Mako walks alongside of Korra as they slowly wind their way along the path through the gardens outside where the wedding reception is being held. The sounds of music and laughter from the party that they leave behind float along beside them in the cool night air, but the young man is solely focused upon every word that spills forth from the lips of this woman he loves. Although his gaze stays mostly focused upon her face, he also can't help but admire how lovely she is in the moonlight, the snug, form-fitting, formal dress of her people showing off the beauty of her curves. He holds her hand tightly, as if worried he'd lose her if he were to let go, all the while watching her face attentively. The young woman tells her ex-boyfriend everything about the last three years. She shares with him all that she had shared with Asami in every letter, leaving out nothing but the confession she had shared with their mutual friend and mutual love interest.
There would be no point in telling him that. It would only hurt him more.
Their slow walk eventually brings them to a set of stairs that leads down to the shoreline. They slowly descend the first couple of steps and sit down together at the top, then Korra releases Mako's hand. He reluctantly lets go, though his eyes never leave her. Bringing her knees to her chest, she loops her arms about her legs and keeps talking, still pouring her heart out to him. The relief she feels from the sharing is palpable, like a great weight is being lifted from her chest. He says very little, simply prompting her to continue when she hesitates or asking small questions to coax more out of her. The caring and affectionate look she sees in his eyes fills her with warmth, doing even more to keep her talking. She has a full head of steam now, all of it pouring out of her, all for his benefit. Three years of her life spill out for him to hear. Eventually, finally, she exhausts herself of both her story and her will to continue.
With a heavy sigh, she looks over at him, feeling drained from telling the story. After a few moments, she rests her cheek on her knee. As he studies her silently, absorbing her story, she starts to feel nervous and even more weary than before. He says nothing and neither does she, the two just looking into each other's eyes while the silence grows heavier with each moment that slides by. Having put so much of herself out there in an effort to make up for having shut him out for three years, she feels particularly vulnerable. She waits quietly for as long as she can bear, until her fear overcomes her.
Swallowing heavily, she asks with a trembling voice, "what're...what're you thinking, Mako?"
Her ex-boyfriend still looks at her with a loving, intense gaze, his lips lifting slightly in a gentle smile. "The same thing I've been thinking for three years," he says tenderly, without a hint of rebuke in his tone, "I would have given anything, if it meant you would have let me help you through all of that." Korra closes her eyes and sighs heavily, feeling the bitter sting of tears in her eyes.
The touch of his hand upon her cheek gives her a start, and she opens her eyes while lifting her head, staring at him in shock. He's smiling widely now as he gently caresses her cheek, adding, "but I'm not mad at you, Korra. I understand now, that you had to do that on your own. I wish I could have helped relieve you of your burden, but what's important now is that you've gotten past all that." The tears flow freely down her cheeks as she listens and he adds, his own voice thick with emotion now, "I just don't want to lose you again." She swallows heavily, leaning into his hand, rubbing her cheek against his palm and closing her eyes while she smiles happily.
With a heavy, yet contented sigh, she whispers back, "you won't, Mako. I promise." Covering his hand with hers, she opens her eyes again, her vision a little blurry from her tears. The man she loves has scooted closer to her as they sit together on the cold stone, but she makes no move to separate from him. If anything, she leans in even closer to him. In the back of her mind, she can hear a voice screaming at her to stop, thoughts how much she's about to hurt Asami twisting her heart and haunting her soul.
She can't help herself, though. Throughout those years apart, she's missed Mako so much, still loving him in spite of everything that happened. After their breakup, she never stopped wanting him, always wondering if ending their relationship was the right thing to do, always feeling regret and responsibility for it ending. She constantly thought about all the fights she picked with him. Maybe, if she could have been a better girlfriend, it wouldn't have ended?
Throughout all that followed their breakup, she constantly thought she saw his own doubt in their choice to end their relationship, too. Now, sitting with him, both of them bathed in the cool, bright moonlight, seeing how he looks at her and feeling his hand upon her cheek, she finds herself drawn to him like a moth to the flame. He moves closer to her, even as she likewise makes the distance between them disappear.
Their lips press together and she draws in a deep breath, her heart flooding with joy, even as her gut twists with nervous, giddy excitement, like their first time, years ago. Spirits, how she's missed kissing him. She squeezes his hand upon her cheek, pressing his skin to hers while he kisses her lovingly, his eagerness growing by the moment. Her lips answer his with even more affection. Soon they deepen the kiss, both of them shivering in shared contentment and relief. A soft moan slips from her mouth to his, and he answers with a husky groan of his own. They kiss intimately and hungrily, caressing one another intimately, the years of separation and longing fanning the flames of their passion. His hand slides back over her cheek until his arm wraps about her neck, pulling her body to his. She snakes both of her arms around his shoulders, kissing him for all she's worth. Their tongues dance and wrestle fiercely together, and their lips caress each other's. Every worry and bit of caution she had ignored before they kissed has vanished, drowned out by the sheer joy she feels from tasting what she'd never wanted to lose and had thirsted after so much since she had.
