Asami slept poorly, and she was groggy and out of sorts when Mako woke her for breakfast. She followed the brothers to the dining hall in a half-doze, but she brightened considerably when she sat down and a smiling monk placed a steaming mug of coffee down in front of her.

Tonraq and the others hadn't appeared for breakfast yet, but Tenzin explained that breakfast was a far less formal occasion than dinner, and everyone tended to come in at their own pace. "They're surprisingly late risers," he said of the southerners. "For some reason I didn't expect that."

Breakfast was a quiet affair, for which Asami was grateful, and by the time they were ready to begin their first meeting she was starting to feel like herself again.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Mako asked as they made their way to the hall Tenzin had indicated to them earlier in the morning.

"No," Asami said, "but we'll never get anywhere if we wait for everybody to be ready." Holding her head high, she strode purposefully into the room, where Tenzin, along with his wife and eldest daughter, was waiting.

"Welcome, welcome," Tenzin said, gesturing for the three to take up seats at one end of the table. "You've all met Pema and Jinora." He gestured to the two and they smiled brightly. "Our southern friends shouldn't be long –"

Right on cue, the door burst open and in strode Tonraq, his daughter and advisors on his heels.

The southerners silently took up their seats at the opposite end of the table while Asami, Mako and Bolin sat down, the monks sitting between them. Jinora had set up a typewriter and sat with her fingers poised, ready, over the keys; clearly she'd been tasked with recording the meeting.

"Right," Tenzin said. "Let's get started."

It was an exhausting day. Kuvira clearly didn't agree with the whole situation and went out of her way to dig in at anyone she could, be they northern, southern, or otherwise. Tonraq's courtesy was strained, and he had a look of perpetual distaste on his face, as if he couldn't stand to be in the room with Asami for so long. Much of Tenzin and Pema's energy went into keeping them from starting an all-out war in that room.

Despite the tension, Asami felt she did a good job. She'd been raised with politics, and she'd often negotiated on her father's behalf. She was especially proud that she'd managed to get by with Korra watching her from across the table. There was something knowing in that smirk of hers and it drove Asami to absolute distraction.

They were just about to pack up for the day when a monk suddenly burst into the room.

"What is the meaning of this?" Tenzin demanded, rising to his feet.

"Apologies, master Tenzin, but there's someone here! He –"

"Get out of my way!"

Asami blanched at the voice that sailed into the room ahead of its owner.

Hiroshi Sato stormed past the monk, his face like a thunderstorm. "Asami!" he roared. "Get away from that table!"

Despite every fibre in her being screaming at her to obey, she calmly remained in her seat. "No, father."

"Well that explains a lot," Korra murmured from across the table. Asami ignored her.

"Hiroshi," Tonraq said flatly, as if to intervene, but Hiroshi interrupted him.

"Don't you dare talk to me!" he roared, starting toward the table as if with the intent of physically dragging Asami out of that room. "Abducting my daughter, of all the cowardly –"

"There was no abduction, father," Asami said quickly, showing a great deal more calm than she felt. "You should have figured out by now that I came here of my own free will."

"You're lucky that Varrick told me about that letter!" Hiroshi's eyes were wild with rage and for the first time in her life, Asami felt a flicker of fear as her father stormed toward her. "Spirits only know what these savages would have done –"

Kuvira was on her feet in an instant, and it took all three of her companions to hold her back, though Tonraq's expression very closely matched hers. "Say that again!" she bellowed, straining against the hands keeping her in place. "Say it to my face, you murderous piece of –"

"ENOUGH!" Tenzin's voice cracked like thunder, stopping even Hiroshi in his tracks. "I will not have this behaviour on my island! Hiroshi, go back to your ship!"

Hiroshi stared, slack-jawed. "You can't just -"

"This is my island, Hiroshi. I can do what I want. And right now I want you out of my sight." Tenzin's voice had lowered, but his words were reinforced with steel and ice, and even Asami shivered.

"I'm not leaving without Asami," Hiroshi said stubbornly.

"Yes you are," Asami said firmly.

Hiroshi was staring at her now, the worst of his rage dissipating. "Asami... darling... please just come home."

"No. Not until I'm done talking with Tonraq."

Hiroshi looked helplessly between his daughter and his enemy. "But –"

"This war has gone on long enough!" Asami said, her voice rising as her agitation grew. "Do you enjoy watching your people die? How could you possibly want this to continue? I would do anything to see this mindless violence end!"

"They killed your mother, Asami!"

The mention of her mother stung, and she retorted venomously. "And I'm sure you've killed more than enough of their families to call it even, don't you?"

Hiroshi could only stare at her helplessly.

