Note: We deeply apologize for the long wait. We had to do rewrites on this chapter four times before we made something we were proud of. As we said before, this is going to be the last chapter before we go on haitus for the summer. Since this is the last time we will be updating for a while, we just wanted to take this time to thank each and every one of you who has been following the story since we started several months ago. Honestly, this entire concept was written on a whim after we saw the series finale, and we are in awe of how people have taken to it so lovingly. You are the best readers we could ever ask for, and as long as you are interested in reading, we'll be around to write. This marks what is roughly the one-third mark of our story, so please, tell us what you've thought of everything so far? What do you want to see next? Please, leave your comments or questions below; we really appreciate it. As always, enjoy, and so long for now.

Korra had lost track of the time several hours ago. The time passed by in a haze; before she knew it, the sun had fallen beneath the looming horizon, darkening the sky. Her muscles ached from non-stop climbing, and it took her longer than she wanted to recover her breath. She thought she would be fit enough for any endeavor. Apparently, all it took was an unnaturally tall mountain to push her to her breaking point. She would have to work harder when she had the time. The work, in her opinion, was almost not worth the reward. She had gotten to spend time with Asami, but they never really talked when scaling the face of the mountain. Occasionally, they would share sips of water, or exchange protein bars, or Asami would get annoyed and tell Korra to stop using her earthbending to make the climb easier.

Still, Korra did have to admit one thing: the stars really were beautiful on this night.

The plateau which broke off from the mountain was larger than Korra could tell from the ground; it was roughly the size of her bedroom. It hardly mattered, as she and Asami lied so close to each other that they needed one-sixth of the space provided. There was not a single sound that reached them so high up. They were alone with nothing but each other's warmth, and each other's comfort.

"This is actually sort of… nice," Korra said to herself, gazing at the perfect view above her head.

"I told you that the climb would be worth it," said Asami knowingly. "I just wish we could have gotten here sooner. The sunset looks incredible from this high up."

"You should have let me earthbend. We would have made it up here in time."

"Oh, come on," Asami teased. "Don't tell me the climb wasn't somewhat fun."

"No, actually. It wasn't'," Korra said with a smirk. "It was long, tedious and sweaty. Sweaty isn't a good word you want to use to describe a date."

"You are such a pessimist," Asami moaned, sitting up to stretch her tired arms.

"I'm not pessimistic. I can focus on plenty good things in life. Like… you look really good tonight, almost like you didn't climb a long, tedious, sweaty mountain."

"Thank you," Asami said with not an ounce of sarcasm. She gazed out at the horizon, at the endless ocean of stars. Korra squirmed next to her, trying to find a comfortable position on the rocks. It had crossed Korra's mind to use Asami as a pillow. Long ago, Korra had tested her theory that Asami would make a comfortable human pillow, and she found the results to be more than satisfactory. She would probably state that it was the closest she ever got to prove a legitimate, scientific hypothesis, a statement that would undoubtedly make her girlfriend feel proud. Unfortunately, the "human pillow" concept really only worked if Asami herself had something soft to lay on, specifically a bed. Otherwise, it would merely be symbiotic, and Korra did not feel like sinking herself to that level on such an important date night.

"So…" Korra wondered, "How did you find this place?"

"I told you," said Asami. "I used this place as a test site for the Portable Luminescence device."

"I got that," said Korra. "I mean, why here? Why pick someplace so far away from the city?"

"Well," Asami explained. "There were a lot of reasons. The actual machine was never meant to become a visual display. It actually started out as one of the booster-designs for the project Varrick and I are working on. However, there was a small problem with the core. It radiated so much raw energy that steel exposed to it would actually melt within seconds."

"That doesn't sound like a small problem," Korra said with suspicion. "That kind of sound like a laser beam of pure death."

"Yeah… sort of," Asami shrugged sheepishly. She spoke softly, "Still, even though the design certainly wasn't suitable for any high-stress use, I hated to see it go to waste. So, I took it all the way out here, right to this very spot, to tinker on it. Of course, the reason I had to drag this thing all the way out here was because the core wasn't necessarily going to be stable while I worked on it. I ran through the math a few dozen times, and I was pretty certain that this would be the furthest out I needed to go to absolutely guarantee the city safety if—spirits forbid—the core exploded. I never actually thought about what I would make it into until I looked out and saw the stars. They're just so… beautiful. So warm. Each of them bundled closely together while being hundreds of thousands of miles apart. It's almost hard to think of—"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Korra said hurriedly. She propped herself up on her elbows, and shot Asami a quizzical glare. "I think I misheard you for a second. When you said, 'the city', did you mean Republic City?"

"Uh… yeah, I guess."

"Asami," Korra said, stunned, "We're… we're fifty miles away from Republic City."

"Yes."

Korra shook her head. Clearly, Asami was missing the point. "Asami… are you telling me that… if that bomb went off… this is the closest you would get without endangering Republic City… which is fifty miles away."

Asami nervously smiled. "Well, I mean, those were my worst calculations. Realistically, I could have gotten well within ten miles and everyone would be alright."

"I'm sorry but… what kind of crazy, apocalyptic device is sitting in my bedroom right now!?"

