Part 4: Contact
Chapter 18: The Expansion
When Korra awoke, she felt Asami by her side, who said cheerily, "Good morning, sleepy head. Do you want some tea? I have some packets in my gear over there." Asami pointed at what Korra saw as dark blobs near what appeared to be … an Air Nomad artifact? Korra created a very small blue flame in her right hand, suddenly taking in where they were. Korra asked Asami, "Why are we in here? I think Tenzin just might die if he saw me bending flames in here." Someone opened the door, letting in blinding light. A voice she recognized as Tenzin's said, "You're both more valuable than artifacts - though you are right. I'd prefer no flames in here, much less Azula's blue. Though, if that's your new color, I'll just have to get used to it." Tenzin paused, erasing a slightly fearful look off his face. He continued, "I suppose I will need to get some lights and electrical wiring installed, even though modern technology isn't exactly as spiritual as the rest of the room." Asami asked, with some confusion, "Wait - what do you mean? I thought we were here temporarily, and my mansion should still be intact, unless some Earth Empire stragglers torched it." Tenzin said, smiling slightly, "Your mansion is fine, Asami - it's just that even those who you think your most loyal servants may not keep their lips sealed. Here, on Air Temple Island, you've got a whole variety of people who are not only trustworthy, but they already know of your relationship with Korra." Asami let out a contented sigh, saying, "I always wanted a family after my mother died - one that didn't consist of me and my father, who still judged me for who I was."
The sounds of children laughing filtered in through the morning sunlight. Not wanting to have to explain to Meelo or Ikki that she and Asami were more than just friends, Korra got up and put her clothes back on, and Asami joined her shortly, clasping her hand tightly. She saw Ikki and Meelo running from their older sister, Jinora, who looked like she was trying to help Pema keep the two away from the artifact room. Sensing the futility in her chase, Jinora merely took a place next to her father, and told her siblings "Now, Ikki, don't ask any prying questions, and Meelo - ew, stop that!" Meelo had just bent some bugs from his hands into Jinora's hair, and he laughed maniacally. "Forget 'Be the leaf, Miss Korra' - be the bug! And why are you holding Miss Asami like that? And why is your face the color of this bug now?" Meelo held out a hand, showing a … "slightly" squished purple bug. Korra sighed deeply, suddenly straightening as her eyes glowed for a split second.
Meelo and Ikki let out shouts of mixed joy and surprise - apparently, Aang had decided that now would be a good time to apparate out of Korra! As the young Aang gave the two troublemakers a slightly dirty look that made them laugh, Korra couldn't help but be thankful for this unplanned projection. Aang said, "Wow - you're both so cute! I never got to see my grandkids up close, being the Avatar and all. Seeing you guys through Korra's eyes before I was… busy didn't cut it." Aang obviously did not want to tell Ikki or Meelo about his ordeal in the ice prison, or remind them how the world had once thought all past Avatars lost. Before he could turn to Jinora, Meelo and Ikki asked in unison, "Why are Miss Korra and Miss Asami holding hands so tightly, Grandpa Aang?" Aang laughed, then tried his best to look stern and scary, saying, "Your mother will explain when you're older. Now let me talk to your sister, Jinora - I want to get back to talking to Avatar Kyoshi. She's still mad at Korra." Everyone but Meelo and Ikki laughed, blissfully unaware of Kyoshi's curse-laden diatribe.
As Ikki ran off after a butterfly and Meelo went prowling a nearby bush for more bug ammunition to use on his eldest sister, Jinora asked, "What do you have you need to say to me, Aang? Is it that Opal is crazy, and I shouldn't take anyone's life?" Jinora had a very hopeful look in her eyes - apparently she still wasn't comfortable with what Opal and her father had told her. Aang sighed, saying, "Originally, Jinora, I had nothing to say - I just wanted those troublemakers gone, as was Korra's wish." Jinora sighed dejectedly, and Korra couldn't help but wonder - she had literally just wished they would go away when Aang came out. Aang seemed to think of something, wildly waving his hands to gain Jinora's attention again. Aang said, once she was looking at him again, "The reason I didn't have anything to say to you is that I already know you're a good granddaughter - and judging by those tattoos, you're an Airbending Master now too." Jinora had a big smile on her face once more.
