Legal: I do not own Legend of Korra, or the associated names, places, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.

Rating: T – may be some adult themes, including violence, injury descriptions and language.

Morning was Korra's favourite time of day. It hadn't always been, in fact when she was young, her parents always had to physically drag her from her blankets in the morning growing up, and by the time she was learning to bend elements, one of the first things she always complained about was the early starts. What did it matter if she started training first thing in the morning or in the middle of the day? It wasn't like they had to work within daylight hours anyway, living at the South Pole they would go from months of only 2-hour nights to days that only lasted the same length of time. The only thing dragging her from her bed led to was a grumpy Korra, a tired Korra and one who had to wonder if her mentors just enjoyed seeing her miserable.

She still wasn't much of a morning person. It still took her a while to wake up fully, and as for the blankets, well, she wasn't going anywhere, not for quite some time yet. No, the reason she loved this time of the day now was lying right next to her.

Asami stirred a little, exhaled loudly and then settled. Korra loved watching her sleep. She couldn't believe her luck in finding her. Asami Sato was not only one of the most brilliant minds on the planet, the owner and proprietor of Future Industries, one of the larges and most successful companies in the world, and a major celebrity, but also one of the most amazing, intense, generous and beautiful people she had ever met.

She had come to know Asami's routine as of late. Unlike her, Asami's life had always had a little more structure to it. She was always up by six, had her morning workout and shower before seven thirty and was on her way to the office before eight thirty. It did mean that now, Korra had a time each day when she could just sit with her, and watch her completely at peace, the woman who had claimed her heart.

She smiled as Asami started to come to, just about a minute or so before her alarm clock sounded. It was just a testament to how devoted she was to those that relied on her, a life spent working to make the lives of others better, that her body had sort of slipped into a state where it was more accurate than even the best time pieces that Future Industries made. As her beautiful eyes opened, and she saw Korra sitting beside her, she smiled.

"Good morning, beautiful." She greeted her. Korra felt her heart soar at the sound of her voice. What had she done to deserve her?

"Good morning." Korra responded, leaning in and kissing her softly. Korra got out of the bed, leaving Asami room to stretch as she checked the clock, something she always did, but was utterly pointless since she never overslept. It was just one of the eccentricities that Korra found endearing about her. Asami would sooner lose everything she owned than feel like she had let anyone down, and that included the millions of employees of Future Industries.

As much as she was the boss, and Korra tried to insist that meant that she could take time off whenever she damn well felt like it, Asami always insisted on being there. Her company hadn't always been in the best of shape. Once it became public knowledge her father had been in league with the Equalist terrorist Amon, it took a long time and a significant amount of work to restore faith in the name of Future Industries. Then again, when in an attempt to save the company she sold a controlling interest to Varro, before he tried to kidnap the President and use her tech to further his own ends, her company had lost everything. Many of the employees had to work long shifts, weekends, work through holidays and even ignore missed pay checks to get it all back on its feet. It was a debt she took seriously, and said she would never be able to repay. Giving her all for those who stood by when she lost everything was, to her, a small price to pay.

Korra watched as Asami started getting into her workout clothes, aiming to get in some morning Tai Chi before breakfast. Korra could have sat and watched her all day, but it wasn't like she had a standard 9-5 job. The Avatar was more of an on-call position. She didn't get the benefit of a standard timetable, she just had to spend the day training to be ready for when there were screams, sirens or explosions.

She got out of bed and made her way through to the kitchen, starting up the stove. She turned on the gas, and then with a flick of her wrist, ignited it. There were some fringe benefits to being a master of all four elements. She never had been able to get the damned clicker to work, but then again, she'd never had any need to figure it out…nor learn to strike a match for that matter. Placing the kettle on the ring, she started to heat up the water for their morning tea.

"So, do you have anything planned for today?" Asami asked. She always asked after her.

