Where the heck was she? Mako was running gas fast as he could, his frantic heart pounding. Asami had told him nonchalantly – nonchalantly! – about Korra's "brave" challenge to Amon. Stupid was more like it. He couldn't believe she would –
Well, scratch that. This is exactly like her. She was so headstrong and arrogant he couldn't stand it, and somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he couldn't stand it because he cared. That the thought of her arrogance getting her hurt - or worse… - was what he really couldn't stand. And that thought invaded his mind consuming him as he ran.
As soon as the words of Korra's challenge had left Asami's mouth, he was up and out of the carriage leaving her jaw-dropped and confused. After a few seconds though, a knowing yet saddened smile had spread across her face unseen by Mako, not that he cared enough to look back. No, all that he cared about right now was protecting Korra. He knew she was the Avatar and was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, or at least she thought she could. But he was gone, all rational thought thrown out of his mind and replaced by the instinct to protect someone he cared about.
He was searching Aang Memorial Island for any sign of her or Amon. There were no flashes of fire, whips of water, or pounding of rocks which could mean only three things:
Either Amon had shown up and was already defeated, Korra's bending had been taken, or worse…
He sprinted towards the entrance underneath the statue of Aang and froze as soon as he got there. On the steps he saw her laying there in a heap with her back turned to him. His mind was racing, telling him that it was too late, that there was nothing he could do, but he pushed that out of his head, determined to get her back.
He rushed over to her, pulling her limp body into his arms, shaking her lightly.
"Korra...Korra!" His tears streamed down his face, and he didn't care to wipe them away
"Korra, please! I can't lose you!"
Suddenly her eyes fluttered open to show him two halves of the most beautiful eyes he's ever known. He expected his heart to calm with relief, but it started to stutter with fear as he fought to keep her eyes open and on his. "Come on Korra stay with me, please, stay with me."
"Mako?" the sound of her voice was like music to his ears, until he realized how utterly broken and exhausted it sounded.
"Korra!" He smiled through his tears. "You look awful…" he stated sadly.
Se faintly smiled and gave a sort of half laugh, "Thanks…you look pretty bad yourself, flam-o." He couldn't help but laugh at her, forgetting how infuriating her nicknames for him bad been before. Now, they were a sign that she was ok, and his heart clenched as he realized it.
But he could detect a peculiar emotion in her face, something he'd never seen there before, and he couldn't quite place it. He noticed her start to tremble and suddenly she was overwhelmed with heart-wrenching sobs as she buried her face in Mako's jacket, wrapping her arms around his waist. At first he just sat there stiff and awestruck as he realized it was fear he'd seen in her eyes. Since when is Korra scared? He wondered, and then he became infuriated at the thought of anyone who was strong enough to scare Korra laying a hand on her.
Before he could stop himself, he pulled her in as tight as he could, pressing his cheek to the top of her head. Slowly he spoke, "What did he do to you?"
"He tricked me…it was…and ambush," she managed to get out between sobs and into his chest.
"Did he take your bending?"
"No…he said, it wasn't time…he's saving me for last…he's going after everyone I love…Tenzin…Pema…the kids…Bolin," she looked up at him now, tears in her eyes, barely hanging on, "…and you."
He was shocked. Love? His cheeks flushed and he tried to look away but couldn't; she had him captured with her aqua eyes, so troubled, genuinely worried for him and full of tears. He decided then and there, at the clenching of his heart, that he would do anything and everything to protect her.
He held her face in his hands, giving her a strong look. "You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself. But I'm never going to let him hurt you; do you understand me?" he finished with a firm but caring tone.
"But I-," she cleared her throat and made a futile attempt to wipe away her tears, "it's my job to protect everyone…I-I shouldn't be getting scared like this…"
And then he surprised both of them by cutting off her words with a firm and passionate kiss. He didn't know what had come over him, but he couldn't stand to see her anything but happy and wanted desperately to relieve her pain. So he kissed her, and to his surprise she kissed him back, snaking her arms around his waist, angling her face to deepen the kiss. He could taste the salty tears still streaming from her eyes and pulled away momentarily catching Korra by surprise. He wiped her tears with the pads of his thumbs and gave her a piercing stare, stopping the embarrassing protest she was about to involuntarily give.
