Makorra: Gift of a Lifetime Ch.9 Pt.2

"Hey, Pema."

Pema was thrown off her guard when she heard the familiar tinkling of Asami Sato's voice in the kitchen entry way. She hadn't expected to see the Sato heiress ever again, except maybe in the newspapers. From what Korra had told her, Asami hadn't taken the news from Mako very well.

"Asami!" Jinora chirped from the table as she closed her latest favorite book.

"Asami, Asami," Ikki said quickly, as she jumped up from her spot at the table and ran up to Asami. "Did you hear, did you hear?" The airbender bounced up and down excitedly. "Mako and Korra are gonna have a baby!"

"Ikki…" Pema tried to keep the strain and terror out of her voice. She couldn't really scold her for spreading what she thought was 'exciting' news. They didn't want to tell the eight-year old that Mako and Korra's baby was unintentional, because she was still a tad too young to know those details. Besides, Pema hadn't really sat down with the kids and told them to keep the anticipation from Asami. To be fair, Pema hadn't thought Asami would come back to the island.

"Yeah, I heard!" Asami pushed as much enthusiasm into her voice as possible. She felt like she did a top notch job of doing so; Ikki didn't seem to sense any disappointment as she grabbed her hands and jumped up and down. Jinora was just now getting up to officially greet her, and she seemed none the wiser. Pema, on the other hand, seemed to catch on.

"Oh, Asami." Pema turned away from the kitchen sink. Quickly, she dried off her hands and readied herself to assist Asami—or possibly even Mako and Korra—in any way possible. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Asami smiled as she pulled her hands away from Ikki's grasp. "It's sort of an impromptu visit—one of the air acolytes let me in. I hope it's not any trouble."

"Oh, um, not at all!" Pema smiled nervously. The idea of Asami being in the same house when her ex-boyfriend and Korra were in the next room together made her edgy. She really didn't want to have to listen to a screaming match, or clean blood stains off of the wooden floors. "So…" she started a bit cautiously, "did you here to talk to Korra?"

Asami took in a deep, quiet breath through her nose and slowly blinked while nodding. She smiled lightly, a smidge of bitterness in the corners of her lips. "Yeah…" She opened her eyes and hoped that Pema could tell how she was feeling. "I am."

Pema leaned against the sink and smiled tiredly, all while offering the beautiful Asami a sympathetic smile. She could only imagine how difficult this was for this young woman. This was an adult situation, and she could either choose to be mature about it or throw a tantrum.

The latter was warranted, but the former seemed to be Asami's intention.

"Well, she's a little busy at the moment." The older woman quietly pondered if she should inform Asami that Mako and Korra were in the next room over, trying to put her son to sleep. It might cause her more pain to see it—or bring about a shit-storm. It would be better if Asami talked to Korra without Mako in the room, or even in the same vicinity.

"I'd only be a minute," Asami assured. She didn't want the poor woman to think she was going to murder the Avatar. This was going to be a simple discussion, nothing more. And by simple discussion, she knew that bare hearts might be involved; which could amount to tears, anger, and possible sobbing, but she hoped to avoid such graphic emotion.

Pema could easily decode that a 'minute' meant 'however-long-it-takes' in girl time. Even though Pema was pretty sure that Asami's intentions were good, she still couldn't scrape away the fear that the 'however-long-it-takes' might turn into a thirty-minute screaming match; or the shortest bloodbath in the history of the world. She knew she was overreacting, of course, or at least she hoped.

"I really think it might be best if you came back later." Pema crossed her arms and hoped that Asami could pick up on her quiet warning.

Asami did, but she didn't care. "I just really need to talk to her." Asami looked down for a moment, but looked away when she caught Ikki's curious gaze. She had to get it across to Pema that she needed to heal and to get things straight. She needed to find a sense of closure so that she could move on. "Please…"

Pema quietly observed the gorgeous woman before her. She was putting on a good act for the kids. To the kids, she just seemed like a friend desperate to see the Avatar. But Pema could see the crestfallen look in her bright green irises, and the weight that she wore on squared shoulders. She wasn't letting this get her down, but she could tell that Asami was fighting hard to keep up this charade.

Well, Pema supposed she couldn't deny the beautiful Miss Sato something she felt she needed, "…Are you sure you really want to talk to her?"

"Yes."

Pema took in a deep breath before smiling kindly at her daughters. "Girls, why don't you go meditate with your father?"

"But Asami just got here!" Jinora bleated.

"Yeah, we haven't seen you in forever!" Ikki quietly whined.

Asami smiled and crouched down on the ground to get eye level with Ikki. "Don't worry—I'll come by again some other time," she said as she looked between both of the girls.

