CHAPTER WARNINGS: homophobia, pregnancy, cunnilingus, blindfolds, strap-on sex, Bending sex.

~ o ~

The next morning, despite Korra's terrible hangover, it was apparent that she needed to drag her ass out of bed. "I am never drinking puki again," she grumbled hoarsely as she trudged into the bathroom and immediately brushed her teeth three times. Then after a shower and about seven cups of strong tea she agreed to climb into Asami's car and go to the police station.

"Drive slow, okay?" Korra sighed, Bending a bit of tea from the cup in her hand and freezing it against her palm so she could ice her throbbing head.

Chuckling, Asami took the sunglasses from her face with her free hand and passed them over in Korra's direction. "Do you need these to keep the sunlight out?"

"No thanks," Korra replied, gently waving the glasses away. "I'd rather just close my eyes until we get there. Ohhhh man...I...I really mean it when I say I'm never gonna drink puki again..."

When they arrived at the police station, they had only to walk in the front door before an officer escorted them to see the chief. Apparently she'd been waiting for them with a watch on standby. When they entered her office, Chief Beifong stood up behind her desk. "Finally! It's about time. We've got a serious situation on our hands. I believe that...oh, my...Avatar, what the hell happened to you? You look terrible."

"Thanks, Chief," Korra grunted. "Now what's going on?"

Beifong raised an eyebrow, but she continued. "Very well. Then listen up. Almost all the mercury in the world comes from the Fire Nation, and so its purchase is easily traceable through port shipping records. For the past three weeks, an unknown person, or persons operating under one alias, have been purchasing the daily legal limit of mercury in port. Someone in Republic City has a huge amount of mercury on their hands...much, much more than was in that bomb."

"So you're saying," Asami began slowly, "is that... there will be more bombings like those if we can't find the people responsible for this."

That was a dark possibility indeed. Bad enough for them to bomb one part of the city, to send a "message", whatever that message was supposed to be. But to already be planning more bombs? And when would they stop? Were they ever planning to?

"That is exactly what I'm saying," replied Beifong. "Now at the moment we have no idea who or where these terrorists might be. My undercover police are discreetly scanning the city for any unusual metallic signatures. Some technology from Future Industries could quickly expedite that search." She nodded towards Asami, asking for help in her own way.

"And Korra," she said, turning a little skeptically towards the worn-looking Avatar. "I know enough about Spirits to know that this kind of aggression is bound to upset them. I need to count on you to keep the people of Republic City safe from angry Spirits."

"In that case," Korra replied. "The first thing you should do is make the area around the Spirit Portal, and all areas with Spirit vines, off limits."

"Agreed," Asami put in. "It's unfortunate, but the park must be closed until further notice. It's up to you if you want to inform the public of the danger, or simply say it's for construction reasons. I was going to put forth a proposal for some new roadways that could serve as a ready excuse if you'd prefer to keep this under wraps for the time being."

"That's not a bad idea," Beifong admitted. "Very well. Get those construction plans underway as soon as possible. I'll speak to President Raiko and the city planning board to make sure there aren't any obstacles. Meanwhile, I'll have my officers close off those areas."

"Good start," Korra said with a nod. "Also, if you get any weird police reports or calls from the public that just...don't make sense, based on the rules of our world? Then you should give me a call, because it's probably Spirit stuff."

That did bring Asami out of her reverie. "You think the Spirits would do that? Possess people and make calls into the station?"

"Well, maybe," said Korra. "That wasn't really what I meant. Just that people might see or hear or do really...strange things." She shot Asami a glance before nodding firmly towards Beifong. "Just...be incredibly vigilant."

"Don't worry," Asami continued, "I'll coordinate with Reiko as soon as possible with construction. This will kill two birds with one stone — and hopefully no Spirits or civilians."

Korra nodded her agreement. In truth it tempting just to say "are we done here?" Her head was throbbing, her whole body ached and felt like jelly...all she wanted was to climb back into bed.

"Good," Lin continued. "Then that will be all. Remain vigilant, both of you; and Korra, do what you can to keep the peace among the Spirits."

"You got it, Chief," Korra replied with feigned enthusiasm as they stood and left the station.

