The Best (And Worst) Of Me

Dancer AU

The Beginning: Part Two

He grabbed the family photo sitting on his cherry wood office desk. I remembered the day we took that photo. Mom was still alive and healthy, long before her tragic death struck our family, and her smile was bright. Every time I looked at the picture, I noticed how similar we were. Every time my dad looked at the picture, I thought he was glaring at my younger self. He had that look on his face while I stood near the door with my arms crossed over my chest.

"Where were you earlier?" He asked. "You're teacher told me you were late to class."

He only ever asked me about school related things. There was never anything else to talk about with him (dancing was different; it was more business for him than it was for me, but I'm just glad he allows me to continue pursuing it). Whenever I mentioned spending time together during his lunch breaks, he always said, "Maybe another day." The same thing would happen again on the weekends back at our mansion. I would stay cooped up in my bedroom until we ate breakfast. I'd go outside for the rest of the day and come back and he'd still be working in his room. Honestly, we rarely spend any time together anymore. Though, I'll admit, he tries to make an effort to take me to our favorite restaurant. Kwong's Cuisine.

"I heard my ranking was moved on the leader boards so I went to check it out."

My father scowled. "Don't you worry about those. I had a talk with the girl this morning and she won't be taking your spot again anytime soon."

There were a million thoughts running through my mind as he said that. (Such as, what's wrong with being second or third? or why can't I just enjoy dancing? or why ruin someone's chance at being the star for once?) I never approved of my dad's methods for making sure I was number one. As long as I was at the top, my dad didn't care if I made stupid mistakes during my performances. All that mattered was me winning any competition I participated in (except I wouldn't call it winning since he knew the judges and that defeated the purpose of me dancing in the first place). I wanted to win fairly and not because my dad was involved.

I simply nodded. I'd tell Korra about the details on the walk to her house. That reminded me...

"Hey," I said and he stared at me, patiently waiting, "I'm going over to a friend's house for dinner."

He frowned, his eyebrows creasing. "Why?"

"She invited me, dad. It's perfectly fine."

"Who is she?"

I sighed. I had to tell him. "Korra Waters."

Red. He could possibly be seeing red. I wouldn't blame him for screaming my head off.

Bitterly, he said, "You're wasting your time on people like her, Asami."

"No," I said, though I could of, I should of left him alone, "I'm not wasting my time. She's my friend."

He grabbed the photo again and showed it to me. "Do you know what your mother would think?"

"She would want me to be happy, dad. She would want both of us to be happy."

Why couldn't he understand? I valued my dance career more than anything, but it wouldn't stop me from trying to have a normal life.

He put the picture back. "Go on and waste your time with that Water Tribe girl."

'''

"Asami!" Korra shouted as I walked down the Academy's steps. She was waiting for me near the crosswalk. When she saw me, she grinned. "Took you long enough!" Korra patiently waiting for me had almost boosted my current mood. Almost.

Sensing my discomfort, Korra's grin faltered. It had been difficult to tell her about my father's harsh words. Recalling what I heard Tenzin say earlier, I halted. Would she be honest with me if I were honest to her? It didn't make sense for me do that, but I've always been an open book. Korra didn't owe me anything and it was wrong of me to expect something in return.

So I confessed the information to her like a dam over flowing with water.

"My father doesn't like you too much," my words were quiet, but loud enough to be heard over the roaring engines of cars driving through the streets. Korra nodded along side me.

She took the info rather lightly, not letting it get to her. "That's fine. I get that a lot anyway." I loved how easily she could brush away comments made regarding her. However, her statement bothered me more than I thought it would. I stopped walking once we reached the sidewalk.

She turned around, folding her arms across her chest. Seemed like we had the same tick because I did that too. The autumn wind knocked her hair which was still in a ponytail. Her curculean eyes observed my expression and she stepped back a bit, realizing our height differences.

"What's up?"

The sky, is what I would have said, but she really was concerned. This wasn't the time to start joking. I asked her the question that boggled my mind. "You're okay with people disliking you?"

Korra eyebrows furrowed as she pondered the question. "I can tolerate them." Unsatisfied with her answer, she responded, "I've never been the best when it comes to people."

