Model Behavior


Summary: Modern/AU. Korra thought it was an ordinary day of art class at Republic School for the Gifted. But then, the art model Asami Sato walked into the room... Korrasami


Chapter 11: Let it Out

Iroh: -10:22 AM- Hey, it's me.

Asami clicked her tongue. Even though she did clearly keep his cell phone number in her phone, where'd he get the idea that she would keep his number, or recognize it for that matter?

Iroh: -10:22 PM- Can we talk?

Over a text? Really?

Iroh: -10:23 AM- I just want to explain. Are you there?

Asami quickly backed out of her messenger app before pulling up the gallery app on her phone. She chuckled to herself as she flipped through the photos that she had saved. During their weekend in the South Pole, Korra had texted Asami pictures or posted them on her Facebook profile tagging the engineer. Most of them were shots of Korra and Bolin pouting or making sad faces to the camera with the description saying they were missing Asami and wishing she were there with them. Of course, there were also photos of Korra, Mako, and Bolin attending a local festival and visiting various landmarks and popular attractions.

"What's so funny?" Opal asked. She slid over on the bench they were sitting on and lifted her sunglasses to gaze at the screen. Asami titled the phone so that she could see, but Opal took it out of her hands instead. She lifted her right hand to shield the screen from the sun. "That's a nice picture of the two of them," she commented while shaking her head.

Asami took a hold of Opal's right hand and ran her thumb across the ring sitting on her second to last finger. "This is nice. Where did you get this?"

Opal handed Asami back her phone before snatching her hand away. She lowered her head in an attempt to hide the blush on her cheeks. "Bolin got it for me before we left."

"Oh." Asami nodded. She then broke out into a smile. "Wait, are you saying…"

"Yeah." Opal smiled brightly. "He asked me to be his girlfriend before we both left for the weekend," she explained.

Asami reached over and gave her a big hug. "Oh, that's so exciting. I mean I knew it was going to happen eventually, but now it's official. How do you feel?"

"Normal?" Opal shrugged. "I mean, I'm happy but I expected to feel different. I mean, people make such a big deal out of it."

"That's probably because you two started off as friends first so it doesn't feel different since the label just changed," Asami suggested. She jumped when she heard a loud horn blare over the docks. She and Opal waved at Korra and Bolin who were standing at the railings of the incoming boat. "So have you two kissed yet?"

"No." Opal's blush deepened. "We just started officially going out. I don't know when we would-"

"Don't plan it, or else it'll make it a bad moment," Asami said. The two got up off of the bench and walked over to where the boat was docking. A large ramp was lowered. "Just let it happen naturally."

"Finally, we're back!" Mako cheered as he walked down the ramp of the ship. He was holding a book up at eye level and carrying his bag in his other hand. Asami walked up and titled her head to the side to read the spine.

"Mako talked about school the entire time," Bolin groaned as he walked down the ramp. "He has an upcoming exam in his criminology class." He brightened into a wide smile once he spotted Opal. He ran over to her and wrapped her in an enormous hug. Asami watched the two out of the corner of her eye. She smiled when she noticed Opal blushing as she reached up to brush a strand of hair out of his face.

"If I knew he'd be a drag I would have left him behind." Korra rolled her eyes. Asami giggled into her hand. Korra half-smiled and gave Asami a quick hug before grabbing her by the wrist and tugged her over to two other members of the Southern Water Tribe. "Asami, this is my mom, Senna, and my dad, Tonraq," she introduced.

"It is nice to finally meet you," Senna said happily. Asami nodded and held out her hand to shake Senna's. "Korra talked about you a lot."

"Good things I hope," Asami said.

"Ms. Sato," Tonraq greeted her with a firm handshake. She tried not to wince at his strong grip. It must run in the family.

"You can just call me, Asami, sir," she politely corrected him.

"In that case, you may call me Tonraq," he boomed. "Korra did talk about you a lot. Not as much as when she and Mako were dating, though. You couldn't get her to shut up."

"Dad!" Korra groaned. She held her face in her hands and shook her head from side to side. Asami laughed as Korra punched him in the arm. She glared at him as her face started to turn a light shade of red.

"Honestly, I wonder who I end up scolding more during the day," Senna said quietly to herself. Asami heard and snickered.

"Hey," Korra and Tonraq cried.

"Come on. Let's head over to the school!" Bolin shouted. "The festival is about to start."

