Hey guys! I tried to write this on par with the rest of my chapters but I broke my finger today, so I wrote this chapter in a pretty weird state. I hadn't updated in a while, so I didn't want to hold off on this chapter any longer. Let me know what you think of it (is it ok?) and thanks for reading and reviewing! You've all been very thoughtful and kind ^_^

"I can leave in the morning. What if something goes wrong and you need my help?" Korra stopped pacing in front of her bed on Air Temple Island and looked at Asami, sitting with her legs dangling off the edge of the mattress.

Asami stood, her arms already reaching out for Korra. Part of Korra liked how easy this was now, leaning into Asami's embrace, wrapping her arms around Asami's waist, breathing in her perfume, and brushing her lips against Asami's neck. Or how right it felt when Asami sighed and pressed her cheek against Korra's head as her arms tightened around Korra's neck. And though it felt good and right, the urgency of their situation gnawed away at Korra's happiness.

"No. While there's no better muscle than the Avatar…" Asami's left hand slipped down Korra's shoulder and hesitantly stroked Korra's bare right arm. Korra snorted as her arm tingled at the touch. "…you need to get Tenzin back here as soon as possible. We're running out of time."

"Well, if Tenzin can lead me into the spirit world and I can close the portal from the inside, there won't be a need to hurry." She paused. "What about you? What if your bait ship gets attacked and I'm too far away to help?" The news of Asami's first weapons shipment—which had gone out last night after she and Varrick made their deal—getting stolen by pirates early this morning was disturbing, but not as disturbing as Asami and Mako's plan to be decoys tonight to catch the pirates responsible.

Asami laughed, but it was forced. "You do realize getting attacked is the goal, right?"

Korra drew her closer, not caring that she and Asami hadn't been this tightly pressed together since they acknowledged they liked each other. "I don't like the idea of not being close by if something goes wrong." She cringed. How clingy and overprotective did that sound?

"Well I'm not exactly thrilled you'll be flying by yourself to the Eastern Air Temple," Asami said. "What if you get attacked by another dark spirit?" Korra felt her stomach flutter; Asami was just as concerned.

"I'll by flying mostly over the Earth Kingdom, not the sea. There haven't been any sightings there yet." Korra pulled away from Asami to look in her green eyes. "So don't worry about spirits bothering me."

A frown creased Asami's face and Korra wanted to reach up and smooth it away with her fingertips, but she held back. Asami seemed to be looking at every inch of Korra's face as her left thumb brushed over a patch of skin on Korra's bicep. If they weren't tense and prolonging their goodbye, Korra would've enjoyed the small sign of affection. After a minute, Asami found her voice. "If I shouldn't worry, you shouldn't either. I have Mako with me and he was able to convince Chief Beifong to spare a couple of rookie officers to help. She's not thrilled but they can't do much against the gang fights right now."

That was another problem Korra had to deal with when she and Tenzin got back to Republic City. The Red Monsoon Triad had split into two rivaling gangs; one supporting the Northern Water Tribe, the other the Southern Water Tribe. Their skirmishes kept Beifong busy and stressed—she'd snapped at Mako when he found a weird detonator in the wreckage of the Cultural Center and pitched a theory that maybe more than just the Northern Water Tribe was responsible for the attack. Korra doubted it, but the detonator was odd. Beifong had two detectives following up on it, but they hadn't made any leeway so far. Mako claimed it was because they were lazy, but it had only been a day since the bombing. Korra hoped they'd have something when she got back. Any evidence linking back to Unalaq might spur Raiko or other world leaders into action.

But she couldn't worry about gangs and the president right now. The air temple where Tenzin was staying was far. She'd be flying almost non-stop for two days. "You're right. You and Mako and a few Beifong-approved officers can handle things."

Asami must have sensed Korra's desire to go, as she pulled Korra in again. This time, though, she threaded her fingers through Korra's loose hair. She'd yet to put it in wolf tails and was pleased when she felt Asami's nails lightly scratch her scalp. "I'm going to miss you. Please be careful." Asami pressed her forehead against Korra's.

