Smile

When Korra stalked into the Pro-bending training session, it was clear she wasn't happy. Mako and Bolin exchanged confused and curious glances as she dropped her bag and went to practising her water-bending on the opposite side of the room.

Bolin went to go to her, but caught Mako shaking his head at him, and decided against it. He didn't want to start something that was going to cause more trouble; the Fire Ferrets had already had more than their fair share of that. If Mako said no, then the answer was usually yes, in Bolin's case, but this was different. This was Korra, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew deep down that Mako knew what to do with her. His big brother would take care of it. He always did.

Mako spent most of the training session watching Korra from the corner of his eye as the Fire Ferrets engaged in a little sparring. It was obvious that she was in a bad mood, but the reason was very much a mystery.

Was it because she was late? Mako thought as he dodged one of her water attacks. No… she's been late before and it hasn't affected her mood.

Did something happen at Air Temple Island? Maybe she fought with Tenzin again. Or maybe one of those rambunctious children did something? He considered, but decided against it, now deflecting one of Bolin's earth disks. If that was the case, he knew her well enough to know that Pro-bending would help her get over it. Rebelling and attacking would get the anger out of her system fairly quickly. Which left only two possibilities he could think of.

Either she's just in a bad mood, or it's something to do with Pro-bending.

He was sure Bolin hadn't done anything to upset her, and he was certain he hadn't done anything. In any case, she was annoyed when she'd walked in. She was still willing to participate in their team training, which Mako also took as a reassurance that neither he nor his brother had done anything. Nevertheless, he couldn't stand seeing her upset for some reason, and resolved to change her mood after training.

He knew it was easier said than done even as he thought it.

Once their time slot was up, Mako walked over to collect his training gear with Bolin, who immediately began questioning Korra's unusually quiet behaviour.

"What do you think's wrong?" he whispered. "Should I go talk to her? Maybe she's hungry… Aw man, now I'm hungry!" he whined. Mako sighed.

"Go get something to eat, Bo. You know you're going to. I'll talk to Korra, okay?" he said. To this, Bolin's eyebrows shot up before giving his brother a look that could be clearly read as 'what are you up to?'. Bolin knew nothing was going to happen between him and Korra, but he wasn't quite over her yet, and didn't really trust his brother being with her. His stomach rumbled though, and he rushed a quick "yep, okay, sure!" before running out of the training room.

Mako laughed at his younger brother. There was never a dull moment with him around. Then he picked up his pack and walked over to Korra who was just about to leave.

"Korra!" he called. This got her attention, and he jogged the final steps, closing the gap between them… Well, physically, at least.

"What is it, Mako? You know I have to get back to the Air Temple before Tenzin gets angry." Her tone made Mako feel a little better. A normal Korra was difficult enough; he didn't want to imagine talking to her when she was in a bad mood.

"Maybe I should ask you the same thing," he said. When the confusion settled on her face, he just cocked an eyebrow. She knew exactly what he was talking about. The confused façade fell defeated, and she sighed.

"I don't want to talk to you about it," she grumbled, but it was still clear enough for Mako to register the 'to you', and he tried to mask the pain it had caused him. She used this momentary shock to try to escape, but Mako was one step ahead of her, and Korra found her arm being held hostage.

"Korra, I thought we'd put all this behind us! I don't care who you want to talk to about it. I'm here, and I'm asking you a question as a friend," he said, exasperated already. What followed was a short glaring contest.

When Korra realised she had no argument, she looked away from the firebender and pulled her arm away. The close proximity was getting to her. Mako, convinced she wouldn't try to escape again, released her.

"I saw Asami," she whispered sadly, so softly that Mako could barely hear her; but he did, and immediately he could feel his cheeks starting to colour. Even though they had managed to repair their friendship, the topic of Asami was one they both preferred to avoid, and one he was now completely shocked by.

It was Mako who broke the silence. "Look, Korra, I don't like seeing you upset, so if you could please just… I don't know, smile‽" he pleaded.

"I don't know, Mako… I'm not really in the mood for that…" she mumbled.

"Well I can see that…" he drifted off, seeing that this approach was clearly not going to work with the stubborn Avatar. Then an idea hit him. His mouth spread into a wide grin, and he could see Korra looking up at him curiously. "Have you ever heard the about the time Bolin got attacked by a turtle duck?"

Korra's eyes immediately widened, and Mako could see her trying not to smile. She shook her head.

"Well then," he said as he finally sat down, followed by Korra, "I guess I have to tell you now, don't I?"

"You'd better!" Korra said, with a hint of her usual happiness. She looked at him with eager eyes, like a child waiting for their parent to tell them a story, rather than a teenager hearing a story from her friend. Mako felt a pang as he remembered telling Bolin stories on the streets, trying to coax him into sleep, but quickly moved on.

"Well, one day, when I was 10 and Bolin was 8, I decided it was finally time to visit the Republic City Park. After two years of living on the streets, I realised that I had never really seen any of it. Bolin had been nagging me for months after he heard about the turtle ducks that lived in the pond, and I will always maintain that I got sick of listening to the constant rambling about turtle ducks, but between you and me, I got a little curious myself." He paused here, noticing that Korra had the beginnings of a smile on her face, and smiled himself.

"So when I told him we were going… well, you know Bolin. He hasn't changed an awful lot since then. Anyway, we headed down there, and I had to hold his hand tighter than I ever had before to keep him from running off. We finally made it (we'd been living more on the outskirts of the city at that point) and I held his hand all the way to the pond where a family of turtle ducks were swimming. I can still remember how unusually quiet Bolin got as he bent down to pick up one of the ducklings. He always had a liking for animals, and was convinced that if he managed to get one to like him, I'd let him keep it. In the end that logic got us Pabu," he laughed.

Korra's face now displayed a full smile, but Mako knew better than to say anything, so he instead continued the story.

"Now, as you know, turtle ducks are not ferocious creatures… unless you endanger their babies. Endangering, as it turns out, also includes picking one up. So the mother swam up to Bolin, who was totally focused on the baby in his hands, and pecked his leg until he put the baby down. Ever since, he's been overly cautious around turtle ducks, and I'm pretty sure he still has a fear of them, actually."

Korra was now laughing hysterically, and Mako found himself joining in, though not with quite the same amount of gusto as Korra.

"Thanks, Mako," she said when they finally stopped laughing. "I'm feeling much better now." Mako smiled.

"No problem. Just always remember that turtle ducks are terrifying little monsters," he joked, earning him another laugh from Korra, "And that I now know exactly how to get you to smile."

"Well now that I think about it, I am feeling a little upset that the story's over…" she said.

"No problem. I know a great little park. The fauna's incredible…" he began as they got up.

I can't decide if I like this chapter or not. I didn't intend to make it so long when I started it, but somehow it did. I feel like I've taken it out of context or something, though considering it was one word, I'm not sure how… Anyway, I could sit here all day making a list of all the things I don't like about this, so I'll just stop now.

Next up on the prompt list is: Feather. I have no idea how I'm going to do that, but I'll come up with something… somehow.

Anyway, I really enjoyed writing the turtle duck story, so I hope you all enjoyed reading it! Thanks!

Disclaimer- I do not own Legend of Korra.