This chapter is the longest so far! It's very eventful ;)

Parking her car in the curb next to the house, the blue-eyed Korra turned the ignition off, slinging her purse over her shoulder as she exited the car. She examined the house in front of her, nodding to herself. Whatever Bolin said probably didn't matter. Korra could handle a couple of kids on a Sunday afternoon with ease.

"You must be Korra!" A kind, hazel-eyed woman greeted when the senior was allotted inside the house. "I've heard so much about you. Your basketball skills sure seem impressive!"

"Thank you- it's nice to meet you, um…?"

"Call me Pema," the smiling lady told her.

Korra was about to respond when a small girl, probably nine or ten years old, rushed up to her from out of nowhere. "Are you Korra- are you going to babysit us- daddy said you were- do you know how many trees we have in our backyard- we have a lot- also we're vegetarians-"

Korra stared at the girl, wide-eyed. "Um, is this your only kid?" she asked, silently hoping that the answer was a yes.

"Oh, no," Pema said, giving Korra a knowing smile. "I have two others- Jinora! Meelo! Come say hi to your sitter!"

Two other kids rushed down the stairs, a girl and a boy. The girl was about twelve, and the boy looked about six.

Jinora seemed calmer than her sister, thank god. "It's nice to meet you," she greeted politely, before burying her nose in the book she was carrying.

Meelo stared at Korra oddly, walking up and poking her leg. "You're muscular for a girl," the kid noted, eyebrows scrunched up as he observed Korra's arms from her sleeveless top.

Just then, Coach Tenzin appeared next to his wife, holding a small baby. After greeting Korra, he said, "Thank you so much. We really appreciate you taking time off to watch our children."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Korra brushed off (although, if she were honest, they probably should). "I'm great with kids."

"We'll be taking this one," Tenzin said, gesturing to the baby he was holding. "Thank you again, Korra," he finished before walking out the door.

"We'll be back in about four hours! Thank you, sweetie," Pema added before joining her husband.

When the door closed behind her, Korra turned around and let out a breath. "Right," she muttered to herself. "You can do this."

But when she turned back to the kids, she saw that Meelo was piggy-backing on Ikki, pounding her back with his fists, while Ikki ran around screaming and Jinora raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

This was going to be a long four hours.

Two hours into it, and Korra felt like she had things under control- mostly.

Meelo was watching a weird Spongebob episode, picking his nose (Korra reminded herself to keep his hands away from her). Jinora was already seated quietly with a book, while Ikki was playing games on the senior's cellphone.

As Korra sat down next to the girls, breathing a sigh of relief, the bookworm looked up at her. "Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked suddenly.

Ikki also looked up, apparently interesting.

Korra blinked out of surprise before shaking her head in major denial. "Nope, pshh, nah," she started, looking anywhere but at the kids.

"She has a booooyfriend," Ikki sang, attracting Meelo's attention. Korra had a temporary urge to hit Ikki with Jinora's heavy book.

"Come on, you can tell us," Jinora said, giving Korra a smile that was a lot like Pema's. "I personally think I am very good at relationship advice."

"…You're 12."

"And I am surrounded by troublesome middle school relationships," Jinora finished, maturely.

"I'll give you that," Korra shrugged. "But I really don't have a boyfriend."

"Yeah! Girl power!" Meelo shouted, thrusting a fist in the air.

The girls laughed. "But you're really pretty and nice. People like that. You could definitely get a boyfriend. Do you like anyone?"Ikki said all at once.

"Um…Honestly, I don't think there's a need for me to be in a relationship," Korra excused. "I mean, I'm still young and have great friends and…stuff?" she finished sheepishly, trying to dodge the question.

Jinora, however, was apparently good at detecting bullshit. "You like someone," she stated. "But something's going on between you two…?"

Sighing, Korra slumped. These kids really did know how to get someone to admit something.

"See, there's this guy- well, there are a couple of guys, actually, but let's just ignore that for now- and I really like him but there are things getting in the way of us and it's just too complicated and honestly I don't see the point in trying to reach for a relationship when he's too confusing and I'm too confused and I just don't know what to do." The blue-eyed girl looked at the two girls, who were staring back blankly. "Too fast?" she muttered, giving an apologetic smile.

