Chapter Text
In Korra's dream, Avatar Wan was young. Clunks of sand dug deep between his toes. He waddled a couple of steps to the shore, before running through the terrain. Sprinkles of sand followed the Avatar in his run. Gusts of air lifted him from his feet, and a ball of rotating air carried him above the water. He roared in glee - a voice that carried itself away into the wind. The presence of Raava kept him balanced as he slid through the air, mentally and spiritually. The farther he travelled, the smaller he became to Korra. Then, he tripped and slipped into the water. The dream lost color momentarily.
When he came out, he was another man. He rose above the water, and continued rotating with the air. He did not yell. He did not speak. The color returned, but not to the bender. He circled around Korra's sense of vision, and when Korra blinked, the Avatar was a woman. She turned and bent down into the water, gliding a single finger through the foam. Her hair was long and curly and black, like Asami's. Soon, her body melted into the same foam, and she was gone.
Korra blinked again, and there was another human. She watched the person in green run from black smoke on the beach. It danced behind him, in rings and then in shapes. His pace quickened, and the smoke formed into soldiers. The smoke was faster. The other Avatar screamed, and the smoke consumed him.
As the smoke floated up into the wind, a breath of fire pushed out from under the smoke. The loud wails of a young child rang in Korra's ears. With concern, she approached the baby. She looked down at it, brow raised, her shoulders tall. "Are you me? You're pretty cute." She cooed. Then, the night sky gifted the two with rain. It started out with a light drizzle, which Korra found managable by covering the child with a branch she found. The harder the rain grew, the more the child cried. As time passed, the branch would not stay in her fingers. She was disappearing. So, Korra towered over the child, attempting to shield the kid from the blunt force of the rain. Most of the rain started to slide through her skin, as if she were transparent. So, she tried singing Water Tribe songs. The baby calmed down at this, and within minutes, the baby stopped crying. She gently carressed the child's forehead, despite her growing non-existence. "I don't want kids, but you're making me reconsider." Korra commented. She hummed along with the pitter patter of the rain.
Then, it stopped.
At this, Korra smiled at the parting clouds. "I wonder what happens to you." Korra wondered aloud. "Wan didn't die from drowning, but he almost did once. I felt it." Then Korra scanned the rest of the shore. She shuddered, despite not feeling the actual cold from the rainshower. "The others have visited, but I saw their deaths. But they didn't die here, I think." She looked down at the child, and she froze. The baby wasn't breathing any longer. She stared at the child, and it was like a force hit her stomach. "Hypothermia." She whispered.
After, Korra woke up. She immediately began crying.
She was sleeping on Asami's couch, from the previous night. She didn't make much noise at first, but then she wheezed, and hiccuped loudly. Asami heard her from her office, where a light still beamed a low glow. She always stayed up late, going over blueprints. She poked her head through after the third hiccup, and when she saw the state of her friend, she abandoned her desk immediately. Within a minute, she was there. She gently placed her hands over the edges of Korra's shoulders. "Korra, what's wrong?" Asami questioned. Korra covered her face with her fingers. She shook her head from this position. Asami made a sound in the back of her throat, a mix of empathy and concern, and she pulled off the covers from her friend. "Come on, let's have some tea." She announced, because that was what her father always did when she was in a bad mood. He wasn't here, and the empty house made it so easy for Asami to just mope into her sofa and never get up for her responsibilities. But after what she went through, she'd never allow her father to effect her mood again in any capacity. Whether positive or negative. She wasn't ready to confront him yet, if ever. "What time is it?" Korra questioned, half dazed. Korra sloppily pushed herself out of bed, and grabbed a fuzzy blanket anyway. Asami's lips twitched into a smile, and she felt her chest constrict at the sight of Korra's bedhead. Her hair was an absolute mess, and it stuck to her face, and Asami loved it. Korra followed her buddy to the kitchen, in a sleepy stupor.
Asami gathered water for the kettle, and turned the knob for the gas stove. Korra would normally offer to warm up the tea herself, but Asami always insisted that a well-meaning discussion could always occur in the time frame of making tea. "That's part of the counselling. We talk honestly. My dad used to have a theory, that we are more honest under pressure. Maybe watching the tea is subconscious. But never mind that. Just talk freely, regardless." She had once explained. Asami sat down at the table, and reached out for Korra's hand. Korra squeezed it. "I had a weird dream. I believe it was about my past lives." she murmured.
"That's a good sign, yeah?" Asami noted. "I don't know what you saw, and I know you're upset. But maybe you needed to see this." She suggested.
