Well, after some prompting on tumblr, I decided to give Korrasami Week a try! So, I wrote this first chapter based on the first prompt, Flowers. Turned out different than what I was expecting, but I still like it. Though, in hindsight, this was probably a bad idea because I need to desperately work on The Arts and my homework. Ugh. Yolo.

(-)

Part 1: Flowers

She watched her from across the library, completely uninterested in the "Team Dynamics and Peer Leadership" workbook in front of her. It seemed as though she found herself in this state more and more often these days. Midterms were approaching, and the library had been crammed to the brim with frantic students trying to cram for both their exams during this week of classes and the practicals that were to come in the week to follow. And every day that Korra had been in some part of the library, her eyes had fallen on the raven beauty that was nose deep in thick text books one minute and flipping through multiple notebooks the next.

Korra had been fascinated with this woman for years, though she knew very little about her. She remembered seeing her during orientation, which was a whole two years ago, but she hadn't seen her much since then; her ROTC training had been too time consuming, much to the point that she had started struggling with her third year academics, and she didn't doubt that the raven across the library wasn't busy with her own studies and life. And from what Korra heard, she was doing a much better job in the academic department than the Water Tribe girl was. She would like to think that this was all due to her priorities in ROTC. While Korra was in good physical condition, her strive to be the best on the field amongst both the women and the men had resulted in her running late into the evening, taking brief moments to shower and eat before trying – and usually failing – to get a handle on her medical classes. She could just forget about trying to sleep. Sleep was a distant dream in her world. Korra had become famous amongst her friends as the "narcoleptic", in the sense that Korra could fall asleep anywhere in almost any position because she was so tired that she tried to catch twenty minute maps whenever she could, wherever she could.

Of course she had to be the one to try and balance becoming a vet with training for the army. And in her case, it looked like she was heading more for the latter than the former.

While she was good with animals (particularly, her large dog, Naga, who lived off campus with her), all of this mumbo-jumbo body part terminology, molecular descriptions, and latin, most of all, was driving her off the deep end. She still had a year to go in her coursework at the University, but it was becoming painfully obvious to her that, perhaps, she wasn't quite cut out to be a medical professional.

That didn't leave her with many other options, though.

But this was not something she wanted to think about at the moment.

Korra shook her head and brought her attention back to the woman a few tables away. She took a closer look, expecting another slurry of books opened to different sections in whatever course it was that she was studying; she knew the woman was a chemical engineering major, but she hadn't a clue about what types of classes she had to take in her curriculum – minus the few they had shared, such as, well, chemistry.

Today was different, though. Today, she only had her laptop and a pack of graph paper on the table, from what Korra could tell. At least, she assumed it was graph paper since it seemed like she had been drawing some sort of schematic on the faint-printed grid. The woman's brow was scrunched in concentration as she flicked back and forth between her computer screen and the sheets in front of her. She slid the top one off and put it underneath a fresh page. She started tracing over the image she had previously drawn, her face an inch closer to the paper than it was before.

Korra rested her cheek in her palm, her elbows on the table top, as she stared at the woman – lacking a single ounce of subtlety as she did so.

She's so focused. I wonder what she's doing…

"Gazing at Asami again, aren't you?"

Korra jumped from the sudden voice as her friend and fellow-ROTC comrade, Bolin, plopped beside her, a small stack of books following a similar motion onto the table.

"Wha – what? No. I – I wasn't staring, Bo. I wasn't staring at her, I was just – staring in general. But not at Asami."

Bolin chuckled and tossed his backpack to the ground. "You're not fooling anyone, Korra. And you're especially not fooling me. Don't you think I know you better than that?"

She sighed and turned back to her boring book. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. But I wasn't staring."

"What do you call it, then?" He pulled a notebook from his bag and flipped it to a seemingly random spot in the middle of his borderline-illegible handwriting.

"Wishing I didn't have to read this stupid book." Korra turned a few pages at once until she hit the back cover. The outside slipped from her fingers and closed with a soft thud against the table.

