Took longer than I thought…and I am not quite happy with this. But I already spent the last two days thinking about it and I've had enough. If I don't upload now, I'll have a writer's block and never end this FF. So, there you go!

Oh, right, I forgot. The Legend of Korra and all other stuff that does not belong to me, is not mine. Got it? Good.

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Tenzin's family, Korra and her two friends were eating dinner when Mako showed up.

He stayed glued to the spot under the doorframe when he realized that his brother and his two ex-girlfriends were peacefully sitting at one table. "Uh…hi," he murmured, scratching his neck and fiddling with his scarf.

"Mako! Asami and I were looking for you everywhere!" Bolin stood up to hug his brother. When he felt Mako hugging him back he whispered in his ear. "Sorry for the glare this morning." Mako only nodded and gave him a smile. Then, he turned to look at Korra who was sitting at the table, eating as if Mako hadn't entered the room.

"Korra, could we talk? Please?" Korra tensed up and stared down at her plate with an unreadable expression. Asami gave her a concerned look and put a comforting hand on the younger one's shoulder.

"Why don't you sit down and eat with us, Mako? I'm sure Korra will be happy talking to you when her stomach is filled," Tenzin pointed at the free place next to Jinora and smiled reassuringly when both, Korra and Asami sent him death glares. Mako sat down after a moment and Bolin brought him a plate from the cupboard. The tension was obvious. None of the four teenagers talked. They ate silently and avoided any eyecontact with each other – except for Bolin. He smiled at each of his friends.

The children were talking a lot, maybe to ease the tension, and Tenzin and Pema tried to listen to everything. Korra did not eat a thing. She only sat there, staring at her plate and feeling – hurt. She thought she was over it, she made peace with Asami and had two weeks time to forget about Mako. But the very second she saw his spiky dark hair, his trademark red scarf, she felt overwhelmed with emotion. It was all a big spinning mess of positive and negative, love and hate, happiness to see him again, aching longing and restlessness to get away from him. She did not catch any of Bolin's comforting smiles. But she did feel Asami's hand taking her own. She felt the slight squeeze and, looking at Asami, she saw the very same feelings written in her green eyes. Only less intense.

As soon as Mako had finished his plate, Korra stood up and left the room. The firebender followed her out to a bench that was surrounded by trees and bushes. And had a wonderful view of the arena. In another time, this place would have been romantic. Korra sat down on one side, Mako took the other. The silence between them grew heavier by the second.

"What did you want to talk about?" Her voice was not quivering. She was thankful for that.

"About...everything, I guess…"

"Talk."

Mako glanced at Korra. She was staring at the arena but he was pretty sure she did not really look at it. "I'm sorry," he said, trying hard not to sound like a crying wreck.

Korra snorted and looked at him for the first time. "For what? There's a long list of possibilities."

"For going back to Asami."

"That's all?" Korra wasn't happy with this. She wanted more. Hell, she needed more. And she deserved more.

"And...yelling at you. Breaking up with you. Hurting you. I'm sorry for all the stupid stuff I did." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"You're sorry for breaking up with me? What does that mean? You want me back? Or are you just listing things that could have hurt me?" Her voice was cold, it sent shivers down his spine – and not the good kind.

"I...I didn't exactly want to break up with you."

"No? Then why did you?"

"It was...a spur of the moment kinda thing."

Korra was speechless. She did not know what to say. "Spur of the moment?" She managed to stutter out. Then, her voice grew louder. "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

She jumped onto her feet, her oceanblue eyes burning with a flame of pure rage. "You broke up with me, after six months of dating, after six months of telling me almost everyday that you loved me, because of the spur of the moment?" She stared at Mako, her whole form shaking violently.

"And what about Asami? Was that the spur of the moment as well? Was it so amazing to break the law to help her that you couldn't control yourself? Or where you sad because you didn't catch the criminal and, in consequence, didn't receive the promotion you wanted? So you kissed her to sooth your pain?"