Korra stared at Asami in the most passively aggressive, confused way she had ever known. It was such an adorable sight that all Asami could do was smile and explain herself.

"You are thinking way too far into this," Asami assured.

"And you were way too calm while talking about how you built a bomb that could blow up the planet," Korra said, flabbergasted. The strange thing was: she wasn't even mad at this revelation. She was half-smiling herself, and she had not the slightest clue why.

"It wouldn't blow up the planet! The world is nearly eight thousand miles across. Mostly everyone would be alright. Besides, when I said it could blow up, that would only be if some idiot started ripping out wires and touching things he shouldn't. I knew exactly what I was doing. It was essentially a ninety-nine point nine percent chance of everything turning out alright, which it did. Everything is perfectly stable now. I wouldn't even dream of giving you something that I thought would be remotely harmful."

Korra groaned. This was becoming too much for her to comprehend. "So… you decided to tamper with a device in the middle of nowhere—knowing full-well that if something went horribly wrong, you and everything in a fifty mile radius would be vaporized—just to give me a neat birthday present… which, for the record, I didn't even need from you!"

Asami opened her mouth to either defend herself or burst out laughing, but couldn't muster the strength to do either. She merely turned her back to her girlfriend, and watched the stars as her jaw hung open in amazement. Korra collapsed, feeling all sanity lift from her body. She lived in an insane world.

"Unbelievable," she muttered to herself. "Un-freaking-believable. I ask for some jewelry, she gives me a weapon of mass destruction."

"Korra," Asami said through the urge to laugh. "It's not… oh, forget it. It's not that important."

"How can you say it's not that important? You nearly blew up half of the world just to get me something for my birthday. You could have at least mentioned that when you gave it to me."

"For the record, I honestly never thought it was that big of a deal. I never saw a reason to tell you."

"You never thought of a reason to tell me that you risked your life?" Korra asked, her shock/joy/confusion winding down. "I don't mind you trying to hide it from me because it makes you seem like a mad scientist, which you are. I just wished you let me know when you did something dangerous on my behalf."

"It wasn't dangerous," Asami insisted. "And besides… this was the absolute least I could do for you."

"Capturing the power of the sun in a bottle was the least you could do for me?"

"Well… yeah, actually," Asami said sincerely. The humor of the situation had subsided somewhat. She stared off at the stars, beautiful and eternal. They were the same as they were weeks ago when she sat on this same plateau, carefully fixing and adjusting a machine that could end her life in the blink of an eye. The stars weren't just a guideline; they were her only source of comfort on the tall mountain, away from all other smiling faces and pleasantries.

Asami told Korra that she was ninety-nine point nine percent certain that she wasn't going to die that lonely night. The truth was that Asami was almost certain of the opposite. Well, not nearly the opposite; she actually thought her chances of living and dying were equal. She was a talented engineer, but at some point during the night, when the only source of light came from the dying embers of a fire and a waning moon, she realized that she was in over her head. She knew it would have had to happen at some point; eventually she would reach a point where the slightest incorrect action could lead to her immediate and violent end. That "point" lasted for half an hour. On that night, for thirty straight minutes, Asami felt like she was about to die. She didn't feel like there was merely a strong chance of her dying; she honestly felt like every breath she took would be her last.

So why did she stay? What was the point of her dying then and there? She juggled the question often during those very long thirty minutes. It would be easy to simply climb down the mountain, drive home, and forget that anything every happened. She could have easily left the device alone in the mountains away from civilization, away from the people it could harm. Yet, no matter how close death came to her, she would not leave. No matter how much she wished to see the sunlight, something deep inside of her kept her alone on the mountain. During those thirty minutes, Asami Sato had questioned herself as to why she would be willing to die at that moment. By the time those thirty minutes had expired, she was fairly certain that she knew the answer.

"Korra, I never really talked about my mom before, have I?" she said suddenly.

"Your mom?" asked Korra, raising an eyebrow. "You never bring up your parents. Hell, it was one of the first things we agreed upon after we started dating: we don't talk about things that hurt us." Then, in a split second, Korra felt very uneasy. "Asami… are you about to talk about something depressing? Because I really don't want this date to dip into something depressing."

"I'm not trying to be depressing," Asami said uneasily. Korra knew her too well; the Avatar was already dreading their conversation, which did not make things any easier. "I just… I just need to talk for a minute."

Korra groaned. "Is this why you really brought me up here? So we could talk about our feelings? I thought this was supposed to be a fun night out."

"Korra, can I talk first before you jump to conclusions?"

"It's not that hard to jump to conclusions, Sato," Korra stated. "You've only mentioned you mom around me about five times since I've met you, and every time, it always ends with you in tears… and I hate seeing you in tears."

Korra sighed, and looked at Asami, who still refused to face her. She gently reached out and took her hand, squeezing it tightly.

"How about, whatever this conversation is, we ditch it and save it for later, okay? Why don't we talk about things we love, like food, or music, engineering, or—"

"Korra, shut up."

And then, just like that, everything became still. Korra released her grip instinctually. Asami occasionally got upset at people for doing something idiotic; Korra herself was a victim of this. Yet, even during those times, it always seemed like she was a heartbeat away from forgiveness. It was in her nature to be kind to others, and even as she slipped and stalled, her morals always held true. But here, for a moment, Korra heard things in Asami's voice that were completely alien: loathing, disgust, and most prominently, pain.

