A/N: Hi everyone!
I reread only once, so sorry for the mistakes. You can tell me if it's really bothering, and even if it's not: I'll be glad to correct.
Last thing: I actually hated this chapter when I wrote it, but I hope it makes more sense now. But since I don't want to spoil you, I'll tell you at the end.
Enjoy!
—
The next day, Korra, Asami and Isolina did as usual. Korra left with Naga, and Asami and Isolina left for work. Before that, the young woman made sure she was okay and that it was not bothering her to come (but what else could she do anyway?), and Isolina assured her that everything was fine. However, she was a bit silent, dreading the interview that she would have in the afternoon. Something that the green eyed-woman dreaded too and maybe even more.
The day flew. Asami threw a few glances in Isolina's direction from time to time, and the latter played, or drew, interrupting sometimes the CEO in her work to have a little company. Not that it was bothering her; this way she could have nice breaks.
And then, at 2 p.m., they left for the police station. Lin was waiting for them, stamping. She was a bit worried that Asami would skip purposely the appointment. And when the young woman showed up, she felt actually immensely relieved.
She politely led them to a special room, at the end of a long and thin corridor. She let Isolina in, but stopped Asami when she tried to follow her. The green-eyed woman frowned and looked at Lin with an inquisitive look.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Are you sure you should go inside?" Lin said. "The psychologist will most certainly ask you to go out. It's better if he can talk alone with the patient."
"Then, I'll see that with him," she said, confident.
"Ok, ok," the police chief gave up quickly: she hadn't any desire of debating the matter. "Just saying, so that you don't slap him in the face."
"Who do you think I am exactly?"
"Asami Sato, a woman who is willing to fight for what she owns and the ones she loves. Am I wrong?"
"No, but that doesn't mean I'm going to beat everyone on Earth to do so. I think you mistook me with Korra," she tried to joke, despite her completely fake smile.
"You have that point in common," Lin shrugged.
The CEO simply ignored her and took a seat beside Isolina, inside the room, waiting for the psychologist to come. The doctor arrived rather quickly. He kindly greeted them, put a bottle of water on the table as he was taking off his coat, placed his stuff on the desk, and sat down.
Then, he was ready to start. He had his elbows on the desk, his hands forming a triangle before his pale face, on which were encrusted two little black eyes, covered with large black glasses. He looked at Asami expectantly, and she raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. If he had something to tell her, he could, but he was not going to order her around with a look. That was out of the question.
"Are you planning on staying here?" he asked, without being mean.
"I don't really want to leave her alone," Asami admitted.
"It doesn't work this way. Patients are more likely to talk when there is no one they know around. So, I'll ask you to wait outside, please."
Asami pursed her lips and tightened her hands, but nevertheless she agreed. However, as she was standing up, a little hand gripped her sleeve. She saw the lost look on Isolina's eyes who was pleading her to stay.
"You're leaving?" she asked, hesitant.
"I'll just be out of the room, but I'm staying. The man here needs to talk to you alone. If you want me to come back, you just have to ask him, okay? I'll be here right away!"
She smiled to comfort the girl, and Isolina nodded. Asami kissed her on the forehead.
"You're a good girl. Don't worry, everything is going to be fine."
She smiled one last time, and exited. There, Lin was waiting for her, and spoke as soon as she had closed the door.
"I told you."
The CEO sat down on a seat that was against the wall—and wasn't really comfortable—, and sighed.
"I know, I know. I was just trying, ok? I hope she'll be fine without me..."
"You're not her whole and everything, y'know..."
"Well, the fact is that I'm the closest person to her, and that she needs me for now. Could you not update me on the cases instead of criticizing?"
"Right... I could work too. And leave you here. Waiting."
"You are working, if you update me."
"If you say so. I don't have anything new concerning Isolina. We tried to contact all the nations, and there is no lost child corresponding to her description. I can't find anything on her parents either. And concerning the scar part... as long as she doesn't talk, I can't really search for mysterious guys without anything on them. We are investigating on the different organizations that put children to slavery, but I think we won't find something even close to what happened."
Asami pondered: should she tell her about Isolina's exceptional bending abilities? She trusted Lin, but somewhat she couldn't do that. It was too dangerous. Maybe the kind of organizations which used those so-powerful children had a really large network, like the Red Lotus had had. She could not risk it. For Isolina's safety.
