Chapter 2
Warmth
Korra's parents were on their feet in an instant. They were on either side of the heiress, a hand on each of her shoulders to help support her.
"Korra…" Asami mumbled, her lids shutting as her skin appreciated the warmth radiating from the Southerner.
"I've got you, Asami." Korra adjusted her hold, tears breaching her lids.
"Asami, what happened," Senna gasped as she gained sight of the rather large gash in the back of Asami's right leg. She reached over and pulled some of the fabric away from the bleeding wound. She popped the cap on Tonraq's water pouch before waiting for a response and Bent some water to the injury, not even bothering to take the container from her husband's shoulder.
Korra looked over the engineer's shoulder and stared at her blood-soaked pantleg. Her eyes widened in horror. "Asami, your leg – you're bleeding. What happened?"
"Wha – what?" Her voice was but a mutter, her head fuzzy from blood loss and the cold, not to mention lack of sleep and food from the past day of fervent searching.
She stared at Asami in terrified silence for several long, painstaking minutes as her mother tried to eagerly repair the injury.
Asami…
"There we go. The wound is all healed up on the outside so the bleeding will stop. Luckily there wasn't too much internal damage. I'll probably have to do more work on it later, but for now, I need to wait until you recover a bit. Here: drink something. It'll help you get your strength back. " Senna rushed over to her bag and pulled a water flask from it. She scurried back to the raven and held the bottle up to her lips. "Help her sit up straight, you two."
Korra and Tonraq nodded as they altered her position. They ignored the pacing polar bear behind them, her anxious paws loud against the frozen ground of the clearing.
"Easy, Asami. Little sips. Just breathe and drink." She tilted the container at a low angle and watched her take the water in in slow gulps until the flask was drained dry.
"That – that feels a lot better. Thank-you." Asami tried to pull away and hold herself up but only slipped in the process.
"Easy, easy." Korra grabbed a firm hold of her and brought her to her torso. She held the woman against her and rubbed her back, worry pulsing through her body.
Is this what I looked like when I was falling all over the place in the Fire Nation?
Her own fatigue became apparent to her with the thought, but she refused to yield to it. She sat down and kept the engineer close to her. "When was the last time you ate anything? When was the last time you slept?"
Asami just shook her head, curling herself into Korra's arms like a child into a mother's lap.
"Mom, can you bring me my bag? I've got some fruit in there from the Temple that she can eat. I think I've got enough in there for an even split between us all."
Senna nodded and retrieved her daughter's carrier.
Korra pulled the ties open, careful not only to keep the engineer upright with one arm, but to keep her Fire Nation books hidden from sight with her other. She removed all of the food items from her bag, which consisted of a few handfuls of lychee nuts and several apples – the former of which were from the Fire Nation while the latter were given to her by Pema just before she left with Tenzin to head to Future Industries. "I know it's not much, but it will hold us off until the morning." She grabbed one of the lychee nuts and shifted Asami so that she could see her face. "Eat. It seems like you've lost a lot of blood and you need to get your blood sugar up." She held the fruit up to the woman while her parents watched.
"I can do it." She crawled out of the brunette's hold in her own form of stubbornness and took the lychee nut from her hand. She struggled with peeling the skin off, though she was determined not to show any more weakness to the Southerners; she didn't like being vulnerable, despite how poor she felt right now. She didn't think her exhaustion and blood loss would have this much of an effect on her. She got the fruit open regardless and ate the pulp around the inedible pit. The rush of sweet, sugary deliciousness perked her up enough for her to sit up on her own. She ripped through the second one and cleared her head. After the fourth, she felt much like herself again, though she still felt a bit groggy from the blood loss. At least her brain was starting to work, and for now, that's all she needed.
Korra sat beside her and smiled, her heart simmering as some of the color returned to the raven's face. "Here, have an apple. You too, Naga." She twisted and tossed one of the fruit in the air.
The polar bear dog caught it in her mouth and ate the entire thing after two chomps. She let out a cheerful bark afterwards.