"Yes. I kissed her to sooth the pain," he whispered and his head hung low. Korra stood there, rage still obvious in the way her body tensed but she was out of words to yell at him.

"These first days were...I missed you. I kept thinking that...these words could be the last things I said to you. Words that hurt you. I hurt you, you left and...you almost died. I did not know about that back then, but...my mother always told me to make things right before the sun sets." He was still whispering, as if he was scared to raise his voice against her.

Considering his words, Korra decided that he probably was scared of yelling at her. She sighed and sat back down. She felt exhausted. There were so many feelings swirling inside of her, she was ripped in two.

One side of her wanted to shred Mako to pieces, make him feel the pain he made her go through while her other side wanted to comfort him, throw her arms around him and breathe him in. She was caught between hate and love, she longed for him but seemed allergic to his presence.

Talking about presence, Korra felt someone standing near them, hiding behind a bush. She put her feet firmly on the ground and concentrated on this presence. There were two people, sitting on the ground just out of sight. Bolin and Asami. Great. The Avatar was tempted to send a gust of air at them to blow them away but decided against it. After all, if they heard the whole conversation, she did not have to tell them about it.

"Asami and I talked. Tried to make sense of your actions," Korra's voice was soft, as if she were speaking to herself. "We think that you've been very selfish. Saying one thing and doing the opposite. I mean, you told the President about my plan. I understand that you did it because you didn't want to lose your job. You worked hard to get it. But...I tried to get help for my tribe. I didn't want to lose anyone from the Southern Water Tribe. My parents are still there, Mako. There's a war raging on, my father and uncle in the middle of it all. My parents are in danger. I wanted to help them and you destroyed my only possibility. Because of your job," her voice grew more and more bitter with every word she spoke.

"And as soon as I'm gone you break the law, the very same law you were protecting, only to catch some criminal you didn't even know existed. You only suspected it. You broke the law to help Asami, to look better in Lin's eyes because you caught the bad guy. But you couldn't be silent in front of the President when he asked you if your girlfriend was about to do something he didn't approve of to save her parents. That's what's bugging me right now, Mako. I cried over our break up enough times already. And we were not dating anymore when you and Asami...made up. I'm not allowed to be angry at you for that. But I'm furious with you because of your hypocrisy."

"Korra, do you even realise what you just said?" Mako gave her an angry glare, but his voice was still low. He did not yell at her. He wanted to talk about everything, he wanted to clear things up and yelling at her would not work.

"You basically accused me of being a selfish prat that uses his friends to gain power and respect. I did not help Asami to get a promotion. That doesn't even make sense! Why would I get a promotion for breaking the law?" He turned towards her, expecting an answer. All she did was looking at her hands, thinking.

Mako spoke again, trying to explain himself. "Future Industries was crumbling in her hands and I wanted to help her keep the only thing she had left. I helped her because she needed help and I needed answers. I knew that the bombings at the demo were only a plot to stoke the rage. I knew it, but you wouldn't listen. Do you know how much easier it would have been to get the President to help you if you tried to see both sides?" Korra turned her face away from him.

"I hoped that I could bring some light into the whole story. Calm the people by explaining what was happening. That one of their own attacked ships and blew up the Cultural Center. War means need for weapons. Varrick has weapons to sell. He did all of that to rip the two Water Tribes further apart. I tried to get Varrick because I wanted to help you keeping your home safe. I told the President about your plan because I needed my job to help you. And because I knew that you were furious and not thinking clearly. Can you imagine what would have happened if the United Forces attacked the Northern Tribe? An all-out war would have started and the Water Tribes would hate each other for the following decades!" He was babbling now, trying to make her see that he was not, in fact, a selfish jerk who played with a girl's feelings just for fun. He needed her to understand. He needed her to accept his apology. He needed her.

Korra sat unmoving, silently mulling over his words. She knew that Mako grew more and more desperate. And she liked it. She felt bad for liking it, but...it still felt good. She couldn't lie about the truth of his words. Her father told her not to do any rash things. In fact, he'd been telling her that very same sentence her whole life. But she was a temperamental person, she couldn't help it.

