AUTHOR'S NOTES: As a side note: this is one of my favourite chapter titles. that aside, Korra is one of those people that hates not doing anything, and so she wants to find ways to stay busy both to keep herself amused but more importantly, because she's trying to conceal her trauma by pushing it aside rather than addressing the actual problems she's suffering from. Asami suspects something's up with Korra that she's not sharing but has no way to prove it, and thus Korra gets away with keeping it under wraps. We'll see how long she's able to keep that up before she breaks.
Happy Reading!
BOOK ONE: POWER
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: KORRA'S AMAZING PLAN
The next morning Korra did in fact dress fairly professionally, where 'professionally' really just meant making sure her existing attire was neat, and wearing her skirt, boots, and jacket alongside her usual shirt and pants. She had to do a little asking around, but eventually, she confronted Butakha about what she saw as a business proposal.
"Well, well, if it isn't my favourite player of all-time," the portly businessman beamed, "It's been a while, Avatar Korra. Where have you been? Are the Prison Breakers going to make another attempt at the game? Championships are coming up again, you know."
"Well," Korra grunted, "Our waterbender's a bit messed up in the head right now; our earthbender's in prison, and our firebender's dead. I think the Prison Breakers are going to have to do a little more work before they're ready to play again."
"A real shame," Butakha sighed, "but I know the smell of business when I see it, and I can see it in those story-filled eyes of yours, kid. Whatcha got for me?"
"So I was thinking…" Korra unrolled a sheet of paper that looked like a diagram, although it wasn't very legible. "Another side event, especially to help generate further interest for these championship games coming up. See, I want to play, but I can't exactly procure two other benders out of thin air and don't want to waste my time with greenies. So rather than try and tarnish the Prison Breakers' good name without any of their original members… There should be an Avatar Gauntlet."
"Go on?" Butakha did not look too impressed, but even he was shrewd enough to know Korra had not finished talking.
"3-on-1, me against any team bold enough to face me." Korra grinned. "Rather than think of me as a player with three abilities, just think of me as three players in one. If I slip a zone, I slip a zone, and if I hit the drink, it's a knockout. But in return, I get to use the elements as I please."
"There'd need to be restrictions," there were definitely gears suddenly turning in Butakha's head and Korra's face widened as she noticed this, "obviously you would have to follow the standard firebending, waterbending, and earthbending procedures."
"Of course," Korra nodded, indicating parts of her diagram where she had listed the rules she planned to follow. "water from the grates, earth disks only, no attacks longer than a second, no headshots except with water."
"And no airbending attacks, Miss Avatar," He smirked at her, "Perhaps if the airbenders ever made a proper return I could find a way to integrate them, but for now I'm sure you understand."
"Makes sense," Korra looked up at him, "Obviously I don't expect it to suddenly take off today, but I dunno… maybe an interest check. Let the people see what the Avatar can do, and how well she can follow rules after all, hmm?"
"The busier the place is, the more money we take home," Butakha jingled a bag of coins, "I like the way you think, Avatar Korra. Give me a day or two and I'll send word out and see if we amass any interest. Check back in a couple days and I'll get back to you on it."
"Really?" Korra's eyes lit up, "you're actually willing to give this a shot?"
"As long as those 'three players in one' all follow the rules any other player follows," Butakha gestured, "I see no reason why not. It might add a bit of new flavour to the game, and anyone who's anyone in Republic City knows that variety is the spice of life."
"Oh huh…" Korra pouted contemplatively, "Here I had expected to have to argue my case for hours as to why I thought it was a smashing idea. I almost had a whole presentation ready to go and everything."
"Let it not be said that I'm a man unwilling to try new things," Butakha laughed. "Who knows? Maybe your new idea will be a hit! Obviously you'd earn a sizable cut from it, were it to succeed and be profitable—although you would also be very busy."
"Worth it," Korra folded up her paper, "it'd be good to have some good clean work for the first time in a while. I'll make sure to get back to you on that."
Korra celebrated the birth of her potential scheme by spending another several dozen yuans on candy. She also got Naga a big slab of meat on principle, since that did for Naga what candy did for Korra. Otherwise, she made her way back to Asami's estate, hoping to meet with her. She had been conspicuously absent yesterday, and Korra had assumed that it was on business of some sort, but hadn't really thought about asking.
Mako and Bolin had both since gone home the previous evening, and since they didn't live there the way Korra did, this did not come as a surprise to her. On the other hand, she did have a date with Bolin later that evening that she had not forgotten about, and so she wanted to make sure that she was ready when the time came. He had not given her a location, and so she assumed he would just come by to pick her up or something.
