"Mako. Hey, Mako. Mako."
The figure buried beneath a mass of blankets grumbled slightly as his girlfriend began to poke him none too gently. His eyes opened slowly as he awoke to see Korra sitting on his bed, a look of determination on her face as she continued to whisper his name.
"Mako. Makoooooooooo-"
"Korra," Mako said, twisting his head to look at the neon numbers glaring out in the darkness. "It's three in the morning. What' so important that it can't wait five more hours?"
Korra's face split into a wide grin.
"It's Christmas!" she exclaimed as loudly as she could, careful not to disturb Bolin in the next room. Mako let out a tired chuckle, slowly propping himself up on his elbow as he rubbed his face to wake himself up. He looked back at Korra, cross-legged on the space by his legs, and pushed himself so he was sitting upright.
Mako's hand grasped at the lamp on his bedside table as the sheets slipped away from his shoulders, groping at it until he found the switch. The light was like sunshine in the dark of his room, and Mako squinted as his eyes readjusted to the sudden brightness.
"Merry Christmas, Korra," he said, unable to stay annoyed at the girl smiling enthusiastically at him, even if it was an hour of the day he preferred spend awake. "But that still doesn't explain why you're in my room right now."
"I want to give you your present," she replied, pulling a wrapped box which had been sitting next to her, unnoticed by Mako, into her lap. Mako blinked at her in confusion.
"And you're doing this at three a.m. because...?"
Korra shrugged, tucking her short hair behind her ear as she looked down at the box. "I couldn't wait any longer."
Noting her sudden bashfulness, Mako nudged her leg with his as he crossed his legs so he could face her properly. "That's really sweet of you, but you realise Bo will kill us if we do presents without him, right?"
Korra looked up at him, smirking as she rolled her eyes, any trace of shyness forgotten. "Relax, City Boy, you're getting another present under the tree tomorrow. Like I'd dare to do presents without Bolin! But I just wanted to give you this one in private. It's more... personal."
Mako raised an eyebrow at her.
"Ok. This is important to you, isn't it?"
Korra nodded, and he smiled at her.
"Go on, then. What Bolin doesn't know won't hurt him." Mako winked, and Korra's face lit up.
"Thank Spirits for that, otherwise this was gonna be one awkward night." She smirked. "Okay, so before you get this, I just wanna say something. You're not an easy person to get presents for-"
"Wait, there's a speech to go with this?"
"Do you want the present or not?"
"...Do continue."
Korra narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend. "So, like I was saying, you're incredibly hard to buy for. And Bolin and Asami were of no help except to say you liked things which were personal and meaningful. Which I already knew thanks to the whole 'we're currently dating' thing," she said. "So I thought a lot about what to get you, because I know the things which mean the most to you are people, not objects. And then I realised that there was one thing that you didn't have which you really should own, and this is the result! So, uh, I hope you like it?" The box in Korra's lap was suddenly held out to Mako, who took it from Korra's nervous hands.
Placing it gently on his legs, he carefully peeled away the tape holding the messy wrapping together, trying to remove the thin sheet of colourful paper from its contents as quietly as possible. The rustling of the paper increased as Mako pulled it away from the present inside. He looked down to see a large black notebook, its covers tied together by a cream ribbon.
He glanced at Korra, whose hands were on hers thighs, nails pressing into her pyjama bottoms as she bit her lip nervously. Seeing Mako's gaze on her, she nodded her head back at the book in his hands. The loose knot gave way as he pulled at the ribbon, and he opened the think book carefully.
It was a photo album. Clippings from newspapers were carefully taped through the first few pages, some dating back to two years prior when he and Bolin had first made their debut as the Fire Ferrets, some more recent articles from when Korra had joined the team, and a few snippets about his graduation at Republic City's police academy. After the first few pages of yellowing newspaper clippings, photos began to grace the pages of the book; baby pictures of Mako and Bolin in the arms of their parents, family photos from their cousins and grandma, group shots of him, Bolin, Asami and Korra all captioned in Korra's scruffy handwriting.