"Go home, father," she said, a tremble in her voice, and she couldn't be sure if it was anger, fear, or sadness that caused it.

Finally Hiroshi accepted defeat, but the look he gave Asami damn near broke her heart. She stood firm despite the tightness in her chest and the hollow in her stomach, watching her father turn and leave.

Silence fell for a long moment before Tenzin's voice finally broke the spell.

"Tonraq, I need you to take Suyin and Kuvira and go back to your dorm. I would like to speak to Korra and Asami alone."

All eyes turned to Tenzin, taken aback by the request, but Tenzin said nothing, only waiting patiently for his demand to be acknowledged.

Silently, Tonraq bowed, and then led Suyin and Kuvira from the hall. Bolin cleared his throat and nudged Mako, and though Mako was clearly hesitant to leave Asami, the brothers followed suit.

Asami glanced at Korra, and Korra met her look. A little flash of irrational anger surged in her chest at how casual and nonchalant Korra seemed to be about the whole thing. She was smirking again! For the love of –

"Asami."

Belatedly realising that she was glaring at Korra, Asami tore her gaze away and looked to Tenzin, indignant heat rising to her cheeks.

"It's obvious that your father does not want peace."

Asami could only nod helplessly.

"But you said that you would do anything to see this war end."

"I would," she said, her back straightening.

Tenzin's expression was grave, but he nodded before turning to Korra. "And you, Korra?"

"I talked my father into this, didn't I?"

Asami's head whipped back to stare at Korra, who was focussing on Tenzin now. No wonder Tonraq seemed so irked by the situation. She thought she caught the southerner's neck reddening, but then Tenzin's voice drew her attention back to him.

"The two of you are going to need to do something big to force your families to unite. Some traditions must be broken –" Here he paused to look pointedly at Asami "- but it seems to me that the only way to bring your people together is a binding union. A marriage."

The word hung thick in the air between them, and the two women exchanged a bewildered glance.

"Surely you don't mean –" Asami started.

"Yes," Tenzin interrupted, "I do. You two must marry. You are the sole heirs to both of your kingdoms; you have no siblings, no other family to speak of. Your parents will not like it, but neither of them seem terribly interested in this peace of yours. You two, however, have proven how much you desire it. Between Asami apparently deceiving Hiroshi to come here and Korra talking circles around Tonraq to convince him to send that letter, you are obviously the ones who care the most." He levelled a steady gaze onto the both of them. "This is my decision. Do with it what you will." With that, he turned and left, leaving Asami and Korra to gape dumbly at one another.

"So when do you think the Master of Air Temple Island lost his shit entirely?" Korra asked weakly, after the silence stretching between them had started to grow oppressive.

"Probably around the time my father did," Asami said, and for once Korra fought back her grin.

"You don't... I mean... could that work?"

Asami stared. "You're not seriously considering this."

Korra seemed to shake off her shock. "Tenzin's right," she said seriously, all traces of that smug arrogance gone. "Our parents will never see eye to eye. They need to be brought up short. What better way to knock their heads together than to force them to be in-laws?"

"Some things don't require force," Asami protested.

Korra gave a sharp, barking laugh, the sound bitter. "Were you in here just now? Our fathers' heads are so thick we could drop this entire island on them and they'd walk away without a scratch."

"But... but where would we go? How would it work? It couldn't possibly –"

"What's the alternative, Princess?" Korra snapped suddenly. "We just let our people continue to die? We just sit back and say 'oh well, we tried', and forget about the whole thing? I don't know about you, but I'm not willing to watch any more of my friends die for this bullshit!"

All at once, Asami was back in that charred and blackened battlefield, and the dying soldier was staring up at her as if she was the only thing in the world, clasping her hand like it was her sole anchor, the only thing keeping her alive.

What did that girl die for, if Asami wasn't willing to make sacrifices of her own?

"Alright," she said finally.

Korra's eyes widened. "What?"

Asami straightened. "I'm willing if you are, Korra. If I can keep even one more child from losing their mother or father to this war, then..." she trailed off, a lump rising in her throat barely too big to swallow back.

Korra's eyes narrowed briefly, as if she expected some sort of trick. But when Asami only lifted her chin and met her gaze unflinchingly, her lips fell back into that old smirk again as if it were her default expression. It probably was.

"You're not afraid?"

"Are you kidding? I'm fucking terrified."

Korra laughed again, but this time it lacked an edge – it was genuine. "That makes two of us, Princess." She paused for a moment, lips pursing slightly. "Alright. We're agreed, then?"

Asami nodded and Korra grinned.

"We'd better figure out where to go from here then, darling."