Chapter Text
“The swell’s looking great out there today Jake!”
“You’re absolutely right about that Finn. We have really good conditions for the first round of the Cabbage Corp Pro which is also the first stop on the Women’s Surf Tour and I’m pretty sure the surfers think so as well.”
“What do you think about the line-up this year? Can we expect the same nerve-racking outcome as last year when it wasn’t until the very last heat of the tour our now defending champion Korra ‘The Avatar’ Tonraqsdottír finally took home her first world title?
“I think we can’t expect less, Finn! The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been, runner up and newlywed Kuvira Beifong is looking stronger than ever, and we have new contenders on the tour that can be really lethal and will surely mix things up this year.”
“And by new contenders you probably thinking about the twenty-one year old Asami Sato. I’m surprised she didn’t get on to the tour long ago. That girl is a wave whisperer!”
“She sure is, and we shouldn’t be too surprised about that since she grew up with The Avatar just next door! But the last couple of years has been rough for the young Sato, dealing with the passing of her mother, the legendary Yasuko Sato, and then went all the way to Zaofu for her last year of high school could be a part of why we haven’t seen her on the tour yet. It wasn’t until last year Sato got back into competitions and started to make a name for her self again, and handling her studies at Republic City University at the same time! What is confusing though is why no major sponsor has signed her yet, especially Future Industries since it is, as you know Finn, her fathers company.”
“But she do have the Metal Clan Surfboards backing her up, along with Kuvira and our other rookie for this season, Opal Beifong. And even though she do not have a big sponsor didn’t it stop her on getting those wins in previous events last year, and I’m fairly certain someone will start sponsor the young surfer sooner or later.”
“And that’s it from us, over to you Linda and Donnie!”
This was a bad fucking idea.
You are sitting by yourself in the locker room, headphones on with the ever so calming voice of José Gonzales in your ears, but you are everything but calm. It’s the first day of the Women’s pro tour, and the event handlers just gave the green light on starting the first heat of the first round. You are in the second heat, so it’s time to head down to the beach.
‘She’s probably not looking at the other heats, she’s in the last one, I can still make it in and out before she even realized I’m here.’
‘Who are you fucking kidding Sato? She MUST know you qualified for the tour this season. You’re have to face the music sooner or later anyway.’
Before going down to the water you make your way through the athlete’s hangouts, to a small tent that holds the competitors rashguards. The hangers are divided in rounds and then heats. There are red, blue and green ones, and when the girl in the booth hands you a red one with your last name and the number 42 on the back, you catch a glimpse of the only yellow top, in the fifth heat section and you let out a somewhat relieve sigh.
‘She’s not here yet, thank Spirits.’
The girl tells you good luck and you nod and smile sweetly at her in return.
It is the start of summer and the ocean is really warm this time of the year, so you skipped the wetsuit for today’s heats and only wearing a black bikini that really stands out on your pale skin. You pull the red rashguard over your head and start to put your long, raven black in a low ponytail when you see your friend Alex walking towards you with a big grin on her face, holding a sleek white surfboard with the metallic looking Metal Clan logo in the front under her right arm.
“There’s my girl! Looking good ‘Sams, that red suits you well.” The blonde girl looks you up and down through the mirrored shades and nods in agreement to her thoughts. “Yeah, I would tap that”, she says and you roll your eyes at her, cause, well she says that to everything (yes, everything. Yesterday she wanted to tap your surfboard) and you are still very nervous about the heat.
“Oh shut up, Lex, not helping right now.”
You met Alex at boarding school in Zaofu, on a rather awkward night out. Lex tried on the cheesiest fucking pickup lines you’ve ever heard and the whole evening ends with you helping her get laid. She called you the day after and told you how it went, and just like that the blonde girl became one of your closest friends. Now she is by your side, rocking her usual slacks of jeans shorts, a muscle tank top and her favourite (and your favourite too, actually) cap that says ‘Killin’ it’.
“C’mon Asami, lighten up! It’s only the first day of the tour, what can go wrong?”
‘Only everything…’ you groan internally. “Sorry, I’m just nervous. I wanna do a good first round, you know? I got a lot on stake for this.”
You are slowly making your way down to the beach when Alex puts an arm round your shoulders.
“I know sweetie, but you made it this far right? Why not enjoy it while you can, and actually try to have some fun!”
Lex was right; you should enjoy yourself while you could. You didn’t go through all those events last year just so you could bite your nails over what might happen. You belonged here just as much as the other girls. Particularly one girl.
“Oh by the way, I waxed your board, so you don’t slip and fall on your arse this very big day that will probably change your life forever.”
“Ah geez, thanks Lex…”
You roll your eyes at her, and when Alex starts laughing you smack her shoulder playfully.
“So, who are you up against in the first heat?” she asks when finished laughing.
