Note: Thanks for the lovely reviews. Anyway, this chapter is kind of lame (I admit), but the last chaper drained me. Anyway, before I forget, I should mention that I'm not into the kind of fics that are like "Korra is pregnant after the one time she and Amon get it on" or "They get married!". It's not to say that I don't want to mention marriage or pregnancy because they certainly come up this chapter. I'm not planning for that kind of storyline to happen since I didn't have it in mind when I came up with the idea for this fic (but not objecting to it either if I can manage to write it).

When Korra woke up, she turned to the man sleeping beside her. She smiled and skimmed his arms. She was careful not to disturb him from his sleep since she felt like she owed him the extra few minutes of sleep. She wanted to look at him like this all the time- peaceful and beautiful in the beginning moments of the day where darkness started to lighten into sunlight. He grabbed a hold of her wrist and sleepily kissed her hand.

"You are going to be the death of me today," Noatak said.

"Why's that?" Korra said.

"I don't know if I can leave this bed. Not when I want to make love to you all day," Noatak said.

"Then just stay here with me like you did that one day," Korra said.

"My job doesn't work that way."

"Then maybe just once this morning. It doesn't have to be like last night. Just something for the morning."

"Korra. What am I going to do?"

Noatak rolled over to kiss Korra. She laughed softly at the start of their morning bliss. She wondered if she hadn't left a dream as she held onto Noatak's back and pressed her fingertips into his skin.

Last night when she drifted in and out of sleep, Korra thought about what her opinions on the idea of making love and having sex were. In her last relationship, Korra would say that Mako treated sex as an endgame in the development of their relationship. Mako's touches were the ones born of what he thought was his obligation as a dutiful lover. Noatak believed that what he and Korra did was made love. His body was an instrument in the act he felt physically resembled his feelings for Korra. Noatak didn't touch Korra because he thought she should be touched. He touched Korra because he needed to touch her and feel every bit of her.

Noatak caught up with his breath and slowly removed himself from his bed. He glanced at Korra as she wrapped herself around in a blanket looking every bit happily disheveled. She combed her hair with her fingers to try and tame her hair.

He dressed quickly in front of Korra and walked into the other room. Korra followed him still wrapped in the blanket. He liked hearing the soft shuffling of her feet across the wooden floors. Noatak didn't really think of the impermanence of the situation. He liked to think that Korra didn't either as she let the blanket dangerously hang from her shoulders. Or maybe she did. He thought about that possibility when Korra woke him up twice to initiate sex in the night. The thought easily went away each time Noatak gave into Korra's late night requests.

"I have some bitter melon tea," Noatak said.

Korra reached for her teacup and quickly drank the tea. Her mouth contorted as she swallowed. Noatak gave her a glass of water, which she took immediately.

"Ugh. That stuff tastes gross. I don't think I'll ever get used to it. Why can't this taste better?" Korra said.

"I suppose that's the tradeoff for no surprise little bundle of joy," Noatak said.

"I guess so. Although the big question is, why do you have this tea at home?" Korra said.

"I didn't actually have this until I bought it yesterday. Hence the rather full envelope of tea."

"Well you seemed overly confident about what your plans were going to be last night."

"I knew you were going to come last night. The tea was just in case."

Korra placed her arms around Noatak and kissed him lightly on the lips. Korra's mind drifted to the idea of what this would be like every morning and day. The idea of waking up to Noatak in this small apartment every morning… it made her happy.

"You need to get dressed. I didn't feel like making breakfast, and I need to eat before I get to work," Noatak said.

"Okay. But we can't go to Miki's. She's going to just look at us and give us that look. You know that look- it's mean."

Korra made an impression of Miki's scrunched up face that made Noatak laughed. The impression was spot-on and painfully right about Miki and her judgment of Korra. He never quite imagined himself loving the silliness of Korra like he did.

