A/N: So for a while, I've been really bothered by how Mako treated Korra after their breakup. This story has been swimming around in my mind for a while, and I finally decided to write it down. Please let me know what you think because I'm not actually sure where this is going!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from LOK or the rest of the Avatar world.
"Korra, I think we might have a problem," Bolin said nervously.
Without turning around to look at him, Korra shouted, "Of course I have a problem! You just told me that while I was eaten by an evil spirit in the middle of the ocean, days after he dumped me, your brother started hooking up with Asami again!" Hands ablaze from her firebending abilities, she started punching the nearest tree. With every blow to the innocent plant, she yelled, "Stupid! No good! Lying! Waste! Of! Space!"
She was angry, but above that, she was embarrassed. It had been a few months since she had defeated her uncle, and she had been travelling the world, visiting the different nations to help them cope. Team Avatar, which consisted of Mako, Bolin, Asami, and herself, had barely seen each other in those months as everyone was busy with their own lives. So when she had been invited by General Iroh to vacation with the Fire Nation Royal Family, she had insisted all of team Avatar come too.
They had been sitting in the plush living room of the Royal Family's beach house on Ember Island with the entire Royal Family when Bolin had let it slip. She hadn't noticed, but Mako and Asami had been discretely holding hands while sitting on the couch opposite her and Bolin.
"It's so great that you and Mako are on such good terms even after you broke up," Bolin had said casually. He had been talking about how Eska never returned his telegrams.
"Of course we are, Bolin," she had answered coolly. "We still love each other."
"Well, yeah," Bolin said, "But if Eska had been able to stick around instead of going back to the North Pole to be with her family and had still dumped me, then started dating her ex just days after we broke it off, I wouldn't be able to handle it. You're so strong, Korra. I guess that's why you're the Avatar!"
"Bolin!" Mako had yelled, suddenly sitting up, and jumping as far away from Asami as he could on the small couch. Korra hadn't understood what Bolin was talking about until she saw the look of sheer panic on both Mako and Asami's faces.
"WHAT!?" She erupted, jumping off the couch and crossing the room in less than a second. She towered over a cowering Mako. "YOU'RE DATING!?"
"No!" Mako said quickly, "It's just…casual!"
Korra saw fire. "ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!"
"Korra, calm down!" Mako insisted, and she completely lost it. She screamed, fire literally coming out of her mouth, then she tore out of the house and down the beach, until she reached a small secluded area in the woods near the shore. Right as she was slamming the beach house door, she heard Bolin say seriously, "Never tell a girl to calm down, Mako." He then got up and followed her.
"Actually," Bolin said, "The problem is that you've left a trail of fire from the house, all the way down the beach, and now all of these trees are on fire."
Korra finally turned to face her friend, and screamed right in his face, "GO AWAY!"
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," He said, his voice full of concern.
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP, I DON'T NEED ANYONE'S HELP!"
Confusion and hurt flashed in Bolin's eyes, but he turned and left, carefully walking around the walls of fire Korra had created.
Korra turned back to assaulting the tree. After a few minutes, she collapsed to the ground, her back leaning against an adjacent tree, and sobbed. She was officially hysterical.
Korra didn't understand why she had lost control like that. Both she and Mako had decided that their relationship didn't work. But who was she kidding? She had only said that because she knew Mako wanted to hear it at the time. While they had been apart these few months, Korra hadn't necessarily been thinking about him (she had been too busy being the Avatar), but in the back of her mind she had always assumed that once they had both had time, they would reunite. She had halfway been hoping that this vacation would do just that. Then to find out that Mako had been sneaking around behind her back? And with Asami? She had never really understood their relationship.
Suddenly Korra realized that the walls of fire that had been surrounding her had disappeared. Her mind automatically shot to Mako, clinging to the idea that he'd come to check on her. She got up and spun around quickly to see who had extinguished them.
"Oh," Korra said when she was facing the culprit. It was Iroh, not Mako. "Hey. Sorry about all of that…" She turned furiously red, mostly because she had destroyed half the beach, but a little bit because he'd seen her lose control and found her sobbing in the woods by herself. She sunk back down against a tree. Iroh joined her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked politely. She looked at him, acknowledging his handsome features. She had known him since forever. He had been a teenager when it was discovered that she was the Avatar. When the news broke to the world, he made several trips with his grandfather, Fire Lord Zuko, to oversee some of her training.
One time, when she was about 12 years old and had just hit puberty, she overheard Iroh and his grandfather speaking about her. They were on one of their visits to see how her training was going. After a particularly terrible session in which she, in a wave of new emotions and hormones, had lost her temper when she saw she was going to lose a match against her earthbending trainer. After being hit in the face with one too many flying boulders, she screamed, threw herself to the ground, and surrounded herself with walls of rock. "I quit! I don't want to be the Avatar anymore, I don't want it!"
When she thought everyone had left the training facility, she removed the walls, wiped the tears from her eyes, and started for the hallway. She stopped when she heard a voice say her name and hid so no one could see her, but that she could hear what was being said.
"…for Korra. She's having trouble adjusting her emotions in the wake of her own physical changes. I'm so sorry, Your Majesty." Two shadows bowed at each other. It was her earthbending trainer speaking, but he was speaking to the Fire Lord. She was thinking how rude it was of him to discuss her personal life with others, especially the fire lord, when he walked briskly past her hiding spot, but he did not notice her. She was about to leave when she heard Iroh speak in a tone so reserved, it was almost unique to members of the Fire Nation.
"Avatar Korra is very brave. I've never seen anyone so graceful, yet so powerful, and even still, so young. Her trainer does not give her enough credit."
"That you are right, Iroh," Fire Lord Zuko answered, then they both walked away.
That memory had stuck with Korra for years, and whenever she felt down about herself, she just remembered what he said. That day was the first and the last time she had wished she wasn't the Avatar.
Now, looking at a much older Iroh, still handsome and kind as ever, she almost couldn't bring herself to burden him with her trivial, teenager problem.
But, like she said, he had been her friend for many years.
"I just don't understand! He dumped me, then went straight back to Asami! What does he even see in her, anyway? I mean, don't get me wrong, she's nice, and very pretty, but, come on!"
Iroh took a second before answering, as if thinking carefully about his answer.
"Korra," he finally said. "You're the Avatar."
"Oh, my gosh, Iroh! I had no idea!" She said enthusiastically, her words dripping with sarcasm. "Thank you so much for telling me! How could I have gone this long without realizing it!"
"What I mean is, that can be intimidating." He elaborated, "You're this crazy powerful young woman, and for Mako, who is used to protecting those he loves, it could be difficult for him considering you don't need to be protected."
"What, so you're saying since I won't play damsel in distress he's gonna go swap spit and other bodily fluids with someone who will?"
"What I'm saying is, love is hard to find for the Avatar. They've got to be someone who can accept that you won't need to be saved. Someone strong enough to stand and fight beside you, not try to fight your battles for you."
"You say that like it's not a huge problem for a female Avatar," she said almost under her breath, glaring at the ground like a child.
He chuckled and stood up, then offered a hand to Korra. When she was standing, he said to her, while still holding her hand, "Korra, I think that boys are the least of your problems as the Avatar."
"Thanks," she said, embracing him. She could feel his arms tighten around her, and after a few seconds, he pulled away.
"Come on," he said, smiling and gesturing back towards the path to the house with his head. He put his arm around the young Avatar's shoulder as they turned and walked away from the scorched patch of forest.
A/N: Don't forget to review!