Korra had woken up next to Asami hundreds of times, but it was never like they did now. Korra had always slept like a starfish, regardless of whose bed it was, her limbs claiming seventy-five percent of whatever sleeping space they shared. Asami always had to curl up in the leftover corner Korra couldn't reach, which had never really bothered them because that's how Asami slept anyway. But, as they grew bigger and their beds didn't, it was only a matter of time (which was looking like right about now) before Asami would have to abandon her corner to reclaim some prime real estate- right on top of Korra. All those years of poor sleepover etiquette were now being paid for, as Asami's body usually found itself almost entirely embracing and/ or crushing Korra's left side.

If Korra didn't sleep like a boulder she might have been able to escape the weight beforehand, but when she groggily awoke, her leg and arms would go from zero to inconsolably restless incredibly fast. Asami always felt good on top of her though, albeit a dead weight, so she always let her sleep. This morning, Korra settled on stroking Asami's bare calves with her restless leg, and playing with her hair with her restless hand. When Asami didn't wake, she closed her eyes again and tried not to let it become overwhelming how long ago they could have been sharing space like this, if she'd only trusted her feelings a bit more.

Eventually, a smiling face emerged from the black tangle of hair on her chest, which moved up to kiss her cheek. The body made no attempt to move, though, so Korra rolled onto her side, and did something she didn't usually, and pulled Asami in closer- who chuckled and nuzzled in contentedly.

"What?"

"I didn't know you were into cuddling," Asami rasped in her morning voice, smiling into Korra's shirt.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I've only ever seen you show affection by wrestling."

"I cuddle Naga all the time."

"Because you know she'd bite your ears off if you didn't."

"Are you going to bite my ears off?" Korra laughed, kissing the one of Asami's ears she could reach.

"Only if you stop."

"I like my ears, so I won't."

"Good. I like them too."

Korra was grateful they were at Asami's and not her house this time, because her parents would undoubtedly have tried to wake them up for breakfast or her father would be practicing his tribal drumming or something else loud they did at inappropriate times in the morning. Hiroshi probably thought he'd "taken up" enough of their time the night they'd "hung out" to intrude again, and usually left them in peace. She almost felt bad she was keeping Asami trapped in bed in her lest few weeks at home, but Asami didn't seem to want to move either, so she let it slide.

They fell asleep again, not bothering to check the time.

A few hours later, Asami's hands roaming under Korra's shirt woke her up. She saw Asami's smirk through her one open eye, and moved her own hands under Asami's shirt, only at the back.

They kissed dreamily in their sleepy haze, but since they'd taken to sleeping in each other's beds once more, they'd always remained extremely mindful of their lust, lest they repeat their mishap from Korra's car the week before. Korra had a nagging suspicion it was more than just the fear of Mako barging in again that was keeping Asami back however. Asami had her reasons, she figured. Korra had her own.

It was Asami to pull away first this time, and she looked up at Korra guiltily. "Should we get up?"

Korra groaned. "If you want."

"I don't want to, but we should," Asami reasoned. "I'm surprised you're not hungry."

"I am."

"Starving yourself for me?"

"I'd rather starve than lose my ears," Korra chuckled.

Asami pinched the taught skin of Korra's abdomen. "Well then, I release you from cuddle duty," she said regally, pinching quicker as Korra squirmed.

"Hey! Don't pinch!"

"What are you going to do about it?" Asami teased, enlisting the help of her other hand.

"You don't want to play this game," Korra tried to say seriously, as she twitched and nearly rolled off the bed.

"I don't have much more time for our games, so I think I do," Asami insisted.

Korra swore she heard a hint of sadness in Asami's voice, but had to deal with the present problem before she could breach that topic. She sat up and wrapped her arms around both of Asami's arms and her torso before crashing down on top of her, using her weight to keep her pinned.

"Not fair," Asami pouted.

"You wanted to play. Now it's payback time."

"What are you going to do to me?" Asami asked seductively- but Korra was to focused on how much Asami was going to hate her upcoming punishment to let it fluster her.

"This."

Korra latched her mouth onto Asami's neck and began to suck on it roughly, detaching only when Asami began to thrash in her grip.

"No! No hickies Korra!"

Korra only laughed and dove in again, this time nibbling a little to make sure the red mark was pronounced.

"I hate you!"

Asami continued to struggle, trying to nudge Korra's head away with her own headbutts, but Korra only let her go once she was sure the mark would stay.

"You're the worst!" Asami chastised, pinching Korra's side as she laughed at her own hilarity.

"Hey! You don't want another one, do you?"

