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They meet the night of a match, one of those days where her heart has been rapidly beating in her chest since she woke up that morning, a never ending chant of win win win survive survive survive. Pro Bending is more than a game to Mako. It’s her job, and losing means going hungry. That’s why, when Bolin brings in what she assumes is just another distraction, she doesn’t fall in love. Not yet.
“Psst, Bolin,” she whispers, standing by the lockers and putting on her gloves with a grimace, “I told you. You have to stop bringing your crazy fangirls in here before the matches. Get her out of here.”
As Bolin launches into an excuse about how “this one is different”, Mako looks up and makes contact with the most beautiful girl she’s ever seen in her life. She plays off her blush by flipping off Hasook, who has finally arrived, not two minutes before the match starts. Striding onto the platform, she brushes off the girl (Korra, she thinks her name is) with all the nonchalance she can muster, redirecting her attention to winning this next match, and along with it, her next meal.
The game comes close, and Mako storms off the stage determined to kill Hasook, who continues to prove himself more useless by the day. Her anger boils over, but Hasook, forever apathetic, leaves before she can take out her frustration on him. Korra ends up on the receiving end instead.
“You guys were incredible out there! Especially you, Ms. Hat Trick.”
Barely holding back her eye roll, Mako sighs. “Oh, you’re still here?”
Korra frowns. “Oh, you’re still a jerk?”
That part stings a little, but Mako knows she deserves it, so she keeps her mouth shut.
That is, until the conversation (and Bolin’s confusion) demand she speak up. Face burning, she resists the urge to slam her head into the locker.
“You’re the Avatar, and I’m an idiot.”
Korra smiles. “Both are true.”
~~~
Hasook is a dead man, Mako thinks, cracking her knuckles and frowning with anxiety as she and Bolin wait and grow more nervous by the second.
Of course, that’s when Korra chooses to show up. Mako’s not only worried, she’s panicking, and having the Avatar herself here to witness their disgrace and failure isn’t helping. When Korra offers to play, Mako shuts her down.
“No way. I’d rather forfeit than look like a fool out there.”
Korra scowls at Mako. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
That’s when the referee bursts in, and Mako almost screams with frustration.
“Time’s up. Are you in or out?”
Mako’s mind changes in a flash, and she’s ready to get down on her knees and beg Korra to help them, but the Avatar moves first.
“We’re in!”
Mako is stunned. She knows she’s been nothing but standoffish to Korra since they met, and yet this girl still wants to probend with her?
“We are?”
Giving Mako a self satisfied grin, Korra winks as Bolin throws her a uniform.
“You can thank me later.”
This girl is a tornado. Mako’s known her for two days, and already, everything has changed.
“This girl is crazy.”
The second the words leave her lips, a stomach-dropping realization follows, and that is the first time Mako falls in love with Avatar Korra.
~~~~
Bolin isn’t at Air Temple island, and Mako’s heart has jumped into her throat. He’s probably just pigging out at Narooks, she tries to convince herself. But Mako knows Bolin, knows his nature and how much they need those 30,000 yuans, and is sure it’s more than that. My little brother, she thinks, my responsibility. She’s got to find him, now.
“Wait!” Korra calls, and Mako turns around, confused. “I could, uh, help you look for him.”
Mako’s internally freaking out, she needs to find Bolin, and Korra is a distraction in the sense that every time Mako is around her, her brain goes a little fuzzy and her heart beats faster.
These emotions scare Mako more than anything, and so she tries to sort them into a box in her mind labeled 'do not open' in large red letters. It doesn’t usually work, so when Korra is around, sarcasm and attitude become her shield for those feelings. Mako swallows dryly and scrambles for an excuse.
“Nah, I got it.”
Korra catches her arm, and every sense in Mako’s body goes electric, crackling with something she does not want to think about right now.
“Hey, Cool Girl. Let me help you. We can take Naga.”
No one has offered to help Mako with anything since before her parents died. It’s been her against the world ever since she can remember.
Mako thinks about that, and yeah - she falls in love.
~~~~~~~
Bolin has been flirting with Korra all day, and it’s starting to drive Mako insane.
She’s not jealous. She’s not. She has a date with Asami this evening, to which he will no doubt bring flowers and pull out her chair like a perfect gentleman. Why should she be jealous if Bolin wants to drape himself all over Korra’s warm brown skin and muscled arms? She doesn’t care.
Or at least, that’s what she’s telling herself.
“So, Korra, uh, what kinda guys are you into?” Bolin says, leaning casually against one of the gym walls while Mako grits her teeth, determined to focus on anything other than this. She pulls out her water bottle, scowling at nothing in particular.
