Finally, this was all over. The revolution was put to rest. Amon was defeated and put behind bars. She finally mastered air bending, and was working on becoming a fully realized avatar. It felt like this weight was finally off her shoulders, but yet she still didn't feel fulfilled. After a year of agony and pain, she thought she would feel different, happy, when this was all over. She wasn't. It was because of Mako. She loved him, and he loved Asami. She was used to the idea that Mako would never reciprocate the feelings she had for him. She knew this ever since she kissed him that night on the pier and he pulled back telling her his true feelings. Mako kept his distance from Korra after that, and frankly Korra didn't mind. She could not stand watching Mako and Asami together, especially not the way he looked at her. She soon learned to live with the pain in her chest and tried to move on. Korra dated Bolin for awhile; she thought if she could force a relationship with Bolin that her feelings for Mako would recede and she would start to have feelings for Bolin. She never could, deep down she would always love Mako, and nobody could change that. Eventually Korra and Bolin broke up, she felt guilty that she didn't love him, while he knew she really loved someone else. They mutually ended their relationship and still remained friends.
The new season for Pro-bending was starting. Since they won the championship last season their practice time slot was moved to late afternoon, Korra was happy about that. Korra and Bolin were practicing, Mako was late. Mako strode into the practice area with Asami wrapped around his arm. The sight of Asami made Korra scowl. Korra never really liked Asami, yes she was a nice girl, but Asami had the man she loved. So, on the outside Korra was nice to Asami, even friendly, but on the inside she hated her presence, even after a year of knowing her.
"Nice of you to show up." Korra mumbled under her breath.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. Asami and I were having a lunch date at the park, and we sort of lost track of time."Mako smiled. Korra rolled her eyes. "But, we have an important announcement." Mako and Asami shared a look and both said "we are engaged! We are getting married!"
'What? Married? No I can't handle this. Why? Not him, not the man that I love,' Korra thought to herself. She looked up trying to hold back her tears. She mentally pulled herself together and put on her mask of happiness. "Congrats, you two!"
"Congrats? This is better than congratulations! My brother is getting married! And to Asami. We need to celebrate! We should go out tonight, all four of us. Maybe go dancing, get some drinks! This is Amazing! I'm so happy for you two!" Bolin enthusiastically said.
'Oh Agni, me going out? I can't even stand in the same room with these two, let alone celebrate their engagement. I can't do it.' "Oh sorry guys, I can't. I can't go out tonight I-I have a meeting tonight… yeah, I have a meeting tonight with the City Council. Yup, just boring avatar stuff, but I still have to go. You three go out and celebrate; have fun, seriously."
"Are you sure you don't want to come, Korra?" Asami asked.
"Yeah, it is fine. I've got a duty to this city and I need to fulfill it. Go have fun." She was on the verge of a breakdown. She needed to get out of there fast. "Um, I have to go use the bathroom, so if you'll excuse me." She darted to the girl's locker room. No one was in there because they got their own private time slot. She locked both doors and moved to the middle of the room. She sat down with her knees up to her face and started crying. The warm tears reminded her of the last time she felt this sad, this broken. Both times were caused by Mako, the last time she cried this much was the night after their kiss. The night that she let all of her feelings out in the open and, shortly after, watched them be shot down. She told Mako that she loved him that night. He told her that he loved Asami. The only time she ever truly opened up to him and he just rejected her. It wasn't entirely Mako's fault; she was no Asami. She wasn't pretty like Asami, and she didn't have all the money Asami had. Asami was every man's dream girl; how could she compete with that? She hated feeling like this, like she was nothing. She wanted to forget Mako and forget her feelings, but she couldn't. Her feelings for Mako never stopped since she fell for him. Korra still held on to that one little hope that Mako would realize his love for her. He was getting married now, that hope was fading away. The tears kept rolling down her face. She remembered that she still had practice and the boys were probably waiting for her. She put herself together, walked over to the sink and wet her face to hide the fact that she was crying. She slowly walked back outside of the bathroom and commenced practice.
