Chapter Text
A click resounded through the room as the door closed, signifying the end the of their conversation. She sighed heavily, breathing out the last bit of tension that had been weighing her down for the past several months.
Already, her heart felt lighter.
She swiped at the control panel, flicking her fingers across the multiple blue-shaded hologram. The room immediately dimmed several shades down, followed by cool air blowing from the vents. She swiped the control panel again, powering it down back to sleep mode.
Rubbing a knuckle against the knot of muscles between her eyes, she huffed a well earned sigh and flopped on her slim bed.
“Finally.” She breathed out.
The door gently opened again, though her sharp hearing had picked up the footsteps and the clicks before the door had even motioned to drift open. A head poked its way in the opening, as well as hand gripping on the door for balance.
“Korra?” A voice with a baritone rumble asked. His torso gradually pushed its way through the opening of the door, not entirely entering the room but still trying desperately to make his presence inescapably obvious. “How’d it go with Mako?”
She lifted her head and propped herself on her elbows, showing him the eased smile on her face. “Really well. At least, I think it did,” Korra brushed a loose lock of hair and looped it back behind her ear. “I think we’re finally okay now, Bolin.”
Bolin burst in, letting out a loud sound of approval and then sagging his chest down to his knees. “Finally is right! It was so hard not picking sides with you two, honestly! I’m so happy that’s all behind you guys!” His head shot up, his eyes wide with both excitement and relief.
Korra’s smile shifted slightly to become saddened one. Truly, Bolin placed between the two of them must of been wearing him thin. Either she had failed to see it or had simply been too selfish to.
“I’m glad you didn’t,” She approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re the one who knew how to hold our team together. I know Opal tried to keep the peace, but you definitely kept it functional.” She squeezed his shoulder tightly to enunciate her next words. “I really appreciate it, Bolin.”
“Awe…” Bolin gushed, throwing an arm behind his head bashfully as he tried not to look his ranking superior in the eye. “It wasn’t all that bad….okay, maybe it was. And maybe I did a lot to keep you guys from killing each other and getting us all kicked out of the Balancer program.”
Korra looked to the floor, letting the shame rinse over her one final time. “I know I’ve been a really lousy captian… I’m just so glad you and Opal were good enough to stick with me.” She perked up, a flare of determination unknowingly shining within her eyes. “But I’ll make it up to you! All of you!”
Bolin’s grin grew further until he couldn’t contain it to only a simple grin, so he threw his arms around the dark skinned girl and lifted her heartily in the air. “That’s what I want to hear! Good to have you back, Captain!”
Korra laughed, dismissing the fact that Bolin’s massive arms were tempting to crush her ribs. His platypus-bear hugs were always worth the discomfort.
He set her down, then straightened up. “I guess the timing couldn’t be any better! So!” Hands on his hips, he puffed out his chest proudly. “You’ll never guess who got us a spot on the reinforcements list for a mission happening this weekend!”
“What! Really?! How’d you do it?” Korra’s pride only briefly berated her that it was thanks to her sour attitude in the past few months that her team was deemed unfit to carry out any mission requests. However, the sheer idea of getting back into action so soon thrilled her enough to immediately forget the bitter thought.
“It was mostly Opal, actually. ” Bolin confessed meekly, deflating slightly as he scratched his chin. “Having a Beifong on the team is always a way to get attention. As usual.”
Normally, Korra would be irritated that titles and noble family names bought their way into anything, rather than skill and qualification alone. But still, she was far too excited for the opportunity. They had been out of action for far too long.
“Anyways, our good ol’ Airbender got Lin’s attention to reconsider, so we’re standing in on second placing! But it gets better!”
Korra took a few steps back, then sat on the edge of her bed, and looking at her friend eagerly to continue.
“Turns out, the response team they originally requested is still stuck on their other mission, and there’s no way they’ll make it in town in time. Even if they do finish up their current job. So our only real competition is….” A mischievous grin blossomed on his face, “Get this, none other than Tahno’s squad!”
