"Okay well the truth is…" Korra began.

Asami naturally sunk into a position where her palms were pressed against the wall on either side of Korra's head. Her long slim arms boxed the shorter girl in as she waited for a response. She actually hadn't meant to assume that position. Her body did of its own accord, not wanting to let the Avatar slip away and avoid answering her question. She leaned over Korra slightly as she waited for her to continue her sentence. She bit the corner of her plump bottom lip.

Korra stared up blankly at Asami's soft features and the way she pulled her lip into her mouth. Her pulse started racing at the seductive sight of her. A light blush also had started to spread over her face as she felt herself being trapped in by the other girl. Her heart sank deep in her chest as she realized she couldn't imagine her life without Asami. If it was only as a friend, that'd have to be good enough for her. She couldn't chance ruining this friendship. Realizing she had been staring at her for a while without speaking, Korra panicked. Her mind jumbled as she searched for some sort of an excuse for her behavior. She blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

"Your perfume."

Korra immediately cast her gaze to the floor and her cheeks darkened. She cursed herself mentally; she really was bad at lying. Asami tilted her head at the same time she raised one of her eyebrows. Her lips curled into an amused half smirk.

"My perfume?" she inquired, not quite sure how this at all related to Korra's avoidance of her. Korra put a closed fist up to her mouth and cleared her throat, still keeping her gaze locked onto the floor.

"Y-yes, um, your perfume. I think you've changed it recently, right? I think I may, uh, be allergic to it?" Korra stammered.

She winced after speaking, hearing it play back in her head. She knew she was utterly unconvincing. She gathered some strength to meet Asami's green eyes. The beautiful girl's smile was gone from her face and her bottom lip was pushed out into a slight pout as her eyebrows furrowed together. The Avatar knew she didn't believe her in the slightest.

In fact, Korra knew for a fact that Asami has been wearing the same perfume that she always has worn. Whenever she got close, Korra could smell that delectable scent float off of her body and it made her weak. The water tribe girl knew she should've chosen a better lie, and maybe she could have, if her mind didn't go blank whenever she got around Asami. She kept her stare focused on Asami's twinkling eyes and her blush darkened even further, ashamed that she had lied so willingly to her. Afraid Asami would call her out on her blatant lie, she started perspiring slightly.

Asami saw Korra's face turn a dark shade of red and her skin started glistening. The taller girl then realized the aggressive stance she had over Korra. She was certain that it was making the other girl feel uneasy. Asami pushed herself off of the wall using her palms, straightened her posture, and dropped her arms quickly to her side, her cheeks also tinting. Korra took this opportunity to side step nervously along the wall to get away from being cornered. Once she was no longer directly in front of Asami, she moved forward. She turned around swiftly to look back at Asami and slowly started walking backwards to the door with her hand scratching at the back of her head in a shy manner.

"Yes well… You see, I have to go to… Meet with Bolin and Mako… So…" she trailed off, not finishing her sentence before darting out when she reached the door.

She walked as quickly as her legs would take her without running into the dining area. When she rounded the corner, she pressed her back flat against the wall, and her hand clutched her chest as it heaved up and down with heavy breaths. She shook her head disapprovingly at herself, her gaze cast to the floor. She had now lied to Asami, twice. "God, Korra, how can you be so stupid?" she whispered angrily to herself. "Perfume? Yeah, cause that makes so much sense," she continued muttering. Korra sighed and let go of her chest as her head fell back against the wall with a soft thump. Korra closed her eyes to replay the whole stupid moment over and over again, torturing herself. She didn't hear Bolin walking up to the room.

"So what's for dinner, guys?" Bolin's voice boomed, unaware that Korra was the only other person in the room. Korra's eyes sprang open and she bounced off the wall, her heart racing in her chest from the surprise. Bolin looked over at her with a goofy smile on his face. "Hey, Korra." He took a moment to take in her appearance then got close to her face inspecting it. "Why are you all red and sweaty and stuff? Have you been sparring?"

Korra took a step back from Bolin's probing eyes and blushed even harder now that he had noticed the effects Asami had on her, even if he was unaware of it. Korra didn't want to lie to another person, so she searched in her mind for a half-truth.

"No, I just was walking really quickly down the hallway, that's all." Before Bolin could ask why, she stated, "I'm starving too." That wasn't a lie, now that she was in the dining area her stomach was growling despite the butterflies nesting in it. Bolin's lopsided grin widened and his eyes sparkled.

"Alright then, it's settled! Let's find out who's cooking and what, so we can eat!" He looped his arm under Korra's and yanked her along to the kitchen. She did not expect this and her head flew back a bit from the force of the pull.

Asami stood in the empty room, dumbfounded as her head tried to process what just happened. Her heart felt weighted down with sadness at the fact that something was bothering Korra and she didn't feel comfortable enough to share it with her. She had thought they were the closest out of team Avatar. Asami let her eyes flutter closed, took in a deep breath of air, and exhaled it in an attempt to breathe out her sorrow. She opened her eyes and decided to walk out of the vacant room.

