"Spirits, yes!" Asami panted, her knuckles turning white as she clutched the headboard of the bed. "Give me more."

Korra did her best to accommodate her lover's pleas. Two of her fingers tweaked the nipple held in-between them, while the ones buried inside of Asami thrust even harder. There was so much wetness coating her digits that it was easy for her to slide in all the way to the base, while Asami's ass pushed back against her strokes, hungry for everything she could get. Korra bent over, pressing her face against the flushed skin of Asami's back, and covering it with kisses.

"You feel so good around me," she whispered, her voice cracking with the force of her desire, "So right." As incredible as the things Asami did to her body were, making the engineer come undone was every bit as intoxicating. She could just lose herself in moments like these, in the ecstatic reactions of the woman she loved.

Wanting more of them, Korra pressed her fingers against a particularly sensitive spot along Asami's front wall, but the moan she got in response was unexpected. The sound was higher than usual, and more cute than sultry; not precisely unappealing, but not what Korra was used to hearing either. She looked up from Asami's shoulder, and saw that her lover's body had changed too; her hair was now shorter and chestnut colored, while her skin was light brown, closer to Korra's own complexion than Asami's pale one.

Her eyes widened, and when they glanced downward, what she saw shocked her even further. It was no longer her fingers that were pumping in and out of Asami, but a thick cock, glistening with wetness, and it was attached to Korra's own body. The Avatar could feel the heat and pressure of her lover's pussy around her, squeezing skin far more responsive than that of her fingers.

"Oh, Kuruk," the woman beneath her begged. "Take me harder. Please."

Korra's reaction was to do just the opposite. As amazing as it felt to be buried inside of this woman, her shock was even more powerful. She stumbled backwards, slipping out with a slick pop, and in her confusion, she completely missed how close to the edge of the bed she was. Before she could catch herself, she tumbled down to the floor, landing in an utterly undignified heap.

As she hit the ground, Korra's head cracked against the floor, and she blinked hard. When she opened her eyes, everything was back to normal. Her body was hers once more, the strange appendage between her legs replaced with her regular sex, and the face that peeked over the side of the bed definitely belonged to Asami rather than some mystery woman.

There was, however, a worried look on that lovely face. "Are you all right, Korra?" she asked, extending a hand. "What happened to you?"

She waved Asami off, rolling back to her feet and plopping down on the bed next to her lover. "It's nothing, Asami. I just slipped is all."

"Hey. Don't do that." Asami brushed back Korra's disheveled hair, laying her hand on her bare shoulder. "I can tell something weird just happened and whatever it was, you can tell me about it."

Korra sighed, running the hand that wasn't covered in Asami's arousal through her own hair. What had just happened was bizarre, and yet at the same time, oddly familiar. Being with that other woman, being that other man, had felt normal, at least to her unconscious mind. It was deeply disturbing, and she wanted to bury the experience away in the depths of her mind, to forget that it had ever occurred. Talking about it would only make it real. Somehow, though, she had a feeling that wasn't an option. What if this happened to her again?

Besides, she had promised herself that she'd never again shut Asami out the way she had when she left Republic City to recover, and it was a promise she meant to keep. "I'm not sure," she admitted after a long pause, "One moment we were making love, and then…" Her voice trailed off.

"And then what?"

"And then you weren't you. You were… I don't know who you were."

Asami's brow furrowed, clearly confused by what Korra was saying. "You were imagining me as someone else?"

"No, it wasn't imagining. It was more real than that. Every detail was different. You had darker skin and less hair and your voice was higher than usual, like you had actually turned into another person." She flopped backwards, laying down on the bed before she added, "And, um, I think I was somebody else too."

"You were?"

"Yeah, and I think I was a guy. I, uh, had the equipment at least."

That caused Asami to crack an involuntary smile. "I imagine that would be pretty weird."

"It's not funny!" she protested.

"I know." Asami draped herself on top of Korra, wrapping her arms around her naked body. For now, the embrace wasn't sexual but comforting, her hands caressing the muscles of Korra's back, and the Avatar felt herself relaxing a little bit.

