"How much does this stuff cost?" Korra pored over her menu as if it were an ancient scroll, or a battle map. "It doesn't list prices anywhere."

"If you have to ask," I said, peering over the edge of my own menu, "you probably can't afford it."

Korra's expression faltered, "Oh. Think they give an Avatar discount?"

"They won't have to. Dinner's on me."

"You don't have to do this, Asami."

"Actually, I kind of do." I smiled, ruefully. "Kaga's is the most exclusive resturant in Republic City. You wouldn't believe the amount of trouble I went through to get these reservations. Heck, I'm just glad that it wasn't damaged when Unalaq attacked the city." The savory scents of cooking food wafted through the little restaurant, accompanied by the soft sounds of the house band.

"I dunno." Korra's braids swayed gently as she looked the resturant over. Again. I wondered if she knew she was sizing the place up, or if she did it by some warrior instinct. Korra had picked a booth with her back to the wall, and she kept herself from relaxing entirely, in case she had to suddenly spring into action (or at least run away from the bill). "This whole place...just seems a little too fancy for me. Should I have worn a dress? I should've worn a dress."

"You're the Avatar." I set my menu flat on the table, and leaned forward. "You can wear whatever you want. And you can order whatever you want."

"Okay, if you insist." Korra went back to studying her menu. "But you don't get to complain if I turn out to be a pricey date."

Date.

She said date.

Oh spirits, were we actually on a date? By the technical definition, I realized, we might have been. I mean, I'd made the reservations, picked her up in my car, and...well, that was all there was. Really. It would've been just the same as if it were a business dinner with an important client or supplier I wanted to impress.

Wait. Did I want to impress Korra?

It was about then I realized I should be talking to ward off the inevitable uncomfortable silence.

Thankfully, Korra spoke up before I had to."Whoa!" Her face lit up with puppylike enthusiasm. "They've got Bigfish!"

"Big...fish? Like...a whale or a shark or something?"

"Not a big fish." Korra explained. "Bigfish. It's its own thing."

"I don't follow."

"Here!" Korra turned her menu around and pointed to an entry at the bottom of the page. "It's a Southern Water Tribe specialty. They only come to the surface once a year, and they're really, really hard to catch. It's kind of a rite of passage to bring one back to your village." Korra smirked at me, smug. "I got my first Bigfish when I was twelve. I was the youngest person to get one since Warchief Sokka, they say."

"Sounds...impressive?" I ventured.

"It's super impressive. Trust me. You paddle out in a kayak, and throw out some chum- only you have to throw out juuuuust the right amount, because if you put out to little, you don't get any fish, and if you put out too much, you'll just attract a bunch of seal-sharks, which will scare off the bigfish. But then, if you're patient, all you need to do is wait for just the right moment, and then BAM, you stick them with harpoon! Right between the eyes."

"Oh. Okay?"

"Once you catch one, you drag it back to your village, and everyone carves off a steak, and you roll them up in seaweed and roast them as soon as you can." She closed her eyes, fairly shivering at the memory. "So. Juicy."

"Wait." A thought struck me. "I thought you were a vegetarian?"

"You did? Why?"

"You know, the whole Avatar thing?"

"Aang was vegetarian. Tenzin's vegetarian. It's an Air Nomad thing. I'm from the Water Tribe- our diet's like seventy percent seafood and seal meat."

"So...eating meat doesn't interfere with the whole 'at one with the universe,' thing?"

"Nah, not really. The way I see it, I'm helping the cycle of nature. Fish eat each other. The the Bigfish eats those, and then I get to eat the BigFish. Everything has a place in nature. It's just that the Bigfish is delicious so its place is in my mouth."

"That's...surprisingly well thought out. You've had this discussion with Tenzin, haven't you?"

"Not about Bigfish specifically, but meat in general, yeah. Usually whenever Bumi visits."

"Makes sense."

"But you've got to try Bigfish, Asami." Korra leaned across the table and took my hands in hers, her strong fingers capturing mine in her "It'll be the greatest thing you ever eat. I promise."

"Okay, okay," I couldn't help but smile at Korra's eagerness. "We'll get the Bigfish. But you've got to try the cabbage rolls."

"Deal."

I waved the waiter over, and placed our order.