The Spirit Week/Family Weekend Opening Festival is a big event at Republic School for the Gifted. The campus grounds were filled with tents and booths ranging from art, food, games, and prizes. Asami couldn't help but gape at the atmosphere of the event. It felt much happier and more spirited than the Family Weekend events at her school.

For one, it wasn't in conjunction with Spirit Week, seeing as her school didn't hold one. Also, there wasn't a feeling of competition in the air. At RITA, students were silently sizing each other up as they showed their family their projects and assignments. The parents even joined in as well, boasting about their children to anyone who would listen.

"Asami, these are my brothers," Opal said. "Wing, Wei, Huan, and Baatar Jr," she said while pointing to each of them. Asami smiled and waved at each one. Huan simply rolled his eyes at her before noticing a piece of artwork nearby. He brushed past Opal and walked over towards it. Wing and Wei greeted her softly before turning to talk to Korra. All Asami heard was something about metal ball.

"I've seen you around school over the years," Asami said as she shook his hand.

"You attend RITA," Baatar Jr said with a nod. "Asami Sato? I've heard about you. You're very bright from what Kuvira says," he added. "She is looking forward to helping you with your Senior Project. My father hasn't told me about your project in great detail, but he is very impressed so far."

"Kuvira, that's her name." Opal snapped her fingers.

"Oh, the one who wants to join the Metal Clan?" Asami nodded. "I've only heard of her achievements at RITA. I never talked to her when she attended. How did you two meet? " she asked.

"She's a friend of the family's," she quickly answered. "Mom took her in when she was young." Opal smiled brightly before elbowing her older brother in the side. "Lover boy here, grew attached instantly."

"You should be quiet about things you don't understand," Baatar Jr ordered quietly. He reached up and adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Now do you see how fun family dinners can be?" Opal laughed.

Asami waved goodbye to Opal's family before following Mako, Bolin, Korra, Tonraq, and Senna around the grounds. She smiled at how excited Korra was to be showing her parents everything. From time to time, Korra would grab Asami by the wrist and pull her up to a booth with them to show her the school's merchandise as well as other items.

After a few more stops around the booths, Asami was gifted a Republic City School for the Gifted sweatshirt, sweatpants, sports jacket, and a Four Nations pillow by Senna. Asami, of course, had refused the gesture since she was capable of paying for the items herself but Senna insisted.

Asmai walked past a science booth and spotted Baatar Jr talking to one of the students. He was taking pictures of the displays with his cell phone before sending the photos off. He would focus on what he was being told until his phone rang, indicating a respond. A ghost of a smile would always appear whenever his phone vibrated.

"Hey Opal," Asami said and nudged the girl in the arm. "A while ago you said you thought of me like an older sister. Why not Kuvira?" she asked.

"She's kind of intimidating to be honest," Opal answered. She pulled a piece of cotton candy off of the stick before handing the whole thing over to Asami. "We never talked much either, growing up. She acted more like my protector than a friend. Probably my mom's wishes. She has always been overprotective of me," she added with an eye roll.

Asami paused. The smell of smoke wafted up into her nose. She felt her throat lock up. She slowly dropped her arm to her side. The cotton candy she was holding slipped out of the grass and onto the ground. She bit her bottom lip as she looked at all of the families. Small children being carried around by their parents. Young brothers and sisters posing for pictures together. Older siblings looking embarrassed as their parents gushed over the positive remarks they were hearing from their teachers.

She then noticed a family dressed in red and gold robes. She quickly deduced that they were Pema's and Tenzin's children. She was the only person Asami had seen wearing traditional air nation clothing.

Pema smiled brightly and rubbed her protruding stomach while smiling down at a young boy with a shaved head. He was showing her a new trick that the lemur, which was sitting on his shoulder, could do. A young girl with her hair tied up in two buns, was jumping around, talking a mile a minute. The older girl was talking to her father and pointing to something in her book.

"Hey Asami, what size jacket do you wear?" Korra asked as she burst through the crowd. She was holding up two different jackets. One was red and the other was black. "My mom wants to buy you one." She paused and followed Asami's gaze over towards Tenzin and his family. "Asami?" Korra reached out and rubbed her arm. Asami looked up at her. "Why are you crying?"

She brushed past Korra, her stride widening with each step. Senna let out a soft cry as she stepped out of a booth and into Asami's path.

