Chapter 5
Asami watched the woman curiously. She hated her guts, but there was something about her that struck the engineer. Cerulean eyes bored into jade. Time seemed to cease as Asami stared into her eyes. Kindness, compassion, dedication, desire, determination just seeped from the sapphire pools. She could feel the anger dissipating from her body. A warm hand gripped her own extended one. Callouses covered the Avatar's palms and fingers, yet there was a softness that the heiress was not expecting. Suddenly, she was at a loss for words,
"I-I…I. I hope… hope you… are okay?" she finished lamely. The bender finally broke her gaze and stared pathetically, sorrowfully at the ground,
"I should be the one apologizing to you. I should have looked before I started to cross the street. I'm sorry." Korra released Asami's grip and the engineer found herself momentarily disappointed at the lack of warmth. But the change snapped Asami out of her revere,
"No you have nothing to apologize for. I shouldn't have been driving that fast. Let me make it up to you somehow." She paused, "Where were you heading? Maybe I could give you a ride there?"
"Oh. It's really not that big of a deal. I don't want to be a bother. I was just heading back to the probending arena for practice… I'm pretty sure I'm almost there." She looked around, despite her confident tone Asami could tell and knew she was completely lost.
"Well, for one thing it's really not an issue. I was heading there myself. Secondly, the probending arena is that way." She pointed in the opposite direction that the Avatar was heading. The bender's cheeks flushed as she pursed her lips, "Right… right. I knew that… maybe a ride would be helpful." Asami smiled genuinely. There was a contagious happiness that radiated off of the water tribe girl and Asami was catching it, "Hop in." she giggled. The Avatar flashed her a goofy grin and vaulted herself over the door and into the passenger seat. Asami chuckled again and gracefully stepped into her sleek satomobile. She carefully started the engine again and slowly pulled away. The sunlight gleamed off of the red and black paint job as Asami drove leisurely toward the docks. She wanted to take her time and get as much information out of the Avatar as possible. But the tension was so palpable that it could have been cut with a knife. And it was starting to get to Asami. The fact that the woman sitting next to her, the most powerful bender in the world, the symbol of hope for all benders in the world, a breed of the monsters that took her mother, was sitting in the seat next to her was brought to the forefront of her consciousness. Her brow furrowed and her lip curled in disgust. The water tribe woman sat with her hands underneath her legs and she was staring pointedly out the window, a look of awe crossed with discomfort etched across her face. Asami roughly cleared her throat and Korra's head snapped towards her, "So… what exactly brought you to Republic City?" she questioned, her tone aggressive. She immediately regretting the question. It was so stupid. Everyone knew why she was there. She was there to "save the city". She scoffed to herself.
"Well," Korra began awkwardly, "originally, I came here to master my airbending skills. And that isn't going so well…actually it's going terribly. I haven't managed a single measly puff of air." she trailed off momentarily and glanced at Asami who looked at her in return and gave her the most sincere half smile that she was capable of in her enraged state. She hoped it didn't come off too cheesy. Korra smiled back sadly before continuing, "But when I saw how badly things were going in the city, with the Equalists attacking benders and all, I felt like I had to do something. I had to help the people. Not just the benders, but the nonbenders too. They are being unfairly represented in all aspects of the government. And Tarrlok is going about all the wrong ways of trying to stop the Equalists. I mean rounding up nonbenders as if they are all Equalists." Her voice was beginning to raise, her face flushing red, "It's outrageous! And I can't stand that man! He isn't helping! He's making it worse! Ugh!" she let out a frustrated yell. She took a deep breath and looked down at her feet, her hands returning to the spot under her legs. "I'm sorry I dropped that all on you, Asami. I hardly know you and now you know about all of my troubles. You probably don't even care. I mean why would you? You probably have a world of your own issues, you don't need to hear about mine." But Asami stopped paying attention after the first few sentences of Korra's rant. The Avatar actually cared about nonbenders? She wants to help nonbenders? She could feel her rage dissipating and being replaced with something unidentifiable. Realizing that Korra was staring at her, Asami reached out her hand and laid it on her shoulder,
"Don't worry about it Korra. I don't mind. Honestly, if talking helps you at all then I am more than willing to listen." Their eyes met again and Korra smiled at her. It was full of trust. Asami could help but feel a strong pang of guilt shoot through her. She tried to flash back a sincere smile, but apparently failed miserably because Korra's expression changed from happiness to worry in a spilt second. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Really." She muttered quickly. Korra seemed to sense her unwillingness to discuss the topic further and didn't press. Asami pulled the car up to the curb and turned off the engine. "Well we're here." she said dejectedly. The engineer felt a sudden twinge of uncertainty. Part of her hated the woman sitting next to her because of what she was, but at the same time she was beginning to like the person who was beneath the title of the Avatar. From what Asami had gathered she was a decent human being. It was beginning to worry the engineer that if she got to know the Avatar better that she would never be able to complete her mission. Dismissing the thoughts with a shake of her head she looked at Korra again, mustering up the best smile she could, "Shall we?" she gestured towards the front entrance. Korra seemed to have brightened up significantly in the last couple of seconds and hopped out of the car without a second glace and was heading towards the door. Asami followed eagerly, she was not letting the bender out of her sights.