"We'll it doesn't matter any more, now that I have this thing!"

"So you'll let me do it?"

"No!" Asami threw her pillow at Korra's head before checking to see how bad the damage was in the reflection of her phone. "You're lucky I like you."

"I know." Korra moved to embrace Asami again, burying her face in Asami's belly. "I like you too."

Asami couldn't resist the feeling of Korra near her, and forgot her anger in favor of leaning on the headboard and running her fingers through Korra's hair, pouting grumpily.

After a few minutes, Korra spoke up, rolling over so her head was in Asami's lap, and she could look up at her.

"You knowww… you'd have a lot more time for games if you didn't go to the Fire Nation," she pointed out softly, picking up Asami's hand that was resting on her torso and playing with her fingers. "I hear its like, really hot and basically no one likes it there."

"Yeah?" Asami seemed to follow Korra's train of thought and furrowed her brow. "Who told you that?"

"President Izumi," Korra continued. "She's was all like, why did I decide to be the President of the worst place ever, when I could live in Republic City? Asami would be crazy to come back here! You need to tell her, Korra."

Asami smiled down softly at Korra. "How come you didn't tell me you had a meeting with the President of the Fire Nation?"

Korra entwined and untwined their fingers. "She didn't want anyone to think she was having an affair with some hot young piece from the S.W.T, so it was like, really low key so the press wouldn't find out."

Asami tried to smooth the creases in Korra's brow with her free hand. "You could have invited me."

"That would have been weird, cause we mostly talked about you! She wouldn't have been as honest with me if you were there, obviously."

"I see. So what about me did you talk about?" Asami played along.

"Well first of all I told her that basically everyone I've met that's insanely attractive has some Fire Nation in them. It's like the spirits heard "fire" and were like, well clearly these people have to be smokin'."

Asami chuckled. "So what did the spirits make people from the Southern Water Tribe?"

"Cool, duh."

"Huh." Asami pretended to contemplate their fake conversation. "But you're not cool, so that can't be right."

Korra sat up. "I am cool! It's not my fault that you refuse to acknowledge it."

"Sorry!" Asami kissed her nose and coaxed her to lay back down. "I'll try harder."

"Good."

"Was that all?"

Korra looked away shyly, trying not to give away her nerves. "No," she started, tapping her fingers together. "This little Fire Nation bird flew in during the meeting and reminded me RCU has rolling admissions, and to tell you you'd tooooootallyyy get in if you applied."

Asami peered down at Korra skeptically. It seemed they'd reached the heart of the matter. "Did my dad tell you to say that?"

"No," Korra insisted quickly. "A little bird, 'Sami."

"Birds can talk in the Fire Nation?"

Korra scoffed in mock anger. "That's what you're taking out of this fake conversation?!"

"Talking birds are really scary! I don't know if I want to go to the Fire Nation if they have those!"

"They are scary, Asami," Korra agreed. "Haven't you seen the Hunger Games? Talking birds fuck up a lot of people."

"I know!" Asami frowned. "It's just, your talking bird sounds a lot like my dad."

Korra sat up, and ran her hand along Asami's hipbone. "It sounds a little like me, too," she confessed softly.

Asami looked up at her sadly.

"Not that I have any right to tell you where to go!" Korra backtracked quickly. "I just- your dad may have promised me a lot of free food if I convinced you-"

"That's why you want me to stay?"

"And for you! I like…you, of course I want you to stay. I-" She decided to shut up before she said anything else stupid, and take a step back.

Asami didn't say anything either, but she seemed to be contemplating Korra's words rather seriously.

Korra rubbed her eyes. In school she'd barely convinced herself that maybe she wouldn't be the worst girlfriend ever if she had kissed Asami that night in the coffeehouse, when Asami had told her she had chosen a school on the other side of the Earth. Korra didn't want to be the stupid kid from home that kept Asami tied down from what she wanted. She still didn't want to be, except now she had kissed her.

She wanted to be happy and supportive -and she was- so much so she'd neglected to ask Asami anything about why or how or anything about her decision. How could she, when all her questions would just make it seem like she was being selfish and unsupportive, and well, she didn't particularly want to hear about how exciting Asami's life without her would be?

"What are you trying to say, Korra?" Korra could tell Asami was trying to stay collected, but it seemed nothing was coming out the way they wanted it to. "Do you-"

"Should we not have kissed?" Korra asked warily, before Asami could finish. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say too, but saying nothing hadn't been working for them, and it had been nagging her since even before they'd done it.

"What?"

"Was it selfish of us? Of me? I knew you were leaving but I wanted you so I just let that trump any of the reasons I shouldn't."

