Work Text:
I shouldn’t have to do this alone
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Korra grunted with exertion as she swung her fist upward in a solid upward strike. The Kaiju spun as she made contact with it, but Korra didn’t take the opening it gave her. She stood back and let it get to its feet before slamming into it again. The metal joints of her Jaeger popped and sparked as it followed her commands, but Korra wasn’t particularly worried. She’d once killed a Kaiju with only one working leg unit. No, it wasn’t the physical properties of her Jaeger that made her uneasy, it was the fact that she couldn’t stop looking over at the side of the pilot’s compartment where her drift partner should be standing. Fighting with her.
Every time the techs suited her up and asked for a systems check, Korra would go through every test and complete every protocol with ease, but when she finally got the go ahead to move her Jaeger out of the hanger, she glanced to her left. She couldn’t help it. She had gone through the same training as every other pilot recruits. It takes two to pilot a Jaeger, so Korra dutifully paired up with dozens of her rookie classmates over her years of training. Drifting was strange, but Korra didn’t mind it. She actually might’ve learned to like it, if one of the neurologists hadn’t decided on a whim to check her neural handshake number readings one day.
The doctor saw what her teachers and trainers had missed the first few years of her training. Korra didn’t need a drift partner. Her mind was uniquely wired to heft the burden all on its own. The base scientists told her that they’d only seen one other person with this ability, and a Kaiju had killed him the year Korra was born. She never had a chance to meet him, or to ask him how he dealt with it all on his own.
The Kaiju she was fighting rose up on its hind legs and swung a huge, webbed paw at her. Korra dropped into a crouch and the Kaiju missed her my only a few feet. Her earpiece crackled to life and the nervous voice of a tech spat static into her ear,
“Hey Korra, can you stop playing with it and get this over with? The wires on your right shoulder are already exposed and wet, I really don’t think you should let that thing get near them if you can help it.”
Korra dodged another swing from the monster and slammed her Jaeger’s foot into its soft underbelly before answering.
“I’m not messing around,” Korra lied, “I’ve got it under control, Opal. This is only a category two, I’ll be back at the base before lunchtime.”
“I know you’ve got this, it’s just that Varrick has a lot on his plate right now dealing with Bolin and Mako’s Jaeger. They got pretty smashed up in that fight last week and the engineers are still trying to get it back into fighting order.”
“Pfft. They’re my best friends, but honestly I’m surprised they can even stand on their own, much less pilot a Jaeger together.” Korra turned her attention back to her fight.
One more kick, while the thing was down, and then Korra lunged forward. Opal was right, the right shoulder of her Jaeger wasn’t rotating in it’s socket quite right, but she was still able to hold the beast’s head under the pounding surf and smash her other fist down on its skull until the ocean boiled blue and foamy around them and the Kaiju slowly stopped thrashing.
“Ew, Korra. You have actual weapons, you know.”
Korra snorted and shoved the body out into deeper water, watching as it sank beneath the waves.
“I know. I just feel like it’s cheating, that’s all. All these ugly things can do is paw at me with their flippers. I can at least give them a chance.”
Korra could almost see Opal cringing back at the base. The girl was new at her job, but Korra struck up a conversation with her in the mess hall when she arrived and they’d hit it off. She insisted a few days later that Opal join her tech team. No one at the base was accustomed to refusing the prodigy’s wishes, and Korra knew it.
“Would you just hurry back, Korra? Lin is going to want to debrief you before that famous new engineer gets here.”
“All right, all right. I’m coming. Look, Raava is turning around and walking back. Send the helicopters to pick me up at the mouth of the bay in ten minutes.”
Korra sighed as she trudged back through the waves. Raava was truly a sight to behold; the Jaeger was smaller and sleeker than the other bots, primarily because it only needed half the neural connections that the other Jaegers did. The iconic Jaeger’s white metal was emblazoned with shocks of blue and it was truly one of a kind. Only one set of controls, only half the space needed; only one pilot. As she fought her way through the surf, Korra could feel the familiar need building in her, and she tried to force it down, but just like she always did after a fight, she turned her head to the left.