This noise was followed up by the thump of Korra's head in nearly the same spot.

"You didn't sleep last night, did you?"

She shook her head and shut her eyes. "I took a nap this morning, but this book is literally draining me of life. I think I'm already graying."

Bolin laughed. "Oh boy. I don't have much to look forward to next year when I'm in that class, do I?"

"Nope."

"Which book is that?" He slid it out from under Korra's arms as she grumbled an inaudible answer. "Team Dynamics and Peer Leadership. How exciting." He tossed it onto the table with another chuckle and returned to his own material.

"You're telling me," Korra replied, curling a bit more into herself and wishing that she was in bed with Naga instead of trying to study for her exams. Midterms week was her least favorite week of the semester, with finals week coming in as a close second. She was pretty sure it was everyone's least favorite, except for maybe…

She lifted her head just enough to see Asami from across the library once more. Her red lips were beautifully stark against her pale skin. The purple shadow of her lids complimented her peridot eyes. Her loose raven locks cascaded down past her shoulders, uninhibited by a tie and untouched by the stress that would be common amongst most of the students during these past two weeks.

How does she do it? How does she manage to look so well put together, even now?

"You're staring again," Bolin chirped in a teasing tone. The grin on his face was cut short by a sharp pain in his arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

Korra gave him an obvious look and slammed her face back into the table.

"If you think she's so interesting, why don't you just go talk to her?" Bolin offered, rubbing what was sure to be a fresh bruise as he did so.

"It's not that easy, Bo," Korra groaned in defeat.

"Oh, come on! I've seen you take on tougher challenges than this. Remember when you broke your toe on the obstacle course and still kept going, even beating your best time? Or when you sparred with that same broken toe and managed to kick ass?"

Korra sighed and sat up. "That stuff comes easy to me, though. Even though it was probably a stupid move to keep training while it was broken. The nail still doesn't grow right on it – anyway, that's not important." She threw her hands up in defense as she refocused on the topic at hand. "Physical stuff is easy. Brain stuff? Not so much." She glared at her invertebrate anatomy book sticking out of her bag with a mixture of disgust and apprehension.

"So where does that leave 'talking to pretty girls'?"

"That's with the brain stuff –" Korra almost continued when she saw the smirk on Bolin's face. "What?"

"Well, you didn't deny that she's pretty."

Korra froze up for a second and tried to hide it. "Wha – well, she's not not pretty. I mean, have you seen her? I – it's not like I – she –"

"You like her, don't you?"

Her cheeks shot red. "What? No, no, I don't – I don't even know her."

He grinned and sat back in his chair, arms folded over his chest. "Well, whose fault is that?"

Korra opened her mouth to argue but closed it just as quick. She turned away into a tired pout.

"Exactly. You've been pining after Asami since I've known you. Just go say hi to her. It can't be that hard. You came right up to me and introduced yourself during our basic training course."

"Well, you weren't a pretty girl."

"Hey, I would be a beautiful girl! Just have to get a wig, wear some makeup, walk around in heels…"

Korra shook her head and chuckled. "You don't know anything about being a woman, do you Bolin?"

He shrugged. "At least I know how to talk to them."

Korra's pout worsened.

"Just go say hi. What harm could it do?"

"It could ruin any potential friendship we have!"

The annoyance on Bolin's face was crystal clear. "What friendship? Right now, you're just staring at her every day in the library or on the quad or in the food court. That's not much of a friendship to me."

"But what if she thinks I'm a creep?"

"Oh, why would she think that," he asked sarcastically, "other than the fact that you just keep staring at her and looking away whenever she gets close to noticing you?"

Korra narrowed her eyes and gave Bolin another bruise.

"One of these days, I'm going to give you an 'affectionate bruise', as you like to call them."

She chuckled. "I'd like to see you try."

"I'd like to see you try to talk to Asami."

Korra scoffed. "Why do you want this so badly?"

