There was something about this time that just felt different.
Maybe because they weren't hot-headed teenagers anymore. Maybe because this time they weren't just thinking about to today, they were thinking about the future.
Or maybe it was because this time they run from the knowledge that each kiss might be their last.
There were far too many reminders.
Being the White Lotus had definitely given Mako more mobility. Korra was glad she didn't have to pester Beifong anymore. That she could take Mako with her any time she felt that things might get dicey (which, since she was the Avatar was most of the time). It dragged him into more dangerous situations than she felt comfortable with, but she couldn't complain when she knew that he had the same feelings regarding her. Besides, there had always been something about fighting with him at her side that made her hopeful.
It was when they had to separate that she got nervous.
Korra was only one person. She couldn't be in two places at once. People complained at first, about getting the Avatar's boyfriend instead of the Avatar herself. They griped about being lower on her priority list. That she wasn't taking their problems seriously.
If only they knew the gut-wrenching feeling that she experienced every time they had to say good-bye, then they would know sending Mako was a sure sign that she was taking them seriously.
Every time they said good-bye, the thought always crossed her mind that this could be their last kiss. It could be the last time she said, I love you. The last time she saw him. For all she knew, he could be dead tomorrow. Or she could be.
She wished she could promise him forever, but she knew better.
Forever was for people with ordinary lives. People who weren't targeted by military leaders and revolutionaries. People who weren't constantly being thrown into harm's way.
So she didn't tell him she wanted forever when they said good-bye.
Instead, she always asked him to come back for one more kiss.