So I know I've just started another story, but this idea came to me and I had to write it down. Since this is more fresh, I may be focusing a bit more on this one. Not sure yet. But I have a bunch of time since it's summer now, so hopefully I can do both.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Avatar universe.

Bonk.

Bonk.

Bonk.

The sound of the tennis ball hitting the wall filled what used to be a relatively silent room.

Bonk.

Korra caught the ball and threw it back at the wall.

Bonk.

Korra. Was. Bored. Bored out of her mind.

Seriously, how could Korra, somebody who dearly loved her job, be bored at work? When it came to jobs, one would typically be busy at all times. Not anymore. At least, not for Korra. As Korra was one of the best at what she could do, when there wasn't an assignment, Korra's new job was to sit and touch nothing until something interesting came up. It was times like these were Korra regretted not being able to use a copying machine effectively.

Korra wasn't being cocky about it. In fact, much to the annoyance of Mako, everybody seemed to look up to her. One Christmas, somebody had given her a plaque for her desk that read "The Master." Korra, more than flattered, felt it would've been a disservice to not display it on her desk. Multiple times the plaque had gone missing, but it always seemed to find its way back. Korra was beginning to suspect it was Mako's and Bolin's doing.

Korra never really knew why, but relocating a family and keeping them safe from harm until the person looking for them was captured was never really difficult. Some liked to tell her it was because she was the only on in the program that had managed to successfully keep families protected without too many problems, so either all the attackers have been caught or the remaining attackers are too scared to come at her. Although Korra was pretty smug about her reputation, she could never have done it without Mako and Bolin. Mako is the one that finds them and Bolin, surprisingly, is the tech wiz that helps. Korra's job was to simply go after them and take them down, one by one.

Bonk.

The door to the office burst open. "Guess what! You're gonna love me for this!"

Korra caught the ball, and then promptly threw it at Bolin's head. He caught it with no effort and threw it back. He stopped in front of Korra's desk and slammed his hand down, a huge grin plastered on his face. He slid his hand closer to Korra, and then quickly pulled it away leaving a slip of paper on the desk.

Korra eyed Bolin carefully, "Why are you so excited so early in the morning?"

"Because I knew I was going to come in here and see a grumpy Korra and I was going to be the hero that managed to turn that frown upside down after you see what I got us!" Bolin beamed, using two fingers to point to the slip of paper. He started to jump up and down, barely concealing his excitement.

Korra snatched the paper off the desk, and squinted at it trying figure out what it was. After a few seconds, her eyes bulged with realization and her pout disappeared.

"You did not!" Korra exclaimed, slamming both hands on the table and directing her first grin in a week at Bolin.

"I so did!"

"This has to be fake! How did you get these?" Korra looked up at Bolin, and saw that his grin had grown larger than before.

Bolin rolled a nearby chair over to Korra's desk and plopped down. "Well, I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who's a cousin of the Fire Ferret's hairstylist. AND since it's almost your birthday, I decided I should do what only Bolin could do…I got a hookup!" He crossed his arms in satisfaction. "Who's your best friend in the whole world?"

"I guess you are now. Oh Bolin, I can't believe it!" Korra jumped out of her seat to ambush him with a tight hug. "Wow…Am I really going to attend a Fire Ferret's game in person? Pinch me, I must be dreaming!"

A sharp pain on Korra's forearm made her jump. "Oww…."

"You asked for me to pinch you," Bolin shrugged.

Korra dropped back into her seat and stared at the ticket in awe. "Thanks Bo. Really."

"Yeah, yeah, I know I'm awesome. Just remember it's in 2 weeks."

Korra nodded and stashed the ticket away. Bolin rolled his chair over to his desk and got to his computer, typing furiously. "So let's get down ta business. How goes the Han family in that spectacular home I set them up in?"

Korra turned to the computer and accessed a document. "It says they settled in pretty well. They'll be staying low for a while and were told to call us if they need anything. Should we go over and check on them next week?"

"What about the Lee?"

Korra sighed. "Which Lee? There's a billion Lees in this city?"

"The one that thought a girl shouldn't be in charge of his safety."

Korra growled, "He doesn't like the location so much, but I think I taught him a couple of lessons. I checked on him yesterday, and he looked pretty grateful, so I guess that's an improvement."

Bolin chuckled, "I'd hate to see what you did to him."

Korra laughed, "Good, because I don't feel like reliving that again." Korra leaned back in her chair and started throwing the ball against the wall again.

Bonk.

"Tomorrow I'm supposed to go over there and play Pai Sho with him. It sure beats sitting in the office. You're welcome to join, if you'd like. I doubt he'd complain about a male presence."

