"Okay guys. I think I need a break," Asami said as she hoisted herself up to sit on the lip of the heated pool.

"If it's because I kept splashing you, I'm sorry!" Bolin called from the top of the decorative statue he'd been leaping off of for several minutes, though his following cannonball into the aquamarine water didn't sell his apology.

Small waves rippled out from Bolin's plunge point, smacking Mako in the chest and face. He spit out some water, grimacing at the taste, and swam over to where Bolin was surfacing. The older brother shoved Bolin back under just as he took a gasp of air. Asami was glad she got out when she did as the brothers began to wage a water battle, though now that she was removed from the action, her thoughts from last night caught up to her.

Almost 48 hours ago, she learned Korra was her soul mate. And less than 24 hours ago, Korra walked in on Asami helping the brothers move out of their apartment and, unable to muster the courage to tell Korra then and there of her revelation, Asami extended the Avatar an invitation to her estate the following day for what she said was much needed fun, though Asami was also buying some time to figure out what to say to her other half.

Korra agreed enthusiastically, but left shortly after accepting, so Asami couldn't establish when exactly the girl planned to drop by the mansion. Which left Asami a nervous wreck for the rest of the day, though she hid it well by throwing herself into moving the boys in and giving a thorough tour of her home.

When she pointed out the sleek, well-stocked kitchen with its immaculate, top of the line cookware, she wondered if her chef could produce Water Tribe cuisine at such short notice if Korra stopped by for breakfast or lunch. When Asami showed the boys to their guest rooms, she considered asking a maid to make up another room if it wasn't too much trouble, just in case Korra didn't stop by until evening and stayed too late to catch the last ferry back to Air Temple Island.

All these thoughts and a dozen more plagued her, regardless of how she busied herself. Then, once dinner ended, and Mako and Bolin retired to the rooms for the night, Asami found herself completely distraction-free. So she slipped under the covers of her bed and allowed herself to get all the worry out of her system.

What would Korra want to do? Would she want to swim in the pool? Would she want to have a girlier hangout time and do makeovers? Probably not, but something in the girl's blue eyes told Asami she was full of surprises. What should she say to Korra in terms of their soul mate bond? More importantly, when should she say it?

Asami thought she'd left these worries behind as she drifted off to sleep, but now, sitting by the pool, wriggling her toes in the warm water, the same questions buzzed around her head again.

Bolin and Mako continued to goof off, shouting and spraying each other, allowing Asami to run through a litany of soul mate speeches in her head. "Hey, Korra. We're soul mates," seemed too blunt to Asami, though judging by the way Korra handled some situations, maybe it was a smart idea to be as straightforward as she was.

She thought about pulling Korra aside right after she arrived and saying, "Korra, can I talk to you privately for a moment? It's important." Was it, though? She and Korra were still working out a tenuous friendship, plus, compared to the threat of Amon, the whole soul mate thing seemed less imperative, selfish even. Korra might be destined to be with her, but the Avatar belonged to the people. And right now, the people needed her to stop the equalist threat.

A looming expectation of eventually falling in love with someone was a lot to deal with, too, and Korra didn't need that on top of fighting Amon and chi blockers. Maybe she should wait to break the news after the conflict was resolved, though Asami didn't know how long that would take. Thankfully, or perhaps not, her thoughts were interrupted by her butler.

"Miss Sato, Avatar Korra has arrived."

Asami meant to thank him but then Korra stepped forward, her eyes tracing the ornate, curved ceiling, her mouth open in awe, her hands stuffed in her pants pockets and Asami shouted, "Korra!"

Said girl jumped and she swiveled to see who'd spoken to her. "Hey, Asami," she said, stepping closer to the pool. "Um, nice place."

Asami slipped back into the pool, suddenly self-conscious in her low backed, black one piece, but swam towards the pool's edge where Korra stood anyways. "Glad you made it!" Asami cringed at how high her voice shot up.