"I was just going to go and see Mako and Bolin." Korra told her. "The new Pro Bending season's about to start, so we were going to check out the new draft picks, see if there are any prospects."

"Really? That should be fun." Asami answered. She did enjoy Pro Bending, but nowhere near as much as Korra did. When she had agreed to sponsor the Fire Ferrets, her attraction to the sport had been more down to the fact she had inadvertently run Mako down with her moped and felt like she needed to make amends than anything else. Future Industries still had a significant role in sponsoring the Pro Bending League and many of its youth development programs, but Asami didn't really have the same time for it as she did when Korra, Bolin and Mako played. Now, she just turned up for the odd game when she could along with her friends. "Anyone you have your eye on?"

"I saw a few rookies that looked interesting." Korra told her. "The junior leagues have turned out some pretty impressive prospects this year. It should be exciting to see what teams pick them up. This should be a great season."

"Well, I suppose I can take that to the bank if it's coming from the greatest Water Bender to play the game." Asami said in response. Korra just chuckled.

"Yeah, and you're just not biased in that assessment at all." Korra answered. "I was about average at best."

"Getting to the final in your rookie year is pretty good for 'about average'." Asami reminded her as she came through. Korra threw her a towel as she headed for the shower. It was true that they'd gotten that far, but Korra had to admit that it was a pretty rough ride getting there. Her first few games had taught her there was a huge difference between her training and the skills required for the Pro Bending league. The skills she learned did serve her well, and helped her get past her mental block in her Air Bending training. There were times she missed it, and she did take part in the odd charity game every once in a while, but that was about as far as her Pro Bending career had gone.

"So, how about you? Working on anything exciting?" Korra asked.

"Korra, you know I can't answer that!" Asami said in a semi-teasing way. "You'll just have to wait like the rest of the public for Future Industries' latest life-changing masterpiece."

"Oh, come on, Asami, you can trust me!" Korra pressed on as the kettle came to temperature. She poured it into the teapot, beginning to mix up the tea. She wasn't too bothered by it herself, to her tea was just tea, but Asami loved it. Her uncle Zuko had ensured he gave her a very extensive education on the finer points of brewing tea. It was his family's obsession, and it was debatable whether their main artform was Fire Bending or tea brewing.

"Korra, you know what this game is like." Asami said as she came through, wrapped in a towel. Korra knew exactly when to look to catch her like that as she headed back to the bedroom to get dressed. "There's always someone out there trying to get the drop on us, get the inside scoop on what we're developing to be the first one with the patent."

"So, you think I'm a spy?" Korra asked her as Asami came through, fixing her hair. She just smiled, wrapping her arms around Korra.

"No." Asami replied for a smile. "For one thing, you'd never betray my confidence."

"And for another?" Korra asked.

"You never understand about ninety nine percent of all the technical jargon I use anyway." Asami said, gently kissing her. "It's kind of adorable the way your eyes glaze over when you're trying to pretend, you're still listening. But I wouldn't put it past someone to try and put some kind of ears on my home."

"You think someone has your home bugged?" Korra shot back, her eyes opening wide. Asami just shrugged.

"Business can be pretty cut-throat." Asami said matter-of-factly. "Fortunately, all they'd have got is a pretty good show last night."

"So, um…you do remember tonight's date night, right?" Korra asked her.

"How could I forget?" Asami asked in response.

"It's just, I know how you get when you work." Korra said as she poured out a couple of cups of tea. "I wouldn't want you to lose track of time and forget."

"I only did that a couple of times." Asami responded with a little pout. "Besides, I seem to remember I made it up to you."

"Yeah, but I just…wanted to be sure you remembered." Korra said eagerly.

"It's not like I'm the one that missed the last couple." Asami reminded her. "What about last month?"

"The Triple Threats were shaking down the new apartment complex on the east side!" Korra protested.

"And then there was a couple of weeks ago…"

"Rogue spirit!" Korra protested again. Asami just chuckled and kissed her gently, before picking up the cup.

