"Come on, Tenzin, please?"
Sighing heavily, Tenzin stopped in his tracks; Korra, who had been walking nearly on his heels to keep up with his long strides, ran into his back, retreating as he turned to face her.
"Korra…"
"Please, Tenzin," she said. "It's Asami's birthday and we all wanted to go out and do something special for her after – y'know, everything with her father – please."
He stared down at her and she looked up at him, eyes wide and pleading, fists clenched, ready, it seemed, to get down on her knees and beg if need be. Still, it wouldn't do to cave in so easily…
"You knew that you had training," he said, only managing to sound mildly irritated. "Why didn't you ask me about this sooner?"
"I meant to, I swear, but I kept forgetting – and I've made a lot of progress, you said so yourself – look, I even made up this cool trick."
Korra reached into her pocket and withdrew a handful of small stones and then, somehow, impossibly, she moved one hand to hover above the other and, with the help of her airbending, the stones spun in a controlled circle, contained within the space between her palms. The wide, exaggerated baring of her teeth that would normally be called a grin and was meant to persuade him, coupled with the way she lifted her eyebrows as the pebbles went around and around, made Tenzin's heart seize.
He cleared his throat and had to remind himself to breathe (in through your nose, out through your mouth – straighten your back a little bit – good. Now, close your eyes). "You didn't," he muttered, not really meaning for her to hear, and he cut himself off before he could say anything more.
He gripped Korra's shoulder perhaps a bit too tightly; she caught the stones and curled her hand around them, waiting.
"All right," he said, and was rewarded by her genuine smile, eyes lighting up. "You may skip your airbending training for today – but today only, and I'm adding another hour to tomorrow's session."
Korra hugged him for so brief a moment that Tenzin couldn't even consider wrapping his arms around her in return. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said, and before he knew it she was running off toward the bay and calling to him over her shoulder, "I'll make it up to you, I promise!"
He sighed again, shook his head, tugged on his beard, closed his eyes for a moment – inhale, exhale – when he opened them again the top of his father's head was just visible in the distance. Wiping at dry eyes, he decided Pema could always use his help with Rohan now that he had some time to spare. On the way back to the house he stooped to collect several pebbles, and he swirled them between his hands as he walked, the same way his father had taught him.
a/n: wow, i really miss putting these down here instead. anywho, got another great alternate (better and more accurate) title - "here have some of my creys because i can't hold them all." fantastic, right?
two things that aren't total Makorra fluff in the space of 36 hours? well done, self. although, speaking of "Everything," i'm getting to it - TWO CHAPTERS LEFT JESUS CHRIST - i've just been... distracted lately. if you follow me on tumblr you know what i'm talking about. (oh god i hope you don't follow me on tumblr THE SHIT THAT HAS GONE DOWN.)
i wrote this at 2 in the morning again so it's probably not very good writing-wise, but HERE HAVE IT ANYWAY. 'snot getting any better so i might as well post it. YOLO - YOU ONLY LEAF ONCE.
um. ignore that, please, and thank you for reading. always appreciated. :)
~whispered touches