A/N: Happy Borra Week! So... when's the next one?

Rated: M

Moonlight

"These guys are dangerous, Korra. I don't want you to go!"

She shakes her head, and he feels his heart sink with despair. Because Korra is stubborn, but this is the one time he's begging her not to be.

"I have to," she whispers. "If I don't… more people will die." More benders' deaths on her hands, and she'll do anything in her power to end this needless violence.

"Korra… please!"

She sighs miserably and bows her head, biting her lip. Because she knows what she must do, and that she'll never be able to get Bolin to understand why she must do it. But she tries anyway. "It's my job as the Avatar to protect people and maintain balance in the world."

"But you can't do that if you're DEAD!" he cries hysterically. She winces, heart breaking when she hears his voice crack with barely contained emotion. He's trying not to cry, but his eyes are glassy with unshed tears. "You know you're just gonna be walking into a trap, right?! Please!" he begs, "I don't want anything bad to happen to you!" He chokes on his words, and Korra shuts her eyes, fearing the burn at the back of her eyes for putting him through this.

"Bolin…" She touches her forehead to his. Even when he's afraid, Bolin is always the steady rock to hold her up. He worries frequently, but he's never before tried to hold her back from her duties to the world. And with the way he's struggling not to cry, it's becoming impossible to breathe.

His fingers encircle her forearm tightly, and it's as if he can't stand the thought of not touching her. "Don't go," he whispers desperately. "Please, Korra. Don't go." He pulls her forward into a hug, his thick arms wrapping her up and fitting her against his chest. His body is warm and familiar, his bone crushing hugs always a comfort to her when things get crazy. In his arms is where she belongs, and she regrets that it took her so long to realize it. If there were any other way…

"Okay," she finally says, but it's like a knife they're both going to feel later.

"Oh spirits, thank you!" he sighs with relief, feeling all the tension and worry vanish from his body. "Thank you thank you thank you…" he says as he drops kisses on her cheek and trails his lips over her jaw.

"Bolin…" Korra starts uncomfortably, but he finds her lips with his and she can't bring herself to say what she wants to say.

Bolin leaves wet, open-mouthed kisses on her neck, making his way with his lips to her collarbone as he maneuvers her to their bed, reaching for the ties at her waist. She takes what little enjoyment she can in the way his lips move over her body, down the valley between her breasts all the way to her navel.

Moonlight plays in his hair when he moves over her, within her. She seizes him around the neck, gasps out his name as her eyes burn, brimming with guilt and tears, and clings to him as his body grinds into hers. She feels his body straining, the hard muscles of his back tensing.

"I love you," she whispers as he gasps a breath away from her mouth. She combs her fingers through his sweaty hair, and he bows his head against her chest, holding her as close as a deeply kept secret.

When she knows he's asleep, she carefully untangles herself from him, and silently dresses.

"I'm sorry, Bo," she whispers as she sweeps the persistent curl away from his face and drops a kiss onto his forehead. She prays he'll forgive her when – if – she returns to him.

The moon is her only companion as she slips away into the night.