And here begins my attempt at Korra fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra or any of its affiliates.

"Alright Bolin, you can only get one. If you had to choose one right now, I mean right now, which one would it be?"

The look on his brother's face was nearly—but not quite—heartbreaking.

"I have to pick one now? But they're both so nice! See, this one has a really soft collar, but this other one has some seriously cool buttons! How can I ever choose?"

Mako shook his head. "No, Bolin. No more debates. No more 'But this one', no more swaying side to side and whining. You just have to pick one now and we're leaving." He turned around and began walking out of the shop to induce his brother to follow. "Personally, I'd choose the red coat."

Bolin huffed. "Well, yeah, you would say that, you're a firebender."

"So, pick the green one, since you're an earthbender."

"But it's not that simple!"

"Bolin." Mako stopped walking and looked straight at his brother, the wind from the open shop door ruffling his scarf. "I'm going to count to five. One,"

"No, don't start counting!"

"Two…"

"Okay, okay, I'll choose!"

"Three…"

"Alright!" This was said more forcefully and several shoppers turned to look at the arguing boys, only to turn back after seeing Mako's reassuring smile. He opened his mouth to resume counting, but his brother beat him to it.

"The green one!"

"Good choice. Now can we please go? It's almost dinner and we don't want to be rude to Tenzin and his family."

"Fine, fine, we can go," Bolin said sullenly. "But I blame you if I regret getting the green one."

Mako just rolled his eyes and leaned back against the door, pushing it all the way open and rotating into the brisk wind. He shrugged his scarf higher onto his face and pushed his hands into his pockets, swaying a little bit as he waited for his brother to finish the transaction. His brief moment of reverie, however, was interrupted with his brother's sheepish grin sticking out from behind the door.

"Hey Mako," he started, and Mako sighed, guessing his next words. "I forgot my wallet."

As they arrived home from their brief shopping trip as swarm of airbender children surrounded them.

"How was your shopping? Did you buy anything? Did you buy me anything? Oh, I like your coat! Is it green because you like grass? Or is it because you're jealous of how Korra likes Ma—" Ikki's ramblings were cut off by Meelo's roar.

"I am the master commander!" He snarled as he wielded a stick as a scepter of a royal king. "You must bow down before me!"

"And, that's where I come in, to get rid of evil kings like you and bring balance to the world," said Korra good-naturedly as she shooed the kids away from the returning brothers. "How was your shopping trip?"

"Oh, you know, it was fine," said Bolin off-handedly. "I got myself a slick new coat."

"Yeah, and you acted like a girl while you were deciding which one to get." Mako shot as he set down his bag. Korra giggled as Bolin looked affronted.

"There's nothing wrong with taking time in your decisions! A man's wardrobe is a very serious subject!"

Korra's eyes lit up. "Speaking of serious subjects, dinner is ready!"

Bolin's good humor returned. "Now, that's what I'm talking about!"

Korra chattered as they moved towards the dining room. "You guys have to try this water tribe dish I convinced Pema to make, it's really delicious…"

Mako lingered behind as his brother and the Avatar walked. "You guys go ahead, I'll just go tell Asami about dinner." He turned around and headed off, missing the Avatar's softly disappointed look.

"Asami?" he called, knocking on her door and pushing it slightly open.

"Oh hey Mako," she replied, standing up and smiling. "I see you're back. Did you get anything fun?"

"Not particularly. Bolin got a coat, but there wasn't much to see. Dinner's ready, by the way."

"Good, I'm starved," she said, and kissed him on the cheek as she passed him. When he didn't follow, she turned back. "You coming?"

"Oh yeah. I was just lost in thought."

When he didn't elaborate, Asami just smiled. "Okay."

He followed behind her, watching her black locks sway as she walked. When he turned his head to look at the blue sky through the octagonal windows, though, the image that stuck in his mind was a brunette's wolftail.

