Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
It's really only a matter of time before they meet each other again.
Their reunion takes place three weeks after their breakup - a surprisingly long amount of time, honestly speaking. It's obvious that they've been actively avoiding each other.
But in a world of mutual friends and interconnecting jobs, one can only avoid the other for so long. So when they meet each other on the streets of Republic City one day, while Mako is heading to work and Korra is headed to City Hall, they are both surprised, even though they shouldn't be.
They're too close to each other and the street is too narrow for them to keep walking on, pretending like they haven't noticed the other (which is probably what they would've done), so they stop several feet apart, staring at the sidewalk.
"Hey there." Korra is the first to speak, as always.
"Hey." Mako's voice comes out raspy and hoarse, and he coughs in his hand to clear it. He stuffs his hands in the pockets of his uniform pants, despite the fact that it is summer in Republic City and his palms are already sweaty.
"I haven't seen you in a while." Her voice is unusually high-pitched and her words are sharp and clipped.
"Yeah," is all Mako says.
Pathetic. It is so pathetic, the way things have played out. They have saved the world together, they have saved each other's lives, they have loved each other so much they have destroyed themselves.
They have done all this, but now they can't even have one normal conversation together.
"Um, sorry, but I really have to get going," Korra apologizes, biting her lip and looking up. "I'm already late for a meeting."
Mako looks into her eyes and is dumbfounded for a few moments before he blinks himself out of his trance.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Me too," he replies, averting his gaze towards the space above her ear. "It was nice seeing you."
She gives him a small smile that turns his stomach into knots and his heart beat twice as fast in return.
"Same. I'll see you around, Mako," she says, waving her hand and walking off.
(She is always the first to leave.)
The next time they meet is two weeks later.
(It's a sort of stupid game for the two - how long can they go without crossing paths - and of course, they are miserable at it.)
This time it's Bolin's fault.
"Korra?" Mako asks, closing the door to the apartment. He's home early today, courtesy of Beifong's insistence. She's gotten too soft on him. It's a little unsettling. "Why are you here?"
She's laying on the couch with her head on the armrest, and she looks too comfortable and it's all too familiar and it makes him sick to his stomach.
"Bolin told me to drop by," Korra explains, sitting upright, and both Mako and Korra glare at the said earthbender. "He said you weren't going to be home."
They don't even acknowledge the insult behind this.
"I didn't know you were going to get home so early," Bolin defends, shifting uncomfortably at the sudden change of atmosphere in the room.
"It's like, ten o'clock," Korra states, looking at the small clock hanging above the couch.
"He usually gets home at eleven," Bolin replies matter-of-factly.
Korra's eyes grow wide.
"Eleven? Are you serious?" she asks, looking at Mako in disbelief.
Mako sighs softly and wishes that his little brother could just keep his damn mouth shut sometimes.
"I've got a lot of stuff to take care of at the station," he explains, placing his helmet on the table.
"That can't be good for your health, Mako," Korra tells him, and Mako wants to be angry at her for acting like she cares, but he knows that she's being completely genuine and he can't be mad at her no matter how hard he tries. (This is a fact.)
"I'm okay," he dismisses, heading into the kitchen to fix himself something to eat. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."
He silently hopes that Korra will just leave, because being within such close proximity of her can't be good for him at all.
Then, as if the spirits above are playing some sick trick on him, Korra gets up off the couch and stands in the entrance of the kitchen, and Mako almost laughs because of course she would.
"I do worry about you," she tells him. Her voice is too quiet and soft and it's all slightly unnerving.
He exhales deeply and pushes the noodles around on the skillet, trying to avoid talking to her for as long as possible.
"Don't." It is so, so simple.
"Look, just because we're not - together - anymore," Korra says, and her words make Mako wince, "doesn't mean I can't be worried about you. You're still my friend. And I still-"
Don't. Don't say it.
"Care about you a lot," she finishes lamely, and Mako is relieved and heartbroken all at the same time.
"Well, thank you, but honestly, don't worry about me. I'm doing just fine. I have a lot more responsibility now that I'm detective, but it's nothing that I can't handle." He transfers the noodles from the wok to a small plate and glances up at her.
"Do you want some?" After all this time, Mako knows that food will get her to shut up.
Korra looks at the plate once and grins sheepishly and Mako swears that he doesn't know how he's going to deal the next time she smiles because honestly, this whole ordeal has gotten slightly out of hand.
"Yeah," she admits, even though he's positive that she and Bolin have already eaten the equivalent of two dinners.
He manages to throw a pathetic excuse of a smile at her as he places two plates down on the small dining table.
"Where'd Bolin go?" Mako asks, noticing the lack of his brother's voice.
"Huh, that's weird," Korra says, sitting down in a chair, "he was just there."
Mako makes a mental note to exact revenge on his little brother in some form, because he's sure that Bolin has left him alone with Korra on purpose.
The two sit and eat in uncomfortable silence until Korra finishes with her plate and thanks Mako for the meal.
"I miss your cooking a lot," she tells him, and although it seems like a simple statement on the surface, it is so, so much more than that.