It didn’t hurt her to pilot on her own, not physically. But it didn’t make her feel all that good, either. It was something she’d never admit to anyone on the base, not even Opal, or Bolin and Mako. In all honesty, Korra liked being the world’s golden child. Being able to pilot on her own made her special, and she hadn’t had to wait her turn like all the other rookie recruits. Once the neurologist reported her findings to Lin, Korra’s career trajectory changed dramatically. Varrick immediately outfitted a single pilot Jaeger for her and she became a fan favorite of the world’s citizens.
There was nothing Korra enjoyed more than fighting Kaijus and keeping her planet safe from harm. She relished the physicality of a fight, and punching monsters in the face gave her a high like nothing else. It was just… When the Kaiju was dead and the fight was over, Korra felt isolated. She gave Bolin and Mako a lot of shit, but she saw how they worked together. She was jealous of the bond between the two brothers.
Even though she never found an entirely perfect drift partner in her training, she missed the feeling of cohesion between her mind and another’s. There was something profoundly satisfying in knowing that someone else was fighting the same fight as you, or more accurately, with you. And maybe the physical strain did get a little tough sometimes. Korra rolled her shoulders and felt the soreness in her legs. She had to control both sides of Raava. All the punches and the kicks began in her own muscle fibers before sparking outward along the neural paths to join with the Jaeger’s. Shouldering the burden all on her own was doable, yes. But ideal? Korra wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep this up, but she sure as hell wasn’t about to tell anyone that. She had a job to do.
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Lin’s frown seemed permanently embedded in her face. Korra shrunk back slightly from her commander’s scowl and tried to hold her own. It had been nearly a week since she’s killed the category two Kaiju, but Lin was still on her case about it.
“Honestly, Lin, I killed the Kaiju and Raava has no serious damage. I don’t see what all this fuss is about.
Apparently it was possible for Lin to scowl even deeper, because she did as she leaned forward across her desk and edged her face even closer into Korra’s personal space.
“Cut the shit, Korra. You and I both know you haven’t been performing up to the standards you’ve proved you can handle. That Kaiju should’ve been dead in half the time it took for you to eliminate it. So, honestly,” Lin mocked, “what is going on with you lately? You’re acting like a fool.”
Korra sat back in her seat, stunned. Lin was a notoriously tough commander, but she was one of the most decorated heroes the world had ever seen. She had always been a little brusque with Korra, her serious manner didn’t mesh well with Korra’s brash, playful attitude, but she had never been cruel. If Korra took the time to think about it, she maybe could have understood the commander’s frustration, but her notorious temper was heating up her face and licking at the back of her throat.
“I’m the best pilot this base, this world, has! You know it, and everybody else does too! I do every thing that’s expected of me. I’ve never failed a mission. There’s no reason for you to be criticizing me. Maybe if everyone just let me be, I’d be fine! Leave me alone!”
Korra knew she was shouting at her superior. She knew Lin could fire her faster than she could snap her fingers, but she didn’t care, because Korra also knew that everything Lin was saying was true. Korra yelled because she didn’t have the answers Lin was seeking. So instead of sticking around to watch the disappointment seep across Lin’s face, she stood up and whirled out of Lin’s office, slamming the door behind her.
She strode angrily through the halls, avoiding the curious gazes of her fellow base employees. Korra saw Mako turn the corner, but she ignored his greeting and turned down an empty hallway and started to run before he could catch up with her. Eventually, her feet took her where they always did when she was upset. Raava’s hanger was dim and empty of techs and engineers. Korra could hear machines whirring through the walls, and she assumed everyone was still working on Bolin and Mako’s Jaeger.
