"This is so confusing," Mako grumbled tapping his pencil. "Ah, this is so stupid!"
"Sh," the girl in front of him whispered.
"You, sh," He spat back.
She didn't turn around, but titled her chin towards her shoulders causing her choppy bobbed hair to sway slightly. He could see one of her stunning blue eye glare in his direction over her shoulder daring him to continue. He snorted in her direction and stamped his eraser into the desk stop.
He watched as a few minutes later she walked her test up to the proctor, smiled and sauntered back to her seat. He stared at her as her hips sashayed and her fingertips gently ran over the desks on the way back. Stopping short of her desk she stared at him, cracked a cocky grin and mouthed, "That was easy."
He glowered back and flicked a snarl. With a final growl he snatched his paper up crumpling it in the middle. She stepped back as he stormed past her to turn in his paper.
As the bell rang Mako grabbed his book and looking down at the large "F" on his paper he bumped into someone. His amber eyes flicked up and he found staring back at him two blue eyes. Korra smiled at him and putting one hand on her hip she used the other to show him her paper with a 100%. His face fell and narrowing his eyes he sneered at her.
"Hold up, New Kid."
"Korra, I don't have time to listen to you brag."
"You know my name?" She said cracking a grin.
"You sit in front of me. I'm not that dumb," Mako said. Of course he knew her name. It was the first one he learned when he to moved to this town.
"You know there is a tutor group for this class."
"Gee thanks," he mumbled and giving her a final glare walked out of the class.
Mako slumped back in his chair. He watched as the clocked ticked by on the wall. The rambling of the teacher droned into the clicks of the clock. He felt eyes stare at him, and looking around the room he saw the entire class staring at him. His eyes darted back up to the front. The teacher had a tired and annoyed look. She had her arms folded and tapped her finger rhythmically against her arm. She sighed and tilted her head to avoid rolling her eyes.
"It's seven X squared," he heard a soft voice say.
Mako's face scrunched up. What?
"It's seven X squared. Just say it," the voice insisted. Mako looked at Korra who gave a quick "no" headshake, and mouthed, "Say it."
"Seven "x" squared?" Mako mumbled.
The teacher lips pursed in a surprise and nodded in agreement. She wrote the answer on the board. Pointing to the next problem she called on another student.
Mako stared at the back of Korra's head. He watched as she scribbled down the problem and worked on solving it. He heard her mumble, "You could try to actually solve it instead of just sitting there."
He made face behind her and mimicked her. However, he wrote the problem down.
The bell rang and gathering his books, he leaned over Korra. He snarled, "I didn't need help."
Korra turned in her seat. Her face was lit with amusement. She gave him a side grin. "You coulda fooled me."
Mako gave a throaty growl and stormed out of the room.
Walking to his seat Mako stopped short. Sitting on his desk was a small slip of paper. He looked around, but no one seemed to be paying attention to him. He put his hand over the paper and slid into his seat. Lifting his palm up he read the note. In a loose script it read, " Library, 3:00, room B."
Mako strolled into the library. The slip of paper was tucked safely in his pocketed. He nodded at the librarian who only lifted her eyes to watch him enter. She pursed her lips into an annoyed expression and looked back down at her periodical.
The library was empty except for a few students grabbing last minute aids for the weekend. He checked his watch, 2:59. He casually laid his books on a table and unwrapping his scarf surveyed the room. There were six study rooms. All of them were shut with the lights turned off. The note hadn't specified a day. Maybe it was the wrong day. Maybe, he finally thought, the note wasn't for him. Maybe the kid before him left it. He rolled his eyes at his stupidity, and grabbing his scarf and books he turned around.
"That isn't room B," a loud voice called coming into the library.
"Sh," the librarian scolded, but didn't leave her perch. Her annoyed expression turned into disapproval as she watched Korra turn a chair around and put a foot on the seat.
"What are you doing here," Mako growled.
"You won't come to a study group. The study group's coming to you," She shot back.
Mako looked behind Korra at the doorway to see how many others there were. Then back at Korra when he didn't see anyone. He gave her a quizzical look.
"Well, it'll be a group of two."
"Why are you going to help me?"
"You need it."
"What do you get from this?"
"Wow, does big city life do that a person? I get your new to town, but around here we try to help one another."
"It's just algebra."
"You've sat behind me for almost six weeks. The past two tests you've gotten more frustrated. Maybe I'm tired of you distracting me during the test."
"Sorry to interfere with your chances to get another 100%."
