"Asami," Korra groaned behind her, sprawled across her bed. "How much stuff are you planning on bringing?"

Asami scanned her room, eyeing the scattered piles of clothing and miscellaneous possessions all over the polished wooden floor of her bedroom. To her left was a piece of luggage filled with her notebooks and blueprints. Most of her other trunks were already stuffed with several outfits worth of clothing and shoes. Another held all her beauty products, which Korra found fascinating, although slightly confusing as many of the goods hadn't reached the Southern Water Tribe yet.

She was immensely grateful when Korra asked if she could tag along. Having another person here with her, in the mansion that now reeked more of betrayal than home, helped her keep her nerve. She had every intention of coming alone and figured she'd end up curled in a ball on her bed crying. Though her prickling inner turmoil was probably what tipped Korra off and made her want to accompany Asami in the first place.

Korra hadn't allowed Asami to indulge in self-pity, though it was hardly intentional. Asami got caught up in the way Korra marveled at all of her things, from her stocked vanity to her brimming closet. Asami stood in it now as Korra lounged on her bed, trying not to seem bored but utterly failing. Asami promised she was only going to grab the essentials, but here they were, two hours and six trunks later.

She'd been a good sport, though, retrieving things Asami pointed out to her, helping her weed out some of her more ridiculous clothing choices, though Korra swore up and down she wasn't very good in the fashion department. They were nearly done, though. Asami was almost at the back of her closet, where her dresses and gowns hung.

"Sorry, I don't know what to bring and I'd really rather not have to come back here because I forgot something." Asami frowned as she pulled one of her favorite red dresses off the hook and walked it out of the closet to flash it at Korra. "Do you think I'll need formal wear?"

Korra's lips twitched and she rolled her eyes, though not before running her eyes up and down the length of the dress. "Around the island? No. It's pretty cold with the breeze coming right off the bay, or so I'm told. I've never had a problem with it." She rested her chin on her folded arms and settled deeper into the mattress.

Asami chuckled. "Not all of us grew up in the South Pole, Korra."

"Yeah, yeah. Make sure you have some warm stuff, especially to sleep in. It snowed last night and the air acolytes ended up piling on extra blankets. Oh, which reminds me," Korra paused to sit up. "The mattresses on the island are like sleeping on a rock compared to this cloud." She patted the sheets beneath her. "So if you have something you want to bring to make it more comfortable, definitely grab that."

Asami nodded, glad she'd packed all of her jackets without hesitation earlier. She'd also packed one of her thick blankets, which would have to resolve the bed issue. Her eyes found the dress in her hands again. It would be silly to pack something so lavish and impractical when her days of attending functions with her father were over. And yet, part of her hoped Korra would tell her to bring it. Korra still had to attend important events as the Avatar and maybe Asami could go with her. As friends, of course.

While they were soul mates, they hadn't told anyone, both agreeing earlier this morning that they didn't want any outside pressure to be something more from their friends on top of the stresses already surrounding them. Not to mention how the press would react. Asami's face was already splashed across a few newspapers, followed by speculative headlines about whether or not she was as bad as her father. The last thing she needed was some misleading news story about the equalist's daughter and the Avatar being star-crossed lovers.

With a shake of her head, Asami focused on the task at hand. She gently folded the dress and packed it, along with two others she favored. At the very least, she could go out on the town in one. She took stock of what she'd packed and determined she only needed to pluck a few books from her bookshelf. She turned to Korra, who seemed to be lost in softness of the bed. It made her smile.

"I want to grab some books but then I think I've got everything," she said.

Korra perked up, pushing herself up and twisting until she was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Awesome! I can start bringing stuff downstairs." Her face fell though after a moment. "The police probably want to check your stuff first though to make sure you're not smuggling out evidence."

Asami groaned. Several of Republic City's finest were combing through the mansion as they spoke, looking for further damning evidence in their case against her father, but also to see if there was any hint of where he could have gone. There were no leads on the current whereabouts of Hiroshi Sato. "Right. We better start bringing stuff down in case they take forever."

