Just want to take a moment to thank my amazing Co-Author, BG-13 for her contribution to this story and all the other ones. Please thank her as well and review. Reviews tell us you're into the story and makes us update faster. Again, thanks bud for everything:)

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.-Alan Cohen

Iroh's POV

I had to stop myself from jumping for joy when Asami and I got the confirmation that she was pregnant. She was barely three months along and we couldn't yet tell what the baby was, but given my family history, the firstborn was always a boy. Well, except for Grandpa Zuko, but he was another case all his own. Since we'd gotten the news I had been doing nothing but doting on my girlfriend, which she loved. She had been doing a lot better since Korra came back and I was glad the younger agent would be around once more. Until I found out I was going to be stuck with her.

"What do you mean I'm staying behind?" I asked Mako.

"Asami wants to come along and she needs to be out in the field too," he replied. "Besides, she has a limited time left where she can do that. Not to mention that if I left those two alone, we'd never get anything done."

"Just because you're kissing ass doesn't mean I have to pay for it."

"Korra can't be in the field, you know that," Hotch replied, ignoring my first comment. "And she isn't as bad as you think. She's on crutches, there's only so much damage she can do."

I opened my mouth to speak but I was cut off. "You can put it right here," Korra told my grandpa. "Thanks Rossi."

I looked over to see a box full of books and other stuff. My eyes narrowed and I looked over at Mako who was trying to hide his smirk. Oh there was no way in hell I would let this little shrimp invade my personal space. I walked over to her, ready to tell her to move her things when my girlfriend came over, giving me a kiss and suddenly my anger deflated.

"You shouldn't have to go," I whispered to her, placing a hand against her torso. She was pregnant with my kid. I didn't want either of them in harm's way.

"I want to," Asami answered before looking over at her friend. "Besides, you and Korra get to bond a little. Ease things up between the two."

I let out an irritated sigh and she kissed me again. "Don't worry, 'Sami," the younger agent said with a smile. "Iroh and I are gonna have a lot of fun."

There was something about the way she said it that gave me the impression this case was not going to be fun for me. And the worse thing was that there was nothing I could do about it.

Korra's POV

I couldn't wait until the team left. I had decided to use the whole situation to my advantage and torment Iroh for the rest of the case. It was nothing personal but I just wanted to give the guy a hard time. I never could see what Asami saw in him, besides the fact that he was maybe a little hot, but she was my sister and every good sister would torment and irritate the boyfriend, so that's what I was going to do. I sat down, taking out all the books and the file of the case we were working on before placing my injured leg in his chair. I was warned to make sure I didn't injure it further, and I was not about to go against my doctor's wishes. For the time being that is.

Iroh had left to drop off Asami at the airport while I stayed behind and started to look at the crime scene photos. I had suggested to Hotch that the rings of blood could be some sort of signature but now I was drawing up a blank.

"Working from the assumption the rings are his signature," I muttered to myself as I taped the photos on the computer screens.

I sighed and shook my head. I heard someone come inside and my lips twitched. And here…we…go.

"Is that my chair?" Iroh asked.

I looked at my leg and shrugged. "I need to have my leg elevated, doctor's orders."

"And why did you tape the photos to the screens?" he asked taking them down. "I need to use them."

I sighed and he pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at me. "You know maybe if you were in your office you'd be able to think better or something."

"Are you kicking me out?" I asked indignantly. "Hotch said I had to be with someone at all times, so that I wouldn't overdo myself. If I fall and get injured-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," he growled, grabbing another chair. "Let me get some books out of here though."

"You can take this one back," I replied, handing him the smallest one. Iroh scowled at that, standing up to put it back when I called after him. "Oh, and I left my coffee on my desk! Mind getting that for me?"

I heard him curse under his breath and I chuckled. Oh yeah, this was going to be loads of fun.