After sighing deeply, Aang continued, "On what you asked earlier - unless you can figure out how to energybend, Jinora, I'm afraid your father and Opal are right. The only way I was able to spare Ozai's life was take a huge risk and try to take his bending away - and it almost backfired, too. I don't know if you father ever told you, but he almost overwhelmed my own energy. If that had happened, I would have died, or worse - become corrupted. Given what the 'Dark Avatar' Unalaq did to me and the other past lives, I don't want to think about that possibility - especially considering he only controlled one element, and I controlled all four." Given Tenzin's grumbling, it became apparent that he had not let Jinora know these crucial details. Jinora said, "Oh… I guess that does change things. Thank you, Grandfather Aang." Jinora shot her father an angry look, and went to where Ikki was, content that her mission of distraction given to her by Pema was complete. Pema herself was holding a screaming Meelo tight, brushing "his" precious bugs back into the bushes, saying, "I'm supposed to be with Rohan right now - I thought you outgrew this already!" Why did that poor woman not receive airbending after Harmonic Convergence, anyways? There were things she would never know, even as the Avatar.
Korra let out a nervous chuckle, and said, "Hey, Aang - about what you said about a 'Dark Avatar'. And the corruption… I have something that might be relevant to tell you. It happened when you were imprisoned in that ice block." Korra told Aang about the "Dark Korra" she had seen, and as she finished, a concerned look fell across his face. Aang said, waving his hands into the air, "That's just awful! And I thought my hallucinations before the Day of the Black Sun were bad." Korra said, "Except I don't think it was fully a hallucination - that little 'dog', a spirit, saw her as well. Given the story that Kuvira told me about her clash with her evil self, I get the feeling that 'Dark Korra' may be exactly that - my evil half. She might be small, and only able to harass and dog me when I am at my weakest, but she did almost cost me my life once." Seeing Aang's shocked expression, she explained how Dark Korra's face had appeared on Kuvira's outside Zaofu, causing her to lose her resolve and become weak against Kuvira. Tenzin added, "Korra's life really was in danger - Jinora told me later how Kuvira had sharpened some metal into small scythes, seemingly ready to tear into Korra's flesh. Only my daughter and Opal intervening saved her life." Aang's image said, "As long as you don't try to energybend a spirit or somehow absorb a direct blast of dark energy into a chi line, I think you will be fine. I'm going to go pester Kyoshi some more." Remembering a promise she had made, Korra yelled, "Toph wants me to call you Twinkletoes!" A slightly faded Aang laughed, "Better Twinkletoes than Grosstoes!" Korra laughed as Aang vanished, once again resting inside her - she'd have to remember that one.
Now that the distractions were gone, Asami turned to Tenzin, saying, "So it sounds like Korra and I will be staying here in your artifact room, then. Maybe we should make an extension, so Korra can bend as she likes and not risk torching your collection." Tenzin pointed at the ocean, saying, "There's just one slight problem - if you do that, we're going to start running of out room." Korra had an idea - inspired by something Avatar Kyoshi had once done, but a bit more extreme.
Korra said, "Why don't I just make some more land?" Given their confused looks, she explained how Kyoshi had separated her island from the mainland, and figure she could just create new land. Korra could lavabend now, after all, and her close bond with Raava coupled with the strength of her past lives being her own once more made her think she could one-up Avatar Kyoshi's feat. She told the two as much, seeing how Tenzin was still staring at the sea.
