Author's note: Thank you ToasterMarketingBoard for being my Editor-in-chief!

After morning broke in Republic City, Korra, Asami, Bolin and Jinora left Air Temple Island to stop at Asami's office to pick up a few supplies for their expedition into the Spirit World.

The three benders silently stood in the seating area, where Asami's assistant Kali's desk was located, while they waited for Asami. Though her door was closed, they could still hear her rummage through her drawers.

"Going on a secret Avatar mission, huh?" Kali asked, breaking the silence, her eyes intently examining Korra.

The Avatar blushed slightly, feeling the young woman's gaze, and turned to Bolin and Jinora, before uttering "Yeah…"

"I'm jealous, I bet it's more fun and a lot less paperwork…" Kali sighed, leaning her chin into a hand.

"I have a feeling this trip will be an exception," Asami announced, re-entering the room, a small duffel in hand. "Kali, may I borrow your watch?"

The young woman looked to her wrist, then back up to her boss. "Of course, may I ask what for?"

"We're investigating how time operates in the Spirit World, there could be a possible discrepancy between our worlds. I need an additional watch to my own. Unfortunately the clock in my office is too big to fit in this duffel, and-" Asami motioned to Korra, Bolin and Jinora. "My companions are not watch-wearing types."

Bolin grinned and gave a small wave.

"Korra and Jinora I can understand, but Bolin? Didn't Kuvira require you to?"

Bolin shrugged. "I mean, I was issued a watch with the rest of my uniform, but not much of that outfit survived being stranded in the wilderness after Varrick and I deserted."

Kali held out the watch, and Asami accepted it, then slipped it in her pants pocket.

"If President Raiko or his office calls, assure them what I am doing is important to the city, and that I'll call them back tomorrow."

Kali nodded and watched the small group exit the office.

As the four neared the spirit portal they began to see the small green and blue glowing spirits that hovered around the entrance. The city was quiet enough that they could even hear a faint hum coming from the portal.

The noise reminded Asami of the sound of an electrical current; it had surprised her the first time how you could actually hear and feel the energy radiating from it. She reached out and grabbed Korra's hand, and gave it a squeeze. The Avatar shot her girlfriend a lopsided grin.

Bolin looked back and saw the girls' joined hands. His eyebrows raised up like he was surprised, but then quickly relaxed.

"For a second there I-" Bolin let out a belly laugh. "I was going to ask why you two were holding hands."

"You forgot we're dating?" Korra moaned.

Asami smiled and shrugged. "I guess we haven't all been together that much since it happened, huh?"

"No, we haven't," Bolin said, raising a first to the sky, and throwing up his pointer finger. "And today is the first day of rectifying that! Which reminds me, when Opal gets back, we should finally go on that double date!"

"Can we make it triple date?" Korra asked, releasing her girlfriend's hand and motioning towards Jinora.

Bolin wasn't paying attention and continued, "We'll be waiting forever, if we want to include Mako."

"I meant Jinora and Kai."

"Oh!" Bolin uttered and looked over at the youngest member of their party. "Sorry Jinora, I was kinda thinking of going to an adult establishment. The 'no minors' kind."

"What kind of 'adult' place are you talking about here Bolin?" Asami asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just some place that serves alcohol," Bolin said holding his hands up defensively.

Jinora shrugged. "I understand."

Korra leaned over to the young airbender and whispered, "We can go on our own double date sometime."

Jinora smiled weakly. "Yeah..."

Asami pulled the duffel off her shoulder and eased it to the ground. She then crouched down beside it, and started to unbuckle the bag. "In order to get an accurate reading on the time, we won't all be able to go in at the same time. Bolin, you are going to stay out here with me.

Asami pulled out a notebook and pen, and then rose back up. She fished around in her pocket and pulled out Kali's watch and handed it to Bolin. She then removed her own wrist watch, and passed that to him too.

"Bolin, please synchronize the watches."

