[AN] Anonymous tumblr ask - Just a silly little answer to the question of "How did the Kai/Naga thing happen?"

The morning was typical for a San Francisco summer; cold, foggy, and with the tang of salt water in the air. Later on in the day the winds would come blow the fog away along with hats, umbrellas, newspapers, small children, and anything else not nailed down or held in death grips.

Kai shivered as he approached the battered door leading to his doom. If asked he'd grumble about the biting cold, but in his soul he knew the real reason. It's not often a young man has to think about his own mortality, but Kai's was becoming more real with every type step he took.

With a trembling hand he knocked softly on the door.

Immediately the sound of barking and scrabbling paws made itself known, but before he could sprint away in terror the door popped open to reveal a beaming Korra. Her dog Naga, the huge white malamute famous to street food lovers everywhere, strained to be let free from Korra's tight grip on her collar, growls and whines dripping from perfectly white and probably sharp canines.

He swallowed hard.

"Hey Kai, good to see you!" Korra hauled the protesting dog away from the door. "Come on in!"

The door closed behind him with an ominous click. To his horror Korra let go of Naga's collar as she retreated to the kitchen. "I made some coffee if you want some."

Kai took a step and Naga's head dropped. Her gaze was steady as she regarded him with narrowed eyes. He froze.

"Good puppy," he mumbled. He wished desperately he'd thought to bring a piece of beef jerky or something. "Um, Korra?"

She leaned back through the door and she grinned. "What, you want a written invitation?" Then she seemed to take pity on his dilemma. "Come finish your breakfast, Naga!"

The dog immediately turned and trotted away, tongue lolling happily. Kai felt a rush of relief and followed behind carefully, watching for any changes in the dogs direction or attention.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Korra?" he asked plaintively when he finally allowed himself to settle onto one of her stools. Naga had disappeared through the dog door to the back patio where Korra had her food and water bowls.

She handed him a shot of espresso. "Here, you'll need that."

"What? Why?" He eyed it suspiciously. "Did you put something in it?"

"Oh yeah," Korra leered. At his shocked look, she added with a smirk, "that's an ounce of Jamaican Blue Mountain go-go juice. At forty bucks a pound you best be appreciative."

Kai sipped appreciatively. "Oh damn, that's good."

"Like I would give anyone bad coffee." She finished her own cup. "Look Kai, I know you're nervous, but this is an important step for you and Jinora. You can't put it off anymore."

He groaned and rubbed his face, then jumped as Naga pushed her head through the dog door, glared at him, then disappeared again. "I know, I know." He looked up, his face a comedy of suffering. "Tell her I wrote a will and it's in my underwear drawer, okay?"

She roared with laughter. "You big baby, you're not gonna die." She reached out and grabbed a bright blue dog lead and waved it at him with an evil grin. "You're just going to be tortured a little bit."

Kai started out feeling fairly positive. A backpack full of dog toys, poop bags, and other sundry necessary tools of seriouds dog walkers was slung across his shoulders and so far Naga had been amenable to walking casually along with him.

"Hey Naga, picked up a stray, have you?"

Kai turned to see an older man standing in the doorway of a weathered restaurant. O'Shaunessey's Cafe was painted neatly over the door in bright green paint. Naga immediately changed directions and dragged Kai over to the smiling man who kneeled to give her a pat before producing a stub of bacon from somewhere in his apron.

She accepted it with delicate grace before licking his cheek and he spluttered, wiping it off with a towel. With a final pat he stood, taking in Kai. The young chef stood there holding the other end of her lead, painfully aware of how little control he actually had over his fluffy companion.

"Not seen you before, friend of Korra's are you?"

Kay shrugged. "Yeah, we've cooked together before, and she's my girlfriend's boss."

The man blinked, then guffawed loudly, slapping his thigh with a meaty hand. "Oh, lad," he managed to gasp out finally. "Best of luck to you."

Kai glared at him. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all. Have a lovely day of it!" With that pronouncement he stepped back into the restaurant and disappeared. Naga chuffed softly then turned, pulling hard at her leash leaving Kai no choice then to stumble along in her wake.

Together they progressed along the waterfront. Periodically they would pause while Naga sniffed carefully around a tree, or a telephone pole, or a patch of weeds growing from a crack in the sidewalk. Periodically she would squat and leave a small scent of her own behind.

Kai prayed that she would keep her output to something safe, somewhat fearful of what might happen should he be forced to deal with anything that required the surprisingly large plastic doggy bags sitting in the pocket of his windbreaker.

They reached a section of the waterfront where a small park had been created between the looming piers. A number of dogs and their owners mingled around, tossing balls and sipping coffee. A Border Collie trotted around happily with a well-chewed frisbee in his teeth. With a happy bark Naga jerked free of Kai's hold and bolted, leaving him spluttering in her wake.

"Hey, Naga! Come back here!"

She ignored him and as she hit the grass the other dogs looked up and immediately swarmed her with a flurry of sniffed butts and wagging tails.