"Because you want it so badly," Bolin gestured as he pulled his ear buds from his bag. "All I'm saying is that I'm trying to look out for you," he popped one of the buds in and plugged the wire into his phone. "Just give it a shot. Maybe then you won't just seem like a creeper peering at her all the time." He scrolled through his music as he fit the other earphone in.

"But I don't know how."

Bolin sighed as he found the album he wanted to study to. "Just be yourself. That's how we became friends, isn't it?"

Contemplation consumed her expression.

I suppose he's right on that one.

Korra looked away and glanced across the library once more. Asami was packing up her papers and shutting her laptop down.

Shit, she's leaving.

Maybe it's for the better.

She peered at Bolin beside her.

Or maybe Bolin is right.

Well, you better get moving if you want to do something about it now.

Asami was approaching the door when Korra shot up from her seat.

Bolin watched her half-walk, half-run after the engineering student. He shook his head and chuckled to himself before returning to his chicken scrawl.

(-)

Korra ran up to Asami just as she exited the library. In the commotion of opening the second door, the raven managed to drop her phone. Korra jumped on the opportunity. "Oh, hey, let me get that for you," she bent down and grabbed the phone, "your hands look a little full." She offered the device back with a sheepish smile, her three wolf tails blowing in the gentle spring breeze.

Asami faced her, taken a bit aback by the person right behind her. "Oh – um, thanks." She mimicked the embarrassed grin and took her phone from Korra's outstretched palm. She glanced down at it and almost turned away when she stopped. Her peridots met the oceans before her with a brow raised. "Wait, I've seen you before."

Korra did everything she could to hide her mild panic.

Oh man, she knows, she knows, doesn't she? I'm the creepy girl that always stares at her even though I don't mean to, I just –

"You're Korra, right," Asami asked, cutting Korra's thoughts off.

"I – uh, yeah! That's me!" She pointed to herself with her thumbs and smiled again, using this as a defense mechanism to prevent the pure horror inside of her from leaking out to her surface.

Relax. Breathe. Be cool. Be yourself.

"You're Asami, right?"

Asami smiled and nodded, leaning against the chest-height wall of the walkway beside her. "You're two for two."

"That's a good thing, right?"

She chuckled. "I would say so. It's certainly better than zero." Her phone pinged just as she finished. She glanced down at it and replied to the message at incredible speed, given she was only using one hand; the other had been holding a book too big for her cluttered bag.

Korra stood there in awkward silence for the three seconds that it took Asami to respond, somewhat frozen in admiration of the woman before her; this had been the closest she had ever been to the raven, and she was even more beautiful up close. The faint fragrance of lilies floated over to her nose. She did everything she could not to blush.

"Sorry about that; just a study group wondering where I am."

"Oh! I'll, uh, let you get to what you were doing."

Asami smiled in gratitude. "Thanks again, Korra." She slid the phone into her pocket and adjusted the strap on her bag before turning around to leave.

You're missing your opportunity, Korra. Do something!

"Wait," she almost hollered, forcing Asami to stop in her tracks at the end of the walkway. Korra jogged up to her as the engineering student faced her. "I – um, I was wondering if, well… I mean –"

Get it together, Korra!

"I – well, I've seen you around, a lot, and I – I think you're really cool and, stuff, and I was wondering, well, I'd like to get to know you so – do you want to be friends?" The words flew out of her mouth much quicker than she anticipated. A deep blush followed. Korra averted her eyes and turned her back on Asami out of embarrassment. "I – uh, never mind. I should get going." Before she could sprint away, a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She let it guide in a half circle. Her sheepish blues met the peridots across from her, which held hesitation that was covered up with amusement.

"How about we get some tea sometime? The break from studying and working on projects would be nice."

Befuddlement crossed her face. Perhaps shock would be a better word. "R – really?"

Asami nodded, knowing that there was no turning back on her decision. "Here," she pulled a piece of paper from her bag – a piece of graphing paper – and scribbled a number on it. "Text me." She smiled and handed the sheet to Korra.

Korra took it in an almost dazed state.

Is this really happening?