Tenzin stood in silence, seemingly shocked at the idea of trying to go one step beyond one of the most powerful Earthbending Avatars in history. Asami said, "That sounds like a wonderful idea! If you are successful, after things settle down, you could even expand Republic City further out into the sea." Korra slapped Asami on the back, saying, "Now there's an idea! I could even use this service to bribe the Fire Nation and Firelord Izumi - they always did need more land." Tenzin chuckled slightly disapprovingly, saying, "We shouldn't have to bribe our allies to help us." Getting an uncharacteristic gleam in his eye, he added, "Plus, what's to stop Firelord Izumi from backing out of whatever deal you made with her once the land is settled?" Both Asami and Korra let out a low whistle - even though he was an airbender, he had still learned something from his time as a Councilman.
Tiring of all the talking, Korra grabbed Asami and slid down the slope behind the artifact room, noticing that Oogi, Juicy and Druk were all stabled on the other side of the island. Korra felt a sudden pang of nerves - she hoped she wouldn't fail in front of a large audience. Asami asked, as they approached the bottom, "What do you need me for?" Korra answered, "You're going to be my architect - we're going to do more than just make some new land." Asami hugged Korra tighter, giving her the feeling that Raava was so jealous of.
First row seat is better than nothing. When are you going to go to that darn mansion and drink alcohol, anyways? I wanna see!
Korra laughed, explaining why once she reached the shore with Asami, saying, "Raava is a dirty little spirit, isn't she?" Asami laughed, then pinched Korra's butt, saying, "I'm getting impatient too - it's too bad the Spirit World is off limits right now." Korra could feel some very familiar and welcome sensations again, seemingly flowing through her chi lines from the nape of her neck, down her spine, to below her bellybutton. All of a sudden, she felt a whole new feeling… this one decidedly physical. Mako never made her feel like this.
She shook her head, side to side, finishing, "Come on - the sooner we get private quarters, the better. Asami - can you remember the topography on the sea floor in the bay? I don't want to do work I don't have to." Asami shrugged, saying, "I have some records - only rough estimates. But they're at my office." Korra stamped her foot down in frustration, sending sand flying. As she prepared to make some glass on the beach with her new wonderful blue flame to vent her frustration, she got another stroke of inspiration. Korra told Asami, "I'll be right back," running over to the solid rock cliff. She began to punch the cliff with great care in the Avatar State - hoping for help from one of her past Earthbending Avatar lives.
When she saw the slight figure that appeared in front of her, she burst out laughing, "Wait, what, really - an airbender? That's who I get? SERIOUSLY? I don't care if you knew Toph in your lifetime, Aang - that's just ridiculous! You're the OPPOSITE element! I know Kyoshi wouldn't exactly be lining up to help, but I'd prefer an actual Earthbending Avatar." At first, Aang looked hurt. He said, with an angry grimace, "Really, Korra - I know you can be blunt, but that was a bit much. Raava may like your warlike personality better, but you need a balance between the two. Keep in mind, Raava can be a little … odd at times. I think these new 'human-y' feelings carry her away at times." Aang pointed a finger at Korra, saying, "I managed to hear her telling you while I was still imprisoned that you needed to be more in touch with the healing abilities - bending and emotional - that you possess. Right after you healed Mako's arm. Then, right after I was freed, I heard her telling you that she liked you eagerly anticipating the first person to try and harvest from the Great Banyan tree being turned to ash. You need to trust yourself, above all - don't let the vacillations of Raava influence you."
Korra's eyes began watering, and she burst into hysterics. Aang's image softened in its formerly stern expression, and he said, "Don't feel bad, Korra - I almost hurt Katara while in the Avatar State more than once, first when that stupid general tried to get me to enter the Avatar State on 'command', then when I was out of control in rage after losing Appa. What Raava said after your 'test' of the blue flame… Raava is right, in a blanket sense - you should be glad you haven't hurt anyone you love yet. Just remember, sometimes words cut deeper than steel." Curious as to how he had managed to get so many "blips" of information while entombed in ice, Korra asked, "So that's two different times you got information from the outside world while completely imprisoned. How?" Aang laughed, saying, "I was the Avatar before you, so I could 'hear' a little better- but not much. I did have 100 years' experience of being entombed in ice before that, after all. I suppose I shouldn't be mad at you for those comments - you did save me and everyone else, after all. And Raava's randomly catching us up as well - not good at it yet, though." Aang pointed slightly to the right of Korra, saying, "It appears someone wants to say hi before I begin training you in what you desire - earthsense."
