Chapter 1- Just a Girl

-x-

"I don't know what to do! I like you Korra, I really do, but..."

"But what, Mako."

"I like Asami too. I don't know! I feel like you should be someone special, someone who I can't reach. I'm just a street rat, and you're the all high-and-mighty Avatar, master of all four elements and all that crap."

"Mako-"

"Don't waste your breath. You probably already have someone in your life, anyways. My brother, a stranger- heck, it could even be Tahno! I'm helpless, you know that?" he laughed sadly. "I don't even know why I'm doing this," he whispered while turning around. "I don't know why I tried." Korra grabbed his scarf.

"Mako. Listen to me," she demanded.

"What'cha gonna do? Hurt me? You've hurt me and my brother enough already."

"Mako-"

"You're a monster, you know that? The Avatar is supposed to be the keeper of harmony in the world, but instead you created war. You, me- we're all failures."

Korra was infuriated.

"How DARE you call me a monster!" she screamed, grabbing Mako's shoulder so he couldn't escape. "How dare you call me, you, anybody at all a failure! We are perfect, just the way we are! All of us! We all stopped Amon and the anti-bending revolution, together! We are NOT worthless, and I never want to hear you say that again, got it?" Korra sniffed, and released his shoulder. She turned on her heel.

"I'm just a girl, Mako," she whispered so that nobody but him would hear. "I'm not high and mighty, and contrary to popular belief, I'm actually not a monster. Just-" she sighed as she took a deep breath, and stepped forwards, leaving her with both toes on the edge of the pier. The golden pro-bending arena's reflection shimmered in the ever-fading sunlight of the evening.

"What are you doing?" Mako asked, amazed for just a second. "Where are you going?"

A tear formed in Korra's eye. She blinked once, hard, and refused to show her face. She made no attempt to answer Mako's questions. Again, she took a deep breath, and stepped off the edge of the pier, not even bothering to bend the water up to catch her.

It wasn't dangerous. The water was only five feet below the pier, and he knew that.

But that didn't stop Mako from harboring a feeling of dread, growing with every second it spent out in the limelight of the setting sun.

-x-

She sunk, like a rock. Her feet, even after only a moment underwater, felt like a lead weight underneath her body, pulling her down into the deep, murky water; faster, faster, faster every second-

If you were Korra, you would know when you reached your peak amount of air, and when the pressure became too much, you might have bent the water around your head, saving your ears from the pulsing and keeping life-sustaining oxygen into your lungs.

But you aren't Korra, and when she has her mind set to something, she won't give up.

This time, she was resolved to make Mako understand, no matter what it took. She was prepared to do anything and everything for him to only UNDERSTAND.

Maybe, if you were Korra, you could have stopped your feet from getting so close to the bottom, let alone touching it. Just maybe, you would have had a little more sense to do what's right, and stay alive for the world.

Maybe, you would remember that night with Mako, and the life that you knew (although you didn't really want it) you knew (knowing your luck) would soon feel stir inside of you. Maybe, you wouldn't kill yourself, for their sake.

She had long forgotten, filed that night deep beneath the other troubles she had, like protecting the city and making more spiritual connections and helping sort out the trouble she had caused the council by defeating Amon.

A cloud of debris whipped around Korra's feet as she sunk to her knees at the bottom of the bay. She opened her eyes, aware of her lack of oxygen but not completely sure where she was.

Before anyone knew it, her eyes flared blue.

"You cannot die," a voice whispered in her ear, and as if someone was controlling her, she created a ball of air around her. "The world needs you yet. They are not ready for a new Avatar, a new hunt, a new personality. You must stay alive, but I will not trap you here, in the ocean. That in itself causes enough problems."

She looked around her, seeing nobody but the little lobster-crabs that scuttled along the seashore in the limelight from the water's power. She felt incomplete.

There was a fleeting second where all the past lives and reincarnations of the Avatar appeared before her hazy eyes, whispering one thing, and one thing only, in sync, before they disappeared back into the murky waters of the bay.

"You have a duty to fulfill."

At the end of the line, there was a flickering image. One moment there stands before her a teenage boy; much younger than her, and the next it became a man. That instant, Avatar Aang began to speak, and his image stayed.

"We will not trap you, but we cannot let you die."

She sighed internally and nodded.

"You're on your own now. Save yourself and the emotions of the world, please? For me?"

