Korra and the others arrive at what appears to be the garage with all the vehicles parked around. Asami noticed the black Sedans she had seen earlier. Korra had told them to stay put went on ahead, leaving them to talk among themselves. They were arguing about something but Asami had her eyes on the back of the woman the whole time.
"Why don't we ask Asami for confirmation then?" Joyce says. "She knows her best."
"Asami?" Bolin says softly.
"Huh?" Asami turns around to see everyone looking at her. "What?"
Joe sighs. "This might come to a shock to you." He says slowly and holds his breath. "Don't you think the Avatar is Korra?"
Asami pauses and turns to look at the woman once again and everyone followed her gaze. The woman was now looking back at them.
"You guys think so too?" Asami turns back to them. Her question caught them off guard and surprised everyone.
"You're not shock by this?" Mako asks her and she shakes her head.
"I had my suspicions." She pauses. "Her voice was familiar but it was hard to tell when you could actually feel the iciness of it when she spoke."
"Do you think we should ask?" Bolin says.
"If we're staying here, might as well." Joe sighs and looks around. "At least we could trust her because there a lot of unfriendly faces here."
"IF it's her." Mako says and then he unconsciously rubs his throat. "But even if it was, I don't trust her."
"Well, that's alright." Joe says. "Because we don't trust you."
"Yeah." Joyce continues. "How come when something bad happens you happen to be there?"
"Coincidence?" Mako suggests.
"Korra, you're finally back!" A little girl runs to her and gives her a big bear hug before pulling away. "We were all worried."
"Of course I'll be back, Ikki." She says with a confident tone but the little girl wasn't paying attention to her anymore.
Korra notices Ikki was now looking beyond her and had her gaze landed on five people huddled together, whispering to each other. For some reason, Korra felt uneasy with the way they were looking back at her and then back to whispering each other.
"Who're those people? And why are they here? Did something happen? Is that why you came back later than expected?" Ikki suddenly rushed Korra with a lot of questions and she wasn't sure if she really caught on to all of them.
"I..uh..They're my friends, the one I told you guys about before. They're here because I brought them with me and yes, something happened hence the reason why they're here." Korra pauses and tries to remember the last question and then she snaps her fingers. "Ah! Yes, there was trouble but nothing I couldn't handle but it's more complicated than that." She quickly adds.
"What's more complicated than that?" Korra turns to see Opal who just stepped in to the conversation and with Kya beside her. Ikki was now long gone playing with Meelo and Korra gave out a heavy sigh.
"Two words." Korra whispers to Kya and Opal. "The Red Lotus."
Opal chuckles. "That's actually three."
"Oh..Haha…" Korra scratches the back of her neck and chuckles nervously. "Well, I didn't know THE was counted."
"The Red Lotus?" Kya asks with the surprise in her voice. "Have they been dealt with?"
"Yes." Korra pauses and she realizes about something. "With that being said, can you send a few people to go clean up this address?" She hands a small note to Kya. "They weren't really being subtle with their entrance."
Kya looks at the note and nods before heading to a group of people. They started to gather their gear and head out on their truck. Kya went back to where Korra and Opal were standing and gave them both a nod but Korra remembers something.
"On second thought, why don't you two head on?" Korra suggested. "I got to get myself looked at by Katara and Pema anyway and the sooner, the better."
Kya and Opal looked at each other before nodding and with that, Korra left for the infirmary.
"We don't believe in coincidences." Opal says sternly which got everyone's attention.
Kya clears her throat and smiles at Asami. "Good to see you're safe, Miss Sato."
Asami looks at her and smiles back. "You were that Templar, right?" Kya nods. "Thank you for what you did back there and for sending the Avatar as my escort."
"It was not a problem." Kya turns to Opal beside her. "I'd like you to meet Eden."
"Hi." Opal gives a friendly wave and smiles warmly at all of them.
"This is Bolin, Joyce, Joe and Mako." Asami gestures to her friends beside her and they all shake hands.
"I'm sorry about your house." Kya starts. "We're sending people there right now to go fix it up and when you get back; it would be as if nothing had ever happen."
Joe and Joyce smiled at her with appreciation.
"You must be all tired." Opal starts. "After everything that has happened to you today."
