Not Your Hero

Chapter 15

Narook's Noodles are the absolute best, especially their seaweed noodles. Korra never really knew her home, only that it'd been in the South Pole, known as the Southern Water Tribe before the United Republic. Those noodles were the only thing connecting her to her past, and Korra loved them. Narook originated in Republic City, but after its astounding success, it became a chain and opened in Ba Sing Se as well. Korra would always go to Narook's for a treat after she finished a mission.

But this time, she was here with Asami. They'd never really talked about this, but Korra had made it clear that this was a date. She wasn't sure what the coming mission would entail, but she didn't want any regrets. They were going up against two of the most powerful men in the United Republic allied with one of the strongest and most ruthless terrorist organizations they'd ever seen. On top of all of that, they were going to do it all alone. With no backup and little help. Mako and Bolin were the only assistance they were going to get for quite a while. Korra had a plan, of course, but it was extremely risky. She would do her best to ensure Asami's safety, but her own couldn't be guaranteed.

"How can you stand to have that fourth bowl of noodles? I'm full after only one." Asami inquired.

"Need to keep my energy levels up," Korra grumbled.

"Come on, Korra. The only thing you've been using your energy on was yelling at Zaheer, and, well," Asami coughed, "getting a little touchy with me." Korra immediately turned bright red at this. "But can you really blame me that you looked so damn good in your tight blouse?" She shot back. The memories from the morning were still fresh in her mind. Suddenly the restaurant became extremely stuffy, and Korra could feel her face burning up.

Looking across at Asami, it was obvious that they were both feeling a bit warm. Smiling, Korra suggested that they get the check and go outside. They bickered a bit over who would pay, with Korra staging the argument that she was paid well as a USOF captain even though not as well as the future owner of Future Industries. They agreed to split the check evenly and got outside without further argument. Leaning up, Korra kissed Asami's cheek. "Thank you." She said simply. "For standing by me and supporting me. I know this is a lot to handle."

Asami chuckled. "And this is even more to handle alone. I couldn't let my girlfriend go save the world and take all the credit now, can I?" She winked, lighting up the brightest smile on Korra's face. Korra snuggled her head into Asami's shoulder, taking full advantage of the other woman's taller height. They remained strolling like that for a long while before Korra finally broke the silence. "I wish this would last." She said, lifting her head. Asami sighed softly. "I can't promise that both of us will make it out of there, but I promise I'll always be by your side, no matter what happens. We make a good team, remember?" Korra laughed. They certainly made a good team. The engineer and the fighter, the heiress and the avatar. For some reason, the term avatar felt extremely familiar, like it was meant to be used on her. But Korra just was so overwhelmed to be thrust with an unfamiliar identity that comes with a huge responsibility after eighteen years of confusion.

She softly shook her head, ridding her mind of those thoughts temporarily. "Let's forget about all that. I want to spend some time with you right now."

"I want you to know that I'm here for you if you ever need to talk or... But let's just try to enjoy this moment." Asami said sincerely, taking Korra's hand.

Korra grinned and leaned up to kiss her suave girlfriend. She would never ever get tired of the taste of Asami's lips. They were so warm and so soft, tasting like the warm dew and light bird chirps in the few mornings when Korra got up: refreshing, comforting, but more than welcome. Korra didn't know a lot about her feelings for Asami, but three things were clear. One, she loved every moment with her. Two, she was going to miss those moments once they got down to business. Three, she was falling hard. She had no idea what the landing looked like, but she wasn't scared. Not with Asami. Never with Asami.

--

"Korra, did you hear the news?" Asami said from the other side of the living room, where Korra was lazily lounging on the couch while scribbling down battle plans. "What news?" She asked half-heartedly.

Asami turned up the volume of the radio, and Korra's blood ran cold. "Again, two hundred thousand people in the slums of Republic City have died unexpectedly in the past two days, due to unknown causes. Officials are still investigating their deaths, though none have given updates so far. President Raiko has yet to give a statement about this, though he has assured the public to remain calm and that the government is doing its best to find out the cause of this incident and make sure it doesn't happen again. Unsurprisingly, the public has been far from calm. Thousands of people are roaming the streets, demanding a government response to this disaster. They are questioning whether it is safe to live in Republic City anymore..."

"Soon it won't be safe anywhere," Asami said darkly, and Korra had no choice but to agree to the truth, as much as she wanted to deny it. "I failed, Asami!" Korra shouted. "Those people were relying on me to keep them safe, and I failed! What's next? Ba Sing Se? Three-quarters of its population live in the lower ring!"

"Korra..."

"That's almost a million people dead! What am I supposed to do?" Korra wailed.

"Korra!"

"I'm the avatar, whatever that means! I should fix this. I even failed Raava." She sniffled.

Korra opened her mouth to say more, but the stern glare on Asami's face made her think otherwise. "Look, those people are dead, there's no use dwelling on their deaths. The least we can do is make sure that it doesn't happen again. We still need to come up with a plan. Speaking of which, what have you been doing the past two hours?" Asami took charge immediately, and to speak the truth, Korra admired her a lot this way. Asami was always great, but Korra loved her even more when she was so authoritative. Love. Korra had never thought about that. They'd only known each other for three weeks, it's too early to talk about love. Asami wouldn't be ready, and Korra was sure she didn't feel the same way.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, Korra moved to the other couch to show Asami her plan.

--

"No, that plan is a no-go. You won't pull it off." Asami said after Korra finished explaining. "Also, Mako and Bolin just radioed. They told us to check the news. Mako said that he'd been promoted to corporal and Bolin a private first class. They also said that they tracked down where Tenzin is. He's back at the Ba Sing Se compound and spends most of his time in the advanced briefing room."

"Wait, since when do they have advanced briefing rooms?" Korra asked. "Only a few days before we left for Republic City. I helped design the technology, but it's still new so it's exclusive to generals and colonels. It has monitoring software on the entire world and has an intricate map system that is connected to a dozen satellites. Everything you could possibly ask for." Asami explained.

Korra nodded. She loved when her girlfriend was so smart. But this new information would make her plan even easier to carry out.

[End of Part 3: This Changes Everything]