Running Home To You

Part 2:

"Asami, help me."

"I'm coming!"

"Korra!" Asami woke up with a start in the middle of the night.

Sweat was dripping from her face as she recalled the nightmare. Images of a lost and broken Korra filled her head and as she sat up. She held her head. It was just a nightmare, she told herself repeatedly. However, something inside of her told her otherwise. No, that was ridiculous. She couldn't see the future, past or present.

She turned on her side but the image of seeing Korra in the snow had been burned into her brain and she couldn't shake it out of her no matter what she did. Argh, she sat back up and looked out the window of the bedroom she was given to use. She could see the southern lights dancing in the sky. The storm seemed to have finally finished for now. It had been going on and off all day.

She had wanted to go look for Korra as soon as the wind had died down but Tonraq had told her not to stating it was still quite dangerous out there. She didn't want to but she begrudgery had agreed. He knew these lands and storms better than anyone and she certainly didn't want to be caught up in a storm.

However, she was sick of waiting. Asami Sato was never one for waiting around. It was decided. She would move at first light no matter what the weather was doing. That dream she had – was it a warning of what was to come?

After a tedious rest of the night, Asami awoke at dawn and started to pack her things. I am coming Korra, she thought to herself as she exited her room. She had to be careful not to wake anyone. She knew that if she did, they would just try and stop and she was not going to be stopped this time. Once outside, she spotted two familiar figures waiting for her, dressed as if they were going into the coldest part of the South Pole.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Um, coming with you of course," Bolin said as if it was most obvious thing in the world. "Look we get that waiting around for you is hard – it's hard for us as well – so we decided it was time to take action!"

Asami gave the brothers a kind smile. "Thanks, you two."

"Group hug!" Bolin pulled in the two others and gripped them tightly.

"You didn't forget about us, did you?"

The three friends whipped around and found themselves face to face with Jinora and Opal. The two air benders huffed a little bit while they waited to be included in the group hug.

"Come in," Bolin said extending his arms.

Two hours later, the group had found its way towards the cliff where Korra's things had been found. According to reports that they had received, they were lying under a few feet of snow that was found by some polar dogs. Asami studied the area very carefully – the snow had removed any trace that would have been there and the drop was extensive; you could barely make out the bottom. The two air benders used their bending to get to the bottom while the rest of the group scaled down the mountain – extremely carefully. It was a tense half an hour. Asami knew that one false move and she could fall but she allowed herself to breath and carefully make her way down. It was extremely difficult but her mind was on her future wife – she had to make it for her.

Once at the bottom, they started searching – the search party hadn't managed to make its way down there yet for unknown reasons. Asami had assumed that maybe they didn't want to risk falling. It had been quite a dangerous climb down after all. After a while, they all came to the same conclusion – Korra wasn't there. That gave Asami hope – either Korra hadn't fallen off the cliff or she survived and managed to find shelter (well she was hoping on that last part). It didn't matter which option had happened – all that mattered was that Korra was alive just like she had known all along.

Suddenly voices could be heard. The group paused to listen.

"We got to find her, she's gotta be around here somewhere."

"Chief Daisuke is going to kill us Renjiro!"

"Shut up Minori and concentrate on finding the Avatar! She evaded us once, she won't again!"

Asami's heart leapt. These two men knew something about Korra and she was going to find out what it was. She gave a look at her companions and they all nodded in response. Together they walked towards the voices and pausing at another cliff, they found a few men in water tribe outfits carrying weapons.

"Bandits," Mako whispered.

"How can you tell?" Asami asked.

"Those are not normal water tribe outfits."

Asami looked back at them and now that Mako had pointed it out, she could see what he meant. Looking at them through her spyglass, she could see an emblem on their outfits that didn't match the one that the Southern Water Tribe had.

"What's the plan guys?" Jinora asked.

"We could use our air bending to scare them off," Opal suggested. "Whip up a storm and send them flying?"

"No," Mako said. "They mentioned Korra. We need them to talk."

