Chapter 20
The ship was sailing towards the Southern Water Tribe. Korra just finished one Air Bending session, and after telling Tenzin she needed to use a bathroom, the avatar promptly run away.
Korra ran before hitting Asami; the two young women promptly fell on the floor. "Korra, are you alright? I am sorry, I," began Asami, "Spirits, am I going to hit you before every time we have adventures?"
"Asami, relax, I am fine. I, could we talk about out life? I am a bit annoyed about Tenzin and wanted to ask for your opinion on what I should do," asked Korra.
"Sure, I will gladly listen to whatever that bothers you," smiled Asami as the two ladies sat on the deck of the ship, facing the ocean.
"Tenzin is making me practice hard, harder than before I even learned Air Bending. I don't understand, doesn't he realize that I defeated Amon! I am the Avatar, and while my three elements are gone, I mastered them. I am already a great Air Bender!"
"Korra," spoke Asami as she put her hand on Korra's shoulder, "Tenzin is wrong of course, you don't need as much practice. You excel at bending. However, you still need some refinement,"
"So are you taking his side?" inquired Korra with a slightly hurt expression.
"No. What I am saying is that you still have more to learn to become an Air Bending Master. But don't worry, you are only eighteen years old, and most Avatars only began to learn their second element at this age. You have plenty of time ahead of you to learn how to become a great Air Bender, and you don't need to rush to master all the techniques,"
"Asami, thank you for understanding. You mean the world to me," spoke Korra as she hugged her girlfriend.
"Korra, I think we should enjoy this trip as much as we can and perhaps train at some points, but not very hard, This is, after all, a vacation, not a boot camp," spoke Asami as the two ladies stood up and went to the dining room, where they saw that Bolin and Mako were talking about something.
There were other people in the dining room, however, two of whom Korra had seen at the trial. "Asami, I think these two were members of the jury," spoke Korra
"Right. Would you like to meet them in person? I already spoken with the two siblings when I was in the process of searching for non benders for the jury," spoke Asami as Korra nodded. The two young women approached the pair.
"Greetings, my name is Avatar Korra, and this is my girlfriend Asami Sato," spoke Korra as she extended her hand.
"It's our pleasure, Avatar Korra and President Asami Sato. My name is Bataar Jr Beifong, and this is my younger sister Opal," spoke Bataar as he greeted the two ladies.
"Wait, Bei Fong? As in Toph Beifong? Are you by any chance related to Chief Lin Beifong?" immediately asked Korra
"She is our Aunt, who has not seen our family since forever," spoke Opal, "But that's OK. Mom hoped that we could talk to Aunt Lin after the trial, but she left before we even had a chance to," spoke Opal
"Since the trial was very long, we decided to take a trip to the Southern Water Tribe. I heard that former Councilman Sokka lived there; he liked to make so many inventions. The man was a genius," spoke Bataar
"Are you an inventor?" asked Asami
"Yes. I am one of the best Zaofu engineers, learning a lot from my dad. He is the best architect and engineer in Zaofu," spoke Bataar.
"Would you like a job at Future Industries? We have many of the brightest minds in the world," suggested Asami as Bataar Jr readily agreed.
"Why don't we introduce you two to our friends?" suggested Korra as she led the three people to Mako and Bolin.
"Hello guys," spoke Korra
"O, hey Korra. How are Tenzin's lessons?" asked Bolin
"Two words. Not fun. Guys, I want to introduce two people, Bataar and Opal Beifong," spoke Korra
"Wait, Beifongs? Are you related to Toph Beifong?" asked Bolin
"Yes," spoke Opal
"Oh, I cannot, I mean Toph is my hero," spoke Bolin
"Hello, my name is Mako, I am a Republic City Police Officer," spoke Mako
"And I am Bolin," spoke Bolin as he extended his arm and shook Opal's hand. The non-bender blushed.
"Opal, I just remembered, I need to write a letter to mother," spoke Bataar as he looked at his sister and left the room.
Korra observed that both Bolin and Opal were lightly staring at each other. "Ahem, lets do something. I remember we played Truth or Dare once," spoke Korra
"But, but that game is boring," spoke Mako
"Only if you tell stupid dares," countered Korra
"I would love to play with you four. I always hoped to meet the Team Avatar. You guys are legends! It's just sad that I am a non bender and I reasoned that you might not wish to talk to me if we were ever to meet," spoke Opal
"Opal, I am a non bender," spoke Asami
"I know, but you are great Asami Sato! You are the President of the Republic City, and the owner of the Future Industries, as well as a great martial artist and a genius inventor. I am just plain Opal,"
"I think we should start the game to lift everybody's moods up," suggested Korra as five teenagers sat on the ground in a circle.
"Bolin, I know you like this game. Why don't you start?"
"I, OK. So Opal, Truth or Dare?" asked Bolin
"Truth," spoke the shy Beifong
"How many siblings do you have?" asked Bolin
"I have four brothers. You have already seen Bataar Jr. He is an inventor. Huan is my second brother; he is an artist. I also have two younger brothers, Wing and Wei, who are twins," replied Opal
"So, you have four brothers," thought Bolin as his desire to ask the new girl out significantly decreased.
"Korra, Truth or Dare?" asked Opal
"Dare," Korra said instantly, knowing that the shy girl would not dare her to do something embarrassing.
"I dare you to show me some of your Air Bending skills. I always admired the element; the Air Benders have such graceful movements," spoke the girl
"Air Bending? Sure!" spoke Korra as she rose briefly by creating a small air current underneath her. The Avatar then created an air ball and rode around the perimeter of the room. She then landed on the floor, and moved gracefully in various directions, sending air currents everywhere.