Asami seemed to follow her trend of thought. "Do you regret doing it?"

"No! But, wouldn't this have been easier if we hadn't?"

"I guess," Asami conceded sadly. "I wanted it too. I knew it would hurt at some point, but I had to know."

Korra pulled Asami into her and kissed her softly on the lips. She didn't want to be sad, or for Asami to be sad! She wasn't supposed to be the thing that made Asami sad. Maybe she shouldn't have brought it up at all.

When they parted, Asami rested her forehead on Korra's and lightly scratched at the hair at the back of Korra's neck- her new tell for whenever she was nervous.

"What is it?"

Asami pulled away a bit so she could search Korra's eyes. "Do you think this," she motioned between them, "will last if I leave?"

Korra frowned in thought, looking down at their tangled legs before making eye contact with Asami again. "I'll love you, and I'll be there for you, no matter what happens between us," she said finally. "If that's what you mean."

She wasn't sure if it was, because before she could decide Asami kissed her again quickly, and jumped out of bed towards the bathroom before she'd opened her eyes.

Eventually Korra extricated herself from the tangle of sheets, and headed downstairs for breakfast. Hiroshi was long gone to his post at the office, leaving her and Asami alone in the vast expanse of Asami's kitchen. Korra mused if they reached that point in their relationship, she wound have absolutely hazarded a try at taking Asami on the kitchen counter, but since unfortunately they were not (and it seemed the possibility of that ever happening was slowly slipping away), she settled for simply sitting close together to eat at the island.

"Do you have work today?" Korra asked, not without intention. Even though they'd spent all day yesterday and last night together, she couldn't help but want to spend more time together. But maybe Asami would want some space, especially after Korra had basically told her she didn't know if they would stay together.

"I have a few things I should sort out," Asami started hesitantly. "For school."

Korra immediately wanted to go back in time and punch herself (shouldn't have brought any of this up at all!) and it seemed Asami noticed.

"Why? Did you want to do something?"

"If you want to," Korra said uncertainly, pushing her food around with her fork. "I have my physical for swimming later, but nothing really after that."

Asami flinched at the mention of swimming. "When does your season start?"

"Training starts in two weeks," Korra answered. She would be moving her things into her dorm in the city before that, and the thought that her friends would have to take the train to visit her, no matter how short a ride, was already strange.

"I could come over after," Asami suggested hesitantly. "Unless you think your parents will magically know we're…involved."

Korra smiled. "I'm pretty sure they've thought that for years now, it's just more likely I'll blatantly give it away now."

"I don't know why anyone ever tells you secrets," Asami smiled back.

Korra scoffed. "Cause I'm super trustworthy."

Asami rolled her eyes. "Yeah, until you spill the beans somehow."

"My system has worked just fine for you all these years!" she defended.

"Ugh, its even worse when its your secret," Asami egged. "You're like a time bomb."

"I had one secret!"

"And you nearly imploded!"

Korra huffed. So maybe she was bad at secrets. "It worked out, didn't it?"

"It was a train wreck with zero casualties, so it halfworked out," Asami clarified sarcastically.

"Are you saying this is a train wreck?"

"It absolutely is!" Asami slammed her fist on the island, causing the silverware to clatter. She had gone from okay to upset in the five seconds they'd been playing around, and it caught Korra off guard.

"Asami?"

"Look at us! We don't even know what to say to each other, or what to do with each other!" Asami crossed her arms and shook her head. "You'll leave and this will all have been pointless."

"I'll leave?" Korra pushed her plate away. "Well you better hope they teach you how to fix trains at that fancy school of yours," she shot back, standing up, and pulling out her keys. "Because I sure as hell don't know how, and you're right, I don't know how to say anything to you anymore!"

Asami's temper was in full force now. "So you do regret doing this!"

"Maybe a little right now!" Korra said indignantly. She was angry she couldn't say what she wanted to Asami, but more angry that Asami had noticed it, and was capitalizing on her insecurities.

Asami pushed her plate away too. "Great, good to know, Korra."

Korra let out a frustrated growl and moved to leave the kitchen. A week of dancing around each other to avoid frustration had only led to…frustration.

"Where are you going?" Asami stood up too and followed her, the anger evident in her eyes, with an underlying hint of sadness hidden in them at haven driven Korra away.

"The doctor!" Korra called over her shoulder, ripping the front door open and storming out.

"Fine!" Asami called after her, reaching the door just as Korra had gone through it and slamming it closed.