"I think Ikki's rubbing off on you. Bad Ikki!" Meelo pointed to the girl, one finger of his other hand still stuck up his nose. The talkative girl pouted.

Jinora, used to hearing fast conversation, put a hand on Korra's knee reassuringly. "If there's one thing I know," she started, "it's that, if things are meant to happen, they will. If you really like this guy, and he really likes you, then despite whatever comes between you two, the both of you will work through it."
"That's…deep," Korra said, impressed.

"And once you guys are in love forever, you can live on castles in the clouds and eat moonlight for dinner and ride ponies!" Ikki clasped her hands together, taken by her own fantasy.

"Please. I read this book where the heroine loved the boy so much that she sacrificed herself in a fiery volcano with her dragon just to save their countries and prevent him from execution," Jinora replied.

"Both of those situations don't sound too appealing," Korra commented, pouting.

"Let's play tag!" Meelo randomly suggested, wasting no time in tagging Jinora.

"Hey!" His sister yelped good-heartedly, getting up and chasing him. Ikki joined in, grinning with excitement.

Korra chuckled, deciding to join in the game as well. Jinora's words stuck in her head, resting her love life situation aside for the time being.

For now, she had to focus on not getting tagged. Oh, and not having anything in the house get broken.

"You did a wonderful job. Thank you so much," Pema said appreciatively, once the adults came back.
"Sure thing! Your kids are tons of fun," Korra complimented, smiling. She really did have fun with the Coach's children- they were energetic, sure, but they were entertaining and made her touch with her inner-five year old.

"I'm sorry if it seems like I'm asking for too much, Korra, and surely let me know if I am; but would you be interested in babysitting the children in the future as well? They really seemed to have connected well with you," Tenzin asked.

The senior nodded, happy with the offer. "I'd love that," she smiled.

"Hoooooly shit. Holy shit holy shit holy shit. This is the week," Bolin muttered besides Korra as they walked to the school's main building together.

Korra swallowed nervously, staring ahead. "This is it. This is the big kablam-o week," she mumbled, biting the inside of her cheek. Stopping in front of the high school's big doors, she glanced at Bolin. "Ready?"

Bolin nodded. "I was meant for this," he stated dramatically, getting a smirk out of Korra.

As they walked through the school, the senior couldn't help but admire the pep squad's efforts. All the walls were covered with encouraging words of Go Feller Ferret Basketball! And We'll show those Bats!

Asami rushed up to them once she spotted the two. "This is crazy," she exclaimed, visibly bobbing on the toes of her feet. "Our team has never been to the championships before!"

Korra laughed as her friend wrapped her in a hug, and saw Mako walking towards the group. "Hey, guys," he greeted as he reached them.

"Oh come on, show some enthusiasm!" Asami scolded lightly, flicking Mako's shoulder. "You guys made it so far!"

Mako smiled. "Yeah, I guess we have, huh?"

"Hell yeah!" Korra cheered, with Bolin joining her. Korra wasn't too nervous about the match (yet); she was confident in her teammates and her coach. That was really all she needed to assure herself that they'd win.

Korra grinned at her friends, suddenly feeling glad she had so many people that she cared about in her new town. The bell rang, ending their group meeting, and they all promised to meet each other at lunch.

That Tuesday at a certain Starbucks shop, Korra entered with an armful of books in her hands and a shitload of homework.

"Whoa," Tahno commented when he got off for his break. "Prepping up for rocket science or something?"

"I'm getting the week's homework over with," the basketball player explained, pen writing furiously on paper. "The big match is on Friday, and I don't want anything to distract me from it." She grinned at Tahno as she looked up. "You gonna be my personal cheerleader?"

But for some reason, the suave boy seemed…guilty? "Ha, yeah," he responded half-heartedly, not meeting Korra's eyes.

"Something wrong?" The girl asked, concerned.

Tahno slumped further in his seat, still not looking at Korra. "Well, you guys are versing the Bats…I wouldn't get my hopes up, if I were you."

Korra raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean."

