Notes: Aaaand here's that Makorra that I promised. And I think it's the longest "drabble" (if I can still call it that) of them all, so, wow, I'm biased here. Maybe one day I'll actually write a fic with them making out instead of just holding hands and talking haha. Anyway, enjoy!
"I've had so many husbands and wives and children," she said with an awed sigh.
Bolin and Asami's soft laughter lifted up from their mouths and towards the dark night sky, where only the brightest stars could be seen against the city's light pollution. Korra laid on the ground next to him at his right, all four of them with resting in the center of the airbending training platform, white boxes of takeout and discarded chopsticks rustling around them with the slight wind. What she had said had been a light joke, but Mako's throat tightened and suddenly, Korra wasn't by his side anymore. Something new and bright and far bigger than he had ever bothered to comprehend was lying by his side.
That was the first time.
The second time came less abruptly. She fell asleep during lunch, when she was supposed to be watching the children. He managed to catch her before she fell to the ground, but the bowl of food she had in her hands spilled all down her front, clanging to the floor. He managed to shake her awake, worried, but she suddenly snapped to attention.
"What? What happened?"
"You-I think you just fell asleep."
"Standing up?"
Her tone suggested amusement, and Mako felt the need to tighten his grip on her shoulders rather than let her go.
"You should probably get to bed."
"No, I'm - " she paused to yawn, finishing it by smacking her lips and tugging at the corner of her eye. "I'm fine. I promised Tenzin."
He looked up over the top of her head and told Bolin and Asami to take up Korra's promise, ignoring her protests and ushering her down the hall to her room. She pulled off her dirty airbending robes, wearing her usual shirt and long, white under shorts underneath, and she fell back on her bed with a sigh.
Rather than shut her eyes, she kept them open, and Mako sat down on the edge of her bed, squinting his own eyes to scrutinize her. She ignored him, and allowed her fingers to splay out on the blankets beneath her, running her palms slowly over the cool fabric in slow, fluid movements. As if he weren't even there.
"Why are you so tired?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I had a busy day today. And yesterday. And the day before that. I've been having a lot of busy days."
"You went to bed at seven," he said. "I know you wake up early, but..."
She lifted her head and stared at him, slightly confused. "You know I share my room with Asami, right?"
"Yeah?"
Her eyebrows knitted deeper, scrunching the skin between them to pucker with one thick, solid line. "She yells in her sleep. And I break things."
It was his turn to be confused. She sighed at his oblivious expression, and propped herself up on her elbows.
"Nightmares," was all she gave him, before plopping back down against the blankets again.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
He knew there was more for her to explain. He didn't have much reason for knowing other than some nagging voice at the back of his head, shouting at him to stay put. That at this moment, she had a lot to say, even if she was tired; he wasn't about to let go. He had made many mistakes and finally, he felt that he could do something right by her.
"Why else are you tired?" he ventured to ask, pausing to lick his dry, chapped lips. "You look...really run down."
She sighed heavily, drawing the air in through her stomach, because she had explained that that was how airbenders breathed.
She opened her mouth and out poured every duty she had to fulfill each day, but some duties bled into each other and didn't allow for rest or sleep. She explained that she had to learn chi-blocking with Asami, that she had to teach the brothers proper bending, that she had to protect everybody on the Island even if they didn't want her to.
"You don't have to," he said.
She rolled her eyes, and suddenly, she was much older than him. He never felt young. "No, Mako, I do have to."
"You don't have to protect me, then," he bargained.
She lifted her head again to stare at him, blue gaze unwavering under his flickering amber, traveling over her face that suddenly, he knew would be carved into statues and maybe printed on money. That right now, before she matured any further, her face was only his to look at and be in awe of. It would one day be timeless and everyone would know it, and that day was fast approaching.
"That's not what you're supposed to say," she said, and her lips tugged into a sad smile. "But you're getting closer to what I want to hear."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, watching her shift, easing her head down on the pillows and relaxing.
She shut her eyes, and her smile wasn't as sad with their exclusion. "You'll figure it out."
It was absurd, so he allowed a small, airy chuckle to escape his lips.
"When did you get so much older than me?" he asked.
Her smile favored to the left, and he knew then that it was genuine.
"I'm thousands of years old, Mako. You know that."
Well, now he did.
