Chapter 32
Two can play at this game
Asami was the first to wake; the brightness of the rising sun shone right through her eyelids. She groaned to the pain in her back and realized she had been sitting upright all night. Korra was slanted against her, deep in sleep. Her breaths were shallow, but rhythmic. She could feel her fingers intertwined with Korra's under the covers and smiled. She traced a small pattern on the back of the tan hand she held with her thumb.
The Southerner stirred a bit, much to the engineer's surprise, but settled just as fast as she had shifted.
She sighed in relief. If Korra needed anything right now, it was sleep. The night had been rough; she woke up every hour, hacking. Over time, the heaves became dryer. Her shaking lessened, as did the sweat. Asami looked out the window into the bit of blue sky she could see. It was a shade lighter than normal and reminded her of the Water Tribe girl's eyes when they first met.
So much has changed.
Asami covered the back of the Bender's hand with her free palm. Korra's limbs were somewhat warmer than earlier in the night, but still not what she was used to. She looked at the slumbering, damaged face of the woman beside her.
I wonder how the streets are. She really needs to get to the hospital.
She tried to peak over the ledge of the window with no luck.
This motion was enough to jar the Southerner awake. She grumbled Asami's name as she moved. Her head was heavy and her body ached of fatigue. The taste of blood and bile covered her dry tongue.
"I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep."
Korra shook her head and pushed herself up. She forced her crusty, swollen eyes open to survey the area. "The sun. It's out." She brought her right hand out from the covers and reached into the small beam of light entering the room. "It feels so warm. So nice. Like I can… I can feel it, Asami. It's so nice." The Water Tribe girl turned the gesture into a hug and wrapped her arm around Asami. "We made it." She whispered as she shut her lids.
Asami responded only by tightening her hold on Korra's hand.
Their embrace was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Their pupils met, both carrying the same amount of concern.
"Stay here." Her tone was full of protective authority. She slid from Korra's grip and walked to the door, fixing her appearance as she moved. Within a few seconds, she was looking through the peephole with a complete composure, inward and out, that made it seem like she had been awake for hours instead of minutes. "Can I help you?" She asked without unlocking the handle.
"There's someone in the parking lot looking for Korra. He says he's Asami Sato's father." The desk attendant replied.
"Thank-you for letting us know." Her response was short and to the point. She pulled away from the entrance but stayed just a few feet away until the clerk's footsteps were no longer audible. The engineer turned to the bed. "Come on, we're taking you to a hospital." She removed the covers and helped Korra slide to the edge of the mattress.
"Did – did you tell him about the attack? About me Fi …" she trailed off before she could finish her question.
"I didn't tell him about your Bending, but I did have to tell him about the attack." Asami dressed the Southerner in her Water Tribe parka as she spoke. "I didn't tell him about me getting hurt, though. He thinks I wasn't even there." She scurried to the bathroom and began applying a small amount of makeup to cover the bruise on her face.
"Why would you lie to him?"
She reemerged from the other room, snapping her pocket-sized makeup bag closed, her wound hidden even from Korra's eyes. "If I told him the truth…" Asami thought of the last time she was taken away from her friends, back when she was a child. Her hand grazed the scar Odoroki had left on her thigh.
"You'd have to touch your leg?"
The engineer shook herself from her memories. She walked up to the Bender and held her tan jaw with each of her hands. "Trust me. It's just easier this way." She tried to turn away, but Korra stopped her.
"Asami."
"My dad is waiting for us. We should go."
Korra wouldn't relent.
Asami slid her hands from the injured woman's face to her shoulders. "We need to go. I will tell you what happened later."
"Did someone hurt you?"
She sighed and dropped her head. This wasn't a fight she was going to win, as much as she was used to being the victor and as much as she wanted to be the one on top in this particular battle. "You're not going to go until I tell you, are you?"
The Southerner crossed her arms with stubbornness in her eyes.
"Alright, I'll give you the short version for now. I don't want to keep my dad waiting." Asami looked away for a moment and tightened her grip when she returned her peridots to Korra's blues. "When I was younger, I went to an elementary school and had a few friends that I used to play with. One day, I got hurt, and my dad took me out of the school to protect me." She pulled away from the Bender and strapped on her boots. "I never got to see them again."