"Don't worry, I'll be there." Asami assured her, taking a drink. "Excellent!"

"Uncle Zuko will be glad to know you like his latest blend." Korra said as Asami started to gather her things.

"Alright, I really need to get going. The chief engineer's on paternity leave, and I really want to keep an eye on the project." Asami told her. "I'll catch you at the restaurant."

"Later." Korra said, waving her off. She bit her lip as she watched Asami go, making sure she was out of the apartment before she went into a drawer. She pulled out a little wooden box, opening it and looking inside. She couldn't help staring at it, thinking about tonight. Snapping it closed, she started to get ready to head out.

Some time later, over at the Pro Bending arena, Bolin, Opal and Mako were in Varro's private box overlooking the arena. All the young prospects were warming up, preparing to show what they could do in the hopes of being selected by the major teams. The Crush was a tradition every year where all the players that were moving out of the amateur and junior leagues would compete for open roster slots on the professional teams.

Pro Bending was an exciting and action-packed game, but it was also fraught with danger. Extremely rough, brutal and as with most professional sports, athletes only had a very limited career span. Every year some players would retire, either because they were getting old by professional standards, injuries mounted up or they simply wanted to move onto other ventures. Some of the more famous ones ended up in movers or advertising, while others went out into the world to get 'real jobs'. It was not unknown to find a former professional player from one season ending up advising you on a loan or selling cars another year. What it meant was that they needed to keep fresh, young blood coming in each year for the sport to continue.

Mako was leaning on the railing, staring out at the recruits, while Bolin held Opal in his arms, beaming brightly.

"Ah, the old arena. It seems like only yesterday we were down there looking to get noticed ourselves, right Mako?" Bolin asked. Mako didn't even respond to this. He heard the same whimsical talk every bloody year from his brother. He missed the game himself at times, but the way Bolin went on about it, especially when he talked to Bolin come Crush season every year, you'd think it was a major part of his life, rather than the two years they'd ended up actually playing. "You can almost smell the anticipation, see the fire in their eyes, right, Mako?"

"The Fire Benders anyway." Mako stated. Bolin just laughed, while Opal leaned over the balcony, trying to get a better look.

"I still can't believe they've not changed the rules to let Air Benders play." She said excitedly. "I've been writing to the league all the time, but no one's answered me back!"

"Yeah, the game was invented when there weren't really any Air Benders out there wanting to play." Mako reminded her. "And since most of them are Air Nomads, I'm not sure there are enough Air Benders out there that want to play Pro Bending to make it a fair contest."

"I guess." She sighed. "I just really want to see some Air Benders out there some time. Maybe…maybe even give it a go myself."

"I just know you'd be great out there!" Bolin said, taking his girlfriend in his arms and hugging her tightly. Mako just shook his head as Korra walked in.

"Hey, guys!" She greeted them, dumping her bag in the corner. Opal rushed over, almost knocking her off her feet with a big tackle hug.

"Korra! You made it!" Opal squealed in delight as she saw her. "How's it going?"

"Things are good, thanks." Korra replied. "How are things at the Air Temple?"

"Nowhere near as fun since you moved out." Opal answered her. "Oh, come on, the new players are about to start!"

She dragged Korra to the railing, where she looked out over the new recruits. Currently, there were a couple of Earth Benders throwing discs back and forth at each other.

"Not bad." Korra said, sounding impressed. "That skinny one, he doesn't look like much, but his form's really good."

"Top scorer in the College League." Mako informed her. "He had more single-handed knockouts than any other Bender the last two seasons!"

"I can believe it." Korra replied with a whistle as he sent his opponent spinning over the edge of the field into the pool. "Any good Water Benders?"

"You see the big one down there?" Bolin told her. "She's been tearing it up in the juniors. One season and the word is every pro team is just begging to snap her up."

