But you'll never be alone
I'll be with you from dusk till dawn
I'll be with you from dusk till dawn
Baby, I'm right here
I'll hold you when things go wrong
I'll be with you from dusk till dawn
I'll be with you from dusk till dawn
Baby, I'm right here
― Zayn & Sia
Dusk Till Dawn
Chapter 12 - Dusk Till Dawn
Korra ended up back by the entrance during the chaos. She fought mecha suit after mecha suit, but they kept popping back up. It appeared that more of them were drawn to her than the benders when they arrived on the scene. So long she and everyone else avoided getting electrocuted from a mecha suit, they'd be alright.
Korra was the Avatar, but being the Avatar didn't bring any perks with visibility of sighting her friends. Water sloshed from one bender to the next. Earth smashed against walls and defenses. Fire whished past heads, close to singeing clothes and skin.
In the middle of slamming one mecha suit against the wall, she caught sight of one of those distinguishing robes scaling the wall. He stopped briefly about halfway up, taking the scene down below in. That wouldn't do at all.
Fists pounded the wall, rupturing the spot where the Dai Li agent hung before he could react. He lost the grip he had and fell down from the perilous height onto the elevated space that the Avatar bent up. As soon as his back met the surface, Korra bound his hands and feet to the earth.
"Stop!" she shouted at the scarred Dai Li agent, standing over him with her back turned away from the fights. He looked away. "You whistled and started this! You have the power to end this. If you go willingly, I may be able to pull some strings for you to not be in Beifong's worse cell."
Before he had a chance to reply, electricity shot up her spine, bringing the Avatar to her knees. Three electric bolas shot from behind had wrapped their cables around her form.
Vision blurry and mind temporarily muddled, Korra blinked several times. Before she had the mind power to snap or bend the cables away, she was imprisoned in an earth shell and tiny earth bullets struck the back of her head. Blue eyes closed, enhancing her hearing only to hear a vibrating scream echoing in the cave.
No, it couldn't be.
"Such a shame you cannot protect the ones you love. If you cannot protect her, can you really protect the United Republic? Can you protect the world?" the other Dai Li mocked in Korra's ear from behind. He shifted the ground beneath them so she had a perfect view of Tokuga holding Asami over the water from their platform, electrocuting her across the room. "The psychological impacts we all face are our own worst enemies, Avatar, but are only percipient if we remember and embrace them. We laid all our cards out for you, but you have failed."
His words were met with deaf ears. Somewhere in the back of her mind was his earlier threat, but if she acted quick enough, she'd subdue them before anyone would even know if the threat was serious.
Asami was what mattered.
Blue eyes morphed into the glowing white light of the Avatar State. The cables restraining her snapped and rock erupted everywhere. Korra grabbed both Dai Li agents and crushed their bodies and heads against the closest wall, knocking them both unconscious. She didn't have metal cables to restrain them, but sunk them deep within the floor, having only a tiny semblance of humanity to leave their noses above ground for air.
Exiting the Avatar State, Korra desperately called out Asami's name in vain. The few benders and mecha suits that tried to get in her way faced the wrath of a vengeful, pissed off Avatar. They were met with a fury of fire blasts and rock pillars tossing them hazardously. In the back of her mind was concern that some of these people were helpless victims, but they'd survive.
Asami had all her focus.
Mako, Bolin and Beifong had reached Asami several seconds earlier than she was able to. Mako was on his knees leaning over Asami, trying to contain the bleeding and speaking to her. Bolin was pulling up earth walls for protection. Beifong was warding off those who had not been taken down yet along with one officer.
Running, she met the wild eyes of Tokuga. He had been trapped in an earth shell and gagged. Korra's blood boiled, fire licking her fingertips to burn him more so than his face already was. She wasn't sure how he'd gotten burn, but noticed a dejected looking man in a similar state as Tokuga. He wasn't burnt or fighting anything though. She eyed Tokuga once more, warning him that she was coming for him.
However, there was no time to beat the living shit out of him now. Korra knew she was the only one who had any chance to help Asami.
But the sight before her was worse than she could ever dream of.
Asami Sato laid beneath her almost lifelessly. She was usually pale, but all the color of her skin faded away, contrasting sharpy with her black, silky hair and the deep red spreading across the white shirt and onto the dirty floor.
Mako had been so focused on Asami's side that he hadn't noticed the red spilling from her right hand, but Korra did. She ripped the glove off and nearly vomited. Her hand had been butchered down to the middle of her palm between her ring and middle fingers. Bone poked out of the jagged flesh that did nothing to contain the blood.
Red.
Everywhere.
