He was nervous.
She loved him, and he knew it, and he was still nervous.
He stared at the door of the unremarkable South Pole home for what seemed like an eternity, his eyes boring into the wood as if he were trying to see through it. He couldn't.
He was stupid. This was stupid. She'd hardly seen enough of her parents in the past few months. She'd been through a lot. She was the Avatar. And he was an idiot.
It was really a dumb idea.
He turned away and his heels dug into the hard-packed snow with a loud crunch.
Her laugh. It reached his ears and it was music to him. And he'd turned around in an instant and pressed his ear to the door to hear more. Wholehearted and light, he grasped for those hopeful notes of joy. No one laughed like her. He could just imagine the wide grin and crinkled eyes from behind that door. And that imagination forced his hand. He had to see her for himself.
His knock was feeble at first, his knuckles weakly rapping at the thick earthen surface. He balled his fist tighter, concentrated, and placed one, solid, heavy knock on the front door.
The laughing stopped, and he heard footsteps. Heavy ones. Not light and bouncing like Korra's. Solid footfalls.
And the door opened and light streamed out onto the poor firebender boy standing in the snow.
The door frame was almost completely taken up by Tonraq's imposing figure. The man looked down at him, knotting his eyebrows in confusion. Korra did that, too, when she was confused. So Mako smiled at the thought. Then, realizing that he was standing before his girlfriend's father, returned to a solemn poker face. Or, perhaps that was rather rude. So he smiled again. It turned into an uneasy grimace.
He'd never actually spoken to either of Korra's parents, so he looked up at Tonraq, blinked a few times, and cleared his throat. "Um, hi. Mr., uh, Tonraq... sir. I, uh... Well, we've never officially met... I'm one of Korra's friends, uh... well, not exactly friends... well, we are friends, but we're... uh..." he chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I'm-"
"Mako?"
His eyes shifted beyond the intimidating figure in the doorway and made contact with beautiful cerulean irises. A smile spread across her perfect tan features, and she pushed past her father and into his arms, her lips finding his cheek easily.
She was warm, and he pulled her as close to him as their cumbersome clothing would allow. How he wanted to take her face in his hands and kiss her until he couldn't breathe! But Tonraq was still visible over her shoulder and he resisted primal urges. They pulled apart, and her hand was on his cheek, and they smiled.
"I think your dad's a little concerned over there," he said softly.
She whirled instantly, blush heating her cheeks despite the frigid environment. "Dad!" she sounded only slightly less nervous around her own father as he had. "Um.. This is Mako. My, um... my boyfriend."
Mako felt his heartbeat quicken as Tonraq scrutinized him with squinted eyes. "You're the firebender boy, then?"
He'd forgotten how to speak, so he forced himself to swallow nervously and nodded. Relief flooded his heart when Tonraq cracked a smile.
"What brings you out here?"
Korra slid her hand into his and entwined their fingers. It was a welcome comfort. "I was actually wondering the same thing," she told him.
And he suddenly remembered his original reason for the nerves all over again. Their first date. It was stupid. He was stupid. And now he couldn't back out.
"Uh. Well, I was wondering..." He gave a short tasteless chuckle. "It's actually pretty stupid, really... But I was going to ask if you wanted to go penguin sledding with me. But it's dumb. Forget I said anything."
"I'd love to."
His eyebrows shot up so suddenly that he felt the muscle strain. "You would?"
"Yeah," she smiled and his heart thudded and his legs felt like jello and he grinned like an idiot. Her gaze shifted to the man in the door frame. "Dad?"
"Don't ask me; ask your mother," he said with a shrug. Mako breathed a sigh of relief. Moms were much less intimidating than dads.
So said his experience with one previous girlfriend whose father was evil and whose mother was dead.
He didn't have to see Korra's face to know she was rolling her eyes. The tone of her voice said it all. "Mom's gonna have a field day with this." She took Mako by the hand and pulled him behind her. "You're gonna want to come in, this will take a bit."
They walked past Tonraq single-file, and Mako made sure his eyes were straight forward as opposed to roving over the Avatar's body. The built man closed the door behind them with a thud and the firebender felt as though he'd just willingly walked into a trap.
"Mom," Korra started, reluctance in her tone. "This is Mako, he's-"
"Oh, you're Mako!" Senna's voice was kind and surprisingly ecstatic. Mako found himself being hugged crushingly by the woman and he patted her back uncomfortably.
"Yeah. Heh. I'm Mako." Tonraq was just visible beyond Korra, Giving him a pitying smirk.
"Oh, I've heard so much about you! You seem like quite the heart-throb! Korra just adores you, you know..."
"Mom!" She was pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration and he smiled. If there was one thing that really attracted him to Korra, it was her conduct when flustered. "I'll tell him how much I adore him when I want to, okay?"
"It's alright," he said with a mild chuckle. "You actually remind me quite a bit of my own mother." He played with the end of his scarf absentmindedly as he spoke.
"Well, judging by what my daughter thinks of you, she must be very proud of the man you've become," Senna said warmly, clasping her hands in her lap.
He felt a pang of sadness and heard Korra wince behind him at her mother's words. Her hand was on his back almost instantly, and he gave a little half smile. "Well," he said softly, "I certainly hope so."
Quick to change the subject, Korra intervened before the conversation could goo any further. "Mako wanted to take me penguin sledding, if that's okay."
"Penguin sledding?" Senna repeated, turning to him. "I can't imagine you get to do that often in the city."
"Actually, I've never done it," he admitted with a small shrug. "It was actually Katara's idea."
"Well, go ahead, just be careful," Senna warned Korra, who rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"Don't try anything," Tonraq told Mako, who squeaked out a "Yes, sir," in response.
"Would you like anything to eat?" Senna asked Mako, but Korra was already ushering him towards the door, bending air at his ankles to quicken his stride.
"No, he doesn't, Mom!" she closed the door behind them and huffed in frustration. Blue eyes looked up at him embarrassedly. "I'm sorry."
It started as a snicker, but grew. His grin spread wide as rolls of laughter overtook him. It was infectious, and he was joined by Korra's harmonic giggles. He entwined their fingers and lowered his mouth to hers, tasting her lips and exploring and breathing her in. She smiled against his pressing tongue and breathed out laughter and the nervous thudding of his heart ceased in order to give way to the erratic beating that overcame him when he was with her.
It was completing and it was incredible and it was terrifying: He loved her.
And it was worth it.