This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.
Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko
It's nice to be reminded that life's blows do no have to be dealt with all alone.
The Tunnel
When Jinora came home that night she had already braced herself for her parents.
To her great surprise, however, they didn't say a thing. Her father greeted her like normal as did her mother. Naturally, she didn't say anything about her skipping school right then. Did they not know? Surely, the school had notified them that she'd missed almost all of her classes though...
That night, after dinner, she helped her mother clean up in the kitchen.
"So," began her mother from beside her at the sink. "Is it okay if I ask how was your day with Kai?"
Jinora almost dropped the dish in her hand.
How did she always just know to do that?
"...you-"
"We know, Jinora."
"Mom, I'm so sorry," Jinora turned to her mother immediately. "I know I shouldn't have done that, but I just-"
"Sweetie, it's fine. I'm asking how was your day with Kai," said her mother soothingly.
"But... but I skipped school..." said Jinora, somewhat speechless. "I was gone all day..."
"I know. How was that?"
Jinora looked over her shoulder to see if someone was watching them. Was there a camera in the kitchen or something? Because that could be the only explanation as to why her mother was acting so weird.
"It was... it was fine. I mean, I... I took a nap?" she said, unsure of what exactly she should have said.
"That's wonderful. You needed the rest. Do you feel better?"
"Yeah... I do... Mom, what's going on?"
"What do you mean, sweetie?"
"I mean... aren't you mad? I skipped school."
Her mother chuckled. "As did I. And your father. And your Uncle Bumi and Aunt Kya. I'm pretty sure we all skipped school far more than you did. I mean, it's kind of a normal thing to do at least once, isn't it? In a way?"
"Mom..." began Jinora. "Seriously, what's going on? You're just... you're not acting right. Aren't you mad at all?"
"No. Did you want me to be mad?"
"Uh, no, but..." Jinora trailed off. She wasn't sure how exactly to proceed anymore.
Her mother sighed and turned off the sink, drying her hands on a towel. She turned to Jinora with a sympathetic smile.
"Sweetie, we've been worried about you," said her mother. "All week. We could tell that something was wrong and it was getting to the point that we were about to get involved if it continued any longer."
Jinora didn't say anything. She didn't want to mention what had happened earlier that day or her fight with Kai. Just... couldn't she put it in the past?
"Honey, are you okay? Please tell us something. I don't care that you skipped school. Especially when you went to go take a nap. You've been so exhausted and you've been drinking way too much coffee. We didn't want to be overbearing and so we tried to keep at a respectable distance, but... sometimes it's hard to watch."
Jinora looked up, hearing her mother's voice croak a little. She saw her eyes go over bright and Jinora let out a little breath. Reaching forward, she pulled her mother into a hug.
"I'm fine, Mom," she said sincerely. "At least, I'm a whole lot better than I have been this past week. I really needed that nap."
Her mother rubbed her back. "Did you want to talk about it?"
After a moment, Jinora shook her head.
"No, it's fine..." she pulled back, smiling. Perhaps she should say somethingthough. "I... had a fight with Kai earlier this week."
Her mother nodded, blinking away tears.
"I could tell..."
"It's fine now, but it was just really bad timing with the tutoring going on this week and all the work and the stuff still going on with Ikki..."
"A little bit too much in one week?"
"Yeah, but it's fine now. Really. We made up and... it's just better now. I'm fine, Mom," she held her mothe' s hands. "I promise."
"Okay... so," her mother went on carefully. "This didn't have anything to do... with... your test?"
Jinora's spirits fell.
"Y-you know about that already?"
"We got the email, dear..."
Jinora swallowed hard.
"I-I-I'm so sorry," she stammered, her voice starting to fail her. "I really tried I-"
"Honey, it's okay... that class you took seemed really hard. Advanced Calculus and Trigonometry? I know your smart, but that just sounds... painful. I know you're not into math all that much either so it's probably extra painful."
"I hate it," blurted Jinora, looking down slightly. "I really hate it. It's just... difficult."
She didn't like to admit it, but it was true. That class was kicking her butt in every way possible.
"Why don't you just drop it?"