"I'm sorry," the young engineer said quietly. "But this… this all feels wrong. I've been thinking a lot over the past few days. You know, about us, and everything I've been doing for the past few years. And every time I start thinking, I always start feeling like something isn't right. I keep getting overwhelmed by guilt, and remorse, and I think… I think I'm a horrible person."

"Asami, you're not—"

"Let me finish," Asami said sternly. Korra responded with silence. "Look, a long time ago, my mom used to… read me stories before I went to bed. She used to do this thing where she—it's hard to explain—she used to tell me about her friends, or people she had just met that day, and her experiences with them. Maybe it was just her way of letting off some steam from working all day with my dad, but I was just glad to spend time with her."

She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. She rubbed her eyes, brushing away any hint of sadness buried within them.

"Every night, she tried to teach me morals. Share with others, make lots of friends, be creative—things that everyone else around me seemed to have forgotten in their lives. The butlers and the teachers and the servants treated me like I was just some spoiled kid. My mom was one of the few people who I knew that I actually felt like I could talk to about how I felt. I still barely feel like I can really open up to people. But with her, I felt like I actually had a friend. She treated me like a real person. I always tried to do my best to make her proud; it was the least I could do to thank her for actually giving me love. And then, before, she was gone and…"

"You two were really close," said Korra, who sat up and gently wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's shoulders. "I know it must have been hard then, but you do have me now, you know? I'm always here to help you."

Asami sighed, and then shrugged the muscular limbs away from her body. She clenched a fist. "I know… that's the problem. It seems like every single time I screw up, or act selfishly, or treat you wrong, you just turn around and support me. For all of the times that I let you down, you keep trying to treat me like I'm something special."

"Because you are special," Korra said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Yet, before she could even finish speaking, Asami shoved her away ground her teeth. Her anger was slipping out of control as she continued to speak.

"Really?" she snapped. "Let's go back and take a look at the evidence. I spend most of my time halfway across the world, I refuse to let you live with me even though I know that you're struggling to get a place of your own, I keep making up crappy excuses to keep our relationship hidden from the public, even though I'm sure no one would care, I hide my personal plans from you and even make plans to leave you alone right after I arrive, I put my own needs far ahead of yours, and every time I'm around you, all I do is push you away! I mean… what the hell is wrong with me? You're you, and I'm just me, and I treat you like dirt."

"Are you done?"

"No! I'm not, and I can't believe how freakishly calm you're being right now!" Asami said, all semblance of peace wiped from her pained face. She had worked herself into a frenzy; she forcefully brushed the moisture from her eyes with one palm, breathing heavily as Korra sat back and watched. "Back then, when my mom was taken from me, I felt myself falling apart, descending into this dark, empty pit. I nearly lost every ounce of the person I was. I could barely function. And when my father died, I could feel that same darkness creeping back up on me, swallowing me, consuming me. Hell, when I lost you… for those fifteen minutes you were gone… those damn fifteen minutes… I couldn't feel myself anymore. I couldn't feel myself breathing, walking, standing, living, it… I felt dead. And even after that, even after I knew you were safe, I still felt like I was empty, like a piece of me was still gone, like I had forever accepted your mortality and moved on and… and having to sit through that damn wedding… having to smile and pretend like I wasn't being eaten up inside… having to talk to people like it was the happiest thing to ever be, and…"

Asami looked away, ashamed at the blubbering mess she had become.

"And you saved me. You actually let me get out of there… gave me time to breathe, to think. You actually made me feel like a person again. You stopped me from regressing completely. And what did I do? I never thanked you. I never repaid you. All I did was treat you only a fraction of the way you deserved to be treated. As if you didn't deserve to be treated well enough already for, you know, saving the freaking world… again."

"So what?" Korra asked, remaining calm. "You want me stop treating you well?"

"I want you to get angry!" Asami said harshly. "I want you to stop forgiving me when I shouldn't be! I want you to stop having to make sacrifices for my shortcomings and treating me like I'm not worthless to you! I want you to put me in my place! I want you threaten to break up with me if I don't change! I mean, the last time we had this talk, you practically hugged me into submission! I'd rather be punched in the face than watch you lower yourself to make me feel better like that! I want you to stop acting like everything is okay when we both know it isn't!"

Asami's breathing had significantly increased by the time she finished. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she could feel the sweat running down her brow. She had been storing her self-loathing for months, letting it corrupt her conscience and eat at her heart. And now, once it had all been expunged, she only felt worse. Korra had yet to say anything, and suddenly, a dreadful thought came to mind: she might have just made everything worse. She might have said too much too quickly. She might have destroyed her own image, her own personality in the eyes of the one person with whom she felt truly comfortable.

But then, Korra let out a deep sigh, and her blue eyes met with Asami's in one of the most serious glares she had ever given. "You know what, Asami?" she said coldly. "I am angry at you. I am angry that you constantly push me away. I am angry that we haven't pushed our relationship forward. I am angry that you try to keep us a secret from everyone outside your closest circle of friends." She paused for a moment to recollect her thoughts. "But you know what else? I think the thing that I'm really angry at is seeing how much you've let all this "indebted" bullshit get the best of you."