“No love for the little guy, huh?” Korra clambered up and over the scaffolds that were attached to Raava and settled onto its shoulder plate. She pulled her knees to her chest and tried to get her breathing under control. She didn’t understand why she had blown up at Lin, just like she didn’t understand why she wasn’t able to fight the way she used to. It was like an unnamable apathy had sunk deep into her bones.
Korra wanted to live up to the world’s expectations, she really did, but piloting Raava by herself just made her feel so damned alone. Knowing she had to slip into her drift suit alone in the pilot locker rooms and them climb into the control pod all by herself weighed on her mind every time the Kaiju alarm went off. It dragged at her feet and clung heavily to her arm, not letting her hit as fast or as hard as she used to. Tears prickled behind her eyes. Korra was sucking in a shuddery breath and trying to decide whether to cry now and get it over with or to wait until she got into the shower, when an unfamiliar voice sounded off to the side of her.
“Are you alright?”
The completely unexpected sound made Korra yelp and slip sideways off of her precarious perch. Before gravity could snag her, an arm reached out and dragged her back onto the scaffolding. Korra grabbed the railing and swung herself over. Her momentum made her stumble, but the same arm that had grabbed her collar steadied her again. Korra rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed and mumbled,
“I’d say thanks for catching me, but you were the one who made me fall in the first place s-“
As she was talking, she finally got a good look at the person who had probably scared at least two years off of her life, and holy shit was she gorgeous. Her hair was long and dark, but her eyes were what made Korra stutter to a stop. They were such a brilliant green that Korra couldn’t even be mad that their owner was at least four inches taller then her.
The girl grinned and tactfully ignored Korra’s staring. She offered her hand for Korra to shake.
“I’m really sorry for startling you, it wasn’t my intention. I didn’t even know anyone would be in here. My name is-”
“Asami Sato,” Korra blurted before she could stop herself, “Uh, shoot, I mean- I’ve seen you before. On tv. You’re that famous engineer that’s designing the new drift system.”
Korra wanted to climb back over the scaffolding and jump to her death. Why did she have to interrupt the most attractive woman she’d ever seen and then proceed to sound like a stalker? Bolin would be laughing his ass off at her if he were here.
To her surprise, Asami laughed instead of calling Korra a creep and climbing away from her as fast as possible. She replied, “And you’re Korra. The world’s only single Jaeger pilot.”
The elation Korra felt from Asami knowing her name almost managed to overshadow the unhappiness that fell over her at the mention of her job title, but not quite. Asami noticed the way her shoulders drooped and cocked her head.
“Is something wrong? Are you feeling any effects from your neural link? I came in here to sneak a look at your Jaeger, maybe I can check the cable connections for you.”
Korra held up her hands and tried to laugh off the girl’s concern.
“No no, nothing’s wrong with Raava, I promise. I just…” Korra’s arms fell to her sides as she trailed off, “I don’t know. Never mind, it’s stupid.”
Asami stepped closer to her and Korra flushed with a realization of just how small the scaffolding platform really was.
“Really, Korra, if something’s wrong you can tell me. I’m here to work on the Jaegers; that’s my job.”
Korra ducked away from the comforting hand Asami was attempting to lay on her shoulder and started climbing down the ladder.
“Nothing’s wrong with my Jaeger, Asami, I’m not lying to you. It’s just me being a wimp. Nothing to worry about.”
Asami followed her lead and climbed down after her. When Korra reached the floor of the hanger, she held out a hand and helped Asami down. The engineer was still looking at her with that concerned look, like she’d known her for years and Korra’s distress actually meant something to her.
“You’re the best pilot I’ve ever seen. I watch all your fights on television. There’s nothing wimpy about you, Korra.”
The earnest look in those green eyes was enough to make Korra’s heart flip over in her chest. This girl knew nothing about her and yet Korra was sorely tempted to spill her guts to her. Asami hopped onto a workbench and patted the space beside her. Korra sighed, but jumped up next to her. Why not tell a complete stranger everything? Lin had probably already filed her termination papers and she’d be banished from the base by morning. She’d never see Asami again, so what was the harm in embarrassing herself again? Her mind made up, Korra angled her body so she was facing Asami. Her knee brushed up against Korra’s and she flushed for what seemed like the hundredth time today.
