Kuvira didn't appear human, there was something fateful and inevitable about her. She stood before the group towelling onyx locks, cool eyes holding Asami and Korra with a smirk, knowing how she looked in malachite sports bra and shorts. Pale skin her armour, slender fingers her blades. Ready for anything anyone could throw.

"Ready to go another round hot shot?" Asami felt her blood swim to her feet as she listened to the sharp silken voice taunt her. She could almost feel Korra's blush on her ear. Her brain began a mantra of no no no no no until Korra spoke.

"I'm still all bruised from the last sparring."

Asami flinched as Varrick slung one chummy arm around her shoulder, and another splayed his hands to the ceiling.

"Asami you should have seen it, this was a match the likes of which no man, woman or ostrich-horse has ever seen. Young Korra here dove right into it. Why if I had a mind for it we could have Jumper Boxing Matches right out of the gate, charge the Earth for it, we'd have to get a few more players mind and a costume selection to boot, give it a little-"

"We have better things to worry about." Kuvira reminded. Varrick unlatched from Asami's shoulders but the heiress could tell by the twitch in his eyes he was still thinking about this. It was a money making eye twitch.

"Yeah my pod sister nearly got her ass kicked." Kuvira puffed out her chest as Bataar Jr. all but hooted with glee.

"I was adopted." she reiterated, "I wasn't actually grown in a pod."

"We still don't have proof for that-oof!" Bataar Jr. was suddenly greeted with a swift, yet playful gut punch, as he keeled over Kuvira playfully knuckled his hair.

"It was just luck." Korra shrugged, turning to better include Asami, "Miss Sato here is the real martial artist out of the two of us." Kuvira stopped bothering her brother for long enough to take in Asami Sato. The CEO felt her green gaze on every pore of her body, through her clothes, over her paling lips. She wished more than anything she had reapplied the lipstick her future lover had kissed off. She really felt like she needed the war paint right now. She took a breath and kept her composure.

"Why were you fighting?" Asami received her reply from Bolin, who had nonchalantly started pacing behind his brooding brother.

"We have to practice fighting because literally every mission we have will have us in close quarters with potential enemies, they could strike at any moment and we have to be ready!" On the last word he pounced, and Mako dodged, apparently without moving a muscle.

"'Sup Princess." Asami felt his breath on her ear and stamped backwards on his big toe, succeeding this act with a swift elbow to his sternum. As he wheezed, Korra, Bolin and the recovering Bataar Jr. broke out in unrestrained guffaws. Asami kept her gaze true, straight at Kuvira. She did feel bad for winding the poor boy, but as she turned she realised like his brother, he had erupted into painful laughter.

"She's ready! Aha! Sign her up now!"

The group began to fan out and demonstrate what they had been learning. Mako and Bolin took to bicycles and showed Korra how to effectively jump with moving vehicles. Teleporting was the easy part, stopping without crashing was nearly impossible. Asami tried her best to keep her concentration on Korra, in her element and embracing her new role. Yet still she couldn't shake she dark green hint that tinged her senses and the sideways glances Kuvira gave Korra as she flourished. It seemed enough for her to keep them short while she and Bataar and occasionally Zhu Li and Varrick compared notes and theories. Until it wasn't.

Varrick ordered a thing or two be done about his and his wife's growing hunger, although she hadn't mentioned being discomforted for a second as they worked. The man just knew. Laptops were cleared and noodles replaced them, as the group rearranged, in the scuffle Kuvira wound up sitting thigh to thigh with Korra. Asami sat sandwiched between the brothers. One half of which was all to eager to share his seat, noodles and stories with the confounded CEO. Guess which one. She eyed the girls with conviction, vigilantly catching Kuvira's too quiet to hear ministrations towards the Water Tribe woman. Panicked Asami piped up with the first thing she could think of.

"So Varrick. Korra tells me you're close to figuring out what makes the Jumpers, well, jump."

"Molecules!" the man shouted gleefully, mouth still full of noodles. Instantly Zhu Li was by his side with a napkin, he dabbed after swallowing and reiterated. "These beings have absolute control of their own molecules, using ancient spiritual energy, I call 'em Varrickules! Their minds can take apart their bodies and put 'em together somewhere else!"

"What?"

"It's not as painful as it sounds Asami." Korra assured.

"It sounds insane and just-what if they never get back together again? What if Korra jumps, in her sleep or unconsciously and is obliterated?"

