Chapter 4

Tazmah has got to be feeling my vibe tonight! I laugh to myself as I think of what my more spiritual friends would say about our chi aligning or something. Chi, vibes, whatever. All I know is that Taz sounded super eager to ditch the others, and I'm not complaining.

"So uh, I guess we'll have to get a bit up-close and personal for the ride," I announce as I hop on Naga's back and extend a hand towards Taz.

She leaps up without taking my hand, but immediately wraps her arms around my waist. "We seem to be getting pretty good at 'up-close and personal' lately. I mean, we've seen each other nearly topless twice already!"

She says it like she's joking around, all non-chalant, as if it has no effect on her. But my feeling is that her unnoticing affect is a cover up for some other feelings. A little unnecessarily, I pull her arms a tighter around my stomach as I warn her to hold tight for a bumpy ride. In order to make good on my promise for a said ride, I spur Naga on a little faster and more wildly than I would usually travel.

The three of us run to the edge of town, dodging Satomobiles and pedestrians, until we reach the rocky forests on the outskirts of town. I lead Naga on an obstacle course of sorts, weaving in between trees and leaping over brush and across rocky slopes and creeks. When we reach the shoreline, I slow us to a halt.

"How about that for your first polar bear dog ride?"

I realize Taz has been tensely gripping my waist this whole time when I feel her slacken, her head collapsing on my back between my shoulder blades. "Holy shit," she gasps, "No wonder Asami had to teach you how to drive a car. This is no way to travel day-to-day!"

I laugh, and she lifts herself off my back, allowing me room dismount. This time she accepts the hand I offer. She stumbles a little on the dismount, I guess because she's still shaken from the ride.

"Hang on," I warn, gripping her a little tighter and pulling her into some sort of embrace. She stiffens as we both realize how close our faces are to each other.

"Ha, sorry, for an earth bender, I'm not usually this ungrounded."

"That's fine. For an air bender myself, you've got me swept off my feet." I grimace. Nice, Korra, you enormous fucking dork with your stupid pick-up lines. Did that even make sense? I quickly try to recover. "Sorry, Taz, that was unbearably cheesy. I'm just… I think I really like you."

Taz had backed away earlier, but now we're really close again. She takes a step towards me, and I take a step back, unsure of what's happening since it all seems to be happening so fast. Next thing I know, she's taken my hands in hers, and she's placing them around her neck. When she drops her hands from mine, she takes my waist and steps closer to me again, trying to close the short distance between our bodies. I'm not unsure anymore. We're going to kiss, and I can't wait. I've been putting off thinking about it- actually acknowledging this possibility- but now I'm embracing it. She's embracing me. She pushes forward, stopping her lips an inch from mine, giving me the opportunity to control our first connection. So I move in slowly, looking in her brown, earthy eyes, then down to her lips before I close my own eyes and kiss her.

It's slow, our lips slightly parted, and we don't move for a breath. I pull away to look at her again, but Tazmah's eyes are still closed, her lips still expectant. I kiss her again, this time longer. I take my time closing my lips around hers, separating just so I can draw her in again, like the focused breathing of an air bender. But I'm not thinking about air bending. I'm thinking about her taste, a little cinnamon spice from the alcohol, the unique quality of her skin. I'm thinking about the feeling of her hands on my waist; they're strong and firm but somehow I have the illusion of floating. I think about my own hands, which are hanging behind her head with my wrists crossed, and I slide them to the side of her face without thinking. I want to hold us there. I want to suspend the moment indefinitely. I want her to feel my skin and my hands and my touch and be full of the wonderment that she's making me feel.

I hardly realize it as she steps into me, pushing me backwards. For a brief moment, I feel Naga's fur on the back of my neck and arms before she yelps and steps away, sending Tazmah and I crashing to the ground. In a fit of giggles, we break our kiss with her laying between my sprawled legs on the sand that is growing cooler in the night's darkness.

"Hahaha, what are your friends going to think when you tell them how your first kiss with a really hot pro-bender went?" Taz teases, still propped up against my chest.

"What are your friends going to think when you tell them you kissed the Avatar?"

"They won't believe me in a million years."

"They would if they saw it themselves," I respond, searching for her reaction.

Taz searches my face too before responding, "Maybe there's some things I don't want them to see…"

With her hand on my shoulder, she pushes me flat on my back where tiny dunes of sand collapse under the weight of our moment together. She climbs over my hips and straddles me, exuding a confidence that fills me with a sudden heat. She's not moving any more, just staring at me, smirking. Hold up, I'm the one that smirks here! Tacitly, her eyes are asking me to beg.

"Kiss me." I'm not begging, or asking; I'm demanding. Her smirk widens, but before she can fire off a sassy remark, my fist is balled in the collar of her shirt and I'm pulling her back towards my lips. She complies, catching herself with her hands in the sand behind my head, her face hovering above mine.

"Only if you ask nicely," she says with a new style of teasing. She uses her mouth to turn my cheek, exposing the side of my neck. I close my eyes and give way to the surging feelings in my abdomen as she plants long, slow kisses on my neck with parted lips.

"Fuck!" It's both an exclamation and a desire. "Please! Please kiss me."

"I thought I was kissing you," she drawls.

"Ugh," I groan. This is almost unbearable, but in the best way. I don't say anything else, but shift my hips underneath hers. She kisses her way back up from the collar of my shirt to my ear. I don't think I can take any more teasing. I grab the small of her back and squeeze it against me, bracing myself for her touch.

"I'm kind of liking this…" Pause. Kiss on my earlobe. Whispering, "…exchange."

Involuntarily, my hands turn to claws and I'm scraping at her shoulder blades, burning with the desire to be grasping at more than cotton.