Chapter 14
Back at Asami's house, the owner sits on her bar stool, watching Korra, who's seated on her counter eating a bowl of cereal. "Is it good?" Asami chuckles.
Korra looks up at her with a smile on her face, milk dripping from her chin. "Want some?" She says with her head tilted back, so she doesn't drop cereal.
"We just had dinner. I don't understand how you can still eat."
Washing her bowl, Korra shrugs. "That was like, three maybe four hours ago."
Slipping off of the bar stool, Asami rolls her eyes, smiling. "I'm gonna go change. Are you staying the night again, or…?"
"It would be rude of me to eat your cereal, and then leave, Asami. I have no choice, but to stay."
"Of course, of course. Let out the futon." Asami walks into her room, laughing.
Korra does as she is asked, and sits on the edge of the futon, thinking over the day she had just had, smiling wistfully. But then, she is reminded that she left the back door unlocked, and her expression changes. Unlocking her phone, she goes to her messages, and taps Kuvira's name and telling her about her slip up, with vague details. Kuvira doesn't need to know everything.
"Are you okay?" Asami comes back into the living room, looking at Korra and trying not to laugh at her expression.
"Heh. Yeah, I just left the doors at the place unlocked, so I had to text my coworker. If that guy wouldn't have showed up." She shakes her head, frowning slightly.
"You can't blame him. It was pretty late, and we were making a lot of noise." Asami plops down next to Korra. "If it makes you feel any better, I had an amazing time. Thank you." Leaning over, she plants a kiss to Korra's cheek.
Before Asami can back away, Korra holds her face in place, with a hand on either cheek, and gives her a quick kiss. "No problem. I had fun too. Even though you cheated during our race, it's okay."
Asami looks absolutely appalled. "I cheated? Didn't you start before the countdown was finished? And weren't you the one trying to make me spin out?"
Korra blushes. "Well… You still won somehow. So, you cheated."
"Maybe if you utilized your brakes, this would be a different conversation." Asami shrugs.
Folding her arms, Korra pouts. "That was a dirty move, Asami. What if I would've crashed?"
"You should've kept your kart to yourself. You didn't care about me crashing, when you kept nudging me. I think you were trying to make me crash. Do you not care about my well-being?"
"Bu- wha- huh?!" Korra sputters. "That's not- oh hush. You still won. And without a scratch."
She pushes Asami back, knocking her onto the middle of the futon.
"And what was that for?" She smacks Korra's arm.
Shrugging, Korra rubs her arm. "Trying to make me feel bad."
"Did it work?"
"… Yes."
Asami laughs. "Good. I can't have somebody else trying to kill me."
"Viper won't lay a hand on you." Korra says, strongly.
Asami grabs her hand, calming her down. "That's good to know, but I wasn't talking about Viper."
Tensing slightly, Korra looks at Asami with saucer sized eyes. "Someone else is trying to kill you?!"
Laughing, Asami shakes her head, "No." Her eyes drop to her and Korra's clasped hands, and she tightens her grip before continuing, with a blank expression. "My dad tried to… tried to kill me." She falters.
Korra is shocked beyond belief, but shows no indication of having heard Asami. She had many questions, but kept silent, certain that Asami wasn't done speaking.
"When I refused to help him arm the triads, and threatened to turn him in. He said I was ungrateful and that he no longer considered me his daughter."
Korra is frightened by Asami's tone. She could understand if Asami were sad, confused, and even angry, but no. Asami seemed calm. Way too calm. She sounded as though she were reading, from the pages of a book. No one should be able to talk about their only parent turning on them like that.
Once she's sure Asami isn't going to speak anymore, Korra releases a sigh. "I know that can't be easy to deal with. I'm sorry you have to." She truly was.
Asami shrugs. "It's alright. It doesn't bother me much."
"Bullshit." Korra exclaims.
"Excuse me?" Asami says, not sure she understood why Korra was so worked up, all of a sudden.