"Syncro-wha?" Bolin asked, cocking his head.

"Make sure they both read the same time," Asami replied sternly.

"Why wouldn't they be the same time?"

Asami lowered her pen and pad in exasperation. "Watches are individually operating machines, and time is theoretically relative, so everyone's watches and clocks don't just magically sync up on their own. Kali and I could have used a different clock to set our watches to, or one of us could have neglected to wind ours up."

She took both watches back from Bolin, and carefully adjusted Kali's to make sure it showed exactly the same time as her own.

"Wait, then can you ever be sure you have the right time?" Korra asked wide-eyed, looking around the group.

"That's a discussion for another day, let me explain why it matters now. Korra, you and Jinora are going to take one of these watches inside the Spirit World with you. When you go in, both watches need to read the exact same time, so when you come out, we can accurately calculate how much time has passed in the Spirit World compared to ours," Asami explained, pulling Korra's arm towards her. She put Kali's watch around the Avatar's wrist and adjusted the strap. "Now, I want you to go in through the portal, and return after fifteen minutes."

Korra and Jinora stepped up to the portal. Asami looked down at her own watch, which was resting on her notepad.

"Go in… now!"

The pair obeyed Asami's orders and stepped into the portal, disappearing in the light.

Bolin shifted his weight. "So... what do we do?"

"We wait."

"I feel misled about the nature of this 'adventure,' Bolin pouted, plopping his rear on a vine.

Korra and Jinora passed through the portal and into the neon-colored field of flowers Korra was becoming quite familiar with.

"It's so beautiful here," Jinora sighed, holding her hands to her chest.

"It sure is."

Jinora took a few steps away from the portal, and looked around their area. "So what are we going to do if there really is something going on in here?"

Korra scratched at the back of her head. "Well, short term solution, restrict access."

"I wonder…" Jinora kneeled down and touched one of the fuchsia tufted flowers. Its feathery petals stiffened, and then the head of the flower began to fold in, tucking the downy petals inside. "If we should do that no matter what we find out today. Spirits and humans living together in our world has been difficult enough, but humans coming in here? I don't think we're respectful enough. Access to the Spirit World was, is, a privilege. You had to be spiritually attuned to be able to meditate inside, and your spirit could do little harm. But now there is a physical door where anyone can come in, and look, and take… It's like I can see it all playing out; humans coming in here, seeing these beautiful flowers, taking them, and other things back a souvenirs. Before we know it, this spot will be barren…"

Korra looked around them, and imagined the people of Republic City walking through the field, pointing to the sky, gawking at the wonders around them.

"People are going to be curious…" the Avatar muttered. Then she heard Zhou Rhen's voice in her heard.

"The world will feel entitled to make it at least somewhat theirs."

"And entitled to this, because it's in Republic City."

"We should do it right away then, before all the citizens come back, before it's ever 'taken away' from people."

"You think it would be an easier sell if they never had access to it in the first place?"

Jinora nodded.

"Well, I know Asami will agree, she was planning on pitching something along those lines to President Raiko anyways… Oh!" Korra brought the watch up to her line of sight. She looked at the watch and time had passed. "You remember what time we came in?"

"Oh Korra… you forgot?"

The Avatar blushed. "Well, I'm sure enough time has passed."

"I don't think that's how this test is supposed to work, but I'm sure Asami wrote down when we came in," Jinora said with a reassuring smile.

"C'mon let's go."

Not long after Korra and Jinora had left, Asami took a seat on a vine across from the one Bolin was sitting on. They sat for a few minutes in silence. Asami kept her gaze on her notebook, making a few marks every now and then.

"So Asami, I wanted to ask your opinion on something…" Bolin started.

Asami glanced up from her notepad. "Sure."

"Well, after Varrick's wedding I got to thinking, maybe it was time I asked Opal to marry me."

"I don't think it really matters what I think, but of course you'd have my blessing. Do you feel you are ready?"