“Have you ever piloted a Jaeger before?”
Asami frowned thoughtfully at the apparent non sequitur, but nodded.
“Yeah, I have to every once in awhile to make sure my designs work correctly.”
Korra nodded and said, “And I’m sure you drifted with a partner, right?” Asami nodded again and Korra asked her another question, “What did it feel like for you?”
To Korra’s surprise, Asami’s eyes darkened and she stared down at the floor, her hair falling in front of her face like a silky curtain.
“Well, before my dad was arrested, I always drifted with him. He’s the only one I’ve ever been compatible with, so I haven’t done it in awhile.”
Korra winced. She’d forgotten that Asami’s dad had been thrown in jail a few years ago for attempting to sabotage a Jaeger project. He had been secretly a part of a pro-Kaiju terrorist group, and when the world found out, the Sato name was dragged through the mud across every major news station in the world.
Before she could apologize for dredging up bad memories, Asami continued, “But when I did drift with him, I always felt safe, like I was part of a team, and I trusted him with all my heart.” Asami gave Korra a bitter smile. “Whatever project we were working on, I always knew when we drifted that I didn’t have to shoulder the burden alone.”
Korra couldn’t have said it better herself so she just waited while Asami mulled over her own words. She saw the spark in her eyes when she finally figured out what Korra was nudging her towards.
“Ah. I think I get it. You’re all alone when you pilot. Just because you can handle it on your own, it doesn’t mean you should have to.”
Korra’s head snapped up at those words. Nobody had ever said anything like that before. Hell, she hadn’t even really allowed herself to think those words in her own head. She was a weakling, a complainer, not worthy of her gift. This was her problem to get over. But what Asami had just said… it sounded like she was on Korra’s side.
To her extreme embarrassment, her eyes flooded with tears for the second time that day. Korra scrubbed them away with the back of her hand and looked anywhere but at Asami’s face.
“See, I told you it was stupid. I can pilot fine on my own, I don’t need anyone else.”
Korra made to jump down from the workbench, but Asami grabbed her arm.
“It’s not selfish to want to share that with someone, Korra, you know that right?”
She sat back and tried to process what Asami was saying, but she ended up shaking her head.
“No, you’re wrong. Being able to pilot alone is what’s gotten me where I am today. I’d still be on the waiting list for a partner and a Jaeger if my brain wasn’t wired like this,” Korra tapped the side of her head, “I used to be fine with it. I don’t know why it’s been bothering me so much lately. I just feel so isolated.”
Korra immediately flinched as the words left her mouth. Weak. Selfish. She shook her head violently, trying to get rid of the poisonous thoughts. Then, shocking Korra to her core, Asami grabbed her chin with one hand and forced Korra to look at her.
“Let me drift with you, Korra. Maybe it’ll help.”
Before she could stop herself, Korra leaned into Asami’s touch. Her body’s reaction to Asami’s proposition was incredibly visceral. Every fiber of Korra’s being wanted to drift with a partner, to feel that connection that she’d been starved of for so long.
She feebly tried to protest, “Asami, no, it’s like a one in a thousand chance that we’d even be compatible, and even then Raava is only outfitted for one pilot,” but she felt her resolve already crumbling under the weight of Asami’s brilliant eyes.
“I’ve already been assigned to update an old Jaeger model in Hanger Five. There’s no one in there. We’ll never know unless we try.” There was an unspoken sentiment underlying Asami’s words. Let me do this for you. We can do this together, I know it.
There was no way Korra could resist any longer. She’d been starving for so long, and even though she knew nothing about this girl, this stranger, she wanted nothing more than to climb into a Jaeger as a copilot, just one more time. Then she’d be fine again, and these feelings would go away.