"And the other children?" the CEO asked.
"It's starting to fall into place. Maybe we could transfer Isolina soon."
"I..." Asami winced, and composed herself. "No."
"No?"
"No, don't transfer her. She stays with us."
"How come you changed your mind? You wanted to get rid of her."
"I can't do that to her. And I want to be updated concerning her case. So, she stays with me until the end."
"Asami, I told you: it is dangerous. You have a great heart, but that can be a real problem. You know she'll have to leave you."
"And I'll be prepared when, or if, it happens."
"'If'?"
"We don't know anything about her parents. I want to make sure they are good people for her."
"Even if they are not, it's not for you to decide. You can't take her away from them."
"That is right, but... I'm not leaving her to some dangerous strangers. And I won't change my mind. I'll fight for her if that is necessary."
"Why do I feel like this story is going to end very badly?" Lin muttered, rolling her eyes.
"I don't know what you worry about. They could be fine and there will be no trouble."
"Asami..." Lin sighed, putting a hand on her forehead.
But as she was talking, the door of the room Isolina was in opened.
"Miss Sato," the psychologist said, adjusting his glasses, "please, come back in."
She stood up, without another look to the older woman, and got back in. Immediately, Isolina rushed to her and hugged her tightly. She took the young child in her arms, soothing her as she was used to doing.
"What's wrong?" she asked Isolina, with her soft and concerned voice.
The young girl didn't answer, so she spoke to the doctor:
"Did something happen?" she asked more aggressively, as if she was blaming him for Isolina's current state.
"Nothing happened," he assured. "She didn't say a word. I would like to talk to you, Miss Sato. Alone."
"Very well."
She got out of the room with Isolina and left her with Lin, telling her to stay there and that she was coming back soon. The little girl seated and didn't move anymore. The CEO only nodded at Lin, silently asking her to take care of her. The chief of police nodded too, meaning that she had understood what she had just asked. Then, the young green-eyed woman got back in, closed the door, and firmly looked at the man.
"Miss Sato, what is your relationship with Isolina?" he asked,taking back his stance from earlier.
"I'm currently taking care of her. She lives with me. Why?"
"Can you tell me a little more about how you two met?"
"She was walking alone in the street, three men tried to hire her for some weird stuff, I intervened and I took her here. But since there was no one to take care of her, I took her with me."
"And so, she lives with you?"
"Yes."
"Is it only the two of you?"
The more the time passed, the more Asami had the feeling she was interrogated. And she didn't even know why. And could that guy be that oblivious? She and Korra were certainly the most famous couple of all four nations—not that they purposefully wanted to.
"No..."
Seeing that it was not enough of an answer because of that scrutinizing look of his, she resumed, sighing:
"She lives with Korra—you know, the Avatar—, Naga, her polar-bear-dog, and I."
"How would you describe her relationship with them?"
"She loves Naga and enjoys playing with her, and she trusts Korra."
"Fine... Did she meet other people?"
"Yes."
"How was it?"
"She is not really talkative."
"Would you say that she's afraid of others?"
"Maybe," she said shortly.
She didn't really want to talk, nor cooperate to some extent. And since she was growing tired of this ping-pong match between questions and answers, she interrupted him before he could ask more of them:
"What's the point with these questions? Shouldn't you try to check if she doesn't have any emotional trauma?"
"Oh, I would be pleased to do that, if she talked," he retorted. "But as I can see, she doesn't."
"She just doesn't like you."
"Me and all people? Except you and Korra, that's it?"
"More or less."
"I do think that there is a problem with Isolina, but I think that this problem is you."
"Excuse me? I? How could I be a problem for her?"
"You prevent her from expressing herself."
"That's not true! I always try to make her talk, but she just doesn't want to! I don't know why it is that way, ok? I didn't make her that way. But she's just a fragile child, and I can't force her to do something she doesn't want. Her trust in me and in Korra is all she has for now!"
"What makes you think you're so important to her? Maybe she just needs to open to other people."
"I... Yes, I get your point, but no I can't break that trust. If she is a bit willing to open to others, I'm not against it, but for now it's useless."