"I – um, thanks. I will!" She grinned back, holding the page tight in her fingers.

"Cool. Maybe we can meet up tonight or something–" Another ping interrupted her. Asami sighed and pulled her phone from her pocket. "I've got to go; study group." She turned and walked at a quick pace. "I'll see you later, Korra," she called over her shoulder, "text me!"

Korra watched after her, her smile morphing into a goofy one, as she waved back. "Will do," she whispered to herself in disbelief.

(-)

"So, how'd it go?" Bolin pulled an earplug from his ear, his grin widening when he saw a piece of paper in her hand. "Looks like it went well!"

Korra smiled back and plopped into her chair. "Yeah, it did."

"Sounds like someone was right about something." He crossed his arms, hinting at some sort of statement of appreciation and boasting nonetheless.

Instead, he got an "affectionate bruise".

"So, what did she say?"

"She wants me to text her. She wants to get tea sometime."

"Sounds like a good start to me!"

Korra stared down at the paper, tracing over the number time and time again.

"So, are you going to text her?"

"Of course I am. I just don't know when."

"Hmmm… if you do it too soon, then you might look desperate. But if you don't do it soon enough, it might look like you aren't interested. This is a tough one."

Korra groaned and slammed her head onto the desk again. "Why are girls so hard, Bolin? I'm a girl, I'm supposed to understand them, right?"

He shrugged. "Well, what would you want to happen if you had given Asami your number instead?"

Korra thought for a moment before sitting up and shoving the paper into her pants pocket. "I'm gonna go take a walk," she murmured as she packed her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

"You're going to go ask Naga, aren't you?"

Dammit, Bolin!

Her cheeks flushed as she turned away from him and left the library. So what if she was going to consult her dog on the matter? Who would know what to do better than her best friend?

Maybe someone who can actually text.

Korra grumbled to herself and took the chain off of her bike. With a deep breath, she kicked off and raced home.

(-)

She stared at her phone as she lay on her couch, a soft breeze coming in from the window. Naga, of course, had not been much help. If anything, she just cocked her head and jumped into Korra's lap for a snuggle fest.

"It's been half an hour. I think that's long enough. Do you think that's long enough?"

Naga lifted her head, yawned, and lowered it back onto Korra's chest.

She sighed. "Well, here goes nothing."

_ _ _ Hey Asami! This is Korra. We met outside the library today.

Korra almost tossed her phone aside after a few minutes of nothingness when she saw the little 'typing' icon at the bottom of her screen.

Hey, Korra! It's Asami. We met outside the library today.

Korra chuckled.

_ _ _ Good, you remember me then lol.

Of course I remember you. How are things going?

_ _ _ Good haha. Just got home and now I'm hanging out with Naga.

Naga?

_ _ _ Oh, Naga's my dog! Forgot to mention that part.

You have a dog? That's so cool!

_ _ _ Haha, thanks. She's a sweetheart. She likes to snuggle and she's currently smothering me on my couch.

Aww. Sounds pretty adorable to me.

Naga isn't the only one who's adorable.

Korra blushed.

_ _ _ She pretty much is. You'll have to meet Naga sometime.

How about tonight?

_ _ _ Tonight? Do they allow dogs at the tea shop?

Not quite. But you could come to my place. I've got plenty of tea, though most of it is jasmine.

_ _ _ That's okay! I love jasmine tea!

Good then. Why don't you stop over at seven?

Her heart fluttered.

_ _ _ Sounds good to me. I'll bring Naga.

I was hoping you would! See you then.

Korra grinned and checked the time. She had an hour to shower and get ready, though she wasn't quite sure what ready was. For now, it would be smelling better and having her wolf tails slightly more presentable than they currently were. She would work out the details later.

"Come on, Naga. I gotta get ready." She pushed her dog off of her, much to Naga's chagrin.

Naga barked and circled on the end of the couch before plopping down once more. She stayed that way until about quarter to seven and lifted her head only when Korra frantically rushed to her phone, tying her final wolf tail in place as she did so. She shot Asami a quick text and scratched Naga's ear.

