Discaimer: I own nothing.
"Have I told you how adorable you are, Korra?" Micah's firey amber colored eyes gazed at me from across the table while she fully ignored the blissful sounds of the crashing waves behind us.
"Yes." I groaned, trying to hide the blush that found itself on my face. "A lot of times, actually." My eyes eagerly drifted away from my breakfast buddy to the rest of the beach to where I could see a good amount of people lounging around.
"Aren't you supposed to be training, Nutaaq?" A familiar voice sounded from my left. "You know it's a surfing contest, not a drowning one."
"And a very good morning to you too, Tanoai." I drawled haphazardly and turned back to face the woman who landed me here in the first place. Jade eyes narrowed before she smirked at me, crossing her arms agressively. I made sure to beat her to the next sentence. "Acutally, Micah and I were just about to head out."
"Micah?" A dark brow rose in curiousity. "Where's Asami? Thought you two were joined at the hip."
"Republic City. Unlike us, she actually has work to do." I chuckled and then gestured across the table. "And this is Micah Inoue. I met her the first day I took Naga out." Kuvira fixed me with a glare.
"Every single sponsor is here, Korra. It's just supposed to be you and I out there."
"Okay, I got it." I huffed, rolling my eyes while I was at it. Seriously. I'm just here to have fun. "Now, if you'll be a dear and watch Naga for me. We'll be out on the surf." I then grinned cheesily at her and pushed the white furball into her arms. Surprise scribbled itself all over her face as my puppy woke up and instantly began squirming, trying to get a few licks in on her newest companion.
"H-hey, I didn't sign up for this! Korra!" Kuvira called after me, but I'd already taken Micah's hand and was currently dragging her away from the distressed woman.
"Okay, so what exactly do you want me to do?" Micah asked after watching me set my board on the side of the jet ski and then eyed me skeptically while I pulled my surfing shirt over my head.
"Oh yeah, you haven't trained before." I cleared my throat a little self consciously. Of course I wasn't expecting her to hit me either so an unexpected bark of laughter left my mouth when I caught her glaring playfully at me. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry." Chuckling still, I stepped onto the jet ski and slid back to make room for her. "Do you know how to drive one of these things?"
"Duh." Micah giggled before sliding a vest over her torso. After she took hold of the handle bars, she turned back to me to whisper, "hold on tight." And then the beast roared to life, making me lurch forward to clamp my arms around her waist as we took off at the speed of light.
She whooped and hollered all the way out to where the waves were awesome looking and at one point, I feared I would end up doing a backflip since she'd been hitting those waves so hard we were airborn for a few seconds after each. But I'd be lying if I said her ruthless energy and the cold water lapping at my body wasn't refreshing. I almost felt normal again.
"Here's good!" I nearly shouted over the noise of the waves and engine. Micah nodded, slowing the ski down to a halt just as a huge wave rolled by us. My eyes widened in excitement. Wow. Adrenaline presented itself and I found myself eagerly awaiting to get out there.
"Now what?" Micah craned her head to look me in the eyes. I let go of her waist and then reached behind me to secure the line.
"Just like water skiing, you're gonna pull me. Get me into some of them waves." I informed, watching her eyebrows raise in amusement. Instead of asking, I simply gave her a lopsided grin and slid the rest of the way off into the water with my board in tow.
"You have to let me try when you're done, ku'uipo! It looks fun." She sent me a wink. I let out a laugh, giving her a thumbs up in agreement before grabbing the triangular handle.
"You got it. Now let's go!" I shouted happily.
The ski lunged forward like it had a mind of it's own, pulling the rope taught and I felt all my muscles flex and tighten with the powerful tug as I compensated for not letting my board slip out from under me. (Now that would have been humiliation at it's finest.) Instead of thinking more on how I could make an idiot of myself, I focused on the raging waters ahead.
Micah was leading me directly where I needed to go and as the wave began to grow behind us, she whipped the ski around, out running it until she saw me let the handle go. From there she instantly got out of my way so I could ride that wave.
My heart was soaring, body moving with practiced ease while I left it all out there on the water. I could hear Micah cheering me on somewhere out there, too and it did nothing but boost my confidence. It was just all so exhilirating and I hated that I forgot how much I missed surfing. This is amazing!
We went time and time again until Micah shouted. "This is it, Kor! Right there!" I didn't have to look to see what she was talking about. I could feel it building behind me. Before I knew it, I could see right over Micah's head to the water infront of her and with a determined grin, I let go of the handle. The ski veered off to the left as I kept myself upright, dropping straight down and practially sailing along while the rest of the wave chased me. My eyes beheld the foamy mist that came crashing down on the rest of the still rising blue and I also took in the magnificent way the water instantly curled in on itself, forcing more of the water to spill over and eventually outrun me as I swiveled my body to avoid getting crushed.
When the roll finally flattened some, I pumped my fists in the air and then settled on my board. With my legs dangling in the water, I then waved to Micah, who wasted no time in speeding over to me with an ecstatic look on her pretty face.
