Silence. "Asami? Are you still there?" Korra pressed the radio against her ear, listening for any kind of sound from the other end.

"Was it for a good reason," she whispered, so softly that Korra almost didn't hear her.

"Yes, it was." She let out a ragged breath and combed her hand through her hair. Korra knew it was impossible, but she hoped Asami could pick up on the waves of love and affection she was trying to send over the radio.

"Are you going to leave again?"

Korra winced at the question, and felt a mixture of guilt and anger and most of all, sadness, flow through her heart. "Yes."

"Goodbye, Korra." The line went dead.

"Damn it!" She slammed the receiver down, fighting back the tears spilling from her eyes.

"Asami? Are you still there?"

Snapping out of it, she gave an apologetic smile to Opal. "Yeah, sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night. I had a lot of paperwork to look over."

Opal didn't miss the vacant stare her friend wore a couple of seconds ago, but she thought it best not to mention it. "That's okay. I really appreciate you helping me set up for the wedding. I'm trying to remain calm but the more I think about it the less time I realize I have."

She smiled at her friend again, this time it reached her eyes. "Well, if you're looking for someone with impeccable time management skills, you've come to the right person. Don't worry about it, everything will get done. I'll make sure of it." She gave her a wink, and went back to arranging the flowers on the tables.

The sun's rays were beating down on Asami, and it was refreshing to feel the warmth wash over her skin. She pulled her hair up and out of her face, looking out towards the water. She was excited for the wedding. It was all Bolin could talk about. Even Mako was excited. And it was a great distraction from thinking about Korra. Sort of.

"So, Korra is going to be at the wedding," Opal said innocently, trying to gauge her friend's reaction. "She bought a dress and everything."

"Oh? That's nice," she answered, hoping she could read in between the lines and pick up on the fact that she really did not want to talk about Korra at all.

"Yeah, Bolin and I are just really excited that she's going to be there..." she trailed off, waiting for any sort of reaction from Asami. When none came, she went over to her friend and placed a comforting hand on her back. She felt Asami stiffen under her touch, but she didn't back down. "Okay, I get it. I know you don't want to talk about her, but not talking about her doesn't help you, either, and I never want to see you hurting like that again. So I'm just going to round this up by saying: I love Korra, and I'm not so secretly hoping that you two get your fairy tale ending, but I love you just as much, and I promise that I'll always be here for you if it turns out you don't."

Asami threw herself into her latest project. Usually, when she was upset, working with her hands would help take her mind off of things, but even this wasn't helping. Giving up, she wiped the grease off her hands with a nearby towel and decided to treat herself to a bath. She ran the hot water and used the special bath soap she got from the Fire Nation along with her shampoo. Sinking in, she tried to will herself to relax.

It happened again. How could she let this happen again? Asami liked clear cut boundaries. Yes or no; black or white; right or wrong. Those well defined lines she could work with. Those she could handle. It was why she was so good at her job. She forgot just how muddled those lines could get when it came to Korra.

And it really pissed her off, too. She was making progress. She no longer bought every newspaper or magazine that mentioned the Avatar, just to try to see if she could piece together where she was. She no longer cried herself to sleep every night, praying that she would just come back home. She even packed away all of the things Korra left behind, without shedding one single tear. If that wasn't progress, she didn't know what was. And all of that, three years of heart breaking progress, down the drain, just like that.

Mako found Korra sitting on the ledge of the cliff, watching the sun set. Taking a seat beside her, he let out a deep sigh. "So," he said, bumping his shoulder to hers, "the wedding is tomorrow. Are you bringing a date?"

Korra turned her head to face him and chuckled. "Hate to break it to you Mako, but I don't think the phrase 'third time's the charm' is going to really work out for us."

"What! No! That's not where I was going with that," he said in exasperation, face turning bright red. "I was talking about Asami!"

Korra's shoulders slumped. "Oh...no, I don't think that's a good idea." She willed herself not to cry, and looked out towards the horizon.

Mako graciously looked away, pretending he didn't see her hastily wipe a tear from her eye. "Why won't you tell us why you left? At least me?" He followed her gaze out towards the sky, not wanting to make eye contact.

"I just can't. Not yet, anyway." She looked at him, hoping he could hear the sincerity in her voice. "Please, just trust me on this? This isn't easy for me, either."

"Not easy for you? Korra, you left us without any word, any warning. Asami wouldn't even -"

"Stop!" Korra stood up quickly, her anger getting the best of her. "I get it, okay? I hurt a lot of people. You, Bolin, Opal, the Airbenders - you don't have to tell me that. I know. You don't think I know how she feels? How much she's hurting?" She took a step towards him, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "Of course I do, because I'm feeling all of those things, too!"

Mako jumped up, wrapping her in a warm embrace. "Okay," he soothed, "I trust you. If you can't tell anyone, I won't push you." He took a step back, keeping his hands on her shoulders and searching her eyes. "I just...I care about Asami." When he saw the confusion in Korra's eyes, he dropped his hands into a peaceful gesture. "Not like that, Korra," he placated. "After you left, she didn't take it well, obviously. And I was there for her. Strictly as a friend," he added, just to make sure he was being clear. "I'm not saying it wasn't easy for you, Korra. I'm just saying that I know how hard it was for her, and I'd rather not see her go through it again. And I really want you to know that whatever it is you're going through, I can be there for you, too."