A/N: Welcome to another Wednesday. Thank you to Goku275, Guest, AsahixMe, IrishDreamer4, BlackDragonMaster, Sharpe, CrazyPhenom, devilfiredog18, and Aquamirra (you JUST made it before I posted this) for reviewing the last chapter.

I also want to take this opportunity to address two other guests who also reviewed - Thunder and Mr Wilson. Not sure if y'all are still reading, given the tone of your reviews - but firstly, thank you for taking the time to leave your words.

Secondly, I can fully respect that you are Korrasami shippers, and I ask that you likewise respect my (and my other readers') preference for Makorra. We clearly have different interpretations of Mako, and that's completely fine - but I've spent 35 chapters and counting explaining WHY I feel Mako (and Makorra) deserve a second chance, and showing how Mako has grown beyond his Book 2 incarnation (which seems to be the basis of your ire) - and if all that has flown over your heads, or if you just skipped it all to complain that I'm writing Makorra, then maybe this is not the story for you. As I stated in the very first chapter, this is being written for fellow Mako and Makorra fans, so I must admit I'm curious what you're doing reading this story when it is clearly tagged as Makorra endgame? I welcome Korrasami shippers to read as well, of course, if they want to - but I have warned you up front that your ship does not last here, so it's redundant to complain about it. It would be much appreciated if you could allow us fans in this section of the fandom the freedom to engage with TLOK how we please without bashing our ships or perspectives.

Now, on to our regularly-scheduled programming!

Time check: Early autumn, 176 AG (25 months post-Book 4)

36. You hold my hand on the street, walk me back to that apartment

Korra's new apartment has been carefully chosen.

Strategically located in the Downtown District, it's a small but cosy one-bedroom studio close to City Hall, RCPD HQ, and the ferry to Air Temple Island. He'd recommended the area when she told him she wanted her own place, and she had scoped around until she found a building that allowed pets and was high-ceilinged enough for Naga to live there. Then they'd gone to see the unit together (friends-turning-into-lovers do that, right?).

Incidentally, it also isn't too far from his own apartment.

He whistles merrily as he parks his Satobike and strolls up to Korra's ground-floor unit, which she'd chosen specifically for the direct entrance from the street. She'd told him she was moving in today, and he'd promised to come over to help if his work shift allowed it.

She had also told him not to bother knocking, so he doesn't.

He opens the door to a cacophony of noise and activity and red wingsuits.

"Korra, Korra, you should put it up here!" Ikki is floating and holding a colourful painting of flowers high against a blank wall.

"Mine is going here," Meelo declares, propping his impressively realistic family portrait on the mantelpiece above the fireplace.

"Korra, how do you want the dishes arranged?" Jinora calls from the kitchenette. Kai is next to her, already retrieving plates and bowls from an open box and stacking them on the counter, while Naga stands guard, protectively shielding the delicate crockery from Rohan, who is literally bouncing off the walls while Pema attempts to rein him in.

Korra herself is on the other side of the room, manoeuvring a sofa into position with Tenzin's help.

Ikki notices him first. "Mako!" she trills.

That, of course, leads to everybody noticing him and saying hello. Tenzin tosses him a, "Good to see you, Mako," without taking his eyes off the sofa. Meelo comes over and stands at attention, with a salute and a, "Hello, Sergeant!" Kai grins and waves at him; Jinora nods; Naga's tail thumps the floor as it wags. Rohan stops bouncing long enough for Pema to catch him, after which she turns and greets him warmly.

Korra spends a few more seconds adjusting the sofa before coming over and kissing his cheek. It's a casual gesture, and she used to do it even when they were just friends — but in light of their renewed romance and in plain view of Tenzin's family, it feels extraordinarily intimate. He strives not to blush and glances around to see if any of the airbenders have noticed.

He isn't worried about Meelo, who has gone back to arranging his painting. Tenzin and Pema are dealing with a fussy Rohan, so he doesn't think they've picked up on it, either — and Jinora and Kai are discussing something over the stack of plates.

