Summary: Korra struggles to find her place in the world. Continuation-fic. Korrasami. Related to One on One.

Prologue:

Asami awoke with a jerk and gasp. She lifted her head and stared at Korra asleep next to her: her arms flung back, her legs bent at the knee. Déjà vu. Only weeks ago, she awoke with Korra in her bed in that position.

She sat up, stretched her aching back and neck and smacked her lips, disliking the furriness of her teeth. She'd been in a variety of camping situations with Korra; their desert trip had been the worst as far as comfort and lack of cleanliness. Despite how much she enjoyed spending this time with Korra, she would never like camping. The ground in the spirit world was just as hard and lumpy as in the real world, no matter how breathtaking the scenery.

Their decision to come here had been so spontaneous that neither of them were particularly prepared. Korra had a better mind for necessities; she'd brought water and food (and of course tea), whereas Asami had brought clothing and toiletries. Between them, they had all they needed, aside from sleeping bags. Korra had laughed when Asami complained about that, and she realized Korra probably survived with nothing but the clothes on her back in her journeys in recent months.

By and large, she'd been comfortable here. Temperatures didn't vary greatly, the weather had been pleasant, and the darkness of the night wasn't as deep as on the physical plane. Though Asami had woken up cold during their first night, Korra had snuggled against her back and exhaled a breath of warm air to chase the cold away.

Asami felt warm at the memory even now; at the time she'd been too sleepy to realize the intimacy of that moment. Now her mind played out a few scenarios that could have resulted from their embrace. She blushed at her own imagination.

She shook her head at herself and devoted her mind to the mundane. She removed her toothbrush, hair brush, and a clean cup from her bag and walked the short distance to the small creek that ran beside their camp.

Though Korra brought water with her, she claimed water within the spirit world was safe to drink, and it had proven to be so far. It tasted so clean that Asami was spoiled forever; Republic City's water would never measure up. She took a long drink from it now.

Asami washed her face first. She felt greasy and dirty from lack of a decent bath in two days, but she wouldn't change her time here for anything. She scrubbed her teeth with her toothbrush, wishing minty toothwash was appropriate to use here. Korra refused to leave any waste in the spirit world, and that toothwash wasn't exactly environmentally friendly. After seeing the untouched beauty of this place, Asami understood her reasons and put up with her furry teeth.

She felt free here, and it manifested itself in odd ways. She wore no makeup, hadn't worn a bra in several days, and only gave her hair a cursory brush after she pulled on her jacket and shoes. Those things were her armor out in the real world, but she'd been oddly confident without them here with Korra.

"Good morning."

Asami glanced over her shoulder at Korra and smiled. Korra crouched down beside her and went on all fours to lower her mouth to the creek and drink. She hadn't put back on her sleeves in a day, and Asami appreciated the flex of the muscles in her arms as they supported her in this position.

Her attention was fixed when Korra dunked her head entirely into the creek. Korra lifted her head and shook it—Asami laughed and raised her hands to protect herself from the slinging water—and gasped out a laugh herself. The world seemed to brighten around them, as it was wont to do when Korra smiled.

"That felt fantastic!" Korra rubbed her face with her hands and pushed her hair back, squeezing excess water from it. It was hard for Asami to think with Korra's hair slicked back like that.

"This was exactly what I needed." Or as close as Asami could get. She wanted so much from Korra, but she also didn't want to disturb their gentle, unassuming closeness with overt romantic gestures. Slow, easy progression was what she wanted right now. It was just so comfortable. They would find each other at their own pace, and right now, Asami could gather no fear in herself that their desires wouldn't meet in the end.

"It's been great," Korra replied. She swept her hand over her hair again, bending the water from it perhaps unconsciously. She took Asami's hand, and they shared a gentle squeeze. "But…"

Asami nodded; she would have brought it up now if Korra hadn't. "We need to head back."

"Yeah. There's a lot that still needs to be done." Korra's smile was lopsided, and then it slipped away as her gaze held Asami's.

For a moment, Asami though Korra was going to lean in for a kiss. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears, and she tightened her grip on Korra's hand. Slow and comfortable be damned. If Korra kissed her here, she had no idea how far she would take them.

"Leaving so soon?"