"Oh, Asami, I sent Korra to find you for me. I think this necklace would look beautiful on you. Plus it is hand made by a student here." Senna held up a red and gold necklace in front of her. The red stones reflected onto the ground. The gold accents glittered underneath the booth. Asami looked at it before brushing past her. A few minutes later she broke out into a full sprint. She heard Mako and Bolin calling after her but she continued to run. She didn't even turn back and apologize to Lin as she practically bumped into her.

Asami just kept running, with no set destination in mind. Her legs just continued to carry her further and further away from the campus. She slowed to a stop once she felt her lungs burning. She hunched over and placed her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

Her panting slowly turned into sobs and then they turned into loud wails. She covered her face with her hands and dropped to her knees. A soft chirp from a bird floated overhead. The splashing of water underneath her calmed her bit by bit. Through her teary gaze, she saw that she was kneeling by the edge of a dock.

"Asami, are you alright?" Senna asked quietly from behind her. Asami shook her head before bursting into more tears. She didn't look up when she heard Senna lowering herself next to her.

"It's not fair," Asami sniffed. "It's not fair that I never got to experience a family."

"Neither did Mako or Bolin," she said gently. Asami looked over at her in confusion. "Their parents were killed when they were young," she explained.

"Yes, but they have each other. I don't know if I have any other family members out there. It was just me and my mom when I was growing up. And then me and my dad. Who do I have?"

"Korra speaks really highly of you." Senna rubbed the back of Asami's head. "So do Mako and Bolin."

"They do?" Asami's eyes widened.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Senna chuckled a bit. "From what I'm told you're a fantastic young lady."

"I've always wondered if I were even meant to have friends," Asami admitted. "I've been pretty sheltered growing up. There's a nagging voice in my head that makes me second guess every friendship I've ever tried to have."

"Rika," Senna said with a nod.

"You know?"

"Yes, Korra asked for my and her father's advice on the matter." Senna leaned over and kissed the crown of Asami's head. "Everyone deserves one friend in life. Be it an aunt, a cousin, a classmate, even a polar bear dog." Asami laughed at the mention of Naga. "It's just that one person who shows time and time again they won't leave no matter what happens. They see the good in you even if this Rika girl doesn't."

"Here you are," Korra panted as she ran up. Mako, Bolin and Opal were behind her. "Dad stayed behind," she reported. "He said something about iced shrimp dogs."

"I know how much your father loves those and loves to avoid awkward conversations," Senna sighed. She pulled Asami up to her feet before giving her a side hug. "I'm going to go and find him before he spends all of our money on a future stomach ache."

"Mom," Korra whispered, jerking her head in Asami's direction. She walked up to Asami and placed a hand on her shoulder. The engineer sniffed and looked over at Korra's mother.

"Let me know if you ever need anything while we're here," Senna said. She reached up and used her wrist to wipe away the tears from Asami's cheeks. "No matter what it may be. I'll be here if you need it." She then wrapped her arms around Asami in an embrace. She ran one of her hands along the back of the younger girl's head, lightly scratching her scalp with her fingernails with each pass. Senna smiled when she felt Asami relaxing a bit.

"Thank you ma'am," Asami whimpered.

"Enough of this ma'am stuff." Senna pulled back and cupped Asami's cheek. "You may call me Senna." Asami half-smiled. Senna stroked her cheek for a few seconds before giving her a light kiss on the cheek. "We'll call you when we get to Air Temple Island," she said to Korra. "Then we can come back and see your apartment."

"You can't," Korra said quickly with wide eyes. "They're fumigating the entire building. Too bad. Maybe next time," she added. Senna shrugged before giving her daughter a hug. Korra waved to her mother as she left. "Why did you run off?"

"Family Weekend isn't a good time for me," Asami admitted. "It reminds me of my parents, and I hardly remember good times with them. Only bad things. Seeing all of those families together. The smell of the smoke from the grills….it was just too much."

"Do you remember our game of 20 questions?" Korra asked while wrapping an arm around Asami's shoulders. She sniffed and nodded. "Why did the smoke bother you? That's my third question by the way."

"My mom in a fire when I was six," Asami admitted. "It was some firebender. They haven't been found. It was a break in. My dad doesn't know if they were trying to rob us or something else. She didn't make it out. The police found her a few feet away from the front door."

"Oh no," Opal whispered.

"I'm sorry, Asami," Mako added. Korra rested her head on Asami's shoulder.