"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?"
Asami's voice cuts through Korra's heart like an icy knife. Her eyes fly wide open, she breaks the kiss abruptly and jumps up to her feet, whirling to face the other woman with terror stricken eyes. The dusky-skinned woman's gut knots up with agonizing guilt and remorse.
"Asami!" she pleads with a ragged voice already choked with tears, "I...I'm sorry! I…I..."
"Hang on a second," Mako says with a confused and slightly irritated tone as he likewise stands, having needed a moment to get his bearings after his ex-girlfriend ended that amazing kiss so abruptly. "It's okay, Korra," he assures her, glaring at Asami with annoyance for her interruption as he explains, "I'm not seeing Asami…"
"She knows that," Asami answers flatly, her arms folded beneath her breasts as she glares at the two whom she had just caught kissing like lovers. Mako furrows his brow in confusion as he looks at his angry ex-girlfriend, then back at his guilt-ridden ex-girlfriend, confused as he sees her face twisted with shame and regret.
"I don't understand," he says apprehensively, already sensing something is afoot that he doesn't know, furrowing his brow as he watches Korra. The tormented young woman watches Asami quietly, their eyes locked on one another. The raven-haired heiress simply stands there, watching Korra just as wordlessly. Mako looks from one of his one ex-lovers to the other and back again, slowly seeing what's unsaid between the two of them.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" His is voice thick with frustration, hurt, and anger. His heart clenches in pain as he realizes how much worse and far more complicated everything just became between the three of them. Korra's shoulders drop in defeat, confirming his suspicions.
"When did this happen?!" he asks, unable to keep the pain and sense of betrayal out of his voice as he looks from one woman to the other and back again.
Asami says nothing in reply, she only stares at the woman who trembles before her. Korra slowly senses that she's expected by the woman she loves to answer the question, but she falters before answering raggedly, "w-we...we confessed how we feel about each other...w-while...we were...writing our letters." She draws in a heavy breath before adding feebly, "but...we...we've both felt that way about each other for...for a long time."
Mako closes his eyes, fighting the tears that start to well up anyway in his eyes as he feels the stabbing pain in his heart. He's able to keep his tears at bay, but only barely. When Korra finally pulls her gaze away from Asami to look at him, she's horrified to see the agony on his face, sobbing at the realization of what she's done, covering her mouth with her hands. As he opens his eyes to look back at her, the glistening tears that have not yet fallen only serve to rip her heart further out of her chest. She draws in a ragged breath and shuts her eyes, unable to speak, not knowing what she could possibly say to either of them, the man or the woman whom she loves so much and has just now hurt so spectacularly all at once.
Yet another failure to add to her list.
"Korra," Asami calls gently to her. The tormented young woman hesitates, then turns her head back to stare into the eyes of the woman she loves so dearly, silently pleading for forgiveness as the tears stream down her cheeks, but not daring to put such a request into words.
"Come here," the raven haired woman says tenderly.
Korra heistates. She looks over Mako, who glares at her wordlessly. Terror grips her heart as she wonders if she's just lost them both.
Her shoulders slumping, she walks over to stand before Asami, looking crushed and defeated. She can feel Mako's eyes drilling into her back, full of accusation. She looks into the eyes of the woman she just wronged so tragically, only able to hold her gaze for a few moments before she looks down to the floor in her shame, the tears flowing freely down her face.
Asami watches her quietly for a few moments, her jaw clenching in pain at the sight of the woman she loves in such torment. This has to stop.
"Mako," she calls to him gently, waiting patiently until he finally manages to look away from Korra to her. He scowls wordlessly at her, his gaze full of anger and pain. She can't help but flinch as the man she loves glares at her with such spite.
"Would you please come over here?" she asks, her voice faltering. He hesitates at her change of tone, and then to his surprise, her cool expression cracks and he sees hurt written across her face, too.
"Please?" she asks, begging with sudden emotion, the sincerity in her voice cutting through his anger. Even Korra looks up at her, shocked as she sees the cold facade that her dearest friend and love had put forward so convincingly comes crashing down so quickly, to reveal the searing pain and crippling vulnerability beneath.
Mako wordlessly watches Asami in astonishment along with Korra, his jaw falling slack at the dramatic change. Both of them feel torrents of conflicting emotions while they silently watch the raven-haired beauty they both love so much reveal her own wounds to them, her own eyes glistening as if she might also weep. He hesitates for a few more moments, then slowly shuffles over to stand next to Korra, standing within arms reach of both women who mean everything to him. Korra glances guiltily over at Mako, who looks back into her eyes. She looks down immediately, unable to bear his gaze. He then looks to Asami, his anger diminished but still present. After taking a few moments to muster her strength, the heart-broken Avatar summons her strength and likewise looks at the other woman.
