A/N: Story's got a fancy cover now, I hope it looks good :P Been a long time since I made a cover more stylized than a screenshot lol

Enjoy!

Mako was back on patrol near the scene of the incident following another officer's sick absence and decided he would see how the shops were doing.

He got out of his car to find Junior chatting up a girl who was leaning in an exaggerated manner over the counter…or rather, she was talking at length and with great speed while he was spaced out and trying to keep his eyes up. They appeared to be roughly the same age, maybe they went to school together?

"So then I told him 'You haven't seen the last of me! I'll find you and make you pay for what you did, you scallywag!" she regaled, shaking her fist. "And then I chucked a fireball at him for good measure." She laughed. Her bright orange hair stuck out against the green of the melons and her outfit, and her reddish-hazel eyes were razor sharp. He'd never seen anyone with hair that color, as it was an incredibly rare trait in certain Fire Nation folks. Not that he knew this particular, obscure fact.

"Cool…" Junior said, dazed before glancing away for two seconds and spotting Mako. "Uh-pft-welcome back, officer, my dad is in the back right now and mom's gone off to-"

"Hello again. I was on patrol and figured I'd see how the damage was being handled. And to maybe apologize for the destruction of your stock," Mako said awkwardly. "You can let your parents know they can file for compensation at the police station-"

"Tch, we're doing fine," Junior replied, his mood a bit soured at the mention of that day. "Dad managed to find a new shipment a couple days later. The roof leaks now, and we had to buy new crates and stuff." He crossed his arms. "Worst loss was the extra manpower." He definitely didn't miss having someone else around his age in the shop on the boring days. Nope.

"Right…" Mako said with a nod, suddenly feeling a boiling gaze on him. "Can't do much about that for you, unfortunately." He looked beside him; the girl was still there, analyzing him.

"You're the Avatar's boyfriend," she observed.

"Izzy, what kind of opener is that?" Junior said with a groan.

"It's true, right? Unless you've broken up. Have you broken up?" Izzy asked.

She probably recognized him from the newspapers. "No, we haven't broken up," Mako confirmed. He looked at Junior again.

"Are you doing something with him? My dad tried to visit the police station but they said he'd been 'transferred'," Junior asked point blank.

Mako coughed. "That's not something I'm allowed to disclose. Police business and all that. He's fine, if you were wondering."

"They're being studied," Izzy noted. "Like I studied bugs when I was a kid by lighting them on fire. It was just on the ends, they never died, or maybe they did sometimes, and all the other kids did it too, so it wasn't just me, and now I set more important things on fire in the name of science so it's all good!" She grinned.

On the nose, she was perfectly on the nose, but Mako couldn't let Junior know that. That wasn't supposed to be public knowledge. How did she know to use they anyway? "You're a fire bender," he guessed, changing the subject.

"Wow, officer, great deduction, they should give you an award!" she said without a hint of sarcasm.

"Don't set anything on fire that shouldn't be," Mako reminded her.

"Good idea. I'll set you on fire for stealing my buddy's buddy's buddies!" Izzy decided, producing a flame in her hand.

"Woah, Izzy, calm down, do you want to get arrested?!" Junior waved his hands around frantically.

Mako wasn't phased, letting her threaten him with the small ball of fire. "Tell your parents about what we discussed," he repeated to Junior. "And that he'll be back when it's the right time, and if he cooperates." He waved away Izzy's fire. "Have a nice day." He turned to walk back to his car.

"If they're really being kept somewhere against their will then they'll know what to do. I taught them myself, after all!" he heard Izzy say to Junior as he drove away. "Now about the melons-"

If Air Temple Island goes up in smoke, at least I know who to blame, he thought with a sigh.

"Alright everyone, we're going to give our newest airbender a shot at the gates," Jinora said with a smile. "Since Dad is busy on the phone right now, I'm taking over teaching duty." She turned to the person in question, who was dressed in the same attire as the other three present.

Svetlana had appeared mere seconds after Mike had finished throwing the orange shawl over their shoulders and completing the uniform, having been shoving him out of the figurative front seat perpetually since the invitation to train with the other airbenders-conveniently not including Korra- had finally dropped. His personal boycotting of invitations to train or do anything with the Avatar didn't have to get in the way of her learning. He had no real choice in the matter, anyway.

She took in every part of the outfit with the giddiness of someone who was finally experiencing something they'd only been able to imagine in their whole existence. The shawl added a bit of extra weight and visual bulk around the chest, which made her even happier. She'd tied Mike's long hair up and away from her face that somehow appeared more rounded and vaguely feminine than usual. "I am ready to prove myself exceptional!" she declared with a grin, her sparkling eyes determined.

"Great!" Jinora replied. "Let's see what you got." She sent the re-pieced gates spinning with a gust of air. They had gone over the principles of the exercise on the way outside.

"This'll be good," Korra commented from afar, rolling up to stand next to Ikki, who was cheering.

"Be supportive, Korra, this was you once upon a time, remember?" Jinora reminded her before looking at her student. "Whenever you're ready, Svetlana."

Svet nodded and took a deep breath. "A leaf is all I am…" she said with a confident smile before taking a stance and entering the fray.

Korra waited for the sounds of the wood boards hitting limbs, frustrated grunts, maybe some yelling, but…there was only the sound of the swishing and spinning.

Less than a minute later she had exited the boards without a scratch on her. She bowed, still grinning.

"Oh come on, it's no fun when you don't struggle," Korra grumbled to herself. Dang it, it was impressive.

"Well done!" Jinora complimented her pupil. "That was great form. How did it feel?"

"Wonderful!" Svetlana replied, twirling around. "I was the floatiest leaf in the forest!"

"That's how it should feel. We can move right along to the next step, this is clearly below your current skill level," Jinora decided.

"Hey, teach, can I talk to the newbie before we move on?" Korra asked.

"Uh, sure, we can take a little break," Jinora reluctantly agreed, walking off to talk to her siblings.

Svetlana was readjusting her shawl when Korra appeared in front of her. "That was pretty…" Korra coughed. "Pretty good, for, you know, a beginner…or whatever." She crossed her arms and looked away. "Yeah."

Svet raised an eyebrow at the attempted compliment.

"It only gets more challenging from here, but you seem like you have a good foundation, um, and the airbender outfit suits you," Korra continued before turning around and walking away.

Svetlana's face brightened. "Um, thank you, Avatar," she replied. "That means much to hear someone say that. I have only ever pictured myself wearing this and what it would feel like. It is also good to see your attitude is better than before."

Korra stopped her escape. "Don't think about it too much, I'm still confused about how you and…whoever else you got in there works," she said with a small huff. "I'm just making observations, that's all." She walked off again.

Svetlana watched her head back into the temple. "A little progress," she decided. "That's more than we could hope for."