Korra had huffed and puffed the entire way to the doctor's and through the appointment. Her pulse was way above her normal fifty-four resting rate, and she was sure her blood pressure reading had suffered similarly. The doctor had cleared her for practice after making sure she was up to date on her shots, (which had also aggravated her, because she'd needed two) but at least it was now one less thing she had to worry about, leaving more time to worry about having yelled at Asami.

She ate lunch with Mako, who felt just as lost as Korra. The last time he'd seen them together well, they still weren't doing much talking, but that seemed just fine.

"Maybe she thinks talking about you leaving will set you guys off," he suggested.

"ME leaving, Mako?" she said exasperatedly. "I'm going a train ride away- she's going to the other end of the Earth!"

"Maybe she thinks talking about her leaving will set you guys off, then," he tried.

"I mean- I try not to bring it up- but now, not bringing it up seems to be the problem!" she stuffed the last of her pizza crust in her mouth, chewing angrily.

Mako seemed to contemplate his next suggestion for a while. "So why don't you bring it up?"

"Because, Mako," she swallowed. "There's nothing I can say that will sound good," she explained. "If I try to get her not to go- I seem like an ass. If I congratulate her on going- I seem like I don't care about us. If I try to do both- I just seem like I don't know what the fuck I want!"

"You got me there," he conceded. "I guess you just have to pick one, though."

"I guess."

She was still stewing hours later, against the big oak tree in her backyard picking out individual blades of grass and trying to calm her mind.

Korra knew it was stupid, but Asami calling them a wreck was probably true.

Clearly she forgot what a shitshow me and Mako were, but whatever.

The stupidest part of their argument was that both knew they were cruising on borrowed time, and had decided to go along with their feelings regardless. Now that the time had come to deal with the consequences, neither of them were taking it as well as they thought they would, considering they were aware it would happen. She just wasn't sure what they could do anymore, besides hurt each other.

Her musing was interrupted by a soft "Hey."

Korra looked up from where she was staring a hole into the ground, to see none other than Asami standing timidly beside her, purposely avoiding eye contact, the giant hickey Korra had placed on her neck earlier covered with a light scarf.

"Hey," she greeted back miserably.

"You forgot this at my house," Asami said, gesturing to the neatly folded dress shirt in her hand.

"Thanks." She reached out to take it, leaving Asami to wring her now empty hands. When Korra didn't say anything further, Asami panicked.

"I should go," she stuttered, backtracking towards the house.

"Why are you all dressed up?" Korra asked simultaneously.

"Oh." Asami looked down at her clothes, blushing. "Um, in case you still wanted me to stay for dinner, but… I can see why it might have been dumb of me to think you would."

"It wasn't," Korra assured, playing with the shirt. She might have been angry and upset every second since she'd left Asami's house, but seeing Asami in front of her now had immediately dissipated any feeling besides devotion. "Do you want to sit?"

Asami took a deep breath to calm her nerves before gracefully taking a seat next to Korra, a little further away than she would normally.

The silence between them was tense, and Korra figured they were both probably struggling to figure out what to say. Which she guessed, was why Asami had gotten upset in the first place.

"You were right," she conceded.

Asami looked up, sad and now confused.

"About us. Being a wreck," Korra clarified.

"No, Korra… I shouldn't have gotten so upset," she pled. "I'm sorry I yelled."

"It's okay," Korra assured. "I mean- we don't really know what to say to each other, do we? It all comes out wrong. We didn't really think this through."

Asami nodded sadly. "There are so many things I want to tell you and I just don't know how anymore. I'm too afraid you'll get mad."

Korra shifted over to close the distance Asami had put between them, until their sides were touching. "I might. But I guess we have to be okay with that now, right? Especially if not saying anything makes us like this, too."

Asami buried her face in Korra's arm and nodded again.

They were silent for a bit until Asami lifted her head and took Korra's hand in hers. "I want you to break your promise," she said.

"What?"

"The one you made when we were little," Asami continued. "You said you wanted to make sure I never got hurt again. But you can't promise me that now that we're together. Not hurting me just means hurting yourself."

"Asami…"

"I know it sounds weird," she interrupted. "But I'll just have to trust that even though you can, you won't. Not intentionally. If we're walking on eggshells we won't ever be honest with each other, we'll just fight more."

That made sense. Korra had been keeping things to herself to spare Asami and now the lack of communication was suffocating. "Are you sure?"

"Things are different between us now," Asami explained. "Not everything. I still love you like I did before, but now we do things together, instead of apart. I can't make that promise to you either," she conceded sadly. "I would break it just by leaving."