Korra smiled and bumped her nose against Asami's. "I was gonna say that." She gripped Asami's waist and tilted her chin up.

The subtle shift was all Asami needed. Her green eyes flickered down once, then closed. Korra barely glimpsed the purple eye shadow before she closed her eyes and tasted the familiar, waxy flavor of Asami's lipstick. For a few moments, Korra enjoyed the soft feel of their lips sliding together. The hands in her hair pressed at the back of her skull, begging for something deeper. So Korra parted her lips and gasped when Asami bit down on her lower lip. It was harder than Korra expected. It even hurt a little—a pinprick of pain.

Asami jerked back, her right hand flying to her own lips. "Sorry. Wow, that felt weird. I didn't mean to…well, not that hard." She didn't look too apologetic though, smiling as she stopped touching the spot on her lower lip. "Did that hurt you? It felt like a tingle to me."

"For a second," Korra said and sighed as she saw how high the sun was outside her window. She looked back at Asami, mesmerized by the way the golden light glinted on her sleek, soft, wavy hair. "I should go. Before you convince me to stay." She turned to exit her room but Asami caught her arm.

"Korra, wait." Asami fished a cloth out of her pocket with the hand that wasn't clutching Korra's arm. After she shook it out, Asami ran it over Korra's lips slowly, lingering. Korra puckered her lips under the cloth, which made Asami smile. Then, the cloth was tucked away again. "There. Now you don't have lipstick everywhere."

Korra looked at Asami's lips. They were uneven in color now. Almost all of the red was gone from her bottom lip. Korra felt a little smug that she was responsible for that. "Thanks," she said, realizing Asami was waiting for a response. "Walk me out to my sky bison?"

Asami nodded and laced her fingers with Korra's. The walk was quiet but short. The acolytes had prepared a bison for her and it waited outside the dormitories, in the courtyard. More vows to be careful were exchanged, along with hugs, but too soon, Korra found herself in the saddle, climbing up into the clouds. She watched Asami grow smaller and smaller until she couldn't see her soulmate at all. The sharp air helped clear Korra's head. She took a deep breath and focused on her mission.

Once she studied Tenzin's map and itinerary, Korra bent the air currents around and under the bison, helping it fly faster. If she were going at a leisurely pace, it would take longer to reach the Eastern Air Temple, but there wasn't time to waste. She even considered slipping into the Avatar state for an extra boost, but she didn't want to tire herself out too quickly.

The day passed too slowly, but eventually it was too dark out for Korra to see distinguishing landmarks below, so she steered the bison into a descent. They landed on the outskirts of a little Earth Kingdom village. She found it on Tenzin's map before she fed and watered the bison and ate something herself. Then she settled against the furry beast's side. After a long day's ride, it was easy to fall asleep.

Korra opened her eyes what felt like a few seconds later as her chest tightened. She ran a hand over herself tiredly but nothing was wrong. No, nothing was wrong with her. It was barely a relief when Korra recognized this was how she felt when Asami was upset. "I'm glad you're not physically hurt," Korra mumbled, still tired from the abrupt awakening. She placed her hand over her heart, wishing that could give her other half some relief. "But I'm sorry you're still in pain." What, Korra wondered, had happened on Asami and Mako's sting?

Each row of lights that flickered on and revealed a bare strip of warehouse floor was like a slap to Asami's face.

Empty. Empty. Empty.

"There's nothing left." Dimly, she was aware she'd said those words, but all she could hear was the hammering of her heart.

All that was left of Future Industries' stock—and the only thing keeping the company afloat—was in this warehouse. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at the dusty, vacant space that used to be lined with brand new, gleaming Satomobiles, biplanes, and mecha tanks.

"We should check the rest of your warehouses," Mako said, pacing the doorway of the warehouse. "Maybe they didn't get everything."

"This was all I had." Future Industries was gone. She failed. She let down her partners, her employees. When her father read about this spectacular flop in the papers in his prison cell, he'd probably laugh or maybe curse her for ruining his life's work. Not that she cared what he thought of her anymore.