Korra ignored his comment and asked, "Whatdya got going on this weekend?"
Mako flushed slightly, and ran a hand through his hair, he stuttered, "Wha….what…why?"
"Oh relax, City Boy. We have one week to prep you for the next test."
"I have probending training."
"You're into probending?"
"Yea, my brother and I are here to train."
"You didn't move here for the perpetual ice or festivals?"
"Ah, there's noting wrong with the southern watertribe. The training facilities are just, better."
"Mako, I know," Korra laughed. "I am training too. You should try the Katara Center."
Mako rolled his eyes and shifted awkwardly. He went to the Katara Center. He had seen Korra there every time. She was amazing. She was practically training others. He aspired to be at her level. He said, "Yeah, I'll consider."
What time are you done?"
"Training is 7 AM to 2PM on Saturday."
"Alright, it's settled. Meet me at 3 PM at the town library."
Mako stared at her. She stared back expectantly. Finally Mako shrugged, and said, "3PM it is."
Mako dragged himself up the steps. His body ached and rubbing his tongue over his lip he felt the welt forming. The earth disc in the last round had hit him. His duffle bagged bounced on the steps behind him, he was too tired to care. Korra was leaning against a column.
"You look like hell," she joked.
"Thanks, I feel like it," Mako said and followed her to a table. How did she look so awake? He'd seen her that morning. She had destroyed her opponents. He slumped in his chair and rested his head on his hand. He forced his eyes to stay open as Korra went through some basic algebraic steps.
"Mako, are you awake?" Korra snapped.
Mako bolted up his chair and smacked his knees on the table. He grimaced and rubbed his leg.
"That's what you get for falling asleep."
"I'm sorry. It's been a long day already."
"Alright, fine. If you can answer this question correctly we can be done."
Mako nodded and looked at the problem Korra wrote: x=4, x^2 - 3x + 4. Mako shook his head and wrote 8.
"Great job!" Korra beamed. "What time can you meet tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?" Mako said meekly.
"Six days left."
"Fine, 10 AM?"
Mako sat at the table with his books sprawled out. He read quietly and watched as Korra lumbered in. Her hair was disheveled, and she had glasses on.
"Are you okay?" Mako asked.
"It's 10 AM on a Sunday."
"We could have done later," Mako said staring at her. She yawned and stretched. Her shirt lifted slightly revealing her muscly stomach. He quickly averted his eyes.
"You said 10 AM, so I'm here. You came after practice and that couldn't have been easy."
Mako shook his head; she had come after practice too.
"I'm starving," Korra said after an hour of studying. Mako was doing well. She eyed him up, and finally said, "You know you are doing quite well. It's gotta be a confidence issue."
Mako awkwardly shuffled in his seat, and closed his book. "How about the Ice Shack Burger joint?"
Korra raised an eyebrow at him, and then cracked a grin. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the exit.
Mako walked in to class. The teacher smiled at him and he gave her a quick nod and hurried to his seat. Korra was already sitting in her spot. She turned in her chair and smiled at him. He couldn't hide his smile back, and leaned in.
"What are you doing after school?"
"Nothing," Mako's face fell, "Wait, I have practice."
"Oh, ok. How late do you go tonight?"
"Eight."
"You got time to work on homework together? We can call it studying if we're working on math."
Mako chuckled, and his face lit up in another smile. His amber eyes watched as she smiled back. "It's a date," his cheeks turned crimson, and he stuttered, "I mean, ah, a study group."
Mako lined up in the first zone. He took several deep breaths finding a peaceful rhythmic breathing. He heard the dings and counted down. The long ding filled the room and without hesitation he threw a fist and powerful fireball zipped across the line. The other firebender swirled his arms but fell back into zone two. He stumbled trying to right himself, and Mako's second fireball sent out of bounds. The buzzard called the other one out.
"Great job, Mako," Sifu Lin called. "How about a real challenge now?"
Mako nodded. He was getting better under her tutelage. His breathing and pacing had improved, and he was able to focus more power into each attack instead of more less-powerful attacks that left him more exposed.
"For a treat, I asked my best student to join us," Lin shouted and beckoned for someone to enter. Korra strolled in and her mouth fell in shock.
"Mako," she exclaimed.
"Korra," he said curtly.
"You two know each other?" Lin asked uninterested.
"We go to school together," Mako replied but realized Lin had already tuned him out as she prepared the field.
"Ready?!" Lin roared and didn't wait for a response. The dings counted down.