The air between them was quiet and tense until Asami finished clothing herself in her winter gear.
"Ready?"
Korra just nodded, her eyes on the floor.
(-)
Hiroshi Sato was waiting in his black Satomobile, hands tapping in an impatient manner on the steering wheel. He started the ignition when he saw Asami exit with the injured Southerner by her side. She brought her to the back seat and helped her inside the cab. After strapping her in, she shut the door and crossed around the other side of the vehicle. He expected his daughter to sit in the front seat, as she always did when they travelled together, but she crawled into the rear to sit beside Korra, much to his dismay.
"Dad, this is Korra. Korra, this is my dad."
"It's nice to meet you, sir." The Water Tribe girl was thankful that she was able to get the sentence out without coughing.
Her father nodded and put the Satomobile in reverse. "Which hospital should I take her to?" He questioned as he began driving.
"Whichever one is the best."
"Central it is."
An uncomfortable silence fell between them. Hiroshi stole glances at Korra through the rearview mirror as he drove. The Southerner avoided his eyes and twiddled her hurting thumbs.
"How's work, dad? Any new inventions coming out?"
He gripped the steering wheel a bit harder, but not enough for either of them to notice. "Just a few improvements on the current Satomobile line."
"Are you updating the fuel transfer in the engine like I've been telling you about? I should have sent you my sketches –"
"These changes were more for the axles."
"Oh." Asami looked down in disappointment.
"So, Korra," he drew the conversation away from his daughter and eyed the Water Tribe girl, "how did you and Asami meet?"
The Bender could feel the flit of panic rush through the engineer, remembering the brief story Asami had told her about the incident with her childhood friends. She could also see the tactic her father was using.
He thinks something's up. He's gonna compare our stories to see if they match up. I have no idea what Asami told him, though. If I say we met in chemistry lab, he could link that to the assault.
Or –
She withheld her sly look.
Two can play at this game.
"Asami and I met in –" Just before she finished her sentence, she allowed a wave of hacking consume her. As painful as it was, she wasn't about to have the heiress taken away.
Asami picked up on the ploy and rubbed Korra's back. "I told you this story already, dad. We had lunch at the Dining Center during one of the first days of class. We sat at the same table together because the rest of them were full." She spoke over the coughing. After a while, she was wondering if this had really been an act or if the younger woman was in serious trouble.
"And you were jumped by drunken men, Korra?" Hiroshi asked once her convulsions ceased.
The Southerner nodded, panting to catch her breath.
"How many were there?"
"About fifteen." She replied through gasps, her voice rough.
Just as Asami was ready to interject, they pulled up to the hospital.
"Do you want me to stay here until she's done, or should I leave?"
"I'm going to help Korra into the lobby. Then, I was wondering if we could go home while she's being treated."
Both her father and her friend raised their eyebrow in confusion.
The engineer hopped out of the Satomobile before either could respond and reentered on Korra's side. She unbuckled the injured woman and pulled her as gentle as possible from the seat. "I'll be right back, dad."
He nodded in response, squinting at them as they passed through the hospital entrance. Asami wasn't the only Sato who had an eye for detail.
(-)
"Are you sure about this, Asami?"
"Yes. You'll be fine here. I'll only be gone for a little while."
"But why are you leaving?"
She crossed to the other side of the room as the brunette spoke and grabbed the handle to the door, only to let it go again. Asami turned to Korra, who sat on the examining table in just her white tank top and blue pajama-pants. She closed the distance between them and buried her hand into the Southerner's brown hair.
"I want to bring one of the Satomobiles up, so I can come visit you while you're here, or take you here after class, depending on how they diagnose you."
"Won't you get in trouble for that, for bringing a vehicle to campus?"
The engineer shrugged. "I was considering just keeping it off campus in a nearby parking garage. I'd have to walk to it, but it's not that far away."
Korra's eyes widened. "But what if you get hurt during the walk. What if they get you and –"
"Relax. I'll only make the trip in the day. Besides, after the last attack, I don't think they'll be coming back for quite some time, if at all."