"And then you'll play with us?" Ikki mumbled.

"Of course!" Asami could feel her eyes brighten as the girls smiled with glee. "Now go meditate like your mom said."

"Okay!" Ikki accepted with ease.

Still a bit reluctant, but with smiles on their faces, both of the girls headed out of the room, "Bye, Asami!" Their light footsteps could be heard down the hall before a gust of wind sounded, and the familiar noise of air scooters filled the building.

"No air scooters in the house!" Pema called, but her children were too far down the hall to hear. She sighed and placed her hands on her hips. They would get away with it this time, but only because she had more important things to attend to.

Turning her attention to Asami, Pema smiled and took a deep breath. "Okay, Korra's down that hallway and in the last room on the right." Pema pointed towards the dark hallway. "But I should warn you that I've charged her and Mako with the task of putting Rohan to sleep."

"Oh." Asami could feel her heart stumble back from the punch of Mako's name. "I didn't know Mako was here…"

"If you want, you can certainly come back tomorrow," Pema offered gently. "He'll be at work from noon until evening."

"No, it's…" Was it okay? Was she going to be okay if she saw not just Korra, but Korra and Mako together? She had planned on talking to Korra alone, but maybe she could ask Mako to leave the room or try to get Korra's attention before Mako noticed her. "It's okay." If she wanted to try and make this friendship work, then she was going to have to get used to Mako and Korra- whether they were an item or just friends.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Pema could tell that Asami was tense about her decision, but she could also tell that this was something Asami needed to do.

Pema glanced towards the hallway and nodded for Asami to take her risk.

Solemnly, Asami took her leave to the hallway. As she got closer to the door on the right, she could hear what sounded like singing. It was a soft song; a man and a woman singing a little off key, but still in tune enough for it to sound soothing. She could tell from the way the voices mingled that they belonged to Mako and Korra. Neither Mako or Korra sang very much; their voices carrying a melody was foreign to her. It took her mind off of her aching heart and nerves for an instant, and piqued her curiosity.

Her heart started to race. This was it; she was about to see the last thing she wanted to see. She knew her heart was about to snap in half, just like it did when Mako told her that he cheated. She could feel her mouth going dry, and a sweat break out on her hairline.

Taking a deep breath, Asami Sato approached the open archway that led into the room Mako and Korra were in.

She froze in her place and her mind went blank for a split second, as she caught the backs of a young couple trying their best to lull a baby to sleep.

Both of their backs were turned to her. Neither of them had seen her, but Asami could see exactly what they were doing and how they were feeling, just by how they sat and how the lullaby sounded as it passed through their lips and into the room's cool air.

They sounded like they were smiling, and comfortable with each other. Even the baby, whose head was barely visible from where she stood, seemed to be put at ease by the sound of the two people close to him and their happy presence.

Asami tried to jumpstart her mind like a Satomobile, but to no avail. She tried matching the red cable of anger up to her mind, but nothing sparked. She tried matching the black cable of sadness up to her brain, but nothing kick started. Instead, she simply found herself mesmerized by the scene before her, and the sound of the song they softly sang.

Perhaps she could still feel a bit of envy, but over all she was left with the feeling of bitter sweetness nestling into her chest. That was her ex-boyfriend and her best friend sitting so closely together. That was her guy and her right hand girl singing to a baby. Those were her closest friends who were expecting their own baby. Yet she couldn't deny the swelling feeling in her chest, the one that made her smile and told her that this was right.

That was her ex-boyfriend and her best friend sitting together on a futon and slowly, even if they didn't know it, building a future together.

Asami wanted to break down crying; she wanted to run home and sob into her pillows and talk out loud, and pretend that her mother was still there to listen to her. But she was stuck in place, watching something bitterly beautiful.

Something that was bringing a smile to her face and tears to her eyes.

She had to let him go. He was never hers to begin with. And even though he did wrong by cheating on her, she still found that she had to respect this: what she was seeing, and what she was hearing.

She definitely needed to keep these people in her life. Even if they had hurt her, she knew that they could rebuild; forgive and forget.

"Are you okay?"

Asami looked over to her right and saw Pema standing warily next to her. She had a small smile on her face and upturned eyebrows that expressed concern.

Asami could feel the tears on her eyelids sting and bite to break free of the barrier she had built. She turned back to watch the two young benders, Asami smiled. "Yeah."

Pema leaned over to catch a glimpse of the scene for herself. She glanced between the young couple and Asami, who was fighting back tears with a smile. It didn't take a psychologist to know that Miss Sato's smile was as real as the day was long, and that it held everything Asami hadn't expected to feel, while the tears in her eyes held everything she wanted to feel, but couldn't.