Korra threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, this is too perfect! We just have to have a better synchronicity score during diagnostics, and we’ll be in! There’s no way we’ll fail, eithr, especially since Mako and I finally talked things out!”
“Exactly!” Bolin barked in, laughing giddily as well.
Korra punched the air above her victoriously, and hopped up on her feet immediately.
“This is so great! Did you tell Mako yet?”
“I was gonna right after I let the Captain know!”
“Then hop to it, solider!” Korra exclaimed and saluted sharply, to which Bolin responded in kind. They both snickered and burst out laughing again. It took Korra pushing him out of the door to hurry him along.
“The sooner our Firebender is fired up, the more we’re gonna scorch that test and Tahno’s squad along with it!”
“Yes ma’am!” Bolin sloppily saluted again, and then took off down the hallway.
Korra leaned against her room door as she shut it, her face starting to ache from the good news.
“Finally is right!” She whispered happily to herself.
To anyone else, it was as if they were a completely different Balancer squad.
Not just two weeks ago and the weeks before, Korra was angrily shouting at her team and trying to command them as she commanded her water. Mako would always be the first to question her judgement, to which it would quickly all fall apart from there. Usually it ended in one, if not all of them being injured. Not to mention the sore stamp of being disqualified to serve as active Balancers with a humiliating two week suspension. Were it not for Opal’s relations and their overall natural talents, Korra knew they should of been either reassigned or expelled from the program entirely.
This morning, however, they were perfect.
The test today was against a simulation of a hideous cross between a wolf-bat, a sand-shark and the legs and print of a polar-leopard. Clearly, it’s main intention was the scare anyone taking a simulation test, to which Korra could only imagine how pleased the designer was in creating such a beast. Korra also figured they must of wanted her squad to fail quickly and get on with it, and gave them such a difficult opponent to test with. She would bet money it was Tarrlok’s idea if it meant he could have an earlier lunch.
And yet it gave them all the more reason to dazzle the observers with their overnight transformation.
Korra surprised her teammates by ordering them to freely initiate the attack. She was usually the hot-headed one first to strike, which likely was what led to most of their past failures.
Bolin charged first, and with a harsh landing, threw the simulation off balance as two pillars of stone erupting from the ground immediately as he stomped the floor. Opal and Mako simultaneously struck, knocking the creature on its side with their own respective elements. Opal conjuring a blast of wind, propelling and expanding Mako’s spout of fire into a fearsome inferno. Korra patiently held her position back and observed to make sure her teammates were safe and in formation for their next attack.
The creature rolled around, flailing furiously as it regained its footing. Quickly, it jerked up it’s head in a snarl, but Korra saw the sweep of the land shark tail coming thanks to her wide view and distance. She also caught the raised eyebrows of the observers from the corner of her eye as she flexed and a responding wave of water solidified to an icy wall to block a giant tail from slamming into Bolin. The tail slid, redirecting off the ice enough for Mako to scorch the exposed underside with a whip of searing white fire.
Korra was certain they were tempting her when the wolf bat hybrid had several perfect openings that would nothing but ideal for any Waterbender to take advantage of. But at the same time, Mako was in need of a quick getaway. Korra supplied him one with a makeshift slide of ice to dodge the stomping feet above him. Another obvious opening occurred as Opal pushed a gust of wind to force the beast to look up and clamp it’s flapping jaw shut. This caused it to begin raising its front paws up high, which would undoubtedly knock Mako and Bolin off their feet should it be allowed to stomp down.
Instead of taking the kill herself, Korra steadied her stance, pulling her arms back to have the water dwelling in the small moats in the floor to quickly mirror her movements. The water swept back and wrapped around Mako and Bolin to pull them back to safety near herself. Satisfied with their safer standpoint, she quickly punched her arms forward just as the beast broke free from Opal’s tunnel of wind. The water shot forward and into a spiral, to which Korra twisted her arm and flexed hard, forcing the water to freeze the beast’s chest in place.
