The morning sun shone brightly into Asami's bedroom. The pair had fallen asleep not long after their talk the previous night, so they never got around to closing the many blinds in the room. Asami began to stir but was held in place by a strong arm around her torso.

'Korra…'

Her heart began to race. How many nights had she dreamed about waking up in Korra's arms? Asami scolded herself. 'No more thoughts like that. I am in her arms and I plan on waking up in them whenever possible!'

"Mmmmmsami?" Korra said groggily. Asami turned to face Korra, who had loosened her grip since waking.

Asami was face to face with a very sleepy Avatar. She leaned forward, pecking Korra on the nose. "Morning."

Korra blinked a few times and smiled. "Good morning. You have a really comfy bed."

"Anything is comfy compared to an Air Temple bed."

"No really," Korra said rolling onto her back and spreading out like a starfish. "It's so soft and big. I can do this and not even touch you."

Asami giggled. "It's big enough that if I'm ever mad at you, I don't have to make you sleep on the loveseat, just the end of the bed."

"Least I'll be comfy." Korra said, rolling back over to Asami and pulling her closer. "Besides." She started kissing Asami's cheeks and ears. "How could you ever be mad at me?"

Asami giggled as she halfheartedly tried to fend off the barrage of kisses. They eventually stopped their playing and settled into comfortable silence. Asami had tucked herself under Korra's chin. Korra held her with one arm and mindlessly petted her hair with the other.

Korra opened and closed her mouth a few times before she could get what she wanted to say out. "I'm going to go see Kuvira in prison, if Tenzin can get me in."

Asami said nothing, so Korra continued. "I want to speak with her before I decide if I want to defend her in court… Is that okay?"

Asami tightened her hold on Korra's shirt. "It's okay."

Korra let out a long sigh of relief.

"I appreciate you asking… but you shouldn't do that for situations like this. You are the Avatar. You can't be asking for my permission."

"I asked because I care about your feelings."

"I know, I know, but there are going to be things you need to do, that I don't want you to do, then what?"

Korra looked up at the ceiling. "I always want to know what you think, even if I have to go against it. You're not just my girlfriend; you're also one of the smartest people I know. I act, then think. You do the opposite. I need a person like you by my side, to keep me balanced."

"It's my job to balance, the 'balancer'?" Asami said with a smirk. "How's the pay?"

"No money, but there are benefits."

"Mmm. I'd like to take advantage of these benefits."

Korra gulped. "Ah-Asami, when you say benefits, do you mean like… THOSE kind of benefits?"

"Whatever do you mean, Korra?" Asami asked, flipping her hair,

"Don't tease."

Asami sat up. "I'm sorry. I do mean those kind, but I know you're not ready."

The Avatar sat up as well. She looked at Asami and then down at the bed.

"Honestly I'm scared… I've never 'gone all the way'..." she said, picking at the sheets nervously. "Have you ever?"

"I have." Asami said trying to meet her girlfriend's eyes, but she kept them on the blanket.

"Oh," was all Korra could think to say.

The engineer scooted closer to Korra and took her chin in her hand. "I love you, and will give you all the time you need."

Korra's eyes met her girlfriends. "Okay."

Asami smiled. "I like what we have right now, and I'd like it if you'd spend the night with me again tonight."

Korra finally smiled back. "I'd like that a lot, and not just 'cos this bed is comfier."

Later that morning Korra went back to Air Temple Island. Pema met her at the entrance.

"There you are!" she called out.

The Avatar collapsed her glider and walked towards the older woman. "Hey! Sorry, I slept over at Asami's last night..."

"That's fine, just let us know when you're not coming home in the future, okay?"

"Yes Mom." Korra said in a childish tone.

Pema put her hands on her hips, as if she was scolding one of her own children. Korra knew she wasn't in trouble because Pema was smiling.

"Speaking of, your mother called last night and this morning."

Korra dropped her glider. "Oh no, I completely forgot to call them since I got back!"

"I told her a bit about the trial and why you have been too busy, but you still better go call right away."

Korra grabbed her glider off the ground and started to run to the temple. "Thanks Pema!"

The mother shook her head as she watched her go.

Korra waved 'hello' to various people as she navigated her way through the main temple building. She breathed a sigh of relief when she arrived at the telephone room and found it was empty. Korra slid the door closed and took a seat.

She looked up her parents' number and made the call.

"Hello, Tonraq speaking."

"Dad."

"Korra! Senna, it's Korra on the telephone." She heard her father call out.

"Your mother should be right over. How was your trip to the Spirit World?"

"It was really good."

"You know you had us worried there for a second."

"I know, I know. I'm really sorry, you see-"

The Avatar was interrupted by her mother's voice blaring through the speaker. "Korra!"