Asami's POV

Well I had to say that the scene we arrived to was a…bloody mess. Literally. A woman was bludgeoned to death in her own home and to top things off, valuables were stolen. I looked around the crime scene, trying to figure out what happened here when I noticed something. There were two different sets of footprints. One set was all bloodied and close to the victim and the second set was only visible because the unsub had gotten a bit of blood on the tip of his shoe. An officer came over and told me they had found a can by the fence and had put a cone at its location. I asked if they knew what the victim had been doing before she was killed and he informed me she had been giving a seven year old, Wally, singing lessons.

"Why do you ask?" the officer questioned.

"I'm just wondering why he told you he didn't see the suspect."

"What do you mean?"

"Well from our height we can't really see much," I explained. "But Wally is seven so that put him…here." I squatted down and saw the cone before looking up at the officer. "I'm going to need to talk to him again."

I was going to go out the door when a voice stopped me. I let out an irritated sigh before turning around to face my supervisor.

"Where are you going?"

"To follow a lead, sir."

He looked at me for a moment before nodding. "Take Rossi with you then."

Good, we had an understanding.

Lin's POV

From what we gathered from the crime scene and the two murders we had come to the conclusion that in the second murder, two separate crimes were committed. The first one was murder and the second theft, which given the description of the kid Asami went to talk to, told us he was an addict of sorts. The town was small and they kept pretty good records so we quickly narrowed down our suspect list to one guy, Domino Sach. He had been arrested for battery, assault, possession and apparently was known to cook his own stuff which could be good.

As soon as we arrived at the crime scene we spotted him and he made a run for it. I growled, getting out of the car and ran after him with Bolin. He tackled him to the ground and when he tried to stand I pointed the gun right between his eyes. He whimpered, shaking and I knew he was probably on something but we handcuffed him and took him to the station anyway to see if we could get anything out of him.

"We want to know what you were doing at Annie Stuarts's house," Hotch began.

"I-I didn't do nothin'," he answered.

"We know you were there," I added. "The blood on the bottom of your boot is Annie Stuart's. So stop wasting our time and just tell us what happened."

Domino whimpered again, rocking back and forth in his seat. He was having withdrawal symptoms but it looked like he understood our questions just fine. We needed to get him to talk.

"Think about how this is going to sound in court," Rossi began. "A tweaker with a record, the victim's blood all over him. You're going to be sentenced in a blink of an eye. Help us and we'll see what we can do for you."

The suspect nodded his head and rubbed his arms. "I-I was there," he finally admitted. "But I got there after that other guy."

I tilted my head to the side. So he had seen something. "What other guy?"

"I don't know, some dude."

"What did he look like?"

"I-I didn't see but-but he had a bl-black hood."

I nodded my head, sharing a look with Mako before we got out of the cell. I turned around to look at the suspect.

"Domino?"

"Hmmm?"

"She was already dead when you found her, wasn't she?" The man whimpered and nodded his head. I shook mine. "And you still stole from a dead woman."

He whimpered at that, laying down on his cell bed. "I'm sorry!" Domino sobbed. "It ain't right! It ain't right!"

I sighed. Nothing much more we were getting out of him.

Iroh's POV

Finally, I was getting some well deserved peace. Korra had gone to therapy and I was enjoying my time alone. Ever since the team left I had been stuck with her and although she was a walking computer, she took over all my space. As if I needed anymore of that. Bolin had talked to me earlier, telling me how he wasn't really doing much at the scene and I already knew what was coming. Mako had made it a point that his position was only temporary and now that Korra was back, he'd probably be sending him home soon. But it wasn't my place to say anything so I simply listened to him rant. Finally my screen lit up to show our team leader.

"Hello, Iroh," he greeted. "You have any information for me?"

I grinned, finally being able to help out. "So I got a hold of your suspect's, Eddy, roommate in college, who describes his mom as super overprotective."

"How overprotective?"

"She called him about three times a day, and get this. One time she even went up to Boston to break him up with a girlfriend she didn't like."

"Wow, and I thought your mom was bad."

I growled. "Very funny," I replied. "Anyways, it seems like Eddy's college experience was some sort of post-adolescent rebellion. His psychotic break was caused do to methamphetamine and cocaine consumption."