"Yeah, me too. Hey Mako. Bolin. Looks like you guys are having fun. All settled in?" Asami noticed that although Korra was speaking to them, her blue eyes drifted back to Asami.

Or maybe she imagined it. After all, what hadn't she imagined about Korra over the past 48 hours?

"Yep," Mako said. "Although Asami forgot to ask her father if it was okay for us to move in."

Asami rolled her eyes as she drifted closer to Korra's side of the pool. ""It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission. He even asked if you planned on moving in, too, Korra." Her dad was completely overwhelmed by the news of teenage boys moving in, so she understood why he'd gone so pale at the idea of the Avatar joining them, too.

Korra let out a half laugh. "No thanks. As great as this place looks, I'm pretty comfortable at Tenzin's." She sat down on a bench by the pool's edge and Asami swam for the ladder off to the left. "So what have you got planned for us today?" Korra's feet shuffled against the tile of the pool deck. "Shopping? Makeovers?"

Asami bit her lip to stop the laughter bubbling up her throat as she used the pool stairs to climb out of the water. So her instincts were right; Korra really wasn't a makeover girl. A better idea struck her then. "I have something a little more exciting in mind." She could show not just Korra, but Mako and Bolin as well that she wasn't just some rich girl, and she knew exactly how to do it.

Asami flicked her wet hair over her shoulder and her imagination must have went wild again because it looked like Korra was checking her out. But then the blue eyes were fixed on her face and the girl looked nervous, though still cocky. Korra raised an eyebrow. "Gonna give me a hint? Or is it a surprise?"

"The latter, though it's right out back so it won't be a surprise very long. Let me clean up and get changed into some real clothes and I'll show you." Asami tore her eyes away from Korra to look at the brothers still in the pool. "You guys should get dressed, too. We're going outside."

"I'll just wait here, I guess." Korra shifted on the bench.

"Okay. We'll be quick, right guys?" Asami was already inching away from the pool.

"Yeah! I want to see what this surprise is," Bolin said before turning to Mako. "Bet I can make it back to my room before you get to yours!" He launched out of the pool, splashing water everywhere.

"Hey! No fair!" Mako slopped more water onto the floor and sprinted after his brother.

Asami would have to apologize profusely to the staff for making their jobs harder, eyeing the sizable puddles outside of the pool. She turned back to Korra and smiled. They were alone now. Asami could go over, sit beside her, and tell her they were soul mates. Or not. She dawdled on the spot, half way between Korra and the door to the hall that led to her bedroom.

Korra laughed. "Go ahead, Asami. I'll be fine waiting here."

With that out provided, Asami started towards her room. "Be right back," she said over her shoulder, walking quickly out the door.

Once she knew she was out of sight, Asami groaned and ran a hand through her damp hair. "Coward," she muttered.

Korra was right there and, okay yeah, Asami literally just thought about waiting until after Amon was taken care of or they got to know each other a little better or Korra realized on her own they shared pain before confirming they were soul mates but…she was right there. Waiting. Alone. And maybe she was just as anxious as Asami to know whom her soul mate was. So she'd tell Korra. She'd dress fast, beat the boys back to her, and tell her. And then Korra could react, hopefully positively.

Once inside her room, Asami stripped her suit off and dressed in a blur, pulling on one of her favorite outfits that she knew would be comfy to drive in, but also look good in. She touched up her makeup in the mirror and toweled her hair so it was mostly dry before attempting to style it so it didn't look like she'd been half drowned. She realized she was frowning at a particularly stubborn wisp of hair that kept escaping her hair clip, and then also realized it was because her hands were shaking when she tried to snap the blue clip shut. "It's not like you're confessing your love for her," she said to her reflection. "Just calm down."

A few minutes later, Asami had herself as put together as she could in her haste to get back to Korra, and she tried not to jog to the pool. When she got there, Korra was sitting in the same spot on the bench, though hunched forward. Asami approached quickly, trying not to stare at the way Korra's light blue top hugged her sharp shoulder blades or clung to the dip of her lower back. Thankfully, her eyes were drawn to the circular motion Korra was making with her right wrist.

