There was a terseness in the air that was almost suffocating in the way it hovered and draped itself around those present in the room. Its weight heavy and oppressive, filling the space more completely than any of the small noises that escaped as Korra aimlessly pushed her food around in her plate, her eyes glazed over and sightless. It was a quiet afternoon, as tended to be the usual on Air Temple island, but lately, the once meditative and healing silence had begun to take on an almost hostile quality.

At least whenever Korra was present.

Plastering the most sincere and gentle smile she could manage around the knot slowly twisting itself around in her stomach, Asami leaned across the table.

"Korra", Asami hedged.

Other than a slightly aggravated twitch of her lips, Korra gave no indication that she had even heard. Asami sighed, the sound a long and dejected whistle of air as she resigned herself to what had become almost a daily ritual over the past few weeks. "Korra. Please. You need to eat."

The knot in Asami's stomach yanked tight and doubled itself at the way Korra's eyes flashed. With a grunt, Korra angrily threw her chopsticks down and leaned back defiantly in her chair.

"I'm not hungry," Korra replied with a petulant frown, crossing her arms as if to further prove her point. Asami noted with a painful twist the slight shake of the smaller girl's arms as they folded clumsily in front of her. Her once toned shoulders and biceps were noticeably thinner from weeks of disuse, for trying to accomplish anything more strenuous than the basics of feeding herself resulted in so much pain, every attempt had left Korra a sweaty and shaking mess.

Every day they did this. Every day Asami tried to coax and plead with her friend to eat, knowing full well that Korra was going to resist and refuse seemingly only for the reason that she could. Even though they BOTH knew that every time she went to a healing session on an empty stomach, the result was guaranteed to be messy and painful.

Asami bit back the grunt of frustration and only managed to keep from scowling due to years of schooling her face into expressionless masks at executive meetings with corporate sharks scrutinizing every moment for even a hint of weakness.

With a deep breath to steady her growing irritation, Asami pushed forward, taking her turn in this stupid game Korra insisted on playing. Every day. Without fail.

"Korra, you haven't eaten all day. You have a healing session later, and you know what happens when you don't."

Korra looked up and grimaced in what looked like disgust, meeting Asami's calm and gentle gaze with an angry glare.

For weeks Asami had been taking Korra to those healing sessions and they always left the injured woman exhausted, weak, and if possible, even grumpier. Asami couldn't blame her though. Those sessions were brutal. The healers tried everything they could think of to help restore the broken Avatar back to her previous health. Deep tissue massages, acupuncture, physical therapy, water bending healing… They'd done it all. And nothing seemed to be working. Asami had begun to wonder if the injuries weren't all the result of the havok the poison had wreaked on her body.

At this point in the game, Korra usually either dramatically shoveled all the food in her mouth at once, glaring up at Asami spitefully the whole time, or shut down altogether, refusing to acknowledge Asami's presence until after the healing session. Usually to mumble a weak "I'm done" after Asami had patiently held her hair back as Korra viciously dry heaved from having gone through with a healing session on an empty stomach.

Today however, was different.

With a dejected and angry sigh that almost perfectly reflected what Asami herself was feeling at the situation, Korra sharply turned her head to the side, breaking their brief moment of eye contact.

"What's the point?" Korra mumbled. Asami felt a stab of sadness at Korra's angry and dejected tone.

"What do you mean?" she hedged carefully. While she hadn't quite experienced this exact version of this conversation, history had proven that Korra was usually only one real or imagined slight away from an outburst, and her unpredictable volatility had left Asami in a constant state of uneasiness.

An uneasiness that was unfortunately entirely justified.

In a whirlwind of motion, Korra balled both her hands into fists and brought them down onto that table with a resounding BANG, making Asami jump in her seat.

"Nothing is working!" Korra yelled in exasperation. "I can't walk, I can't sleep, and everything hurts all the time." Korra drew in a deep breath, her eyes flashing and arms shaking as they gestured wildly, fully letting herself go to her anger. "Nothing is getting better! And those healing sessions?" Korra barked out a humorless laugh. Asami flinched at the sound. "Those healing session are practically torture that leave me feeling worse than I did going into them! I mean honestly! At least Zaheer had been honest when he said he was trying to kill me!"

Korra heaved from the exertion of her outburst, glaring daggers at Asami through the unkempt fringe of her bangs that hung wildly in her face. Asami, like always, had patiently offered to help Korra pull the unruly mess into her trademark wolf tail, but Korra hadn't allowed Asami to so much as brush it in days.

Asami felt her stomach twist painfully. Though Korra's words definitely echoed her own thoughts, she didn't think it was entirely fair to blame it all on the effectiveness of the healing. Korra had initially made a serious effort to do what she could to expedite the healing process. However, after several weeks of minimal improvement, it was almost as though she had given up hope. She was obviously deeply depressed. Lately her mood range consisted of angry and mean, to lethargic and hopeless. Her attitude had become extremely negative and lately only Asami had the patience or fortitude to bear the moody Avatar for longer than the briefest of encounters.

The silence of the room was only sporadically punctuated by the sound of Korra's labored breathing. Though still oppressively heavy, the stillness had taken on a new and subtle texture. What had before been a smooth and suffocating blanket was now lined with razor sharp blades. Asami was safe now, but any movement at all felt as though it was capable of cutting her to the bone. Though Asami knew it would only result in further provoking Korra in her irate state and leave Asami a bleeding mess, she couldn't stop herself from saying what was on her mind. This game had officially gotten old, and if Korra was going to change her playbook, Asami was going to follow suit.

"You're not exactly helping," Asami said smoothly, defiantly catching Korra's eyes when they flicked up to her face at her words.