Confronted by the stares of the two people she loves most, one watching her with guilt and shame, while the other watches with bitterness and apprehension, Asami falters. She suddenly feels a knot of anxiety grip her in the pit of her stomach as the moment of truth is upon her. Looking from one to the other and back again as the three stand in a small, close circle, she swallows heavily and draws in a deep breath, letting it out in a heavy sigh.
"We keep doing this to each other, don't we?" she asks plaintively, pausing for a moment before elaborating gently, "we keep hurting each other." At her words, Korra's gaze drops the floor again, her guilt overwhelming her as the tears silently start to flow freely once more, a soft sob wracking her body. Mako's angry resolve completely crumbles as her words remind him of how much he's hurt the two women standing with him in the past, both more than once. He watches Asami for a few moments, staring back into her eyes before he falters and joins Korra in her study of the ground beneath their feet, his countenance showing how abashed he is. His face is twisted with guilt and agony.
"We can't keep doing this," Asami says in heavy whisper, her voice rich with emotion and lament.
Korra says nothing, too overcome with her shame to respond. Mako draws a heavy breath as he looks at his one ex-girlfriend as her tears fall, then turns his gaze to the other, watching the raven-haired beauty and waiting apprehensively. Both Korra and Mako fear what she intends.
"Well," he says, hesitating before asking earnestly, "what can we do?" Asami's jaw clenches as he points out the obvious, "no matter what we choose, one of us is going to get hurt."
The ivory-skinned beauty draws in a heavy breath as Mako forces the issue. She had made her decision and was determined to see it through, but she hadn't quite figured out how to actually do it. This is going to be very tricky, and she fears they would never agree to it. Clenching her jaw, she realizes she'll just have to wing it and hope for the best.
"Are you sure about that?" Asami asks. Her ex-boyfriend furrows his brow in confusion, while Korra lifts her gaze to study the other woman with an equal measure of bewilderment. "Does one of us really have to get hurt?" Asami asks further, turning Mako's assertion back around on him.
The handsome young firebender looks even more confused as he stares at Asami, utterly baffled. Korra does so likewise, while he answers, "well, uh...yeah, I mean...one...one of us has to make a choice, and one of the other two isn't going to like that choice…"
Asami gives them both a secretive smile. The sparkle in her eyes further confuses the two standing with her.
"Let's play a game," she says gently, her ruby-red lips curling into a wider smile as yet another idea comes to her. Korra and Mako look at her incredulously, glancing at each other in their confusion before then glancing back at her skeptically. When each hesitates to answer, Asami crosses her arms and frowns at them both, her brows knitting together.
"I think you two at least owe me this one little thing, given what just happened," she points out, her tone sharp and accusational.
Korra immediately looks sheepish and ashamed again, dropping her gaze as she quickly nods and agrees with a simple, "okay."
For his part, Mako sighs, and nods, looking at the ground and crossing his arms as he answers bitterly, "fine." After a moment, he lifts his gaze back to glare at Asami, angry and confused as he asks, "what's the game?"
Asami hesitates, then says, "we're going to play The Truth." Korra looks back up at her with a degree of horror in her eyes, while the other woman looks from one to the other and back again, clarifying, "for the next five minutes, all three of us are going to say only the truth. We're not going to leave out anything. We're not going to bend things, we're not going to stretch anything. We are going to say the absolute and total truth in our hearts."
Mako sighs heavily, his shoulders dropping in defeat as he nods, while Korra miserably nods along with him. "Okay," they both agree together quietly, defeated.
Drawing in a heavy breath, Asami girds herself, setting her jaw with determination before she asks the other woman, "Korra...how do you feel about me?"
The other woman flinches as though she'd been physically struck. The tears stream freshly from her eyes as she hesitates, but then she withers under Asami's penetrating stare. "I…" she hesitates to say the words, glancing helplessly at Mako who watches her with a mixture of apprehension, fear, and pain. The Avatar sighs and drops her gaze to the ground yet again, answering helplessly, "I love you, Asami."
Asami shivers at finally hearing those words from her, wishing the first time Korra told her could have been different.
Brushing that aside, she corrects the other woman with a firm, yet compassionate tone, "You're in love with me, aren't you?" Mako swings his increasingly angry gaze from Korra back to the other woman. The raven-haired beauty flinches under his gaze, but keeps her own eyes fixed upon the woman she loves, trying to ignore the pain she feels from his accusational, yet silent stare.
"Yes," Korra answers meekly, in barely more than a whisper as she nods. "I'm in love with you," she clarifies, her voice rich with pain. She lifts her gaze to meet the blue eyes of the other woman, adding feebly, "and I have been for a long time, now…"
Sighing in relief, Asami smiles slightly and nods. "How do you feel about Mako?" she asks tenderly. She looks at her ex-boyfriend while waiting for Korra to answer, doing everything she can not to wither under his angry stare, suddenly feeling very small and vulnerable. Seeing him so upset with her crushes her inside, but she knows they have to get past this. After a moment, he looks back to Korra, clearly eager to watch her give her answer, anxiety replacing the anger on his countenance.