Her abdomen. Her shoulder. Both her hands. Even her neck, but her neck was emitting smoke and charred red and angry from the direct, prolonged electrocution to her skin. Her side met a similar fate, the smell of burning skin permeated her nose.
It was a gruesome, cruel sight that no one should ever be forced to witness.
Fear bubbled inside of her. Fear that the damage would be too severe to stabilize her. Fear that one of her best friends, her lover that had been by her side for many years was going to die in her arms.
Springing into action, she bent a sphere of water from waterfall over and covered the batter woman's body. It didn't stop blood and grime from intermingling with the pure water and infecting its purity.
But almost as soon as the water touched her skin, Korra's heart dropped into her stomach. She thought she was going to vomit from seeing the state of her hand, but this, this, was sending her into a state of shock and horror. She flinched away and clenched her eyes shut, but did not cease her actions.
"Korra, what's wrong?" Worried laced Mako's tone and Bolin overhead it, jumping in and coming over to sit in solidarity with his friends, but keeping an eye out for anyone who may slip past Beifong's radar.
On the verge of a breakdown, she choked out, "S-she's partially chi-blocked."
Even the greatest healers couldn't overcome chi blocking. Some of her chi was flowing, but nowhere close to what she needed based on the surface of her wounds. Depending on how long the chi-blocking lasted, she was going to need a hospital to completely close the wounds with stitches and a thorough examination.
Korra focused all her energy into stabilizing her and trying to force as much of her chi through their paths. It was weak, clogged. The longer Asami didn't respond, the more Korra's body trembled. She choked down her own sobs, praying she wasn't too late. Praying that this wasn't her fault. She learned from the best healer in the world, but the blue glow of the water running back and forth over her body seemed to be hopeless.
Trepidation.
Guilt.
Reality.
"Come on, Asami. Baby, please." Tears freely flowed down her cheeks now, blending in with the infected water and the blood they bathed in.
The brothers and Korra continued to watch her for any signs of active life. Asami's strength was undeniable as she displayed numerous times, but no matter how strong she was, there was only so much electricity and so much blood loss she could withstand before crashing.
Finally, she released a frail groan and a small twitch of her body. Everyone's eyes widened in relief, hope at the sliver of the jade eyes. She rolled her head to the right to make eye contact with Korra. A tiny smile formed on her lips as she shakily and almost painfully forced her right hand to cup her girlfriend's cheek.
"I know you'll take good care of me. I love you," she rasped out weakly. Her eyes fluttered closed and her hand fell from Korra's cheek, leaving a trail of watery blood.
"Get her to the airship and go!" Beifong shouted at them, fending off one of the remaining mecha suits.
There was no argument from them. Bolin carried her carefully as Korra continued to bend some water around her in an effort to slow the bleeding and shrink the wounds. At the very least, maybe she could ease the agony her body was fighting.
The officer escorted them to the other end of the room, fending off stray attacks on them. Mako on the other hand, tried to stay back to help Beifong.
"Mako, go!" she yelled at him as she took down one another firebender.
"Chief-"
"Detective, you will listen to my direct order! We can handle this! If Su and the others are okay, send them down here. They need you more than us."
Not wanting to upset the chief, he saluted her and chased after his friends. For a while, things may have been weird between him, Korra, and Asami, but he still cared deeply for the both of them. If he lost one of them, he'd lose both of them. He'd take all the relentless teasing from the two of them until the end of time for Asami to make a full recovery.
Lost.
Empty.
Guilt.
The Avatar sat alone on a bench in a hallway leading into the lobby of the hospital, covering her face and offering her a sense of protection and privacy. Many stared at her. She couldn't blame them. Dry blood and dirt coated her hands.
Blood from her girlfriend. Blood that she couldn't stop from escaping her body. Blood that she couldn't prevent from being shed.
"Korra?"
Removing her hands from her face, the two brothers stood before her with their own somber expressions. Bolin was sniffling, and Mako's eyes were downcast and filled with concern. They too were covered with her blood.
No one had to say anything. They sat on the bench with her and sandwiched her between them. With their arms around her, she finally broken down on Bolin's shoulder.
The captain and crew of the airship had managed to get them back to Republic City much faster than it should've taken and radioed the hospital. She was thankful for everything they did, but the entire trip back, she was focused on doing what she could to help Asami which wasn't much. Feeling the garbled, feeble energy running through her body frightened her beyond belief the whole way back to Republic City. She spoke nonsense the entire time, trying to keep a grip on her cruel reality.