"Make her talk to me then. I can help her."
Even if she didn't like this man, she knew she couldn't refuse. She wasn't the more qualified here. She would protect Isolina not matter what, and she would never force her, but she could at least try to make her be a little more cooperative. If anything went wrong, she would stop anyway.
"Okay. Let's try..."
She opened the door again, took Isolina back from Lin, who was watching the scene unfolding with her curious look. Then, the little girl and the young woman sat down once more in front of the desk, and he started questioning the blue-eyed girl again:
"So, Isolina, can you tell me a bit about how you feel?"
The little girl didn't say anything and Asami, when she understood because of her stare that she didn't intend to answer, sighed. It wasn't a difficult question, she could answer.
"Isolina, please," she pleaded.
The girl looked up at her with those sad blue eyes of her, titling her head.
"Do I have to?" she asked, feverishly.
Asami kneeled down to face her, taking both her little hands in hers.
"No," she said with a soft and patient expression.
She didn't see him, but the psychologist, who was watching them while playing with his pen, raised his eyebrow.
"You don't have to, Isolina. But you should. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything, but you can answer this question, right? It's not that difficult, is it? If it's me being there that bothers you, I can leave and you can talk with the man here alone."
"No!" Isolina shouted, tightening her grip. "Don't leave! Don't leave, please, Asami... Don't leave me alone..."
"Oh, I won't, sweetie, I won't, ok? But please, talk a bit with the man. I'm just beside you."
"Can't you hold me? I like it when you hold me..."
"Yes... I can..."
She wasn't sure that was the right thing to do, but she would do it anyway. For Isolina. She went back to her seat and took Isolina in her lap. The psychologist cleared his throat, having a fist on his mouth as doing it, and resumed his talking:
"So, can you talk a bit about you?"
"I'm Isolina. I'm five."
"Okay... How do you feel?"
"Happy."
"Happy? You're happy to live with Asami and Korra?"
"Yes! And Naga! I like to play with Naga," she affirmed, almost bouncing on Asami's knees with a bright smile.
"Of course, and Naga," the psychologist smiled before getting to the heart of the matter. "But Asami and Korra are not your parents, right? Don't you miss them?"
When he mentioned her parents, the little girl suddenly darkened, lowering her hard and beholding her hands which were resting on her knees.
"Yes..." she confessed, depressed.
"Do you want to find them?"
"No."
Her answer was so short and so dark that Asami shuddered. She had never heard her having this tone of voice with her. It was almost macabre; it was so odd to hear it from the mouth of the five-year old kid Isolina was.
Too stunned by this weird answer, none of the two adults noticed that, in the bottle which was on the desk, bubbles were starting troubling the calm of the water.
"Can I ask you why?" the psychologist resumed, once he got over it.
"No," Isolina answered, still brief and dark.
"Okay... We'll talk about that later..." he gave up, seeing that he was on a slippery slope. "But if you don't want to find your parents, does that mean that you want to stay with Korra and Asami?"
"I... I don't know," she answered a bit scared this time, fidgeting a little on Asami's knees, almost as if she wanted to flee.
The young woman immediately felt some kind of unease coming with this question. She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer... Then, she just did was she was doing the best: soothing Isolina without thinking about anything else.
"Isolina, calm down," Asami whispered, making little circles on her back. "It's okay."
"You sure?" she asked, turning to her with her eyes reflecting tears.
"Yes, I am."
The psychologist cleared his throat once more to make them focus on him, and the two looked at him again: Isolina a bit flustered, and Asami lightly irritated. But she didn't say anything and let him keep going with his interview.
"What was your life like with your parents?" he asked.
There were a few seconds before she talked:
"Daddy worked. Mommy was at home with me."
"And what did you do at home?"
"She taught me."
"That's all?"
She nodded. So, the doctor didn't insist more.
"Would you say you love your parents?"
"... Yes..."
"Like you love Asami?" he asked, almost as tempting as a vicious snake.
"Yes..."
The young woman tried to mask her fluster; which was really hard to do when her feelings were so soft and tender, striking her into the core, because of the little girl's indirect—but perfectly moving—declaration. The doctor looked at her, smirking, as if he had beat her at a game which known him as the best, and she hated him at that exact moment.
