NOTE FOR ALL:

So...this place has been dead for a while. Lemme begin with saying that I've edited these first three chapters (Was I high while writing? I mean some of this made me want to hit myself.) So they should be of higher quality and grammar now. And past tense.

Then I wanted to say...enjoy this story that has now become something fully developed, with a new beginning, a middle, and eventually an end. Yay!

A warning though: Updates will appear very sporadically since I am working on this and my main fic at the same time, and then there's life of course.

PEN PALS

Korra stumbled through the door, fumbling with groceries in her arms whilst reaching for a light switch. She almost tripped over all two pairs of shoes in the narrow hallway. Someday I should get a rack for these, or learn to just fucken move 'em to the side. Finally she found the switch and filled the apartment with light. It was barebones, to say the least. A few IKEA furnishings here and there. It was a new place that she just moved in to, and the important thing was that it was hers and hers only.

Kicking off a pair of worn running shoes, Korra struggled to move through her new dwelling, bumping into walls as her frame was even larger holding three paper bags.

"Ma'am? D-do you need help carrying that?" She remembers the scrawny kid at the counter asking her, and the reply she'd given was perhaps a bit excessive.

"DO I LOOK LIKE I NEED YOUR GODDAMN HELP?!"

He just looked too much like her asshole uncle Unalaaq that she couldn't help it. A weak, skinny version of Unalaaq.

After going through the tedious work of putting together dinner and eating her fifth substantial meal of the day by herself, Korra's legs were about to fall out under her as she collapsed onto a chair in front of a desk. Above hung a pair of padded midnight-blue gloves. Her scar-ridden hands searched for a stack of paper, grabbing a sheet and a pen, and they began pouring themselves into a letter.

Dear Asami,

Today was one of the hardest days of my life.

Mako and Bolin kept bugging me about going to some club. I accidentally promised them I would go and they're all in a tizzy now. You might be wondering how I 'accidentally' agreed to something. Let's just say I wasn't on earth at the time. I was honestly thinking about you. I was hoping we could meet next month maybe? I know you've been super busy, what with your dad breathing down your neck about those new designs. Don't worry about it though if you can't, I'm busy too so I guess we've got that in common.

Korra stopped writing, thinking she would finish the letter tomorrow. She folded it neatly and tucked it into an envelope, leaving it open. A stamp decorated with the Future Industries logo was fished out of a plastic bag that was filled with them, and she fastened it onto the envelope. They were all sent by Asami so Korra could never run out and never stopped sending messages.

She sighed contentedly, holding the piece of paper to her chest. Her best friend, which she had never met and who lived thousands of miles away, was also her love interest, and the woman had no idea. Daughter to a powerful business tycoon, and pen pal to little old Korra. Little-old-Korra had mentioned this several times to Asami-destined-for-greatness-Sato, but being the modest genius she was, she said that that didn't matter.

Korra got a lot of unique insight into the world of business through Asami. A lot of it confused her since as a professional boxer she had no idea about that sort of life. They had both confessed many things and become as close as they could over the tremendous distance. Korra figured she should ask Asami for her phone number or Skype so they could actually see each other or hear each other's voices. Small steps. Might be too fast to say she loved her without ever meeting her, but she just seemed like the most perfect person in the world and it puzzled her as to why a rich, successful woman like that would ever want to befriend someone like her. But Korra was grateful for it nonetheless.

"Look who made it, guys! Told you we'd convince her!"

"Shut up Bo. It's not like I had a choice," Korra retorted.

"Come on, let's go inside," Mako quickly intervened.

Upon entering, Korra immediately felt uncomfortable. She didn't hate parties, not at all, but that was when she actually knew the people there and could talk to them. This was a generic dance club (no wonder the brothers wanted to come here). Of course she could talk to someone if she wanted to, but she knew there was no one here of interest to her. If she went out, Korra would maybe go to a karaoke bar (of all places). Anywhere was better than here. Everyone was hopping and stomping on the floor to some repetitive, bass-heavy electronic music. Asami knew how hypocritical Korra was to criticize these types of songs in favor of, for example, reggae. She had no idea why that genre in particular was so appealing to her. Maybe it had something to do with her tribal roots? The young woman wished she was at home again so she could talk to, or at least, write to her best friend. The one who understood her the best. Some might have said that having a pen pal as a best friend was a weird thing and she brought this up too with Asami who just laughed (or she wrote that she laughed, showing that she and Korra had similar humor).

"Earth to Korra!" Bolin hollered. "You comin'?"

The burly man known as Bolin already had Opal under his arm and was dragging her to the bar for an early drink. Early because this was gonna be a long night, she knew from experience. Korra was probably gonna end up driving them all home piss-drunk.

"Hey, you alright? You're not bailing on us already are you?" Mako asked into her ear.

"No! No of course not. Let's get a drink," she yelled back over the loud music. Korra did not want to have the same experience twice of cleaning up the car from chunks of... No, this time it was their turn to take care of her at her worst. She'd had a bad day and she needed this. The regret of coming to the club was soon fading as she neared a fourth shot and shouted along with her mates through the night.

"That was amazing! I had no ideaaaa—that you could do that, Korrrraa!" Opal slurred, giggled, and repeated the sound 'orrraa!' to herself multiple times. No one looked at her funny, they all looked pretty funny.

"Yeah, neither did I," she garbled back, stumbling forth. "That was the first," and only, she adds in her mind, "time I spit fire in my life." Her throat still burned and she was sure it would continue doing so in the morning. Or, later on in the morning. She didn't get a good enough look at the clock (even though she stood staring at it for at least a minute) but it must have been after four.