"Korr—"

"No, now I get to speak," Korra said firmly. "I don't care what kind of shit you think I did to help you cope with your life. I don't care about what kind of horrible things you think you are. You don't have the right to tell me how to feel about our relationship, and you especially don't have the right to tell me that you think you're worthless. If I thought I shouldn't be with you, I wouldn't be. If I thought forgiving you for your mistakes was impossible, I would have left a long time ago. Because you see, Asami, that's kind of what being in a relationship is supposed to be like; we forgive each other for our mistakes. We're supposed to support each other no matter what may happen, because we genuinely and legitimately care about each other. Please, don't act like you've done nothing, because we both know that without you, I wouldn't exactly be here right now, would I? In case you forgot, I didn't have the time of my life either these past few years. You were surrounded by our friends; back in the Southern Water Tribe, I was alone, stranded. If I knew you weren't there talking to me, I probably would have lost my fucking mind."

"Yeah, I wrote to you, and that did what?" Asami questioned, her breathing calmed to a slower rhythm. "My letters didn't fix your legs. My letters didn't stop you from leaving us. I… I should have come with you. I should have been there for you like an actual friend."

"My actual friend," Korra corrected, "Would have kept in touch with me even after I practically vanished for years. She would have kept in touch and made me feel like I wasn't abandoned. She would have done everything she thought was right to make sure I felt like I was still important to her, and I don't have a single doubt in my mind that she did just that. Look, maybe it would have been better if you did come along. Maybe things would have moved faster between us. It doesn't matter what could have happened though, because in the end, I still ended up where I was supposed to: with you. Because I love you, Asami; and no matter how many mistakes we end up making, I will never abandon you. I've loved you before I ever felt like I was indebted to you… and I would like to think that you feel the same way towards me."

And then, just like that, everything became still. And the wind stopped blowing. And the stars hung quiet in the sky. And every second that passed felt like an eternity. And when the last words were said, and the clock ticked forward for an endless time, and every last feeling of guilt had been washed away, Asami rolled over and collapsed into Korra's lap, where two arms were waiting to hold her.

"I'd… I'd like that too," she said softly, brushing her face clean of any unwanted tears. "I just… I just want to make you happy."

"Well, for starters, crying in the middle of our 'super-fun' date would be pretty helpful."

"Yeah. Gotcha," Asami said as a tiny smile made its way onto her face. "But, from now on, you are my top priority. The second I get back, I am going to smother the crap out of you. Or, actually… since this place is so beautiful, and we're already here—"

"I don't know the names of the planets."

"Hmm?"

"I don't know what the names of the planet in our solar system are," Korra stated once again. "We need to get your mind off of all this depressing stuff and I also need to remind you how big of an idiot you decided to devote four years of your life to. So, I have no idea what any of the other planets are named."

"You're not an idiot. You're perfect," Asami said reassuringly. However, she raised an eyebrow. "But, uh… why don't you know the names of the planets? That was one of the first things we were ever taught in school."

"It probably was, but I didn't exactly go to school," Korra stated. "I mean, I have the basics down, and I can add or subtract things, but astronomy was pretty much skipped over to make room for shooting fire at people. I guess they just never thought it had any relevance since they don't really have an effect on my bending or the Spirit World."

"Still, no one told you them at any point in your life?"

"Well, it's not something people tend to bring up in casual conversation. Besides, what am I supposed to tell people? Even telling you this right now makes me feel like an idiot."

"You're not an idiot," Asami repeated. "Given everything else you know, it's perfectly understandable that you don't know these kinds of things. Here…"

Asami pointed her finger to the sky towards one particularly bright, shiny star, thirty degrees above the horizon. She recalled every fact she could about the large object: its name was "L u", it was the fifth planet from the sun and the largest, it took nearly a dozen years for it to complete one single revolution, and it was orbited by at least thirty or so moons, probably more. Asami pointed to each planet she could find and described it in as much detail as she could; if the planet was too far away to see, then she pointed to where it should have been during its orbital year. Korra followed her silently, picking up as much information as she could without it passing by in a blur. It was almost too large to comprehend. She could gaze at the stars for hours, and only pick up the light from less than a trillionth of a percent of the stars that had ever existed. On Earth, she was all-powerful, but out there, in the cold void of nothing that made up reality, she was inconsequentially, pathetically small.

"And that's that," Asami finished. "That's every planet in the solar system, at least that we know about. Do you need me to go over anything again? Uh, Korra? Are you listening?"

"Yeah," Korra said in a daze. "It's just… everything is so big. It's kind of humbling. I mean, each of those planets is millions of miles away from us. And each of those stars is even further."

"Yeah, that's the universe for you," Asami nodded. "A big, scary place of endless possibilities. And here we are, right smack in the middle of it."

"Hey, Asami? Do you ever think someone will ever travel to the moon, or another planet?"

"I don't see why not. It might take a while, but if we can build a giant titanium robot, I can't see why we can't actually leave the atmosphere. That would be the greatest scientific achievement of our species."

"Well, you better get started on that," Korra teased. "You're the one who built the megaton bomb."

