disclaimer: I own nothing.

MakoxKorra

The Key to a Relationship

"Communication is tha most important thing inna relationship, Mako. Because women always talk, and one day ya gonna find the one and hafta say somethin' back…"

That was the only advice he had ever received from Toza that didn't have anything to do with Pro-Bending. From back in the beginning when Mako wasn't as trusting of the other man, and the name "The Bending Brothers" was better known than his own. He understood why he had been singled out; Bolin didn't have trouble talking to the small but growing group of fans—fangirls—that gathered outside the arena for them.

He just wasn't a fan of talking. He had just come from a life where talking wasn't valued so much as fighting. And since the day he had learned that the fire that came from his fists could defend him and his little brother, he had preferred it over words.

But like Toza said: He'd find The One that would make him talk back. He...communicated differently with Korra. Or maybe it wasn't differently; maybe the way they spoke to each other when they were alone was the way everyone who had ever been in a relationship acted:

"I think it was the grandma for me today…"

It was really early in their relationship, a few days from their return from the Southern Water Tribe. They were sitting on a bench in a small garden within City Hall. Korra had been spending a series of days sitting in a room guarded with soldiers from The United Forces and restoring bending to the people that came to her. It would be the last time she gave her aid to the Republic City councilmen before they disbanded.

But the day was done, and they were spending time together, not really caring about what would happen for the rest of the evening.

"Did you see her walk in?"

"I think so…" He had bought her a little bag of cherry candies from the shopping district and, in spite her promises to share, was currently watching her eat the last two pieces.

"She came right before there was a break, so they let her stay in the room for a little longer." She took a deep breath and popped the red candy into her mouth. "…She was a Waterbender. And she told me she had moved from her tribe just like me, only it was the Northern Tribe. The Equalists had broken into her home; she had been defending her and her grandson, but they overpowered her and took her to Amon.

"…She had had her bending for so long." Her eyes squinted but her gaze was focused on her boots; her imagination was running wild.

Mako knew what she was implying. Yes, Korra had lost her bending for a short time, for a few short hours, and yes, it had awoken her Airbending…but for someone like her who valued and was defined by her bending, who would always be a Waterbender as well as The Avatar…

His hand wrapped around hers, palm to palm, his fingers weaved in between hers. To steer away her thoughts and fears, to assure her everything was okay.

"I was healing her. I was in the Avatar State, but it was like we were connected, and she…I don't know what happened. I felt all of these emotions. Sadness and fear and all this joy! I could feel that she was so happy—it was like I was just as happy. But all of a sudden it was like I was outside myself."

His forehead wrinkled, worried. He angled his body towards her slightly, a bit more attentive than he had been before. "…What do you mean?"

"I can't explain it too well…" She faced him, and her blue eyes softened and her lips pulled into a small smile. "Don't look so worried," she pointed to the space between her eyebrows, indicating his was puckered. "I guess what I mean is, I felt like I connected with this woman a bit more strongly than some of the others…I know people have been happy when I heal them, but with her, I felt everything. …I pulled away from her and she had tears in her eyes, and I did too."

Korra became somber.

"…It's good that you felt that way."

She nodded. "I've never heard of Aang or any other Avatar being able to do that."

"Every Avatar does things differently…I feel like emotion is a big part of The Avatar State; you're using the emotions of all of them that came before. So it's good that you're not just using it when you're fighting, but also when people come to you and really need you.

"What?" He had finally noticed the look of awe in her face, the wide, clear look of her blue eyes; the small smirk on her face.

"That was really sweet." She continued smiling and that little dimple her had noticed recently appeared at the corner of her mouth. But he noted that her voice had lowered to a husky whisper, and her eyes had shifted for one quick moment to check that the small yard was still empty.

He knew what was coming. Which was why he leaned towards her.

"That's what boyfriends are for: to be sweet to their girlfriends."

"Oh." She leaned forward too, placing her hand on his knee to balance herself. He could feel the heat coming through her palm. "Well, you're really good at it."

He could feel his own skin getting warm. "I try."

She tasted like the candies she had been eating: sweet, syrupy. Her lips felt soft and warm, her Firebending raising her body temperature ever so slightly. He deepened the kiss, and put his arm around her shoulders. And then he did something he had been wanting to try since maybe the fourth or fifth time they had ever kissed, gently sliding his tongue across her bottom lip.

She squeaked at the sensation, drew in a deep breath from her nose and pulled away, slowly enough to let him suck on her lip. She didn't say anything important, just a half-hearted warning about Tenzin maybe being around. She didn't have to talk about the..."new move"... the rosy look to her cheeks and that little dimple were enough.

...But sometimes...he wasn't sure if communication was all it was cracked up to be.

Cut to two months later, on the deck of a ship heading to The Southern Water Tribe:

"Of course you take his side." Korra's forehead was wrinkled, her voice hard. She had gone from sitting shoulder to shoulder with him to standing tall in a matter of seconds.

"I'm not taking his side," He had no idea how she had just jumped to that conclusion. Sometimes it was crazy how quickly she could jump from subject to subject like that and just come to the wrong conclusions. "I'm just—"

But she was already on her feet. "—I'm gonna take a walk."

What else could he do—except move his feet so she could get by?

He watched her retreating figure and remembered Toza's advice about women…and wished that it had come with a part two: that sometimes, not even communication works when the girl you love is really mad at you.

He fell back against Naga's warm, furry side. "Why is it easier to bust through Triads than it is to have one conversation with my girlfriend?"

Getting my thoughts in a good place to write this took forever. But I like it—it was the blending of two ideas I wanted to explore: Korra restoring bending back to people, and of course, the Makorra relationship…going off what we know about Mako and Korra, I really think non-verbals play a much bigger role in their relationship than just words, but it may be even more so since Korra is so vocal and Mako speaks when he feels he truly has something to say.

I don't know about you, but I've been feeling like the gap between the last episode from Book 1 and the first episode left a lot to be desired. Plus, I really liked the Bender/Equalist angle from Book 1; going to Spirits seems to be such a huge turnaway…maybe they're setting it up to run co-currently?

Anyway…

R&R