"It's happened before," she admitted while burying her face in the crook of Asami's neck. "Not like this, but it has. The other day, when we were starting to fool around on the couch… A couple of times, just for a second, there were these flashes where your eyes were brown, and your face looked different. It was really quick though. I'd blink and you'd be back to normal again. I figured I was just tired from how hard I'd been training. But now… Something's happening to me, and I have no idea what it is."

"Korra, I… I don't know what to say."

"I'm scarred, Asami," she admitted, her fingers tightening their grip on her lover's hair. "I told you what it was like after Zaheer poisoned me. I kept seeing things. Him, my other old enemies, a version of myself in the Avatar State… It got so bad that I could barely function. It's the biggest reason it took me so long to come back to Republic City."

Asami's arms pulled tighter around her, and Korra tried to take comfort in her presence. It's not going to be the same, she told herself. I have Asami here with me and I'm in a much better emotional place. It was only partially convincing.

"Do you think they could be related?" Asami asked. "Some reoccurrence of your old symptoms?"

"Maybe? It doesn't quite make sense though. Everyone I saw back then were people I knew. This stuff feels familiar in a way, but it's no one I can actually recognize." A sudden thought occurred to her. "Wait. You said something though, when you weren't you. You called me Kuruk."

"Kuruk? Who's that?"

"I don't know. Maybe Tenzin does though. I can go and ask him tomorrow morning, I guess."

"That sounds like a good plan." Asami gave her a gentle kiss, the softness of her lips soothing Korra's still-jangled nerves a bit further. The calm gave her a little more headspace to think clearly, but that only reminded her of what she'd left undone.

"You know, I'm sorry I bailed on you in the middle of making love," she said, running her hand along the small of Asami's back. "I could tell how turned on you were."

"I'll be all right," Asami insisted. "Really. You already made me come twice. You're the one who hadn't gotten much attention when we stopped." She gave Korra a smile that mixed warmth with a hint of the sultry. "I know it might be weird after what happened, but if you'd like me to, I'd be happy to do something for you. Anything you wanted."

Under other circumstances, Asami's offer would've been delicious, and she wasn't wrong about Korra being left unsatisfied. Between her legs, the Avatar's clit was pulsing with an aching need, but she still shook her head no. "It's really sweet of you to offer, but I don't think I can. If it happened again… I'm just too tense right now. Could you just hold me for a while instead?"

Asami nodded, immediately putting aside her seductive look. "Of course, Korra. Whatever you need."

Her lover reached down and pulled the sheets up around them, but in spite of the warm bed, and the warmer woman laying on top of her Korra still felt a chill running through down her spine. Asami would do whatever she could to help, but what could that be? What could anyone do against an enemy that, once more, seemed to be attacking Korra from inside of her own head?

The sun was shinning brightly on Air Temple Island, but Korra wasn't able to enjoy the warmth of the day. Between anxiety and unfulfilled desire she'd slept poorly, and even as the air acolytes soared over her head, going through their morning exercises, her thoughts reminded trapped in the surreal events of the previous evening. Over and over, images of the strange woman and the stranger cock ran through her head, like a loop from one of Varric's "movers." She must have been radiating her unease too, because after a few brief greetings, none of the acolytes made much of an attempt to engage her in conversation.

Tenzin was meditating when Korra came into his chambers, but he seemed to sense her presence at once, opening his eyes and looking up. "Korra," he said, "I didn't expect to see you today. I thought you were going to be meeting with the representatives from the new Earth Kingdom government."

"Yeah, but that's in the afternoon. Right now, I needed to see you." She shifted uneasily on the balls of her feet. "Something's happened, and I was hoping you could help me figure out what to do about it."

Tenzin got up from the floor, immediately shifting in the role of the concerned mentor. "What is it? Did someone attack you? Is President Raiko making trouble again? Are the spirits running amok?"

"No, no, nothing like that. It's me. I've been having visions. Or something. I don't know quite what they are."

"Really?" Tenzin came over to the doorway where Korra had been lingering, putting a friendly hand on her shoulder. "Tell me all about them."

All of a sudden, Korra froze as she realized she hadn't thought this through. There was no way Tenzin could help her without knowing the circumstances of the shifts in her reality, but this also had the potential to be incredibly awkward.