Kya nods in agreement. "And if you have any questions, please feel free to ask either me or Eden."
"Now, let's us show you to your rooms." Kya turns to leave with Opal behind but a question made them stop.
"May we speak with the Avatar?" Bolin blurts out suddenly and gets hit on the head by Joe.
Opal and Kya exchanged a quick glance before Kya turns back to them. "Yes but might I ask what this is about?"
"I…We…We would like to…like to…uhh…thank her! That's it!" Bolin explains quickly. "We would like to thank her for saving us." He smiles sheepishly at them.
"Of course." Opal giggles at his behavior. "But unfortunately, she is not here at the moment."
"Where is she?" Asami quickly asks.
Kya eyes her suspiciously and Asami blushes hard. Asami thought she saw a wink from Kya before she spoke to her. "If you would kindly follow me, Miss Sato."
Kya walks away with Asami right behind her who was looking at her friends. Bolin gave her the thumbs up and Joe and Joyce smiled at her while Mako looked away from her.
"Eden, show them to where they're staying." Kya yells back without turning her head.
When Korra arrived in the infirmary, she sees Bumi getting himself patched up by Katara. She puts her hood and mask down and then a thought crosses on her mind.
"Have Opal and Kya got their shoulders checked out already?" She approaches Bumi who was now putting a shirt on.
"Yeah, they did." He turns to her. "I honestly thought you wouldn't though."
Korra gives him a wide grin. "That was the whole idea."
He frowns at her but chuckles. "Anyway, I'm off to bed. It's been one hell of a morning!"
Bumi leaves the room and gives one last wave at Korra. Korra then begins to take her black jacket off and places it on a chair nearby.
"What's the problem, Korra?" Katara approaches her with a gentle smile.
Korra shows both her palms. "Just wanted it to get them clean." She gives a small smile.
"You could do it yourself, you know." Katara says while gathering the materials needed.
"I know. I just wanted someone to talk to." Korra sighs.
Katara comes back and starts soaking a rag in water and cleans up the dried blood. "I heard that you escorted Asami to her home. How was it?"
"Complicated." Korra says to her.
"Oh? And why is that?" Katara begins to pour hydrogen peroxide onto one of Korra's palms and she winces a bit but relaxes right after. "I thought you would be happy."
"I am happy, Katara." Katara pours again on her other palm and this time she wasn't fazed by it. "But the Red Lotus came in and broke into her home and then I had to bring them here." Korra gave out a heavy sigh. "And I think they know who I am with the looks they gave earlier, it's only the matter of time."
"The Red Lotus attacked?" Katara raised an eyebrow at her and Korra nods. "That's troubling." Katara begins to wrap bandages on both Korra's palms and proceeds to clean everything up.
"Do you mind if I stay here a bit longer, Katara?" Korra asks. "Just…yeah."
Katara smiles at her and nods. "You don't have to explain, Korra." Katara turns to make her leave. "Just clean up after."
"I will!" Korra says to her while she takes off her shirt and begins to pour water on a basin. She hears the doors open again but didn't bother looking back, thinking Katara might have left something. After filling the basin up, she closes her eyes and was about to dip her head into the basin when a voice stops her.
"K-Korra…?"
"Here we are." Opal says while opening a door to the house they were staying.
"You would find that the kitchen is fully-prep with everything you need." Opal gestures to the kitchen. "There's a guest room down the hall and across it has a bathroom. There are four bedrooms upstairs, two are for singles and two are for pairs and they have their own bathrooms as well but there's another one at the end of the hall upstairs." Opal finishes with a smile with the looks of awe she got from the group. "You are provided with clothes in the cabinets as well."
"Please, make yourself at home." Opal tells them before she hands out the keys to the house to Joyce.
"Oh, before I forget." Opal gets everyone's attention. "Please come by at this place on this time. We would really appreciate it if all of you would come. Directions are at the back."
Joe takes the note from Opal. "We'll be there, Eden. Thank you."
Opal gives him a smile before she leaves.
"What does it say?" Joyce asks her brother.
"Conference Hall at 1500." Joe reads aloud for all of them to hear.
Bolin yawns. "I don't know about you guys but I'm hitting the sack." He excuses himself and makes way to his room. "What the hell!?"
