A/N–– Two chapters in the same week?? I'm having fun procrastinating. Keep an eye out for my surprise!––

A little prologue for Intruders.

The Kitchen (Last Week)

Pema shuffled along the halls of the air temple with a basket of laundry on her hip. After all the teens had moved to the island, there was a considerable amount of growth in the dirty clothes department. There wasn't even a need for baskets at one point, but with the temple as "Team Avatar's base of operations," so Bolin had said, she began to spend a lot more time on the task. Not that she minded though. Pema found tranquility in the clean smell of soap and the illusion of it being a chore; something that kept the kids away for a while.

But what she was really enjoying today wasn't just the laundry. Everyone was out doing things, and that meant she could have a peaceful midmorning. Tenzin was with the kids, doing something with bison–she found that not asking for details was the best route to avoid anxiety–Mako was at work, Beifong and Bolin were seeing Opal and her family off, and Asami and Korra were–in the kitchen? As she padded over toward the doorway their disembodied voices grew louder.

Korra was talking. "Whatcha wanna do now that everyone's gone?"

Pema was about to chime in and round the corner, saying something like, "Hey, I'm still here," or, "What are you guys doing back?" until Asami responded with a definite, "You."

The sultry tone of voice was a surprising contrast to the polite, well-mannered, young woman she had come to know, enough so to stop Pema in her tracks.

"Oh yeah?" She could hear the grin in Korra's words. Pema was positive her eyebrows had touched her hairline.

She set the basket down on the floor against the wall and inched closer to the door. They were flirting? Pema didn't label herself as nosey or one to spy, but she was absolutely about to.

A giggle hummed from Asami, "I mean what did you wanna do today?"

"Well I was thinking we could take a bath," Korra said, her volume lowering, followed by a few clicks from the meeting of lips.

How could she have not seen this coming? Of course they were into each other; they were always spending time together, disappearing at the same time, constantly touching each other, constantly, and how about that one time when she knocked on Korra's door and Asami opened it, but her shirt was on backwards. Whoa. Pema thought, Tenzin's gotta hear about this. They're actually–

"Or," it was Asami again, "we could hang out here for a bit."

Clattering of metal rang through the temple a moment later, causing Pema to jump and her maternal instincts to kick in. She leaned into the threshold to make sure everyone was okay. In doing so, she found both girls unharmed, but also found all her pots and pans on the floor, Asami sitting in their place, her legs wrapped around Korra's torso, and the latter's hand in the former's hair, leaning against the counter with her lip caught between Asami's teeth.

Oh crud. Pema reeled back, blushing up a storm. I can not tell Tenzin about this, she thought, quietly striding down the hall to put more space between her and the kitchen, leaving her laundry basket, forgotten.

A few days later, Pema shuffled along the halls of the air temple with another basket of laundry on her hip. She was humming an old air nomad tune, basking in the cool island air, but her peaceful routine was interrupted by Bolin.

"Hey, Pema!" he called and walked up to her.

She slowed to a stop and hiked the basket farther up her hip, "Bolin," she smiled, "what are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing really," he shrugged, "have you seen Korra?"

"Yeah, they're taking a nap I think." Asami had made the original statement, but if Korra was nowhere to be found, she was probably with her.

His face scrunched in a confused expression. "They?"

"Korra and Asami? Yes."

"They sleep in the same room?" he asked, his brow arching, "They nap together?"

"Well, considering the fact that they makeout on my countertops, I'd say it's likely."

Bolin stood silent for a moment before muttering, "I gotta tell Mako," then turned to run back the way he came, shouting thanks over his shoulder.

Pema sighed as she watched him go. "I probably shouldn't have told him that."