A/N: Bonus Chapter! Enjoy!
"Come on sweetie, it's okay, we aren't getting rid of anybody, we swear" Asami spoke to the shadow of the girl under their bed, where she had been hiding for the past half hour.
Apparently, Korra's approach to telling Akemi they wanted to adopt her had the exact opposite impression. From how weird they've been acting all morning, to the visit to the police station and the meeting with the strange woman, Akemi was convinced it was all a ploy to get rid of her and no words were convincing her otherwise.
And they were getting desperate.
"She is not coming out" Asami said in a whisper to her wife kneeled beside her.
"I can see that" Korra lowered her voice even more "And I think she can still hear us"
"That's it, I'm moving the bed" Asami shot up to her feet but Korra held her hand and brought her back down.
"No, you'll do nothing of the sort" she said in a tense whisper "You'll spook her. Maybe we should leave her alone, give her some space"
"She is four, she doesn't need space!" Asami scream-whispered at her in a volume that made Korra wonder why they were even bothering with the secrecy.
"Except when she is sleeping on my side of the bed, then she needs all the space in the world" Asami's glare told Korra that wasn't the time for jokes "Well, what then?"
"I don't know, that's the whole point" she stopped to think for a second, before concluding: "I'm moving the bed" Korra held her back down once again.
"And you'll tell the police what happened when you squash her"
"Rather squashed than starved"
"You didn't just say that" common sense was no longer part of the conversation, and Korra could sense the hysteria escalating to dangerous levels "Wait, no, you can't panic, I'm panicking, we said we'd take turns!"
"Well you better skip yours, because this is your fault and I'm already spiraling" Asami mumbled an octave higher.
"So, this is all my fault?" Korra exclaimed, offended.
"Not now" Asami scolded and shifted in place to peak under the bed, turning her back on Korra "Akemi, you are not going anywhere, please come out here" she tried switching to a sterner tone, but it ended up sounding like a plea. Akemi didn't budge.
"Come on Tiny, Mom and I just want to talk to you, that's a-" the rest of her words hitched in her throat as she realized what she'd just said and covered her face with both hands, no longer trusting her mouth with words.
Asami turned around slowly to face her, looking at her wife as if she had just murdered her favorite uncle and was ready to avenge him.
Korra wasn't sure if she should backtrack or shut up, so her brain decided to do something in between: stammer half-baked thoughts that made no sense. Maybe if she kept that up Asami would think she had a stroke and take mercy on her.
A rustling sound coming from under the bed prevented the bloodshed. Both women turned around and stared at the shadow.
"Is Asami my mom now?" Now Asami was the one stuttering.
"She could be" Korra blurted out, but then backtracked and added: "Only if you want" Hours passed by in the seconds Akemi remained silent. Asami placed her hand over Korra's, squeezing it tightly.
"How?" the girl finally asked. The women looked at each other, and for once, Asami was glad Akemi was under the bed so she couldn't see their clueless faces. Because, really, how could she be Akemi's mom? How could shereplace the woman that gave her life? How could she live up to Jaya, the woman who had saved the girl's life in exchange of her own? She drew a shaky breath before answering.
"Well, sometimes, very special people get to choose their moms"
"Like you chose Korra?" the girl started approaching them slowly, her words accompanied by the rustling of her clothes dragging across the floor.
"Something like that, yes" Silence again. Korra's hand losing circulation in Asami's grip.
"Are you my chosen mom, then?" Even if Asami couldn't see Akemi from under the bed, she could picture her clear as day, with the frown she often wore when she wanted to be taken seriously.
"You get to choose, tiny, that's the whole point" Korra responded looking at Asami with a mixture of fear and excitement dancing in her eyes.
"Do you want us to be?" Asami was mostly fear.
They got no answer from Akemi, who instead dragged herself across the floor and out from under the bed. She knelt facing them, covered in dust and Naga's sheddings, wearing the exact frown Asami was picturing, her eyes piercing all the way to the soul.
"That way you can't send me away?" she inquired.
"We would never do that. No matter what" Asami reassured.
"You promise?" she didn't lose her seriousness.
"We promise" Korra nodded assertively.
Akemi's features softened as she crawled onto Asami's lap and clung to her neck; the by now familiar weight welcomed by the engineer, who hugged her back.
