Mako's POV

As a kid I always loved Christmas.

But that changed when our parents were killed. The first Christmas after the incident was the worst one Bolin and I had ever experienced. We didn't have a home, we were cold because of the snow and we couldn't share the special time of the year with the two most important people in our lives. But at least had each other.

Ever since then Christmas was just something that couldn't be over soon enough. It had gotten a little better after we got a place to live, but it still wasn't my favorite time of the year.

And now it was Christmas again.

I was on my way home completely caught up in my own thoughts about why I wasn't very font of Christmas, so I was surprised when a pair of arms reached around my waist and hugged me from behind. Those arms were so comfortable and familiar that the person didn't need to say anything for me to know who it was. "Hey city boy." I heard Korra say and a smile found it's way to my lips. When she released me I turned around and surprised her with a quick kiss on the lips. "Hey beautiful."
She just looked at me with a confused expression and a raised brow "You call that a kiss?"
I couldn't help myself but laugh. "No," I said with a big smile and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her as close as I possibly could "this is what I call a kiss." My lips found hers and she didn't hesitate before kissing me back. Her hands reached around my neck and I could feel her smile against my lips.

We broke apart but I still held her in my arms, she gave me a smirk and said "That's better," I smiled at her, a smile that only she could bring to my lips. "Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?" she asked, now with a sweet smile. "Nope. I was actually on my way home." I answered. She smiled widely with excitement and asked me another question.

"Then would you like to make some Christmas hearts with me?" Christmas hearts? What in the spirits name was that? I might have looked quite confused, because the expression on her face changed from excited to sad. "You don't know what Christmas hearts are, do you?" I shook my head "No." I confessed. She sighed and took a step back so I had to release her from our embrace. She turned around and started walking, with me right behind her. "Doesn't anybody know what it is?" it seemed like she was talking to herself so I didn't interrupt. I placed my arm around her waist and just walked with her towards the docks. We walked a few minutes in silence and while we did that I just thought what is a Christmas heart? I tried to picture it but I couldn't, when I didn't even know what it was then how was I supposed to picture it? It was almost like she could read my thoughts because she suddenly sighed and explained. "A Christmas heart is a Christmas tree ornament made of paper, usually in two different colors. It's something we have in the water tribe." I just looked at her. That didn't really make any sense to me.

"So. You cut the paper in the shape of a heart and put it on the Christmas tree?" I asked. It really confused me, how could something like that be a Christmas tree ornament? My question made her giggle, so my guess was that what I said was completely wrong. "No silly," she looked at me with a smile "I'll show you if you'll come with me?" she said and stopped in front of the ferry to Air Temple Island. I always loved spending time with her, so why wouldn't I go? "Sure." I answered simply with a smile and we stepped onto the ferry.

When we arrived at Air Temple Island Korra told me to go into the living room, while she went to the kitchen to get us some tea and some Christmas cookies, which Pema had baked the previous day. I sat down on the couch and waited for Korra, while I wondered how we were supposed to make that heart. She came in with a tea kettle in one hand and a tray, with a bowl of cookies and teacups, in the other hand and sat it down on the table. Then she walked out of the room again and said that she would be right back. She came back with papers in different colors and some scissors' and glue. She sat down beside me and put the items on the table "There," she said and looked at me with a smile. "Now we're ready to make some Christmas harts." I just looked at all the things she brought in, why did we need glue? I could see from the corner of my eye that she still looked at me and her smile faded. "That is, if you still want to." She said. My head snapped towards her with a confused expression. "Of course I want to." As soon as the words had left my lips, she smiled.

"Great. Then let's begin." She said and moved towards the table so that she was sitting on the edge of the couch, I did the same thing because I didn't know what else to do.

"You take to pieces of paper in two different colors," I took one red and thought about what other color to choose. "take a white one. Whit always fits everything." She said with a smile and I did as she said. She took a white and a red one as well.

"Put them together and make sure they fit, you can stamp them on the table. Then you fold them on the middle and press two finger in the middle of the bottom, where you folded them, and pull your fingers to the edge on both sides so they stay where they are. Then you take the scissors and cut something that looks like a 'U' just upside down," She did all of this while she spoke to show me, she took the scissors and started at the bottom where the paper was folded, when she had the size she liked she turned the paper and cut the arc of the 'U' and then turned the paper again and cut the paper down to where she started.

