Chapter 8
As Mako drives them toward Asami's house, Korra's phone goes off.
Mako swerves slightly at the sound. "Who is it?! Is it Asami?!" He asks excitedly.
"No, but keep your eyes on the road, before you get us killed!" She huffs, angrily, already forgetting about the person on the phone.
"Hello? Korra, you won't believe who just left Narook's."
"Who? Bolin?"Korra says sarcastically, while rolling her eyes. All of these emotions going through her at once are making her a bit irritable.
"Asami! She was looking for you!"
Korra instantly perks up. "Really?"
"Yeah! You should totally go see her. She sounds like she just had a horrible day, and she came looking for you, specifically."
Korra can't fight the grin splitting her face from of such great news. "Thanks, Opal. You're the best!"
"You're damn right I am."
Hanging up, Korra can no longer contain her excitement. "YES!"
"Care to fill me in or..." Mako says looking very confused.
"Asami stopped by Narook's, looking for me. Apparently she had a bad day at work and wanted to see me." She says still grinning widely.
"Wow. You really made progress. So, are we heading to her house?"
"Not yet! I need to go home and make myself presentable." She says, shaking her head vigorously.
"What? Weren't you just gonna go see her, like, a few minutes ago?"
"Yeah but, that was off of pure emotion. I wasn't thinking clearly at the time. Just drop me off at home."
Mako releases a chuckle and shrugs. "Alright."
Asami enters her home and throws her keys onto the coffee table. She then walks over to the couch and drops down almost lifelessly.
She pulls her phone from her pocket, and opens her messages.
Asami: Hey Li, sorry for leaving so abruptly. I just had to get out of there. Call me when you can
She leaves the message simple, deciding it'd be more appropriate to apologize and thank her over the phone. She'd rather do it in person, but there was no way she was going back there today.
Contemplating what to do, she lies on her couch for a few minutes, before coming to the decision she should check the cameras, she'd had installed at Future Industries.
Dragging her body back into a sitting position, she releases a tired sigh. She then stands and makes her way to her home office. Sitting behind her desk, she starts her computer and opens the footage taken from the cameras.
Watching over the footage, she sees the big guy Viper brought with him, knock out her security guard and drag him into the bathroom. They then get in the elevator and go up to her office. She fast forwards to Viper's departure, and checks the parking lot footage, making sure he hadn't tampered with anything on his way out.
Satisfied he hadn't touched anything, she watches herself leave a few moments later. She fast forwards through the footage, and stops when she notices someone enter her office. Her eyes widen at who she finds.
She rewinds the footage to Korra's arrival, and watches up until she and Mako leave.
Asami is beyond shocked. The last thing she expected to find, while looking over the footage, was Korra, seemingly looking for her.
She tries to fight the smile that forms at the thought, and fails. Korra had missed her. And even showed up at her job.
Maybe Asami should've gone to her place like Opal had suggested. Maybe it's not too late. She still wants to see Korra, and she knows that Korra wants to see her.
Having decided, she gets up from her chair and heads to get her keys. Just as she grabs them, her doorbell sounds.
Who could be at her house? Nobody visits her here.
She opens the door and is shocked to see Korra standing there, smiling shyly.
At the sight of her crush, Korra blushes fiercely, giving a small wave. "Hey."
Asami is too shocked to react. The silence makes Korra nervous.
"Asami? Is it weird that I came here?"
Shaking her head rapidly, Asami regains her composure. "No, I'm sorry. I'm just surprised to see you. Come in."
Korra's smile returns as she enters Asami's house. Her host follows behind her, throwing her keys onto the coffee table once again.
Noticing, Korra looks at the keys. "Were you about to head out?"
"I was uh- No I wasn't."
Asami can't seem to get herself together. It's quite embarrassing, considering she was about to do the same thing to Korra. She takes a few deep breaths to calm herself.
"I went by Narook's today. I wanted… to see you, but you weren't there. Well obviously." She chuckles
Korra sits across from her in front of the coffee table. "Heh, I know. Opal called and told me. I actually went to Future Industries earlier, and nobody was there. Not even, Li."
She looks down before continuing. "It was kinda weird. I thought something had happened. I'm glad you're okay."
"Viper showed up at my job, and I left to clear my mind after my meeting with him. Li was probably on another floor of the building."
Korra looks at her, confusedly. "Viper? Who's that? And what about that security guy?"
"The leader of The Triple Threats."
"What?! Why was he meeting with you?" Korra's eyes widen at this new information.
It worries her. Maybe the little incident at the go-kart place wasn't a coincidence. But if not, why do they want Asami so bad? There are too many things they could want. She'd have to dig into this.
