"Ahh…Tenzin?" I said hesitantly.

"Hello, Mako," said the Air master, glancing up from the weird Airbending contraption. "Do you need something?"

"Uhm, actually, I wanted to ask you something," I said.

"Alright. Ask away."

"Ah, in private?"

There was no way I couldn't notice that the person currently dancing through those spinning gates was the very person I needed advice about. She was spinning and weaving in the middle of that weird set up, not so much as brushing the moving gates as she tried to pass through.

Tenzin followed my gaze, and smiled slightly.

"Of course. Would you like to go for a walk?"

I nodded gratefully and followed him away from the training area.

"You are confused, aren't you?" Tenzin said, once we were out of earshot.

"Yeah. How'd you guess?"

"Well, partly because I've seen how you look at Korra, and how you look at Asami. Also, because I was in the exact same situation when I was your age."

"Really?" I said in surprise. "With who?"

Tenzin sighed.

"I'm surprised Korra hasn't told you."

"We haven't exactly been on speaking terms," I noted dryly.

"Pema and I weren't always together. When we were your age, we were best friends. But I was with…I was with Lin."

I stared in open-mouthed amazement.

"You're kidding?" I managed to say. "You and Beifong?"

Again, the Air master sighed.

"Yes, myself and Beifong. We'd been growing apart, for all sorts of reasons. We tried to keep it together, of course, but the simple truth was that it just wasn't going to work. That was when Pema told me how she felt. And the rest is…well, you know the rest."

"And our chief of police didn't throw her in jail?" I wondered, half curious, half amused.

"Oh, it wasn't for lack of trying," Tenzin replied.

We walked for a minute in silence.

"So…What should I do?" I asked finally.

"Follow your heart," he replied. "Deep down, you know who you need. Like I said before, I've seen how you look at both of them. You need to buckle down, think about it, and talk to both of them. Uh, not at the same time, though," he added.

I tried to smile, but if it looked half as brittle as it felt, it wasn't the least bit convincing. Tenzin, compassionate man that he was, sensed my discomfort, and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"It's best to solve your problems, now, before they snowball out of control," said Tenzin seriously.

I nodded. He smiled.

"She won't be mad at you forever, Mako," he told me, then turned and hurried back in the direction of the training grounds.

I watched him go, then walked down to the docks to think.

Asami. Korra. Asami. Korra.

Asami was my girlfriend. I had been into her from the second I first met her. Right after she hit me with her moped. We'd been on several dates, we'd kissed. She was a great girl, with an amazing personality. She could fight like I would never have believed a prissy rich girl could, and she drove like a madman. She was talented, and funny, and smart, and beautiful. She was so kind, and warm. My life before her had been fine. I had my brother, and I had Korra. To say that Asami had certainly changed my life hugely would be a colossal understatement…but I could say the same thing about Korra.

When Asami and I were out on our dates, I had fun. She was funny and smart, and surprisingly empathetic. She could tell when something was bothering me, and when I really needed some alone time. But, despite how awesome she was, whenever we were on our dates, I would catch myself thinking about Korra. What she was doing. Who she might be with. How on earth she could be so understanding in the middle of this mess with Asami.

Korra was my best friend. She'd shown up out of nowhere from the southern water tribe, and slid right into place in our Pro-Bending team when Hasook had ditched us. She'd saved our lives, and others, countless times. She was brave, and loyal, and strong, and smart. She had a raw beauty, with her taut, toned muscles that spoke of years of training, and those bright, electric blue eyes that were such a stark contrast to her golden-brown skin and chocolate colored hair. She didn't try to look good; she just did. Her best friend was a polar bear-dog named Naga. She didn't care what most people thought about her. Korra just wanted to do what was right. She wanted to help people. We'd kissed once, and that moment was forever branded into my brain.

Her dark brown hair had been pulled out of its wolf tail after the match. She was standing out on a balcony with her back to the arena, leaning against one of the pillars. The cool night breeze played with her loose hair, and made the pelt around her waist ripple.

My stomach had been in knots since the end of the match. I knew I had to talk to her, to tell her the real truth, but I had no idea how. The very thought of admitting it made me want to cringe from humiliation. I would seem like that stupid guy who liked every girl he met; who couldn't keep his hormones under control, and who lied about it to a girl who was very upfront about how she felt. Lying to one of the most honest people you've ever met is crappy to begin with, especially when honesty is one of the things you admire most about them, but to do that about something so important to both of you? Was such a thing even forgivable?

"Look," I began. "Sometimes, you can just be so infuriating—"

"Save your breath," she interrupted. "You've already made it clear how you feel about me."

"No," I sighed. "I haven't. As much as you drive me crazy, I also thing you're pretty amazing."

Slowly, she turned around.

"So…you do like me?" she said hesitantly.

"Yeah. But I like Asami too, and it's all just so confusing right now and—" but I never got the rest of my sentence out.

That was when she had lunged forward and pressed her lips to mine. She had to lean up to reach, but after a slight moment of shocked hesitation, I closed my eyes and leaned down to kiss her back.

Her lips were warm and soft beneath mine, slanted across my mouth. I leaned in closer, catching a hint of a smell I'd never noticed on her before. Like…Like vanilla and ice. I could taste in on her lips too, that contradictory sense of warm and cool at the same time. The breeze around us began to feel warm, or maybe that was just me. My entire body had suddenly gone soft, pliant, hot. It was unfamiliar to me, but I enjoyed the feeling.

Some part of me knew I shouldn't be doing this, but that part was small and easily silenced. The one that pulled away was Korra.

Asami was an amazing girl, and I trusted her. I really liked her, but…not in the way I kept trying to convince myself. Not as more than a friend. Not like what I felt for Korra. Korra I trusted with my life, absolutely and with no restrictions. I wanted to be with Asami, because, like I said, she was awesome. A relationship with her would be so simple, so easy, compared to a relationship the Korra, the Avatar. I wanted it. But I didn't have it.

The daughter of Hiroshi Sato was amazing. Asami was cool and calm, always prepared to console me and try to solve my problems. If something was wrong, she would try to cheer me up, and while I appreciated that, it wasn't what I needed.

I needed someone strong. Someone who wouldn't try to make me feel better, but make me get off of my butt and make me work it all out. Someone to make me work for what I needed, what I wanted. What I needed was someone who wasn't afraid to be honest, even if it hurt me. I didn't need a shelter: I needed a drive. Motivation. Someone to get my butt in gear.

Korra was that someone. She could be nice, and she could be comforting, but when push came to shove, she was tough as nails. She gave everyone what they needed, not what they wanted.

And I needed her.

I bowed my head, as I finally allowed myself to acknowledge what I had refused to realize before. I like Asami. But I loved Korra.