Korra's face sobered, and she went deeper into herself. Her eyes grew colder. "I saw them on a beach. They all died, Asami." Korra admitted, retracting her arm to pull the blanket closer. "The last one was a young child. I sang to her, and I watched her freeze to death." Korra refused to look Asami in the eyes. "If this truly is a good sign, the spirits have a sick sense of humor. It scares me, Asami. What does it mean?" The spirits seemed to be more obsessed with morbidity, the more powerful they were.
Asami covered her mouth, her eyes turning grim. She shook her head. "I can't give you the answer you're looking for, but I'm sorry that happened. To both of you."
Korra gave Asami a quiet look full of fondness. "Don't apologize to both of us, silly. We're the same person. The fact that you do is sweet, though." Korra joked, getting out of the chair to check the tea. Her fluffy blanket resembled a seaweed wrapping on her body, and to be frank, she probably looked ridiculous. Asami smiled at her, however, as Korra ambled to the stove. She bended the water to her lips, and made a face. She flicked the kettle lightly, and suddenly, it was hot. "Tea's ready." Korra smugly announced. She poured two cups carefully, by hand, and placed them in front of Asami.
"That cup is far from your seat." Asami wondered, the cracks in her not-smile growing wider.
"No, it's not." Korra purred, and promptly landed on Asami's lap. It was casual enough - her friends back in the South Pole would do this, back home. Laying lazily upon each other, like duck walruses. She loosened the layers of blanket she wrapped around herself, to prevent Asami from getting overheated. "This seat doesn't throw out their bum ass friends, especially when they hang out at their house for a week. And doesn't even complain half the time."
"So, this dream." Asami breathed, face red at the sudden closeness, trying to get back on topic. She grabbed her own tea and blew lightly into the cup. She opened her mouth to say something about the dreams, but she felt Korra's airy breaths tickle the back of her neck, and her pulse quickened. She stopped immediately, mid thought. Instead, she diverted: "You should investigate it."
Korra sighed into Asami's hair, long and deep. She shrugged non-committedly at her suggestion. "Maybe. But I'd rather drink tea with you. I don't even like tea."
"You told me you had tea with the Fire Lord's uncle. In the spirit world. If you told him that, he'd have a heart attack. Spirit world regardless." Asami joked. Honestly, she didn't know the full story, but apparently the Firelord's uncle had a famous tea shop in Ba Sing Se. "Still. You need to listen to your instincts on this. I don't know if you can ever get your cycle back, because I don't know much about spirituality unfortunately. But we can cross off what this isn't, if you want?" she suggested more, logically.
"Yeah, yeah. Well, if you're up to it, let's figure it out." Korra agreed, way too sleepy to actually remove herself from Asami's side. She ran her fingers through Asami's hair. "It looked like an island. The sand was orange-y, and the water was murky green." Korra explained, before taking a long yawn. She smiled lazily, and lowered the temperature of her tea. She gulped it quick, because the quicker she finishes, the less likely she'll say something utterly idiotic.
"That's... very generic. No offense, babe." Asami pointed out, slowly removing Korra's hands from her hair. Her fingers were gentle, and the feeling was pleasant, but her friend was too exhausted to actually notice how much this was effecting Asami. It was odd - a week ago, both of them swore off ever dating Mako, and it was like all of the tension in their friendship fell away. They had sleepovers, despite the fact that they were both eighteen. Korra would confide in her more, or they would mutually talk shit about people they couldn't stand. And Asami was beginning to use pet names. They were becoming a force to be reckoned with. Asami insisted days ago that Korra should take a guest room, but Korra pointed out that she didn't actually plan to stay for so long. It just happened that way. For the last week. On the sofa. And sometimes, they'd end up cuddling. Because that was what friends did.
"If I take the guest room, I'll probably never leave. Besides, Tenzin keeps expecting me to go home. And I just want to take a nap, and not deal with real life right now. You know?" Korra had explained, after the fourth day. It was the seventh, now. She refused to go further into this conversation before this, and presently. Korra gulped the rest of her tea, and got off of her friend. She smiled wolfishly. "Tomorrow, Asami. We'll look more into it tomorrow?" Korra pleaded, unwrapping the blanket to cover her friend. Asami nodded sleepily, her eyes drooping as she fought sleep. "Thank you Asami. Seriously, you're the best. Thanks for the tea."
But when Korra went back to sleep, the dreams continued. And the first person she recognized was Sokka, oddly enough.
TBC