Chapter Text
“Asami!” The sound of her name being shouted made Asami look up from her phone. She was standing in the doorway of the cafe: The Bean Bender. It was a quaint little place located just down the street from Future Industries, and had quickly become her favorite spot to get coffee and a quick bite to eat when she had the time. She spotted Korra rather quickly, the Avatar was sitting in their usual spot, a corner table next to the large windows.
“Hey, sorry I’m late.” Asami said, as she slid into the booth across from Korra.
“It’s all good!” Korra said cheerfully. “It’s good to see you. I feel like we haven’t talked in forever!”
“We just had brunch last month.” Asami replied with a friendly smile.
“Really? It feels like it’s been longer for some reason.” Korra shrugged.
“Probably because you’ve been traveling a lot lately.” Asami said, as she glanced at the menu. Even though she already knew what she wanted.
“Ugh, don’t remind me!” Korra huffed tiredly, leaning back in her seat dramatically. “I’ve been living out of a suitcase for the last few weeks. I used to like traveling when I was younger, but now it’s just annoying.”
“Korra, you’re only 29.” Asami replied in amusement.
“And? Tell that to my knees and back.” Korra replied, leaning her forearms on the table. “Not to mention that I don’t want to think about how close I’m getting to turning 30. No offense.”
“None taken, I don’t mind being 30. Getting older is just part of life.” Asami said, waving dismissively. “But at least you’re home again. I’m sure Kuvira is very happy about that.”
“Yeah, she is.” Korra said, smiling fondly at the mention of her girlfriend. “Speaking of, I finally had time to make her betrothal necklace.” She added, pulling it out of her pocket and holding it up for Asami to see. The band was blue and white, with a circular jade pendant with the symbol of Zaofu carved into it. “Whaddya think? Too much?”
“It’s beautiful, Korra. I think she’ll love it.” Asami replied, smiling broadly. “I’m so happy for you both! When are you planning on popping the question?”
“Well, I was thinking about doing it during the Winter Solstice Festival back home in the South.” Korra said, practically buzzing with excitement as she talked about her plans. “I’ve already booked us a reservation at one of the best restaurants in Harbor City. I’m going to pop the question over dinner.”
“Sounds romantic.” Asami said.
“It is! Plus I know she likes the festival.” Korra agreed. “And I’ve always kinda wanted to propose there. It’ll be nice to have my parents there for it too.”
“How’re your parents? It feels like I haven’t seen them in forever.” Asami asked curiously.
“They’re really good.” Korra replied with a fond smile. “My mom is still trying to talk my dad into retirement, but he’s being as stubborn as a polar-bear-dog. Keeps insisting that he “doesn’t need to retire, he’s too young for it”. You know how he is.”
“Ah, so that’s where you get your stubbornness from.” Asami teased.
“Oh, you’re so hilarious.” Korra said, rolling her eyes playfully. “What about you? What’s going on in Asami Land these days?”
“Work, work, and more work.” Asami said with a sigh. “Things have been pretty busy lately. It feels like there’s been one crisis after another for the last few months.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Korra replied. “When’s the last time you even had a vacation or took some time off?”
Asami bit her lip thoughtfully as she considered the question. Suddenly realizing that she didn’t really remember the last time that she took time off of work.
“Damn, that long huh?” Korra guessed, smiling sympathetically.
“I guess so, yeah.” Asami sighed. The waitress appeared to take their orders. Once she was gone, Asami spoke up again. “Like I said, things have just been busy.”
“Uh-huh.” Korra replied.
“What?” Asami asked.
“I love you, Asami, but you’re a workaholic.” Korra said honestly, but not unkindly. “You always have been. Which makes you a great CEO, but unfortunately has a rather negative impact on your personal life.”
“I-“ Asami started to protest, but stopped herself. She couldn’t argue with that. That specific topic had been the subject of a lot of their arguments back when they were still dating. “Okay, you have a point. I might have a slight problem with overworking.” She admitted with a slight pout.
