Chapter 2

"Korra! Korra, are you coming with us to go eat? Asami invited us all over for dinner while you were taking a bath. What took you so long, anyway?"

"Oh hey Bolin, thanks for wondering about the very private matter of me taking a bath! If you must know, I was talking to someone."

Mako and Bolin raised their eyebrows knowingly.

"Someone, eh? Could it be someone named Tazmah?"

I responded by smirking and grabbing my bag to leave. "So to Asami's then?"

"What! We don't even get to know what happened?! In the locker room!?" Mako protested.

"Daaaaang. Korra really is a player. I'm starting to think all this Avatar stuff is going to your head!" Bolin noted.

"Oh yeah, coming from a previously self-obsessed mover star, I really find it hard to take the criticism," I chided back. So, what? The Avatar isn't allowed to use her Avatar-ness to create personal harmony? With other ladies? That just sounds like a missed opportunity to me.

Speaking of ladies… I'm curious about Asami. Over the years, we've gotten to know each other quite well. I rely on her and trust her with my life, as I've had to so many times before with Avatar business. On top of all of that, she's a great friend, a cute girl, and we get along so well. I like her- like her like her- and I get a sense sometimes that she feels the same way about me. The only thing is that we've never really talked much about it. Sometimes her hand lingers on my shoulder; sometimes we hug a little closer and a little longer than necessary. We sit close together during movers or share private meals together. But we never, ever talk about it. My sense is that we need each other too much to jeopardize it by dating or kissing or something. Plus, there's all that history with Mako, Asami, and I that I really do not want to recreate. So as it stands, we are just friends who have a special connection. I guess I have to be okay with that.

Dinner at Asami's was great, all thanks to my favorite air benders. Jinora kept making fun of Ikki and the others for not having their air bender tattoos yet, which is always amusing. I asked her if she thought I would ever be good enough at air bending to get tattoos, and she said that if I air bent at all the way I pro-bent the Cat Owls today in the last round of the match, I'd be a shoo-in for getting my tattoos. Everyone laughed and had a great time, and besides, we love being spoiled by Asami's chef. Still high off the days victory, I couldn't help but think about pro-bending. My Avatar duties are a little lax at the moment, which is a nice and much needed break that affords me the opportunity to train at pro-bending with the guys. I have early plans for the gym tomorrow.

I remember training with Tenzin when I was first learning to air bend. He couldn't have gotten me out of bed before the sun if he tried, and oh, how he tried. But this was completely different. Today is a perfect day to get up before the sun and head to the arena to do some more pro-bending exercises. The pressure and attention I get from being the Fire Ferret's water bender is so much more relaxing and encouraging than the pressure I get from being the Avatar. It's nice to have a positive and fun way to re-direct all the energy and attention sometimes.

There are a few perks to being at the gym before anyone else. One is that I get to play the phonograph and use the music to get into a rhythm. Before long, I find myself sweating and punching, bending, not even limiting myself to just water bending anymore. I'm sending targets flying, exploding my own discs of earth in the air with blasts of fire and water, combining fighting styles to give my body a full workout and challenge myself to see my limits. That's why I didn't notice or hear someone approaching behind me.

"Good morning, champ!"

I scream and spin around, lobbing my next vicious earth bending attack at my surprise visitor.

"WHOA!" She screams and dips, trying to dodge the chest-level disc of earth peeling towards her. Unfortunately, Tazmah isn't quick enough for the surprise attack and it nails her in the shoulder and sends her crashing to the ground. "Damn it, Korra!"

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" I run over to her to assess the damage. "I didn't hear you come in! I was really in the zone! I'm so sorry!"

She squirms into an upright position and groans, using one hand to hold her up and the other to rub at her shoulder. I notice her shirt is ripped and she's bleeding a little. "Ugh, you didn't rag on me enough in the arena yesterday?"

"It's nothing personal, I swear! Can I help you up?"

She accepts my hand and I pull her to her feet. The phonograph is still playing my workout music, and I send a small blast of air in its direction to blow the needle off the record. "Now you're just showing off," Taz jokes. "Sorry to sneak up on you like that. I'm not used to other people being in the gym this early."

"Yeah, I was feeling really pumped about pro-bending and wanted to come in early today. It's so much nicer than Avatar training, and I could really use the break lately. Hey, Taz, sorry again about your shoulder. And your shirt. Can I offer to heal you? I'm not the best water tribe healer who ever lived, but I know enough for an injury like this."

"Actually, that sounds like a pretty good option right now. I'd like that."

We head to the locker rooms again so she can lay down properly. I feel unusually nervous when I ask her to take her shirt off so I can access her whole shoulder. I hardly known this girl, and it seems like the trend is for us to be at least partially naked every time we meet. I tell her as much as I begin to work on healing her shoulder.

"I swear I'm not doing this on purpose."

"Yeah right," she teases. "You're just trying to keep me out of the game so you won't have to fight so dirty next time we play."

"Ah, still sore about me kicking your ass yesterday?" I love talking trash.

"You're lucky you're the Avatar or I'd kick your ass right now!" She dishes back. We have a nice rapport going as I heal her. I find out that she lives on her own in one of Republic City's modest apartment style housing units. She tells me about a spirit she named Dingo, a little foxlike flying spirit that always perches on her window. I tell her about Naga, my polar bear dog, and how it's good that Asami taught me to drive so I wouldn't have to always show up late to everything with windswept hair from riding Naga.

I finish healing her shoulder with water, but I'm desperate to find any excuse to prolong the good time I'm having just talking with her.

"So, uh, Taz, I think that's as good as it's gonna get with my water healing."

She lays still without responding immediately. When she sits up, wearing just her earthy pants and a wrap around her chest, I glance at her firm abdomen and turn, almost imperceptibly, a shade of pink.

"Oh, feel free to check out my abs," she says as she stretches her shoulder, rotating her arm back and forth, testing the healing job I did. I can't tell if she's just joking or if my blushing wasn't as imperceptible as I first thought. "I'm joking, relax Korra!"

My shoulders slacken with relief. "Oh gosh, yeah, I known! I just didn't want you to think I was looking at you like that! Not that… not that you're not nice to look at. I mean, not that I was looking. I mean, I saw your abs but I wasn't… I mean!"

I'm cut off from my apologetic and embarrassing tirade when she starts laughing, "I think we're even now from that stunt you pulled in the locker room yesterday."

I crack a smile now too. "Yeah, I guess we are even. Except I ripped your shirt and attacked you without warning. Can I make it up to you by taking you out with me and my friends tonight? We're going to dinner in town. I'd love if you came along!"