Then she, Mako, and Bolin burst through the doors, shouting what happened, that Asami needed immediate medical attention. Wet from the fleeing storm outside and covered in her blood, Korra laid Asami onto the gurney. Why did the lining have to be all white, emphasizing the blood and electrical burns on her neck?
The healers and doctors yelling out instructions and vitals became nothing more than muffled sounds like when she lost her hearing once the hospital doors separated them. Watching them wheel her seemingly lifeless body on the gurney through the doors was the worst sight she'd ever seen.
She felt the rest of the world leave her. She was the only person in a black void, standing in that very spot. One of the brothers placed a hand on her shoulder, but she immediately shoved it off and retreated to the bench that they were on.
Now she quaked, terrified of what would happen in the next few hours.
She finally understood her father's perspective from four years ago. How he must have felt as he held her in his arms as the poison nearly took her life. Not only him, but the friends surrounding her. They all watched from the sidelines filled with concerned, powerless to do anything to help the situation. Now she was on the sidelines looking in.
"She's going to be alright," Bolin said strongly with a bit of snot running out of his nose. "I went to lunch with her a while back. You should've seen the way her face lit up when she talked about being by your side for the rest of your lives. She didn't outright say it, but I think she expected something like this to happen sooner or later. She wouldn't want you ridden with all this guilt I see written all over your face. We all love you, Korra. We love the both of you. We're Team Avatar, through thick and thin."
"We know the dangers of being with you. We all have since we met you, but has that ever stopped us? No. We won't accept anything less, Korra. Any battle, we're here for you. Asami's strong and stubborn like you. She's going to make it, you're going to fuss over her, she's going to yell at you to knock it off, and you'll end up kissing to make everything all better. You both have our full support for the road ahead," Mako added, rubbing her back soothingly.
Korra sheltered all her vulnerabilities in the safe cocoon of the brothers as the rest of the hospital continued on and passed by them.
Silence.
Seemingly harmless, but could quickly morph into deadly. Even the pitter patter of activity outside of the room seemed silent. The rest of the world was on play while in that room, everything was on pause.
Only the rise and fall of her chest was any indication that she was alive. Gauze and bandages covered her throat, shoulder, hands, and right side. All together she needed eighty-nine stiches between her side laceration, hand, and shoulder. Though the chi-blocking had worn off, the damage was still extensive and would require time.
Asami's skin was naturally pale, a porcelain like shade, but when the doctors finally allowed Korra back, she was still nearly as white as the sheets. She'd lost a lot of blood and required a blood transfusion.
The doctors weren't expecting her to wake until the following day at the very earliest after all the stress on her body. They reassured her, however, that with some time, she'd make a full recovery.
Korra faithfully sat by her bedside in a hard, metal chair. Usually doing nothing and not moving would irritate her, but she'd do it every day if it'd speed up her recovery.
A dark hand covered a bandaged hand. The bandages were a foreign feeling, reminding her of earlier. She didn't like that so she grasped Asami's bare, freezing fingers in hers. The Avatar used her bending to warm them up, hoping it provided some relief to her in her unconscious state.
"Korra," Mako gently spoke from the doorway with Bolin. "Why don't you go back home to change and get a shower? We'll stay with her while you're gone."
Taking in her appearance, she knew it was probably the best, but she didn't want to leave her side. Then again, letting the crusty blood stew in her clothes and on her skin wasn't very hygienic in a hospital.
"I'll be back soon. I love you," she whispered tenderly in her ear and kissed her forehead.
Outside the hospital, she had two options. She could go back to the Sato mansion or to Air Temple Island. Just the thought of stepping foot in the mansion without Asami made her stomach churn and bile rise to the back of her throat. Everything there would be a constant reminder of the image of her laying bloody and battered.
Air Temple Island it was. Luckily, some of the clothes that originally migrated to Asami's house somehow migrated back to Air Temple Island.
Bolin and Mako had called earlier to explain what had occurred. The sympathetic smiles and nods by the air acolytes and airbenders she passed meant word got around quickly, but she was thankful no one was haggling her.
She passed by Tenzin and his family in the middle of dinner. The kids scrambled from their seats, worried and asking every question in the book. As much as she didn't want to talk, telling the kids that she was going to be alright with time seemed to lift a weight off her shoulders though one remained in her heart.
Tenzin coaxed the kids back to their seats and shot her his own reassuring smile. Pema gave her a motherly look that nearly brought her to tears. Biting her lip, she stiffly nodded then headed off to shower.
