= = = = = month 4 = = = = =

The morning poked through the curtains as Mirai woke in the arms of Mako.

"Good morning," he said as he gently kissed her on the lips, his free arm exploring the length of her body.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes by nuzzling into Mako's bare chest. He rolled on his back pulling her body onto his and kissed the top of her head. "Were you watching me sleep again?"

"But I've never seen anyone who sleep with their eyes half open like you do." She bit Mako's chest in protest. "Ow!"

"Serves you right!"

He rolled over and pinned her underneath him. He was hard again and he could feel her wetness from the night before between her thighs. I love you.

They breathed together. Afraid to move because moving would mean making love again. Not that it was bad, it was great. Mirai had never lost herself in someone so completely. Mako, on the other hand, took enjoyment in pleasuring her. But most of the prior night was sex, no conversation. The pent up sexual tension for the past months broke like a dam during a typhoon. He wasn't sure there was a room or surface in his apartment they hadn't made love on.

"You're beautiful." She blushed. He loved making her body react: blushing, moaning, squirming, coming.

She was afraid of how fast she was falling for him, worried it would just be physical from both their sides. But she knew, deep down, that she was starting to really care for him. She had heard rumors about him from her coworkers at the library. One of them thought she saw Mirai with Mako, but Mirai took too long to give a response, her coworkers knew she was the one "dating" Mako. Although well intended, they immediately began to recount all of the rumors about his love life, starting with "Korrasami."

Mirai knew that the Avatar had a romantic relationship with a woman, but didn't realize they were both Mako's past loves. Not that she really paid too much attention. She was a child at the time Mako was dating the Avatar (according to her coworkers). Mirai listened to their stories, but decided to not let them affect her. If the tables were turned and Mako heard the rumors of her, she would want Mako to believe what he knew of her, and not what others were saying. That was the least she could do for the man she was falling in love with.

"So do you?" Mako tries to confirm as he rolls out of bed.

"I'm sorry…"

"I'd like you to meet my brother," he said as they stepped into the shower.

Mirai hesitates. She was already in NR longer than she originally planned. But this 'hiding in plain sight' seems to be working. There are so many people here that no one cares too much about what others are doing. Not like home, where it was insulated enough it felt like a small town.

"That'll be great."

She hesitated. I wonder who she dated. Is she afraid of commitment? "Are things moving too fast?"

"What," she asked, surprised.

"I mean, I know you wanted to take things slow, but I want to make sure you're comfortable." Mirai smiled, a real smile that melted him.

"How did I get so lucky?" She said, throwing her arms around him.

"What do you mean?"

She doesn't respond with words.

-.-.- a few days later -.-.-

"So, I talked to my brother, he's really excited to meet you. How about next weekend?"

"Oh I've actually got something planned."

"Really?"

"Do you remember that friend I told you about? Well I'm finally going to be able to meet her."

"Man, really? It's been 4 months."

"I know, she's been busy. And I've had a good distraction," she winked at him.

"Well what about the next day? Or the weekend after that?"

"Umm...I haven't seen her in ages, so I don't know how much time I'm going to be spending with her," she bit her lip, saddened to be brushing him off. "I wanted to be as open as possible for her, considering we couldn't have met if it weren't for her giving me her Masquerade Ball invitation."

"Nah, it's understandable. I'm just really excited to introduce you to my brother. He's been dying to meet you."

Again, she was torn between the desire to run and the desire to stay, to stop running, plant roots, have a home again. Just meet with Jinora and decide after that. But she could feel her resolve breaking. She wanted to stay. She wanted to be with Mako.

-.-.- a few days later -.-.-

Jinora and Kai wait for her friend to arrive.

"I mean, I just don't understand how you'll know her in person if you've only met in the Spirit World."

"Kai, i see her like I see you standing in front of me. It's just as physical there as it is here...we're just meditating." Kai nods but doesn't really understand. "Oh, I feel her!"