Korra dropped her head. Aang was right. She couldn't die, not yet. She thought deeply about her chakras, and her eyes were soon filled with the now-familiar blue glow of the Avatar State. She conjured up a ball of air around her and inhaled deeply. Aang, all the way in the spirit world, nodded in satisfaction. She got herself close to the surface before drawing her spirit out of the Avatar State and releasing the visions of the other world.

As Korra's eyes ebbed back to their normal color, and she bent the water beneath her, slowly, she thought she saw just the tip of a smile form on Aang's lips before the image faded away.

-x-

He sat on the edge of the pier and waited for the telltale sign that Korra had gotten to Air Temple Island safely.

He waited for what seemed like an eternity.

An hour passed, an hour where all the firebender did was sit on the pier and wait. His growing fear finally stopped, but not because he knew Korra was safe. No, it was certainly not that, but his fear, when added to his worry, had finally reached its peak.

The universe left him no other choice, and he sighed as he tied his signature scarf to the post.

Even with his calculative nature, he dived into the bay in what seemed to be a very stupid move with absolutely no hesitation at all.

-x-

She was still a good thirty feet from the surface when her arms gave out. They were tired, and she wasn't exactly in top condition after being oxygen-deprived.

She bent a small sphere around her head with her remaining energy, just giving her enough air to survive before fizzling out into darkness. None of her bending would work now- fire and water was a no-no, the sand was too far beneath her feet, there wasn't enough air and her waterbending was worn down.

In a moment, Korra's world turned from the familiar indigo of the depths of the ocean to the haunting and looming presence of complete darkness.

-x-

Mako plunged into the freezing water, his scarf left tied to a post on the side of the pier. He was freezing, but his lungs were strong and he could hold his breath for quite a while.

But was it enough?

Mako forced all thoughts out of his head and concentrated only on swimming down, down, down...

It was in that instant, in the feeling of utter fear and dread, he made his choice, deep in his heart.

He swam faster and faster, deeper into the mystery of the bay. A few bubbles floated past him. He was running out of oxygen but he knew Korra must be close by.

A shape moved slowly in the darkness, a wisp of hair in front of his eyes. Acting on instinct, he grabbed it.

It was Korra.

She was unconscious, yes, but far from dead. He grabbed her arm and used the rest of his strength to pull her up out of the bay.

The pier stood five feet above the top of the water, and Mako is stuck. He has an unconscious Avatar in his arms and is panting heavily. He knew he couldn't tread water forever. Desperately, he flipped onto his back and kicked with all his might, slowly bringing himself and Korra to shore on a nearby beach. He heaved her body onto the sand and knelt down by it, watching her closely for any sign of life. Sure enough, her chest bobbed up and down calmly, with the wind. Mako sighed in relief.

"It's okay," he whispered, coughing a bit and pushing a wisp of her wet hair behind her cold ear. "You're safe."

They stayed like that for a little while, Mako looming above Korra, watching over her carefully and gently. They stayed like that, the unconscious Avatar and her coughing companion, until something made Mako move.

Korra stirred.

Her right arm twitched, just a little bit, and Korra slowly opened her eyes. They were small and helpless for a moment, just a moment, and Mako couldn't help but feel guilty.

Suddenly, her eyes bulged, and she sat straight up in a flash and vomited.

Mako shivered. He was freezing, but he knew that Korra was going to be okay.

When Korra's vomiting finally stopped, she fell back onto the sand.

"Ma...ko," she whispered, like it was forced. Her teeth rattled. "You're... Freezing cold!"

"And so are you," he replied, trying not to shiver. "Do you have any idea how long you were underwater? You were under there for an hour, Korra, an HOUR. That's not normal."

"I was... Talking to Aang, sort of," she said, sitting up. "I went into the Avatar State... Again." Mako took a deep breath and pulled her wet body into his, resting his head on her shoulder and leaving her shocked.

"You really had me worried, Korra," he whispered into her ear, and pulled her even closer. Her arms wrapped around him, returning the hug, and she started to cry.

And then they remembered.

It was a cool night, and the breeze blew through the curtains of the little room in the attic. Korra was there, staying with the brothers as a kind of celebration for winning the war.

They had argued about sleeping arrangements. Korra insisted that Mako should be able to sleep in his own bed, and she would take the couch. Mako resisted, demanding she sleep in his bed and make needled comfortable, NO EXCEPTIONS. Korra, being the rebellious type, didn't like it.

"Just face the facts city boy, you're sleeping in your own bed whether you like it or not."

"No! I'm telling you, I WANT to sleep on the couch. Now if you'll PLEASE excuse me, can I PLEASE go to bed?"

"I won't let you," Korra replied, lying down on the couch and spreading out so there was only a little space for Mako to sit near her head. He sighed.

