cardigan

Chapter Six

Hand under my sweatshirt
Baby, kiss it better

She couldn't believe her own eyes.

The last moment she remembers before she realized she had fallen in love with Korra, completely and irrevocably so.

Korra was on Air Temple Island, talking with Ikki. She had never looked so good before. She cut her hair, and her skin was glowing. She looked so healthy.

The thing about love was - there was this misconception that you know you're in love when you feel it. And for some people that wasn't the case.

There was an old saying that went, love was blind - meaning that, when you love someone, you love them completely and madly, with so much devotion that suddenly any flaws and negative characteristics they had become invisible to you.

But love can be blind in other ways.

Because being in love is blind, but so is falling in love.

Because love can change your life, and love can better it, or even ruin it. And the prospect of that can make us entirely unaware that we are even falling into the sentiments of love when we begin to undergo the changes that occur once we fall into the pretty pits of it.

Because love can make you happy and love can make you sad and not knowing you're in love can make you tirelessly question what's wrong with you and why you feel the unknown feelings you do, as you stand there, looking at the person who had made you fall so hard you almost break your jaw.

And as Asami continued to stare at the Avatar a small yell broke her out of her silent contemplations. She paid no mind to it because it was Mako yelling at Bolin for something he couldn't possibly know would be a bad idea. Bolin should've never told them Korra was back. Or at least not in the way he did.

The yelling seemed to tune out when Korra and Asami made eye contact. Asami's breath came to a standstill the very moment she needed it flowing, all of these emotions crashed into her like a tidal wave and all hell broke loose in her mind when she saw the Avatar smile at her.

A casual smile.

Korra felt nothing but friendship for the green-eyed woman.

So yeah, falling in love was blind, because even the skip of Asami Sato's heartbeat and the nervousness brewing in her stomach as Korra walked over to her wasn't enough to indicate or explain to herself the strong feelings she'd been experiencing for three years.

"I've moved on."

"Moved on?" Asami questioned, quietly. Timidly.

She hadn't realized that Korra dragged the away from prying eyes, near the shore of the island. Asami's thoughts were hollow and her heart was racing, but Korra was looking at her like nothing in the world mattered.

"Honestly, yeah. I think I've moved on. In fact, I feel fantastic. I think I needed to spend that month with Toph in the swamp-"

Asami had blocked out the words coming out of the Avatar's mouth, partly because she had no idea what the younger girl was talking about, and partly because she knew.

"The swamp?"

Korra stared at her and Asami stared back. So she started to explain, she started to tell Asami everything as you would do when you'd talk to your best friend about how your day went. By the time Korra was done explaining, she was half-awkwardly fumbling with her feet

Asami wanted to tell her that she was making her feel confused.

Except, Korra almost always made sense, and this time, Korra really had a point.