Any soul mate speech running through Asami's head vanished. Suspended in the air below Korra's brown hand was a prism of ice that caught the sunlight filtering in from the windows and bounced miniature rainbow flecks around the floor at Korra's feet.

"Beautiful," Asami whispered, though it carried easily in the room.

Korra started and the ice melted, splashing to the ground. She turned to Asami, a light blush and an impish grin on her face. "Uh, thanks. Sorry. I can't help myself around water sometimes and I didn't know how long you were gonna be so I just started playing around."

Asami shrugged and sat next to her on the bench, keeping a respectable, friendly gap between them. "That was seriously cool, Korra. Uh, no pun intended."

Korra laughed loudly, shaking the bench. "Good one!"

It really wasn't, but the fact that she made Korra laugh like that made Asami feel warm inside. She wanted to prolong this moment, so she asked, "What else can you make with ice? Besides practical battle stuff, I mean."

Korra grinned and bended some water back to hover between her palms. "A lot, actually. Here, watch this."

The sphere of water shrank and crackled, turning from clear to an opaque, mottled white and light blue cube. It looked perfectly crafted, although Asami was a little disappointed that it wasn't as stunning as the prism Korra made. "That's…"

"A boring ice cube, I know. But watch," Korra said, twitching her fingertips.

Shards of ice fell away with each subtle movement of Korra's fingers until a shape slowly began to emerge. Asami couldn't make it out until Korra reached over and grabbed her left hand, forcing her palm up. Then, she deposited the lump of ice into Asami's hand and grinned.

Asami held it up to her face for closer inspection and smiled when she saw it was a rough mini sculpture of a satomobile. "This is amazing!"

Korra rubbed her hands on her pants. "I make a better polar bear dog, but you haven't met Naga, so I thought I'd try and make something you'd recognize."

"You did a good job." Although it lacked intricate details, and what little there were were swiftly melting, Asami marveled at the wheels and unmistakable body shape all the same.

Korra scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, pretty good for someone who hadn't seen a satomobile up until a couple months ago."

Asami's eyes widened. Surely Korra was kidding. A quick study of her expression told Asami that she wasn't, though. "Really?" Korra nodded. "Have you ever ridden in one?"

Korra pursed her lips for a minute before responding. "I usually use Naga to get around but I rode in one twice for a couple of minutes from the dock to Tarrlok's gala and back. Wasn't really blown away, no offense."

Asami stood and offered a gloved hand to help Korra up. "We'll have to change that. C'mon, I'll show you the surprise now. The boys will catch up."

Korra took her hand, squeezing lightly, and smiled. "Okay, sure!"

Asami let their hands fall apart and she motioned for Korra to follow her. They wound through the long halls of the estate, passing several rooms. "I can give you a tour later, if you want, but the fun stuff is out here," Asami said, pushing open a back door to reveal a green expanse of grass.

Korra stood beside her and Asami bit her lip again when she saw Korra's jaw drop open as her blue eyes took in the sight at the bottom of the grassy hill they stood on. "Is that what I think it is?"

"If you're thinking racetrack, then yes. It's where Future Industries test-drives all their cars." As she spoke, the roar of engines in the distance drifted up to them.

Korra's eyes watched the two satomobile racers rip around the curvy, black track. "If only I could drive," Korra said softly.

"Want me to take you for a spin?" Asami's brain caught up with what she was saying too late and her ears burned.

You just found out she's your soul mate and now you're throwing suggestive lines at her like that, Asami thought. Well, she did plan on impressing Korra with her driving skills but she wasn't going to throw herself at Korra. They barely knew each other, outside of their societal titles and pro bending. She tried to think of something else to say but Korra didn't take her phrasing strangely. Instead, she was practically jumping in place. "Let's do it!"

