I'm supposed to be working on some other stuff right now, but then this happened. Two hours later and I'm not sorry. Apologies for any mistakes, all mine and I take full blame. Didn't feel like bothering my beta with this little short, it was more just a fun way to unwind from some writers block. :) Also, it was hella fun to play with these awesome characters for a bit.

Iroh Needs to Be More Specific

The vacation had thus far been a series of massive hits; perfect tea with Iroh, a relaxing and only slightly awkward swim at Wan's favorite place (Korra hadn't meant for her hand to land there…. well, not yet anyway.) There was even that nice impromptu stroll with Jinora's spirit in an endless field of rose-lilies (though Korra's still convinced she'd only been there to spy on them at Ikki's behest and couldn't exactly find a place to hide what with, you know, an endless field of knee-high flowers stretching out for days.) Asami hadn't minded, and even appreciated hearing the news that despite being gone three days her company was still thriving and not, as she sometimes feared, engulfed in life-ruining flames. Korra liked the times she got to reassure her otherwise. It involved touching.

She really, really enjoys all the touching.

Being able to reach out and hold Asami's hand, feel lips press ever so gently to her cheek and curl into a smile, the thread of fingers through her short hair at night… spirits, just being near Asami like that made all the massive misses of the trip so much easier to swallow. Misses so big Korra is sure somewhere deep in the Foggy Swamp, Toph is erecting a statue of her in mud just so she can slap it until a time she can slap Korra herself. First there was the unfortunate lives long banishment from Wan Shi Tong's Spirit Library... whatever. No big deal. It's not like she was really looking forward to reconnecting with the histories of her lost-forever past lives or anything. But he was being so rude to Asami. What was she supposed to do? Not set his tail feathers on fire?

And then she'd taken Asami to the Tree of Time. She was so excited to show it to her, to watch as Asami had a chance to relive fond moments of her father, her mother… but Asami had maybe felt too much, and the Tree of Time, while totally capable of entrapping the spirit of chaos for ten thousand years suddenly couldn't deal with the feelings of one very emotional twenty-two year old. The images got fuzzy, screams started echoing, and there was fire… fire in all the memories.

Korra pulled Asami out, terrified of the shaking, suddenly so very fragile woman she held in her arms. She couldn't fix the past. She couldn't take back what Asami had seen… what she lived though, Korra had to remind herself. Even as they settled down into their bedrolls, closer that night than they'd ever dared before, Asami had thanked her for bringing her to the Tree. Thanked her. Korra could only lay there, stunned as Asami kissed her goodnight, and then promptly curled away to sleep.

Korra lay awake for hours afterward. It was maddening.

Even now, is still maddening.

Is this how Asami always dealt with trauma? Thanks for taking me to a tree that showed me my parents dying, again, I'm completely fine with how I fell apart all over you, sweet dreams by the way! Korra cringes. Even the imaginary Asami in her head sounds like a wreck.

No, they needed to talk about this… well, a lot of things really. The touching for one, yes. But this grief, this bottling up of Asami's most guarded emotions, this they need to talk about soon. And Korra gets it. She's been there, been there so many times she thinks the scars have cut so deep into her soul that even the next Avatar will find themselves waking on cold nights wondering why they suddenly feel so alone.

She doesn't want Asami to ever feel alone...

The deep rise and fall of the shoulders wrapped tight beneath Asami's bedroll tells her she's asleep. Whatever Korra may have wanted to say will have to wait till morning. She'll heat up the custard buns Iroh packed for them and ask her how she's feeling.

Simple.

So Korra falls into a fitful sleep herself, hoping that Asami won't push her away when morning finally comes.

Her eyes snap open, wide and alert a few hours later.

Someone is crying. Specifically a very young, very distressed someone. Korra sits up from her bedroll, the hair on the left side of her head sticking up and out and everywhere, sleep still weighing heavily in her muscles but her mind focused and sharp.

Flames quickly ignite in her raised palm.

Around her the spirit world has darkened. The once vibrant purple of the drooping willow vines has turned a dull grey, the water of the idle stream now a churning, frothy tide splashing against the muddy shores and rocks. Even the golden light of the firefly-moth spirits once perched in the trees has faded to the deepest of reds, to the dying embers of a waning fire.

In the Spirit World, your emotions become your reality… She's positive Iroh had only meant her when he'd said that. He really needs to be more specific.

The cries grow quieter. They remind her of Ikki. A much, much younger Ikki. Had a child wandered into the portal? Were they lost?

A depressed beetle-worm drifts by, moaning about lost socks.

This… is weird.

"Asami?" Korra calls out softly, watching the spirit float along as she reaches to nudge the lump in Asami's bedroll awake.

Her hand meets nothing but cool, empty bedding.