"What?" Jinora takes off toward the street. "Hey!" Kai grabs Jinora's arm and pulls her back from the street. "Don't just go running out like that."

"But she's right there!" Jinora takes off running again and Kai runs after her.

Mirai sensed Jinora approaching and turned. Quickly she was enveloped in an embrace. The two girls hugged each other, for what seemed like forever to Kai as people parted around them. Mirai looked up at and saw Kai staring at them.

"Is this him?" she whispered to Jinora, just loud enough for Kai to hear.

Jinora smiled, still hugging Mirai, "Yeah."

"He's jsut like you said he would be," Kai arched his brow as she said this.

Jinora laughed, "Funny hair cut and all, I told you it hasn't changed since I met him."

"Hey!"

-.-.-

The trio ended up taking Lefty to the Spirit Wilds in the former Republic City. "Oh wow, Jinora! It's more beautiful than I ever imagined."

"Don't you have something similar in the Northern Water Tribe," Kai asked. "You're from there right?"

"Yeah, but this it's a Spirit Oasis. It's completely different from this."

"So, how often do you meet up in the Spirit World?"

Mirai looked at Jinora questioningly. "I've explained it to him before. You can't leave your body for too long. It's not like a vacation spot. You'd have to go through the portals themselves to be connected to your body."

"Right. it's confusing."

Mirai placed a hand on Kai's arm, "No, I understand. There are things about my own bending that I don't understand. Spirituality is apart of you but sometimes confusing to grasp the concept of there being two separate worlds for something that's apart of who you are. There's so much spiritual energy you probably don't even feel the difference because it's so close by and has been close by for so long."

"You know, now that you mention it, I can't even feel your energy or Kai's."

"Because there's soooo much spiritual stuff going on," Kai offered questioningly.

"Probably," Mirai answered.

"Will that affect things," Kai asked Jinora as he reached for her hand, an act that did not go unnoticed by Mirai.

"I take it there's another reason why you asked me all the way out here?" Mirai watches as Jinora and Kai look at each other, seemingly having a conversation without words. A twinge of jealousy crept up, I wonder if Mako and I would ever become that close?

"Just be direct," Kai told her.

"Umm," Jinora looked from Kai to Mirai. "I...I think it might be pregnant."

Instantly Mirai pulls water from the near by spirit vines and wraps it around Jinora's stomach. "Hey," Kai asks concerned, "Was that a good idea, pulling the water from the spirit vines?"

"I made an offering of forgiveness before I pulled the water," she said hurriedly while trying to concentrate. "I can sense something, a change happening in your body."

"That doesn't explain much," Kai said. "People say Katara can tell when people are pregnant by placing her hand on their belly."

"Kai, my mom was already fully pregnant and she was sensing if Rohan was another air bender."

"And, I no Katara," Mirai added.

"I know but can't you, like, see water in everything? Can't you see if there's a baby?"

Mirai looked at Jinora slightly offended she told Kai that part of her letters. "Well, it was amazing. Only Katara and Korra are the only ones that I know that can see like that with water bending."

"Look, it's like a really fuzzy picture. And it's not like when you conceive a baby it starts out looking like a baby. It looks more like a tadpole or a bean or something." Kai looks at her confused. "Haven't you learned about babies?"

"Not really."

"He is a boy," Jinora offered, "they don't pay attention until something like this happens."

"How long ago was it."

"What?" Kai interjects, again, trying to remain relevant to the conversation.

"How long ago did you guys have sex and why do you think you're pregnant? It's so soon I can barely sense anything, if you are."

"I just…" Jinora flushed all different shades of pink and red. Mirai looked to Kai for answers.

"Well, we've been having sex a lot. More so because we've been busy with the elections in the Earth Empire and we haven't been partnered up because Jinora is a Master, so she's an ambassador. So, when we get together, we kind of go nuts."

"So when did you guys start to worry?"