Korra smiled softly at Asami's words. It was more than likely Asami had figured out exactly what had been irking Korra, and hurting them, and found a way to make it better. "Okay," she agreed. "But I won't break it. I'll amend it. To fit us like we are now. As long as you trust that you can tell me things that might make me mad and I'll still be here for you."

Asami threw her arms around Korra and pulled her into a tight hug. Korra returned it without question, and squeezed just as hard.

"I don't regret kissing you," Korra whispered into Asami's hair, remembering the other part of their skirmish. "You could be going to school on the moon and I'd want to be the person you kissed before you left. I was just angry."

Asami pulled back and did just that. Kissed Korra like she was going to the moon, like this was the only person she ever wanted to be kissing, (which…was half true).

Through the darkness they heard Senna call them in for dinner, and Korra pulled away and smiled. "I think my mother would kill me if I sent you away now," she teased. "Plus you're all snazzed up and everything."

"I wasn't going to leave even if you wanted," Asami said slyly. "Your mom made noodles."

Korra nodded. "Your favorite." She held her hand out to pull Asami up, who was eying her skeptically.

"She knew I was coming?"

Korra hummed affirmatively, and pulled a teary Asami towards the door.

Asami couldn't remember a time where she'd been happier. Sure there was the time she'd won the geography bee- but being in love- or lust- or whatever it is was with Korra at the moment- was so much better than that she wanted to explode.

She'd remembered lying in the grass with Korra, like she was now, (warm, and full of noodles) and wishing- wondering- what it would be like if she could just touch the solid body next to her, and now she could. It was every bit as exhilarating and wonderful as she'd imagined. Though, there was still the lingering problem that she was leaving for school sooner rather than later, and she could no longer ignore it as some distant occurrence that wasn't actually happening to her.

Korra of course, had been supportive the entire time they'd been together. Not that they'd talked about it (that seemed like the one topic that would evade them whether they were making out or not) but Asami knew they had to- knew the time had come that she'd been dreading, and would just have to face it. It sucked way more in real life than it did in her imagination. But, she'd taken the leap, now it was time to sink with the ship.

"Meet me at the beach tomorrow? Our first date spot," she asked Korra shyly, their hands clasped and lingering between them as they looked up at their stars.

"Okay," Korra promised. "When?"

"How abouttt sunset?"

"Have something romantic planned, Ms. Sato?" Korra grinned.

"No, I just like it there." She squeezed at their clasped hands, hoping it was the one place Korra wouldn't be able to leave her.

The next day Korra realized rather strangely that sunset was an ever changing time (she knew that it was- everybody knew that- it was just… hard to know exactly when it was?) and ended up having to look up the time on the internet, and then look up whether the time the weather channel gave was when the sun started to set, or when it finished setting, and then wonder which one Asami had meant.

Rather than panic though, she decided to just show up fifteen minutes before either occurrence, to save herself the worry and impress Asami by being on time.

What she didn't expect was to find Asami already waiting at their spot (the torches and sheets had been removed, and all that remained to mark the spot had been the stones and candles that Bolin had arranged) sitting on a large blanket she'd laid out, the candles already lit around her.

Asami didn't notice her approaching through the long grass however- she seemed rather focused on the breaking waves in front of her, and the lingering start of the sunset. She only moved when Korra plopped down next to her, and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Everything okay in there?" Korra asked, tapping Asami's head.

Asami looked like she was about to throw up, but nodded quickly. "Yeah! Yeah, I just- you're early!"

"I couldn't exactly figure out when sunset was, so I just came before it. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, of course," Asami smiled, returning Korra's kiss with one of her own.

"Thanks," Korra teased, lying back on the blanket. "What are we doing here, by the way? Just spending quality time?"

"Don't you like quality time?" Asami asked, nudging Korra's knees.

"Of course I do," Korra nudged back. "I have to spend it while I can."

Asami's ease disappeared again, and the worried expression she'd been wearing before Korra arrived resurfaced as she looked away, towards the sun that had actually begun to set, bathing them and the sand in orange light. It was then Korra noticed her fumbling with something in her hands.

"What's that?"

Before she could reach out to ask Asami what was wrong, Asami stood up suddenly to face her, gripping what Korra could see was a folded piece of paper.

She sat back up, befuddled. "Asami…?" she questioned again, eyebrow raised.

"I have to tell you something," Asami blurted, nervously, and somehow Korra could see that Asami had most likely been sitting here for quite some time, attempting to figure out how to say whatever it was she was trying to tell Korra now. It wasn't as bad as "we need to talk," but it was eerily similar. She decided to try and keep her cool, because Asami clearly wasn't going to.