“Ok. Let’s do it.”
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Korra attempted to slow her heartbeat as Asami primed the Jaeger to initiate a neural handshake. She tried to focus on the way Asami’s lips were pursed with concentration inside her sleek black helmet, and the way that the armor hugged tightly to her long limbs. Korra realized with a sudden thrill that she was hooked into a Jaeger, and she was looking to her left, and she was not alone.
Asami seemed to wordlessly understand what Korra was thinking, and flashed her a smile. She flipped one last switch and then turned all of her attention to Korra.
“Ok, the tech team is ready. I told them you were helping me test a new operating system, which you are now that I think about it, so I’m not really lying-”
“Asami,” Korra grinned with a realization that Asami’s rambling was a sign that she was as nervous as Korra was, “It’s ok. Don’t chase the R.A.B.I.T. and we’ll be fine.”
Asami took a deep breath, visibly steadying herself, and nodded.
“Got it. Let’s do this.”
Korra smiled again and held her glove out for a fist bump, and Asami complied. Her nerves faded into the background as she cleared her mind in preparation for the neural handshake. Korra tried to remember the lessons she learned as a recruit years ago. Familiarity between partners helped build a neural handshake, but it wasn’t uncommon for strangers to be able to drift together, as long as they could establish cohesion between the two of them.
As they entered into the handshake, Korra tried to relax and let her memories flow freely and loosely. She opened her eyes to see Asami doing the same. Embarrassment was the primary cause of pilots being unable to sync together, so Korra tried to let Asami sift through her memories without recoiling. In turn, Asami’s life began to wash over Korra’s senses. Warm summer days, a mansion, and an adult’s hands helping her brush makeup onto her tiny face, then a devastating fire and a flash of pure devastation. Korra shuddered at the grief in the memory, but immediately released it when she realized she was beginning to fixate. She felt Asami sigh with relief as the memory flowed away. Equally, Korra’s memories and feelings were gently sifting through Asami’s consciousness.
Korra had forgotten just how intimate this was. There had to be trust in place to allow another person to see you so truly. In this brief time before the neural handshake was solidified, Asami was experiencing Korra’s entire life along with her. Her homesickness for the snowy south, the joy she felt when she was picked for the Jaeger program, and the silent ache Korra withstood when the neurologist informed her that she would no longer be a candidate for a drift partner. Korra even felt the memory of her body reacting to Asami from just that afternoon and she had to resist recoiling back into herself, taking the memory with her.
But then it passed, and the neural handshake settled into place. Korra swung her head to look at Asami, and met her gaze completely in sync. They grinned at each other and pumped the Jaeger’s arms in the air, victorious.
Korra felt Asami’s thoughts ripple through their shared headspace before she voiced them, “We did it, Korra! We’re drift compatible!”
The laugh that bubbled out of Korra surprised her, but as they carefully stepped the Jaeger out into the open belly of the hanger, she felt lighter than air. She only had to take one step, and then Asami was there, taking the next. She punched lightly with her right arm and Asami’s arm shot out without Korra even saying a word, helping her shoulder the burden. Korra felt her Asami tug on her mind and she complied instantly, lifting her left arm to help Asami bring the Jaeger’s left arm up into a blocking position, protecting the Jaeger’s head while the right arm punched.
The communication was instantaneous and nonverbal, which was rare, especially for first time partners. Korra opened her mouth to tell Asami, but Asami was already saying, “I know.”
To Korra’s surprise and embarrassment, she started crying. She tried to brush the tears away before Asami saw, but of course her hand hit her helmet, and by then Asami already knew.
“Hey, Korra, it’s ok. We’re ok,” Asami soothed, reaching over in concern. The Jaeger responded automatically, and Korra quickly righted it.
