If you asked either Mako, Bolin, or Asami before Korra arrived in Republic City, if they saw either one of themselves moving into the dorms on Air Temple Island in the middle of the school year, none of them would have probably said yes. And yet, all three were moving in at the same time.

Korra helped the brothers and the Sato heiress take their things to their own rooms. One thing Mako wasn't expecting was that the dorms were separated into Female and Male dorms. Meaning, he and Asami were now separated as far as sleeping arrangements.

Mako set down the last of his things on his new bed while Asami started hanging up his clothes for him. He glanced over to his girlfriend, her raven black curls facing him.

"It's not the end of the world Asami.", he spoke to her. "We'll just be sleeping in separate rooms, we'll still see each other during the day and at school."

"I know...", Asami sighed. She then turned to the firebender. "I just wish we could be together in the evening cause...I'll just miss you is all."

After fleeing the Sato Mansion from Hiroshi's ambush, they had gone back the next day to get their things from the estate. Asami was heartbroken and only managed to bring her clothes and a few pictures of her mother. She didn't want to spend another second under her father's roof. Mako couldn't even imagine the pain she was in and wanted to make sure he could support her however he could.

"Asami, everything's gonna be ok.", Mako tried to reassure her.

"How do you know that?", she asked.

Mako's eyes moved to the window out into the air bending training grounds, where Korra was moving through the air gates with ease. While she still wasn't able to air bend quite yet, she moved through the gates so gracefully without a care in the world. She was getting stronger, and smarter.

Mako turned back to the Sato heiress before she could notice where his attention briefly was. He smiled at her and said,

"Because we have Korra. And if there's one thing I know about her, it's that she'll always do what's right. She'll make sure everything turns out ok."

Asami smiled and approached the firebender. She placed her delicate hands on his shoulders as she gazed up at him.

"Thank you for not giving up on me.", she murmured.

The firebender smiled down at the young woman before he hugged her.

"Of course Asami.", he said.

As the couple held each other, Mako's eyes darted back up to the window in his room. He couldn't take his gaze off the young Avatar. He no longer denied his feelings for her, but he couldn't bring himself to cause Asami any more pain than she was already in. But seeing Korra move through the air effortlessly, made his heart both flutter and sink.

Dinner time had arrived, and Mako almost felt emotional as the scent of a home cooked meal filled his nostrils. Pema adjusted herself in her seat at the table once the food had been served. Asami sat next to the firebender as she smiled before taking a bite of her food. Bolin dug right into his rice and roasted vegetables the minute he could. As Mako smiled seeing his brother and girlfriend enjoy a warm meal after everything they had just been through, he noticed something wasn't right.

"Master Tenzin," he stated. "Where's Korra?"

The airbender looked up at him in confusion. He then looked around the table in search of the Avatar.

"That's strange...she's usually the first one in here for dinner.", he thought out loud.

"Maybe she's still 'being the leaf' outside.", Bolin suggested.

"In the dark?", Asami asked.

"Mako, would you go let her know dinner is ready? She'll catch a cold if she stays out there.", Tenzin asked.

"Of course.", Mako agreed without hesitation.

He rose from his seat and headed towards the door. Asami watched him leave, without even a glance back at her.

Mako went out into the crisp air and sure enough, she was outside, still gracefully moving through the gates. Her eyes were closed, and she flowed effortlessly through the wooden panels. Mako approached her but then his feet gently stopped. He just stood there and watched her for a moment or two. For a whole day, instead of being flustered, chaotic, and on edge, Korra was at peace. No equalists to battle, no pro bending to train for, no arguing with anyone. Just...peace.

Korra finally exited the wooden panels of the airbending gates and noticed the firebender standing before her.

"Hi...", she said softly.

"Hey...um.", he stuttered. "Dinner's on the table. You should come in and warm up."

"No thanks, I'm gonna stay out here and train some more.", Korra said.

"Korra, really you've been training all day. Come inside.", he said again.

She didn't speak, she just turned away from him. Before she could enter the gates again, he gently grabbed her arm.

"Korra...talk to me. What's wrong?", he asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine.", she responded, still facing the wooden panels.

Mako kept his grip on her arm. He thought she'd fight him off, but she just stood there. The skin of her mocha colored neck, facing him once again. Just like that day walking back from the coffee shop. Mako couldn't help but think it wasn't that long ago, that things were much simpler for the both of them.

"Korra...", he said quietly. "If you were fine you'd turn around and tell me right to my face. Like you always do. You're not fine."

Korra sighed and finally turned around to the firebender. His hand now gently keeping it's place on her arm.

"It's just...how the hell am I supposed to defeat Amon when I can't even fight off Asami's dad?", Korra vented to him.

"You can do it. I know you can.", Mako assured her.

"How? I had Tenzin, Lin, her metalbenders, you and Bo as backup and even that wasn't enough. Hiroshi doesn't even have the ability to take bending away from people. All he needed was a machine to kick my ass and put me in my place.", Korra explained.

"Well technically he had a few machines to defeat you.", Mako reminded her.

"See? He didn't even need bending. All he needed was some hunks of metal. What the fuck am I gonna do? Every bender in this city is either gonna get captured, hurt, or their bending stolen from them because I can't defeat some stupid fucker in a mask. I'm a failure.", Korra said, her eyes now facing the ground again.