"Isolina, would talk to me a little about how you met Asami?" he said, not letting his victory trouble his work.
"She saved me!" the little girl answered, with enthusiasm and flawless admiration.
"She did? How did she do that?"
"She beat the three men who were bothering me!"
"Do you know why these men were talking to you?"
She shook her head, really not knowing.
"How did you know that they were not trying to help you like Asami did?"
"Because old people are mean..."
"And Asami is not? She's also older than you."
"Yes, but she's kind."
"Ok... Could you tell me a bit more about what you were doing that day?"
"Walking..."
"Yes, but what's more?"
"Nothing..."
"So, you just ended up being in that street all alone out of nowhere?"
"Yes..."
"Isolina, you are lying to me."
"Yes..."
"Why don't you tell the truth?"
"Because."
"Ok... Then, would you tell me a bit about how you were separated from your parents?"
Isolina ignored him then and turned to Asami. She put herself at the same eye level and pulled her sleeve several time in a raw, even though she already had all the young woman's attention.
"Can we go home now?" she asked, imploring her.
"Isolina... can't you answer his question?" Asami answered, trying not to give in, even if she was not far from doing so.
The blue-eyed girl shook her head.
"I don't want to," she explained.
"But you have to," the man spoke again, a little irritated.
He knew she was losing the game. Isolina had just started talking though... He was sure he was not that far from succeeding. But here it was: the little girl was using her joker—Asami, a woman who, clearly, couldn't resist her supplications.
Besides, the latter didn't appreciate at all the tone of the man. She answered instead of Isolina, a little more firmly than she was used to:
"No, she doesn't," Asami defended, before she could stop herself.
The psychologist ignored her and talked to Isolina again, thinking that he should insist more, gain time, win the game:
"I need to know what happened to you in order to heal you. You understand that, right?"
Isolina didn't move.
"So, tell me a little more about your parents. I need to know. What happened to you?" he insisted.
Isolina squeezed Asami's clothes harder, closing her eyes.
"What happened to your parents? To your family?" he continued, pushing again and again, thinking that the truth would eventually unfold.
Isolina started fidgeting, pulling Asami's clothes harder and harder, clenching her teeth and shaking her head vigorously. The psychologist gave her only a few seconds of respite—the time to watch for her reaction—before resuming his infernal investigation:
"Talk to me. It will be better after. You can tell me. Tell me what happened to you. How did those scars end up on your back, Isolina?"
"Please, stop," Asami pleaded.
For a few seconds now, she had been seeing that the bottle of water on the desk had begun to intensely move, and with an increasing virulence. She knew it meant that Isolina was feeling overwhelmed by emotions, and that could be dangerous.
However, the psychologist did not listen to her. A little more, he said to himself, just a little bit. One last question and he would stop. But it was too much to ask for.
"Who did that to you? "
It was the last straw: the cork of the bottle gave way under pressure, and a spurt of water sprang toward the ceiling. Mysteriously, it did not explode nor did it reach the ceiling; it took the form of a boiling hand, ready to fall on the doctor.
"Isolina!" Asami exclaimed, with a tone expressing both reprimand and a slight fear.
As soon as this call to order was done, the water ceased to take this threatening form and fell limply on the desk. The psychologist was looking in front of him, stunned and aghast. He could not believe what was happening.
"I'm sorry," the girl sobbed, her face soaked with tears.
"Isolina..." murmured the young woman, saddened to see her so upset. "Calm down. Everything will be alright."
She caressed her, and the blue-eyed girl put her head in her neck, trying to hide more and more in this maternal sweetness.
"I'm sorry," said the psychologist, not yet fully recovered from his shock.
Asami glared at him. As if it were going to be enough! For what he had done? She had warned him! She would never—ever—let him get near her again. Isolina did not need such a man in his life; she only needed love, and she would eventually open up.
"We're leaving," Asami stated with an irrevocable tone of voice.
She stood up, with Isolina in her arms and proceeded to go out of the room.
"I... Yes... What?" he stammered. "Wait, you can't leave! This appointment is not over! At least, let me reschedule one for another time!"