Asami relaxed. She started down the slight slope, Korra right behind her. If this driving idea went as well as she felt it would, maybe Asami would also finally tell Korra they were soul mates. She always felt confident behind the wheel and maybe, once they both got out of the car, in her usual post-race high, telling Korra would come naturally.

"That was so fun!" Asami probably thought Korra was annoying, still gushing about the race around the track as she and the boys walked back up to the mansion, but Korra couldn't help herself.

Thankfully, Asami only laughed in a way that sounded like she was agreeing rather than teasing. Asami hadn't been able to add much to their conversation because Korra couldn't stop exclaiming how fast and amazing and scary their race was. It was nothing but pure speed and adrenaline in a slim, agile machine and she could see why Asami liked it so much. And she looked so good behind the wheel, like she was born to be a racer, shifting quickly, steering with an insane amount of confidence that Korra admired.

Then, she'd gotten out of the car, removed her helmet, and shook out her long, beautiful, black hair like it was all nothing—and maybe it was to her since she grew up around all of this, Korra thought—and that was impressive. Asami's tenacity on the track, plus the way she proudly talked about her self defense training when Korra blushingly admitted she had Asami pegged wrong, left her reeling but in the best of ways.

She was already thinking of inviting Asami over to the Air Temple to hang out after training tomorrow, because today was already passing too quickly. They'd spent two hours down at the track, as Asami had to take Mako and Bolin around the course after seeing Korra's go. Then, she insisted Korra take another ride, this time gunning the satomobile as fast as it would go on the straightaway section of the track. Now the teens were heading back inside for a late lunch. Korra knew she'd have to head back to do her sunset meditation with Tenzin sooner rather than later, so she walked slower, trying to prolong the time with her friends.

But Bolin started to get antsy as soon as the main building was in sight. "Er, guys, can we hurry it up? I've gotta find the little boys' room."

Asami nodded and Korra sighed as they all walked quickly up the last large flight of stone steps. A butler opened the door for them. Asami waltz in first, followed by Korra, Mako, and Bolin who was trying to squeeze by all of them without uncrossing his legs.

"Emergency!" He shouted, finally shoving past all of them.

His shoulder clipped Asami as he rushed past her down the hall. She stumbled forward and almost steadied herself when Mako brushed by too, chasing and shouting, "The bathroom's the other way, bro!"

Though he'd barely touched Asami, it was enough for the girl to lose her balance and trip over an umbrella stand to the side of the door. She cursed as her right shin smashed against the stand.

Korra reached out with one hand and gripped Asami's arm so she wouldn't topple to the floor. "Asami are you o—" A brief spurt of pain shot up her right shin and Korra froze.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a bump." Asami stretched her leg out, then turned to Korra, her face flushing as she took in whatever expression was on Korra's numb face.

"Do that again," Korra whispered, her heart beating hard in her chest.

Asami frowned. "I'd rather not. That hurt."

Korra shook her head, which felt too heavy and too light all at once. "No. Asami, I..." She spoke in a daze. "I think I just felt that. You."

Korra watched as the tight muscles in Asami's face loosened and her red lips curved into a tiny smile. "Oh."

Several seconds of silence passed and Korra tried to think of something, anything to say, but all she could hear in her head were the words soul mate pulsing in time with her heart. When she opened her mouth to speak, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth and she wanted was to down a large glass of water. There was no way around what just happened. Asami got hurt and only a second later, Korra felt it. She licked her lips and tried to speak. "We're…" She got tongue tied.

Asami nodded. "Yeah."

That word and the look of confirmation spilling out across Asami's face helped Korra find her voice again. "Wait," Korra stiffened. "You knew? How long?" Oh man, she'd been messing around with Mako and Bolin and Asami was probably up there in the stands watching the entire time, shaking her head and waiting patiently for Korra to figure it all out.

Asami shrugged. "Not that long. A couple of days ago."

