Makorra - Avatar Aang Memorial High - Part 2

Korra stumbled into the arena at 6:17 AM, her body brought to the point of complete exhaustion. Every morning at 6 AM and every afternoon after school, besides the day of matches, she practiced with the Fire Ferrets until her body was drained of energy. Occasionally, Tenzin would ask that she meditate pointlessly with him for an hour or so, after which she then had to work on her homework. The night before had begun with a particularly long workout, followed by a particularly long meditation session, and a particularly excessive amount of homework. She had fallen asleep at 2 AM and was now running and 3 ½ hours of sleep.

Korra walked in to see Mako and Bolin already training.

"Hey Korra!" were the eager words of Bolin that first greeted her when she entered, making her feel just a smidgen of happiness.

"You're late," were the next. Well, there went that happiness.

"Sorry," she said to Mako, hoping not to start another argument. Those had been getting more frequent lately. "I barely got any sleep and I woke up late so I had to rush—"

Mako cut her off. "I don't need to hear excuses. You have certain responsibilities to this team, as a Fire Ferret, and you have to fulfill those. One of them is showing up every morning at 6 AM."

Well, so much for that lack of another quarrel between the two.

"Who the hell shoved that stick so far up your ass, Mako?" Korra asked, half amused, half infuriated.

"What!?"

"Because you are acting like a real uptight bitch right now!" Korra yelled. "I know what my responsibilities to this team are. Have I not been showing up on time every day? Have I not helped us win all those tournaments these past weeks? I have been doing what I'm supposed to be doing. But you just want to find flaws in everything I do, don't you? Yes, I showed up 15 minutes late today. And you know why? It's because I didn't even get 4 hours of sleep fulfilling my responsibilities to everyone. I had to fulfill my responsibilities to the Fire Ferrets by training with you guys an hour past when we were supposed to be done. I had to fulfill my responsibilities to my teachers by finishing a crapload of homework. And I had to fulfill my responsibilities to the whole damn world as their Avatar by working on mastering air, the most damn impossible element to ever exist! So don't talk to me about responsibilities, Mako. I know what mine are, but I don't need my teammate scolding me every time I make a mistake. I may be the Avatar, but I'm capable of them too, dammit!"

Her angry outburst was met with silence and shock from both teammates, as well as guilt from Mako's part.

Mako struggled with what to say next. "Korra, I—"

"Hey, so," Bolin interrupted a bit too cheerfully, "let's get to training, shall we?"

Korra walked away from them and towards the water vase, refusing to look at Mako any longer. Who did he think he was? It was no wonder Hasook had quit. She couldn't stand him after just 3 weeks with him! But she had made the choice to commit herself to this team and, extreme asshole or not, she intended to stick by it.

***

The next week, Mako made sure to treat Korra well. Perhaps he was afraid that the next time he angered her, she would enter the Avatar State and annihilate him, or perhaps he just genuinely felt guilty about the way he had treated her. Either way, Korra preferred the change. A kind Mako was a Mako she liked better. A lot better.

"Hey, Korra," Asami said to her one day at lunch, "do you want to come over today? I want to show you something that you didn't get the chance to see last time. I think you'd like it."

Asami had become just about the only girl in this school with whom she felt she could connect. They had hung out countless times after school, but Korra had only gotten the chance to enter the extraordinary castle Asami called her home once.

"Yeah, sure," Korra said enthusiastically. "I'll meet you after practice."

"Great!"

***

Practice that afternoon had been odd. It had started normal. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. And then, all of a sudden, Korra felt a shift. She felt her eyes continually peering at Mako when she was supposed to be working on waterbending moves. The way he moved his body, so gracefully and yet so ferociously, as if he were to becoming the fire as he bent it. When he caught her looking, she would swiftly avert her eyes until he was not looking at her anymore, before returning to her intense gazing.

