Inserted a bit of Masami in here : ) I couldn't help myself. In all reality I ship Makorra along with Amorra, also Bosami and Irosami. I'm one of those weird double/triple shippers.

… … …. ….. ….. …. … …

Mako stood in the doorway of the healing wing, leaning against the frame. A frown flickered on his brow as he took in the two still forms curled on top of the sheets. Korra lay nestled against Amon's chest, her head snuggled up under his chin. Both his arms were wrapped around her, tucking her flush against him. Mako noted that he'd neglected to put on his mask in the privacy of Korra's little room. He looked younger than Mako would have expected. A curl of derision twisted his lips when he saw that there was no scarring after all, only a faint white streak across his upper cheekbone and the bridge of his nose. What a fake. Lying to all of his followers like that. For the hundredth time that week, he wondered what Korra could possibly see in him. Seeing her lying like that, helpless beside his powerful frame, made his blood boil and his fists curl against his sides.

Turning away, Mako slid the door closed behind him and stalked down the hallway. He made his way to the kitchen, thinking to drown himself in food, when he caught the emerald eyes of Asami. His throat tightening, he looked away, turning toward the icebox. Bending over it, he rummaged around for a moment, trying to ignore the feel of her gaze on his back.

"Mako," came the soft voice. He felt something inside him tear. He didn't respond. Just kept digging around through the ice, his hands not closing around anything.

The footsteps neared, and he felt a gentle hand at his back. His muscles tensing, he straightened, without turning around.

"You can talk to me," she whispered, running a smooth, comforting touch over his shoulder blades. He felt his eyelids flutter closed. "What's wrong?"

Clenching his eyes shut, he turned, reaching up to take her hand. But instead of pushing her away, he held it tight. He swallowed, opening his mouth, and closed it again. His tongue felt too dry to speak.

Asami's warm fingers brushed his cheek. "It's Korra, isn't it?"

Unable to hide the truth anymore, Mako nodded. He opened his eyes, looking down at her through vision tight with pain. Asami squeezed his hand, drawing him closer.

"She's happy, Mako," she whispered. "I know it hurts, but… she's where she needs to be. Amon honestly has her best interests had heart."

Mako emitted a harsh laugh. "Since when did that happen? Last I heard he was hell bent on taking her bending and ridding the world of the Avatar permanently."

Asami gave him a sad smile. "Mako, are you really too jealous to see that a man can change? I mean, look at you. You and Bo used to live on the streets, right? You'd do work for the Triple Threads, even when you knew what they were doing was wrong." Mako recoiled from her, stung that she would use his past against him like that. But Asami held tight to his hand. "You've come a long way, Mako. You follow your heart now, and you don't let anyone stomp you into the ground. Can you deny Korra the same choice? She wants to be free. Amon cares about her, maybe deeper than you ever did. I know you don't want to hear that, but it's the truth. He's risked his life for her, his whole Revolution, even. Can you ask for any more than that? If you truly care about Korra… let her make this decision, Mako. Let her go."

Mako shut his eyes tight, gritting his teeth. He knew Asami was right. But it still hurt. Korra was everything he ever wanted in a girl: strong, witty, beautiful, passionate… He swallowed hard.

"Well, what will I do now?" he asked, his voice coming out rougher than he'd intended. That touch against his face slid to the back of his head, and he opened his eyes. His breath caught to see Asami's burning green eyes inches from his own. Her breath was cool and sweet against his face.

"I'm sure we could figure something out," she whispered, tugging his head down to hers. Her lips were as warm and soft as he remembered. His head went light at her exhilarating taste; a mix of sugar, roses, and something impossibly sweet he couldn't name. Giving in, he kissed her back, slowly slipping his arms around her waist and tugging her closer. He felt her arms wrap around him, a soft sigh gliding out of her mouth and across his cheek. Something inside him clicked. Pulling her snug against him, he wound his fingers up into her silky black hair, allowing himself to revel in her ethereal softness.

Finally, they pulled apart, arms still locked around each other. Mako was surprised to see a glimmer of tears in her beautiful dark eyes.

"I've missed that," she whispered, with just a slight tremble to her lower lip. Mako reached up to trace said lip, and her eyelids slid closed.

"I think I have too," he murmured, leaning in to kiss her again. And for a long moment, they simply stood there, lost in the warmth of each other's embrace.

….. ….. … …. …. … … …..

Korra awoke to Amon's fingertips tracing gentle patterns over her neck, sending tingles of fire down her spine. Reaching up to rub the sleep out of her eyes, she rolled over, secure in the warmth of his arms around her. She smiled at the expression on his face. His mouth was tipped in a drowsy smile, his golden eyes half-lidded and gleaming in the soft morning light. With lazy slowness, he moved his fingers up from her neck to her cheek, gliding them along the edge of her mouth.