The Water Tribe girl sighed, skeptical of this claim, and pulled the Non-Bender into a hug.
"I'll be back soon. The longer I keep my dad waiting, the more suspicious he's going to get."
Korra's concerned look refused to falter as Asami made her way to the exit. Their eyes met once more before the heiress slipped through the door.
(-)
Asami hopped into the passenger seat of her father's Satomobile, happy to get out of the cold. "Sorry it took so long. Korra needed help getting to the examination room."
"It's alright. What did you want to go home for?" Hiroshi was straight to the point as he left the parking lot.
"I want to bring my Satomobile up."
"You know that's against campus policy."
"Yeah, I know. But I was planning on keeping it in a nearby parking garage."
He huffed. "Do you think it will be safe there?"
"Well, there is a guard at every entrance, even at night."
"Why do you want your Satomobile?"
"So I can visit Korra in the hospital to bring her the work she's missed and to transport her back to campus when she's healed. That way, I won't have to keep pulling you away from work." She added her last sentence and chose her words with care.
"And you don't think your association with this Water Tribe girl will cause anything to happen to you in between the parking garage and your apartment or when you're traveling to class?"
"No, I don't." She crossed her arms and stared out of the window. "I can handle myself."
Hiroshi sighed. "I know you can, trust me. I've seen you spar with your instructors. I… I just want you to be safe."
"I know." Asami unfolded from her defensive position and rested her hands on her knees. "Thank-you, for looking out for me."
He smiled and continued the long drive to the Sato Mansion.
(-)
Korra somewhat-swung her feet as she sat on the edge of the examining table, lost in thought. This method of fixing bodies and relieving sicknesses was very different from what she was used to back in the Southern Water Tribe. The huts of the Healers were always cozy and warm, with fires in the mantels and pelts draped on some of the walls. This room was cold and barren with white paint and small, sharp dimensions. She wondered what methods Non-Benders used to mend themselves from these types of injuries when Water Benders weren't around. She knew the basics, of course, and some drastic first aid measures of unconsciousness, but the rest? She was pulled from her ruminations by an opening door.
"Hello. My name is Urkoma, and I'll be your –" She paused when her eyes met Korra's.
The Southerner felt much of the same shock. The woman standing before her was a few inches taller than her, with dark brown hair pulled back into two braids that met in the center to form a single plait, tan skin, and grey-blue eyes. She wore robes with many shades of lighter blue in them that reminded Korra of her mother.
"You're from the Water Tribe, aren't you?"
Korra nodded with a smile.
"It's been years since I've seen someone from the Tribes, other than from a distance." She grinned and Bent some water from the tap nearby. With a shift in her stance, she sent the liquid Korra's way.
Unable to move from her wounds, the surge hit her right in the face. Her back slammed against the cold metal table and she winced.
Urkoma's expression was full of confusion. "Why didn't you Bend it back?"
She struggled to sit upright. Once there, she dropped her eyes to the floor. "I'm not a Water Bender."
"Oh. I just assumed, since you were away from the Poles –"
"Yeah, a lot of people do that."
"Wait, are you Tonraq's daughter?"
Korra brought her gaze up to the standing woman. "I am."
Urkoma snorted. "Well, that explains it."
The Southerner crossed her arms. "Explains what, exactly?"
"Everything about you. Why you're not a Water Bender, why you're here, and your whole wardrobe screams Southern." She looked down to her clipboard and scribbled a few notes. "Ah, Korra. Southern Water Tribe." She walked past Korra and Bent the water from her clothes with one movement of her wrist.
"Let me guess, you're from the Northern Tribe. I can tell by your pretentious attitude."
"And your stubbornness and quick-temper clearly marks you as Tonraq's. It was those same traits that got him into so much trouble in the North. I would expect the same amount of commotion from his unsophisticated Southern daughter."
Though ire burned inside of Korra, curiosity overpowered it. "What kind of trouble did he get into up North?"
Urkoma turned around with a grunt. "You mean he didn't tell you?"