She furiously scrubbed the dry blood from her skin at a breakneck speed, turning streams of the cleansing water to hues of red and pink. She wasn't particularly squeamish with blood, but knowing that it was Asami's made her want to vomit food that she hadn't consumed. She continued rubbing the damned bloody spots until her skin was raw, needing to wash it all away. She needed something to fixate on to rid herself of all her thoughts.
Through her fixation, she noticed her own bruises and scrapes from the battle. She collected enough shower water to heal her own battle wounds, leaving the superficial wound from the previous week for last. All the emotions that she'd been withholding the past hours drifted to the surface as she watched the blue glow of the water heal her body almost back to perfect health.
The glowing water was released suddenly, splashing on the shower floor and Korra's legs, forgotten, but flowing down to the drain and out of sight.
The Avatar screamed out for the whole world to hear, needing to purge the emotions suffocating her. She slammed her forehead and hands against the front of the wall, watching the droplets slide down the drain intermixing with her salty tears pouring down her cheeks. All alone, time continued to tick away as tears masqueraded themselves as shower droplets, allowing the Avatar all the vulnerability in the world without any proof of her breakdown.
By the time she exited the shower and dressed in fresh clothes, she wasn't sure how much time had passed. She didn't exactly feel better despite yelling until her lungs and throat burned raw. She looked at herself in a mirror, knowing there was nothing she could do about the redness in the whites of her eyes. She looked utterly defeated, depleted, and dejected.
She intended to go right back to the hospital, but when she stepped outside, she ended up at the gazebo. They'd had a lot of good moments there. Asami bringing her tea, Kya recognizing and supporting their relationship, lazy days where they just lounged there until Tenzin politely kicked them out for a mediation session, and the day when Asami read the first words of her father's regret.
She sat in the center of the gazebo in the lotus position facing Yue Bay. A tiny chuckle escaped her lips as she tried to mediate to ease her mind. The memory of her first attempt at mediation with Tenzin and the kids came to mind.
"May I join you for a moment?" Pema asked from the entrance of the gazebo with a gentle smile. Korra nodded, not bothering to turn around and brought her knees up to her chest as Pema sat adjacent to her. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm…okay," she murmured against her knees, wrapping her arms around them. "I just needed a moment away from everything."
Pema nodded, not pushing the topic. She'd heard the anguished screaming. If Korra wanted to talk, she'd be there for her. Dusk was upon them as the sun was close to dipping under the horizon, casting the last of the day's deep orange hues over them as darkness swept in. The artificial, harrowing storm from earlier was long forgotten by the world.
It was hard to believe it had barely been a day since they confronted Raiko and discovered the face of this rebellion. Just last night, she introduced Hisakata to her beloved jerky. He absolutely adored it. He wolfed down close to half of what they'd purchased. Korra consumed the other half, but a few pieces she enticed the love of her life to eat.
Asami was such a composed woman most of the time, but she couldn't stomach blubbered seal jerky. The way she scrunched up her face at her offerings was adorable. Then she pulled out the polar bear dog eyes and broke down the older woman to eat it. Korra cheered and applauded each time she ate a piece, embarrassing her and causing her cheeks to redden, but eventually began laughing. When all the jerky was gone, Korra gave her a long kiss, thanking her for dealing with her antics and proclaiming her love for her.
Opal and several others had been knocked out via shirshu-tranquilizing darts first. Then everyone had been knocked out by a canister filled with noxious sleeping gas. They had run into each other in the tunnels, quickly exchanging tales before Su and Opal told them to worry about Asami and rush to the hospital.
Given no one was approaching her with breaking news or requiring her attention, she assumed they were still beneath Mo Ce Sea. Not that her attention would be focused on anything besides her girlfriend laying in a hospital bed. She tried, she really tried, but she couldn't prevent the what-if scenarios running through her mind. Silent tears began to mar her cheeks again and drip down onto her shirt. She thought she was all cried out from her outburst at the hospital and in the shower.
Pema wrapped an arm around Korra's shoulders and pulled her into her side, allowing her to release the remnants of the emotions from the day. Korra wasn't her child by blood, but for all intents and purposes, she was her child. No matter how old she'd get, she'd be there as a local maternal figure for both her and Asami.
"Pure elation poured from her face when I gave her a gentle nudge to officially ask you to move in with her," Pema remembered, rubbing Korra's side. "Love does crazy things to you like that. It makes you self-conscious when there's no reason to doubt whatever you want to say or do when you already know the answer. I'm surprised it took over a year for her to ask you."
"She was so nervous when she asked me that night," she hiccupped through her tears, remembering how she babbled on. "I love her, Pema. I can't get the image of her laying on the filthy ground bleeding, motionless, and her blood coating my hands out of my head. There was so much blood. I felt so helpless feeling some of her chi paths blocked. I was terrified I'd lose her, that her heart would stop beating and it would be all my fault." Korra's tears drenched the shoulder of Pema's robes.