Korra wheeled around, and looked in horror - apparently Asami had heard everything. Asami said, in an even voice, "Aang is right - you need to be true to yourself, first and foremost. Let Raava figure out the right balance herself - she's always had a human Avatar holding her hand in the emotional department, apparently. She must be able to handle the things she felt as a spirit just fine - it's these new 'human-y' emotions that give her problems." Korra saw Aang's image replaced by a familiar white-haired girl, who said, "At first, I was going to yell at you, Asami - because what you said made me mad. But I guess you're right. Anyways - back to what you were doing." When Aang reappeared, he was grinning widely, and an unseen hand smacked him across the face. Yelling over top of the sound of a giggling girl, Aang said, "Why don't you try using your feet instead of your hands?" Korra heard a slight scuffling sound as Aang threw away an unseen being. He yelled, "Why don't you go bother Wan, Raava - I still belong to Katara, and I'm not really 12, so I'm not close to your 'human-y' form's age! Now, shoo!" Asami snickered and let out a long sigh, saying, "If this is what you've taught Raava about romantic relations, I can't wait to actually do something interesting with you, Korra." Her cheeks blushing, Korra imagined Raava's giggling face on the ground - she wanted to shake the little rascal up, but not hurt her. To her surprise, this must have been the right way to strike the ground - she could feel shockwaves traveling from her foot up the cliff face, as well as towards the sea.
Korra grinned widely - almost as far as Aang could, but not quite. Given the expression she saw on Aang's face when she looked up, he felt the waves somehow as well. When she turned to face Asami, Asami gave a small yelp, saying, "I hope you don't teach that face to our kid. Sorta creeps me out." The smile vanished, as did Aang - Korra was tired of waiting. Her eyes now aglow, she struck her foot against the ground in the same fashion once more. She felt a footprint created in the earth and felt small cracks spread from her feet while she processed the vast amount of information that flowed into her being.
She detected a minor deposit of metal under the sea near her, as well as a large, strange pocket of liquid trapped beneath the sea in the far distance in some fragile rock. Making a note of its location - Asami might know what it was - she focused on getting a better picture of the ocean floor, but only lightly striking her foot against the rock beneath her this time. She saw a much clearer picture - and knew where she would begin.
Still in the Avatar State, she created a circular part in the sea water with one hand, and began manipulating the sea floor with the other. Suddenly realizing she did not have enough earth for what she wanted, she focused all her energy far beneath the exposed sea floor. She felt an immense heat, and began to manipulate it towards the surface, opening her eyes fully. She watched keenly for what she was manipulating to finally break the surface - magma. As it broke through to the surface, she heard a surprised gasp from beside her, but maintained her focus.
Korra had a momentary vision of a figure she somehow knew to be Firelord Sozin performing some odd hand movements, cooling a vast amount of magma with firebending. Keeping this vision from what must have been the end of Roku's life in mind, once a large amount of magma had been released - enough to increase the size of Air Temple Island by a third, or more - she began to channel heat away using the odd technique from the large, glowing mass until she felt comfortable with its temperature. Korra wanted to make sure there was no further unplanned volcanic activity in this spot, ensuring that this would be so by sending the plume of magma deep beneath the new island - back to wherever she had dragged it from. Pushing both hands forcefully towards the cooling mass and the sea, she created a large, slightly sloped hill between the shimmering walls of water. She folded her hands multiple times towards herself, letting the water crash into the new, solid rock while a somewhat natural looking pathway came towards her current position.
