"You sure you're gonna do it?"
"I'm sure, Bolin," Mako said. "We've been back together for a couple years now, things are going great, and I've come to the conclusion that I want to spend the rest of my life with Korra. I've decided that I'm going to ask her to marry me."
"Okay, yeah, but are you sure-sure?" Bolin asked with a slight pout. "This is Korra we're talking about, remember? Avatar "I'm a badass free-spirited goddess" Korra? I'm not so sure she's gonna be eager to settle down with anyone."
"Oh, lay off him, Bolin," laughed Asami. The young industrialist smiled at Mako reassuringly. "I'm sure it will go fine, Mako," she said gently. "You two are good for each other. I'm sure Korra will say yes."
"You know, it's weird," Bolin said, rubbing his chin. "I hadn't thought about it before, but every one of us - all of the founders of Team Avatar - dated Korra at one point or another."
"You're right," Asami confirmed, slightly shocked.
"Yeah!" Bolin nodded. "There was me and her that one time but that didn't go too well because she was into Mako, and then Mako was into her and they were together, then they broke up and three years later she and Asami dated for a while and then they broke up, and then a year after that she got back with Mako, and now Mako's going to propose to her. So, uh, I guess Mako wins."
"I wouldn't say that," Mako said, shaking his head. "Korra's not a trophy to be won, she's a person. Just because I'm planning on asking her to marry me doesn't mean she'll say yes. It's her decision, and I'll respect whatever choice she makes."
"So, when are you going to do it?" Asami asked Mako.
"In a few days," Mako answered, grinning slightly at the thought. "It's an anniversary - not one of the big ones, just one of those smaller, monthly anniversaries she always teases me for observing. We're going to go out for dinner and a probending match, and I'm going to ask her after that. I've got everything I need all picked out-"
"Including your clothes?" Asami interrupted with a raised eyebrow.
Mako frowned. "Asami, no, it's fine. I can dress myself-"
"That's a bald-faced lie and you know it, Mako," Asami joked, poking Mako's forehead. "You've always been hopeless at formal wear, and for an occasion like this you need formal wear."
"If I dress formally then Korra will know something's up!" Mako protested.
"Exactly," Asami said, nodding sagely. "You're bound to overdo it. I'll put together an outfit for you that's formal enough that it suits, but not so formal it's suspicious."
"I can handle it myself, Asami!"
"Too late, we're already on our way to the clothes store," Asami chirped cheerfully, tugging on Mako's arm. "Come on, hotman, try not being a stick-in-the-mud for once in your life."
"I told you, I'll handle it myself."
"Bolin, a little help?"
"On it, ma'am!"
"Bolin, don't you dare earthbend - gah!
"...I hate you both."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A few days later, the Probending Stadium
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"That match was amazing!" Korra said excitedly, a wide grin plastered on her face. Mako loved seeing her this fired up. It made his heart do cartwheels.
In the end, he'd allowed Asami to pick out an outfit for him, consisting of a maroon suit, red ascot, and a lapel pin in the shape of the Fire Nation sigil. It wasn't an excessively formal getup, but he still felt overdressed next to Korra's considerably more casual choice of the exact same outfit she normally wore.
He stuffed those awkward feelings back down inside himself, though. He was nervous enough already.
He patted the bag he had slung across his shoulder, making sure everything was still there. He didn't want anything to be out of place.
"I really think the Buzzard-Wasps are going to make a comeback this season," Korra said, tilting her head toward Mako. "That third-round knockout was incredible! The Fire Ferrets will always be my number-one team, though. For obvious reasons."
Mako laughed. "Of course," he joked. "After all, without the Fire Ferrets, you'd have never run into the tall, brooding, firebender love of your life."
Korra elbowed him playfully, smirking. "That's one reason, fire-flakes-for-brains," she chuckled. "So, what now? Evening over? Are we going back home?"
"Not quite yet," Mako answered, shaking his head. He pointed to a covered balcony a short distance away. "Let's go over there for a bit. Look at the waters."
Mako's heart was racing.
Korra rolled her eyes and smiled. "Sure thing."
She leaned over the railing when they reached the balcony. "The bay's really beautiful tonight," she said softly. "It's like it's trying to be as perfect as it can for some reason or another. That… sounded less weird in my head."