"I'm sorry, but there's no way it doesn't bother you. You have to feel something."
"I don't know what I feel." Asami says truthfully.
Korra grabs Asami's chin, and forces her to look her in the eye. "You can't keep this bottled up, Asami. It's not healthy."
"You sound like Li." Asami smiles slightly.
"Well it's true. Something like that, shouldn't be kept inside. You'll just explode one day, and it won't be pretty. You've got to work through your feelings, before they ruin you."
Asami sighs, knowing Korra is right. That's exactly what happened to her father. "But how?"
Shrugging, Korra thinks for a bit. "Just start small. Pretend he's here right now, right in front of you. What would you say? What would you ask him?"
"I'd ask him why."
"Why what?" Korra pries.
"Why, after everything we've been through, would he throw it all away? Why after all the years that it's been just us, did he seek revenge? Why wait so long? What changed? Why wasn't I enough? What did I do wrong? Why… why doesn't he love me?" Asami breaks down into heart wrenching sobs.
Korra quickly pulls her into a loving embrace, tears of her own sliding down her cheeks. Just watching Asami go through so much pain, hurt her. The noises coming from Asami sounded like pure agony, and Korra hated every second of it. She wished she could take away all of her pain.
Smoothing her hair down, Korra rocks back and forth trying to sooth Asami. "Just let it out." She whispers as soothingly as she can manage.
Nearly five minutes later, Asami pulls away, sniffling and chuckling. "Sorry about your shirt."
Looking down, Korra notices a giant wet spot on her shoulder, from where Asami had clung to her. "It's alright. I'm here to help. Even though there's not much I can do." She frowns.
"You've done more than enough. Thank you."
Korra blushes. "How are you feeling?"
Frowning, Asami wipes her face. "A bit better, actually. But I still feel… I don't know." She sighs.
"Maybe you should see your dad." Korra suggests, carefully.
Releasing another sigh, Asami smiles slightly at Korra. "Li told me that too. I was thinking about it. I haven't made up my mind yet."
"What's the worst that can happen? He can't do much in his position. If you want… I'll go with you. If you want me to of course." She quickly adds.
Asami gives Korra a quick peck. "I'll let you know, when I decide. Now, can we go to sleep? I'm exhausted."
"Sure." Korra says, allowing Asami to lay her head on her shoulder.
"Korra?" Asami asks, once she's comfortable.
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for giving me a shoulder to cry on. Literally."
"It's no problem at all, Asami." She yawns. "I hate seeing you cry."
"I don't cry often." She laughs. "I haven't cried like that in a while."
Asami notices that Korra had dozed, and probably hadn't heard her reply. Soon she is lulled to sleep, by the sound of soft snores.
About a month has passed by, and things are looking up. Asami hasn't heard from Viper, since their initial meeting. She doesn't let his absence trick her, into thinking that the Triple Threats had forgotten about her. She knew they'd try something soon, and she was ready.
Her meeting with President Raiko, went perfectly too. She was to redesign the roadways of Republic City and make them more efficient. She also was invited to his wife's birthday party. She truthfully didn't want to go, but it would be rude of her not to at least show up.
As for Korra, she had gotten her license, but decided to continue walking everywhere. It wasn't like she had the money to buy a car anyway. On the weekends, she would sleep over at Asami's, or Asami would stay at her place. She hadn't seen Mako nor Bolin in a while, since they were preparing for the championship. She'd seen Opal a few times, but Opal was spending most of her free time with Bolin, when he wasn't practicing.
The relationship between Asami and Korra was developing and fast. They haven't had a proper talk about this thing they had going on. For the most part, they acted like friends, aside from the stolen glances, kisses, and cuddles. Okay so, they obviously were a lot more than friends. But they haven't decided exactly, what that was yet.
The sound of her office phone ringing, snaps her out of her thoughts. "Hello?" She answers.
"Korra is downstairs." Li says, into her ear.