"No, thank you very much," Asami said. "I think you've done enough. You can say whatever you want, but I don't like how you act with me or with Isolina, and I think she would be far better without you."
"No, I... Miss Sato, please, wait!"
Instead of answering him, she ignored him and left, shutting the door in his face. He wasn't courageous enough to follow her.
She didn't even say anything to Lin when she left. She had only one thing on her mind: getting away from him, going back home to take care of the little girl whose tears wetted her neck.
Once they reached the mansion, Isolina had stopped crying.
The little girl was sitting on the couch, her arms wrapping her legs. Asami sat down next to her with a hot chocolate and a tee for herself.
"Are you ok?" Asami asked, worried.
Isolina barely nodded, but she at least unwrapped herself and took the cup of hot chocolate.
"I'm sorry," the green-eyed woman added.
But as there was no answer, she sighed. Truly, that appointment was going to be a pain even after being over...
A few seconds, or maybe minutes, passed by in a deep silence, before Isolina asked:
"Are we going again?"
"No," Asami said.
"You sure?"
"Absolutely sure. That man was a..."
She was going to say "a jerk" but she stopped right there, changing to "an idiot" instead.
"I'm really sorry, Isolina," she resumed. "If I had known it would go this way, I wouldn't have taken you there."
"It's ok..."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes..."
"Do you want to do something to take your mind off that awful appointment?"
"I..."
"Yes?"
"Can we go see Korra?"
"Um... Yeah... We can try. She's certainly on the Air Temple Island. Well, if she's not, it'll make us go out for a bit."
And so, they made their way to the Air Temple Island. They didn't find Korra immediately, but they met Opal who was still with Hideo.
"Asami! You often come here currently!" she said as a greeting.
"Oh, hey, Opal! I was just searching for Korra. Isolina wants to see her."
"Hi," the air-bender said softly to the little girl, smiling.
Isolina returned the smile, even if it was weaker.
"Korra will be back in a few minutes. She had to transport goods to the Earth Republic," Opal informed. "So, Isolina's still with you? Do you have fun together?"
"Well, yes," Asami answered.
She didn't want to give more details, first because she didn't know much about Isolinaand especially because she didn't know what she should say or not.
"Oh! I just thought about it, but you could come to the party we throw for Reena's seventh birthday!" Opal changed the subject, and Asami felt greatly relieved. "She would be delighted to have someone her age!"
"Oh... you mean... you want Isolina to be in a party with other children?"
"No, nothing like that! We're throwing a party here, on the Air Temple Island. It's going to be big, we want to gather everyone. It's been such a long time we've not all seen each other... So, there are going to be lots of adults and Reena would be bored to play only with her siblings. So since Isolina and her are almost the same age, it could be fun."
"I see... I'll have to talk to Korra about it, but sure!"
Actually, she was more worried about Isolina being among so many people she didn't know. She didn't know what could happen, how the blue-eyed girl could react; she simply didn't know if it was a good idea. She had to admit that she didn't like the idea at all and she was really tempted to decided immediately that they wouldn't go.
But maybe the psychologist was right about that... Maybe she shouldn't overprotect her. Maybe she should do as Lin had said and have her get along with others. If she were to have friends, maybe it would be a good first step! Maybe she could even get her to stop with her silence, opening up a little bit more, even if it was not with Asami.
As she said that, the Avatar landed with her flying bison. She jumped to get down and landed just beside Asami and Isolina with her airbending.
"Hey! What are you two doing here?" she asked, cheerful, reaching her wife to kiss her.
"Just talking with Opal. Isolina wanted to see you," Asami answered.
"Oh? What's up, little puppy?"
"Can we waterbend?" Isolina asked. "It makes me happy."
"Sure."
"No fight!" Asami ordered as the two were getting away.
"I wouldn't risk it," the Avatar assured, almost adding in her head 'for my own safety'.
And so, Isolina and Korra went waterbending, exchanging calmly balls of water in a way that looked soothing. Opal and Asami resumed their talking, watching them from afar.
"She's good," the airbender noticed.
"Yes, she is," Asami said as Opal's eyes were on her, while she was watching Isolina.
"You're okay with it?" the young woman ended up asking, after a few seconds.