"Korra, that was AMAZING!" She bellowed jovially and jumped off the ski to practially shove me off my board.
"Wait, wait! Let me have a moment." I tried to hold her at arm's length, but she easily overpowered me and succeeded in knocking me into the water.
I came back up laughing, blindly reaching out to wrap an arm around my board. I hadn't been expecting to end up face to face with her and when I realized it, our noses already bumped together. "Uh, h-hey there." Whoa! My laugh turned awkward as I tried pushed myself back somewhat to get out of her comfort zone.
She only smiled warmly at me and I was sure that curving of her lips was one that would make the gods weep. I'd noticed her beauty before, but seeing it this up close and personal had another blush steadily rising to my face. She had freckles. Those amber colored eyes held a good amount of emotion, yet there was a depth, like anyone could easily get sucked in without warning. I gulped thickly as the motion of the water seemed to be pushing us closer together and when I felt her leg brush mine, I knew I was in trouble.
"Korra." She breathed, reaching up to push my hair behind my ear. My eyes then fell from hers and followed a single bead of water from her nose to her lips. Lips that were a little chapped, but still soft looking and inviting enough to make me want to trace her lower lip with my thumb. Bringing my eyes back up to hers, I was more than a bit shocked to see her leaning in.
O-oh no. What am I doing? My thoughts were pointless. Joints useless. I was trapped, but I then had to wonder if that was really a bad thing or not. But- Asami. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to find reason within the alluring pull of the pretty girl who's lips had just brushed mine. That fleeting sensation caused my brain to short-circuit momentarily. That meant that my only reaction was to lean forward and search for those lips again. She didn't fail to wrap her fingers around the nape of my neck, pulling me closer still until our fronts pressed together and I found myself shivering when I felt her lips ghosting over the shell of my ear.
"Psych." Micah whispered hotly.
...What!? My eyes instantly sprang open just before she took my arm from around my board and playfully shoved me underwater.
Oh. That's dirty!
"Ku'uipo, your phone's ringing." When I didn't answer her, she peeked over the couch. "Earth to Korra." She drawled, but I was too busy focusing on the screen infront of me. my fingers moved over the controls easily but as I was coming to the end, I leaned forward in anticipation. Come on you- "It's Asami~" my eyes widened, my surfer wiped out and I groaned loudly in defeat.
"Micah! I was this close to beating my highscore." I lamented, motioning at the screen. "You don't, I repeat, do not try to cheat me just because-" The words died in my throat when she pressed my phone to my ear.
"I'm not trying to cheat." She giggled. "But I can say that I will beat you now." She pushed me over, but not before scooping Naga from my lap and then settling there when I moved out of the way. When I stood up, I purposefully stepped infront of the TV, only to have a pillow smashed into my face with an impatien grunt. "Get outta the way, Nutaaq!" I stuck my tongue out at her and then proceeded to take the call.
A call that had already been answered.
I almost dropped it as I quickly brought it back up to my ear. "A-Asami?! Hello? Are you there?"
"Hey. Did I call at a bad time?" Asami's voice was suddenly unsure and I felt like the world's biggest douchebag.
"No, no, no! It's fine. I- we were just playing a surfing game." I stammered out and briskly walked away from the living room to the bedroom.
"We?" She asked hesitantly. I chewed my lip nervously. Would she believe me if I said Naga? 'Idiot. Naga can't speak!'
"Um...yeah. Her name's Micah." I felt my stomach turn a bit. I wondered why I felt so guilty all of a sudden. It's not like we're dating...
"I see." Asami said after another minute. "Well, I was just calling to say hi and how are you-"
"Asami." I gently cut her off. "Are you okay? Just Korra and Asami now. Are you okay?" I had to ask because she didn't sound like it whatsoever. There was such a long pause that followed and it left me wondering if she'd hung up on me.
"...my dad's in prison." She finally said, making my eyes widen in shock.
"What? What happened?" I didn't know what to think. Having spent such a good day out on the water had me feeling a lot lighter, but now? It felt as is the waves just came crashing back down on me. Which only made me shudder to think about what Asami was going through at the moment.
"He was making and selling illegal weapons to the Triads. Chief Beifong and Detective Mako came by to investigate a few leads and found a secret warehouse that was built under the estate." She took a deep, shaky breath. "Korra. I don't know what to do." She sniffled, causing my heart to tear some.
"Hey, it's going to be okay." I was still chewing on my lip.
"No. It's not. How could you possibly think that?" Now she sounded a bit more pissed. It caused me to swallow thickly. If I wasn't careful, this could very well blow up in my face.
"I...don't know that." I admitted. But it did feel like the right thing to say.
"You know what? It's fine. I'm fine." Asami had a scary resolve in her voice and it made me clench my jaw in slight panic.
"Who are you right now?" I found myself asking without thinking. It was true though, the woman I'd fallen for wouldn't have given up so easily. She wouldn't have tried to push me away like she is now. Or would she?