“I like funny guys, cute guys, you know, just guys in general. I don’t really have a type, I guess.” Korra says, and Mako tilts her head back, chugging down her water, because she is not listening to this conversation, she isn’t-
“But,” Korra stage-whispers, pulling Bolin towards her like its some huge secret that Mako can’t clearly hear from the other side of the gym, “I like girls too.”
Mako chokes on her water.
Coughing loudly, lungs straining for air as Bolin hurries over to check on her, Mako sees Korra’s knowing smile, and falls in love.
~~~~~~~~
She finds her looking out at Republic City’s glowing lights.
The light reflects off the water and illuminates Korra’s face, making Mako’s breath catch in her throat.
“Yeah, but when you’re with him, you’re thinking about me, aren’t you?”
Mako knows it’s true, and it terrifies her. Being with Asami is easy. He’s nice and handsome and their relationship is normal. It’s what’s expected. It’s safer to kiss Asami and feel nothing than to act on the thoughts that she has about Korra’s lips when she’s alone at night and can’t force her feelings into the boxes in her head.
“We need to talk,” she begins. “Look, sometimes you can be so infuriating.”
“Save your breath,” Korra snaps, her back to Mako. “You’ve already made it clear how you feel about me.”
“No, I haven’t,” Mako says, hands shaking. “What I’m trying to say is, as much as you drive me crazy, I also think you’re pretty amazing.”
Korra turns, and something in her eyes makes Mako step closer.
“So, you do like me?”
Mako’s words spill out in a mismatched jumble.
“Yes, but- I like Asami too,” she lies. “I dunno, things are complicated. I’ve been feeling really confused and-”
The words catch in her throat as Korra leans in, planting her lips firmly on Mako’s. There’s a split second of shock, during which Mako has the time to think, nothing is ever going to be the same after this, before her eyes flutter shut, and she loses herself in the kiss.
Mako’s a realist, so no, it’s not perfect, but it’s warm and soft in a way boys could never be, yet it’s also heart racing and so Korra that if she wasn’t so damn analytical, she might say she finally understood the meaning of the word supernova.
Of course, that’s when everything has to come crashing down. It’s Korra who pulls away first, her face ashamed. Mako’s heart clenches in her chest as she turns to see Bolin, the last person in the world Mako wants to hurt, clutching flowers, staring wide-eyed at her and Korra.
Shit.
“Bolin, this isn’t what you think,” she starts, desperate, but before she can say anything else, her brother bursts into tears and runs away.
Perfect. In one night, not only has she stolen her little brother’s crush, but she’s also outed herself to him without any warning.
She turns to Korra, flushing angrily. “Great. Look what you did!”
“You’re blaming me!?” Korra screeches.
Mako wants to scream. Everything about this girl makes her heart flip upside down, but Mako’s terrified of what that means. She’s never wanted anyone like this before. All she’s ever wanted is to have a normal and stable life, to make enough money to be sure that Bolin always has enough to eat, and that he doesn’t have to grow up before he’s ready.
Korra make makes her want more than that.
Of course, putting all of that into words is near impossible, so Mako settles on building up her walls instead.
“You kissed me!”
“You kissed me back!”
Mako stifles a scream of frustration, and storms off. She tells herself she’s going to look for Bolin, but all she’s really just trying to escape Korra, escape her confusion, and stomp these feelings into the dust.
She wants to stay. She leaves. She falls in love, and she breaks her own heart at the same time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mako’s been watching Korra for hours.
The healers have already seen to her, and were very clear that Korra was going to be absolutely fine, perhaps just a bit hungry when she woke up, maybe with a mild headache. There’s really no reason to worry, they said, and no one needs to watch her because it’ll likely be hours before she wakes up.
Mako doesn’t care.
She’s anxiously waiting for the moment when Korra opens her eyes again. She’ll probably make some annoyingly sarcastic comment about Mako stalking her, and then Mako will probably fire back an equally bothersome reply. Words aside, she wants to be the first face Korra sees when she wakes up, and for her know that Mako will always, always have her back, and that she’ll wait for her, as long as it takes.
Mako threads her fingers through Korra’s, and falls in love.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mako can practically feel Korra’s disappointment, and the thought curdles her stomach.
This is my fault, she thinks. If I had been stronger, she’d still have her bending.
Running outside, Mako stops at the top of the steps to shiver, watching Korra walk over to Naga. Making her way over, Mako has to open and close her mouth several times before she can make the words come out.
“Korra,” she says, “Wait.”
Korra turns, and the look in her eyes burns. “Go away,” she snaps.
“I will, but I just want you to know I’m here for you.” As long as it takes.