Tahno blew out a puff of air, shrugging. "They're really good. I used to go to Gallahander High, and that team is the prized possession of the school-"

The blue-eyed girl held a hand up, stopping Tahno's sentence. "You used to go to Gallahander High?" She questioned, eyebrows raised. "Don't tell me you're…you're still loyal to that place?"

"Well, princess, it's not like Feller High is much better," Tahno defended. Korra rolled her eyes, getting up to collect her books and leave. "Why does it matter so much to you anyway?" Tahno commanded, standing up with Korra once he realized what she was doing. "It's just a basketball game between two stupid teams."

Korra shrugged furiously, her eyes drilling into Tahno's as she adjusted her backpack. "One of those teams happens to be fucking good," she stated angrily. "Maybe it's because I thought- you know what, I don't even know. I'm leaving," Korra finished ungracefully, stomping out of the coffee place.

The girl was telling the truth. She really didn't know why Tahno's lack of support for her basketball team (that she grew to love) mattered so much to her. All she knew was that she had thought he was an actually decent person, before this.

The day before the big game, the basketball team didn't have practice. Coach Tenzin said he didn't want to tire the team out before such a peak of an athletic season, and Korra personally could understand- besides, everyone was way too nervous to focus on anything. Throughout the school day, all the classrooms were filled with nervous basketball players who had their minds on one thing only. It seemed like the actual weight of the match had finally hit them.

In English class that day, all Korra could do while her teacher explained a poem was doodle absentmindedly on her notebook. Mako didn't seem any better.

"Did you, uh, catch any of that?" he asked when the class filed out at the end of the period.
"The lesson? No. I can't focus," she admitted, glancing up at him.

"Me either," Mako chuckled. "The entire season's just been so unbelievable. Who knew we would get so far?"

"I know," Korra agreed as the pair stopped by a staircase. "It seems like just yesterday, I was trying out for the team. Now we're versing the biggest basketball team in the city," she finished, awed.

"The team couldn't do it without you, Korra," Mako said suddenly, catching Korra's surprise. "You're the most hardworking, determined, headstrong person I know." He gave her a small smile, which got Korra's heart to want to tear away from her chest.

"I think you're pretty amazing too, Team Captain," Korra replied, teasingly nudging the guy. "Honestly. I don't think we'd make it this far without your captain-ing." She smiled at him, and it was silent between them for a couple of seconds.

"Well, uh, I better get to work and stuff," Korra said when she realized how entrapped she was by those amber-brown eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Um, yeah," Mako mumbled. "Sleep good. Or- or well. Uh…" he scratched the back of his neck, taken by his own awkwardness.

Korra couldn't help but laugh at Mako's adorable word stumble. "You too," she grinned, waving goodbye.

"You're going to be there tomorrow, right?" Korra asked Iroh as the two cleaned up for the day. Although the girl couldn't really focus on anything she was going, Iroh seemed to get it; his alumni status got him to really understand a lot of things about Korra's hectic basketball life.

"Fuck yes," Iroh grinned, stacking chairs up on their tables. "I'm not going to miss a good basketball game if I can help it."

Korra nodded, smiling; but she couldn't help that there was still nervousness ebbing at her. "How good are the Bats, exactly?" She asked Iroh.

He glanced at her. "Hey," he muttered, suddenly coming up to her. "There's nothing to worry about."

Korra smiled at him, rolling her eyes. "I'm not worried," she lied.

"You're not a robot, Korra," Iroh smirked. "You guys can take the Bats. They're good, but they don't have you."

The blue-eyed girl bit her lip, looking down. "It's hard to pretend that I'm completely confident in myself," she muttered. It was a stupid thing to say, but it was true.

Iroh's hand darted out, and he lifted her chin up. "You can't let your doubts shake you now," he replied, his brown eyes digging deep in her blue. "Don't let 'what ifs' bother you." His hand dropped down to her own, which he held comfortably.

Korra swallowed, before nodding her head. "You're right," she responded, giving his hand a squeeze. "Thanks," she smiled at him.

"I'll be at that game, okay?" Iroh smiled reassuringly. "I'll be there to cheer you on."

Korra found herself not wanting to let go of his hand.