Mako tried to focus on his breathing but he found himself staring into her blue eyes. She had a cocky side grin, and before he knew it he found he had flown back into the second zone. His hair was smeared on his face, and his clothes dripped from the direct hit. He threw an arc and the fire blocked the next water attack permitting him time to get up. He was panting, but he threw his fist down and shot out two quick bursts.
Korra blocked them quickly and sent another spiral of water towards Mako. He kicked and a blast of fire disintegrated the water. With a quick turn he sent another blast of fire towards Korra. She ducked but the back gust caught her and she fell backwards.
He cringed and hesitated to see if she was okay. Before he could regroup he was smacked with a gush of water. He stayed in the zone, but was teetering near the line.
"Focus," Lin scolded. She'd caught his mistake, and would make him pay for it. He licked his lips and tasted the salty sweat. He exhaled loudly and with a roar punched the air. A sizzling fireball whirled at Korra sending her sprawling to the ground. He darted for the front line sending another crackling fireball. Korra tried to block, but the attack sent her skittering backwards. She shook her head and with a third fireball thrusted at her she was pushed back into the next region.
"Better," Lin said dryly.
"Hey, there was lightning," Korra said with awe.
"I'm sorry," Mako mumbled and stepped backwards.
"It's allowed," Lin screamed and threw a bending disc towards Mako. He ducked and turning saw water flying at his face. He threw his hands up and fire flew up. The water splashed on him, but he maintained his ground.
"That was awesome," Korra touted when the round bell rang. "You can bend lightning?"
Mako looked at her and then Lin. Lin rolled her eyes and worked to rest the ring.
"Yea," Mako finally said.
"You are an amazing bender, you actually kept me on my toes," Korra said.
"Thanks," Mako beamed.
"She was going easy on you," Lin shot back. She grinned when Mako frowned. Korra had gone easy on him, but not that easy. He was finally improving.
As Mako left the arena, he saw Korra waiting outside for him. He had forgotten they needed to study. She smiled when she saw him, and punched his arm. He pretended it didn't hurt.
"You know Mako, you are really good."
"I have a lot to learn."
"That may be, but so do I. That's why we're training."
Mako nodded, and looked away. She was the most amazing bender he'd ever seen. He aspired to be as good as her.
"I was thinking," Korra began. Mako thought he noticed her blush slightly in the dim light of the southern spirit lights. "What would you think about starting a team?"
"You mean, you and me? Or, me?"
Korra nervously laugh. Mako couldn't understand why. She said, "I was thinking us, we'd just need a earth bender to join us. I mean you are by far the best fire bender I've seen. I think we'd make a great team."
Mako said, "Well my brother's an earth bender."
"Is he any good?"
"He can lava bend," Mako grinned.
"Are you serious?" Korra screamed. She whirled around to see his face. Her eyes glowed brightly. Mako gulped, and then nodded. Korra danced around and hugged him. He stiffened up and awkwardly patted her back.
"Mako, that is incredible," she said as she let him go. He paused and stared at him. She smiled and lifted an eyebrow. Mako stared back, but before he could respond she grabbed his arm and steered him to a restaurant to study and talked about possible team names.
Mako's head was spinning when we woke up the next morning. Korra wanted him on her team.
He couldn't hide his smile all day. He walked into class and smiled at the teacher. She straightened up in surprise and smiled back.
"Mako," she called. He turned to look at her. "Please come up here."
He furrowed his brow, but did as asked.
"I have seen your past academic record. You were a star math student at your past school."
Mako looked away guiltily.
"Mako, is the course that much more difficult?"
"No, ma'am."
"Then what what's going?"
Korra walked by and gave him a quizzical look.
"Mako?"
Mako looked back at the teacher, and mumbled, "Just adjusting ma'am."
"Has the tutoring been helping?"
"What?" Mako looked up sharply. How did she know that?
"Has Korra's tutoring been helpful?"
Mako set his jaw and stared down at the table. He nodded slightly.
The teacher smiled at him ignoring his new mood. Mako sulked back to his chair and ignored Korra's grin. He slumped in his chair with his chin on his chest. Korra turned around and gave him a puzzled look. He looked away. She hadn't offered to help tutor him because she wanted to, she had been asked to. He wasn't a charity case.
"What's wrong?" Korra whispered.
He shook his head no back at her. She stared at him demanding an answer. He looked at the front of the room. Korra shrugged and turned around.