She made to lift the closest trunk but Korra marched over and gripped the side handles first. "I got this. Just finish packing, okay? Then, we're off!" Korra hefted the trunk up, making it look easy, though Asami saw the way the muscles in her bare arms flexed.

What was more impressive was when Korra dropped the trunk on top of another, and then proceeded to lift the bottom trunk. She grunted a little but didn't waver as she walked out the door. Was it her, or was Korra showing off a little bit? Or a lot, because when she tried to move another one of her trunks closer to the door, she couldn't imagine carrying two at once without staggering under the weight.

With a sigh, Asami wandered back to her bookshelf and ran a finger along each row, scanning for particular titles. She plucked four of her favorite comprehensive mechanics and engineering books out, along with a few history collections. She heard Korra return to grab two more trunks, so she quickened her search. She neared the end of her bookshelf and spotted one of her guilty pleasures tucked in the corner. She pulled out The Ember Island Tryst and was about to toss it in the last remaining chest with the rest of her chosen books when Korra shuffled to a stop beside her.

"Whatcha got there?" she asked.

Asami hid the book behind her back. "Nothing."

Blue eyes narrowed. Before Asami could react, Korra leaned around her and snatched the book from her hands. Korra glanced at the cover and she smiled. Asami prepared to defend herself when Korra said, "You don't need to bring this. I know for a fact Jinora has this same romance novel stashed in her room somewhere."

Asami tried to take the book back but Korra kept it out of her immediate reach. "I like that one," Asami mumbled, dipping her head down to hide her growing blush. "The plot's very fulfilling."

"Right, the plot. Hey!" Korra stumbled dramatically as Asami gave her a playful shove.

"You should read it sometime. You might like it, too," Asami said, crossing her arms.

Korra rolled her eyes and looked ready to spit some sarcastic retort, but then she grinned wickedly, which made Asami's stomach flip. "Okay. Why don't I give it a read right now?" She danced out of range, flicked the book open to a random page, cleared her throat, and began to read the words aloud. "'She watched as her lover ambled through the field of flowers, petals brushing against her exposed skin in the same manner her hands had done under the moonlight hours earlier.' Wow, steamy."

Of course Korra had to find one of the worst passages to read. "Shut up and give it back." Asami leaned forward and made another grab for the book but Korra yanked it out of her reach again. "Korra, I swear—"

Korra dashed across the room to Asami's bed, jumped on it so she was standing in the center, thumbed to another page and read a different line. "'She lifted the entire tree from their path with ease, as if it were made of air. Oh, how her back muscles quivered with effort.' This is so bad, Asami." She was mid cackle when Asami jumped up on the bed and made for the book again.

Of course, Korra was prepared for her move and dodged her again. "Give. It. Back." Asami punctuated each word with a twitch of her extended hand, though she found she wasn't nearly as irritated as she thought she'd be.

This was totally embarrassing, but also kind of fun. She hadn't acted this silly in a while, and Korra's reading voice made the admittedly cheesy lines sound even funnier. But then Korra stuck out her tongue and said, "You're never going to get this book away from me." Oh, now it was on.

She feigned a swipe, causing Korra to leap off the bed, then continued to lead the Avatar around the room, right into an unseen obstacle: the only remaining trunk. Asami backed off as Korra walked backwards, prepared to read out something else, her eyes glued to the page. Just as her lips parted, her calves hit the edge of the trunk and Korra shouted as she tipped backwards. She dropped the book and flailed her hands around to steady herself. Asami grasped Korra's left arm and pulled her forward so she didn't fall, then let go and bent down to deftly pick up the abandoned book. Once upright, she waved it in front of her friend's face. "Now, what was that you were saying about me never getting this book from you?"

Surprise morphed into an all out Korra grin. "You got me!" She held her hands up in surrender. "Now pack it and let's get going. I have a ton of stuff I want to show you on the island."

The book was tossed into the last trunk before Asami shut the lid and tightened the bronze clasps on the front. She brought it down herself while Korra loaded the others into a truck outside the mansion—after the police had searched through them of course. Asami had to spend most of her time defending certain items, even snapping a little when an officer nearly destroyed a framed picture of her mother because he wanted to make sure nothing was inside the frame beside the black and white photo.