Asami slipped on her Equalist glove. "Then we will make them."
"Woah, Asami, slow down there-" Mako started but Asami was already racing towards the men.

"Hey arseholes, what did you do with my fiancée?" she yelled as she raced towards them with the others hot on her trail.

"What?" their presence caught the bandits off guard. Asami leapt at one and electrocuted him causing him to fall in pain. However, the others had recovered. One used their water bending at her which was cut off by Mako's fire bending.

"You sure this was the right idea?" Mako yelled at her as he dodged more water bending.

"No," Asami called back as she got into a fistfight with two of the bandits at once. She quickly dodged their attacks and swung her leg into one of their faces. Meanwhile Opal and Jinora were using their air bending to stop another one from escaping at the same time Bolin and Mako were using their bending to stop the water benders from winning the fight.

The fight soon shifted in their favour. Asami knocked the other fighter out with her glove while the two water benders were knocked off their feet by force of the brothers' bending. Opal and Jinora used their air bending to cause a mini hurricane to finish off the remaining ones. As soon as the fight was over, Asami grabbed one of them by the cuff of his neck and slammed him against the rocky mountain wall.

"Where's Korra?" she demanded of him.

"D-don't know-" the man was slowly turning purple as the oxygen was getting cut off.

"Careful lying to her," Bolin said. "She is one angry bride-to-be."

"I swear I don't know," the man said in a hurried tone as he struggled for air. "Look we took her from the mountain but she escaped during a storm when we left to ransom her off, I swear that's what happened."

"Asami you may want to let him down before he suffocates," Mako pointed out.

"Oh right!" Asami loosened her grip and let the man fall to the ground. "So now what? Korra could be anywhere! Especially with that storm last night." Her voice got more hysterical with each word that came out. What were they to do now? Their only lead turned out to be a dead end. However, despite this, Asami could breath a little easier. They knew that she was still alive and out there. Now all they had to do was find her and that would be no easy task.

"We gotta keep looking!" Bolin said.

"Can you do that spirit thing Jinora?" Asami asked. "It would make our lives easier."

"I would but I can't feel Korra's spirit energy and I could easily get loss in this unfamiliar territory."

Asami deflated. Well, there goes that idea.

For rest of the day, they searched, calling out Korra's name wherever they went. They checked for any hiding place that they could find. They came across a few more bandits but they successfully managed to avoid them. They didn't want to have another fight if they could avoid it.

Soon, they came to an area littered with travel bags. Guess this was the place where Korra had escaped. Asami paused as she knelt next to some of the bags.

"Hmm," she thought out loud. "If I was Korra, what would I do next?"

"Find shelter!" chimed in Jinora.

"Indeed," Asami stood up, "but which way?"

Jinora looked serious for a moment then pointed in a direction that was north to them.

"That way."

Asami didn't understand it but she knew she was right. Something was pulling her in that direction too. The group headed in that direction and soon came to a rocky cliff. Would Korra have climbed it? No, that would have been near impossible especially if she had fallen off that other cliff. As Asami surveyed the cliff, she kept getting bothered by something – something wasn't right. Then she spotted it.

"Here!" she called.

The snow had been covering an entrance to a cave. Mako used his fire bending to melt the snow and reveal what was beyond.

"Korra!" shouted Asami into the cave.

No response. They peered inside and couldn't see much – not even with Mako's fire bending.

"Maybe we should keep looking elsewhere?" suggested Opal.

"No," Asami whispered as she stepped into the cave. Further, she walked and soon realised that there was more to the cave than originally thought. Asami kept her eyes peeled for anything until-

"Korra!" A figure was slumped by a dying fire and had her eyes closed.

Asami rushed to her fiancée and held her in her hands.

"Wake up, please wake up," she begged as she cradled her.

"Asami?" the whisper barely escaped Korra's lip. "You found me."

"I did," she whispered as she held her tighter. "I did."

Korra awoke suddenly and found herself in her old bedroom. What was she doing here? The last thing she remembered was being in that cave and maybe a dream about Asami rescuing her… or was that a dream? Had that actually been real?