"Hi Mom."

"Korra honey, I have been so worried!"

"I was just explaining to Dad that-" Korra started, but her mother continued to speak.

"You can't just leave in the middle of the night and not tell anyone where you are going! We were supposed to have breakfast and then you were going to see us off at the dock!"

"I'm really-"

"We hadn't seen you in months. We thought you could have been kidnapped!"

"Senna take it easy, she is an adult now. You just got a little over excited about taking a vacation, with uh, you know, your pilot friend and forgot, right Korra?"

"Yeah uh..." The Avatar murmered.

"I wouldn't have been so worried if you had taken your other friends like Mako and Bolin like your normally do!"

"Sato! Asami Sato, that's her name. She owns that big company." Tonraq said more to himself.

"Yes Dad. So about Asami… listen we're actually-"

"It's just so strange that'd you'd go off like that… alone. Are you not getting along with your other friends?"

Korra held the handset away from her ear and put her face in her free hand. She couldn't handle this right now and clearly it wasn't a good time to tell them about Asami.

The Avatar brought the handset back to her ear. Her mother was still talking, and probably had been the whole time.

"So anyways, I'm sure you heard the trials have been going on. I gotta start prepping for the next one, I'll call sometime next week." Korra started moving the handset away to hang up.

"Korra?"

"Love you both! Bye!" Korra shouted as she hung up. "Yeash!"

The door slid open.

"Korra! I've been looking for you."

"Jinora," Korra said with a wave.

The young airbender slid the door behind her and entered the room. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was just talking to my parents, you know how it is." Korra said stepping in front of the telephone.

"Dad got the approval for you to visit Kuvira. I was wondering if you would let me go with you."

"Sure, I'll take the company. Let me just get some fresh clothes on and you want to go?"

Jinora nodded and smiled. "Great."

Korra started to get nervous as she passed through the several security checkpoints. She hadn't seen Kuvira since their confrontation in the Spirit World. At that time they had a come to an understanding. She wondered, would it still be there?

Korra and Jinora reached the final gate. The guards looked the two up and down before extending their hands out. They quickly jabbed towards them, then clenched their hands into fists and brought them back to their bodies.

"No metal. You're clear to enter." one of the guards said, undoing the lock.

They walked into a small area where two more guards sat around a table. Lining the left side of the room were the bars of Kuvira's cell. It was about double the size of the small guard area.

The guards looked up from their card game and jumped. They scrambled to get up and stand to attention.

"Avatar Korra" they said in unison.

Korra waved them off. "Can we speak with her privately?"

"We'll be on the other side of the door." said one of the guards as he closed the door behind him.

Korra walked up to the platinum bars. Jinora stayed a few steps behind her. Kuvira sat on her bed, eyes looking towards the wall, only giving Korra a view of her profile.

"Who is that?" Kuvira asked without turning her head.

"She is a friend. Jinora is someone whose sympathy you may wish to have some day." Korra said, crossing her arms.

Kuvira picked at a spot on her pants leg. She pulled a fleck of something off and flicked it away. "Someday, huh? I heard you spoke at Baatar's trial, in his defense. He is lucky he has a mommy in high places. I don't anticipate any celebrity speakers asking for my life."

"That depends on how this conversation goes. Will you answer a few questions for me?"

Kuvira said nothing in reply. Korra shrugged and continued. "Why did you fire at us in the warehouse, knowing Baatar Jr. would die too?"

"Isn't that an obvious question?"

"Okay, what I mean is, how could killing me become more important than your fiancé's life?"

"This is what you came to talk to me about? You're more childish than I originally thought." Kuvira grumbled, readjusting in her seat.

"This is a serious question."

"Korra, you're the Avatar, do you not think that very situation won't happen to you? There will come a day when the good of the people will outweigh your own attachments." Kuvira said, eyes still intensely forward.

"But you loved him, didn't you?"

"I've known him a long time and I trusted his loyalty. He was the right partner to have at my side to run the empire."

"You weren't in love with him..." Korra said, taking a step back from the bars.

"Of course not, that would have been foolish of me, to choose a partner based on such a reckless emotion."

"Have you ever been in love?"

"I have."

"What happened?"

"You really came here to discuss my romantic history, Avatar?"

Korra gave her a stern look. "What happened?"

"She broke up with me. Said I was too intense. She wasn't wrong."

"Oh, you are...?"

"A homosexual? Yes, personal preferences aside my people needed a leader they could believe in. Following the rules of heteronormativity is an important part of that role."

"Heteronorma-wha?"

"The social values of my people; being a normal woman, with a husband and a family, playing mother and father to the Earth Kingdom."

The Avatar crossed her arms. "I'm sorry you thought that was the only way for you."

