Cadence Chapter Eleven: Restriction.

"And what do we have here?" Korra muttered. "More underground bases?"

"You don't like the underground?" Zaheer asked kindly.

Not for the first time, Korra wondered at the fact that such a seemingly in control man would be cursed with such wild, violent rages

"I just don't like anything without windows," Korra admitted. "Anywhere I can't see sunlight or feel the wind...it just makes me uncomfortable."

Zaheer frowned. "Were you imprisoned underground once? Is that why you feel unsettled? You feel trapped?"

Korra shrugged. "Something like that."

Though she would have felt better about the whole thing if she'd had her super strength back and could have punched out a window whenever she so chose. But the collar ensured that wasn't an option.

"I'm sorry," he said sympathetically.

Korra shook her head at him. "It's hardly your fault."

They were currently traversing the winding corridors of what Mako had told them was a supply cache Amon had created and controlled. It had been hidden in the middle of a ruined city.

"All these tunnels look the same," Ghazan complained.

"Yeah, because the tunnels in Amon's dens were always unique and distinct," Korra grumbled.

"Amon?" came a new, foreign voice from behind them.

Everyone turned.

At first, Korra thought her ears had been playing tricks on her – the corridor behind them was empty. A moment later a pair of wolves revealed themselves to the group. Before them stood what Korra could only guess were a pair of Spirit wolves.

"It's been a long time," Mako remarked casually. "I see you are still doing well, Kuruk, Zei."

"What are you doing here?" the older of the two asked.

Korra herself had to try extremely hard not to let her jaw drop to the floor. The wolf had just spoken. They spoke.

"I need weapons, medicine," Mako explained, seemingly undeterred by the fact he was now having a conversation with a wolf. "A few supplies...and we need a place to stay for the night."

Ghazan had bent down, seemingly fascinated with the furry animals.

"Here, doggy," Ghazan cooed, holding out his hands as though he were trying to coax a household pet.

Korra rolled her eyes. If there was one thing her interactions with Naga and the Bisons had taught her, it was that most animals were as intelligent as any human being and they certainly didn't appreciate being talked down to.

She was proven correct when the wolves snarled at him.

"They're spirit wolves," Mako said dryly. "Not pets. If they don't like you, they bite."

"We can smell out the bad sorts," the one to the left of the lady said, turning its nose up at Ghazan.

"They so not only can they talk, they discriminate too," he muttered darkly.

"They're as intelligent as you or me," Korra said, then scoffed with a teasing grin,

"Well, maybe just me..."

"Oh that hurts, Princess!"

Korra felt something brush against her legs and nearly jumped, looking down to realise that one of the wolves was nosing at her calf, its wet nose tickling her skin.

"Hey," she murmured. While some part of her wanted to rub the creature's ears, the way she would if any other dog had approached her, she held herself back. She knew that you didn't touch spirit animals unless you had permission.

The wolf regarded her with piercing eyes for a moment. Just when Korra was beginning to wonder if she had committed some sort of canine social faux pas, the wolf's lip lifted in what was probably meant to be a smile.

"I like you," the wolf declared, rubbing itself against her legs. "You may pet me if you wish," it announced, she wasn't sure if the wolf was male or female, as though granting a very exclusive favour.

Korra stifled her laugh as she bent to do as suggested. Human-like intelligence or not, wolves were still very much like dogs; it'd probably demand a belly scratch later.

She was dimly aware of Mako bargaining with the elderly lady but instead focused on rubbing the wolf's ears. She'd always been rather fond of animals; there was just something about them...

She became aware of eyes on her and looked up to find that almost everyone in the hallway was staring at her. Ming Hua was pointedly ignoring her, as per usual, Ghazan looked irritated that the wolf had snubbed him, Zaheer was watching her interaction with the animal with something like longing, and Mako…

She couldn't name the expression on his face, all she knew was that it sent a jolt of heat right through her body.

The wolf stepped away from her, and she looked down, breaking the moment.

"Come on," the wolf howled, leading the way with its tail head high. "Let's see the elder wolf."

Korra had never seen so many wolves in one room before. Though these seemed to be the ordinary wild kind; there were no spirit wolves besides the two who had led them there.

Most of them were congregating around the old, white-haired woman sitting on a mat in the middle of the room. She was apparently the 'elder wolf', and she surveyed the entire group with a critical eye as a younger woman, her granddaughter it seemed, worked to help them find what they needed.

Korra couldn't help but think the situation just kept getting more and more odd by the minute.