She could hear Bolin shouting about food from the hallway. Deciding that she was unable to put on a happy face for the group, she walked off to her temporary room at the air temple. Asami perched herself at the edge of the bed and rested her elbows on her knees as her mind flew back to all the things that have been bothering her lately. Her black hair flew forward as she leaned her chin in her palms. It shrouded her in a curtain of hair and shielded her wet cheeks from prying eyes.

Just as her luck would have it, Asami had forgotten to close the door when she stumbled into the room in her stupor. To top it off, Korra happened to be the first one to walk past the cracked door. What the dark-skinned girl saw as she glanced in broke her heart. She couldn't see Asami's face, but she could tell from her body language that something was wrong with her. She pushed the door open all the way with caution and slowly walked in.

"Asami," she whispered softly, as if speaking any louder would further upset her. Asami sniffled, but didn't lift her head or respond. "Asami, what's wrong?" Korra walked closer and plopped down next to her on the bed. The bed bounced slightly under her weight. Upon feeling the bed move, Asami lifted her head and wiped her eyes in one fluid motion. She looked over to the Avatar, the white of her eyes tinted pink. She gave a small sad smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"It's my father," she squeaked out, naming the main thing that had been bothering her. The situation with Korra was just like the Jenga piece that made her façade tumble down. "I know I need to go back to the estate soon. And I just," She paused to sigh gloomily. "I just don't know if I can handle being in that place right now. I don't know if I can handle the memories of him." New tears started to silently stream down her face, smearing her make up even more.

Korra put her around her shoulder and pulled her into her bosom. She slid her hand down to her back and patted it gently as Asami's emotional dam burst into her chest. The elegant female had come undone at the gesture and was sobbing into her chest. It was quiet, but Korra could hear the pain in every gasping breath. Korra placed her hand atop Asami's soft black hair on the back of her head, while her other hand continued to rub and pat her back.

Asami felt slightly abashed at letting her emotions roam free like this. However, she relished in the warmth of Korra's chest and the comforting motions that she was administering. Her tears were starting to stop falling as she breathed in the Avatar's sweet natural scent. She felt her lips curl up into a content grin realizing where her face was placed. Unconsciously, her face nuzzled into the warm and soft chest.

Korra spoke up. "Asami?" She was still speaking in a whisper, even quieter than before due to there being little distance between them. She was also savoring the feeling of Asami so close to her, but she tried to put her amorous feelings aside. "What if you stayed here for a while longer? Until you feel like you can face your place again." Korra ran her hand down her hair. Secretly, she was resisting the urge to run her fingers through her hair, feeling that it was a gesture beyond friendship.

Asami lifted her face up with a sniffle before swiping the back of her hand across her face to wipe her remaining tears. "But I don't have any clothes here. Or anything I need. I can't stay here..."

They both realized how close their faces were at the same time as they locked gazes, both sapphire and emerald eyes sparkling in delight. Both of them were obvious of the other's pleasure in the closeness. Both pairs of cheeks tinted, Asami's a bit more than the Korra's. Korra's smile spread into the toothy grin that always made Asami's heart swell.

"Well, of course I can go get your things for you," Korra exclaimed hopefully. As Asami looked up at her, a smile was spreading across her fair-skinned face, and it even made her green eyes twinkle this time.

"How are you going to do that?" Korra's smile dropped as an inquisitive look spread across her face. She was obviously not understanding what the other girl meant by this. "Do you know how many rooms are in the house? Do you know where my things are? What clothes I need?" Asami asked with a sweet smile on her face. A look of realization appeared on Korra's face along with her smile again. She let out a small breath of a laugh.

"Yeah, you're right… I don't know anything about your place." Her grin widened as she said hopefully, "Maybe you could draw a map for me?" It was Asami's turned to laugh, a bit more than Korra did.

"Like you've ever been good with maps. How about I just go get my stuff myself?"

"Well the least I can do is accompany you on the trip!" Korra had made up her mind that she was going on the trip with her to make up for the way she had acted towards her earlier. Asami lifted herself from Korra's warmth regrettably, looked her in her bright blue eyes and nodded. The Avatar's grin spread wider yet. "It's settled then! Let's find us a flying bison then!" Korra exclaimed, hopping off the bed and grabbing Asami's hand to bring her with.

"Shouldn't we wait until tomorrow? The sun is starting to go down." Asami could barely get the words out as she was being pulled off the bed and out of the door. Korra stopped immediately upon hearing this, and dropped her hand. She let out a laugh as she spun around, smiling in an embarrassed manner.

"You're right… We should wait until the morning." Korra suddenly pulled Asami into a tight hug, not realizing what she was doing. A red tint spread across Korra's caramel skin immediately, but she tightened her arms' grip around the other girl's waist. Asami's eyes flew wide open in surprise initially and they closed slowly as she sunk into the embrace. She wrapped her arms around the Avatar's muscular shoulders. Korra buried her face into Asami's soft hair and breathed in deeply.

"Don't worry, Asami, we'll go tomorrow for sure," she sighed into the soft cushion of hair. Asami nodded in response against her with a lazy smile of content plastered on her face.

Little did they know what all the next day had in store for them.

Next Chapter will contain a lot of heat and fun ;)