"SHE?" Korra exclaimed, her eyes almost bulging out of her head. "She's HUGE! I thought she was one of the statues!"

"Yeah, she definitely is intimidating." Bolin agreed. "I wouldn't be surprised if half the players she's up against just jump off the platform rather than risk what she could do to them."

"Aw man, I forgot the sodas!" Opal groaned, checking her bag.

"Don't worry, I have some in mine." Korra told her, gesturing to her bag in the corner.

Opal went over to the bag while Korra and the others continued to watch the try-outs. She rummaged around in Korra's bag, getting a couple of sodas, but as she did, she found some clothes, Korra's dress for her date that night, along with a little wooden box. She pulled out the box, taking a look inside.

"Hey, Opal, what's the story with those sodas?" Bolin asked her. "Don't tell me Korra only brought diet…"

"Korra." She breathed. "Is this…is this what I think it is?"

Korra turned around, seeing Opal holding the box. Her expression changed.

"Opal, that's…um…" Korra started to say. "Just forget about it, it's nothing…"

"What's going on?" Bolin asked. Opal showed them the box. Inside was a necklace, one with a hand-carved gem stone on a red ribbon. Korra had found the gemstone on one of her recent trips to the Spirit World, in the wasteland that used to be the field where she and Asami had first kissed, and while traditionally the ribbon was blue for the Water Tribe, Asami's favourite colour had always been red. It had taken her months to make in secret, keeping it from Asami and working on it while she was working. It was now finally finished just to her liking.

"It's…"

"Korra, is that a betrothal necklace?" Bolin asked her. Korra started to blush, feeling her friends staring at her, before realising there was no backing out of it now. They already knew what it was.

"Yes, it is." Korra told them with a smile. "I'm going to give it to Asami later."

Opal let out a huge squeal of excitement, before throwing herself at Korra, picking her up off the floor in a huge hug. Bolin picked them both up in his enthusiasm.

"Korra, that's wonderful news!" Opal congratulated her.

"Hey, settle down!" Korra laughed. "I've not even asked her yet; she's not agreed to anything!"

"Of course, she's going to say yes!" Bolin cried out. "This is amazing! Have you thought about what you're going to say? Have you thought about where you're going to have the wedding…?"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down I need to ask her first!" Korra reiterated, before looking over to Mako, who was still pretty quiet. She looked to him, hoping to hear something from him. Eventually he smiled.

"I couldn't be happier for you both." He said, coming over and hugging her tightly.

Later in the evening, Korra was sitting in the restaurant, waiting for Asami. The waiter came around with some water and some bread.

"Are you ready to order?" The waiter asked.

"I'm sorry, could I have just a little more time?" Korra asked him. "My girlfriend's running a little late."

"I'll give you a little more time." The waiter told her. She had already been sitting about twenty minutes, and by the looks of the way the manager was glaring at her, she imagined he was starting to lose patience with her. The restaurant was one of the busiest in the city, and tables were hard to come by. Korra had chosen it because it was Asami's favourite, but she understood that having a table occupied by someone who wasn't ordering anything had to be getting them a little antsy.

She pulled out her phone and dialled Asami.

"Hey, Korra!" Asami answered. She was still on the factory floor, standing on scaffold, working on her latest project. It was a construction mech that would be able to perform the tasks of at least half a dozen others. It was still in the developmental stage, but if she got it up and running, then once it was marketed, then only a handful would be able to clear and build a whole city block in a matter of weeks. "It's great to hear from you!"

"Yeah, I was just…missing you." Korra said as she got the impression that Asami had lost track of time. "I was expecting you at the restaurant half an hour ago."

"What?" Asami asked, checking her watch. "Shit, sorry Korra, I was just…I just got caught up…"

"Well, don't worry, I think the manager giving me serious stink-eye won't kick me out for another fifteen minutes or so." Korra chuckled. "Just…get down here as soon as you can, alright."

"I will." Asami assured you. "I love you."

