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The light went from blinding to soft as Asami and I came out the other side of the new spirit portal. She finally looked away from me as she noticed the sea of pink flowers around us and the shard-like mountains nearby. I watched as she took it all in, a huge smile on her face. I'd seen her excited before, but never amazed like this. She was in awe.
"Korra... this is incredible! What are those mountains made of? And why don't those trees have any leaves? They must not function on photosynthesis. Do they just absorb and reemit spirit energy?" I shook my head. Of course she was trying to science the spirit world. I kind of didn't think she'd get very far on that, but if anybody could do it, it was Asami. "Korra?"
"Huh?" My eyes refocused to see she was giving me a questioning look. I realized I'd been just staring and smiling. "Oh, uh, I don't know. I guess I never thought about it. I think they probably live off of the spirit world's energy though. Pretty much everything here is made of spiritual energy."
She held that questioning look, like she was looking for the answer to something else. But I could see the gears in her head turning about the trees. She didn't say anything else, but I could guess what she was thinking. If they're made of energy, how are they also physically solid? Something like that. I didn't know and she didn't actually ask, so I just left it. There were a million strange and unexplainable things to see in the spirit world, and I was sure that Asami Sato would be determined to figure them all out. Or at least she normally would. I hoped she'd be able to just relax. We were supposed to be on vacation, after all.
Our eye contact hadn't broken. "It's beautiful," she said slowly.
I looked away from her and around to the scenery. "Yeah. There's a lot of really amazing places here." When I turned back, she still hadn't taken her eyes off me. My stomach felt weird and my cheeks burned as I looked away again. "Do you want to see the first place I ever entered the spirit world? That time that Jinora and I meditated in?"
"I'd love to."
I almost asked her to take my hand when I realized I'd never let go of hers after we came through the portal. I looked down at our hands, then up to her. "Then hold on tight."
"Korra, what are you-" she cut herself short when the world started shifting around us. I knew where we were going, so I knew I could just take us there. The scenery zoomed by around us, and in seconds, we were standing in the middle of a grassy field scattered with big... leaves? Kind of like a giant lily pad on a stem, but with no water. As the world came to a stop, I looked over to Asami again and saw her eyes light up as she grinned. Her smile made me smile even more.
She once again didn't stay looking at the scenery for long. After she had a chance to take it in, she turned back to me. "That was some trick."
I shrugged. "Avatar stuff. At least we won't have any problem getting around as long as we know where we're going."
She finally let go of my hand as she sat down on the grass in the shade of one of the pads. The tips of her fingers trailed across my palm as she pulled away, and my hand tingled after it separated from hers. I flexed my fingers. Must have just been holding her hand longer than I thought. I kind of wanted to hold her hand again... to make the tingling stop. I sat down beside her.
"Thank you so much for bringing me here, Korra. It's amazing. I love it."
"Hey, I told you anywhere you want. I'm happy to stick to my word."
"Honestly, almost anywhere would have been fine. This is gorgeous, and it's nice to know no one's going to bother us, but I'm really just glad that I'm here with you. I wouldn't want it to be anyone else."
I could feel the blood rushing through my ears. Little bulbs sprouted up out of the grass around us. "Yeah? I mean, I know from your letters that you stayed pretty busy and didn't really get out of the office much, but I kind of worried-" Worried? "Thought you might have met someone. You know, a new friend you'd gotten close with, or a new boyfriend or something." Yeah.
She looked at me with that questioning look again. "Korra, do you not...?" I waited for her to finish, but when she didn't, I just shrugged. She took my hand in hers and I turned mine over to hold hers back. Her questioning look turned into an almost mischievous grin. "After my last couple of experiences with Mako, I don't think I'll be looking for a boyfriend again anytime soon."
"Oh? Staying out of the whole dating thing then? That's cool. Can't say I blame you with how big of a mess that situation with Mako was for all three of us."
"I didn't say that." She was really focused on me, like she was trying to read my thoughts through my eyes. I didn't want to stop looking at her either, but I couldn't meet that gaze for long, so I kept turning away only to look back at her again.
"So, what? Are you looking for a girlfriend then?" I asked, half teasing.
"I was kind of hoping so, yeah."
I blushed and looked away at that. I hadn't really been serious. Had I? "Oh. I didn't know that was something you'd be interested in. Anyone caught your eye?"
She grinned wider. "Yeah, you could say that."
"She must be pretty amazing to have Asami Sato, CEO of Future Industries, savior of Republic City crushing on her."
"She definitely is. She was one of my biggest inspirations while I remodeled the city."
My stomach felt like it was being twisted into knots. I wasn't jealous, was I? What would I have to be jealous over? My best friend had a crush, I should be happy. "That's so cool! Tell me about her."
Asami almost laughed. She was being very serious, but it was the happiest serious I'd ever seen out of her. "Well, she's a very skilled bender. I'm pretty sure she was even on a pro team at one point. She's got these incredible eyes that light up when she laughs. I could get lost in them for hours. She's really strong too, and so selfless. She's been through a lot, but I feel like she understands me better because of it. And she never lets anything keep her down. She's got this love for people and for the world that is absolutely unshakeable and it takes my breath away."
She hadn't broken eye contact since we sat down and it was starting to weird me out a little bit. It seemed like she'd hardly even blinked. "Wow, Asami... she really does sound amazing. Do you think she's interested in you, too?"
"I have a feeling she might be."
I kind of felt... sad at that. The bulbs that had sprouted up before drooped. "That's pretty lucky. Finding someone who loves you as much as you love them can be pretty hard. Or so I've heard. You should definitely go for it."
She was quiet for a long minute, and when she finally did say something, it wasn't really a response. "Korra? Can you do something for me?"
"Sure, anything." That sounded kind of extreme when I said it, but I realized I did mean it. But that had always been true for my friends, right? "What is it?"
"Turn around?" I shrugged and turned my back to her as we sat on the grass. I heard her shuffling around a bit behind me. "Now lay back."
I laid back and found my head in her lap as she sat cross legged. I looked up at her as she looked down at me. "Hey," was all I could think to say, and what even was that?
"Hey," she said back.
"So... um... what's this girl's name?"
"Korra."
"What?"
"Her name is Korra."
"That's my name."
"Yes it is."
"Oh."
I didn't know what else to say for a long time. I just laid there looking up into her eyes. Then she started to lean forward. She did it slowly, a little bit at a time, like she wanted to make sure I had a chance to stop her if I wanted to. I felt her fingers make their way into my hair and her hair draped past her shoulder and onto mine. Soon, our faces were just an inch apart. I didn't move.
She stayed like that for what felt like ages, then slowly touched her lips to mine. I tilted my head back and my mouth met hers the rest of the way. My eyes closed as she deepened the kiss. Then I realized what was happening. We were kissing. Asami was kissing me.
She didn't hold it long before sitting back up and gazing down into my eyes again. Something caught the corner of my eye and I turned my head to see that the bulbs had blossomed into hundreds of soft pink flowers. I looked back up to her.
Silence grew between us as we smiled at each other, but I eventually found something to say. "You know, I think you're right. I bet she's interested in you, too." She leaned back down to kiss me again, and this one lasted quite a bit longer.