"You looked really good up there," Mako complimented, just as dazed as the rest of them. "Half the bar was cheering you on."

"Who knew what a fierce combination some alcohol and a lighter could be?" Korra was amazed at her own ability at forming words.

"I sure didn't." Bolin hiccuped. "And what more I don't know, besides grade five math, is how the hell we're gonna get home." Bolin pointed out. Surprisingly, he was the only one still somewhat conscious even though he drank just as much if not more. He did lose to Korra in a drinking game however.

The four of them stopped gallivanting at the curb and simultaneously jolted their fists out to the street.

"No you idiot, that's not how you hitchhike," Opal slapped her hand over her forehead clumsily, hitting herself harder than she intended.

"Pretty sure this' how you do it," said Bolin, his hand forming a thumbs down. Okay, maybe not so sober after all.

Both Mako and Korra burst into a laughing stupor and were surprised when a car came to a halt in front of them. Realizing it was a taxi cab after much foggy scrutinizing, they all filed into the backseat. Korra heard Mako attempt to bark out an address like he was impersonating a naval commander, earning some more laughter from the pair beside him. Korra didn't hear much more after that and wasn't aware of her eyes closing until it was too late.

The next thing she became painfully aware of was the hazy delirium following a rowdy night out; one of the most intense hangovers Korra had ever experienced. There was not a clue in sight to explain how she had ended up in her own bed at her own apartment. She could have sworn Mako grumbled his own address to the driver. Well, Korra didn't give it too much thought as she sat up and felt her insides almost boil, telling her that they were on the way up and out. Shit, this cramped apartment and my drunk-ass do not go together. Her strong but flailing legs did a poor job of leading her to the bathroom, and like she predicted there were many a wall in her way, but thankfully she did reach her destination in time and hurled her guts into the toilet bowl.

"Eww gross."

"Bolin! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed. He was busy brushing his teeth, which somehow Korra didn't notice upon entering, which made her think about what else she might have missed. "Did you have sex on my couch?"

"What no of course not why would you say such a thing? Korra stop being ridiculous. You're being ridiculous right now Korra stop it," he suddenly spoke faster than his tongue could keep up with, it being stuck around the brush in his mouth.

She just scowled at him and flushed the toilet, shoving Bolin away from the sink to clean herself up.

When she went back into her room she noticed the letter she was writing last night was missing. "Umm, guys... did any of you happen to see an envelope on my desk last night?"

"Yeah, Mako came into your room to check up on you and saw it laid open, and you were passed out lying dead to the world in bed," Bolin shouted from the bathroom, the tap running, drowning him out.

"So you're saying he took the opportunity."

"It was very sweet what you wrote, he told me."

"What? What did I write!" Korra demanded, going back into the bathroom and hoisting Bolin up against the wall with one arm. He squeaked like a deflating balloon and dropped his toothbrush. "Don't tell me he already left," she asked, then dropped her friend when his eyes regretfully told her yes. So she ran.

There was still hope that she'd catch up to Mako before he'd reach the post office and send the letter. How did she not realize this was going to happen? How could her friends be so evil to her? If that letter reached Asami then she'd never get to talk to her best friend again. It broke her heart and she felt her azure eyes twinkle with tears for a moment before she blinked them away.

Holding on vainly to that thin string of hope, she rounded the corner and bumped into Mako himself, just leaving the post office.

"What have you done?" she thrusted her arms into his chest.

"Uhh, helped save your love life?" he began shaking slightly in Korra's grasp, though the rough-n-tough, moody detective would never admit that.

"No! You ruined it!" Korra started pounding on poor Mako's ribcage. "I'll never get to talk to her again!" Korra cried, and grabbed Mako's coat, pulling her face harshly into his chest and sobbed.

Seeing he might have gone a bit too far this time, he apologized, not realizing just how much Asami might have meant to her. And those are the key-words that filled him with guilt. Might have.

"Don't talk to me," she spat, calm and stoic with tears flowing down her cheeks, then she ran away as he desperately called after her.

ONE WEEK LATER

Korra lied in bed sulking. The creaking piece-of-shit excuse for a bed had been her habitat over the last week. She hadn't really gone out, except to the gym to vent, but that always ended up with her curling up into a fetal position. There was no one around in the gym at the hours she was there, further emphasizing how lonely she was. Her friends kept texting and trying to call her but she hadn't touched her phone since the day that ruined her life.

After running away from Mako, she tried to write another letter, explaining what had happened. That the love confession she wrote when she was drunk was not true. Well it was, but she couldn't let Asami know that. Korra made some calls too, trying to get in contact with the people in charge of international mail, futilely asking them if they could retrieve her letter and stop it from travelling halfway around the world.

After seven days, no response from the heiress, she stopped hoping and just cried herself to sleep. Every night. It wasn't like her. Not that she wasn't emotional, she was, but she was never one to self-pity. I guess it just goes to show how much she meant to me, and how much I don't deserve her.

Knock.

Had she heard wrong or was that a knock?

Knock.

She looked down on her bed. It must have creaked under her weight or something. Yeah, it was cheap for a reason.

Knock. Knock.

Okay, that was definitely not her bed. It's the door. I swear if it's Mako, Bolin, and Opal...

KNOCK KNOCK.

"Okay, okay! Hold your fucking horses! Jesus Christ, I hope there's a good reason f...

In front of her stood the most magnificent creature Korra had ever laid eyes upon. Dark, flowing, silky hair. Absolutely stunning, shining emerald eyes. They were a tad bloodshot, and it made Korra furious towards the person who'd made this gorgeous woman cry.

"Hi," she simply said.

"Hi," she simply replied.

Then, she simply kissed her.