Note: Switching things up a little here. Originally, this chapter was meant to be part of a longer one, but it ended up running a decent length, and we didn't want to leave you guys without anything for a another week or two, so enjoy this fun little diversion before we return to everything being miserable.

Korra wanted to say that her relationship with Asami began perfectly. She wanted to say that the moment they stepped through the spirit portal, they confessed their love for each other, and kissed passionately as a crowd of spirits clapped and cheered. She wanted to say that they held hands every moment of every day, and could never break eye contact because they could not bear the pain of being apart. She wanted to say that their vacation was full of laughter and kisses, as a spark never that died pushed them into a remarkable new life together.

However, Korra could not say that. She fully intended to confess her love to Asami, and for all she knew, Asami had intended that as well. But as they stood there in the spirit portal, hands clasped together, surrounded by deep purple flowers and enormous teal spikes emerging from the earth, and Korra opened her mouth to speak, she became distracted by her friend's green eyes and perfect smile, and somehow, the words came out as:

"So… here's the Spirit World!"

Korra laughed nervously, pulling away her hands and gestured broadly to the landscape in front of her. Asami seemed stunned for a moment, before smiling awkwardly and casting her gaze towards the flowers.

"Wow," Asami said. "That's… that's incredible." Was there a hint of disappointment in her voice? Korra thought that she heard something, but perhaps it as merely wishful thinking. The nonbender made no mention of it as she knelt by the flowers, examining their odd shape and color. "Does it always look like this?"

"Most of the time," Korra said slyly. "In the Spirit World, everything is tied to emotions. As long as you're happy, the world will continue to work like this. Since I'm the Avatar, that goes double for me."

"Well then," Asami said with a smirk, "I guess I'll have to do my best to please you."

Korra's cheeks turned bright red, and she became very thankful that Asami was distracted by the flowers.

They continued under the guidance of the stars without a destination in mind, with the Avatar leading the way. Asami spun on her axis as she walked, taking in every new sight and sound with awe. Korra could not help but smile whenever Asami gasped in wonder at the sight of a new form of flora, or a large, terrestrial formation in the distance, or the distant cry of a spirit unlike anything she had ever known. They walked for hours until night shifted into day, before coming to a rest beside an old, twisted tree, its aging bark splashed with reds and greens. Korra turned to face Asami, and she was surprised to find that the CEO had taken out a notepad sometime during their hike, and had written extensive notes.

"It's kind of hard to take in the scenery when you're looking at a notepad," Korra said jokingly. Asami scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"No one has ever performed research here before," she claimed. "If I can't take anything back with me, I might as well make some good notes."

"This isn't about research. You're supposed to be enjoying yourself."

"This is how I enjoy myself."

"Man, you are such a nerd," Korra laughed.

"Hey, you invited me!" Asami finished her work, and showed Korra her notes. Aside from the copious handwriting, Korra was shocked to discover intricate illustrations alongside each of Asami's findings.

"When did you learn how to draw?" Korra asked, amazed.

"I'm in engineer," Asami explained. "When you draw as many schematics as I do, you might as well make sure they look good."

"They're great! How did you even manage to do that thing with the shadows and the shape? It looks almost real."

"You mean cross-hatching?"

"Is that another way of saying incredible?"

"Oh, come on, Korra," Asami giggled. "Weren't you just telling me not to be focused on my notes?"

"No, I'm being serious," Korra said quietly, taken in by the visuals. "You are incredible. Owner of the biggest corporation in the world, martial arts expert, drag racing champion, talented inventor, and now artist extraordinaire; is there anything you can't do? You're making me feel a little jealous that I can only bend four elements."

"You're too much," Asami teased, playfully snatching back her notes.

