A/N: Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! It's been a week since the heartwarming canon reveal of Korrasami, and heavens know I'm still squealing like a dying koala. But, like many of you, I feel that Mako deserved a little bit more after all he's done and been through. Here's a fic dedicated to Mako's (eventual) happy-er ending. Korrasami would be prevalent throughout, of course, cause I'm just a sucker for those two.
Big shoutout to officiallyhydra on Tumblr, because this was inspired by their genius headcanon! Thank you x100
There was a loud knock on their door at precisely seven in the evening. Ming, who had been reading cross-legged on the carpet of her living room, stood up almost immediately upon hearing it.
"I'll get it," she announced before any of her parents could respond, knowing full well her mother was busy preparing dinner and her old man was counting bills in his cramped study.
"Thanks, dear!" her mother called out from the kitchen. She strode across the floor of their new, if rather mediocre apartment, carefully evading her baby brother's toys scattered beneath her feet. Boxes of their unpacked belongings lay untouched everywhere, and she made a mental note to block the view of whoever it was at their door, so as to save herself and her family the contrite embarrassment associated with a messy home. As she drew nearer, she could make out the sounds of two female voices in conversation.
"This is the third attempt tonight, and I'm still unsure if this is a good idea."
"He needs this, Asami! It's been years since he's had a lady in his life."
"Yes, but don't you think it's a little.. I don't know, rude, to barge in on people's homes uninvited on the slim chance that we'd find Mako a nice girl? Spirits, we're planning on scrutinising and probably bitching about young women we've never even met!"
"Uh huh. What's your point?"
".. Forget it. Here's to hoping there actually is a young woman behind the door this time."
At this point, Ming was frowning. Who were these people? And who on earth was Mako? Deep in contemplation, she stood frozen long enough to elicit another round of knocking from the woman she assumed didn't mind being classified as "rude".
Her mother's concerned head popped out from the kitchen doorway. "Who is it, dear? Why don't you go ahead and open it?"
Roused from her light stupor, Ming reached for the knob and turned gently. She cracked it open hesitantly at first, then she went ahead and let it go all the way, promptly forgetting the disarrayed state her apartment was in.
"Hi there!"
A woman, with captivating azure eyes was beaming grandly at her, well-defined arms resting on either side of her strong, yet feminine form. Beside her, a taller, elegant lady smiled awkwardly as she looked Ming over from head to toe. Both of them were incredibly gorgeous, and Ming shuffled uncomfortably at the modest feeling of inferiority.
"Spirits!" she heard her mother scream excitedly behind her. "You're the Avatar!" Soon, she felt two hands grab her shoulders and push her over to the side. Recognition struck, and she felt even more baffled than before. "Oh, where are my manners. I'm Tu Li."
Ming waited for her introduction, which never really came. Apparently their visitors were waiting for it, too, because they just stood there quietly for a moment. Unnaturally bashful, she didn't even make an attempt to mention her name.
"Korra," the Avatar said humbly after a while, breaking the silence and reaching out her hand to shake. Her mother made sure to do so with all the reverberation of an average earthquake, and Ming could see Korra's face struggling to hide the displeasure at having her arm turned into jelly. Ultimately, the woman managed, and Ming's respect and awe towards her increased significantly. Finally, her mother let go, and Korra gestured to the angelic woman beside her. "And this is Asami."
The name rang a bell, and she glanced sideward. From the slightly fanatical glint in her eyes, Ming swore her mother would have fainted in delight had she not taught herself to be adept at social encounters all her life. Of course, forgetting to introduce her daughter had been a testament to how she still fumbled in the company of the two most important women in Republic City. "Asami Sato? Of Future Industries?" Asami was about to speak, but her wide-eyed mother was too impatient for clarification and yelled into the apartment. "Honey! The CEO of Future Industries is here!"
Her father burst out of his study at the exact same time her younger brother started crying from the bedroom, having been pulled from his sleep by the commotion.
"Oh no," her mother sighed, over-enthusiasm diminishing. "Excuse me for a moment," she tells their visitors. "Please come in and have a chat with my husband." Before she disappeared from view, she seemed to realise the unruliness. "Pardon the mess! We've only been here a week."
The chat had mostly consisted of her father trying to suck up to the Miss Asami Sato and corner her into a partnership with his, by all-means, smaller business; he constructed and installed Satomobile accessories such as cup-holders and minuscule record players into the vehicles themselves. Asami was clearly impressed at his innovation though, and Ming found herself both very proud of her father, yet very bored by their discussion of business matters.