“I know, I’m fine, really. I’m happy, they’re happy tears, I promise.” She wasn’t lying. Korra couldn’t make the tears stop dripping out of her eyes, but her head and heart felt as free and light as they had when she was a child, before the Kaijus started attacking. She wasn’t on her own anymore. Asami was helping her, moving with her. Korra half laughed, half sobbed, and Asami sent a wordless wave of understanding across the handshake. Korra sent back silent thanks, and turned her headset on to speak to mission control.
She cleared her throat and tried to sound like she wasn’t bawling her eyes out in the control room of a giant robot, “Hey guys, do you think we could take this thing for a spin outside? There’s no room to move in here and I want test Miss Sato’s program to its full ability.”
She winked at Asami, but of course, her partner already knew that Korra just wanted room to feel the Jaeger respond the way it was supposed to work; with two pilots. Korra had never actually piloted a real Jaeger with someone before; she’d always been in a simulator when she was a rookie, and she’d never had a handshake or shared a headspace like this before. She wanted to milk as much as she could out of this amazing day before Lin found out what she was doing and murdered her.
Mission control’s response fuzzed in her ear, but she couldn’t hear their response over the Kaiju alarm that suddenly started blaring. She swore, and Asami cranked up the volume on their earpieces.
“Pilot Korra, you are to report to Raava immediately! Bolin and Mako’s Jaeger is still out of commission so this will be a solo mission.”
Before Korra could object, Asami was answering the tech,
“Tell Commander Beifong that this Jaeger is primed and ready to go right now. It would take too long to unhook Korra and get her back to Raava. Let us handle it in this one.”
“Seconded!” Korra agreed, but she immediately felt a surge of worry for her partner. Asami was technically an engineer, not a real pilot. She didn’t have any combat experience. Asami felt her worry and brushed it away with a silent surge of confidence. Again, Korra felt her wordless reply. We can do this together. We’ve got this.
Mission control crackled to life again, but it wasn’t the tech’s voice that answered, it was Lin’s.
“My ass is going to be on the line for this, but I have no choice but to give you two the go ahead. That Kaiju is swimming fast, and my job is to protect the coastal towns. If I lose a civilian pretending to be a pilot, but save a whole town, I’ll have to deal with that consequence later. Now go!”
Despite Lin’s demoralizing words, Asami and Korra gave a simultaneous whoop of joy, and kicked their Jaeger into high gear. Once again, Korra was struck by how easy it was to move the Jaeger with Asami by her side. She felt like there was no resistance fighting her legs at all as they sprinted onto the beach and crashed into the waves.
“Keep heading due east, the target is approaching. Two hundred feet, one hu-“
The roar of the Kaiju drowned out the rest of the tech’s instructions as it leapt up from under a wave. This one had short back legs, but strong, spiked front arms. Its fists crashed into the chest of their Jaeger and sent them stumbling backwards.
Korra immediately powered up the Jaeger’s cannon and fired a shot directly into its armored face. The monster screeched and retreated back a few steps, clawing at its eyes. Together, Asami and Korra pushed forwards and drove a foot under the Kaiju’s chin. Its head snapped backwards and it dove beneath a wave to escape their onslaught. Korra chanced a glance over at Asami. She was settled into an easy crouch, her head swiveling for any sign of the Kaiju under the water. Her hair was sticking to her sweaty temples, but her makeup was still flawless. Korra smiled and shook her head in disbelief, and then had to dive out of the way as the Kaiju erupted from a wave, narrowly missing their head.
Korra and Asami roared together and dove onto the monster’s back. Asami deployed a long sharp blade from the armguard and drove it through the tough skin between its shoulder blades. The Kaiju bellowed and tried to roll, but Korra held its muzzle down with her forearm, allowing Asami to keep driving the blade in, over and over again until she finally forced her way through its hide and hit something vital. The Kaiju gave a great shudder and then stopped resisting Korra’s hold.
“Double tap, just to make sure,” Korra explained as she fired the cannon once more into the throat of the dying Kaiju. After the echoes of the cannon faded away, Asami and Korra just stood in the ocean, the water up to their Jaeger’s waist, and reveled in the silence.