"Yes please" the girl whispered. And Asami suddenly understood: they couldn't replace Jaya nor her birth mother. They could never become what Akemi had lost. But they didn't need to. They would be whatever she needed them to be moving forward, be there for her for the ones that couldn't.
Asami placed a kiss on Akemi's head and closed her eyes, soaking it all in, still holding on to Korra's hand. When she reopened them again, Korra was in shambles next to her, unable to contain her quiet sobbing. Asami chuckled and moved her hand to cup Korra's cheek. The action caught Akemi's attention.
"Why are you crying? she asked worried, leaning her head, the already messed up topknot dropping to the side.
Korra wiped her tears away and smiled, trying to pull herself together and concoct an answer. But before she could say anything, Akemi quickly looked back at Asami, the serious frown once again creasing her forehead, an equally serious question on her mind:
"Can someone have two chosen moms?" Asami couldn't help but laugh as she nodded, a few tears escaping her eyes despite her best efforts. "See?" Akemi looked at the Avatar "Don't cry, you can be my chosen mom too" she crawled from Asami's lap to Korra's, where she was squeezed and kissed until they were all laughing.
"I knew all those ice creams would get to you" Korra said, planting one last kiss on Akemi's cheek. The girl then froze for a second, a thought popping on her mind. She stood up and quickly ran to the door, excitedly. "Hey, where are you going?!" Korra exclaimed, confused.
"I have to tell Naga!" the girl answered from the distance.
"Be careful" Asami said, watching her go, a new kind of warmth nestling her heart, her soul ridded of a weight she didn't know she was carrying.
Because the last puzzle piece had come into place, and with it, the complete picture of what their future would be like. A future she never expected to live, but now knew couldn't live without. She stared at that future free of reservation, every unknown no longer daunting, but enticing. She couldn't wait to experience it all.
But first, there was a lot that needed figuring out. She got up to her feet.
"Okay, we have to call Jin-Li and set up an interview. Do you think we'll need a lawyer? I hope not, but If we do, I can ask Kaoru from work, he for sure knows a good one" she held out a hand to help Korra up "Oh, wait, where is Jin-Li's card?" She checked her pockets "Maybe it's in my other coat" Asami was talking out loud, but Korra knew she wasn't speaking to her. "Let me go check" Asami threatened to go through the door, but Korra pulled her into her arms.
"Asami?" Korra said, smiling from ear to ear, their faces almost touching.
"Mmm?" The engineer responded, her brain still buzzing.
"I think we have a daughter" Korra laughed, the sound alone ripping Asami out of her to-do list and back to the present, where two gentle hands were cradling her face. She wrapped her arms around Korra and now they both smiled, touching foreheads.
"I guess we do. We have a daughter" the words sounded right.
Korra kissed her slow and tenderly, ecstatic smiles sneaking in between pecs. Korra's happiness spread through Asami like sunshine, the certainty that whatever was in the cards for them would work out as long as they stayed together burning through her skin.
Hardly even noticing, Asami started slightly pushing Korra towards the bed while playfully tugging on her hair, deepening the kiss. Soon enough, though, little steps followed by four ramming paws running upstairs interrupted them. They broke apart sloppily, the bedroom suddenly crowded. They looked at each other. They better get used to that.
"Tiny, let's go downstairs" Korra stood up from the bed, tidying her hair with one hand while ushering Akemi out of the bedroom with the other. But Akemi didn't budge, grabbing a fistful of Naga's hair, gathering her courage. Both women stopped on their tracks, their moods suddenly changing, worried they had pressured the girl into something she was too young to understand.
"What is it?" Asami gently prompted.
Akemi gave Naga a final pat and approached them both ceremoniously, looking up at them with big pleading eyes as she asked meekly:
"Can you be Hakue's chosen moms too? He lost his mom in the desert, and he's been sad ever since" The grim reality suddenly dawned on the women.
It seemed like they weren't out of hard conversations just yet.
A/N: This maybe the fluffiest thing I've ever writen, and I don't know how I feel about it yet xD
But there you go, hope you liked it.
To guest reviewer: This time Korra's screw-up worked for their advantage. And still impressed you remember the damn machine, I forget abut it all the time xD
-Typingmitten