Jinora looked up at her mother, wide-eyed.
"D-drop it?"
"Mm-hm. The drop deadline hasn't passed has it?"
"No, it's hasn't, but... are you sure? You would be okay with that?" asked Jinora, almost getting excited now, even breathless. "And Dad would be okay with that?"
"Sweetie, you've passed all the classes you need to get into college," said her mother, shrugging. "I don't see why not. You are allowed to do that, right? Or is there some complication?"
Jinora shook her head fervently. "No, no! Fourth years are allowed to have free periods if their schedules allow it. I've taken all the classes I've needed to take so-"
"So, there you go," said her mother, smiling. "You get a free period."
Suddenly, Jinora's spirits went through the roof and she felt a little lightheaded from the excitement. "I-I can get so much work done! And catch up on all my classes! And study! And-"
Her mother raised an almost amused eyebrow.
"And relax?"
Jinora was smiling from ear to ear now and moved a little to leave the kitchen. She nodded.
"After I catch up on all my work," she leaped forward and gave her mother a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you so much!"
"No problem. I don't think we did anything, but you're welcome all the same."
Jinora pulled back.
"And you're sure Dad's not mad?"
"You father is fine," her mother kissed her on the forehead and patted her arm. "We love you so much. And you're sure you are fine?"
Jinora sighed, letting out a lead weight in her chest that had settled in over the week.
"I am now."
Later that night, she told Kai about her talk with her mother.
"That's great, babe," he said over the phone. "I told you that you should drop that class and even your mom thinks so."
"Yeah..." she sighed contently. "To be honest, Kumi thought it was asinine when I mentioned that I signed up for it."
"I kind of agree... you were brave to take that one on. There's a reason why it's a small class to begin with."
"I know... but I thought I could do it..."
"And I have no doubt in my mind that you can," he said reassuringly. "But I think it's just not time with all your other classes being so advanced too."
She yawned.
"Probably not."
"I hear somebody over there that's still tired," he chuckled a little bit. "Let's cut it short okay? So, you can get some sleep?"
"Mmkay..." she said quietly. "Hey, baby?"
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"...shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" he asked gently.
"I know, but... I just want to make sure... I don't want you to keep feeling guilty about what happened earlier, okay? It's over and done with and we should just... move on... y'know? Not forget exactly, but let it go."
"I know..." he sighed over the phone. "I know. I just... this week was just so terrible for both of us and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going to worry about you a little more from now on."
"But it's just like you said. Now I know and that's the first step to dealing with it. I'm going to be okay."
"Yeah, you will," he said. She could hear him grinning a little over the phone. "You can get through anything. Doesn't mean I won't worry at least a little."
She smiled.
"And the same goes for me about you... I love you, okay?"
"I love you too... I love you so much. Night, sweetheart."
"G'night."
And they hung up.
She put her phone on the nightstand and just crawled under her sheets, exhausted from all the day's emotions. How was she supposed to feel right about now? On one hand, she was worried about herself as well. Never before had she ever felt that type of terror and pure distress – if you could even use such an understated word for that – in her entire life. The fact that something as terrible as that had somehow been triggered inside of her was beyond alarming. She'd do anything not to have to go through that again.
On the other hand, things looked like they were on the path to getting better. Sure, it was only a dropped class, but that meant one less class she had to deal with and one more hour to herself. In retrospect, that meant so much. One less hour dedicated to her academic life was probably for the better at this point and she was most certainly going to take it. First thing tomorrow morning she was going to march into the counselor's office and drop Advanced Calculus and Trigonometry like a hot potato. Normally, she wouldn't think so harshly, but seriously. Good riddance.
With that last thought passed, she fell asleep.
-:-:-:-
The next morning was the beginning of the best day Jinora had seen in over a week. She woke up feeling a little groggy, but otherwise refreshed. After taking a shower and getting dressed she headed downstairs to find that her mother had made a hearty plate of scrambled eggs for the whole family. Happily, she ate it right up with no coffee whatsoever and instead had a nice, tall glass of lychee juice.
