Authors note: Sorry, I know it's been forever and I said I would post at least every other week, but better late then never. My excuse is that it's only 4 months until bathing suit time, and I have gotten a little lumpy. I have had to split my free time between writing and exercising. Really I should have never stopped exercising for the last two months. Being healthy is very important to me, but writing is so much fun. Ugg what's a girl to do? Anyway rant over. I hope you like this chapter it's so melodramatic, but I can't help it because I love that stuff. If I can't post a real chapter within the week or next I will at least try to give you some smut that has nothing to due with the story other than filler. Yup, so that is it. Please enjoy!
It was a gray dismal morning and it appropriately matched Asami's mood as she walked into her office building. In contrast, any outsider would have a hard time seeing past her radiant smile and pleasant demeanor that she kept perfectly in place. Her father may be gone but she held a piece of him with her at all times. He had taught her that to run a successful company you always kept your game face on. So it didn't matter that she was in a bad mood, and didn't really feel like being bothered, business was business and her personal drama wasn't to be displayed in front of her employees or clientele. But that didn't mean after her first morning meeting, she couldn't shut herself up in her office under the guise of work, and let her guard down a little.
Asami took off her suit jacket that matched her red pencil skirt, and placed it over her chair. Her heels clicked on the hardwood floor as she flicked on the radio and poured herself a cup of coffee. Stirring in the sugar she checked her reflection on the wall mirror, another habit from her father. As an entrepreneur your product is an extension of self; both should be flawless. Right now she felt anything but flawless. She was up half the night thinking about what Mako and Korra were doing without her. All alone together were they realizing they didn't need her? That she was just a third wheel in a normal one man, one woman relationship? Maybe Korra loved her, but was now realizing she wasn't in love with her and that Korra's feelings for her were at best a favorite friend or sister type. And Mako, did she Asami, love him as much as she thought? Asami's biggest fear was losing Korra and not Mako, but at the same time it hurt to think about losing him again. She felt so overwhelmed and confused right now. More than anything she felt insecure; a feeling very alien to the successful, beautiful business mogul.
Asami sighed as she sipped her coffee and shuffled through the paperwork and designs on her desk. At almost ten in the morning it sounded that the United Earth Republic presidential polls were going well, according to the radio news caster. For the next hour or two Asami half listened to the report and updates of the election. Then a sound from the radio beyond the newscaster grabbed Asami's full attention. She could hear pandemonium in the background before the newscaster confirmed her fear. There had been an explosion and in addition it sounded as if violent benders were being added to the equation.
"Korra!" Asami said out loud to herself "Please be ok, please be ok."
A play by play of the riot was being reported and Asami breathed a sigh of relief to hear that the Avatar and other designated security benders were attending to the terrorists. Asami's heart still pounded in her chest though as she listened to the report, still afraid for her lover's safety. In a little more than an hour, though to Asami it felt much longer, the tumult was contained. The radio voice affirmed the civilians were safe and the polls were resuming their assignments, but with tightened security. All in all there were little casualties and the wounded were being taken to the hospital, including a fire bender who was seriously injured while assisting the avatar.
Asami's face blanched. "It couldn't be." There were dozens of Prince Iroh's fire benders assisting Korra. It could be any one of them. Asami tried to convince herself that Mako was fine as with shaking hands she spun the dial on the rotary phone contacting the hotel that Korra and Mako were staying at. When the phone attendant answered Asami rattled off everyone's name she could think of who could possibly be at the hotel. She was placed on hold and she chewed nervously on one of her manicured nails. Finally after what seemed like ages the line was picked up.
"Asami?" a familiar voice questioned through the phone.
"Yes, is this Pema?" Asami didn't wait for an answer "Would you know how Mako is? I am probably being ridiculous, but I heard about the riot on the radio and it was mentioned that a firebender was hurt. I just wanted to make sure he is ok."
"He is...injured. But Kya and other skilled healers are tending to him as we speak and Korra herself just went to aid them." Pema's voice sounded overly optimistic, which said to Asami that Pema was sugarcoating the truth.