He hummed thoughtfully, nodding his head. "Well he's in custody now, but in his state of mind he hasn't been able to tell us where Wally is."

"Have you tried administering him an anti-psychotic?"

"In the process." He paused. "How is it having Korra around?"

I leaned against my seat. "Uh, you can have her back whenever you'd like," I answered.

He chuckled before going offline. I saw nothing funny about the situation.

Korra's POV

I took a bite of my food as I waited for Iroh to come back from his lunch. Asami had been keeping us updated but there wasn't really much for us to do but wait until they had more. I had gotten hungry and after going to therapy, I was glad I had someone to torment. Dad had picked me up an hour ago and driven me to Tenzin's office and I pretty much did nothing the entire time. He tried getting me to talk but all I said that it was unnecessary and I was doing my part by showing up but I had nothing to say. My mother's therapist sighed and continued to try and at least start a conversation but I didn't budge.

Finally my future brother in law came back and I saw the surprise on his face when he noticed the mess I had purposely made. Ever since I had woken up from my coma I had been eating more and well I had Mom pack me a few granola bars and all sorts of other stuff that I might had scattered around.

"Want some soup?" I asked, holding a thermos out to him.

His jaw clenched and I could see him trying to calm down. "No, thank you," he answered. "Now I hope you're going to clean this mess up."

I looked around. "What mess?"

Iroh pinched the bridge of his nose before handing me a file. I was going to open it when he spoke again. "I wouldn't read it while eating."

My head tilted to the side. "Annie Stuart was missing a kidney and stomach?" I asked out loud.

"Yes."

I hummed thoughtfully before picking up my plate to take another spoonful when I noticed something on the paper it had been sitting on.
"You know you may be Asami's best friend, but-" He paused as I put the bowl down again and picked it up before putting it down again, rings having been left behind. "Why are you doing that?" Iroh questioned when I repeated the process.

"He's taking the organs from the body and putting them in cylindrical containers," I answered. "It's anthropophagy."

"Anthro- what?"

I rolled my eyes. "You don't have the stomach for it."

"Just tell me."

"The literal Greek translation is 'man eating'," I explained. The look on his face told me he wasn't following. I sighed. "He's a cannibal."
I saw him heave a little, looked like his lunch was on the way out. "I...uh…I need to…yeah."

I couldn't help but laugh as he ran towards the bathroom. Who would have thought that a former military man like him could be so…squeamish?

Asami's POV

After Korra added the anthropophagy factor we delivered the profile to the officers. We needed to find this guy and fast. He was evolving more and more and the fact that he was a cannibal was even more worrisome. Everyone was at risk now and if we didn't find him soon the body count could rise easily. Once the profile was delivered we retired for the night and I talked to Iroh on the phone. I couldn't help but chuckle at his irritation. Korra was doing a thorough job at getting under his skin. Early the next morning I got on my laptop in hopes of talking to them both but I wasn't surprised when my best friend answered.

"Where's Iroh?" I asked.

"Big brother went away."

I raised a brow. "Big brother?"

Korra grinned and nodded. "Well he is technically my future brother in law, plus it annoys him."

I sighed and shook my head. "Hey, get off my computer," I heard Iroh say.

She sighed and turned the camera so they were both visible. "Hey babe."

"Asami, can you tell the shrimp that she was her own office." Oh, he was definitely annoyed.

"Hey! I'm not that short!"

"Really?" he replied. "I thought that's why you were the 'little' sister."

"Knock it off, both of you," Hotch replied going over to me. "We found another body and there's a little boy missing."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Wally's grandmother was watching him for the night when our unsub came in," he said. "Slashed her throat and took him."

"Did he take any organs?" Korra questioned.

Hotch nodded. "The heart."

"The heart has a lot of symbolical meaning," she began. "I mean, aside from just banal romantic associations. The Egyptions left the heart in mummies because they believed the organ insured eternal life."

"There's a point to your rambling right?" Iroh said.

She scowled at him and he sat down, moving the chair her leg was on, causing her to whimper. I glared at him.