Mako gently grabbed Korra's chin and lifted her face up to look back at his golden eyes.

"You are not a failure. Don't ever try to tell me that again.", Mako said sternly.

"But-", Korra started.

"Korra, I haven't known you for that long. But if I do know anything about you, it's that you're far from being a failure. You saved our asses when you played in that match with us. You saved Bo when he was getting mugged in that alley. You gave Tahno the ass whooping of a lifetime.", Mako told her.

"But I-", she started again.

"You are not a failure. You are going to win this war and you're going to defeat Amon. I know it.", he told her.

Korra grinned slightly up at the tall firebender. Then her eyes darted away again and she removed his hand from her face.

"Thank you.", she said lowly. "I'll go eat if you want me to."

"Good.", Mako said with a smile as they walked in together.

Korra ate her dinner quietly and went to bed without a word to anyone. The next morning, Korra started her studies with the Air Acolytes. But Bolin, Asami, and Mako returned to Republic City High as they would any other day.

Mako shut his locker next to his brother's. Bolin was leaning against the lockers with his arms crossed, and his eyes glued to the floor.

"What's wrong?", Mako asked.

"I miss her.", Bolin said. "And I miss Pabu."

"I know...I miss her too.", Mako said.

"And Pabu too right?", Bolin asked, a teasing smile on his face.

"Oh yeah well of course. But I'm sure Naga is keeping him company.", Mako thought out loud.

"Uh huh.", Bolin thought out loud.

"What?", Mako asked.

"You seemed awfully concerned about her last night.", Bolin pointed out.

"She didn't want to eat food. It's Korra for spirit's sake, she's always down for a warm meal.", Mako explained.

"Mako, you care about her. I get it. You don't have to-", Bolin started.

"Bo, I do care about her. But I also care about her well being. She's having a rough time, she's trying to figure out how she's gonna defeat Amon.", Mako said.

Bolin shushed his brother immeadately and looked around. Then he turned back to his brother.

"Keep it down, this place is crawling with you know who's little cult members. Who knows who's watching us now.", Bolin whispered.

Mako rolled his eyes at his little brother.

"Korra's not here I think we're in the clear.", he said to Bolin.

"But they know we're her teammates! Or former teammates I guess...my point is they know we that we know her. What if they try to hurt us or take our bending or something?", Bolin asked.

Mako sighed and looked the other way for a moment. To which he saw Asami approaching them.

"Hey!", he greeted his girlfriend.

Asami smiled and pecked her boyfriend on the cheek.

"How's your first day back going?", Asami asked him.

"Eh you know. Boring as usual.", Mako told her.

"How are you feeling Asami?", Bolin asked.

"I'm alright. Just excited to go home and find a new sense of normal.", she told the earthbender.

"Speaking of new normal, what's our new normal?", Bolin asked.

"What do you mean?", Mako asked.

"Like...do we just keep going to school and ignore the war going on outside? Because that's not something I think we can do. We have to help Korra.", Bolin stated.

"Help her? What could we do?", Asami asked.

"Whatever she needs. She's helped us out so much, it's only right that we help her defeat that dickhead in a mask.", Bolin told them.

"You're right! And we should-", Asami began as she conversed with Bolin.

Mako smiled as his brother and his girlfriend spoke with each other in front of him. But as he looked up into the hallway of the school for a moment, what he didn't expect to see was the same equalists they saw in the stands during the match the other night, swarming through the hallways and electrocuting students one by one with their gloves. Mako grabbed Bolin and Asami and darted away from their lockers.

Everything happened so fast in a blur. But Bolin and Mako ran with Asami through the school and the three of them managed to escape to her Sato mobile. The brothers jumped into the car and she drove off as fast as she could. Mako and Bolin used their bending to fight off the equalists that tried to follow them. Finally, they had lost them.

Asami pulled up to an old warehouse to store her Sato Mobile in for the time being. As they were getting out of the car, Bolin looked over at his brother and said,

"We can't go back to school anymore, can we?"

Mako looked somberly over at his brother. He realized not only did they no longer have the chance for the probending schloarship, they also didn't have the education they only had access to for such a short amount of time.

"No...we can't.", Mako responded.

The three of them looked at each other for a moment before he spoke again.

"Bo, I think we know where our place is for the time being. And that's by Korra's side, helping her win this war.", he said with a grin he couldn't hide.

Korra was writing in her notebook once the three of them returned to the island. Bolin burst into her dorm room with Pabu and wrapped her up in a giant bear hug.

"School sucked so much without you!", he exclaimed, squeezing her tight.

Korra laughed before the earthbender put her down.

"How much did it suck?", Korra asked her friends.

"We almost became equalist barbecue. That's how much it sucked.", Asami explained.

"You what?", Korra asked.

"Korra, this isn't just your fight. It's our fight too. We're here for you.", Mako told her. "Whatever you need."

"Thanks you guys but-"

"Nope! We've already talked it out. We're now your official equalist butt kicking squad.", Bolin interrupted.

Korra smiled at her friends. But she couldn't help but notice how Mako's eyes were locked on her the whole time. Almost as if he didn't see through her, but right into her soul. And he knew how much this support meant to her.