"I think so. I kinda wanted to talk to you, because we're in a similar situation. I know a lot of people model their ideas about marriage and family life after their parents, but we don't have that. So I kinda wanted to hear what you thought about marriage, and stuff…"

"Well I certainly wouldn't get any more ideas about the subject from Varrick." Asami snorted. "He did get married in the most 'Varrick' of ways; proposing to a woman who he only just recently allowed to be his equal, before the possible demise of the entire city, then throwing a ceremony together two weeks later… Though that night has special significance to me too…"

Bolin stretched his arms out over his head. "I can't believe you two just snuck off into the night like that. I gotta say, it really left people scratching their heads. Except Bumi, he called what you two were up to the next morning when we were all debating on why you guys left. I wish you coulda seen all the eyes popping when he voiced his opinion."

"So that's why everyone was so relaxed about it when we got back, you'd already had a few weeks to process it." Asami put down her note book. "How long have you and Opal been together now, four years?"

"Yeah, well officially dating maybe more like three and a half. I asked her to be my girlfriend after we stopped Zaheer and she moved to Air Temple Island."

"I think that is enough time to get to really know someone well enough to want to marry them. I'm sure you'd like Opal to be able to move out of the women's dorms from the Air Temple and get a place together. I don't think Suyin or Tenzin would feel comfortable about that unless you married her."

Bolin blushed. "Yeah, she told me it's always a little awkward for her when she creeps back to her dorm at the crack of dawn."

"I wonder if Korra feels that way when she goes back…"

"I doubt it. You think anyone over there would feel comfortable chastising the Avatar about where she's been? Plus you're both girls, there's not much to be concerned about."

"What do you mean? Korra and I are causing serious trouble when we're together," Asami replied, crossing her arms across her chest.

Bolin chuckled, and pointed to his friend. "I know that's a lie, and it's not a dig against you two, it's the whole baby issue."

"Ah, yes, I guess that would be hard physical evidence of what is going on between you." Asami waved Bolin off. "Tck, but we live in a different time, if you two accidently got pregnant, you wouldn't be shamed."

Bolin sat up and puffed his chest. "I want to make an honest woman out of Opal."

"I think it's the other way around… So you want to start a family?"

"Yeah, I think I'd be a good dad. There are all these things I never got to do with my dad, and well, I'd like to be able to at least do them as a dad."

Asami smiled. "That's how I feel."

Bolin's stance turned into a slouch. "I'm scared though too, about the hard stuff. It's not like I fantasized about my parents making sure they'd pay their bills or disciplining me. I only know what I'd do in the fun situations."

"Hey, if you're ever in a pinch, you could show your kids how to survive."

"That's true, I know how to make the most out of a back alley, a few boxes and some dinner scraps."

"I retract my earlier statement, please come to me first if you need money."

Bolin slapped his hands together and bowed his head. "My future children thank you."

The hum of the portal beside them picked up, and the outlines of two figures appeared in the yellow and green glowing tube. Bolin and Asami jumped up and watched Korra and Jinora return to their world.

Asami glanced down at her watch and then back the new arrivals "You're… early?" she mumbled, reaching out and grabbing Korra's wrist, to look at Kali's watch. She read the face, and it matched her own.

"There's no difference."

"Maybe we weren't in there long enough?" Jinora asked. "Korra forgot when we went in."

Korra blushed and grinned at her girlfriend.

"You were in there for ten minutes, but… I doubt there is a minimum amount of time before it fluctuates. We'll have to test it again."

"Maybe it's too early," Bolin suggested, covering his mouth as a yawn broke.

Asami rolled her eyes at the suggestion and held her hand out to Korra. "Can I have the watch?"

Korra fiddled with the leather strap for a few moments before being able to pass back the watch. Asami held both watches close to her face, eyeing the second hand of each one. She fidgeted with the dials until she was satisfied they were synced. She then passed her own watch to Korra, and kept Kali's.