However, Korra found nothing playful about it. Was she really being too much? Was she making Asami uncomfortable? Or did Asami want her to keep going? The soft smile seemed to indicate that Asami was having fun, but girls were complicated, and the emotional spectrum was a vast, convoluted sea that she had little success navigating before. There was no way of telling whether she was too much or too little or somewhere in-between, and all of this confusion attacked Korra like a warm of arrows, and she felt like the ground would swallow her whole, and she had no idea what action to take until, there in that one moment—which felt like an eternity—she would take the safest course of action, which was, according to her brain, to tone it down a little.

"Whatever."

After another few hours of sightseeing, they decided that it was time to rest. They both set up their respective sleeping bags on in a patch of grass on top of a hill overlooking a valley of greens and yellows. When Korra finished changing and lied down underneath the stars, she considered bringing up the whirlwind of different emotions she had been feeling for years, feelings that had only intensified since her return to Republic City. But when she rolled over, she learned that Asami was already asleep with her back turned, having been worn out from their lengthy journey. Korra did not mind. She knew that there was always the next day, and if not then, the day after that. And so she went to sleep contently, unaware that Asami was still wide awake.

Yet, that moment would Korra yearned for had to wait, as the first thing she heard upon waking up was a scream.

"Ko-Korra! I need some help!"

Korra opened her eyes to find a massive spirit looming over Asami, who shivered underneath the covers of her sleeping bag. Its body was round and plump, coated with tan fur, a black stripe running down its back, with a head like that of an ox, the horns pulled backwards towards the scalp and a pinched nose, and two feathery wings strapped to its hide. It sniffed Asami's hair, while the woman cowered beneath its bulk. Korra hurried to her feet, and jumped at the spirit, startling it.

"Hey! Leave her alone," she ordered. It examined her, as if trying to recognize her face. When the creature did not yield, she shouted more forcefully. "By order of the Avatar, back away from her."

Its eyes lit up in recognition. The great spirit snorted, casted an insulted glare at Asami, and slowly trotted off, allowing the engineer to catch her breath. Korra helped her to her feet, both of them still in their sleepwear.

"So," Asami wheezed, "that's a what a spirit is like."

"Some of them," Korra explained. "They don't usually like visitors."

"I can tell. Thank goodness you were there. At least it likes you."

"What can I say?" Korra smirked, flexing her bicep. "The spirits know who's boss around here."

Asami sighed, deeply amused by Korra's demonstration of power. For Korra, that was a victory. She proved to be charming and strong, and as a bonus, she saved Asami's life from a vicious, carnivorous spirit animal. She was racking up points at a fairly decent rate, and she could not have been happier. Still, she as so caught up in her own mild victory that she failed to notice that the spirit was still in earshot, and had not taken kindly to the Avatar's taunts. Korra did not notice the creature charging at them until it was too late, and when Korra went to step out of the way, she accidentally bumped into Asami, causing their legs to tangle up with each other as they fell backwards and tumbled down the hill into the valley below.

"And don't come back!" screamed the spirit, bitter and tired.

Though the grassy hill wasn't as hard as it could have been, and was quite shallow, their descent was not a pleasant one. They smashed into one another as they rolled twenty meters down the slope, before coming to a rough landing by a patch of navy, luminous flowers. Korra was flayed out on top of Asami, who looked up at the sky, breathless.

"That sucked," she moaned. Korra adjusted their position so that they were face-to-face, their eyes inches apart.

"Sorry about that," said Korra. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Asami said with a grunt. "I think so. You?"

"I'm fine. It'll take more than a hill to stop Avatar Korra."

Asami smiled through the pain. "Always the charmer, aren't you?"

Korra froze. Time crawled to a stop. Kora never noticed how perfect Asami's smile was before. Even without make-up, her face radiated beauty and glamour. Her dazed green eyes sparkled in the sunlight, and her tattered hair was sprawled on the ground like water flowing from an oasis. Her bruised skin was softer than the finest silk, and her voice was more melodic than any song. Every drop of sweat carried her intoxicating aroma. Every heave of her chest was mesmerizing. Every sensation drove her mad. Korra wanted to capture that moment in a bottle and keep it close, carrying it with her everywhere she went. She wanted to stay there, just the two of them, forever.