Mako and Bolin threw their elements at the beast’s neck, causing the hybrid to roar and screech in its trapped position. The ice cracked slightly, but it wasn’t quite enough to break Korra’s thick layer of ice binding it down. This bought Opal the time she needed to finish her new currents of wind to entrap the beast’s head in a vacuum condensed orb. The breath was being yanked out of its supposed lungs, and with its legs and chest frozen, the struggling would only speed up Opal’s work. It had no means to escape in time before it would suffocate.
The simulation phased out of sight, then green lights flashed around the arena. A loud, pleasant tone chimed over the speakers as the green lights flickered to the regular lighting.
They had passed!
Korra sighed gratefully as her teammates swarmed around her. She glanced up at the control box where judgement of their performance was being decided. However, the engineers were making it too obvious. Much to her surprise, they all stood and began to applaud them.
“Well done, Squad Mir!” The intercom boomed out Kya’s voice. “Excellent defensive maneuvers, Captain! It’s very refreshing to see you go back to your Waterbender roots. Watching out for your comrades rather than your usual aggressive approach truly shows us you are taking your position as captain more seriously.”
Korra’s cheeks colored and she stiffly saluted in response, “Ma’am! Thank you, ma’am!”
“We look forward into seeing more major improvements in the future, Sqaud Mir.” Another voice drawled, Tarrlok. He almost sounded impressed. “You will be notified and debriefed at seventeen-hundred hours, keep your COMs on standby. Dismissed!”
Bolin bounced between Opal and Korra as the doors shut behind them, throwing an arm over both of the girls. “Did you hear that?! He said “debriefed!” That means we have that mission all to ourselves!”
Mako nodded in agreement. Even with his usual stoic demeanor, even he was doing a terrible job at containing his happiness. “That’s true, they never let you know if you got the job right after testing. We must of really impressed them.”
“We were so horrible before,” Korra said lowly, to which everyone agreed in silence but preferred not to comment aloud. “ But how could we not impress them! You guys were all amazing!”
“What’s this?” Opal looked up into Korra’s face. “You’re praising us? And you didn’t take any of those openings they gave you.”
“I saw that, too.” Mako playfully nudged Korra’s shoulder with his own. “She’s making us do all the work!”
“Who are you and what have you done with our captain?” Bolin played along, lifting Korra up in a playful attempt to seem threatening. After being set free, Korra continued to laugh as her team teased her on their way out of the arena.
“Whatever, you guys!” She finally pushed them off as they exited the building. “Meet back here before call time, ok? I want us all to be together when we get debriefed!”
“Captain!” They all saluted her in precise sync, causing her to spout another laugh. She informally waved her hand to dismiss them. She waited and watched them as they dispersed. Korra turned her attention to the fountain guarding the main courtyard. A massive statue of a bald man in his crisp Balancer uniform, complete with a decorated traditional Airbender garbs draped over his uniform. It was a somewhat new addition to headquarters, likely because of the controversy surrounding the person it was dedicated after. Korra was infinitely grateful that Commander Aang had received some amount recognition in the end after all he had done.
Her chest painfully tightened sadly to see the statue of Aang, but at the same time, it fueled a small ray of hope alongside that pain.
“That was quite the display your team did,” A familiar, warm voice said. Korra spun around and went rigid.
“Katara-“ She swallowed her words. “I uh, sorry! Sifu Katara!” She bowed her head, hoping that none of her other superiors were watching. Staring at Aang’s statue too long would look suspicious, and referring to her own mentor so casually would most definitely paint her suspect to authority.
The old woman laughed. “Korra, you know me better than that. Formalities really aren’t necessary.”
“Yes, but, you never know who could be listening, we are still technically at base, even if we are outside. Knowing my luck, Raiko himself will have heard me and I’ll be shipped off to babysit rookies for a month just for not calling you by your proper titles.”
Katara nodded. “Of course, how about we go into the city for lunch then?”
The younger tribeswoman beamed. “I would love that.”
“I’m surprised you’re not out celebrating with your teammates, Korra.” Katara said after the young woman handed her a bowl the steaming cabbage soup.