She didn't elaborate, but she didn't have to. Korra's mind immediately jumped to the night of Amon's attack, when Asami stood there and told her right to her face about her soul mate troubles. Korra groaned and smacked herself in the forehead. "Two nights ago," she trailed off.

"Yeah," Asami said again.

Korra pinched the bridge of her nose, remembering that she also kind of unintentionally ran away from Asami after that moment at the championship pro bending match. "And you probably wanted to tell me but I blew you off. I'm so sorry, Asami."

Asami bit her lip and hugged herself. "Actually I've been debating all day whether or not I should tell you because you've got a lot on your plate as is, plus, well, we're friendly towards each other but I didn't know if you considered me a friend."

"I do." Korra said quickly. "But yeah, I mean, we just met each other and now I find out we're…we're…" Soul mates, she finished in her head.

Asami hugged herself harder and looked at the floor, clearly as uncomfortable as Korra felt. "Soul mates are usually friends first, Korra. It's not like I'm asking you to marry me right now."

"Marry you?!" The room started to warp around her as it really hit her.

Okay, so Asami was her soul mate. Funny, smart, pretty, awesome driver Asami Sato was her other half. They felt each other's pain. And one day they were going to be so in love they'd probably get married. Eventually they'd hold hands and cuddle and kiss and, well, a whole bunch of other stuff. Korra clutched her head and sucked in a breath of air. I barely even know her, she thought, trembling. How am I supposed to look at her when I don't have feelings yet, but know that I will in the future?

"Korra?" Suddenly Asami was touching her shoulder, green eyes narrowed in concern. "Are you okay? I know this is a lot to process. I'm still kind of figuring things out, too, but—"

"Is there another bathroom I could use?" Korra asked in a rush.

Asami frowned and dropped her hand. Great job, Korra, already upsetting your soul mate. Soul mate, wow. "Yeah, there's a ladies powder room upstairs on your right." She pointed up the staircase just beyond the foyer.

"Thanks," Korra mumbled as she jogged up the steps, leaving Asami behind.

She found the bathroom easily, despite almost running into the wall, and she shut the door behind her. Korra quickly made her way to the faucet and turned on the water. She cupped her hands and splashed her face, instantly feeling more relaxed as her native element washed over her skin. After a minute of regulating her breathing, she chanced a look in the mirror above the sink.

She looked loopy; her bangs plastered to her still wet forehead, her blue eyes wide and wild, her lips quivered. What was wrong with her? Asami was amazing. Hadn't she thought that before finding out they were soul mates? And she hadn't been this nervous when she thought Mako was. But this was the real deal now, so of course she'd been more anxious.

Okay, Asami's awesome. Awesome Asami. She's smart, she's so nice, and she's just as scared as me about this probably, Korra thought, staring at her reflection. She should be happy; she just found her soul mate. And the longer that Korra thought about it, the more she realized she was. Her happiness was just kind of buried under a mountain of nerves. She dried her hands and face off on a towel, tried to sweep back the loose strands of hair that always fell in her face, then puffed out her chest as she took one more relaxing breath in and out.

"I got this." She sounded much more confident now and threw the door open, prepared to march down the stairs, apologize to Asami for her slip up, and figure out where to go from here.

Because things were going to be exciting now. She met her other half and though Korra didn't feel like kissing her or dropping to her knees and professing her love for Asami at the moment, she also didn't want to avoid the girl. They had so much fun today, and if every day with Asami was like today, then falling in love with her would be easy. Korra grinned at the thought.

She was so caught up in her happiness that she didn't realize she turned the wrong way upon exiting the powder room. Korra began to turn around when she heard a voice coming from a door to the left of her. Without really thinking much of it, Korra leaned in close and saw Hiroshi Sato through the keyhole. He was at his desk, talking on the telephone. Korra almost pulled back when her ears picked up on what Mr. Sato was saying.

Her blood ran cold. Replaying the words over and over in her head led Korra to the same conclusion every time: Hiroshi framed his business rival and was also possibly an equalist. She had to get to Tenzin and Lin before Hiroshi got away with anything else.

