After that fiasco with Amon, Korra left the taskforce with the excuse that she had to train for the championships. Tarrlok was not happy, but hey, who's going to argue with the Avatar? I brought breakfast to them every morning, though I wasn't too sure about this rich girl that Mako was now dating. Asami. She seemed nice, but she was kind of dating my best friend's crush, so basically that meant I had to hate her. No offence. Though equally, Bolin was totally head over heels for Korra and never paid any attention to me, not even when I changed my hair. Guys are so stupid sometimes.
Sighing softly as I swept the yard close to where Korra and the girls were putting out food for the lemurs, I looked around at the heavy clouds and predicted snow later on. The cold didn't bother me so I didn't bother with a coat, remaining the same as always and Ikki stared at me for a couple of minutes before I blinked and looked at her. "Is something wrong Ikki?"
"How aren't you freezing?!" She demanded to know, shivering herself momentarily before she shook it off, making me laugh as I leaned into my broom.
"Well, the South Pole is pretty cold, much colder than this so the weather here doesn't actually bother me. In fact I prefer it, I get to experience both hot and cold as well as rain and thunderstorms." The first time I heard a thunderstorm, both Korra and I had screamed and ran into one another on our way out of our rooms, making the kids laugh before Jinora explained all bout friction and lightning. They didn't bother me now but the first time had been terrifying. Ikki giggled at me before skipping away, allowing me to continue sweeping though my ears perked as I heard Jinora asking Korra about Mako.
"So, how's it going with the tall, dreamy fire-bender boy? You've been spending a lot of time together lately." Jinora asked knowingly and Korra lost her balance on the ladder, startled by the question as she quickly looked down at Jinora then quickly over to me. I shrugged, giving a helpless look before we both looked at Jinora again. How can she be this smart already? Honestly it's not fair.
"Oh yeah! Tell us all about the magical romance." Ikki agreed, the both of them looking pleadingly up at Korra who cleared her throat awkwardly.
"What? Listen to you two. I'm not interested in Mako or any romantic stuff. Besides, he's all into that prissy, beautiful elegant rich girl..." She trailed off and gave a hopeless sigh as she climbed down from the ladder, rubbing her head before turning back to the kids. "But let's just pretend for a second that I am interested in him, what would I do?"
"Oh! I just read a historical saga where the heroine fell in love with the enemy general's son who's supposed to marry the princess. You should do what she did." Jinora suggested and I listened in as well, hoping to get a good idea on how to get Bolin's attention. "She rode a dragon into battle and burned down the entire country. Then she jumped into a volcano." Okay, not exactly what I was hoping for. "It was so romantic."
"Uh…okay…" I gave another hopeless shrug as she turned to me for help.
"No, no, no! The best way to win a boy's heart is to brew a love potion of rainbows and sunsets that makes true lovers sprout wings and fly to a magical castle in the sky where they get married and eat clouds with spoons and use stars as ice cubes in their moonlight punch, forever and ever and ever!" That's even further than what I was hoping for advice wise.
"The volcano is starting to make more sense to me now."
"Agreed. We're done for Korra." I sighed as I gripped her shoulder, shaking my head helplessly.
"Wait, are you in love too Kanna?" Ikki gasped and Jinora's eyes widened as I grinned awkwardly.
"Well not in love, exactly, but I do like him a lot. He's funny and kind, really adorable and although he can be a bit childish sometimes, he completely changes when he starts to bend, it's like he's totally different, all focused and serious, he's so cool." I listed off before exhaling with a heavy blush, hiding my face behind my hands. "But Bolin isn't interested in me at all." Korra patted my back in understanding and a little apologetically, however when we heard a light chuckle of laughter we both looked to see Pema standing there with a wise and knowing smile.
"Oh, hey Pema, uh, how long where you standing there?"
"Long enough." She assured us and we both blushed together. "But trust me, I know what you're going through. Years ago I was in the exact same situation with Tenzin." Pema told us as she walked over, making all four of us stand upright in shock. I hadn't seen that one coming, I just figured Pema and Tenzin had always been together.
"Daddy was in love with someone else before you?"
"That's right." Pema smiled at Ikki who looked like she was about to explode from shock.
"So what did you do? Tell us please! We're dying over here." Korra pleaded and I nodded my head in agreement, both of us listening to her very carefully.
"Well, for the longest time I did nothing. I was so shy and scared of rejection, but watching my soul mate spend his life with the wrong woman became too painful. So I hung my chin out there and I confessed my love to Tenzin and the rest is history." She just went out and confessed? That takes some serious guts. I mean, I've never really liked a boy this way before, let alone confessed my feelings. I haven't even kissed anyone before. Except for Korra, but that's a whole other story. Basically when we were a little crazier and a lot younger, we decided that we'd be each other's first kiss. Let me tell you, it did not go to plan and it was a memory best buried.
Looking across to Korra we both sighed, hanging our heads slightly as the weight of our feelings pressed down on us. Being an adult sucks, why can't I be carefree like Ikki? Once I finished the yard I helped Pema with the laundry before I sat down with a pile of clothes that I began to mend, sewing through them all until I had a neatly stacked pile, Korra perched on the bed, thinking deeply. "So what do you think Kanna?" She asked me finally, unable to hold it in any longer. "I mean, should I confess to Mako even though I know he's with Asami or should I just stay quiet? Also, we've got our big game coming up and I don't want to throw everyone off balance, but I really can't stand seeing him with that prissy princess! Help me out here Kana!"
"Well, I agree that confessing right now is a bad idea, you'll throw off the whole team if you try to get between Asami and Mako. Then again, I know how you feel. No offence, I love you and all but I kind of sort of hate you too at the moment." I accused her sarcastically, smiling as I did so and she chuckled with mirth at my teasing. "Boys are so dumb."
"Agreed." Korra sighed as she came and sat opposite me, helping me fold up the clothes. "Maybe after the game. It can't hurt to at least tell him how I feel and if he says no then I'll just play it off, right? I'm pretty good at fooling people, I can pretend like nothing even happened." She suggested so I flicked her with a shirt as I tilted my head.
"Most people, you can't ever fool me Korra. But don't worry, I'll be here for you if you get shot down but I think you're right. Asami is nice and all but she doesn't understand the first thing about Mako or what's it's been like for him and Bolin. They just, don't…fit." Sighing I felt horrible for saying it, but it was true. I bet if Asami had been five times in bodyweight, had a bad skin rash and bad breath, Mako wouldn't have been so interested in her in the first place.
"Listen, I'm really sorry about Bolin. I never meant to…" Before Korra could finish I waved a hand dismissively.
"It's totally fine, don't even worry about it." I assured her with a smile. "You're my best friend first and foremost, meaning that there is nothing you could ever do that would ever make me hate you for very long. Sure, a couple of days, maybe a week but never forever." Putting down my sewing I reached out and gripped her hands, kneeling directly in front of her so that our foreheads touched. "I'll do my best to win Bolin over and you do the same with Mako, then we can both be happy, okay? No hard feelings, no conflicts, just two girls chasing after the guy they like."
"You got it. You're the best Kanna, I don't know what I'd do without you." Korra sighed with relief and I sensed that she had a huge weight off her shoulders by my reassurance.
"Please, tell me something I don't know." With a grin we continued our chore until finally it was all done and we could have some time to ourselves. We chose to spar, slugging it out with our fists to make sure Korra was in shape whilst the kids cheered until finally, the gong ran for dinner. With a laugh I leaped after Korra, tackling her to the ground before I leaped over her and raced ahead, her yell ringing in my ears as I laughed.