"Oh boy," Asami sighed as they reached the car. She held the door open for Korra, knowing she would be in need of such consideration for the rest of the day. "Looks like we're in for more Avatar-level trouble, aren't we?"

"Since we weren't already," Korra grumbled, flopping down into the car and covering her face with her hands again. "Uuuugh...why can't people just...stop trying to ruin everything for a while?!"

Sighing, Asami rounded the car and got in, starting the engine before she answered. "You're right, it does seem like we hardly catch a break. And even though Republic City enjoyed a few months with no trouble, we didn't get that benefit. It's really unfortunate." Tilting her head slightly, she tried to catch Korra's eyes but they were still buried in hands. "Seriously, you can tap the Airbenders to handle this for a while if you're not up to it. No one would fault you after saving the world four or five times now."

Korra shook her head. "No, I can't...because they would fault me for it. Don't you see? Only you and the people who know me really see me as an actual person, with limits...to everyone else, I'm just the Avatar. And the Avatar doesn't get to take breaks."

"Oh, Korra..." Asami took her hand off the gear shift and leaned over to embrace her lover. "You do have a responsibility to them, I understand. But you can't run yourself down until you croak. Just... do what you can, and let the rest of us take up the slack. Doctor Sato's orders."

Korra could help but crack a wry smile. "Doctor Sato, huh?" she replied. "Yeah, okay. I'll take it easy today at least. No problem there." She leaned back in her seat and sighed, wiping her eyes as Asami started up the car.

Once they had pulled onto the roadway, Asami cleared her throat and said, "In fact, while I was on my way home yesterday, I picked up some essential oils if you'd... like a massage? Might help work that hangover out of your system faster."

"That actually sounds really nice," Korra replied. Even through her hangover, she managed a wolfish grin. "I'm happy to lay around while you rub me."

"Oh, I know that pretty well," Asami laughed. "For the savior of the world, you're pretty lazy."

Korra snorted. "Lazy? Save the world four times and they call you lazy... that's gratitude for ya."

~ o ~

Back at the mansion, Korra headed right upstairs and into Asami's room, taking off her clothes and flopping onto the bed with a sigh and a groan. "My head wants to explode," she grumbled into the pillow.

Smirking, Asami set down the oils she had retrieved from the bag on the bedside table. "I highly doubt it actually will explode." Petting her shoulder, she asked, "How about I turn on the radio? There's a smooth razz station somewhere on the dial, I stumbled across it the other day. Might help you relax."

"Sounds good," Korra replied, voice muffled against the pillow. She heard the click of the radio, the sliding static of searching channels...and finally the soft, sultry tones of mellow razz. "Mmmmmmph... yeah, I like that. S'nice."

"I'm glad." Asami began to oil up her hands, then drizzled a bit onto the middle of Korra's back. "I just want you to think about nothing, nothing at all. I'm sure you're used to this kind of thing from Avatar training."

"I'm good at thinking of nothing," Korra replied, turning her head to the side and gazing lovingly at Asami as she began working the oil into her back. Spirits, it felt magnificent...and the smell even made her feel like her headache was waning! "Maaaannnnn that feels good," the Avatar sighed.

Humming quietly along with the music, Asami pressed her thumbs in harder along the spine, relishing the feeling of Korra's taut muscles. Yes, she was working to loosen them, but that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to enjoy the ride until the massage was over.

Pregnant. The two of them were going to be three eventually. She still wasn't absolutely sure if the idea excited or terrified her; perhaps a bit of both. But she did know with absolute certainty that if there were anyone in the world she wanted to create new life with, it was the woman quietly moaning under her fingertips. She had no regrets.

Korra tensed and relaxed and twitched a little as Asami's thumbs worked firmly into the muscles of her back. She could lay like that forever, feeling her lover's hands on her back, listening to pretty music...

Then, suddenly, the music began to cut out. Then there was a moment of static, followed by a heavily-distorted voice.