Korra wondered if he could drive. She doubted it; they were poor so they almost definitely didn't own a car, but at the same time, she wouldn't have ever suspected that Kwan was as good a driver as she was. Her mind briefly wandered to Nakkoa as it often did, but this time only to wonder if the firebender had ever learned how to drive, or if she had just always relied on her younger sister for transportation in that regard. On the other hand, Korra had an idea of what may or may not have wanted to save her yuans up for one of these days.
Because of how smoothly her meeting with Butakha had gone, however, Korra had several hours before they planned to meet up, and so Korra used that time to record her day's events already. She was slightly less vigilant about making lengthy entries these days, but Korra's habit of keeping a journal fairly consistently had persisted despite everything she had been through.
Day 778: My business proposal with Butakha went way smoother than I expected it to, which in turn means I'm likely going to get back into the Probending Ring a lot sooner than I would otherwise. I'll have to contact someone to find out just how long Kwan's sentence is… and see if she knows another firebender or something. Anyways, today might be the first peaceful evening I've had in weeks, depending on how well my date with Bolin goes. Considering that Asami likes to say there's never a dull moment when I'm around, it makes me wonder what sort of crazy problems are going to befall me this time…
As was common practice for her these days, the rest of the page was filled with more of Korra's random doodles and cartoons, a few elemental symbols, and a couple chibi drawings of three of the Interregnum Avatars (Delun, Kallian, and Koroda) playing cards together. At one point she had drawn a series of cartoons that had spanned over 14 different entries, which made her briefly contemplate the notion of getting a separate sketchbook for these sorts of things, but the idea was always pushed to the side by "more pressing matters". Today was no exception.
Even then, Korra decided to speak with Asami a bit before the evening just to catch up with her best friend about life in general. Korra's rather violent misadventures kept her busy, and even despite Asami only being 17, it seemed her stake in her family's company was already becoming sizable what with how busy Hiroshi was becoming lately.
While she could sometimes meditate under the right circumstances, waiting was one of those things that Korra could do for an entire 38 seconds before she got bored. She pouted, staring up at the sky, and letting her eyes wander across the vast grounds of the estate. Apart from Naga, the servants and maybe Hiroshi off in one of his underground workshops, she was effectively home alone, and wasn't entirely an indoorsy person when the weather permitted her to enjoy the fresh outdoor air.
"Bored!" She shouted at no one in particular. It was one of those awkward times when she had too much time to waste or to kill, but not enough time to get actively involved in any of her preferred time-killers. As a result, she resorted to one of few things she knew best how to do: vulgar displays of power.
They were therapeutic in a way, these powerful bursts and releases of energy that helped keep Korra's mind occupied. Since she had a tendency to shut everything else out, her level of focus allowed her to manipulate the elements with formidable precision.
Asami knew she was in for an interesting explanation when she saw rocks and flames swirling over her house as she approached home. Fortunately for her, she had since familiarized herself with Korra's abilities, and understood that this was one of her 'release methods'. Powerful and wild as she was, Korra retained formidable control over her elemental abilities despite the mental issues she battled behind the scenes.
Of course, when she noticed Asami approaching, Korra dropped what she was doing, allowing the flames to dissipate, and the rocks fall. She gathered them up together, opened a hole in the nearby ground to drop them in, and sealed it up as if hiding evidence of a crime.
"Asami!" She grinned stupidly, one small straggler rock hitting her on the head as it plopped to her feet in front of her.
"What," Asami laughed, "did you really think that I didn't see what you were doing, Korra?"
"Yeah, uhh… about that…" Korra scratched the back of her head.
"I'm pretty sure half of Republic City saw it too," Asami joked. Master Avatar you might be… you still lack any sense of subtlety."
"Have you seen me with a bow?" Korra riposted.
"Okay," Asami ruffled Korra's hair, "you lack any sort of subtlety when bending is involved. Is that better, Miss Avatar?"
"Bite me," Korra elbowed her playfully as they went inside and got comfortable. Despite the furniture, Korra sat in the middle of the floor, her legs crossed.
"So what's on your mind?" Asami offered, watching Korra, "you also aren't very subtle about when you want to talk with me."
"What do you mean?" Korra tilted her head as she shrugged her jacket off.
"You tend to launch into your little power trips when you're bored and alone," Asami giggled, "You have a lot of distinct behavioural patterns, Korra."