Korra could no longer control herself; before either of them realized what was happening, Korra leaned forward and pressed her lips to Asami's. It was the single greatest thing that Korra had ever felt. It was precisely as she imagined it: soft, sweet, and electrifying. Korra pulled away but kept their mouths close, testing the waters, looking into Asami's eyes and trying to sense if the other woman felt the exact same thing.

But Asami was not smiling, nor did she give off any emotion. She simply lied there, stunned, two wide eyes looking back at the woman that—moments ago—she thought she knew.

The joy drained quickly from Korra's face as she struggled to hastily get back to her feet. "I'm… I'm sorry," Korra said humbly, rushing back to the hill. "Come on. We should probably get moving again."

Asami sat up straight, and touched her fingers to her lips, expressionless. Whatever she was feeling, she kept it to herself. "Uh…" she stammered, unsure of what to say. "Okay, then."

Korra did not say anything as she got dressed and packed her bag. Kept her head low, walking along her unseen path, making sure to stay ahead of Asami so she would not have to look at her. Around her, the world became duller, like the life had been sucked out of it. She had never felt more stupid. Right when she thought everything was finally going away, she went ahead and ruined it. The residual taste remained plastered to her lips, having turned sour with guilt. She wanted nothing more than to disappear, to crawl into a hole and vanish from sight. She waited anxiously for Asami to speak up, but either out of spite or generosity, the Sato heiress kept her mouth sealed.

For the rest of the day, they did not share more than a sentence or two, communicating only to decide upon which direction they needed to take. With every step, the sky darkened. They passed by a group of friendly spirits, but ignored them. Asami distracted herself with her notetaking, trying to stay productive. Eventually, night fell, and they came to a stop by a patch of enlarged spirit mushrooms, lighting up the dark with neon blues. Korra threw her bag underneath a mushroom, knelt down, and began to unpack, when Asami spoke from behind.

"So… do you want to talk what happened?"

Korra continued to unpack, her eyes focused on her gear. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Really?" Asami asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "I think there are plenty of things to talk about."

"I was caught up in the moment," Korra stated, attempting more to convince herself rather than her friend. "My adrenaline was high. I didn't realize what I was doing."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"Look, I made a mistake."

"A mistake?" Asami said, outraged. "You kissed me. How exactly does that qualify as a mistake?"

Korra growled and turned around, finally looking Asami in the eye. The engineer scowled in the bright glow of the mushroom, and was not in the mood to be messed with.

"Do you really want to talk about this?" Korra complained. Asami threw her hands in the air.

"Yes, I want to talk about this!" she proclaimed, frustrated. "You kiss me out of nowhere, and then you try to pretend that it didn't happen, like I'm somehow supposed to be okay with that? You literally have not said a single word to me all day, which is the biggest case of sending mixed signals that I have ever seen, and to be honest, it's kind of starting to annoy me that you think you can toy with my emotions like that."

"Mixed signals? What are you talking about? I'm not sending mixed signals."

"Please, Korra, I'm not dumb. You finally come back to Republic City, and the first thing you do is invite me to go on a vacation, just the two of us. Then, once you get me alone, you suddenly kiss me, before you give me the silent treatment, acting like I no longer exist. What exactly am I supposed to make of that?"

"I don't get why you are acting so defensive about this?"

"I'm defensive?" Asami asked in shock. "How am I the defensive one? You're the one who won't even admit that you did anything."

Korra groaned. "Alright! I kissed you! So what?"

"So what?" Asami repeated with disbelief. "I'm not sure how these things work in the Southern Water Tribe, but where I'm from, best friends usually don't start randomly kissing each other. And they certainly don't leave their friend in the dark for hours, without even caring about what the hell they're feeling."

"I do care about what you're feeling."

"Then why aren't you telling me what's going on?" Asami pleaded. Her features softened. "Korra, if there is something you want to tell me, then do it. I need you to be honest with me."

