Author's notes
Not much to say before the chapter except that I'm gonna try to avoid just straight up retelling scenes from the show word for word. From here on, if I skip a scene, it's because it happened pretty much the same as in the show. Example in this chapter being, I'm skipping Korra's talk with the airbender on the bridge, as that's actually a really good scene, so I recommend watching it as a preface to this chapter.
Chapter 5: The Evening Before.
Asami's Point of View
I watched for what felt like hours as Korra talked to the new airbender. The whole time Korra's words kept replaying in my head… who was it!? Why am I so obsessed about it!? Why did I even ask!? It's so frustrating, why do I get so nervous whenever I think about Korra's romantic lif-...
No. No that can't be it. I can't be… attracted to Korra can I? I mentally re-examine all the conversations we've had recently. All the moments when she's acted strange or I've felt weird… there's no denying it. There's something here… and I need to find out what. Meaning I need Korra to answer my question.
"This is the last straw avatar!" I hear an annoying voice shout as Korra lands with the new airbender "I am ordering you to leave this city by dawn tomorrow!" President Raiko's words shock everyone present. Even Korra and I. I always knew Korra and Raiko didn't get along, I don't like him much either, but this… well it's too far. I'm just about to march over there and give him a piece of my mind when I hear Korra speak up.
"That won't be a problem." She says confidently. "I was already leaving." Just as she finishes that proclamation Oogi lands with Tenzin and Korra goes over to speak with him bringing the new guy with her. I walk over to join them. "I know what I have to do." Korra states with determination in her eyes. "I'm going out to find other airbenders, to rebuild the air nation."
"Well then," I cut in "you're gonna need a way to transport them, And I just so happen to have an entirely new airship that needs to be put through her maiden voyage. Why not ride in a little luxury?"
Korra grins widely and hugs me "you're the best Asami!" I can't help the huge smile that crosses my face.
"There's only one catch though." She pulls away, looking at me with confusion "you have to finish what you were saying before." She blushes and looks back at Tenzin sheepishly.
"O-ok, but uh… can ya wait till we're alone?" She asks looking at me pleadingly
I nod "of course. We should head back to Air temple Island so I can call my assistant, to have the team prep the ship. You can tell me then."
Korra nods nervously, walking back over to Naga, and giving her a treat and praise for finding the airbender. Who is now climbing up into Oogi's saddle after a brief exchange with Tenzin.
"Well," Tenzin speaks up. "that will certainly be an interesting trip. Though, I can't help but ask, may I come along as well? I feel it would be better to give a realistic insight into the commitment the new airbenders would be making."
Korra nods "of course! I was actually just about to ask if you could along with us. I'm not exactly the most well versed in the life of an air nomad, and I wouldn't want to bait and switch people."
"Exactly, we're trying to rebuild the air nation. Not sell cabbage corp products." I joke, causing Korra to laugh. Ok… yeah. I have an attraction to Korra. No two ways about it. There's no way a simple laugh could make me feel so happy otherwise.
Tenzin turns to me "also, one more thing Asami… I know Saren Yozura is a friend of yours, so I would really appreciate it if you could deliver a message to him from me. Or... rather, an apology." I look at him perplexed, did something happen during their training session? Also how did he learn Saren's sir-name? He almost never gives that out. "I made some… unhealthy assumptions about his willingness to join the air nation, and helped me to realize that my previous way of thinking was flawed. Unfortunately, I then brought up a sore subject, and he left before I could apologize properly."
"What did you ask him about?" I ask, curious as to what could make Saren so upset that he would leave on the spot. Now that I think about it… there are a couple possibilities. Neither of them are good.
"His father." He says sadly. Yup… that'll do it...
"Ah.. yeah. Parents are a very touchy subject for Saren and Naomi. They're both orphans."
Tenzin "oh.. I didn't… spirits I should have just dropped the topic immediately."
I give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder "you couldn't have known Tenzin. Don't beat yourself up. I'll go talk to him."
"thank you Miss Sato." Tenzin doesn't sound very reassured. "I'll be at the temple, preparing for the journey, should you need anything." He says to Korra and I as he climbs up to Oogi "yip yip." He commands, as Oogi flies off.