"Citizens of Republic City, listen well," the voice droned dispassionately. "Spirits and humans were never meant to live side by side. Enough is enough! This is why we attacked the apartment building near the Spirit Portal...and we intend to do more, until this plague of Spirits is eliminated. The blathering fool that you people call the Avatar is leading our world straight down the path to destruction. First, she opened the Portals, and now she publicly gallivants her unnatural love affair with the new head of Future Industries. I say to you, people of Republic City, the Avatar shall lead you to ruin! Join the Restorationists, and together will shall rid our world of the plague of Spirits!"

Another burst of static, and the radio was back to its normal self, playing smooth razz over the soft noise of background interference. Korra sat bolt upright, completely taken aback.

"Did you hear that?!"

Asami's eyes were slits as they glared at the radio. "Oh, I heard it. I heard every last disgusting syllable." Both of her hands curled into fists, oil dripping down from them onto the bedsheets. "There probably isn't anyone in Republic City who missed that."

"It's like Amon all over again," Korra murmured in shock. "Oh, Spirits... Asami, I can't do this right now! RRRGH!"

For once, however, Asami wasn't able to be the voice of reason. She was too furious with them, too irate. But it was for a different reason than Korra was angry.

"Who... gave them the right to question my relationship with you? To make a public spectacle of it?!" Picking up one of the jars of oil, Asami threw it with deadly accuracy at the radio, knocking it onto its back. It continued to play, but with slightly more static on the airwaves than before. Chest heaving, she merely glared at it, unable to speak further.

Korra winced as the jar of oil shattered all over the table and knocked the radio over. She'd never seen Asami so angry. Pulling herself upright, the Avatar wrapped her arms around her lover and whispered, "Hey. It's gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay." She wished she could believe her own words, but she didn't know what else to say.

"They had no right!" Asami was growling into Korra's shoulder, shaking visibly. "Play their petty games with spirits, blow things up — that is wrong and ignorant, but we'll stop them like we always do! But this? This can't be fixed! Everyone knows now — and the first thing they heard publicly about it is someone calling us 'unnatural'! We might as well go fuck in the streets like dogs, it's the same thing, now!"

Korra realized with dismay that Asami was right, at least in part. Now everyone in Republic City would know about them...and most of them probably agreed that their union was 'unnatural.'

"I don't care what they think," Korra lied softly, rubbing Asami's back as she held her close. "I care about you. Okay? That's all. It doesn't matter what they say. We'll show the world that we were meant to be together."

For another minute or so, Asami merely quaked with rage as Korra tried to calm her. Then she began to breathe. In, then out. At length, she pulled back just enough to kiss Korra's cheek.

"You are right. I know you are, I just... didn't expect to have to deal with this. Not immediately." Biting her lip, she turned to stare over at the radio. "And I'm being selfish. People's lives are at stake. Spirits. In the long run, our comfort and privacy are nothing compared to that."

"It feels like it's the most important thing though," Korra admittedly agreed. She returned the small kiss from her lover. "Well...best-case scenario, we can teach Republic City to be more open minded. And worst-case...we can just...move somewhere else, I guess? I mean, that wouldn't be easy, but...as long as we have each other, I think we could make it work."

"But I don't want to move anywhere! This is my home, and they won't drive me from it!" Then she adjusted her shirt and turned to the radio. Striding over to the table, she picked up Korra's discarded shirt and used it to mop up the mess she'd caused, brushing the shattered remnants of the jar into the waste basket. "Well. If we're going to start opening their minds, we're going to start immediately. I'll call a press conference. If they want to fire questions at me, they can do so, but not in a restaurant when we're trying to have a good time!"

Korra raised an eyebrow. "A press conference? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Her mind flashed back to the many times she'd had to deal with the press. "They're really pushy, and they ask these weird leading questions that you can't even answer because the answer is kind of in the question, and..."

"Oh, I know how they are, Korra. Thank you for looking out for me, but... these 'Restorationists' have already decided that our relationship is open to public scrutiny." Taking a deep breath, she sighed and turned to regard her lover. "I'm going to go in explaining our construction plan, but I'm also going to prepare for questions about us. I won't run and hide. Maybe they're used to me being meek and level-headed, but I'm also not a coward. If they want to ask, they'll get answers — just maybe not ones they'll particularly enjoy."

