Hello everyone! Sorry this is so incredibly late; I've been super busy with school and exams these past few days/weeks. But I'm off on break now so I'm going to try and write as much as I can and catch up before the month ends! So, without further ado, here is Rain.
I would also like to add a warning about brief depictions of war violence to this, so if you would like to read a summary instead, please see the end of this chapter.
(-)
Asami, are you coming? We're waiting for you.
_ _ _ I'll be there in just a few minutes. I had to take Naga out before I left.
Awww you should have brought her with you! It's been a while since we've seen her.
_ _ _ Yeah, I know, but I doubt the tea shop would let her in. Not after last time.
That's true. She really did a number on that table.
Asami smiled and shook her head to the memory of that mid-summer evening when her, Opal, Bolin, Mako, and Naga had been at the very tea shop that her and Korra first went to when they became friends. Naga had been especially rambunctious that day, and despite Asami's warnings, ended up chewing right through one of the legs of their table while they unknowingly conversed. If Mako hadn't known the owner, Asami was sure they would have gotten banned from ever returning again.
_ _ _ I suppose puppies will be puppies.
She replied with a smirk.
Naga is one giant puppy, then.
Asami chuckled and slid her phone into her pocket. It was getting darker by the minute. She stopped at the corner to wait for the lights to change and bundled the collar of her red and black jacket up to her chin. Summer was ending, and the chilling winds of autumn threatened to take her warmth away once again. She bustled across the street and continued down the sidewalk, watching the street lights flick on before her. A mixture of smells hit her nose as she entered the strip of restaurants on the outskirts of downtown Republic City. She smiled in relief when she saw Bolin and Opal through the glass, but nearly stopped in her tracks when she noticed Mako sitting down beside his brother.
She wasn't expecting Mako to be there.
Asami took a breath and pushed the door of the tea shop open.
The barista greeted her with a half-glare, half-smile; while Asami Sato was one of her more regular customers and always a good tipper, she was still displeased about her table getting destroyed by Asami's oversized white dog.
She looked away quickly and hustled over to the table.
"Hey, everyone. Sorry I'm late." Asami mumbled as she plopped down at the only seat available next to Opal and Mako. She fumbled for her phone and shot Opal a quick text.
You didn't tell me Mako was going to be here.
_ _ _ Bolin didn't tell me he was coming until he already walked in the door. He got here just a few seconds before you did.
While it wasn't a bad thing, it was just something she wasn't expecting. They had been hanging out more often the past few months since they met in the spring, mostly through events with Bolin and Opal. They found themselves talking about things like the weather and work when they were alone, the awkwardness heavy between them. This had soon passed, though, as they slowly found things they had in common to share. The conversation, though, was few and far between.
Regardless, Asami had been grateful. Prior to getting pulled over by Mako for speeding, she had hardly spent time with anyone other than her work desk, her laptop, and Naga. It was nice to have social interaction again.
Especially since…
"I'm so glad you're here, Asami," Bolin grabbed her attention. He sipped on his tea and set it down. "It's been really nice seeing you these past few months. Opal and I were getting worried that you were never going to talk to us or leave your house or do anything after Korra was sent away."
This made Mako halt for a moment, mug still on his lips. He raised a brow at Asami and set his mug down. He looked away, hoping his actions were more subtle than they actually were.
Asami frowned and dropped her sight to her twiddling thumbs. "Yeah… I miss her."
"I miss her, too." Bolin swirled the tea around in his cup. "I kinda wish they would have sent me out to combat so that I could have maybe seen her."
Opal shot him a worried look, both for Korra but more for him.
"Why didn't the sergeant send you out, Bolin?" Asami questioned with a hint of frustrated skepticism.
He finished his training, but he didn't get forcibly sent to war.
"The sergeant said I wouldn't be good all that great for combat. The United Forces agreed. They said I would be better for the recovery efforts after the war."
"If the war ever ends," Mako added in a hushed tone before taking a sip of his tea.
Asami looked at him with apprehension in her peridots. Her heart sunk just a bit.
"The war will end," Opal jumped in with stern emphasis, noticing Asami's distress. "And Korra will be alright."
She glanced at Opal and smiled briefly before dropping her eyes back to her hands. She had been hoping not to talk about Korra today. While it was very true that she did miss her girlfriend and loved her very much, things had been getting… rough.