"So you understand why they dislike you?" This girl confused me on so many levels. If she knew why people didn't like her, then why didn't she try fixing her flaws?

"Yeah," a faint smile appears on her lips, "and I don't care because I love myself the way I am."

Oh. I've been so caught up in pleasing others for my father's benefit that I never once thought about being myself. I always had this air of confidence in myself on stage, during practice, everyday I went to school. The off chance of me letting that slip, even just for a minute, was only in front of Suyin or Bolin. Hearing Korra say she didn't care what others thought of her,well, it struck a chord in me. All the students I've met before have changed so others could like them and they could fit in. I didn't do it to make friends. I did it because my father would be proud and I knew that following his orders when making public appearances was everything to him. He had me wrapped around his finger like a dog on a leash.

But her words gave me reassurance and for once in my whole entire life, I understood why the girl never cared much about people's opinions. She was the best person she could be.

"Asami?" Korra asked.

"Huh? Oh!" Stupid. I felt really stupid. "Can we go to my place before we go to your house?"

"Why? You look great."

I couldn't fight the blush that covered my cheeks. "Thanks, but I can't meet your parents looking like this." I gestured towards my outfit; black flats, pink mini skirt, long sleeve white shirt and my old leather jacket. You wouldn't normally find me wearing this to a, presumably, formal dinner. Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I pouted. "Korra..."

"Fine," she said, rolling her eyes, "but make it quick because my mom's cooking her famous seaprunes!"

Grabbing her hand, which she didn't object mind you, we took off down the block.

'''

I don't normally walk to my "house". And by "house", I actually mean mansion. Sheer curiosity lit up on Korra's face. While walking up the steps to the front door, I heard her say, "You live in a fucking mansion?!" Huh. So she does swear...

Pushing open the door (because we lived in a high security neighborhood, the chances of the door being locked was 0 percent unless my father was home), I stood in the hallway and saw the maids cleaning the kitchen and tidying up the living room. They worked every morning and left during the evening, after they cooked dinner and desert for my father and me. I heard the door slam behind me.

"This is so...I love your home already!"

Laughing, I approached the stairs. "C'mon!"

Following me, Korra stared in wonder at the spiraling staircase.

We hadn't even known each other for that long and I slowly felt myself falling for her.

And I was falling hard.

'''

"You can't possibly be serious."

Opening my closet, I whipped my head to the side so fast that my own raven hair smacked me in the face. Innocently, I said, "Oh, but I am."

When I was little, my mom and I went shopping all the time even if we knew we didn't need any new clothes or shoes. It was our favorite thing to do and Dad never objected it. You never tampered with the hobbies of a mother and her daughter. That's why my closet was filled to the brim with clothes that either didn't fit me anymore, clothes that were for special occasions only, or whatever I felt like wearing to school or outdoors besides my dance outfits. Did I mention it was a walk-in closet?

Taking off my flats, I delved deeper into the organized closet space and tried locating my black heels. They fit into the 'stuff for special occasions' category. After I found them, I glanced back and saw Korra staring at me. She locked her gaze on my heels, head tilting to the side.

"You don't have to wear that. Wear sneakers or something. No heels." Korra said, quickly coming over and snatching the heels from me. I reached out to get them, but she hid them behind her back. Fine. No heels. I could do that. Shaking my head, I moved past her and found my burgundy Converses. Now I just needed an outfit.

Looking on the shelves, I smiled. Sticking out like a sore thumb was my rainbow sweatshirt. Carefully, I removed the sweatshirt from its spot underneath my black sweater and began tearing off my leather jacket. Throwing it somewhere on the floor (which it didn't considering the fact that I heard an oomph seconds later), I put the rainbow sweatshirt on and shook my hair out wildly. Hearing muffled laughter, I turned and noticed Korra bent over, trying her hardest to cover her beautiful laugh by placing her hand over her mouth.

I shoved her and she fell on the floor. The laughter soon died when she raised an eyebrow at me, her blue orbs meeting my green ones.

Unknowingly, the battle had begun.

"I'd run if I were you."

And I ran faster than the speed of light.

Running out the closet, I hopped on my bed as Korra followed suit, and jumped on the bed after me. Landing on the carpeted floors, I crawled near my dresser. Korra's laughter rang in my ears while she layed upside down, her ponytail dropping to the floor.

