Archive of Our Own ^beta

I wasn’t sure about the new computer at first, but I was begrudgingly beginning to like it. Of course, not everybody would be so unwilling to enjoy a new piece of technology. But I hadn’t been that big of a technical person before, hell two years ago I would’ve called myself a nerd for using it so much. But that was then, and this is now. Two years ago, I had been a naturally talented athlete and easily the best player on the Southern Water tribe’s hockey team: The Otter Penguins. I’d gotten multiple scholarship offers from the United Republic, Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation’s top schools. But then Zaheer happened, and everything changed. Zaheer was the drunk driver who hit me with his truck, leaving me temporarily paralyzed for nearly two years.

Not that everything is terrible now, I was finally able to walk on my own again after all. But while being able to walk had given me back the feeling of freedom I’d been longing for, it didn’t do much to help with my personality changes. While I had once been loud and boisterous, I was now quiet and awkward. I usually preferred to go unnoticed, whereas I’d used to thrive on attention. My former teammates had tried to help me regain the social life I’d once had, but the new me only found partying exhausting, and my body just wasn’t as strong as it used to be. My muscles had atrophied while I was stuck in the wheelchair, and I’d only managed to get back some of my former strength and stamina.

Eventually my teammates had given up, both from disappointment that the me they’d known was really gone, and simply because they had their own lives ahead of them to prepare for. They’d each gone off to whatever college they had dreamed about, and left me behind. Not that I really minded, being around them just made me feel like a burden anyway. Not to mention that they were a constant reminder of everything I’d lost. So, I had taken the only option left for me, and withdrew from a social life entirely. Except for my parents, and my doctors, I didn’t really visit with anyone. I’d take walks around Harbor City on occasion, but would do my best to avoid attention, and I much preferred to simply sit in my room.

But that changed when my father walked into my room one day, a huge box in his arms and a determined look on his face.

“Don’t think of this as something to pressure you into opening up again,” he’d said, setting the box down with a thud. “You don’t have to use it, but I thought that you’d like something you could do besides reading or playing with Naga.” The polar bear dog perked up at the mention of her name. I studied the box curiously. ‘Future Industries Home Computer’ was printed in bold letters next to the picture of a half-cog symbol. “This way you can interact with people without having to leave your comfort zone.” Tonraq added, sensing my hesitation.

—

That was six months ago, and I now couldn’t imagine my life without my computer. It had taken a week to work up the courage to finally take the thing out of the box, and another to set it up and familiarize myself with it. (Technology and I didn’t get along very well.) I still sometimes couldn’t believe that my life had changed so much in so little time. Once I had the computer up and running, I’d immediately dived into using it. First was the usual: social media accounts and email. Finding my old friends had been easy enough, though I felt a twinge of loss every time I saw their posts about college work and random pictures of their lives.

Then I’d discovered gaming, specifically one game in particular: Four Elements. It was a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, or MMORPG for short. And it was easily my new favorite pastime. Four Elements allowed players to choose from four different classes, each class controlled one of four elements; Fire, water, earth and air. The Fire class was good for dealing damage from a distance. Earth was practically built to soak up damage from the enemy. Water was mostly healing, with some buff and debuff (abilities that could either give your friends a boost against the enemy, or create obstacles to hinder the enemy.) Lastly, Air relied on stealth and speed to deal huge amounts of damage, then slip away before the enemy could retaliate.

My favorite class to play was Water, I had a knack for knowing the perfect moment to use my abilities, plus it felt good to help keep them in the fight by healing. Not to mention that it just felt right, since I was from the Water Tribe of course. I’d even managed to make friends: Mako, Bolin (who were brothers) and Asami. The four of us had bonded over the game, and eventually started chatting over texts and video calls. I talked with them almost constantly, especially Asami since she shared my passion for memes and was constantly encouraging my newfound love for technology. (I also may or may not have a crush on her, not that I’d ever expect anything to come of it since we’ve only communicated online.)

