I had so much fun writing this chapter! For the more musical scenes, think of jazz music like this playlist, which is on 8tracks:
/kcomeau11/for-the-jazz
^just search that on your search engine and click the 8track website won't let me link you directly :(
"Korra, unless you want me to pick something absolutely gaudy for you to wear to the wedding, you're going to have to come with me."
Korra groaned, her mother standing in the doorway of the girl's bedroom. "Going with you requires me moving."
"You're so smart," her mom teased.
"Fine," the senior muttered, sitting up in her bed. "But please don't spend twenty hours pouring over shoes this time."
Senna winked. "Can't promise anything, sweetie. Besides, you should be excited for this wedding! It's going to be huge, and the theme is 'flappers of the 1920s', so I guess you should brush up on your jazz dancing."
Korra shrugged. "I'm excited for the wedding, just not the shopping part of it," she admitted, pulling her shoes on as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
It had been two hours since the mother-daughter duo arrived at dress shop, and Korra's mom was still not done choosing a color for her dress. The senior was seated at the corner of the shop, entertaining herself with some games on her phone, with earbuds tucked into her ears, playing the Kooks.
Someone playfully pulled one earbud out of the girl's ear, making her look up.
"Wha- hey, Iroh!" the girl greeted, standing up. "What are you doing here?"
"Have to pick something up for my little sister," Iroh responded, "Though I never thought I'd see you in some dress shop."
"Blame my mom," Korra muttered. "We've been here for the longest time. She's the most indecisive person I know."
As if on cue, Korra's mom suddenly appeared between the two. "You must be Iroh!" She said once she saw the guy. Sticking a hand out, Iroh shook it politely.
"It's nice to meet you," he said, casting a quick glance at an amused Korra.
"Oh, Korra's told me so much about you. It's great to finally meet you-"
"Mom, Iroh's kind of in a rush," Korra blatantly said to keep her mom from spilling anything else.
"Oh, of course. We were just leaving anyway," Senna replied, waving to Iroh. "Nice to meet you!"
"You too, ma'am. See you later, Korra!" the guy said before Korra pulled her mom away, waving back at him.
"He's cute," her mother teased once they were out of earshot. "You should ask him to come to the wedding."
Korra immediately shook her head. "I don't think I want to do that," she said. To her mom's confused look, the blue-eyed girl continued, "I just…I don't exactly know what I feel for Iroh. I mean, like him, but…there are…it's confusing," she ended sheepishly.
Senna nodded understandingly. "I won't push you to do anything you don't want to do."
Korra sighed. Her situation with Iroh felt so sure, but she still wasn't confident enough in her feelings for him.
She felt like a jerk.
But of course, the biggest jerk award went to Mako, who was really getting on Korra's nerves that Monday during practice.
"We almost lost Friday's game because of you," he seethed as they took their water break, "so make sure that doesn't happen again, okay?"
"Piss off," Korra responded, walking away immediately.
The amber-eyed guy had been nothing but a pain in the ass since he had discovered about Iroh that previous week. Korra didn't know why he was taking it so bad; he had turned her down twice, so why the hell was it so bad for her to like someone else?
Korra was already angry enough with Mako for making her feel so conflicted about having a relationship with Iroh. Something told the girl that she was still not over her feelings for the stoic basketball player.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Bolin jogged up to her on their way to the water fountain. "Hey, Korra," he greeted.
"Sup, Bo."
"So, you got anything going on Saturday? I was thinking the group could get together and do something fun," the green-eyed boy said, standing by Korra as she refilled her water bottle.
"Shit, I'm sorry. I can't," the senior apologized. "I have to go to my cousin's wedding that day."
"Weddings are always great!"
"Well, this one is annoying me," Korra mumbled. To Bolin's puzzled look, the girl started ranting. "I have to wear an annoying dress and help the family get the hall ready and learn how to dance to jazz- who the hell is going to teach me how to dance to jazz?!- and then I have to pull all my homework for Sunday and reschedule my doctor's appointment and-"
"Whoa, hold up," Bolin suddenly interrupted, holding a hand up. "You have to relax a bit," he chuckled, following Korra back to the gym. "But… I think I have a solution to one of your problems," the guy added, giving Korra a grin.