"It doesn't seem like it's going to end any time soon," Mako replied, setting his cup down as he did so. "I've been watching the news. They've made it all the way to the center of Ba Sing Se and still can't seem to find Kuvira. They've covered almost half the Earth Kingdom already. Meanwhile, Kuvira keeps trying to advance on the United Republic with her army. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to be here, preparing for an attack instead of trying to track Kuvira down throughout the whole Earth Kingdom and getting slaughtered along the way?"
Asami twiddled her thumbs again, wishing she had a cup of tea to fiddle with instead. She had been following the news, too, watching more often than not for any mention of the war being over, of lost soldiers, of Squadron 727, of Korra.
And Mako had been right; things were looking bleak and bad for the United Forces. It had taken them months to get through to the Palace in Ba Sing Se, from what she had heard and read, but it seemed like Kuvira was too elusive. Maintaining peace in the giant city proved to be even more difficult with half the population split in loyalty between Kuvira and the former Earth Queen.
"Jasmine tea for Miss Sato," a waitress spoke as she set the steaming mug in front of her.
"Thank-you," Asami smiled, though her tone showed no such joy. She wrapped her fingers around the cup, grateful for its warmth. She sloshed it around, avoiding the eyes of her friends as they continued on.
"Since when are you so interested in the war, Mako?"
He folded his arms over his chest and addressed his brother. "I've always been interested. Especially knowing that you were in ROTC."
Bolin pouted and swirled the tea in his cup. "You were never interested before," he grumbled before gulping the rest of it down.
"I guess that was before I knew that people could get shipped out without completing their training." He glanced at Asami. "When was the last time you heard from Korra?"
Asami tightened her grip on the mug, using the almost-burning hold to keep herself together. "It's been almost a year," she muttered, her heart twisting in her chest. Korra had been on her mind more and more lately. She found herself zoning in the middle of class, her stomach turning to a bad feeling about Korra. Her thoughts would play through the reports she had heard on the news. Ambushes. Gunfire. Death tolls. Retreat. Advancement. More violence, more death, more lives that were just becoming a body count.
She had started calling the sergeant in the ROTC program at the college for information. Just a piece. Anything.
'Have you heard anything about Korra?'
'Have you heard anything from her?'
'Do you think this war will ever end?'
'Do you think she's okay?'
She was always met with apologies and similar feelings of remorse.
The sergeant didn't want to see any of his untrained soldiers go off into war, especially Korra. When he learned that Korra was being sent to the frontlines…
"You haven't heard from her in a year?" Bolin asked, wide-eyed.
"Almost a year," Asami corrected, as if that would help the situation. She could see the letter on her dresser top in her bedroom. Beside it were the small rose plants she had grown from the seeds Korra had sent her. They hadn't bloomed yet, and Asami couldn't tell if it was from young age or lack of pollination or just a lack of season, but she tended to them the best she could on her good days.
But there were some days where she didn't want to get out of bed. Days where she felt incredibly lonely. Desolate. She would stare at the picture of her and Korra beside her bed on her nightstand. At first, she cried. She would cry almost all night, until she was too dehydrated to produce tears anymore. As the weeks passed, the tears stopped and emptiness settled in. Coldness. The winter months hadn't helped in those times.
Then she got pulled over by Mako and things had… changed. The sun warmed her skin in a way that it hadn't before the winds of winter set in. She caught herself smiling more often amidst her sad moments and nights thinking of the woman she missed so much.
The emptier her bed and her heart felt each night, the more she knew she had to change.
So she started spending time with Opal, which in extension brought in Bolin and Mako. She started laughing again. Her nightmares lessened in severity. The circles under her eyes lightened.
She had missed this. Missed having contact. Missed talking to people that didn't just ask her questions at work or expect anything of her in class or simply barked back because they were a dog.
She had missed Korra, and there were nights where she had convinced herself that she was trying to replace the aching with a sense of community. Trying to replace Korra with other people.
Of course, she would immediately shoot this down. No one could replace Korra.
But that didn't make her bed feel any less empty, even during the nights when Naga would hop up onto the covers with her or the dawns where Asami would wake, curled up on the floor beside Korra's dog. She thought of the times she would read Korra's letter over in her sleepless nights, hoping to the Spirits that Korra was alive and well.
"I haven't gotten a letter from her in almost a year," Asami added, staring at the steam as it billowed from her mug.
"Have you written her?" Mako asked after another sip of tea.
"Of course I have. I've sent her letters every month." She furrowed her brow, staring at the rim of her mug instead of the steam. There was frustration and pain in her eyes. "I just haven't gotten one back."