Evidently, the all-powerful Avatar felt the same. Initially, she had offered valid and interesting opinions to add to the dialogue, but you could tell she just wasn't as into the world of business or engineering as her friend was, and soon gave up. At one point, after she had managed to get the baby back to sleep, her mother fell into conversation with Korra about the relocation scheme President Raiko had executed following the destruction of the downtown area, where she and her family used to live. Her mother had spent a few minutes gushing about how moving homes was a small price to pay for Korra saving the city and creating a new spirit portal that compliments the scenery so beautifully. Ming had been silent but nonetheless invested in that topic; she admired Korra, just like every other citizen of Republic City. But the Avatar was human, and still had certain limitations, as exhibited when her stomach let out an unearthly growl.
Her mother had been quick to react. "Spirits! I'd totally forgotten about dinner! Give me a while, dear, I'll whip something up for all of us."
Ming reconnected with her notably absent voice just then. "I'll help you!" she said hurriedly, jumping at the chance for something to do. To the girl's disbelief, however, her mother gave her a look that told her to sit back down.
"It's alright, dear, I can handle it." She gestured rather aggressively to Korra. "You stay here and keep our guests company."
For some reason she could not explain – or maybe it had something to do with that Mako person – Korra's eyes lit up when they focused on her. "So, how old are you?"
The bluntness of the question caught her off-guard, not unlike many other things that happened that night, but to her surprise she responded with confidence truer to her character. "I'm nineteen. Turning twenty in a few weeks."
Korra seemed to ponder this for a moment before once more raising a question. "What do you do?"
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Meaning?"
"Job, interests, hobbies, you know, all that stuff."
This was beginning to feel more like an interrogation than a harmless chat, but she knew better than to question the Avatar. The image of a deer dog caught in the headlights of an oncoming Satomobile flashed through her mind. "I.. I'm a professional dancer," she found herself answering, because no one could possibly refuse those vibrant blue eyes. "I probably don't really need to spell out my interests, now that you know that."
"Anything else you like to do? Say, do you like solving puzzles, those crime-related kinds? Like woah, dead bodies, fascinating."
"Well, I'm not sure if this counts, but I mostly read crime novels and find them enthralling."
"Wonderful! Have you ever seen a probending match?"
"Yes, I still watch from time to time-"
"Perfect. Are you dating anyone?"
This went on for another ten minutes. Every now and then she sent a pleading gaze to her father, who was too enchanted by the brilliant mind of Asami Sato to notice, or even care. She couldn't be more relieved when her mother's voice cut Korra off in the middle of her asking a question that made Ming sick - how on earth would she know how fertile she is - calling everyone to the dining room for dinner. Seeing the feast laid before them on the table, Ming herself was astounded at the woman's dedication.
"This looks delicious!" Korra marveled, clutching her flat stomach. Asami hummed her agreement as she sat down.
Half-way through the meal, the constant staring of Korra and Asami didn't go unnoticed by Ming. Their gazes would often shift to her when they thought she wasn't looking. Sometimes, they even whispered to each other while her parents became immersed in their inevitable, passionate debates about politics and welfare. But instead of feeling angered and appalled, Ming felt quite the opposite; as far as she knew, the looks sent her way were laced with not-so-subtle hints of approval, and the fact that they were coming from the Avatar and perhaps the youngest, most successful industrialist in Republic City did much to inflate her ego. If this was some kind of test, she's sure she passed in some way.
Things became weird, however, when she became the topic of conversation over dinner. A firm believer in counting and treasuring the numerous blessings in life, her mother wasn't afraid to flaunt Ming as the "perfect" daughter – thoughtful, selfless, hardworking, kind, and very very beautiful. Unaware that her daughter's face was now red as tomatoes, she went on. "She's my pride and joy, my Ming. I couldn't be happ-"
She was interrupted by Korra ungracefully spitting out some of her food and subsequently choking on what remained in her mouth. Asami rushed to her aid with a glass of water and a hand patting her back. "Korra, are you okay?"
After chugging down the whole glass, the Avatar composed herself and smiled widely at everyone in the room. "Sorry about that, I.. Uh.. Choked. Anyway, what were we talking about?" Her eyes fell on Ming, and the poor girl shivered under her stare, which now had a different feel to it than all the previous ones. "Oh yes, you, you wonderful daughter, you! Hold on a minute, I didn't catch your name, what was it again?"
"M-Ming."