She met Kai at school and they walked hand in hand through the halls as he enthusiastically described a new animated show he was into. When she finally got a chance she did exactly as she had set out to do and dropped that thorn in her side math class. It gave her such a feeling of satisfaction that she couldn't keep the smile off her face. After the morning bell, she settled herself in the library for some peace.
Her life went on like this for the rest of the week. Normal and wonderfully without incident.
What she found was that it was amazing what you could do in a single hour.
By the end of the week, Jinora had caught up with all of her work and was now popping into her classes before school started just to see if she could ahead on her assignments for the day.
All in all, life was good.
After school Friday, Kai managed to catch her before he had to ride off to work on his bike.
"Hey," he caught her right outside the school. "I forgot to ask, did you have anything you wanted to do tomorrow?"
"Oh," she said, deflating a little. "I'm sorry, love. I'm going to go hang out with Asami, Opal and Korra tomorrow. Could we make a date for maybe the next day?"
"No, that's fine. Actually, I was asking because Gao and a couple other guys invited me to go bowling with them tomorrow and I wanted to make sure you didn't have anything in mind."
Jinora almost snorted a little bit. "Bowling? Sweetheart, you don't bowl."
"Hey, there's a first time for everything," he said, grinning. "Besides, Gao bet me thirty yuans I couldn't beat him in a game and I plan on winning those thirty yuans."
"Okay... don't make that a habit though. I don't like the idea of you gambling," she said. It made her a feel a little bit like bull hen-like, but gambling was a dangerous habit to be picking up.
"Relax, I'll be fine," he laughed a little and leaned down to kiss her. "We're going bowling. Not to play the slots. I'll talk to you later though, okay? I gotta get to work now."
She returned his kiss. "Mkay, just be careful."
"I will."
-:-:-:-
The next day, Jinora got up and headed out for the esteemed residence of Asami Sato. She used the extra car to drive towards a neighborhood not too far from her own. These houses were large, beautiful, gated and for the most particularly privileged of Republic City. One rather beautiful home was more familiar to her than the others.
Sato Estates had been the host to many parties and get togethers that Jinora had been to both formal and informal. As CEO of Future Industries, Asami Sato was constantly entertaining guests and socializing aside from her private work as the top executive and big brain of the global company. Needless to say, she was a busy woman. However, it was really nice when she cleared her schedule so the four best friends could have a day to relax with each other at her massive home.
Jinora drove up to the gate and rolled down her window to press the radio button.
"Name and business?" asked the woman over the radio, very business like.
"Jinora Gyatso," she answered. "I'm here to see Asami Sato?"
"We've been expecting you Miss Gyatso. Please come in."
The large silver gates opened and Jinora drove in around the fountain to the front steps of the huge home where a valet was waiting for her.
Having done this before, Jinora got out and gratefully handed the valet her keys. She was greeted at the front steps by who she recognized as Asami's butler.
"Ms. Sato is waiting for you, miss," said the butler rather elegantly. "Right this way."
The butler led her through the house in what seemed like a walk that took forever. She'd never get over just how big Asami's place was. Her own home could fit into Asami's several times before it would cover even half of Sato Estate's square footage. Finally, the butler brought her to the indoor pool where she was greeted by two of her best friends in the whole world.
"Jinora!" Asami and Opal got up from their poolside table and strode forward to hug her.
Jinora returned their hugs. "Opal, Asami... I've missed you guys so much."
"We have too," said Opal, pulling back. "It sucks how little we get to see of each other these days."
"Yeah, it's been too long," said Asami, smiling at her.
Jinora sighed contently. She needed this. Just to hang out with her friends and catch up for a day.
"Where's Korra?" she asked, realizing their last member of the group was missing.
"Oh, you know Korra," chuckled Asami. "She's a tad late, but I'm sure she'll be here soon. Strange though..."
Jinora blinked. "What?"
"She sounded like she was really eager to see you, but it wasn't exactly in the happiest way possible. Not sure why."
"Almost sounded like she had a bone to pick with you in fact," said Opal, just as puzzled.
A bone to pick? That was odd. Why would Korra have-
Then it suddenly flooded back to her.