Naga walks over, Korra on her saddle. Korra offers me a hand "Still need a driver?" She asks, grinning at me, Clearly trying to lighten the mood. I can't help but smile back at her.
"I would love one. Though I have a feeling you'll need directions again." I tease as I climb into the saddle with her.
Fire lord Zuko's point of view
"How could you let this happen?" I asked, staring down the mouth of a volcano, into a white lotus prison complex. Built to house a single prisoner.
Many emotions ran through me at this moment. Anger at the incompetence of the guards being the second most prevalent. Fear for the avatars life being the first. I showed none.
"L-lord zuko...!" The guard starts nervously "we were ambushed Zaheer and Gahzan snuck in disguised as white lotus sentries sir!"
"Ghazan is already out!? Why didn't you lead with that you fool!?" I roar at the sentry in frustration.
"Sir.. that's not all the bad news. Zaheer… he's an airbender sir."
I can only close my eyes as the shock sets in. Then it turns to fear. Fear for the young avatars life. I turn and immediately head for the platform I landed on "I'm leaving. Send word Via carrier bird and radio to P'Li's prison in the north pole. I will head there myself as well. Notify all other white lotus operatives to use such redundancies and code phrases. With the red lotus almost back to full strength, "too careful" no longer exists." The sentry salutes as I board my dragon, and we make haste for the north. Spirits… I only hope I'm not too late.
Saren's Point of View,
The Yozura Residence
"Seika! Hikari! Get out here the Seaweed noodles are done!" I call out down the hall as I set up the table. Seika, my twin sister, is the first to exit her room.
Her short raven black sticks out in various places, indicating that she had been asleep, adding to that notion is the bags under her green eyes and her generally annoyed expression. She's also wearing pajamas. That's a dead giveaway. She groans in annoyance as she plops down on one of the chairs in the dining room "i was having a good dream… Rin was in it..." she whines at me.
"It's 5:30 in the evening Seika, you needed to wake up for work soon anyway." She works the night shift as a security guard for one of Future Industries storage sites.
"Screw you…" is all the praise I get for being a thoughtful brother and helping my sister get to work on time and well-fed.
"Love you too sis."
"Which of you is the older one exactly?" Hikari, my younger (by 2 years) half-sister, asks as she enters the dining room. The first thing I notice is that she's dyed her hair grey. I don't really care that she's dyed her hair, she does it all the time, but the dull color really contrasts with her bright Amber eyes and dark skin. Speaking of clashing colors, her crimson t-shirt doesn't match at all with her blue shorts. Or is contrasting colors a trend now? I honestly have no clue and I don't care.
"I'm older. Which is why you should respect my decision to be a detriment to my own health and financial security." Seika says sarcastically while giving me a mock glare
"See I would, if not for two things." I say, raising 2 fingers "one, you're only older by about 12 minutes." I put down one of my fingers "and two, it's the duty of a younger sibling to ignore their older siblings. Ain't that right Hikari?" I ask now digging into my food.
"... sorry, did you say something?" This gets both Seika and me to laugh. "Anway, ya better get used to us stopping you from sabotaging your own life Seika!" She proclaims proudly.
We all can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of this little mock-argument. Ridiculous or not, it's really helped me ignore the hurt I'm feeling after my talk with Naomi. Not just for what she said, but how I reacted. She was just trying to be a good friend. Trying to laugh with me to cheer me up, and I threw it back in her face. Even if it will never be anything more, I still want to be her friend.
We've both always been there to support each other. Ever since we were 8. She was the new kid in school, and I was the loner with no friends. I guess we both were able to see each other's misery. I at least thought that as long as we were friends, neither of us would add to that misery. I just broke that silent agreement.
That's it, when dinner's over, I'm going to her place.
"Saren!" I look up, startled out of my thoughts, to see Hikari standing by the open front door. "Asami's here to see you!"
"What? Invite her in then." I call back.
"What about the water tribe chick she's with?" She yells back.
"Wha..? Oh! That's Korra, let her in too."
"As in Avatar Korra!?" Hikari practically squeals
"Uh… hey." Comes an uncertain, but familiar voice from outside the door. I hear Asami giggle. I can't help a small chuckle myself.
"Yes hikari," I replied, "that's Avatar Korra. I told you Asami and her were friends right?"
"You told me they were fighting over some dense firebender." She accuses me.
