Korra settled back into the comfort of the Satomobile's leather seats. They were speeding down the highway, heading towards Air Temple Island. The scenery had changed from bustling streets to the open waters of the bay. As they sped down the road, Korra thought back to the afternoon just gone. Their time in the coffee shop, followed by a walk by the river in Avatar Kyoshi Park. The time had flown by and soon enough, Korra realized that she was late for dinner. Asami had her foot down to get them back as soon as possible. They were soon enough outside the gates to Air Temple Island. Asami slowed the car down to a halt outside the gates. Korra noticed the change in speed and looked up to she the reason. Two White Lotus guards, in full body armor. One moved towards the car with a clipboard in his hand. He looked down at it, his face twisting into one of confusion. Korra suddenly realized what was happening, a pit forming in her stomach.
"What's going on?" Asami asked her, turning to look at her. Korra continued to look straight at the guard, sinking lower into her seat.
"I forgot about the security." Korra said, in a quiet voice. "They have a schedule of arriving visitors; they get really touchy when some-one turns up uninvited."
"But, you live here. Surely it'll be fine." Asami said, slight worry running through her voice. She watched Korra sink lower and lower into her seat. Korra new that she would get in fine. It's what they might say that would be the problem. Korra noticed the guard with the clipboard talk into his radio, inaudible at the distance he was. He moved over to the car, looking at both girls.
"State your name and business." He said in an authorative voice. Asami looked over at Korra, who was now halfway down her seat, trying to avoid the guards vision.
"Um, Asami Sato, and I'm dropping my friend off." Asami said to the guard, who was now trying to catch a glimpse of Korra in the passenger seat.
"And your friend is?" The guard was now moving round the car to get a better look at Korra. Asami started to worry. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting like this? A hand suddenly clamped down on the guard's shoulder. He jumped a foot into the air, dropping his clipboard and twisting round into a fighting stance. He looked up to find himself facing Tenzin.
"It's alright, they can come through." Tenzin said. The guard retracted from his stance.
"But, sir, they aren't on the list. And one of them won't give their name, it's completely against…" Tenzin looked down to the guard with a steely gaze.
"I said, they can come through." The guard took a moment, looking over at the other guard, who was already in the process of opening the gates. Soon enough, he had moved. Asami started the engine again, slowly driving up the path, glancing over to Korra. She had moved back up her seat into a proper seated positon. They drove up the driveway, towards the majestic temple. Asami swung the car round in front of the entrance and killed the engine. Both girls got out of the car and turned to the front door. Asami was surprised to see Tenzin standing there.
"Uh, how did he…" Asami whispered to Korra, pointing to Tenzin. Korra turned to her.
"Airbending. It's best not to question it." Korra said.
"I believe some introductions are in order." Tenzin said, making his way down the steps from the door toward them. "My name is Tenzin, I'm Korra's guardian while she is in Republic City." He reached out a hand for Asami to shake. She took it.
"Asami Sato, Korra's… friend." She said, releasing Tenzin's hand at the end of her sentence. She looked at Korra, who was shuffling her feet awkwardly. Asami found it oddly sweet, how a physically and mentally strong individual like Korra gets embarrassed like that. She turned back to Tenzin who had now been joined by a woman in air acolyte robes. She walked up to Asami and took her by the hand.
"If I'd known Korra was bringing company, I would have made more food. I'm sure we can fit another space on the table." The woman said to Asami, smiling up at her. She was about the same height as Korra, with long brown hair tied into a messy bun. She was of Earth Kingdom origin, by Asami's guess. Tenzin moved next to the woman, placing his hands on her shoulders and pulling her back slightly.
"Pema, please. You're scaring the poor girl." He looked to Asami. "I apologize for my wife, she can be a bit… forward. You are more than welcome to stay, if you wish." Asami looked at Korra, who was standing by her side, still staring at her feet. She took the waterbender's hand in hers, looking into those deep blue eyes. Korra looked back at her, smiling weakly and raising a shoulder.
"I'd love to stay." Asami said, smiling back at Korra, then turning to face her hosts, "I'll have to call my dad, tell him I'll be home late."
"Well, don't be too long, food is almost done, and I'm sure the kids will try everything in their power to get it as early as possible." Pema said, turning on the spot and going back inside, along with Tenzin. Before Tenzin entered, he turned back to Korra.
"By the way, Korra, there's someone else here to see you." He opened the door, and was suddenly lost in a bundle of white fur, one that came bounding out of the house and made a straight course for Korra. It collided with her at great speed, knocking over not only Korra, but Asami with her. Korra looked up through a flurry of licking and nuzzling to see a large white polar husky in a blue harness.