"You don't have to do this all alone. I'm here for you. I-," he paused nervous to say what he was about to say, but took another look in her deep ocean eyes and found the confidence he needed. "I love you, Korra."
She looked up at him with confused eyes. She knew she couldn't have heard him right. Love? She thought it was just her…she was baffled, "But I thought—what about… Asami? I thought she— "
He stopped her with another kiss that ended all too soon as he pulled away and placed his hands on her shoulders steadying her. "She's not you, Korra."
And for some inexplicable reason, her eyes welled up with tears as she threw herself into his arms and sobbed. "I'm just…so scared…I-I don't want…to lose you…"
"Shhhh…it's ok, it's ok. I'm here. You're not gonna lose me." He held her tight willing her to feel safe encircled in his arms. He again rested his head on top of hers, running his fingers through her hair trying to calm her ragged breathing. But she proceeded to cry herself to sleep as Mako comforted her: her only foundation in a world that was becoming incredibly unpredictable.
She woke up to find him gazing at her with a soft expression on his face, his golden eyes mesmerizing with flakes of iridescence shimmering back at her. For a moment she was completely content as she snuggled close, smiling up at him as he gave her his most adorable crooked grin and pulled her close…And then she realized where she was.
She sat up with a start, turning a soft shade of red. Why am I in Mako's room? In Mako's bed? It was still dark out; it had to be early morning. Confused, she looked down—partly to confirm that she was in his bed, partly to make sure she still had clothes on, which she was relieved to see she did but noticed Mako was deprived of a shirt and quickly averted her eyes from his chest —and then she looked at his face, a question in her eyes.
He sat up beside her blushing a little, an awkward look on his face, "Sorry, I bet you're confused. I just didn't want to wake you so I brought you back here. Don't worry about Tenzin; I called and told him where you were. He was a little worried about you but I promised I'd take care of you and he agreed. I, uh—also talked to Asami."
Korra froze in her seated position refusing to look at him, waiting for him to kick her out now that she was up and ok.
"She said she understood."
What? She whipped her head around to face him. "What do you m—"
He raised his hand to rest on her cheek, stopping her mid-word. Then he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "She understands…" he said with a slight shrug, and then gave his best crooked grin again.
That look in his eyes, the golden-amber staring back at her, it was all she could do no to jump him right there, but she pushed that aside. "Thank you, Mako," was all she could manage under that gaze of his, so she finally broke eye contact looking anywhere but at him, "…for everything, really. And I'm sorry you had to see me like that. I promise I'm not that weak, I can do better." She risked a glance back at his face only to be met by a questioning furrow of Mako's brows.
"Why are you apologizing? Look, I know you're the Avatar, and you're also Korra, who is one of the strongest people I know. But I told you earlier; you don't have to do this all on your own. Please let me help you," he ended with distress in his voice, the need to help her, to share some of her pain, more evident than his mesmerizing eyes. This wasn't like Mako: to show so much emotion. She hadn't given it much thought when he found her, but now she found that she liked this side of him very much, and she found her gaze drifting down as she started to blush. This didn't help because the only thing she found was his bare chest and abs. And that was all it took to break her resolve.
"Do you mind if I change clothes? I'm really hot…" she resisted the urge to facepalm at the last part. She was practically asking for a joke.
Mako caught up on it, but resisted also. He quite liked the idea of her changing clothes—especially since the only other clothes here belonged to him—and he didn't want to cause her to change her mind about the whole thing so he simply replied, "sure go ahead."
She awkwardly walked over to his drawer and pulled out one of his white t-shirts and a pair of shorts. She figured he knew she had done this before considering he'd come home to her lounging on his couch in his clothes multiple times. She just had never done it with him watching.
He raised an eyebrow when she turned to look at him, "Uh…" she quickly avoided apologizing for intruding on his privacy by changing the subject, "Are you going to turn around or what?"
