Night in the Spirit World was very different from that of their own. For one, darkness only seemed to fall when Korra was ready to sleep and lifted the moment she awoke, just as the environment seemed to react to all of her various moods. The sun, or what Asami had thought was the sun, never actually set, either, but only dimmed until it resembled the moon. There were pinpricks of light that seemed like stars, as well, but they occasionally moved of their own accord as if they were bright fireflies high up in the sky. Given the fiery spirits that surrounded them closer to the ground as they slept as well as the other wonders they had encountered so far here, she wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case.

Asami watched the avatar breathing softly from her position beside her, her dark lips pulled into a faint smile as her eyes moved back and forth beneath her lids. She wondered what her friend was dreaming about as she slowly roused from her slumber. She absently hoped that Korra was dreaming of her, just as she had dreamed of the avatar, and a fond grin found her face.

Korra's eyes fluttered open and the world blazed to life. She raised her arm to shield her eyes and groaned. "Ugh. Why does the sun have to wake me up like this every morning?"

Suppressing a laugh, Asami responded. "This vacation is just making you a lazybones, I guess. It was still dark when I woke up."

"Huh," Korra said, glancing at Asami crossly. The moment they made eye contact, however, her expression softened and her cheeks bloomed red. She looked away again, uncharacteristically bashful. "Well… I guess I'm just able to relax more here… with you."

Silence stretched out between them as they furtively considered each other. Then, on an impulse, Asami leaned over and gave Korra a quick peck on the cheek. "Well, we should pick up and get moving if we want to see more of what the Spirit World has to offer."

Korra bolted upright, her face taut with surprise. Touching her cheek, she looked back at Asami, who had already moved to begin packing her bedding into her backpack. Saying nothing, she gathered up her things as well, and soon they were ready to depart.

As they made their way down a path lined with strange, glowing plants and flitting creatures, Asami let Korra take the lead and silently watched her rippling back. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she thought about the masculine firmness of her muscular body contrasted with the shockingly slick feminine softness of her lips. She wondered if being a waterbender contributed to keeping them so tantalizingly moist.

She absently flipped her hair, a habit she'd picked up when she felt the need to be noticed by a prospective partner. Not that it did much good with Korra's back to her. Thinking back to Korra's reaction to her quick kiss on the cheek, Asami wondered if this was even the best time. She began to sink deeper into thought as she considered the best way to broach the subject of their relationship, especially in light of last night's "experiment," but her mind was having trouble focusing for some reason.

"Uh… Asami?"

She glanced up at Korra, who was looking over back at her from over her shoulder as she continued walking forward. "Huh? What is it, Korra?"

Korra blushed, pulling at her hair. "Oh, it's nothing… just… you've been staring at my butt for at least a minute."

"Oh!" Asami looked back down at Korra's glutes, which kept rhythmically pumping up and down as they walked, and then tore her eyes away from the tempting sight to look back at Korra's face, her own as red as her jacket's trim. "Sorry! I was just… uh… deep in thought."

Korra came to a halt and turned toward Asami, hand on her hip with a playfully cocky smirk. "Yeah? Was it the same thought Mako always had when he used to look at either of our butts?"

Asami laughed, an edge of embarrassment still in her voice. "Wh-what do you mean 'used to'?"

"True," Korra said. "Can't blame the guy for still looking, I guess."

"Listen," Asami blurted. "About last night! And... this morning…"

Korra's eyes widened, and she looked away, a shade of fear crossing her face.

"When you said… well, implied… that you were like me," Asami continued. "I know we haven't talked about it yet, and maybe we don't need to, but I need let you know how I feel."

"Asami?" Korra whispered, her voice trembling.

"Look," she said, her words spilling out like water. "I really like you and… I think we were meant for each other!"

Korra gasped, her hand coming to her heart. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. Her legs shook beneath her. "I…" she finally managed to cough out. "Asami… I…"

Winter, Spring… Summer and Fall

Winter, Spring… Summer and Fall

Korra turned her head at the sound. It wasn't quite a voice, but more of a feeling. "I think… that might be General Iroh."