"This is why its spirit energy, that stuff's got a pulse and a mind of it's own sister. And how! It chose these people. All I have to do is figure out what a Varrickule see's in its perfect host!" Varrick was thrumming with pride. "and presto Insta-Jumper!"

"And that's just the tip of the ice berg." Kuvira piped in, everyone's attention suddenly on her, Korra's curious, Asami still slightly enraged, this distaste slowly growing as she spoke freely and without shame. "Think about if we had control over the way we reshaped ourselves, a better consciousness of our ability could warrant shape shifting, human flight, spontaneous regeneration-even bending the elements at our will - it's all possible!"

"That's incredible." Korra gasped, smiling excitedly like the rest of them.

Asami blinked hard, calming herself. This evolution, perhaps she could find the key to why future Korra came back.

"What about time travel?" she added in earnest.

"Now that's science fiction." Kuvira snarled, suddenly feeling like she was being mocked.

"But rearranging the molecules in your face to give yourself better eyebrows isn't?" Asami snapped back. Mako turned to her.

"Was that a dig at me?"

"I wouldn't need that anyway. I'm gorgeous already!" Bolin piped in, desperate to break the tension.

"Is it? If you guys transport molecules in space, who's to say it can't be achieved in time."

"It would take an exceptional amount of power to accomplish such a feat." Zhu Li rationalised.

"They'd be the most powerful person on this Earth." Varrick mused uncharacteristically quiet. Asami caught it and her heart seized, now completely unable to look away from Korra's wide eyes. "Speaking of power! Who wants to try the box!"

A collective groan emanated from the Teleporters. Asami stood with her arms wrapped around herself, suddenly feeling like a prudish outsider as her conscience ran rampant. She knew Varrick's next step already, bottling and selling Korra's ability to the highest bidder. Being chosen was one thing but being able to take this power without being judged by whoever seemed corrupt. And then what would happen if these mad people got a hold of the power Korra would have in exactly one year's time. It was a miracle time hadn't already imploded on itself. Maybe they were in a tangent universe. Any minute Korra's going to be telling them all she's the master of a dinosaur and we're all just going to have to deal with that.

A series of oof's and curses flitted through her concentration. She looked up, eyeing the tall box in the middle of the room and witnessing Mako and Bolin running headlong towards it, teleporting, only to ricochet off it's side. Kuvira did the same, only instead of flopping onto the hardwood like an ungraceful rag doll she caught herself and found the ground pliant and ready to catch her feet.

"What are you doing?" Asami

"The Box! Asami come watch from the best seat in the house." Varrick was insistent and oblivious to the nerves of the heiress' he had been dancing on. He dragged her to a laptop and pulled up a live feed of the white room with a single table and small red object inside. No doors, no windows, just the empty room and an active timecode in the corner of the screen. "This is part of my plan to expand their horizons, these guys can so far only go places they have been - but imagine how powerful they'd be if they could go places no one has even seen!"

"If there are rules to this thing maybe we shouldn't test them until we have a full picture." Asami countered but her heart wasn't really in it. She watched Korra bounce from the walls and plow right into Kuvira. The taller woman laughed and adjusted Korra in her lap, bopping her nose in a gesture that sent a blush flaying through the Water Tribe girl's features. Asami bit her lip and snapped her eyes back to the screen, hoping suddenly one of them would make a break through. Or that Kuvira could find her way inside and not back out.

Asami's eyes traced the edges, she felt her eyes heavy lidded and her resolve faltering. She spied the time, it was only four o'clock. She flinched when Korra's warm hand touched her shoulder.

"Are you okay? I didn't think you and Varrick would bump heads this much."

"Yeah I'm just trying to get the whole picture. Mostly I'm just a little exhausted."

"I'm sorry if this is too much too fast. Do you still want-"

"Of course I do. But I'm not going to make a half ass job and not make sure that you're completely okay. It'd make me such a lousy friend."

"You're the best I could ask for." The sentiment immediately dug a pit in the centre of the heiress' stomach, she wondered how many more of these friend zone encounters she would have to endure before she could confess everything to Korra. But the destruction of everything seemed to put a damper on following through. Until Korra did the unthinkable, arms already folding around her, her lips found home against Asami's cheekbone clumsily before continuing to squeeze her without looking at her expression. Any moment Asami felt like she was going to have an aneurism. Her lips parted to suck in a breath, and the only way she could exhale was if her air was connected to the words.

"Oh god,"

"What?" Korra stepped back when Asami's blush just hit supernova.