"How bad is it?" asked Asami as her voice broke a little.
There was a moment of silence as Pema clearly decided what she should tell Asami. "I didn't see him for myself, as I took the little ones back here to the hotel for safety, but I heard he is in bad shape. I'm sorry Asami, I know he is your close friend. I will try to find out more information and either I or one of our friends will call you back."
The heiress felt a knot in her throat as she held back sobs. She nodded her head in response to Pema, and barely got out an, "Ok, thank you."
Asami disconnected the phone and slumped back in her chair. She let herself cry for a moment and then pulled herself together. Maybe it wasn't as bad as she feared, after all Pema had not seen Mako, maybe she was mistaken about the severity of the injury.
She blotted her eyes with a tissue and intercomed her secretary "Anya can you reschedule my afternoon meetings, I have unexpected matter to attend to."
"Of course Miss Sato." came Anya's voice.
Asami paced her office like a frightened caged animal. Her imagination tortured her with images of Mako bloodied and broken or ghostly pale with a blue hue tinting his skin while he lay deathly still in a hospital bed. She imagined holding a crying Korra while they both sobbed over Mako's death. She thought about Bolin and how he must be feeling right now. Hour after hour passed like this as she periodically eyed her phone. She even picked it up several times to make sure a dial tone was present. She didn't want to leave her office afraid that she would miss the phone call she was waiting for. At one point Anya poked her head in.
"Miss Sato, it's end of shift do you need anything of me before I go? Are you ok?" she asked sensing something amiss with her employer.
"Everything is fine Anya." Asami smiled, as she dismissed her secretary "Have a good night." her perfect shell was cracking.
Not long after the phone finally rang. "This is Asami" she spilled out quickly as she had to grab the phone from falling off the desk. She had nearly knocked it over in her haste to answer the call.
"It's Korra, love."
Asami started crying and she didn't care. Korra was on phone, she sounded tired, but ok. She wouldn't sound fine if Mako was in danger of dying or dead. "Oh Korra, how is Mako?"
"He will survive. I just left the hospital he is in stable condition. He is even up and talking. He is pretty drugged though, so he sounds ridiculous. You should hear him and Bolin having a conversation, it's actually quite amusing." Korra gave a weak laugh.
"I wish you were here." Asami could hear Korra's voice trembling, near tears. "It was terrible. Mako saw the explosion as it happened, he temporarily contained it with his fire bending. It was amazing actually, I've never seen a firebender do that. He saved a lot of people. Regardless he couldn't contain it forever so the bomb practically went off in his face. I tried to block him from the blast, and it worked to some extent, he didn't get burned to a crisp and I saved his pretty face." Korra gave another weak laugh.
"Oh, Korra honey. I know you did everything you could. I wish I was with you too. I think you need a hug right now." Said Asami, trying to comfort Korra, who was close to breaking down.
"The worst part was I couldn't even help him right away, as benders came out of the woodwork and starting attacking. Mako was thrown so far by the detonation and he hit the ground so hard. he looked like a rag doll. I could see him as I went into the avatar state, he wasn't moving, and there was so much blood. It was Kya, Bolin and Opal that got to him first. I couldn't even help until the uprising had been smashed.
When I made it to the hospital a team was already working on him. even after I joined them it took a while to stabilize him. Mako had broken bones, internal bleeding and multiple lacerations." Korra was crying and Asami cried with her. "I was so worried"
"I'm glad he is ok, and that you were there to help him." Said Asami through her tears. "I feel terrible for the way I treated him. I was so angry with him, but now after all of this it just feels stupid. I should have just been open with him, instead of being mad because I expected him to figure it out on his own."
"I'm glad you said that." replied Korra. "We are coming home directly after the inauguration. Bolin is going to help me bring Mako back to the apartment. I think we should be the ones to nurse him back to health. That means Mako will be living with us for a bit. I know I didn't ask you first and I'm sorry...is that OK?"