Korra's flame extinguishes with a flutter.

Asami's gone.

"Asami!" She's out of the bedroll with a blast of air, the spirits chittering unhappily in the wake as she takes off. She's with the kid, Korra tells herself as she pushes her way closer to the quieting sobs, apologizing to roots she singes and spirits that sail listlessly, darkened, lost in her way.

At the streams edge the water churns in a vortex beneath a crooked swamp tree. The roots twist and gnarl along the bank, bending down toward the furious current.

And just there, sitting on the thickest root, dressed in red pajamas, knees curled up to her chest, dark hair half braided down her back, is a very young and very upset Asami Sato.

Korra wants to rush over, wrap her tight and send the darkness far away. Somewhere where it can't ever touch her again. Not like this.

But she doesn't want to startle her. Can't risk shattering whatever hold Asami has that's keeping her grounded, however tentatively, to here and now. If the water were to take her, if she were to disappear somewhere else, if something were to happen to her...

The world shifts around Korra, ground sinking, sky blazing such a deep hue of orange that for a second Korra fears it will swallow and burn the area whole. She takes a deep breath instead, calms her nerves. Wills her heart not to beat so painfully hard.

She's the Avatar. She's Asami's... Uh, something. They haven't really talked about that yet. But she wants to. And that means treating this situation with delicacy and grace and that starts by not launching herself over there and exclaiming how relieved she is to have found her.

She will be cool. She will be articulate. She will bring balance and understanding.

"Um, hi." Yes. Perfect.

Asami lifts her head, big green eyes filled with tears, and stares over at Korra. There's recognition there, even despite the grief, that's the Asami she knows looking back at her. "She didn't get to finish…"

Her mother, Korra remembers. In the Tree, she saw the memory. Asami's mother was braiding her hair that night. She'd left the room and never came back…

"Do you," Korra starts to say, only to find her voice sticking to her throat, dry and choked. "Is it okay if I...?" With her words failing, Korra motions up to Asami's unfinished hair.

Asami turns her gaze back to the stream, the water calming only just as she gives a small nod. "Yes, please," she answers, and the sound nearly breaks Korra's heart.

She climbs up behind Asami, careful not to slip on the branches lest they both fall into that vortex. She shudders, thinking of where they might end up.

"I did this, didn't I?" Asami squeaks out, wiping at her nose as she curls further into herself.

"Just a little, but it's okay," Korra says, scooting closer once up on the root. Her legs cross securely in front of her and she urges the root to flatten. It bends beneath her hands, subtle, enough to ground them both and slow enough not scare Asami. The girl in front of her can't be more than four and it's only now that Korra's so near does she realize the pajamas Asami's wearing are a few sizes too big. The size she would have been the night her mother died. Her gut churns in much the same way as the water below. A fearful Asami had regressed in age even further back than that night. Korra doesn't know what that means so instead, asks softly, "So uh, just a braid then?"

Asami nods and Korra begins to gently complete the work Asami's mother had started long ago. Her fingers tremble and she tries to hide the way she wants to start crying with a bite of her bottom lip.

"Mommy doesn't come back, Korra."

It's spoken so meekly and with such hurt that it takes all Korra's willpower not to scoop tiny Asami into her lap and hug her tight. She finishes the braid and lays a hand over Asami's shoulder. She thinks of comfort, of home, of hands clasped in the light of a portal.

The sky turns a little less haunting, more purple, more golden.

"I-is that you?" Asami asks, still scared, but awed.

Korra smiles as green eyes meet her own. "I just want you to feel safe."

Her answer comes in the weight of a four-year-old suddenly crawling into her lap.

"Feel better there?" Korra asks, this time not hesitating to close her arms around Asami.

"Mm hmm," Asami hums in reply, her small hands gripping fistfuls of Korra's shirt. "Can you help me down?"

"Of course! Hang on tight, okay?" She carefully maneuvers them down the side of the root, taking the occasional glance up to their surroundings, relieved to see color slowly returning to the world, spirits whizzing about overhead without care to their lost socks. Once back on solid ground, Korra smiles over at Asami only to be meet with watery, mournful eyes.

"Can we go home?"

Her heart sinks at the question. She can't take her out of the Spirit World, not until she's found some peace with her past. "Well, not yet. I was hoping you might want to go on a walk with me?"

Asami is eyeing the ebbing water with a wary eye, even from her perch against Korra's hip. "I guess that's… okay."

"Great!" Korra exclaims, lifting Asami up high, earning her a squeal, before plopping her down on top of her shoulders. "I figured you might like you're usual view, heh."

She's rewarded with the cutest little laugh and Korra's never wished for a mover of anything more than that precious few seconds of a moment.