"Stay in for thirty minutes this time. That means come back at eight o'clock."

"Got it," Korra replied, and gave a small wave. "We'll be back!"

Jinora and Korra once again disappeared into the spirit portal.

"Do you think I have time to go get us some breakfast or something?" Bolin asked, scratching at his belly.

Asami rolled her eyes. "Be quick about it."

Bolin perked up and started down the mound of vines. "I will, I think there's a bakery nearby, undamaged, maybe they'll be open!"

Korra and Jinora re-entered the Spirit World to find it exactly as they left it.

"I guess we should be more mindful this time around," Korra murmured, surveying the area. "Of what, I'm still not sure."

"You didn't notice anything was off when you were here on your vacation, right?"

"Yeah, it wasn't until you dropped in on us that the difference was brought to our attention. I don't think we were so distracted that we wouldn't have noticed a time shift… I wonder… I didn't tell you what sparked this investigation, did I?"

Jinora shook her head.

"So while Asami and I were in the south, we took my parents to visit the southern spirit portal. We ran into Varrick and Zhu Li, who were honeymooning in there. They had been keeping track of time, but when we told them what day it was, their calculations were off."

"So just like when you and Asami were in here?"

"Yes, I wonder, if it's related to who you come in here with? Because we're not a couple, that's not why it's working?"

"You're suggesting romantic love is slowing down time in the Spirit World?"

"No, wait." Korra grabbed her chin. "Actually, that doesn't make sense, cos for Varrick and Zhu Li time was going faster…"

"Maybe it depends on how healthy the relationship is?" Jinora said with a smirk.

"What we really should be doing is asking the spirits who live in here if they've noticed anything strange. Prolly should wait to do that as a group though."

"How much time has passed?"

Korra glanced at the watch on her wrist and let out a long sigh. "We've only been here five minutes…"

Bolin jogged towards the massive vine-filled crater with a dough stick in his mouth and a colorful box clutched to his chest. Once he reached the edge of the crater, he slowed his pace to awkwardly navigate his footing between the massive vines. He could make out Asami sitting alone, reassuring him that he didn't take too long.

As he got closer, the portal grew brighter and Korra and Jinora emerged. He saw Asami pointing him out to them.

"I got breakfast!" he called out, holding the box above his head for the girls to see.

When Bolin reached the group, he flipped open the lid and revealed his box of freshly prepared dough sticks. "Dig in!"

"I guess the city is on its way to recovery if you can buy dough sticks again," Asami said, slipping her hand into the box.

"So, what were the results?" Bolin asked.

Asami let out a sigh. "No difference, again,"

"Korra suggested we all go in as a group to talk to the spirits, see if they have noticed anything," Jinora said between bites.

Bolin perked up. "Yes, I like that plan!"

"Okay, we can do that. Korra, can I have the watch again?" Asami asked.

Once Asami got the watch, she synced them to the second hand again, and then put her watch around the handle of her duffel and Kali's around her own wrist.

"I'll leave this duffel here, and hope no-one messes with it. Then I can reference the time when we get back."

"Here," Korra said, gesturing for the bag. Asami passed it over and Korra tucked it in a small alcove created by the vines.

"Put the extra dough sticks there too," Bolin said, handing the box to Korra.

"Yes, we gotta protect what's really important," the Avatar said with a wink.

The group all rose from their seats, brushing the crumbs from their clothing.

"Alright, let's go," Asami said, looking at her watch.

The four entered the spirit portal and left their world behind.

"Alright, let's go find some spirits to talk to!" Bolin called out as he started to march away from the portal.

"Is this the best way?" Asami quietly asked Korra as they trailed behind Bolin.

The Avatar shrugged. "I don't know what else we'd do but walk around and see what we find. You remember when we were in here, the spirits kinda come and go as the please."

"I could see if I can contact my spirit friend," Jinora offered. "She doesn't speak, but she could maybe rally up others."