Asami turned in the direction she felt the voice coming from. "The commander of United Forces' 1st DIV? Why would he be here?"

"No, no!" Korra said, voice rising in excitement. "I mean Iroh the Elder."

"Isn't he…" Asami began. "Oh, wait. Spirit World. Right."

Korra turned to dash into the strange growth. "C'mon, Asami, follow me. You have to meet this guy!"

"Korra, wait!" Asami cried, running after her. She was quick and agile, but the spirit foliage was thick and Korra seemed to pulled along while she fell behind. She pressed on, however, following the sound of the song.

Four seasons… fou-ou-ou-our loves

Four seasons… fo-o-o-or lo-o-o-ove

"Korra!" she called after the vanishing form. She grunted as she pushed past the plantlife that barred her way. She couldn't see Korra anymore, but she knew that if she just kept moving toward the voice she would find her again.

Sure enough, the light of a clearing ahead filled her vision, and with a final push she broke through onto a bright beach. While a bit shocked to find a beach randomly at the edge of what was best described as a forest, she ignored that for the moment and whipped her head around in search of either the source of the voice or her friend.

"So we finally meet the lovely Asami," a man's voice said.

"What?" Asami said. "Wh-who are you? Where are you?"

"Ohh, why'd you have to rub it in how lovely she is?" came another voice, far more familiar to her.

"Korra?" Asami shouted. "Where are you?"

"Asami!" Korra exclaimed, almost lewdly. She turned back toward the woods, wondering if she had somehow gotten ahead of the avatar. "Ohhh," Korra sighed longingly. "Even from the back. Ohhhhhh!"

Asami's face turned cherry red and she turned back toward the water, assuming that if Korra was talking about her back she must be in that direction. "Korra, listen, I'm going to try to find you. Just keep talking."

"The makeup is amazing!" Korra said excitedly. "And the fashion is… phenomenal. And she's so-o-o-o pretty."

Asami covered a hot cheek with her hand. "Korra, maybe you could talk about something else?"

"She's so-o-o pretty and cool," Korra continued. "Every time I see her I get mad."

"Asami is hot," came the male voice, drawing her attention away as she tried to figure out just what was going on. Her eyes narrowed as she advanced more slowly to the beach. She took off her backpack, reaching inside and pulling out her shock glove. Something about this was striking her as highly suspicious.

"And lady. Can. Drive," Korra said, dripping with lust. The tone coming from that voice would have sent tingles up Asami's spine at any other time, but instead she shivered coldly as she continued to scan the beach.

Tentacles burst from the shoreline, wrapping around her limbs before she could react. A giant fishlike head burst from the water, its full, humanlike lips opening to reveal razorlike teeth.

Asami screamed, struggling to break free or grab one of the tentacles with her shock glove, but to no avail. "Wh-what are you? Why are you doing this?"

"All due respect to Mako," Korra's voice came from the direction of the creature, though the sound didn't seem to come from its mouth. "But, me as a person, I tend to… not go for… the, like, y'know… popular jerks." The tentacles pulled Asami into the air and toward its waiting maw. "Sorry, Mako."

A blue blur tore through the tentacles between Asami and the strange spirit fish, severing those holding Asami's hands. She immediately charged her glove and, though she found herself suddenly upside down, strongly discouraged the remaining free tentacles from recapturing her arms with her electric shocks. The blur came back around again, slashing through the remaining tentacles holding her feet and sending her toppling to the ground.

The spirit roared in anger and retreated back into the ocean, disappearing in a fountain of foam, its severed tentacles slithering in after it.

Asami turned in the direction she'd seen whatever weapon that had been travel in, and saw the outline of a man in water tribe garb. "Wh-what…"

The man chuckled and holstered his boomerang. He spoke with the same masculine voice she had heard before. "Looks like you had a run-in with good ol' Kweh. Lucky you got away. She usually feeds on stray voices, but I guess it's been a little too quiet around here and she wanted a more hefty meal." He held out his hand to take Asami's ungloved one. "Name's Sokka, by the way. What brings Avatar Korra's special friend out this way?"

Asami opened her mouth, then closed it. She considered something for a moment before sheepishly taking the man's hand. "This place is weird."