“No,” Korra snaps. “I mean go away, back to Republic City. Get on with your life.”
Mako furrows her brow. It’s not my life without you in it.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m not the Avatar anymore,” Korra says, pain in her voice audible, “You don’t need to do me any favors.”
Mako has to stop herself from gaping. Does Korra really think that’s what she cares about?
Mako grabs Korra’s arm, and even through layers of fur and fabric, the contact makes the hairs on her arms stand up.
“I don’t care if you’re the Avatar or not.” Korra turns, and Mako can feel her voice begin to shake. “Listen. When Tarrlok took you, I was losing my mind at the thought of never seeing you again, and I realized…I love you, Korra.” The words spill out into one of the scariest things she’s ever said in her life, but once they’re in the air, Mako feels whole.
She places her hand on Korra’s cheek.
Korra’s face is one of total panic, an expression Mako is all too used to seeing on herself.
“I- I can’t.”
The words cut through Mako like a knife, and she has to physically stop herself from stumbling backwards from their impact. She watches as Korra jerks away from her touch, jumps on Naga, and runs away.
“Korra!”
The snow is cold through Mako’s thin coat, and her red scarf offers little respite.
She follows her anyway.
~~~~
Mouth dropping open, Mako watches in awe as Korra, this miracle of a thousand of years of life, the girl she’s head over heels in love with, bends all four elements in a terrifying display of power, before gently floating to the ground.
Mako lets out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, smile shy as Korra turns and sees her.
Korra runs towards her, and Mako catches her, spinning them both around before putting her down. Korra places her hand on Mako’s cheek, and she leans into the touch.
“I love you too, “ Korra whispers, pulling Mako downwards for a kiss.
This time, despite being a realist, it’s perfect.
And knowing that, Mako also knows that she is hopelessly, incurably, falling in love.
~~~~~~~~~
Mako hums softly, flipping the page in her book and continuing to run her fingers through her girlfriend’s hair as she lays her head in her lap. Rain hits the window pane outside the apartment, and Mako is fairly certain Korra has fallen asleep until the Avatar’s stomach lets out a rumble and Korra groans loudly.
“Mako,” Korra starts to say, and she can actually hear the pout in her girlfriend’s voice as Korra speaks, “I’m hungry.”
“Hm? Well, I think there’s some food in the fridge,” the firebender answers, still absorbed in the newest book Jinora has recommended for her, a mystery novel involving a double homicide and a crime of passion.
Korra sits up and huffs, leaning her head on Mako’s shoulder. “No, I don’t want moldy leftovers. Can you make me a sandwich or something?”
Mako rolls her eyes in response. “Korra, you’re fine. Stop being a baby.”
One of Korra’s hands drifts up to Mako’s neck and strokes the skin there. Mako closes her eyes and leans back into the touch, smiling.
“I’m still not making you anything to eat.”
Korra raises an eyebrow. “If you cook me some noodles, I’ll let you touch my boobs. Under the bra.”
Mako’s eyes fly open, and she bolts upright.
“Um. You wanted noodles?”
Korra nods, but Mako’s already halfway to the kitchen.
She listens to Korra’s ringing laughter fill the apartment, and falls in love.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mako watches as light explodes into the sky and dances in the dark, and her eyes shine.
She did it.
Korra walks out of the forest, footsteps crunching softly in the snow as she makes her way back to the group. Sometimes, Mako forgets that Korra is thousands of years of life immersed in one body, the most powerful person alive, a creature verging on godlike.
And she loves me back.
Mako runs to Korra, hugging and spinning her around. She puts her down, smiling so hard her cheeks hurt.
“You never cease to amaze me.”
Korra smiles up at her, and Mako fights the urge to kiss her in front of all these people.
“Thanks. By the way, I’m really sorry for being a total pain. Things were stressful and pretty confusing. It’s hard being the Avatar.”
“It’s harder being the Avatar’s girlfriend,” Mako teases, eyes shining.
Korra hugs her again, and Mako feels peaceful, which is rare, so she falls in love.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I think we both know that this…..us….doesn’t work.”
Mako nods. Her hands shake a little with the effort of keeping it together, but this isn’t about her right now. It’s about them, about how Mako thinks they were meant to be but maybe they did it wrong, maybe what she convinced herself was love wasn’t even real at all, and the realist inside her begins to scream that true love is a thing for fairy tales and little kids, and that she was stupid for ever believing otherwise.
“You’re right.”
“It’s over,” Korra whispers. “For real this time.”
Korra’s hands are soft on Mako’s face as she leans in, and it brings her back to a time when white snowflakes dusted their hair, and Mako believed in happy endings.