The elderly lady's granddaughter was currently rummaging through chests of clothes in an effort to find a shirt that could fit Zaheer. Korra didn't think much of her chances; they'd been lucky to find pants and boots that he could pull on, but she doubted they would stumble upon a shirt big enough as well.

The wolf Korra was scratching bumped its head against her fingers, reminding her she'd been derelict in her duty while absorbed in her thoughts. The Avatar smiled a little and resumed rubbing the base of the canine's ears until it began nuzzling her once more.

Ghazan was crouched on the floor beside her, apparently enjoying the fact that ordinary wolves didn't discriminate in the same way the spirit ones had.

"They're not bad, are they?" he mused, stroking his hand down a lupus's back. "Animals, I mean."

"They're alright," Korra said, sitting back to accommodate the animals that were clamouring for her attention. It was as though they had some sixth sense, telling them that here was a sucker for anything furry and vaguely cuddly.

"You're making friends," Ghazan commented.

Out of the corner of her eye, Korra saw Mako kneel in front of the old woman as he thanked her. She turned around to give the scene her full attention, surprised to see Mako being so humble.

"I assume you're going after Zolt?" the old woman said in a low voice.

Mako said nothing, collecting a small bundle of supplies.

"To think it's come to this..." she went on, shaking her head.

"I made this decision long before joining forces with Amon," Mako said, his tone effectively ending the conversation as he placed several notes of money on the mat in front of the old woman.

"We don't have anything big enough for this guy!" the young woman called out as she tossed away the last of the shirts.

"Check out the back, I'm sure we have something," her grandmother called back.

A while later the girl returned from a storeroom with what looked link old monks clothes. The young woman gave an apologetic smile as she passed the clothes to Zaheer, who simply shook his head, telling her not to worry about it. Zaheer made his way to the storeroom to get changed from his prison uniform.

After a few moments later he returned, the clothes a perfect fit.

"Looks sharp on you," Korra grinned.

The old woman surveyed Korr, a strange light in her eyes as the young Avatar picked up a cub that was pawing at her legs, tucking the cub in her arms like a baby. The cub rubbed its head under her chin and nuzzled her neck vigorously.

"She's a good sort," the woman eventually declared, sitting back contentedly.

Mako wondered why it felt like she had been giving him tacit permission to court Korra.

"Now we need to find some clothes for you," the younger woman said, addressing Korra as the Avatar gently lowered the cub she'd been cuddling down to the howling masses writhing underfoot.

"These might fit you," she said, tossing dark pants and a dark shirt at Korra.

She held them up, noting that the high collar would hug the base of her throat and partially cover the symbol of her servitude. She wondered if that was deliberate.

"These look nice and all," she said slowly. "But there's just one thing..."

She flipped the shirt so its back was to the room, pointing at the small Equalist crest displayed on the back. "I'm not an Equalist."

The woman shrugged. "It's all we have."

Korra examined the garment and huffed a small breath through her nose.

'Of course it's all they have,' she groused as she stepped behind a small curtain to change, nearly tripping over the cubs that were clambering at her legs.

She emerged with her brown clothes tossed over her shoulder, feeling significantly better about the world now that she was wearing clothes that didn't itch. The pants were about half an inch too wide at the waist, but since the girl had provided her with a belt, that wasn't really a problem.

Mako could practically feel his heart rate raise a notch when Korra came out, the Equalist crest displayed prominently across her back. He told himself he didn't know why, and that it certainly had nothing to with the fact that to any outside observer, she would now be considered part of the Equalists. As was he.

Korra did her best to ignore the fact that she had the same symbol printed on her clothes as Mako did. She was also doing her best to ignore the underlying connotations that fact brought with it; the feeling that this somehow meant they belonged with each other.

Instead, she watched Zaheer interact with the cubs. He was eager but at the same time, hesitant, as though desperate to connect with something but afraid to hurt them at the same time.

Taking pity on him, Korra tore a long strip of material from her shift and handed it to him. "Here, take one end of this."

He did so, looking a little bewildered, and she gently gripped his wrist, guiding his hand so the strip of material made a jerking, teasing motion on the ground in front of some of the cubs. One of the cubs grabbed the piece of material in it's mouth and started to pull on it vigorously.

"They like to chase and chew on things," she told him as several of them flattened themselves against the floor, their eyes trained on the strip of material as their spines seemed to coil like springs. "So you can play with them by getting them to chase something. If you keep doing this-"

One of the cubs sprang at the cloth, interrupting her. Korra jerked at Zaheer's wrist, prompting him to snap the cloth out of reach as the other cubs followed.