Asami smiled as she pictured Korra's face, a mixture of defiance and repentance "Yes, I am just happy that the two of you are coming back home to me."
The grandfather clock's pendulum ticked away the time, second by second, Asami glanced over at the time face. According to Asami's calculations, based on the train arrival time, unloading and driving distance, they were late coming home. It had only been four days, but it felt like weeks since she had seen Korra and Mako. She was scared to see Mako. Scared to see how badly he had been hurt and scared because their last words to each other ending in an argument. She didn't know if he really wanted to see her and it was Asami who would be caring for Mako during most of his recovery. As the CEO of her own company she was able to work from home, going into the office only when she needed to.
Twenty minutes past the time Asami expected them, the party arrived. Asami could hear Bolin from the entryway as they made their way to her.
"So this is where you and Asami live. It's pretty fancy, you girls sure know how to live in style. Asami!" Bolin abandoned the high backed wheelchair, seating an apparently sleeping Mako, and held his arms out wide for a hug.
Asami was almost glad that she didn't have a good view of Mako and now Bolin was blocking it completely. She met the Earth-bender half way. "It's so good to see you." Said Asami as they embraced. She genuinely laughed as Bolin's hug lifted her off her feet and he twirled her around.
Bolin released Asami from his embrace and held her at arms length, giving her a good look "I've missed you so much. The four of us...well five, I can't leave Opal out as we are engaged, really need to hang out more. Lets not let it go another 3 months or years…especially since you ladies have been been hanging out with Mako and not me."
"I'm sorry Bolin, I have been a terrible friend." Asami's guilt was momentarily all consuming as they chatted, she didn't notice as Korra wheeled Mako past them to get him settled into bed. "But hold on...you and Opal engaged! I am so happy for you two." She gave Bolin another quick hug. "As soon as Mako is better you two are definitely coming over so we can celebrate properly."
"Oh, Mako! I forgot. I should be helping Korra with him." Bolin spun around in a circle not sure where to go, when Korra returned to the living room.
"I just dumped him into bed, he's out cold still. No sense shifting him all about and bothering him." said the avatar. "Bolin, do you still have a spare key to Mako's apartment?"
"Yeah, how come?" questioned the Earth-bender
"Since Mako will be staying here for his recovery, I need to get some of his clothes and stuff." it was a lie as they already had a bureau full from his sleepovers. Also if you don't mind I could use some company to get some medicinal herbs and supplies for Mako."
"Oh, yeah. For a second I had it in my head that my bro already lived here. Weird." Bolin shook his head. "Asami, will you be OK here by yourself."
"Yes, I will be fine." Asami replied calmly, even though she was petrified to be alone with Mako at the moment. She didn't even know where they stood with one another right now. She gave Korra a look.
"I drugged Mako pretty heavily for the train ride home. I didn't want him to be uncomfortable. He will still probably be out when we come back. If he does wake up and needs something for pain control give him some of this herbal tea." Korra Handed Asami some prefilled tea pouches. "We will be back in time for me to do his water healing session."
After Korra and Bolin left Asami stood in the door frame to their room. She had to talk herself into going in to see Mako. Finally she took a deep breath and walked into the room. The floor was covered with a thick plush carpet, but she removed her heels anyway. She climbed onto the large bed, big enough for five or six, and crawled her way to Mako's side.
Korra hadn't lied when she said she had dumped Mako into bed. Asami knew Korra's intentions were well meant, and that she didn't want Mako to be disturbed, but when he came around Asami didn't want him to be too uncomfortable. She removed Mako's shoes and then carefully removed his pants. His right side appeared to hold the brunt of his injuries, and she assumed he must have impacted on this side as dark bruising ran the length of his outer right leg. As she unbuttoned his Jacket she found they hadn't even bothered to put a shirt on him. She delicately removed his left arm from his jacket sleeves and pulled the coat out from underneath him without too much trouble.