The kiss is salty, mixed with tears. Their foreheads rest against each other, and she resists the urge to grab Korra and not let go. She’s not hers to hold anymore.
Despite that, she can’t stop herself. “I’ll always love you Korra,” she says, and she can’t imagine the day she won’t.
“And I’ll always love you.”
Mako falls in love, and it hurts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mako scans the courtyard for Korra’s familiar figure, trying to hold back her panic. If we can’t get this message to her in time, Zaheer is going to commit a genocide, she thinks, and tries to drown the loud thudding of her heart in her ears.
“Guys, look out!,” Tu shouts, and Mako turns to him, confused. “Giant dog-beast thingy!”
Naga, she thinks, feeling a stab of relief in her chest.
The polar bear dog barrels into Mako, tossing her to the ground. The firebender gasps for breath as Naga slobbers all over her, happily licking her and barking out an affectionate greeting. Mako doesn’t think she’s ever been so happy to be drooled on.
“Okay, all right Naga,” Mako laughs, making a feeble attempt to push the giant dog off her.
Flopping back down, she sighs. “It’s good to see you too.”
The polar bear dog’s licking becomes even more happily aggressive, and Mako tries and fails to squirm away from all the love Naga is showing her. “Ahh, stop. You’re licking my mouth!”
Finally, Naga decides that she’s loved on Mako sufficiently and sits back, panting joyfully. Mako jumps at the opportunity of freedom and rubs her mouth, giving the polar bear dog a rueful grin.
“Asami! Korra!””
Mako’s head snaps up at the sound of her brother’s voice, senses flooding with relief.
“You guys are okay!”
Scrambling up from the ground, she joins Bolin in running towards their friends. Before she can check herself, instinct causes Mako to gather Korra into a fierce hug, tucking her head into the crook of her neck and breathing in the shorter girl. Korra brings a myriad of smells with her, some familiar and other foreign. Mako resists the urge to bury her face in Korra’s warm brown hair, reluctantly ripping herself away. Standing tense, she shifts from foot to foot, struggling to find words.
“Sorry,” she breathes. “I was just-”
Holding herself back from reaching for Korra again, Mako regains her composure.
“It’s so good to see you.”
Korra’s blue eyes sparkle up at her. “It’s good to see you too,” she says.
Mako can’t even feel worried about the news she has to deliver, because right then, she’s falling in love.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mako writes Korra a letter every day.
She never replies, and Mako doesn’t want to look like she’s desperately in love with Korra and that her heart feels empty all the time these days or anything, so she starts sending only a letter a week.
But she still writes the ones she doesn’t mail, and they pile up on her desk in unorganized stacks, hundreds of words that she could never say, even with the knowledge Korra might not even be reading them.
Mako wonders if she misses her too.
For the first six months, she understands. Korra needs time to heal mentally and physically, and she’ll write Mako back when she’s ready.
A year drags on, and still, nothing. Mako throws herself into her job at the station, working late hours to avoid confronting the empty side of her bed.
Two years. Mako swears she hates Korra. How could she do this? Doesn’t she know that Mako hurts for her, that she misses her all the time, that she’d do anything for her, that all Korra has to do is ask?
At least it’s not just her. Bolin and Asami don’t get replies either.
And Mako still writes her every single day, picks one letter out of seven to send, and stacks the others on her desk. She never rereads them after writing them, and she often tries to pretend they’re not even there. She doesn’t know why she keeps them.
Mako looks at her abandoned letters on the table, and falls in love.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She cut her hair.
Mako looks at Korra and a million memories flash before her eyes, glittering on the edges of her conscious. Warm lips in cold air, autumn leaves and polar bear fur, hot summer days filled with ringing laughter. The era of red scarves and wolf tails feels a thousand miles away as the firebender struggles to equate those memories with the girl standing in front of her, hair shorn into a chin length style that makes her blue eyes shine.
Her mouth is dry and all her practiced words lost to her, yet she still steps forward, trying to hold back the tears that suddenly prickle at the corners of her eyes.
“Korra!”
“Hey, Mako.”
Korra embraces her without hesitation. All the breath in her lungs evaporates with the contact, and Mako knows that despite everything, all those years of hurt and pain and growth, some things will never change. The moment Korra’s arms fold around her, Mako feels nineteen again, fumbling and awkward, lost and found all at once.
Mako remembers what longing feels like, and falls in love.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mako gulps nervously and smiles down at Korra, trying to ignore the dull ache in her burned arm and the way her heart attempts to pump itself out of her chest when this amazing, magnificent tornado of a girl she’s loved since she was only nineteen rests her head on Mako’s shoulder.
