=====Suffering=====

Tall raven heels clicked unsure against the marble surface as they tiptoed hurriedly along, passing desks with resting telephones and lamplights. Throughout the elegantly sculpted corridor, trees and plantlife decorated the hallway, giving life to an otherwise artificial environment. Found in-between considerable pillars were paintings of the founder and his wife. The girl thought the woman in the painting could easily just be an older version of herself. Suddenly she felt shallow. For her hair had been curled into soft locks that seemed to remind too much of her mother, yet no one had mentioned it out on the streets. She groped her clutch which held the last errand of the day, a delicate envelope. It was to be delivered to her, said the assistant, and no time should be wasted. She looked straight ahead. Despite the empty workplaces all around, light shone from underneath the door.

As the current owner of Future Industries crawled through a shallow opening of the massive doors, she could see how above hung those typical chandeliers you'd find in a hotel lobby but below them glimmered gentle fires over wood in their brick places. Hard cold stone was replaced by thick rugs made of silk; a pleasant contrast she thought.

Asami Sato stood there for a good while before the ticking of a clock brought her out of trance. It's hands smoothly transitioned over into the early hours of the morning. She sighed and slumped down in her leather chair by her wooden desk. I've been here all night? Sleep was nearly impossible now when she had gotten a letter addressed to her signed by the chieftain's daughter. A letter from Korra? It took at least ten minutes of sorting out her clouded mind, like she was running through a fog. When the fog settled, she was left shaking and grasping at this important piece of paper.

It had been two years. Far too long for any lack of response to be justified. But when it finally came, Asami didn't care, she couldn't stay mad. Instead she nearly ripped open the seal and clawed for the hidden jewel. It wasn't like she didn't expect it, but when she laid eyes on Korra's handwriting, they watered instantly.

Dear Asami,

I'm sorry I haven't written to you sooner, but every time I've tried I never know what to say.

Asami had to struggle to keep from ruining the rest of the writing with bulging tears.

The past two years have been the hardest of my life.

Five manicured fingers found their way to cover Asami's mouth as her eyes moved to read the rest. Though she found herself constantly re-reading, still in shock of what she held.

Even though I can get around fine now, I still can't go into the Avatar State.

What? Korra can't go into the Avatar State? The heiress' heart ached as she powered through.

I keep having visions of Zaheer and what happened that day.

No...

Katara thinks a lot of this is in my head, so I've been meditating a lot. But sometimes I worry I'll never fully recover.

It was like a dam bursting. She couldn't hold it in anymore and a loud sob echoed in the office as Asami struggled to piece herself back together, enough so that she could continue.

Please don't tell Mako and Bolin I wrote you and not them.

Asami nodded vigorously into nothingness.

I don't want to hurt their feelings, but it's easier to tell you about this stuff. I don't think they'd understand.

And it was true. Asami understood everything. It was scary how much had become clear for her during these years, but the one thing stopping her from truly moving on was Korra. Now that she finally knew, she still couldn't go on. Not without seeing Korra again, not without hugging her tightly and kissing her forehead, not caring what would happen. Not without telling Korra that everything would be alright and that she was there for her. For Asami knew what it was like to lose something that defined you.

And spirits did it hurt, to know how Korra struggled for two years while the rest of them simply moved on. Asami's memories took her back to the month she spent on Air Temple Island with Korra. All the times she learned of Korra's feelings of hopelessness returned full force. Not being able to walk, not being able to dress herself, not eating or sleeping, not doing anything that she used to be able to do. And one night, Korra revealed to Asami that she was tired, so tired, and she didn't care anymore that the airbenders took over her job. "The world's better off with people who can actually protect them."

If it hurt this much in all of the engineer, then Asami couldn't possibly imagine what Korra's gone through during all this time.

Love, Korra.

The last words of the letter. She'd read them now maybe a hundred times, always leaving her in a worse condition every time. This was the last time she'd read it, today. Because dawn was growing on the horizon and Asami was struggling to keep from trembling and constantly wiped at sorrowful eyes. Her back arched painfully each time she strained to hold her posture high, but failed ultimately and collapsed into the broken mess she wished had another body to hold. The Avatar's body specifically. On the floor, curled up with her knees neighboring her chest, she had one hopeful thought that made her heart swell minutely. Korra wrote to me, not to anyone else. That was all Asami needed to pull herself together finally, for Korra.