She spun around, striking her foot against the ground once more - she wanted to be as delicate as possible, with the artifact room nearby. Locating a suitable spot, she quickly and delicately created a sloped path from Upper Air Temple Island down towards the bottom of the cliff face, linking it to the new path in the sea. Turning around towards the new landmass, she was still not satisfied, so she raised the pathway between the main island and her new addition, creating sea walls around the path and addition's boundaries. Korra created a large courtyard on the side of the island closest to the artifact room by shearing off a large amount of rock, depositing it on the far end of the island. She fused the two pieces of earth with lavabending, effectively creating a tall, inaccessible plateau. Her final major act was to manipulate the minor mass of what must have been iron from beneath the water, letting it crash next to the far end of the island.
Korra took a very deep breath and created some small pier-like spits of rock near the back of the new plateau, at the same time exiting the Avatar State. Breathing heavily, she said, "If the Fire Nation wants any new land, they're going to have to pay a fortune. That really took it out of me, Avatar State or not." She looked at Asami, who was staring at the island with wide eyes. She said, pointing to the plateau, "Is that what I think it is…? Is that where you want my helping in bending us a house?"
Korra shook her soaked body, splattering Asami with sweat - she actually seemed to like it. Absently licking her lips and ingesting some of Korra's sweat, Asami said, "Where'd you get that huge lump of ore from? Are there any interesting deposits under the ocean here?" Korra said, whipping off her shirt out of combined heat and exhaustion, "Yes - I also detected a distant, large pocket of a strange liquid inside fragile rock. You wouldn't happen to know what that is, do you?" Asami's eyes widened, staring at Korra - and not just at her glistening body. She said, touching Korra in the abdomen, "Korra - that's oil! You just discovered a major deposit of oil! I'll have to contact Varrick, and see if we can devise a way to get at the oil beneath the sea." Asami paused, looking at Korra's sweaty arms, saying, "Though I see some oil I like right here."
Finally tired of waiting, Korra hugged Asami and kissed her on the neck. She was about to give in completely, but a voice behind them said, "Ahem. Just because you're not in the artifact room, doesn't make any funny business a good idea, Korra - if you want to do something, you should finish that island and your house first." Ignoring the intruder for a moment, Korra bent an earth wall between her and this unwelcome visitor. Re-focusing on Asami, she didn't hear the man walk around to the side of her barrier until it was too late. A sudden blast of wind knocked her off her feet, making her land next to Asami.
Staring blearily up at the morning sun, she saw a familiar figure coming into her field of view - it was Tenzin! Korra gasped for air, still not quite over the exhaustion from creating an island. She heard the muffled sound of running, and a cool wave of water splashed over her and Asami. Korra said weakly, "Thanks - that was just what I needed. Wait… Tenzin? Katara?" Before Tenzin could answer, what must have been Katara said, "Hello, sweetie. My son and I noticed a lot of noise from this direction and thought we should investigate. I never expected to see this wonderful addition to Air Temple Island, though." Tenzin added, "I noticed how delicately the path from the upper level to this new addition was made, Korra - thank you for remembering to not wreck my artifact room."
Korra managed to get up and pull Asami with her, saying, "I'm still not done! I need to make a house, and bend some… privacy measures for the house out of the ore I drug up." Katara patted Korra's shoulders, saying, "It looks like you could use some help. Tenzin, why don't you project to Bolin, Su and Lin, and tell them to come to the artifact room. And make sure to tell them this isn't an emergency!" Before Korra or Asami could object, Tenzin sat down, took a deep breath, and shut his eyes. Korra did feel very tired - she bent herself and Asami a single chair to sit in. Katara, seeing what they were doing, bent a large ball of water from the sea, did some strange hand movements that Korra assumed were to remove the salt, and created two separate, smaller balls of water. Katara said, "Why don't you try and bend two clean mugs from this rock? If I give you ice glasses, they'll just melt." Korra did so, making sure to create a clean inside surface with some minor lavabending that she cooled rapidly.