_ _ _ Hey, Asami. Quick question. Where do you live?

Lol. 152 6th street.

_ _ _ Thanks. On my way!

(-)

_ _ _ Hey Asami. I'm here. I think... Do you see me?

I see you. I'm coming out now.

Coming out?

"Sit, Naga."

Naga barked and did as she was told.

"Good girl," Korra bent over and pet her dog just as Asami popped out of her apartment.

"Hey," she skipped down the steps, a basket in the crook of her elbow. "Are you ready to go?"

Korra straightened and cocked her head. "Go where?"

Asami held the thicket carrier up. "I packed some food and tea. I thought it would be nice to get away from campus for a little while. You don't mind, do you?"

She smiled. "No, not at all. This is Naga, by the way." Korra stepped to the side a bit and gestured to her rather large canine companion.

Naga's tail wagged in an instant as she panted.

"Hello there, Naga. It's nice to meet you." She bent down just a bit so that she was at Naga's level. "Can I pet her?"

Naga barked before Korra could answer.

"That's a yes," Korra chuckled, an embarrassed hand behind her head.

Asami grinned and scratched Naga behind her ear, hitting her favorite spot without even trying.

This is a good start.

"Alright, let's go. I've got the perfect place in mind." Asami rose and straightened her jacket. There were two half gears on the shoulder pads, the garb a mixture of red and black.

Korra nodded and followed her, beckoning Naga to come with them with a gentle gesture of her head. Not that the animal needed much convincing; Korra could already tell that Naga and Asami were going to get along just fine.

Now it's just up to me.

(-)

They walked for quite some time through Republic City, making small talk and getting to know each other as they did so. They conversed until they reached a park on the outskirts of the City. It was quiet as the sun hung low, not quite starting to set though its position brought about the coolness of a spring evening. An occasional runner or family would pass through. Birds flew overhead between the trees and squirrels ran about on the ground, though they sprinted away once they saw Naga eyeing them.

"I like coming to this park when I need a study break. It's so gentle here." Asami led them through the park until they reached its edge, its border facing the mountains surrounding the United Republic of Nations. They walked until they reached a small path lined with red brick. A sign was near the entrance that read "The Gardens".

Korra looked around at the greening life surrounding her. Some areas had small, gradient blue and purple flowers blooming. Others were simply bushes, their thorns hidden by the incoming buds. Short plants with spiky, vertical leaves forced their way through the ground now that the frost had long passed.

"It's much more beautiful here in the summer, though my favorite is in the fall." Asami moved to a single bench in the center of the garden and sat on it, placing the basket on her lap.

Korra sat beside her, Naga at their feet. "Why is it your favorite in the fall?"

"Because of the roses." There was a mixture of emotions in her voice. "Roses are my favorite. Some of the most beautiful roses I've ever seen I've seen in this garden. Orange ones and pink ones and white ones." A gentle breeze passed through her hair as she glanced over at the section of the landscape that held all of the roses. A heaviness filled her heart. "It's nice not to be alone this time."

Korra raised her brow. "What do you mean?"

Asami opened the basket and removed a small container, its sides warm in her hands. She took out two small mugs and placed them on the other side of the bench as she poured the jasmine tea. "Usually, I come here by myself. Sometimes it's nice, but other times, it's a bit lonely." She handed Korra a cup.

"I can see what you mean," Korra replied as she took the mug from Asami. "Why do you come by yourself, then? Don't any of your friends ever want to come with you?"

"Sometimes." She left it at that, though that was a lie; she didn't want to admit that she didn't have many friends. Even her study group was just a bunch of her project partners. They didn't know her favorite song or her favorite color. All they knew was that she was smart, and that's all they needed to know when it came to their academics. Asami shook this off and pulled several sandwiches from the basket. "I hope you like peanut butter and jelly. I haven't had time to go shopping the past week or so."

Korra chuckled. "It's alright, Asami. PB and J is one of my favorites when I'm here." She pulled the wrapping away from the sandwich and bit into it, a hum of satisfaction escaping her.