The following school day passed so quickly that Korra could not even comprehend half of the things that happened. A bunch of shortened classes. A tense lunch with her friends (With Asami, god bless her, trying to ease up her basketball friends' moods). A huge pep rally that passed by in a large blur.

The senior could only really start thinking once she got off the bus to the court that they were using for the game.

"Wow," Bolin breathed beside her as they entered the court.

"This place is…amazing," Korra agreed.

The court was one of the biggest she had seen by far. It almost seemed like a university's basketball court, and bleachers stretched in all directions.

Mako breathed in, a short inhale. Korra glanced at him; he seemed more tense than anyone else on the team. Of course he would be; he was Captain, after all.

The blue-eyed girl entered with the rest of the team into the locker rooms once they were all changed; there was still an hour till game time, but Coach Tenzin insisted that they get there early to review plays, get used to the court, and just to relax a little bit.

When the buzzer outside rang to signal the 30 minute mark, the Coach hustled the team out of the locker rooms to start their warmups. Korra was about to join them when she noticed how Mako stood behind.

"We can do this," she told him, sitting down next to him. He looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed.

"This is one of the most important moments of my life, Korra," Mako said quietly. "If we put out a good effort in this match, if we win…"

He didn't need to say anymore. If they won, he was guaranteed college. He was guaranteed the future that he'd always dreamed of. Korra knew that.

"We will put out a good-"

Her sentence was cut off by a pair of lips meeting hers, soft yet with a sort of intensity. Korra didn't hesitate as she kissed Mako back. She finally pulled back, only slightly, to gauge Mako's reaction to what they just did.

"I had to do that. At least one more time," he muttered.

Korra nodded, understanding, as closing her eyes. She felt the same way.

"We better get out there," she breathed, preparing to join the rest of the team on the court.

Fifteen minutes till game time, and the Gallahander Bats finally managed to show up to their own game.

"What took them so long?" Korra snarled, already hating her opponents. They all looked cocky and way too confident. The team didn't even pick up a ball to warm up; they just stood there, examining the Ferrets and occasionally pointing a finger at a certain player.

"They're shits," a fellow player, Howl, informed Korra. "Thinking they can beat us so easily."

The bell rang, and the team all rushed to the sidelines to get last-minute tips from the Coach.

"Korra, Sean, Bolin, Justin, and Mako, you guys start," Tenzin quickly stated. "Go with the drills we're used to. Try not to pull anything new unless we absolutely need it." The referee waved an arm, calling the starters over to the court where the Bats' starters were already positioned. "Good luck." Nodding once, the coach tucked his hands behind his back.

As the blue-eyed girl jogged into the court, she spotted her parents in the bleachers- they were both waving to her vigorously, giving her thumbs up. Asami, beside them, was holding a sign that said GO FERRETS! Iroh was also there, two steps down, smiling at Korra when they made eye contact.

Korra breathed deeply. She had people supporting her. She had her own basketball skill. And she had an amazing team to work with.

The whistle blew, and the ball went flying up- a Ferret player got it- and the game started.

"They're no-good cheaters!" Bolin exclaimed in the locker room during halftime. Half the team was too busy icing their newly formed bruises to pay much attention.

The Bats got away with so many fouls that Korra wanted to smash the refs' heads together. The Bats got away with literally pushing their opponents to the sidelines, sticking a hand out to block shots, and taunting players on court. There were already two close fist-fights between a Ferret player and a Bat player; and it was only halftime. Both fights were blamed on the Ferrets by the referees, despite the fact that the Bats were the ones showing the bad sportsmanship in the first place.

"What's the deal with those refs?!" Korra questioned.

Beside her, Mako said, "they've obviously been paid off."

Coach Tenzin sighed. "We cannot do anything about the referees. They have been officialized specifically for this game; and we have no real proof that they have been bribed."

Korra blew out air, exasperated. "Isn't the fact that they've beaten up half of our players 'proof' enough?!"

Mako laid a hand on her arm, and Korra was slightly surprised that he was so calm through all of this. "Relax," he stated. "We'll find a way to work through this."

Mako's cool-under-fire temperament wasn't the most common one in the room, however. Most of the Ferret players were mumbling curses under their breaths or arguing among themselves.