"It was the only way. But I loved my people, so it was worth the personal sacrifice. Does that answer your question?"

"It was still cold of you. He really loved you."

"Yes, everyone feels bad for poor Baatar." Kuvira said, standing up from her seat. She turned to face the wall, giving Korra and Jinora her back.

Korra looked over to her young companion. She hadn't really thought about what else to ask Kuvira. Korra gave her a pleading look and Jinora motioned to the door. Korra nodded and they both stepped out.

The guards perked up at the sound.

"We just need a moment," Korra explained.

They nodded and went back into Kuvira's room.

"Korra, what Kuvira did really bothers you, doesn't it?" Jinora said softly.

"Kinda, I'm trying to not let it."

"I'm sorry, but you were pretty transparent in there."

The Avatar groaned and sulked away from Jinora. She made contact with the wall and banged her fist on it. "I can't seem to let it go. How could she have done that to him?"

"It scares you that she's right, that one day you could be faced with the very same decision."

"What? No… I'm scared of..." Korra said staring into the wall. In her mind she slipped back into that moment in the Spirit World, when the portal was born from the spirit weapon's blast. She stared at a reflection of herself and then Kuvira.

Korra let her head collide will the wall. "I'm so blind..." She murmured into the wood.

Jinora walked over to Korra and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I keep thinking about Baatar Jr. and how he must have felt..." The Avatar lifted her head and let it drop on the wood again with a thud. "But it really is the thought of ever making that choice… How could she have done it? She didn't love him." She pounded the wall again with her fist. "Somehow that makes it even worse!"

"Korra," Jinora said softly, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"I'm not going to compromise who I am. I don't want to live a disingenuous life. Kuvira thought she knew what her people needed. She made that decision for them. Had she let them be equal partners this never would have happened."

"Korra." Jinora firmly said again.

The Avatar finally looked over at her. Korra's eyes were wide and almost wild.

"I think we should call it a day. Let's go home and let you process this. We can try again tomorrow."

Korra bowed her head slightly. "You're right."

Asami parked her 'Satoboat' at the temple docks and briskly walked up the ramp. She was able to sneak out of work early and wanted to surprise Korra.

When she got up to the temple grounds it was fairly quiet. Only a few airbenders were practicing their stances in the courtyard. She made her way inside the main building and into the kitchen. Pema was inside wiping down some counters.

"Hi Pema."

The older woman looked up from her work. "Oh hi Asami, didn't hear you come in. I was going to make a pot of tea, want some?"

"Love some." Asami said leaning into one of the counters. "Is Korra around?"

"No, she and Jinora went to the prison." Pema said, lifting her kettle off of the flame. She poured the steaming water into the teapot and placed it on a tray with two cups. Pema walked towards Asami and motioned with her head to follow.

The women went outside to the gazebo and sat down. Pema started to pour them each a cup. "It's just too nice out to be inside."

The engineer reached for the cup being offered to her. "Thank you. Yes it is. I was hoping to spend some of it with Korra."

Pema blew a few puffs of air on her steaming liquid before smirking at the younger woman. "Promise you won't keep her all to yourself? Maybe spend a few nights over here during the week?"

Asami blushed.

"I'm asking you, because you're the level headed one. Korra can be very emotional, and she easily gets wrapped up in things."

"She was just talking to me about that this morning… How I'm going to be the one to keep her in balance."

"Well that's good she knows that. It's important to understand your role in the relationship. It's not easy being the one with the real power." Pema said with a wink.

"I promise I won't let her move in full time, yet."

"Thank you. Korra is like a daughter to me… I need to get used to the idea of her leaving the nest, the children do too."

There was a loud crashing sound from the water below.

"Speaking of..." Pema sighed, getting up from her seat to check what was happening.

Ikki's head bobbed out of the waves. She was spitting up water as she waded to the beach.

Pema called out "Honey are you okay?"

Ikki looked up at the sound of her mother's voice. "I'm fine!" she shouted back.

Pema looked up to the sky to see a few airbenders circling overhead. She knew one of them was Meelo.

"Those two..." Pema muttered to herself as she took her seat again. "You want kids someday?"

Asami sat up straight in her seat and blushed. "Uh… Um..."

"Pray they're not benders, that's all I can say."

Korra and Jinora arrived at the temple right before dinner. After the meal Korra needed to speak with Tenzin, so Asami went outside again to wait. She walked down a winding stone path to the beach. It wasn't very wide, but it circled the perimeter of the island.

'I should call ahead next time before just coming over.' Asami thought to herself. She then shook her head. She liked spending time at the Air Temple, even without Korra. Her Sunday dinners before Kuvira's attack played a big part in getting herself out of that slump.