Zaheer grasped the concept quickly, and in a matter of moments he was trailing the shred of her shift back and forth across the floor, laughing delightedly as the young pups sprang eagerly after it.

Korra wasn't surprised that the canines responded to Zaheer so quickly. In spite of his strange rages, the bald man was rather zen, and animals often seemed to somehow sense these things.

"-can stay here as long as you don't get in the way!" The old woman's voice reached her ears again.

Mako bowed again and Korra watched the younger woman root around, apparently looking for some futons and blankets.

"Does that mean there's a bathroom around here somewhere?" Ming Hua asked.

The old woman pointed down the hallway. "First door on the right. Everything you need is in there; don't make a mess."

Ming Hua looked offended, but seemed to decide the possibility of offending their hosts wasn't worth giving up the prospect of a shower and set off without a word.

"I'm next!" Korra declared.

She could hear the vague sound of water running through pipes, and assumed Ming Hua had started her shower. She listened to it with half an ear as she and Zaheer played with the cubs, and when it shut off she stood and made her way from the room.

She met Ming Hua in the hall, just as the redhead was coming out of the bathroom.

"I don't know what you think you're doing, but you don't have a chance," Ming Hua said quietly.

Korra blinked. "What?"

"With Mako," she clarified, looking irritated. "You don't have a chance."

"Ugh, more like he doesn't have a chance with me," Korra rebuffed. "But it's not like I care much; you're welcome to him."

Sure, she was lying through her teeth with the last part, but she hoped the other woman couldn't tell.

"You're lying," Ming Hua sneered.

Only the half-hope that Ming Hua was just fishing, that she didn't actually know anything, kept Korra's face blank. "I just want a shower."

"Just as long as you understand that you don't have a chance," Ming Hua reiterated. "I don't know why he's taking you along with us, but just remember this: he needs me, he doesn't need you. Unless, of course, you really are screwing him and he's whoring you out to Ghazan and Zaheer to keep them satisfied."

For the second time that day, Korra felt something in her snap; her temper had always been one of her weak spots. If she was being honest, she could admit Ming Hua's words had found their mark in very tender, very raw, still-bleeding emotional wounds. Although, if that had been the only words that the woman had said, she could have probably controlled herself. Korra had long since learned to deal with pain.

But she was just sick and tired of the water bender insinuating that she was sleeping around. And she'd never been good at curbing her temper.

Her foot lashed out, knocking Ming Hua's legs from under her and sending the other woman to the ground. Ming Hua fell forward, her arms or water coming out to catch herself as Korra darted out of the way, leaving her ample room to face-plant on the floor.

The impact knocked the wind out of the redhead, and before she could even try to rise Korra planted a knee in her back to keep her down, one hand twisting in the other woman's wet hair to keep her head still as she pushed two fingers against the vertebrae in her neck.

"I don't appreciate those sorts of insinuations," she said conversationally. "So, the next time you want to mock me, or imply I'm a whore, think of this."

Ming Hua began to struggle, making choked noises of fury, and Korra pressed her fingers harder into her neck. "I have excellent energy control; enough so that I can form energy scalpels while wearing this stupid collar. So stop moving, and shut up!"

Ming Hua froze. If Korra was telling the truth then the fingers digging into her neck had just gone from an annoyance to a genuine, deadly threat.

"And, considering I've trained as a healer, it means I know just where to cut," the Avatar went on. "For example, if I cut here..." she let her slender fingers drift down to Ming Hua's lower back. "Well, let me put it to you this way; you'll have as much control over your bladder as a baby. If I cut you here..." her hand crept higher. "You'll be paralysed from the waist down. Do you think Mako will take you along when you're in a wheelchair?"

Ming Hua shivered, but Korra paid her no mind as her hand drifted along the vertebrae of Ming Hua's neck. The human body never ceased to fascinate her; as a whole, it was often unbelievably strong, capable of enduring incredible trials, but target the individual points and pieces, and it suddenly became extremely vulnerable, the faintest injury causing fatality.

"If I slice here, well, forget the wheelchair, you'll be lucky to be able to turn your head. And here..." Korra jabbed her fingers into the back of Ming Hua's skull, emphasizing her point. "Well, this is the brainstem; it controls your breathing, keeps your heart beating, that sort of thing. I probably don't have to tell you what happens if I decide to carve it up."

"Mako would kill you," Ming Hua hissed.