"Which one?"
"I know someone who can teach you how to dance to jazz. Mako."
Korra's eyes widened. "No. Hell no."
Bolin shrugged. "Well, do you know anyone else who can teach you smooth moves for oldies music?"
Korra glared at Bolin. "Fine. But I swear to god, if that dick says a single thing-"
"Oh, I'm sure you two will make out with each other either way," Bolin teased, adding a "hey!" As Korra punched him in the shoulder.
"Don't you have work today?" Korra asked as Mako set up the stereo. The two were seated in the brothers' living room, practically forced together by Bolin (who mysteriously disappeared soon after he got them both to be in the same room. Korra reminded herself to kick him later for that.)
Mako shook his head, his back to the girl as he plugged the CD into the machine. "No. I got someone to cover my shift today." Turning around once the CD was in, the guy's amber eyes met Korra's blue.
It was suddenly quiet. They didn't break eye contact.
And, instantaneously, both Korra and Mako found themselves apologizing.
"Look, I'm sorry for-"
"I should have been more considerate about your-"
The two stopped talking once they realized that they were talking over each other, and Korra let out a nervous laugh, while Mako ran a hand through his hair.
"I wanted to say sorry for being a…well, a brat, really," Mako said quietly. "You have the right to date anyone you want, and I acted like…" he sighed. "I don't want to lose you…even as a friend." He scratched the back of his neck.
Korra stood up, walking towards Mako. "Why don't we forget about relationships and all that shit for tonight," she said as she paused in front of him. "Just dancing between two pals?"
Mako gave her a small smile. "I'm good with that."
At lunch the next day, Korra gave out invitations to her friends for the wedding.
"My mom said I could bring anyone I wanted, so I thought we could all go," she explained as she sat down. "It's flapper themed."
"I'd love to come," Asami said, accepting the invitation. "It sounds like it's going to be great."
"Count us in too," Bolin added, swinging his arm over his brother's shoulders. "Lady Asami?" he said, faking a deeper voice as he extended a hand to the raven-haired girl, who playfully accepted. Mako rolled his eyes, amused, and Korra laughed.
As their two friends glided across the lunchroom, getting some weird glances from the rest of the crowd, Korra looked at the amber-eyed guy across from her. "So, Mister Jazz Master," she started, "Do I need any more dancing lessons or are we set? I personally felt like I nailed it."
Mako raised his eyebrows. "Are you serious?"
Korra pouted, confused. "Well, yeah. Didn't I?"
The guy paused. "You practically killed my feet," He said.
"I only stepped on them once! Or maybe twice. Or…okay, so maybe I do need more practice," Korra muttered.
Mako laughed. Suddenly, he glanced away. "But I think you should know that I really don't have anything fancy enough for a wedding-"
"I'll take care of it," Asami assured him, appearing suddenly with Bolin. "You guys just have to show up." She met Korra's eyes, her own green lighted with excitement. "This is going to be fun!"
That Thursday, Korra was wiping down tables as Iroh approached her. "Hey," he greeted.
Iroh hadn't been at work all week, which caused some concern for Korra. He had looked fine the previous weekend, so she had no explanation for his sudden absence. And today, they had been so swapped with serving tables that the senior didn't have time to ask Iroh what was up.
She followed him into the employee room, where he bit his lip and looked away. It almost seemed as if he was going to tell her bad news.
"Spill it out, man," Korra demanded once the wait got too long for her.
"Tarrlok called me earlier, and said he was laying 'ground rules' for relationships between employees," Iroh started. "I don't know how he knew, but he said that…well, he basically said we couldn't be in any sort of relationship."
Korra raised her eyebrows. "Wow. Um."
Iroh glanced up at her. "Sorry, Korra," he said. "I guess…us…it's not happening."
The senior shrugged, looking at anything but Iroh. "Whatever," she said, walking past him and putting her apron on the hook. "I'll see you next week," the girl dismissed, and with that, exited the room.