The nonbender smiled softly and leaned against the wall as she continued watching Mako and Korra from afar. "It's just something else entirely." Pema nodded towards the couple as Asami looked at her in question. "The two of them, I mean. And what they're going through."

Asami nodded as she looked back at her friends and blinked back the tears. "Yeah…it is."

"That song they're singing is about to end," Pema stated quietly as she took in Asami's state of being. "If you still want to talk to her, then you can here in a minute."

Asami shook her head; her smile started to feel wobbly as her tears threatened to fall. "No, I'm okay—it's okay."

"If you want, you can come back tomorrow," Pema offered with a shrug. "Between noon and evening."

Asami nodded quickly before flipping her hair, in hopes that her tears would slide back into their ducts. "I'd like that."

Asami was about to head back down the hallway, but she stuck around just long enough to listen to the end of the song and the nervous quiet between Mako and Korra as they finished. She heard them mumble softly and could hardly distinguish what they were saying, but she could have sworn she heard talk of Mako losing and Korra agreeing to a draw, before the space between them was filled with small chuckles.

Yeah, she was definitely making the right choice.

Asami passed Pema and started down the hall, but she stopped and prayed that her tears would hold off until she got home, or at least outside of the Air temple. "Hey, Pema?"

"Hmm?" Pema answered back softly.

Asami barely looked over her shoulder and smiled the best she could so that her tears wouldn't fall. "Thanks."

The Avatar could face gang thugs, chi-blockers, and the typical ruffian, and yet…she couldn't write a stinking letter to her parents. It shouldn't take anyone a week to write someone a letter—even if the news wasn't exactly typical. Mako was beginning to chide her a little whenever he would get to the island and remind her that she needed to send them a letter, to which she lightly snapped back at him before going back to fuming over how she was going to word everything. Mako had tried helping her, and he had come up with a few good things to say, but Korra still found that she was unsatisfied with the drafts they had created. She started taking notes on the things she needed to say and how they needed to be written, but she still couldn't get everything to flow the way she wanted.

Bolin had tried to throw in his two cents; some of his suggestions had been off the wall, and mostly the earthbender had told her things she already planned to say. Pema and Tenzin had tried, but their suggestions sounded a bit too mechanical when written on paper.

Korra just wanted to make sure she touched all of the bases, and made this as easy for her parents to accept as possible. She had to make sure she could answer most of their questions right away, so that they didn't have to wait on more letters, and she felt like she needed to reassure them that all was well—well, for the most part—and that she was getting the situation under control. She wanted the letter to sound like herself, so that they knew she was okay, but she also needed to sound mature enough so that they could rest easy knowing that she had a handle on things.

Nothing was coming out right, and no matter who helped her, it still didn't come out the way she wanted.

Korra let out a noisy breath through her nose as she slouched over the desk in her room. She glanced over at the peak of her wadded paper mountain. It was now up to the edge of her desk, and had flooded the floor around the waste bin.

The Avatar leaned forward and rested her head on her crossed arms. It was only one in the afternoon, and she was absolutely exhausted. She wanted to crawl back into bed and just sleep the rest of the day away, but she knew that she would get scolded by Tenzin for not doing her light exercises and meditation. She also knew that if she didn't get the letter written, then she would have to deal with Mako's blatant reminder: "You have to tell them soon!"

Korra sighed and closed her eyes. Maybe she could take a short nap at her desk; ten minutes and the maybe she'd be set for the rest of the day.

"Korra!" Pema's voice rang from a few doors down

Korra released a sigh through her nostrils—of course she couldn't take a short nap. "Yeah?" She tried to keep the agitation out of her voice as she answered.

"Someone's here to see you."

Slowly blinking, Korra allowed her mind to rake through a few individuals who might want to share her company. There was Bolin—he had nothing going on today as far as she knew. Mako was at work, so he was out of the question. Her stomach churned to think that it might be Tarrlok who was waiting outside for her.

Her body and mind were reluctant, but Korra forced herself up from her seat and trudged to the door. "Coming," she yelled with little luster. She supposed she could deal with Bolin; he might be a welcome distraction from her letter writing. A nap would have been better, but she supposed beggars couldn't be choosers.

As sluggish as she was, it didn't take Korra but a few seconds to maneuver her way down the hall. Upon entering the main room, Korra stopped short and was jarred out of her thoughts at the sight of Asami Sato standing idly next to Pema. "O-oh, Asami." Korra figured she'd never see her best friend again, and if she did then she assumed the reunion would not be pretty. "…What're you doing here?" The cautious trepidation laced her words like a pretty bow and her usual brave face was covered in uncertainty, like cheap plastic wrapping.