"You used to be so cute as a baby! What happened?"
"Our first match as a trio! Remember when you didn't like me? Oh how the tables turn..."
"You and Grandma Yin – I've never seen an old lady so happy as she is with you and Bolin"
"Our first selfie! Asami wouldn't stop until we got a nice one."
"The four of us AKA THE DREAM TEAM"
And then there were the pictures of the two of them. Scattered between the many group and family shots were pictures of Mako and Korra, smiling in selfies, candids, and every kind of photo in between.
"Our second date, when you learned never to dare me to do anything. We're still banned from that restaurant."
"I didn't know Asami had taken this photo of us, but damn we're an attractive couple!"
"We need to stop kissing in front of our friends, because they take way too many pictures of us when we do."
"I love you."
Mako carefully looked through each and every page, gulping as he got to the final photo; it was the same one which was framed by his bedside, the only picture which held everyone he loved.
A visit to his family in Ba Sing Se with Korra, Asami, Tenzin's family and the Beifongs had led to a professional photographer being hired by Su so that they could document the occasion, and although the picture was more formal than the others in the album, seeing everyone smiling up at the camera caused tears to spring into the corners of Mako's eyes. He looked up at Korra, who was watching him nervously.
"You like it?" she asked. Mako closed the album, carefully re-knotting the ribbon to hold it shut, and placed it on the table by his lamp. He leaned over to pull Korra into his arms, hugging her tightly as he kissed the top of her head.
"Korra, it's- it's perfect, thank you."
"It's not too cheesey? I figured as you didn't have an album, it'd be something special, and I really wanted to give you a meaningful gift because you mean so much to me, you know?"
"I love it. I love you." Mako pulled back so he could hold her, sliding his arms around her waist as she readjusted her position on the bed. Korra shuffled forward onto her knees so she was wrapped in Mako's arms, her own draped over his shoulders.
"So I win Girlfriend of the Year, right?" Korra asked, and she felt Mako's forehead move downwards as he nodded.
"For the second year running," he replied, before pressing his lips to Korra's. Her arms tightened across his shoulders, pulling Mako closer as one of his hands slid from her waist into her hair. He pulled away, resting his forehead against hers.
"Seriously, Korra. It's amazing, thank you. You could have gotten me anything, as long as it was from you I wouldn't have cared. But this is... yeah. You mean the world to me, you know that, right?"
Korra nodded, smiling softly as Mako cupped her face in his palms.
"No, really. You're everything. I don't know who I'd be without you, but it wouldn't be good. You just... you make me a better person. And I love you."
Korra kissed him.
"I love you, too," she said as she pulled back. "And the same goes for me, you mean-"
"Yes, we get it, you guys mean everything to each other. It's beautiful and romantic but will the two of you please shut up?" Bolin interrupted, as his muffled voice came through the wall. Korra and Mako's faces shot to look at the plaster separating the rooms, heat rising to their cheeks.
"Uh, Bo?" Mako asked, hands slipping back down to Korra's hips. "How long have you been awake?"
"Since 'what Bolin doesn't know won't hurt him'. Now, as adorable as you two are – and I'm happy to admit that you're pretty damn sweet – it's quarter past three in the morning, and I'd like to sleep so I can appreciate my presents properly when I wake up at a reasonable hour. So could you guys please keep it down?"
Korra snickered as Mako buried his face in his palms.
"Sorry, Bolin. Night!" she said. A grunt which they presumed was Bolin's way of saying goodnight was heard, and Korra leant over Mako to switch off the lamp.
"So he isn't a morning person, then," Korra whispered as she moved to lie down next to him.
"He isn't a three a.m. person," Mako replied, pulling the blankets over the two of them. Korra wrapped an arm around Mako's torso as she snuggled close to him, burying her head in his shoulder.
"Night then, Mako. Merry Christmas."
He turned to lie on his side, and pressed a kiss onto the top of Korra's head.
"Merry Christmas, Korra."