"Mako isn't capable of killing me. And either way, you'd still be dead."

Korra held her position a moment and then eased off. "And that's only a fraction of what I know. I could name hundreds of points on your body that I could use to cripple you, kill you, or cause you unbearable pain. So the next time you feel the urge to call me a whore, think of that."

Korra walked into the bathroom and shut the door before Ming Hua could make any retort. While she didn't really regret strong-arming the woman, she had become sick and tired of her comments; she was beginning to feel like a bit of a bully.

On some level, it was rather disconcerting. Her temper had always been a weak spot for her, but lately it felt like it was on a hair-trigger, that she was ready to fly off the handle at the slightest provocation.

She'd chosen to focus on fury rather than despair, but no choice came without consequences.

Still, a nice, hot shower would make her feel better. Especially if she could sing in it.

"Princess is a lot of things, but 'good singer' ain't one of them," Ghazan muttered, his hands clamped over his ears.

The futons and blankets the group were going to use had been moved to another room; a room that was separated from the bathroom by a wall that seemed to be made of only a few layers of paper.

Mako paid no attention to Ghazan's complaints or the wolves that had followed Zaheer to this room and were now padding around underfoot. He was occupied with checking and double-checking the equipment he had obtained. Anticipation curled with him, laced with dread. This was it. In the morning, they'd leave this place and he would be finally taking the first steps to actually hunting down Zolt. And then...

But he was broken from his dark thoughts when Korra suddenly belted out a particularly raucous verse of a song he'd never heard. But the lyrics he could make out and the general rhythm of the song seemed to imply it was quite upbeat.

Mako blinked at the wall the sounds were emanating from, wondering why he didn't find it as irritating as Ghazan obviously did. Zaheer was too absorbed in the wolves to be concerned with it; Mako suspected he wouldn't complain about Korra's singing even if it did bother him, while Ming Hua was strangely silent, sitting on her futon and glancing towards the direction of the bathroom every so often, rubbing the back of her neck.

He didn't know why he didn't find it irritating. Her singing was horribly off-key; even the echo provided by the walls of the shower couldn't make it sound passable. But at the same time, it was so Korra. She was singing in the shower. She probably knew she couldn't sing, but she was doing it anyway, because she enjoyed it, the obviously cheery tone of her voice left that in no doubt.

The singing stopped, accompanied by the sound of water shutting off and Ghazan's theatrical sigh of relief. A few moments later, Korra strode into the room, tugging a brush, that Mako assumed she'd picked it up in the bathroom, through her damp hair.

"Princess, has anyone ever told you that your singing seriously sucks?" Ghazan asked bluntly.

Korra paused in mid-stroke of the brush. "How did you know I was singing?"

"The wall between this room and the bathroom is about as thick as tissue paper."

"Oh," Korra flushed, and Mako wondered why he found her flustered expression so endearing. "I...uh...sorry. I didn't mean to subject you all to my singing..."

Korra was mortified. She knew her singing wasn't her greatest talent, which was why she only sang in the shower, where no one else could hear.

So she sat on her futon and dropped her eyes to the mattress as she dragged the brush through her hair, hoping the heat she could feel on her cheeks would recede.

"By the way, I've meant to ask you about your eyes," Ghazan went on. "I mean, how'd you end up with eyes so…blue?"

"Where's this coming from?" Korra chuckled. "But there's no explanation besides the obvious; I gained them from my parents. Mine are a pretty unusual colour, I grant you-"

"I think they're beautiful," Zaheer interjected softly as he stood and made his way to the door, obviously on his way to take his own turn in the bathroom.

The heat in Korra's cheeks came back with a vengeance. "Thanks."

Zaheer smiled at her and shut the door after him. A few moments later, Korra heard the shower in the bathroom start up quite clearly. Ghazan had been right, the walls were paper-thin.

Ming Hua was staring after him, but didn't say a word. Korra caught the water bender's eye, but Ming Hua quickly dropped her gaze. Their little confrontation had apparently taken some of the starch out of her, but Korra knew better than to hope it would last long.

It didn't seem like Ming Hua had gone running to Mako for help but she was probably reluctant to admit that Korra had gotten the better of her even with the collar on.

Ghazan looked like he was on the verge of laughing as he stared at the closed door. "I think Zaheer's got a crush on Princess!"

Mako's hand slipped on the dagger he was sharpening, causing him to nearly slice his thumb.