"When you were gone, it was Family Weekend at RITA. I didn't go."

"Why didn't you just tell us? We would have stayed here in the city with you."

"I went to visit my dad in jail. It kind of helped." Asami shrugged. "Up until he said I looked like her. I knew he meant well, but he really said it more for him. I wanted to go and surprise you guys on your trip but what friend would I be to just invite herself." She bit her lip. "The good thing is I finally forgave him for everything."

"You wouldn't have been intruding if you came. You heard what my mom just said, she adores you," Korra pointed out. "Heck, I think she likes you more than me. She's buying you clothes already. Whenever she visits me she always finds ways to scold me." She lifted her head off of Asami's shoulder before gripping Asami's hand tightly. "Asami," Korra said gently, "A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out." Asami looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Grace Pulplit," she quickly added.

"That's what we are," Opal walked up. She placed both of her hands on Asami's shoulders before shaking her lightly from the left and to the right. "That's what we did."

"My world changed when I found out my dad lied to me," Asami said. She leaned over and looked at her reflection in the water. She frowned when she saw her eye makeup had been smudged by her tears.

"You still have your company," Mako said quietly.

"Some family," she scoffed. "I knew I was going to take it eventually, but still. I didn't think it'd be the root of one of my problems."

"You know, you don't really get to choose your family," Korra said. "Your family chooses you." She shared a look with Mako, Opal, and Bolin before squeezing her hand tightly. "We choose you," she said firmly. Asami laughed and wiped at the last of her tears. "And don't worry about Rika and her henchmen. If they bother you again, let me know. I can punch them for you."

"Or sick Naga on them," Opal suggested.

"Oh, good idea!" she cried. "Naga can eat them."

"Korra!" Mako said with a warning tone.

"Not on school grounds. Calm down, rule follower." Korra stuck her tongue out at him. She then turned back to Asami and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, but you'll have to deal with them on your own while you're there."

"I think with you guys backing me up, I can handle her." Asami sighed. "Thank you all, so much."

"Okay, enough of the corny words and tears," Korra announced. Before anyone could ask, Korra pointed over at Bolin with a raised eyebrow. Bolin let out a loud wail. Opal's eyes widened in surprise as he wrapped his arms around her and wept into her chest. "I know just the thing to cheer you up."

"Karaoke?" Mako asked as soon as they noticed where Korra had led them. She insisted that where they were going was going to be very entertaining and wouldn't say anything else, no matter how many times and different ways each of the group had tried to bribe her into telling them where they were going. Asami had been close by hinting that she'd buy whatever food Korra had wanted for the night.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Korra insisted as she led the group into the building. They were placed at a six person table by one of the wait staff. Korra immediately reached out and started to help herself to the fried pickles that had been placed on the table the moment they arrived.

"None of us can sing," Mako said slowly.

"Exactly!" Korra pointed at him. "We can make fun of each other all night. What better way than to spend time with friends? It's a great way to loosen up. So who wants to go first?"

Asami smiled. She relaxed into her chair and looked around the room. The stage was pushed back at the other end of the building, a giant screen was nestle on the wall behind it, showing some sports highlights. A multi-colored disco ball spun in the air up above, and at the front of the stage were two small screens.

She got up from her seat and walked over to a podium off to the right of the stage. She put her name at the top of the list and started to browse through a vast selection of songs. She picked one out and wrote the title next to her name before taking a step back. A small line had gathered behind her, and she smiled softly as she watched people of various ages excitedly browsing through the songs.

"I have an idea," Opal said with a sly smile. "We play Rock, Paper, Scissors. Winner gets to pick the song for each person to perform," she suggested.

"Nice!" Bolin said before leaning over and kissing her cheek. "I'm game." Opal turned a bright red under the dim lighting. "Okay, hands in."

"Hey, where'd Asami go?" Mako asked. Korra turned and found her chair empty. She frowned and shook her head. She reached out and placed one hand in the circle, as her other hand was filled with more pieces of fried pickles. "Maybe in the bathroom?" she shouted. Loud music had started to play.

"Okay, first up is Asami," an announcer called out into the microphone.

Korra paused, her hand filled with fried pickles close to her mouth. She tossed them back into the bowl and turned in her seat. Her eyes widened as Asami climbed up on stage. She had pulled her jacket off and tied it around her waist, revealing that she was wearing a black tank top. Her pale skin made her stand out underneath the otherwise dark lighting.

