Korra was bored out of her mind. It was a beautiful sunny day out and birds swooped back and forth around her, clearly enjoying their freedom. The thought made her feel even worse. Here she was, stuck sitting until her butt was numb, when she could be out roaming the city or sparring with Bolin or Mako. Their next match was coming up and she was determined to prove herself. The thought of fighting in the Pro-Bending arena again made Korra feel more excited than she had in a long time. It also made it very hard for her to just sit here. She fidgeted and shifted back and forth until Tenzin shot her a look that clearly told her to sit still.
"Tenzin," she started sweetly, batting her blue eyes at him. "Didn't we already go over this? Meditation just isn't my thing. I don't get it. But since I already showed improvement, maybe I could take a quick break..."
"Just because you managed to move like an airbender once during a match, doesn't mean you can just stop your training," Tenzin replied, sounding exasperated and rubbed his forehead.
"Then let me go out and fight some more!" she exclaimed, punching her fist into her hand. The thought of a fight make her skin tingle with anticipation.
"You can't just go get in a fight whenever you want!" Tenzin boomed, getting red. They had already gone over this several times. "Being the Avatar means learning peace and-"
"Yeah, I know," Korra cut him off. Ignoring his look of outrage, she stood up and dusted off her pants. "I'm gonna go grab something to eat."
Heading into the kitchen, she snagged an orange out of a bowl, then went to the front of the house, planning on going outside to eat and maybe brush Naga. But as she headed outside, she spotted Mako leaning against the side of the building, hands in his pockets.
"Mako!" she exclaimed, surprised to see him here. Since you had to take a boat over to the Air Temple Island, she hadn't expected either of the brothers to come visit her.
"Korra." He said calmly, nodding to her. "I was waiting to see if you would come out. Bolin and I are training today and he wanted you to join us so I offered to come get you."
Korra noticed that he said Bolin wanted her to join them. Jerk. But how could she resist an offer like that?
"Give me a second to change," she said, and ran back in the house, hoping Tenzin wouldn't spot her.
A minute later she was outside and ready to go. For the first time, she took a good look at Mako and stopped dead. That scarf. He was wearing a red scarf. And it looked so damn good on him. That paired with his casual clothes was enough to make her throat go dry. Calm down Korra, she thought to herself. You're being ridiculous.
Swallowing loudly, Korra ignored Mako's raised eyebrow and whistled. Naga can bursting around the corner, tail wagging and tongue flopping, knocking over Mako in a desperate attempt to lick his face.
"Good girl," Korra laughed, enjoying Mako's outraged face. He muttered to himself, finally pushing Naga off, and glared at Korra. Naga's raspy tounge had left half of his face red and he looked a bit rumpled.
"What? It's not my fault Naga likes how you taste," Korra said, pulling herself onto Naga's back. Holding out her hand for Mako, she explained, "It will be much quicker to ride Naga. She's a great swimmer."
Mako just grabbed Korra's hand, his rough palm sliding against hers, and hoisted himself up behind her. Korra shivered, feeling his warm breath on the back of her neck.
"Go Naga!" she said, nudging her in the sides, and Naga took off. Mako lurched backwards, almost falling off before he lunged forwards, wrapping his arms around Korra in a death grip.
She turned around and laughed at his wide eyes, trying to ignore the feeling of his arms around her, and how strong and warm he felt pressed up against her. Urging Naga to go faster, Korra felt his arms tighten around her and him suck in a breath as Naga launched herself off a small cliff and into the water.
The water here was warm compared to in the South Pole but Korra knew it was cold for normal people. So she might have bent the splash a little bigger than it was, making sure Mako got completely soaked, thinking that revenge was sweet. After he was such a jerk to her when they first met, he could deal with a bit of water.
Spluttering and shaking water out of his eyes, Mako leaned forward to speak in Korra's ear. "Thanks for the shower, although I didn't realize I smelled so bad."
Korra smiled at his unexpected response and said, "That was for Naga. I was worried your stench would knock her out and I'd be stuck in the middle of the water with a huge polar bear dog and stinky firebender,"
She felt him laugh against her. Naga's powerful stokes were quickly bringing them close to shore right next to the arena. Bending the water, Korra propelled them up onto the outside walkway with a thump.
Mako slid off Naga, then unexpectedly held out his hand to help Korra down. She didn't need it of course, but took his hand anyways, landing next to him. They locked eyes for a second, then both looked away quickly, letting go.
After telling Naga to wait out front, Korra and Mako headed inside. The door to the training room was open, and Korra walked in, then sprang to the side as a stone disk came flying at her. She hit the floor, rolling up into a crouch, instantly ready to attack.
"Look alive! It's a sudden attack!" a voice hollered and she looked up just in time to see Bolin leaping off a tall stone pillar, flinging disks at her as he flew through the air, green eyes sparkling.
She dodged the first two, then knocked the second pair out of the air with a quick burst of fire.
Bolin landed next to her, a huge grin on his face, dimples standing out and making him look like a little kid. "Nice reflexes," he complimented. " But you cheated with the fire."
Korra laughed, punching him affectionately on the shoulder. "Sorry Bolin, I mean, Sifu Bolin." She winked at him as he stuck his tongue out at her.
"So," she asks, cracking her knuckles. "What's on the agenda for today?" She looked around, half hoping the brothers has set up some sort of obstacle course for her. She could use a good work out right about now.
Bolin opened his mouth to reply but Mako cut him off. Korra looked over to find him watching her with cool eyes. "We need to work on a few combinations and explain more defensive techniques to you."
"Defense?" Korra repeated. "But why not just work on better attacks so we can take them out before we need to defend ourselves?"
Mako's eyes narrowed. "That's the kind of attitude that's going to get you knocked out of the arena by the other team. A good defense is essential to winning, and especially important as a waterbender."
"You think because I'm a waterbending, I can't fight as well?"
Mako rolled his eyes and Korra felt anger twist in her stomach. "No, I'm simply pointing out that you need to learn all aspects of fighting. And defense is just as important as offense."
Korra strode up to him, poking him in the chest. "Don't you tell me what's important. If it's such a big deal to you, why don't you learn to waterbend, and I'll take over firebending. At least I know how to do it right."
Behind her, Bolin gasped. Korra ignored him and focused on the anger bubbling in her stomach. After having to sit all day, the last thing she wanted was to practice defense. She wanted to punch something. And right about now, Mako's face was looking pretty good.
Mako's hands tightened into fists. She stared straight into his eyes, daring him to challenge her. But he just stared back for a second before exhaling loudly, then turning around and walking away. This just made her angrier.
Bolin must have realized this because he started towards her but she just shoved him away and ran at Mako, flinging a ball of flame at him.
He spun around and deflected it at the last second, but the force still managed to knock him to the ground. He jumped up smoking and eyes flashing with anger, and faced Korra, flames ready in his hands.
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