Asami releases a sigh, remembering the meeting. "Apparently he wants more weapons. As if he didn't get enough from my father." She huffs, tiredly.
"… Are you going to give them to him?" Korra asks, carefully.
That question fills Asami with mild rage. "No! Of course not. Why would you even ask something like that?"
"Asami… what'll happen if you don't do what he says?" She's afraid of the answer.
Without missing a beat, Asami shakes her head. "It doesn't matter. This isn't about me. Think about all the people, that could get hurt by his actions if I do what he's asking. What would you do, in my position?"
Once again lowering her eyes, Asami understands her answer.
"Exactly. Don't worry. I'll be fine." Asami can clearly see, Korra is worried about her. She wants to comfort her, but doesn't know how.
Korra on the other hand, is deep in thought, trying to make sense of the situation and formulate a plan against The Triple Threats.
Something just doesn't click though. From what she'd read, The Triple Threats were the most active gang in Republic City, the others hardly able to call themselves gangs anymore. So what could they possibly need more weapons for?
Regardless of their plans, she had to keep Asami safe. Along with everyone else.
"Did he leave any way for you to contact him?" She suddenly asks.
Asami releases a yawn before answering. "No. He just said he'd be in touch. I'm assuming he's just going to show up at my job again." She yawns again.
Nodding, Korra takes in the information. She doubts he'll show up at her job again, after doing whatever he did to her security guard.
But then again, any time he was arrested, the charges never stuck, so he might not care.
"When do you go back to work?"
"In a week. I'm taking a break for a while."
That's good. It gives Korra time to look into the matter more, before Asami gets involved again.
Deciding she'd learned all she could from Asami, Korra relaxes a bit.
A week away from work leaves Asami with a lot of free time. Maybe they could spend more time together.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" She asks, only to look up and see Asami sound asleep, outstretched on her couch.
Letting out a quick chuckle, Korra walks over to Asami's sleeping form and gently lifts her, into her arms.
Asami grumbles a bit and her eyes open slightly. She looks up at Korra, and whispers a quiet thanks, before dozing off, again.
Korra walks into her bedroom and lies Asami in her bed. She removes her shoes, and puts a blanket over her. Satisfied, she moves to exit the room, but stops at the door and looks over her shoulder.
"Goodnight." She says softly, before leaving Asami's house entirely.
As she makes her way back home, her mind is still on The Triple Threats, and all that Asami had told her.
She walks down the sidewalk and thinks about all the great things she'd heard about Republic City, and how they always talked about equality. It makes her wonder just how many people's lives had been ruined by gangs.
Entering her apartment, she slouches into a chair, irritated by her lack of progress. Naga bounds down the hall, and lies her head in Korra's lap, releasing a whine.
"I know girl. I wish I could help too. But I don't know what to do. I need more information before I can do anything." She pouts.
Naga drags her tongue across Korra's face, and pants happily.
Korra laughs at her friends antics, before stopping abruptly. "Naga, I think I've got it!"
She quickly whips her phone from her pocket and brings it up to her ear.
"Chief? Are you awake right now?
"Absolutely not." Lin says with a stern look in her face, as she crosses her arms.
"What? Why?! You know my plan is foolproof!" Korra truly doesn't understand why the Chief won't let her help. She's not some little kid.
She'd proposed, that Lin let her go undercover, and work at the laser tag place, to gather any information possible. It made sense, to her at least. Why would they suspect her of having any other business there, besides working.
"I admit it is a good plan, but there's one problem. If any of them know about what you did in the Watertribe, there's no way they'd let any information slip around you. It'd just be a waste of time."
Korra frowns, briefly thinking over what the Chief had said.
"I doubt any of them would know me. It isn't like we ended a war, in progress. It was just political stuff. Only politicians and people from the Watertribes know about that." She says while shaking her head.
Releasing a sigh, Lin rolls her eyes. "Look, I can't stop you from getting a job at that place, but I certainly won't help you. It's too risky."
"Understood. Thanks anyway."
Without another word, Korra leaves Lin's house and is on Naga's back.
Riding around Republic City aimlessly, Korra thinks that the Chief's concern is unwarranted. She understands what she was saying, but what really are the chances of someone from that place knowing about anything in the Watertribes?
Besides she can't just sit by and do nothing any longer while these guys make preparations, for whatever they're planning. Having the power to help and not doing so, is just as bad as committing the crime.
With that thought in mind, she decides to check the place out, regardless of the Chief's warnings.
