Chapter 41

The final

"Are you ready for this?"

"Nope."

"Oh, come on. It's your last chemistry exam ever."

"I'm ready for it to be over. Does that count?"

Asami smiled. "I suppose so."

Korra yawned and stretched her arms. The dark circles had returned under her eyes from her long nights of studying. Even Asami was guilty of a pair of light half-rings above her cheeks.

"You'll do great, Korra. I've watched you draw those structures a hundred times."

"But when am I ever going to use this, Asami? It just feels like a waste of time."

The engineer opened her mouth to object, but found that she couldn't conjure a valid argument. When would anyone need to know about organic structures if they weren't getting into advanced chemistry? She was even questioning her own future use of this information. Had the organic molecules they learned about been fuels or coolants, perhaps she'd have a different view. She shook her head. "Well, you've gotten this far. You've only got to waste two more hours and you'll be done with chemistry for good."

They stopped outside the entrance of their chemistry lecture hall.

"This is the last time I'll ever have to set foot in this damned room again. The last time I have to see Sentai's face. It's time to prove him wrong, Asami. I'm going to pass this exam, dammit."

The raven couldn't help but grin to Korra's confidence. There was a spark in her eyes that she hadn't seen in a while. "Alright, let's do this."

(-)

"Before we begin the final, there are a few things I'd like to say." Sentai paced at the front of the room. "It's been a very – interesting – semester, to say the least. I've enjoyed working with some of you." He eyed Korra and Asami in the first row. "I'm sure each of you will go on to do things and most likely forget everything you've learned in this class. Right now, though, is not the time to forget. Chemistry is all around us, whether you can see it or not, whether you can explain how or why it works, or just know that it does somehow." He walked up to his desk and lifted a stack of papers. "This is the last chemistry exam some of will have to take for the rest of your lives. And for some of you, it's probably a good thing." His eyes locked onto Korra after his last sentence. "Regardless, I expect you will have learned from your mistakes after the last exam and will perform better than before. Now, will you all rise and come to the front of the room for your seating arrangements?"

"Seating arrangements?" The pair glanced at each other before leaving their chairs.

"Starting with seat number one in the front row, right corner from my perspective, and alternating every other chair: Asami Sato," Sentai gestured with his hand, "seat number one."

The engineer set her jaw and swung her bag onto her back.

"It'll be fine, Asami." Korra whispered before she left.

They stared at each other while the professor gave his assignments.

"Kuru, behind Miss Sato in seat twenty-one."

No.

Korra's heart dropped as the man stepped forward. He shot the Water Tribe girl a grin, that same smirk that stuck in her mind so well, before sitting behind the heiress. Her eyes grew frantic as she watched him. Something seemed to be different about his face, though, almost like it was two shades. One side looked natural and oily, as his skin usually did, but the other was dissimilar, as if it was a different substance altogether. He caught her tracing stare and cracked his knuckles, keeping that awful look on his face. Her hands started shaking in tight fists.

Asami shut her lids and took a deep breath. She wasn't going to break over this. She was Asami fucking Sato, and that's all she needed to be.

No drunken baboon monkey is going to get the best of me. No emotion or thought or anything else. Nothing will break me, not anymore.

When she returned to the present, she revealed a pair of peridots that held a gruesome fire.

Korra noticed her actions, just as she was called to the back of the classroom. They shared a final glimpse before she trudged up the steps to the corner diagonal to Asami.

It didn't take Korra long to see her professor's strategy once everyone was seated. He put the most distance he could muster between her and the engineer, as well as the most dangerous people they came across during their semester. Asami and Kuru were in her direct line of sight. This alone was enough to make her nervous, not for fear of her own body, but for her friend being harmed.

Would he really try to do something to her? In front of all of these people?

The sound of his backhand against her skin threatened to take over her mind. She shook it away.

Stop it. Come on, Korra. Get it together.

A clustered feeling consumed her. Several of the men who had accompanied Kuru during his attack were cornering her, all designed by her instructor. Survival instincts for her own self started kicking in. Her fingers dug into the desk as she fought the triggers around her.

Don't think about it. Don't think about it. That's what they want. That's what he wants. He wants you to lose it. You're better than this.

Am I?

Yes, you are. They can't hurt you here.

But they can remind you of when they did. They can hurt you after this, if they wanted to.

Korra shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She could feel the satisfaction radiating off of her professor.

Just two hours. Just forget they are there and focus on your exam. It's your last one ever.

Because they're going to kill me afterwards.

A cough from one of the men to her left made her jump.

Come on, Korra. You're better than this. You're a warrior.

You're wrong.

'Korra, you are stronger than you give yourself credit for.'

Her lids shot apart to the memory. She scanned the room.

"That voice," she breathed. Korra flinched when a packet of papers appeared in front of her face. She took one of the blue paper books from the goon at her eleven and passed them onto the next, avoiding their eyes the entirety of the time. She stared at the booklet with an absent mind.

'Don't give in, Korra.'

She closed her eyes and inhaled. Flashbacks threatened her sight. Her jaw quivered as pieces of her crumbled.

I can't do this…

'You can.'

Images barraged those endangering her. Visions of her walking through storm after storm, saving a polar bear dog cub, resuscitating an unconscious woman on a somewhat sunny day –

Look at the things you've done already. You are destined to do much more, to make a difference in this world.

She saw a dark night. Fists. Her own fists, landing square into a man's face. Her body spun and another blow was avoided, another fist jammed into a different person's jaw. A pull back, and that same hand was shooting fire out at none other than Kuru.

Korra tensed at the thought and pictured the man sitting behind Asami –

Asami.

Her face was all she could see. Those beautiful green irises, her soft raven locks, those red, red lips – Korra opened her eyes, a soft blush on her cheeks. She glanced across the room to the back of Asami's head. She could almost feel her pale hand on hers, those delicate, strong fingers.

I can do this. I can fucking do this.

Korra's crooked grin and determined eyes exuded confidence.

Bring it on, Sentai. You're not gonna get the best of me. Neither are these men. Neither is Kuru. They can all go fuck themselves. And if they think of landing a hand on me or Asami –

She took a test from the pile handed to her and passed it on. She locked onto her professor, who had been sizing up the effect of his tactics.

I'll destroy them, just like this exam, her grin turned devilish, and just like you.

Sentai frowned, as if he could feel Korra's energy and thoughts across the room.

This battle is mine.

(-)

Korra looked over her exam three times.

There's no way I could be done with this already. I must have fucked something up.

She flipped through every question again. She even rotated her test upside down, as if switching the angle would reveal any errors present.

Everything's right. Everything's done.

She smiled.

I'm done.

The Southerner rose from her seat, packed bag in hand, just as Asami stood from hers, completed exam between her fingers. They glimpsed at each other and grinned with soft eyes.

Asami waited for Korra to reach the bottom of the stairs before they turned in their tests, together.

Sentai couldn't hide his scowl.

Although the engineer mirrored his look, Korra maintained her smirk. A fire grew in her pupils. She could feel a few people staring at her, Kuru included, burning holes in her back. She didn't care. This was her victory, her battle won. Confidence and authority exuded from her pores. She swung her bag over her shoulder with one hand and used her other to pull Asami closer by her hip, until their bodies touched. She noticed the heiress blush in the corner of her eye, her expression a mixture of confusion, hesitation, and at the final point, contentment. Her smile grew. Korra led them to the exit. She could feel bewilderment and frustration in the atmosphere, though the most potent and most satisfying feeling was the bitter ire leaking out of her chemistry professor. She threw her free arm up into the air and half-waved at the doorframe before leaving that damn lecture hall forever.