Just a short little oneshot inspired by musings and headcanons on tumblr.

Korra was awoken by the feeling of Asami tracing patterns on her stomach with her fingertips.

"Now this is a nice way to wake up," Korra sighed. She heard Asami laugh lightly beside her and her fingers stilled.

"Sorry," Asami said earnestly. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Don't stop," Korra muttered, ignoring the apology and turning her head to the side to smile at her girlfriend. "It feels nice."

Asami rolled her eyes, but she resumed what she was doing. Korra watched her eyes, following the path of her fingers in a familiar shape.

She was tracing the image of Raava on her torso. It was a habit of hers.

Asami was actually the first person besides Korra who saw the mark that was left there by Raava after they had fused during Harmonic Convergence. Korra was startled when she first changed clothes after her fight with Vaatu and found the tattoo-like mark stretching from her clavicle to her hips, and she'd never mentioned it to anyone. Asami, however, couldn't help but become aware of it after Korra was poisoned and she helped her change her clothes and bathe on a regular basis.

It made sense, in retrospect. Spirits always left some sign behind when they contacted humans. Wan probably had a mark of Raava somewhere on his body too, as he was the only other human to directly fuse with her.

Asami seemed to like it, anyway. This wasn't the first time Korra woke up to find her doing this.

"Why do you do that?" Korra asked sleepily, her curiosity finally getting the better of her.

Asami stilled again, eyes focusing thoughtfully on the pattern in Korra's skin. It was like a tattoo, but rather than ink, it looked like her skin was a few shades paler in the shape of the Spirit. Closer to Asami's own skin tone.

"I don't know. It's pretty," Asami admitted at length. She started moving again, dragging her fingertips along Korra's abdomen and smiling when the muscles jumped under her touch. "I guess I'm just… curious, about the Avatar Spirit."

"What do you want to know?" Korra replied easily, reaching up and folding her hands behind her head.

"Are you sure it's not too personal?"

Korra snorted.

"Asami, we literally had sex like three hours ago," she pointed out teasingly. "I don't think personal is an issue with us."

Asami rolled her eyes again and blushed. Korra had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"I suppose I just want to know more about the reincarnation thing," Asami sighed, shrugging. "I mean… before you lost your connection to your past lives, did you have any of their memories or anything?"

"Nope," Korra said simply. "Every Avatar is a completely different person. It's not like… Aang was reborn as me, it's like… Raava was with Aang, and now she's with me. It's her spirit that connected all of us."

Asami nodded, still looking contemplative, and Korra smiled.

"I do feel connections to people, sometimes," she admitted. "I've always felt a strong connection to Katara, and Bumi and Kya and Tenzin. I felt it with Sokka before he died, and Toph when I finally met her. And in a way I felt it with Lin and Suyin, too. I knew I'd known them both before I even knew who they were."

"But you never had any of Aang's memories?"

"No. It wasn't Aang's feelings that were forming the connections. It was Raava," Korra continued thoughtfully. "She knew all of them through Aang, and she recognized them with me."

"Do you think you'll ever be able to see them again?" Asami asked softly after a long pause. "Your past lives?"

Korra swallowed and looked away. She couldn't deny she'd wondered that herself. Asami flattened her hand against Korra's stomach, her touch warm and reassuring.

"I hope so," Korra said at length. "But if not… I think I'll be okay."

Asami leaned in and kissed Korra's cheek. The Avatar blushed and grinned.

They fell into a comfortable silence for a bit, Asami's fingers still lazily tracing Raava's shape against Korra's ribs, eliciting the occasional ticklish laugh. Asami hummed a bit and Korra met her eyes curiously.

"What is it?"

"I just realized," Asami said with a small smile. "The next Avatar… you're going to be their only past life."

Korra nodded slowly.

"Huh… I guess I am," she murmured, eyes drifting to the ceiling. "I'd never really thought about that."

"Well I think you'll make an excellent mysterious spiritual guide," Asami said fondly, poking Korra's side until she laughed again. "And a damn cute one at that." Korra stuck her tongue out at her and Asami's eyes softened. "Just… not for a long time, yeah?"

"Of course."

Asami smiled and nodded, eyes returning to the pattern on Korra's skin. Korra just gazed at her for a long time. She could feel a tightness in her chest… a tug in her heart. She'd felt it plenty of times before, but this time she couldn't seem to ignore it. And she really didn't want to.

"Hey," she said softly, drawing Asami's eyes back up to hers. It suddenly felt like there was too much air in her lungs and she let out a shaky breath, heat crawling up her chest and face as she blushed. Neither of them had said it yet. They hadn't been a couple terribly long. It was a risk, but… "I love you."

Asami stared at her blankly for the longest second of Korra's life.

Then her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh no," Korra blurted, lurching upright. "Please don't cry. Oh no, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It was too soon and now you're freaking out and I shouldn't have and I'm so sorry I-"

She was cut off by Asami's hand over her mouth.

"Stop," she laughed through her tears. "Please."

Korra just nodded silently, eyes still wide with panic.

"It's just… been a long time since I've heard that," Asami said slowly. She reached up to wipe away her tears, but Korra beat her to it, taking her face in her hands and brushing them away with her thumbs.

"I love you," Korra repeated, dropping a feathery kiss on Asami's lips. "I love you so much." Another kiss, and Asami was laughing into it. "And you better get used to it because I'm going to tell you multiple times a day from now on." Another kiss. "And I don't want you to start crying every time."

"Korra," Asami laughed, trying to pull back. Korra still managed to sneak in a few more light, smiling kisses before she spoke again. "I love you too."

"Yeah?" Korra asked, grinning hard and blushing harder.

"Yeah. So much," Asami sighed, pressing her forehead against Korra's comfortably and running a hand through her hair. "For a really long time."

Korra couldn't help herself. She tilted her head and caught Asami's lips with hers again, drawing her into a slow kiss. It started out soft, but then Asami's hands were in Korra's hair and Korra was tugging her insistently into her lap and it wasn't long before Korra's fingers were dragging across her shoulders and hips and thighs and Asami was gasping whenever Korra's lips left hers.

For the rest of the morning, Korra made it her mission to whisper "I love you" against every inch of Asami's skin.