"I'm sure she's just busy, Asami." Opal reassured her. She clasped Asami's forearm. "I can't imagine being on the frontlines in this war has been an easy thing to deal with."
"Plus, I'm sure the letters take a while to get here. You said the last one you got went all the way to the Fire Nation before it came to you, right? Maybe they're all stuck there or the postal workers are on strike or something." Bolin attempted to comfort her with a smile and a joke.
This almost worked until Mako opened his mouth. "Or maybe she forgot."
This got Asami's attention. She glanced at him. "What do you mean?"
Mako raised the mug to his lips. "Maybe she forgot to write you back. Or maybe she didn't care."
"Woah, Mako, take a step back." Bolin set his tea down. "Korra would never forget about Asami. I've seen them together. Worse, I've heard Korra blabber about Asami more than I've heard myself think. Korra loves Asami. She would do whatever she could to write her back and make her feel special and loved."
"Then why hasn't she gotten anything in almost a year?" Mako set his cup down.
"What are you trying to say?"
He brought his attention to Opal. "I just think it's strange that Korra hasn't sent a single letter in a whole year –"
"Almost a year," Bolin corrected this time.
"Almost a year," Mako repeated with condescension. "Look, all I'm saying is that something doesn't seem right about this. How could she read all of Asami's letters and not send one back?"
"Maybe she doesn't have any paper?" Bolin reasoned.
"Or maybe she's too busy trying not to die in the war," Opal replied with a bit of darkness in her tone, noting the distress in Asami once more. "I'm sure Korra will write soon, if she hasn't already."
"If she can." Mako took another sip of his tea.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Bolin interjected.
"What is the probability that a low-level trained soldier would survive on the front lines with this kind of war and battling happening?"
"Mako, stop." Opal replied. "You're making Asami upset."
"He's not wrong," she spoke weakly.
This brought shock to Bolin and Opal's faces.
"What do you mean, Asami?" Opal asked with concern in her tone.
"Korra hasn't written me in almost a year. Our anniversary passed and I didn't hear a single thing or read a single letter from her." Asami continued staring at her mug, releasing the emotions she had been feeling in the wee hours of her late nights. "What if she is dead?"
"She's not dead, Asami." Bolin reassured her. "We would have heard something if she was."
"If they were able to find the body."
Bolin furrowed his brow. "Can you turn your 'cop' off for two fucking seconds, Mako?"
He lifted his hands up to his chest in a display of defense. "I'm just being realistic here. If Korra was to be killed, it would be hard to get that information back to us."
"Korra's not dead, Mako." Opal growled back. She faced Asami and squeezed her forearm. "Korra is going to be fine, Asami."
"Then why hasn't she written back," she retorted, though her voice got caught in her throat. She was not prepared to talk about this when she had gotten the invitation for a simple night of tea together. And she had been doing what she was fighting to prevent since she got Korra's last letter; she was holding things inside and using distractions to stave off her thoughts. Last fall, it was working until she was sick and broke down in the Gardens. In the winter, everything had caught back up to her. The spring brought about time spent with the lot before her.
And now, it was catching up to her once more.
"I miss Korra." She sat back, pulling her arm out of Opal's grip as she did so. "I miss her," she choked, fighting the onset of tears. "I don't know if she's dead or alive or hurt or safe or what she's doing. I just wish – I just hope she's okay. Why can't she…" Asami looked away, fighting to hold herself together. "Why can't she write back?" She mumbled just before she felt a vibration in her pocket.
At that point, the tea shop grew quiet with confusion; everyone's phones had gone off at once.
They all looked at their screens with curiosity.
Asami fished her phone out of her pocket, thankful for the distraction.
Until she read the notice.
ALERT: THE EARTH EMPIRE HAS ATTACKED THE BORDER OF THE HUASHI DISTRICT WITH THREATS OF HEADING TO REPUBLIC CITY. IT IS ADVISED TO STAY ON HIGH ALERT. STAY AWAY FROM PUBLIC BUILDINGS. STAY IN YOUR HOMES. REMAIN VIGILANT. MAKE YOURSELF AWARE OF EVACUATION ROUTES OUT OF THE CITY.
The alert repeated once more on her phone, the message flashing with an orange background. She just barely heard Bolin mutter over the ringing in her ears.
"Fucking hell."
She glanced up at his worried face. Opal's expression was full of shock and concern. Mako's brow was furrowed as he stared at his screen.
Soon, the news on the TV grew louder as one of the patrons turned it up, the image displaying the same alert at the bottom as a news reporter broadcasted live.