"I just came to talk." Asami held up a friendly smile, but even Korra knew that there was more beneath the deep red lipstick.

"Umm…" Korra was about to object, but Pema butted in.

"I'll leave you two alone. If you need me, I'll be down the hall in Rohan's room."

Korra was about to plead and make an excuse for her to stay, but Asami cut her off, "Thanks; see you later, Pema!"

The tension thickened as Pema left the room, leaving the two teens to face each other and their demons. Two 'former' best friends, as Korra saw it, who both had a thing for the same guy, and one who went behind the other's back to sleep with him—drunk or not—and now Asami was a woman scorned, and Korra came off as a pregnant wolf in koala sheep's clothing.

Korra could almost swear on her past lives that there was no way this was going to go well. However, it was Asami's calm demeanor that was making her reevaluate her inference. Asami swayed a bit back and forth as she looked at the floor and then out the window. It was like she didn't know where to begin. Korra could understand that feeling, but she also knew that Asami Sato must have had a lot to say.

She was an impatient waterbender; Korra was sick of wallowing in anxiety, and was beginning to become headstrong with it. She was going to break this silence's back and send it crawling back into the hole from which it came. "So," she started meekly, "I guess you're here to talk about…us?" Spirits, she made it sound like they were the ones who had the romantic break up. "And uh…my kid?"

Asami rolled her tongue between her lips and nodded fervently. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Another silence lapsed over them, and Korra could feel the muscles in her shoulders and neck bunching up in preparation for a tirade of a betrayed woman, but it never came. Instead, the unsettling quiet persisted, and Asami kept looking around the room without even glancing at Korra.

Korra tried rolling her shoulders, but it didn't relieve the tightness. She swallowed and glanced at the floor before looking up again at Miss Sato from beneath her eyelashes. Here she was, sweating bullets, and Asami was just dawdling around looking out the window. It was like Asami was making Korra suffer in suspense before she tore into the Avatar for what she had done. But Korra was no fool; she knew that Asami was just biding her time and waiting for the right words to come along to say.

"So," Asami began out of nowhere, "how are…you guys doing?" Asami took a fleeting glance at Korra's abdomen and then returned her gaze to Korra. She could tell her friend was pregnant, even with the parka on. It was a little difficult to tell, but the baby bump was there. It made Asami feel…uncomfortable, to say the least. It wasn't even just because she knew it was Mako and Korra's baby, but it was more along the lines that her friend was pregnant and it had been so sudden. Asami didn't know how to treat the situation, but she did know that she needed to be careful, or else she really could kiss the remains of this friendship goodbye.

"Um…" Korra's eyes scanned all corners of the ceiling as she tried to calculate Asami's question and process a satisfying answer. "Fine…I guess?" Korra couldn't recall a time when she had wanted to crawl under a rock like she did then. It perturbed her anytime she caught someone eyeing her stomach; it reminded her of what was to come, and it made her feel as though she was no longer a person, but a mutated creature. She couldn't sense any malice from Asami, but it still put Korra on edge and she brought her arms over her stomach and grabbed her waist with her hands. "I mean, I've never been pregnant before, but I'm still getting bigger and I'm still miserable, so I must be doing something right…I think?"

"Right, no—you're probably doing okay." Asami waved both of her hands from side to side in an attempt to reassure Korra. She seldom made as many hand gestures and she was typically well put together and calm in most situations. But Asami had to cut herself a break, because she had never been in a situation like this before. "It's like you said, you're still pregnant. So you must be doing okay."

Another wave of silence hit them, but Korra fought back to swim to shore. "Asami…" Korra tried not to drown in her own anxiety, and tried to keep paddling once Asami's green eyes locked with her blue ones. "I know this has all been…" What word would do this circumstance justice and would satisfy a scorned girlfriend? "…stupid." Korra exhaled in defeat. She'd find prettier words later and kick herself for it when she did. "And I know that you're probably really angry, and if you want to just lay into me and call my every bad name under the sun, then I won't stop you, but I just wanted to say…" Saying sorry had never been this difficult. She tried so hard to look the beautiful Asami Sato in the eyes, but she just couldn't do it. "I'm really sorry."

Asami looked at Korra, unable to respond. She wasn't sure what she had expected her friend to say. Truth be told, she had come up with a whole script of the confrontation, but now she couldn't call upon it to speak. If that wasn't frustrating enough, Asami could feel her eyes burning with the familiar presence of tears. She hadn't planned on coming here to cry. She had planned on just telling Korra things up front, and allowing Korra to tell her the things she needed to say. But she hadn't counted on the way it would sound—how those words would flow from Korra's lips and imbed in Asami like a vaccine. It hurt, but she could already feel herself healing.

