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 38: Forget Me Not (III)
"Enjoying the view?" Bolin asked, lightly nudging Asami on the arm. She let out a loud gasp, clasping a hand to her chest. Dropping her head down, she leaned against the railing she was holding onto, letting it catch her weight, and holding her body up.
"Will you stop doing that?" she insisted. Asami raised an eyebrow, glancing over at him before glancing out at the view once more. Everyone had arrived in Zaofu the night before to give Korra a place to rest as she recovered from her head injury. Asami had snuck out of her sleeping quarters early in the morning to talk a walk around the grounds. While the domes were still closed, the rising sun had caused the sky to take on a glittery hue.
After taking the time to look at some of the architecture from the city, Asami found her way towards the Zaofu Overlook. Judging by the location of the Cliffside, when the domes opened, it would offer a fantastic view of the entire colony.
"Since when are you so jumpy?" Bolin turned around and rested his back against the railing, propping his arms up. He glanced over at Asami with a soft smile.
"Anyone would be jumpy if they keep being snuck up on," she answered, slowly shaking her head. She reached up and brushed her long hair out of her face.
Bolin let out a quiet sigh before locking his fingers together and resting them on his flank. He pursed his lips and then began to quietly hum. "It's not like you're doing anything wrong," he said in a sing-songy voice.
"W-what are you talking about?" Asami asked. She cleared her throat twice, trying to bring the octave of her voice down by passing it off as being affected by the local pollen. "I'm just enjoying the overlook," she insisted.
"The domes are closed." Bolin flicked an imaginary piece of lint off of his shirt.
"You can't tell me that this isn't a pretty sight."
"You're right." He looked up at the glittery sky with a pleasant smile on his face. "It would be the perfect place to take Opal on a date." His smile slowly faded into a frown. "Opal," he whimpered.
"Bolin-"
"I don't like people being mad at me!" Bolin blurted out. Asami glanced over at him and noticed the dejected look on his face. She wanted to press the topic further but stopped upon taking his physical mood. He had wilted a bit, hunched over slightly. Asami jumped once more when he suddenly straight backed up, as bright as ever. "But, you're not the only one who thought this would be a great place to clear their head." He pointed up above their heads.
Asami followed his finger, her mouth dropped open in shock when she spotted Korra air-gliding around the top of the dome. She felt a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, which faded as she watched Korra suddenly drop a few feet towards the ground. Asami swallowed hard and let out a soft sigh when the Avatar rocketed back up into the sky. "She shouldn't be flying. What if she gets hurt again?"
Korra had been making progress in the past few days. While her memory was still impacted she regained some knowledge of her airbending abilities. They were still rusty, not nearly as strong as it used to be. It sent their recruiting mission back a couple of steps as Tenzin, Jinora, and Kai had been re-teaching the Avatar how to conquer the element, much to Korra's dismay.
"She won't." Bolin answered with a shrug. "But, she does add a great view. So, anything you want to talk about?"
Asami pulled her lips into a straight line. She weighed the options in her head, trying to decide if she wanted to take up his offer. While she is normally known as someone with an air of mystery, she was beginning to the feeling that if Bolin picked enough at her, she would be very easy to read. So, Asami went for an easy topic. "…Yeah…we're friends again?"
"We never stopped," Bolin chuckled. "So, we had a fight. You're like Mako. You think what you did was right, even though it ended up backfiring in my face and making my life worse, but I'm over it because you were trying to help." He nudged her lightly on the arm. "You two are two peas in a pod. I mean, that's why you dated isn't it?"
"That was a very brief thing." Asami shook her head.
"I mean, sure, you were making Korra jealous."
Asami reached out and punched him on the arm. "I wasn't trying to make her jealous! I was trying to prove a point."
Bolin shrugged. "Whatever you say, Sam Sam."
"Sam Sam?" she repeated with a laugh.
He nudged her once more in the arm. "What's really going on?" he asked.
She bit her lip, regarding him. Bolin was someone who did offer up some good advice needed and was a great listener. He was always one of the first people she went to when she needed to talk about her thoughts. Of course, normally, the other would be Korra.
While she wasn't as antagonistic as before, they still weren't back to their normal groove since she hadn't regained her memory yet. Although to Asami, it brought back the slight competitive streak they had at the beginning of their friendship, which made things fun again given the serious mission they were on. However, Asami did miss their pillow talks, and just having a close girl friend. Opal has been hard to talk due to being under heavy guidance from Kuvira and the Metal Clan, and Kiyoko hadn't returned any of her messages.
"…I think the boulder was planted," Asami admitted.
"By who?" Bolin asked.
"…Someone trying to get rid of the Avatar," she answered, glancing up at Korra once more. "Or at least take her out of commission for the moment."
Zaheer watched as Rika began to grow frustrated. She was seated on a park bench, one leg crossed over the other, her arms tucked tightly against her chest. Rika glanced at her watch in disgust before shaking her head. Her foot began to rapidly bounce up and down. He took in a deep cleansing breath, silently reminding himself that he would need to teach the girl some patience.
At half past the hour, Zaheer reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He noticed the email alert flashing on the screen. He half smiled, logging into the email application, noting that a new message was sitting in the drafts folder. There was no set recipient or body to the message. The only text was the subject line that read 'Guru Laghima'.
Zaheer pressed and held the number five on his phone before putting the device to his ear. He waited patiently as the dial tone peeled through his ear canal. "Ghazan," he said as soon as the dial tone ended.
"You rang, boss?"
"Just wanted to make sure everything is moving according to the plan." Zaheer watched as Rika pulled out her cell phone, her thumbs rapidly flying over the screen.
"Not as great as I had hoped," he admitted. "The Avatar evaded the accident."
Zaheer curled his other hand into a tight fist. Clenching his jaw, slowly tensed up every muscle in his body. The wind started to pick up. The leaves on the tree he was standing under rustled harshly. A gust blew through the park and ripped a few flags off of the light poles. Rika screamed and covered her head as dirt and rocks blew around. After taking in a deep breath, he slowly released it, counting to ten in his head. The wind calmed down as he relaxed. "Damn it," he muttered.
"But, she doesn't remember much of who she is." Ghazan answered. "It's the second set of amnesia she's had in the past few months. May be harder to reverse this time around."
"Which will make things easier for us." Zaheer noticed Rika jumping up from the park bench and storming off down the concrete path around the pond. She glanced at her watch one more time before picking up her pace. "Ghazan…set up a flight for me. We need to travel to the Fire Nation." He hung up the phone before quickly following after the teenager.
"Rika," he gently called out. "I'm sorry I'm late."
She turned on the heel of her shoe, before breaking out into a giant smile, although it didn't fully reach her eyes. "Uncle Zaheer, I thought you forgot about me," she admitted.
"I would never forget about you, Rika." Zaheer slightly stooped over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for this quick meeting, but I have to catch a flight."
"But, I don't get to see you that often," she pouted.
"I know," he said with an apologetic tone, "but there's something I could use your help with while I'm gone." He added.
"I want to help!" Rika quickly answered.
"It could be very dangerous, maybe even life altering," Zaheer warned. "You may not be the same again, afterwards."
"I want to help you, Uncle Zaheer," she insisted. "You've been very helpful to me. It's time I returned the favor."
Zaheer bit his tongue to remind himself to keep his cool as a surge of happiness raced through his body. He half-smiled. "…Then come with me. We have a lot to talk about."
AN: Many thanks to my beta, Rubiks