Guns could be heard in the background from the given security clips. The videos were short. There was shouting. Screaming. Explosions.
The whole tea shop was silent as they watched, tea abandoned before them.
Asami didn't want to look; she had heard enough reports and read enough information on the internet, but it had been months since she had seen any sort of live footage.
She didn't want to see it. She didn't want to hear it.
But she found that she couldn't look away.
The images on the TV reflected back in her watery peridots. There were bodies everywhere. Blood. Sirens. Shouting. Grey uniformed women and green uniformed men lay scattered, lifeless, as Earth Empire soldiers just ran over the corpses of both their enemies and their comrades. When that video cut out, another one cut it, showing a shaking few seconds of the scene before a grenade went off and blew the feed to smithereens. They shot to another short frame of a United Forces soldier gunning down an Earth Empire soldier.
Asami couldn't hear the reporter talking. She just kept staring at the images. They played faster and faster in her head. Her hands started shaking. The tears that had threatened to breach her lids finally fell.
It was too raw. Too real.
Korra could be dead. She could have been shot just as easily as the people on the screen. Korra could be dead. Her body could be getting run over and trampled into the mud as the war waged on. Korra could be dead. Her limbs could have been blown to pieces.
Korra could be dead. And Asami wouldn't know.
Korra could be dead. And Asami couldn't know.
Korra could be dead.
She couldn't handle it.
Korra could be dead.
She abandoned her tea, abandoned her friends, abandoned her table and the hushed tea shop and shoved the door to the eatery open.
Korra could be dead.
Asami stepped out into the darkness, the street illuminated by the orange lights above her and the occasional flash of lightning in the sky. The rain was pounding down. She hadn't noticed the thunder in the deafening silence of the shop. She stared up at the sky, the videos passing through her head without her command.
She couldn't help but replace the faces of those who had died with Korra's.
"Hey." The statement was followed by a firm squeeze of her shoulder to garner her attention.
Asami turned to see Mako standing across from her, the faint blues and greys of his uniform bringing back the thoughts of Korra's grey one that she wore before she left in the airport.
Though hers were muddled with blood and bullet wounds in her mind.
Korra could be dead.
Asami collapsed into him, unable to stand on her own.
Mako caught her and pulled her close. He wrapped his arms around her and supported her as the heavy rain trickled through their clothes.
Asami was grateful for the rain; it made it easier to hide her tears.
But Mako knew. He could feel her sob against his chest. He tightened his hold.
"Everything is going to be okay. We'll get through this."
Asami didn't acknowledge him. She simply cried. Bawled her eyes out. Released everything that she had mistakenly held inside for so long. Too long.
She had been doing so well. But she had let herself slip away in her speculation, in her grief, in the reality of the situation.
"Just please take care of yourself. Try to do some things that make you happy. And try not to worry about me too much, okay?"
She thought of Korra's roses, of her breakdown in the Gardens, of the seeds Korra had sent her.
Of her hope.
She felt another person wrap their arms around her. They were a gentle, soft pair.
Those were followed up by a set of burly ones that pulled them all closer.
Asami took fistfuls of Mako's jacket in her hands and sobbed. She wanted Korra back. She wanted this all to be over.
She wanted the warmth and comfort that Korra provided.
She wanted to hear her laugh and smell her skin. To feel her lips and her fingers interlocking with hers. She wanted to hear her slurp noodles and growl at Naga as they played.
She wanted to be held. She wanted to be loved. She didn't want to be alone anymore.
"Let's get out of this rain." Mako tried to urge her.
Asami just shook her head. "I don't – I don't want to go back into the tea shop. I want to go home."
"We'll take you home, then."
Asami crumbled further. She knew the home they referred to was just her apartment, and it would never be the home that she was thinking of:
The home of Korra's arms around her.
She felt Bolin and Opal leave and grip each of her shoulders.
Mako kept her arms around her and rubbed her back.
"Did you drive here, Asami?" Opal asked in a soft tone.
She shook her head.
Opal and Bolin shared a look. It was very rare for Asami to not drive somewhere; she was always itching to get into her Satomobile.
"Well, your apartment isn't too far from here, right, Asami? So it makes sense," Bolin countered Opal's worried expression.
"Let's just walk her home," Mako advised. He released her and took his jacket off, despite Asami's grip on it. He pulled it from her hands and wrapped her in it to keep her warm, leaving himself with just a white tank.
Bolin stared at him, his eyes full of warning.