"I've been living off of takeout and awful vegetarian food ever since-" she pauses. "I tried to cook once, but that didn't really go too well."
Mako can't help but laugh at the image of Korra attempting to cook that appears in his mind.
"I'm surprised you're still alive to tell the tale," he says, chuckling softly.
"Don't mock me," Korra tells him, frowning and crossing her arms.
"Don't be a such a baby," he replies, going into the kitchen and cleaning their plates.
For a moment, it is almost as if they are them again, and Mako remembers the times like these where Korra would sneak up behind him and wrap her arms around his waist and-
He forces the memory out of his mind. It is the past. That them is in the past. Now, they are hardly even friends. Now, they can barely look each other in the eye.
Now, they are strangers.
"It's getting pretty late," Mako notes, drying off the dishes and putting them back in the cabinet.
Korra looks at him in surprise for a few seconds, and then nods.
"Yeah-it's- I should probably get going," she agrees, the words tumbling out of her mouth. She begins to walk towards the door.
"Be careful," he tells her as she puts on her boots.
"Don't worry about me," she replies, echoing the words he said to her just a short while ago. She stands up and turns to open the door, then pauses and turns back to face him.
"Hey, Mako?"
"Yeah?" She is so close to him, he could just reach out and take her by the hand and-
"Um. Say uh, bye to Bolin for me."
"Oh. Yeah, sure," Mako replies, swallowing hard. "Bye, Korra." He reaches out and opens the door for her.
She smiles weakly at him in gratitude and steps out the apartment.
"Bye, Mako."
Three weeks later they see each other again. It is progress or retrogress, depending on how you look at it.
This time, they meet at a party being held for Asami's birthday.
Mako shows up with his brother, both of them wearing new clothes courtesy of Mako's raised paycheck.
Korra is the first person he lays his eyes on, and he forces himself to believe that this wasn't intentional, just bad luck, but as he takes the sight of her in (hair down, blue dress, smooth skin) he knows he's lying to himself.
Bolin shouts her name and she looks up, her eyes bright and shining as she walks over to his brother with a smile on her face.
Then, her eyes shift slightly and she catches a glimpse of him, and he watches her chest rise as she inhales rapidly. Her eyes flicker back to Bolin and she blinks.
"Hey, Bo!" she greets, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Looking good!"
"You're looking pretty fine yourself, Avatar Korra," he replies, flashing a grin. Mako feels his muscles tighten and his hands twitch, even though he knows he's just being ridiculous. Nothing is going on between Korra and Bolin.
Nothing.
"Hey, Mako," she tells him. "You look nice."
"Hey, Korra. You look... nice, too."
"So where's the birthday girl?" Bolin interrupts, and as always, Asami shows up right on cue.
"Hey guys!" she says loudly, a cup on wine held between her delicate fingers. "Thanks for coming. Come on, let's get the party started! Grab a few glasses, drink up, and let's have some fun!"
Bolin and Korra laugh as Asami waves over a waiter carrying a few glasses on a platter, and the two grab a glass and down it in one sip.
"Mako, don't be such a party pooper!" Asami tells him, grabbing a glass and handing it to him. "Without you, I wouldn't even be able to have this party. You're the one that caught Varrick and put my company back in the spotlight and back on top!"
"Um..." Mako reluctantly takes the glass from her hands, mainly because he's worried that she'll drop it. He's pretty sure the alcohol is the only reason Asami is being so kind towards him. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Korra take a quick glance at him.
He looks down and observes the wine in the glass he's holding (is it even wine?) and exhales deeply before drinking it all.
"Wow!" Asami cheers, patting him on the back. "Good job! Come on, have a few more! Dance with a pretty girl!" She giggles and leans towards him, whispering in his ear:
"Korra looks very pretty today, don't you agree?"
Mako's eyes grow wide and his cheeks grow hot.
"Um, yeah, sure. Yeah," he replies, scanning the room for another waiter with a platter of glasses in his hand.
"Well then ask her to dance, you idiot," Asami says, nudging him in the arm.
"Uh-"
"Oh, that's the head of a company that gave me a major contribution," she says suddenly, walking off to greet said person.
Mako looks around the room and sighs. There's absolutely no one he knows (or no one that he wants to talk to, at least), save his brother and Korra, who are chatting it up happily near the bar area.
He finds himself stuck between two choices: one, stand in the middle of the room, alone, while everyone talks and laughs around him, or two, go to the bar, where his brother and ex-girlfriend are, and make a fool out of himself by talking to them and getting a few drinks.
The first glass of alcohol must already be having an effect on him, because he chooses the latter and walks over to the bar, right next to his brother.
"Can you get me a glass of... something?" Mako asks the bartender, trying his best to ignore the stares he's getting from his brother and Korra.
"Whoo, look at Mako, getting his party on!" Bolin hollers. Mako rolls his eyes in response.
The bartender shoves a small glass filled with an unknown liquid and a small wedge of a lime on its rim in Mako's direction, who reluctantly picks it up and examines it.