Oh.
Oh.
The weekend Kai spent with her.
The phone call from Korra.
Oh monkeyfea-
As if on cue, Korra was practically marching into the room, eyes locked on Jinora and Asami's butler trailing behind respectfully.
"M-Miss Iluak is here, Ms. Sato."
"Thank you, Tang," said Asami, kindly dismissing him before turning to Korra. "Korra, what's wrong?"
Korra ignored Opal and Asami, nostrils flaring at Jinora.
"H-hey, Korra..." said Jinora, grinning nervously.
"Exercising, huh!?" exclaimed Korra rather loudly and getting louder still so that her voice echoed throughout the pool room.
"Now, Korra, I can explain-" said Jinora.
Korra only railed on.
"We hardly know each other!"
"C'mon, let me explain!" said Jinora, moving backwards to sit at the poolside table.
"Explain what?" asked Opal, she and Asami following Jinora's lead back to the table. "What's wrong with you two?"
There was a moment of silence between the four of them before Asami spoke up.
"C'mon guys, someone spill."
Jinora sighed heavily. "See- Well- You guys heard how I'm dating Kai, right?"
"Yeah, actually," said Asami, nodding. "Mako and Bolin were saying something like that when I last saw them. We were going to ask you about that."
"Well, you see, a few weeks ago my parents were out of town and my siblings were at their friends houses for the weekend, leaving me with the house... all by myself..."
Asami raised her eyebrows. "And since we were just talking about Kai..."
Jinora nodded sheepishly.
"I snuck him over and he stayed with me the whole weekend they were gone," she fessed up.
Opal's mouth dropped. "So, wait, are you saying that you guys-"
"Yeah. We did... we kind of have been... for over six months now."
Now, Asami joined Opal and she looked at Jinora, wide-eyed and mouth agape.
"I," began Korra when they stopped talking. "-was asked to call and check up on her to make sure she'd be okay by herself. I do just that, calling say about midnight because I figured it was a Friday and she'd stay up late reading or something. When I call, she's breathing hard, sounds like she's damn near moaning into the phone-"
Opal actually leaned on the table with her forearms. "Oh my Raava-"
"Yeah! I wasn't sure! I'm still not sure! Exercise she said! At midnight!" cried Korra, almost shrilly. "But as soon as I heard the news about you and Kai it hit me! I swear that Kai was on top of you when I called! Right, Jinora!? I'm right aren't I!?"
Jinora squirmed under the gaze of her three best friends, including Korra's intense stare.
"Actually, I was the one on top..." murmured Jinora.
"Sweet spirits," breathed Opal.
"So, let me get this straight," Korra narrowed her eyes, put her hands up facing each other and moved forward next to the remaining open chair. "You were RIDING YOUR BOYFRIEND when you were on the phone with me that night?"
Tentatively and a bit guiltily, Jinora nodded.
Opal and Asami were silence shocked, only gaping at Jinora.
Korra blinked and put a finger up.
"Jinora. I don't know if I should be angry that you consciously let me sit through that or..." she exhaled and plopped into the open chair beside her, a grin splitting her face. "...or just really, really impressed. That took balls, Jinora. Pun heavily intended."
Snapped back to reality, Asami rolled her eyes. "Korra."
Korra bust out laughing, Opal not too far behind.
"I'm sorry, Jinora!" howled Korra. "I had to! I had to do that one so bad!"
As Opal and Korra guffawed, now it was Jinora's turn to gape.
"You did all that ranting for a pun? Korra! Tang is standing right there!"
"Fear not, Miss Gyatso," said Tang. "As soon as I leave to fetch your refreshments I will kindly remove the information from my brain."
"I-I-I'm so sorry to both of you," Korra leaned back in her chair and was wiping her eyes. "But I had to."
"Okay, guys," said Asami, but she was smiling as well.
When they all finally calmed down, Korra took a deep breathe.
"Okay, well I guess that brings us to our next topic," she said, leaning forward now and looking at Jinora again. "A whole year? Jinora, that's a long time to keep a relationship a secret. I mean, nobody knew besides you two? At all?"
"Not a soul."