Mako ignored him and pulled the crying Asami closer. He put his arm around her back and held her shoulder to comfort her. He bent down slightly in an attempt to look into her eyes. "Ready to go, or do you want to wait a few more minutes?"
Asami wiped the tears from her cheeks with the backs of her hands. She kept her eyes closed and took a breath. She felt the rain on her skin. A pound of thunder roared up into her bones. The wind whipped her hair.
She exhaled. She felt tired. She wished she had the warmth of the jasmine tea that she never got to drink in her hands.
But she didn't dare step back into that tea shop. Not now, at least.
The videos came back into her head. She shook it away and nodded in reply to Mako's question.
"Alright. Let's go."
Mako led Asami down the sidewalk, his arm still around her.
Bolin and Opal watched from behind, a mixture of feelings whirring up into their chests.
It didn't take long to get to Asami's apartment. They could hear Naga bark as they climbed the steps.
"Do you want us to stay?"
"No," Asami replied with a hoarse voice to Mako's question. She dug in her pockets for her keys. "I'll be okay."
It was a lie, of course. She would not be okay. She would be just as sad and torn apart as she felt right now, but at least she wouldn't have to be sad and torn apart in front of other people.
This was enough to convince her that this was the right decision. As lonely as she felt and as much as she wanted company, she just… she needed to be alone, to get through these tears in the comfort of her own home.
Or her apartment, for that matter.
"Thank-you," she muttered, turning the key in the lock. She kept her back to them and lowered her head. Rain dripped down her face, colder than it was before. She watched it fall to the ground and splatter into a small puddle on her doorstep. "I appreciate it," she choked out before pushing the door open.
Asami slipped inside and clicked the latch before anyone could protest – Naga included. She locked the door and remained still in the darkness of her apartment. She leaned against the door until she heard their footsteps travel down her stairs several minutes after the fact.
Then she slid until she was sitting on the ground and cried, her face buried in her knees.
Naga walked over to her cautiously, sniffing as she did so. When she caught Mako's scent, she growled.
This got Asami's attention. She glanced up in confusion. "Wh – what Naga? Do you have to go out?"
When Naga snapped at her, she knew it was something else.
That was when she noticed the jacket that was still around her shoulders.
"Shit, I forgot to give this back to Mako." She pushed herself to her feet and pulled the door open. She didn't even remember when he put it on her, to be honest; everything was a blur since she got to that tea shop. Asami hurried down her steps and glanced down either side of the street.
The three of them were nowhere to be found.
She lowered her head, the jacket in her hands, and let the rain fall on her again. She had pushed them away once more.
And now, she was alone again.
Asami climbed back up the steps and shut the door with a gentle click. The locked it and slid back down to the floor, her back against the door. She stared at Mako's jacket until Naga growled again.
Soon, it was out of her hands.
"Naga, no! That's not a toy! Naga!" Asami chased the dog around her apartment. "Come on, Naga, this isn't a game!" Asami slipped on her hardwood, parts of it dripping wet from her clothes. She crashed into the floor with a loud thud and a painful 'oomph'. She was sure she'd have a nice bruise on her leg. She crawled back up to her feet and went after Naga once more.
When Naga was backed into a corner, she growled and bared her teeth at Asami, a deep darkness in her eyes.
Asami's confidence and desire to win this battle fell away at the power in Naga's glare. She stepped back, fear in her heart. "O – okay, Naga. You can have it. I'll – buy Mako a new one or something."
Naga barked, the sound bouncing off the walls and snapping in Asami's ears. She continued to rumble.
Asami frowned and looked away. She held her elbows and turned her back on Naga. Her limbs started shaking from the cold of her soaked clothes. "I'm – I'll just go take a shower, Naga. I'll be back in a little bit."
The only reply she got was the snarl that wouldn't cease.
Asami made her way to the bathroom and locked the door. She shed her wet clothes and let them flop onto the floor. She traced over the darkening bruise on her thigh as the water heated up. Once the steam surrounded her, she crawled into the shower. She sat in the corner, letting the hot water move down her skin. It didn't feel as alive as the rain did, but it brought her much more comfort. She closed her eyes and curled into herself. Her thoughts wandered back to everything that had happened that night. She saw the video clips and felt her heart tug.
In just a few weeks, it will have been a whole year since she had heard from Korra. A whole year. She had written her countless letters since then, over a dozen.
Why hasn't she written back?
The sight of a United Forces soldier riddled with bullets filled her mind. When the body fell, the helmet bounced off, and she saw the brown hair and tan skin that she missed so much.