Jinora stopped walking and closed her eyes, concentrating on the image of the kangaroo-rat-like flying spirit in her mind's eye.

Korra and Asami continued walking.

"I feel like we hardly saw any spirits on our vacation," Asami said.

"Yeah, they kinda kept their distance, must've not liked you," Korra said, nudging Asami.

"You think it was me?"

Korra grinned and shrugged. "Well it wasn't me, I'm the Avatar, they're obligated to love me!"

"Oh are they?" Asami asked, flipping her hair. "Maybe we can get the ones in Republic City to start participating in the polling, bring your numbers up."

"Don't tell that to Raiko, he'll want to start taxing them too."

"Oh, here comes a spirit!" Bolin called out from the lead.

The girls looked up at the small spirit whirling towards them.

"That's her!" Jinora exclaimed, pointing to the sky.

The small spirit happily trilled as is lowered itself onto Jinora's outstretched hand.

"We need your help, can you bring us to some spirits who can talk?"

The spirit bowed its little head and took off. The four broke into a jog to keep up with it.

They followed Jinora's spirit friend beyond the psychedelic flower field, and into a forest. The trees were similar to the stocky barren ones in the field, but were still alive with lush full branches of turquoise leaves. The trees slowed the spirit down, and the group was able to go back to walking. They watched as the little spirit darted around the trees, looking in holes and crevices for other spirits.

"Looks like no one's home…" Bolin muttered to himself. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted "Hello! Any spirits in here?"

Korra rolled her eyes, but didn't bother to stop him.

The little spirit dashed out of sight, but the crew continued on the narrow trail through the trees.

"Here spirits!" Bolin continued, making little smacking sounds with his lips after calling out.

They all heard a rustling, and turned around. The little rodent-like spirit burst through a branch and chirped. It hovered in the air, bobbing its body towards the direction it came from.

"I think she wants us to follow her off the path," Jinora said, pointing into the thick dark woods.

Korra sighed, looking at the woods ahead of them. "Lead the way."

At Korra's word, the spirit threw itself back into the brush, and the four followed. The forest was much thicker off the trail, and they took turns holding branches back for each other as they slowly trudged through. A faint orange and reddish glow could be seen up ahead.

"I hope that light is what you're bringing us towards, and not some kind of surprise, little guy," Korra warned.

The spirit squeaked and flew a little faster ahead. When the group caught up, they found themselves in a small clearing, with three glowing mushroom spirits, about up to Jinora's waist. Two had big orange tops, and the one in the middle had a smaller and pointier red one. They all immediately locked on Korra.

"It's the Avatar!"

"The Avatar!"

"What's the Avatar doing in a place like this?"

The three mushrooms spoke amongst themselves.

Korra put a hand to her mouth and coughed, "Ahem." She took a step forward, putting her hands on her hips in an attempt to look more authoritative. "Hello, yes I am the Avatar," Korra started, her voice cracking.

Bolin leaned over to Asami. "She really needs to work on her Avatar voice."

Korra continued, "I am wondering if you spirits have noticed anything strange going on inside the Spirit World?"

The three spirit mushrooms turned to each other then back to Korra.

"Strange?"

"Nothing Strange here."

"Who are those strangers with you?"

Korra quickly glanced behind her. "They are my friends, they are here to help."

"Help?"

"We don't need any help."

"All set, thank you."

The Avatar rolled her eyes at the spirits' chatter.

Jinora stepped up next to Korra, and bent down closer to the mushroom's eye level. "We have noticed that time has been running differently here in the Spirit World, compared to our own. Have you noticed this?"

"Time?"

"What's time?"

"Whose world?"

"You don't know what time is?" Jinora asked.

"Maybe they don't leave this forest? Heck if I'd know what time it was, the woods are so thick, it must always be dark," Bolin muttered, looking up into the tangle of branches.

"Why would we leave?"