Asami gasped, but Korra only jumped. They both turned to face the man who had spoken. Korra pulled her hand out from under Asami's as she stood up in haste.

"Iroh!" Korra was grinning as she reached out to hug the old, bearded man.

Asami was more cautious. She stood and offered her hand, and he took it with a slow smile. "My, what a beautiful young woman you are."

"This is Asami Sato. Asami, this is Iroh, Zuko's uncle."

Even though she'd guessed his identity, Asami was stunned to be able to meet such a famous man. She'd had the pleasure of speaking with Fire Lord Zuko during their brief stay in Misty Palms Oasis, and he'd described his uncle's guidance and love.

"I'm honored to meet you, General Iroh."

Iroh chuckled and winked. "It's not every day you hear a beautiful woman say that. Can I interest you ladies in some tea before you go home?"

Korra's hopeful grin answered for Asami.

"That would be great," Asami acquiesced.

Right before her eyes, the air shivered as a table and a group of spirits appeared. A tiny yellow spirit fluttered in the air and flew to Korra, reaching out stubby arms to wrap around her neck. Korra cuddled the spirit close, her smile wide. "Hey there, friend."

"Are you feeling better now?" it asked.

"I am. This is my friend Asami. Asami, this spirit led me to Toph in the swamp."

It reached out to touch Asami's finger. Against all odds, it was formed but almost unrealistically soft. Asami said, "Anyone who helps Korra is a friend of mine."

The spirit gave a smile reminiscent of Korra and fluttered back to the table. Iroh poured them both tea, and Asami settled across the table from Korra. Asami's attention abruptly fixated on the two-headed frog that sat next to her.

Apparently Korra was familiar with the creature. She asked, "How is your marriage?"

"Oh, the honeymoon period has worn off," the female head said.

"But we love each other all the same," the male head replied.

That was odd, but she'd come to realize there was nothing that wasn't odd about the spirits. They'd mostly left them alone, but the occasional conversation tended to be bizarre. Asami was surprised to see Korra direct a smile to her. Asami smiled back, pushing past her sudden shyness.

They chatted quietly with Iroh and the spirits for a little while, but Asami could sense by Korra's preoccupied shifts and fidgets that she was feeling antsy to return to the physical world. Iroh finally reached out to take Korra and Asami's hands in his own. He squeezed and smiled to them both. "Please come back. I always enjoy the company."

And just like that, he and his group faded away, with Asami's hand still outstretched. Korra reached out to take it in her own, and they turned to walk back to their make-shift campsite. They paused to pick up their backpacks, and then Korra's hand slipped back into Asami's as they walked slowly back towards the portal.

"Traveling here in body is a lot different. When I come here in spirit, I can bend the world around me, like Iroh just did. I didn't really think about being limited when we first got here. I wanted to take you to the Tree of Time, but it's connected to the spirit portals at the North and South. Too far to walk."

"It was more about being here with you than going to specific places," Asami admitted.

Korra glanced over at her. "Then you had a good time?"

"Yes, I did. I hope we can do this again."

Korra nodded firmly. "We will."

"So, how do you know where we are and where we're going?" It was a practice Asami sensed she would be getting more of: blind faith in Korra's sense of direction.

"I just sense it," Korra said. "I'm not as good as Jinora, but I can feel the pull of all the energies here, and a lot of them lead back to the spirit portal. Does that make sense?"

"Not really, but I trust you."

Korra flashed her straight white teeth in a crooked grin. It was out of context, somehow, when she replied, "I trust you too."

It meant more than it seemed, Asami knew. They were about to face reality again, with all its demands. Asami would be neck-deep in work, and she could guess Korra would be more out of Republic City than in it in the coming months. It would be okay as long as Korra knew she had a place to return to with Asami. Surely she knew it after all they'd shared together.

-TBC-

AN: Further details… LoK ended with a lot of loose ends. I'll be stretching to try to explain some of these things, though I doubt I can explain away Season 2. My disclaimer is knowing next to nothing about engineering or running a business. This fic has gone through several iterations since the beginning of 2015 but I'm somewhat satisfied now. I think I'm currently at a little over 100k words with a bit more to write. Hopefully uploading 1 chapter every 1-2 weeks, but we'll see how that goes. Alternating Asami and Korra POV.