Winding Legacies: A 'The Legend of Korra' Rewrite

Episode 2: Rebirth Part 1

"So you want me to stop giving my opinion?"

Yasuko deadpanned. "Asami, now I'm really concerned. Is whatever's wrong so bad that you want an excuse to stop talking forever?" Asami exhaled and turned away from her mother, flickering her eyes to the decorated ceiling looming above her. She didn't know what to say to that, which seemed to be a theme for her these days, so she resorted to just saying nothing at all.

Maybe her mother was right. She just wanted a reason to justify her silence.

With a groan, Asami pushed herself up to teeter on the edge of the bed. Her shoulders slumped as she dropped her head in her hands, careful not to mess up the long work she had already put into her makeup. "Everything's started looking up for me. I just really hope it stays that way."

It was quiet for a moment. Then, Yasuko began to softly run her hands through Asami's hair again. "As long as you keep good people in your corner and you do what's best for you, then I think everything will be just fine."

Asami hummed. "Thank you, Momma." Yasuko smiled and tipped Asami's head toward her, pressing a soft kiss onto her loose curls.

"Anytime, darling."

She didn't know how her mother managed to fit so many people into their ballroom, but Asami could have sworn that she shook almost five hundred people's hands before she even got halfway across the room. Some of the people were random socialites from around the world, a lot more were some of the people she had brought onto her projects lately. Others were investors in her company, and the last bit of guests was made up of her friends who came to cheer her on.

She was grateful that each of them had decided to come and celebrate this launch, but man, was it exhausting to greet them all. Especially after Asami's mother shooed her out of the ballroom to greet any stragglers that arrived just before her big speech.

As Asami bobbed on her heels, straining her neck for any of the so-called "stragglers" that her mother insisted there would be, she spent most of her time catching up with the butlers that whisked by her. The ones that had time to spare, anyway.

There was Aike and her three little girls who adored the gifts Asami sent for their birthdays over her vacation, Maizo and Sairu, the lovers that Asami personally helped get together at the ripe age of five (she even got to attend their wedding!), and Ila who was unusually stressed about the platters for the night.

After a few moments of calming her down, Asami sent Ila off with a hug and a comforting smile to take as long of a rest as she needed since stress was not any good for the baby. Silence crept in soon after until just one last butler passed Asami by. She almost didn't notice them, their movements were quiet almost as if they were walking on air. If not for the fact that they bumped into her, jolting her back from the high speed of their pace, Asami might not have even registered that she didn't recognize them.

They definitely hadn't hired someone new, Asami would have met them by now, and they didn't hire any extra help for the event. So there weren't many explanations swimming through Asami's head. As the butler scooted past, not even uttering an apology, a sick feeling clung to the back of Asami's throat and soon enough she was heading in the direction the butler came from, looking for anything to assuage the tug on her stomach.

By the time she got to the end of the long hallway, she found nothing out of the ordinary, and she almost relaxed.

Almost.

When she spun around to head back to the ballroom, her head peeked up ever so slightly at the arched doors into her office, the panels of which were ever so slightly pried open. Tilting her head, Asami slowly ascended the staircase, keeping her eye on the door to make sure she was seeing right.