"Bolin never misses an offer to play Pai Sho! Anyways, it sounds a hundred times better than what I was gonna do," he said.

Korra raised an eyebrow, "Which is?"

Bolin glanced up from his computer and laughed, "Nothing at all."

Korra guessed another factor that made her likeable was that she went above and beyond her job requirements. She not only took care of the people whose lives were in danger, but also made sure they were ok afterwards, going as far as to spend some free time with them. She formed bonds with the people she was ordered to watch over so that they feel safer. At the moment, the Han family and Lee were the only two people she was watching over, which was fine considering she had no assignment just yet. Korra swiveled her chair around to face Bolin, "Catch."

Korra and Bolin tossed the ball back and forth for the next hour, discussing the Fire Ferret's chances in the upcoming tournament.

"I don't understand why he has to be so rude about it," Asami complained into her phone.

"He's rude overall! I don't know why you're still with him! He still has that mindset that women only exist to cook, clean, and pop babies out here and there," Opal's angry voice came from the receiver.

"He can be sweet when he wants to be…but he's different when he's around people. Like he has to show off."

"This is, what, your third fight this week? And last week you two fought like once a day over the same things. He says he'll change, but has he even tried to yet?" Opal questioned. When Asami didn't answer, Opal continued, "See! He hasn't!"

Opal was right and Asami knew it. They had had this conversation multiple times over the last week. Wu had been treating her worse and worse every week in front of his stupid friends, ordering her around like a slave, being inappropriately physical with her, even though he knows she hates it. Every time she confronted him about it, he always apologized and promises he won't do it again, but the next day they would be at square one. Asami really wanted to end it with him. Heck, she never wanted to begin a relationship with him. Of course, her father would never allow it. It would also mean she would have to move back in with her father, which wasn't too much of a problem, but she really didn't want to stay in the estate back home. It just reminded her how broken her family had become since her mom had died.

"I know, I know," Asami droned. "Lately I've been thinking about it more. But what if I leave and it's the wrong choice?"

Opal scoffed over the phone. "Wrong choice? Asami, staying is the wrong choice! What if, instead of touching you in weird places in front of his friends, he starts making out with you in front of them?"

Asami gasped, "He would never do that!"

"See! You're defending him! That's gotta be a stage for abused girlfriends. Next thing you know, you're going to be denying he's doing anything wrong in the first place and I'm gonna find bruises on your arms."

" Opal, that's not funny," Asami scolded.

"It's not supposed to be," Opal stressed. "I'm not joking. You need to think hard about this."

Asami heard noises from downstairs. Wu.

"I gotta go, Opal. He's here. I'll talk to you later, okay?" Asami said, ending the call before Opal could respond. Slowly, she made her way to the stairs and took deliberate steps as she descended. Halfway down, she heard voices. Dammit, his friends are here…Asami decided it would be best to turn around. Just as she planted a foot on the next step, Wu called.

"Asami! Come down here. The boys are hungry!" Wu's voice sounded from the living room.

Asami silently berated herself for not leaving the apartment and continued her descent downstairs. "Hey, sweetie," Asami forced, "I didn't know you were home."

Asami walked to the kitchen and began to fix some sandwiches. Asami could never cook, and it wasn't because she always had servants tending to her. She had tried her hand at cooking once, but had somehow managed to burn not only the food, but the pot as well. Asami settled the sandwiches onto a plate and set them on the table in front of the guys.

"Thanks Asami!" One of the guys, Chen, said. He grabbed a sandwich and took a bite. "These are great! You're such a great cook, Asami!"

Asami blushed a bit, and gave him a smack on the shoulder. "Chen, these are just regular turkey sandwiches."

"I wish she was actually a good cook," Wu started from the other side of the table. "Back at the palace, I always got the finest meals. But since Asami insisted on trying this thing were we live independently, we've been surviving on instant meals and takeout. I wish I had known that she couldn't cook, otherwise I would never have agreed to this."

"Man, be appreciative. At least she cooks something and you're not starving," Chen admonished. Chen was nice. He always stood up for Asami when Wu got whiney.

"Well, I'm off," Asami stated, heading for the stairs to get her purse.

Wu's head snapped to Asami's so quickly that Asami was almost disappointed it didn't fall off. "Wait! Where are you going? I just got here," Wu whined.

"I'm going to pick up Kai from school," Asami responded. About two years ago when Asami was visiting the Earth kingdom to meet Prince Wu she had run into a child, Kai. As he was a smuggler back then, he had been trying to grab some of her coins, but years of self-defense classes had honed her senses in on the invasion of her personal belongings. After further investigation, she discovered that he was an orphan and had begged her father to take him in. It took a lot of effort, but her father had finally viewed Kai as a good cause and great company for Asami to keep.