He doesn't have to wait long before she turns to look into his eyes, answering softly, her voice cracking in the middle, "I'm in love with him, too." Asami nods knowingly, not at all surprised by this. Mako smiles warmly at her words, looking relieved beyond description. Korra can't help but give him a feeble smile in return.
"Do you love either of us more than the other?" she asks, her voice soft, without a trace of accusation or reproach.
With an immediate and vigorous shake of her head, Korra furrows her brow and answers resolutely, "no." She looks from one to the other and back again, clarifying, "I love you both more than I can say…" Again, her voice cracks and tears roll down her cheeks.
After another nod, Asami then turns her once more steely gaze back to Mako, who flinches as he turns his head to look back into her eyes. He suddenly looks very nervous as he waits for the dreaded question.
"What about you, Mako?" she softly asks her ex-boyfriend. "How do you feel about Korra?"
He swallows heavily, staring back into the eyes of his raven-haired ex-girlfriend anxiously before then turning his head back to look into the tear-soaked eyes of his other ex-girlfriend. "I'm in love with her," he says promptly and with determination, his own voice now heavy in emotion. Korra can't help but smile a little bit more, in spite of everything, overjoyed at hearing him say those words so firmly and resolutely as he stares into her eyes. "I can't imagine being without her," he adds with absolute sincerity.
Asami hesitates now, then asks with a faltering, terrified voice, "w...what...what about me?" She suddenly sounds small and weak, an amazingly striking contrast to how authoritative she had sounded before. The renewed vulnerability that Mako and Korra hear in her voice is so heavy and laced with anxiety that both of them turn suddenly to look at her in shock. Again, they both watch with amazement as they see her insecurity laid bare, the fear prominent in her eyes as she waits to hear what Mako will say. She swallows heavily, fear clutching at her heart.
The young man's face softens even more as he stares into her eyes. His shoulders slump and once more he has to fight back the tears. "You know I'm in love with you too, Asami," he says sincerely and with a ragged tone, struggling to keep from sobbing. Korra can't help but look to him, a sharp pang of jealousy and envy cutting into her gut, piercing through her guilt while her jaw clenches tightly. Asami closes her eyes and breathes in a heavy, trembling sigh of relief, then looks back at her ex-boyfriend with a warm, loving smile.
"I love you too," she says sweetly, with such tender affection that Korra looks back at the other woman with horror, dreading that Asami has made her choice. Mako smiles slightly at the raven-haired beauty, thrilled to hear those words again from her after so long, but then he looks over at Korra with a guilty expression, thinking the same thing that she is while not knowing how he feels about that.
To the utter shock of both of them, Asami then turns to look directly into Korra's eyes and says tenderly, with absolute sincerity, "and I love you, too, Korra." The Avatar, breathes in a ragged breath of relief from deep down inside, whimpering at the news, swallowing heavily and closing her eyes as more tears fall. Mako looks at the tear-stained young woman with a pained gaze, but then glances back at Asami as she adds, "I'm in love with both of you. Completely. Equally."
Mako and Korra both stare at Asami wordlessly. For all his effort, the young man can't help it, the tears start to fall, but he refuses to sob, though his jaw clenches tightly, his whole frame taut with tension. Asami's own eyes moisten more as she fights back the tears, a few errant ones falling down her cheeks.
"So what do we do?" Mako asks with despair in his voice.
"One of us has to choose," Korra says feebly, her voice as ragged as the emotions and harsh reality they face turn her insides to water.
"Why?" Asami suddenly and sharply asks, the strength back in her voice and the fire in her eyes as she looks from the one person she loves to the next and then back again. She blinks away her tears, stands up straight, [puts her shoulders back and sets her jaw while Mako and Korra blink in shock at the simple, yet confounding question. Both of them look at her with incredulous stares. She switches back and forth between staring into the eyes of each of them in turn, asking in a frustrated tone, "why does any of us need to choose?" The man and woman that she loves so much watch her with befuddled expressions, their brows furrowing. A silence fills the void that follows her question. After letting her words hang in the air for a few moments, Asami continues.
"We keep hurting each other and ourselves every time one of us tries to choose one or the other," she points out passionately as she looks from one to the other. "We're all three of us guilty of it. We've all done it to the other two, more than once...!" Korra and Mako watch her with incredulous stares as her meaning starts to become clear when she asks, "So why should we choose at all?"
"Wait," Mako says, furrowing his brow as he tries to wrap his head around what he thinks his ex-girlfriend is suggesting, though he doesn't believe it. "What exactly are you saying?" he asks, sparing a moment to look over at Korra, who shares his fleeting, equally disbelieving glance before joining him in returning to watch Asami with a comparably confused stare.
"What I'm saying," the raven-haired beauty replies slowly, patiently, "is that all three of us are in love with the other two." She pauses for a moment, letting that sink in before elaborating, "I'm in love with both of you, you're both in love with me and you're both in love with each other." Pausing to draw in a deep breath, she then asks wearily, "why should we keep choosing to hurt each other?" Stepping closer to the both of them, she points out, "love is rare enough. For the three of us to love each other so much? That is a precious gift."