“It’s okay. I do it too occasionally. Although you definitely work way more than anyone else I know. I think you’ve more than earned a little time off.” Korra suddenly sat up in her seat excitedly.
“Oh, no, I know that look.” Asami replied with a smirk. “You always get it whenever you have one of your impromptu ideas.”
“I do not!” Korra protested, pouting slightly. Asami raised an eyebrow. “Okay, so maybe I do. Still, you’ll like this one, I promise!”
“That’s what you said the last time we went drinking together.” Asami pointed out. “We ended up going streaking through the park, before stealing Lin’s police cruiser.”
“That was an excellent night and I refuse to say otherwise.” Korra laughed. Asami couldn’t help but laugh as well. “Still, I promise this one doesn’t involve drinking.” She paused to stop giggling at the memory. “What I was going to suggest is this: We have a reunion in the South. Get the old crew back together again! Mako, Bolin, Opal, myself, Kuvira, Kai, Jinora, you. Maybe even Juniper as well.”
“Juniper? Isn’t she still in the Fire Nation?” Asami asked. “Her husband was never a fan of us, so I’d be surprised if she showed up.”
“You haven’t heard?” Korra asked, raising a curious eyebrow.
“Heard what?” Asami questioned.
“Juniper got divorced like six months ago.” Korra replied. “It’s been all over the news lately. Last I heard, she was in the process of moving back to the United Republic.”
“Wait, really?” Asami asked in surprise.
“Yeah.” Korra said, nodding. “I’m surprised that you hadn’t heard by now.”
“Like I said, I’ve just been pretty busy at work.” Asami shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed that she hadn’t known. Although she’d been purposefully avoiding looking up anything about her ex-girlfriend for years now. It was easier that way. She didn’t want to see how happy Juniper was without her. She forced the thought aside for now. “What about your proposal? Would this get in the way of your plan?”
“Why would it?” Korra shrugged. “It’s not like I can’t still take Kuvira out for a romantic dinner and propose to her. Besides, it’ll be nice to be able to celebrate it with all our friends. And I know Kuvira has missed everyone too. Come on, it’ll be so much fun to have everyone together again!”
“Yeah, it would.” Asami agreed. “Though I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it. Things are pretty busy at the office lately.”
“Seriously? You were just talking about how you haven’t gone on a proper vacation in a long time.” Korra replied. “Besides, it’s not like Future Industries is gonna burn to the ground if you take a couple of weeks off.”
“I don’t know…” Asami sighed softly.
“Come on, it’ll be great! We can go skiing! There’s an amazing ski resort an hour or so away from Harbor City.” Korra suggested. “We could rent out a cabin for everyone, and spend the holidays celebrating together!”
Asami had to agree that did sound like a pretty nice idea. It would be great to see everyone again and catch up like old times. Her college years had been some of the best and worst of her life. She’d managed to go to a state school instead of the private university that her father had wanted her to attend. Which had ultimately been a great choice. While Republic City University hadn’t been as fancy as a private university, it had an excellent engineering program and she’d made a lot of great friends. Friends who stuck by her side even after her father’s arrest.
“Earth to Asami.” Korra said, waving her hand in front of Asami’s face.
“Sorry, I got lost in thought.” Asami said, smiling sheepishly. “I just have a lot of business stuff on my mind.”
“Uh-huh.” Korra replied, unconvinced. Asami was spared from further questioning when the waitress delivered their coffee. Asami sipped at her espresso, savoring the taste and warmth. “I’m not going to pressure you, Asami. But I do really think that this trip could be good for you. I’m just worried about you, okay? You work a lot and you don’t really go out much anymore.”
“I know.” Asami admitted quietly, staring down at her cup. “I can’t commit to anything just yet, but I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I ask.” Korra replied with a small smile. “Now, I wanna hear everything about the new projects you’ve been working on.”
