(i own none of this.)
long-ass author's note ahead. ye be warned. (it's all your fault anyway.)
let's start here: HOLY SHIT GUYS WHAT DID I SAY. I TOLD YOU NOT TO FREAK OUT AND WHAT DID YOU DO? YOU FREAKED OUT. jesus christ. when you started saying, "i know i'm like the millionth person to ask" i was like "hell yeah you are holy crap you guys" so i figured it'd be easier to do this in this a/n than replying to all of you individually (except for the two people who PM'd me) - and also, if you don't have an account, i couldn't reply to you no matter what you wanted. :/
and now for what you've all been waiting for (oh god you guys are gonna feel so stupid): Korra didn't die, absolutely nothing bad happened, everything got settled really suddenly so she high-tailed it home and was too anxious to get back to send Mako a letter saying she was on her way and Mako, being the worry-wart he is, got nervous and paranoid and checked back up on her. i imagine she gets home right as the letter makes it to Ba Sing Se. :P also, and this is more of a headcanon for my own story than "hey this happened," Korra got homesick/whatever because she started to suspect she might be pregnant again. adsjfajhlaggal. but HAHAHA don't you feel stupid? unless you wanna imagine something horrible happened, that's cool too.
i'm being such a jerk to you guys right now because you FLAWLESS ASSHOLES YOU. this broke 200 REVIEWS TONIGHT and i've never had that happen for any of the stories i've ever posted here ever, and i've posted nearly 100, so that's a REALLY BIG DEAL TO ME. you guys are the best, really, and i love you and appreciate every review i get, even if i don't reply to most of them. especially you guys who've reviewed practically every chapter... GOD YOU'RE AWESOME.
blah. that's over. thank god. now to this chapter. in my version of things until we get season 2 (damn it 2013), Korra wants Mako to come with her on Avatar stuff when she leaves RC, but he thinks he still has to stay and take care of Bo. then when leaving gets closer, Bo and Asami are both like, "what, we're coming with you, are you nuts," and Mako doesn't want Bo to go and they fight over it but Korra's like "lol nope that settles that you're coming" and yadda yadda. so, by the by, that's another nod to "knowledge" again.
ANYWAY. this is my new favorite. it's so short but oh god honestly i'm so proud of myself for this. i couldn't get the idea at first and then it just wrote itself and i just really love it okay. (so i have a strange fascination with hands. sue me.)
okay okay shutting up now.
day twenty-eightish: promise.
The sun's just slipped below the sea and everything's drowning in a dim blue light. They're stretched out together on the couch and he's got her hand in his, turning it over, bending her fingers, parting them; he studies the lines, scars, and calluses and thinks he might be able to memorize them all, map their exact positions, chart them like constellations before –
Well.
"What are you doing?" Korra says finally, with a little chuckle. Mako drops her hand, smiling just slightly as he lifts his eyes to hers, but then she picks his up, brings it close to her face so she can examine it the way he was doing.
Very slowly, she plucks at the point on his fingers where the glove ends, clings to his skin, loosening it so she's able to slide it off and toss it onto the cushion beside her. Then she turns his palm up, places her thumb in the center so his fingers spread and straighten – he can feel the rest of hers on the back of his hand, on the bone connecting to his middle finger – before she starts skimming it across the old, half-forgotten, almost-faded burn scars there. Her other hand comes up and trails around the pads of his palm; her eyebrows are drawn together, her bottom lip jutting out in a small pout.
She curls his fingers into a fist, her hand wrapped around the outside of it, much smaller, dark against his pale. After a moment or two she opens it back up again and threads her fingers through his, looking back up to him, blushing when she realizes he hasn't looked away from her for a second during her inspection.
His chest is heavy, as if his lungs have been lined with lead, when he forces it out: "Are you going to miss me?"
Korra runs her free hand through his hair, all the way to the back of his head, and gently touches his cheek, his jaw, his chin. "Only if you don't come with me," she says, but she's still looking at him like she's never going to have another chance. He notices then that he's doing the same thing – just drinking her in, getting his fill of her (even though he'll never get enough), like she might vanish if he so much as blinks. At his silence, she answers him for real, "Yeah. A lot."
"Don't forget me," Mako says. "While you're gone."
"I won't if you won't."
Her hand keeps moving, down the side of his neck now. Marking him with her fingerprints.
"Promise me."
"Ask nicely." Tiptoeing along his shoulder. A smirk, or something like it, twists her mouth, but he doesn't have to ask. "I promise. Besides" – and suddenly their breath is shared, her arms are around his neck, his hand is on her hip and her lips move against his when she speaks – "how could I ever forget this?"