Jinora shook her head and told them about what had happened the night her and Kai's secret had been busted all the way to her making up with him that past week. She didn't tell them about what had happened to her the day she and Kai made up. Even her parents didn't know and for now she didn't want anybody else to either.
"Wow..." said Asami.
"Yeah, and I thought I had it rough," said Opal. "Are you okay now though?"
"Yeah, are you good?" asked Korra worriedly. "Nobody wants to see you kill yourself over some schoolwork, Jinora. It's not worth it."
"I know and I am," said Jinora. "Kai says the same thing."
"Well, we agree," said Korra.
"No kidding," said Asami. "Take it from someone who works day and night for Future Industries. You need to take a day to gather yourself together too now. You'll only do your health a great benefit."
"I'm fine now. I really am. I dropped one of my classes and now things have gotten a little more stress free at school. It's been nice to be honest."
"That's good," said Opal. "As long as you're sure."
"I am, guys. Really. My parents wouldn't have even let me out of the house today if they were worried about that out of me."
Korra smiled. "We know. We just want to make sure... So, now."
Jinora blinked at her.
Korra grinned.
"How is he?"
"Who?"
"Kai. You know. In bed. You two have been at it in the sheets for six months now you said. More than enough time to rate the goods and services."
"Korra!" chided Opal.
"Korra, do you really wanna know about that?" asked Jinora.
"Yes, I do," affirmed Korra. "You peaked my curiosity the second I realized what had happened over the phone and you owe me this much for having me unknowingly listen in on you two. Besides... you know you wanna tell us."
Korra wagged her eyebrows and, looking at Opal and Asami, she wasn't the only one who was very curious.
Jinora held her breath.
"S-so?" asked Opal quietly.
"How is it?" asked Korra eagerly.
Jinora looked between the three of them and exhaled.
She smiled wide. "Incredible. Just incredible every single time."
"Really, now?"
Korra leaned forward more, forearms on the table now.
"Mm-hmm. He does everything possible to please me and nails it right on the head."
"Like a hammer?"
"Like a jackhammer."
"Does he..." prompted Opal ambiguously, seemingly hoping she'd understand..
"He loves doing that," nodded Jinora, still smiling.
"Is he...?" started Asami, doing the same.
Jinora held her hands apart four inches shy of a foot.
"Damn, you go, girl," whistled Korra approvingly. "Anything kind of crazy he's done to you?"
"Lots of things," said Jinora, hands folded between her knees as she now beamed proudly at them. "But the first thing that comes to mind is how he uses his upper body strength. He held me upside down once."
Korra frowned, confused.
"Held you? Like on the bed?"
"Standing up."
"Oooh," the three girls said in unison.
"Jinora, again, I got to say I'm impressed. If any part of your life sounds like it's soaring with flying colors it's that part," laughed Korra.
"You guys are being safe though, right?" asked Asami. "You're using protection?"
"Mm-hm. We are," nodded Jinora. "I'm on the pill."
"So, we know he's good physically," began Opal. "But how is he as a boyfriend? He treats you well, right?"
"He does. He really does. We've been going through a bit of a rough patch lately, but..." Jinora smiled to herself now. "I love him. I love him so much and we love each other. He's so sweet, he's so considerate, he's passionate... people think he's some criminal or that he's selfish, but Kai is just so loving. He supports everything I do as long as it doesn't hurt me and just... no one in the world could ever love me like he does. He lifts me up when I need it, but most importantly... he brings me down when I need to come down and I can't explain it, but that's so priceless. The way he does that. More so the way he just knows when I need that. All he wants is my happiness and all I want is the same for him. We're just two lucky people who happen to find a good part of that in each other."
Opal, Asami and Korra were smiling warmly at her now. Korra in particular nodded, looking delightfully satisfied.
"It sounds like you two are really in love."
"I agree," said Opal. "You can just tell by the way you glow when you say all that."
"We're happy for you, Jinora," said Asami.
"Thank you, guys... that means so much. I just..."
Asami blinked. "What is it?"
