The cold that would become her new normal was unlike anything else she experienced. A deep ache in her bones, her exposed skin burned, eyes watered as she struggled to shield them from the wind with her arm. The ship had allotted more protection from the wind than she thought, only now realizing how fierce it was exposed on the tundra at the steps of the Southern Water Tribe's city. Senna and Tonraq were close to Korra, Asami pushing her wheelchair with Naga padding along beside them as they descented the ramp. Naga broke into an excited charge once she was free in an open space again, the other Water Tribe members greeting one another amicably and talking. Asami, was holding herself as small and tight as she could.
"Seems your Fire Nation blood isn't used to this cold, huh?" Tonraq teased, clapping Asami hard on the shoulder. She flinched beneath the weight of his hand and gave a humorless chuckle,
"Extreme cold is… not my ideal climate." she admitted.
"Stop teasing her." Senna chided, "Once we get settled we can head to the market and get you some proper clothes." She offered. Despite wearing the warmest clothing she owned, they were woefully inadequate. She drew her body in against a fresh gust of wind, nodding at Senna's offer, hoping they would all be rushing indoors soon. She glanced down at Korra through squinted eyes and could see that she too was curled on herself, clutching at her upper arms, despite wearing the thick fur-lined hooded coat she helped her dress in. She frowned at the sight, noticing that Tonraq was engaged in conversation with the ship's captain, Senna engaging with other members of the crew.
"I'd like to get out of the cold if that's alright?" She asked when she sensed a long enough pause in conversation; her arms wrapped tight around herself with her chin tucked into the collar of her jacket. She squinted against a strong gust of wind, hunching her shoulders and drawing them in as she strained to hear Senna over the howl of the wind.
"Oh I'm so sorry! Yes, I'll show you the way." She replied, said a few more words to the man she had been speaking with and tilted her head in the direction of the city. "Your belongings will be brought up, let's get settled. Tonraq will be tied up for the rest of the day meeting with the city's leaders." Senna explained. It was when they walked up the stairs to the largest of the houses in the city that Asami was reminded that Korra was the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe.
Asami couldn't help a shiver from the jarring difference of getting out of the wind, and the comparative warmth. The quiet of the hallway compared to the howl of the wind left her ears ringing for a moment and she threw her hood back to better hear Senna as she adjusted to the shift.
"It's a bit colder than the last time you were here." She said with an apologetic smile.
"A bit?" Asami replied, and quickly shook her head. "It's beautiful though." She tried to correct herself, head in her cheeks as she realized she may have come off as rude.
"Winter comes earlier than in Republic City." Senna replied, seemingly unphased by Asami's reply. "You and Korra's rooms will be next to each other." She continued, leading them through the main entryway before turning down a hall to the right. Asami admired the architecture as they walked. The white stone trimmed with blue-dyed tapestries, pelts, and paintings; the stone decorated here or there with a blue-toned marble. Windows were sparse, the draft as she walked past them making the reason obvious enough. Even the heavy blue drapes weren't enough to keep out the chill. The deeper into the hall they walked the stronger the smell of woodfire was, as was a very welcome warmth.
"Master Katara wants to make sure you have a night to settle in, so your first healing session with her is tomorrow morning." Senna explained.
"I can see her tonight." Korra countered.
"Honey… I know you're in a rush to get better, but give yourself a night…" Asami could see the way Korra shifted, and stopped pushing her chair for a moment so she could squeeze her shoulder,
"Your mom is right. One night to settle in is a good idea." She suggested. Korra sat more upright and Asami expected her to roll her shoulder out of her grip, but after a moment she settled back against and let out a hard breath.
"Yeah." She relented. Asami squeezed her shoulder again and resumed pushing her until they reached the pair of doors Senna gestured to.
"Your old room Korra. Asami you'll take the one right here. It's a guest room we haven't used for a couple years." Senna said, her face lined with an expression difficult to read, her eyes staring at the door for a couple extra seconds before she turned back to the pair of the and smiled, "Welcome home honey." Her voice cracked deeper than usual as she bent down to hug Korra, who returned her mother's embrace without hesitation.
"Thanks mom." The embrace lingered, and Asami stepped back from the wheelchair to give them space. She couldn't help a weight in her chest and shifted her attention to the decour around them. This hallway was clearly meant to be more homey, and had she been dropped here with no warning she could have quickly identified it. There was a picture of Korra's family hung on the wall, and she had to stifle a giggle at a framed children's drawing of a crude poorly proportioned stick figure with various colored swirls all around it and two other figures on the ground. She was certainly going to have to tease Korra for this later. She took a few steps towards it, smirking a bit before glancing over at her. Her mother drew back and offered to help Korra settle into her room again, but she shook her head, insisting she would be fine.
"Thank you." Asami said in the gap left by another silence. Senna shifted past them to return up the hall, leaving the pair of them with the promise their belongings would be brought along once the ship was fully unpacked. Korra grabbed the metal ring on the wheelchair to push the chair foreward, awkwardly trying to twist herself around. Asami pushed open her door for her, noting that the doorway was just barely wide enough for the wheelchair to fit, Korra hissing a breath and muttering when her elbows struck the wooden doorframe. She paused, rubbing at the offended skin, before using the tires on the chair to slide the rest of the way in. Asami paused in the hallway, but followed Korra when she didn't shut the door behind her.