Asami’s emotions flashed across the handshake to Korra quicker than she could’ve put them into words. Bloodlust, elation, and then exhaustion. Korra turned in alarm as she felt Asami start to fade into unconsciousness. Of course, the engineer had never actually been in a fight; this was probably by far the longest she’d ever held on to a neural handshake. Korra tried to drop her out of the handshake as gently as she could, and then assumed complete control of the Jaeger. The familiar heaviness was back, but it didn’t weigh on Korra’s mind like it normally would’ve. All her mind power was concentrated on getting her partner back to the base. The golden Jaeger splashed its way back to safety as quickly as Korra could pilot it.
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Asami groaned unhappily as she started to filter back into consciousness. Every strand of muscle in her body was sore. A warm, foreign feeling of comfort drifted across her mind and Asami snapped her eyes open as she realized where it was coming from.
“You know, Spirit Portal is a lot heavier than Raava. You could’ve at least waited until we were back on land before passing out,” Korra teased.
Despite herself, Asami couldn’t help but smile at the girl sitting on the edge of her infirmary bed. Korra looked sweaty and tired, but she had a looseness to her presence that Asami hadn’t seen when she met her this morning.
“Spirit Portal? Who names an alien killing machine Spirit Portal?”
Korra laughed, “Varrick was on his Buddhist kick when he built it. Personally, I like it.”
Before Asami could reply, she felt that strange warmth in her head again. It made her muscles relax and she felt immensely cared for. “Is that you, Korra? That feeling?”
Korra sat up straight, startled. “Wait, you can feel that?”
“Mhmm, it’s a warm, reassuring feeling. Like I’m safe.”
Korra’s face turned bright red and she grabbed the back of her neck. “Uh, yep that’s me, alright,” she laughed nervously. Asami felt her embarrassment like a feathery-light touch on the inside of her skull.
“That is so strange, I can feel that too!” Asami excitedly sent an intentional surge of joy to Korra and she knew it worked when Korra immediately perked up and smiled.
“Woah, ok yeah. I know what you’re talking about now. I can definitely tell that came from you.”
“It’s called Ghost Drifting, ladies.” Both girls jumped a little as Lin walked into the infirmary. “Your link didn’t sever along with the neural handshake. It happens sometimes. It can fade or strengthen depending on what you choose to do with it.”
For once, the base commander wasn’t scowling, though she did look slightly disapproving.
“That Kaiju was a category three. You two made quick work of it. Faster than you eliminated that category two on your own, Korra.” Lin paused, eyeing the two girls and taking in their close proximity. She nodded to herself and pursed her lip thoughtfully.
“I just wanted to say, good work. You’ll debrief in my office in twenty minutes, Korra. Oh, and Miss Sato, Varrick needs you as soon as possibly in Hangar Three, when you’re up for it. He says there are a few bugs to work out with the new system.” Lin didn’t wait for a reply and strode out of the room without a backwards glance.
Asami frowned and took Korra’s hand. “Do you think she’s going to let me pilot with you again? She didn’t sound very happy.”
“Are you kidding? For Lin, that was her practically jumping for joy- Wait, did you just say you wanted to pilot again?”
Asami was stricken. What if Korra didn’t want to pilot with her? What if she’d gotten her fix, and had no more need for Asami? Her anxiety must have translated across the Ghost Drift, though, because immediately Korra sent a wave of calm to her.
“Asami, back there with you, that was the best I’ve felt in ages. I mean, you still have your engineering job to do, and I’m still going to have to use Raava while you’re working, but believe me when I say I won’t allow that to be our last time piloting together. You and me are meant to be, I’m sure of it.”
When Korra realized what she’d implied in her last line, her eyes went wide and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
Asami tugged at her hand, “Korra, you can literally feel what I’m feeling. Don’t be dumb.” And with that, she pulled the pilot down to her level by her collar and kissed her.