He gave one of his signature smirks and turned to lay with his back towards her.
She fumbled with her boots, kicking them off before stripping down to her wrappings. Pulling on his t-shirt she took a second to catch the smell as it now enveloped her, and she resisted the urge to let out a content sigh. After pulling the shorts on, she decided to take down her hair letting it cascade over her shoulders, nervously running her fingers through it.
She stood there for a second planning her next step…How should she approach him now? Should she tell him she's finished and he can look now? Should she just walk over and surprise him? Ok, Korra, stop being a baby and just walk over there.
She swallowed her nerves and strode over, and without warning climbed right into bed with him laying her head on the pillow and looking at him right in the face.
He gave a short chuckle looking over at her with amused eyes and that same tilted eyebrow. She quickly looked down feeling the heat touch her cheeks.
Crap. Mako didn't mean to embarrass her, and he realized she's just as new to this as he is. He carefully reached out a hand and ran his thumb over her cheek, feeling the warmth there, acting like he didn't notice for her sake.
As soon as he touched her a fire ignited inside her, in the pit of her stomach and she tried to fight the urge to make the next move, not wanting to over step her boundaries. But as his hand ran down her jaw line and continued to venture down her neck, she broke.
Her eyes flicked back up to his as she gave into her desire and reached up to pull his face to hers. But Mako was one step ahead of her and grabbed her wrist pulling her those last few inches, and his lips crashed into hers as he placed a hand at the small of her back, pulling her tight against him. She couldn't help but twine her fingers through the short hair at the back of his neck to pull him even closer as she wrapped her leg around his waist.
She ran her hands down his chest until she reached his abs. He wasn't buff in the overly muscular kind of way, but he was lean and toned, his muscles felt like rocks under his warm inviting skin.
She felt a jolt go through her as he trailed her lip with his tongue, asking a silent question to which she replied by parting her lips to let him in as they began to fight for dominance, as if they were sparring. Finally, something they were both familiar with.
Mako's hand ran down her back before coming to the hem of her oversized shirt. He grabbed at it before breaking their mouths apart for air and breathily whispering, "You know, I think I change my mind about letting you wear my clothes…"
Her heart nearly skipped a beat before she answered the unasked question by pulling off her shirt and pressing her body up next to his, shivering at the contact of their skin, feeling hard against soft, loving the way she fit next to him like the perfect puzzle piece.
It was his turn next. And without warning he slipped her shorts off, tossing them aside. He pulled her leg back up around his waist, running his hand up and back down the length of her thigh. And she couldn't help but let out a sigh of pleasure as he trailed her jaw line and then her neck with his mouth, loving the taste of her skin, not seeming to be able to get enough. She cringed as it brought with it the heat from her stomach tenfold.
Korra couldn't take it anymore and missed the taste of his mouth on hers, so she reached up, putting his face in her hands and tilting her own down to catch his lips in a passionate kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her body up against his. He responded by deepening the kiss and wrapping his arms around her waist pulling her as close as two people can be without fusing.
And then they froze.
They stared into each other's eyes as they listened to a very tired Bolin walk in the front door of the apartment…they could tell by his uneven footsteps he'd probably had a bit to drink last night. Soon he was out like a light on what they assumed and hoped was the couch. And then they both let out a breath they didn't know they were holding and stifled a laugh trying to keep as quiet as possible.
After they calmed down they lied there in the wake of one of the most impulsive, irrational things either of them has ever experienced.
Mako smiled down into those oceanic eyes, "You're crazy."
Korra snickered at his usual insult and countered, "No, we're crazy."
Mako let out a tiring yawn and it was all Korra could do not to throw her head back and laugh. "Maybe we should follow Bolin's example…" she remarked, realizing she was quite tired herself.
"Yeah, ok," he replied placing a gentle kiss on her forehead before laying on his back so she could rest her head on his chest.
"Oh, and Mako…"
"Yes?"
She reached up and placed one last kiss on his lips before looking into his eyes, like the ocean gazing into the sun:
"I love you too."