Asami smiled and followed suit. They ate their sandwiches in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet and ignoring the odd tension in the air.

"You know," Asami spoke up, "I was wondering when you were going to introduce yourself to me. I've seen you staring at me for quite some time."

Korra almost choked on her current bite. "What? No, I – I wasn't –"

Asami laughed. "I've noticed you staring at me since freshman year."

She turned away to hide her red cheeks. "Really?"

Asami nodded.

Korra looked out into the scenery, the sky starting to shift in hue from the setting sun. "Then why didn't you ever say anything? You could have told me to stop."

"I didn't want you to, to be honest." It was Asami's turn to avert her gaze. "I've wanted to talk to you for a while, too. But I was – I've been going through a lot the past few years. I haven't… I wasn't ready. I haven't felt ready to branch out to people. But then you came up to me and you were so kind to me. I guess it was just the opportunity that I needed."

Korra lowered her tea mug and stared at Asami, who was avoiding her ocean eyes. "What happened that made the past few years so rough?"

"Other than being an engineering student?" She chuckled, though it was just to mask the pain. She knew the real answer to Korra's question and just didn't feel right in hiding it. She took a breath to keep herself together. "My mother passed away my freshman year. She died of cancer. None of us saw it coming until it was terminal. I – I didn't get to say goodbye."

Her heart sunk. "Asami…" She didn't know what to say. "Were you two close?"

Asami nodded. "I was like her little clone." She smiled at this. "We used to do everything together. Her and my dad and I. It hit me hard. That's why I – I've been a bit closed off from others…"

"Asami," Korra reached out and held her hand in as innocent of a way as she could. "I'm here for you. I know it might be too late and we've only made small talk and what not, but – you don't have to do this alone. You have a friend."

The expression on her face was a mixture of happiness and utter heartbreak. Her insides waged war and she struggled to keep the tears from breaching. She had neglected her social life and self-care to focus on her academics, to be the best she could be for her mother, to distract herself the best she could. She looked away, though she kept her hand in Korra's. "I'm sorry for this. I know it must seem like a lot when we've just gotten to know each other for the first time. I'm not the type to dump my problems on other people."

"I don't see it that way at all, Asami." She gave her hand a squeeze and glanced at the garden around them. "Were roses your mom's favorite, too?"

Asami nodded. "We used to garden together. We had a rose garden. Her favorite was the limbo rose. She planted some the month I was born, because their color reminded her of me, of my eyes." She lifted her head and stared at the budding rose bushes across the path.

"What's your favorite type of rose?"

"Me? I really like Kormarter roses. They look like sunrises." She smiled and squeezed Korra's hand back, grateful for just… everything. It didn't seem like much from someone on the outside, but no one knew what it was like to be in her head. "Thank-you for this. Really. I – wasn't expecting to have this reaction while being here with someone else."

"Like I said, Asami, it's okay. I'm – I'm just glad that you let me share this moment with you. If it's important to you, then it's important to me."

Their eyes locked, a gentle grin on each of their faces.

But to Korra, it just didn't seem like enough.

"Come on," Korra pulled her up from the bench in a sudden burst of energy. "Let's walk around and check out the gardens." She chugged the rest of her tea, Naga already wagging her tail at her side.

Asami smirked and packed the basket, breaking the physical contact between the two of them. She tucked the carrier into her arm by the handle, thankful that she had given Korra a chance. She hoped not to talk about the negatives for a while. Just the positives. Just for now…

Korra urged her onward, though she actively avoided the rose garden to ease Asami's recalled pain.

Asami was drawn to the yellow flowers of the forsythias. Naga sniffed a white and maroon daphne, sneezing after taking in the pollen. Korra admired the blue and purple scillas, their colors reminding her of her home back in the south. They appreciated the simplicity of the moment, of the beauty around them, of the setting sun and the time spent together. Most of all, they welcomed not only the blossoming flowers, but the blossoming friendship between them.