“Zhu Li Moon, and Kuvira. I think I can take Moon but Kuvira’s going to be harder. Not expecting to win my first heat anyway. These girls are on a whole other level.”
“But the goal is getting to round 4 right?”
“Well, the further I get, the more money I’ll earn.” ‘And with that I can pay my way through rest of college’, you think and starting to feel the pressure weighing down on your shoulders. “But yeah, if I can make it to round 4 I’m more than pleased with my performance.”
“Whatever happens, I want you to know that I’m very proud of you. And you know you could always stay at my place.” You glare at her.
“Your place is my place, Lex, remember? We’re flatmates? You, me and Opal.”
“Yes, but I meant my place, as in my bed.” You are fairly sure the blonde is winking at you again along with wiggling her eyebrows.
“…I’m just going to ignore you for the rest of the time and watch the last of Opal’s heat.”
Right about when you and Lex get onto the beach, watching out over the turquoise ocean, you hear a familiar voice calling your name and you turn around and meet bright green eyes and a perfectly shaped O where there should be a mouth. The O quickly became a big grin instead and arms goes around you and then been lift up in the air into a big bear hug.
“Asami! Spirits, it’s really you! It’s so good to see you!”
“Bolin! It’s good to see you too.” You can’t help the big smile on your face, cause it actually is really good to see your old friend again. Last time you saw him he was shorter than you and had this wild brown hairstyle, and, well, the hairstyle is still there but he’s an inch taller than you now and seems to have gotten a lot of muscle mass under his top.
“Wow, I haven’t seen you in ages.” He looks at you with an awkward smile and you’re feeling that nagging guilt in your throat. You just left without a word for almost three years ago, taking no calls or messages, you just… You needed to get away from that place. It reminded you too much of your mom, and when your dad said that he was sending you to a boarding school in Zaofu you didn’t object. You thought back then it was a good decision not to tell anyone you were leaving, because you knew they were going to talk you into not going. The only mistake you did was to not tell her. Especially after what you did to her before leaving.
“Yeah, it’s been a while…” you say and glance at a surfer in the water who just caught a great wave. Bolin scratches his head and looks a bit uncomfortable.
“So, um, how you been, Bolin?”
“Oh I’ve been great! Getting to travel around the world with Korra has been so awesome. OH! I should go get her, she will be so stoked to see you again!” He exclaims and your whole body tenses up when you hear her name again and your mouth feels very dry. You’re about to ask him not to when Lex push her self in front of Bolin.
“Oh Mother of dragons, ‘Sami you know the Avatar?!”
“Lex –”
“Yes!” Bolin answers happily for her. “They grew up together! And were practically glued to one another.”
“What? Why haven’t you told me that before?” Lex looks at you, and when she sees your stressed out face, she immediately turns to Bolin and says “Um, I mean, that’s cool and all but Asami should be getting into the water now, her heat starts in just five minutes.” Bolin doesn’t look at her though; he gives you a questioning glance and really seems like he wants to say something else but he just nods at you.
“Right, of course. Good luck out there. Talk later ‘Sams”, he says and you and Lex walks down to the water. She gives you the board and you bend down to fix the ankle strap on your left leg.
“What was that all about?” Lex asks eventually and gives you a look of concern. You bite your lip, not meeting her eyes. “Nothing, I just… I really just wanna get out there right now”, you answer her but she can tell its something else. She always does. Alex doesn’t confront you about it though, just says “Okay. Give them hell.” and you grab you board and waddle your way through the low water until it’s higher than your knees so you can jump on to the surfboard and paddle the rest of the way.
“Hey rookie, nice to finally see you out here”, Kuvira greets as she’s coming up beside you, while paddling out to starting position. She’s wearing a forest green rashguard on top of a cut off wetsuit, her dark hair in a braid. “Good luck today.”
“Thanks Kuvira, and you too”, you answer with a slight smile. You have met her several times at Opals family’s vacation home on Kyoshi island, so you’re not as star struck as you used to be and she really is an awesome person and has always been very kind to you.
The heat goes fairly well for you. You manage to get some really good turns and cutbacks and finishes with a final score of 15.09. But that’s nothing compared to Kuvira. The woman is like a fucking beast and gets a solid 9.43 on her best wave, only to end the heat on 17.93.
But you felt so alive in the water and cherished every wave you got and every turn you made, so you wasn’t that upset knowing you’ll need to duel someone in round two. Back at the beach Lex gives you a high five and kids starts to crowd you for photos and autographs. You couldn’t be happier, but that’s when you hear her voice behind your back.
“Asami.”
You feel your heart dropping to the bottom of your stomach, your throat goes dry again when you turn around and meet those ocean blue eyes you’ve been avoiding for three years. The girl that is now standing in front of you is a bit shorter than you, with tanned skin that stands out against the yellow rashguard she’s wearing and short and messy brown hair frames her features.
“Korra.”
You don’t get to say anything else because you get cut off with a slap in your face.