Korra ran down the stairs and through the foyer, blowing by Asami, Mako, and Bolin. She made a beeline for the door, but stopped abruptly when she heard Asami call out to her. "I forgot I'm supposed to baby-bend, uh, babysit the airbender kids," she offered as she shoved the front door open.

Frowning, Asami followed her right out the door. "Korra, if this is about earlier, I'm sorry if I said something that upset you. I just meant we could work on being friends first and not worry about what happens later."

Korra stopped on the doorway landing and looked at her, puzzled. Then she remembered what happened before eavesdropping on Hiroshi. Of course Asami would think she was running away from her. "Oh! Us being soul mates. Sorry I ran. I just needed to get some water, but I'm good now. I, yeah, I'd like to work on being friends first. I've just got to go. Right now. Babysitting." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder.

Asami put her hands on her hips. "Why are you lying?" She sounded sad.

Korra saw Mako and Bolin heading towards them, so she leaned forward and pulled the door shut behind Asami, getting into the girl's space in the process. Something warm tickled Korra's cheek and she jerked back when she saw how close her face was to Asami's. Her face glowed pink and she looked away, which Korra was thankful for.

"S-sorry," Korra stuttered. "I just, I heard something and I need to talk to Lin and Tenzin immediately."

"Wait, this isn't because you're freaking out about us being soul mates?" Asami's eyebrows shot up and the blush faded. "What did you hear that's so important you need to talk to a council member and the chief of police?"

Korra bit her lip. Soul mate stuff aside, could she trust Asami? What if it wasn't just her father that was an equalist? What if she—no, that couldn't be right. Asami never seemed less than genuine every time Korra, Mako, or Bolin interacted with her, so she couldn't want to end benders. In that case, if she wasn't an equalist and her father was, Asami deserved to know. Korra sighed. "Okay, well after I got out of the bathroom, I accidentally went the wrong way down the hall and I overheard your dad talking…"

Korra relayed verbatim what Hiroshi said and anticipated having to comfort Asami. She did not expect to be met with a heated glare.

"My father's not an equalist, Korra. He sponsored your pro bending team! He has two benders living in his house right now!" Asami snapped. "I can't believe you. It's okay to be freaked out about being soul mates, you know. I'm afraid and excited, too. But you didn't have to make up some awful story about my father just so you can run away!" She reached for the door handle, turning her back to Korra.

Was she being serious? Anger flitted through Korra, though only briefly. She did just accuse Asami's father of being part of a terrorist organization bent on eradicating half the population of the world. And sure, she didn't handle the soul mate news very well, but shouldn't Asami trust her now more than ever? Why would she intentionally try to hurt the person she was meant to be with forever? "No, Asami, I'm not making this up! This has nothing to do with us being soul mates. Your dad—"

"Enough." Asami whirled around, some of her hair whipping Korra in the face. "I don't want to see or talk to you right now."

Deep in her chest, Korra felt a pang, and she wasn't sure if it was herself being hurt by Asami's words, or Asami's own hurt echoing in her. "But—"

Asami wrenched open the door, walked inside, and closed it in Korra's face. Korra slumped. She could knock on the door and hope the butler let her in, but Asami probably already ordered him not to. She could try and shout an apology through the door, but Asami probably already dragged Mako and Bolin elsewhere. So Korra resigned herself to the long walk out of the estate grounds.

"That could've gone a million times better," she grumbled, scuffing her boots against the stairs as she trudged down. "Sorry, Asami, but I know I'm right about this." Korra just had to make her see it in the gentlest way, if possible.

Maybe she should bring Asami some flowers, Korra thought as she left the Sato estate and began her trek to Beifong's office. Though she doubted any of the flower shops in the city made a bouquet that said, Sorry I'm A Crappy Soul Mate So Far And Plan On Outing Your Father As A Terrorist. She shoved her hands in her pockets and walked on.