Finally, everything was loaded up and the two climbed up into the cab of the truck. An air acolyte drove them down to the docks. More acolytes met them there and ogled at the load in the back. Korra roared with laughter as one man's eyes bulged and Asami smiled apologetically at him in return.

It took some orchestrating to get everything aboard and secured, but they were off in less than half an hour, the ferry cutting through the waves as it made way towards the looming air temple. Korra inhaled the sea breeze and Asami wondered if it reminded her of the Southern Water Tribe.

The ferry trip was short and it seemed like no time at all as they pulled up to the island dock, where Mako and Bolin stood, waving eagerly. The acolytes took care of Asami's belongings as Tenzin's children gave them a tour, which ended when Bolin asked about their rooms. They split off, Korra and Ikki taking her into a long building on the the left side of the island.

As Asami was led through the girls' dormitory, a tugging on her sleeve drew her attention down. Ikki peered up at her, bouncing at her heels, and asked, "Asami, did you know Korra is Mako's soul mate?"

What? Asami blinked back her shock. Korra wasn't Mako's soul mate. What on earth was this little girl talking about? Somewhere to her left Korra let out the ghost of a scream. With a cocked eyebrow, Asami tried to straighten things out. "Um, no. Actually, she's—"

"Sorry Ikki but Asami is really tired, so tired, exhausted even and she wants to settle down right now!" Korra shouted as she seized Asami by the elbow and forced her through the nearest doorway, sliding the doors shut with a loud snap right in the airbender's face.

"Hey!" Ikki's voice came muffled through the door, followed by what sounded like growling.

"GO AWAY, IKKI!"

Once the sound of footsteps receded, Korra's shoulders slumped and Asami dared to speak. "Korra?" Asami gave her friend a once over; she was acting so jittery.

Ignoring the questioning tone, Korra gestured to the space around them. "Here's your room! I know it's a little rustic compared to what you're used to."

Asami relaxed as she took in the sparsely furnished, but by no means uncomfortable room. She wandered to the window and looked out to see the meditation pavilion and, beyond that the glittering deep blue waters of the bay. "I think it's really charming. And the best part about it? Nothing here reminds me of my father." The familiar weight of sadness settled inside her and she wondered if it would ever really leave her, or if it would continue to crop up like a weed. "So, what was Ikki talking about?" she asked, eager to change topics.

Except Korra didn't seem to be. Instead, she stared at the floor, clenching and unclenching her hands. "Weeeeeeeeell…"

"It's okay, you can tell me," Asami stepped close to her and placed a hand lightly on Korra's arm.

Korra scratched the back of her head. "I kind of maybe thought that Mako was my soul mate for a little bit because I was blinded by the crush I had on him and I made the mistake of telling Ikki and Jinora and they haven't stopped harassing me about it.

"So when I figured out you were my soul mate, I didn't tell them because I can't listen to them go on and on about making grand gestures of love towards you like jumping into a volcano or making rainbow potions because it's a lot and I'm still getting to know you as a friend and I don't want to be completely overwhelmed. But if you want them to know I can tell everyone right now."

By the time she was done speaking, Korra was breathless. Asami's head spun trying to take in everything she said. "That really is a lot. I completely get why you didn't tell them. And I guess since I'm going to be living here too, they'd harass me just as much, so maybe we should keep it to ourselves for now." Because Asami wasn't exactly ready to make any gestures to Korra right now either, though they were becoming fast friends.

Korra exhaled sharply. "Oh good. It's not that I don't want to tell people, it's just all the expectations that comes with knowing, you know?"

Asami nodded. She was still trying to figure out how to act around Korra without coming off as too flirty when she wasn't even meaning to flirt. And the idea of being in end-all-be-all love with anyone right now, let alone with Korra, was enough to make her head swim. I'm only eighteen, Asami thought. She would've reiterated it out loud if there weren't a sudden knocking on the door.

Both of them froze. "I really hope that's not Ikki," Asami said.