Awakened by a stream of sunlight, shining through a small opening in her curtains, Asami wakes up early the next morning. She rolls over onto her back and stares up, at the ceiling. She wakes up in a slightly better mood than the one she went to bed with.
Feeling better than she had in a few months, she contemplates on what she should do today. She knows she should go up to the campus and check in with her professors. Maybe she'll spend some time with her friends. It has been awhile since she'd hung out with anybody besides Korra, and that was two weeks ago.
Finally out of bed, with her mind made up, she realizes she feels a bit less tense than she usually does. Apparently she really did need a break. She'd have to thank Li a hundred more times. Maybe she could visit her for lunch.
As she walks into the bathroom, she thinks about everything Li has done for her. For as long as she can remember, Li had always been there. Even before her mother's death. Having been Hiroshi's assistant also, Asami had formed a bond with her early on in life. That bond intensified after she lost her mother. After her death, Hiroshi buried himself in his work, not as much as Asami does now, but enough for her to miss him as a kid. Being aware of how Yasuko's death affected them, Li did a lot of things for Asami, she didn't have to. And Asami is eternally grateful for that reason.
Exiting the bathroom, she quickly grabs something to eat, and changes into something more suitable, than the towel she'd wrapped around her body, after her shower. With all of that out of the way she heads to RCU.
She hadn't been there in a while, but her teachers usually emailed the assignments to her, since they knew how important it was for her to keep the company running, after turning her father in, and considering they all drove SatoMobiles and used SatoPhones.
She'd still pop in every once in a while when she got free time on her hands, just to make sure everything was alright. Plus it made the professors happy.
Some of the students find it unfair, that she doesn't have to come to classes. Sometimes they'd call her names like 'spoiled brat' and things along those lines, but she's used to it. It also doesn't help her reputation, that she broke up with the school's quarterback. But she doesn't care what they think. People had been harassing her, her entire life, especially after her mother died.
Pulling into the campus parking lot, it's not as many people as it usually is, because it's Sunday and most of the classes start later in the day. Quickly parking, she exits her car and enters the building. She gets a few stares, but nothing out of the ordinary.
A couple of rooms away from her first class she passes two girls and a guy standing together talking. One of the girls turns her way as she walks by them.
"Hey, rich kid. Finally going to class, huh?" She says, making the other girl laugh.
Asami turns her head in their direction, while still walking, and gives a shrug, causing the girl to frown slightly.
She sees all of her profesors, that are there today, without any problems, and everything is as it should be regarding her school work.
She now sits in her car, deciding whether or not she should see her friends. Opening her text messages, she creates a group chat and adds Opal, Bolin, and Mako. She would add Korra but she doesn't know her number.
Asami: Hey guys. Ik we haven't really hung out in a while so I was wondering if we could all meet up at Narook's?
Bolin: Hey Asami! Mako and I are down
Opal: Count me in too
Asami: Great! Could one of you guys invite Korra? I forgot to get her number
Opal: Sure. What time?
Asami: I'm free for the rest of the day
Bolin: An hour?
Opal: Perfect!
Asami: I'll see you guys there
Now that it had been planned, Asami's a little excited to see everyone again. She can't remember the last time she actually hung out with them. Of course they'd see each other every now and then, but they never really hung out anymore. Or at least, she didn't hang out with them.
She feels like a terrible friend. What kind of person ditches their friends for months on end? Well she'd make it up to them.
Leaving the campus, she heads to the mall. She know presents won't change anything, but maybe they'll help, in showing how sorry she is for being a bad friend. She stops by a few stores, looking around for anything that catches her attention, and just screams her friends' names.
After visiting a few stores, she spots a book that catches her eye. She picks it up and realizes, it's a book of poetry. She decides to buy it for Opal. Searching through a few more stores, she somehow ends up in a gaming store. She decides to look around, since she knows Bolin loves playing video games.
"Hi. Can I help you?" The guy behind the counter asks.
Stopping her aimless search, she turns towards the man. "Actually, I don't even know what I'm looking for." She chuckles. "I'm buying a gift for my friend and all I know is that he likes to play games."
"Does he like sports?"
"Yeah, He plays for RCU."
The guy perks up a bit. "Oh yeah? What's his name?"
"Bolin."
"WHAT?!" The guy shouts, causing everyone in the store, and a few people passing by, to look at him.
He disappears, behind a door for a bit and comes back with a game in his hands. "Is this him?"
"What the- Yeah! That's him." Asami grabs the case of the game and looks it over.
On the cover are both, Mako and Bolin. Why didn't they tell her about this.
Asami looks back to the man surprised. "When did this release?"