She found it hard to speak, but she felt it was easier if she didn't look at Korra too much; funny how she thought she could be able to come in here and look Korra straight in the eyes and tell her how it was. "You know, you really hurt me, Korra." She hated how it sounded; it sounded weak and resentful, stupid and childish. "You and Mako both."

"I know." Korra lowered her head and laid her eyes on the floorboards to her left. Nausea welled up in the pit of her stomach, and this time she knew it wasn't morning sickness.

"I still can't believe that you would do anything like this. I trusted you." And she still did. She would trust Korra with her life (Though she couldn't say she would trust Korra with her next boyfriend). She couldn't stay completely angry; Asami had realized quite a while back that Mako and Korra would somehow end up together, and that she was just the infatuation before the real fall. She just didn't think it would all come together like this.

"I'm sorry." Korra would never be able to say it enough. "It was an accident." Accident or not, Korra had still thought about what it might be like—touching Mako, kissing Mako, sleeping with Mako–what it would feel like to have him return all of those actions and so much more. "It was never my intention to hurt you, it just…sort of happened."

"Sort of happened…" Asami mused aloud.

Korra mentally kicked herself. 'Sort of happened' was one of the worst excuses she had ever come up with.

"So sleeping with your best friend's boyfriend is something that just 'sort of happens'?"

"Well, you know when there's alcohol thrown in-" Korra stopped when Asami's eyebrows drew together tautly. "I'm gonna stop talking now."

"No—I want to hear this," Asami challenged. She was willing to forgive Korra, but that didn't mean she was so holy enough to not watch her suffer first.

"I don't know what you want to hear!" Korra lifted her arms and then let them fall to her sides in exasperation. "I've already said that I'm sorry—and I'll say it a million more times if you want, and I'll mean every word of it!"

"I know you would!" Asami snapped back.

"Then what in the world do you want me to say?!"

Asami bit her lip out of spite and turned her head to look at the floorboards. "I don't know."

"Do you want me to say that I slept with your boyfriend and got knocked up? Do you just want me to list off everything I've done wrong up until this point and how much of an awful person I am?"

"You're not an awful person!" Asami defended rather suddenly. She hoped that it would make Korra feel better to hear it, but instead, the Avatar wasn't buying it.

"I slept with your boyfriend!"

"Yeah, you did—and I'm still really pissed about it, too!" Asami crossed her arms and tried not to bite her lip any harder or else it would bleed. "But that doesn't make you an awful person."

They were quiet for a moment, and Korra allowed for her agitation and excitement to simmer down. None of this was making any sense to her. She had planned on Asami saying every spiteful she could muster—and she was more than prepared to take it—but she couldn't comprehend what she was telling her now. "I think you may want to look up what 'awful' means in the dictionary—because I'm pretty sure that sleeping with your best friend's boyfriend sits right at the top of the definition."

"No— ugh…" Asami brought her hand to her face as she tried to gather her frazzled thoughts. She had practiced what she was going to say to Korra; she had created so many scenarios in her head, and had comebacks and passionate things to say in each one of them. Yet here she was, at a complete loss, and all of those fiery and compassionate words were down the street without a leash. She tried to get her thoughts together quickly, in fear of Korra butting in or making an asinine assumption, and making it harder for Asami to clear the path of rubble in their friendship. "Korra…"Asami sighed as she let her hands fall limp at her sides. "You're my best friend—I can't stay mad at you. Believe me…" She gave Korra a deadpan look. "I tried."

"Okkayy…" the Avatar answered carefully, "but I'm wondering if you've got the full grasp of this—I slept with your boyfriend." She reemphasized the words and looked at Asami rather dully. "I'm pregnant with your boyfriend's baby."

"Ex-boyfriend," Asami heavily corrected. "Mako and I cut our ties."

"Because I slept with him," Korra stated bluntly

"Because he went behind my back."

Korra threw her arms in the air. "So did I!"

"Yeah, but I'm not dating you, Korra!"

"But I still went behind your back!"

Asami threw her arms up in the air as well. "I know, but it's not the same!"

"How is it not the same?!" Korra barked.

"I don't know!" Asami sighed, dropping her arms. "Maybe it's because you expect your boyfriend not to go sleep with any girls, because he's supposed to be intimate with his girlfriend!" she could feel anger welling up in her chest when she felt tears pricking in her eyes. She was so sick and tired of crying. Asami quickly caught herself before she could upset herself even further. "And it's just supposed to be between us and he betrayed that…" She popped her hip out to her right and placed a hand on it. "I don't know if that makes sense."