"I don't think it sounds weird at all," Mako said with a gentle smile, gazing at Korra's hair rustling in the wind.
She looked more beautiful to him now than she had at any point before.
"Hey," Korra suddenly said, looking around. "I remember this place. This is the balcony we were at the first time that we… uh, y'know." She blushed and glanced away, remembering the embarrassing circumstances of their first kiss.
"Is it?" Mako asked, trying his best to sound surprised. "I guess it is. Go figure."
"So, what's in the bag, cool guy?" Korra asked, trying to change the subject. "You've been carrying it around all night, but I haven't seen you open it up once."
"Oh, uh, just… just some things," Mako answered nervously, trying to look away. His eyes met Korra's, almost against his will, and time seemed to slow down. As Mako gazed into those beautiful blue eyes, he knew that it was time.
He reached into the bag, pulling out a sheet of old-fashioned parchment. He unfurled the paper and took a deep breath.
"The first thing is this series of poems," he said, trying not to stutter. Korra tilted her head and crossed her arms, wondering what was going on.
"It- it's a Fire Nation tradition," Mako explained. "There it's - it's what to do to ask - when you want - how you ask someone to - uh -"
Korra's eyes widened in realization, and Mako held out his hand.
"Wait," he said. "Uh, l-let me get finished first."
He cleared his throat and began to read.
"Though I go to you
ceaselessly along dream paths,
the sum of those trysts
is less than a single glimpse
granted in the waking world.
I have always known
That at last I would
Take this road, but yesterday
I did not know that it would be today.
Why should I be bitter
About someone who was
A complete stranger
Until a certain moment
In a day that has passed.
Evening darkens until
I can no longer see the path.
Still I find my way home,
My horse has gone this way before.
The memories of long love
gather like drifting snow,
poignant as the turtle-ducks
who float side by side in sleep.
This world of ours,
To what shall I compare it?
To the white wake of a boat
That rows away in the early dawn.
We are, you and me,
Like two pine needles
Which will dry and fall
But never separate."
Mako looked up to see Korra smiling lovingly at him. He rolled the parchment back up and returned it to the bag. "In the Fire Nation, it's customary to write a series of poems as an extended proposal," Mako said, managing to keep his voice steady. "The poems are supposed to tell the history and growth of the relationship, and display the depths of the poet's feelings. My father proposed to my mother this way, because she was from the Fire Nation. I thought… well, I thought it would be meaningful if I-"
"Mako-"
"Wait," Mako said. "I'm not done. Close- close your eyes, Korra."
"But-"
"Please?" Mako asked. "Just for a few moments."
Korra sighed and complied, closing her eyes. She felt something lace around her neck snugly, like a choker. She knew exactly what it was.
"Alright, you can open them again," Mako said. Korra opened her eyes to see Mako red-faced and looking away bashfully. She reached for her neck, and her fingers met with a cold, round pendant attached to a silken band. She could feel the contours of a hand-carved design along the front of the pendant, and she traced them with her thumb.
"I talked with your father about your own culture's traditions," Mako said. "He told me that betrothal necklaces were mostly a northern custom, but that more and more southerners were picking it up. I thought you would like it, especially since you always looked up to Master Katara so much. I- I carved it myself. Took me a dozen tries to get the light spirit's pattern just right."
His eyes and hers met, and for the moment there was nothing in the world except each other.
"I love you, Korra," Mako said. "I'll always love you. I- I want to spend my life with you, every moment of it. You're amazing, and I'd be honored if you would-"
He was interrupted by Korra closing the distance between them to pull Mako in for a deep and passionate kiss. Mako closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around the woman he loved, returning the kiss with equal passion.
When at last the kiss broke, Mako and Korra stared at each other for a few moments, entangled in each others' arms, neither one saying a word.
"Yes," Korra finally said, crinkling her nose and laughing heartily, without reserve. "The answer is yes, you dork."
Mako smiled as widely as his mouth would allow, and he leaned forward to give his fiancee another kiss. He felt at home, secure in the embrace of the woman of his dreams.
The moon and stars shone down on the calm waters of Yue Bay. Their light and the gently rocking waves were the ideal backdrop for the most perfect night either Korra or Mako had ever known.