"I just feel a little bit bad though. All this mess with Ikki and my dad and my fight with Kai lately... all this could have been avoided if I hadn't insisted we stayed a secret for so long. I always intended to come clean, but... it never felt like the right time."
Immediately, she felt Korra reach across the table and pull Jinora's hands into her own.
"Jinora. What's done is done. Does Kai blame you for it?"
"Well, no, but he wasn't happy about it after a while..."
"That's natural, but he doesn't blame you for it and you shouldn't either. He went along with it as well. He knows that. You need to understand that what happened happened and it's time to move on from that."
"I know... I just hate the fact that it hurt him in the process. I made him feel like he was my dirty little secret."
Asami reached out for Jinora as well now.
"Jinora, it's okay. Nobody's perfect and we all makes mistakes. Even relationships are like that. No relationship is perfect and they have their mistakes in them too. The important thing is that you made it through it. Why? Because you worked it out and were able to come out still together and with so much love and caring for each other... look at Korra and I," said Asami, sharing a quick smile with Korra. "You didn't have the same problems we did. We dated for two entire years, moved in together and everything. Our relationship was smooth sailing for a good year. Then my company really had a huge blowing up period and it took over my life. At the time we couldn't work it out because I was constantly gone or meeting with people or just plain not at home because of the business. Mentally and physically. Korra had her photo shoots and her matches. She got tired of being alone even when I was at home. The problem was even when I was with her I was still thinking about the company. It's like there wasn't space for us to work it out. You and Kai don't have that problem."
"Yeah," agreed Korra. "You and Kai have all the time in the world to see each other now that you're not a secret. You can choose to give each other space when you need it or seek each other out when it's important. Cherish that. I mean, six years later, yeah, Asami and I are the best of friends. We've moved on and have been in other relationships. Heck, I'm with her ex-boyfriend now and we're like the one big happy family adding Opal and Bolin to the bunch, but we also have acknowledged that maybe things might have been different if we'd met in high school or something. Or just simply had the time all those years ago. The point is... time is on your side. You and Kai have worked those feelings out it sounds like. You've been through that patch. Now, it's time to put it over your shoulder and forge on. Just chalk it up to one of life's lessons and consider it learned. Especially since you're pretty conscious of it as it is. Ya get me?"
Slowly, Jinora nodded, digesting their words. It was, well, true. Kai and her now seemed to have a more or less cleared the path for a strong relationship. Not that it wasn't already strong, but like Korra and Asami had said... they had already been through so much. What couldn't they handle at this point?
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Jinora looked up at Opal.
"Hey... even Bolin and I have our spats and imperfections. I'm really busy right now since I'm in the final run for my degree, but he knows how important it is. He's not always on point because, really, who is in a relationship? But what he'll do is he'll ask me if I need any help with my work. Sometimes I say yes and other times I just need him to leave me be for a second. If I say no, he backs off until I'm ready. When he thinks I'm being unfair or distant though he lets me know how he feels.
"We don't always agree, but we sit down and we talk it out because neither of us wants the other to think we don't care about how they feel. We lay it on the table. It's not always clean and cut. Sometimes it's over the course of a couple days. Sometimes it's messy and feelings get hurt, but the point is that we do it. We do it and we put it behind us. You and Kai have already done that it seems. It just sounds like you're the one stuck on the moving on part, Jinora. Life gets better as long as you remember to try and not let it get you down. That can apply to all other troubled parts of your life too."
Opal's words hit her just as hard as Korra and Asami's. Looking at the three of them, she felt herself tear up in earnest.
They were right. All of them. Was that what she and Kai were feeling? Both guilty for having hurt the other? Perhaps if she could put that guilt in the past then she could get Kai to do the same. After all, neither of them did it on purpose and both of them were still very much committed to their relationship, regardless of past fallouts.
It might take a while to clear out those murky feelings of guilt, but, yes, they had the time to do work them out. She had no doubt in her mind that she and Kai were both determined to do so.
She had no doubt that they would do so.
"I love you guys," she sniffed, wiping the tears now falling down her cheeks "I've missed you all so much."
The three of them got up, walked over and wrapped their arms around Jinora in a big group hug.