Korra didn't know how to feel about the whole thing. She liked Iroh. Really liked him. And the news certainly did hurt. Korra sighed, not knowing if she was completely upset about the sudden change in her relationship with Iroh. There was definitely a part of her that wanted to be with him, but…
The girl groaned. Her confusing feelings were going to be the death of her.
"You made it!" Korra said, greeting Asami as the girl rushed up to her. Bolin and Mako followed not far behind.
"This wedding is amazing!" Asami praised. She looked at Korra again. "Whoa…you look amazing. You should let your hair down more often!"
Korra smiled at her friend, waving at Bolin as he came up to the two of them. "Wow, Korra, you look great!" He said. "As do I, no?" Bolin winked, hands pulling at his jacket as he stroked a pose.
Korra laughed, before she turned and caught Mako's eye. "Hey!" She said, greeting him. She couldn't help but notice how nice the amber-eyed guy looked in a tux.
"Hey, Kor," Mako responded. He paused for a moment, scratching his neck as he glanced at her again. "Wow…you sure look…um…" he coughed, glancing away, before glancing back at Korra.
Next to the blue-eyed girl, Asami facepalmed.
"Well, if you excuse us," Bolin said, interrupting Mako's stuttering bonanza, "Asami and I are going to head to the dance floor." The two walked away, casting completely obvious looks at Korra and Mako.
"Wanna dance?" Korra offered, grinning at the teenage boy as she laid her hand out.
Mako raised an eyebrow, smirking as he accepted. "Try and keep up."
"Is that a challenge?" Korra responded as they got to the floor, raising an eyebrow of her own.
Mako chuckled as Korra pulled him onto the floor.
"I gotta say, that was the best wedding I've been to in a while," Korra said as she leaned back in her seat, finishing her cake.
Beside her, Bolin nodded, stuffing his mouth. "Da food's gwat, too," he burbled.
The DJ announced that the last song was going to be played, and sure enough, seconds later, a slow jazz song called couples out to the floor.
From the corner of her eye, Korra saw as Asami looked at Mako, who glanced back at her. The two seemed to be having a silent conversation. Korra, confused, continued eating her cake, dismissing it as some trivial topic.
Suddenly, Mako stood up, running his hands over his tuxedo quickly before making his way to Korra.
"Do you want to…um, dance?" He asked her, scratching the back of his neck.
Korra raised her eyebrows, definitely surprised. Behind Mako, Asami gave Korra a thumbs up, winking.
The blue-eyed girl smiled, standing up. "Sure."
And, two minutes later, the couple found themselves swaying to the slow song, Mako's hands on Korra's hips and her own on his shoulders.
"Did I kill your feet today?" the girl teased, smirking at Mako.
He shook his head. "Not as bad as Monday. I guess you practiced."
Korra arched an eyebrow. "You're a terrible liar."
Her partner laughed, getting a laugh out of her as well. "Okay, so maybe dancing isn't really your forte," Mako admitted.
"Well, I had fun," Korra announced. "Thanks for coming. I liked stepping on your feet."
Mako grinned at her, a real grin (ones that were so rare, Korra's eyes immediately focused on it). "You're crazy, you know that?"
The blue-eyed girl grinned back. "I embrace it."
After the wedding, as Korra was riding back with her parents, her father coughed uncomfortably before asking, "so, who was that guy you were dancing with?"
Before the senior could say anything, her mother was already answering for her. "Oh, that's Mako, Korra's classmate- or more than that, I'm thinking-"
"Mom!"
"Sorry, hun!" Her mother responded, although Korra was certain she didn't mean it. "But I can really see you two together, you know-"
"Wait- have you done anything with this boy?!" Her father suddenly exclaimed, causing Senna to laugh and Korra to groan.
But Korra couldn't help but think of how much fun she had with Mako. Of course, their feelings were causing problems (along with Iroh getting into the mix), but when they let it go and acted natural around each other…
Well, Korra liked that best.
Mako had the most votes, beating Iroh by a landslide. Iroh came second and everyone else had really small amounts of votes :(
The last chapter got an INSANE amount of votes! You guys are so great, thanks for reading my story!
VOTING RULES RECAP!
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Prominent love interests (you can vote outside of this if you want to) :
Mako
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Tahno
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Bolin
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