Mako had come to a conclusion about meditation:

It was impossible.

He'd been sitting in the pavilion for over five minutes, and he felt even more anxious now than when he started attempting meditation. He opened one eye and peered over at Korra. She didn't seem to be having any problems. Her legs were crossed, her fists lightly touching above her stomach. He closed his eyes again and tried to sit even straighter. How in the world was she clearing her mind? She'd explained it all to him before they sat down, sure, but that didn't help. Not when she was here sitting next to him.

With Korra around, relaxation was impossible.

She was there. Right there. If he stretched out his hand, he'd be touching her. Touching her! And honestly, even if she were further away, even if she wasn't sitting next to him, it would make no difference. He couldn't get her out of his head. Frankly, he hadn't been able to get her out of his head since they met. Ergo, clearing his mind was impossible.

Korra was gorgeous and strong and competitive and passionate and perfect and absolutely, completely frustrating, but Mako had never felt so scared or nervous or excited about anyone like this. He wanted to kiss her, but just the thought of that sent his stomach into knots. Her actually wanting him was impossible. But still, he wanted to feel her lips on his so badly.

He could see it right now, just saying her name, and she'd turn to him. Her eyes—her flawless, blue eyes—would be looking at him curiously. The words would spill out before he had a chance to stop them, and she'd say that of course, she felt the same way, why did he take so long to tell her? And then her lips would be on his, his hands would be on her waist, and they would—

"Feel relaxed?" Korra asked. Impossible. His eyelids snapped open and glanced over to the side. Korra was kicking her legs out of position and looking over at him.

"Of course," he said.

She smiled, ever so brilliantly. "Yeah, I thought it was pretty pointless the first couple of time I tried meditating, too." She laughed a bit and stood. "Sorry I made you do that. It's just that Tenzin's got me meditating every time I come to the pavilion, and since this was the last stop on my fabulous, all-encompassing tour of Air Temple Island, it had to happen." She reached a hand down. Mako took it, and she yanked him up hard, closing the distance between them to practically nothing. Amazingly, Korra didn't let go of his hand. Instead, she grabbed the other one. Mako's heart throbbed in his throat. She was there. Right there. Her lips, there in front of him. All he had to do was get the courage and lean down, just a little ways, and—

"Man, those sentries never leave me be," Korra groaned. Mako followed her line of sight and noticed one of the guards of the Order of the White Lotus watching the two of them. Mako dropped his hands, embarrassed. The guard seemed to be staring at Korra quite intently, and a pang of jealousy shot through Mako. This chump could be alone with Korra as much as he wanted.

"Are you ever alone?" Mako asked, curious.

"Barely." Korra began to tap her chin with her index finger, mumbling to herself as she paced back and forth across the pavilion. With furrowed eyebrows, Mako cocked his head to the side, and almost instantly, Korra burst out again, "Got it!"

"Got what?"

"An idea. Come with me," she said, marching away. She gestured for Mako to follow her down the hill and across the open area. Behind her, he couldn't help but watch the way her hips moved. She had quite an athletic body, but her hips were still unashamedly feminine. "Hurry up," she said with a laugh, and Mako jogged forward to match her speedy pace.

"Where are you taking me? I thought the 'fabulous, all-encompassing tour' was over?" He glanced around as they walked through the center of the island. Air acolytes strolled about together. Sky bison flew overhead. Two small, yellow and orange figures darted behind the spinning gates.

"Not quite. There's still one thing I wanted to show you."

A group of large trees, adorned with multi-colored leaves lay in front of them, leading into a small, forested area. Korra ducked underneath some branches, and Mako followed.

He wondered what she had in store for him. She was always so unpredictable; it was nearly impossible to guess what she was planning. Maybe that's why he'd been having so many problems landing his first move? If Bolin could see him now, he'd be giving him grief to no end. "Just do it! Kiss her!" he'd say. Unlike Mako, Bolin had plenty of practice kissing. It was never hard to kiss a fangirl, but Bolin had no clue how difficult it was proving to kiss Korra. It was impossible! She was the Avatar, after all.

Korra's path wasn't straight. She wound around, as if she was trying to make sure that nobody followed them. The two passed tree after tree, going deeper into the woods, when Korra suddenly stopped. Mako nearly crashed into her.

"Hi," she said, grinning.

"Um. H-hey." He took a step back and looked around. There was nothing around but branches, leaves, and dirt. Why'd she bring him here?

Then it hit him—it didn't matter. There she was, and they were alone. No White Lotus sentries, no Air Acolytes. This was it. This was his chance. He stared at her as she closed her eyes and breathed in the forest. All he had to do was walk right over there, lift his hand, tilt her chin towards him, and kiss her. He just had to get the courage, and do it. He clenched his fist, willing his body to just do what his mind was telling him and kiss her.