"NAGA!" She cried, throwing her arms around the dog, scratching her behind the ear. She pushed her off and sat up, watching the dog jump around in front of her. Korra helped Asami sit up right. "Asami, meet Naga, my longest and best friend. Naga, this is Asami." Naga jumped up to greet Asami, licking her face and wagging her tail. "She likes you." Korra said. Asami laughed, stroking Naga's head.
"Is that a good thing?" Asami asked. Korra raised an eyebrow.
"Well, if she didn't, I'd think that there's something wrong with you. Naga's a very good judge of character." Korra said, matter-of-factly.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Asami said, looking back at Korra. She smiled at her, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. Korra giggled.
"Shouldn't you be calling your dad?" Korra asked, tickling Naga's belly.
"Oh, yeah. Gimme a sec." She pushed herself onto her feet, walking a few feet away from Korra and Naga. Korra watched as Asami punched a few numbers into her phone and raise it to her ear. Korra busied herself with Naga, who had somehow made her way into Korra's lap, pushing her head under Korra's hand to be stroked. About a minute later, Asami returned. Korra looked up to her and smiled.
"All good?" Korra asked.
"Yeah, Dad just wants me home before it gets too dark." Asami answered, holding out a hand help Korra up. Korra moved Naga away, taking Asami's hand and pulling herself up. Once she was up, Korra didn't let go, instead leading Asami towards the house. Naga followed close behind, rubbing up against Korra's leg as they went. Korra opened the door and lead Asami to the dining room. They walked into a scene of total chaos, with Pema chasing after 3 orange blurs whizzing round the room, while Tenzin was shouting at the top of his voice.
"JINORA! IKKI! MEELO! SIT DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Tenzin screamed. It didn't seem to do anything.
"Hey guys, calm down!" Korra yelled. The 3 blurs suddenly disappeared and Korra was being embraced by 3 children, 2 girls and a boy.
"Korra! We missed you! How was your day?" the eldest girl said. She had a head of brown hair, styled into a bob with a bun to the side.
"My day was great, Jinora. I missed you guys too." Korra laughed. The three children had now let go of Korra, but were still crowding her.
"What was school like? Did you make friends? Are they nice? What lessons did you have? Were the teachers nice?" The other girl blurted out, her mouth going a mile a minute.
"Ikki, give Korra some room to breath. There'll be more than enough time to ask questions after dinner." Pema said, leading her daughters back to the table. Asami looked down to find the small boy looking up at her.
"Who are you? Are you Korra's girlfriend?" he asked. Asami was taken aback by the question. She turned to Korra, who had gone bright red and completely stiff. Asami squeezed her hand, smiling at her.
"Yes, I am. My name is Asami." She said, feeling Korra's grip tighten slightly as she confirmed the young boy suspicions. He smiled up at her.
"My name's Meelo. You're really pretty." He said, still beaming. Asami chuckled.
"Thank you, Meelo. That's really nice of you to say." She watched as Meelo took a seat next to his father, leaving two seats opposite Jinora and Ikki for the girls. Pema had left the room to get the food. As the girls sat, Ikki leaned over the table.
"So how did you two meet? Was it really romantic, like those books Korra has in her room?" Korra's shade of red went brighter.
"How do you know what's in my room?" Korra demanded. Asami placed and hand on Korra's lap, getting her to calm down. Tenzin sighed and turned to his daughter.
"Ikki, we don't ask questions like that. And stay out of Korra's room." Ikki looked sulkily at the table.
"It's OK, it's a good question." Asami said to Tenzin. She turned to Ikki, who had perked up at the idea of a story. "I met Korra at school. Our friend Bolin introduced us to each other, and we just seemed to hit it off. I asked her out for coffee, and things just took off from there." Jinora and Ikki sighed.
"That's so romantic." Jinora said, leaning her head on her hands. Korra laughed nervously to herself. Asami squeezed Korra's leg again, feeling her tremble slightly at the moment of pressure. Asami giggled to herself, leaning over to kiss Korra. A moment before their lips made contact, Tenzin coughed loudly.
"Ladies, this is a dinner table, so if you'll please refrain from that for the moment." Korra went an even brighter shade of red, while Asami giggled. Meelo started to bounce in his seat.
"So does that mean Asami knows Korra's big secret?" In a moment, both Korra and Tenzin went rigid, while Jinora clamped a hand over her brother's mouth. Asami looked around at the others.
"What big secret?" Asami asked, slowly. Tenzin and Korra looked at each other. Korra turned to Asami placing both hands on top of hers.
"Uh, Asami, here's the thing… the whole 'my dad is chief' thing isn't my biggest secret. I'm actually… the Avatar." Asami stared into Korra's eyes, shock and disbelief in her own. Tenzin had braced himself for what may happen next, while the children were all leaning in to get a closer view of the action. At that very moment, Pema walked through the kitchen door, holding a big bowl of noodle soup.
"Dinner's ready!" She cried out.