"Leave him alone," Korra said severely, running her fingers through her hair to check for any residual tangles. She felt instinctively protective of Zaheer. While the man was at least three times her size, his strange innocence and naivety in the way of human interaction stirred vague protective impulses in her. "If you tease him about it and upset him, I'll...I'll...I don't know what I'll do, but you won't like it!"

Ghazan's grin softened. "I've said it before and I'll say it again...you're a real soft touch, Princess."

"I suppose so," she said softly, petting one of the wolf cubs that had wandered over to her.

She didn't really think Zaheer had a crush on her, a lot of his behaviour could simply be explained by a lack of practice in human interaction, coupled with the fact she was the only one on the team who actually made an effort to get to know him, but she knew protesting wouldn't have stopped Ghazan. She thought her appeal might have, though, at the very least, she'd made it clear that if he used Zaheer's alleged crush to taunt the big man, she'd take revenge somehow.

Though she didn't want to, and actually tried to stop herself, Korra glanced at Mako, trying to determine his reaction to the news that Zaheer could be infatuated with her.

But he was determinedly sharpening a set of daggers, his expression set and his gaze never once lifting to hers.

"Are you sure you haven't stuck a piece of gum in here or something?" Ghazan muttered, twisting his head to get a better view of the collar's lock.

"I'm sure," Korra said. "Why?"

When she'd made her nightly attack on the collar, Ghazan had mentioned he'd done a spot of lock picking back in his youth, and had offered to help her. Korra had accepted eagerly, despite Mako's obvious scowl, but they had yet to get anywhere.

"This thing isn't sliding in far enough," the lava bending man said bluntly, lifting the needle he had been using. "It's like there's some sort of physical block against it."

Korra blinked. That would certainly explain why she had been unable to pick the lock. "But that makes no sense, if the needle can't slide in far enough, how was the key supposed to?"

"I'm just calling it like I see it, Princess."

"I guess." Korra scratched idly at the collar. "Well, at least you tried to get this thing off me, right?"

"Could I have a look?" Zaheer asked quietly.

"Knock yourself out," she offered, tilting her head back.

Large fingers traced the metal lock curiously, bracketing the smooth steel and flexing gently as though testing its strength.

"I am strong enough that I could probably pull this off you," he said in a low voice.

"I sense there's a 'but' coming," Korra quipped.

"But the force required to do so would probably break your neck in the bargain."

The medic sighed. "Okay...so no pulling it off me, no picking the lock. Anyone got any other bright ideas?"

"Let me see it."

Korra started, turning to face Mako. "You want to look at it?"

He nodded. Zaheer moved away from her and Mako took his place, sliding down onto the floor opposite her.

Korra was surprised when he rested his hands on either side of her neck, the slight pressure of his thumbs against her jaw urging her to tilt her head upwards. His eyes washed over her briefly, his amber orbs eventually retuning to her neck as he examined the circle of leather and steel.

"There is an electric current moving through it," he informed her.

Mako was finding it difficult to distinguish exactly how the collar worked. He had a basic understanding of how energy flowed through the body and could tell that the presence of the collar was causing Korra's energy to behave rather strangely. Her energy was roiling and seething inside her like turbulent water seeking an exit, and the glow of her energy was so strong it easily overwhelmed the small throb from the collar.

He knew it was there; he could sense it like a shadow flitting in front of the sun, but he couldn't make out exactly what it was doing.

"Ming Hua, do you have any experience with these kinds of collars?" he asked.

Karin shook her head, glancing at Korra resentfully but remaining mute.

Almost without thinking, Mako found his hands slipping around to cradle the back of Korra's head, urging her to tilt it forwards.

She did so without complaint, and the unspoken faith in that gesture, it took a lot of trust for a person to willingly bare the back of their neck in such a position, nearly took his breath away.

Korra shivered slightly as she felt Mako's calloused fingers combing her hair away from her neck, and she wondered at the fact she wasn't more tense. She was blatantly displaying one of her body's most vital points to him, in a position she would find it difficult to fight back in and yet somehow, she didn't find herself worried.

Wasn't it only a few weeks ago that she'd been nervous about lying down while he was sitting?

Mako brushed the last of her hair away, the damp strands were softer and thicker than he anticipated, and the slight moisture made them cling to the skin of his fingers and Korra's neck. For a moment, a crazy impulse seized him to bend over and press his lips to the bare mocha skin beneath his hands.

He didn't dwell on the thought, choosing instead to stare at the slightly raised portion of metal holding the pulsing with the electric current that was currently crippling Korra.

