Korrasami Jamboree

Nightmare

The sensation of falling makes her stomach plummet; what's even worse is she can't seem to stop. It's like she'll never reach the ground. No one's arms will be there to catch her. She'll always be alone, falling into eternity.

(There's restless shifting, her head turning back and forth on the pillow)

It always seems like she'll fall forever, but then it stops. A landscape morphs into place around her, familiar and comforting even though it's warped by her tainted memories and her imagination. It's the house she shared with her parents before they moved to Republic City. She feels the heat of the fire that roars in the hearth against her cheeks, making her want to nestle into the arms that materialize around her. Gentle hands stroke back her long hair.

"You have such beautiful hair, my darling," comes her mother's voice, still preserved in her dreaming mind even though her waking one can no longer remember it.

(Heart beating faster, a light sheen of sweat breaks out over her pale skin)

She turns her head up, reaching little seven-year-old arms up for her mother, but instead it's her father who stares down at her, her father whose hands tangle tightly into her hair. She shrieks and pulls away.

"You've betrayed me, Asami," he says, his voice reverberating harshly in her ears. Asami claps her hands over them.

"No," she protests, sounding small and lost. "You lied to me - I can't trust you anymore!"

"But you still love me." Her father's arms snake out, wrapping around her like a snake, and Asami can't fight free of his grip. "How stupid are you? You love me even though I tried to kill you."

I don't, she wants to say. I hate you. Ihateyou. But he's squeezing her so tightly that the words get clogged in her throat.

"I can kill you still," her father says, his voice getting darker, more inhuman. In the darkness of the nightmare, his eyes glow a luminous green. She can't breathe now. His grip is too tight.

(She gasps, her nose pressed against her pillow, fighting to get air)

"Da -ddy," she fights to say, but suddenly Hiroshi is encased in bright, hard armor, and it's emblazoned with the Future Industries logo. Asami is lying in the wreckage of her own metal monster, her entire body screaming.

"I gave you everything," her father booms. "Everything you ever wanted. And this is how you repay me? Oh, if your mother could see you, Asami..."

"No," she chokes, and suddenly the machines are gone and so is Hiroshi. Her mother is back, kneeling in front of her, all soft eyes and heady perfume. It's almost like looking in a mirror. An Equalist glove lies in the space between them.

"You've forgotten your family," her mother says sadly, and there are red tears like blood on her pale face. "You've forgotten me."

"I could never," Asami says frantically, shaking her head.

(Her body tenses, muscles clenching, jaw tightening)

"You've forgotten your family and given your heart to the Avatar," her mother continues, the bloody tears staining her white dress. "The Avatar who will never be able to protect you like he can."

"No." Asami wants to cover her ears again, but her arms won't move. "Korra loves me."

"You will end up leaving her, Asami. Family always comes first." Her mother picks up the glove, slipping it onto Asami's nerveless fingers. "And it comes last."

"I WON'T!" Asami screams, and suddenly the glove activates and the crackle of electricity makes her hair stand on end and her skin prickle painfully. Her mother is shrieking, and then there's nothing but red red red, red everywhere, clogging up her nose and throat, blinding her, drowning her -

"NO!" The word is so desperate to escape her throat that all that comes out is a choked whimper, but it's enough to pull Korra from sleep. She shifts under the bedsheets, blinking sleep-heavy eyes to see Asami sitting up beside her, arms curled around her knees. Shaking away her exhaustion, Korra sits up too and bumps her nose against Asami's shoulder before brushing a kiss against the smooth skin.

"Another nightmare?" she asks, feeling the faint trembling of her bedmate even without touching her.

Asami gives the barest nod of her head, not looking at her. "Go back to sleep, Korra. I'll be fine."

"Not without you," Korra says, stubborn as ever. She never listens, never, and Asami wants to argue with her, but instead she ends up falling back into the Avatar's arms, her head coming to rest against her breast, right over her heartbeat. It's steady and slow compared to her own, and as always, it calms her down. She's safe here.

"You never tell me about them," Korra murmurs, stroking her fingers through Asami's hair. It makes parts of the nightmare trickle through her mind, but she shakes them away, determined not to ever be afraid in Korra's arms.

"They're not important," Asami answers after a beat, her breath puffing out over Korra's skin. Beneath the sheets, their legs tangle together automatically in a way that's comforting to them both. At the touch of Korra's cold toes on her ankle, the older girl can't help but smile.

"I think they're important," the Avatar argues. "You haven't gotten a decent night's sleep in weeks."

There's another long pause between them, and then Asami slowly lifts her head. Korra looks beautiful lying there, her dark hair fanned out over Asami's huge pillows, bright blue eyes reflective in the light of the still-burning lantern on her dresser. "Korra, do you love me?"

The waterbender blinks, but answers automatically. "Of course."

"No matter what?"

Korra's nut brown hands reach up to cradle her face. "Of course, no matter what. That's what love is, right? Unconditional, and stuff."

"Right. I just wanted to make sure." Smiling, Asami dips her head and brushes Korra's lips with her own, the kiss quickly deepening as the Avatar's hands slide against the back of her neck. Korra breaks away suddenly, though.

"Why are you asking me?" she asks, brows furrowed in concern. "Do I have something to do with your nightmares?"

"No," Asami says quickly, and then smirks a bit and says a little playfully, "Stop trying to make it all about you."

In response, Korra whacks her with a pillow, and then swallows her shriek of protest with another kiss.

The nightmares have not receded, but Asami is confident that over time, Korra will make them disappear entirely.