A: Apples & Orchard Kisses

"C'mon Mako! The sun is going down soon!" Korra yelled.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Mako huffed as he stepped out of his room, still fiddling with his beloved scarf.

Korra grabbed his hand and tugged him outside, to an anxiously waiting Bolin.

"Geez Mako! You get ready like a girl!" Bolin teased.

"Do not." Mako's face flushed.

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do t-"

"Guys!" Korra stopped them. "It doesn't matter how long it takes Mako to get ready. Which is actually a pretty long time." Korra stopped to see Mako blush. "What matters is that we won't have that much time at the orchard is we don't get a move on!"

Korra whistled and not long after, her giant polar bear dog, Naga, came bounding up to them.

They climbed onto Naga's back and they were on their way.

They arrived at the orchard in a little less than half an hour, each of them, even Mako, noticably excited.

"I've never done this before." Bolin said as he looked around in awe of the hundreds of apple trees blooming with fresh apples.

"Me either." Mako agreed, looking around in amazement.

"Yeah well, Pema needed apples for her apple pie and I figured this would be the best place. Besides, we can have a little fun while were looking for some."

Mako looked confused. "What do you mean?" He turned around just intime to see-WHACK.

A mushy apple hit him right in the face.

He wiped it off of his face with his hand, noticebly irritated. "How did you even do that?" he asked Korra.

"Not hard, but of course you puny firebenders could never master it." Mako rolled his eyes. "You need to be a skilled and graceful waterbender to master such an art." Korra stated, talking like a queen.

"Excuse me, Avatar Korra," Bolin cut in, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "But when are we actually going to get to the picking apples part?"

"Oh yeah. Right this way." She said as she led them to a small house in the middle of the orchard.

"Hello? Bumi? Are you here?" She called.

"Bumi? Like Aang's friend, Bumi?" Mako questioned.

"Actually, like Aang's friend's son; Bumi. Pleasure to meet you all." An old man stepped out of the house to greet them.

"Hey Bumi, my friends and I here were on our way to collect some apples for Pema. Could you help us out?"

"Sure, Korra. Just grab a stool and a basket, and you guys can pick from any tree you like. I'll be in my office if you need me!"

"Cool, thanks!" The group mumbled as they grabbed their supplies and headed out.

Each of them choose a different path, looking for the best apples to satisfy Pema's needs. It wasn't long before they met up again in a secluded spot in the outskirts of the orchard. It was shady and cooled off, with the grass a summertime green color, lush and soft. It was beautiful; and it also happened to be one of Korra's favorite spots in the entire orchard. There was one more spot though..

"Mako, would you come with me for a second?" Korra asked, biting her lip.

"Oh uh, yeah sure. Bolin we'll just be a second." Mako stood up.

Korra grabbed his hand and led him through the orchard to a spot just outside it's vicinity, a spot only a few people knew about.

The spot was discovered by Avatar Aang almost 50 years ago, in which he took Katara too on their first anniversary. The spot became their safe haven, their favorite place to go.

One time during Korra's childhood, Katara took her to this spot, and showed her all the memories that were shared there. It quickly became one of Korra's favorite places, and now she wanted to share it with someone she loved.

That person of couse, wasn't aware of her love for them, but it still felt the same.

She looked over at Mako and saw absolute wonder in his eyes. That was the same look that she had her first time being there.

Before them was a huge pool. An oasis of blue that shined and shimmered and gave off an aura of absolute perfection. There was a trickling waterfall off a small cliff looming over the pool. There were tiny flowers and plants surrounding it. It was beautiful. And Mako didn't even try to hide his amazement.

"Korra this place is... I mean... this is... wow. Thank you for showing me this, Korra." He looked over at Korra and saw something he had never saw before in the young Avatar's mind: Nervousness.

"What's wrong, Korra?"

"Well, Aang showed this to Katara because he loved her. Katara showed this to me, because she loved me. And I showed this to you.. because.. well.. because I..." She turned away.

Mako had no idea this was coming. He didn't know what to say. So instead, he did the only thing he could think of that would show her how he truly felt about her.

Mako walked over to Korra, and kissed her. A kiss so long and passionate it left her breathless.

Mako laced their fingers together, and looked up at the beautiful sunset that was casting shadows on the pool.

"I love you too, Avatar Korra."