And so began my new sense of normalcy: I’d wake somewhere around ten, (because mornings are evil and nothing will ever convince me otherwise), go for a quick run through the City, eat breakfast and finally settle down for a long day of coursework. At Asami’s insistence, I had finally relented and applied to an online college that offered technical classes. My parents had been beyond relieved when I broke the news to them. Once my coursework was completed, it was time to game.

Today was just like any other day. I plopped down in my desk chair, and opened up the group chat.

Bolin: Should I start a new class?

Mako: By the spirits, no! We need an Earth for the raid.

Asami: Agreed, at least finish the raid before you change class again.

I smirked. Bolin was notorious for changing what class he played at random. But usually he stuck with Earth, since he was so good at it. Mako was our Fire, while Asami was our Air.

Me: Bo, I know that you get bored with classes, but I have to agree with the others: stick with Earth.

Setting aside my phone, I opened Four Elements. I had a new alt class (some gamers don’t like using the same character all the time, so they make an alt to keep things interesting) that I wanted to level up before the raid tonight. I glanced at my phone as the game loaded up. That’s odd, usually they’re fast to reply. I thought. A sudden knock at my door caught my attention.

“Who is it?” I asked, taking off my headset.

“It’s just me.” Mom replied, opening the door slightly and popping her head in. “Um, were you expecting company? Because there’s three very nice people downstairs asking for you.” My heart threatened to beat its way out of my chest. No, they wouldn’t have. I told myself. There’s no way. Suddenly I realized that Mom was still staring at me, clearly awaiting an answer.

“Oh, uh, okay!” I squeak, wincing as my voice jumped several octaves. “Just give me a minute to get ready, and I’ll head downstairs.”

“Sure thing, honey.” Mom replied, flashing a reassuring smile as she left.

“Fuck me running!” I muttered to myself, turning back to my phone. “No, no, no, no! They couldn’t have!” Looking through the group chat didn’t offer any explanations, however, nor did the logs from the video call app we all used. “Oh fuck, what if they did?” Sure, we’d all joked about meeting up in person before. But I hadn’t really thought it would be possible, considering my social awkwardness and the sheer distance between us. Asami, Mako and Bolin all lived in Republic City, whereas I had never left the Southern Water Tribe before.

I let out a long sigh as I logged out of Four Elements and shut down my computer, before rushing to raid my closet for something to wear. Fancy dress? Definitely not. Strange t-shirt I don’t even remember buying? Eh, no. Old
hockey jersey? Yeah, no, too many memories. Eventually I settled on my usual sleeveless blue vest and loose pants, with black armbands and fur-lined boots. After running a comb through my short dark brown hair, I let out another sigh before opening the door and heading downstairs.

—

I swear no matter how long I lived in the Chief’s Palace, I’d never get used to how big it was. My father had been named the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe shortly before my accident, and from the very first day we had moved in, I got lost. Today proved to be no exception.

“Come on, Korra, it’s not that difficult you literally just have to head down.” I muttered, looking around for the staircase. Once I found it, I just followed the sound of voices until I reached the sitting room. I froze in the doorway. On one side of the room, my parents sat together on the loveseat. Across from them were three people around my age, two men and a woman, who were exchanging polite small talk nervously. “Holy spirits, they actually did it!”

It wasn’t until everyone looked in my direction that I realized I had actually said that out loud. I stood completely still, like a cat-deer in headlights.

“Uh, I think we broke Korra.” A stocky man with dark hair said, smirking at the other two.

“Oh be nice, Bolin!” The woman said, smacking him playfully. “She’s just surprised, is all. Give her a moment.” Something clicked in my brain and I suddenly realized who they were. Of course I had seen plenty of pictures of them before, and had seen them moving around during video calls. But actually seeing them in person was completely different.

“Bolin?” I said, gesturing to the stocky man. He flashed a broad smile and waved. He was wearing a plain brown tunic and black pants. “So that makes you Mako. Although I suppose that the shark-brows should’ve given it away immediately.”

