Wham! A blast of fire leaped forward from my hand, followed by two other quick bursts. They struck the newspaper article I had hung up on a wire that traveled from my bedroom window across the pavilion. The headline read, in bold black letters, AMON STILL AT LARGE. The picture of my biggest nightmare, my worst enemy, stared out at me. The mask, with the hate-filled eyes. The red spots on the cheeks that reminded me all too much of pools of blood.

"Well," I muttered under my breath, "here's what I think of you!" I let one last jet of flame fly. It swallowed the image of Amon whole, but I wasn't satisfied. I willed the fire to spread quicker, until the paper was blackened and shriveled up. It crumpled from the wire and fluttered to the stones under my feet.

Would I ever feel safe, until this monster was dead? Would I have the slightest bit of consolation if he was trapped behind bars, with cuffs around his wrists?

I already knew the answer.

"Korra?" A familiar voice made my heart start to thud wildly. Despite my best efforts to conceal it, my face flushed.

"Oh," I said weakly. "Hey, Mako." I turned around unwillingly, wishing I could just disappear.

Mako was standing at the edge of the pavilion, his hands tucked into his pockets. His familiar maroon scarf was swept around his neck, and his hazel eyes flickered as he observed me. "You all right?"

"Yeah," I stammered. I shuffled to the side, concealing the burned paper from view, and the corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk. I immediately felt defensive.

"What're you doing here?" I snapped. It came out harsher than I meant it to.

"Looking for you." His answer surprised and delighted me at the same time, and I struggled to hide my inner pleasure. "Bolin wanted to know if you wanted to come with us for a bite to eat in the city."

"That sounds…fun." I took a step towards him. "I thought tonight was date night with Asami." He'd been going on about it all day. It was like he couldn't even remember that we'd kissed! Whenever he talked about it, my stomach twisted painfully and my skin crawled.

Mako lifted his shoulder in a shrug. "She had to cancel on me. She wanted to spend time with her dad."

"Oh." Why did everything I say sound so horribly lame? "Okay. That's understandable."

Mako tilted his head. "Are you sure you're all right, Korra?"

Anger suddenly spread through me. "You really have the nerve to ask that, Mako?" I started stomping towards him, my hands clenched into fists. Rage pulsed in every fiber of my being, acidic and hot. "After you—you—rejected me? After all this time, when you keep rambling about how amazing Asami is?"

Mako glared at me. "You're still upset about that? Come on, Korra!"

"What did you expect, city boy?" I yelled. "You're not making this easy to deal with!"

"I expected you to be mature about it," he said. "And since when did you want me to go easy on you, Avatar?"

I hadn't realized that I had closed the distance between us, and we were inches apart, but I ignored it. I was too riled up now.

"I—" I stared at him. "I—I don't—" I clapped a hand over my mouth when a small sob twisted in my throat. I couldn't break. Couldn't show him I was this fragile. I turned my back on him and began taking deep breaths, trying to regain my composure.

"How did we get into a fight this quickly?" I whispered. Tears prickled behind my eyes, but I forced them back.

Mako remained quiet, and after a moment, I heard him sidestep around me. He walked over to the curls of burnt paper and plucked them up, peering at them intently.

"I wouldn't bother," I said, but he lifted a hand to silence me. His expression became totally impassive and unreadable. I watched him, waiting for him to speak.

Instead, he returned to my side.

"Well?" I met his gaze, unafraid. "Are you gonna tell me that I'm being immature? Running from bad guys and throwing tantrums?"

Mako shook his head.

"No," he answered softly. "Not this time."

I gave a short, humorless laugh. "Well, then what will you tell me?"

He reacted so swiftly that I didn't have time to think. He cupped my face in his palm, letting his fingers rest on my cheekbone.

"I'll tell you," he murmured, "that people are allowed to be scared, Korra." We were so close that I could feel his heartbeat under his shirt. "I'll tell you that it's all right to be afraid…" He leaned over so that his lips were right next to my ear. "…and I'll tell you that I know you're going to overcome this. Okay?"

I turned my head and touched my mouth to his, my hands sliding up to clutch his shoulders. He started pulling away, so I deepened the kiss, drawing him to me, but he broke my grip.

Mako's golden-brown eyes were hard. "No." His tone became panicked, which startled me. He was usually so calm, cool and collected…for a Firebender, anyway.

"What's wrong?" I stretched up on my tiptoes to try and kiss him again, but he backed up. "Stop, Korra!"

"You let me kiss you!" I said impatiently.

"I know," he said. "And I shouldn't have." He pushed a hand nervously through his spiky black hair. "We can't do this to ourselves, Korra."

"Why not?" I crossed my arms over my chest, indignant. "Admit it! You have feelings for me!"

"Because," he said, "fire and fire only end up destroying each other."

He then spun around and sprinted away, leaving me with my blood roaring in my ears and a question gone dead in my mouth.

Even though he was already far off, I called, "What about that bite to eat?"