"What is it, Beans?" she tried to ask softly and seriously (she figured whipping out Asami's volleyball nickname might help her loosen up a bit, since Korra hadn't come up with something endearing of her own yet- besides Beans- short for Beanpole, was just too perfect-) and moved to stand herself.

Asami's smile was slight, but she relaxed only marginally in favor of moving backwards, out of Korra's reach again, so Korra froze where she was, as if she was approaching a startled deer.

"I've been meaning to tell you," Asami explained, keeping her eyes on Korra's still figure. "I just- I was afraid I'd ruin this," she swallowed noticeably, and Korra wished desperately she could reach out and soothe her. Words would have to do for now.

"You can tell me anything, 'Sami," Korra reiterated her promise from the day before again, hoping she could keep it. "You won't ruin anything. We agreed to talk."

Asami seemed skeptical, but determined to keep going. "I'd understand if you were mad," she continued, trying to smooth the paper out in her hands, "But- I realized, I guess I can't ask you to do anything for us if there's this in the way- just- you can decide after if you want to make or break any promises for me. I don't think we're pointless, I just was afraid you'd think we were-"

"Asami."

Asami quickly ended her rambling to look up into Korra's eyes- and she could tell the ice in them was melting for her- so she would trust that Korra had meant what she'd said. Korra held out her hand for the wrinkled paper, and Asami only looked at it uncomfortably before inching forward and laying the letter in Korra's palm. She held her hands to her chest worriedly as she waited for Korra to read it.

Korra could immediately tell the paper wasn't as old as it's wrinkles made it seem, and it was more likely Asami had just wrung it in her hands repeatedly since she'd received it. She unfolded it slowly, as if moving any faster would scare Asami further, before looking down at the print.

She could also tell whatever news it was wasn't good from the letterhead- The Royal Fire Nation University- even though it started with a "Congratulations!"

As Korra read, she garnered that Asami had been accepted to a summer program in the Piandao School of Engineering and Artistic Design that had required extra applications and ridiculous qualifications after the initial acceptance to the school itself, and Asami had been one of only six to be offered a spot. The other part that stood out was the programs start date- the same day as Korra's first swim practice- two weeks from now, and almost a month earlier than she had been prepared for Asami to leave.

Even though Asami hadn't said anything more after giving Korra the paper- she figured she could assume what her panic had been about.

Korra took a breath and continued slowly- except now to maintain her own composure as well as Asami's. "So…you're leaving earlier?" she questioned calmly.

Asami looked up from where she'd been staring at the sand and spoke. "It's a great opportunity- I just. I haven't told them anything!" she clarified quickly. "I wanted to ask you first," she whispered.

Korra felt the fibers of the high quality paper between her fingers as she thought about it.

"It is great." Her voice was quiet, but sincere. More sincere than she was aware she could muster. "You know I'd never stop you if this was something you wanted."

Asami finally moved in closer, just short of pressing herself into Korra's front. "I know. But. You're allowed to ask, you know," she whispered. "I know you tried."

"Ask what?" Korra swallowed, but didn't move to embrace Asami, fumbling with the letter in her hand, as Asami had been earlier. Yes, she had tried. But in the most round about way a person could manage.

"Ask you to stay?"

"Yes," Asami breathed.

Korra was silent. It couldn't be that simple. It wasn't that she was too proud to beg. She just couldn't be responsible for holding Asami back from anything, for anything. Including herself. "I want what you want," she decided. She couldn't ask Asami to jump back on to a sinking ship, as much as it hurt her to let Asami go. She'd asked mostly because, well, she'd had to.

"Korra," Asami plead, moving her hands to Korra's shoulders and gripping at her shirt. "We promised to talk."

What was there to talk about? It didn't seem like there was much of a question. Why would Asami stay? Not that she didn't think she was worth it- but- this was a good thing for Asami.

"Tell me what you're thinking," Asami plead again softly, seemingly afraid to move or speak too much as well.

"I want you to go, for you, more than I want you to stay for me," Korra confessed. She was surprised at how easily the words came out, now that she didn't have her promise in the way. "I love you, I do Asami- but you know I can't ask you to stay. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. It's not that I don't care about us- I do- and I don't know what that means for us in the future, but you should go. Plus, if you stayed," she sighed. "That would be way too much pressure to be worth it."

"You'd be worth it," Asami murmured, the tears already building in her eyes. "Absolutely."

Korra almost shook her head, before she realized why this had been hard for Asami. Why Asami had asked for new promises. She didn't want it to seem like she was running away- Asami Sato never ran from anything (except once, when she was seven and hadn't had a choice).

