I'm a bit late to the party on this one. Life got in the way. And by life, I mean homework.

(-)

Prompt: Safe Again

Everything was swirling. Her head was pounding. Her stomach was turning. She tried to lift her arms, but found they wouldn't move. Her mouth was dry. Her body was cold, though it was under a blanket.

W – what?

She found it hard to formulate her thoughts. She wasn't even sure if she was thinking, to be honest; she had no idea what this was. Everything she tried to remember was a blur that spiraled into blackness.

I –

The line came and left. A crack of thunder floated into her vague conscious. She used it as an anchor, searching for the sound of the accompanying rain to bring her back into reality. When she heard the drops pound against the window and the wind whip against the wall, she knew she was close. The air started to get cooler around her. There was a pain in her shoulder that was surfacing.

The feeling was coming back.

Unfortunately, the memories were not. Nor were her motor skills. A thin layer of sweat was on her forehead. It felt warm, despite the chills in her core.

She found her vocal chords and made a sound, any sound.

And that sound was a name.

"K – Korra?"

An image followed the call once her voice echoed in her ears. She could see the woman's face, though it was blurry. The background started to fill in. She felt a cup in her hand. Music made her bones shake.

They had been at a party. She pieced those parts together. The preceding events trickled in. They were looking for Bolin. They got drinks. They walked to the house, storm clouds overhead. They had two bottles of wine over noodles. They had kissed.

"Korra," she muttered again, finally getting enough strength to find her eyes. She opened them.

They were in Korra's apartment. She had no idea how they got there from the party. The flash of lightning from the window across the room filled her sensitive eyes. It made her flinch. She shut her lids, preparing herself for the thunder.

There was none.

When she cracked them again, they wandered around the room. She tried to lift her head and found she couldn't.

She had never felt like this before. She didn't like it.

She glanced down at the foot of the bed. Korra was sitting there, knees bent nearly to her chest, arms resting on the joints. There was a bottle of water loose in her right hand.

There was also blood.

She squinted, trying to take her in in the lowlight from the street that crept into the window. Korra's stare was blank. It was as though she wasn't even there at all. Her hair was barely tied back and matted. An occasional water droplet trickled down from her scalp.

Had they gotten stuck in the rain? How did they get here? And what happened to Korra's hand?

The questions in her head wouldn't stop. "Korra," she called for a third time, though in actuality, it seemed more like the first; her previous attempts were only whispers, if even that much.

Whatever sort of stupor Korra had been in was penetrated. She faced her with urgency. "Asami," she asked in desperation and relief. She crawled over to her, water bottle abandoned to the floor.

Asami heard it hit several others that must have accumulated in the time that she had been unconscious. Korra was trying to sober up.

Her warm, tan hands held each side of her face. "Asami," she exhaled, tears in her eyes. She leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

It was on the departure that Asami noticed her skin. "Korra," she spoke with a mixture of softness and worry. "Your face." She tried to reach up to her. She still couldn't move.

Korra looked away, shame oozing from her pores. "I'm fine."

"What – what happened?"

Korra met her eyes, sadness in her stare. "You don't remember, do you?"

Asami wanted to shake her head. Nothing happened. "No," she responded, concern flushing over the parts of her body she could feel. "The – the last I remember… we were at the party, looking for Bolin. Then it… it gets blurry. I think I drank too much and blacked out."

She averted her eyes and shook her head, successful in what Asami had tried to do. "You didn't drink too much, Asami." Her expression faltered, flicking between anger, guilt, and sorrow. "Somebody at the party drugged you."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Someone drugged her? In real life? This wasn't just a PR scenario for safe behavior at parties. Someone had actually drugged her.

And she fell for it. She went to a party with people she didn't know, mildly intoxicated from the start, and fell right into the trap.

Asami cringed inside. The motives of drugging were no mystery to her; she had heard enough lecturing about it from her father. Another feeling returned to her; blame. This was her fault. She went to a party. She wasn't careful. She got drugged and couldn't remember a damn thing about what happened. She tried to examine her body inside, but all that came to her was a whirling head, a throbbing shoulder, and incredible nausea. The thought of someone, some strange, disgusting, possibly drunk man on top of her, trying to take advantage of her…

"I think I'm going to throw up," she panicked, feeling her stomach turn and twist inside.

Korra rushed to the floor and grabbed the trashcan. She brought it to Asami and angled her head to the side.