Asami heaved and pulled her legs closer to her chest.
"Korra's okay. Korra's okay. Korra's okay." She repeated to herself until she could no longer speak.
Keep yourself together, Asami. You can do this. If you survived mom dying, you can survive this. I know you can. You're better than this. You're stronger than this.
She took a deep breath to steady herself. And another. And another. Because she could do this, and she was going to have to.
(-)
It wasn't until the water was too cold to tolerate did Asami leave the tub. She wrapped a towel around herself and stepped into the living room.
Mako's jacket laid in a shredded mess all over the floor by the door, little pieces scattered throughout.
"Naga?" Asami called to her.
There was no response.
Asami crept into the bedroom.
Naga was on the mattress, her nose a few inches from the picture of Korra on Asami's nightstand.
Asami's expression softened. She closed the door and sat beside Naga. "I miss her, too," she whispered, running a clean hand through Naga's fur.
Naga whimpered and adjusted her paws on the bed, as if doing so would bring her any closer to Korra.
Asami continued stroking Naga's fur and glanced up at the roses on her dresser. There were four of them, the only ones to have survived out of all the seeds Korra had sent her. Three of them looked full of life, but one of them seemed to be stunted, its stature much shorter and bent, while the leaves looked dry and withered. She rose with determination and grabbed the small bottle next to her dresser on her desk. She watered the fourth until the bottle was empty.
She returned it to her desk and pulled her top drawer open. Asami slid into her pajamas and crawled back onto the mattress. She curled up next to Naga and rested her head near Naga's warm belly.
Naga stood and glanced at Asami before jumping off the bed. She scratched at the door until Asami got up and opened it. Naga made her way to her bed in the living room and circled it. She plopped down into it, her back to Asami.
Asami frowned and sighed. She turned from Naga and almost clicked the door shut, stopping short with the hope that maybe Naga would join her later in the night. She crawled up into her empty bed and listened to the rain smack the side of her window. She felt cold. She felt alone. She felt too many things to decipher in her weariness. Sleep would not come to her. She was convinced it never would.
So she just stared out the pane and watched the water drip down the glass until the morning came.
(-)
Asami meets up with Opal, Bolin, and Mako at a tea shop. It's the end of summer/beginning of autumn. They talk about the war and how the United Forces have gotten to the palace in Ba Sing Se but haven't been able to find Kuvira. The Earth Empire is putting pressure on the United Republic of Nations. Asami mentions how it's been almost a year since she's heard from Korra (back in "Autumn"), and that she's sent numerous letters to Korra with no response. Opal and Bolin assure her that Korra is probably just busy with the war, while Mako speculates that something might have happened to her - going so far as to say that Korra might be dead. Asami agrees with this idea, unsure of whether Korra is alive or not and why she hasn't been writing back. Every person from the coffee shop then gets a message on their phone. It's an alert saying that the Earth Empire has attacked the border of a nearby district, threatening to attack Republic City. A TV report then plays showing clips of the attack and soldiers dying.
Asami loses it. She leaves the tea shop and starts crying in the rain. Mako meets her outside to comfort her and Asami collapses into him. She had been holding her emotions in for too long, despite her initial efforts almost a year ago to get better. She had been spending more and more time with Opal, Bolin, and Mako since Mako pulled her over in the spring ("Warmth"), but it wasn't helping as much as she'd hoped. She missed Korra and feared for her death. Opal and Bolin join in the comfort hug. They agree to walk Asami home. Mako takes off his jacket and wraps it around Asami, much to Bolin's discomfort. They reach Asami's apartment and she leaves them at the doorstep. She goes inside and locks the door, wanting to be alone. Once she hears them leave, she slides down to the floor and cries.
Naga approaches her and starts growling at her. It's then that she realizes she still has Mako's jacket. She goes outside to give it back but finds that her friends are long gone. Sad, she returns to the apartment and sits on the floor again. Naga rips the jacket from her. Asami chases Naga around, trying to get it back. Naga barks and snaps at her, forcing Asami to relent. She heads to the shower and tries to find strength. When she returns, Mako's jacket is torn to shreds on the floor. She finds Naga in her bedroom, whimpering over a picture of Korra. Asami tries to share in the comfort. She notices one of the roses she was growing from Korra's seeds wilting, so she waters it. She puts her pajamas on and lays next to Naga, who rises and leaves her. Asami keeps the door partly open in case Naga changes her mind and lays on her bed. She can't sleep. She spends the night staring out the window, watching the rain drip down the pane in quiet loneliness.