Korra stomped over to the doors and threw them open, appearing ready to scold Ikki, but it was Tenzin who stood in the doorway and Asami breathed a sigh of relief. At least the whole island wouldn't know within the hour of her and Korra's soul mate status.

"Er, Asami, I know I said I'd help you get settled and show you stuff but I should probably—"

"Definitely," Tenzin grumbled.

"—go to this police chief thing," Korra said, looking genuinely disappointed.

"Avatar duties call. Don't worry, Korra, I can manage here just fine," Asami said, though it took her several more assurances to convince Korra to leave.

Alone in her new room for who knew how long, Asami opened the nearest trunk, prepared to make the space her own, and laughed when she saw it was the one containing her books. She picked up her copy of The Ember Island Tryst,walked over to the small shelf on the left wall of the room, and slid the book into the empty space. Moving into this strange, new place suddenly seemed less daunting.

Asami found her first. "Does the soul mate thing give us abilities to find each other too?" Korra said loud enough for Asami to hear over the wind blowing up the cliff face.

Her friend sat down next to her, their thighs brushing briefly. The contact did nothing to alleviate what felt like an invisible rock crushing her torso. "Not that I know of. But I can feel that something's wrong, like you knew how I was upset about my dad," Asami said as she crossed her ankles and leaned back. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Korra tilted her head to look at Asami. The other girl's eyes widened, her red lips parted, and she reached out, though she dropped her hand halfway when Korra pulled her legs to her chest. Korra realized the reaction stemmed from the tears sliding down her face, so she scrubbed them away. "I talked to that weasel-snake Tarrlok today."

"Say no more," Asami joked, though she didn't laugh. "What'd he do now?"

"He called me a half-baked Avatar-in-training." Asami actually growled, but Korra pressed on. "He's right. How am I supposed to save the city if I can't even learn airbending? I'm the worst Avatar ever! I just feel alone."

"That's nonsense. You're amazing! And I'm not just saying that because we're soul mates. You've impressed me since before I even knew we were supposed to be together." Asami rested her hand on Korra's forearm. "And you're not alone. You've got me, Mako, Bolin. Everyone on this island."

A voice cut across the conversation. "There you are!" The bushes behind them exploded and Mako and Bolin tumbled out. "We've been looking for you everywhere, Korra," the younger brother continued.

"Looks like Asami found her first," Mako said, glancing between the two girls. "What's wrong?"

"Yeah, are you okay?" The worry was plain in Bolin's voice and it was enough to make Korra shift so she could see all of her friends.

"I'm fine." Korra wasn't fooling anyone with that tone, so she sighed and shrugged. "I'm just not feeling very Avatar-y. Airbending training is at a standstill and the equalists and Amon are out there, capturing benders and taking away their bending while I'm sitting here, useless."

Mako frowned. "Don't worry so much about airbending." Easy for him to say. "Remember, Aang hadn't mastered all the elements when he was battling the Fire Nation. He was just a little kid." That…was true.

"And he wasn't alone! He had his friends to help him. Look, the arena might be shut down but we're still a team," Bolin said.

Mako put his hands on his hips. "We've got your back, Korra. And we can save this city together." These words made the invisible rock crushing Korra's chest feel significantly lighter.

"Which is an excellent segue to my idea." Asami stood and brushed off her pants before she offered a hand up to Korra. "What if we patrolled the city ourselves?"

Korra tossed it around in her head, along with all of the encouraging words from her friends. Everything seemed way more possible and less scary than it had minutes before and Korra basked in their support; she felt silly now for thinking she was alone in this. "Like our own task force?" She wasn't about to run back to Tarrlok's vanity project anytime soon.

"Or our own Team Avatar!" Bolin pumped a fist in the air. "I like the sound of that."

Mako rubbed his chin for a moment before he broke into a smile. "We could do some real good. I'm in!"

Asami merely nodded and brushed the spot over her heart. Korra realized the pressure in her chest had faded and she didn't feel like crying anymore. "Thanks for pulling me out of my funk, guys." She was the Avatar, no matter what Tarrlok said or thought. "Now let's do this!"