The service at Kaga's was excellent, as usual. The cabbage rolls I'd ordered as an appetizer came before long. Korra and I made short work of them. The pickly taste of the cabbage was balanced by the sweet plum wine the waiter had brought us- "Compliments of the house, Miss Sato." he said.

All and all, things were going well until the entrees arrived.

Korra attacked her plate no sooner had it been laid on the table. It's one thing to see the Avatar fight- it's another entirely to watch her eat. After she'd shoveled the first few morsels into her mouth, Korra frowned, chewing thoughtfully.

"Something wrong?" I said.

To Korra's credit, she waited until she was done chewing to talk. "It's...different."

"Well, they're not going to prepare it like your family does-"

"I know, it's just not what I was expecting, I guess. I mean, it's good, but..." Korra trailed off, and gave a pained sigh. "Have you ever gotten suddenly, inexplicably homesick?"

"I've never left Republic City for more than a week." I said, and turned my eyes down to start picking at my own slab of bigfish. Tantalizing smells wafted up as the pink meat flaked off of the bone. "But...I'll try to understand?"

"Maybe I just need to drag you off on some crazy adventure off in the Earth Kingdom or something so you'll have enough time to miss home."

"You know, I think I'd like that." I smiled.

"What's this? What's this?" Chef Kaga sailed out of the kitchen, his embroidered apron flapping around him like a cloak. "The Avatar? And Miss Sato? In my humble restaurant? What a pleasant surprise!"

A lie, of course, given the trouble I'd made to get the reservations in the first place, not to mention the inevitable murmurs of the waitstaff upon our arrival.

"You ordered the bigfish fillets, yes? I compliment you on your most discerning of tastes! I can only offer it on special, rare occasions- what fortuitous portents that we were able to stock it today, when our most honored guests were able to grace Chef Kaga's with their eminence! Please, tell me, Avatar Korra, what do you think of my humble cooking?" Kaga waggled his eyebrows, and waved over a waiter with a camera who had materialized from somewhere.

"It's...okay?" Korra said as diplomatically as she could manage.

Kaga's face fell. "Okay? Merely...okay? Surely, I have wronged you somehow, that you would wound me in this manner!"

"No, no, it's fine! It's just...not...not what I expected, that's all. I'm just used to having this a little...fresher, that's all." Korra held up her hands, placatingly.

"Fresher? Fresher?" Kaga's face turned as red as the wallpaper. "How dare you? I only stock the freshest ingredients- why, that very fish on your plate was caught less than two weeks ago!"

"Two weeks?" Korra said, insulted. "No wonder it tastes funny. Everyone knows bigfish is best served when it's still bleeding."

Kaga shrieked, and one of the waiters in the background dropped his platter with a crash of shattered porcelain. "If you wanted to murder me, Avatar, I wish you would but do it quickly!" he fell back into the arms of two waiters, who had positioned themselves in just the right spot in case of this eventuality. "It's simply impossible, impossible to get bigfish any quicker than that! Transport alone takes days- not to mention how long it takes for everything to process through customs. Why, you'd need to be some sort of criminal fish-smuggler to get bigfish any fresher than two weeks old! What do you take me for, Avatar?"

"Wait." Korra said. "Did you just say criminal fish smuggler? Is that a thing?"

I didn't like the look in Korra's eye.

Really, I didn't like the look in anyone's eyes at that point. Especially since all those eyes were pointed at us.

"How should I know? Do I look like a criminal?" Kaga shrilled as he levered himself back up to his feet. "I'll not allow such licentious slander to be thrown about within the walls of my very own resturant! Out, out, out, with the both of you!"

Korra stood.

Everyone stepped back.

I took solace in the fact that everyone was at least looking at Korra, instead of me.

"C'mon Asami." Korra said, glaring pointedly at Chef Kaga. "I just got an idea!"

"Uh. Sure." I said, mostly glad for an excuse to get out of the resturant before someone started throwing punches or flame bolts. I fished a few bills from my purse, more than enough to cover the tab, and left them on the table.

Guests and waitstaff alike stepped out of Korra's way as she stormed out of the resturant- I was left to simply follow in her wake like a mouse-duckling.

"Oh, one last thing-" Korra looked over her shoulder once we reached the door. "Can we get a to-go bag?"