"How did you sleep?" His voice was far deeper than normal, probably because it was still thick with sleep. Korra shifted in his embrace, cuddling up against his chest. She heaved a sigh.

"Oh, you know me," she mumbled, breathing in his heady scent. "The mornings are evil."

Amon chuckled, the sound so deep it send a shiver through her. But it wasn't an unpleasant shiver.

"For once, I agree. Though I'm usually up far earlier than this." He skated the pads of his fingers over her cheekbone, moving his palm around to cup the side of her face. Unconsciously she leaned into the touch, gazing into those golden eyes. He leaned forward, brushing his lips lightly against hers. "I suppose we should be getting up though. You're fully recovered."

Korra groaned, tucking her head down against his chest while her hands curled in his tunic. "Five more minutes."

He chuckled, but instead of curling up once again beside her, he shifted his weight, gathering her up in his arms and hefting her off the bed. Korra protested with a loud grumble, but he only held her tighter against his chest, carrying her across the room and through the doorway out into the hall.

"This is hardly necessary," she objected, rolling her eyes. "I can walk."

"I know," he said with a soft laugh into her ear, but didn't let her down. He carried her, bridal-style, into the dining room and set her down beside the low table. Flushing, Korra pushed him away, her blush growing even darker when she saw Pema smirking at her from across the table.

"Late for breakfast, I see." It was hard to tell whether it was irritation or insinuation behind those sparkling gray eyes. "Everyone else has already eaten. I saved some cold rice and dumplings for the both of you."

Pema settled herself down across the table from them, placing two bowls out on the table. She eyed them both with a glittery kind of smile. Korra did her best to ignore her, fighting the flush that blistered up her neck. She reached for the rice bowl, spooning some onto her plate.

The silence stretched, the only sound the soft clinking of Korra's chopsticks against the porcelain bowl. After a minute, she realized she was the only one eating. Glancing up, she realized both Amon and Pema were watching her.

"What?" she demanded, feeling suddenly foolish.

Pema cleared her throat. "Korra, there's something we need to talk to you about."

Feeling an odd sensation of dread creep up into her throat, Korra set the rice bowl down on the table and placed her elbows on her knees. She forced herself to take a calming swallow.

"Well, what?"

Amon shifted beside her, and Korra switched her gaze to him. "The airbender and I have been talking," he said after a moment. Korra arced an eyebrow in surprise, but let him continue. "We have an idea of how to move forward from here, but you may not particularly like it."

"My mother-in-law," Pema said. "Katara, learned the hard way that the only way to resist bloodbending is with more bloodbending."

"No," Korra whispered.

"And I would not have been able," Amon continued. "To defeat my brother Tarrlok if I did not have the strength to withstand his attempts to bend my blood. It took years of practice for me to perfect this ability, but we may be able to give you enough guidance to resist Sakura's skills."

"No!" Korra shouted, jumping to her feet. "There's no way! You are not teaching me bloodbending!"

"Korra—" Pema began.

"I will take it from here, Pema," Amon cut in. Reaching out to clasp Korra's wrist, he tugged her back to the ground. She tried to twist out of his grip, but he held her fast. "Listen," he snapped. "As the Avatar, it's your duty to learn whatever methods you can to defend the people of this country."

"But—"

"And as the Avatar, it's your responsibility to take advantage of any learning opportunities that arise. I may not be a master bloodbender, but I'm the closest to one that you're going to get out here. You may not be of Yakone's line, but you're the Avatar. That's got to count for something. If anyone besides my family can bloodbend outside the full moon, it'll be you."

"I'm not going to learn an immoral form of bending."

"Is it immoral, Korra? Even Katara used bloodbending to defeat Hama, when her life depended on it. And now, more than one life is depending on this. Do you want Sakura to reach the end of her countdown? Every attack hits closer and closer to home. What if it's one of the airbenders next? Or that firebender boy?" Korra recoiled from him, her face going pale, but he didn't let her go. His golden eyes blazed with the intensity of what he was trying to convey. "We can't let her go on like this. We need to get a step ahead of her. Can't you see the necessity for this?"

"But…" Korra struggled against his grip, feeling she was on the losing end of a battle. "But I can't…"

"Korra," said Pema, her voice soothing. "I understand your qualms about this. But you need to take a step back and look at this pragmatically. What other way could you defeat Sakura? By learning airbending? We've made no progress to that end, and her moves are only getting more aggressive. Even if you were a fully realized Avatar, you'd be no match against such an advanced form of bloodbending. Making corpses come to life? This isn't something the Avatar has ever dealt with before."