"So why are you here?" the native water tribe woman asked. Asami raised a brow at the question and the younger girl immediately backtracked, "I-I mean what-what are you doing at the-the arena?" Asami chuckled as she stumbled over her words,
"Well I told Mako that I would pay your guys entrance fee into the tournament and I am just bringing by the money."
"Wait you know Mako?" Asami simply nodded to the question, "How do you know him?"
"Oh, I ran him over with my satocycle." She said nonchalantly.
The Avatar burst out laughing, tears streamed down her face. When she had finally recovered her composure she questioned further, "So if you just met him why are you giving us so much money?"
"Well I felt bad for running him over and I'm considering it a payment."
"Well in that case I guess thanks for running him over." Korra laughed. Asami chuckled. It came out strained and disheartened. Little did she know Asami's true intentions. She cleared her throat once more, "Um… why don't we go find the guys." Korra nodded, still smiling and lead the way to the training area. Asami hadn't stepped fully into the room before a giant earthen disk was coming straight for her head. Her instincts kicked in immediately, she immediately vaulted into a front hand spring. Her feet launched over her head and came slamming down on the disk. It clattered to the floor in a cloud of dust. Clapping her hands together to rid them of dust, she glanced around the room. Three sets of eyes were staring at her incredulously, all three mouths were agape.
"How… How… what? What just happened?" the young man with large fluffy eyebrows questioned. He pointed at her and then back at himself his mouth opening and closing a few more times. He looked like a fish. "THAT WAS AMAZING!" he suddenly burst out. Asami gathered that this must be the infamous Bolin. Part of the job she gave the Equalists that followed Mako was to make sure they found out who hung out with. The majority of the time it was his younger brother, Bolin. Asami chuckled,
"My dad put me in self-defense classes since I was this high." She gestured to below her hips, "I can handle myself." Korra mouthed 'wow' before ripping her gaze away from the green eyed woman. "Anyways, I just stopped by to give you the championship pot money."
"Asami I can't thank you enough for doing this." Mako stated earnestly. Once again guilt washed over Asami. She had no idea why she was finding it so hard to lie to them. They were benders for spirits sake.
"Really it's no problem." She watched as Bolin once again looked like a fish as he thumbed through the cash. "I've never seen this much money in one place before…" he muttered to Korra, who nodded in agreement. A sudden thought hit Asami.
"Before I go, my dad is hosting a gala this Friday. Why don't you guys come?"
"Sure!" Bolin blurted out, Mako gave him a hard glare.
"You should come too Korra. I mean it's being held in your honor after all." The girl gaped at her and pointed at herself. Asami nodded and chuckled, "It's not every day the Avatar is in Republic City. We want to honor such a momentous time." The words felt like venom coming out of her mouth. She continued, "But I really must be going. I'll see you all on Friday! Oh and the dress code is formal wear!" she yelled back to them as she left the gym. Asami smiled smugly to herself as she trotted off to her car. She had a party to plan.