He shakes his head. "It didn't. It comes out in two days."
"Damn." Asami lowers her head.
"You can still buy it, if you want. Just tell Bolin to shop here if he ever needs new games." The guy smirks.
"Thanks."
After leaving the store she wanders around aimlessly, yet again, trying to find something suitable for her friend. She makes her way deeper into the mall, and she sees a set of antique Fire Nation dual blades for sale.
She quickly enters the store and purchases them. Satisfied with her present for Mako, she head towards the exit. As she's walking towards the exit, a small patch of color catches her eye. She enter the store the color came from, and spots the culprit. A beautiful necklace with a deep blue mineral hanging in the middle.
She picks it up and studies it. As she watches the mineral shine, and reflect the lights in the room, she's reminded of Korra. She can't believe she almost forgot about her. She deserves a gift too, after all, plus it would be rude of her, to buy everyone else gifts and leave Korra out. Hopefully she'll like it. Asami doesn't know much about Korra and what she likes.
After buying the necklace, she checks her watch, and can't believe how much time she spent in the mall. She only has ten minutes to get to Narook's on time.
Quickly getting to her car, she puts the presents in her trunk, and sets off.
She parks her car, and can see Mako and Opal's cars are already there. Entering the building, she sees all of her friends are sitting at a table. All except Korra. She ignores the slight disappointment she feels, walking over to them.
"Hey guys."
"Oh my Spirits, Asami I haven't seen you in… like forever!" Bolin exclaims, flailing his arms wildly.
Asami takes the only empty seat at the table, next to Opal and Mako. "It hasn't been that long."
"Hey Asami. Korra couldn't make it. She's trying to get a new job or something. I don't know why she couldn't just stay here, with me, but hey…" Opal trails off, with a pout on her face.
It really saddens her that Korra is leaving Narook's. She is one of her best friends after all. Now who's going to cover her shifts when she can't work?
"Oh? Did she say where?" Asami asks, slightly intrigued.
Opal shakes her head. "She just said she was going to the place today and couldn't make it."
Asami briefly wonders, why Korra could be looking for a new job. Granted she doesn't know Korra that well, but from what she could tell, Korra loves working at Narook's. And the people here love her. Maybe she needs more money? That could be it.
As she continues thinking, Mako just watches her, waiting for her to notice his presence.
"Bro stop staring at Asami like that, you're creeping me out." Bolin says, with a disgusted look on his face.
"I just wanted to see how long it would take her to greet me, that's all. I know, I'm not Korra, but come on." This response confuses Bolin, while Opal watches on with her mouth covered, to keep from laughing.
Internally, Asami is panicking. How does everyone know about her attraction, or whatever, to Korra? Could she have said something to him?
Externally, she shows none of her surprise, and puts on a smile. "Hey Mako. Sorry for being rude. I just had a lot on my mind. How have you been?"
Mako is impressed with how quickly she changed the subject. "Same as usual. Study and practice, study and practice. That's really about it." He shrugs.
"Don't forget about getting wasted at parties!" Bolin shouts.
"I haven't done that since the twins' party, and you know it."
"Wait, what happened?" Asami asks, lost.
"This guy had his face glued to a toilet two weeks ago, at this party the twins threw." Bolin says, chuckling.
"Wow, Mako. You have really stooped low recently." Asami says, while shaking her head.
"Oh, come on. He did it too." He points at Bolin.
"I'm sorry but you must be mistaken. My boyfriend would never." Opal says, while rubbing Bolin's shoulder.
"Yeah, she's right bro."
Mako glares at him. "Remember that, the next time you need help bench pressing all that weight. I should've just let you choke yourself to death."
"Come on Mako, that's different! I could've died!"
"Stuff happens." Mako shrugs
Just as they get into an argument, a waiter comes up to Asami. "Were you here when I took orders earlier?"
"No, I wasn't. I got here a few minutes ago."
"Oh okay. Would you like anything?" He gets his pad ready.
"No thank- Actually. I'll take a strawberry lemonade and a large fried rice to go, please."
"Coming right up." And with that, he disappears.
"You know," Mako starts, ignoring Bolin. "I'm surprised you called us here today. It's been a while since we all hung together like this." Mako says, with Opal and Bolin agreeing.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I just wasn't feeling very sociable for a while. Please forgive me." Asami, says sincerely.
"Of course Asami, that's what friends are for. What kind of friends would we be, if we blamed you for taking some time to yourself, after all that's happened? We just want you to know, you're not alone and we're here for you. Always." Bolin says, strongly.