His Torso was wrapped in white bandages and she could see a square of padding over the right upper quadrant of his abdomen that was probably packed over a more serious wound. His exposed chest and right shoulder contained more ugly bruising and areas of painful looking skin abrasions.
Finally Asami took a good look at his face. Mako had a large red gash that started at the temple and ended at his jawline. The angry laceration was surrounded by even more purple bruising. Another gash was embedded deep into his lower lip and several other smaller cuts decorated his face, but underneath it he was still the same old beautiful Mako. Not that she would have cared if his beauty had been singed away. While she appreciated his appearance, what she loved most about him were the things you couldn't see. His strength, perseverance and pride were the things she found most attractive about him. Oddly enough it was these same traits that drove her crazy.
Rather than try to get the comforter from underneath him Asami pulled a spare blanket from the closet, and after placing it over him she laid next to him. She snuggled into his less injured side. She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she felt his hand lightly touch her face.
"Asami?" Said Mako, his voice groggy.
She looked up at his face and into his amber eyes. They were slightly clouded, but coherent. He tried to sit up and his eyebrows drew together as he winced. His good hand left her face to hug his abdomen and cradle his broken ribs.
"Careful Mako, just lay down. Are you in Pain? let me get you something to make you more comfortable." Asami said as she moved to slide out of the bed. She stopped though and looked back at Mako as he grabbed her wrist with a surprisingly strong grip. Korra had either been incorrect, or had lied about how long Mako would be unconscious.
"Don't go." he told her "I'm OK for now, just sit with me for a bit." He closed his eyes for a second adjusting to the pain he caused himself when he sat up.
"You don't look OK." Asami told him, but she moved back towards him anyway. "I really should get you some pain medicine."
"No, I don't want anything that will make me feel anymore garbled. I can barely think straight as it is. I need to talk to you and I want a clear head to do it."
Asami said nothing. Her heart was racing in her chest. She wasn't ready for a confrontation, though after what Mako had just been through, he deserved to say what was on his mind. The fire-bender looked at her for moment, clearly trying to work though the drug induced haze. Guilt ate at Asami as she looked at his marred face.
"You are beautiful you know that?" he shook his head, then cradled it in his hands, the motion making his head spin. "Of course you know you're beautiful, that's not what I am trying to say. You are more than beautiful to me. I know you think I don't love you and I am not always the best with words or expressing my emotions, but I do love you. I don't know how to ease your fears about this relationship or if I can give you everything you expect from me, but I want to try. I don't deserve you...or Korra really. I have hurt you both a lot in the past..and also recently, but if you let me I will try to make up for it with the rest of my life." Mako, searched her face as he spoke and he felt relief when she smiled at him.
Asami leaned in, careful not to put any pressure on him and very softly she kissed his lips.
"It won't be hard to make it up to me. I just want you to show me that you love me. Spend some time with me, talk to me. Come surprise me for lunch at my office one day. Just little things to show me I am important to you. Listen I know Korra is special to you." Asami put up her hand when it looked as if Mako might protest. "She is to me too. Even if she wasn't the avatar there is just something about her soul that pulls us together. If you and I could only choose one person we both know we would choose her, but Korra, I don't think she could choose. She would always be torn. But that said, I also love you. When I thought I might lose you, I was so distraught. The way I treated you...I realized how jealous and insecure I was being. Don't get me wrong, you are not off the hook. But from now on instead of expecting you to know what to do I will just let you know. No more guessing"
"If I were in better shape, I would show you how much I love you." replied Mako, wanting in every way to make up for his past ignorance.
Asami laughed, "first lesson, I am not the same as Korra. Sex does not make everything better. In fact she might be one of the only females in which sex is the same as an apology."
Asami leaned her head on Mako's good shoulder. "To me sex just shows your physical attraction, nothing more. The best way to show me you love me? Spend time with me, cuddle and talk to me."
Mako ran his fingers through her long jet black hair. "Well you are in luck, because as you can see I am in the perfect condition for cuddling."