Courage, that's what he needed.

Korra stepped forward, peering up at him. Her gaze, locked with his, sent a warm tingling through his limbs and left him paralyzed. She raised herself up on her toes, getting closer, closer, and he couldn't do anything except let her make the move. Was this actually happening? Was this possible? His courage was nowhere to be found, but he couldn't argue; she was right there, and he felt her breath, warm and sweet, on his lips. Her mouth looked so soft. Korra's fingers touched the side of his face, and instinctively his hand reached up to lay over hers. She closed her eyes and—

"Yes!" a tiny voice exclaimed from above.

Korra dropped from her toes, a scowl on her face.

"IKKI!" she barked upward. "JINORA!"

The two girls giggled and came into view, dangling by their knees from the branch.

"Yes?" Jinora said innocently. She moved so that she was sitting on the thick branch, looking down on the show from a distance. She knew that she was not so innocent that she could drop down from the tree without punishment. Smart girl.

"Can you please leave me alone?" Korra growled.

"Why didn't you kiss him?" Ikki asked, swaying back and forth, climbing from branch to branch with quick bursts of air. "You said you wanted to kiss him! Is it because you found us or is because he's driving you crazy right now? Can you please just kiss him like you said you were going to?"

Wait, what?

"We just wanted to see!" Jinora added.

Korra's cheeks flared. "YOU'RE the ones driving me crazy, you… you… sneaky ring-tailed lemurs!" she yelled up, fists clenched at her sides. The girls laughed again, swinging. "C'mon," she said to Mako. "I know a place where I can get some real PRIVACY!" she roared at the two airbenders. She grasped his hand, locking their fingers together, and started yanking him along through the trees. Mako stumbled behind her on roots; the girls flew through the branches, following them.

Korra grumbled quietly, muttering to herself. Mako caught only a few words as he was struggling to keep up with her. She soon turned spoke to him, a smile back on her face: "Time to run!" She picked up the pace, and soon the two were sprinting hand-in-hand through the forest, the browns and greens whizzing past them in a blur.

"Korra, stop, where are we—"

And that's when the ground fell from beneath his feet, and they were leaping into the bay, flying. Somehow Mako managed to stifle a scream when he became airborne, but his legs kept moving like he was running. Korra gripped his hand with hers and with her other arm did a complicated maneuver, her wrist bending this way and that, her fingers outstretched.

The water began to rise to meet them; Mako closed his eyes and held his breath as they submerged. Not even a moment later, he no longer felt the water on his face. His eyelids flicked open, and he took in his surroundings.

It should have been impossible.

Korra had bent water around them, so they were very much underneath the sea, but surrounded by a huge bubble of air. The water below them suspended them so that they bobbed lightly with its motion. The wall of water above and to their sides shimmered, undulating under the pressure Korra was enforcing. It was incredible how powerful a bender she could be when she put her mind to it. A fish swam next to him. When Mako finally looked in front of him, he noticed her hand swirling above her head. And then, he noticed her eyes, blazing as they stared at him.

Korra made the impossible happen.

She was incredible and powerful and beautiful and perfect and he wanted to tell her so badly, and he was so amazed by her everything that the courage came. The courage filled him so that he had to do what he'd wanted to do the entire day, the entire week, the entire time he'd known her.

"All I wanted," Korra said, breathing heavy. "Was a little privacy."

"And all I wanted was to kiss you," he said, his lips crashing down on hers. Responding instantly, Korra leaned into the kiss, breathing him in and wrapping her arms around his neck, forgetting completely about her concentration.

The water began to fall on them, but Mako didn't care. It could smash against them and whisk their bodies away in the current, but he refused to let go of her. His mouth opened, and Korra pressed her mouth against it. The water collided against them, and he felt the air leave his lungs.

And as Korra took his breath away, he came to a conclusion about needing, wanting, loving the Avatar and having her need, want, and love him:

It was possible.

EVERYBODY LOVES A GOOD UNDERWATER KISS, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU START INHALING THE WATER ON ACCIDENT. OOPS. DROWNIN' AIN'T COOL, KIDS. STAY IN SCHOOL.

Anywayyzzzzzz, not my best, I know. I'm actually a bit disappointed with this one, but I'm just done with it. DONE. Don't care.

SO ENJOY MY MAKORRA CRAP. IT WILL CONTINUE TO COME. NO REGRETS. NOTHING HURTS.

-

KORRA AND FRIENDS (C) BRYKE. YEAH.