"Don't drop me." Asami says, all adamant, all business. Korra recants her previous thought. She'd rather a mover of the stern pout she knows is firmly planted on the face above her. It's probably as menacing as a koala bunny.

"Have I ever?" Korra feigns hurt, tickling Asami's bare feet where they dangle over her chest.

Asami giggles, high and brash and Korra loves the sound. Tiny feet kick against her chest -and ow, boobs- but then surprisingly strong arms curl around Korra's head. "Yip, yip."

Ah, even as a toddler, she's still sharp as a knife. Korra grins, cheeks warming with affection and the sky above explodes once more into a vast swath of blues and purples. Their campsite glows beneath the flickers of spirit light cast down from the happy firefly-moths. Balance returned.

Hey, maybe even better than before but then, you know- Avatar.

She has a proud skip in her step as she takes hold of Asami's little legs and makes her way along the streams edge.

"So, where are we going?"

Er, she hadn't exactly planned a destination. "Nowhere really," Korra explains. "I just wanted to maybe talk to you for a little, if that's okay?"

There's a huff from above her and then a very resigned, "Are you going to ask me why I was crying?"

"I'd like to," Korra answers honestly, but senses perhaps she'll have to be a bit less direct. "But right now, how about I tell you a story?"

"I like stories."

"Oh, that's great! I have the perfect story then. When I was little, maybe around your age-" Two tiny palms press to her cheeks and tilt her head back. Bright green eyes are squinted below a pinched brow staring straight down at her face.

"My age? I'm nearly two years older than you, Korra."

"Heh," she blushes, turning her head forward again. She'd almost forgotten who she was really talking to. "Anyway! I was like five or so, maybe four, I don't know. Young and stupid."

She feels Asami drop her chin down onto the top of her head and let out a small hum, whether it's in agreement or a prod for her to continue, Korra's unsure. But it's the cutest sound ever and Korra has to remind herself not to coo for like the hundredth time. Despite being an adorable little girl at the present, the Asami on her shoulders is still very mentally her Asami.

Korra feels a flutter of warmth in her chest as the thought echoes again. Her Asami.

There's a finger poking at her temple. "Korra? Your story?"

"Ah, right! Story! Sorry," she chuckles, holding aside a low hanging branch as they pass. "Well, back then was about when we discovered I was the Avatar. More like I declared it and maybe set a few too many things in my parents house on fire."

Asami giggles and wraps her arms around Korra's forehead.

Korra smiles and gives the two tiny ankles in her grip a gentle squeeze.

"I was determined to be the best Avatar the world had ever seen! I would travel, help everyone I could, bring balance, kick all the bad guy butt, you know, usual Avatar stuff," she continues, knowing Asami is listening intently. She always listens. She's always cared, Korra tells herself, thinking of the days when her legs were little to no use and she'd fumbled, embarrassed, too proud to ask for help and yet Asami was there, listening to her even if she didn't have the words to speak. Her hands move up to pajama clad knees, fondly tracing small circles with her thumbs. "If I'd have known then the path my life would take I... I honestly don't know how I would have reacted. I feel so different from that me now."

"You are," Asami says, almost hugging Korra's head. She nearly melts to the ground. "In the best way."

"T-thanks," Korra stammers out, touched and warmed. "But it's taken all those things. Bringing down my uncle, losing Raava, my past lives, the poison... All of it. All the bad is what has me on this path now. The darkness eventually opened to light."

There's a soft sigh from above and something wet drops to the top of her head. Korra's heart clenches. Is Asami crying?

"I know what you're saying and not saying," a tiny voice murmurs against her hair. "But I still miss my Dad."

"I know," Korra tells her softly. "Which is why I also know where we have to go now. Can you hang on for me?"

"Okay," Asami sighs. "But where are we going?"

"Trust me?"

There's not even a pause. "Always."

Before she can take another step though, Asami's legs lengthen in her hands to two-no, three times their size. The weight against her shoulders triples almost in a blink.

"Oh no," Asami breathes out.

Her Asami.

Korra can't brace herself in time. They crash down to the grass in a tangle of limbs and shouts. And then quiet. And yeah, this time it's definitely Asami's hand that has landed someplace new. Their eyes meet, grass stained on Korra's cheek and bits tangled in Asami's hair.

Then their both bursting with laughter.

"I don't like this tree."

"I know."

"Then why bring me back?"

"Because sometimes we have to face what's happened to us, before we can find our way again."

"I know my way!"

"You said you trusted me," Korra says, not unkindly, but not gently either. She's standing a few feet away from Asami, closer to the Tree. Asami had been burning a glare so cold into Korra's eyes it's a wonder the spirits haven't turned to ice and dropped from the sky themselves.