She grinned and returned her attention to the heiress, a supportive arm around her torso. She handed her the other apple and refused to look away until Asami took a bite. She smirked and locked onto her parents, who were sitting together across the fire with their own portion of Korra's food, eyes analyzing the pair of teens before them. "Thank-you for healing her, mom." There was a deep sincerity Korra's voice and expression that wasn't hard for either of them to see.
Senna smiled and nodded.
"Yes… thank-you. I would have bled out if it wasn't for you. I don't know why I didn't clot. Maybe it was just the rush –"
"It's alright, Asami. I was happy to help. But what happened? How did you get that big of a gash on your leg?"
She shifted and swallowed her current bite of apple. "I ran into some hog monkeys when I was getting the bags. I tried to lure them away with lychee nuts, but one of them caught on and bit me. I guess I just forgot about it in all of the excitement." She looked away, a sheepish expression on her face.
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, Asami. Hog monkeys can be pretty dangerous."
Asami glanced at the Water Tribe girl's eyes and grinned in appreciation.
Tonraq's yawn broke their attention away from each other. He rose and stretched his arms out before rubbing his hands across his outer robe. "It's getting colder by the minute, it seems, and those clouds don't look too promising." He stared up at the sky, watching the massive puffs move past the moon, muffling her light. "They look different than the ones we saw earlier. At least they seem to be heading away from us." He shook his head to gain focus. "Anyway, it's late. We should really get some rest while we can. And judging by everyone's faces, we really need it."
A massive gust blew through them, prompting each of them to hold their elbows for warmth. They nodded in agreement.
"I'll head out to the river and get some water for ice tents." Senna rose and stood next to her husband. "I won't be long." She pecked his cheek and slid the water pouch from his shoulder. When he shot her a confused expression, she smirked. "If there are wild hog monkeys running about, I want something to keep myself protected. There aren't any fire hydrants nearby like there are in the City."
Tonraq grinned. "Fair enough. I'll collect some more firewood. Will you two be alright by yourselves?"
It took everything in them not to look at each other or blush.
"We'll be fine; no worries. We've got Naga here to protect us, too!"
The polar bear dog let out a mighty roar to prove Korra's point.
He nodded and made his way to the edge of the clearing to gather more branches.
"How are you feeling, Asami?" She spoke in a low tone, her arm still around the engineer.
"A lot better." She tossed her core to the side and locked onto Korra's eyes. "I'm so glad you're here."
The Southerner smiled and slid her right hand from around the engineer's torso to her pale cheek. She tangled her fingertips into her raven locks. "Me, too."
"Wait, let me see your hand." Asami pulled on her tan wrist and removed the palm from the left side of her face. She rotated her hand until her somewhat bruised knuckles were visible. Though the injury was almost healed, it was still potent enough for the heiress to see. "What happened? Did you punch something again?"
Korra nodded, a sheepish blush on her cheeks.
"You really need to stop hitting things when you're angry. It's not healthy."
She dropped her eyes and bobbed her head. "I know, I know. I should invest in a punching bag."
Asami giggled. "I guess you should." She lifted the hand to her face, as if to kiss the injury, but stopped herself. Her heart sunk in a nervous pulse.
What am I doing?
Are you crazy, Asami?
No, I'm not crazy. I just – I wasn't thinking. Is it too soon?
If you have to ask, then yes, it is.
She couldn't stop the motion now. Instead of pecking the bruises, she brought Korra's hand to her cheek and held it there, surrounding its other side with her closed fingers.
The Southerner smiled and stroked her pale skin with her thumb. "Asami –"
"I think this should be enough wood to last us the night." Tonraq tossed a large amount of thick branches next to the small pile that Korra had made earlier in the night.
Korra and Asami separated in an instant and looked away, hiding their blushes.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yeah – yeah, everything is fine. Just – uh – checking on Asami to make sure she isn't going to pass out or anything – from the – the blood loss."
Oh, Korra; you're such a terrible liar. Asami had to refrain from face palming. Instead, she shot the Water Tribe Warrior a reassuring look.
He glanced between the pair with squinted eyes. "Alright. Korra, can you help me add some wood to the fire? I want to expand it a little bit so that it reaches all of the tents."