They all stuck their hands in the middle of their circle and Bolin chanted something about Team Avatar 2.0 before they half-jogged down to the main temple buildings. Mako voiced a concern about how they'd get around, so Korra led them to Naga's pen. The big, white animal bolted out as soon as Korra lifted the latch on her door, and pinned her master to ground. She licked up Korra's arm, across her face, and to her forehead.

"Good girl!" Korra patted Naga's muzzle and the beast let her up. "Asami, I never introduced you earlier. This is Naga."

The polar bear dog bounded the few feet to Asami, who stood rigidly, though unflinchingly. Naga circled Asami for several long seconds, sniffing continuously, before sitting down in front of the girl and nuzzling her head against Asami's trembling hand. "Hi Naga," Asami squeaked, patting her gently on the crown.

Naga barked happily, her tail thumping on the ground, and this time Asami did flinch, though she didn't stop stroking the polar bear dog's head. Then Korra laughed when Naga's big, pink tongue left a stripe of saliva from Asami's chin to her hairline and the girl tried not grimace. "She likes you!" Korra beamed, though she hadn't been particularly worried on that front; Naga usually sensed good people, and Asami was nothing but good.

"Yay," Asami said weakly.

"Okay." Korra clapped her hands together. "Let's all get on Naga and hit the streets!"

She climbed up into the saddle easily, and then extended a hand down to help the next person up. When she saw it was Asami who planned on sitting right behind her, Korra's palms grew sweaty. You can do this, she told herself as Asami's body slid behind her. "Glad I passed the Naga test," Asami said lightly before helping Mako and Bolin clamber up.

Korra was acutely aware of the hot breath on her neck and shivered. Then, Asami's hands were on her ribs, their legs were touching in all sorts of places and Korra had a hard time ignoring the contact. Was it her, or did it suddenly just get a lot warmer? And what was with the tingling in her limbs? She wondered if Asami was as overwhelmed. Just as the thought to ask occurred to her, Bolin shouted, "Naga, away!"

Out of reflex, Korra twitched the reins and Naga reacted, though not as she was supposed to. Instead of breaking into a run, the polar bear dog whined and dropped her front paws and upper body to the ground, causing Korra and her friends to slide right off the saddle to the ground. Suddenly, Asami's arms were flailing and she grabbed Korra hard around the middle (and maybe some other places but Korra couldn't be sure as she was too worried about smashing her face on the ground) as means to hold on to something, crushing their bodies together. They hit the ground and Korra got the wind knocked out of her, though she wasn't sure if it was because Asami was pressed hard against her back, or because there were an additional two people on top of her as well. Probably the latter.

Probably.

Bolin and Mako rolled off and Asami staggered away half a second later. Korra turned her head to the side and groaned. "Okay, this isn't going to work."

"I've got an idea." From her point on the ground, Korra watched Asami flip her hair before walking out of sight.

How did she look so cool and calm after something like that while Korra's heart was beating erratically? A roar made Korra get to her feet and she stood back as Asami pulled up in a black, topless, four-seater satomobile. The front fender gleamed, the white wall tires were spotless, and the interior looked flawless. Did Asami steal a car right off the line of her father's factory? Or was it hers?

"You want sit up front?" Asami nodded to the passenger seat but she didn't quite meet Korra's eyes.

That's when Korra noticed how pink Asami's face was. So she was embarrassed too. Instead of feeling more awkward, Korra actually felt relieved. It wasn't just her freaking out; Asami was right there with her. "Sure." She pulled open the door and slid into the seat, flashing a smile.

Asami returned it and revved the engine as Mako and Bolin settled in the back seats. "Ready Team Avatar?" she asked.

Met with three boisterous shouts, Asami took off, heading for the docks. Korra kept sneaking looks at her, noticing how at ease her friend was for the first time since they learned the truth about Hiroshi, and it wasn't just because Asami was confident behind the wheel. The Avatar wasn't the only one who felt the need to prove herself, to do something helpful (and a smidge reckless) tonight, Korra thought as the ferry came into view.