“That’s fair.” Mako said with a laugh. He was dressed similarly to his brother, except for a red scarf around his neck.

“Which of course means you’re Asami.” I said, turning to the last person in the room. As always, she was the best dressed of us all. She wore a black skirt suit with red trim. A matching shall covered her shoulders, and her long raven hair was tied back in a braid.“I swear I’m not this awkward all the time, it’s just I never really thought I’d ever meet you all in person. And holy spirits, ‘Sami, you’re so much hotter in person! Not that you guys are-“ The rest of my sentence died in my throat, as I realized what I had said. “Oh, shit, I didn’t mean to say that part out loud!” I was saved from my mild panic attack by the musical sound of Asami’s laughter. Holy spirits, this woman is so perfect! The thought sent an unfamiliar twinge through my body.

“And you’re just as I imagined you’d be, Korra.” Asami said. She approached me slowly, hands clutched to her chest. “I’d like to give you a hug, if that’s okay? I know that you don’t like being touched without permission.” I nodded, unable to trust myself to speak anymore. Then her arms were around me and all higher forms of thinking left my brain. She smelled like a mix of lavender perfume, motor oil and something that was just distinctly Asami.

“It’s so nice to finally see you in person!” She said, pulling away to look me in the eye.

“Looks like I owe Mako ten yuans.” I replied, smirking. He and I had made a bet on who was taller between Asami and I. The raven haired woman was definitely at least a couple inches taller, and she wasn’t even wearing heels. I suddenly became aware that her hands were still touching me, when she squeezed my biceps gently.

“And it looks like you weren’t kidding about being ripped.” She said with a shit eating grin. I blushed.

“Oh, y-you know...I-I just like putting in the time to take care of m-myself.” I stuttered, feeling the blush travel to my neck. She continued to stare at me with her radiant green eyes, and I felt like I could lose myself in them forever. I was thankfully saved from my reverie by my father’s booming voice.

“So, who’s hungry!”

—

The rest of the day was a blur: Once we finished breakfast with my parents, I took the Krew (the group name that Bolin insisted we go by) out into Harbor City. I showed them all of my favorite places to go, as well as nearly every tourist attraction I could think of. The whole time I kept stealing glances at Asami. Occasionally, I’d catch her staring at me already. She’d look away quickly, her pale cheeks turning red. Eventually the boys decided to return to the Palace, claiming to still be jet-lagged from the trip. Asami and I decided to take a walk down by the docks.

“I’m sorry for springing this on you, Korra.” She said, breaking the comfortable silence between us. “I know you’re not one for surprises-“

“It’s okay, ‘Sami, really it is.” I cut her off. I stepped before her, taking her hands in mine. “Besides, if you had told me your plan, I probably would’ve just come up with some excuse as to why you couldn’t come.” Asami stared down at me, green eyes twinkling.

“I know, and I honestly understand why you would.” She said softly, squeezing my hands. “But I just really wanted to meet you in person, and I’m so glad I did.”

“So am I.” I smiled. Spirits, if it was difficult to ignore my feelings towards her online, it was practically impossible to do so in person. Just tell her already! I thought. Sighing, I glanced around to make sure we were really alone, before looking back up into those brilliant green eyes that I loved so much. “I’ve actually been meaning to tell you something, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. And now that you’re here, I honestly wouldn’t forgive myself if-“ Asami interrupted my rambling by leaning down and pressing her lips against mine. Holy spirits, her lips were so soft! And warm! She broke away a second later, blushing furiously and frowning.

“Shit, I’m so sorry!” She said, taking back her hands. “I shouldn’t have done that, especially without asking first-“ Now it was my turn to interrupt her. Grabbing her hands, I pulled her against me and smiled.

“Just shut up and kiss me again, Sato.” And she did. The only thought in my mind, as our lips danced against each other, was that for the first time since my accident, my life was finally taking a turn for the better and it was all thanks to that damn computer.