Ikki, however, has her brow furrowed and is peering intently at them.

With a slightly awkward cough, he takes two steps away from Korra. While they aren't exactly keeping their not-yet relationship secret, he remembers how Ikki complicated things last time, and that's the last thing they need when this current…thing…is barely beginning.

He spends the next hour helping to move furniture, hang decorations on walls, and put items away. At some point, he becomes aware that Ikki is watching him and Korra very closely, and that Kai seems to have caught on that something is different about the way he's interacting with the Avatar.

Ikki at least seems to have learned some tact; instead of blurting out a direct question in front of everybody like she might have at seven, the now-fourteen-year-old drags Korra into the bedroom, presumably on the pretext of checking the way she arranged the bedspread, but he knows it's actually a mini-interrogation about their relationship status.

He tries to remain casual but knows he's failed miserably when he and Kai are sent to fetch the dining chairs from Oogi (who is parked behind the apartment building) and Kai asks him point-blank if he and Korra are dating.

"Not…exactly?" he hedges as they walk up to Tenzin's bison. "I mean, we're sort of…together, I guess…but also, not quite?"

"Gee, thanks for clearing that up," Kai jibes. He floats up to Oogi's saddle and starts tossing chairs down, using air to slow their descent. Once all four chairs are safely on the ground, Kai jumps back down. "Seriously, though, you and Korra — how and when did that happen?"

He smiles wryly. "Six years ago."

Kai chokes. "What?!"

"Remember how I mentioned I'd had two ex-girlfriends? Korra's one of them." He decides to tack on, "Asami's the other one", and watches Kai's brain just about explode.

"Holy monkey-feathers, you dated both of them?" the airbender exclaims incredulously. "Why am I only hearing about this now?"

He shrugs. "It's ancient history. Complicated history," he emphasises as Kai opens his mouth to ask. "I've spent the last few years getting over it, so I'd rather not get into the details. If you really wanna know, Ikki or Jinora could probably tell you."

Kai frowns. "But…you and Korra are a thing again now?"

"Yes. But that's a very recent development." He picks up two chairs and begins walking back the way they came; Kai follows suit. "We're…giving it another go. I hope to Agni it works this time."

Kai mulls over that, observing him. "That's why it didn't work out with Zoya, isn't it?" His eyes widen in understanding. "And that's why you took so long to start dating again. Because you've been hung up on Korra all this time."

He sighs. "She's the only one I'll ever love, Kai. That's why I need this to work. And why we don't want to put a label on anything just yet — we're just taking it one step at a time."

"I get it," Kai assures him. Now that the shock has worn off, he is nothing but supportive. "For the record, you guys look good together."

"Thanks."

Korra comes out her apartment door when they're three feet away. "Oh, there you are," she remarks too-casually. "Kai, you mind heading inside first? I need to talk to Mako for a bit."

Kai grins knowingly. "Sure," he says; then he lopes inside with his chairs.

He sets his own chairs down and peers questioningly at Korra, who looks apologetic.

"So…I think the cat might be out of the bag," she says sheepishly. "Ikki caught on really fast, and she's over the moon about…us."

"Kai just asked me about it too," he says.

"What'd you tell him?"

"The truth. That we're just starting over, and trying to go slow so we don't mess up."

"Yeah…" Korra bites her lip. "Hey, I know we didn't want to…announce anything — but this isn't something we're hiding, is it?"

"I guess not," he says, albeit cautiously. "Why?"

She exhales. "It just feels weird not to tell the rest of Tenzin's family, if Ikki and Kai already know. I mean, Ikki won't say anything if I ask her to keep quiet — really, she's a lot better now — but…"

"You wanna tell them?" he asks.

"Only if you're okay with it," she says hurriedly. "We don't have to — but they're all here, and…"

He reaches out and grasps her hand, stilling her babbling. "Korra, it's okay. We can tell them."