Reaching up, she gently places one hand on Korra's cheek, looking into her eyes, smiling at her. The silently crying young woman covers her hand with her own, squeezing it like it was a lifeline as fresh tears fall. Korra squeezes her eyes shut as she sobs quietly, tilting her head into the touch while Asami turns her head to look at Mako. She reaches up and caresses his cheek just as affectionately, her brow furrowing as she feels how his jaw clenches tightly beneath her fingers. Nonetheless, he too reaches up and covers her hand with his own, grasping at her desperately while staring back into her eyes, breathing out with a heavy, ragged sigh. After a moment, he lowers his gaze to the ground, unable to keep looking into her eyes. She can feel him tremble at her touch.
Looking between them as she speaks, she asks tenderly, "why shouldn't we three choose to celebrate that love, together?" The man and the woman standing with her look at her in disbelief, unable to find the words to answer.
She goes on, "After all these years of how we've suffered together, tormented each other, hurt one another, I've learned one thing for certain." She pauses, then explains with a trembling, heartfelt voice, "I can't be happy with only one of you." Looking from one to the other as they stare at her in wonder, she meets their gazes intently, each in turn and back again. After pausing for a few tense moments, she tells them passionately, resolutely, "I need both of you." Again she hesitates, then adds emphatically, "I can't choose between you, any more than I can choose between my left arm or my right arm, any more than I can choose between the left half of my heart or the right…" The emotion is so thick in her voice that she has to stop and collect herself. Both Mako and Korra hang on her every word with anguished expressions, both of them watching her with intense, tear-laden stares. Asami's own eyes fill with tears, a few falling once more. After a few moments, she whispers raggedly, "and neither should either of you."
Mako and Korra both watch her with wide, astounded eyes, their jaws going slack as each of them holds desperately onto her hand that covers their respective cheeks. The silence stretches on as her words hang in the air and her meaning slowly sinks in for each of them. Their hearts race as they study her, trying to absorb her proposal.
"Wait," Korra starts to say, furrowing her brow and still feeling confused, but managing to find her voice again, "so...you want…?" Before she can continue, Mako says it for her.
"You're saying we three should all be lovers? Together?" he asks incredulously, clearly refusing to believe that's what she means.
"Yes," she says plainly, eagerly, nodding quickly and stepping closer to the two of them. Her hands caress Mako's and Korra's cheeks respectively as she looks from one to the other. With her thumb she wipes at their cheeks to catch some of their tears, softly telling them, "I am so tired." She looks from one to the other, explaining, "I'm tired of hurting the two people I love most in this world. Tired of seeing both of you being hurt. Tired of the drama. And, I'm completely worn out from getting hurt by the both of you, too."
Guilt flashes across both of their faces at that, their gazes falling from hers but she quickly amends with an excited tone, "but...if...if we do this, then we can forget about all of that!" She smiles warmly at them, gently tugging on them with her hands upon their cheeks. When they hesitantly look back at her again, she says, "we can all forgive each other, once and for all." Looking from one to the other and back again, she eagerly points out with enthusiasm, "it'll be a fresh start! What happened before...none of it will matter anymore…!"
Wordlessly, Mako and Korra both edge tentatively closer to Asami as she coaxes them to her, both drawn to the woman they both love, her offer sounding so enticing, yet so outlandish. Some distance still remains between them. As she waits for them to answer, they both hesitate. She continues to stroke their cheeks, looking from one to the other with hopeful but increasingly anxious and frightened eyes. Her body trembles in worry as she fears losing all if one or both of them decide against this. She feels her heart lodge firmly in her throat, pounding frantically. She can't remember the last time she felt this terrified as she waits for their judgement.
Oh, that's right. It was when she wrote to Korra, confessing her love to her.
Well, at least this is a little more real time.
"We...we can't do that," Korra protests, but her voice lacks conviction.
"Why not?" Asami asks sharply, refusing to give up so easily. She stares into the eyes of the other woman, challenging her further to justify her words. Korra's mouth moves a few times without any sound coming out as she struggles to find a reason.
"Think...think about...what everyone else will say," Mako argues, though he seems even less than confident in his point.
"Fuck them all if they disapprove," Asami barks back at him bitterly, causing both he and Korra to start in surprise at the ferocity of her resonse. She bulls forward with her elaboration, "I am so sick and tired of worrying about what other people think. I've had it with being miserable because I have to do something I don't want to do to satisfy somebody else's judgement, when what I want to do won't hurt anybody else." Mako and Korra watch her in shock as she says further, "and in truth? Our love lives are none of their fucking business!"
The two look on in awkward silence at her sudden outburst as she looks from one to the other. She quickly calms down, drawing in a heavy, trembling breath to relax, and soon enough the raven haired beauty again looks relaxed and determined on the outside. But, in her heart, she's panicking. If this doesn't work, she has no idea what they can do to stop being so miserable together.
