i'd like to take you to a higher place, where we won't ever have to leave the ground

[unrestraint]

It starts off as just a thought. Not really something that's been on her mind regularly, and definitely not something she's ever pictured as being in her immediate future. Just an errant consideration after a long evening of feeling sick, and feeling cranky, and wandering through the still halls of the convenience store down the block. She picks up a few things — grapefruit soda, mint chewing gum, a small bag of rice and chicken stock for stew. Things that will cleanse her palate and keep her nausea under control.

A brisk walk down the drug aisle has her picking up anti-emetic medicine, and in the process of trying to make out what the many colored and shaped boxes are supposed to be for, she happens across it. A long, thin box, not at all intimidating or standing out from the others. An errant puzzle piece that possibly, just possibly fits in place with the pattern.

The cashier hesitates for only half a second when scanning the item, and for some reason, doesn't seem to meet Korra's gaze. Which is fine.

It's just a thought, anyway.

She almost forgets about it once she's back at the house. Time is one of those funny things that slips easily through her fingers if she isn't careful, and there's always something that needs to be taken care of now that they've moved into a bigger space. Naga needs a bath, and the kitchen needs to be tidied, and the trash needs to be taken out — which is no longer a trip down the hall, but instead a matter of dragging the cans out by the curb, where the collection truck will see as it drives down the road. By the time she finds the three minutes she needs in the bathroom, it's practically when Naruto is due home, and Korra's biggest concern is whether or not he had the forethought to bring something home for dinner, or if she has to start thinking about what she can do with what's in the fridge.

Until she glances at the test she's carelessly left on the counter, finding two pink lines down the tiny window in the center.

Frowning, Korra reaches for the box, her skin buzzing uncertainly as she rereads the instructions on the back and finds herself a seat on the couch. It doesn't sink in. Can't, really, without someone else there to ground the moment.

Naga huffs slightly as she pads into the room, laying herself parallel to the couch and staring up at Korra. Korra stares back, pulling one knee up to her chest.

"Don't tell me that you knew all along and just couldn't find a way to tell me."

Comments

[outfoxy]

"Knew what?" Naruto asks from the kitchen, sliping in the still mostly spartan house with the jangle of keys and the rustle of a brown paper bag, full of leftovers from the noodle shop. He usually worked the late shift, which wasn't awful. 'Late' was only until around 10pm, which left plenty of time before bed, and also left plenty of time in the morning for sluggish wakers like Naruto.

Setting the food down on the table, he breezes into the living room to find Korra sitting on the couch, Naga beside her wearing a quizzical expression. The TV isn't on. He starts wondering.

"Is everything ... okay?" he asks. Something about the tableau seems off-model, for reasons he can't even consciously put into words. It's simply a strangeness that his intuition tells him is there. She's too stiff.

"Korra?" he asks, leaning in to press a kiss against her warm cheek.