On hour left.

One hour until they arrive and Korra gave herself up to the Red Lotus. She still didn't know exactly what they wanted with her.

Not knowing was the worst part. It terrified her, but she couldn't show it. To go through with this, Korra needed to fool everyone into thinking she was strong enough to do this—including herself.

"Korra?"

"Not now, Mako."

She trained her gaze out the window. Mako was still behind her, but she refused to look. Was he running a hand through his hair like he always did when he didn't know what to say? Or was he fiddling with his gloves like he did when he was nervous?

Mako sighed. "Just…hear me out okay?"

Korra shrugged. What was she supposed to do? They were stuck on the same airship together and she didn't have the energy to avoid him right now. Just staying where she was using all her strength. Her skin still burned from their hug this morning. Korra had frozen, knowing as soon as she moved, Mako would remember and pull away. Korra hadn't wanted him to let go.

"Korra, you don't have to do this…"

"Really, Mako?" Korra spun, fists clenching at her sides. "Do you think I like this? Do you think I'm not scared? I'm not just blindly walking into this."

"I know," Mako said.

"Then why are you making this harder?" She wished she could hide from those eyes looking at her like she was his whole world. Why did he still have to look at her like that? They couldn't do this. They'd agreed that. Korra turned her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Spirits, was she crying? No, not yet.

Flesh and fabric slid against her fist, warm fingers closing around it.

"Korra, look at me," Mako said, his other hand cupping her chin, reinforcing the question. "You don't have to do this. That's the truth. If you said the word, we'd come up with another plan. Gladly. We—we care about you Korra. All of us."

Shoulders sagging, Korra opened her eyes, but she focused on the airship's metal floor. Mako ducked down, so he was looking up at her. She'd expected to find concern, complete with scrunchy eyebrows. Instead, he quirked one side of his mouth up—though the half-smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"But you're right," he said.

"Of course I'm right—what?"

Mako straightened, his hand tracing from her chin to her shoulder.

"You're right. This is their best chance." He did run his hand through his hair then, pulling away from her as he did. Cool air burned against her skin where his hands had been. "You don't have to do this, but you are, because it's the right thing to do."

Korra blinked. "So you came over here to tell me…that you agreed with me?"

"Yes. I just thought you might like to hear that from at least one person."

"Thank you," she said. She did her best to smile.

"And Korra?"

"Yes?"

"We'll have your back. As soon as we get Tenzin and the others away, we'll find you and we'll help you take down the Red Lotus. Okay?"

One tear broke away from her eye. "Okay."

He reached out, brushing her wet cheek with his thumb. He followed the trail halfway down her cheek before realizing what he was doing and jerked his hand away from her. Korra brushed the rest of the tears from her eyes with her fingertips.

One step, one step was all he had taken. He was still so close. Korra reached out, her fingers closing around his.

"Mako…" Her voice broke. Were they always going to come back to this one thing?

"I know," he said, looking back to her. He gave her a gentle smile. "I love you, too."

Yes, it seemed they would.

Because she was the Avatar and he was her idiot.

I think this might be the shortest story I've every post on here. A true drabble. But the last episode left with a lot of feels and a lot of ideas. Expect more by tomorrow, you know, before the finale completely invalidates all of these ideas.

These shows...ugh, I just can't...