“For actually doing what we were trained to do?” Korra scoffed, lifting a leg over the bench and hopping over to sit down, all while impressively not spilling her own soup. “No…I’m glad we’re getting back on track, of course, it’s just…well, that stupid holiday is coming up.”
Katara let out a hum of understanding, her expression darkening. “Vaatu’s Reckoning.”
“I don’t see how anyone really sees it as a holiday or why it’s even called that!” Korra glumly muttered into her spoon. “Throwing away someone’s life so everyone else can be left alone for another decade? What’s to celebrate about that?”
“Many see it as a sacrifice for the greater good. How that it’s a time to humble ourselves to put the well being of everyone before yourself.” Katara recited. Though Korra had known Katara enough to pick up on her sarcasm. Korra only grumbled more deeply about a “stupid, evil jelly-squid kite.”
“You’re not the only one who thinks this way, Korra,” Katara said in more hushed tone. “Some people will try to see the best in a situation to handle it better, while others will think that this is just a barbaric and oppressive tradition that-"
“That needs to stop.” Korra finished the statement for her former mentor, then sighed into her soup hopelessly.
“Though then that would mean dealing with the monster himself,” Katara added. “People have tried for centuries to find a way to defeat Vaatu, and every failed attempt has cost humanity dearly.”
“So one person is more than a fair trade, huh?” Korra snorted, and then angrily slurped her soup. “Sorry, this is why I try to stay away from people during this time of year. I mean, I’m not usually this bad...I don't think. But, this year is the actual butchering ceremony…”
“I understand your frustration, I really do.” Katara had somehow managed to finish her meal without Korra ever really noticing she was eating to begin with. “I do hope you get through it without much trouble.”
“It’s just…it goes against everything that us Balancers stand for, doesn’t it?” Korra couldn’t stop herself from venting to her mentor, but she did have the sense to lower her voice within her own earshot. “We’re supposed to protect people, work together and try and find some peace. And then once every ten years, we have to flip back and do the opposite?”
Katara reached over and covered her aged hand over Korra’s tightly balled fist.
“It just feels like we’re doing Vaatu’s dirty work for him. It.” She corrected herself with a grunt. “Whatever that overgrown monster kite is.”
Katara patted Korra’s hand. “I believe that, someday, it won’t always be like this.”
Korra made a grunting noise and shrugged, forcing herself to not respond before she became too emotional.
“I best be getting back,” Katara rose and Korra took her empty bowl with her free hand. “Someone has to make sure the festival preparations don’t go all that smoothly, after all.”
Korra chuckled. Just imagining Katara making her uncle’s planning for the festival be inconvenienced was more than enough to make her smile.
“Thanks for the lunch, it’s always a pleasure spending time with you, Sifu Katara.” She said, bowing her head respectively to Katara, whom nodded all the same.
“Likewise, Korra.” The elder smiled and made her exit.
Korra took the back exit, frown creasing her forehead and mouth alike as she saw the preposterous decorations being put it on street lamps and buildings. Pitch black. Blood red. And the most greedy shade of gold Korra could fathom. Somehow, the specific shades used for the event always sent chills of fear down everyone’s spines. Korra knew that that was the effect it was supposed to have.
She was so lost in thought brooding over the barbaric holiday that Korra had failed to look both ways while crossing the street. The traffic was not so busy, casual enough for people to dart across to the other side of the street without much pause. And yet, Korra still should have been able to notice the sleek black car barreling down the street after making a sharp turn.
The horn hardly blared in time, and Korra only had a moment to react. She instinctively jumped up a half second too late. Though she did land both feet on the hood of the car, the jerk of the car stopping short caused her to lose her balance and threw her right back on the street. The stomach turning crack that ripped through her head was the last thing she could process before all light and consciousness cut out.
“…this can’t be happening, how could I be so careless!”
A ticking metronome of dull pain clicked through Korra’s head, ushering out a dull moan to match the grinding agony in the back of her head.