"Sorry."

"I read something in one of- Hand me that book," Korra continued. "The big one, yeah that one, give it." She opened it up, looking through the pages before stopping. "Scan these and send it to them."

"What did you find, Korra?" I asked.

"There was an article by a Cambridge professor and it seems that all the organs the unsub has taken: stomach, kidney, and now the heart. They were thought to be the seat of the soul at one time or another."

"That's why he drinks the victim's blood?" I was not following.

"He thinks he's encountering the divine," she finished explaining.

Well…that made sense to this guy and Korra apparently. Now there was still one question. "Why take Wally, though?"

"He seems him as a sort of spiritual being," Mako stated. "Now let's just hope the unsub doesn't feel the need to sacrifice him."

Tenzin's POV

I took in a deep breath as I watched Korra play with her crutch. This was our second session together and she still had said nothing about the trauma she had endured. She insisted that it wasn't necessary, that she was fine, but I could see small flickers of fear behind the anger in her eyes. She was holding back something, I just needed to get her to talk.

Shortly after her arrival, Toph Bei Fong had asked that I evaluated her to make sure she was clear to go on the field and she was, I just wished she'd try and talk about what was on her mind. She had technically died, had been revived and had to have therapy for months to be able to walk on crutches. Not to mention what her uncle might had done to her. His name was all over the news due to his escape and some major details of the nature of his crimes were released. Taking that and her mother's mention of a trauma during our sessions, it was safe to say something had happened to her as well.

"What have you been doing since you've been back?" I tried.

She sighed before answering, "A lot of things."

"What kind of things?"

She leaned back in the chair, looking as unhappy as our first session, except this time she seemed willing to talk about something.

"Went fishing with my dad, had Mom plan a family day, and I've been seeing someone."

I raised a brow. "So you're dating someone?" I asked. This was odd. Senna had mentioned that the subject didn't interested her daughter in the least bit.

"Yeah," she answered indifferently.

I couldn't help but look at her with some disbelief. "What's their name?"

"Naga."

I blinked. I didn't judge, everyone was free to make their own choices but I had to make sure I was understanding correctly. "...That's a girls name."

Korra shrugged indifferently, tilting her head in my direction. "I like to try new things."

Well then.

Mako's POV

This had been an...interesting case. We had found Wally, who had been hidden by the suspect's mother. Asami was able to track the GPS in her car that pinpointed a place were she had stopped six times in the last two hours. She had come clean and told us she had initially no idea what her son was doing until he brought the boy home. After taking in her statement and saying goodbye to the lead Sheriff we headed back home and I found Iroh muttering something under his breath as he headed to Korra's office.

"Hey bud," I greeted.

"Do not 'bud' me," he growled. "I may be new and not in the field but that does not make me a maid."

"What do you mean?" I asked. Though I had a good idea.

"What do I mean?" Iroh snapped. "This is the second box of crap Korra left in my office plus the three bags of trash I still have to take out!"

I grabbed the box from him. "I'll take care of it."

"And I want my chair back!"

I laughed at that, shaking my head as I entered the youngest agent's office. She was looking through a file but looked up when I placed the box next to her. "Hey," she greeted. "Where's big brother?"

"Wanting his chair back."

"Not a chance," the brunette replied, making herself comfortable.

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to get anywhere with her. I sat down on a chair next to her and pulled out a piece if paper, effectively getting her attention. She leaned back against her chair and I picked up her crutches, reminding her she had to use them to which she replied she did.

"Aside from Iroh telling me how you managed to get on his nerves, I received Tenzin's report and wanted to go over it with you." Korra let out a long sigh, knowing what was coming. "Patient seems to feel no trauma has taken place, and is reintegrating herself into her life in the city," I began. "She went fishing with her father, let her mother plan a family activity, and has started a romantic relationship with a woman named Naga."

"Yeah...about that..."

"Now, I don't care if you lie to your therapist. But I think you should take advantage of his services. You still have one to go."

"There's nothing wrong with me," Korra insisted.