The pain in Asami's face was faint, but unmistakable. Korra took a deep breath, and cleared her head. "When I was poisoned, lying in my bed, barely able to walk, I had time to think about things. I felt like I had nowhere to turn, like I was trapped and couldn't escape. It was the darkest point of my life, and at the time, there didn't seem to be an end to it. I couldn't stand the idea of returning to my old life, knowing that I would never be the same. I wanted you all to remember like I as before, not what I had become. I tried to leave everyone behind, thinking that I could ties with everyone I knew, and they would be better off without me. And for a little while, I was okay with that.

"But, every time I thought about leaving you behind, letting the memory of you go… I couldn't. You were there for me when nobody else was. You cared about me, and through all of the hardships, all of the therapy, all of the pain, I felt like you were there, right beside me, guiding me through it. And no matter where I went, or what I did, I could never let you go, because you refused to let me go; and when I finally saw you again, after all those years, you treated me like nothing had changed between us. It didn't matter that my powers weren't working, or that we hadn't spoken in months, or that I cut my hair. You didn't care. That meant more to me than you could ever realize. You're my best friend, Asami. You're the one thing that I can't live without."

A great weight had been lifted off of Korra's chest, and she waited for a response. Asami sighed, deep in thought.

"What are you trying to say?" Asami asked softly.

"I… I don't know," Korra admitted. "I'm not good with words. I don't really know how I feel, but what I do know, without any doubt, is that I want you as a part of my life. Whatever life has in store for us, I want you to be by my side." But then, Korra paused, and a shadow washed over her. "But… we can't. It's not right."

"Why not?" Asami suggested, a small smile dawning on her red lips. "Didn't it feel right?"

"It doesn't matter how it felt. I can't do this. Not with you. Not right now." Korra brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face. "You just lost your father, and you aren't in the right state of mind. The last thing I should be doing is confusing you like this. I don't want to take advantage of you."

"Wait a second," Asami said, bemused. "You think that I'm attracted to you because I'm not thinking clearly?"

Korra did not need the words said aloud to understand how ridiculous they were. Regardless, she nodded. She watched as Asami's face morphed before her very eyes, shifting from confusion, to curiosity, to realization, and then finally to amusement, as she started snickering uncontrollably, covering her wide smile with her hand.

"What's so funny?"

Asami sighed lovingly, and rested her cheek onto her palm. "Korra," she said giddily, "you do realize that I've been flirting with you for the past three years, right?"

Korra did not realize this.

"What?"

"I mean, you didn't notice any of it? Flipping my hair over my shoulder? Biting my lip? All of those little hugs and compliments?"

Korra looked at her shoe, and then back at Asami. "I… I thought that was just how you normally acted around people."

Asami rolled her eyes, and knelt down beside Korra. She lightly touched Korra's cheek, and pressed their foreheads together, staring into the Avatar's eyes, glazed over with longing. Her other hand intertwined with Korra's fingers, and she squeezed gently.

"Why do you have to be so damn perfect?" Asami whispered.

"Heh heh," Korra laughed nervously. "What can I say? You rub off on me."

"Why, Korra?" Asami teased. "Are you trying to charm me again?"

"That depends?" said Korra, allowing herself to smile. "Is it working?"

"You tell me…"

Asami leaned forward, and Korra closed her eyes. She did not know how long the kiss lasted, but she did know that she never wanted to let go. She felt the glow from the mushroom intensify, and the grass became more vibrant beneath her feet, and the stars shone down on the two joined hearts brighter than ever before.

Korra parked her car just outside of the warehouse. Her knuckles turned white on the steering wheel, and she took a deep breath. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out the engagement ring, its gemstone stained with dried blood. She clenched it in her hand, and closed her eyes, thinking back to before, when the world made sense. She never wanted to let go.

"Hang on, Asami," she said quietly, holding the ring close to her heart. "I'm coming for you."