“You’re awake!” A voice cried out, and Korra could feel the surface beneath her shift. She clenched her hand and pushed against the surface, it felt to be a mattress. And a very soft one, at that. Korra peeked open one eye, but seeing the bright light was what waited for her, she decided better of it and shut both eyes tight.
“What…?” She tried to say, but her voice was too dry to be properly audible.
“I am so sorry, I really really did not see you come out of that alleyway! I’m so glad I didn’t actually hit you-“
Korra waved a hand around touched at source of the noise. After finding the person’s face, she quickly put her hand over their mouth.
“Loud…talking….stop…” Korra murmured, her scratchy voice fitting to how she felt.
She heard a muffled apology and the weight leaning into the mattress vanished.
“Is there anything I can get you?” She said softly. She was close enough to where Korra could both hear and feel the low vibrations in her voice. It was both relaxing and, Korra dare not ever admit, sultry.
“Wa-“
“Water! Of course!”
Korra bobbed her head to the side. This one was a quick one, that was for sure. Within seconds, the nervous female’s footsteps had reentered the room.
“If I can get you sit up-“
“No need.” Korra said lightly, feeling the cool glass pressed against her knuckles. She pulled her hand back, sensing the water lightly swish in the glass next to her. Rolling her hand and creating pulling motions with her fingers, the responded and water lifted from the glass from nothing as Korra guided it to her mouth.
“You’re a-“
Korra swallowed gratefully. “Yup.” She sighed, covering her face with her arm. “Could we lose the lights? Its so bright in here, I’m afraid to open my eyes.”
“Yes!” The presence left her side again, and within a moment, Korra heard the sound of a control panel activating and the noises it being used. Everything dimmed to a gentle shadow.
“Thanks,” Korra opened her eyes and slowly sat up, careful not to move her head. She looked around to see her host and noticed a tall woman now standing by the window. Her gaze continued and she noticed that the city lights were out-
“Oh, sweet flameo! What time is it?!” Korra exclaimed, but immediately regretted it as the sudden motion brought forth a sledge of pain to the back of her head. The woman rushed over and firmly yet gently pushed Korra back down into the bed.
“Don’t get up yet, you had a really nasty fall, after all.” She scolded, her dark and long hair spilling over her shoulder as she leaned over. “And to answer your question, its eight, almost nine at night.”
Korra groaned. “Oh nooooo, my team is gonna kill me." The realization immediately hit her as she said it, and she revised the statement aloud. "Mako is going to kill me, for sure!“
“Team?” The woman repeated aloud. “You’re….a Balancer as well?”
“Not for long! I’m certainly a very late and dead Balancer, yeah!” Korra hissed as she felt a sting hit her head when she tried to move her head again. “Ugh, and today started off so great, too-“
“Do you have the tracker on your COM set?”
“My COM!” Korra looked to her arm, only to see that it was bare. “Where did it go?!”
“Relax, I took it off trying to find your contact list, but you had it locked.” The woman laughed pitifully to herself and pressed her palm into her forehead, clearly berating herself. “Of course you had it secured, I can’t believe I didn’t think to notice your COM’s model-“
“Can I see it?” Korra demanded more than she requested. “I must have at least a half a million summons by now.”
The woman went to a nearby dresser, and picked up the armband to hand to Korra. As soon as she was close enough, Korra snatched it and looked to the small screen. Within seconds, she had Opal on speaker.
“Captain?!” Her pitched and very worried voice chimed in. “We’ve been trying to contact you for hours! Are you alright!?”
“I think so,” Korra responded. “I was in a little accident, but I’m okay now. Some girl picked me off the streets.” Korra wiped a hand over her face, she reciting a wish like a mantra in her head that she had not screwed things up for her team.
“Why was your tracker turned off!?!” Mako’s voice spiked through the speaker, causing Korra to lean back abruptly. Korra was certain if he could, he would reach through Opal's and Korra's COMs and throttle Korra himself.
“I don’t know, maybe the settings are off?” Korra lied on the spot. “I just got this new one a few days ago.”