She gingerly got to her feet and staggered but she clutched her bedpost for support. After managing to steady herself, she headed out. She soon found everyone sitting around the dinner table eating a meal. Her entrance caused a riot. Everyone soon was coming to her, making sure that she was alright. After saying that she was fine several times, she took a seat next to Asami who looked at her with worry.

"You sure you're fine? You don't look fine."

"I am," Korra wondered if she actually was but she wasn't in any harm's way. "Besides, that rest did wonders. How long was I out?"

"Three days," Asami said as she ate some noodles. "Katara healed you while you slept."

Three days?! No wonder she felt so rested.

"Did she now?" a grin came over her face. "Well, that might explain why I am feeling better."

Asami paused for a moment and then gave Korra a small slap across her shoulder which she expressed pain at.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"For making me go out of my mind with worry," Asami said, "and this is for not dying." She brought Korra in for a small lingering kiss.

"So, what are you two going to do about the wedding?" Senna asked.

At that moment, everyone turned towards the couple. As soon as her mother mentioned it, a sudden wave of shock came over Korra. Wasn't her wedding in less than forty-eight hours?

"We can postpone it because of…" Asami started but she trailed off when she saw that her fiancée was rapidly shaking her head.

"We are not postponing."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, 'Sami! I want to marry you now if I could. I love you and can't wait for married life!"

"Aw," came a collective sound from across the table.

"That settles it," Asami said as Korra brought her in for another kiss which turned into a more passionate one.

"Get a room you two!" Opal shouted from across the table which made people giggle.

"I think we should," Korra whispered to Asami which only made her blush.

"Come on guys!" Bolin jumped to his feet. "Operation Korra and Asami Wedding begins in less than five!"

As they headed towards their rooms to get their things, Korra felt a small tapping on her shoulder. She looked down and saw that her grandmother was smiling at her while holding out a small wooden box.

"Missing something?" she asked her granddaughter.

"Oh my god, thanks so much!" Korra gave her a swift kiss on the cheek. "Where did you find this?"

"It was with your things when they brought them back. I figured you would want this."

Korra could only smile at her.

The next day, they made their way back to Republic City – much more successfully than Korra's first attempt had been. They had approximately thirty-six hours to go and then they would be walking down the aisle. Korra couldn't handle her excitement anymore. It was starting to get all too real for her. She often glanced at Asami who poured over seating charts after seating charts and wondered if she was getting cold feet. Korra had to shake herself internally. Nah, she wouldn't, Korra thought.

"How about this Korra?" Asami's voice brought her back to the real world.

"Hmm?"

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Yes, I am."

"Then what did I say?"

"Something about seating plans?"

Asami looked as if she had to physically stop herself from eye-rolling.

"Lucky guess."

Korra looked over the seating plans on Asami's desk in her office. They had taken some time off (well not really in Asami's case but she took what she could) to go over the plans.

"Looks good 'Sami."

"I thought so too," Asami grinned with pleasure at her work. "Come now. We just have to survive one more night and then we shall be married."

Married, gosh that sounded so grown up to Korra but she was ready for it. In fact, she was more than ready. That night, Korra slept on Air Temple Island while Asami stayed at her mansion. After settling in and staring at the ceiling for more than half an hour, she could now say that nerves were settling in. Sleep didn't come easy for Korra. In fact, it took its time in getting to her. The nerves had been joined by excitement and worry. Horrible thoughts started crossing her mind.

What if she wasn't in fact ready? What if Asami got cold feet? Could she handle what this marriage to bring? Stop it Korra, she told herself as she used her pillow to block her ears. She just had to believe that everything was going to go to plan – why wouldn't it? Asami had planned it down to the second.

Somehow, she managed to close her eyes and drift off to sleep.

"Rise and shine!" Pema's voice cut through Korra's haze of sleep like a knife.

"What time is it?" Korra's voice was groggy and rubbed her eyes.