She needed to get her mind off this whole engagement thing. She wanted to go out but her only friends were celebrating the sole thing she wanted to forget. She walked the streets of Republic City aimlessly until she stumbled across this club. It was called The Dancing Dragon; it was pretty new it opened last month. She walked in, swing music was playing and people were dancing; she walked straight to the bar. The counter was a half circle surrounding the bartender. She sat at the end of the bar at the far corner and rested herself against the wall and called the bartender over.
"What can I get for you, Miss?" The bartender asked.
"What is the best you've got? I want something that can make me forget everything that happened today."
"Well, we got a new shipment of Cactus Juice today. That would really make you forget, but it would also really mess you up. I don't think a lady like you is ready for a drink like Cactus Juice."
"I don't care. Give me the Cactus Juice. I can handle it." The bartender nodded and went to go get her drink. He placed the drink in front of her and went to go serve other customers. She pictured what her friends were doing; Mako and Asami were probably making out or dancing at a club or something, while Bolin was probably hitting on some fan girls. She picked up the drink and silently toasted with herself, 'To Mako and Asami.' Suddenly her world stared to cloud up
"So, where are we actually going, Bolin." Mako asked. The two men were walking the streets of the city, Mako was following Bolin. Asami decided not to come tonight; she convinced them that they should celebrate with a guys' night.
"Don't worry Mako; it's this really cool new place I heard about. The Hopping Dragon… or was it The Dancing Dragon. I don't remember the name but I heard it is kicking. You're going to be married soon, chained down; you're not going to have a chance to have fun anymore. So we might as well have as much fun as we can before the big day." Mako just shook his head.
"Okay, cool we are here!" They walk in through the doors; people surrounding them from all sides. The place was packed. "So, bro what do you want to do. I mean, we are celebrating for you."
"Oh, I don't know. Let's just go to the bar."
"Hey… Bartender guy… I- get me another one of those cactus thingies." The drunken avatar said; her world now cloudy as ever.
"I don't think that is such a good idea, miss."
"No! No I can… do what I want. So you… got to deal with it." Her speech was slurred as she talked.
"Fine, miss, but I warned you."
Korra was drinking the last sips of her drink when she noticed them. Mako and Bolin were walking to the bar. 'WHAT! Are you serious, out of all the bars in Republic City they had to come to this one? Agni, look at Mako, happy as ever, for Asami not me. The people I wanted to avoid happen to show up. I hope they don't see me. Please don't see me, please.' The sight of Mako and Bolin, especially Mako, made her start to tear up. Usually she would hide her tears, but the alcohol made her lose control of her emotions and the flood gates opened.
"What can I get for you boys?" the Bartender asked the earthbender and firebender.
"Surprise us, we are celebrating tonight!" Bolin enthusiastically answered. The bartender left to get their drinks. Bolin looked to the other side of the bar across the room. He noticed a girl. On the outside she looked familiar but the way she was acting was foreign to Bolin. "Hey Mako, is-is that Korra? Is she crying?" they looked closer at the girl.
"Yeah, I think it is, but why is she here? She said she had to meet with the council." Mako looked at Korra with concern. 'Why was this girl here? What was wrong with her?'
"I can't believe this, she stood us up. She didn't want to go out but yet she is at a bar. We were trying to celebrate your engagement as a team, as four friends. How could she-"Bolin's eyes widened. He looked at the crying girl, her face covered in tears and falling apart. He looked at Mako trying to figure out what was wrong with Korra, being oblivious as ever. 'How could I not have noticed this before? Korra is in love with Mako. She loves my brother but he is with Asami. Mako is the man that Korra was in love with during our relationship. It was in her eyes, how could I be so blind? She loved him since they met. They way she touched him, talked to him, and those stares. She would stare at Mako when he didn't notice. How could I not put two and two together? She didn't come with us because she can't handle seeing Mako with Asami. That's why Korra doesn't like Asami. Oh crap, Korra is in love with Mako and I've been constantly talking about Mako and Asami. I must be a bad friend, especially not to notice something like this.' Bolin thought this in his head. "-Oh." He said.
Mako was taken out of his trance. "What is it Bo?"
"Oh, nothing, just thinking. Maybe you should go talk to Korra. I think she needs a friend now."
"What? Why? You should go talk to her. You are more of a friend to her then I am. She has hardly said a word to me outside of practice in the past couple months. And plus, I'm not good at emotional situations, which I'm guessing this is, you are better at stuff like that."