Checking her watch Asami smiles. 12Pm on the dot. It was the only free hour on her schedule, and she decided she was going to utilize it, and visit her father. She didn't expect Korra to show up, after telling her about her plans. But Korra was very supportive, so she wasn't surprised.
"Thank you, Li. I'll be back soon."
"Good luck, Asami." Li says.
She exits her office, and quickly jogs into the elevator, riding it down to the garage. Once the doors open she immediately spots Korra, leaning against her car, tapping her phone screen harshly with her thumbs.
"Hey." Asami says, jogging up to Korra's side.
"Hey." Korra says, eyes never leaving her phone screen. She has her face scrunched up in concentration.
Asami watches, amused. "What are you doing?"
"Playing a game. Stick figures. Fighting. Very serious stuff." Korra grunts.
Chuckling, Asami shakes her head. "Mhmm. Maybe you should continue your game in the car. I've got somewhere to be, you know."
Korra shuffles to the passenger side door, eyes still glued to her phone. She quickly opens the door, dropping her phone in the process. "Oh, fuck!"
Dropping to the ground, she scoops up her phone. "Dammit! That level is impossible to beat." She says, slumping into the seat. "Anyway… how was your day?"
"it was alright. I just went over some new plans with the guys in the factory, and a few meetings. What about you?"
Korra grunts, harshly jerking her phone to the side, having restarted her game. "I slept in, until about four hours ago, since I requested the day off. I studied for a while, until the words stopped making sense. After that I went to Mako and Bolin's, and helped them practice with the rest of the team. I stayed there until they dropped me off, at Future Industries."
They stop at a red light, and Asami looks over at Korra. She rubs a big purple spot on her arm, with a frown on her face. "I guess this bruise came from practice."
"I had to show the guys how to stand their ground. Even when a three hundred pound linebacker is locked onto you." She shrugs.
"Doesn't that hurt?" Asami looks at her like she's crazy.
"It's nothing compared to the one on my ribs. He really got me." She laughs.
Asami looks concerned. "Don't you think you should get it checked out?"
"Please, I've been hit by a car before, you know. I'm basically indestructible. But enough about me, how are you feeling?"
Blushing, Asami turns at an intersection. "I'm a little nervous. I don't think the full weight of what I'm doing, is going to hit me until I actually see him."
"I know I've already said this, but if you want I'll go with you." Korra says, with her eyes still on her phone. Regardless of the fact, that she was intensely focused on her phone, Asami could feel the care coming from Korra.
Smiling, Asami shakes her head. "No, this is something I need to do alone. You know you didn't have to come. Not that I don't think it's sweet, I just don't want you to think, that you had to come."
"Nonsense. I'll always be there, even when you don't need me." She grunts, still wrestling her phone.
Asami smiles like an idiot. Korra hadn't said many words at all, but she had said enough. They fall into a comfortable silence, aside from Korra's slight murmurs, and tapping.
"Fuck!" Korra exclaims, shoving her phone into her pocket.
"I take it, you lost?" Asami raises an eyebrow.
Folding her arms, Korra huffs. "I don't wanna talk about it."
Asami laughs. "That's okay, because we're almost there."
Pulling into a wide parking lot, they stop, and Asami hands Korra her phone.
Looking at her confused, Korra tilts her head. "What's this for?"
"I can't take it with me."
"Oh. That makes sense."
Taking a deep breath, Asami closes her eyes. They reopen when she feels fingers on her shoulders. She comes face to face with Korra, whose smiling brightly. That smile energizes her the second she sees it. And then those smiling lips come into contact with hers, and she's completely ecstatic.
Korra feels Asami smile against her lips, and pulls away, satisfied that she had lifted her spirits. "You got this 'Sami."
One of Asami's eyebrows instantly shoots up, at the shortened version of her name. "'Sami?"
Shrugging, Korra blushes. "I was too excited, to pronounce both syllables."