"What?" Mako says to him but didn't get an answer. Mako went after him with the Joe and Joyce right behind him and they see Bolin staring something at the doors.
"What is it?" Joyce asks him but Joe makes her turn her head to one of the doors and her eyes widen.
"We got assigned to rooms." Mako was in disbelief.
"They must already know who we are before we even introduced ourselves." Bolin says to them while touching the metal inscription that read Mako and Bolin.
Joyce was about to ask them but seeing her sister's questioning look, Joe stopped her.
"We'll just have to wait and see later."
"I guess we're sharing rooms." Mako shrugs and begins to enter the room but Bolin doesn't follow.
"No way, bro. We're still not alright after everything that has happened." Bolin glares at him. "You can sleep there; I'll sleep on the spare room on this floor."
"That's a long time ago!" Mako protests. "Can't you just forgive and forget?"
This time it was Joyce who was hissing at him. "We will when we get straight answers from you!" With that, she slams the door behind her leaving her brother outside.
Joe sighs as he fails to open their room. "Hey, mind unlocking the door?"
"Oh! I'm sorry." Joyce gives out a chuckle and lets her brother in but seeing Mako still standing there, she slams the door again.
"If I want them to trust me again, I have to start being straight with them." Mako whispers to himself before retreating to his room.
"Were any of you hurt when the Red Lotus appeared?" Kya asks Asami as they were walking towards the infirmary.
"Im sorry, Red Lotus?" Asami was confuse at first but then it hit her. "Oh! Those red hooded men, right?" Kya nodded.
"No, none of us were hurt. Ko-…Avatar made sure we were safe." Asami looks away, blushing.
Kya raises her eyebrow and chuckles. "How'd you find out about Korra?"
"Oh." Asami was blushing harder now but a woman cuts her off.
"Kya, what brings you here?" Katara says as she steps outside from the infirmary. "Is your shoulder hurting again?"
"No, it's really fine. It wasn't that bad." Kya shrugs it off.
"Hello, Asami." Katara turns to Asami with a gentle smile.
Asami was lost in words since she didn't know who this elderly woman was.
"I'm so-sorry but have we met?" Asami asks slowly.
Katara smiles at her and shakes her head. "My name's Katara, I've heard so much about you." She pauses and sees Kya wink at her. Katara understanding what was happening, excuses herself from Asami and leaves.
"Well, why don't you say hello?" Kya gives a wink to Asami before she leaves.
When Asami came in, Korra's back was facing her and what she saw terrified her. Korra's back was covered with scars and she couldn't help but tremble from the sight in front of her. Was this the same Korra she knew?
"K-Korra…?"
Korra was familiar with the voice and she froze. She couldn't look back at the owner of the voice. Something about the way she said her name made her uneasy. She hears Asami approaching her slowly and then stops. Korra takes a deep breath before she turns around.
"Hey, Asami." She gives Asami a small smile but she gets a hard slap on her face and she was stunned, holding her cheek.
"That was for being gone for six months!" Asami yells at her.
Asami was on the verge of crying. Korra was about to say something but Asami cut her off with her lips. Korra stiffened but recovered right after and began to kiss her back.
"That." Asami pauses after pulling back but she still held on to Korra. "Was for saving me earlier." She kisses the cheek where she had slap Korra earlier and cups it after.
"Okay." Korra gives her a wide grin and holds Asami's hand on her face. "I deserved both of that."
"Oh, Korra." Asami hugs her tight and begins to give out soft sobs. "I miss you so much."
Korra holds her tight and rubs her back to calm her down. "Sssh, it's okay. I'm here, I'm here." She kisses the top of Asami's head. "I miss you too, you have no idea."
Asami felt Korra's warm body against her and she settles down a bit but realization hits her. She turns around to hide her face from burning of embarrassment but Korra held her in place and Asami had to lean on Korra who was shirtless.
"Asami, are you alright?" Korra asks with concern.
"I…Yeah…" Asami stutters. "It's just…It's just that you're not wearing a shirt."
Korra laughs. "You've already seen me shirtless." Korra ponders for a bit. "Multiple times."