"Yeah…it makes sense." Korra nodded as she processed Asami's explanation. "But that still doesn't make up for the fact that I went behind your back!"

"You're right, it doesn't," Asami snapped hotly for the briefest moment; she still wanted Korra to know that she wasn't happy about that. However, she dropped the anger off when she spoke again. "But Korra—we liked the same guy." Asami slouched. "Things were bound to get ugly eventually."

"But Mako picked you," Korra answered. Her blue eyes went downcast. "I should have respected that."

"And you did…until recently," the heiress answered dryly. "But it's not like you actively pursued Mako while I was with him."

"Yeah, because he picked you, so it was obvious he wasn't interested in me." Well, Korra wouldn't admit that Mako was at least somewhat interested, considering he kissed her back after last year's tournament. That was the only time Korra kept after Mako when he was with Asami. She just had to know if Mako felt the same, and if he wanted to change his mind. Of course, she screwed things up, but once things were back in place, she stepped back and allowed Mako and Asami's relationship to blossom.

Unfortunately, that kiss only made her realize how much she liked Mako. Sleeping with him, drunk or not, made the impression that much deeper.

"Honestly…" Asami's voice rose a pitch. "I don't think he knew what he was doing when he picked me."

"What're you talking about?" Korra's eyebrow rose. How could someone not know what they were thinking when they decided to date a girl like Asami? "You're great—I don't see how he wouldn't know what he was thinking."

Asami chuckled lightly. "Thanks, but I'm not saying that he shouldn't have picked me because of who I am." Asami shrugged. "I think he just didn't really know what he wanted."

"I'm sorry," Korra mumbled. "I feel like I've wrecked your entire relationship."

Asami sighed heavily and lazily kicked the floor. "It's not all your fault." She swung her arms back and forth for a short time while looking down. "To be honest, I think things were starting to go south even before all of this happened."

"I still wish none of this happened." Korra shook her head. "I'd take it back if I could."

Asami didn't respond. Instead, she crossed her arms and faced her friend. She put all of her weight on one foot and leaned to the side. She sized up Korra's posture, wondering if she could read what was on her mind. It was obvious she was intensely sorry, but it landed upon Asami's pretty head that, after having the conversation they just had, that Korra may not be telling the entire truth with her last statement.

It would hurt to ask; burn her like the hot hood of a Satomobile, but she wanted to know— needed it. It laid heavy on her heart and she frowned. "Would you really take back sleeping with Mako, though?"

Korra's eyes widened and she looked up at Asami. The hurt expression on the beautiful woman's face was heart breaking. As much as Korra wanted to lie—to tell Asami what she probably wanted to hear—she just couldn't bring herself to lie to her friend, not about this. Korra looked down; sadness and bitterness coated her eyes. She bit the inside of her lip, because even though she felt bad about hurting her friend, she couldn't stomp out the defiant boldness welling up in her chest and lie about something she held dear. "…No." Korra looked up at Asami briefly. "I would take back hurting you, but…" Korra looked towards the window and out across the bay where the arena stood. It was where everything had started, and had led to where she was now. "I won't take back the things Mako and I have been through together." It was something she felt sure of, something that didn't hurt her in the least to say to anyone—including Mako's ex, her best friend.

Korra quickly glanced over at Asami, but then turned away with a murmured "Sorry" exiting her lips. She was sorry that Asami was hurting over this, but she didn't feel the slightest bit sorry for not feeling guilty about Mako being her first, or even the fact that he was the father of her child. "I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth." Korra kept her lips in a tight line, and her eyes flicked over to Asami's saddened expression. Korra waltzed over to the table in the room and sat down cross-legged; her ankles were killing her these days.

After a few moments of uneasy silence, Asami slowly and quietly walked over to the table and she gently sat down next to the Avatar. She placed her hands on her thighs and kept her green eyes locked on them; they were the most calming thing in the room, but she tried to keep them from fidgeting.

She almost wished she hadn't asked, but she had to know. She was certain that it was a crucial part of her recovery, and the salvation of their friendship. They needed to be honest with each other and get the facts straight.

Swallowing, Asami turned her head to look at Korra, and asked, "Because you love Mako, right?"

Korra barely glanced over at Asami. She was afraid of seeing a wounded expression on her face, but instead she saw a pretty smile sitting where a marring frown used to be. Sadness still lurked in her eyes, but they were also housing understanding and forgiveness.

