"She is not a stray puppy, Korra!" Asami unleashed the anger she'd been holding in all the way up to the house. Korra had placed the girl to sleep in their bed, and gone downstairs in silence, where Asami met her. She was pacing frantically back and forth in the livingroom, the ceramic floor clicking under her feet.
"You are right, she is not" Korra was trying to be the one maintaining composure for once, but the fatigue from today's events was making it difficult "She is a firebender child that doesn't seem to control her abilities yet. What if no other family takes her in because of it? Asami stared at her feet "Besides, youhelped her, she seems attached to you now"
"What else was I supposed to do?" Asami yelled, suddenly fired up "Let her in the streets?! Let her be taken in like a criminal?!"
"No of course not, that's not what I meant" Korra raised her voice slightly "What was I supposed to do!?, Let Lin take her to the station?! Let her wake up all alone when she fell asleep in your arms?!
"Yes!" Asami yelled "No, maybe, I don't know!" She covered her face with her hands, afraid the tears would betray her "We talked about this, Korra" she almost whimpered.
"We did not" Korra was now enraged "You decided, and that was it" the front door began shaking at Naga's insisting clawing from outside. "Quiet Naga!"
"I thought we agreed!" Asami didn't want to have this fight, she could see where it was going, and she didn't like it. But she couldn't stop it either.
"I want what you want, Asami!" Korra lowered her voice "But you are not being honest with me, you are not being honest with yourself!" Korra turned her back on her wife and marched towards the door to let Naga in before she tore down the door.
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Asami also turned her back on Korra but for different reasons "Wanting what I want" she murmured under her breath "That's not how these things are supposed to work!" she now yelled, turning around.
"I understand plenty how things work" Korra stopped, her hand on the doorknob" You don't want kids because I'm the Avatar, because my life is dangerous, maybe because⦠because I'm a woman? I don't even know anymore!" She swallowed hard "The only thing I know for sure is that it's my fault" she opened the door and let Naga in.
"That's not at all-" Asami's voice had softened, but was cut short by Naga, who run rampantly upstairs foreseeing the screeching scream that filled the air not a second after.
Both women looked at each other before running upstairs behind Naga, Korra blocking them both when they reached their bedroom door.
"Stay behind me, if she's scared, she might firebend" Asami didn't listen, and busted through the door with Korra alongside her.
The girl was no longer in their bed, she was now hunched over in a corner, blue flames enveloping her hands and running up her arms through her scars like lightnings on fire. It would have been beautiful if they weren't all so terrified.
"It's okay, it's okay" Asami shushed, approaching the child.
"Asami wait-" Korra warned when her wife went to hold the girl's hands, still on fire. But to her surprise, the flames extinguished the second Asami touched her, the fierce blue eyes stained with terror softening with recognition.
Asami felt the heat of the girl's hands on her own skin, as if she was holding a soft piece of coal, but she didn't let go. She wasn't afraid of her, and she needed the girl to know that. The bewildered eyes moved from Asami's hands to her face while glazing over with tears. The woman let go of the child slowly, both kneeled facing each.
"You are safe here" Asami said with admirable calm. "I'm sorry we left you alone, we though you might sleep better that way". Korra noticed the plural, standing behind her, awkward, not knowing what to do "We can leave you alone, or we can stay with you tonight, your call" now the girl looked up at Korra, a tacit question written in her face. "Oh, she is alright, her name is Korra, you can trust her, she is nice"
The girl fixed her gaze on Korra for a second, looked down at her wrists frowning, and back up at Korra. Apparently, she had made up her mind because she then dragged herself across the floor and onto Asami's lap without any prompting.
The women shared a look before Asami scooted the girl up and sat on the bed reclining against the headboard. She saw in amazement how the girl nestled at her side, grabbing a fistful of her clothes, as if to make sure Asami couldn't go anywhere while she slept.
Korra covered them both with a blanket and marched towards the door, where Naga was waiting for her.
"Can Korra come here with us?" Korra stopped on her tracks at Asami's words. She closed her eyes in relief, they still had things to talk about, but the fight was over.
She turned around fast enough to catch the girl nodding, so she walked slowly towards them, and laid next to Asami, the girl between them.
They stayed like that for a while, in tense silence at the unfamiliarity of the situation, Asami's head on Korra's shoulder, and Korra's arm wrapped around Asami, until the girl fell asleep.
"What are we going to do?" Asami said in a trembling whisper.
"Sleep" Korra kissed Asami's hair and tighten her embrace "Tonight there is nothing else to do"