"I love you too." Korra answered. As Asami put her phone away, she looked back to what they were doing. One of the engineers was working on the reactor that powered it.

"Miss Sato, something doesn't seem right with this." The engineer told her.

"Let me see." She said as she took the computer off him. She saw the readings and her eyes opened wide.

"This isn't good!" Asami said, before going to the reactor and starting to work on it. "This isn't good, this is…"

The reactor started to make some noises, at which Asami turned back to the engineer.

"Get out of here!" She told him.

"Ms Sato…"

"Clear the factory, NOW!" She barked as she got to work. The engineer called out as he started to round up the others, leading them out of the area, while Asami worked to save the reactor core.

Back at the restaurant, Korra was drumming her fingers on the table as she waited for word from Asami. It had now been almost twenty minutes since she had assured her, she was on the way. The manager came over.

"Madam, are the rest of your party arriving soon?" He asked her.

"She said she's on the way." Korra told him.

"It's just, we are rather busy and if you aren't going to be dining, we will need the table back." The manager told her. "I'll come back in five minutes."

Korra watched him go, giving him a hard glare. She understood that he had a business to run, but she wanted everything to be perfect tonight.

She pulled out the box and looked to the necklace once more. She ran her fingers across it, trying to imagine what it would look like once she placed it on Asami's neck. She could only imagine, only hope what she would say when Korra gave it to her.

Her head jerked up, and everything shook as there was a huge explosion in the city. She got up and ran from her table, looking towards the smoke and flames billowing out from the Future Industries building.

"No, no, no, no, no!" She stammered. "ASAMI!"

Some time later, Korra got to the nearest hospital. She had run as fast as she could. Her lungs were burning, tears streaming down her face. Mako had been one of the officers at the scene, and had called Korra to tell her where they were taking Asami.

"Where is she?" Korra rushed out.

"Korra, try to calm…"

"Where is she?" Korra asked again. Mako held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"There was an explosion at the plant. Asami ordered an evacuation, but according to one of the engineers she was working to try and prevent it." He told her. "She's…she's in surgery."

"Mako, what happened?" She asked him.

"We don't know yet. The fire service is still trying to make the building safe." Mako told her. "But there will be a full investigation, you can take my word on that."

"What about Asami?" Korra asked him. His face looked pale, haunted as she asked.

"It was…bad." Mako told her honestly. Korra went to the desk, trying to get the attention of one of the nurses.

"Nurse, I need to see Asami Sato." Korra told her. A doctor nearby seemed to overhear this.

"Are you related to the patient?" He asked. Korra just nodded.

"I'm her girlfriend." Korra responded. The doctor just gestured to the nurse to go back to what she was doing.

"Come with me to my office, please." He told her. Korra and Mako followed him to his office, where he closed the door and pointed to the seats by his desk.

"I think you should probably sit down." He told her. Korra was too distraught to do anything else. Mako stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

"Doctor, what's going on?" Korra asked him.

"I'm afraid to say that Ms Sato's condition is critical." He informed her. "When she was brought to us, she'd suffered severe burns, along with extensive head and spinal trauma. We found evidence of internal bleeding, which we had to correct surgically."

"Doctor, please, tell us how bad it is." Korra stated.

"The head and spinal trauma unfortunately we won't be able to properly assess until she regains consciousness." He told them. "But I think it's only fair to warn you, there is a chance that she might never regain consciousness."

Mako held onto Korra, feeling her trembling under his hands.

"We're doing everything we can." He told her. "But I'd advise you to prepare for the worst."

He went to Korra, taking her hands in his own.

"There is a good chance she won't make it through the night." He told her. "I'm truly sorry."

The world felt like it fell out from under her as Korra heard the doctor start to detail more of the injuries Asami had suffered. Mako held her warmly, trying to comfort her, but all she could think about was what she had heard. All she could think about was Asami, and wonder if she'd ever see her beautiful smile again.