"How," Korra starts to ask, taking another baby step closer to the other two. She hesitates, looking so timid. Asami's head turns to her and she looks at the other woman eagerly, smiling welcomingly and listening intently as the dusky skinned woman asks, "how would this even work…?"
"What do you mean?" Asami asks gently, genuinely confused by the question. The answer seems fairly self-evident to her mind.
"Well," Mako starts to answer for her, drawing the eyes of the two women who stand so close to him now, "does...does this mean we're three couples now?" Asami can't help but smirk at his question, but she does manage to avoid giggling. "Or, are we a trio?"
"Does it really matter?" Asami asks pleasantly with a wide, caring smile. She caresses his cheek and neck the way she remembers him liking so much while she explains, "we can call it whatever we want…" To her delight, he seems to relax at her caress and takes one more small, half step closer to her. With a gentle tug of her hand, she coaxes him to inch even closer. "We're going to be together," she assures him, looking at Korra, "all three of us."
"So," Korra asks, no longer crying, though her cheeks are still stained with all the tears and her reddened eyes still glisten, "are we..are we going to...go on dates together?" she asks. Asami lights up at her question, her smile blooming while her heart sings with hope. "The three of us?" Korra asks incredulously.
"Of course!" the raven haired woman answers with kind and joyous laughter in her voice while she glides her fingers back into the other woman's hair to play with it. "Why wouldn't we?" Korra's eyes half lid at the sensation, her body visibly responding to the delicious sensation as Asami's nails trace over the back of her neck and she traces them over her done up hair. The raven-haired woman can see and feel the other woman shiver in delight at her touch.
Clearing his throat, Mako draws the attention of the two ladies as he opens his mouth and tries to talk, but the combined force of their respective gazes causing him to blush brightly as he falters, an incoherent sound escaping his lips. Asami and Korra watch him, then exchange brief, yet knowing glances at his reaction, each suspecting what he's going to ask. Both are kind enough to keep quiet and let him find his voice, though.
"D-Does...does this mean, ah..." he begins, struggling to keep talking, his cheeks burning a bright red, "does this mean that...the...the three of us...we, ah…" He hesitates to clear his throat, and the two women grin even more wryly at him, "can we...ah...kiss...each other?" Both Korra and Asami smirk, finding the deep flush of his cheeks adorable. "W-whenever...we...whenever we...want?"
Asami smiles from ear to ear and says nothing, but leans in and kisses him full on the lips. While she does, she shifts her hand upon Korra's face to grip her cheek and the back of her neck possessively, her thumb rubbing her assuringly. She feels the other woman's hand cover hers again and her jaw clench, the dusky-skinned beauty holding onto Asami's hand for dear life. Almost immediately, Mako responds with fiery hunger, making the raven-haired woman's heart thrill with delight. The kiss she shares with Mako quickly grows passionate and intimate. Relief floods through her as she feels how his desire and love for her has only grown stronger. It had been so long since they kissed. She had almost forgotten how good it feels, and how wonderful he is at this.
All the same, she doesn't linger long. But while she does, she pulls Korra closer to the two of them. To her relief, the other woman is mostly willing in moving closer, though Asami can feel her hesitancy. All the same, she's now near enough that their bodies are touching, sending an excited chill down the raven-haired woman's spine. Asami ends the kiss with Mako, looking at his eyes until he opens them. He gives her a goofy smile, looking at her in a daze. Asami winks, then turns her head and looks at Korra. She sees the look of apprehension mixed with fear upon the other woman's face. The two stare into each other's eyes, both nervous and excited and scared all at once.
Smiling warmly at her, Asami leans in and kisses her, just as passionately, just as deeply as she had kissed Mako. Korra whimpers against her mouth, quickly and eagerly responding in kind, the two caressing one another deeply. Asami groans in excitement at finally tasting the woman she loves, each feeling the desire the other pours into the kiss. As she had done with Korra, the raven-haired beauty tightens her grip upon the young man's cheek and the back of his neck, holding him possessively, pulling her closer to them. She sighs in relief into Korra's mouth as she feels his hand upon hers again, gripping her tightly as he voluntarily steps even closer. Now she feels both of them pressing their bodies against the opposite sides of hers, the three bodies meeting together like the sides of a triangle. The raven-haired woman shivers at the intimacy of the moment, her heart racing in her chest as she kisses Korra for the first time, lasting a little longer as she had with Mako before she then pulls back to look at Korra.
After taking a few heavy breaths with her eyes closed, the dusky-skinned young beauty opens her eyes and looks at Asami. Their gazes meet, lingering. Both smile sweetly at one another, blushing brightly while breathing in heavy gulps of air, their smiles blooming from ear to ear together.
After a few moments, Mako clears his throat. Both women can't help but smirk in amusement, turning to look at him with affectionate gazes. His eyes stay fixed upon Korra, though he gives Asami a fleeting glance. Asami slowly slides her hands down their necks and downward over their bodies, wrapping her arms about their waists to rest her palms upon the smalls of their backs, though without applying any force. The young man leans in closer to the Avatar, but only so far. For her part, Korra starts to lean in towards him, but hesitates, looking back questioningly at Asami. The raven-haired woman smiles widely at her, meeting her gaze and slowly, deliberately nodding once in resolute encouragement. Taking a moment more before looking back at Mako, she leans in again with him and their lips meet.