"I didn't build a megaton… ugh, never mind," Asami groaned.

"You know what would be really crazy, though," Korra said with a grin. "If we went to another planet, and there was another form of life already there, and they also had their own styles of bending and their own Avatar."

"Oh please no," Asami giggled. "I don't think I could handle two of you."

"Well, I'm sure there would be another Asami there also," Korra stated matter-of-factually. She had only learned the names of the planets less than a minute ago, yet she felt confident in her assertions. Not only was she rather confident that there was a second Avatar somewhere on the other side of the galaxy, but she was positive that this second Avatar would most likely be nearly identical to her in every way, almost like a parallel version.

But then, her mind began to unravel.

"Hold on a second," she said, sitting up and lightly pushing Asami off of her lap. "If there's a second Avatar, would that mean we bend the same elements? Do the same elements even exist on other planets? What if the world is made up of noxious materials? If I was to go there, would I adapt to only bend the other elements there, or would I just be unable to bend anything? What if I went there and I went into the Spirit World? Would I still enter the same Spirit World, or is there an entirely different Spirit World for each different planet? If it's the same, then wouldn't there be the possibility of me accidentally running into a second Avatar if we both enter the Spirit World at the same time? How big is the Spirit World anyway? Does it have its own solar system with its own planets? What if the Spirit World is a different planet? Would that mean that if I went to another planet and tried going into the Spirit World, I would just come right back out into the Physical World but as, like, a ghost? Or what if I went to the Spirit World on Earth, then traveled to another planet's Spirit World, and came out of the Spirit World? Would I come back on Earth or on another planet? Or what if—"

"Korra," Asami said, interrupting her train of thought. "Please, for the love of all that's good… don't go into space."

Korra slammed back into the ground, her brain fried. Everything she thought she knew about the universe had disappeared just as fast as she had learned it. Maybe she wasn't suited for this "astronomy" thing after all. Being the Avatar of this world would have to do for now. Sensing her frustration, Asami crawled over and snuggled up beside her.

"Hey, let's stop thinking about the stars for a minute and start thinking about what we have here," Asami said. Nervousness began to creep up on her. "I mean, the universe doesn't seem so big when all that matters is just the two of us. I think a smaller world would be pretty nice, wouldn't it?"

"With you? Yeah, that be pretty sweet," Korra agreed. "Just… we need to stay happy. No more arguing or tears or any stupid emotions other than happiness and all that good stuff… and occasionally eroticism."

"Occasionally eroticism," Asami clarified, "But not tonight. This is a strictly snuggle night only."

"I wasn't suggesting doing anything tonight."

"Then why did you bring it up?"

"Because I thought it was relevant."

"Well, it's obviously relevant, but you didn't have to bring it up now and ruin this nice moment."

"The moment isn't ruined," Korra said with a smile. "Besides, you're the one who's always brining up dirty things in conversations."

"What? No I don't!" Asami said, shocked.

"Yes, you do! Ba Sing Se trip, third day. Remember what you whispered to me in front of that cute cashier? I've literally heard sailors say more appropriate things than that."

"But I never meant that! It was a joke!" Asami said defensively, standing up. "And you provoked me into it. You were the one that called him attractive in the first place. And besides, you're the one who always mentions that stupid waterfall."

"That was not a stupid waterfall. I'm pretty sure you didn't think it was stupid when you were wrist deep in—"

"Ah! Shut up!" Asami screamed hysterically. She covered her ears, her mouth hung open in playful shock. "There are people listening!"

"No there aren't!" Korra said, throwing up her arms. "We're literally on the top of a mountain. This place was chosen specifically because there is no one around for miles. So, no one is going to hear me when I say that beneath a waterfall in the Spirit World, Asami Sato and the Avatar li— mmmh! Mmmmh!"

Before she could get the words out, Asami had sprung on top of her girlfriend, clasping a hand over her mouth while using the other to hold Korra's arms above her head. Her knee pressed into Korra's stomach, preventing her from worming away, and despite Korra's best efforts, she could do little except let out incoherent mumbles.

"Stop talking!" Asami laughed, her cheeks bright red. "I hate when you talk about that stuff; it's so embarrassing! Shut up already."

It took five minutes to finally wrestle Korra into submission. Asami had fully mounted her, her arms pinning Korra's far above her head. Their heads were inches apart, causing Asami's long black curls to tumble into Korra's face. Years of martial arts training had done well for her, and since she knew Korra wouldn't dare use any bending, she considered the battle won.

"Are you done talking?" Asami asked threateningly.

"Yes, Mistress Asami," Korra said teasingly. "So, now that that's all out of the way… wanna make out?"

"You're disgusting."

"You're dating me."

Asami squinted, glaring at Korra's stupid, insulting, moronic, puckering, lovable, adorable, kissable face. She growled; Korra had been manipulating her. Here she was, lying directly on top of the Avatar, with not a single ounce of space left between their feverishly hot bodies. Well, she may have been led this far, but she needed to hold her ground. She refused to be pushed into anything else under Korra's whim. She looked closer at her girlfriend's face, feeling the apathy rising within.

Without waiting a second, she released her hold on Korra's wrists, grabbed her cheeks, and brought her into a long, passionate kiss. Korra responded pleasantly, running her hands down Asami's sides and onto her hips.