The even weirder event had happened when Bolin had conveniently gone to the bathroom. Mako had asked her to spar. In a series of events that passed through her eyes in a blur, Korra ended up on the floor with Mako pinning her to the ground. Her body felt warm and fuzzy and she felt the spots of contact between them tingling in excitement. What was even worse was that neither Korra nor Mako made any move to break the contact. Instead, they remained in this position, staring at each other.

"You're not half bad, city boy," Korra said, being the first to break the silence.

He smiled. "I would hope so. I did after all defeat the mighty Avatar."

"You should probably get off now."

"Yeah, I probably should."

Neither of them made a move to break the hold. It was not until Bolin's footsteps approached that Mako and Korra sprung apart, both blushing furiously and refusing to look at the other. In fact, neither would look at the other for the remainder of their workout.

It was not until Asami's car pulled up that the full realization of Korra's situation dawned upon her. She liked Mako. She was almost certain that Mako liked her back. But Mako was dating Asami. And Asami and Korra were friends. Korra groaned internally at the love triangle she had gotten herself into. How did she even come to liking Mako? Up to about a week ago, she could barely even stand him! Mako and his stupid red scarf and his stupid spiky hair and his stupid whale-tail-shaped eyebrows and his stupid flawless body and his stupid compassionate eyes…

These thoughts consumed her for the remainder. She tried to feign enthusiasm when Asami showed her the track where they tested out the Satomobiles. But even her friend could sense something wrong and offered to drive her home early.

What do I do? Korra thought to herself as she lay down on her bed that night. Pursue what I think might be the only chance at true love I get at the expense of hurting my friend? Or ignore my feelings and watch them prance around happily while I sulk in the corner pretending to be indifferent?

But maybe Asami would understand! Korra thought hopefully. Asami is rational. Maybe she would understand that what I'm feeling is not something that could be easily ignored. And if she and Mako broke up before anything happened between Korra and Mako, Asami would know that Korra had never intended to betray her.

First things first, however, Korra had to talk to Mako.


***

The Fire Ferrets had won yet again. Mako, Korra, and Bolin were in a state pure bliss as they walked off the arena.

Now was Korra's chance to talk to Mako.

"Hey, Mako, can I talk to you for a second?"

The two of them stayed behind as Bolin walked further ahead.

"Sure, what is it Korra?"

Now! "I, uh…" *wheezy cough* "I think that…" *throat clear*.

"What is it Korra because—"

"I really like you and I think we're meant to be together!"

Mako gave her a look that could only be registered as pure horror. Stupid, stupid, stupid, Korra! She internally slapped herself. You weren't supposed to say it like that!

After what seemed like an eternity, Mako finally responded. "Korra, I…" *wheezy cough* "I don't…" *throat clear* "Look, Korra, I think you're great and all but I…just don't like you that way. And I'm with Asami anyway, so…"

"Sorry. Forget I ever said anything. I'll see you Monday morning." Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.

"Korra—" His voice was cut off by another.

"Hey guys, great match!" Korra heard Asami saying. "Especially you, handsome…" Korra heard silence that could only be interpreted as a kiss.

She left as quickly as possible, running full speed towards Air Temple Island, the tears already spilling out of her eyes.

***

Korra had skipped dinner and went straight to bed. What was the point of love, anyway? She thought to herself. Girls like her would always be thwarted by girls like Asami, the exceedingly beautiful and well-dressed types. The only thing to do was to accept it and move on.

Only accepting and moving on were not ever nor would they ever be in her nature. She was a fighter, a prevailer, an adapter. If girls like Asami were the only ones that could get guys like Mako, then, well, she would just have to become one of them!

The next day, she was at the doorsteps of Asami's castle, waiting for their butler to retrieve her. Asami finally came, looking both sleep and regal in her nightgown.

Asami looked at her, confused as she entered. "Korra, it is 8 AM on a Saturday. What are you doing here?"

"I hope you don't have anything planned for today, Asami, because we have a lot of work to do!"

"Work? Korra, what are you talking about?"

"I…am reinventing myself," Korra answered simply. "And first thing on the list is—" a word she never thought she would hear herself saying without the accompaniment of words of dread and hatred "—shopping!"