After, Korra and Asami held out their earth cups. Katara bent the water inside, and created a large block of ice with the leftovers. When Korra had emptied her glass, she made to refill it, but Katara held out her hand, saying, "Uh-uh, Korra! It may be 8:00 AM in the morning, but I don't want you getting heatstroke. I'm sure Bolin, Lin and Su will be too busy admiring your handiwork to be ready to help you finish it right away." As Korra fixed her gaze on a large, tasty-looking creature in the distance, Katara tapped her son on the shoulder, whispering, "Tell them to bring some food - it looks like Korra and Asami haven't eaten since they got up, given how they are staring at that shark whale." Korra sat up, and said, "Some sushi does sound good. Ooooh, my head…" Korra slumped back into the chair from the new pain in her forehead, stirring Asami, who stood up, addressing some unseen new arrivals. Despite all the fighting Korra had done lately, she realized that she was pretty out of shape - if she had any hope of winning this Spirit Civil War, she'd need to become physically robust again, like she was before that crazy idiot Zaheer had poisoned her. She remembered how, in almost all her fights lately, she had been beaten or on equal ground with people she should have handily defeated.
That's not the main reason - for instance, why didn't you use the Avatar State inside the horrible Colossus' cockpit? I'm criminally underused!
Korra groaned loudly, saying, "Not now, Raava … ugh" out loud. She finally fell asleep.
She saw a little girl - Raava - in front of her, Raava admonishing, "Remember, you need to take care of your physical body. Until you get more fit, no more trying to make a whole island by yourself without what your body needs- if you try to push too far, I'll just shut the Avatar State off." Korra yelled, "But how am I going to get better unless I exert myself? I'm sick and tired of being weak - until relatively recently, I couldn't even walk or fight properly, and now look where I am!"
Raava wagged a finger at Korra, saying, "I didn't say you couldn't make islands, Korra - you just need to remember to do, you know, basic things… like EAT and DRINK!" Raava flared to her full size before the last words, and the vision ended. Or was it a dream?
Given how Korra saw the world through rapidly blinking eyelids, it must have been both. She saw Bolin standing over her, holding a small cut of cooked meat, saying, "She's awake! Thirty minute nap… wish I could do that." Korra opened her mouth, savoring the flavor of the bite Bolin gave her. Korra stood up, seeing that it wasn't just Bolin, Lin and Su - everyone was here, even her parents!
After eating some more and drinking plenty of water, she began telling everyone how she made the new addition to Air Temple Island. When she finished, she noticed multiple stunned expressions - noticing that Zuko was one of them. Before anyone else could speak, Lin yelled, "We've got an addition to finish, people - stop staring at Korra! Let's go!" She turned down the trail, and ran to the large clearing, Asami running after her. Everyone else - including Korra - followed suit. While no longer physically tired, Korra chose to defer to Asami on completion of the island, following her instructions. Korra worked with Bolin to finish the large plaza with a mix of earthbending and lavabending, working alongside him to give it a marble-like surface that Asami suggested and directed the appearance of. She noticed the final pattern of its surface resembled the tiles of the rest of Air Temple Island. Korra added the four elemental symbols to the center of each tile with a burst of the Avatar State and some earthbending - without any nagging from Raava.
Korra spotted Su out of the corner of her eye with a proud look. Apparently, Su had managed to hook the shark whale with metalbending while Korra and Bolin had worked on the plaza, as Korra saw the massive beast dead, floating near the sea-wall. Korra said, "Nice work with the shark whale, Su! I can't wait to eat it!" Shortly after, she heard Katara yell, "Aren't you gonna thank me too? I bent the water to get at it in the first place!" Embarrassed at her assumption, Korra yelled "Thanks!" as Bolin bent a small shore to drag the beast onto the new "marble". Su and Lin used metalbending to butcher the beast at the same time Jinora came back with some more vegetarian fare. Asami motioned to Korra while the impromptu celebration was being prepared, and Korra approached her at the base of the tall plateau.