She nodded her head to the beat of the song as the instruments came in. Korra looked over at Mako and Bolin. They both stared at her and slowly shook their hands before turning their attention back to the stage. Korra, without taking her eyes off of Asami, pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and set up the video camera app.

Asami cleared her throat before beginning the first few verses of Hoobastank's Let it Out. She began to nod her head, following the beat of the music as she continued to sing. She made small steps from side to side, slowly getting more and more into the music. As the chorus started, Asami rocked forward and flipped her hair around. She tilted her body from the left to the right, singing her lungs out.

"Who knew she was a rocker?" Opal asked.

"This is great," Korra laughed. She held her phone up higher. "Looks like she's feeling better now. She's going to hate me for this."

"YouTube?" Bolin shouted into her ear.

"Yep."

"Nice!"

Korra, Bolin, Mako, and Opal all jumped to their feet and cheered loudly as Asami dropped to her knees, continuing to sing the song with as much passion as she could muster. She held the microphone with a hand while brushing her bangs out of her face with the other. She looked up and smiled once she noticed her cheering section. While continuing through the song, her smile got wider and wider until she was beaming with happiness. Her bangs started to stick to her forehead as she danced aggressively.

As the song came to a close, Asami flipped her hair out of her face before taking a deep breath, laughing as she exhaled. The entire building erupted into loud applause as Asami took her bows. She untied her jacket from her waist and slipped it back on before giving a small bow. She flipped her hair up and out of her collar as she made her way back to the table.

"That was just awesome," Opal clapped.

"We can't top that," Bolin said.

"You never struck me as the rocker type." Korra pressed the stop button on her phone before sitting back into her seat.

"You just have to mix things up sometime," Asami said with a shrug. "Keep things interesting."

"I got that idea with you being an engineer." She held up her phone and leaned over. Asami threw up a peace sign while winking. Korra stuck out her tongue before snapping the picture. "Do you have an Instagram? I want to tag you."

"I have two," Asami answered. She laughed as Mako, Bolin, and Opal played Rock, Paper, Scissors. Everyone round they would tie. The more rounds they went through, the fast they threw out their item of choice.

"One account wasn't big enough to handle your ego?" Korra joked. She quickly posted the photo before searching through Instagram search for Asami's profile. Once found she hit the follow button. Asami's phone vibrated with the notification.

"No, one is for Future Industries and one is for my personal use," Asami answered. She picked up her phone and followed Korra back before viewing the picture she was tagged in. She threw her head back and laughed. "I'm changing my Facebook picture to this."

Asami frowned as her phone vibrated with notification after notification. She rolled her eyes when she spotted Korra's Instagram handle in the notifications bar and quickly deduced that she was going through and liking every photo she had posted in the past few years.

"I better get photo credit," Korra said.

"I'll also add a caption," Asami answered as she opened up her Facebook profile. "I dedicate that performance to you." Korra looked at her in confusion. "I need to be more like you and not care what other people think. I just need to be myself and not let anyone's problem with me get in the way of that."

"Asami," Opal called out. Asami looked up from her phone. Mako, Bolin, and Opal all looked at her helplessly. "You pick the next person to go. It keeps ending up in a tie."

Asami's phone vibrated five more times. "Seriously, Korra?" she asked. Korra shook her head. She waved her hands in front of her, miming that she didn't cause her phone to blow up. She wasn't able to give a verbal answer as she was chewing another mouthful of fried pickles.

Asami rolled her eyes before looking at her phone. She had missed four text messages.

Iroh: -12:28 PM- Sami, please talk to me. :(

Iroh: -1:15 PM- I will get you to talk to me

Iroh: -1:16 PM- Eventually

Iroh: -2:30 PM- You can't ignore me forever :(

Asami frowned at the messages. She jumped when she felt a soft kick to her shin under the table. She looked up to see Korra looking at her. "Everything okay?" she mouthed. Asami nodded and smiled. Korra nodded in response before leaning over to hear what Opal had said. Asami looked down at her phone and deleted the text message, as well as his phone number.

"I can try," she mumbled.


AN: The song in this chapter is "Let it Out" by Hoobastank. XD Also, I'm going to try and add a bit more humor to this fic so it isn't always just drama and angst. Plus, I'm trying to add in more description passages so it isn't just dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. We're getting closer and closer to the Korrasami. And yes, Iroh will play a part in it.