"I'm no saying there is," I replied. "But I don't like you lying to someone who is tying to help you, so I want you to make a deal with me." She sighed again. "You're gonna go weeks, months even, feeling fine, and then you're gonna have a bad day. Just let me know when you do. And you're going to do everything you told Tenzin you did with your parents, and are going to do the Republic City Marathon with me."

"Seriously?"

"I can send you back to the therapist," I offered.

She looked to be weighing her options. "And that's it?"

"That's it."

"Deal."

Now that that was out of the way... "Naga? Seriously?" I asked.

Korra shrugged. "She's a good cuddler, doesn't hog the covers, and doesn't talk."

I chuckled, shaking my head as I stood. "It's late, you should go home," I told her. "But think about what I told you. Tenzin can help you if you give him a chance."

Korra nodded her head, but I knew better. Hell would freeze over before she talked to a shrink.

Korra's POV

I took in a deep breath before going inside Tenzin's office. It was my last therapy session and although I was relieved, I kept thinking about what Mako had told me, that I should take advantage of this, like he knew there wouldn't be another time where I'd talk about what happened to me. He asked me to come inside and I took a seat, playing with my crutch like I usually did. I hadn't been happy about coming here, but I guess it was understandable. I had been uprooted from the city I grew up in, thought of as dead, and nearly died a couple of months ago. It was a lot to take in but…I was used to traumatic experiences.

"What's on your mind?" he asked after a moment.

I sighed. "I was just remembering that the last time I was on a couch like this was when my dad disappeared," I replied quietly. "Everyone thought I needed to talk but developmentally I wasn't guided by conscience. I could only reveal what I thought was acceptable."

"You told them what they wanted to hear," the therapist deduced. I nodded my head. "You don't have to do that here."

I took a deep breath. "If I talk to you…can it be off the record?" I asked, looking up at him. He nodded his head, putting his clipboard down, giving me his full attention. "Is…is it bad that I was…happy?"

Tenzin tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"I was dying, I was lying on that cold, concrete floor and Asami was holding me and telling me to hold on. She was crying. I should've been sad, hell, I should've been wanting to fight." My eyes closed remembering that day, how cold it had been, and I could hear my best friend's voice. "Unalaq had won. I should've been disappointed, something. But...I wasn't. I was...happy. I felt...relieved."

"What was going through your mind?"

I paused, thinking. One of the benefits of eidetic memory, being able to recall things so vividly. "I don't consider myself a selfish person. I've always put others before myself. When someone's in trouble, I will do everything in my power to get them out. I'm always thinking about Asami and my mom and even this team... But at that moment, I wasn't thinking about any of them." I lowered my gaze, feeling ashamed. "I didn't care. That moment, all I could think about was how I wouldn't have to fight anymore, how I could finally have some sort of peace, how glad I was that I would never know any suffering ever again."

I looked up at him. "I think that was my moment of vanity, of selfishness."

"Korra, I don't think it was vanity," Tenzin replied after a moment. "You said it yourself, you're always putting everyone before you, but you need to take care of yourself as well." He paused. "Now I don't know what your history with Unalaq is, I can only assume, but if it is what I think it is…then the level of trauma you went through, it's no wonder why you would want peace."

I said nothing. One thing I wouldn't talk about was the kind of hell I went through with Unalaq, how his abuse was engraved into my mind. I couldn't-wouldn't talk about that. It was too painful.

"But what I do need to know now, for the purpose of the assessment, is if this feeling is still present," he continued.

I shook my head. "No. Not anymore. I'm happy that I'm back with the team, that I got a chance to spend time with my parents."

He nodded his head. "Then that's what I'll tell Agent Hotchner."

I thanked him for listening just as my dad came in to take me home. It wasn't a complete lie, I was happy to be back but still…in those short moments that I slipped away…it was the most at peace I had been, and I was happy then too.