"Korra, nothing is your fault," she said, gently coaxing her to lift her head from her shoulder. She reached up to wipe the tears away from the Avatar's cheeks and smiled warmly. "Asami's going to be fine. You're going to be fine. Do you know why?" She shook her head. "Because you have each other. She knows you would never let anything happen to her. Neither of your lives have been nor will ever be easy yet you've chosen each other. Together, you can live a gratified, revolutionary life together with all success and all the failures, all the glory and all the ignominy, all the recognition and all the critiques thrown your way. You can't truly appreciate the relationship, the love you have for someone without both ends of the spectrum. That's true life's journey.
"I know it's hard right now to process everything, honey." Pema hugged her close to her body again, allowing Korra to rest her damp face in the crook of her neck. "Tenzin and I, Mako and Bolin, we're all here for you. Both of you. I know as soon as Asami's back on her feet, she'll be barking out orders to the men at Future Industries. Make Tokuga, the Dai Li, and Raiko pay for what they've done to the United Republic and you."
Korra murmured her thanks to Pema in her shoulder. The airbending matriarch smiled sweetly at the Avatar and left, allowing her a moment to recompose herself in the spot that she knew held a special place in her heart.
Dusk fell as a blanket of black covered the island. It wasn't quite pitch black yet, but only small lanterns provided any light to Korra as she gazed out into Yue Bay. Waves reached their peaks before leveling out and crashing against the rocks and shores of Air Temple Island.
Once again, her arms were wrapped around her knees. She was lost in the watching the calming waves that reminded her of the South when a piece of clothing with a familiar smell was draped over her shoulders.
Asami's jacket. She wasn't really mad that she gave him her jacket earlier, but now she was thankful for the small piece of her not victim to Tokuga.
He sat several feet behind her, not wanting to intrude on her moment. Secretly and from afar, he'd heard parts of her conversation with Pema. She made no move to face him, but slipped her arms through the sleeves.
"You…really love her, don't you?"
"With all my heart," she sighed, tightening the hold around her knees and burying her face in them. "Asami means everything to me. I love her now, and I'll love her in all of my future lives. I don't know what I'd do without her."
He twiddled his fingers and bit his lip, deciding if he wanted to speak further. "I'm sorry I bit you and spit in your eye and almost hit you with a water whip. You…reminded me of my father. Asami's eyes reminded me of my mom's, but they're a few shades lighter than hers and Midori's."
That caught Korra's attention. She rotated in her spot to find him with his arms wrapped around his knees too. "Why are you telling me this?"
He sighed sadly, looking off to the side. "They had a tricky relationship. I think she loved him, but I don't remember him ever showing compassion for her except for one instance. Nothing compared to what I've seen Pema and the bald man share and especially nothing compared to what I've witnessed between you two."
Young, burdened eyes reflected against experienced, troubled eyes. "You're genuinely worried and broken up over her. He abandoned her when she got sick with two small children. I know it doesn't mean much from me, but people who can't see the love and loyalty between the two of you are fools. Why does it matter how you two came to be a couple? Why does it matter that you're two women? Why does it matter that you're the Avatar and she's a CEO? You both have each other's back in your lowest moments. Neither of you would ever turn your back on each other when…shit happens in life. I didn't exactly understand what Asami told me, but now I do. I've witnessed it first-hand through you two."
The passion, the fire in his eyes as he spoke moved Korra to tears. He hadn't heard what Raiko spewed at her. She'd heard some of the whispers and murmurs on the streets against their relationship. She felt the glowers against their backs. She tried ignoring them, but sometimes they were more profound. But in this vulnerable moment, the little boy who tried attacking her the previous week was doing his best to cheer her up.
She stretched her legs out and held out her arms for him. He hesitated until she cocked her head at him, motioning with her hands to accept her offering. He scooted over cautiously like she'd burn him. As soon as her strong arms were wrapped around his small frame, Korra felt him releasing his own worries. She wondered how long it'd been since he'd willingly let an adult hug him.
"Thank you. That means more than you could image," Korra murmured into his ear. "I promise you'll be reunited with Midori soon, Hisakata."
"Thank you, Avatar Korra," he choked out, closing his eyes and digging his head further into her side.
The two waterbenders held each other, lost in their own emotional battles. They had found temporary comfort in one another in the gazebo as waves beat and brushed against Air Temple Island in the dark.
Posted: February 25, 2021
Tumblr: mysky27