Asami smiled and launched into a detailed speech about the latest projects that she’d started production on. Talking to Korra felt so familiar. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d been missing socializing like this. Maybe Korra had a point, maybe she could use a vacation.
—
That night, Asami found herself sitting cross-legged on her couch, her laptop on her lap, and a glass of wine in her hand. The tv was playing one of her guilty favorite sci-fi monster movies, though she was only half paying attention to it. Too busy reading the article she’d looked up online.
The headline read: Duchess of Ember Island’s Marriage Went Up In Flames! Ex-Husband Spotted With New Lover?
Asami rolled her eyes. Of course they’d write the most click-bait headline they could. It’s not like this was a person’s life they were talking about. She sat back with a sigh, sipping her wine. She didn’t know why she was even reading these reports at all. It’s not like it really mattered to her that Juniper was divorced now. She’d made her choice nine years ago. Still, Asami had felt a morbid curiosity about the situation ever since Korra had mentioned it at brunch earlier. Though she didn’t know why. Part of her was still resentful about being dumped so Juniper could go off and get married. Despite knowing that she hadn’t really had a choice. Part of her wished that Juniper had fought for their relationship a little harder, but it was too late for that. You couldn’t change the past no matter how much you wanted to. She just hoped that Juniper was at least happy now. Asami shut her laptop with a sigh.
She looked back up at the tv just in time to see the evil scientist getting devoured by the monster he’d created. Asami‘s middle finger tapped against her winder glass absentmindedly. Her thoughts mulled over Korra’s offer again. The more she thought about it, the better a vacation sounded. And Korra was right, the company would be perfectly fine without her for a couple of weeks. She also had quite a bit of vacation time saved up, time that she was going to lose by the end of the year anyway. So why not actually use it this year?
Her mind made up, Asami grabbed her phone and dialed Korra’s number. Korra answered on the second ring.
“Yo, what’s up?” Korra asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice.
“Sorry to call so late, I hope I didn’t wake you.” Asami said.
“Nah, Kuvira and I were up anyway.” Korra replied.
“That’s good, I just wanted to let you know that I’m in.” Asami replied. “You were right, I could really use a vacation right now.”
“See? I knew you’d come around to the idea!” Korra chuckled. “That’s great, Asami. We can start planning ASAP. Trust me, you’re gonna love The Lost River Resort. It’s such a beautiful place.”
Asami opened her laptop again and started looking up the resort’s website.
“Oh, nice, it looks like we can rent a cabin big enough for everybody.” Asami said, as she looked over the website.
“Cool! We can all pool our money together to cover the cost.” Korra replied.
“There’s no need to, I’ve got it.” Asami said.
“Asami, come on. You don’t need to do that.” Korra said. Asami could practically hear her rolling her eyes playfully. “We’re not broke college students anymore, you don’t need to bankroll everything for us.”
“I’m not, I’m just doing something nice for my friends.” Asami insisted, making the last few clicks as she finalized the reservation. “There, it’s all booked: Two full weeks in a luxurious cabin, and full access ski passes for everyone.”
“Okay, fine. But at least let us pay for something.” Korra said. “I don’t want you to feel like we’re using you for your money.”
“That’s very sweet of you.” Asami replied, smiling. “I honestly don’t feel like you guys are using me for my money. But if it would make everyone feel better, I’ll let you all cover your plane tickets yourselves.”
“Sounds like a deal.” Korra said, excitement already creeping into her voice. “I’ll let everyone know. And thank you, Asami. This trip is gonna be fantastic! I can’t wait!”
The two of them kept talking about the details, before eventually Asami hung up. She finished the last of her wine, and decided to turn in for the night. Once she had settled down in bed, she found herself thinking about all of her friends. They’d all drifted apart a bit over the years, but they kept in contact as much as they could. She hadn’t seen any of them except for Korra and Kuvira in at least a year. Excitement warmed her chest as she thought about spending two full weeks reconnecting with them all. Even Juniper. She eventually drifted off, still thinking about all the good times they had together.