Chapter 3

How I found myself at a dance club in the middle of Republic City with the Avatar and her friends, I'm still a little fuzzy about. But when I walked into the top story of a chic restaurant, I decided I was unfortunately under-dressed.

Without having the social grace to manage the situation another way, I blamed Korra. "When you gave me the address, I didn't know we were going to a fancy restaurant! You should have warned me so I could have worn something a little fancier than an elaborate fighting uniform!"

"Ah, give it a rest, Taz. We're not super fancy people, so it doesn't matter," Korra consoled.

"Really! Don't worry about it! When Mako went on his first date with me, I had to buy him an outfit. It was pretty funny though," Asami added. She was really sweet so far as I could tell. I felt very comfortable around the lot of them almost immediately. Bolin has been especially helpful in making me feel at home in the new group, both with his personality and his Earth Kingdom roots.

"Besides, you look great," Korra added, leaning in to murmur it so only I could hear. Does that count as flirting?

The dinner that followed was spectacularly fun and full of us relating street fighting stories to each other. Asami, despite her non-bending, is not as prissy as her make-up and wealthy family background might suggest. She had us all shocked and laughing about a time when a guy off the street tried to mug her before she more or less sterilized him, much to his whole posse's embarrassment. As dinner finished, the group grew quiet and began eyeballing each other across the table.

"Am I missing something, guys?" I asked. I had an uneasy feeling that they were about to pull something on me.

"You don't have any plans for later, do you, Taz?"

"Uh… no?" I answered, hesitant.

"GREAT!" Bolin sprung out of his seat and grabbed my arm and pulled me from the table. I looked back, about to exclaim about how I hadn't paid for my meal yet, but I saw Asami and Korra dropping some bills onto the table and waving at the waiter, who grimly waved back. Mako soon had my other arm, and soon we were all hopping in the car they had arrived in.

In the back seat, with Bolin and Mako on either side of me, someone produced a small flask. Mako took a pull, and handed it to me. "Famous Fire Nation drink. Not that I would know much about the Fire Nation, but Lord Zuko recommended it to us when we met long ago, and his people sent us a fair amount. It's pretty rough alcohol to drink straight if you've never done it before, but I think you'll like the spiciness," Mako explained.

I sat holding the bottle and looking around the Satomobile, wondering if this was all a gag and where we were headed. As I wondered, Bolin snatched the bottle from my hand and took a pull for himself. "WOOOO! WE'RE GOING DANCING TONIGHT!" He offered me the flask again, and this time I took a hearty swig myself before passing it up to Korra.

"None for you, Miss Sato. Someone has to make sure our assess get to the club safely!" Korra teased, with a nudge to Asami on the shoulder. She took a swig too, and soon we were all singing and laughing on the way to the club. Whatever club that might be.

Upon arriving, I realized the merit of passing around the bottle of Fire Nation Mystery Juice. Everyone in the club was spinning and swinging wildly, in pairs, to the music. If this is what I'm in for tonight, good thing I had a little something relax my inhibitions! By way of introduction, Bolin shouts, "Welcome to The Club, where Republic City's own brand of swing dancing abounds! Everybody grab a partner!" I'm only partially aware of my nervousness about the situation. I don't have much experience dancing, but I figure tonight I'm about to get some experience!

Mako and Bolin each are welcomed by a group of girls nearby who apparently know them from something, and they rush off to join the dance mid-song. Asami mumbles something about needing a drink or two to get started, and heads off to the bar, leaving Korra and I standing near the entrance.

"I'm gonna have to level with you, Korra. I've never done any sort of partner dancing before. I don't even know what's going on in here," I confess.

"Ah, I figured that might be the case. Not many pro-benders are also pros with dancing! Believe it or not, Captain Beifong's sister is really into dance. When we all visited her city a while ago, she got the four of us into dancing." Sensing my uneasiness, Korra adds, "Don't worry, I'm gonna show you some moves. I won't pawn you off onto somebody else until later." Then she gives me a wink, which is really hard to not take as flirting.

Korra leads me to a quieter, more private area of the bar and explains the basic step to me. She shows me a few moves, each time taking my hands in hers, and occasionally dragging a hand down my arm or across my waist. All part of the dancing, I tell myself. And with each move, I stumble through the steps, smiling and blushing and accepting Korra's encouragements and corrections. When it's time, she leads me to the dance floor where we find the others and she leads me through a few songs. The rest of the night I spend drinking and changing partners every few minutes, sometimes dancing with Bolin and Mako, sometimes accepting a stranger's offer to dance. Sometimes Asami and I dance, but neither of us know how to lead, so she tries her best and we laugh and turn and make it up as we go. After each song, though, I glance at Korra to see if she'll ask me to dance. Sometimes she does, and others she just smirks at me or winks and accepts someone else's hand.

"Whew, I am BEAT!" exclaims Asami at the end of the night. Bolin and Mako chime in, each sharing the unique experiences they all had throughout the night. I find myself sitting against the wall of the building outside, near where Korra stands smiling. As the others load into the car, Korra's polar bear dog comes bounding up to us.

Korra exclaims a greeting to her dog and pets her. "I guess you guys'll have to go ahead. I suppose I'm taking Naga home tonight. Taz, would you care to join me for an evening ride?"

I perk up at the offer, especially because I figure that means basically spooning Korra on the back of the beast. "I'd love to! I've never ridden an animal like her!" I spring up from the ground and start petting Naga too, pretending not to notice as everyone in the car gives Korra encouraging winks and fist pumps and nods. I guess that means she's definitely been flirting with me all night.