She was afraid.

Afraid Korra would think she was running away. That Korra would seal her off- thinking it was what was best for Asami- that she wouldn't love her while she was gone, and they'd drift apart.

Korra had been trying to fight off Asami's worries with words- which she had never been good with, and it wasn't words Asami needed anymore. She needed to know.

"What is it you want?" Korra asked, hoping they weren't at odds. It seemed strange, but it was like her mind was made up.

"You're the only thing I want," Asami contended, her grip on Korra's shoulders almost painful. "You're the only thing I've wanted for a very long time, but-"

"But what?"

"But I want to go," she confessed. "But not if it means I lose you."

"I'll still love you, even when you're gone Asami," Korra assured, before pressing herself into Asami's embrace- bringing their foreheads together. "I just don't know how to promise anything more than that."

Asami's lips moved in to meet hers. She ripped the letter out of Korra's hands and it fluttered into the sand as she pressed them together with what felt like all of her strength. Korra's arms finally fell around her, and she stumbled as Asami pushed into her as they kissed.

Korra knew Asami didn't want to hurt her. She believed the words. She didn't want to hurt Asami either. The timing (the stupid, terrible timing) just wasn't perfect. She guessed it never had been, and that's what had kept them apart for so long. Just as it had countless times before, the feeling of regret that they had ever waited to do any of this reared, and it made her ache. They obviously didn't have time for hesitation anymore- and Korra saw the only way she could convince Asami she wouldn't lose her.

They crashed together again, Korra's hand in Asami's long, waving hair, the other tightly around her waist. When they pulled away to breathe she slid her arm down and around Asami's back and lifted her until Asami wrapped her legs around her waist, before kneeling and gently laying them down on the blanket.

They kissed roughly and hurriedly- the weeks of pent up frustration now combined with sheer desperation drove them deeper into the sand, and Korra clutched at the fabric beneath them to stop herself from grasping Asami too tightly.

Asami had no such fears, however, and she pulled until Korra was fully lying above her, her full weight pressing into Asami's body. Their gazes were so intently upon each other, she only barely registered when Asami's hand began running nervously up and down her supporting arm.

"You alright?" Korra whispered, as her lips inched closer to Asami's beautiful, flawless ones, and she could swear she felt Asami's heart jump in her chest when their noses brushed.

"Yeah." Asami lifted her head, to meet Korra once more, and she confused the stars in the sky for the ones in her eyes. (This was her favorite kiss out of all their kisses, because, as their tongues met, she finally had confirmation the choice of anyone in the world, under any circumstance, Korra would choose her. Her eyes filled with tears because it felt, quite inexplicably, that her mother had died and her father had moved and her life had been turned upside down just so that she could meet some blue eyed girl in her social studies class that would eventually, after years of denying it, love Asami Sato so desperately it would breach the distance that would come between them.)

"Asami?"

She knew Korra had felt the tears on her cheeks and almost panicked- so she pulled Korra even closer. "It's okay. Don't stop."

Korra's hand traveling up her torso and her lips pressing into her neck was all she needed to know Korra understood. It may have been mournful, and not entirely what she expected, but- there just wasn't time for anything else.

The pressure and the heat of Korra's body on hers was becoming overwhelming, and her dress had already ridden up her hips as they moved to meet Korra's, and she wanted more. She pushed her arms underneath Korra's shirt and pulled it up until it caught at her neck, and Korra pulled away so she could tug it off completely. She sight she was left with was, good god, always more erotic than their kissing- Korra's carved body looking questioningly down at her, for permission, for approval, for anything except the googly eyes she was giving it. What was a Sato to do? She sat up and coaxed Korra to lie down (who was she kidding- so she could get a better view of everything going on under these stupid shirts Korra always wore) and sat on Korra's hips, her tight jeans leaving so little to her imagination, through the thin material of her underwear. She's was surprised she hadn't just gotten off already, with all their clothes on.

"Asami, please."

It's only at Korra's begging she realized she'd been dragging her nails down Korra's abdomen, which must have been torturous, but Korra hadn't moved. She took one of Korra's hands and dragged it up her thigh, under her dress, past the strap of her underwear and to her torso. Korra sat up and pushed the dress up the rest of the way, up and over Asami's head. Before Korra could short- circuit, Asami grabbed her face and stuck her tongue in her mouth, grinding into the hard body beneath her.

Korra's strangled groan was the only sound Asami ever wanted to hear again. That and Korra calling her name.

"Asami."

"Korra."

"I don't want to do anything you don't want to."