"You were trying to help me?"

"Yes. I should have told you my plan. But...we were arguing all the time. I guess I didn't want to argue again. Ironically, we had the hugest fight because I tried not to make you angry with sharing my thoughts…" He laughed dryly.

"We're both jerks." Korra noted, a slight laugh in her voice.

"Me more than you, but I agree."

"What's the next phase of your plan?"

Mako sighed and leant back on the bench. "I have no idea. Asami and Bolin tried to find evidence to prove Varrick guilty, but there's nothing. Chief Beifong fired me, because she couldn't keep an officer who breaks the law now, could she?"

"We have to set a trap for Varrick."

"I'm all out of traps."

"Me too. I'm actually all out of anything...I'm exhausted. Too many feelings lately." She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt as a sad and drained look crossed her face.

Mako suddenly noticed the ancient age of Korra's soul. She was not only tired of the recent events. She was tired of watching the same thing happening over and over again, for thousands of years. He felt overwhelmed by the realisation that Korra was so much more than only a girl. She was the Avatar, she was an old soul reincarnated for the hundredth time, she'd lived through every kind of emotion there was. She helped bring peace after decades of war, she kept the balance of this world for oh so long. And she was tired of it. The Avatar was fed up with sacrifying herself only to be born again and see that the world did the same mistakes again. Was it only Korra or did every Avatar feel that way?

In an attempt to comfort her, he reached out to brush a strand of loose hair behind her ear but Korra flinched and stood up. "Only because I understand your...plan, doesn't mean I'm okay with all…this." In an attempt to clarify her words, she pointed at him and his still outstretched arm.

"So...what exactly are we?"

"We used to date. But not anymore and I'm not ready for a rebounce. Actually, I don't know if I even want to try again. And you shouldn't want to try either, because you have Asami, for Spirits' sake!"

"First of all, Asami basically broke up with me when she ran out after we read the letter. Secondly...Korra, I told you, I did not want to break up with you!" Mako stood as well, taking Korra's hands in his own and begging her to take him back with his golden eyes.

"But you did. Remember? Spur of the moment?" Even though her voice sounded slim and weak, Korra withdrew her hands from his and took several steps back. "Our whole relationship's been based on the spur of the moment and I'd really like some stability in my life...I have enough spur of the moment as the Avatar, I don't need a boyfriend who just breaks up with me when I'm at my wits end with the whole world...I need someone who I can depend on."

Mako seemed to falter more with every word and Korra tried to stay calm and not start to cry. "You are not what I need right now, Mako. I will help you against Varrick, but that's all there is at the moment." He nodded, looking rather defeated.

"Can I still come here with Bolin and Asami? To train and stuff?"

"Of course, if you want to." He smiled at that and Korra suddenly felt uneasy as she noticed the tiny spark of hope in his eyes. Mako only smiled a little wider and turned on his heels. "Bye Korra. See you tomorrow."

He walked away, looking confident, as if Korra did not just turn him down. Somehow, this made Korra's stomach clench painfully. He didn't even care that she did not want him back...

"Don't worry. He hates that you didn't throw your arms around him immediately. He thinks he can get you back. That's why he's so…positive." Bolin's voice from her right side startled her out of her inside-tantrum. "He thinks he can get you back..." He whispered and something in the way he spoke irritated Korra, but her dwellings were interrupted by Asami, who showed up on her other side and snorted, rather unladylike.

"Yup. He's good in getting girls back." Bolin sent her a glare, she smiled sweetly back at him and then linked arms with Korra. "Come on guys! I'm still hungry. The whole tension did not help me eat."

Korra sent her a teasing look. "Who are you? Bolin?"

The earthbender protested at that, but silenced himself when Korra linked her arms into his and pulled him along with her and Asami. He could worry about Mako and Korra getting back together when he was alone. Right now, he had to relish in the fact that Korra was walking alongside him – not Mako.

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Anyone got the reference? :)

As always, tell me what you think!