When the teacher called on Korra, Korra paused and took her several minutes to answer the question. The concern was evident on the teacher's face as she watched Korra struggle to answer the simple question.
The bell rang and Mako darted for the door.
Later at the arena Mako was fighting to stay caught up with his opponent. All he could think about was class.
"Mako!" Lin barked. She held her forehead in her hand and shook her head in dismay. A vein popped on her forehead.
Mako walked over to Lin. His head was down, and sweat rolled down his face and damped his shirt.
"Did Korra wear you out yesterday?"
Mako snarled at the mention of Korra, but he shook his head no.
"Good, get your game face on. You two are sparring next."
Mako stared in disbelief at Lin. He watched as Korra entered the room. His amber eyes followed her. He grabbed his water bottle and chugged it down. He had to focus.
"Ready up," Lin demanded.
Mako stepped up to the line. He focused on his breathing, and looking up he saw Korra's eyes boring into him. Her smile was gone and she shifted lightly ready for the signal.
The bell dinged and they both thrust forward. Korra sent a rush of water towards Mako, and Mako sent a fire wave at Korra. They both dodged and sent another attack at each other. Mako watched as Korra took an extra step for her wave move, using this to his advantage he shot a fire burst at her open side. She twisted, and remained firm but fell back when a larger fireball whizzed at her torso. She snarled and with a swish of her hands icy water lurched towards Mako. He fell back and punched towards the water.
"Ice is a dirty move," Mako growled and lunged forward sending a fire ball at her.
"So is acting like an ass in class," Korra spat back and sent more water at him.
"You lied," he shot back and twirled kicked fire at her.
"What are you talking about?"
"You didn't tutor me to be nice. The teacher asked you to," he yelled and gave a bellow as he threw fire across the board. Korra flew back into zone two and then zone three.
She stood up, the shock was evident but she sent water gusts down the arena. "I didn't lie," she panted as she sent more water attacks his way.
Mako darted around them as he advanced forward. He sent deliberate fire shots back. Korra dodged them, but was showing she was tiring. Mako felt his lungs ache and his legs and arms throbbed from the continued onslaught, but he didn't relent.
"You said it was because people were nice," He crossed into Korra's zone one.
"I said because you needed help and I wasn't getting anything from helping you," Korra retorted.
"You could've said because you were asked to," Mako said crossing into zone two.
"Get over it," Korra said back, and threw her arms forward. The rush of water sent Mako back into zone one.
The bell rang ending the round. Both panted and found their respective bench.
"That is what I expect to see," Lin said. "Ready?"
"What?" Mako asked.
"Next round," Lin called out and started the bell.
The two lumbered back to the starting spot. Mako couldn't meet her eyes. Maybe she was right. Maybe he overreacted. Maybe it didn't matter why she had helped. She still did it.
"We gonna study?" Korra asked throwing her duffle bag over her shoulder and grimaced. Her body ached from the extreme match.
Mako stretched and cracked his knuckles. He really just wanted to go home and sleep, but he wasn't going to turn down the chance to spend time with Korra, and redeem himself for calling her a liar. He shrugged and gave a meek nod. He wondered if he could bend anymore after the night's battle.
He continued to notice Korra grimacing. Finally he asked, "What's wrong with your shoulder?"
Korra shrugged off his concern, and said, "Just an old injury."
Mako reached over and grabbed her bag. He let his hand linger slightly on her shoulder before taking the weight off. Korra tried to hide the discomfort in her shoulder, but allowed Mako to take the bag.
"You talk to your brother?"
"Yea, he's interested. He said when he gets back from his tournament he'd like to train."
"What tournament?"
"There's an earth bending tourney in Republic City. He's joining me here when it's over. I told him I liked the arena and school."
Mako slid into his chair and poked Korra in the shoulder. She turned around with raised eyebrows.
"Where do you want to study tonight?"
"I don't want to study tonight," Korra replied.
"Oh," Mako mumbled, his smile fading. He looked away so Korra couldn't see his disappointment.
"Instead, I thought we could watch them set up for the Spirit Festival and then grab some food."
Mako cracked a grin, and nodded in agreement. His smile remained on his face the rest of the day.
Mako sat next to Korra on her toboggan. The chill night air whistled around them and Mako nestled deeper in his coat. He allowed only his eyes to peak over his jacket. Korra pointed out a few things to him.
"See those lights there, the spiraling ones? Those are to represent the spirits. They are my favorite."
