Task: Show two very different sides of one person's personality.

Prompts: (word) torn, (object) mirror, (taste) pineapple, (smell) fresh fruit

Word Count: 3094

Main Characters: Asami

Summary: Asami breezes through life while Korra is away at the South Pole. During the day, she is the perfect image of a beautiful/successful business mogul. But, when she revives a letter from Korra, she's just a heartbroken girl.

The Letter

Asami leaned back in her cushy, leather office chair. She raised her arms into the air in a comically large stretch. Nobody was around, she could afford to let down her corporate persona for a second. More than that, if she got lucky. Unfortunately, she wasn't usually that lucky. Without a doubt, someone would come knocking at her door any moment. She looked over at the door, half expecting to see some sign that someone was out there right now, their hand poised in the air, about to knock. The harsh rapping of knuckles on wood never came. She sighed and got back to work.

That was just how things worked for the CEO of the largest and wealthiest company in Republic City. Asami thrived off of the energy most of the time, but it made getting any work done that required quiet concentration nearly impossible. The thought of taking some of the paperwork home to look over her crossed her mind for the nth time today. But like every time before, Asami decided against that course of action. She knew concentrating at home wasn't going to be a possibility, either. There were too many memories there, and she got lost in them every night. She bit her lip, worry for Korra welled up in her chest.

"Miss Sato?"

Asami looked up from her papers with a start. All of the muscles in her body tensed for a fight, but relaxed just a quickly when she saw it was just her secretary, Akash. She leaned back in her chair and placed a hand over her heart. "Oh. It's just you."

"Apologies for startling you, Miss Sato." He bowed slightly. "I thought you might be hungry." He glanced up at Asami. Attentively waiting for her answer.

Asami tried to think back to the last time she ate. But, after quickly running through the last three days in her mind, she couldn't recall stopping to eat once. It was odd, though, as she didn't feel hungry in the slightest. The fact that she couldn't remember the last time she ate was disturbing. She was responsible for the livelihoods too many people to drop the ball in that way. Taking care of herself was just as important to Future Industries as any of her inventions, if not more so. It was important to get something nutritious in her system, so she could keep up with the blistering pace of life in Republic City.

"Just bring me something light and healthy. I'm not too hungry." Asami picked up a red pen from a coffee cup full of writing utensils and got back to work before her mind started to wander again.

"Right away." Akash turned on his heels and was gone from the room to procure Asami's meal.

Asami hunched over her work. It was time to put her nose to the grindstone.

Akash returned to see Asami completely engrossed with her task, so he placed the fruit and cheese platter he was holding onto the only corner of the desk free of papers and left without a word.

The smell of fresh fruit made Asami's mouth water. She reached over to the platter, her eyes kept their laser focus on her papers. Multi-tasking was a must in this business. Asami plucked the first bit of food that touched her fingers off of the platter and popped it into her mouth. She bit down on the morsel and an explosion of sweet, pineapple flavor permeated her taste buds. A small moan escaped her lips and the tenseness in her shoulders released just a little. Asami's stomach grumbled in approval. Had it really been that long since she'd eaten? She still couldn't believe she'd been that irresponsible. It didn't matter now, she told herself. The food was here now. And she'd take care of herself moving forward. Or would try harder, at any rate. She continued to pick at the plater.

Editing, signing, stamping. The pile of paper on Asami's desk started to shrink. Stamping more, editing more, editing even more, more signing. Asami paused to massage her temples. A small sip of water. She wished for something stronger, but it was much too early for that. Stamping, signing. Editing. So many things to stamp. Her arm grew tired from the whole affair.

"Miss Sato?"

Asami looked up from her papers. It was Akash again. Hadn't he just disturbed her a moment ago? "Yes?"

"President Raiko has arrived."

It was far too early for her meeting with the president. She'd only just arrived, and Raiko was not the punctual type. Asami looked over at the clock. When the time on its face registered, Asami jumped to her feet. Several hours had flown by. She was the one who was nearly an hour late for their meeting.

Asami walked over to her floor length mirror. "How long has he been waiting?" She straightened her clothes and pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail.

Akash walked over to Asami. He produced a lint brush from his sleeve and ran it over Asami's outfit. "Not too long, ma'am."

For once, Asami was happy about the president's lack of punctuality. She gave Akash a nod. "Thank you. Bring him in."

"Of course." Akash stopped brushing for lint and strode out the door.

Asami took one last look in the mirror. Everything was in it's proper place. She walked back to her desk and straightened the remaining papers. She sighed in relief. The stacks looked much more manageable. It wouldn't take her too much time to finish up after her meeting.

The knob of office door clicked. Asami crossed to the front of her desk and placed her arms behind her back. She always made sure the first image visitors saw of her was a one of strength.

Akash entered and held the door open for the president.

