Lights

Korrasami Month 2015 | Nov. 10th - 12th | Prompt: Anniversary.

"You are not leaving for work yet?" Korra was looking at Asami, or better said, at Asami's feet. The CEO was under a satomobile, making some repairs to it.

"I'll leave in one second, I just need to finish with this." Korra saw Asami leave a screwdriver on the floor and then reach out for a pipe wrench. "You should go to Raiko's meeting, if you don't arrive late, he'll probably be less of a moron."

"You are probably right…"

"Probably?" Korra knew Asami was smirking under the car.

Korra giggled. "Ok, you are totally right. Are you are going to be in your office all day? No visits to any factories?"

"No. I'll be doing mostly paperwork, maybe meet some contractors. So you don't have to worry, I'll be there when you come for me at six."

"Ok then, see you at six." With her foot, Korra pulled Asami from under the car. She crouched and kissed her girlfriend. "Love you."

"Love you too."

Asami returned to work on the satomobile and Korra left their home. The moment Korra stepped outside the Sato estate and closed the door, Asami was already removing her gloves and making her way outside, not really going to the office.

: : :

Korra arrived on time to Future Industries. She was going to have a quiet night out with her girlfriend. Maybe they were going to have dinner in a fancy place, maybe they were going to eat takeout at home, Korra didn't know. The couple never planned what they were going to do, they just went with whatever they felt like it.

Korra reached the top floor and was surprised by the absence of Midori, Asami's assistant. She walked toward the office and found an envelope taped to the door with her name on it. She took and opened it, revealing a note from her girlfriend:

»»Hi sweetie!
I'm sorry that I'm not in my office right now as I told you I would, but I prepared something special for you. However, first I need you to go where you say we had our first official date. See you soon. XOXO

Korra read the note another time, curious as to what Asami was planning. She grinned and made her way out of Future Industries.

Naga greeted her with a bark once she exited the tower. "Hey girl. Asami is not here, apparently, we will have to run some errands before meeting with her." Korra mounted Naga and headed to Harmony Tower.

When Korra first arrived to Republic City, she thought that Harmony Tower was just a pointless structure, standing proud in the middle of the city. Her opinion started to change when she had that one date with Bolin, because she got to see how people got along with each other, despite their place of origin or their ancestors'. Korra realized that the tower was a symbol that represented the balance that Aang and Lord Zuko tried to achieve in Republic City, the first place in the world to welcome people from all the four nations. The city belonged to no one and to everyone at the same time.

But recently, the tower took a new meaning for Korra. Since the opening of the spirit portals, vines had slowly crept up around the structure, and they did not constitute a risk to it or to its visitors. Most people thought the vines embellished Harmony Tower. One of Korra's achievements was bring back the spirits and the humans together, and she feels proud of the harmony they had achieved in Republic City, a balance that is partially thanks to Asami, at least.

Korra reached the base of the tower but she wasn't intending to go up to its observation deck. Her first 'official' date with Asami took place on the lake next to it. The Avatar dismounted her polar bear dog and walked to the small dock that was on the lake's shore. There was a small booth where tickets were sold for turtle duck boat rides, but today they weren't open. Korra found another note with her name on it taped to the booth's door; she took it and read it:

»»Hey, honey. There's a box inside the booth that you need to take with you. Don't open it, and no peeking, you know I'll notice if you do. The key to the booth is on top of the door's frame. Make sure to lock the door when you have taken the box and bring the key with you.

Korra turned around the note, but there was nothing else written on it. She shrugged, reached for the key and unlocked the door. There was a long, almost slim red box on a table, Korra took it and exited the booth, locking it. Once outside, she noticed that the box wasn't very heavy —despite it being long— and that there was another note attached to it.

»»Just one more stop, honey, and then you can see your surprise. You need to go to the place where we first met. I cannot wait to see you. XOXO

Korra smiled fondly at the memory, even if back then she was quick to judge Asami solely on her looks.

"Naga!"