Mako started to wander into the storage space. "Well, let's look around for clues then." He turned to the two other new officers that had been with them the whole night, sailing out to sea and back with no sign of pirates anywhere. He pointed at the boyish looking detective. "Go back to the squad car and radio in. We need more officers down here to canvas the crime scene." Then he pointed at the other officer. "You come with me. We'll start searching."

"Mako," Asami croaked. What was he doing? Didn't he see how useless that would be? No one cared about Future Industries anymore. They wouldn't find her goods. It was gone and she was finished. There was no point in fighting anymore.

He didn't hear her. "Keep your eyes peeled. Anything that looks wrong, take note."

"Mako, stop." She gripped his sleeve before he could walk out of her range.

This caught his attention and he met her gaze. "Asami, we need—"

She shook her head and his face blurred as more tears fell. "No. Just stop. We're not going to find anything. It's gone. My company is ruined. I'm ruined." She wanted to wipe away the tears but knew that would only make her makeup smear worse. A sob wormed up her throat and burst out through her lips.

All this fighting and begging to keep her company together was for nothing. The empty void in front of her was a testament to that. Her fingers curled tighter into Mako's sleeve. Why did she let Korra go? Asami wanted nothing more than to be wrapped up in one of her soulmate's warm, strong hugs.

Suddenly, her cheek was pressed to something hard and warm. A steady thumping greeted her ears. Asami blinked away the tears and realized Mako was half hugging her to his chest. It wasn't what she really wanted, but it made the crushing weight in her core rise infinitesimally.

"I'm not giving up, okay? This isn't over. Have a little faith." He helped her take a seat on an empty crate on the deck outside of her warehouse.

Asami dabbed at the corners of her eyes with the handkerchief she'd used on Korra so many hours ago. "You really think I can come back from this?" Asami didn't see how, but Mako's conviction helped leaven the sadness pooling in her body.

His eyebrows knitted together and he looked serious, like a real cop. "You'll figure something out. In the meantime, I'll do everything I can to catch whoever did this. You have my word." He squeezed her shoulder, then looked back at the warehouse. "Let me go look for clues. I'll fill you in on everything we find."

"Thank you," she whispered and watched him go.

A few minutes later, Chief Beifong arrived and questioned her, though Lin wasn't as optimistic as Mako. The warehouse had been well secured. Whoever had stolen the contents knew exactly how to get in and had the right equipment to move all of her stuff. Whoever did this was extremely prepared and the Chief wasn't sure they'd find out who was responsible, though she did say she'd have her officers do everything in their power to bring the perpetrator to justice.

She'd just left when Asami felt something warm and heavy drape over her shoulders. A blue coat trimmed in white fur settled over her. A throat cleared to her left and she saw Varrick standing there. Zhu Li was a step behind him. Varrick puffed out his chest and clasped his hands together. "Asami, I heard what happened and got over here as quickly as I could. This is terrible!"

Asami felt her heart sink. She'd let Varrick down and now she had to face him. "I'm sorry I'm not going to be able to fulfill your order. I didn't even think they'd hit my warehouse. How did they know I was going to be out on a ship?" She ran a hand through her hair and sighed heavily, curling in on herself. "Looks like the Southerners aren't getting their weapons after all." Which meant they were still outmatched against Unalaq's northern forces and now it would be impossible for Korra to fight her way to the spirit portal to close it if she couldn't find a way to close it in the spirit world. Great, she'd let Korra down, too.

"Don't worry about that right now. I'll do everything in my power to get support for the rebels," Varrick said. There was a glint in his eye that made Asami nervous, but she wasn't sure why. He leaned in close enough for Asami to see his mouth twitch from what might've been a smirk to a more serious, straight-lipped look. "Listen, Asami. I haven't forgotten about how you saved my butt in the South. I'd hate to see someone as young and talented as you go down in flames like this. So I've got one last deal that might just save your bacon."

"You really want to keep doing business with me?" Was he insane? She failed to fulfill their last agreement. She was basically bankrupt. What could she have left to possibly offer him?