"You," she couldn't contain her laughter, "are one fast runner." She smiled.

"Thanks," I stood up, sitting next to her on my bed. "You're not so bad yourself." Heavily aware that her and I were flirting, I blushed.

She turned over, laying on her stomach. She pulled on the strings of her navy blue hoodie. We both knew we had somewhere to be, but neither of us said anything. I still had to change out of my skirt and into my jeans, but I didn't want to. We were alone and sitting in silence and I had this chance to let her know about my past. Like, actually tell her myself. Who knows what my dad could have told her.

(There was the slightest possibility that she might tell me more about herself, so that was a plus to this plan.)

It was days like this where I wished my confidence wouldn't be replaced by nervousness all because of some girl that was giving me these stupid butterflies in my stomach.

What could I do? We knew stuff about one another because one of us always instigated questions. There must've been some other way to do that without questioning and just smoothly saying things without censoring out any details.

That's when I knew.

The cassette player.

My cassette player.

I know, I know. Nobody my age in the 21st century uses those anymore, but I knew of cassette's since my mom listened to them around the house when I was younger. My father thinks we got rid of them after her death, but I hid them from him. Any trace of our mother's existence was thrown out, except her photos, and it was due to him wanting to forget the past. At least I had memories of her beyond the photos and cassette tapes.

Turns out I didn't have to start anything.

Korra did it all on her own.

Her eyes landed on the cassette player resting near my nightstand on the floor. Glancing hesitantly at me, I nodded. She hopped off the bed and sat down, pressing one of the grey buttons and instantly jumping back when the tape popped out.

Shaking her head, she said, "My mom sold one of these at a garage sale before and I remember not knowing how it functions. Still don't. All I understand is that this thing somehow plays music."

"Really?" I asked, watching as she studied the label on the front of the tape. She nodded.

Without thinking, I sat down next to her and started explaining how the cassette player worked. I get like that sometimes. Maybe it's the mechanic in me speaking, but I got a kick out of explaining parts of machines and technology. They always fascinated me as a kid, partly due to my father working in his work shop fixing cars before he became the principal. If I had to choose another career other than dancing, it would have to be the fun life of an engineer.

While I was discussing who invented the cassette, Korra politely interrupted me.

She bit her lip and gazed above her, avoiding my stare. I waited until she sighed. "I wasn't being honest with you earlier." The air in the room reeked of tension. Korra shouldn't have been apologizing to me.

Again, I wasn't thinking. The truth was going to come out whether I wanted it to or not. I said, "Neither was I." There. I said it and it felt good. I felt good. The nervousness in my stomach had finally vanished. I hadn't even told my side of the story yet somehow I knew she wouldn't be mad at me. How? I have no idea.

Korra looked me in the eyes and I noticed our close proximity. Our shoulders were practically touching and our hands were also close. Whispering, she said, "So that was you I heard outside the classroom." What? She heard me? "Guess you eavesdropped on Tenzin and me. I'm sorry. I should have told you what he said—"

"Don't worry, Korra." I said, cutting her off. "If I were you I would have done the same thing. Besides, you defended me and for that I'm grateful. Thank you. Oh and, uh, I'm sorry too. For the eavesdropping, I mean."

She grinned. "I'm glad to have been your knight in shining armor, Ms. Sato."

"And I am glad to have been rescued by you, Ms. Waters."

"Oh please, do call me Korra."

We both giggled, tears spilling from our eyes. The buzzing of Korra's phone in her back pocket made us both freeze, realization dawning on our faces.

"The dinner!"

Quickly, I scrambled to find my jeans and put my sneakers on while Korra was on the phone.

"I'm doing something!"

"Look, you'll know when I get there!"

"What?"

"I never invited him. Tell him to leave!"

"But mom!"

After I finished what I had to do, which included getting my purse, Korra took my hand and we rushed down the stairs, out the front door, and all I could hear was her muttering, "Shit, why is he there?"

Little did I know that the he Korra was referring to turned out to be Mako.

'''

Awkward.

Everything was just...awkward.