"Okay," Korra said a bit apprehensively. "Well, in that case...would you mind if I'm there with you? I won't interfere or say anything if you don't want me to. I just feel like I should be there. You know?"

That did help Asami's expression soften. "I wouldn't have it any other way. You're my rock, you know that?"

Her "rock" smiled, her eyes lighting up like festival lanterns. "And you are my sunshine," she replied, embracing her lover and kissing her gently on the lips. "Asami, I know we haven't been together long, but now that we are, I can't picture my life without you."

"My life doesn't exist without you," she told her honestly. It sounded like hyperbole, but Asami meant it from the bottom of her heart. "Now... I'll understand if you don't want to get back to that massage. Plus I broke the rose oil all over the place during my tantrum, and I liked the smell of it more than the hemp oil."

Korra paused for thought. "I mean...yeah, the mood's gone." She smiled and rolled her eyes. "But...maybe I should give you a massage. You look like you're the one who could use it now."

Asami did think that over. She was tempted to say that she didn't want one, either, but thought it might be just as good for Korra to do something with her hands right now as it would be for herself to be forced into relaxing. A distraction to keep them from thinking in circles and lashing out at each other.

"Alright," she sighed as she began to unbutton her shirt. "But I'm... sorry if I don't seem very appreciative at first. You'll know why that is."

"I understand," Korra replied softly. "You're stressed." She reached out and helped Asami remove her shirt. "You've got a lot on your... oh, wow."

Gazing down to admire her lover's body, Korra noticed something different; there was a tiny, almost-imperceptible roundness to her lower belly that hadn't been there yesterday. Anyone who didn't see her naked, and often, wouldn't notice a difference...but the Avatar did.

"Look," she whispered, placing her hand over the small bulge.

Then Asami's pained, pinched smile turned to one of serenity in an instant. If not for what they just heard, the fact that she was already showing approximately a week after they conceived would have distressed her. Now? It was the only silver lining to an otherwise awful day.

"Our sweet angel," she whispered, her own hand resting atop Korra's. "Miracle of miracles."

Korra nodded. Perhaps, despite her fears, this baby would turn out to be the miracle they needed. She leaned down and pressed her lips gently against the soft skin of her lover's belly. "A sweet angel. Just like its mother." Then she smiled up at Asami. "Here...lay down."

After pulling away Asami's shirt, and carefully unhooking and removing her brassiere, she laid her lover down on her back and poured some of the earthy-smelling oil onto her hands. Leaning over Asami, she began gently massaging her shoulders and neck. "How's that feel?" she whispered.

"Mmmmm," Asami groaned, rolling her head from side to side slightly before it settled in a position perpendicular to her shoulders. Those calloused fingers had enough strength in them to definitely do the job they were being asked to accomplish. "Yeah, Korra... it's good, thank you..."

"Heh...don't thank me yet," Korra teased gently. When it felt as though the tension was leaving Asami's shoulders, her oiled hands moved lower, cupping her breasts and massaging them carefully in her palms. They somehow seemed firmer beneath her hands.

At first, Asami merely glowered at Korra playfully. "That feels good, but it's not exactly working on my muscles, Korra." But the more she kneaded, the harder it was for Asami to want to protest. Having them moved so gently was pleasant indeed.

"Feels good to me, too," she teased with a wolfish grin. "Mmmmmm...Spirits, you are so hot, Asami..." She gave those perfect pink nipples a gentle tweak. Then one of her hands wandered lower, ever so tenderly massaging the rounded part of her belly. "Even with...I mean...when I forget how nervous and freaked out this makes me, the idea of my baby inside you is...actually pretty hot."

That, however, made both of Asami's eyebrows go up. "What do you mean? How is me being pregnant 'hot'?" When she felt Korra's hands stop moving, she hastily added, "Not that I'm saying it's a bad thing. I'm just... confused."

Korra blushed a little, going back to her gentle massage. "Well, I...I'm not really sure. I guess it's because...it makes me think about how I put it in you? And... oh, I don't know, I just like it."

"Oh..." The blushing told Asami that at the very least, Korra was unsure of why it inspired this reaction in her. Thinking about it only made her feel a bit odd that they were being intimate when there was technically another person