"It's tonic and gin," Korra's voice informs him.
Mako lifts the rim of the glass up to his lips and pauses.
"Since when did you become such an expert on alcohol?" he asks, and Korra has no time to answer before Mako tips the glass back.
The moment he swallows his first sip he slams the glass back down on the bar.
"Tui and La," he exclaims, coughing into his fist. "Shit." It is strong, and sharp, and extremely different from the sweet champagne that he had earlier.
"Was that too strong for you, bro?" Bolin asks, a thick eyebrow raised in amusement.
"Shut up." As if he is trying to prove something, Mako grabs the glass again and downs the rest of the remaining liquid.
"Spirits, Mako," Korra says, her eyes wide in surprise.
Good. It's about time the tables turned.
"I'm gonna get some air," Mako announces and stands up from his seat, while Bolin and Korra are still trying to process what has just happened.
He walks across the large ballroom, bumping into some people that are dancing along the way, to a small balcony outside.
The open area provides Mako with a breath of fresh air, even though it is uncomfortably warm outside.
He leans with his elbows resting on the railing of the balcony, staring out into the empty sky for what seems like forever, until he feels a brush against his hips and sees a familiar pair of arms appear next to his.
"Hey," Korra says, gazing out into the sky as well, "You okay?"
"I told you," Mako tells her, "stop worrying about me." It seems like it is all she does these days.
"I'm sorry for caring about you?" Korra replies, clearly confused. "What do you want me to do? Ignore you?"
"I wish you would," he answers. "Everything would be so much easier if we would just ignore each other." The alcohol must've reached his bloodstream.
"Both you and I know that's... not possible," she says. "As much as I would like to be able to do that, I can't. And you can't either."
Mako sighs loudly and runs a hand through his hair. Since when was Korra so fucking philosophical?
"You know, I was sort of hoping you would've asked me to dance by now."
He looks at her and she gives him that half-smile of hers, and it must be a combination of that and the alcohol that makes Mako stand up and offer her an empty hand.
"Come on," he tells her, and he tries his hardest not to flinch when she wraps her fingers around his.
They walk back inside onto the dance floor, where a brass band plays some jazz number. They stop near the corner of the crowd and Korra rests her hands on Mako's shoulders and he wraps his arms around her waist, barely touching her skin, because only the spirits know how much more of this he can handle.
They sway back and forth in time to the music, always keeping a careful distance apart. Mako remembers how awkward their first dance was - tripping over feet and moving out of sync - but this is a thousand times worse.
Their bodies are too close and yet they're not close enough. If he wanted to, he could take one large step forward and their bodies would be flush – all those curves would be up against him and he would be able to memorize every ounce of her skin again and—
Suddenly Korra stops moving and he bumps into her, and for just a fraction of a second he feels her body brush up against his, and his eyes grow wide as he lets go of her and takes a huge step back.
"The music stopped," Korra tells him, and the corner of her lip is raised ever-so-slightly in amusement.
"Y-yeah, sorry about that," Mako stammers, scratching at the back of his neck, "I guess I-"
"Am an idiot," she finishes for him, and he looks up at her in surprise, but her eyes are bright and she's grinning.
"Yeah," he replies, and he can't help but smile a little before he says, "I think we established that a long time ago."
For a moment, Korra's eyebrows crinkle in confusion, and then she laughs.
"I'm the Avatar, and you're—"
"An idiot."
They break into laughter before that always present, always uncomfortable silence follows, and they slowly suffocate in its grasp until Korra asks Mako:
"You think you can beat me in a drinking challenge, pretty boy?"
"That sounds like an awful idea," Mako replies.
"Yes or no?" She sticks her bottom lip out and places a hand on her hip.
After a few moments of careful hesitation and thinking, it only takes one glance at Korra's ridiculous-but-also-ridiculously-adorable pose for him to shrug his shoulders and sigh.
"Sure."
Korra smiles and turns around, walking to the bar without even looking back.
He laughs to himself and walks over to catch up with her. He takes a seat next to her once he arrives at the bar, just as Korra finishes ordering their drinks.
She looks over at him and yeah, the first round of alcohol is definitely taking its toll, because for the first time in forever, Mako turns his head and looks her in the eye.
Amber meets blue for just a second before their drinks are placed on the table and then the moment is over.
But the aftermath is still very present as Mako grasps the glass, hoping that it will do something to calm down the stupid jittery feeling in his stomach.
They're still learning how to deal with this aftermath – still trying to figure out how to be within ten feet of each other without wanting to crawl into a corner and die, but it's a start. It's progress, and they'll take it.
Because while they may be far from being the friends they once were, these awkward, embarrassing interactions are worth it.
Maybe they'll end up back together, maybe not.
For now, what Mako really wants is just to be in her presence.
A/N: I was in need of some dumb Makorra angst after their dumb break-up so here it is. (I swear I'm so not okay their breakup has done awful things to me like I honestly feel as if someone broke up with me it's awful oh god dumb stupid idiots dumb stupid ship but that finale man that finale)
Review and tell me what you think please!