Asami put on her winningest smile. Raiko had never been her favorite person, but for the sake of appearances - and, more importantly, for the sake of her company - she had schmooze a bit. "President Raiko," Asami took a few steps forward and extended her hand. "I apologize for the delay. Shall we get started?"

Raiko took Asami's hand and shook firmly. "Yes. Indeed. What do you have to show me today?"

"If you'll follow me, sir, I can show you our most recent scale model of Central City Station. It has all the changes we discussed last week." Asami gestured toward the door and they headed in that directions while continuing their conversation. "Plus a few extra modifications I added myself. I think you'll be pleased."

"Well, I certainly hope so. After all these iterations, is this project even on track to be finished before Prince Wu's coronation?"

Asami ignored his indignant tone. Now wasn't the time to be offended by an old man's ignorance, it was time to do business. And she wanted to keep this contract, it was too public to lose without some backlash from the public, even knowing Future Industries was in a financial position to be selective with its clientele. "I guarantee we can have the retrofitting completed long before the coronation."

President Raiko nodded. Asami held the door open for him and they walked into the hallway.

Raiko smoothed his mustache. "Even if the current iteration should need more adjustments?"

"Yes, Mr. President. Prince Wu's coronation is still a little more than a year away. As long as we begin sometime in the next few months, we'll be able to complete the remodel with plenty of time to spare. That leave plenty of time to adapt our current design."

"Good."

Asami missed the paperwork already. It was more interesting than talking with President Raiko by a longshot.

As soon as she was out of the crowded streets of downtown Republic City, Asami pressed down gas. Slowly, until there was no space between her foot and the floor. The exhilaration brought on by breakneck speeds was irreplaceable. And after a long, stressful day, speed was the best way to start the night.

It was still light out, but just barely. Asami rarely ever left the office before dark. She decided to celebrate by taking the long way home. The tires screeched around tight mountain curves. The roar of the engine muted even the sound of the wind on the long straightaways. Asami's lips curved upward into a slight smile.

By the time Asami pulled up the long driveway of the Sato Estate, she was breathless and wide awake. Her hands were shaking so violently, she could barely get them off of the steering wheel.

"Did you have a good day, Miss Sato?" One of Asami's servants opened the driver side door for her to exit the vehicle.

"Yes," Asami took a deep breath, "thank you." She would never dream to bother her staff with how she was really feeling. Pleasantries were more than enough. Asami removed her driving gloves and placed them in her bag. "Make sure she get a oil change before tomorrow, the engine seems a bit too loud."

He bowed. "Of course, Miss Sato."

Asami jogged up the stairs. She knew getting to sleep would be impossible after such a rousing joyride. To make the best use of her time, she wanted to start brainstorming some plausible solutions to the new issues President Raiko had brought up in regards to Central City Station in their meeting today. It would be a waste to not do something productive with this energy. Several ideas were bouncing around in her head, and she needed to get them down on paper before they escaped her.

When she reached the front door, it opened. Takahashi, her longest running and most trusted employee, greeted her with a smile. "Good evening, Miss Sato. Would you like to take dinner tonight?"

"No. I have some work I need to-" Asami remembered the promise she made to herself that morning. She needed to take better care of herself. "Actually, I'll take it in my study."

"As you wish ma'am." He bowed.

Asami started to head up the stairs.

"There is another matter, Miss Sato."

She stopped and half turned back toward Takahashi in mid-stride. "Oh? What is it?"

"A letter arrived for you today…"

Asami cocked an eyebrow at him. It certainly wasn't unusual for her to receive several letters a day. In fact, she had most prescreened to ensure that they were worth taking time out of her busy schedule to answer. Most of them weren't worth that kind of time. For Takahashi to mention something that was typically unimportant, it must be a letter of some significance. As far as Asami could recall, she wasn't expecting any important documents to be sent by mail.

"...from Avatar Korra." Takahashi pulled an envelope from his inside suit pocket.

Asami blinked a couple of times to ensure that she wasn't imagining the plain, white envelope in Takahashi's hand. A dizzy spell overcame her, and she had to grab the stair railing to maintain her balance. After writing Korra every week since she returned to the South Pole and never receiving a response, she had a hard time believing that her friend had finally - and quite suddenly - written her back. Asami eyed the broken seal. Although it was Takahashi's job to view her mail, anger welled up in her gut at the thought of him viewing such a personal correspondence.

"You read it?"

Takahashi must have seen the rage in his mistress's eyes. He was quick to beg her perdon. "Forgive me, Miss Sato. I knew it was of great importance to you. I wanted to ensure that it was truly from the Avatar. It wouldn't have been the first letter addressed to you that claimed to be written by her. Some people do some horrendous things to have their voice heard. This one, however, seems legitimate." He walked to an arms length of Asami and extended the letter to her.