Asami watches the two people that she loves so much kiss, at first hesitantly, but then quickly becoming so desperate and passionate together. She feels a twinge of regret, mixed in with some jealousy and envy, but the relief flooding through her at the reality of what the three of them are now starting to share washes it away, drowning it completely. While she watches the two kiss deeply, her smile blooms and she starts to hug them together and to her, pressing her body against the wedge formed by theirs. She then starts to press her lips to Mako's neck. He moans huskily into Korra's mouth at the warm, wet touches of his other ex-girlfriend's lips upon his skin, and both women can feel him shiver in delight against their bodies.
Taking his reaction as a prompt, Korra leans in closer to him and to Asami, her one arm wrapping tightly around the raven-haired beauty's waist while her other snakes around Mako's shoulders to hug him to her. Likewise, Mako pulls Asami to him as she kisses his neck, his one good hand gripping her bottom with the familiarity of a lover, while his tongue wrestles fiercely with Korra's as the two kiss with heady passion. Asami then switches over, kissing Korra's neck with the same warm, wet touches, her tongue finding and laving over where the other woman's pulse beats. The dark-skinned woman moans and whimpers even more excitedly, her arms tightening about Asami and Mako both, squeezing them to her. He kisses Korra all the more hungrily, their tongues wrestling fiercely. He's frustrated that his one arm is bound up and useless, so he just presses his body against the soft, shapely forms of his two ex-girlfriends, enjoying how their curves crush against his body. He hugs Asami with his one good arm, ignoring the pain in his wounded arm from their position. The way they both hold him tightly, each with an arm around his back, makes him feel more loved and cared for than he can ever remember.
Asami traces her kisses up Korra's neckline, over her jaw, then kisses her cheek, approaching her lips. The other woman grows confused, faltering in the kiss. Asami takes it as an opportunity to slip in and kiss Korra full on the lips, but only for a fleeting moment before she then turns and kisses a confused and dazed Mako upon the lips. Without meaning to, she lingers slightly longer with him, then feels relief as she feels Korra do as she had, kissing her cheek and jawline, the trail of kisses quickly leaving her face and crossing over to give Mako the same affectionate, loving treatment. Their mutual ex-boyfriend kisses Asami all the more passionately as Korra covers his cheek and jaw with the warm, wet touches of her lips and he moans huskily into Asami's mouth as his tongue finds hers again, the two wrestling feverishly.
As had happened with Asami and Korra, this doesn't last long before Mako breaks the kiss and he captures Korra's lips with his own, both of them moaning huskily together. Asami doesn't hesitate, she just resumes kissing the cheeks and jawlines of the two people she loves most in this world. The Avatar and her ex-boyfriend kiss for a few seconds before changing again, now Asami is kissing Korra feverishly and Mako is following the ladies' example and covering their cheeks and necks with warm, wet kisses, drawing soft, cooing moans from both of them. The trio breathes heavily, moaning and making soft noises of pleasure together, the kissing becoming more frantic and desperate with every moment. Back and forth it goes, Asami is kissing Mako and then Mako is kissing Korra again, and then the two women are kissing each other passionately once more. All the while, everybody's lips and tongue are busy, all three of them are huddled together in a tight, three-way embrace, arms gripping the other two with all of their bodies pressed deliciously together, all feeling the heat of their nearness and their shared passion.
Soon enough, the trio are out of breath, panting heavily as the kissing slows from a passionate frenzy to a slow series of passing presses of lips together.
"Wow," Mako says as Asami finishes kissing him to lock lips with Korra yet again. He doesn't wait long before slipping in and stealing another kiss from the Avatar, while the raven haired woman quickly kisses the other two on their cheeks yet again.
Breaking the kiss, Korra gasps to catch her breath. "I know," she agrees, shivering with excitement and smiling from ear to ear as her strong arms joyously squeeze Mako and Asami to her. She feels positively giddy. Asami squeezes back, hugging Mako and Korra with the same intensity. Mako tightens his grip on Asami's body with his arm about her waist, pressing his body against the shapely curves of these two amazing women. The young man is still mildly frustrated that his arm is incapacitated and he can't hug Korra, too, but he's too lightheaded from the makeout session to really care anymore.
"So," Asami starts to say, then pauses to give Mako yet another kiss, albeit a fleeting one. After pulling back from his lips, she asks breathlessly, "do you...want to give this a try?" She pulls her head back just enough to see the other two.