"I think it would be better if you went to talk to her." Bolin turned around on his seat and grabbed a random girl on her arm. "Hey, I'm Bolin, probending star from the Fire Ferrets. Want to dance?" She agreed. Bolin got up to go to the dance floor and turned around. "Also, I'm a little preoccupied right now." He said with a smirk and disappeared into the crowd with the girl on his arm.
Mako just sat there drinking his drink, angry at his brother but he felt like someone had to do something for Korra. He didn't want to, but wishes Bolin wasn't so stubborn and talked to the girl.
"Hello there, Miss Avatar. Why so sad? Why don't you let Tahno make everything better?" Tahno sat down next to Korra as he attempted to flirt with her.
Korra sniffled. "Oh, it's nothing. I just like this guy, who doesn't like me back." Korra paused. Just as Tahno was about to say something she blurted out "you know what, screw him. He has a girlfriend, I'm not like her, and I'm invisible to him. He is never going to like me the way I like him. Tahno, you are taking me to your apartment tonight and we are going to make him regret messing with my feelings. Let's do it!"
Tahno grinned. "Sure. Honey." He got up and held out his hand.
Mako sat there at the bar still watching Korra. He turned away to see if he could find Bolin then turned back. When he turned back he saw Tahno talking to Korra. 'Oh shit. Now she's talking to him. Out of all people she had to talk to Tahno, basically known for his womanizer ways. Korra should know that already. I guess her judgment is off. What? She's getting up with him. Where are they going? I don't think I want to know. I better stop this before it gets there.' Mako got up and ran across the room to reach the girl wrapped around Tahno barely able to stand up on her own. "Korra, where are you going? I'm not letting you leave with Tahno, I know what you were going to do and I'm not allowing it."
"You're not allowing it? You are not in charge of me. You are not my boyfriend, your Asami's boyfriend, or I guess fiancé. You can't control me, I can do what I want and right now what I want to do is Tahno."
"Yeah Mako, listen to the girl. She's the avatar she can make her own decisions. Let her do what she wants, and what she wants is definitely better than anything you could give her." Tahno said.
"Stay out of this, Tahno. I don't care, Korra. You are drunk; you don't know what you are doing. You are coming with me!" Mako demanded.
"No! You can't boss me around and tell me what to do. You might be team captain but that title doesn't give you the authority to boss my love life." Korra took Tahno and continued to walk through the door. Mako stopped her and grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Tahno. She tried to fight him by punching and kicking him, but that didn't stop him. He grabbed the girl and wouldn't let her go. He took her to the boys' apartment.
"Sit down. I'm making you coffee." Mako was leaving the room.
"Do you love her?" She asked. Mako stopped in his tracks.
"Yes, why else would I ask her to marry me?" He sat down on the couch next to her.
"Oh, I don't know. I was just asking because I don't want you to regret anything in the future."
"Don't worry I won't."
"Good." Korra frowned.
"Ok, what is wrong? Me and Bolin saw you crying at the bar before. I thought you had an avatar meeting with the city council tonight."
Still drunk, Korra's emotions just erupted at that point. She stood up. "Are you serious? How could you be so oblivious? Isn't it clear, I am in love with you! I have loved you since we first met. I mean at that point it was just a crush but it grew into love fast. I would have told you but you were with Asami. After I kissed you I figured you realized it was more the just a crush. You broke my heart that night. I mean seriously, I used your brother to get over you, and because of you my relationship with Bolin didn't work out. My feelings for you were too strong. I can't get you out of my head. I want to get over you but I can't, that's why I haven't talked to you in awhile, because I can't stand to see you in love with someone else. When you and Asami came to tell us that you got engaged, my heart crushed. It finally hit me that I would never have you. I would never feel your warm lips on mine again. I would never know what it is like to truly love the person who loves you. I can't take this anymore; I have been bottling up my feelings for too long. I'll let you go, you love this girl, and if she makes you happy I guess I have to deal with that. Just remember that she's isn't the only person who loves you." She started crying. Mako just sat there, silent, starring up at Korra. "Well, are you going to say anything?" Still silent Mako stood up. He put his hand on her cheek and quickly pulled her in to a passionate kiss. The kiss was filled with angst and lust. They sat down on the couch still kissing.