Asami reached for the letter with a trembling hand. Her thumb and index finger pinched down around the envelope in an iron grip and she pulled the letter back toward her chest. She couldn't believe people would do that to her. Sending her letters in Korra's name just so she would read them sooner! Takahashi had been protecting her this whole time. Asami cleared her throat. She tried to make it as devoid of emotion as possible, but was unable to stop her voice from cracking. "Thank you."

"Is there anything else you require of me, ma'am?"

"Just a question: What do you do with all the fake letters?"

Takahashi's stern face twitched. "Straight into the fireplace."

A stifled laugh escaped Asami's lips. "Good man."

Takahashi bowed and turned toward the kitchen.

"One more thing, actually." Asami yelled from the foot of the stairs. "No one is to bother me for the rest of the evening."

"And dinner?"

She clutched the letter more tightly to her breast. "I've suddenly lost my appetite."

He bowed once more. "As you wish."

Asami turned away from him and ran up the stairs. Now that she had Korra's letter in her hands, everything was different. Work could wait. The most important thing for her was to read this letter as soon as possible and send a reply off to Korra at the South Pole. Asami tore into the study and plopped down in her chair. She turned the desk lamp for reading, but was otherwise sitting in darkness. Asami held out the envelope with both hands. It was almost oppressively bright under the yellow light. Asami had to wait a moment while her eyes adjusted. All of the waiting - all of the grief - just for this tiny piece of paper.

Without even opening the envelope she could tell it was the real deal. It was from Korra and no one else. There was no mistaking Korra's messy scrawl addressing the letter to the United Republic of Nation, Republic City, Sato Estate, and finally, to Asami herself. Asami's bottom lip quivered and a single tear ran down her cheek. She had given up hope of Korra sending a letter to her in return.

Asami couldn't wait any longer. She turned the envelope over, flipped open the broken seal, and pulled its contents out. It took several deep breaths before Asami felt she was ready to read Korra's words, but when Asami finally started, she devoured them:

Dear Asami,

I'm sorry I haven't written to you sooner, but everytime I've tried, I never know what to say. These past two years have been the hardest of my life. Even though I can get around fine now, I still can't go into the avatar state. I keep having these visions of Zaheer and what happened that day. Katara thinks a lot of this is in my head, so I've been meditating a lot, but sometimes I worry I'll never fully recover. Please tell Mako and Bolin that I wrote to you and not them. I don't want to hurt their feelings, but it's easier to tell you about this stuff. I don't think they'd understand.

That's great about your big contract. Republic City really needs you. I'm more than a little envious.

I miss you, too. It shouldn't be too much longer until I return, so hang in there.

With Love,

Korra

Asami looked at the back of the page expectantly, but frowned when she saw that it was blank. It was true that Korra had closed the letter, but it seemed too short. Asami wanted to know so much more. She wanted to know everything! She longed to see Korra again. Her goofy eyes, her sparkling blue eyes, her - everything. Tears were streaming down her face, now, and they showed no sign of abating.

In lieu of more content, Asami did the only thing she could do to feel closer to Korra. She read the letter again.

Asami's heart ached for Korra. Although, her friend had said so very little, each word spoke volumes of the deep depression the Avatar was experiencing. After reading her letter, it was easy for her to forgive Korra for not writing sooner. It clearly had taken all the strength Korra had just to send this letter. In place of anger, Asami felt pride. Korra had chosen to write to her over Mako, Bolin, and anyone else. It validated all of the feelings she'd been expereince since Korra had left. The feelings that caused an uncontrollable torrent of tears. The feelings that she tried to hide from by losing herself in her work.

Asami leaned back in her chair and placed her face in her hands. Asami had done her best to avoid thinking about Korra. She didn't want to confront her feelings, but now they were staring her right in the face, and the love she held for Korra was strong. Frighteningly strong.

From the drawers of her desk, Asami took a black piece of paper and a pen. She wrote:

Dear Korra,

Asami grunted in frustration and tore up the paper. She pulled out another blank page and tried again:

Korra,

I love you.

She slammed her head into the desktop. Asami couldn't say that! Even if that was how she felt, it was too blunt. She shredded that one with even more predigest than the first paper.

Asami pulled out an entire stack of blank paper. She looked down at the two torn up pages at her feet. This must have been what Korra was talking about when she said she never knew what to say. There were so many things to say, but finding the right words - or just having the courage to say the words Asami already knew were the right ones - was too difficult.

The pen she had been using clattered on the desktop and Asami got down on hands and knees. The light from her desk lamp didn't extended all the way to the ground, so Asami had to use touch to find all . Once she gathered all the torn bits, Asami sat back down at her desk and laid all of the tiny pieces out. It took her several minutes to parse through them to find the ones she wanted. She taped them back together. They read:

Dear Korra,

I love you.

Asami turned off the light, laid her head on the desk, and closed her eyes.

In the morning, she would find the right words to finish the letter. But for now, "I love you" was more than sufficient.

I hope you enjoyed! :)