Asami turns around to see a Korra smirking at her. "I…That was a long time ago!" She huffs out.
Korra raises her eyebrow but smiles at Asami who was flustered. She pulls her into a gentle hug and whispers. "For the record, I steal glances while you change too."
Korra could feel Asami cheeks burn up against her chest and she pulls away to give her a kiss on her forehead.
"Let me just go get my shirt and let's head out okay?" Korra turns to drain the basin filled with water and puts on her shirt.
Asami decided to grab Korra's jacket that was set on a chair and offered it to Korra. Korra smiled at the gesture and took Asami's hand and gave it a quick squeeze and they walk out hand in hand.
"Where are you staying?" Asami asks as they were walking.
"Somewhere I can keep my eye on you." Korra winks. "By the way, how'd you know it was me?"
"I know you, it should be obvious even with your hood, mask and eye patch." Asami pauses. "Did something happen to your eye? I remembered you got hit on the eye when you were taken away."
"Yeah, that's why I had to wear this eye patch." Korra says while taking it off of her. "You would recognize me on the spot if I didn't wear one." Korra gives her small smile.
"Didn't you want to tell me who you were?" Asami asks slowly.
"I do, but not like that. Not when bullets were being fired at us and some armed men broke into your home. You might freak out." Korra says to her.
"You do have a point." Asami sighs. "How'd you know about the Agni Kai Triad?"
"Oh, we didn't." Korra chuckles. "I was just taking a late night walk but Opal and her twin brothers with Kya and Bumi decided to attack me and when we were done, we noticed you and decided to give you a hand but it kind of looked like you were in control with the situation." Korra teased.
"Ha. Ha. Very funny." Asami punches Korra's arm playfully. "I would have handled it if they didn't bring that much people. I mean seriously, why bring fifteen people for just one girl?"
"Expect the unexpected, I guess." Korra shrugs. "But I bet they didn't expect us." She gives her a wide proud grin.
Asami couldn't help but giggle. "Oh. Who's Opal, her twin brothers, Kya and Bumi?" Asami asks.
"You've actually met Opal and Kya already. Eden and Templar, respectively."
"Did you shoot Kya?" Asami asks. "In her shoulder, to be specific."
"H-How'd you know about that?" Korra raises an eyebrow at her.
"Oh. Kya was the one who brought me to the infirmary and there I met Katara who asking about Kya's shoulder." Asami smiles. "I like Katara, she seems nice."
Korra rolls her eyes remembering the time she first met Katara. "She scared the hell out of me when I met her but yeah, she's nice. She's like a grandmother to me."
"By the way, what did the Agni Kai want with you?" Korra asks with concern.
"I honestly do not know. That was actually the first time they tried to take me by force." Asami tells her. "It was always civilized. I guess they got tired."
"Maybe." Korra ponders about it and they were both left in silence.
They were almost near their destination when Korra sees Asami stifle a yawn. "That's right, I forgot. You need your sleep now. You guys have a meeting at the Conference Hall at 1500." Korra says while checking her watch. "It's already six in the morning."
"I will." Asami says to her. "Carry me?"
Korra chuckles when she sees Asami pouting. "Sure, why not?"
Korra carries Asami bridal-style on their way to where Asami and the others are staying. When she got into Asami's room, Asami was already asleep with a smile on her face. She carefully puts the sleeping beauty slowly on to her bed. She gives a kiss on her forehead after tucking her in.
"Good night, my Asami." Korra slowly leaves the room. She makes sure that the house was clear, she checks all rooms and when all guests were accounted for, she quickly leaves and made her way to her own place. Korra couldn't help but have a goofy grin on her face.
On her way, she notices a note on her door and her grin disappears but what stand out most was the arrow being used. She approaches slowly and cautiously with her bow and arrow out and scans the whole area before approaching the door. She grabs the note and reads it.
No one is safe, Avatar.
Korra sighs to herself. "I guess I'm not sleeping."
A/N:
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know if it's good or bad because I wasn't really entire sure about this. :/
Thank you for the review, lezlove and XenaWP. Thank you for the advice as well, XenaWP. ;) Thank you for all the favorites and follow on this story. If you have any suggestions or are in need for a friend to talk to, you're free to PM me. :D