Asami felt her heart twinge. That year before she heard back from Korra had been really good for her. She had stopped mourning Korra and learned how to live her life independently of the adventures of Team Avatar again. She gained a closer bond with the airbender family. Her work spirit was revitalized and her company had finally reclaimed its good reputation. Her only regret from that time was the heart she broke.

She had almost brought Shey to meet her 'extended' family. Being with her had helped Asami finally reach a place where she was ready to share with people who she really was. Shey showed her there was a community of queer people in Republic City, that she wasn't her own little island.

Asami's feelings for Shey had been genuinely strong; she liked to think her time with her wasn't a lie. But as soon as that letter from Korra came, it was like all the progress she had made of putting those feelings behind her was erased. The feelings came back with a vengeance. Perhaps they were more intense because Asami knew what it was they could have, they could share. Being intimate with a woman, being intimate with Korra had been only hypothetical.

She was sick for days after she got the letter. Soon after came the news that Korra was planning on sailing back to Republic City. When she finally met back up with Shey she just couldn't do it. Once that possibility with Korra opened back up, she had to try for it. Asami couldn't live her life not knowing what could have been. Part of her knew, even now that she had never truly let Korra go. That one little bit of her heart held onto her feelings.

The engineer chuckled. Even now as she reflected on her past relationship with Shey, she could only think more about Korra. "I guess it never was fair of me to begin with…"

Asami heard a rustle behind her, and turned around to see Ikki navigating her way out of a bush.

"Hey Asami… How is it going?" the younger girl said sheepishly.

Asami flipped her hair. "Since dinner, you mean?"

Ikki moved closer. " Ye-yeah?"

Asami took a seat on a nearby log, and patted the spot next to her. Ikki took the cue and sat down.

"So what's on your mind? Normally that's not hard to figure out."

Ikki blushed and shoved her hands between her knees. "I have a question I'd like to ask you... If that's okay?"

"It is."

"What's it like kissing a girl?" Ikki asked looking at Asami earnestly.

Asami blinked a few times, not expecting that particular question.

"I think it's very nice. Have you ever kissed a boy?"

Ikki shook her head.

"Well kissing is different with everyone, boys or girls. I've kissed more than one girl, and they all kiss differently."

Ikki did not seem fully satisfied by her answer.

"In my experience, having kissed both girls and boys, girls are softer and kiss slower. And the best kisses are with a person you really care about."

"When did you realize you liked girls?"

"When I was fourteen, but it wasn't until I fell in love with Korra that I accepted that part of myself."

Ikki looked down at her hands, still wedged between her legs. Her heart started to beat faster. "I think I like girls too. I saw you and Korra the other night, you didn't know I was there. You were fixing her hair… And then you kissed her. I want someone to kiss me like that someday. I'm sorry I spied on you."

Asami smiled and put a hand on Ikki's shoulder. "I appreciate your honesty; it's a good quality to have. I wish I was as honest as you are when I was your age. I think I would have spared myself a lot of hurt if I had been."

The engineer looked out to the water. They were on the city-facing side of the island. The lights from the still-standing towers twinkled on the water.

"Since you told me a secret, let me tell you one."

Ikki looked at the older wide eyed and curious.

"I had my first girlfriend while Korra was away. It had gotten pretty serious, I was going to even bring her over one Sunday to meet you all. I was ready to let you all know that I preferred women. Then I got a letter from Korra."

Ikki gasped.

"She didn't profess her love for me or anything like that. But I had tried to forget my feelings for Korra and the letter had brought them all back. So I had to break up with this girl. Staying with her after that would have been a lie."

"Who was she?"

"Shey, the mover director."

"Oh wow, still not better than Korra though."

"That's what I thought too. I broke up with her, but I never told her the truth of why. I feel bad that I wasn't honest with her, because one of these days she's going to find out. So, moral of the story, keep being honest, with others and most importantly yourself."

"So Korra doesn't know about this other girl?"

"No."

"You should probably be honest with her."

"You're a quick learner."

Ikki beamed.

"Aaahsaaameeee?" a distant voice called out.

Ikki blew a gust of air that shot herself straight up into the sky. She saw Korra walking around by the docks. "We're over heeeeere!" she replied.

Korra waved and started towards their direction. Ikki let herself float back to the beach.

"It's Korra."

"We should get going then. Thank you for listening."

Ikki blinked a few times. "Thank you for listening to me! No one ever does..."

Asami felt her chest tighten. "You come talk to me anytime, okay?"

Korra ended up meeting them halfway. Korra took Asami's hand as they all walked together towards the temple.

"So what were you two talking about?" Korra asked casually.

Asami looked over at Ikki and winked. "It's a secret."

"A secret? No fair."

Ikki smiled and linked her arm in Asami's free one. "Sorry Korra!"

To be continued...