Mako nodded. The lights were beautiful. He could see why Korra wanted to watch them set up the festival. She pointed out a few more things to him and he thought he noticed she scouted closer to him.
He sniffled, and Korra turned to look at him. She stifled a laugh when she saw him buried in the coat, red nosed, and shivering. She stood up and grabbed his hand. He hobbled up behind her in his thick layers. She didn't release his hand, but instead held it as she led him through the snow path back to the town.
Her hand was warm in his. He flexed his fingers ever so slightly to better hold her hand. He didn't care if he had to walk with an uncomfortable angle for his wrist. She pointed something out to him as they passed the tents, but her lacing her fingers through his distracted him. His wrist was relaxed, and he never wanted to let go.
Mako watched the clock. It was Thursday; the test was tomorrow. Tonight was his last study group with Korra. He felt the knot in his stomach tightened. They still talked about starting a team, but studying with her was different. It was the two of them. Sifu Lin wasn't there.
He knew the material, but Korra made it more exciting to learn it. When the bell finally rang he took extra long to pack up his stuff. He watched as the kids behind him filed out. Korra was always one of the last ones out. He wasn't sure what took her so long.
He waited until she stood up and matched her pace leaving the room. Walking by her side, he asked, "I have tonight off from practice. Lin found out about my grade in math, and told me I couldn't come in."
"Yea, sorry about that."
"You told her I failed?" Mako asked incredulously.
"No, just that I was helping you study. She didn't like that we knew each from school. She doesn't want distractions."
"Oh," Mako said blushing slightly.
"Don't worry about her. She had some bitter break-up decades ago and believes all relationships will end in disaster and distraction."
Mako stared at Korra, but accepted her answer. Mako stopped at his next class, and called after her, "Well have fun at practice tonight."
Korra turned and walked backwards while talking. "Oh, you aren't getting off the hook. I took tonight off to make sure you study. I'm watching you," Korra said while pointing two fingers at her eyes and then back at Mako. With a quick turn, Korra darted into her next class.
Mako shook his head grinning, but almost choked when Korra popped back around the corner to give him the same eye point gesture.
Mako grabbed his bag and opened his front door. He jumped back when Korra stood ready to knock.
"Um, hi," Mako murmured.
"Hi," Korra blushed, "There's a bunch of kids studying at the library, and I thought that'd be distracting. I thought we could study somewhere else."
"Sure. "
Korra peaked around Mako at his small apartment. There was a worn sofa and patched up sitting chair. She ducked under his arm and entered the small pad. There was a small table and two chairs. Still nosing around the room, she said, "You've been here six months. This is all you brought?"
Mako ran a nervous hand through his hair. It's all his brother and he had. He averted his eyes and frowned looking at the room.
"I'm sorry," Korra blurted out. "That was rude. Are your parents with your brother?"
Mako swallowed hard and blinked several times. He ran his fingers over his scarf and shrugged.
Korra chewed slightly on her lip, and looking around again, whispered, "You live alone."
"Until my brother comes here."
"You're…you're a…."
"Oprhan," Mako said firmly and looked directly into her eyes. He didn't want pity. He had worked too hard to get pity.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled.
Mako smiled weakly and put his bag down. "You didn't know. It's okay. My brother and I take care of ourselves. How about I make us something to eat and you can quiz me?"
Korra's frown broke into a smile. "You cook?"
"Bolin is not allowed in the kitchen. He breaks things and makes messes."
Korra giggled, and took out the book.
After a while of studying the two broke into casual conversation. As the night slipped by the two moved to the sofa and polished off a carton of fire gummies.
"Holy crap it's late," Korra yelled as she looked at her watch. It was almost the next day.
"Oh sorry," Mako said.
"I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow. You'll do awesome on the test," Korra said rapidly. She hurried around grabbing her stuff while Mako stood dumbfounded watching her.
"Ok, bye," Mako muttered as she darted out the door.
Mako shut the door and as he was about to lock it, the door swung open and Korra strolled back in. He stepped back in concern and confusion. She reached out and put her hands on his cheeks. She stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. He stood in shock. The sweet taste of fire gummies lingered on her breath.
She rested back on her heels. Her face was flushed and she nibbled on a lip. He could see hurt in her eyes. Leaning down, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss.
He panted, "I'll see you tomorrow."
Korra smiled and after giving him another kiss, said, "We can celebrate tomorrow after practice. The Spirit Festival should be open."
"It's a date," Mako said and kissed her.
"Yes, it is," Korra replied.