Korra and Noatak walked to the food tents at the docks. Korra forced Noatak's hand out of his pocket and took hold of it. She grinned as they passed by Miki's stand. If she felt any less mature, she would have stuck her tongue at Miki. Noatak was in a hurry though and took Korra to a little stall that made stuffed cakes. The cakes reminded Korra of pancakes but dense and chewy. The insides were filled with nuts, cinnamon, and melted brown sugar. The cake oozed a bit on Korra's lip as she bit into it. When she instinctively licked the syrup from her lips, Noatak would raise an eyebrow and kiss her forehead.

"I'm surprised you've never had this before," Noatak said.

"Why's that?" Korra said.

"This is a food that originated from Republic City. They sell this at pro-bending games."

"How do you know that? You don't strike me as the guy who would go to a pro-bending match- past or present you."

"I'm not. I've only seen a few matches. Besides pro-bending matches aren't the only places where those are sold."

"So did you see me play? I mean… before the… you know."

"Once. I guess you could say it was a bit of reconnaissance and curiosity on my part."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"C'mon! What did you think of me?"

" You were… To be honest, you were quite the amateur when I saw you. I wasn't very impressed by your bending there."

"What!"

"You were quite traditional in your fighting technique. But I will say, you improved much when I saw you at the finals. You were very good."

They were already at the end of the docks. Noatak tucked a piece of Korra's hair behind her ear and kissed her on the cheek.

"If you're going to kiss me, do it right," Korra said.

Korra kissed Noatak. Head on and hard. She heard the yelps and shouts from Noatak's ship. She pulled from the kiss slowly and bit her lower lip.

"Someone had good time last night," Sirmiq said.

Sirmiq passed Noatak and slapped him across the back. Korra laughed at Noatak blushing at the remark. Nanuq came by and stopped in front of Noatak and Korra. He shook his head and smirked. Noatak snuck in another kiss with Korra before getting on the boat.

"I'll see you tonight?" Korra said.

"Of course."

"It's gonna be a boy. Mark my words," Sirmiq said.

The day out sea was a slow one for everyone. They sat around the deck talking and making up games. This afternoon's game was betting on what the gender of the possible child of Noatak and Korra- suggested by Sirmiq. Noatak wanted to sink into the shadows. For the first time since he came to work for Pakak, the crew wanted to talk to him and about him. It was a bit of a nightmare. Talking was fine between he and Sirmiq and Nanuq, but the crew seemed like a different matter. He made the mistake of not telling his crewmates that Korra was not his wife, and now that matter was exploding. Although Noatak could really just say that his mistake was listening to his instinct, which lead him to falling in love with Korra. He had no regrets about that but only to as how he handled the situation. Korra made things seem so comfortable that Noatak's predilection for plans.

The current prediction trended towards a boy and probably a waterbender. They pointed to Noatak's general physical strength and aptitude as a bender for their reasoning. Noatak's discomfort of this subject being discussed dissipated over time. The crew tended to like Noatak and complimented his work on the ship. They appreciated his hard work and demeanor. The honesty caught him off guard. He was more familiar with the fawning over and worship of the Equalists.

Nanuq walked over to Noatak standing by the railing a bit away from everyone. He patted Noatak's back and leaned onto the railing.

"I think you'll have a girl. When my daughter was first born, I held her in my arms and thought there was nothing else in the world that could have been as good as her. I still feel that way whenever I look at her. I suppose I sound like some sentimental fool, but that's how it is," Nanuq said.

"It happens. I'm not going to be father anytime sooner though," Noatak said.

"That's what I said. Then there I was brewing ginger tea for my wife who was stuck in our bathroom with morning sickness."

"Korra… she's… She's not my wife."

"You have to be kidding me. You look at her like she is."

"Do I?"

Nanuq nodded.

"Why don't you marry her? You're already settled as is. You'd have a beautiful wife and kids. Plus you have a good job. Lot's of people want that kind of thing," Nanuq said.

"I'm not looking to get married anytime sooner. Besides… She's… how do put it… I don't think her family would like a person like me. We have a history," Noatak said.

"Well… just try her some time. She'll probably say yes."

"I'm a fool if I do this."

"You're already a fool."

"True. True."

Noatak stared at the ocean and the gulls that flew by. Some day, he guessed, he would probably be ready to ask Korra that question. Until then, he just wanted to be near by the person who made him forget about being lonely.