"Same thing." I reply lazily as Asami and Korra come in.
"Well.. that's not exactly an inaccurate summation." Asami says causing both her and Korra to chuckle.
"So, what brings you to our humble abode?" I ask.
Asami and Korra tag team the exposition, from Korra's banishment, the plan to go find airbenders, to Tenzin's apology.
"Yeah… I didn't mean to snap at him like that.." I say after they're done. "Tell him I'm sorry too."
"Actually." Asami says "I was hoping you could come with us." Everyone's faces light up with surprise. Even Korra's. I guess she didn't know Asami was gonna ask that either.
"Wait wat?" Hikari asks, and I just point to her to let them know I share the sentiment.
"Well, you're an airbender now Saren." Hikari and seika choke on their noodles "... sorry."
I shrug "they were gonna find out eventually. But what does my being an airbender have to do with me coming with you?"
"Well, I just… I just don't want you to go through this alone. I know how much of a shift this is for you, it is for me too, and I know you'll want to keep practicing airbending. You're not the type to shy away from something like this. And since Tenzin and Korra are the only people capable of teaching airbending, I thought you might wanna come."
I consider all of this. Then look at my sisters.
Seika looks at me with a challenging grin "ya gonna just ignore all that good logic? She makes a lot of good points."
"yeah, besides! You'll be traveling with the avatar! It'll be totally awesome! Honestly I'm a little jealous!" Hikari, as usual, is fan-girling over the avatar.
"Alright," I say, getting Asami to smile "but on two conditions."
"Shoot." My former boss replies.
"Well, first, you arrange for my sisters to receive the same amount of money you've been paying me to be your sparring partner. For tax reasons we'll say I'm your bodyguard on this trip." I say that last part jokingly.
"Done. What's the second?" Wow, I didn't expect that to work. Guess taking over the company has done nothing to hurt Asami's generosity.
"Second, I get to invite Naomi along. I can't guarantee she'll come, but I want her to be able to join us if she wants to."
"Same deal for her?" My boss asks
"If you're feeling generous." I say, not wanting to push my luck.
"Alright, I'll make the arrangements. Be at air temple Island at 10am for departure tomorrow." She states in a very business-y fashion and I can't help but laugh. "What?" She asks now looking annoyed
"It's just," I begin, controlling my chuckles. "that sometimes I forget that you're not just my friend, but my boss, and a very successful businesswoman. I see how you were able to pull future industries back from the brink."
"Oh. Was I being too bossy?" She asks, concerned she may have upset me. I shake my head.
"Nah, you're fine. Now, how about we move on to something more fun than business. Avatar Korra, wanna come out back and give my sisters an airbending demonstration?" I ask, to which Hikari lights up like the southern lights she was named after.
Korra chuckles "oh, finally noticed I'm here did ya?" She jokes. "but yeah, sure. And please, just call me Korra."
From there we spent a few hours hanging out, talking about bending, trying to keep Hikari from going full fan-girl (never go full fan-girl) and just generally enjoying a nice visit from friends.
Though I can't help but notice the absence of my best friend… so after a bit I say I'm going out and head over to Naomi's apartment, and knock on the front door.
Alright saren. You got this. Just tell her you're sorry and invite her along on the journey. Don't mention how hurt you are, don't talk about how you're in love with her. Don't talk about how you'll get over eventually because she doesn't feel the same way and you just wanna be friends. Ya know what, this is a bad idea, I should just go...
She opens the front door in nothing but an oversized hoodie (so that's where I left that…) and (hopefully) a pair of shorts.
"Saren? What's up? It's almost 9:30..."
"W-well… uh…. I wanted to talk, mind if I come in?" Shit! Stop stuttering! You've seen her in a bikini before! She was much less covered then, so why am I so nervous right now?
"Not at all." She says turning and heading inside, leaving the door open for me to follow. "make yourself at home. Oh, and before you ask, no I'm not giving the jacket back."
"Uh… why?" I ask, before remembering why I'm here. "Actually, scratch that, more important things to talk about. Two things, one, I'm really sorry for ditching you at the docks, I was just in a bad mood and took It out on you. That was wrong of me. Second, Team avatar is leaving Republic City to help master Tenzin find and recruit airbenders to help rebuild the air nation. They invited me to come along, and I said I would come along if I could invite you."
