Chapter Text
“Mom, I’m fine I promise. I’ve been living out here on my own for three years now. I’m fine as usual like every time you call me.” Korra sighed into her cellphone. She paced back and forth in her cramped apartment. She nodded her head and hummed yes with every question that rang out from the phone. Her third and final year of high school had already started, though it didn’t have a stellar start.
“So are you making new friends?”
“Yes mom. I still have friends in my grade.”
“Well that’s good Korra. I know all your senior friends meant a lot to you and you don’t see them that much.”
“I know. I’m fine mom.”
"Oh alright. How's the apartment then?" Senna persisted.
"Fine? I guess. There were some movers here today. Other than that, same as usual."
“Okay sweetie, I’ll let you go. Get your homework done!” Senna pried through the phone again.
“I will. Love you, byee.” She drew out the last word and hit the end button once her mother smiled out a reply.
Korra threw the phone into her pocket and stormed into the kitchen. She tied the strings of the filled trash bag and hauled it out through the front door. She rushed across the dark parking lot and tossed the bag in the dumpster.
The cool evening air felt nice against her skin and a small breeze blew her short hair into her tan face. She stopped just outside her door for a second. She reveled in the air of the night. Sounds from the streets of Republic City echoed all around her and the evening sky was a pleasant dark blue that was tainted by pale moonlight and a few stars. She stood in awe of the night and the sky and the city with each relaxed breath. There was the slightest hint of cigarette smoke in the air, that or a campfire.
Korra's phone vibrated in the front pocket of her thin flannel shirt. She quickly looked at the screen to see a text message from a very peculiar contact. Asami. She was a year older and graduated last spring. She was someone Korra was always around but she was different. When she talked to her senior it was like the whole world melted away and it was just the two of them surrounded by warm, genuine conversation and a nagging sense that there could be more to it than just words.
Naturally, Korra had developed a crush on Asami. She was pretty and popular and smart but most of all, Korra just liked their conversations and the comfortable aura that generated around the two of them when they were together. But it came to a surprising halt when Asami graduated. She left for the university and Korra didn't have the guts to ask for her number.
She slid her phone open and a photo popped up in the message window. Korra clicked on it and a very familiar looking spot and person loaded onto her screen. It was her, and it was her standing in the parking lot of her apartment complex just then, though the angle was much higher.
"Korra," A haunting voiced rained down on her from the second story railing. She turned around and looked up above her apartment door. Asami stood on the shadowy walkway, layered in opaque white smoke that smelled like cherry blossoms. Her hair fell across one of her shoulders and the loose white t-shirt she wore was stained with dirt.
Korra tilted her head upwards in disbelief. "Asami?" She breathed out short laughs and shifted her weight instinctively toward the staircase. "What are you doing here?"
With her free hand, Asami brushed some hair behind her ear and laid the other one across the railing. The cigarette smoke trailed upward in nonsensical spirals into the dark night sky.
"I just moved in today. My old dorm wasn't working out, roommate troubles." She spat before pressing the bent, brown cigarette against her lips. She didn't blow out the smoke, but rather let it coalesce and escape slowly between her teeth and out her nose.
Korra was at a loss for words. Air escaped her open mouth but nothing else squeaked out. She looked up at Asami who was encompassed in a wavering cloud of sakura scented smoke that played with Korra's face and brought her closer with the alluring smell.
"Wait so we're neighbors?"
"Have you eaten yet?" Asami interrupted and breathed out more smoke. She leaned over the railing and looked directly down into Korra's shining blue eyes.
"Uhm, no I haven't." She sighed.
"I'm about to make dinner. Come up and eat with me. Dinner alone is not my idea of a housewarming party."
Korra was headed up the stairs before she could force out an unassuming ‘sure’. Her loose shoelaces on her navy high tops jumped back and forth on each step up to the second story. All she could see was the concrete horizon of the end of the staircase and the more steps she put behind her, the very top and soon the full figure of Asami came into view.
“Come on, we need to catch up.” She walked into the doorway and pulled a finger toward her. Korra moved quickly and walked into the bright apartment. The small hallway led into a large studio room with a kitchenette and a breakfast bar in front of it. Dented and overly taped boxes were stacked symmetrically across the floor. Asami’s mattress was pushed into a corner and the sheets were neatly folded on top, yet to be splayed across the bed. Everything was still packed up except the white coffee table that was placed in the middle of the room. Korra guessed that is where dinner would be served.
“Take a seat wherever, I’ll start dinner.” Asami hummed with a smile. She was being nice as usual but her demeanor seemed off, almost like she didn’t care that Korra was there with her.
“Anything I can do to help?” Korra leaned against the breakfast bar and looked into the kitchen.
Asami covered a pot and turned the burner on, “Nope. You’re the guest so just take a seat. It should be done pretty soon.”