“Korra,” He growled. “That’s really irresponsible, you’re suppose to be our leader! How can we-“
“How did the debriefing go?” She cut in, not wanting to argue with her headache or the company in the room.
“It was just in a message, not a conference call, for starts. We’re okay on that.” Opal, thankfully, took over the call once again. Korra could hear hushed arguing, which led her to assume Opal was trying to keep Mako away and out of the call.
Korra sighed in relief, since the Captain of a squad not being present would have reflected very badly. Her team could not afford any mishaps, even with their near perfect synchronicity test score from this morning.
“It’s an escort and bodyguard mission-“
All too aware of the stranger in the room, Korra immediately cut in, “I can’t talk right now, Opal. But I can meet up with one of you to discuss the job-”
“There’s a lockdown order tonight, Captain.” Opal interjected. “Dark spirits were sighted in the city a few hours ago. Seems like the spirits are already starting to gather for the festival.”
“This early? Really?” Korra growled in frustration, flinching as she turned her head too quickly and earning herself another thrum of pain. “Looks like I’m stuck where I’m at for the night.”
“Looks like.”
“Fine, I’ll…” Korra stopped to sigh, rubbing her temples. “I’ll be in contact with you in the morning and we can meet up and go over the job. Or whenever the lockdown is removed. I would much rather have a little pow-wow in person.”
“Understood. And Korra? Be safe. And thank you for contacting me as soon as you could.”
Korra's chest softened hearing the genuine concern in Opal's voice. “Of course. I’ll meet with you later.”
Korra slouched, frowning deeply as she set her COM on the nightstand. She certainly had dodged a bullet. Had she had the tracking on, Korra possibly could have avoided most of this mess, but how could she know she was going to be knocked out cold after dodging a car? It wasn’t all to blame, though, Korra had such a terrible habit of disabling tracking for her own privacy. She found it to be an absolute necessity this time of year, what with her given need to remain alone during span of Vaatu’s Reckoning. It was to spare everyone else her brooding, but also minimize the risk of herself being incarcerated for treason. Or was it heathenism? Whatever charge they would cook up to hold against her for speaking ill of Vaatu, it was never worth the risk.
“Was that your….friend? Teammate?” The woman asked suddenly. Korra looked around and noticed her entering the room again and holding a small plate of sorts.
“Yeah, I just let her know I’m alive. Should be okay now.” Korra stated, trying to get a look at the woman. Although the woman seemed quite intent on not showing her face.
“That’s good…do you have anywhere you need to be?”
“Not in particular.” Korra’s mind recounted how she ended up here and then she slowly turned to face the other girl in the room. “Speaking of, you were in quite the hurry to be going that fast. I should be asking if I’m keeping you from something?”
“It…it’s a long story.” The woman responded hesitantly.
“Well, with this lockdown, I guess neither of us are going anywhere anytime soon. All plans and bets are off!” Korra tilted her head, trying to read this girl’s expression. She looked away quickly and a taste of suspicion filled Korra’s gut.
“Okaaaaay, well, mind telling me where we are then? Last thing I remember is eating asphalt.”
“We're at the Four Elements hotel." She clarified. Korra's eyebrows shot up. Such a hotel was not even close to convenient nor easily affordable.
"After you…fell, I wanted to get you help. But then the sirens went off and everyone was ordered to find the nearest shelter immediately. So, I just took you with me. This was honestly the closest place I could get us to before everything was blocked off. I couldn’t just …leave you there.”
Korra swallowed. So many people likely would have ditched her on the spot, it was near impossible not to panic when the sirens went off. Her thoughts dared to think what would of happened if this young woman had not felt guilty for their unfortunate run in.
“You’re welcome to stay the night, I’ve already paid for it." She was twisting her hands against each other, and seemed to be starting at a spot on the flooring. "I-I wasn’t sure when you’d wake up, but I can just get another room. It’s not like-“
Korra let out a stiff laugh. “No, I don’t mind.” She immediately wished she hadn’t said that, realizing how odd it would be sharing a room with someone who almost mowed her down with a roadster.