Dinner was a slightly awkward affair, with Korra slurping down her water tribe food and the rest of the group doing their best to like it. Eventually Meelo echoed their feelings as he spit it onto his plate, and Korra just chuckled.

"It's okay, guys, you don't have to like it. I know it's an acquired taste."

Thereafter the group relaxed and chatted away. Bolin teased Jinora about her new book, Pema and Tenzin coerced their children to eat, and Korra and Asami chatted about the possibility of bringing an automobile onto the island, which sparked Tenzin's attention and a lively discussion.

Mako was sitting quietly, enjoying the relative peace and harmony, when a thought, unbidden, struck into his head as he looked between Korra and Asami.

If you had to choose one right now, which one would it be?

The thought kept him up a good portion of the night.

Long after Bolin was snoring away across the room, Mako was still lying on his back, staring at the ceiling and debating. He was going over good qualities, bad qualities, and shared moments. He was reviewing conversations, arguments and adventures. He was thinking about beauty. He was thinking about personality. And he was thinking about how on earth he would ever be able to choose.

Because it was inevitable that he would have to choose.

Well, he thought. Let's go over pros and cons for the twentieth time. Cons first.

Korra was reckless. She went off into danger without letting people know or asking for their help. She was fiery, and she made it really easy to argue with her. Boy, did she have a temper. She often pointed out his faults. She never listened to him. Korra was downright annoying.

But she was also amazing. She was vibrant, alive—No, he had to stop himself. We're still on cons.

Asami… well, Asami didn't seem to have faults. Now what did that mean? Is she one dimensional? Or is she just perfect? But then he recalled a moment where caught Asami's eyes narrowed at Korra in the rearview mirror of the car. So, she wasn't very open. She could be hiding all sorts of mean feelings and he would never know because she was such a good actress. Asami never argued with him. So she doesn't have opinions? No, she just usually gave way when Mako voiced his opinions. Or he was too much of a pushover around her because he was so awed by her attention to him. Hmm. That was a con. Asami never pointed out his faults. Well, honesty had always been important to Mako in relationships. So is she just being nice, or is she blind to his faults? Maybe Asami Sato wasn't as perfect as previously suspected.

Alright, he continued thinking. Now pros. Asami was quite beautiful, in a soft and alluring kind of way. She was very nice. And she paid attention to only him. She was generous. And… what else? He wanted to stay with her to comfort her. She didn't really have anyone else to turn to. But looking at just the "take" side of the relationship for Mako—were those really pros? Was his relationship with Asami an investment, or was it a sinkhole for his time and energy?

Ashamed of his business-type thinking, Mako turned towards the wall and endeavored again to fall asleep. But his logical mind wouldn't let him rest without completing the list—pros for Korra.

Korra… Korra was amazing. She was a fantastic bender. She filled with so much potential. She was good with people, and great with kids, a fact that the future-thinking, family-oriented side of Mako latched onto and kept within its heart. She was strikingly beautiful in so many ways. Where Asami stopped your heart in the moment, Korra stayed in your mind for hours. And her laugh—the same future-thinking side of Mako made its life goal the continuation of Korra's laughter, because it knew that when she was laughing the world was good. Korra was warm, Korra was alive, Korra was—Korra was perfect.

So sometimes she lost her temper. Sometimes she slurped her noodles so fast that she choked. Sometimes she fell asleep in weird places, like Mako's chair ("MY chair, Korra!") when they still had a home. But she was quick to recognize when she was wrong. So she had a healthy appetite, so what? She worked so hard every day to train, to master airbending, to learn about life in the city, to stop the expansion of the war—she was allowed to eat fast. And she had offered Mako and his brother her home, without any hesitation and with the most open of hearts.

It was with these realizations that Mako finally began to drift to sleep. If he had to choose right now, he knew who his choice would be. There never was another one.

And as he fell into unconsciousness, the arrival of another thought was stalled. It was a serious thought, equally unbidden as the one that sparked his internal discussion, and it would serve to keep him awake for several nights to come.

What on earth was he going to do next.