Mako's POV

Four months passed quickly and Korra was already up and about like nothing happened. We had been training together for the Republic City Marathon that would be taking place in two weeks and even though she still wore a brace for her leg to run, she was doing great. Early each morning we'd meet and go out for a run and even worked a little together. Though body contact between us was minimal, the little we did have she seemed to have gotten used to and I had to admit I was going to miss spending time with her. We had been bonding these past few months and I could see her getting comfortable with me and well…I had actually started to develop feelings I knew weren't that of a supervisor for an agent.

Currently we were running our last lap as fast as we could and I couldn't help but smile, seeing the look of determination on her face. I was a pretty fast runner but even after having her leg broken, Korra could give me a real run for my money.

"Is that all you got?" I teased as I sped up a bit.

I heard her growl before she did the same but I managed to get ahead of her again. I chuckled at that, keeping my focus as I heard her curse under her breath as she tried keeping up with me.

"Looks like you're going to lose this one."

"Ow!" she cried, causing me to stop.

I immediately went back to her side, watching as she limped and grabbed her injured leg. Maybe I had pushed her a little too hard. As soon as I was next to her she grinned at me before running past me and I sighed. Of course.

"I win!" she yelled from our finish line.

"You know, you don't win if you cheat," I answered over to her.

"You were too slow."

She grinned at me and I shook my head. "What happened to slow and steady wins the race?"

"Who taught you that?" Korra teased.

"My running partner."

"She sounds awesome."

I chuckled. "She is," I admitted. Korra didn't answer, just smiled as she stretched out her leg. "You know I was reading that you shouldn't train the week before the race. So…this might be it."

"Oh," she answered, sounding slightly disappointed. "So, um, training is over?"

I took in a deep breath, trying to collect my thoughts as we walked towards her apartment building. "I, uh, I still think we should do something."

Korra's lips twitched, fighting back a grin. "Oh really? Like what?"

"Well there's the movies, the zoo, par-"

"Mako Hotchner," she said and I forced myself to look up at her. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "I'm trying. It's not going well." She laughed at me, actually laughed at me as she shook her head. And I felt my stomach drop. She was going to say no.

"Well if you don't mind staying home with me today while my mom and dad go out then it can be a movie night…date."

I couldn't help the smile that appeared and I saw her smile in return. "You know, it's not that often that I'm speechless," I said.

"Really?" She was still playful, and I liked seeing this not so uptight Korra.

"But I am now," I added, stopping in front of her apartment building. "It's a date then."

Korra smiled once more before going inside and I did the same, shaking my head as I headed to my car. I couldn't wait for tonight.

Korra's POV

It wasn't until I got home that I realized what I had just agreed to. I had told Mako I'd have a movie date with him. For the last couple of months we had been sort of bonding and I had gotten used to it. I liked going on runs with him, knowing he wouldn't hold back and that he'd always push me, not treating me delicately. But being friends with him and actually dating him were two completely different things. And I had absolutely no idea why I agreed to it.

"Is everything okay, baby?" Mom asked as I walked in.

I swallowed thickly, shaking my head before sitting down on the couch. "I just agreed to have a date with Mako."

Her eyes lit up as she moved to sit next to me. "That's wonderful!"

Neither of my parents ever asked me about men or if I wanted to date but I knew they worried. They didn't want me to be alone, and I knew that's why my mom was so excited about the news.

"No, it's not," I replied looking at her. "I don't date. I can't...I...I don't know how."

Mom placed a hand over mine, giving me a small smile. "Then why did you say yes?"

I let out a sigh and shrugged. I really had no idea what had compelled me to say yes. I mean...he hadn't even been able to ask me himself and I could see he was hesitant.

"I don't know."

"Sweetie," Mom continued, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "Maybe you want to try. You've known him a long time, that familiarity is what got your guard down. And it can be a good thing."

"Mom, you don't understand." I hid my face in my hands. "I tried before, with my partner in the South Pole, Howl...and it didn't work. I couldn't make it work."

"Maybe this is different," she reasoned. "You said yes to him, maybe there's something about Mako that you didn't see in Howl."

I blinked, thinking back. I hadn't thought about it that way. "But what?"