"Why are you so damn good at this?" Asami asked breathlessly after she broke away.

"Southern Water Tribe charm," replied Korra with a cocky smirk. "And Avatar charm. And just general Korra charm." Suddenly, she felt her fingers run over something hard and square in Asami's pocket. "What's that you got there?"

"Oh, this," Asami said passively. "That's just the ring I was going to use to ask you to marry me."

Korra snickered. "Oh, that's what it is? Well, why didn't you give it to me earlier?"

"I tried to, but you kept cutting me off," Asami said, her nerves getting the better of her.

"Hmm," Korra grinned. "If that's the case, then sure: I will absolutely marry you."

Asami's eyes went wide. Korra continued to snicker on the ground beneath her, yet she felt a million different emotions churning inside of her.

"You… you're actually saying yes?" Asami asked, stunned and joyous and flustered all at once.

"Yeah, why not?" Korra laughed. "What else am I going to do with my life?"

"Um… okay, then," Asami said, a smile breaking out on her face. She let out a nervous laugh, and looked up at the stars shining down on her. Was it just her, or did they seem brighter than ever?

"Great. Marriage. Yay," Korra said thoughtlessly. "Now, get back down here and kiss me, you fool."

Korra tugged Asami back down and greeted her lips warmly. Asami could barely keep still. She had spent hours panicking about what she was going to say, desperately trying to maintain her composure. She had worried how ludicrous she might have sounded, yet it seemed like Korra was more than enthusiastic. She felt like she was about to burst into tears, yet she held them back; Korra said she didn't want any more tears shed, even if they were for a completely different reason. She simply could not describe the wave of pure emotion surging within her. All she knew for certain was that this person she was currently interlocked with—this adorable, brave, selfless bender with a heart bigger than any she had ever known—was the person she wanted to be with for the rest of her life.

Of course, Korra did not know of any of these feelings. She was simply reveling in the taste on her lips, the satisfaction of being intimate with another, the joy of being friends with such a beautiful person.

And then, about three minutes later, everything hit Korra like a ton of bricks.

Her body went numb. Her fingers became loose and her arms dropped to her sides. All of the passion that was driving her vanished. Her mind was racing through what had just occurred, what she had been told, what she had just agreed to do. In only an instant, Korra had shut down, and when Asami noticed this, she broke away from their kiss and stared at her lover, who bore a blank expression on her face.

Damn it, Asami thought to herself. I knew she took that too well.

"Asami," Korra said dryly. "Did you… did you, um… did you just propose to me?"

"Uh, yes," Asami stated with a nod, also drawing a blank expression. "I do believe I did just that."

"And I… accepted that? Right?"

"Yes. Yes, you did."

"I accepted your proposal… to get married."

"That's what you did."

"You asked me… Avatar Korra of the Southern Water Tribe…"

"That's you."

"To get married…"

"Uh-huh."

"To you, Asami Sato…"

"That's also me."

"And I…"

"Yes."

"Agreed that I should do that thing that I just mentioned… with you…"

"Essentially."

"…"

"…"

"So… we're engaged now?"

"I mean, if you want to be."

"And we are going to… marry each other?"

"If you say yes, then that is what we are going to do."

"Oooooooookay," Korra said, glancing off to the side of mountain. "Then… well… I guess we, uh, are going to be each other's fiancés then."

"That's the term," Asami said, her heart racing a thousand miles per minute. "Unless, of course… you don't want to get married."

Korra's vision darted back and forth between the edge of the cliff and Asami's green eyes. She thought about it for a long moment, and then looked back at the woman sitting on top of her. She spoke softly, as if the words escaping her lips weren't ever meant to be formed.

"Uh, no, actually I…" Kora said, a nervous smile branching across her cheeks, "I think… I think I would like to do that…maybe."

And then, everything became still. Both women were staring at each other, neither fully grasping the full meaning behind what they had just said. Korra lied there with a light grin on her face as Asami gently crawled off of her, and reached into her pocket.

"Well then," she said, unable to make eye contact and blushing furiously. "I suppose I should give you this."

"Uh, yeah," Korra agreed, sitting up. "I should probably take that to show people that we're… you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Asami agreed to Korra's agreement. She pulled out a small, wooden box, and delicately opened it. Inside was a golden, hexagonal ring adorned with a carving of the ocean against a backdrop of stars and a blue gemstone, the shade of dark blue that Asami knew Korra liked to wear.

"This took me a while to make, you know, while working on other projects," said Asami. "Sorry, by the way, if this isn't exactly right. Rings were usually used by my family, but if you need or prefer a necklace, then I have one of those I can give you when I get back."

"No, no, this is fine," Korra reassured. "I think rings are fine. It's all fine. Necklaces are more of a Northern thing anyway. Besides, it's very beautiful."

It was very beautiful, but Korra unfortunately wasn't in much of a state to admire it. Instead, she simply held out her hand, and allowed Asami to carefully slip the piece of jewelry onto her finger. Korra held out her hand and examined it, watching how the stone glistened in the moonlight.

"This looks great," Korra said gently, her expression unchanged.

"Yep. Yep, it does," said Asami, clasping her hands together at her waste.