Asami looks from him to the rest of her friends at the table, and can see the strong emotions on their faces. What did she ever do, to deserve such nice friends? She truly is thankful for them.
She tries to keep from crying and fails, as her eyes water slightly. She wipes them quickly, before any tears can fall. "Thank you guys. And thank you Mako, for coming by my job yesterday."
He looks at her, surprised. "Did Korra tell you about that?"
"No, I saw you two when I checked the footage."
"What happened to you that day? Korra said she didn't see anyone, when she went inside." He asks.
Asami releases a sigh, thinking back over yesterday's events. "I left early. It was a long day, and I decided I needed a break."
Technically, Li decided she needed a break, and that was before Viper chose to ruin her day. But they didn't need to know that.
"Are you going back tomorrow?" Opal asks, curiously.
"Nope. I have the rest of the week off." The waiter comes back with her order and she thanks him, before taking a sip of her lemonade.
"So, are you gonna be going to your classes like normal students this week?" Opal asks, with a smirk across her face.
She really hadn't decided. The thought had crossed her mind, but no final decision made it's way to her. She shrugs. "Maybe. I actually went up there today, before I text you guys."
"Oh yeah? How was it?" Mako says, around chips, that Asami hadn't even noticed until now.
Shrugging again, she opens her mouth to answer, but is interrupted as her phone starts to ring. She digs it out of her pocket, and answers without looking at the screen. "Hello?"
"Hey, Asami. How are you feeling?"
"Li?" Asami looks at her phone, surprised. "Your timing is perfect. I was actually going to come bring you lunch in a bit."
"Please do. I'm starving!" She whines, into Asami's ear.
Asami chuckles. "I'll see you in a while."
She tucks her phone back into her pocket and finishes her drink, before addressing everyone at the table. "I should get going soon."
Bolin pouts. "Aw, you're leaving already?"
"I'm afraid so. But before I go, I want to show you guys something." She gets up and leads them all to the trunk of her car. Opening it, she hands them their gifts, one by one.
"I know gifts can't make up for how I've been acting, but I just thought I should get you all something to show how much I appreciate you."
By the time she's finished talking, Bolin is a sobbing mess. "Oh Asami, you are the greatest friend ever!" He shoots himself into her arms.
Opal soon joins them. "Thank you Asami. You really didn't have to do this."
Mako continues to study the swords, until he looks over and everyone is watching him with expectant looks on their faces. As he slides into the group hug, Opal notices a small bag from one of her favorite shops in the trunk.
"Oh? What's this Asami?" Opal slips out of the hug, and points to the bag.
Asami looks over and sees what's she's pointing at. Panicking, slightly, she realizes there's no way to smooth talk her way out of this one. Only one other person was supposed to be present, who else would it be for? Damn, Korra for trying to make a living. If she was here Asami could've just given her the gift, and Opal wouldn't be looking at her so smugly.
"Isn't that the jewelry place you always go to? Who's that for? Is it yours?" Bolin looks from Opal to Asami, as lost as ever.
Mako decides to join the conversation as well, with a smirk on his lips. "Maybe it's for her girlfriend, Korra."
Asami's entire face heats up. She starts to think she wasn't such a bad friend, for ignoring them after all.
"Whaaat? No way. Right, Asami?" Bolin whips around to face Asami once again, and when he sees the expression on her face, he covers his mouth. "Oh my spirits. It's true isn't it? But how- when did you- …what?! I'm so confused!"
"Don't worry about it." Opal says, pulling him a short distance away from listening ears. "Don't make too much of a fuss about it. I think Asami's just as confused as you are."
Having heard his girlfriend's statement, Bolin calms himself and studies Asami. Opal may be right. Asami never got this worked up over a crush, or whatever is going on between her and Korra. She never acted this way when she was pursuing Mako. Could it be because Korra's a girl too?
"Stop staring." Opal snaps her fingers, a few inches in front of his face, bringing him out of his thoughts.
"Anyway, thanks for the gifts Asami. I really… is that me?!" Bolin exclaims as he looks at the case of his new game. "Why wasn't I told about this?"
Asami checks her watch. "Guys I should really get going. It was nice to see all of you again. We should do this again, soon."
Opal was the only one who heard her and gave her any kind of farewell. Mako and Bolin were too busy looking over the game case.
Mako his scratches head. "You know we could sue. They're supposed to pay us for stuff like that. Right?"
Shrugging, Bolin keeps staring at his new gift. "I don't know. All I know is that I look awesome. Hey look, they're smaller ones on the back."
Mako rushes over, and Opal returns to Narook's, having been forgotten.