The Southerner shook her head with inquisitive eyes.
She straightened, a bit of sympathy crossing over her. "Well, it's not really my place to tell you. You should have him speak to you about it the next time you see him." She placed the clipboard down. "I'm going to need you to strip down so I can see your wounds."
Korra grit her teeth as she fought against her clothing, failing to remove them as instructed.
"On second thought, I'll just lift your shirt for now. Lay down." She pulled the younger woman's tank up to find multiple contusions, cuts, and inflammations. "What the hell happened?"
"I got jumped by a bunch of men on my way home to campus. I had to travel through the ice storm to get to my dorm."
Urkoma scoffed. "You would travel through the storm, you little runaway."
A growl escaped Korra's lips.
"You really messed yourself up good, didn't you?" She asked as she poked the Southerner's right ankle.
She let out a squeal of pain. "Are you going to help me, or are you here to just mock me and play with my injuries?"
"Relax. I'll get to the healing once I know what I'm dealing with." She completed her circle around the examining table with a close look at Korra's scalp. "Turn over for me, will you?"
The Southerner sighed and flipped onto her back in agony. An intense coughing spell hit her. She curled over to the side of the table and spit hacked-up mucus into the nearby trashcan.
"That doesn't sound good." Urkoma put a hand on Korra's forehead. "Fever, sweat, coughing, rapid breathing, chills," she emphasized as the injured woman started shaking on the table, "looks like you've got some nasty pneumonia." She took a step back and continued analyzing her patient.
Korra looked away from the healer for the entirety of the session. A single word didn't leave her mouth unless she was asked a direct, nonpolar question.
"Well, the good news is, I can fix you. Physically, at least. But it'll take a few sessions to do so." She pulled some water from the tap and made it glow. "Time to get to work."
(-)
Korra was relieved when Asami entered the facility. Her healing session had been finished for some time, so the Water Tribe girl sat in the waiting room until the engineer arrived.
"Wow, Korra. You're looking better already." She traced over some of the faded marks on her face that had been deep wounds the last time she saw her. A faint scar on her left cheek from the first attack still remained.
"Yeah, I guess." She sighed as she rose to her feet with Asami's assistance.
The heiress frowned. "What's wrong?"
"I don't want to talk about it. Can we leave?"
"Don't they want you to stay?"
The Bender lowered her gaze. "They said I probably should, but I can come in every day for the healing sessions if I wanted to free the space up for another patient who's more 'life or death' than I am." Her eyes locked onto Asami's. "I don't want to stay here." She bent closer and slid her hand into the engineer's. "Can we leave? Please?"
What happened when I was gone?
Curiosity and suspicion welled inside of her, but Asami ignored it. She nodded in response. "Of course. Let's check you out and make an appointment for tomorrow."
Korra had a grateful softness in her eyes that was enough of a thank-you for the older woman.
She helped the Southerner outside and into her black and red Satomobile. "My place," she asked as she crawled into the driver's seat.
The injured woman bobbed. "You're, um, not gonna drive like the last time you were in the seat of a Satomobile, are you?"
Asami chuckled. "Not unless I want to get pulled over by the Metal Bending Police."
"Now that would be fun to see. I doubt they'd be able to catch you." Korra closed her eyes and leaned back into the smooth chair.
"Hopefully we won't have to find out." The engineer pulled out of the parking lot and into the road.
The sun was setting on the horizon. They passed by Republic City Park on their way to Asami's apartment. Korra had fallen asleep in the passenger seat and slumped across the center of the vehicle to rest her head on the heiress' shoulder. Her peridot eyes caught a small group of people rallying near one of the podiums on the edge of the public estate, one of which was holding a very plain sign reading "Equality for Non-Benders". She looked away from the protest to the girl slumbering on her shoulder. Her focus drifted to her own image in the rearview mirror. Her irises held a mixture of fire and exhaustion. Once the Park was out of sight and it was too dark to see Korra's face, Asami turned her attention to the road ahead of them, though she could still see her reflection each time she glanced up. She gripped the wheel, shifted down, and drove slow, letting herself get lost in her thoughts.