"So... when exactly?"

The night is still young, and the breeze is warm. Snuggled up against Korra's chest with those arms around her, Asami feels just the right amount of warmth and comfort. Listening to and counting Korra's steady heartbeats, she almost dozes off until she hears those three words.

"When exactly?" Asami repeats as she leans even more into Korra's embrace. Opening her eyes slightly, oh we're still in the gazebo. They have been sitting there for a while now after they excused themselves after dinner, chatting and cuddling.

Or rather, it started with chatting and cuddling, and turned into more cuddling, less chatting in the past hour or so. Neither of them minded. They still chatted about… things, like did you read any good book lately, we should go see that new mover, Opal asked us to double date with them, oh Mako's been acting weird lately I think he's got a girlfriend, uh-huh but how do you know it's a girlfriend…

… things.

"Yeah," Surely Korra has that adorable lop-sided grin on her face judging by the smile in her voice, "I was just wondering, you know, when you started to like me."

Ohhhhh. Asami chuckles softly, "I've always liked you, you know that."

"Nooooo," Korra snickers as her arms around Asami tighten just the slightest bit, "I mean… when you started to like like me."

"Hmmmmm," Asami muses, turning her head slightly around and upward to catch the color rising in Korra's cheeks, "Promise you won't laugh if I tell you."

Korra nods and blows a puff of air gently into her hair, "Airbender's honor."

"Not the hair! "Asami giggles and settles back into the embrace, "I told you my mom used to read me bedtime stories about you all the time, right?"

"By me you mean the avatar, but not me avatar," Korra's hands are now randomly playing with her jacket.

"Sweetie, you weren't born yet." Asami's hands found Korra's and she laced their fingers together, "And yeah, about all of you. Stories about how gallant Wan was, how resourceful Yangchen was, how powerful Kyoshi was, how honorable Roku was, how kind Aang was, and how— well, how much of a free spirit Kuruk was—"

Korra starts snickering again.

"You know what I mean," Asami smiles, "I've been listening to those stories ever since I was a baby, and I own every avatar book ever published. Then a few years later, they found the new avatar—"

"Me," Korra is blowing softly into her hair again.

"Yes, you," Asami pinches one of Korra's fingers gently, "I was just so happy that the new avatar is a little girl just like me, you know? My mom showed me your picture in the newspaper, and you looked so adorable—"

Korra is now pinching her finger back, also gently, "I know. Wasn't I a cute kid?"

"Yes, the cutest, you little outie," Asami laughs and squeezes Korra's arm lightly, "I was just so happy, and I think I've always liked you since that day. I have a scrapbook with every article written about you, that's why-" She smiles bashfully and pats Korra's arm affectionately, "when I saw you in the gala, it didn't feel like the first time you know? I felt like I've known you for a long time, and I've always liked you, liked liked you."

She feels Korra's arms tighten around her again as she leans down to kiss her forehead, once, twice and thrice. Gently and affectionately.

"You're so sweet," Korra whispers into her hair.

Asami laughs as she relaxes into the embrace even more, looking up at Korra's adorable smile, "And you're so soft. You make an excellent pillow, the best pillow."

"Always glad to be of service," Korra smirks, ah, there's that lop-sided grin again.

The night is still young, and the breeze is warm. Still snuggled up against Korra's chest with those arms around her, Asami starts to play with Korra's fingers. "So what about you?" She asks almost absent-mindedly as she affectionately pokes Korra's left ring finger with her own.

"Me? You mean when I started to like like you?" One of Korra's right fingers is now drawing circles on her nose.

"Yes," Her right hand goes up, catches Korra's finger and brings it down to her lips. She kisses the finger.

"Hmmmmm," Korra sounds thoughtful, "That's a really good question."

"Was it when we went into the spirit world?" She kisses that finger again.

"No, it was earlier than that." Still thoughtful.

"Was it when you called me snazzy?" She is now holding Korra's right hand with her own.

"Nah, still earlier than that."

"Oh?" Asami turns her head slightly up to look at Korra, a bit surprised, "Was it when you wrote to me?"

"Probably even earlier than that," Korra says, "You know what, I don't really know when I started to like like you." She smirks again as she sits up a bit straighter, pulling Asami up as well but still holding her with one arm, "I mean, I know I started to like you as soon as I figured out that I had you pegged wrong, but I can't figure out exactly when I started to like like you."

"Ah, so you've always liked me since?" Asami smiles as she tickles Korra's palm.

"I have," Korra nods, "Maybe I've even liked liked you since. You were always there, you know? Even when I wasn't, you were still there."

"Sweetie," Asami says softly, bringing Korra's palm to her lips again and kisses it, once, twice and thrice. Gently and affectionately. "You've always liked liked me too."

"Yeah, " Korra laughs and holds her even closer, "And I think I'll always like like you."

"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun." - Jane Austen

Thank you for reading! I love Korrasami but never wrote any story for them... well, you gotta start somewhere. This may be a warm-up piece as I try to get the hang of writing for these two amazing characters.

Again thanks for reading! Feedback definitely appreciated. :)