"Are you warmer?" Korra asked.
"Yes, a lot more comfortable inside." Asami replied. Korra's room was spacious once through the doorway, adequate room for a wheelchair to maneuver unlike the cramped cabin on the ship. There was a large bed in the corner, a desk at the opposite wall. A large wardrobe and a bookshelf took up the rest of the space along that wall. A small electric lamp sat on the desk, though the room was dimly lit by what little sunlight remained outside the window, a cold draft seeping through the wooden slats of the shutters in spite of the double-panced glass. The room was colder than the hallway as a result, and she hugged her arms despite her previous statement. She was glad Korra's back was to her to keep from noticing.
"Do you want some help getting onto the bed?" Asami asked. Korra shook her head, lining the wheelchair up against the side of the bed, the chair just the right height next to the low mattress.
"No… I'm here to get better. I need to start practicing doing more on my own." Korra replied. Asami nodded at her, walking the perimeter of the room. She recalled being told stories of growing up in the white lotus compound, and wondered how much time she actually spent in this bedroom. There was a stuffed polarbear-dog on the bookshelf, several notebooks and colorful binders of children's novels. The walls were bare, even the bed had plain blue linens.
She could see Korra from the side of her vision as she walked over to the desk, idly adjusting a fountain pen. Korra gripped the arms of the wheelchair, grunting as she pushed her bodyweight up, reaching for the bed and trying to shift herself over. It took two tries to heave herself over, and Asami flinched with the impulse to rush over and help her. But Korra shook her head, grunting again as she placed her palms against the bed to heave herself up once more and tried to draw herself back further onto the bed. In a position that she wasn't likely to simply slide off, she flopped back against the bed, her hard exhale came out as a squeak.
"Big bad avatar can be adorable." Asami teased, sitting next to her on the bed.
"That was a warrior's cry." She quickly rebuked.
"Arctic shrew-foxes are pretty terrifying actually."
"Eat twice their body weight a day. And their bites hurt too for such little things."
"Ankle-biters are a fearsome threat." This finally got Korra to turn, pinchign her lips and narrowing her eyes.
"I am not an ankle-biter!" Asami laughed at the offense in her voice, and held out her hand to pat at the air,
"I guess being a giant makes everyone look like little ant-mites." Korra reached out and pushed Asami with just enough force to make her catch herself.
"You're only like, this much taller than me." Korra replied, holding a hand slightly above her own head. Asami reached out for her wrist and lifted it a little higher,
"More like this."
"I think the shortest member of team Avatar is trying to compensate."
"Hey just because you're all giant giraffe-okapi freaks of nature doesn't mean I'm an ankle biter." Asami laughed, feeling a light heat spread from her cheeks to her ears. Her fingertips and toes burned as the chill in them faded away, and her eyes caught Korra's; for a moment feeling like she could pretend it was a month ago. Driving around her racetrack to burn off steam with Korra cheering in the back, begging for a spin and the sheer terror she felt when their roles were reversed.
"I guess I count as an ankle-biter now though." Korra said, her smile fading away.
"No, I would say crash-test dummy. You're just as bad at steering that wheelchair as you are a sato-mobile. I'll have to watch out for you running into my ankles more than bite them."
"Hey I'm not that bad! If anything it means you're a bad teacher." Korra pouted, her somber expression gone.
"You'll have to prove me wrong then. And I'm an excellent teacher. You're just a terrible driver. You managed to crash an airship , how do you crash something that drives in the sky?"
"Oh that's not fair, that wasn't my fault!"
"Guess we'll have to put your driving skills to the test then. Ice makes a good obstacle."
"Oh you're on Sami." Korra said, and Asami looked over at her. She couldn't remember if anyone had ever called her by a nickname before. She smirked at her, thinking up a way to give Korra a track to race on, her eyes shifting over to the wheelchair as the gears in her head started turning.
"Hmm… I can probably figure out a way to get thsoe wheels to grip the ice so you really can show me up." She replied.
"Your face is red, you must really have been cold." Korra said. Asami touched her cheek and bit her lip when she felt the burn in her ears intensify.
"Must have been." She replied, hoping to cover herself.
"Umm.. thank you. For coming. Even though its really cold and it'll be dark all the time soon. I know it's not for long," the rest of her sentence was unintelligible as she mumbled a bit, trailing off.
"I would have been too bored in Republic City without you. Already told you, you're stuck with me. What else would I do, listen to Varrick all day? You've heard that man talk. How does Zhu Li do it? I mean, Mako is too busy saving the city and you know Bolin, can't figure himself out long enough to know where in the four nations he is to try and make plans."
"Hey Sami?" Korra said after a few seconds.
"Yes?"
"Can you help me get my boots off? My feet are getting sweaty."
"You sure you're Water Tribe and not part polarbear-dog?" Asami asked, getting another chuckle before she got up to pull off her boots.