"I don't know," she answered with a smile. "But don't you want to find out?"

I thought about it for a moment before smiling and nodding once. Maybe Mom was right. Maybe...this was my chance to be normal.

Mako's POV

I was extremely nervous.

For the last couple of months, Korra and I had bonded and it had been that fact that got me to build enough courage to ask her out on a date. I had to admit that I was surprised when she agreed but now I didn't want to screw things up. She had texted me a while back telling me when her parents would be leaving and I asked her what kind of food she'd like me to bring. I wasn't surprised at all when she said pizza. So I picked up the food, some ice cream and I asked her to pick the movie.

Soon enough I had gotten everything I needed and went over to her place. I took a deep breath, calming myself down when she opened the door. She smiled at me and I couldn't help but do the same until Naga came running, barking and growling at me when I tried to step inside. Well this was ironic.

"Naga, stop," Korra scolded the now full grown dog.

The white furball growled at me but let me pass, going over to the couch and sitting down right in the middle of it. Well it looked like Naga took her guard dog title seriously. The younger agent led me inside and pulled out a pair of plates and cups while I put the ice cream in the freezer, telling her I brought dessert.

A couple of slices later we were back in the living room and I sat on the far end of the couch, giving Naga some space as she lay her head on her owner's laps, her brown eyes watching me. I tried scooting a little closer but she started to growl again. I sighed. Damn mutt.

"Naga…" The animal let out what could be considered a grumble and the brunette laughed, petting the animal's head. "You know, you should be nicer to him. He's the reason I have you in the first place."

I laughed when Naga tilted her head to the side, looking over at me. "And to think you didn't want her."

"She helps me sleep at night," Korra revealed after a moment. "She's there if I have nightmares and was a big support during my therapy." She stopped to look up at me. "She used to nudge my arm and leg so that I'd move it."

"Animal's have a way of being grateful," I commented.

She nodded her head, returning her attention to the film. I sighed as I tried to pay attention but I couldn't stop being so tense. This could be the only shot I had and if I messed it up…it wasn't going to be pretty. I already was on Asami's blacklist, I didn't want to have her threaten me.

"Will you stop being so stiff?" she said with a chuckle. "I'm not going to bite." A pause. "Though Naga might."

I let out a laugh. "Sorry, I-I just-"

"You don't want to mess up, I get it. I'm kind of feeling the same way."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "You're nervous?" She nodded. "Well I think we have gotten to know a little more about each other than people do on first dates but…I think so far we're doing okay."

"You know, at first I didn't know why I said yes to you," Korra began. I felt my stomach drop. "I talked to my mom and she said there must have been a reason and I think I may know why." I nodded my head, telling her to continue. "The whole day I have been thinking about what happened to me…all those years."

"We don't have to talk about that," I reminded her gently.

"I know I'm just…I'm out of my element here," she replied. "What I want to say is that experience...it made me not trust men. And when that goes on for so long you stop…you stop seeing men as regular men and start seeing them as threats. And now that I've decided to date you I just...I don't know how to turn that part of me off."

"After what you went through feeling unsure is a normal feeling, Korra." It was, and I was grateful for the chance she was giving me. "And we can go as slow as you want to go."

She smiled at that. "I know. But...I want you to know something," Korra continued. "The day that I walked into your office for the first time I was able to see someone, a man, just as that: a man. I can't explain it, it was just something about you...for some reason you were different and I don't know why."

"I know that feeling." I had felt something the moment I saw her too.

Korra blinke and I could swear I saw her cheeks flush a little. I smiled and she returned her attention to the movie and I did as well. After that it wasn't as awkward as it had been and we talked a little more to pass the time till the movie finished and I looked at the time. It was almost time to pick up Jack.

I stood and she led me to the door and I turned back to look at her. "So, do I get a second date?" I asked hopeful.

She smiled and nodded. "But I'll let you chose this time."

I smiled once more before telling her goodnight. I left with a small grin tugging at my lips.

"Happiness often sneaks through a door you didn't know you left open." -John Barrymore