"This is our home."

"You should go back to your own home if you don't like it here."

"Alright I'm done," Korra said, turning on her heel, back towards the direction they had come from. "These three are driving me nuts."

Jinora looked to her spirit friend. "Maybe you could find us some spirits that move around a little more, ones that live in the fields or something?"

"Before you do that, I'm gonna bring us out of here, everyone stand still," Korra commanded, closing her eyes. The dark woods began to blur and the group was brought to a field of tall flowers.

Korra took a few steps away from the group and surveyed the area. She grabbed her chin and muttered to herself. "Where could we find some spirits… maybe we need to go back to the Tree of Time… though it was empty when we were there the other day…"

"Hey, isn't this where I found you guys during your vacation?" Jinora said, looking around.

Korra glanced back at the group. "Hard to forget where you fell on top of us."

"What happened here?" Bolin asked, looking between the three girls.

Asami held her hands to her chest, her cheeks reddened. "This is where Korra professed her feelings to me."

"It was so cute, she was so nervous!" Jinora added.

Korra's face turned as red as Jinora's wingsuit. "Don't tell him that!"

Bolin looked to Jinora. "You were there?"

"She was eavesdropping!" Korra barked, marching closer to the group.

"Aww Korra," Bolin cooed, batting his eyes. "What did you say to Asami? Was it a grand gesture?"

Asami put her hands on her girlfriend's shoulders, and gave them a squeeze. "That's enough teasing. That was a special and private moment between Korra and I... and to a lesser extent, Jinora, and that is all we need to say about it."

"I'm sorry Korra, I didn't mean to pry."

"It's fine. I gotta get used to people asking about it," Korra said, kicking at the ground.

Jinora touched Korra's arm. "Hey, something is coming towards us."

The group all turned to look in the same direction as Jinora, and they saw the silhouette of a figure slowly walking towards them.

"That doesn't look like a spirit…" Asami murmured.

As the figure got nearer, Korra's face brightened and she threw up a hand and waved. "It's Iroh!"

The other three could see now that it was an elderly man heading towards them. His hands were clasped behind his back as he slowly walked. Korra broke from the group to meet up with him.

Korra gave a slight bow when she was face to face with her old friend. "Iroh, I'm so glad you're here,"

Iroh smiled, and his old eyes crinkled at the corners. "I thought it was you I had sensed over here."

"Come meet my friends," Korra said, ushering Iroh over to the rest of the group. "Guys, this is Iroh, he's Fire Lord Zuko's uncle, he lives here."

Bolin threw out his hand to Iroh. "Nice to meet you, I'm a big fan of your nephew. So, do have like a home here, and just go into town for supplies once a month? Hows that work?"

Iroh took Bolin's hand with one of his own, and covered their joined hands with his other. "I have passed over my son, I cannot leave this world."

"Oh, so-" Bolin's face grew pale. "You're a ghost!"

Bolin widthdrew his hand and scrunched both of them up to his chest.

"Calm down Bolin," Korra scolded. "He's not a ghost, he's a spirit."

"I thought those things were different, but now I have doubts," Bolin said in a panic to himself.

Asami brushed past Bolin, and next offered her hand to Iroh. "It's nice to finally meet you, I've heard so much about you from Korra."

"We were here a few weeks ago, and we were looking for you, but couldn't find you," Korra added.

Iroh shook Asami's hand a few times and smiled. "I could sense you here looking for me Korra, but I picked up on an even stronger desire to not find me."

Asami blushed as the old man looked at her with knowing eyes. Korra looked between the two, catching some kind of exchange.

"You didn't want to find Iroh?" Korra asked, her expression pained.

"I didn't not, not want to find him…" Asami started, noticing everyone was looking at her. "I just really wanted to be alone with you, Korra. That vacation was the first time we had had time just the two of us in three years… I'm sorry."