"Well geez," Korra rubbed the back of her neck, "when you put it like that…"
"I'm joking, Korra," Asami sat behind Korra. "But the fact that you were practically waiting at my door like a family pet kind of gives it away."
"I missed you." Korra pouted, "And I'm bored. My business deal at the Probending Arena seemed to go a lot better than I expected, so I wound up with a lot more time than I thought I'd have."
"So what's on your mind?" Asami began playing with Korra's hair, "you clearly wanted to speak to me, and so here I am ready to listen."
"Well, you heard about my date tonight, right?" Korra had to bite her gums to keep from letting out a fully contented moan, "I'm not nervous or anything… I've just never…"
"Bolin's a nice guy, Korra," Asami assured the young Avatar, still separating Korra's fiercely wild hair, "a bit of a dork, but it's endearing. In a few ways he reminds me of you."
"What?" Korra winced from her own surprised jump, "how so?"
"Barring his lack of subtlety," Asami chortled, "I think it's more just the funny ways he reacts to things. You're the same way, Korra. If you could see some of the faces you make, you'd be laughing just as hard."
Korra pouted again. Asami peeked over and giggled again.
"Oh come on, that wasn't even a funny face," Korra waved her arms, "now you're just goading me on or something!"
"No, it's not that," Asami was still trying to control her giggling, "but you… have the funniest little pout, and you do it so much and it's adorable. I love it about you, Korra."
Korra did not reply, but simply pouted again. She didn't want to leave because she was too busy enjoying Asami playing with her hair, but she was also embarrassed that her best friend found her subconscious pouting habit to be so… adorable? That wasn't really a word Korra would ever use to describe herself. She was literally a mercenary. She had killed people before, and barring Nakkoa, they had not been in self-defense.
She was violent; she was extremely aggressive and her temper could get fired up at the drop of a hat, as much as she tried to keep her emotions under control. Her traumatic condition was worsening overall, despite her facades of improvement. How was she 'adorable'?
"Hey!" Korra was snapped out of her brief introspection as she felt her headband get pulled off.
"Hey what?" Asami teased, "It was in my way. It's right here next to you if you really want to cover yourself back up again."
The ensuing head-scratch that Asami gave Korra made her reconsider anything, and she sighed as she leaned back, propping herself up with her hands.
"Are you always this damn perfect," Korra's complaint was somehow affectionate.
"You've told me your life story, Korra," Asami reminded her, "many times. I've seen the way you've changed in the two years since we've met, and while you've made amazing strides… there's still a part of you that came back from the mountains broken."
"What!?" Korra actually turned around, getting a defensive look in her eyes.
"Korra, no," Asami took Korra's hand, her expression changing from calm to concerned, "this is exactly what I mean though—and before you get angry at me, I'm telling you it's not your fault."
"Then what are you trying to tell me?" Korra still looked hurt and unconvinced.
"I'm trying to tell you that despite your flaws, and despite everything you might hate about yourself, that I care about you, and I like you for who you are. I'll deal with your flaws if it means I get to enjoy you when you're happy."
"So… you're not upset about me and Bolin going out tonight?"
"If you two pursue something together, that's your choice to make," Asami rubbed Korra's shoulders, coaxing her to relax and turn back around so she could continue playing with Korra's hair. "I believe it was you that said you weren't going to push me away even if you made other friends. I respect that."
"Well yeah, it's just…" Korra stammered, "I'm not good at this whole making friends thing… and you're important to me, Asami. Mako might be a bit prickly, and Bolin's heart is in the right place, but I don't think I could tell them some of the things I've told you."
"What are best friends for, hmm?" Asami coaxed Korra to turn around again, "come on now; smile. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun tonight. Don't let these external issues weigh you so heavily down. You're strong, and you've totally got this—I know you do."
"It's difficult," Korra admitted, "the things that broke me… they hurt more than I'm proud to admit."
"I wouldn't ever say otherwise," Asami reassured her, "you take as much or as little time as you need to cope with these issues, Korra. No one else has the right to tell you when you can and can't mourn, or when you can or can't be upset."
"Ugh, how do you do it?" Korra complained, "Seriously, I bitch and moan until the Sky Bison come home and you just smile and tell me everything I need to hear. I swear I owe you so much already, even without considering you're letting me stay here."
"I want to see my best friend be happy," Asami's reply was simple and sweet. "Do that for me, and I would consider any debts between us repaid. Now come on; you're going to be late…"
Asami coaxed Korra up to her feet, and she replaced her jacket and headband. They knew Bolin wasn't on a strict schedule by any means, but it would still be nice to let him know that she wouldn't keep him waiting.