Korra grins back up at her as fireworks burst overhead, and golden eyes meet ocean blue like they did so long ago, when the sea wanted the city and two lost girls walked the darkness together in the light of first love.
She feels Korra’s hand slip into hers, and despite the fact that so much has changed in the last few years, Mako knows that this hasn’t, at least for her.
The words “always”echo through her mind and she lets out a deep calming breath through her mouth, trembling on the precipice of a feeling that hurt her so badly the last time she let it in.
But before the mouthful of gravel and blood, Mako could swear that they’d soared above the clouds, and maybe this time, both of their wings are strong enough to try again.
She turns towards Korra, trying to push out the treacherous, dangerous, wonderful words before something can stop her again.
“Look,” Mako says, as she grips Korra’s hand tighter with her good one, “Korra, I just- I mean, what I’m trying to say is-”
She’s interrupted by Korra dragging her down to her height, and before she knows it, warm lips smash against hers in a way that feels like home.
Grabbing the Avatar around the waist, Mako spins them until they’re both dizzy and laughing and her stomach flutters with feelings that she’s kept under lock and key for three years.
As they slow to a stop, Mako clasps Korra’s fingers and fiercely presses them against her lips.
Korra’s smile stretches across her face like the most beautiful sunrise Mako has ever seen.
“I love you too,” the girl that has saved the world yet again says simply.
Mako knows that this is their second chance, and falls in love.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The betrothal necklace weighs a million pounds in her pocket, and Mako’s attempts to quell the rising nausea in her stomach grow more useless by the second. Korra’s 22nd birthday had felt like the right time to propose, but of course that was before Pema had decided to throw Korra a large celebration and invite all of their family and friends.
The only other people who know tonight’s intentions are Bolin, Tonraq, and Senna. Bolin because he’s a nosy little shit, Tonraq and Senna because Mako had asked for their blessing two weeks earlier, when she’d tagged along with Korra to visit them and Master Katara.
The night’s festivities drag on- dinner, music, dancing and so on. Mako’s getting ansty. When could possibly be the right time to ask, oh hey Korra, I’m in love with you, want me to spend the rest of your life doing that?
Her thoughts are interrupted by Pema clapping her hands.
“Gift time!” the older woman calls.
Present after present flies by- a new saddle for Naga courtesy of Varrick, a voucher for all you can eat at Kwong’s Cuisine from Bolin, a car from Asami, and a mahogany glider from Tenzin and the airbenders.
“Your turn Mako!” Pema calls, smiling at her. Mako’s heart jumps into her throat, but she turns to her girlfriend anyway, biting her lip.
She holds the necklace out gently, ears burning.
“Mako,” Korra gasps, eyes flicking up and down between her and the necklace, “Is that-”
“Look,” Mako whispers, words meant for only Korra to hear, “I really like you, and I think we were meant for each other.”
She’s laid her heart out in the space between them, and every nerve in Mako’s body lights itself on fire when Korra looks up, the hints of a smile hovering at the edges of her lips.
“Always,” Korra whispers, laying a calloused hand on Mako’s cheek.
Mako leans in and presses her mouth to hers, tangling her hands in Korra’s hair, smiling into the kiss. The party guests have started to stop and stare, and Mako can hear Bolin let out a faint whoop. Pulling away, Mako hums happily as Korra leans her forehead against hers, intertwining their fingers. Mako smiles bashfully at the crowd that has formed around them. Tenzin begins to clap, and soon everyone joins him.
When Mako’s parents died, she thought the only family she’d ever have from then on was Bolin. Looking around the room, seeing Asami’s knowing smile, Ikki and Meelo’s loud and happy laughs, Chief Beifong’s smirk, Jinora and Kai’s subtle thumbs up, the loud whooping cheering lead by Bolin and Opal, Mako knows now that family comes in many forms, and that it isn’t only rooted in blood, but in the heart too.
Mako wonders if her parents are watching from the spirit world. She hopes they’d be proud.
Korra’s lips brush her ear, grounding her back to the present.
“Hey, City Girl. You wanna get out of here?”
The hairs rise on the back of Mako’s neck as she turns to Korra, whose eyes are sparkling mischievously. Grinning down at her, Mako nods.
She lets Korra take her hand and lead her down the steps, ignoring Varrick’s wolf whistle (electing instead to flip him off), never once thinking of letting go. As they reach the door leading to a courtyard lit by paper lanterns, cerulean eyes meet amber, and Mako can see that it’s the start of a new chapter for them, an era beyond first loves, red scarves, and wolftails, going further than second chances, police uniforms and shorn hair.
It’s the beginning of something that feels a lot like forever.
And somehow, Mako knows that everything is going to work out just fine.