"Do you have any idea what the range the current is?" he found himself asking.

"I have too many ideas," Korra told him, wondering if Mako was consciously aware of the fact that his fingers were stroking the nape of her neck. "Do you have any idea of the staggering amounts of electric pulses that can affect the human body? Each range tends to vary in strength and symptom, of course, but even taking that into account I still couldn't guess what voltage I'm being subject to. I have no idea what voltage I'm being given at any one time and meddling with the electric current with bending could be deadly." She finished with a shake of her head so gentle it barely moved her neck beneath his fingers. "So, in other words, there's no way to tell what current is running through this collar."

"Hm."

Mako suddenly realised his fingers were stroking back and forth across the nape of her neck. He snatched his hands back and stood up, placing some distance between their bodies as he wondered exactly how long he had been doing that and if she was going to read anything into it.

But when she sat upright once more, she didn't seem perturbed in the slightest – just arranged her short hair over her shoulders once more and went back to talking to Ghazan and Zaheer.

And Mako was left to wonder why her non-reaction had made him feel strangely disappointed.

That night, when the room was lit only by a single, guttering candle and all the others were asleep, Mako rolled over in his futon to study Korra.

She was on her side, her face turned towards him, her expression peaceful and relaxed, and a hint of a smile lurking in the curve of her lips. Many of the cubs had curled up beside her in small heaps of fur strewn across the futon. Several were dozing at her feet, and many had taken advantage of the hollows provided by the bend of her knees and the curve of her spine. A large bundle of white fur had tucked itself beneath her chin, and another was crowning her head. Small, wet ruffles in her hair showed where the canine had tried to groom her.

Mako stared, trying to pinpoint what it was about her that made her so fascinating, what drew people to her.

And animals, too, for that matter, he reflected, looking again at the bundles of fur scattered across Korra's futon. There were a few cubs sleeping with Zaheer, but none had ventured near Ghazan, Ming Hua or himself.

So, what was it about Korra?

She was pretty, yes, perhaps even the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her chocolate brown hair was certainly eye-catching and her eyes were an unusually bright shade of turquoise, unlike the many other people of her Nation, but it couldn't be just that, could it? There had to be something that could explain why people were so helplessly drawn to her.

Ghazan, a bloodthirsty Lava bender, had spent most of their acquaintance teasing her with a gentleness he'd never shown to anyone else. Zaheer seemed totally devoted to her.

The more Mako thought about it, the more he came to realise that there was something intangible about Korra that just drew people to her. Bolin was the same, come to think of it, just louder and more obvious about it.

The wolf cub beneath her chin shifted in its sleep and Korra mumbled something under her breath as she drifted close to wakefulness before slipping off again. A small hand slipped from the cover and half-curled against the pillow.

It looked deceptively delicate, until Mako's eyes made out the callouses on her palm, formed from years of bending and handling various melee weapons, and the scar on her cheek, perhaps a result of a bending spar taken too far.

Aside from the scars, her skin was smooth, the barest dips and hollows hinting at the taut muscle beneath, like velvet laid over steel. Without his permission, his mind flashed back to when he'd barged into the bathroom, thinking

she'd vanished, and found her in front of the mirror, hair damp, skin glistening, the thin, wet towel clinging to every inch of her body...

In that moment, arousal had hit him like a bowling ball. He had practically run from the room in an effort to get out of Korra's sight before it decided to manifest itself further.

He was feeling that same arousal curl within him now. Except this time, it was mixed with a strange feeling of responsibility, as though the sleeping woman he was watching was something to be treasured carefully.

Korra smiled a little in her sleep and her arm flexed as though she were reaching for something.

And for a moment, Mako was gripped with a wild, desperate urge to reach out and brush his fingers down the line of her arm, to trace the veins that lay beneath the skin...

"Mako?"

Mako's eyes jerked to Korra's face, startled to see turquoise eyes peering sleepily back at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing," he said abruptly, turning over in the futon and presenting his back to her. "Go back to sleep. It's nothing."

'It's nothing,' he told himself. 'It's nothing...'

But he knew it was a lie.

I know that some people are going to dislike my choice on writing Zaheer the way that i have but tough luck. This is an AU story, meaning the characters are NOT as they are in the series. I've had enough of people reviewing and telling me how to write my own story and in regards I have this to say; You don't like it, don't read it. For those of you who do like it and who review with words of encouragement, thank you. I've not had much time to write chapters recently due to University, my relationship and life in general, but I hope to be back at it within the next few weeks.

Bonami27.