"Sure." Korra took her time standing – knowing all too well that she was prone to swaying in her fatigue – and staggered over to her father.
The engineer tucked her knees up to her chest and watched them, thankful that they were building up the flames; she was nowhere near warm. She fought her shivering, though, to prevent showing any sort of weakness to the arctic-hardened Southerners.
This must be summer weather to them.
She rotated when Senna returned, swirling a great amount of water over her head. She observed in amazement as the liquid moved in a slow vortex, defying the laws of Non-Bender physics as it remained suspended in the air.
"Tonraq, can you help me make the tents?"
He dropped a final piece of wood on the fire and turned to his wife. "Of course." He widened his stance and commanded the water with the movement of his arms. He directed about half of the fluid to one side of the fire in a single flowing motion and clenched his fingers to freeze it into a rather large ice tent. He repeated this with the remaining liquid to create two smaller, separate tents. "Let's get some rest. We've been up for way too long.
"Here, Korra," Senna dug in her bag and handed her a pelt.
"Thanks, mom." She smiled and wrapped the fur around her torso.
"Would you help Asami get set up, Tonraq? I'll help Korra get settled."
"I don't need help, mom."
She chuckled and led her daughter to her ice tent. "I was going to Bend part of your tent away so that Naga could poke her head inside," she whispered as the pair crawled into the structure.
"Oh!" Korra grinned as she shadowed her mother's lead, her bag flung over her shoulder as they crossed the campground.
Naga followed them, wagging her tail and pawing at the outside of the temporary shelter after overhearing the murmur.
A small splash of water on the ground followed. The polar bear dog barked and slid her head into the tent. A slurping sound and laughing pleas echoed in muffles from the structure.
Asami smiled and staggered to her feet; like Tonraq said, they had been up for too long, and her leg was still adjusting from her healed injury. She shook it several times, a mild tingly and a strong soreness radiating from her calf. She turned to the Water Tribe Warrior and watched him to distract herself from the pain. A surge of emotion filled her, the tired lines and shadows of his face telling her more than anything she could have picked up arguing with him in the past day and a half that they had spent together. She recalled their journey to find Korra and felt her insides twist. Seeing no emergence of Korra from her tent, she walked to his. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Tonraq?"
"If you want one of these, you're out of luck. We only brought two of them and Korra already has the other one." He straightened from tossing his pelt into the entrance of his ice shelter and locked onto her eyes. "That's not what you wanted to talk about though, is it?"
She shook her head. "I want to apologize for some of the things I said to you." She didn't think they were untrue statements, but she felt just enough guilt to speak to him about it. "I haven't slept since the night before we learned Korra was missing and I guess everything just got the best of me. But that's no excuse. I know you care about Korra, and I let my concern for her overshadow yours as if yours wasn't important or adequate when it was. I'm sorry."
He nodded. "I accept your apology, Asami. Now get some rest. We have a long day ahead tomorrow and you need to relax that leg of yours until Senna can take a look at it in the morning."
Asami bobbed and hobbled over to her tent. She crawled inside and curled into herself. Being surrounded by ice didn't do much to protect her from the cold. Her tent was also quite thin, compared to the other two. She lay on her side and stared at the portion of the fire she could see. It seemed to be miles away from her in her discomfort.
Just close your eyes and sleep, Asami. Let it go. Tomorrow is a new day.
She watched Senna cross the campground and crawl into her and her husband's shelter before shutting her lids. Sleep would not come to her no matter how hard she tried. She was too cold and her thoughts were too rampant. Her stomach growled again, not satisfied from the small amount of fruit she already consumed. She tossed and turned, fighting the urge to stay awake. Nothing seemed to work. She eyed the tent to her right, looking and listening for any sort of movement from the Southern couple. When she determined they were fast asleep, she flicked over to the structure on her left. Naga had her head poked inside of it, her massive body sleeping on the exterior. She couldn't see Korra from her position, but it didn't stop her. She crawled from her ice tent, hesitated for a moment, and made the short walk past the fire to the Water Tribe girl she had missed so much.
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