“Oh!” She set down the plate she was holding on the nearby dresser, carefully maintained her distance from Korra as she sat on the leather couch next to the window. “I did use a kit for your head to patch up the worst of that head injury. I just wouldn’t go head butting anyone anytime soon.”
Korra squinted. “A kit?” She felt the back of her head, and sure enough, no bumps or cuts of any sort were there.
“How’d you…? Unless you can heal-“
The girl waved her hands and shook her head. “No, no. I just happened to have a Light Spirit kit on me-“
“You “happened” to have a Spirit kit?!” Korra repeated. “Unless you’re a walking ambulance or something, why would anyone just “happen” to have one of those? Those are way too pricey for just anyone to have as some first aid kit-“
The girl fidgeted nervously, and Korra clamped her mouth shut as soon as she realized how rude she was being. Korra had sworn to herself the previous night that she would be more cautious about shooting her mouth off. It was half the reason her squad was able to function as well as it did for their test, after all.
“I mean, um, I-I’m sorry. Forget it.” Korra stammered, looking aside and clenching the soft and dark bedsheets under her hands. “You patched me up and I only have a headache to worry about thanks to you! Who cares about the details, right?”
The girl forced a laugh, and glanced at Korra, but still appeared too nervous to contribute much else. Not that Korra blamed her, she had essentially assaulted a Balancer. Had Korra felt vengeful at all, this girl would probably not see the light of day until the next Vaatu’s Reckoning festival.
“Anways, um. Thank you. You didn’t have to help me, but you did. I appreciate you even wasting a Light Spirit kit on little old me, too.” She winked and tried to make it sound as much like a joke as possible.
The girl’s laugh loosened into a chuckle, easing Korra’s anxiety over upsetting the kind stranger.
“I’m sorry I ruined your night.” She said quietly, staring off out the window. Korra could hear the sincerity in her voice, yet did not know how to properly respond.
With how dark the room was, Korra still couldn’t make out what she looked like. All she had to go by was a shadowed figure and the sound of her voice.
“Is there anyone else you need to contact?”
“No, I’m alright.”
“Don’t you have a family?”
Korra shrugged. “Unless you count my polar bear dog…”
“Parents?”
She laughed. “Not local, that's for sure.”
“A…boyfriend?”
Korra laughed louder and longer than before. “Definitely not! Free as a phoenix-dragon!”
“Okay.” She paused, clearly thinking to herself and deciding things on her own. “I really hate to leave you here on your own, so as an apology for nearly making you a smear into the road, I'd be happy to stay up and make sure you don't black out or anything. Just to to be sure.”
“Just to be sure, huh?” Korra hinted, smirking at her. With the darkness, Korra couldn’t tell her reaction.
“Well, if it makes you feel better.” Korra didn’t really quite care what the woman did, however, she did have a sound point. She wasn’t threatening, at least, not in the sense where Korra felt in danger. She didn’t seem to have weapons, and judging from her reaction from earlier, was not able to manipulate any elements.
“I’m Asami,” She finally said, holding up a hand in place of a wave. “I guess you could say I’m just passing through town. Again, I’m really sorr-“
Korra held up a hand. “If you’re really sorry for running me over, then please, stop apologizing. Seriously. I’ve been run over by saber-tooth moose lions and hit by puma goats before. And they pack more of a punch than five cruddy Cabbage Corp. trucks!”
Asami chuckled and brushed her hair back in a sweeping motion. Korra couldn’t help but be impressed by the fluid motion, before she had thought that was just an effect done in movers and advertising. She decided to keep any comments about it to herself.
“Alright, then.” Asami looked awkwardly around the lightless room, excluding the city poorly illuminating the room from below. “What can be done to make you feel better then? What do usually do after you’ve been run over by a saber-toothed moose lion?”
Korra didn’t have to think of an answer. Although, the request would likely sound absurd to anyone who was not a Waterbender or at least knew one.
“Does this place have a pool?”