The third time, before he finally found his place in her life, was when Asami had fallen asleep accidentally in the boys' bedroom, and nobody had the heart to wake her. She had her back pressed up against Bolin's, Pabu nesting in her hair that trailed over Bolin's neck. Mako had attempted to fall asleep on his own bed on the floor, facing her and holding hands, but sleep never came. Something beyond Asami's inclusion in his space was wrong. Something was missing.
Her lips parted and slipping from them were a string of curses and well formulated arguments with her father, eyebrows tipping together and shoulders shaking with each desperate breath. Bolin shifted, raising his head sleepily and turning to watch the girl. With a loud sigh, he rolled over, shooed Pabu out of the way, and wrapped an arm around Asami's shoulders, tucking his chin atop her black, knotted curls.
"Wake up, Asami," he whispered, sleep coating his words. "It's just a dream."
Before her eyes could fly open, Mako stood and left the room, not bothering with a coat or boots to ward off the outside chill. He found that Asami needed a friend much more than she needed a boyfriend, and Bolin, for all his naivete, was far better at comforting than he ever would be. His bare feet, thick and calloused, encouraged small rocks and dirt to embed themselves in his skin, tracking it into the family's house as he walked down the hall to Korra's room.
He knocked on the door and entered, finding her sitting up in bed, sheets twisted violently around her legs and staring at the empty bed across from her. Her wide, frightened eyes flicked up to meet his before returning to Asami's bed.
"Good timing," she muttered. "I just had one where they took all three of you."
He shut the door halfway, his body moving of its own accord, his mind blank save for the constant feeling of need filling his head. He sat down on the corner of her bed and reached out a hand to toy with the odd corner of her sheet by her ankle, foot popping out against the tightly bound fabric. She had scrapes on the knuckles of her toes from the earthbending lessons she had been giving Bolin, and from the ones she had been receiving from Lin.
"How's Asami?" she asked, hunching forward, legs splaying out as far as they could across the mattress.
He shrugged. "Bolin's with her. She needs - "
"- A friend? Yeah. We all do."
He looked up at her, but she was busy fiddling with the ties she left in her hair. He noticed her other foot, tucked into the sheets, was lumpy and large because it was still clad in her boot. Glancing at the floor, he saw her other boot had been tossed there with her thrashing.
"I haven't been a very good friend," he said slowly, at the exact moment when the thought crossed his mind.
She shook her head. "All three of you have been wonderful."
"Not me. I mean, it's taken me awhile to get here, right?"
She lifted her head and softly smiled at him. "Sure, you've taken your time. But it's the fact that you're still here that counts."
Slowly, he reached across the bed and started untangling the sheets from her legs. She bent her knees repeatedly, shuffling the fabric free, giving him more to work with. As they came free, he tugged off her boot and tossed it to the floor.
"You should let down your hair," he said, wrapping the sheet around his hands in a messy bundle.
With a sigh, she reached behind her head and tugged the largest tie free, quickly following it up with the two in the front. The cylinders tapped together with small, hollow sounds like the wind chimes set up all around the Island, and he stood up and spread out the sheet before her, letting the fabric billow and slowly descend over her legs. She placed the ties on the table beside her bed, and smoothed the free sheet over her torso with flat palms.
"Do you always sleep like that?" he asked. "Completely dressed?"
She shrugged. "I've got to be ready for anything."
He moved to her side of the bed, placing a hand on her shoulder and gently pushing to guide her to rest. She fell against the pillows with no protest or ceremony, completely complying with him, sinking down with a sigh as her skin slipped out beneath his hand.
Not wanting to sever the connect like that, her always twisting away because he was too stupid to allow her to go without him, he bent down beside her and placed his hand over hers. She needed him just as much as he needed her.
"Let me take care of you," he said, just a touch pleading.
She tipped her head to the side and smiled. "Now we're even."
"No, I've still got a lot to repay you for."
She shut her eyes and shook her head, smile pulling wider as if endlessly amused.
"No, Mako. I'm going to protect you and take care of you for as long as I know you, and you're going to do the same. We're going to be even."
Her hand slowly turned until her palm pressed against his, the skin warm but her fingers cool, covered in thick, rough skin and fingernails just dusting the pads of his fingers. He finally got it.
"We're balanced," he muttered.
Her hand tightened around his, and he could feel his pulse against her thumb, so he did the same to feel her blood slipping through her veins and vibrating into his hand. It would take time for them to truly meet, but he took comfort in the fact that he finally found the place he needed to be for the rest of his life. He could wait. Right then, being there was enough.
