back.