"Thank you Avatar Korra, you are a natural Air Bender. I am even a little jealous of you for having such an amazing ability," spoke Opal as Korra returned to the group.
"Bolin, Truth or Dare?" asked Korra.
"Dare! I will try a dare!" spoke Bolin as he smiled.
"Oh, its on! I dare you to hug and kiss Opal right here and now! That's it, if she would not mind," grinned Korra
"I? I would not mind," smiled Opal as Bolin leaned and kissed the shy girl.
"Aww, you look so cute," spoke Korra as the Asami and Mako smiled.
"Opal, I forgot to ask you," spoke Bataar Jr as he returned to the room, only to find his baby sister kissing Bolin. Opal was first to notice that her brother returned. Her cheeks turned red, and she immediately ended the kiss.
"I will talk to you later," spoke Opal as she quickly ran away from the room. Korra was amused; she sensed that Bataar was not an overly overprotective older brother. Still, Bolin avoided directly looking at Bataar Jr and quickly journeyed to grab some food. Bataar was unsure how to react; seeing that his sister left the room, he exited as well.
"I guess I will see you later Korra," spoke Mako as he stood up and left the room.
Asami grinned. "Well played Korra, I did not know that you liked to play a matchmaker,"
"Oh common, we both knew that those two had some connection. I just pushed them in the right direction," spoke Korra as she saw a newspaper on the table and grabbed it.
"What is it Korra?" asked Asami
"It's nothing. Wait. Hold on. "Water Tribe Stallion and The Heiress. Lemon"? What is this?" asked Korra as she began reading the first line of the newspaper article.
"Give me that," spoke Tenzin as he appeared in the room, and grabbed the newspaper from Korra's hands.
"Hey, I was reading that!" Korra complained.
"These stories are not good for you!" spoke Tenzin. Korra raised an eyebrow.
"And how do you know that?"
"Well," spoke Tenzin as his face reddened, "When I was younger, I stumbled upon some Linzin lemon newspaper story. When Pema found the article, she was not amused. These stories are horrible. Besides, you are too young to read this mockery of story telling," spoke Tenzin as Asami took the paper and quickly skimmed through the article.
"Wow, this author has such a great and vivid imagination! Oh, I never considered this, maybe we should," began Asami as she the looked at her girlfriend.
"Asami, what's a lemon?" asked Korra
"Wait, Korra, you still have not received the talk?" asked Tenzin
"The Talk? I received many talks, mainly from you on just how poor of a Avatar I am," spoke Korra
"Tenzin, Korra thinks that a spirit crane delivers babies to their parents," spoke Asami as the room became silent.
"Korra, come with me, we need to talk about something," spoke Tenzin, "I promise I will not teach you any Air Bending today,"
"Fine," agreed Korra as she left with her teacher.
The two disappeared for twenty minutes. Asami sat on a chair, reading the newspaper when she saw that Korra slowly entered the room. Asami threw the paper on the table and approached her friend.
"Korra?" Asami asked her girlfriend but the Avatar was silent. She looked mortified.
"Korra, is everything OK?" asked Asami
"No," answered Korra as she blushed.
"Korra, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Come, I think you might find this article entertaining," spoke Asami as the two approached the table. Korra sat on a chair and began reading. When she read the fifth line, her face became red, and the Avatar fell off her chair on the floor.
"Korra!" screamed Asami as Bolin approached his friends.
"Korra?"
"She is fine, she just lost consciousness," spoke Asami as Bolin grabbed the newspaper.
"Oh Wow,"
Asami saw this and immediately grabbed the paper. "Nobody but Korra and I would read some stories with such content about us," spoke Asami as she took the newspaper from Bolin
Asami lifted Korra and carried the Avatar to her bedroom. Korra awoke an hour later. As she sat up, the Avatar noticed that Asami sat on her bed.
"Korra, are you all right?" asked Asami
"I, I don't know what to say. This lecture was definitively something," spoke Korra
"You had to learn about it sooner or later," spoke Asami
"It is still embarrassing," spoke Korra as she lightly sat on the bed, looking at Asami.
"Wait, why are you looking at me like that?" asked Asami as Korra looked directly at Asami and leaned closer to hug her girlfriend. The two ladies lost balance, and fell on the floor, laughing.
Next morning, the ship was approaching the destination. Mako and Bolin decided to eat breakfast before going on land. As they were eating, they saw that Asami and Korra entered the room; their hair was very messy, and it seemed that both women have not slept much.
"Are you alright?" asked Bolin as Mako glared at his brother.
"Oh, its alright. How could I help you, would you like some noodles? Perhaps soup?" asked Bolin as Korra quickly nodded. When she received her food, the Avatar properly attacked it and ate the noodles quickly,
"Mako, and you say I have a big appetite," spoke Bolin as Asami glared at the boy.
After the meal, the four members of Team Avatar packed their belongings and exited the ship.
A/N: I decided to write a very silly chapter, since the next chapters will be much more serious in tone. Since someone asked whether someone give the Talk to Korra, well, this chapter is the answer. Also, I think it is clear, but I set up a Love Triangle in this chapter, which will become obvious in the future. It will not involve Korra, since both Korra and Asami are equally happy with their relationship. Also, I thought it would be interesting to provide a parallel to Mako/Korra's conversation from Book 2 Episode 1, with Asami now giving advice.