She pauses, studying him. "Are you sure?"

His heart warms, because Korra is well aware that he's the more fragile one in their relationship right now, and she's letting him call the shots.

He doesn't know what their future holds, and part of him is still adjusting to this new dynamic, and he's not about to go blurting out their still-undefined relationship status to everyone he knows…but this small thing — telling Tenzin's family, who are like Korra's own family by this point — this, he can do.

He reels her in and places a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Yes," he whispers against her skin. "We can tell them."

Korra smiles brilliantly at him, her eyes lighting up. "Come on, then, city boy."

She opens the door and leads him back into her apartment, hand in hand.

(They send Kai back out for the chairs.)

A/N: I finally got to use a Taylor Swift song! — specifically, 'Cornelia Street' — one of her best tunes, in my opinion. I wish she'd chosen it as a single — I would've loved to see a music video for it.

Are y'all up for another in-depth song analysis? As always, I will only be highlighting specific relevant lyrics - feel free to look up the entire lyrics to draw your own interpretations for the other lines. Keep in mind that for this song, the interpretations of the lyrics in relation to this story are more metaphorical or symbolic than direct and literal.

'We were in the backseat, drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar' — references the last time Mako was in the bar, with Asami. Then, and now, he's 'drunk' on hope for love with Korra, naturally.

'"I rent a place on Cornelia Street," I say casually in the car' — Mako is the one who recommends Korra's new apartment to her, and you bet he did it as casually as he could.

'We were a fresh page on the desk filling in the blanks as we go' — Korra and Mako have started afresh and are literally figuring it out as they go along, without thinking too far ahead.

'As if the street lights pointed in an arrowhead leading us home' — as implied in the previous chapter, Korra and Mako are home for each other, and the 'lights' in their life keep leading them back to each other.

And I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends
I'd never walk Cornelia Street again
That's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend
I'd never walk Cornelia Street again
And baby, I get mystified by how this city screams your name
And baby, I'm so terrified of if you ever walk away
I'd never walk Cornelia Street again

The whole chorus talks about how Mako hopes this time their relationship never ends, how he's terrified of that possibility, and how if it does end again, this heartbreak he would not recover from. Republic City 'screams [Korra's] name' both literally and figuratively — literally, Korra is the Avatar; figuratively, Republic City feels incomplete to him without Korra. And, naturally, Mako's 'Cornelia Street' is the street where Korra's new apartment is. More metaphorically, Cornelia Street also represents Mako's love life.

'Windows swung right open, autumn air' — again, autumn was the peak of the original Makorra romance, and now we're back in autumn again with the rekindled relationship.

'Jacket 'round my shoulders is yours' — symbolic reference here; Mako does not have Korra's jacket, but remember that she was the one who gifted his current scarf to him.

'We bless the rains on Cornelia Street' — continuing the long-running water metaphor, the reference to rain is a reference to Korra

'Memorize the creaks in the floor' — Mako is definitely going to be remembering every aspect of this apartment. Not only is this apartment significant to him, since he was the one who helped Korra choose it, but it is also an implication that he is going to be here often enough to memorise it — which in turn is an indication of where he sees the relationship (hopefully) going this time.

'But then you called, showed your hand' — Korra showed her hand back in Chapter 34 when she panicked at Mako being injured and revealed how much she couldn't afford to lose him.

'You hold my hand on the street
Walk me back to that apartment
Years ago, we were just inside
Barefoot in the kitchen
Sacred new beginnings
That became my religion, listen'

So, 'apartment' here is both literal (Korra's new apartment) and a metaphor for their relationship. They were in a relationship years ago and are now finding their way back into one, symbolised by the final scene of them walking back into Korra's apartment to explain their changed relationship status to the airbenders. This new beginning is sacred, treasured, and they're going through it together — and it's fitting that their settling into a new relationship coincides with Korra settling into a new apartment.

That is all I have for you today. I'll see you next week!