Korra yawned into the back of her hand as she walked under the street lights. She shifted the weight of the two bags she was carrying, glancing at the red and green peppers and the freshly baked bread she had bought. She looked up at the darkening sky and could see the double helix of the spirit portal in the horizon. Maybe she would ask the other two if they wanted to go on a vacation to the Spirit World tonight.

The past two weeks since the three returned to Republic City had been hectic, but in a good way. Asami went straight to her workshop to start working on the train prototypes. From Korra and Lin heard from the woman, Future Industries was making amazing headway now that they have the metal they needed. The only thing that was really stifling the process was Varrick and his ever-changing ideas for how to improve the SatoStation for the Fire Nation. None of them were too bad, according to Asami, but it did take more time than she would have liked to convince Varrick to stick with the original plans.

Korra glanced at a newspaper that an older gentleman was reading at the foot of his apartment. She felt her lips turn slightly downwards at the sight of Kuvira's mug shot. Since Lin's retirement, Mako had dived headfirst into the missing spirit vines investigation. Korra would not be surprised if he didn't make time for himself to celebrate the promotion. But his, and Lin's, hard work had finally paid off. The investigation was closing with the rest of the spirit vines having been discovered, with no more fatalities except for a Red Lotus member who had believed that he had weaponized the spirit vine. Luckily, he used such a small sample that the resulting backfire explosion had only killed him and injured his fellow members. Due to her help in tracking the spirit vines, Kuvira would be receiving a lighter sentence for her role as the Great Uniter. Korra wasn't sure how to feel about that, but it was out of her hands.

"Pretty flowers for a pretty lady?" a young woman said from behind a stall, snapping Korra out of her thoughts.

Korra looked at the different flowers that the vendor had in stock and pointed at the roses and then at the calla lilies. "I would a bouquet of those, please."

The vendor looked confused by the order but then shrugged as she grabbed a few stems of both flowers. While the vendor worked on the order, Korra found the proper amount of money to pay the woman. She still felt a bit guilty and childish that she was using what was technically Lin's retirement money. When she told Lin about it, the older woman had simply shrugged, stating that she knew being the Avatar wasn't a job that you get paid to do, and she was more than happy to give Korra some spending money from time to time It wasn't like Lin was struggling financially and it made her happy that Korra could buy herself some things. Korra knew she shouldn't complain too much, if it had been Asami, she probably would have had more than enough money to rent out her own place.

"Here you go, ma'am."

Korra took the bouquet and paid the vendor before heading off back towards Lin's house. It only took a few more minutes of walking before she stood in front of the door. She opened the door and strolled in, only stopping to take off her boots and socks.

The smell drifting out from the kitchen made Korra's mouth water more than the smell of the fresh dumplings she had passed by when she bought the peppers and bread. She walked to the kitchen and found Lin facing the stove, stirring cut up bits of meat with a spatula. Korra set the bags and bouquet on the island and walked to Lin, wrapping her arms around the older woman's waist and kissing her shoulder before resting her head on it, watching Lin work.

"I got the food," Korra said.

"Thank you," Lin said back, turning her head to kiss Korra's cheek. She gestured to a chopping board next to a bowl that already had chopped up onions and mushrooms. "Can you please start cutting up the peppers?"

Korra gave Lin's shoulder one last kiss before starting her task. She wasn't as good as Lin but she liked to think that she was improving, at least with her cutting skills. Korra had asked Lin to teach her some of her recipes and it seemed that the older woman inherited her mother's temperament when it came to teaching. More often than not, Lin would banish Korra from kitchen and finish the meal herself. Korra wasn't too hurt when it happened, she knew that the meals tasted better when Lin was the one cooking. Still, over some time, Korra had noticed that it was easier for her to cut up vegetables and cook certain meals.

When she was done, she moved the chopped peppers into a new bowl and handed it to Lin. The older woman poured the vegetables into the pan with the meat, along with the bowl of mushrooms and onions. Korra's stomach rumbled at the scent of the cooking vegetables.

"Those are beautiful, by the way," Lin said, jerking her chin towards the flowers on the island's counter top.

"I saw them when I was heading back." Korra gave a slight chuckle as she scratched the back of her neck. "They were beautiful and you and Asami are beautiful so I wanted to buy them for you two." She could feel her cheeks start to burn and she tried unsuccessfully to push it down.

"Well, thank you for them. Asami will love them too." Lin turned away from the stove to pull Korra into a short kiss, both wanting it to last longer. When Lin turned back towards the cooking food, she waved the spatula to a cupboard above the sink. "There should be a vase in there. We can put the flowers on the island."

Korra looked for the vase and found it where Lin said it would be. She had to wash it out twice due to the amount of dust that had gathered. She didn't doubt that Lin never used the vase and it was more likely a gift and not something she bought herself. Korra filled it with enough water to sustain the flowers and placed them in. She took her time deciding where exactly on the island the vase should be and she fussed with the flowers until the lilies and roses were thoroughly mixed in the bouquet. Satisfied, Korra returned to Lin, noticing that she had a small smile playing at her lips.

Having nothing else to do, Korra wrapped hers arms around Lin again and watched her cook. Soon though, her attention was pulled to Lin. Korra could smell the new cologne that Lin had begun wearing and she buried her nose into the curve of Lin's neck. She took a deep breath and a curl of arousal bloomed in her belly. Her hands began to wander, one drifting up under Lin's shirt and the other down her pants.

