Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait but here's part four! Leave some feedback, I love hearing opinions on my work!

4.

Korra had been up bright and early for training. She was attentive to the clock on Aang Memorial Island, waiting for it to strike quarter to one. That's when Tenzin normally took his lunch, and Korra would sneak up and get Naga. Even though Pema had reassured her the night before, she wasn't about to take any chances.

As she went through some airbending motions, she heard the bell ringing.

Bing-bong, bing-bong

Bing-bong, bing-bong,

Bing-bong, bing-bong…

Korra stuck the landing to her airkick and looked to Tenzin. He had a pleased smile on his face as he approached her.

"Very good, Korra. You've been working so hard, why don't we take lunch early?" Korra smiled, her plan falling into place.

"Sounds great! Let me just go back to my room and freshen up a bit." Korra raced back to the house, eager to climb on Naga and get downtown. Tenzin grew suspicious. In their short period of training together, he had never known her to care so much about her…odor, post training that is. He made his way back to the house, having about a yard of distance between himself and Korra.

Korra looked at herself in the mirror, wondering if she actually should 'freshen up' for Bolin and his brother. She ran a comb through her hair and spritzed some fancy perfume Pema had given her. She saddled up Naga and began leading her out of the room. As she turned to shush her pet, she found her back meeting someone's chest. She looked behind her and met Tenzin's stern gaze.

"Oh, hey there…" She said, giving him a wide smile.

"Freshening up, I see?" Korra's face drooped, knowing she was caught.

"I'm sorry for lying Tenzin, but I met someone at the gala last night and he invited me to-"

"He?" Tenzin interrupted. "You deliberately lie to me and try to sneak out to see a boy?" Korra wanted to scream, 'It's not about a boy! It's about the opportunity of a lifetime! It's about competitive bending! And maybe it's a little bit about a boy, but mostly it's about bending!' But she knew Tenzin and she knew he wouldn't approve of the Avatar dabbling in some possibly illegal underground bending.

Pema heard the ruckus from the next room and entered the hallway, putting a hand on Tenzin's shoulder.

"Come now, Tenzin, Korra's been doing excellently in her training. Don't you think she deserves a little time with people her own age?" Pema gave her husband a warm smile. Tenzin looked back at her, then at Korra, her eyes glassy and pleading. Tenzin sighed regretfully and waved his hand, signaling that he'd let her go but certainly didn't approve of this. Korra cheered and gave Tenzin a hug and moved on before he had a chance to react. She looked back and gave Pema a smile, silently thanking her.

The clock bell rang, signaling that it was one in the afternoon.

Bolin and Mako waited at the entrance of the noodle shop. Bolin began to get nervous.

'Oh no, what if she doesn't show? She's probably too busy with Avatar training. Gah, it was so STUPID of me to think she'd show up!' Bolin silently berated himself while Pabu gently nuzzled his shoulders.

The brothers continued to wait silently. It seemed like an eternity had passed when they saw a giant white creature bounding down the street. Bolin stood up, squinting at it.

"Is that…?" It certainly was. Korra stopped right in front of the noodle house and demounted from Naga, smiling at Bolin. He returned her smile and wrapped her in a tight hug, much to Korra's surprise.

"It's so good to see you! We were waiting and afraid you weren't going to be here but now you are here and I-" Korra placed her hand on his mouth. This was becoming a regular thing for the two of them.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late. Had to sneak by Tenzin, but he let me out eventually." Korra smirked. She looked over at the man who accompanied Bolin, his brother. He was tall, slightly taller than Bolin, with a lean build and the most haunting amber eyes. Korra tried her best not to stare, but it was hard not to.

She took her hand off Bolin's mouth and offered it to Mako.

"Hi, name's Korra." Mako smiled at her, accepting her handshake.

"So I've heard. Bolin wouldn't shut up about you last night." Korra turned back to Bolin, who grinned sheepishly at the ground. She laughed at him before turning back to Mako.

"I'm Mako." Korra smiled.

"Pleased to meet you." Mako found himself locked into Korra's eyes as the two shook hands for a little longer than expected. Bolin grunted and began pushing the two into the restaurant.

"Are you guys hungry? I know I am! Time to eat!"

The trio found themselves a table and ordered. Korra was ecstatic to eat authentic Water Tribe food again.

"This place is seriously the best." Bolin said excitedly.

"It smells authentic…but let's get down to business. Tell me more about this league." Mako darted his eyes around the restaurant before leaning in. He began speaking in a low tone.

"It happens every Friday night at midnight in this abandoned warehouse just east of here. There are twenty teams in the league, us being the newest. We've been competing for a little over six months. You can only get in with a password that you're not allowed to tell anyone, unless they're on the team."

"Yeah, but Butakha has been noticing a lot of new faces show up, so he knows people aren't keeping it a secret," Bolin interjected.

"And he's afraid the cops are starting to notice the unusual amount of attention that building is getting." Mako finished.

Korra leaned back and took it all in. This definitely was illegal, and very dangerous…she was excited already.

"Okay, okay, so you guys have a little fight club every Friday night. How did this all get started?"

"A couple of guys would spar in the basement of a local bar. They would throw a couple of yuons into a pot and the winner took all. Soon enough, people found out about it they began to form rules and that's where competitive bending came from," Mako began. "But the league part, that's a little different."

Bolin nodded to his brother's comment. "Yeah. The bar owner was okay with the sparring, but as it grew he wanted a slice of the money. So he and his associate, Butakah, started forming the league. The found a space and made up some more rules, like the password and all that. The league started out with only six teams and grew."

Korra scrunched her face in confusion. "Wait, how did it grow if people weren't allowed to talk about it?"

"Butakah kind of acted like a talent scout," Mako added. "He looked for benders working in factories, construction, what have you, and told them about his league."

"He also looked at the gangs, like the Triple Threat Triads. That's how he found us." Bolin added. Korra was even more confused.

"Wait wait, what? Are you two telling me you're some sort of criminals!" She felt anger boiling inside of her.

"No no no, we used to work for them. Mako just ran numbers for them and stuff," Bolin reassured her. Korra still wasn't convinced and Mako could sense that.

"Listen, Avatar. We were orphans on the street, I did what I had to do to keep me and my brother alive." Mako added defensively, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.

Korra felt a pang of guilt. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

"Yeah, you didn't," Mako spat at her. Luckily, there food arrived, letting them avoid an awkward silence.

After a few moments of eating, Korra turned back to Mako. "So basically, there's this secret bending league that you guys participate in every Friday night that's kind of in danger of being shut down…it sounds risky, do you guys get anything out of this?"

"Besides the thrill of the game?" Bolin said, slurping up his noodles. "Not to brag, but we're a pretty good team, so we'd win a good chunk of the pot every week. Well, we were a pretty good team, but that's where you come in! You, Korra, will be our new Waterbender!" Korra smirked and leaned back a bit, contemplating her decision.

"So, are you in or not?" Mako asked, giving her an intense stare. Korra smiled. She glanced at Mako, then at Bolin, who looked like he was about to explode. Finally Korra leaned back into the table.

"I'm in."

Bolin leaped out of his chair this excitement, cheering and shouting for a moment before his brother pulled him back down. He looked at his brother apologetically.

"Sorry. Woohoo!" He said, much quieter. Mako stood up and offered Korra his hand.

"Welcome to the team, Korra." Korra accepted his handshake and smiled.

"Thanks for having me."