"Okay!" Coach Tenzin's powerful voice boomed, and the entire team got quiet. "What's the score, exactly, Hasook," he asked after a moment.

"45 to 32, Coach," the player replied sadly.

Mako pinched the bridge between his nose, concentrating. "If they can get 45 points in thirty minutes," he stated, "then we can do the same. The Bats aren't even that good of a team."

'They have the refs on their side, though," a member noted.

"Well, we have the audience on ours," Korra replied. And it was true- even Gallahander part of the audience seemed to dislike the treachery that their team was committing. "And Mako's right- our team is a lot better than theirs."
"What do you suggest?" Bolin asked.

Mako glanced at Korra, thankful for the support, before focusing back on the entire team. "Let's run the Ostrich play."

A collective intake of breath was heard around the room.

"We barely practiced that drill," Coach Tenzin pointed out, raising an eyebrow at Mako.

"I realize that," the Captain admitted, "But it's a quick play. It will get us the ball and the shot, and it'll be hard to get any foul- even a fake one- if we use that drill."

The Coach remained silent for a few moments before nodding his head. "I agree."

"You guys think we can pull this off?" Mako asked, a slight note of uncertainty in his voice.

"We might as well try," Hasook shrugged.

"Let's go down with a fight, big bro," Bolin said, clasping Mako's shoulder.

The Ostrich play was really a good call, because by the time quarter three had ended, the scoreboard read 50-46. Most of the shots were made by Mako, Bolin, and Korra- all three sweating buckets as they took their allotted 2 minute break before fourth quarter.

"Keep this up," the Coach encouraged before the quarter 4 timer signaled it's start and the players ran back up.

The fourth quarter was very much like the third, with the Ferrets catching up ever so slowly. The defense was exceptionally amazing, not letting many baskets bypass them through the beginning of the quarter.

The entire audience was on their feet, shouting, cheering, and completely absorbed in the game. Korra felt satisfaction at seeing the Gallahander Bats slowly get more and more frustrated as the Ferrets caught up.

There was a minute left on the clock, and the scoreboard read 55-53. Korra breathed out quickly before getting in her defensive stance, and the Bat pointguard dribbled down the court. She saw as the opponent pointguard shifted his gaze to his right, before glancing ever so slightly to his left-

And Korra ran on instinct, reaching to the left side of her just as the pointgaurd passed the ball in that direction.

She intercepted the ball.

Wasting no time in thinking, Korra ran down the court with the ball in her hands, Mako already steps ahead of her. There was two ways this could go.

Korra could go for the two-point casual layup, which meant an easy shot to make but a tiebreaker to go into. That was risky, and didn't assure a total win for the Ferrets.

Or she could attempt a three-point shot, but under this sort of pressure, the girl wasn't completely sure she would make it.

Or…there was another option. She could pass the ball to Mako. He was unnerved, even under such a heated game, and the girl knew that he could make the three-point shot with ease. But it would mean losing the glory of making the winning shot…

With no hesitation, Korra passed the ball to Mako, who turned and shot it towards the basket-

It hit the backboard-

And fell into the basket, with a slight tumble. But it went in nonetheless.

Korra felt like she went deaf with all the cheers surrounding her. Her face hurt; her grin was so large that she felt like her face was going to split.

They had won.

GO FERRETS :)

Mako got the most votes, Iroh second, Tahno third, and we actually got some votes for Asami too!

VOTING RULES RECAP!

Please vote for one person in particular!

It's not as much a 'vote' as it is a popular voice (no one gets 'voted off'- they can come back as love interests whenever they get votes.)

No negative votes will be counted (ex: 'I just don't want her to end up with Tahno!") you have to vote for a person in specifics.

You can vote a new person each chapter if you want. You can also vote for the same person each chapter. And of course, you have every right to vote for each chapter (that's kind of the idea :P). But you can only vote for one person per chapter!

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(Also, guys, don't slam other ships in your comments. Be respectful of everyone.)

Prominent love interests (you can vote outside of this if you want to) :
Mako

Iroh

Tahno

Asami

Bolin

***by voting outside, I mean voting for someone like Amon, Beifong, etc.