"Okay," Kai huffed, hurrying up to her and attempting to grab her leash. She dodged nimbly before joining a stocky Labrador Retriever running down his tennis ball. She nipped his shoulder playfully as they ran, but he ignored as he charged for the ball with a ferocious single-mindedness.

After he recovered the ball, she paused, looking over at Kai. He stood watching her uncertainly, eyeing the lead that dragged along the ground behind her. He took one step towards her

"She may not let you catch her, you know," a deep voice commented behind him.

Kai turned to see a tall, dark-skinned man with a beard and a pipe looking at him calmly.

He puffed on his pipe, then added, "Not even Korra is able to catch her if she doesn't want to be caught."

"You know Naga?" Kai blurted in surprise.

He nodded serenely. "Everybody knows Naga. She's the queen of the city."

An enormously fat bulldog sauntered up to them, gasping for breath. The man leaned over and patted him on the head. The dog collapsed in a heap, his legs sliding out so that he was spread eagle on the grass.

He looked ruefully at Kai. "He's too good at sweet talking my customers out of their leftovers." When Kai looked confused, he added. "I run Dockyards BBQ with my sisters."

"Oh! I love that place!"

The man beamed. "Why, thank you! I'll be sure-" he paused then shook his head, still smiling. "Would love to keep chatting but you need to go now." He nodded his head at something behind Kai.

The chef whirled to see Naga daintily pick up the end of her leash in her mouth then take off at an easy lope away from the park towards downtown.

"Oh shit!" Kai burst out. "Naga, wait up!"

Korra looked up from where she was stirring her bubbling pots of sauce. "Was that the door?"

Jinora pushed herself away from the butcher block and the pile of onions and chilis she was methodically chopping her way through. She disappeared through the doorway.

"Holy shit!"

Korra abandoned her spoon and hurried after her, then paused as she took the sight of sopping Naga prancing happily next to a bedraggled Kai. His clothes and hair were wet, and blood oozed from a long scratch along his left forearm. His right eye was starting to swell, and he was missing one of his shoes.

"What did you do to my dog?" Korra demanded, her eyes anxiously scanning Naga for signs of damage.

"What did I do?" Kai asked, his voice high. "What did I do?" He pointed a shaking finger at the happy malamute. "She tried to KILL me!"

Korra bit back a laugh and rubbed soft ears. "I'm sure you're exaggerating."

Kai glared at her. "You. Are. Such. A. Bitch." He threw down the backpack which landed on the cement with a loud squelch. Korra idly noticed a large rip along one side. "And YOU are not helping!" His finger moved from Naga to Jinora who was desperately trying to hold back her laughter.

"Oh honey," she finally managed. She stepped up to him and kissed him gently on the cheek before pulling his outstretched arm down and tucking it around her shoulders.

Korra watched Naga closely, but the big dog merely yawned, rubbed herself along both Jinora's and Kai's legs, then sauntered through the kitchen on her way to the backyard and her water bowl.

"Sweet! You did it, Kai!" Korra clapped him on the back. "You're allowed to date Jinora now!"

Jinora cooed as she unzipped his jacket, pulling the damp and slightly torn material off his shoulders and dropping it to the cement. "You were so brave." She knelt and helped him out of his sodden sneakers, disposing of his socks in the process. "I can't imagine anyone doing as well as you."

His face relaxed from outrage to bewilderment, and he numbly followed in her wake as she continued to murmur loving adoration at him.

Korra shook her head, smirking, then rummaged in her pocket when her phone rang.

"Hey, Langston. Yeah, he made it back. Looks a little worse for wear though."

Langston's rich baritone laugh sounded in her ear. "I'll bet he does. She really put him through the ringer."

Korra snickerd. "Did your nephew get the video?"

"Every last blessed minute once he left the dog park. He was so focused on Naga he never noticed the six foot brother on the skateboard with the video camera."

"You'd think the blue dreadlocks might have caught his attention."

"Nah," Langston replied, still amused. "He was too busy with trying to get her out of the grocery store she ran into."

"She didn't."

"Went straight for the butcher's counter."

"Oh no…" Korra started laughing again.

"Then he had to fish her out of the water after she jumped in to chase that harbor seal."

Korra leaned weakly against the wall, holding her stomach as she tried to catch her breath.

"And I can't wait until you see the part where she goes up to the Japanese tourists."

"How did you know they were Japanese?" Korra finally choked out.

"Something about 'Shiro Gojira'. Freddie's been taking classes at City College." Langston chuckled. "Anyway, will send the video over once he's done some edits. He said it needed a soundtrack."

"Oh god, I can't wait." She stood in the doorway to the kitchen and watched as Jinora finished patching Kai up. "Looks like our patient is going to survive. Talk to you later!"

"Bye, Korra."

Jinora kissed Kai deeply before pressing an ice pack gently to his eye. He sighed contently as Naga came back through the dog door. The big dog sauntered over, rubbed her head on Jinora's hip, licked Kai's knee, then collapsed onto the ground next to him, her tongue once again lolling out in a toothy grin.

He gazed down at her. A grin slowly emerged on his face.

"You're a good dog, Naga."

"Woof."