"C'mon, city boy," Korra said with a smirk, "We need to talk."

Mako sighed. He couldn't win, and he knew it. Gently, he picked up Korra's head, sat down, and placed her head on his lap. Korra blushed.

"I heard you and Asami broke up," she said with a smile. "What went wrong?" Mako massaged his temples.

"Korra, that was ages ago, and Asami and I are still friends. Does it really matter anymore?" Korra's face hardened.

"Yes."

"You're like a kid in a candy store over my breakup," Mako sighed, but made no move to continue with the story Korra wanted to hear. "Besides, if I told you, you'd probably flip out."

"So... It's a good thing?"

"If that's what you want to believe, sure." he sighed. "Asami found out about the kiss."

Korra gasped and sat up.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, leaning onto Mako's shoulder. "It must be tough."

He blushed, his pink cheeks just visible to Korra. "Not really."

Nobody said anything for a while. Korra was silent because she was deep in thought, Mako for the only reason that he had her on his lap.

Her.

The Avatar.

Korra.

Without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed her face and kissed her with the heat of a million suns.

She was in shock for a moment, unable to do a thing. Then, just as suddenly as the kiss had started, she fell into Mako's rhythm, kissing back just as fiercely and passionately as she was with her bending.

It lasted for what seemed like an eternity, and it was heaven.

When Korra broke apart for air, she whispered in his ear,

"Really, city boy? It took you too long."

"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You found your path, didn't you? Iroh was always telling Zuko to find his own path." Mako pondered this.

"What are we?" he asked, just as quietly.

"I would say," Korra said to nobody in particular, looking deep in thought, "that I am the Avatar-"

"No duh."

"WAIT! I WASN'T FINISHED!"

"...Continue."

"I was SAYING… That I am the Avatar…and you are my boyfriend."

Mako blushed again and nodded. "Thank you," he whispered before pulling Korra in once more. Korra easily abliged.

It didn't take long for their affection to move into the bedroom, skin on skin, lips on lips.

And there was nothing that Korra regretted more than what she did that night, perfectly sober.

But it had been a cool night, and the subconscious inside of her was of the Southern Water Tribe.

They had done something unforgivable without marriage.

And now, she knew, somewhere deep inside her heart, that she was going to pay the price.

-x-

They had lay in the sand just long enough to dry out substantially.

"C'mon, Korra. We need to go back to the pier." Korra moaned.

"C'mon, Mako," she mocked his tone, "It's really comfy here in the sand."

"We need to go back," Mako insisted. "It could be gone by now."

"What?"

"My scarf."

Korra jumped up. "You left your scarf on the pier?"

"You were going to drown, Korra," Mako pointed out, turning away. "You can stay here if you want."

"No," Korra replied, standing up and earthbending the sand off of her. "It's my fault. I'm coming with you."

Mako sighed. "Thanks for showing off," he replied, brushing some sand off his arm and walking away, Korra just behind.

It was strange how things could be so abnormal on a perfectly ordinary day.

Mako's head shook side to side furiously and uncontrollably, randomly slicing the air in a wild and sloppy form. Korra furrowed her eyebrows in distaste.

"Is there something wrong?"

UMPH! "No, what makes you- OOF! Think that?"

"Then would you please stop with the head spasms?" she asked ever-so-politely. Mako stopped dead and turned to face her, his eyes stone cold.

"I'll stop with the spasms just as soon as you stop Airbending my head, Avatar Korra," he replied not-so-politely. Korra winced.

"Umm... Sorry?" she said, but Mako only sighed dramatically and continued on.

"I guess you didn't completely master it after all."

"Hey! It's not my fault! I wasn't doing-"

"We're here."

Korra stopped and watched as Mako nonchalantly dashed to the edge of the pier and untied his scarf from the post. He wrapped it around his neck and pulled it up in front of his face.

"Thanks for coming." Korra smiled.

"Any time, city boy."

"Hey, you live in the city now, too!"

"I was in the Water Tribe for most of my life," Korra reminded him. "That doesn't exactly make me a city dweller."

"You win," Mako sighed. "Hey, do you wanna stay in the arena for lunch?" Korra's ears perked up.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You are my girlfriend, can't I even bring you to my house?" Korra laughed.

"Thank you! Can we have meat though? The Airbenders' vegetarian-ness is really starting to get to me." Mako chuckled.

"Whatever you say, Avatar Korra." she fist-pumped the air.

Her day, although it had a rough start, wasn't turning out that had after all.