"I'm cooking," Lin said, slightly breathless. She squirmed slightly as Korra played with the hem of her panties. She knew that if the two started to have some fun, the food would be neglected until it was no longer salvageable. Lin used the hand that wasn't holding the spatula to remove Korra's hands from her pants. She ignored the pouting look Korra gave her and gestured to the living room. "Go and do something else."

Korra gave Lin's breast one last swipe of her thumb, feeling the stiff nipple through the fabric of Lin's bra, before reluctantly leaving the older woman to cooking. She went to the living room and sat on the couch, missing the smell of Lin's cologne. She spotted a magazine that Asami had left on the table. On the cover was one of Cabbage Corp's newest planes. She tried to leaf through the pages but quickly lost interest. It was all about new innovations that would allow planes to be bigger with more capacity without sacrificing the speed of a two-person plane. There were notes on a few of the pages that Asami had written down. From what Korra could gather, Asami was trying to create a design of increasing the speed of her airblimps while decreasing the costs to make it more accessible to the public.

"When is Asami supposed to back, again?" Korra called out from the couch as she put the magazine back onto the table.

"She was supposed to be back by now, actually."

Korra hummed at the answer and looked at the clock. Asami usually left work about half an hour ago so she should have been here ten minutes ago. Korra frowned at the realization but both her and Lin knew that time could sometimes get away from Asami when she was working on a big project. Korra had suggested once that Lin build a mechanic workshop in the backyard so Asami could still work but be closer to home. Asami had laughed away the idea but Korra knew that Lin had been chewing on the idea.

"Dinner is ready," Lin said from the kitchen.

Korra got up and took the middle seat on the island. Lin placed a plate stacked with seasoned meat, peppers, onions, and mushrooms in front of her. Korra quickly blast a puff of air onto the food so she wouldn't burn her tongue as she dug in, periodically taking a bit of the bread. She noticed the pan was still on the stove with some food still in it.

"In case Asami comes soon," Lin explained without prompting. She sat next to Korra and ate her own meal. She rested a hand on Korra's thigh as she ate, drawing circles into Korra's leg with her thumb.

"This is really good," Korra said. "Did you use the fire salts?"

Lin nodded. "With a few other seasonings, yes. I was able to weasel a few recipes from Suyin's chef. He guards them more than I've seen some bankers guard their money."

The two ate their food slower than usual, both hoping that Asami would come through the door so they could all eat together. Eventually however, they finished their plates and had to concede that Asami wasn't going to join them for dinner. While Korra washed the dishes, Lin put away Asami's meal into the refrigerator.

Afterwards, the two lounged on the couch with the radio on. They talked about their day as they cuddled. Korra was able to get a chuckle from Lin when she told her about how Naga chased a spirit around in a strange game of tag and had accidentally bowled Tenzin over. Lin talked about how much progress she made writing her detective novel. It still made Korra grin when she remembered Lin told her and Asami about the novel she had been working on when she first joined the force. Now that she was retired, Lin finally had enough time, and peace, to actually write something she didn't want to burn afterwards.

Their conversation was halted by the front door opening and Asami walking inside. Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she closed the door. "I am so sorry I'm late. Varrick and I had a huge breakthrough in designing the engine room." She lifted a bottle of wine that she had been carrying in her hand. "I brought this as an apology."

Asami went to grab three wine glass for the three as Korra struggled to remove the cork without breaking the bottle and Lin heated up Asami's dinner. The three went back to the living room and each enjoyed a glass of wine. Asami ate her supper in between Lin and Korra. In between bites, she explained how she and Varrick figured out to keep the engine room from overheating as it neared the volcanoes on its route through the Fire Nation. Korra and Lin listened intently although some of the concepts she explained went over their heads.

When Asami finished her food, she got up to clean her plate and silverware. She returned and they cuddled on the couch. "The flowers are gorgeous," Asami said when the three were comfortable.

"Korra got them," Lin said. "I'm surprised you remembered what flowers we like," she said teasingly. "I figured when we told you, you weren't listening."

Korra frowned. "Hey, I listen to you two all the time!"

Asami laughed at that and Korra couldn't help but smiling at the sound.

Lin moved to grab the wine bottle to pour herself another glass but she stopped when she caught sight of the label. She looked at it for a long moment and then began laughing. Korra and Asami looked at each other and then at the label. Asami soon started to laugh as well but Korra still did not understand. She grabbed the bottle from Lin and stared at the label as if the words printed on it was a new language.

The label looked familiar to Korra and it clicked suddenly. It was the same wine that Lin and Asami had been drinking when Korra accidentally walked in on them. A bubble of laughter left her lips and soon her entire body was shaking from laughing so hard. She set down the bottle and pulled the two women closer, grinning widely. "I'm so glad I didn't learn how to knock."

Author's notes

Welp, this is the ending of Three is (Not) a Crowd. I'm not very good at writing endings but I have always wanted to try the ending where you pull something from the beginning.

I have an idea for another story involving the three and Kuvira but it is set after Ruins of an Empire. Or it may be Korra, Asami, and Kuvira. I don't really know at this point.