Title: Distance
Rating: K+
Summary: Korra's leaving on a trip to the Fire Nation, Mako can't accompany
Chapter Word Count: 435
~A/N~ So this is my first attempt at anything involving drama or multi-chapter work, so I'm completely open to critiques! Still getting my style, characterization, and whatever set. R&R!
Chapter 1: Leaving
"How long?"
"Mako calm down!" Korra huffed. She knew he'd take it badly, but she never thought it would be this bad. "It's only for a couple months! Do you think I had a choice?"
Mako closed his eyes and took some deep breaths to clear his head. This didn't seem to be working, as Korra could still see smoke coming from his hands as he tried to control his bending. Finally, he opened those golden eyes of his.
"I know. I'm sorry. It's just...I can't take time off from the police. Not now, when we're all still recovering and rebuilding. I just can't stand the idea that you'll be off somewhere where I can't..."
"Protect me?" Korra asked with a smile, wrapping her arms around her firebender.
"Protect you, see you, hear you, all of that!" Mako exclaimed. He took a breath to continue, but was quieted when his mouth was suddenly overpowered by hers. She leaned out of the kiss and looked up at Mako.
"Trust me, I'll be fine. I could take care of myself long before you came along, City Boy!" she said with a laugh, breaking apart from him and walking to her bags.
"Just...make sure you write, okay? I just want to hear from you. Letters, telegrams, phone calls, anything. Hell, smoke signals will work fine!"
Korra snickered. "Smoke signals?"
Mako sighed. "Oh, shut up. You know what I mean."
Korra smiled, grabbing her stuff. "I know!" she said, heading towards the door. "Still doesn't mean I can't make fun of you for it anyway!"
Mako made a weird expression, halfway between a scowl and a grin, before following her to the door. "Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's get you to the Satomobile. I'm sure Tenzin's probably going nuts."
"Oh please," Korra said. "He does that before every trip."
Mako laughed, but he couldn't help but feel that "trip" was far too casual a word for what she was doing. "Diplomatic Mission" seemed to fit more, but Korra would probably hate that. It would sound too stuffy for her. Still, he could shake the feeling that something was bothering him. Call it a sixth sense, but he'd developed quite the intuition out on the streets for what felt dangerous. Mako shooed away those thoughts as he got in the Satomobile. It's just two months, he thought to himself. What could go wrong?