Kai continued, "Well Jinora is normally really good at tracking her cycles...but we realized we haven't been paying attention. But…" Kai looked to the floor as it was his turn to blush, "we've been doing it so much that we don't know when it could've been."

Mirai nods in understanding… "But, what I don't get is… why do you guys not seem happy. I mean, you've been together for a long time now."

"My dad thinks it's too soon for us to get married." They stood in silence for a bit. "Is there anyway for you to know?"

"I mean, with time…"

"What if you bent more spirit water," Kai offered.

Mirai shook her head. "No, I don't want to do that again. I might be able to tell more if she were fully submerged and I can sense her whole body…" Mirai's voice trailed off and she closed her eyes. Kai and Jinora waited patiently. "I can feel water in that direction. It's flowing."

Kai started heading off in the direction she pointed, "Old buildings are that way. The pipes might have burst and could just be flowing." it was an abandoned building. Water had accumulated over the years and was flowing freely. "It looks kind of dirty."

Jinora shook her head, "it's okay. I want to know," she said as she stepped in.

Mirai uses the water to learn Jinora's body. Then uses that knowledge to sense if there was another life being created. It took quite some time as the only person, other than herself, that she's known intimately through bending was Grand Pa. Kai watches the girls from a distance until finally, Mirai stops bending and he rushes over to help Jinora out of the water. Jinora uses air bending to dry herself.

"Well, you're healthy. Slightly dehydrated, but that's probably because you're not drinking as much as you would because you're stressed." She looks at them both. "But i did get a clearer feeling. You are pregnant, but it's in the early stages. I'd guess about maybe 1 to 2 months. It's kind of hard to tell at this point. We'd have to give it some time to see if it takes. You might end up having a spontaneous abortion - "

"What?!" says Kai, completely horrified.

"It's the medical term for "early term miscarriage." It happens to most women, so often that they think it's just a late period when it's not. You two just happen to know you're pregnant. I won't be able to really know more until you've progressed though. If you're worried, start wearing a cape now. You're so thin, any weight gain will be obvious. But Kai, " she turned to address him, "maybe you should talk to her dad again about marriage."

"we should get back," Kai responds, still taking in the fact he may be a father.

"Does anyone come out here," Mirai asks, noticing the place is pretty abandoned as Lefty climbed into the air.

"No, not really. Not usually without a purpose. They stopped giving tours when the Spirit Wilds became the new Portal. But people aren't treating it like a new tourist attraction either."

"So you brought me here because you knew we'd have privacy."

Jinora flinched, "i really did want to show you the Portal."

Mirai smiled. "I don't mind."

Kai broke the moments of silence that followed. "So, do you see water in people like earth benders see with vibrations?"

Mirai thought for a second, "Yeah, I guess you can say that."

"How exactly does that work?"

"Well, you know how water benders can bend water in things...like bend the water in plants to make them move? Well if you can do that, you can do it to almost anything with water in it. it's the same way some water benders can pull water from the air, out of plants and other things. If you can sense the water in plants, you can sense the water in people."

"If you can bend the water in plants to make them move, can you do the same to people? Isn't that blood bending?"

Mirai became silent and stiff. In a flat voice she responded, "I know nothing of blood bending. But I know water bending has a price, just like all things. There is a balance. To take water from something, like a plant, you essentially dehydrate or kil lthe plant. It's the same with people. If you pull too hard, you'll pull too much. Just because it's easy to pull water out of things doesn't mean you can exactly push water into them"

Kai marveled at Mirai's ability, "you must be an amazing fighter."

"I don't fight," she said sharply staring blankly ahead. Jinora and Kai exchanged a glance. "I haven't refined my technique. I have to concentrate really hard to sense the water in a person without accidentally manipulating them. That's why all I do is heal."

Kai went to ask more questions, but stopped when Jinora took his hand and nearly imperceptibly shook her head. The flew the rest of the way to NR in silence.