[AN] In which we start to see the possibilities...

Chapter Text

Korra awoke, blue eyes blinking sleepily in the darkness. Asami lay cradled in the warm circle of her arms, cheek nuzzled against neck, a pale arm holding the darker skinned torso tightly. Through the window the sky glowed a deep violet with the barest blush of pink along the edge of the horizon. Sunrise was still some hours away, but an inexplicable compulsion forced the Avatar out of bed.

Asami's forehead wrinkled and she whimpered something unintelligible as Korra pressed a gentle kiss into soft raven hair and carefully extracted herself from her embrace, sliding in a pillow as replacement. She held her breath, waiting for Asami to settle, then quietly dressed and tiptoed out of their stateroom. Holding her boots in one hand, she padded silently through the ship until she reached the hatch to the top deck and stepped out into the chill of the early morning.

Around the airship the dusty plain stretched for miles. Korra circled the deck restlessly, trying to identify the source of her disquiet, before finally coming to a stop, leaning against the bronze phoenix figurehead and staring out at the empty expanse.

A flash caught her eye, then another. She leaned forward, squinting, then leaped from the deck of the ship, swiftly air bending her way down to ground level. Once there she took off at a run, the flashes coming more frequently, multi-colored and glowing and heading her way. She knew what they were now, and raced to meet them.

—

Asami stretched luxuriously, reaching out unconsciously for the warm skin she expected to find. Her hand slid over cool, empty sheets, and her eyes shot open in surprise.

"Korra?"

She started at a sudden pounding on the door. "Asami!" shouted Bolin. "You have to come see this!"

Swallowing a sudden sense of dread, Asami yanked on her clothes and ran to the door. She was greeted by Bolin's broad grin and he grabbed her in a fierce hug.

"Your girlfriend is amazing, do you know that?" he crowed, dragging her down the corridor.

"I was aware, yes," gasped Asami, still trying to wake up and feeling uneasy at Korra's absence. They found Opal bouncing excitedly in front of the big viewport. In the distance huge pillars of earth towered over the surrounding plain. Geysers of water and huge plumes of flame topped each pillar, and bursts of light dashed around them. Asami could just make out the fluidly moving form of the Avatar, almost dancing amidst a swirl of color.

"She's by herself?" Asami finally managed. "How is she doing all of that?"

Opal shook her head. "I have no idea. I've never seen anything like it. She's bending four elements at once!"

Asami tried to make out more detail, but the water and fire were combining into steam, obscuring their view.

Bolin was almost shaking with excitement. "Listen!"

Asami strained her ears, and caught a faint sound, like a drum beat.

"What is that?"

"Not sure, but let's go find out!" Bolin was almost wriggling with excitement. "Come on!"

—

Korra let the pillars sink back into the ground as she bent over, hands on her knees, gasping for breath.

"Korra!"

She looked up, and saw her friends charging across the Playa towards her. She waved wearily and flopped to the ground, her arms spread wide and a huge grin plastered to her face. In a moment they were next to her, Asami's eyes wide with fear as she gripped Korra's shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

Korra laughed delightedly. Dust covered every inch of her, lightening her complexion and muting the blue of her clothing. Her heels danced against the ground in glee.

"Good grief, can't you feel it?" she crowed. She rolled over and staggered to her feet, taking a huge breath. "No, wait. Sit down all of you."

They eyed each other then sank cautiously to the ground. Korra faced away from them, and made a quiet chirping noise. At first nothing happened, then Opal gasped. Asami and Bolin turned to follow her gaze and their jaws dropped when they saw a handful of small spirits popping into view.

"The spirit energy here is immense, I've never felt anything like it, not even with the new spirit portal in Republic City," Korra said reverently. "There are spirits here, even without a portal, and I couldn't keep it up forever but for a brief time it felt like I could do just about anything!"

The spirits scampered around Korra's legs, then made a beeline for Asami, swarming over her until she giggled at the sensation of them. She carefully dislodged them before raising her eyes to meet Korra's knowing gaze — they both knew the most spirits were drawn to such a huge source of happiness for their Avatar. It had happened many times during their travels in the spirit world.

"Where was that sound coming from Korra?" asked Opal suddenly. "It almost sounded like drums."

Korra smirked. "Check this out."

She moved beautifully into her form and raised another pillar of earth, but they could now see that it was a hollow shell. She shifted her feet and pushed out her hands, Air swirled thickly into the interior space, causing the pillar to vibrate. She threw another hard gust of air at the pillar, and it boomed loudly.

The look of awe on Bolin's face was comical, and Korra slyly sent more puffs of air into the pillar.

Boom, boom boom boom, BOOM, BOOM.

"Hard to believe, but the spirits helped me figure that out just now." Korra beamed at the little spirits, and the squeaked excitedly before fading from view. "It's really fun."

"That is the coolest thing ever," Bolin breathed. He leaped up and bent a disc of dirt, slamming it into the side.

BOOM.

Korra reached out her hand and pulled her bemused girlfriend to her feet.

"This is it," she said seriously. "This is the place. There's a huge aquifer underneath us — that's where I got the water from. This earth has nothing bizarre like that stupid salt flat, fire and air come crazy easy. The spirits and spirit energy that's here…" Korra trailed off, flapping her hand helplessly as words failed her in her excitement. "Now we just have to make it happen."

Everyone turned to Asami expectantly.

She was turning slowly, considering, planning, weighing, re-planning, her green eyes intent.

Finally, she was face to face with Korra again, and her lip curled into a satisfied smile.

"Yeah, I have totally got this covered."