"There we go."

"Absolutely."

"So… we're engaged now."

"Yeah," Asami said in disbelief. "We're engaged."

"Engaged," Korra repeated to herself, lying back down. "We are going to get married. Don't know when yet, but… we are going to get married."

"Yeah," said Asami. She smirked. "You know, it's funny. Given how much you've been trying to push us forward, I'm surprised you aren't more—"

And then, right before Asami finished, everything clicked inside of Korra's head, and she shot back up like a rocket.

"Holy shit!"

"There we go."

Korra stared at Asami with wide eyes and one of the largest smiles she had ever seen. "We're engaged."

"Yes," said Asami knowingly.

"We're engaged," Korra repeated.

"We're engaged."

"We're engaged," Korra said, jumping to her feet. Without skipping a beat, Asami walked up and hugged her as tightly as possible. "We're getting married. We're getting fucking married."

"Yes we are," Asami said, feeling the tears start to fall down her cheeks. She could no longer help herself. Korra was laughing and crying like a lunatic, all of sensations of the past few minutes hitting her at once. All either of them could feel was happiness. Asami had not planned on the proposal being so horrendous. She had not planned Korra's brain shutting off, or repeatedly being cut off, or even bursting into tears at a makeshift confession. She had planned for them to be romantically holding hands while gazing at the night sky, not jumping and laughing like giddy schoolchildren. All in all, it was probably the strangest, most awkward, irregular marriage proposal she had ever known about.

Then again, it wasn't like she was marrying someone very normal, was she? She was marrying Korra, the Avatar, the savior of the world, the most powerful woman in existence, her friend. And between her friend and the bright stars, they shared what—for the next few months—was probably going to be the greatest moment of her life.

Rei ran. He ran faster than he had ever run before. He ran past the beggar on the corner, through the fountain, over the fruit stand and into the alleyway. How had everything gone so wrong in just one short hour? Granted life had been going well at all for the past several months. He had gotten himself into debt, did some things he didn't want to do, and alienated himself from all that tried to protect him. He thought that at the end of the day, he might have had the chance for redemption. Instead, he found himself here, being chased after by an arrogant cop, and a fast one at that.

"I said stop!" Mako shouted, keeping close on Rei's tail. Nothing had been going particularly well for him either. The stakeout was a disaster; the moment he and Chen went to corner Rei in, he got the jump on them. Now Chen was dealing with what could have been a broken arm, and Mako was left to hunt the crook down on foot through the slums of the city. Everything was covered in a dull, yellow glow, and it smelled of grime and misery. Rei had a good head start, and Mako was left without backup.

Still, Mako had some advantages. Rei was sluggish and weak, probably from a long time without a decent meal. On top of that, Mako knew these streets like the back of his hand. He was raised in this part of the city. Rei attempted to break through an alley to his right, and Mako instinctively kept straight. He pushed forward, reflecting himself off of a dumpster and into another passageway. As long as he maintained his speed, he would be able to catch his prey.

Still, through the adrenaline pumping through his veins, a thought protruded in his mind: was this the psychopath that had caused so much trouble? Was this the killer who tortured his victims and wrote their sins on the wall in their own blood? Was this the monster that caused a man to kill himself? Was the monster that caused Sy to lose countless nights of sleep? Was the same monster that caused her to deal with significant trauma for the rest of her life? Driven by duty, fueled by anger, Mako pushed himself faster than he ever had before. He sped around the street corner, charged forward, and before him Rei burst into view. Before Rei had time to react, he had been tackled to the ground, struggling to get back to his feet.

"You are under arrest," Mako said, trying to secure the criminal. "You're coming with—ugh!"

Rei landed a kick to Mako's stomach, sending him reeling. He hurried to his feet, but felt a rush of pain through his leg. He landed on it poorly during the fall. He groaned, reaching for the knife in his pocket.

"You are really fast, aren't you?" Rei said, annoyed.

"We just wanted to talk to you," stated Mako, rising. "Running from the police is grounds for arrest. I suggest you put that knife away before this turns ugly."

Rei grimaced. He gripped the blade in his pocket tighter. "Oh, you want to talk? Of course. How could I be mistaken? It's not like you bastards chased me here, causing trouble in places you shouldn't. There isn't supposed to be any trouble in Jackdaw's Den. The big guy wouldn't like that."

"Then turn yourself in before I have to hurt you," said Mako, taking a step forward. Rei flipped out his knife, holding it out menacingly.

"Don't get closer," he warned. "You don't want to do this to me. I've seen things that no one should see."

"I can tell. You look like you know how to wield a weapon. It seems like you've used it before. The only question that I have left is on who you've used it on." Mako paused, noticing light reflecting off of Rei's forehead. "You're sweating. Are you nervous something might slip out?"

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about," Rei said with a small, breathless laugh. "But I think we should keep things nice and calm. No need to lose one's—"

Without warning, Rei lunged forward, swinging at Mako's neck.

"Head!"

Mako backed away, keeping his arms in front of his face. Rei charged at him, slashing desperately with his blade. While dodging another strike, he recalled something Lukara had told him in the interrogation room. She said he had a short, violent temper. He figured it probably would have been good to remember that before.

