Mako had been avoiding talking to Asami. Avoiding Asami in general, actually. Unfortunately, when Master Katara had requested Korra return to the South Pole, and Korra had asked them to come with her… well, there was only so much he could avoid someone on a ship. At least they didn't take Tenzin's sky bison: that would have been even more awkward. Whatever he said to Asami, he didn't want to have to say it in front of Bolin and Korra and Councillor Tenzin and Chief Beifong and the kids.

Truthfully, he was avoiding Asami because… well, feelings were hard. He really liked Korra, he might even love her, but Mako didn't not-like Asami. He even really liked her. Just… he was pretty sure it wasn't as much as Korra, but it was too much to not want to hurt her. It would had been better if he'd figured out all of this stuff about Korra before he'd ever met Asami. Maybe they still could have been friends, without… all this.

He'd tried to write a letter first. Many letters, actually. Which wasn't easy, given he was sharing a tiny cabin with Bolin, who kept looking over his shoulder. "Do you mind?" Mako said.

"What, no. What about your arrow?" Bolin pointed to something on the page. "You aren't becoming an air acolyte, are you, because I'm pretty sure only actual benders get the cool tattoos."

Mako stared at his writing. His handwriting wasn't that good, but he thought it was clear enough. "It says 'I've made a lot of mistakes'. Where are you…" He crumpled up the page, throwing it to the ground. Pabu darted out from his spot under the bunk to pounce on it and roll it back to his hiding place, chattering excitedly. Mako suspected the fire ferret was building a nest down there. He hated to waste the paper like that - Pabu could find something less expensive to shred - but Tenzin had offered him as much paper as he wanted when he asked.

Though, if he was writing so badly that even his own brother couldn't read it, maybe he should just muster the courage to talk to Asami in person instead of sending a note.

Finally, he just asked Bolin to tell Asami to meet him at the bow after lunch. Bolin had given him a hard time about not telling her himself, but Mako had pointed out that he was going to talk to Asami. Mako envied his brother's easygoingness - Bolin was less likely to dance around a problem, even one like this. He'd taken Korra's feelings for Mako the best of all of them - he'd been hurt by it, and hadn't hidden it, but a couple of conversations with both of them and he had dealt with it.

Bolin was a better brother than Mako deserved.

Asami was already there when he arrived. He hadn't seen her at lunch, but maybe she hadn't felt like eating. Mako hadn't much either, and had ignored Bolin's attempt to make conversation. Lunches were already pretty difficult, since half of the passengers didn't feel much like talking. It was getting so that only Tenzin and his family, and the ship's small crew were regularly eating together.

Mako felt like it should have been a gray day, with rain threatening, but it was bright sunlight instead, catching Asami's hair and making it shine. He felt a surge of… something complicated, full of guilt and attraction and confusion. Dammit, he couldn't keep doing this. It wasn't fair to Asami or to Korra, especially since Asami and Korra were friends. It also wasn't fair to himself; he couldn't be happy with either girl knowing he had left things unresolved with the other.

"Asami…" he said, not quite sure what to say next. He didn't want to hurt her - had never wanted to hurt her - but here he was.

"You're breaking up with me, aren't you?" She didn't meet his eyes, and he wasn't sure it was just the wind that made her face look red and her eyes watery.

"Um… yeah." Mako looked away, unable to meet her face either. "I'm sorry. I…"

"Mako, don't," Asami said. "Don't make excuses for this. You… you should have just did this as soon as you figured out what you felt about Korra."

"Yeah, I should have," Mako said. "It's just… I liked you both, and somehow I thought that because I started dating you first, that I should just… try not to think about Korra." It hadn't worked. Korra was his friend, and he'd liked spending time with her, and… well, he started to notice how much he liked her laugh, and how determined she was and how brave, and how she moved like she was water itself. But when he was with Asami, he saw her beauty, and how collected she was and how strong and brave she was. And when both of them were there, he felt like he was on a tightrope, trying to make sure he was… well, being a good friend and a good boyfriend at the same time. And, in the end, he'd failed at both.

"This isn't a race," Asami replied. "You couldn't claim a heart just by getting there first, or there would be a lot fewer tragic love stories."

"Is this a tragic love story?" Mako asked.

"Well, no one died," Asami said. "Jinora tells me that's an important part of tragic love stories." There was a hint of a smile there, but it felt forced.

Mako could understand. He wanted to make this moment go away, but at this point, the only way out was through. It was why he'd been avoiding this; this was the worst he'd felt when no one was hurt or dying or had their bending taken away. Or all those near misses they'd had. "I… um… can we still be friends?" He said it because that's what you said, and he did like Asami. He looked up, to see what her reaction was.

"Maybe, but not right now, Mako," Asami said, still looking away. "I… I want to be sure when I talk to you that I remember all the fun we had, and not all the heartbreak. That goes for Korra, too. I like you both, but…" she shook her head. "Right now, not so much."

Mako nodded. "Right. I-" He wished things could have been different, that somehow he'd handled things better so the four of them could go back to being friends with no hard feelings. "Ah, thanks for listening to me, Asami. I'll just… leave you alone now."

He couldn't decide it was better or worse than he'd imagined it would be.

At least no one was dead.