"Oh, well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Ming!" Her gaze traveled across the table and rested on each and everyone's faces, save Asami's. "It was really, really nice to meet all of you actually, and I can not thank you enough for the heavenly food. Spirits know, it was glorious!" By now Korra was grabbing Asami's arm and getting her to her feet. Then she was pulling her to the door. "But I just remembered, I have some really important.. Avatar stuff to do so I need to go. Right away."
"Korra," Asami protested, but made no effort to resist Korra as she dragged her along.
"And Asami has some very important CEO stuff to attend to, too!"
"Wait, no, I-"
"Yes, you do, you silly girl," she interjected sweetly. "Sorry, we'll come and visit again next time. Thanks for your hospitality!"
Before the door closed behind them, Asami managed to cry out, "Give me a call at Future Industries, Lo Teng!"
Ming and her parents didn't move for the next five minutes. "D-did that just happen?"
"What was that?" Asami asked once they were out of the building. When Korra let go of her arm, she glanced at her watch briefly. That escapade had taken a huge chunk of what was supposed to be a romantic evening with her girlfriend. "I thought you liked Ming."
Korra leaned her head on the wall, a pained expression decorating her features. "That's the problem."
"Can you be more specific?" Asami sighed, hints of impatience starting to surface in her behaviour; they wasted so much time on this barely thought out stunt. There were upsides, sure, with Asami finding new talent for her company and a splendid dinner - which Korra, naturally, cut short. "What's wrong with liking Ming?"
The way the Avatar banged her head against the wall told her she obviously had trouble letting the girl go. "I don't have a problem with liking Ming. I think she's perfect for Mako; smart, pretty, she'd be able to fawn all over his previous probender status without losing her dignity, he'd love that, she's fond of mysteries and whatever else that nerd likes.."
"Then why'd you bolt when we could have set them up like we planned?"
Korra raised her arms up in frustration. "Because her name!" she proclaimed, exasperated. "Her name is the problem!"
To say that Asami was confused would have been the paragon of an understatement. "..I don't get it," she responds dumbly.
"Ming! Ming Hua! See the resemblance?"
"Korra-"
"Hey, Mako, this is Ming. She's amazing, and we think you work really well together, only, whenever you mention her name you'll be reminded of the time you nearly died fighting another woman called Ming Hua, because this girl's name is practically the first syllable of that girl's name, and-"
Asami silenced her with a kiss. It lasted until they were both breathless. "You dork," she said amusedly, just smirking at her girlfriend.
When it became clear she wasn't gonna taste anymore of Asami's luscious lips until she forked out a proper explanation, Korra huffed and gathered her thoughts. "Okay, I may have overreacted. But we have to get this right, Asami. Mako was ready to lay down his life during our battle with Kuvira, and he almost lost it in the process. I wish I could do something to repay all the favours I owe him, but I can't. The least I can do is find someone to make him happy. But Ming.. Damn that name, I thought we had her."
She had been wondering all day long why Korra had suggested embarking on a mission of determined matchmaking, which Asami had only agreed to on a whim just over a couple hours ago. Now that she had the answer, she couldn't help but smile. If Asami hadn't known better, she would have assumed that Korra still had lingering feelings for their firebender of a best friend. And she probably did - feelings of love that were more akin to brotherhood than the romantic kind. The events that transpired that night were acts of pure gratitude combined with that love, and perhaps, a way to give back to their promise of an always - a promise Asami found out existed during their spirit world venture months ago. Nevertheless, she held back a chuckle at the idea that Korra, selfless Korra, who had suffered so much and saved the world more than a couple times, felt like she owed people favours.
"Alright, I'm with you," she said, conviction in her tone. "Let's go and find Mako a babymommy in our free time." She paused and considered the moon's position in the sky. "But maybe we should start with the names next time."
Korra grinned at her. "Agreed. Of course, we shouldn't dedicate all of our free time to this honourable cause."
"Oh?"
"Yeah."
One smouldering look from Korra later, and she found herself racing across Republic City's streets in her Satomobile towards the general direction of her apartment with the Avatar on her lap. They nearly crashed at least two dozen times.
A/N: Don't hate me, I tried my best c: This will be multi-chaptered. The next instalments will be shorter, but feature more judgmental and protective personas of Korra and Asami (which would be hella fun to write).
I'd just like to put it out there that I finally made a Tumblr account: theblissofdiscord (changed my FF username to match). There's.. practically nothing there yet because I'm clueless to the world that is Tumblr. But I'll figure it out, or maybe someone could help me, he he..
As for my other fics, there ARE updates coming soon! I'll explain why it's taken a while when the next chapters are out, hopefully in a day or two.