You and I [Desami Fanfiction]

Chapter 33: It'll Be Okay

Desna

There was a long time after that when Eska and I weren’t sure what to do. Father and Korra were both still in the real world, but we weren’t sure whose side we were fighting on anymore.

“Eska,” I say finally, breaking the silence. “It’s time. We need to return to the others. And we need to be fighting on the correct side this time.”

“You mean the side of good, don’t you?” she asks knowingly.

“Yes,” I agree. “We need to fight alongside Korra and her friends. We were not meant to be in darkness.”

“This is what you’ve been saying all along,” Eska says. “And I was too foolish to see. You are right, Brother. We must help them.”

“Not we,” I say slowly, unable to look at her.

“What do you mean?” she demands.

“I…need to go. Please don’t try to stop me. This is something that needs to be done.”

“You’re going to see the girl, aren’t you?” she asks. This time she does not sound disapproving. “Very well. Someone will need to protect her in this dark hour. Be safe, Brother.”

I smile at her. “You, too, Sister.” Surprisingly, Eska takes a step forward and wraps her arms around me. I stay frozen as she hugs me, unsure what was happening. “I love you,” I tell her finally, the words no longer sounding strange.

Eska pulls back quickly. She looks quite surprised at me words. Finally she smiles. “I know.”

Asami

Even though it was still the middle of the day, the sky was a shade of purple black. I wasn’t sure what this meant, but I could tell from Katara’s expression that it wasn’t good.

“Katara, what’s going on?” I ask her.

She only shakes her head. “I don’t know, but I sense it is not safe.”

“Katara, I need to go out there,” I say without thinking. She looks at me in surprise. “Please, I know I’m not a bender, but this is something I have to do.”

Katara nods finally. “Be safe, Asami. And be wary of the darkness.”

I’m out the door in an instant, wrapping my coat around me as I charge into the snow. The sky was still the same color as before, and now the Southern Lights were out. I used them as my guide as I headed towards the spirit world, thinking of only one thing. Desna had to be out there. He had to be safe. There was no way I could take it if he wasn’t.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been walking through the snow before the cold began to set in. Without the sun out, it was freezing already. I just kept marching along, reminding myself how warm Desna would be.

If he even wanted to see me.

It was true I hadn’t really though o how Desna would react if I just showed up in the Spirit World. Would he just ignore me? Try to stop me? I wasn’t sure, and the thought made my stomach tighten.

I had just made it into the spirit woods when I heard more footsteps. I stopped, but the noise continued. It seemed like they were coming towards me, but it was hard to tell. I could hardly see now.

After I spent awhile trying to identify the sound, a figure appeared in the opening of the woods. The silhouette was so familiar I thought I was hallucinating. But I knew I wasn’t. The figure continued to move closer to me eliminating all doubts. It stopped just a few feet away from me, seeming to realize what it was seeing.

“Desna,” I breath out, unable to help myself.

He stops a few feet away from me. If I took a step, I could have touched him, but I didn’t. I held my ground.

He gave me a cautious look, the kind of look you might give a stranger you had seen only once before. It killed me.

“Asami,” he says finally. My name still sounds familiar in his voice. “I…”

I felt tears leaking from my eyes, unsure what he was about to say. “I’m so sorry.” His voice was filled with desperation. He didn’t even try to hide it.

I felt a tear slide down my cheek as I shook my head. “Don’t.” For a second, he looked hurt, until I look a step forward, closing the space between. “Don’t say anything.”

I feel his arms wrap around me as more tears roll down my cheeks. “Just tell me,” he says to me, “tell me you don’t hate me.”

I let go of our hug and face him. “Desna, I could never hate you. I love you too much.”

A smile breaks through his icy features, along with a look of relief. “I love you too,” he whispers. He brings his warm fingers to face, wiping away my excess tears. Then he brings my face to his. We kiss for a moment, and everything melts away. My tears finally stop, my body heating up again. I feel Desna’s familiarity under my lips.

Desna

            “I missed you so much,” I explain to Asami after we break away from each other. “I had to come find you.”

            “I had to come find you,” she says. I smile at her again. The comment reminds me just how much we are meant for each other. “The fight…,” Asami says as if she were just remembering.

I hesitate, unsure how to explain. “I don’t know what’s going on now. It’s up to Korra and Unalaq, I suppose.” She gives me a funny look when I call him Unalaq, but it was hard to consider that man my father anymore. The word just didn’t seem to fit.

“Looks like neither of us have a father anymore,” she says finally, deciding not to question me about it. I was sure I would tell her when the time was right. If we had the time…

“Asami,” I say in a sudden panic. “What if…this is it? What if Korra doesn’t succeed and…” I stop when another round of tears rolls down her cheeks. “Don’t cry,” I beg quickly. “It’ll be okay.”

She only shakes her head. “Don’t use that excuse on me. You’re right. We don’t know what’s going to happen. And it’s too late to change it now.”

“This is my fault,” I say in sudden realization. “I had so many chances to stop him, but I didn’t.”

“Desna, no-.”

“I should have listened to you. You were always my better half…” I’m cut off when Asami’s lips crash into mine.

“Don’t talk like that,” she says. “If this is it, and it very well could be, I don’t want to regret it. I just want to be with you.”

I nod in agreement, wanting nothing more than that. I make a bench out of ice for us, and we wait. I wrap my arms around Asami as her head nestles into my neck, and we wait. I feel her heart under mine, surprisingly calm.