The moment we reached the front porch of her house (where the yard was decorated with potted plants, garden gnomes, the water hose laid across the grass like a snake, and lights that glowed down the path as if this were the runway that planes would land on), the door opened, yellow light highlighting the adult figure basking in it. The adult was none other than Korra's mother. As we got closer, I studied her appearance.

Her brown hair was tied into two neat braids that went past her shoulders, eyes the same color as her daughter's, minus the current scowl she was giving her, lips forming a straight line until she saw me and her expression softened. The straight line was gone, her smile taking its spot.

We were ushered inside and I was met with the sight of children. Three of them.

Now, I must warn you. Many of my life experiences were primarily disregarded of children. I'm an only child and really don't have any other family members other than my own dad. I've never been around kids who looked up to me. Scratch that. If these kids even did that.

Why am I always stuck in these stupid—

"Korra bought a girl home!"

Panic surged through my heart.

Two children ran towards me. One was a boy and the other one was a girl. The boy had no hair and crystal clear eyes while the girl had dark brown ones. Both of them had on striped pajamas. I didn't know why considering that we were about to eat dinner, but I'm guessing these kids were rebelling against their parents.

The girl with her hair in two buns fired questions at me. "Who are you? Why are you dressed like that? How do you know Korra? Are you two dating?" By the time she got to her last question, my face was as red as a tomato. Luckily, Korra rushed to my side and stopped her.

"Ikki!" Korra yelled, then she bent down to the younger girl's height and whispered, "Stop embarrassing me!"

Ikki, who placed her hands behind her back and stared innocently at her, replied, "I'm sorry, Korra. I promise I won't embarrass you for the whole night." Smile. The real sweet smile you would expect from well behaved girls.

Meanwhile, the boy began tugging on my sweatpants. He said, "You're so pretty."

I wasn't completely thrown off by the compliment and I found it really cute. I just nodded.

"What are you doing here?"

I knew the voice all too well. He made his way over and looked between the both of us. Korra answered for me.

"I invited her," she said, hands on her hips. "Does that bother you?"

That awkwardness I mentioned earlier? Yeah, it was as clear as day yet nobody referenced it. I didn't even bother looking at Mako when Korra said that. I mean, how am I suppose to react? I don't feel bad for him because he deserved it. Matter of fact, why was he here? She never invited him.

My thoughts were answered when Mako spoke. "Yes, it does. We have an assignment due in two weeks and we haven't even started! We discussed this morning how you're suppose to come to my house so we can get get some work done. But, no, you would rather hang out with Asami and not call me and reschedule for tomorrow."

"That doesn't explain why you have any right to be mad at me for inviting her." Korra said.

"Because you didn't tell me! I'm your friend, too! You could have invited me!""

They were talking about me, but I didn't make any attempt to stop them. Dejectedly, I left and followed the kids into the dining room.

Maybe food would brighten my mood.

"Hello," I said towards the child I hadn't talked to the moment I walked through the door. She had her face hidden by a book. Immediately, I knew she was the oldest and mature sibling. Her brown eyes peered at me as she put the book down. Unlike her siblings, she just wore her school uniform. The plaid skirt and the black and white blazer and complete with a tie to tie it altogether (puns) put my outfit to shame.

"Hello. I'm Jinora." she said, holding her hand out. I shook it. She politely asked, "How did you and Korra meet?"

I told her the story and she giggled.

"That's my cousin, alright." she said, clutching her book to her chest. "She'll do the stupidest things to get anyone's attention."

"So, you're saying she did intentionally try to go to the wrong class? All that trouble just to meet me?" I felt hope bubble inside me at the thought.

Jinora nodded. "Korra may not think her decisions through most of the time, but she does everything for a reason."

"What reason did she have for wanting to meet me?"

Jinora shrugged. "Who knows? No offense, but you aren't exactly her type."

I could tell from her amused expression that she was joking. "Hey!"

Our conversation was interrupted as Korra stepped into the dining room. Her eyes had lost their light and her lips twisted down; whether her and Mako's chat had somehow saddened her, I was determined to cheer her up. My role for the night may have been as house guest, but that title didn't steer me from doing what I do best: making people happy.

Sometimes, helping others with their own problems made me forget about mine. The time dedicated was short lived, I knew that, yet I wanted myself to enjoy the moment for what it was. Live in the now and, you know, deal with the consequences later. Every minute was worth it.

