"Jinora, have you seen Asami?" I asked.

Tenzin's oldest daughter shook her head.

"No, sorry," she answered. "She might be at the gardens. I know Ikki wanted to show her the flowers."

"Thanks Jinora," I told her.

"Sure, Firebender," she laughed.

I rolled my eyes, and headed off in the direction of the gardens. Korra had shown me where they were after she helped me save Bolin from nearly getting "equalized" by Amon. However, when I got there, neither Asami nor Ikki were kneeling in the flower beds. In the middle of the gardens, there was a tall gazebo, with rose vines climbing up the intricate latticework. Standing in the gazebo was Pema. She was leaning against the railing, looking up at the sky like she was in a daydream. One hand rested on her swollen belly. She looked deep in thought.

Not wanting to bother her, I turned to leave, but her voice called after me.

"Mako, come here for a second."

I turned and walked slowly to the beautiful decorative building. Pema's bright green eyes were fixed on me, and she was smiling slightly.

"Asami is in her room. Korra's training down by the water."

"Thank you, Pema," I answered.

"You know," she said before I could leave. "It's not fair to any of you."

"What isn't?" I wondered, although I already had an idea.

"Not being able to make up your mind. If you don't like Asami, you need to be upfront about it. Same with Korra. I know they've both been nothing but honest with you, and you and I both know that they deserve the same."

I gave a half smile.

"Yeah, I'm already on it. I was talking to Tenzin earlier…He helped a lot."

Pema smiled. "I'm glad. Now, go find them."

I nodded, and turned to head toward the girl's rooms.

"Oh, and Mako?" Pema shouted. "You may want to keep some fire handy. Girls don't always take rejection well."

Well. Great. That was a huge load off my shoulders. Oh, wait. No, it wasn't. Now I felt worse than before.

~...~

Well, Pema had been wrong. I hadn't needed any fire with Asami, although for a while there I was wondering. She'd been at her window when I came in. We'd sat next to each other on her bed, and I stripped myself utterly bare of all my lies. I told her what I'd realized, what I thought, and how I felt. She hadn't been happy with me—there's a big surprise—but she had said that she'd already half expected it. She told me she'd seen the way I looked at Korra—okay, seriously, how did I look at Korra, and how did everyone see?—and she wasn't going to try to change my mind.

Then she'd shooed me out of her room, telling me to go find the Avatar. I think, honestly, she went easy on me because she suspected I'd have twice as hard a time with Korra. And, to tell the truth, she was probably right. I had gone to tell Asami that I couldn't be with her anymore. I was going to find Korra to tell her my true feelings, and somehow, I felt more sick at the thought of that than I had when I was getting ready to break up with Asami.

Pema was right. Sort of. Korra was down by the shore. But it didn't look like she was training much. She was sitting on the ground, boots laying behind her, and the water was washing over her bare feet. Her hair was tied up in its normal wolf tail, and the slight breeze played with flyaway strands.

The water seemed angry. It was dark and gray, boiling and roaring in huge waves out around the statue of Aang. I wondered if Korra was subconsciously controlling the water; if it was reflecting her own dark mood. Here's to hoping not, or I might not live long enough to tell her the extent of what I needed to say.

"Quit lurking, Mako, I know you're there," she said curtly.

I jumped in guilty surprise, before remembering that I wasn't lurking. I was here to talk to her, and she needed to know I was there so that I could do just that.

"Korra, I need to talk to you," I said, humiliated when my voice shook.

She waved me on without bothering to turn around, and I walked over to stand by her side. Hesitantly, I sat down on the sand beside her. She said nothing. The storm was reflected in her aquamarine eyes, now darkened to teal.

"So talk."

"Korra, what I said the other night was completely out of line," I said without preamble. "I should never have said what I did, and I didn't mean it. I just thought you were after Hiroshi because he was Asami's dad and you were jealous. I'm more sorry than you know, and whatever I have to do to prove it to you, I'll do. I never meant to hurt you like I did. I do trust you, more than anyone. I'm begging you to believe me. I have never felt like more of a jerk than when I didn't stand by you. You were doing the right thing alone, no matter how much it hurt you, and we should have put more faith in you. We should have trusted you, and we didn't, and Korra, I'm so sorry. You must hate me."

By the end of that speech, the lump in my throat had grown so big that it was a wonder I could still speak. Saying it out loud made it more real, and I realized just how bad the situation was. Hot tears began to leak from the corners of my eyes, zigzagging down my cheeks, sliding onto my neck and standing my shirt.

Something in my voice must have made Korra turn around; when she did, her face lost the harsh lines of anger. Her bright eyes widened in stunned disbelief.

"Mako, are you crying?" she asked in shock.

I didn't answer, partly because I thought it was fairly obvious what I was doing, and partly because I could no longer force sound past the chunk of ice that made my throat feel three times bigger.

She reached up with one slender hand to touch my cheek. Those long, thin fingers brushed lightly across my skin, catching and taking away the tears. She adopted a look of great compassion and resignation.

"Mako," she sighed. "I could never hate you."

I leaned into her touch, and was grateful when she didn't withdraw it.

"You…aren't mad?"

She snorted derisively.

"Yeah, I'm still mad. But I don't hate you. Look, you can be so infuriating at times, but even though sometimes you drive me crazy, I also think you're pretty amazing."

I laughed in spite of myself as she quoted my words from that night.

"That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"Huh?"

I took a deep breath, and let my words out in a rush.

"I broke up with Asami."

She pulled back, and gave me a flabbergasted look.

"Why? I thought you liked her?"

I pressed my lips together and looked away.

"I did. I do. But not…not the way I thought."

She frowned and tilted her head, prompting me to continue.

"I talked to Tenzin," I started. "He told me about him and Pema and Beifong. That whole story, and it hit really close to home. His advice was to just sit down, and really think about it. What I liked about each of you. What I needed. And Korra, what I need isn't in Asami. What I need is you."

I reached out and took her hand. For one, agonizing moment, she said nothing. Korra didn't move, didn't react at all, and for a moment, I truly believed that whatever she said, she wouldn't accept my pathetic apology. Then a light slowly entered her eyes, growing brighter and brighter until they positively glowed. Her full lips curled up in a smile, and her fingers tightened on mine. She leaned up, eyes drifting shut. I leaned in as well, letting my eyes close as I closed my lips over hers.

What I felt right then, what I hadn't felt with Asami, was what I'd always wanted to feel. The fire that kindled beneath my skin at the feel of her mouth against mine was ten times stronger than it had been that night on the balcony, and was a hundred times stronger than anything I had ever felt with Asami. The blood roared in my ears, it pulsed beneath my lips as they moved hungrily over Korra's. The flames grew hotter and wilder with every second, until I thought I was about to go up in smoke.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer, until she was straddling my lap. Her hands slid into my hair, stroking the nape of my neck with the lightest of touches.

I broke away, trailing my lips down to her neck and pressing a quick kiss to the hollow of her throat. She shivered.

"I love you, Korra," I whispered, nuzzling her neck and hugging her tightly.

Her hands left my hair so that she could wrap her arms around my shoulders and return my embrace. She leaned her head into the crook of my neck as well.

"I love you too, Mako," she answered, her breath tickling my ear. Then she pushed me back and looked out over the ocean. I followed her gaze. The water was marginally calmer than it had been ten minutes ago.

"Now, do you want to let me up so that we can spar a little?" Korra asked. "Still mad at you, and I'd love to blow off a little steam."

I laughed and agreed, provided she only used Firebending. She conceded, and led me to an area fit for a little one-on-one.