"So, in order;" she says after a short pause to consider my words. "Your jacket is surprisingly comfortable to sleep in, it's ok, I understand why you left at the docks, and finally, if you think imma just sit around Republic City while there's an adventure to be had, you've lost your mind." She says that last part with a broad grin.
I can't help but return the grin, glad that we patched things up without any awkwardness.
"Well then, that's all I came here to talk about, I should head home. Gotta pack and all."
"Nope" she states casually. "you're sleeping on my couch, we'll pack in the morning. Republic City is dangerous at night."
I roll my eyes as I plop down on the couch. I've learned never to try to fight her in these situations. It always ends with me on the couch anyway.
Korra's point of view, air temple Island, 9:45pm.
That was surprisingly nice. I wasn't really keen on meeting Saren's family at first, especially after Hikari started to fan-girl (though I guess it's nice to know I still have some support out there.) But things quickly got better once Hikari calmed down and everyone was just able to talk. I learned a lot about Saren and Asami's friendship, how they met, how they bonded over martial arts, and I can see why she wants him to come with us.
They guy is calm and collected in stressful situations, fights especially. Found that out during a sparring session. He's caring and dependable, I found that out from the way his sisters describe how hard he works to keep them from the streets. He's suspicious. I found that out from how he dodged all my questions about how his parents, or why he and Hikari look nothing alike, despite being siblings.
Asami told me not to pry, that it was a sore subject. That he was still grieving. But what I saw in him wasn't grief, it was guilt. He feels responsible… I guess it really isn't my place to pry. But i just can't shake this feeling that there's something he's keeping from me. Maybe I'm just overthinking things… maybe he is just grieving.
"Korra? Are you ok? You've been really quiet?" Asami's voice breaks me out of my thoughts.
"O-oh! Yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking… I was wrong about saren." I'll just work under that assumption for now. It'll be easier to work with him that way.
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't like him at first." I admit. "Didn't trust him. He gave me this weird vibe. Like he's hiding something. It must have just been his grief." I say, feeling guilty.
Asami sighs "I know what you mean. Sometimes I feel it too. But I've known him for years, if he is hiding something from us, he must have a good reason."
"Wait, you've felt it too?" I wouldn't have guessed, she seems to really trust him…
"Yeah. Whenever he talks about his dad. I always get this feeling that there's more he wants to say. But he doesn't."
"... I'm sure he'll come around eventually." I say, trying to be reassuring. My own doubts about him aside, Asami trusts him. I should too.
"Yeah… anyway." We reach our rooms for the night. My usual room, and her room just next to mine. "..." she seems like she's about to say something, but nothing comes out.
"Asami? Are you ok?" I ask, concerned that I may have overstepped some boundaries.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Just… it's nothing. Don't worry about it." She says as she heads into her room. "Good night Korra." She shuts the door behind her.
Well… that was definitely concerning. Maybe she was just tired? No… she looked distraught. Like she was thinking of something serious but didn't know how to tell me… I'll have to ask her about it in the morning. Barging into her room demanding answers isn't gonna get me anything but a well deserved slap in the face. Or maybe something much more painful considering Asami's new airbending abilities.
I head into my own room and plop down onto my bed. Man… what an eventful day. To think everything that's happened, happened after lunch. Talk about a long day. Hopefully things will be less of a roller coaster when we're heading out to find new airbenders.
I grin as I think about our upcoming trip. Team avatar (plus a few new additions) setting out into the wider world! It's gonna be awesome! Don't get me wrong, I like republic city. It's like a second home to me, but I can't help wanting to just go out and see the world. Probably just an avatar thing.
I drift off to sleep, dreaming of our upcoming adventures, and a certain raven-haired beauty.
Author's notes
Originally this was two chapters, but they both came out to under 2 thousand words, so I put them together to make this.
I also originally planned to have Korra and Asami get together in this chapter, so the rest of the story can be about them working through the many issues they'll no doubt have throughout their relationship. but honestly, it just didn't feel right. At least not the way I wrote it. So they're still just friends. For now.
Anyway, next chapter will finally be the beginning of Team Avatar's journey through the earth kingdom. Hazah! I finally made it past episode 1! And hopefully I'll get better with pacing.