Asami stared at the bottom of the can, which had an old piece of gum and a finished deodorant stick in it. She was completely disgusted with herself. Her body felt disgusting. Everything felt disgusting, just like the trash; used and thrown away once it was depleted.

She heaved, but not in the vomiting manner; it was a sob, the nausea pushed down by the tears.

"Asami," Korra spoke gently, returning the can and embracing her. "It's going to be okay. You're safe again."

"Korra," she choked out, more feeling coming back to her. There was a dull thrum in her ears. Her hip felt bruised, as if she had fallen on it. Her right ankle twinged in slight pain. "Korra," she repeated, unable to translate her thoughts into words.

She tightened her hold on Asami, bringing her head to her shoulder and burying her hand in Asami's hair. The other was on her back, rubbing it. "I'm sorry, Asami." There was a degree of devastation in her voice that made both of their hearts sink. Tears of her own fell down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

Asami glanced up to her, now able to move her head just a bit. "What do you mean? Why are you sorry?"

Korra struggled for air. "I should have been paying better attention. This shouldn't have happened. I should have protected you. It's all my fault."

"Korra," Asami tried to move her arm. It jarred about an inch, but that was it. "Korra, this isn't your fault. You weren't the one that drugged me. If anything, I should have been paying attention to what he was doing. But I was too buzzed and in the moment and –"

"Don't you dare say this was your fault."

Their pupils met. There was a fire in Korra's eyes that made Asami flinch inside.

"Asami, you didn't ask for this. This isn't your fault at all. You're not a regular partygoer. I should have been watching –"

"Korra, this isn't your fault, either. We – I, I was preyed upon. And I didn't even know it…"

Fresh tears fell down her cheeks, some of which skimming over the small amount of blood dried on her face.

"I – I feel so used. So dirty and… and disgusting –" The nausea rushed back to her. She half-lunged out of Korra's arms; it was more of a head jerk, if anything.

But Korra knew what it meant. She grabbed the can and brought it up to her face.

This time, she did throw up.

Korra held her hair back. Tears escaped the corners of her lids.

"Why would anyone –" she wretched again from the pure thought of what might have happened. She knew why someone would do this; she didn't even need to finish asking her question to know it. "Korra," she choked out again, her mouth tasting of fruit drink and bile.

She returned the can to the floor and helped Asami sit upright against one of the three walls that touched the bed. Once she fixed the pillows behind her back and Asami was settled, she let her go. She grabbed a bottle of water from the half-empty twelve pack next to the bed and twisted the top off. "Here, drink," she muttered, climbing onto the mattress and tilting the bottle to her smudged red lips. "It'll help."

Asami nodded and took the water in. It felt revitalizing, even though it left her saddened; she couldn't even hold her own bottle up. The thought closed her throat. She turned her head to push the bottle away. If she was this helpless now, how bad had she been when the drug was in full effect?

She didn't have an answer to this question. She grasped at straws that would never come to her.

Her tears were silent this time, full of sadness and disappointment. Repulsion. She hated herself, hated that she let this happen.

Korra read this on her face. She put the bottle aside and crawled up to Asami. Her hands found each of her pale cheeks and craned her head until their eyes met. Korra didn't know what to do or say. Her heart ached; it broke inside her chest. It showed. She never thought she would see Asami like this, never thought that this would have happened to them.

And she hated herself, hated that she let this happen.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, wrapping her arms around Asami's torso and burying her injured face into her shoulder. "I shouldn't have let you go. I should have kept you close. Then he wouldn't have been able to get you away from me."

Asami's heart dropped. The nausea came back, but it was superseded by a mixture of fears and tears. "Korra," she spoke in between a gasp. "Korra, please tell me nothing happened. Nothing happened, right? He – he didn't… I…"

She shook her head. "Nothing happened. I stopped him before it could."

Relief washed over her. She sighed in relief, even going so far as to feel like smiling.

When they departed, that sentiment dissolved instead into worry.

"Is – is that how you got these bruises?" She wanted to lift a hand to Korra's busted lip. Her arm spasmed in its place.

Korra nodded and looked away. "I – I don't know what happened, Asami."

"You don't remember, either?"

She shook her head. "No, I remember it. I remember it all. I think that's the worst part."

Concern crossed her face. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to remember what happened. What I did. I – I don't know what happened to me, Asami." She shriveled away, her back to her girlfriend. She put her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her shins. Her eyes found the window, the same empty stare on her face that she had had before Asami woke up. "I – I became a monster."

"Korra?"