The Avatar's companion approached Korra and she put the box in a bag that was tied to the saddle. Korra mounted Naga again and prompted her to go at a quick pace.

"I wonder what does the prissy, beautiful, elegant, rich girl have planned for tonight. Don't you, Naga?"

Naga didn't reply, she just trotted towards the City Hall.

When Korra arrived to her destination, she was surprised to see Lin, who was standing stiffly at the entrance of the building.

"Hi, Lin. Long time no see." Korra greeted the Chief of Police, approaching her on Naga.

"You are late, kiddo." Korra raised an eyebrow and was about to dismount Naga when Lin stopped her. "Don't bother. You only came for this, as far as I know." Lin extended her arm towards Korra, holding yet another note and a box as big as one's hand. Korra took them and was puzzled by the weight of the box. It was heavy in her hand.

"Thank you, Lin. But why are you here? Better said, how did Asami manage to get you into this?"

"She didn't. She asked Mako to come here and meet you, but I needed him for a quick strike on the Agni Kais. There aren't many firebenders in the force, so his presence in the operation was required. He asked me to bring you this, it seemed very important to him."

"So kind of you. Thank you, Lin." Korra said in a serious tone, which made teasing Lin a little bit more enjoyable.

Accordingly, Lin's expression turned from neutral to slightly annoyed. "Don't you have streets to destroy or something like that? You kids are always wasting my time." She turned around and walked away.

Korra chuckled before opening the envelope with what she hoped was the last note:

»»You must be wondering what exactly are you doing. Well, you are almost there. Mako should have given you another box. Don't peek. I enclosed with the note a map, just follow it and you will find me. You should hurry, knowing you, you must be delayed. Just kidding. XOXO

Korra rolled her eyes at the last sentence but smiled nonetheless. She lighted a small flame in her hand to look at the map and was shocked to find out the big amount of detail it had, especially because it was handmade.

"Of course Asami would draw me a map from scratch. If I didn't know her, I'd say she was trying to impress me, don't you think girl?" Naga barked. "According to this, we need to go to the city's outskirts, though it isn't far. Let's go."

Korra rode Naga for twenty minutes before they started climbing a hill. She couldn't discern much in the almost darkness that surrounded her, but she thought they were on a dirt path, and even if it seemed less traveled, there were fresh satomobile tracks covering it. Another five minutes and Korra distinguished a soft light ahead of her, on the top of the hill. Korra dismounted Naga and started running towards the light.

There were several lanterns hanging from trees, their light just strong enough to reveal what lied at the center of a small natural clearing: A blanket of 15 by 15 feet, various containers with food on it, and standing in the middle with a huge smile, Asami.

"Hi, Korra. Glad that you made it."

"I wouldn't miss this for anything… Whatever this is."

Asami giggled and then took out some treats from one of her pockets. Naga approached her and ate them. "Good girl, thanks for running around so much." Naga nuzzled Asami's face and then chose a spot under a tree to rest. "Can you please give me the boxes you are carrying, Korra?" The Avatar did as her girlfriend asked. Asami opened the large box and took out a bouquet of red roses and gave it to Korra. "Happy anniversary."

"You shouldn't have." Korra said as she embraced her.

"I wanted to." Asami closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on feeling her girlfriend in her arms.

"I know. What's in the other box?"

Asami pulled apart from the hug and gave the smaller box to Korra. "You can open this one too." Korra removed the lid and found a photograph, of which frame was made of metal. In it, Korra and Asami were dancing, both in formal dresses, looking happy beyond measure.

"Where did you get this? We are so happy and… well, I look good in this one, unlike other photos."

"Two weeks ago, when we were at Raiko's gala in the City Hall, there was a photographer from the Republic Journal. She was doing her job for the newspaper, but I also hired her to focus on us from time to time. I know you get nervous in front of a camera, so I thought this was the best way to get a picture of us that looked completely natural."

"I love it. And it seems fitting, given that exactly 5 years ago I got to meet you in the City Hall."