Korra's eyes drifted down to the table and a pink flush tinted her cheeks as she pouted quietly. She furrowed her brows, hoping that it would chase away the intense heat that consumed her face, ears, and neck. "I think love is too strong of a word."

"Well, it's a strong feeling," Asami mused. She leaned forward to get a better look at Korra's red face, because such a site was rare, but Korra looked away and leaned farther away from her. She knew that she was going to get teased relentlessly if her face didn't cool down soon.

Korra, face still hot with embarrassment, flicked her blue eyes over at Asami. "Can we not talk about my relationship with your ex-boyfriend? You two just broke up."

Asami was glad for Korra's request to change the subject; she personally didn't want to think about her ex-boyfriend for a while. Even if she and Korra could make up, it would still take a while before she would be okay with Mako again. "Alright." Asami nodded and her eyes brightened considerably. "How about we talk about your baby?"

Korra threw her head back and was suddenly hyperaware of the ever-growing pudge in her stomach. It still wasn't horribly obvious, but even with her parka on, she was starting to show. Korra reflexively wrapped her arms around her stomach and leaned forward. "Ugh…"

Asami decided to ignore Korra's displeasure; she had a thousand different questions to ask, and she wanted answers. Nothing could quell the ember of excitement that sparked in her green eyes. "So," Asami started with a smile, "are you excited about becoming a mom?" Asami knew Korra wasn't exactly thrilled with the turn of events, but she wanted to try and lighten the mood and keep the conversation going.

Korra laughed a little. "At this point I'm just starting to accept it; I try not to think about it, to be honest."

"I guess that makes sense." Asami mused, "It is pretty big news."

"Yeah—it still overwhelms me at times," Korra mumbled as she gently brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.

"How is Mako handling it?" Her ex-boyfriend's name felt strange on her ruby lips; she even licked them to try and rid them of the feeling, but it only worked so much.

"Pretty well, I guess." Korra shrugged one of her shoulders. "Sometimes I think he's doing better than I am." Korra neglected to mention that Mako hadn't initially been on board the baby-boat, but she figured she could save that bit of information for another time. "He's just a lot more…calm and collected than I am." She'd seen Mako lose his cool, but all things considered, he'd been pretty calm ever since he accepted his near-future role as a father.

"Well, that's Mako for you." Asami placed her elbow against the table and rested her cheek against her fist.

"Yeah, but I don't know," Korra scoffed impatiently. "He just seems a little bit more accepting, and he's taking it all a lot easier than I am, not to mention he's practically a saint with kids—"

"By the way…" Asami's green eyes sparkled and escorted her sweet smiling red lips. "I saw you guys put Rohan to sleep the other night."

"O-oh." Korra's hand went to grab her arm instinctively. "You saw that?"

"Yeah, you guys did great!" she was proud that her enthusiasm wasn't forced; Asami had been worried that talking with Korra again would be insincere. "I bet Rohan slept through the night after hearing you guys sing."

"Thanks, but I'm sorry you had to see that…" The guilt burrowed deeper into Korra's stomach, and she was finding it difficult to, yet again, look Asami directly in the eye.

"Don't be." Asami shook her head. "You both need practice, right? Besides, I guess it sort of helped me accept things a little bit more—so no harm done, as far as that goes."

"I'm glad…" Korra smiled for a quick moment; Asami was taking this all in stride, and it was a relief to hear, but it still didn't fix her uneasy feeling towards her upcoming parenthood. "Yeah, we need a lot of practice…or at least I do, anyway…"

"You'll both do fine." Asami waved away Korra's discouragement as if it were a moth fly.

"How am I going to be fine when I can't even write my parents a letter telling them that I'm pregnant?!"

"You still haven't told them?" Asami's eyes widened slightly and her eyebrows rose in concern.

"No!" Korra answered bitterly. "I've tried and tried, but none of the letters come out the way I want them to."

"Maybe I could help," Asami offered. "I may have never written a letter telling my parents that I was pregnant, but I have had to write a few letters to my father's affiliates regarding Future Industries business."

Korra rose an eyebrow in skepticism. "How would that tie into telling my parents that I'm pregnant, though?"

"Well, sometimes I had to be careful just how I worded things when I wrote to those people." Asami put her hand behind her neck and flipped some of her hair back. "I imagine it's sort of the same with writing your parents, only you need to make sure you still sound like you and not some automated machine."

"Some of my first drafts sounded a little too formal." Korra looked away with ill-ease. "I just want them to know that everything is okay and that I can handle this. I don't want them to worry more than they have to."

"Tell you what." Asami sat up straight, placing her hands in her lap. "Why don't we try writing a letter, and see how it works out." It wasn't much of a question as it was a friendly gesture.