"Time to get up! Otherwise, you'll miss your wedding!"

That got her to sit up straight and swing her legs over the edge of her bed. Her eagerness made Pema smile.

"Okay, let's get me wedding ready!" Korra said as she sprang to her feet.

The next three hours were simply pandemonium. Attempting to get Korra ready on time seemed almost impossible. First, there was problems with her outfit. Her mother had brought several different ones with her from The Southern Water Tribe – all traditional Water Tribe clothes. Everyone liked a different one which only confused her more. Eventually, they settled on a similar outfit to the one she wore to Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding but much fancier, equipped with a sapphire necklace. Next was her hair. Pema and her mother argued about the way it should be done. However, Korra opted for it to be done slightly up and slightly down (again similar to how it was at Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding).

Finally, everything was done. Korra picked up the wooden box that she had kept close to her for the past two days. It was time to get married.

Korra could only hope that everything was going better for Asami.

Everything was not going alright for Asami. The wedding was in less than two hours and she had lost her engagement ring.

"Maybe it fell under the bed?" suggested Opal.

While the air benders were helping out Korra, Opal had volunteered to aid Asami with her wedding preparation. The first couple of hours had been good. Opal had managed to help Asami with her wedding dress and hair without too much difficulty. It was only when they were about to leave did Asami slide her hands over each other and realise something was different – her ring wasn't there. Panic had set in and she had spent the last half an hour looking for it.

"It's gotta be here somewhere," she gritted her teeth as she took Opal's suggestion and looked under the bed. Nope, not there. God, Korra was going to kill her.

"Let's retrace your steps!"

"We've done this already!" she was losing her patience – and mind.

"Humour me," Opal looked like she was attempting to hide an eye roll. "You took it off to get into the shower correct?"

"Yes! But we have checked the bathroom!"

"Let's check again."

The two girls entered Asami's bathroom and found nothing but a wet bathmat hanging over the shower door. Opal adopted a detective like stance and expression as she studied the bathroom.

"Did you put it on after you got out of the shower?" she asked.

"Of course, I di-" Something was now stirring in her memory. "Oh my god, Opal you are a freaking genius!"

Asami could have sprinted out of the bathroom except she couldn't due to the heels she was wearing. Instead, she walked as fast as she could without tripping over towards her bed where her towel was laying on her bed. She quickly picked it up and something shiny fell out of it onto the floor. She picked it up and sure enough, it was the ring she was looking for.

"Got it!" Relief swept through her. She held it close to her before slipping it back on. God, it looked good as it shined in the light.

"Excellent!" Opal looked more pleased than Asami – if that was even possible. "Let's get to the park!"

The happy couple had decided not to get married in a conventual setting. Instead, they had settled on getting married in Avatar Park as it was quite a beautiful setting. Although, Asami had a feeling that Korra liked it as it had a giant statue of her.

Asami surveyed herself in the mirror for a second and it hit her. In less than an hour, she was going to be married to the love of her life. This was it. No takebacks. No regrets. Although, if she was being honest, she didn't want to take this back. She loved Korra and she knew that Korra loved her. This was going to be perfect. She just had a strong feeling it would be.

"Okay," she said as she fixed her hair. "Let's do this."

Korra was waiting very impatiently. She was in Avatar Park which had been transformed to meet their standards for the wedding. A couple of dozen white chairs stood either side of a long white aisle. At the top of it was a white arch decorated with red roses.

People were already filing in – friends and family of the happy couple. Many of them came up to Korra's family to congratulate them before they found their seats. In the front row were her mother, Mako, Bolin (who had saved a spot for Opal later) and Tenzin with his family. Next to Korra was her father who was going to help out Korra and walk her down the aisle later. They were just waiting in an area that was off to the side of where the wedding would take place. All that they were waiting for was Opal to arrive and give them the signal that they could begin. Although, they were supposed to start fifteen minutes ago.

"Where is Asami?" Korra started to pace up and down. "Oh my god, she's got cold feet! She's not coming!"