Wu looked at his watch, "He doesn't get out of school for another hour."

"I have to run some errands for my father before then," Asami lied smoothly.

Wu shrugged. "Well come here and say goodbye first."

Asami internally winced. Oh no, here it comes. Asami made her way to Wu, as he stood up and pulled her into an embrace, grabbing her butt in the process. Wu then proceeded to smack his lips on hers, his tongue trying to force his way into her mouth. Asami squirmed away after a few seconds, and bid a farewell to the others.

That's how it always was. Asami always found a reason to leave when Wu had his friends over since he always felt the need to violate her in front of them, as if to mark his territory. Asami knew he was just insecure, as their entire relationship was planned by their families, but she also knew she doesn't like it. He didn't care, however, since he was a prince. Apparently, being a prince meant you could anything.

Asami took her time driving to Kai's school, making a detour to get some bubble tea. As she had an hour until Kai got out from school, she decided to take the most scenic routes through Republic City. Driving always soothed her mind. By the time Asami got to school, there was only fifteen minutes left until Kai was free from teachers and rules. Asami pulled out a newspaper and began to read an article about Cabbage Corp.

Only a few minutes later, Asami was interrupted from her reading by a tap on the window. Asami unlocked the door as Kai jumped in.

"You were early," Kai stated.

"So were you. Why did you get out early? You still have ten minutes left."

Kai smirked, "I displayed great behavior today."

Asami laughed, "Why did you actually get out early?"

Kai pouted. "The teacher was sick. So Wu brought his friends over again?"

Asami pulled out of the school and onto the main road. "He had Chen with him so it wasn't too bad."

Kai groaned. "Asami, just tell Mr. Sato that Wu's a jerk. Ugh! I hate him. Why don't you just dump him?"

Asami sighed, "You know why, Kai."

Kai snorted, "Stop trying to please your Dad. I'm sure he would be fine with it if you didn't end up with Wu. You could continue running the company then!"

"Trying to get out of some responsibilities now are we?" Asami smirked. "You know my Dad would love to hand the company over to you one day. You're like the son he never had…when you behave."

"Puh-lease. Mr. Sato would rather an actual Sato inherit the company," Kai retorted.

"So I was thinking," Asami began, changing the subject, "About going to that new restaurant that opened on 5th Avenue."

Out of her peripheral vision, Asami noted Kai straightened in his seat. "Really! Let's do it! I'm so hungry and I haven't gotten to talk to you in ages!"

After they had reached the restaurant and ordered their food, Kai looked up. "So anything new?"

Asami sighed tiredly. She'd been sighing a lot lately. "Nothing really. I've been working on some blueprints for Dad, but I've been running into some problems. For some reason my brain hasn't been cooperating with me lately. Dad told me to take a bit of a break from it, so I haven't been doing much. How have your courses been going?"

Kai lounged in his chair, "They're all too easy. I mean, this is the education system in Republic City? I learned a bunch of this stuff back in the Earth Kingdom from my parents, before they…you know. Anyway, I've been trying to figure out what to do with my time, since I don't have to study much. I might join a club or something."

Asami raised an eyebrow, "Don't go and start failing classes now, mister. Maybe I'll talk to Dad about getting you some private lessons, since you seem to have too much time on your hands."

Kai fidgeted in his seat and glared, "You wouldn't."

"It would be good for you! It doesn't have to be all educational as well. Maybe some martial art classes? That's what I did."

Just as Kai was about to respond, his eyes averted to the television set behind Asami. Asami turned to watch what had captivated Kai to see an advertisement for the upcoming football tournament the Fire Ferrets would be playing in.

Which reminded Asami.

"Oh!" Kai jumped in his seat. "I just remembered!" Asami began to fumble around her purse, looking for the two tiny slips of paper she had gotten a couple of days ago.

Kai looked at her, eyebrows raised, waiting for her to finish.

"Ah, found them!" Asami exclaimed triumphantly, pulling out two slips of paper. "I have two tickets to see the Fire Ferrets game in two weeks. Dad got them for me, probably intending Wu and I to go. But, since he never really said who the second ticket was for, would you like to go?"

Kai stared. Then made a quick grab for one of the tickets. "You can't be serious! I heard they got sold out instantly!"

"Well, Dad does have connections," Asami replied suggestively.

Kai stared blankly back.

Asami groaned, slapping her hand to her forehead, "Kai, Future Industries sponsors the Fire Ferrets! Of course we can get tickets!"

Asami looked down at the tickets. This should be fun, watching the Fire Ferrets play, not having to be around Wu, and getting to spend some time with Kai, which was getting more difficult over the days. What could possibly go wrong?