route_1065 | So Time Is Stolen...

Who: Korra and OPEN
Where: Ecruteak
When: Oct 18th
Summary: Korra arrives in the city!
Rating: PG, probably!
Log:

There it was.

Ecruteak. She'd known she was getting close, but now it loomed directly ahead of her and she was almost there.

Korra took a deep breath and pedaled faster, Iqniq bouncing happily in the basket on the handlebar of her bike. It had taken way too long to get here. After the first few days, the gloss of shiny newness wore off and the need to get to Asami had only grown. The days were filled with travel and battling wild Pokemon, but the nights...

Dozens of different thoughts ran through her head as she lay in her sleeping bag and stared at unfamiliar skies. She'd lost memories again. Asami had been here over a year. There were so many things still fresh and raw for Korra that were now over a year gone for the other woman. And there was Elsa. Who Korra was excited to meet face to face, but she kept going back to what Asami had told her. She hoped it wasn't awkward. She really liked Elsa, and she knew what it was like to be in her position.

Now she was here. After weeks of only seeing Asami through the gear thing, she'd finally made it. Her heart was racing in her chest as she pulled up to the inn, her bike wheels skidding as she slammed the brakes. The bike swung low and Iqniq leaped out of the basket with a bark.

"Here we are, guys." Her still-unnamed Sentret chirped from her backpack and buried deeper down into it. That had been a little too much quick zipping through city streets for the little Pokemon's tastes. Korra took a deep breath and pulled out her 'gear, to let Asami know she was here.

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Korra was barely off of her bike when the door of the hotel flew open. It clattered to the ground, forgotten and ignored. The grin that split her face at hearing Asami call her name was so wide it nearly hurt her cheeks. For a moment, everything else was completely irrelevant.

There was no hollow under-sound to Asami's voice now, like there always was on the video talks. She was right there and Korra lunged forward to meet her hug, sweeping Asami into her arms and lifting her right off the ground.

She'd been waiting to do this for weeks.

Asami didn't even bother to contain herself. She laughed openly when Korra scooped her straight off the ground. Her solid strength had become so familiar; it was one of the things Asami had missed the most. It was another moment before she spoke, voice muted with emotion as she hung on.

"I can't believe you're here."

"That took way too long."

Korra just held Asami, burying her face in her hair with her heart beating rapidly in her throat. It had been a lonely trip from New Bark to Ecruteak, and it was suddenly hitting her just how lonely it had been.

Finally, she lowered Asami back to the ground and drew back slightly, enough to breathe and actually look at the other woman. But she didn't let go. Not yet.

Asami stood still, smiling down at Korra. It was one thing to talk to her over the gear, another entirely to actually see her and... hold onto her.

It was a little weird to think about, that she'd forgotten. Asami had to consider a lot of things. Normally, 'hello's came with a quick kiss. Right now...

"I missed you so much."

"I didn't think two weeks could go by that slowly."

And growing up in an isolated compound in the middle of a frozen tundra, Korra knew a thing or two about sluggish time.

She beamed up at Asami, anxious and oddly hesitant at once. Would it be weird to kiss her? It shouldn't be, she didn't think. Korra'd quickly slipped into the habit of kissing her fingertips and pressing them to the gear screen when saying goodnight. But there was that missing time...

Her hands were on the small of Asami's back and she let them drift up, her forearms pressing against the other woman.

"I'm so glad you're here." In this world, in her arms, in her life at all...

"You too." Asami's arms fell naturally around Korra's shoulders, but she reached up to gently tuck Korra's hair behind her ear.

She gave into dipping her head, bringing her face close and keeping her eyes on Korra's as she silently asked permission. This was the first one, for Korra.

That sealed it. Not weird at all. The exact opposite, as they fell into a stance that just felt natural.

Korra brought her face up and brought her lips right up to Asami's, still smiling wide enough to break her face. She'd thought about this, so many times. Not just in the last two weeks, either.

Her own eyes didn't leave Asami's when she closed that fraction of space between them.

Asami had told herself that she would be careful and slow, but she couldn't contain a sigh as she sank into the kiss a touch more deeply than she had told herself she would. She had waited so long for Korra to come back the first time, then it had felt like they had no time at all before she was gone again. Republic City hadn't been the same. Johto hadn't been the same.

Her hands came to rest flat on Korra's back as she held on. It would dawn on her eventually that they were in public, but just... give her a moment.

Korra didn't care at all that they were right out front of the Ecruteak hotel. This place probably saw all kinds of emotional reunions, and she'd been waiting half a month to finally kiss her girlfriend. A little thing like passersby wasn't going to make any difference.

She held Asami close, returning the kiss with equal enthusiasm. She'd missed so many little things she hadn't realized, like the way Asami smelled - slightly different here, a new shampoo or soap or something, but it was like a nice little surprise.

Now that she was here, she really didn't want to let go.

It was a bit of a while before Asami backed away, resting her forehead lightly on Korra's and still remaining close.

"I missed you." She couldn't quite remember if she was repeating herself.

Korra nodded once and her throat felt a little too tight all of a sudden. It hadn't even been that long for her, but it still felt like ages. And the thought of Asami, on her own, missing her...

"You don't have to anymore." She couldn't exactly promise she wasn't going anywhere this time, but for the moment, she was right here. They were right here.

"And we even get our magical trip to a whole new world."

"This time, I know how it all works," she said with a playful smirk.

"Don't eat the berries." A chuckle, at that.

"I think I might have heard something about that..." Korra laughed. It just felt so good to be standing here with Asami in her arms. It felt right. That wasn't something she'd felt with someone else before. It was more than just feeling good, or nice, or satisfying. It felt natural - like breathing or bending.

"You'll have to show me everything. Where's your favorite place to go here in Ecruteak?"

"I definitely will. There's a pretty big theater district in town. A lot... higher brow than Varrick Industries movers, anyway," she said with a little laugh.

She couldn't believe it had been so long since being in Republic City.

"I'd like to see that!" Still, Korra couldn't bring herself to actually let go of Asami. "Why don't we go see something? Tonight, after I settle in and meet everybody and everything."

Because while she did want to slip off for some much needed one-on-one time with Asami, she didn't want to immediately show up and steal her away. Or start jumping right into serious topics that would definitely need to be brought up before too much longer as soon as they had a chance. There were things that needed to be talked about, but... a few more days wasn't going to make any difference.

"I think we're way overdue a date."

"We definitely are," Asami agreed. She dipped to press a quick kiss to the corner of Korra's mouth before straightening back to full height.

"You want me to let you go so you can go meet everyone?"

So Time Is Stolen...

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