Much to Korra's surprise, Asami said, "Okay - what now? I know you had something in mind with that metal ore, but what?" Korra said one word: "Privacy". In a stream of consciousness, Korra explained her idea to Asami - make it so that only someone who can bend multiple elements, or know a special "code" can enter without assistance. Asami's eyes widened as she explained, saying, "Sounds even better than my mansion, Korra. But how are you going to implement it? There's lots of metalbenders and earthbenders around here - someone could just break in through the wall." Korra frowned, saying, "I'm not trying to make a fortress - I just want somewhere private for us is all. I don't like that artifact room - it's barely private, and those dusty old scrolls make me sneeze."
Asami laughed, coming up closer to Korra, running a finger on her still bare collarbone. "If that's what you want, Korra - a 'private retreat' - you might want to add sound dampening into your design." Asami gave her a coy grin. Korra began to reach out to grab her butt, but stopped at the last minute, saying, "No, Korra, not right now! Just finish this house already." Asami looked vaguely disappointed. Given Asami's experience with security, Korra let her make most of the design decisions and all the locking mechanisms. After Korra had finished making a legion of bizarre metal objects, she implemented her own ideas. She bent some fresh water into a container that she superheated and compressed into stainless steel. Seeing Asami given her an odd look, Korra explained, "This is going to be the main door's lock. It can only be opened by simultaneously waterbending and metalbending - this main key mechanism here floats in the water and needs to be metalbent into position to turn the lock into a somewhat open position. While that is maintained, the bender has to freeze the water, expanding it into these crevasses with skill. Then, the user bends the ice sphere to generate enough force to open the lock." Korra looked at the key mechanism and said, "Though I guess that will need to be stainless steel too," as she performed the appropriate bending on it.
After arranging the parts in the proper orientation, Korra stomped the ground of the plateau, wanting to form a picture in her mind's eye of the spacious design that Asami had described, taking into account the main watermetalbending lock. Korra took a deep breath, and began to create the house using the Avatar State. First, she created a foundation, springing the inner walls up from the slab of earth. She then bent two concentric earthen shells - one that was the outer wall and provided a gap of air for noise muffling, and a second that perfectly fit the inner walls, adjusting all the walls as she went using earthsense and bending. She then bent in various fixtures, such as a bed base and headboard in the "recreational room", some earthen cabinets and an island for a kitchen - no need for gas when she could just firebend food to heat it, she thought - and a small table for eating at, and she bent some shiny copper into the walls where Asami had instructed her to. Korra then created light fixture holders near these metal veins.
Feeling creative, she tried and successful manipulated some earth into crystal form using heat and the latent air moisture, creating a chandelier to hang outside the kitchen near the bedroom, affixing it to the ceiling with lavabending. She began creating a bathroom near the bedroom, but suddenly remembered that Asami wouldn't be able to use what she had in mind without her assistance - she was no waterbender. It'd have to wait until later, and they would need a link to the main Air Temple Island system. Korra bent out doorways to the outside - the main door using a watermetalbending lock and the second door using a complicated number-based lock - and suspended the doors in mid-air. She then lavabent to fuse all the pieces together and give all the earthen surfaces the same pseudo-marble look she had used on the plaza. Once the heat died down, she fixed the copper veins - she had forgotten to leave them until after the "marbleization" - and used her metalbending to insert locks and hinges into all the now-snugly placed doors. She then decorated the outside of the house using metal and lavabending in a four-elements theme, putting large Future Industries logos on two prominent parts of the house.
Korra took a deep breath - both to end the Avatar State smoothly and for energy. She opened her eyes, telling Asami loudly, "I'm ready to eat! Come on, we can stare at this house later - and use it for other purposes." Giving Asami a wink as she ran off, Korra smelled an irresistible smell in the air - roasted shark whale meat!