"Alright, Kor. I've got to go before I die from cuteness. This shouldn't take long, so I'll be back soon." She says, exiting the car.
"I'll be here." Korra pulls her phone from her pocket, deciding to give her game another try.
She watches Asami walk up to the guards, and into the building before starting. They check her bag and let her through, and Korra's satisfied that everything is okay.
Getting a bit hot, Korra rolls down her window, then gets to work on beating her level.
Not even two minutes after Asami had entered the building, something blocks the sun from shining in through Korra's window. Not really caring about the thing or person, since they were right by a maximum security prison, Korra continues to play her game, paying the obstruction no attention. Who was she, to turn down some good shade.
After a few seconds, and maybe realizing that she wasn't going to acknowledge them, the person speaks. "Is this Asami Sato's car?" It was a male voice. A few years older than her, judging from the voice.
"Depends on who's asking." Korra grunts.
"Just a business partner." He chuckles. Korra doesn't like the sound. "I have something for her. Can you give it to her, whenever she returns?" He sticks his hand into the car through the window, something in his grip.
"Just set it on the dash." She grunts, still not looking up from her phone.
He does as he's asked and leaves, without another word. A few moments pass and Korra looks at whatever it was, the man had left. It was an envelope, with writing on the front. It read, 'To: Asami Sato, From: Viper."
Korra drops her phone, and bolts out of the car. Once she's outside of the car she looks around, and spots a man watching her. Her eyes lock on his, and he smirks before getting into a car. She takes off in the car's direction, even as it pulls out of the parking lot. Gaining on the car, she pushes her legs past their limit, certain she'd catch up. But then they hit the main road, and all hope of catching Viper is lost, as the car reaches speeds no human can run.
Left huffing, Korra curses herself as she walks back to Asami's car, with the guards watching her closely. If only she'd paid closer attention. But she gets the feeling, that no matter what she would've done, Viper would've gotten away. She felt like he was toying with her. He easily could've given the note to Asami directly. It's obvious he had followed them.
He was going to be a problem.
She opens the letter and reads it. 'See you at Raiko's party...' She pockets the letter.
Asami sits at a table, with a few of the letters her father had sent her, when he walks in. The first thing that comes to her mind, is that he looks much older and more worn down than she remembers. It's only been about a year, but his hair is fully gray, and he has more wrinkles than he left with.
He sits in front of her, with a regretful look. "Asami, you came."
She slides the letters forward. "I'm here to return these."
"You never opened them." It was a statement.
"Stop writing me. I never want to see, or hear from you again."
She stands to leave. "Please just let me say one thing, then I'll never contact you again."
After a brief hesitation, she sits down, not able to face him, afraid she'd breakdown again.
"I can't forgive myself for all the horrible things, I've done. And I never expect you to forgive me. I tore our family apart, and destroyed our good name. But in a life of regret, you're the one thing I look back on, that makes me smile. I just want you to know, I'm so proud of you Asami. You, are the greatest thing I ever created." He finishes with a slight smile on his face.
A few tears escape Asami's eyes, before she quickly leaves the room.
Exiting the prison, she finds Korra sitting in the passenger seat of her car, where she left her. Getting in the car, she releases a shaky breath and wipes her face.
"Hey, are those tears of joy, or…?" Korra asks, softly.
"He said that he regrets it all. And that I was the best thing he ever created." Asami whispers.
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I think… I'll go back in a few hours." She smiles, faintly.
Korra debates telling her about the letter, then decides to keep quiet. She'll keep Viper away from Asami at any cost.
A/N: Time to turn the fluff knob down, and turn up the trouble knob!
I recently made a great investment, and bought the continuation comic of the show. I know that I'm late, but I don't care since the last installment of the comic comes out in a month. Reading something new and authentic, from the world of Korra, was refreshing. It opened my eyes in the way I was writing my characters. I think I've been doing a fairly good job. I just need to make our Korra more… emotional and hot headed. And our Mako more up tight lol.