My mission: Make Korra happy.

What I didn't plan on: The hardships of my own happiness getting in the way.

'''

Let me explain what happened because it is one hell of a story.

First off, good news, Korra's parents loved me. I made a really good impression. Even the children loved me. Even Pema, who I found out was Korra's Godmother, liked me. I had that sort of effect on people. However, my charm couldn't work on everybody.

And by everybody, I just mean Tenzin.

During dinner, he wouldn't acknowledge me or laugh at my jokes. It seemed that I was invisible to him. Now, I didn't let his attitude ruin my night, so I simply ignored the nagging feeling in my chest that told me to leave. I distracted myself by eating the salad in front of me. The grip I had on my fork tightened and I stabbed the food on my plate. I glanced sideways and caught Korra's gaze. She shook her head.

"Sorry," she whispered.

I really hoped that I wouldn't mess up anything, but I think that in that moment I did. I couldn't help glancing around me and noticing Tenzin's face. He wasn't looking at me, most likely Korra, probably sensing the mood shift. Then, and only then, did he finally give me any attention.

The nagging feeling came back. You shouldn't have come. He doesn't want you here.

Fighting the voice in my head was pointless. All I knew was that one minor slip up was currently effecting me. I make mistakes all the time. Why should I let this bother me?

"Korra?" I asked, putting my fork down while leaning back in my chair.

"Yeah?" she said, twisting her body around so she could face me.

"I feel like I'm kind of intruding on your family's dinner."

She stared at me in disbelief. "What? You aren't intruding on anything."

I whispered, "Tenzin doesn't like me, Korra. I shouldn't be here."

She searched my face for any sign that I was kidding. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her hand hesitantly try and reach for mine, but at the last second she pulled back. I inwardly winced. She mumbled a quick okay and pushed her chair back.

While she was getting up she said, "Asami isn't feeling well so I'm gonna walk her home." The adults gave me worrying looks (except Tenzin; figures).

One of them, Korra's father Tonraq, asked, "Do you want me to drive you home?"

Before I could say anything, Korra said, "Her house is in walking distance Dad so she doesn't need a ride there."

I said my goodbyes and followed Korra out the door.

It really was a rough night.

'''

"How was dinner with your friend?" My father asked and I knew from the deep pit of my stomach he was trying to provoke me. His overly friendly tone made sure of that. Never mind him. I wouldn't let him get the satisfaction.

"I had a great time!" I replied excitedly. "They really liked me, too."

I stayed near the spiraling staircase as he got up off the elegant reclining chair in the living room. With every step he took towards me, I hoped he wouldn't see the past my facade. I hoped I could run upstairs and stay locked in my room until school the next day and just pretend tonight didn't happen. But I knew there was no possibility of Korra or Mako not bringing it up tomorrow—

"Shame they didn't drive you back home." he said, shaking his head slowly. "That would have been the proper thing to do."

I tried my best at defending them. "They were gonna drive me but Korra thought it would be better if she walked me home instead."

He still wouldn't budge. "How irresponsible of those people. Letting a child walk another child home by themselves. Disgusting."

My fists hurt from clenching them so tight at my sides. I didn't understand him and his hatred for Korra. She never did anything to me or him. I knew that he valued my career above everything else, but I saw nothing wrong with making friends along the way. I'm surprised he even let me befriend Bolin if this was his problem. But then something he said earlier caught my attention.

You're wasting your time on people like her.

Luckily, he left me alone to go back in the living room. I ran up the stairs and into my bedroom, slamming the door shut. I jumped on my bed and laid on side. I was sure sleep wouldn't come easy tonight. I remembered the first strike had been Korra lying to me and as much as I hated to admit it, I too striked out on the first try. I could've acted better and not let Tenzin scare me off. For all I knew, Korra and Mako probably didn't want me to talk to them anymore. I was gonna fix everything tomorrow.

I wasn't letting the guilt eat me alive.

A/N- Interesting fact: Half of this was already four months ago, but I got writer's block and didn't finish this chapter until today. Not sure when the next update is though I am continuing it since you all like it. Thanks for the favorite and follows and reviews.

Until next time,

~nerd