Asami didn't answer right away, but when she did, I felt my stomach drop. "I'm the daughter of an international criminal. I'm breaking news tonight and probably for the rest of my life." She chuckled bitterly.
I let out a sigh mixed with a whole slew of emotions I couldn't put a name to. "You don't trust anyone do you?" Not even me. My fist clenched on it's own accord.
"I trusted my father, but look what happened. Why should I trust anyone else?" There was a frustrated exhale and then she spoke again. "Can I? Can I trust you, Korra?"
"To do what?" I asked, not really following her. She had to question ME? 'Well you ARE spending time with another girl' Turning away from the mirror I was looking at, I wondered out to the balcony. "I mean...what do you want?" I swear I heard her scoff.
"What do I want?" She repeated with a breathless chuckle. "I want the news to stop talking about my father's demise every chance they get. I want to put some of my own designs into production. I...want to keep this company. I want-" Another sharp exhale left her. "I want my mom back. My dad. And I really, really want to see you. That's what I want, Korra."
I felt tears prick my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. One of us needed to be strong and if she was a little tired, I could try. "...Well do it, my lovely."
"Korra, you don't get it." Asami nearly snapped. "I can't. I can't stop the press. I already lost my mom and my dad. I don't think..what if I lose the company? What if..." There was an unfinished thought that made my heart clench at is underlying question. "I do not want the Sato name to go down in history the same way it is right now. I can make mistakes, but I don't want to soil it any more than it has been already." She took another shaky breath.
We stayed on the line for a few more silent minutes. I had no idea what to say still. The strong, confident woman I'd met a few weeks ago seemed to be buried somewhere under all that anxiety. That frustration and weariness. What was worse: I couldn't do anything but listen.
"Just...tell me what to do. Please."
My eyes widened in disbelief. What? "You want me to tell you what to do?" I asked blankly.
"Yes."
I couldn't believe her! How can she possibly think I could do that? I inwardly sighed and then straightened my back, setting my jaw. "You know what to do, Asami."
"No, Korra. I honestly don't." The break was in her voice again and I could only imagine the look of despair on her face. She was lost and needed a guide out of that place. She couldn't go back. Nobody could, but I could remind her.
"Just be the woman I met at the bar." I tried.
"...who? Who was she?" Asami asked in exasperation.
I let a smile slide over my face as I sat down on one of the chairs out there. "A gorgeous woman who wouldn't think to ask anyone, much less me, what to do."
Again, there was silence and that time, I had to check to see if she really hung up or not. Nope. "Oh, Korra." She sniffled suddenly, voice thick with emotion. Crap, you made her cry! Good job, Nutaaq. I was about to start apologizing like crazy when she spoke again. "Thank you, darling."
Relief washed over me andI let out a light chuckle. "Hey, what are friends for?" After the words left my mouth, I let my face fall into my hands. My shoulders drooped in defeat as I shot my own self out of the sky. Again.
"...Yeah." Asami cleared her throat awkwardly, clearly having been thinking about something else. I nibbled on my lip as we fell into silence once again. How many times can I mess up with this woman?!
There was only one thing to do now that I'd buried myself enough. "Ah...are you gonna catch the competition tomorrow?"
"Is that the Maverick's International?" She asked.
"Yes. Yes it is." I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face. She knows more than Bo.
"Okay. Of course. I wouldn't miss it, Korra. Besides, I think it would be a good distraction right about now." She already sounded a little better and it was more than I could ask for currently. "Speaking of distraction: I think I've done that enough for you. I wouldn't want Micah to mess up your high score." She giggled, causing blood to rush to my face.
"A-Asami, about that-"
"It's okay Korra. I understand."
No. No she didn't. I was about to tell her she was thinking all wrong, but she suddenly yawned, making me click my mouth shut. "Hey listen. It's late and we both have things to do tomorrow."
I swallowed what I really wanted to say. It wasn't easy, but I got the feeling that if I tried...I wouldn't get anywhere. We'd be right back where we started. "Okay then." I slowly cleared my throat. "Guess this is goodnight then?"
"You're cute." Her compliment made me splutter and her laughter after that, made me feel like a moron. I couldn't help but think why does everyone keep saying that? Instead, I groaned when her laughter didn't subside.
"Be careful there, Sato." I playfully growled.
"Or what? Whatcha gonna do, Nutaaq?" She challenged.
"You'll find out when Naga and I get back."
"I look forward to it."
"You've been warned, sweetheart."
"Bring it on, sweetie."
"Honey dew."
"Cupcake."
"Cherry pie."
"Baby doll."
"Sugar Wooger."
"..."
"Victory is mine!" I declared before bursting into a fit of giggles with the woman of my dreams. I'll tell her. I'll tell her as soon as I see her.
A/N: I tried to shorten that conversation...heh, it was no use. Hope y'all liked it. One more chapter and then I think it'll actually be done. Yay~