"I attacked him. I tackled the door until it busted open. And I attacked him. And if Bolin hadn't been there to stop me, I would have killed him." There was no hesitation in her statement. She knew, after nearly an entire night of contemplation, that she wouldn't have stopped. His bloodied face came back to her sight. She closed her eyes and looked away, tears falling down her cheeks. "I would have killed him, Asami. Fuck, I punched him enough to break his nose and make him bleed and knock him out. That's when Bolin pulled me off the first time. When I found the powder in your cup, I went after him a second time, went right for his throat. Luckily, Bo grabbed me. It wasn't until I realized that everyone was staring at me and that the party had stopped that I – I turned back to me again." She struggled for breath, the shaking in her arms visible and the trembling of her lungs audible. "I don't – I don't like what I became. I don't want that to ever happen again. I – I almost killed him…" Korra buried her face in her knees.

Asami wanted nothing more than to hold her girlfriend and embrace her, to tell her that everything was going to be okay and that they would get through this. But she couldn't because her arms wouldn't fucking move. There was a knot in her throat, a fresh trail of tears down her face. After several minutes of silence, she was able to find her voice again. "Korra…" she whispered, beckoning her to come closer with her tone.

Korra didn't move. She continued to stare into the darkness created by her curled position, too afraid to close her eyes and see what she had become once more.

Asami tried with all of the strength inside of her to lift her left arm – the one that was closest to Korra. After a sharp inhale, she managed to bring her shaking limb up off of the sheets. She steadied it the best she could and reached out for Korra's bruised, bloodied right hand. She managed to clasp onto it, her grip light.

This got Korra's attention. She twisted around and met Asami's peridots. They were soft and sincere. Compassionate. Loving. After everything that had happened, there was still love in those watery eyes, even if it was unspoken for the time being.

Asami's face strained and she dropped her arm, unable to keep it up anymore. The drugs were still in her system – she could feel it.

Korra accommodated. She crawled closer to her and wedged herself into the corner against the wall, still somewhat curled up. She wrapped an arm around Asami's shoulders and brought her to her chest.

She moved what parts of her body she could into her girlfriend. She tried to lift her hand again. This attempt was more successful than the last.

Their fingers locked together. Korra's thumb traced patterns against the back of Asami's hand, her other doing the same for her back; she had been through enough and she didn't doubt that the unconsciousness that Asami was under earlier wasn't actually sleep. Sleep, true sleep, would help. The drugs had to run their course and there was nothing she could do about it except urge Asami to drink more water.

And that she did.

She helped Asami upright each time, holding her pale palm against the bottle while bringing it to her mouth to reduce her feeling of helplessness. They finished one and it was enough for Asami; her strength was fading, the drowsiness consuming her thoughts about what Korra had told her. Was she afraid of Korra? The answer was a definite 'no' though it came from a conflicting quarrel of emotions inside of her. But she knew in her heart that Korra would never strike her. She had her hot-headed moments, she had her protective moments, but those were never directed at her.

And if it wasn't for Korra, Asami would be on a floor somewhere with a guy fondling and fucking her against her will.

While the… process by which Korra went about protecting her may not have been the best, it was something they could work on. They would grow from this. But for now, they would just have to work towards accepting what happened.

And what had happened was that Korra saved her in a fit of drunken rage.

Korra must have felt the tumultuous emotions inside of her because she pulled her closer at that moment. She felt a gentle kiss on her forehead after that, a kiss that said more than words were capable of.

Asami closed her eyes, a soft sigh escaping her. Korra was love. Korra was warm. Korra was comfort. Korra was just as pained and hurt and afraid of everything that had happened as she was. Most of all, Korra was safety, and she knew that as long as Korra was around, she would be safe again.

Korra glanced down at Asami, exhaustion in her eyes. She was too afraid to sleep; she wanted to stay awake until Asami was better. But the thought crossed her mind: would she ever be better? She would never be the same, that was for sure. An overwhelming amount of guilt filled her. She blinked and his bloody face came back to her. She shook it off and narrowed her lids at Asami.

She had fallen asleep.

Good. She needs the rest.

Korra slid her hand down Asami's arm and grabbed onto the sheet under her elbow. She wrapped Asami in it before resuming her protective hold over her. She looked at the window, waves of enervation washing over her. The rain was still pouring. The wind still whipped. And from the looks of it, it was going to continue for a long time.

A loud roll of thunder burst out.

She didn't move.

It was enough to startle Naga, though, who came barreling into Korra's bedroom, whining. She stood at the foot of the bed, waiting for permission to hop up.