Mako moved his kiss down to her neck. "Mako, what does this mean? You are engaged to Asami." Korra asked as she gasped for air.
"Just kiss me." Mako demanded as he moved back to kiss Korra's lips. He pulled off her shirt and she followed. Mako took one look at her bare chest, and then proceeded put his lips on her bare chest. Mako was moving like an animal, not letting Korra dominate like she is used to doing. Korra moved her hands down to Mako's pants. "Wait, Bolin might come back." He said between kisses. He picked up Korra while sucking on her neck and walked into the bedroom.
It was early Morning. The Sun was just over the horizon and gleaming through the windows of the brothers' apartment. The light gleamed right over Korra's face and woke her up. "Huh? Where am I? Gah! My head is killing me." She got up out of the bed holding her aching head and turned around to see her surroundings. "What did I do last night? Was I- I was in Mako's bed! "The other side of the bed was empty but ruffled to show that someone was there. She tried to remember what happened the night before. Her memory was cloudy but she could remember enough to figure out what happened. "Oh crap! Did Mako and I-? Oh Agni, Mako and I had sex!" At that moment she suddenly thought of Asami. This was the first time since she met the girl that she actually thought about her feelings. "Oh no, oh no, this is not good. I'm the other woman now." She said as she paced back and forth. "I have to get out of here before Mako comes back; I'm not ready for the confrontation right now, maybe later but not now." She quickly grabbed her clothes and got dressed. She ran out the door and down the stairs. As she passed the gym she caught Bolin's eye.
"Hey Korra, wait I have to talk to you." He yelled out to her. She stopped running, turned around and walked over to him. She tried to not look suspicious of anything. "Well Korra, I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
"What for, Bolin?"
"I kind of saw you at the Dancing Dragon last night, you were crying, and I realized that you love Mako. I mean, I've been going on and on about him and Asami and never thought to realize how you felt. I never noticed that Mako and Asami being together was hurting you so much, and I should have. That's why I'm sorry."
She looked at him with a smile, for a moment she forgot about all of her worries. Korra pulled Bolin into a hug, finally she had someone to help her and be there for her. She pulled back. "Normally I would deny it, but right now I can't. Yes, I do love him and I need to tell you something-." She was just about to tell the earthbender her dilemma about last night, when Mako followed by Asami walked into the gym. 'Oh no Mako is coming. Does he remember what happened last night? Where did he even go? He's with Asami, and they look happy, well I guess normal because this is how they usually act. Did Mako tell Asami what had happened? Either he didn't, or she forgave him.' Mako and Asami walked over to Bolin and Korra. Bolin gave Korra an apologetic look.
"Hi, Mako. Hi, Asami." Bolin exclaimed.
"Mako, we need to-." Korra words were stopped by the look on Mako's face; he shook his head and mouthed the word 'no'. He hadn't told Asami what had happened and he wasn't planning on it.
"What do you and Mako have to do?" Asami asked. Mako gave Korra a look again.
"Oh, nothing, it's not important. We just need to work on… that firebending trick I've been meaning to teach him. Yeah." Korra began to panic. The guilt she had was consuming her, she needed to tell someone. "But not right now. Right now Bolin and I have to do something." She grabbed Bolin's arm and took him out of the arena.
"Why are you in such a rush to get out of there?" Bolin asked.
"Because I told you, I have to tell you something. Ok so last night, I'm guessing after you and Mako got separated or something, Mako took me from the bar and brought me to your apartment. And, well, I sort of told him my feelings for him, and then he kissed me."
"That's great! You like him, he likes you. What is better than this?"
"Well that's not it; we did more than just kiss. We kind of had sex. I probably would have been fine with this if he wasn't with Asami, and then two seconds ago Mako gave me a look that basically told me that he isn't going to tell her. He's going to stay with Asami and get married to her even after what we did last night. I don't know what to do, I feel so guilty."
"Oh. Well I'm guessing Mako just wants everything to go back to normal, maybe you should do the same. If you forget this ever happened you won't feel guilty. Plus you have me to help you get through this. You won't be alone."
"Yeah, I guess you are right. Thanks." They walk back into the stadium.