It sounded like Asami was more than confident that she could help Korra through this mess. Korra couldn't turn her proposition down, as Asami's eyes were bright and carried every ounce of willingness to forgive and forget about this whole thing. She was ready to jump back into a singed friendship and try her best to heal it and help it grow again.

If Asami was willing, then so was Korra.

It wasn't long before the two young women were perched, yet again, in front of the table with a piece of paper and a pen lying before them. Korra had given Asami some of her previous draft notes to skim over, and they went to work. Asami stated that the best way to start off the letter would be to start it off just as she did with all her other letters she sent to home. She then said that it would be best to ease them into the news, and once the news was stated, then she could go on about what had happened, how Korra felt about all of it, and what the plans were.

Korra slowly turned from Asami and eyed the blank sheet of paper with skepticism. Would that really be enough? What if she came off as too afraid of too placid? Or even too confident?

"It's okay to sound a little scared or unsure," Asami assured her, "because you are, right? Just tell them straight. Let them know everything you can and just be yourself."

It sounded so much easier when Asami said it. It made quite a bit of sense.

It's okay to sound a little scared or unsure, because you are, right?

Korra had always put up a strong front for others, and she knew that wasn't a bad thing in most cases, but she did know that she needed to be honest. She was scared shitless and didn't know what was coming next; but even if she was scared, she still needed to have confidence that everything would play out just fine, and she wanted everyone else to trust in that as well.

She needed to be honest and scared, confident and brave, and above all else, just herself.

She put down the first line of her letter and then stopped, hoping that when she reread it, it would sink in and settle well with her. Blue eyes scanned over the inked words and she found she could feel a few ounces of stress roll off of her body.

Asami leaned over and read what little Korra had put down. "See," Asami offered Korra an enthusiastic smile, "you've already got one line down!"

"Great!" Korra cheered as she firmly placed her hands on her knees. Even just a tiny bit of progress made her feel better. "Now can we take a juice break?"

"But we just started." Asami's eyebrows drew upward and a frown plastered her pretty face.

"I know, but I'm pregnant and having an insane craving for leechie juice." Korra shoved herself up off of the floor and made a beeline for the kitchen.

A content silence filled the air around Asami as Korra left the room. She released a chuckle and rested her arms on the table before her. Blinking slowly, she relished in the feeling of the room, and how some of her troubles were very slowly, but surely, lifting off of her shoulders.

It was when Korra came back into the room, all smiles and a glass of juice in her hand, that Asami knew this friendship would survive.

Mom and Dad,

Sorry I haven't written to you in a while—things have been pretty hectic around here lately. But I hope you're both doing okay.

It's unfortunate, but this letter isn't about the 'how are you' and 'what's going on' jabber we usually pass back and forth. Some serious things have come up and I hope you can understand. I hope you can let me explain the best I can through this letter, and I hope you're sitting down for this.

I'm pregnant.

Look, I know you're probably confused and angry, and probably disappointed. But before you write me a letter demanding twenty thousand different answers, let me explain a few things.

About three months ago, the Fire Ferrets won the match against the Tiger Seals. We were pretty excited about it so we went out to a bar—bad idea, I know. We got a little drunk. I think you can figure out what happened from there.

Mako is the dad. Remember—I mentioned him in a few of my letters before; the jerk of a firebender who drives me up the wall? That's him.

I really wish I could explain this to you in person, but this letter is just going to have to do.

I know that this is a lot to take in. And I know that I keep failing everyone around me. But from here on out, I have to do what's right for me. Because I can only disappoint others if I'm disappointed in myself, right?

But Mako and I can do this. We've decided to keep it. No other option was right for me, and I promise I've considered alternatives before coming to my final decision; this is the right one. Trust me.

Tenzin has said that I can stay on the island. I know you might not like the idea of me staying in the city, but I believe that it's the best thing. I still need to finish my airbending training, and I want Mako to be a part of this. Going back home just doesn't feel like the right thing to do, at least not right now.

I know that this letter can't possibly convey everything you want to know. And I know that waiting between letters for explanations is inconvenient, but this is the best we can do. I promise you that everything is fine, and that things are calming down in some ways. I know you're probably feeling a lot of things, and it's okay. Even if you're mad, and even if you're disappointed or sad, then that's okay, too.

Maybe it sounds like I don't know what I'm doing; that I'm making all the wrong turns.

But I know I can do this.

I have to try.

I'll keep you updated, and I hope to hear from you soon.

And you know, I hope I'm still your daughter when I get your response, and I hope that you guys don't kill me.

Love,

Korra