Korra had told Naga to stay on the couch when she walked in with Asami earlier that night, soaked from the rain. When Naga protested, Korra got a bit sterner, which was enough for her companion to understand the gravity of the situation. She stared at her dog with a tired, empty expression. After a moment, she motioned Naga to join them with a gesture of her head.

Naga jumped onto the mattress, careful not to wake Asami. She whimpered at the sight of both Asami and Korra; she knew something had happened, something bad.

"We'll be okay," Korra responded to Naga's hesitation, beckoning her with the hand that was on Asami's back.

Naga walked up to the pair and squeezed between Korra and Asami. She lowered herself down, hoping to bring them both comfort and protection.

Korra smiled. "Thanks, girl," she whispered through a yawn, losing the battle against sleep. Her eyelids fluttered shut, her last sight before succumbing to slumber that of the raging storm outside.

(-)

Asami awoke in a gaze, though this one was much less severe than her previous bout of consciousness. The smell of sweat and alcohol and vomit pierced her nose, forcing her to recoil out of her rest.

That, and the empty spot beside her was jarring.

"Korra," she mumbled, still getting a hold of her motor and speaking skills as she opened her eyes. The muffled light of a rainy daytime shined into them and she winced. Soon, a tongue was licking her dried-out cheek. "Er, Naga," she half-questioned, half-urged her to stop. She could feel the quick puff and suck of the dog breathing through her nose against her skin. She cracked her lids once more to find the animal standing over her, excited to see her awake. Asami couldn't help but smile, even if it was a small one. "Hey, girl," she greeted her, lifting her hand from under the sheet without as much strain as before. Asami scratched behind Naga's ear, knowing it was her favorite spot.

She was thankful for the company.

The bed felt empty without Korra, though. The fact that the Water Tribe girl wasn't there worried her.

"Do you know where Korra is," Asami asked, rubbing her head while she forced herself up onto her elbows for the first time since she was drugged.

The thought brought about a swirl in her head and a turn in her stomach. She still couldn't remember what happened, and at this point, she wasn't sure she wanted to.

A crinkle sound caught her attention. She glanced over and saw a piece of paper folded up next to her. Asami sat against the wall the best that she could and opened the note.

'Asami,

Had to go to advanced. The sergeant called me to go in. Will be back soon.

Love,

Korra.'

Asami squinted at the scrawl that was Korra's handwriting and set the paper aside after reading over the words several times to make sense of them. She massaged her lids and sighed, wishing that everything would just go away. She still felt dirty and disgusting. Blame resurfaced in her. How could she be so stupid? How could she let all of this happen? Now that her mind was fresh and the drugs were almost gone, it began tearing her apart. Question after question reprimanding and belittling her came up in her mind.

She pulled her knees to her chest, finally able to do so, and locked her hands around her legs. She wouldn't admit it aloud, but this wasn't only helping her stay upright; it was helping her stay together. So many things had happened so quickly. But she was lucky, she thought to herself; a lot worse could have happened, if it wasn't for Korra.

But she couldn't get this feeling out of her. Too many emotions were mixing inside and draining her. Every inch of her skin felt grimy and repulsing. She wanted to rip it off and throw it out. She felt tainted and used. Not to mention sticky and sore.

Asami slid her palms over her arms, gauging how much strength she had in her. Emptiness and exhaustion filled the void space created from her raging thoughts and emotions. She gazed at the foot of the bed for quite some time, slowly creeping out of her body until she was no longer there.

Naga stared back at her, worry in her eyes. She walked up to Asami and rubbed against her before forcing her head into Asami's lap.

She broke away from her dissociation enough to look down at the animal and put a hand on her head. "Do you have to go out, girl," she asked when she had returned enough to reach her vocal chords.

Naga glanced up at her, moving only her eyes. She could feel the emotion – or lack, thereof – exuding from Asami. She collapsed onto her side and pushed herself more into Asami until she was covering most of the raven's thighs.

Asami tousled Naga's fur for a bit, but her gaze went right back to the foot of the bed. She wanted to be clean again. She wanted to just get away. "Will you be okay by yourself, Naga?"

She looked at Asami with a tilt of her head, now standing on all four paws.

She didn't wait for a response. She pushed herself away and touched the floor with her toes. Her shoes were missing; she suspected Korra might have taken them off when they got here, however it was that they had. Their conversation came back to her. She felt empty again, outside of herself.