"You remembered!" Asami's eyes were sparkling.

"Of course I did. How could I not?" Korra closed the distance between them and leaned up to kiss her girlfriend, long and softly. The couple was interrupted by Korra's stomach, which let out a loud growl. Both of them laughed until Korra asked. "Is this food for us? Because your little treasure hunt left me starving."

"Yes, it's for us." Asami sat down on the blanket and Korra did the same. Removing the covers from the containers, Asami revealed a small feast, worthy of a hungry Avatar. "I hope you like this. It took me most of the day to prepare it."

"Wait, you cooked all of this? But you seldom cook."

"I seldom cook because I prefer tinkering with my little projects, but that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy cooking. Albeit I'm a little out of practice with food so elaborate as these dishes." Asami picked a bowl with stew and gave a spoonful to Korra.

Korra opened her eyes wide at the taste. "Sea prune stew? It tastes just like mom's… no, wait, it's actually better."

"Really?" Asami put the bowl back onto the blanket.

"Yes, but please don't tell her I said that." Korra smiled apologetically. "I didn't know you knew how to make the dish."

"I didn't. I learned today, though I almost messed up. Cooking can be more difficult than mechanics sometimes." Asami smiled.

"Of course you learned to cook it in one day. What else did you cook?"

"Well, there's arctic hen, komodo sausages, crab puffs, and fruit pies too." Asami said proudly.

"Wow, now I know why you made me go around town all afternoon." Korra said, impressed.

Asami giggled. "Yes, sorry about that. But I think it was a nice touch for our date, and it gave me plenty of time to come here and set things up."

"You are the best girlfriend ever." Korra wrapped her arms around Asami, not letting her move. She emphasized her words showering kisses on Asami's face.

Asami laughed with joy while Korra continued. "The food is going to get cold."

Korra shushed her girlfriend. "In a moment. This is more important." Asami rolled her eyes, as if she wasn't enjoying this.

: : :

The young couple was sitting on the blanket, relaxed after a well earned dinner, the food containers now empty.

"I'm so full, but it was so good." Korra burped loudly. "Sorry."

Asami had a big smile on her face. "Don't worry. I'm glad that you liked it that much."

"I loved it. Now I could just lie down and watch the stars in the sky."

"That would be lovely, but it's been cloudy all day, and the night didn't clear."

"Oh, but we can do it nonetheless, don't you think?" Korra stood up and walked towards Naga. She took out a small wooden box from the bag that was tied to the saddle and then proceeded to extinguish each one of the lanterns that surrounded the clearing. Igniting a flame in her hand, Korra returned to Asami's side. She gave her the box, lied down and patted the spot next to her, careful to not burn Asami.

Asami gave Korra a quizzical look, but she was happy to oblige, lying down next to her. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"What else? You need to open it." Korra extinguished her flame, leaving them in darkness. "The lid can slide off easily."

With the touch, Asami inspected the box for a moment and then she managed to open it. She gasped out of surprise. A thousand lights, each one smaller than a pebble, came out from the box, dancing around the couple and embellishing their surroundings. The lights changed colors as they swayed in the air. "What is this?" Asami said, amazed.

"Spirits. I need to take them back to where I found them in the spirit world later, but they were kind enough to come with us tonight."

"This is astonishing, Korra. It must have taken you some time to gather all of them." Asami averted her gaze from the lights and turned on her side to look at her girlfriend.

"Anything for you." Korra kissed Asami's forehead. "Happy anniversary, sweetheart."

"Happy anniversary." Asami said with a smile and teary eyes. She closed the distance between she and Korra and started kissing her, letting her feelings overwhelm her. The couple kissed for a while before they pulled apart.

Asami was crying, but she was surprised to discover that Korra was crying too. Both of them looked into each other's eyes lovingly before Korra hugged Asami close to her, turning her attention to the lights. Asami looked up too, enjoying the warmth, both inside and outside of her.