"That's what best friends are for. You'd do the same for us if we were feeling down," said Asami.
"Yeah," said Opal. "We're here for you, Jinora."
Korra planted a sisterly kiss on top of Jinora's head.
"And we always will be."
I actually really liked how this ended. I had intended for Ikki to appear, but I just couldn't get over this ending.
Now, this chapter was conceived in my head far before the series finale, but you can see where I worked in Korra and Asami's relationship. Makorra ends up being an important plot point later down the road here and so it literally has to be canon. I conceived that between Book 3 and 4 when I first published this story so that by the time the finale came around that was a finalized plot point I needed to happen. You'll see why later. However, I still wanted to validate Korra and Asami's relationship because that's important and, in the end, in helped the story out actually. It helped better explain where I was trying to get at here with Kai and Jinora. I'll admit that when the finale first came out and I wasn't sure what I was going to do, I was really araid that people would think I was a homophobe because I would forge on with Makorra here, but as I said, they're important to the plot and we're so by the time Book 4 was getting into it's prime.
So, as far as the Makorra and Korrasami thing goes, in the WDITD world, this is the official story: Mako and Asami dated just like they did in the canon verse, however, both Mako and Asami developed a thing for Korra and vice-versa somewhere down the line. They break up and Korra ends up getting closer to Asami (romantically) and they get into a relationship. They date for two years before Asami ends up becoming something of a workoholic and, with their both busy schedules (because at the time Korra was a MMA fighter and a fitness model as well), Korra breaks up with Asami. Sometime later (probably like a 6 months to a year-ish later), Korra and Mako get together. They date for a while like in the canon verse and break up, but then Korra gets into a car accident in which she takes 3 years to one hundred percent recover. During that latter half of that time, Korra and Mako get back together and they've been together since.
Now, personally, yes, I prefer Makorra over Korrasami, however, I could not care less that Korra and Asami are two women in a relationship. Let me first say that I am happy for those who finally feel like there's some decent representation for them out there. Initially, I was unhappy when it ended (mainly because there was NO kainora than anything, but the derailing I felt from no Makorra either didn't help), but I read this story that someone made out to Bryke on Michael DiMartino's tumblr about how a mother was so happy that someone out there finally represented her son... it brought me to tears. Because there are people out there, kids among them, who finally feel a little more important in the world. More validated because of what this show did for them. I can do what I have to do in fanfiction and fanart for what I ship. That's what fics, AU's and fandom is for. But if at least one person out there feels more validated or important in the world today than they did yesterday then I am tearfully happy for those people and I am happy that Korrasami was able to give that to them. This show changed a lot of lives for the better and that makes me happy.
So, yes, I prefer Makorra over Korrasami, but not because it's a heterosexual couple. In fact, if Asami had been a man I would have been pissed because her character would have been received and therefore, treated differently, making them endgame if Asami had been a man, have different implications. So, please don't think I'm a homophobe. I actually had some anxiety thinking about that when deciding what to do here with the fic because I'm not and I really didn't want people thinking I am. My main issue was simply that, at the end of the day, I feel like Mako is still Korra's most important relationship and vice versa. They had a plethora of screentime together in the final season and I wish, if Korrasami was going to be endgame, they would have either given us more Korrasami moments or at least less Makorra moments. Will this affect my canon verse? Probably. Because I had a canon fic idea where my Makorra babies (again, conceived between Book 3 and 4) were heavily involved. I'm attached to them and anybody who has ship babies knows how hard it is to let those guys go.
I'll probably start liking Korrasami more and more as time goes on, as I rewatch the series, now that it's canon, but this is how it is for now with my writing and I hope you all stick with me because I've been so grateful for every single one of you. You guys made this year such a great one.
Of course, this is a Kainora story so Makorra and Korrasami don't have center stage, but I thought it was a prime opportunity to talk about my feelings here seeing as I'm posting this in the last few hours of 2014.
As always, I love it when you guys drop those reviews as they keep this story going and keep me writing it! Things start picking up a little more starting next chapter and I hope you'll stick with me for the ride! Thank you for reading! Tune in next for chapter!