“Ohkay…” Korra trailed off and scanned the room for a suitable seat. Boxes were a no go, the bed was covered with miscellaneous things so she decided on the coffee table. A big, flat pillow was on the floor next to it. She sat down on top of it looked back into the kitchen. “Hey how’s freshman year going?” Her confident voice rang through the box stacks and into Asami’s ears.
“It’s okay I guess. First year engineering students don’t really get to do the fun stuff so it’s just kind of like I’m floating around.” Asami stirred a wooden spoon in the pot.
“Floating?”
“Yeah floating, you know. The feeling you get when you’re not doing anything fun or interesting and you just kinda feel stuck because you know you have to wait it out and all you can really do is be jealous of all the cool and fun stuff other people are doing.” Korra heard a sigh at the tail end of Asami’s words.
“That’s… depressing.” She shifted her weight on the pillow. She could feel the floor through it and it was making her crossed legs fall asleep.
“That’s college,” Asami closed the lid again and leaned over the sink and the breakfast bar. “Not all it’s cracked up to be. Plus my roommate reported me because I kept her up all night working on a project that I’m doing for fun.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah. That and the dorm manager said I couldn’t have welding equipment in a residence hall. So here I am.” She laughed.
“I expected nothing less from you Asami Sato.” Korra smiled back and the two shared a nostalgic laugh.
“Now why is that, Korra?” She leaned further, her chest and stomach pressed against the tiled surface.
“Why is what?”
“Why do you expect nothing less?”
“Oh that.”
“Yes, that. You dork.”
Korra’s cheeks blushed a light red. Her mind flooded with memories of all the moments where her and Asami were close. The feelings welled up inside her and she wanted to give a truthful answer. She cleared her throat and gripped her ankles with her hands. “Well, I expect nothing less because… I uhm think you’re pretty amazing. You’ve always been amazing actually.” She looked down at the ground, anything to make her look less embarrassed. The wood grain of the floor was fake and the pillow she sat on had a few frayed strings. She didn’t want to think about Asami’s reaction. She was prepared for some sarcastic remark like ‘what are you going to confess to me now?’ The answer would be a resounding yes, but Korra’s red flushed face and frozen mind would be an issue.
“You think I’m amazing?” Asami’s facial expression had changed, her cheeks had more of a rose color to them. “I’m not all that great Korra.”
“Yes you are!” Korra shot up from her staring contest with the floor. Asami leaned back a bit at the sudden outburst. “In school you were smart, pretty and popular and everything you did was awesome. I always looked up to you and liked talking to you everyday between class.”
In her line of sight, Korra watched Asami set the burner to low and drop the stirring spoon on a paper towel on the counter. Without a word, Asami walked quickly over to Korra and sat down right next to her. She folded her legs underneath her and inched closer to the pillow.
Asami had this smile on her face that Korra couldn’t really comprehend. It was heartfelt but also in some weird, cosmic way, devious, as if she knew something Korra didn’t.
“Why?” Asami whispered and moved closer to her. Korra had been bright red already but her stomach was filled with tinged nervousness and her chest felt like it may explode. Between the two of them she felt it was strangely warm and familiar yet it felt like an entirely new feeling at the same time. She could feel her breath.
“Why what?” Korra’s sapphire eyes looked up at Asami.
“Why do you think I’m amazing? Tell me. I don’t want you to feed my ego or anything, I just want to know why, you think that, Korra.”
She shifted her weight on the pillow again and her heartbeat traveled all around her body. She could feel each pulse at the ends of her fingers. Korra’s arms were shot straight down, pressing against her ankles and the tenseness of her body made her feel uncomfortable. “I umm… well, because… I’ve always kind of,” Korra looked up at Asami. Her emerald eyes shined in the fluorescent light of the apartment. Those eyes told her to keep going and those eyes encouraged her. “I’ve always had a huge crush on you,” She rushed it all out. “I’ve always really liked you,” She couldn’t stop the words from coming out. “I’ve liked you since the day we met. I didn’t realize it till high school but I always have.”
Korra could feel the silence and the awkwardness generated by her own anxiety. She couldn’t feel Asami’s breath anymore. It was warm and smelled like sakura tobacco, she already missed it. The fear of a ruined moment crept into her mind and she felt like she had to at least apologize. It was very sudden after all.
“I’m sorr--”
Korra’s mouth was shut by a warm and wet sensation on her lips. Asami moved in closer and gently laid her hand on her tanned cheek. Flashes of Korra’s blue eyes fluttered with each blink as she took in the moment. She could see Asami and she could feel Asami on her lips. They parted for only a second and when Korra closed her eyes she felt Asami place another kiss, then another.
The warm and wet feeling suddenly went away, disappearing into the darkness of Korra’s closed eyes. She was left with her head leaned forward and longing for another one.
“You could’ve told me that earlier.”