Asami stood slowly, giving her legs a chance to follow without failing under her weight.

Naga followed her as far as she could, until a door was closed in her face and she could see Asami no more.

(-)

Korra walked up the steps to her apartment one arduous stair at a time. She had slept very little before Bolin started texting and, eventually, calling her early that morning, telling her to get her ass to advanced. She didn't want to go; she wanted to stay with Asami. And that's exactly what she did until the sergeant called her himself. With a sigh, she changed into uniform, as was expected of her. She tied her hair back into a single bun and dragged her tired feet out of her apartment, though not before writing Asami a quick note about where she was. It was raining when she left, but she didn't care. So what if her uniform got wet? So what if she didn't even bother tucking her shirt in all the way under her grey, ribbon-covered ROTC jacket? She gave almost no fucks about ROTC right now.

If anything, walking around in this uniform made her feel disgusting inside.

She didn't feel like a soldier. She didn't feel like the leader they were training her to be. She felt like a killing machine, even though she hadn't actually killed anyone. She felt sick from her violent behavior. She wanted to tear the ribbons off because she didn't deserve them, throw the uniform to the ground as if it would shed away the monster that she felt she had become.

So she showed up at advanced, tired, bruised, bloodied, and late – even after the sergeant had called her in personally. She didn't look at any of them as she walked into her spot in the front line of their formation, her eyes to the ground the entire time.

And of course, the sergeant had addressed her. But it wasn't because she was tardy or that her uniform was slightly untidy or her posture was off balance. No, he brought up the marks on her face and the bruises on her knuckles.

Why?

Because the man she had attacked in defense of Asami was also there, standing at the other end of the front line.

It came back to her now, why he had looked familiar to her in her drunken state– and why she didn't recognize his face as it haunted her during the night; the one she kept seeing was covered in blood while this one was covered in bruises and anger.

So the sergeant asked about it. And Korra laid it out bluntly; she didn't care what would happen to her at this point. Kick her out of the ROTC program? Go ahead. She didn't want to be in this uniform at the moment anyway. Take her scholarship away? Fine. She was flunking her classes this semester anyway – or so it felt – and wasn't expecting to actually get into vet school, so it didn't matter. Kick her out of school? She was anticipating that happening anyway, so she might as well let it. So she told her story, her words laced with rage and hate even though she was indifferent about her punishment.

Because this was Asami she was talking about, and Asami meant more than any of this did.

So she told him – told the whole fucking advanced group that was there – about how this man had drugged her girlfriend, how this man had tried to rape her, and how she beat the hell out of him for doing it. And the sergeant let loose.

But it wasn't on her; it was on him.

He did not tolerate such behavior, and he made sure everyone knew it. He kicked the man out of the program immediately. He defunded him. He had him arrested on the spot and filed a report with the University Police. Then, he took Korra into his office while he made the rest run their morning miles.

She took off her jacket and handed it to him as she sat in the chair, expecting the same punishment but in a private setting.

He pushed it back to her.

Korra stopped at the door, her hand hovering over the handle of her apartment entrance as she recalled the words he said.

"I don't doubt you didn't try to reason with him before attacking. You demanded that he get off of her and he refused, so you resulted to force. Even in that instance, you exhibited the willingness to negotiate out of the problem; you used words before actions. And when you used your actions, you were effective. You did the right thing, Korra. You stopped him from assaulting Asami. Your actions could have been less extreme and probably should have been. I know you know how to disable people relatively easy without, well, nearly bludgeoning them to death. But you were angry, and you had every right to be. You took your anger to an extreme, though, and we will work on managing that before you do any more damage to yourself and others, but you weren't in the wrong here. You have a high moral compass. You protected her. And in my book – when it comes to sexual assault – that's the most important thing. Sexual assault is not some sort of quandary where you don't know whether you should do it or not; you should never do it. And he did. He couldn't be reasoned with, so you stopped him. You did the right thing, soldier. But you look rough. Go home. Take care of yourself. And most of all, take care of your girlfriend; she needs you more than I do right now."

Her arm started shaking.

He wasn't there. He hadn't seen what I had become. If Bo wasn't there, I would have killed him. I would have bludgeoned him to death, just like he said. I could have disabled him, but I didn't. I went right for the face. I let my anger control me, just like he said.

But you protected Asami.

I became a monster.

But you protected Asami. You stopped her from getting raped. Sure, you could have disabled and put him in a lock and done all of these fancy things. But what's more important here? Stopping him from raping her or making sure you have 'proper technique'?