Tenzin looked confused. "What is it, Korra?"

She hesitated before answering, but ultimately she found her courage. There really was no choice, after all. "So, a few times recently, when I was with Asami, I started seeing her as someone else."

Tenzin scratched his bald head, not seeming to comprehend what she was saying. "You mean you were picturing being with someone else…"

"No, that's not it," she insisted, trying to control her frustration. This didn't seem to be easy for anybody else to understand. "I mean she really was somebody else. Different skin, hair, voice, everything. And this last time, I was different too. I think I was a man."

Thankfully, Tenzin didn't ask exactly what she meant by that. "And did you recognize who this other person was? Or who you had turned into?"

"No. But we do have one clue. When Asami wasn't herself, she called me Kuruk."

"Avatar Kuruk?"

"Avatar Kuruk," she repeated in shock. Once, she would've known that herself, instinctively. But now… "How is that possible?" she asked. "I've lost my link to my past lives. Haven't I?"

"That's what we thought," Tenzin agreed. "But since they, you've reunited with Raava. And all of the spirit energy you channeled when you created the portal… It could be that something you did is causing the connection to come back."

A smile started to grow on Korra's face. Maybe she wasn't losing her mind again. Maybe this was the start of something wonderful instead. But she still had her doubts. "That could be," she replied. "But this isn't what it was like when I would get in touch with my past lives before. It happened so suddenly and it faded so fast."

"Hmm, I don't know what that could mean. There isn't really a precedent for this that I'm aware of, but it could be that the connection isn't stable." He ran his hand through his beard. "Maybe there's something about the timing of the visions that could give us a clue. What was going on at the time? Was there something that might have triggered them?"

Korra was pretty sure that her face must be turning the same color as a set of Fire Nation robes. "Um, well, like I said, it was when I was with Asami. And we were in the middle of, uh, stuff. You know what I mean, right?"

Tenzin gave her a look that was somewhere between amused and embarrassed. "My wife and I do have four children, you know. No matter what you young people may think about your elders, yes, I have an idea of what you're talking about."

"Uh, yeah, that would make sense." Korra took a breath, trying to forget about the awkwardness and focus on what was really important. "So, anyway, we were having some personal time when it happened."

"That could make sense. The Avatar state is usually triggered by strong emotion, so maybe this works in a similar way. After all, romance is an experience that most past Avatars have had in common, and one that can be quite, uh, intense."

It definitely is that, Korra thought. "So what you're saying is that if I'm going to get my memories back, Asami and I have to keep, um…" She wasn't normally so shy abut sex, but Tenzin was like a second father to her.

"That could be. It's possible that something else might else work as well. A particularly challenging battle for example. I really don't know."

Korra gave Tenzin a friendly smile, trying to lighten the tension they were both feeling. "That could be kind of hard to find. Things have been pretty peaceful ever since Kuvira's invasion. I can't exactly go and get into fights with random, dangerous people just to help reconnect to my past lives, can I?"

"No, I suppose not," Tenzin laughed. "As the Avatar, I imagine you'll have opportunities to be in more battles in the future, but it might be a while."

"So, I guess it will have to be, um, romance, then."

"I suppose so. Listen, I don't know very much about Avatar Kuruk aside from his name. Why don't I go down to the libraries and see if I can find out more? Maybe something to help explain why it's him you're seeing out of all your past lives."

"That sounds like a good idea but if it's okay, I think I'll stay here a little while and mediate. I'm still feeling kind of weird from these visions."

"Take as much time as you need," Tenzin agreed, and as he left the room, Korra dropped down into the lotus position, sighing as she tried to clear her thoughts.

Having more sex with Asami wasn't exactly a hardship; but this was hardly ordinary lovemaking she was contemplating. Those shifts had been so disorienting, and trying to trigger them deliberately was a scary prospect. For her, and maybe for Asami too. Could she ask her lover to do this with her, not knowing where it might lead? But what choice did she have? Giving up intimacy forever was an even worse thought, for her, and presumably for Asami too. She would just have to be strong and hope everything worked out for the best.