Deux
The boy's name was Mako (he wasn't a boy, not really). He was a year older than her seventeen, orphaned , a firebender and a probender, to boot. His hair was dark as hers and his eyes were pools of honey. He had a brother named Bolin who owned a fire ferret named Pabu. He wasn't a classic Asami Sato Suitor, but he sure made her feel as if her intestines were wild snakes, biting and twisting.
Mako was gorgeous. So much, in fact, that the sight of him reduced her to a gooey pool of hardcore lust. She could have went on for days about how handsome he was. How his hair was stubborn at the front and pliant at the back and smooth and thick like silky little aphrodisiacs. How his body was a wonderland; all hard muscles and calluses (she never thought in her whole life that she'd find calluses arousing). How he had the most amaaaaaaaaazing butt she was sometimes possessed to grab a chunk of-
Ahem. Allow her to digress.
They went on more dates: walks around the city (he made sure to bring her back before her curfew), intimate dinners at various restaurants (one time they argued about who wanted to foot the bill), early morning shopping along the market (most of the time, they didn't necessarily buy anything), meeting his brother and other teammate (an adorable earthbender and the hilarious avatar), stolen kisses in the locker room just before a game (and sometimes, more than that), and when Hiroshi was out of town they had rare night ins that were especially enjoyable when Bolin went out (Mako always bribed his brother to stay the night someplace else).
Something about Mako made Asami feel alive. She couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Maybe it was that whenever Bolin was up to one of his child-like antics again, his eyes softened with amusement in the way only a proud father's could. Or it could possibly be how he stumbled over himself to please her, when all he had to do, really, was be with her. Or maybe it was the fire that run like blood through his veins; bended expertly either for play or defense (never for hurting—Mako wasn't that type of person).
One afternoon, during a carriage ride around the park, she admitted that he made her feel safe. (Perhaps that was why.)
Either way, she didn't care. She wasn't one to dissect a relationship until all the pieces were too small to reassemble. She was happy with him, and she figured that was that.