"Yeah, well Aang didn't face anyone who could take people's bending away, either."

Amon sighed. His hand relaxed around her wrist, and she tugged herself free from his grip. "You've got to make this choice for yourself, Korra," he conceded. "But I hope you choose the wise path. You know there's no other way."

Korra glared at the both of them, angry at Pema for what she considered to be a betrayal. But Tenzin's wife only stared back at her, a soft smile on her face. Finally, Korra let out a blustery sigh, slumping down against the table.

"Fine," she grumbled, forehead on the wooden table top. "You win. I'll learn it. But only enough to kick Sakura's butt, and then I'm never using it again."

"We don't ask for anything more," Amon said smoothly, an infuriating smugness in that deep voice of his. "We will start this afternoon."

Korra groaned. "Whatever. I just want breakfast first."

….. … ….. …

"Ow!"

Korra dropped to her knees to the second time in a space of five minutes, growling as a new welt appeared on her shoulder. She spat out a mouthful of water from where the water whip had slapped her across the face, struggling back to her feet. She glared at Amon, who was the epitome of impassiveness, standing casually with his arms folded behind his back. His eyes gleamed from behind that confounded ivory mask.

"You've got to try harder than that, Avatar," he challenged, evoking the desired reaction at the use of her title. Korra's face flushed with rage, and she planted her feet once more. Every nerve in her body yelled at her to knock him off his smug feet with a violent wave of earthbending.

"Ah-ah," he chided, as if reading her thoughts. "None of that. No earth, no fire. You'll only be using water here. Close your eyes. Don't try to counter my movements, try to predict them. Reach out with your senses. Feel my heartbeat. Sense where my body is, feel the vibrations of my pulse. Then use that knowledge, and attack me."

Korra glared at him. But she complied and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in through her nose. She spread her arms, stretching out will all of her senses, straining to catch some sort of movement. She thought she could just detect a flicker of something off to her right, a soft, almost imperceptible beat… like a pulse.

But before she could act on it, a heavy blow took her in the back of the knees. With a strangled grunt, she went down, rolling over to avoid the next blast of icicles. But she didn't open her eyes. Somehow, in the darkness, she could see with sudden clarity. She could see—no, feel—the water swirling in the air, drifting down in the light morning mist. Outside, beyond the courtyard and out into the bay, she could sense the deep water gleaming with a kind of burning intensity. She shifted her vision, rolling away from where she sensed the danger lay. Suddenly an image shimmered into her brain. She could sense his pulse, feel the blood flowing through his body, that spider webby network of veins and vessels weaving in and out of taut muscles, framing the bones… forming a complete map of her opponent.

Korra felt a smile twist her lips. With a deft roll to one side, she jerked out of the way of the oncoming arm, hearing the fist strike the ground just inches from where her head used to be. For a brief moment, she wondered if he was actually trying to hurt her. She felt the sparkle of energy as he lunged for her again, and rolled out of the way. She thrust her elbow out, catching him in the gut. His breath whooshed out in a rush, and he stumbled. Korra took advantage of the stagger to close her hands around his arm, jerking him down until he toppled over her. Amon grunted in surprise, landing square on his back. While he struggled for breath, Korra rolled over so that she was on top of him, pinning him to the courtyard floor with her knees on his chest and her hands on his wrists.

She opened her eyes. His golden eyes stared up at her through the mask, wide with shock—and a trace of grudging admiration. Korra panted, her hands trembling on his.

"I…" she gasped, a flush of triumph surging through her. "I beat you. I really beat you!"

"Don't let it go to your head," Amon rasped. He shifted beneath her, winded, but still strong enough to shove her off his chest and roll her over so that their places were reversed. Korra's eyes widened, but she didn't try to push him away. His golden eyes were inches from hers. She felt her heartbeat quicken—and with her new bloodbending skill, heard his quicken too.

"Still," he grunted. "I'm impressed. For your first try? Not even I was able to sense an opponent so quickly."

Korra couldn't resist a cheeky smile. "Well, I'm the Avatar, aren't I?" She threw his own words back at him. "That's got to count for something."

"Mm, yes," he growled, moving so that his lips were right up against the side of her mouth. Her stomach fluttered. "I suppose it does."

Korra felt a stab of disappointed when, instead of kissing her, he drew back, taking her wrist and hauling her to her feet. He straightened his tunic where it had rumpled during their tussle.

"All right then." He moved, splaying his feet in a bending stance, a focused gleam in his golden eyes. "Again."