Korra and Mako open their eyes, looking at her, then each other. All three start to laugh at the absurdity of the question, given what they've been doing, then they all just lean in and kiss together some more, all of them smiling from ear to ear. The more they do it, the more creative they get, going beyond just waiting for the other couple to stop kissing to get a turn. The three of them start to experiment with kissing at the same time, all of them together. At first, it's just closed mouth, but soon enough somebody sticks out their tongue and that takes it to a whole other level. Both women are pretty sure it was Mako, but nobody stops to compare notes. All of them are too busy pleasuring the other two and themselves, each of them tingling from head to toe and feeling increasingly lightheaded.
After another round of intense making out, the three are shivering and even more breathless, their hearts racing but yet they all share a massive sense of relief. Eventually, the kissing winds down and they just stand together, each holding the other two tightly in the circle of three, their foreheads coming to rest together as all struggle to catch their breath.
"Let's go back to my place," Asami whispers, causing the other two to open their eyes in surprise. Sensing their hesitation, the raven haired woman opens her eyes to look back at them.
"Please?" she asks, the desperate need obvious in her voice. Both Mako and Korra chuckle huskily as she begs, the other two exchanging knowing glances.
Korra smirks at the woman she loves. "Eager to get some?" she asks playfully, her hand daringly sliding down to rub over the other woman's ass. She's only slightly surprised to find Mako's hand is already there. She partly covers his hand with hers and they join together in squeezing, each taking one luscious cheek.
"You have no idea," Asami shamelessly and breathlessly admits, closing her eyes while she feels the man and woman she loves start to molest her bottom. Korra laughs and gives her a playful kiss, drawing a whimpering moan from the back of Asami's throat. The raven-haired woman meets her lips hungrily, her tongue wrestling with the Avatar's, but only briefly, pausing in the kiss to admit against her lips, "I...I haven't had any, s-since…" She looks at Mako, who flushes with guilt and shame. Asami winces, immediately regretting what she said, leaning in to kiss him deeply, eagerly, her tongue pushing its way between his lips. Korra nips at Mako's jawline and kisses his cheek, running her hand over the back of his head, her fingers gliding through his hair, bumping into Asami's hand as the other woman is already doing the same.
"I'm sorry," Asami whispers against Mako's lips, kissing him again briefly yet forcefully, before adding, "I didn't mean…"
"It's okay," he whispers huskily, stealing another kiss from her, his ardor and hunger drawing a mewling moan from the raven-haired woman. He adds miserably against her lips after ending the kiss, "I deserved that…"
"No," Korra says firmly, grabbing his chin in her hand and forcibly turning his face to hers to plant an explosively passionate, hungry, and possessive kiss upon his lips. Mako squawks in surprise, but quickly gives in. Asami covers their cheeks with soft kisses, the three of them hugging each other tightly, desperately. This goes on for a little while before the Avatar pauses just long enough to whisper against his lips.
"No more guilt," Korra insists breathily between kisses, diving right back in for more. After a few moments, Asami grabs the Avatar's face and steals a kiss of her own, while Mako starts to nibble the dusky skin of his one ex-girlfriend's neck, his teeth scraping against her skin to draw out a throaty grunt of pleasure. He then joins the women in another slightly awkward yet tender three-way kiss, their tongues playing freely together between open mouths and then rubbing their lips together. They linger for a while, then just nuzzle each other tenderly.
"Korra's right," Asami insists, pulling back to catch her breath again. She gently caresses the backs of her partners' heads, playing with their respective hair as they too pull their heads back, just enough to look at her. Korra's top bun is now half wrecked, and Mako's previously neatly-combed hair is wildly askew. Asami smirks at the sight, particularly since she can tell that her own previously well groomed mane is now a shambles, after both of them played with her hair throughout the various stretches of kissing.
"We have to let the past go," Asami insists. She looks from one to the other. "No more regret. No more pain. No more guilt." She strokes their cheeks, meeting their gazes, "we're going to forgive each other for everything that happened and turn over a new leaf, here and now…" To her relief, Korra and Mako, nod eagerly without hesitation, both looking excited and desperate for everything she's describing.
Drawing in a deep breath, she looks at Mako, whispering huskily, "I love you." Turning to look at Korra, she adds, "and I love you, too."
"I love you too," both Mako and Korra respond together, then they both laugh at the overlap, looking at each other with wide smiles before deliberately repeating the words, while staring into each other's eyes. The three hug each other desperately, leaning in to again kiss each other gently upon the lips at the same time, lingering lovingly together. After a few heavy, emotional breaths, Asami repeats her earlier idea.
"Let's go to my place."
The other two nod eagerly, all three of them now feeling the same desperate need that Asami has been feeling for a while, now. They all need to go and show each other how much they are in love, together. They need to pleasure one another until the hurt goes away and what Asami wants them to become is made real through every touch, every kiss, every breathless gasp of pleasure with the other two.
All three look at each other in wordless, lusty anticipation, each of them relieved and exhausted and eager at the same time. A few more kisses are exchanged between each of them before they reluctantly but necessarily pull apart. Korra quickly captures one of Asami's hands, while Mako does the same on her other side. The three smile warmly at each other and then wordlessly start to hurriedly walk towards the parking lot, hand in hand.