"I want us to do everything," Asami assured, her hands moving between them to the button of Korra's jeans. "I want you do to anything you want to me."

If Korra had ever felt turned on by Asami before, all those feelings were eclipsed by those words. She lifted her hips with Asami still on top of her and pulled off her jeans, before pressing her lips to the valley between Asami's chest, up to her neck. When she straps of Asami's bra fell off her shoulders from all her writhing, she thought she would faint.

She almost did when Asami reached behind her back, and unhooked it.

In the reflection of the moon on the ocean, Asami looked regal. Korra thought that maybe she was looking at the moon goddess herself. If she survived, Korra promised she would go home and pray and make tributes to the moon and the ocean and the spirits that she had been graced with such a sight.

She twisted them around again, her bare feet digging into the sand as Asami heaved underneath her.

"You're beautiful." Her eyes never left Asami's.

Asami blushed, and Korra finally saw how low it went.

When their lips met again, it was gentle and slow. Korra's hands roamed places on Asami's body she'd only ever dreamed about, and when they reached the thin strip keeping her from feeling Asami completely, Asami's hips raised in silent permission.

Korra had swum some pretty excruciating races in her life, but she swore her heart had never beaten as fast as it was now. Asami Sato was not Mako, or Wing or Kuvira. Asami Sato was, well. The only thing she'd been tender with in her life, except maybe Naga. She was her best friend. The person she'd inexplicably entrusted with her soul before she'd even realized she'd done it. Who made her want more than she'd ever wanted before. Whose green eyes reminded her only of grace and strength, and made her want to be better. She'd be the only person that had ever gotten Korra so out of sorts she forgot how to think. Her life so far had a lot of wonderful things in it, but Asami was what gave it beauty.

"I love you, Asami." Her tone was sure. Strong. "I need you to know." She swallowed down the lump in her throat. "I love you more than anything." She wished there was something else to say. She'd been struggling to find what it was all these weeks. But maybe now, there weren't any words left.

Asami's tears returned, but they only shone on her eyelashes as she buried her hands in Korra's hair and brought their foreheads together. "I love you, too," she assured. For some reason, staring into the ice in front of her, she thought of the first time she'd seen them, full of joy and mischief, all that time ago. (Maybe, even before I knew what it was.)

Korra's next kiss was gentle but powerful, as she settled between Asami's legs.

I'm done wasting time.

Asami braced her arms on Korra's strong back.

Me too.

If Asami ever questioned her choice to leave Iroh, those questions were now eradicated. She was sinking, happily overcome by Korra's waves, struggling to breathe under Korra's straining hands. With Iroh she'd never had to control the waves of pure emotion being pulled out of her as they moved, or deal with years of pent up frustration just to touch this one body- and have this one body touch her. Iroh's teeth on her neck had never made her shudder, and his voice was nothing like the pitch of hers, hot in her ears, whispering sweet nothings. His hands were nothing like hers, rough and wild and deft, leaving her to send pulses of want around the fingers inside her. It was a want she thought would never be fulfilled, until she released, almost violently against Korra, who kissed her softly though it. Her nails never felt so satisfied digging into his back as they did with this one, and his weight on top of her had never been quite this comforting.

Korra on the other hand, was on fire. The heat of Asami's body only served to drive her even more wild, and she wanted to burn with it forever. Asami's body wrapped around hers demanded devotion, which she was more than willing to give. She would give and give until there was nothing left but embers. Her kisses were praises she didn't know how to say, and there was no part of Asami that could go un-praised. The hands roaming her skin burned trails across her back and tugged at her hair. She followed the sparks down Asami's body with her tongue, licking at Asami just like the flames she was giving off, until she reached the source. Asami's moans were contagious, and Korra found herself addicted to the sound. She was convinced she would implode when Asami's legs wrapped around her head and pulled Korra onto her back, so her hips could push further onto Korra's tongue.

The cycle continued for what seemed like hours, until they collapsed together on the rumpled blanket, half on the sand, too tired to continue. Their arms remained desperately clutching at one another- if they weren't going to have sex, they were going to be as close as they could possibly be without it.

Eventually, Asami's hips started to move idly against Korra's side once more, and Korra laughed as she pulled Asami on top of her entirely.

"That is the last time I ever wait ten years to sleep with someone," Asami chuckled, pushing her hair out of the way.

"It better be. We've got a lot of catching up to do in the next two weeks," Korra pointed out mischievously.

"Then I suggest you start now."

Korra didn't know exactly when sunrise was either, but it happened sometime after the candles had all burned out and the first jogger found them still tangled in the grass.