"When you've done that you cut it twice, where the paper is folded, so it looks like it has three 'legs'. Try to make the legs the same size. You won't need the scissors anymore so just put them away. Now you remove the two pieces from each other. Then you fold it the opposite way and, again, you press your fingers at the bottom where the fold is. And now we braid them together." Braid them together? I just hoped that she would show me, because I had no idea of what she talked about.

"You take the first 'leg' of the white paper through the first leg of the red paper," she said and opened the red paper slightly to put the white paper through it. "Then you take the second leg of the red paper through the first leg of the white paper, and then you do as you did the first time; the white paper through the red paper. And push it up as far as it can go, then you probably won't have any problems with it." It surprised me that I got this far. But I soon gave up and just looked at what she was doing.

"Now, you do the opposite of what you did before. So the first 'leg' of the RED paper goes through the second leg of the white paper. Then white through red and after that red through white, and again push it up as far as it can go. Now it's the third and the last leg, of the white paper, and you do exactly the same thing as you did the first time, White through red, red through white and white through red. There. A Christmas heart!" She showed me the now finished heart and I was surprised, it was quite beautiful.

"Amazing! It looks like a heart with squares in it." I said with a smile. She giggled "That's because, that's exactly what it is. And look, you can open it. It's like a little basket formed like a heart." She opened it and showed me to prove her point and she was right, it did look like a basket.

"Wow. Amazing. So, how is it supposed to hand on the Christmas tree?" I asked, because that was still a question that was unanswered.

"You make a handle." She simply answered me, like it was obvious. But I was still a little confused.

"A handle?"

"Yep," she said and turned towards the table again and put the heart down. "I want a red handle, so I take the red piece of paper from before and cut it, from where it's folded, as long as I want it. Then I turn the paper and cut it as thick as I want it. And then I turn the paper again and cut it to the bottom where I started. Then I fold it the opposite way, like with the heart, and take the glue," she took the heart and opened it. "Put a little glue on the inside of the heart, put the paper over it and squeeze it together. I do the same thing on the other side and… Now the heart has a handle."

She said with a smile and held it up with a single singer. I reached for is and she let me take it. I examined it and I thought that it was a perfect Christmas heart.

"How did it go with yours?" She asked and I turned my head to look at her, she had turned in her seat towards me. I put her Christmas heart on the table and looked at my own, which I held in my right hand. I held it in the air so she could see it. "I'm not done." I said and looked at her with a little smile.

"Then let me help you." She said with a smile and reached for my unfinished Christmas heart, but before she could reach it I moved it away from her.

"Hey." She said with a smile.

"What?" I asked with a smirk and moved back in the couch so my back was against the back of the couch.

"I just want to help you. Just let me."

"Wasn't I supposed to do it myself?"

"Yes, but I'm just going to help you a little bit." She said still with a smile. During our little conversation she moved closer still reaching for the heart, but I kept moving it away from her.

"Fine." She said and sat back in the couch with her arms crossed. I moved my arm in front of me and looked at it, I should just do as she said, that couldn't be so hard, could it? But before I was sure about what happened Korra sat in my lap, reaching for the Christmas heart again, and as a reflex my left hand reached her waist. She got the heart and gave me a smile of triumph. "I got it. Well you're finished with the first leg, there's only two left." She looked at me over her shoulder.

"Look," She said and leaned against my chest, I wrapped my arms around her. "This one goes through that one." She moved her hands slowly so I could keep up with her movements. It didn't take long for her to finish my Christmas heart, she turned her head and looked at me. "Do you want to make the handle?" I shook my head and tightened my grip "Not right now. I'm too comfortable." I said and kissed her neck.

We sat like that for a few moments before she started to move a bit. I smirked when a thought crossed my mind, I moved her so she would have fallen onto the couch if my arm hadn't been there. She looked at me with a confused expression and I just kept smirking, she sighed but couldn't hide her smile "Jerk." I chuckled and said "Wouldn't be the first time." Before I kissed her passionately, she kissed me back instantly.

"Want to make this a tradition?" I asked and looked at our Christmas hearts. She looked at them as well but quickly returned to me.

"You bet City boy." She said and pulled me in for another kiss.

I might've been wrong. Maybe Christmas wasn't so bad after all.

The Christmas heart is a Danish Christmas tree ornament, and I thought that it would be kind of funny to bring it into the avatar universe. If you want to see how it looks like then search for "julehjerte" on Google, there are a lot of pictures. ;)

I'm so sorry if there are any mistakes. Please forgive me if there are. :)
Please leave a review and tell me what you think. Thanks! :D

Merry Christmas! :D