Korra almost seemed to double in size as she drew herself up in her chair. Flinging an arm out, she angrily flung the bowl of noodles off the table, leaning forwards menacingly in her rage. "Excuse me?!"

Asami sighed and weighed her options. She could let the issue drop, but knew that the things she had to say Korra definitely needed to hear. From day one, Asami had been by Korra's side, helping her dear friend in every way she could. As the weeks had passed and Korra had become more and more depressed, visits from the rest of 'Team Avatar' had become less and less frequent. Asami understood that everyone else had lives and jobs to get back to, but she felt bad for Korra. To her, it probably felt like she was being abandoned by everyone.

Asami couldn't blame them, though. While everyone loved and cared for Korra immensely, being around her lately was close to abusive. Korra was pretty much the most important person in Asami's life, and there was no way she would abandon her friend in any way, but Korra needed a swift kick in the ass. And since no one else was going to do it…

Asami chose her words carefully. "Look, Korra. You went through something terrible. Everyone knows that. I can't even imagine the pain and fear you endured-" Before Asami could continue, Korra scoffed loudly, the sound high and ugly as it escaped the back of her throat.

"No! You can't! No one can!"

Korra was heaving in her rage, her face that had once smiled as easily as she breathed contorted in disgust and contempt.

For the first time, Asami felt no sympathy or remorse, and the twisting of her gut was less out of compassion and more due to the way her tenuously held control on her own anger was starting to warble and stretch.

Control that was thoroughly destroyed at Korra's next words, spat out with a venom that was nothing but ugly in its intensity.

"Not that anyone even cares anymore."

Asami felt her control snap like a physical blow to the chest, causing the next words that came out of her mouth to tumble out with unexpected force and volume.

"Korra. STOP!"

Korra's eyes widened in shock and outrage as she visibly recoiled, jerking back in her chair as though she had been physically struck. Before she had a chance to say anything back, Asami quickly continued her speech, intent to get it out in the open. Who knew? Maybe she could get the other girl so mad that she wouldn't have a choice but to start walking and bending again, if only to accomplish the goal of throttling her.

"It's honestly no wonder you're not making any progress. You've given up hope! If you had it your way, you would sit around and mope all day just wallowing in how terrible you feel."

When Korra remained silent, Asami pressed on. She attempted to soften her tone, but weeks of frustration and anxiety were bubbling to the surface and she couldn't completely remove the bite from her tone. "Look. I'm not saying you don't have it rough. You've been through more than most can possibly hope to survive but if you don't have hope and the drive to help yourself get better or adjust or….whatever, how do you honestly expect anyone else to?"

Asami was standing by the time she finished speaking, leaning over the table so she towered over the smaller woman before her. Her tone had taken on a decidedly pleading quality at the end. Her words were from the heart as she stared Korra down, pleading with her eyes to please please just listen and reflect on what was being said. To actually hear her for a change instead of just react.

She saw the moment when Korra shut down. Her eyes narrowed until they were barely slits, her face silently screaming contempt and derision.

Asami's heart constricted in her chest at the look. While it wasn't the first time she had seen it, it was certainly the first time it had been directed at her.

"I'm sorry your Avatar is such a disappointment," Korra growled, her tone so cold and vicious Asami couldn't stop the shiver that raced down her spine.

Asami dropped her head, hanging it loosely between her locked arms from where they were still braced on the table.

"This isn't like you Korra. We aren't trying to help you because we want the Avatar back." Asami ground out between clenched teeth. She silently counted her breaths, reigning in the hurt and frustration that was bubbling wildly at the surface. Once she was certain she had her temper back under control, Asami heaved another sigh, leaning into the table before pushing herself off and leveling Korra with a look that was open and full of concern and care and love. Because while Korra was being mean and rude and overall NOT enjoyable to be around in any way, at the end of the day, she was Asami's best friend. Korra held a place in her heart that rivaled - if not topped- every other person in her life. Despite her recent displays, Asami knew that at her core, Korra was one of the most kind, loving and caring people she knew. And yeah. She cared about Mako and Bolin and Tenzin and all the others. But she loved Korra. As difficult as it was to remind herself at times, Asami knew that Korra's outbursts and cruelty were stemmed from a deep rooted despair and fear that was born from a trauma no one could really hope to understand.

"We're trying to help you because we want our friend back. I want my friend back."

Asami wasn't quite able to stop the way her voice broke at the end, however Korra didn't move. She remained unflinching in her glare.

Asami felt her heart twist again painfully in her chest. The moves of the game maybe had been a little different this time around, but the outcome was -predictably- all too familiar.

Despite the twists and plays and moves, both of them had lost.

Asami was suddenly completely overwhelmed by the feeling, and the ache was only ramping up in intensity the longer she stood in the razor edged silence that once again settled oppressively around her shoulders. Asami closed her eyes and released the breath she had pent up in her chest, her shoulders sagging with the exhale. Pulling in a deep breath through her nose to fight back the prickling she could feel in the corner of her eyes, she sightlessly turned and walked out, pushing her chair to the side in her haste.

The sound of her chair scraping across the stone floor was almost offensive as it pierced the tense silence that had settled over the room.

Asami could feel the hateful glare stabbing her in the back as she walked towards the doorway.

It was very clear Korra was so deep in the hell she had created that she'd given up entirely. For her to have even a chance at restoring her body back to its former glory, she needed to start with her mind and Asami had a feeling that that healing process was going to be much more difficult. While Asami hated that she had to be the one to deliver this particularly difficult message, she only hoped that by having someone finally stand up to Korra, she would snap out of it and really begin to heal.