Princess? Yeah right.

Mako was in the gym early in the morning. He needed to clear his head a bit before team practice began, and sending a few fireballs toward the wall always helped him before. He had gotten up early to do this, to spend some time alone with his thoughts. Practice was to start in thirty minutes. Sure, I've got time, he thought as he put down his bag and prepped for the heat.

Yes, she was the Avatar, and she was undeniably pretty, but the term "princess" didn't exactly fit the picture Mako had in his head. When he thought of princesses, he thought of pink and extravagant gowns and balls and parties and royalty. He shuddered at the thought. Korra was the polar opposite of a princess – pun fully intended. Superficially, the differences were obvious. Korra would never even think of touching something pink, never mind wear it. She always wore blue, her traditional Southern Water Tribe garb that only made her cerulean eyes brighter…

No! Not now! Mako shook his head to wipe his mental slate and restart his checklist of how Korra was nothing like a princess. Focusing on a single point on the wall, he shot two fireballs. Where was I…? Korra wearing a dress… well, he'd seen that one. She had donned an ankle-length blue gown at the gala Tarrlok had thrown in her honor to persuade – rather, force her – to join his taskforce. Remembering the image of Korra in that dress, he remembered the scowl on her face and the sudden switch to concern when she was complaining about him "not saying anything about her," about Asami. The look on her face when he said Asami had hit him with her moped, the real concern in her eyes, written all over her perfect features…

No! I'm trying to make a list here! Mako mentally scolded himself while evading an imaginary attack and launching another himself. If I keep doing this, I'm going to get nothing done. He sighed. Anyway. Balls and parties. He stood up straight, a pout on his face, confused and trying to think of this one. I don't… I don't think I've taken her – I mean, I don't think I've ever seen her dancing, seen her dance, and uhh… He scratched the back of his neck while the scene played in his head. Him, dressed up yet casual in a classy suit, white button-down and his red scarf. Her, stunning in a red ankle length dress similar to the one she had worn at the gala, black elbow-length gloves, matching heels and a black feather in her hair. A classy environment, lights dimmed, light music playing in the background, just the two of them in the middle of the floor…. the two of them, so close. Holding her gently… looking down and lifting her face up to his with a finger, Korra lost his golden eyes, blushing, her eyes closing as he leaned in for a kiss…

SLAM.

Mako was awakened from his perfect daydream only to have the other occupant of that dream to be standing in front of him. He flushed beet red and suddenly wished he had his trusty scarf.

"Oh, hey, Mako. I didn't see you there. I'm glad I didn't throw my bag at you, spirits know you wouldn't –" Korra stopped midsentence because something was a little off today about Mako. Usually, he would have responded with something snappy by now. "Mako? Is something wrong?" She watched him suspiciously for a moment then leaned closer to scrutinize him.

Mako's daze broke fully only to have the Avatar looking him directly in the eye. Crap! Mako! You're not supposed to be doing this! Mako scolded himself again internally. He blushed again and turned his head to the side. He scratched the side of his neck and fidgeted for words to respond to the breathtaking young woman standing right in front of him. "What? Oh, nothing. I was just resting from practicing earlier." He noticed the scorch marks he had left on the wall and blanched. His face fell. "Whoops. Toza's gonna have my neck for this one."

Mako took two steps forward and stretched for a second, relishing in the ability to get Korra out of his face so he could think clearly. Practice was supposed to start soon, even though Korra swears to the spirits that mornings are evil. This morning, though, she didn't seem too particularly bad.

Mako heard another pair of footsteps enter the gym. "Good morning fellow teammates!" Bolin announced. "Hey, Korra! I didn't see you yesterday. What's up?"

Mako had the sense to pace to make sure his body was functioning normally. No matter how normal he seemed to be at the moment, he couldn't get that last picture out of his head. Korra would look stunning in red, he knew it. He had crossed the gym and had lost the ability to listen to the conversation his brother and teammate were having. Just for a few moments, Mako allowed himself the opportunity to actually look at Korra. She was a good height. She was really strong, but not too muscular – the perfect build. Even despite the chunky uniform she donned, he could tell that she was beautiful, all of her. His eyes examined her face, her expressions, the way her eyes lit up when Bo said something funny, her cheekbones, even her weird… hair thingies. All of it was beautiful.

Noting this and storing it away in his mind for further investigation, Mako stood up straight again and took in a deep breath and walked over to the two conversationalists to get some training started.

As training commenced, Mako mentally commented on the last part of his checklist. I guess being the Avatar counts as royalty. He grinned to himself, part of him hoping that he'd live to see the rest of his checklist come true.