"Stop being overdramatic," Jinora had just joined them. She looked incredibly pretty in her violet dress carrying a bouquet of flowers. It would be her to walk down first followed by Korra and her dad. "Asami is barely fifteen minutes late. They could be stuck in traffic or something."

"Yeah," colour flooded back into Korra's expression. "Yeah, that'll be it. She is just stuck in traffic."

A few more minutes passed and the anxiety started to take over her again. Come on, she thought to herself. This was Asami they were talking about. There was no way that she would ditch this wedding. She was soon proven correct about that when Opal came bursting on them looking as if she sprinted a good few kilometres.

"Woah, Opal," Jinora, Korra and her father all said in unison.

Opal took some deep breaths before standing up straight. "We are ready to roll!"

Jinora signalled to the band to begin. After Jinora got a small head start, Korra walked down the aisle with arm in arm with her father. People were waving as she passed and she waved back. When they got to the front, Korra gave her father a small kiss on the cheek before she took up her position at the altar.

The music shifted and Korra looked down and her mouth dropped. Coming down the aisle, looking drop-dead gorgeous (not that she wasn't always but there was something extra special about her today) was Asami dressed in the most unbelievable wedding dress. She seemed to float down the aisle instead of walking it. As their eyes met, Asami gave her a wide smile which Korra returned. She could hardly hear Bolin, who was officiating, as her attention was solely on her beautiful soon-to-be wife. How did she get to be so lucky? A loud cough from Bolin was enough to bring her back to earth.

"As I was saying," Bolin gave her a small grin as if he knew what was going on inside her head, "vows time. Asami, you're first."

"Oh wow, okay," Asami took Korra's hand and gazed at her with those irresistible green eyes of hers. "Korra, you are the shining light in my world. I promise that after whatever Avatar business you need to do, you can always come home to me. I promise to always have your back, no matter what. I love you Korra and I always will."

There was a collective awing from the crowd as Asami slipped on a golden band on Korra's finger.

"Korra, you're next," Bolin looked like he was going to cry.

"Alright," Korra looked at Asami and all her words escaped her for a moment before she could recompose herself. "Asami, you were there for me when I couldn't even be there for myself. That was when I realised how much you meant to me. You mean everything to me and I must keep pinching myself to make sure this is real and that you are here with me. I promise to always love you Asami and to always be there for you, in sickness and in health and all that." There was definitely the sound of crying (most likely from her mother) as she slipped a gold band on Asami's fingers. She then turned to her dad and lowered her voice. "Psst Dad, the box."

"Oh right," he said suddenly coming out of the trance he was in.

Korra turned back to Asami. "I got you a little something from the Water Tribe when I was last there."

"Oh, did I thank you for not dying then?" Asami joked.

A smile came over her and then she lowered her voice so that only Asami could hear.

"Maybe you can thank me properly tonight if you know what I mean?" she said as she wagged her eyebrows which only made Asami giggle and Bolin blush (oh so he had heard it, oops). She then handed the small wooden box to Asami who opened it with a gasp and cradled the betrothal necklace.

"Korra, it's beautiful."

"It belongs to my family which is only fitting as you are now part of it."

"Help me?"

Asami turned around as Korra fumbled with helping getting on the necklace before Asami turned back to face her.

"Do you Avatar Korra take Asami Sato to be your wife?" Bolin suddenly said.

"I do."

"And do you Asami Sato take Korra to be your wife?"

"I do."

"Excellent," Bolin wasn't even trying to hide back his tears anymore. "I now pronounce you to be wife and wife. You may now kiss the bride!"

Korra and Asami leaned in and brushed their lips against each other before she pulled Asami in for a deeper kiss. There were cheers from the crowd and a whooping sound from the air benders.

"Hello wife," Asami said as they broke apart.

"Hello to you too wifey," Korra grinned at her.

"Thank you for coming home."

"Thank you for helping me come home."

They kissed once more and brushed their foreheads together. Everything was now perfect.

Fin