steps in a journey

[anatural]

WHO: Korra & Hei
WHAT: A break from suffering for a little adorable.

[Korra lies back on the roof of the airship and lets out a heavy sigh of relief. Finally, some peace and quiet. When they'd started out on their journey, Korra had thought Asami's airship was ridiculously huge for their little party, but after two months of traveling, Korra's pretty sure a continent wouldn't give her enough space from Tenzin.

Surprisingly, her mentor hadn't exploded when he found out about the pregnancy. You’re not seventeen anymore, I know that, he'd told her. You’re only a few years younger than Pema was when Jinora was born. Korra thought she'd gotten off the hook, but Tenzin's relentless fretting was even worse than his explosive temper. It got even worse after she told Mako, Bolin, and Asami; the two brothers immediately teamed up with the air bending master to nanny her to death. They hadn't stopped fussing at her until Master Katara came aboard and asked how many times they'd been pregnant. As if to make up for the boys' fussiness, Asami's been laser-focused on their mission to find new air benders. And Hei...

She sighs. Hei is Hei. The eternally confusing, mind-breaking mess that she finds herself loving more and more despite everything. She wonders how long it will take him to hunt her down.]

Comments

[anatural]

[Funny. I used to be the same. Isn't she still? Would she continue to love Hei like she does if he suddenly got easy to love? She doesn't know. She doesn't think about it. He keeps talking, and she rests her hand on his arm and squeezes reassuringly. As close as they've gotten, it's still a surprise and a thrill when he opens up to her without a screaming fight preceding it.]

We can do this. I know it's not going to be easy, but look at what we've already done. And we've got people on our side. We've got this.

[mortemscintilla]

[ It's still not easy for him to open up, not when there's nothing to be gained from it.. Not when he still views the world through the red divides of that killer, born in South America and propelled by bloodshed and warfare into ruthless maturity, who doesn't quite fit into a civilized world. Doesn't know how to have an exchange where the motive isn't to get the advantage somehow. Where honesty isn't the cover for a lie. ]

[ But he finds himself wanting to give her that honesty, because it will be something real, a level of truth most go their entire lives without confronting, always content to hide behind their social masks and deep-seated delusions. Her words suffuse him with something soft, buoyant, that makes him think of marshmallows shaped like the dumb sweet dreams of children, ready to be stabbed with sticks. ]

I hope so.

[ He doesn't mean it dubiously or dryly -- he means it genuinely, a plain kind of acknowledgement. Because he's terrified and skeptical and blindsided, but he also knows all there is to know about having something in your life you'll die for. Holding Korra against him, he reminds himself over and over he's lucky to share any aspect of this girl's life, no matter how big or small. And a quieter, more logical voice reminds him that if this all goes smash, at least he'll walk away knowing that, for at least a brief moment in time, he was happier than he ever deserved to be. ]