"Stop moving, you damn pig!' Rei screamed as he thrust his knife downwards. However, he left himself wide open. Mako rushed forward, sliding past the blade and grabbing onto Rei's extended wrist. Moving quickly, he pushed his other hand into Rei's neck and forced him to the ground, the knife flying away down the street. The air was forced out of his lungs as he hit the ground, and Mako secured the rest of his limbs.

"Talk!" Mako shouted. "Why did you run when we tried to talk to you?"

"I don't know."

"I think you're lying!"

"I'm not," Rei choked out. Mako punched him in the stomach, resulting in a sickening thud.

"If you weren't guilty, you wouldn't have run! You looked pretty decent with that knife? Did you use it to gut anyone recently?"

"No! No, I swear!" Rei pleaded. Another punch to the stomach was landed, followed by another to the chin. Blood dribbled down his chin.

"Tell me the truth, Rei!" Mako demanded. "Who did you attack? Who was it?"

"Please—"

"I'm not asking again! Tell me who it was or that face of yours will be the last thing you worry about!"

"Okay, I'll talk!" Rei begged. "Please, leave me alone. I didn't mean to do it!"

Mako pressed further. "Who was it? What did you do?"

"I was just trying to get money to pay back some guys," Rei explained through his agony. "I thought it would be an easy job. No one was supposed to get hurt!"

Mako paused. "Job? What job? Who did you work for? Talk."

"I… I'm sorry," Rei said, "But I can't tell you that. This is Jackdaw's Den. No one rats on each other in Jackdaw's Den. The big guy demands it."

"That's the second time you mentioned this 'big guy'," Mako stated. "Tell me who you had to kill and why! I want to hear it."

"I never killed anybody!"

"What?" Mako said in disbelief.

"I said I never killed anybody. I couldn't imagine… I just tried to mug this kid to pay back some guys, and he tried t wrestle the knife from me. I didn't mean to stab the guy, but I never meant to kill him. Is that why you're here? Did he bleed to death or something?"

Mako froze. "Is that it? Is that all you've done?"

"I'm sorry, man," Rei sobbed. "I didn't want anybody to get hurt. People get hurt enough around me."

Rei was telling the truth; Mako could feel it. In fury, he shoved him against the ground, and punched the nearby wall. He muttered angrily to himself while Rei lied pitifully on the floor. He had wasted precious time and resources hunting down a false lead. He may have interrupted something illegal, but a mugging was far from the caliber of crime he was expecting. A few minutes later, Chen came zooming around the corner in the police car, lights and horns blaring. He skid over to the sidewalk, and burst out of the car.

"Hey, you alright?" Chen asked, holding onto the car radio.

"Yeah," Mako said bitterly. "How's the arm?"

"I'll manage. I got the Chief on the line for you."

Great, thought Mako, taking the small, grey box. This is what I need now.

"Detective, you there?" came Bei Fong's voice over the radio.

"I'm here," said Mako. "Rei's been apprehended, but it was a bad lead. I don't think he's our guy. From what I got out of him, the only things he worthy of arrest for are a mugging gone wrong and running from authority." Mako looked over at Rei, who was groaning in agony. It wasn't just running from the cops; it was flat-out assault. It was a crime worthy of ten years in prison. "I accidentally roughed him up a bit during the pursuit. But otherwise, he's alright."

"Are you hurt?"

"No, ma'am," Mako said after a brief pause. "Regardless, it looks like we're back down to having zero leads and three dead."

"Correction," Lin said remorsefully. "Four dead, with two missing."

Mako was taken aback. "Three more? Are you sure they were all the same guy?"

"The writing was present at all three scenes of the crime. One of the places had a body; I guess this freak thought she was a bit too envious for his liking. The other two might still be alive; the only writing we found with them was incoherent rambling. We couldn't find any bodies, so I guess he's still having fun with them. And Mako… one of the missing victims is eight years old."

"Shit," Mako cursed under his breath. He had accomplished nothing with his investigation, and now even more people had been thrown into this. Worse, one of them was just a kid. He felt like dirt. He felt responsible. He felt useless. All he could do was lament his own failures during the case, and question why this had to happen.

"This is going to get out," Lin stated. "The whole city's going to be up in arms. Last thing we need right now is panic over a serial killer to erupt."

"Then we'll have to hurry up and find this psychopath, won't we?" Mako said, trying to mask his guilt. "We'll just keep working. No one can hide forever."

"Let's hope so," Lin said, depressed. "Because I have a feeling things are going to get a whole lot more complicated."

The story of the murders was leaked to most major news outlets the following morning, despite the police's best efforts to keep it under wraps. Later that afternoon, Asami Sato, Iknik Blackstone Varrick, Zhu Li Moon, and Shang Dezoung left on a month-long trip across the world, with Avatar Korra officially appearing to bid her friends farewell. During their goodbyes, multiple photographs of intimate moments between the Avatar and Asami Sato were taken by the press. While the story was quickly rushed to several magazines for the next days printing, it was quickly overshadowed by the tales of multiple horrifying murders and kidnappings that had occured over the past several weeks in the city. Less than fourteen hours later, the majority of Republic City became aware of the actions caused by murderer that the papers had officailly dubbed, "The Hanzi Killer".