"That explains why we hardly saw any spirits," Korra murmured. She then reached out and took her girlfriend's hand. "I'm sorry too. I was just so excited to have someone else meet him, that I never really asked if you even wanted to."

Asami smiled at Korra and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Things always find a way of working out, exactly when they should," Iroh offered before turning to the youngest member of the group. "And you must be Jinora."

Jinora smiled and shook the old man's hand. "I am, pleased to meet you."

"Korra was having quite the fit over finding you, last time we met. Good to see you are safe and sound."

"Iroh, that reminds me, the reason we are all here, is because we think something might be going on in the Spirit World again," Korra said, touching Iroh's shoulder to get his attention. "Have you noticed anything strange happening in here?"

Iroh closed his eyes and thought a moment. "The Spirit World has been buzzing with energy since you opened that new portal, but that has been a good thing. The spirits are excited by the new portal, they like the increasing connection to the physical world. Not a lot changes in here you see, so a new spirit portal is quite the event."

Bolin looked around. "Doesn't really seem like spirits are throwing a rager over it…"

"Do you think this new portal would affect time, between the physical world and Spirit World? That all that energy jump-started the Spirit World and it started running out-of-sync?" Asami asked.

Iroh's calm expression turned to a confused one.

"Jump-start?"

Korra tugged at Asami's sleeve and whispered. "I think he died before electricity."

Asami blushed. She tucked her hair behind her ear, as she leaned a little closer to the short old man. "I guess what I'm trying to ask, is do you think the Spirit World's time running differently than our own, could be related to the new spirit portal?"

"Have you noticed time running differently?" Jinora added.

Iroh slowly shook his head. "Time… time just is."

Korra, Asami, Jinora and Bolin all exchanged bewildered looks.

"Time doesn't really matter in here, does it?" the Avatar asked.

"Not the way it does for humans. We look to your world, and see change, a new Avatar rises and then falls. The cycle carries on and on as it has for thousands of years." Iroh stared off has he spoke, looking past the youths. After he finished he hummed to himself.

"Well, if you notice anything, will you let us know? We will be back again soon. Take care, Iroh."

The old man smiled and bowed. "You kids take care as well."

Korra closed her eyes and began to move the group, not bothering to warn them. The distorted Spirit World flashed by and the four quickly found themselves in front of the spirit portal.

"Let's head back, I think that was enough for today," Korra sighed. Asami put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"You alright?"

"Iroh was a lot sharper last time we spoke. Today, he just seemed detached."

"Maybe his ghost is fading, he no longer has unfinished business," Bolin said, butting in.

Korra rolled her eyes, exasperated. "He's not a ghost."

"It is curious how he can exist there, I wonder how many other human spirits live in the Spirit World…?" Jinora said, more to herself as they reached the portal.

One by one they entered the portal. Asami was the last to pass through; before she did, she quickly glanced at Kali's watch to check the time. Once on the other side she rushed over to where Korra had stashed her bag.

Bolin, Jinora and Korra stood around, looking at their surroundings.

"How long were we in there anyways?" Bolin asked squinting as he looked to the sun, which was low in the eastern sky.

Asami slowed joined them, both watches were in her hands. "You want Spirit World time or Republic City time?"

Korra flinched and moved to look at the watches in her girlfriend's hands. "It happened?"

"We were in the Spirit world for over three hours," Asami announced flatly.

"And in Republic City?" Jinora asked.

"We were gone five minutes."

Bolin looked around the group nervously. "So… What does that mean?"

Asami moved back towards her bag and slung it over her shoulders. "I need to go to my office and do some math."

"Pass, Korra and Jinora?" Bolin asked.

Korra shrugged. "Go back to the temple, re-group?"

Bolin pursed his lips as he thought, then shrugged himself. "Okay, I'll join you."

The group started to walk away from the portal.

"Well, I did learn something today," Bolin announced."Oh yeah?" Asami asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Mhmm. I learned I understand absolutely nothing about time."

To be continued...