Icy Beginnings

Chapter 6

Korra ate a few fruits and decided a nap would be nice. Her sleep was as uneventful as usual. Korra awoke, though to Asami nudging her awake.

 "I swear, every time I see you, you're asleep." Asami joked.

"Well there's nothing else to do around here but to sleep."

"Then you haven't been around a lot have you?"  Asami held out a hand.

"Come on, get out of bed and go freshen up so we can go pick out a dress for you. If we have enough time when we're done I'll take you to do something fun. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great but uhh, what do you mean by freshen up?"

Asami put her hands on her hips sassily. "Go wash up and change your clothed. You smell like you've been sweating.

"Well I did a little exercising this morning."

"Exactly."

Korra sighed exasperatingly. She didn't smell bad in her opinion but Asami was the girly one so Korra supposed she would know. She pulled a new set of clothes and threw them on.

Next she washed her face. She came out of the bathroom and huffed. "Am I acceptable now, Asami?"

 The girl in question grinned. "Yes. Yes, yes you are, Avatar Korra. Now let's go!" She pulled her by the hand and together they were off.

 There was of course a guard trailing behind them but Korra tried to ignore it. The place Asami brought her to seemed to stick out compared to the other businesses around it. It had a huge glass storefront, something everything around it lacked. There were manequins on display, all dressed in the most modern fashions. The sign on front read, "Sato Boutique".

Korra turned to give Asami a begrudged look. "Really? You brought me to your own boutique?"

"Well I'm the only one who supplies modern fashion. Now, in." Together they entered.

The store wasn't particularly large but it was big enough. Asami greeted the store clerk who seemed to be a local girl wearing particularly fashionable clothing. It must have been the uniform. Everything looked far too expensive for any average person to shop at.

"Asami do you ever get any customers?" Korra asked.

"What do you mean, of course I do. They're mainly the richer more distinguished people though. It's not much but I'm okay with it."

"So how do you make a living?"

"Well this isn't my living for one thing. Really, I'm only leasing the place and paying workers to make clothes. I'm not actually buying them at ridiculous prices. And between you and me, I donate most of the clothes to charity. I have a special children's line that I send to the orphanage."

"Really? That's kind of you."

"Well my father is rich. I felt that if I was going to spend money on a project like this I was going to make sure others benifitted from it. Now come on. I need you to try on the clothes I picked out for you."

Korra followed. "I'm coming." She groaned.

It felt like hours as Asami had her try on different pairs of clothing.

Korra had no sense of style so she just nodded absently and agreed with whatever Asami had to say. Eventually a dress was chosen and then the accesories were much easier to pick out.

When they finally were done, Korra was more than ready to go home but Asami had different plans for her. "Have you been around town, Korra?"

"Well not really."

"Let me show you around then!"

Together they walked around and looked at different memorials, sites and stores. This, Korra enjoyed far more than picking out clothes. When Asami asked her if there was anywhere in particular she wanted to go, Korra knew exactly the place. She had promised Pana that she'd come back and she wasn't about to back out on that promise.

"You went to a diner?" Asami asked, somewhat surprised.

 "Yeah I accidently found it when I got lost and I didn't get to try any of the food but I met a friend and I told her I'd come back." Korra slowed down. "I mean if you don't mind paying. I have no money."

"Don't worry, Korra. Money isn't a problem. Besides, I'd really like to meet your friend."

Korra smiled and dragged Asami throught he streets until they found a place that was familiar and from there she found her way back.

The diner was far more empty than it was before. In fact it practically was empty beside for one person. Korra moved to a seat and sat down. A waiter was quick to come to take her order. Asami told her she could order anything. Korra looked up to the menu and decided and the seaweed noodles and a glass of milk. Asami was about to order a salad and some water but Korra nudged her to try something different and she got the same as her. After they ordered, Korra asked the waitress, "Do you know if Pana is in?"

"No, she doesn't have her shift today."

"Oh, then thank you."

Korra frowned. She had really been looking forward to seeing Pana.

"I'm sorry your friend's not here today, Korra. We can come back some other times, alright?"

Korra nodded. "Yeah I guess."

Together they enjoyed their meal. Asami enjoyed the noodles and applauded Korra on her taste. They had just finished and were about to leave when a slice of cake was delivered to their booth.

"But we didn't order this."

"No, but he did." The waitress' eyes flickered to the man in the booth at the very end.

"Oh then it must be for you then, Asami." Korra nudged the cake towards her.

The waitress laughed. "No darling, this one is definitely for you. He said it was for the Southern Water Tribe girl and I know the pattern on those arm bands aren't Northern water tribe."

Korra blushed. She'd never expected anyone would like her enough to buy her something.

"Can you tell him thank you for me, please?"

"Sure thing."

Korra decided to split the cake with Asami who protested at first but gave in eventually.

The cake was strawberry, a fruit she wondered how they grew here. "It was very nice."

"Mmm Korra, you may have made me break my diet but it was so worth it." Korra laughed.

"I'm glad to be of service." They had paid and were making their way out when Korra noticed the man was still there. She told Asami to wait up and to deliver the message to the guard outside. He looked somewhat alarmed at Korra's message but stayed outside where he had been the whole time regardless.

Korra walked up to the man's booth. He sat alone with a cup of coffee and a newspaper.

"Um, hi." Korra smiled.

The man looked over his newspaper and upon seeing who was trying to talk to him, he neatly folded the newspaper and rest on the table beside him. "Hello."

Korra was surprised to see that the man was younger than she expected. Probably around Asami's age, she decided. "I'd just like to say thank you for the cake."

"It's nothing. I saw a beautiful girl and decided to treat her to something beautiful."

Korra blushed. "Well it was appreciated very much. My name is Korra by the way."

"What a beautiful name. It suits you."

Korra's blush deepened. "Thank you."

"There's no need to keep thanking me. It's nice to meet you Korra. My name is Noatak."