"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know..." she spoke again, going back to watch the two waterbenders. "You know, Bolin had a hard time accepting that his first two children were waterbenders. He's still hoping that Hideo would be a little more like him. He doesn't mind them being airbenders, he loves them just as much, but he would like to teach them a little of earthbending, you know. It's a way to share something with them."
"I see..."
"So, you really don't mind?"
"Of course I'm conscious that Isolina will have something special with Korra, but as things are, I'm glad she has Korra to help her."
Opal nodded.
"Do you know how long she'll stay with you?" she started again.
"I don't know. Sometimes, I hope it'll be forever..."
Opal almost started up, not expecting this answer at all. She turned to Asami, seeing this tender and loving look she had worn the first day she had seen her with Isolina. She definitely had grown fond of this girl...
A few weeks had been enough to change the lives of the three of them forever. Opal didn't know how long it would last, she hoped it would never stop. She hoped that the bond they shared would never break—for her friends' and this little girl's happiness. But how lucky could they be if it went that way? It would be quite amazing, for sure.
Asami shook her head, going back to reality.
"What about you? Aren't you tired of always being here?" she asked, changing the topic.
"Oh, well, at least I can take care of Hideo and work at the same time! It's a bit boring when you are all by yourself with the children. Especially when they sleep as much as this one."
Opal and Asami laughed: indeed, little Hideo was still and always sleeping.
They kept chatting for an hour or so, and then it was time to get back home.
Asami went home by herself, passing by her office, since Korra had taken Isolina for a little ride on Naga. They arrived almost at the same time, though.
The evening flew and soon Isolina was asleep. Korra, who was wondering for some time already if something had happened when she was not there, was finally able to fulfill her curiosity.
"So... what happened today? Did you fight with her?" she asked, because she had noticed that Isolina was a little closer to her than the usual.
"Not really..."
"She looked a bit upset when we waterbent. It calmed her down, but still."
"Well, the psychologist was an absolute jerk."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He tried to force her to answer his questions, even if she was uncomfortable. And I am apparently weighing on her..."
"Wow, ok, a jerk. I see."
"But maybe he was right about something..."
"What?"
"Isolina can't keep seeing just the two of us. She needs to open to other people. But at the same time, I find it really scary..."
"For her or for them?"
"Both... She could end up hurting them with her bending, even if it's not on purpose..."
"I can train her. She'll be more aware of what she could do."
"I guess... Opal invited us to a party for Reena's seventh birthday. She said she would be glad to have Isolina there to play with her daughter. Do you think we should go?"
"Yeah, why not! Maybe she'll have fun."
"I hope so... She is not going to want to go, though. I'll have to convince her."
"I'm sure you can do it. It's important to have friends and I'm sure Bolin and Opal's children could befriend with her."
"Ok... We have to think about something else..."
"I'm listening."
"If Isolina is going to stay a bit longer, we have to think about what we're going to do with her."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't take her to work for months... A few days ok, a few weeks maybe, but if it's longer than that, it's going to be a problem. Besides, she's a child, she is not supposed to come with me, but to have school or something."
"I guess so. I'm not really the best example, though. What do you think we should do?"
"I don't know... The school year has already started, she is not even our daughter, so I'm not even sure we can do something about it, and it looks like she knows a lot more than what children are supposed to know at her age... Maybe we should find someone to keep her? But... she won't like that, and neither will I."
"Well, maybe the best is to think about it with her. You don't mind taking her to work a little while longer, right?"
"No, of course not. I like having her there, it's just not how it's supposed to be..."
Korra hummed.
"And what about you think a little less about work and Isolina and a little more about me?"
The blue-eyed woman hugged her wife and kissed her on the lips.
"I guess I can do that," Asami said kissing her once, with the intention of doing more.
Yeah, she could do that. They just had to hope that Isolina was not going to have a nightmare.
—
A/N: How was it? You can leave me a comment/review to tell me so!
So, I had a problem with the psychologist, because I didn't quite... work well on his character. I wanted him to be absolutely awful at first, but it made the story awful. I mean, it's not really realistic to have a psychologist being an absolute idiot. So, I changed to that, and I hope it's ok now. It's still not one of my favorite chapters, but it's fine I guess.
I hope you liked it and you'll continue to read,
See you!
Lion