"I-uh, just remembered I have a meeting…to get the new line of Sato-Mobiles across the Eastern seaboard before spring! It'll fall apart if I'm not there," Korra nodded graciously, rescinding her arms and slipping her fingers into her pockets.

"Sorry if I've been hog-monkeying you Miss Sato." She teased, knowing full well that when it came to Korra, Asami would drop everything in a heartbeat. "Maybe when the deal goes through I can take you to New York, save on air fare."

"That would be economical for me if I didn't own the airline." Asami's lips found her smile again, all the anger dissipating from her psyche as Korra fed her fingers though her own. "Drop me outside Future Industries tower?"

"Consider it done." Gold and green, and then brown, green and blue. Korra had teleported them so they were facing the park opposite Asami's company's skyscraper. Her fingers slipped away. Asami leaned forward and held her close to hug goodbye.

"Everything will be okay Korra. I promise." She felt the shorter girl take a deep breath and grip her tighter. It didn't take seeing her to know she was still scared. She took a step back.

"I'll see you soon."

"Tomorrow." Asami confirmed. Korra was grinning again.

"I'll text you." and with a snap, within the wind or without it Asami couldn't tell, Korra faded into the air.

Asami had lied about the meeting of course, she just wanted to get away, to process, to stop hiding her feelings from Korra. She stepped into the road and towards the foliage. The sun was already setting, but it was held by the trees in such a way that filtered rays of mystical light hung from branch to branch. Collecting herself in her winter garm, she begun a brisk walk towards her apartment on the other side.

She couldn't help it, whenever she spotted a crowd, even just a group of people she scanned it, for a muscular arm, a high brown pony tail, and now that captivating accentuated bob. A group of joggers chuffing on the far end was as good as she could come up with as she walked. Hopeless she let her eyes scope the trees, high up and then low.

She thought she was mad when she caught khakis in the snow, sitting, of all things, at the base of a fir trunk. Knees brought up to whoever it was's face and arms, wrapped in a dark blue bomber jacket clutching around those below the tousled head.

"Korra?" the person was unresponsive, breathing softly and seeming content to keep their perch on ice. Asami bent down and pressed her hand on the back of her freezing neck.

"Hey! Whatduya-!" She flinched and came apart, glaring incredulously at the CEO. They stared for a moment, Korra's chest heaving. "I can't figure out how to get ba-." she began lamely. Cut off by Asami falling to her knees in front of her and hooking her hand behind her neck.

"I don't care." She urged, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and pulling her flush against her. "I'm so glad you're still here."

"I was meditating and I uh, guess I fell asleep out here."

"God you're freezing!"

"I thought you'd be mad."

"So mad I could spit Korra." Asami turned her face into Korra's neck, familiarising herself with the scent. "How could you moon over that-that tank of a woman?"

"I didn't moon."

"Please you we're mooning so hard - Yue was cringing."

"Well that's nothing compared to how I feel about you."

Asami blanched, lifting her face out of Korra's skin and facing her, with perhaps an inch between their lips. She inclined her head a little but Korra retreated.

"Don't," she started to slip away, "I've already ruined our first kiss."

"So now we have two." Asami pitched forward again, only this time Korra didn't stop her. Feeding her bandaged hand in her hair and tickling a spot behind her ear with her fingers on instinct as their lips spoke silent sweet nothings against each other. The heiress' arms came up behind her head and opened her mouth, tantalising hungry tongues and teeth. She felt Korra's heartbeat thrumming against her own chest, she pulled away, watching the Water Tribe girl catch her breath and mitigate for her raging blush.

"We can't do this," she whispered.

"Do you love me any less?" Korra held her head in her hands and stroked her cheeks.

"I wouldn't know." How could either one of them tell if times were changing or they were changing time? Asami desperately rationalised and hypothesised for several aching frozen moments in Korra's gentle arms and the sharp winter air. Her head throbbed and she leaned her forehead on Korra's chest.

"This is the weirdest day of my entire life." She murmured. Korra laughed, stroking her fingers through her hair in an effort to sooth her headache.

"You're new you'll learn."

"Don't leave again okay? Just take me someplace warm." Korra felt Asami relaxing under her fingers, her hips had found their way during the kiss between her knees and she absorbed the warmth the CEO emitted happily. With no recourse of action Korra admitted to herself that there was nothing more she'd like to do in that moment, than what she was told.

"Okay baby."

Green and gold, and once again, nothing.