Asami came down the stairs lured by laughter.

She knew she was late for work, that she was still in her nightgown and had overslept. But for the while she stood unnoticed at the base of the stairs, watching Korra and the girl play with Naga, she didn't care one bit.

Korra was making Naga perform tricks with blubbered seal jerky, fits of laughter coming from the girl every time Naga would do a silly pirouette trying to catch the jerky midair.

Naga was the first one to notice Asami once the treats were all gone. She ran up to her to greet her, licking Asami's cheek.

"Good Morning to you too, Naga" Asami ruffled the polar-bear dog's head "What were you two doing?" She asked, the girl getting quiet all of a sudden.

"I was telling Akemi about former Fire Lord Zuko, and how his scar was a big reason he became the great leader he was" she gave a significant look to the girl, and Asami knew something had happened while she was asleep. "He first was very ashamed of his scar, but learned to overcome it and came out the other side a better person"

"But then Naga got hungry" the girl chimed in shyly, and Asami's jaw dropped. Korra had managed not only to learn the girl's name, but also get her to talk. The strings in Asami's heart seemed to pull in all kinds of different directions. She set her feelings aside with a slight shake of her head.

"Is that so, Akemi?" She smiled at the girl, glad to finally be able to call her by her name "What do you have there?" She asked when she noticed her wife's gloves sliding off Akemi's thin arm. The girl seemed to be about to say something but bit her tongue and looked up at Korra first. Korra nodded encouragingly, and Akemi gave a few wobbly steps towards Asami. She pulled on the woman's clothes and whispered in her ear when Asami came down to her level.

"We can certainly arrange that" Asami laughed at the secret request, and as soon as she gave her approval, Akemi grabbed her hand and waited. Asami looked at Korra.

"Yeah, that's her thing, apparently" said Korra as she passed by her on her way to the bathroom "Can I leave you two ladies alone?" Akemi nodded and started tugging on Asami's arm.

"Korra…" Asami begged, unsure. Korra turned around and got closer to Asami lowering her voice, so Akemi couldn't hear.

"Just do her hair while I get ready and I'll take her to Lin, we'll figure things out as we go" she reassured, but Asami wasn't convinced, her doubt written in her frown "I know you like planning things out, but just try to have fun with it, it's only temporary"

It's only temporary Asami said to herself, as if it had just occurred to her, her body relaxing at the thought. It's only temporary. Korra was good at bringing her back to earth.

Out of the blue, she planted a kiss on Korra's lips a little too fiercely, grabbing her face with her free hand while Akemi held the other. Korra returned the favor, quickly overcoming the initial surprise biting Asami's lower lip as a parting gift, the kiss lasting a mere second. Korra quickly escaped into the bathroom with a smile, wondering what had gotten into her wife all of a sudden.

Asami watched Korra go, heat climbing up to her cheeks when she noticed the two blue eyes staring at her from below. She cleared her throat and ushered the kid upstairs before she could open her mouth and start asking questions.

Asami sat down in the bed and started combing the wet black hair with her fingers, the reflection of herself and Akemi staring back at her in the mirror in front of them. She looked at the girl's eyes, attentive, following Asami's fingers as they untangled knots delicately, trying not to pull too much on her hair.

Asami noticed what seemed to be a topknot coming undone in silky strands at every pass of her hand, so she ran to her nightstand and pulled some pins to recreate the Fire Nation hairstyle.

"Do you like it like that?" she held Akemi's hair up, making sure she approved before securing it with the pins. The girl nodded. "You know, my mom used to do my hair when I was little" a nostalgic stinging came with the memories. "Does your mom do the same?" she began pinning the topknot to the back of her head, but looked awry at the mirror, wanting to see the girl's reaction. There was none.

"You don't want to talk about it" Asami bit her lip as she found the affirmative answer in the girl's reflection. But she kept pushing. "Why is that? Do you miss them?" The girl shifted uncomfortable and seemed about to cry. "I miss mine too" Asami said in a sigh, deflecting the attention from the girl, that seemed relieved.

"Why?" Akemi asked, looking up at her from the reflection. Asami paused, wanting to say the right thing.

"Some people leave a little empty space in our hearts when they go" Asami wanted to be gentle not to stir any bitter emotions on the girl. "My parents were like that"

And even though Asami struggled to recall her mother most days, and the memories she had with her father were tainted, first by his actions and then by her guilt for taking so long to forgive him, she still couldn't shake the feeling of emptiness every time she remembered they were gone. An irreplaceable part of herself vanished forever, just like that.

But she was not about to tell that to a child.

"I miss my heart feeling whole" she decided to say instead, the girl seemingly satisfied with the answer, "But you don't have to worry," she said as she stepped away from her work. She'd left some hair loose at the back and two black strands at each side of her face to frame her features. "You will talk with a nice lady today that will help you find your family" Asami said, too distracted tucking in some flyaways into the topknot to notice the change in Akemi's demeanor "We will have you back with your parents in no ti-" she didn't get to finish the sentence. Akemi sprinted away from her and down the stairs so fast Asami didn't even get to close her mouth before the girl was already at the front door, fighting with the doorknob.

"KORRA!" Asami yelled when her mind finally connected to her body "AKEMI WAIT! What happened?!" she ran down the stairs, her legs refusing to go at the speed she needed them to, especially as she saw the girl perform a lousy fire fist at the door, trying to burn it open, unsuccessfully.

But as soon as she noticed Asami running after her, her hands fired up instantly, almost reflexively, lightning her forearm all the way up to her elbow in one single move. She then began punching the door, trying desperately to make it catch on fire. Asami kept going towards her despite not being sure the girl wouldn't aim at her in her current state.

Korra stepped out of the bathroom just in time. She came out with a water whip bent from the sink, ready to extinguish the glowing circle of flames that had started to form around where Akemi was punching furiously.

In a single move the whip was split into two blobs of water that shackled the girl's hands, instantly putting out the fire running up her arms.

Akemi tried to ignite her hands again, but the two water cuffs although painless were pretty effective at keeping her firebending at bay. Akemi recognized she was trapped and started whimpering in frustration, looking around for another possible exit, seeing only Korra and Asami standing in front of her.

As a last resort she tried breathing fire at the door, but when she opened her mouth, instead of fire came out a cry, and then tears, no longer capable of containing her sadness tucked away.

"I am sorry, I am so sorry" Asami said, not sure what she was sorry about "I didn't mean to upset you, Akemi" maybe she was sorry about the girl being in so much pain and fear, the only thing she could do about it was run away from it.

Akemi was rolled up in fetal position, knees to her chest, arms covering her head, crying so hard the women could see the hiccups of every sharp breath she took convulse her whole little body. Tears started pouring inadvertently from Asami's eyes, as she sat on the ground besides the girl, took her into her arms and started rocking her out of instinct, feeling her heart would wither and rot away inside of her if she didn't get the girl to stop suffering.

"You don't have to go anywhere" the girl tugged and pulled Asami's nightgown, burrowing her face in the engineer's chest, feeling the soft cloth dampening from her tears "You are safe with us" Asami kept repeating like a prayer "Nothing can hurt you now" she wanted it to be true, she wanted the Akemi to believe her.

"Please don't make me go"

A/N: The Angst is back with revenge!
I'm going back to one upload a week on Mondays now that the chapters are a tad longer.
Hope you liked this one, I'd love to hear your thoughts!