"I do! I just don't see how this… how sitting in there and seeing all that again is going to help me," Asami says, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. When she looks back up at Korra, it's with pleading eyes and Korra nearly gives. Nearly. "Korra, please. I see it enough when I dream and at least there it stops."

And that? Hearing that stings about as much as losing her bending did.

She steps down closer to Asami, smiling as she extends a hand. "I'll go with you this time."

Asami crosses her arms, eyebrows dropped low, disbelief and exhaustion painted all over her face. "I don't think it works that way."

Korra raises a single brow in challenge, hand still outstretched.

Asami groans. "Okay, yes, fine, it probably does work that way. Sometimes I forget I'm talking to the Avatar."

Korra grins, big and stupid. "You forget that?"

"Especially when you make faces like that," Asami tells her, though there's a definite spark of playfulness back in her eyes. She takes Korra hand and makes sure their fingers are locked tight. "The whole time, right?"

Korra tugs her closer, a rush of warmth flooding her chest, heart pounding quick as Asami's eyes darken just a shade toward something they both, really, really need to talk about. "I promise."

The second time in the Tree goes far better than the first. When Asami loses her way, Korra asks to see her favorite toy- It ends up being a car she builds with her Dad when she's seven. Korra isn't surprised and that thought alone thrills her. When fire starts to creep into memories of Sunday's in the library with her mother, Korra asks her what her favorite book was at that age - Surprisingly, the tale of a lost frog-cricket in the spirit wilds. "I do have interests aside from engines you know." Yeah, Korra wanted to say. Like Avatars. Then there was a memory of her, only she didn't remember it happening. Asami had tensed in her arms and begged Korra to ask another question. Direct her memories away from this one. She was embarrassed, Korra could feel the flustered energy rolling off Asami in waves.

Their first kiss hadn't happened the other day.

Apparently it had three years ago.

When a very much fitfully asleep Korra was tossing in her bed and Asami had been trying to calm her down. Korra watched as memory Asami brushed back the hair from her forehead, her hand then resting against Korra's pale cheek. She never said a word, just sat at the edge of Korra's bed, rubbing her thumb along Korra's cheek.

Korra watched the memory version of herself calm, her brow relax.

In the Tree, she pulled Asami closer, nudging her to stop hiding her face against Korra's neck and watch this moment with her. Some part of Asami had obviously wanted to share it. Some part of her was thinking about it.

All this time...

The memory expanded as Asami looked up, filling the Tree. And they watched as memory Asami leaned down and kissed Korra's forehead. Her temple. And finally the corner of Korra's lips, where she lingered and whispered a soft apology.

The memory faded and Korra felt the same kiss being placed to the corner of her mouth.

"Sorry," Asami whispered, eyes filled with the kind of heartache Korra never, ever wants to see in those green eyes ever again. "I really should have said something sooner, huh?"

Korra's pretty sure you shouldn't kiss someone the way she kissed Asami in the Tree of Time. But, thankfully, there weren't any spirits around to claim otherwise.

Much later on, when they're finally back in Republic City- after a rather mischievous spirit delivers a glob of mud straight to her face (definitely from Toph)- and all unpacked, showered, and cuddled up on Asami's sofa, Korra realizes that they never did get a chance to have that talk.

The one about how comfortable all this touching has gotten.

How being caught making out in the spirit wilds is somehow a more normal occurrence than rain.

"Er, Asami?" Korra begins, wincing at how very not smooth that sounded yet how very comfortable she is in her reclined spot against Asami's tucked up legs. The brush that had been combing through her hair stills.

"Did I tug too hard?"

"Um no, that's all good. What you're doing is good- feels good, I mean." Yes, mentioning good another four times should really bring the point home, Korra. She feels her cheeks flame. She just needs to say it already. Rip it out of her throat. Avatar state it out of her if she must! "I just wanted to know if you like when I touch you." Oh no...no-no-no-no. "AH! I mean touching being girlfriends-Ughhh no, not just girlfriends, but girlfriend-girlfriends. The ones that like touching…. and kissing, and stuff..."

Dear Raava, forgive me, but I think the time for a new Avatar has come.

Korra can feel Asami trying to hold in her laughter. She can feel it in the suddenly trembling knees at her back.

Korra dips her head back over those knees. And yeah, Asami's face has gone a bit blushy, but in the prettiest way, the opposite of how Korra feels her face turns into a Fire Nation flag. And Asami has a hand covering her mouth, trying to hide the way perfectly painted lips are turned up in an amused smile and suppressing laughter. Laughter she can see in the way green eyes have crinkled and stare down at her with an emotion Korra is sure has set her heart on fire alongside her face.

Asami clears her throat, still smiling and with utmost composure leans forward and presses a light kiss to Korra's nose. "Yeah, that all sounds good."