She lowered her head.

All I'm saying is that you acted. You told him to get off, he didn't, so you got him off.

I didn't have to keep going. I could have stopped. I should have.

We all make mistakes, Korra. Don't forget, you were drunk.

That shouldn't be an excuse.

Well, you can't change what happened. All you can do is move forward and make sure it doesn't happen again.

She sighed, the rain still falling on her. She twisted the handle and pushed the door open.

Naga ran up to her, excited that she was home.

"Hey, girl," Korra greeted with an empty voice. She shut the door behind her and drug her feet through the living room. "Asami," she called as she entered the bedroom, only to find the bed empty. Korra froze, her heart sinking into her chest. "Asami?" She paced out to the dining room and found it barren. She moved a bit quicker to the kitchen; nothing. "Asami," Korra projecting as she jogged down the hallway.

She stopped at the bathroom door. She put her ear up to the wood and heard water running inside.

"Asami," she questioned, much gentler this time, as she turned the handle.

The door was unlocked.

Korra stepped inside, steam billowing into her face. Asami's clothes were on the floor. She walked to the shower curtain and peered inside.

Asami was curled up in the corner of the tub, back to Korra. She leaned against the wall and stared blankly ahead, arms around her legs. The water pelted her front and dripped down her face.

Korra knelt down and slid the curtain to the side, not caring about any water that spilled out onto the floor. She reached out and brushed a loose raven lock behind Asami's ear. "Asami," she muttered, her tone tender.

Asami glanced up at Korra, the touch bringing her out of her stupor.

Their eyes met and softened.

Asami stretched her arms to Korra, beckoning her.

Korra obliged. She shed her uniform – thankful to do so – and climbed into the tub with Asami.

They curled into each other. The water hit both of their bodies, warm in its embrace.

Korra leaned against the wall, letting Asami meld into her.

They sat, motionless and quiet, for what felt like hours, grateful for the heat of the water and each other. Thoughts kept flowing through their heads, each looking over everything that had happened.

"Thank-you," Asami broke the silence, her voice above a whisper.

"For what?"

She departed just to angle herself so that she could look into Korra's eyes. "For saving me."

Korra looked away. "You're welcome."

Asami slid her hand under Korra's jawline and tilted it upwards. She ran her thumb over the injury on Korra's lip, being as gentle as possible. "Please don't blame yourself so much for this," she responded, now looking into Korra's blue irises. "We were victims here. They drugged me and tried to take advantage of me when I was vulnerable. You got hurt in the process and lost control because you were vulnerable, too. You were trying to protect me and things might have gotten out of hand." She brought her fingers up to Korra's eye and traced the outside of the swelling bruise. "I'm not saying that we don't need to be more careful, because we absolutely do. But the fault isn't entirely our own; us being vulnerable doesn't make what they did right." Asami held Korra's jaw with both of her hands now, keeping it in place in a soft grip. "I know it's not going to be easy and it's going to take a lot of time, but we are going to be okay. We'll get through this, together."

Korra sighed, though her expression lightened. "You're right. We'll get through this. One step at a time."

"And Korra?"

She put her hands on Asami's waist. "Yes, Asami?"

"I love you."

She smiled. "I love you, too."

They shared a soft kiss, one that barely grazed the lips but spoke more than even their most passionate ones did.

"We'll be more careful from now on," Korra muttered as Asami melded back into her, "and I'll work on getting better. And I'll be here to help you get better, too."

"Thank-you, Korra. I – I just… I'm glad you're here. I don't think I would be here right now if you weren't. I don't think this is something I can handle on my own." She curled more into Korra before continuing. "I want to get better and to get through this. And I want you to get better, too. I'm here for you," she locked their fingers, "if you ever want to talk… or anything. Whatever you need me for."

Tears streamed down Korra's face. She smiled and kissed Asami's forehead. "We're going to be okay."

"We're going to be okay," Asami repeated, both of them feeling warmth and hope inside again.

Asami twisted upwards so that they could kiss once more.

"Want to stay here for a while?"

She nodded and melted back into her girlfriend. She closed her eyes and held Korra's free hand. "Korra?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we not go to any parties for a while?"

She chuckled. "Good idea."

They smiled and scooched into each other. They both let out an audible sigh and relaxed, the hot water and the steam lulling them into sleep. Their last thoughts before drifting into slumber were of each other, of how strong their love was, and how they were going to persevere through everything that had happened, no matter how long it would take.