It felt like an hour had passed between them. Korra hadn't moved from her spot and Zaheer just looked at her with no emotion whatsoever. Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute trying to formulate any reason, even a far fetched one, as to why the man who almost killed her was leaving her gifts.
"It was you..wasn't it? How did you even escape? And why would you leave me, of all people, such..expensive things?"
He remained silent. His demeanor was making her mad.
"Aren't you going to answer me? Tenzin will be here any minute to make sure you get locked up again!"
"Are you going to get off me?" Was the first thing he said.
A small blush formed across her cheeks. "You're going to run off as soon as I do."
"I'm not." His face hardened. She sighed and maneuvered off of him.
"I don't understand…any of this." She paced around, body tense in case he wanted to attack her. Her eyes narrowed at him. Judging by her stance, she was ready to throw the first punch. "Where would you even get the money for them?"
Zaheer fixed his cloak but kept the hood off. "I made them."
Korra blinked. "Even the painting?"
She was answered with a nod.
"I didn't know you were an artist."
"There's a lot you don't know about me."
"Apparently not. You must be complicated to spoil the very person you think should be gone and erased from the world."
He watched the pain in her eyes dance briefly before being replaced with raw determination. "How'd you even escape from prison?"
"Contrary to what you may believe, the Red Lotus is still alive and well. We're everywhere. You can't get rid of us."
Korra turned so her side was facing him. She hung her head down as her face hardened and she squeezed her hands into a fist. "You need to leave. Go back to your prison. I don't want anymore of your gifts. After everything you did to me..everything you said to me. I still can't fathom why you would even think this was alright. You traumatized me, ruined me, and you never even cared. You don't care about any of the lives you destroyed. You're lucky that I'm not-"
It happened too fast. He grabbed her chin. Her entire body ended up pressed against his as his lips slammed against hers.
This was wrong. So wrong. It made her skin crawl.
And yet she didn't protest it.
Perhaps from the shock. Perhaps because she secretly loved it. Perhaps because she was too tired to care at this point.
He released her after what felt like half an hour of kissing, though in reality it was about thirty seconds.
He put on his hood on again and gave her one last look before leaving out of the window he came from.
She should have stopped him.
She should have fought him.
She should have followed him and alerted the authorities.
But she didn't.
Tenzin came rushing in the room with Meelo soon after. They found Korra staring at the moon beyond her open window that allowed a cool breeze to come through.
"Korra, are you alright? Was Zaheer here?" Tenzin asked.
"He sure was, daddy. I saw Korra on top of him and everything. Like that one time Ikki caught you and mommy-"
"No. He wasn't here. Meelo was just seeing things. I didn't catch the person."
"So after all that, you still didn't catch the person?" Asami sighed.
"No. He was too fast. By the time I came out the armoire, he was gone and he left me this blanket." Korra said.
The two were sitting in Korra's room the next day. Korra had the gold blanket on her lap. She was staring intensely at it.
Asami shifted closer to her on the bed. "What are you going to do?"
"What can I do? I tried to catch them. Does it bother you that they're giving me gifts?"
"Honestly, Korra, I'm not thrilled. What if it's someone who… you know."
"I'm going to store them somewhere. I don't want them to get the wrong idea."
"Alright. I need to head out for work. I'll call you later?"
They smiled at each other.
"Sure." They stood up. Korra followed behind Asami out of the room. Though, before she left, she noticed a piece of paper sitting on the white fur boots. Some kind of note?
She picked it up. There was handwriting on it.
What makes things memorable is that they are meaningful, significant, colorful. I will be more than memorable. I will be unforgettable and undeniable.
She shook her head. Was this Zaheer's way of trying to lead her to a false sense of security? Maybe he was trying to seduce her to joining his side. Maybe he was trying to seduce her until he could strike at the right moment and make sure the Avatar cycle was gone.
She balled up the note and tossed it aside. Her hand ran along the sapphire necklace hidden beneath her shirt. She didn't care. She had training to do.