Training Session.
A Legend of Korra fanfiction.
Word Count: 2,963.
Ship: Makorra - Mako & Korra.
Rating: Mild T? I don't know, there's nothing to racy dudes. If people want me to I might make a mature continuation if people bug me enough.

Bolin asks Mako to step in during as the instruction on one of Korra's training sessions. What could possibly come from that innocent request?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the storyline.

He wasn't sure what had gotten him to agree with this. If it was the fact that he knew she needed the help, they needed the win, and they couldn't win without her, or something else entirely. The way she had come alive in the last round on their first match still haunted his thoughts, she had suddenly started moving like a completely different person, and even though he and Bolin had years of training, it had never been that easy for either of them, to go to one style of bending to another in seconds flat, maybe it was an ability that came with the responsability of being the Avatar.

When Bolin had come to him and asked if he could step in as Korra's instructor for that night's training session, his first instinct was to say no. Mako and the Avatar were starting to thread into friendship territory, and that was pushing it. He still felt somewhat embarassed about his behavior from the day they met, and he was still unsure of how he should act around her, though that was a normal situation for Mako. He didn't trust people so easily, he had learnt the hard way the only people he could rely on were himself, and his brother. Their parents had left them, the first time he had opened himself up to a girl, she had broken his heart, they had almost had to drop out of the tournament had Korra not stepped in. Bolin had pleaded with him, that if he were to say yes, that him be nice, less sarcastic, and generally more approachable.

If his natural instincts to not let people in weren't enough reason to make his interaction with her however awkward it was, the fact that she was the Avatar didn't quite help either. He hadn't been a part of the whole Golden Age with Avatar Aang and Zuko bringing peace to the world, and founding Republic City, but he had heard the stories, everyone had, he knew the Avatar was a powerful being, and that was a scary notion. Specially when that powerful being had taken the form of a very short tempered, enthusiastic, unrealistic and slightly careless teenage girl scared him a little bit. Not that teenage girls didn't scare him on their own, but this one was the only one he knew that had raging power cursing through her veins.

And even though she was careless, and quite green in some aspects, she had moved gracefully, guaranteeing their win in their last firebending match, she had said she couldn't take credit for that, since someone else had thought her those moves, and with the weeks that had come after that, he had learnt that she was training her air bending skills with Master Tenzin. If it was true what they said that benders were usually born to the elements they'd have most afinity with, he could only imagine she was having problems with air bending, and he was sure she told Bolin all about it, but he'd have to impose some limits, he'd be there to help her, not to listen to her whine issesantly about her Avatar problems.

She was there at the gym, on time, already training, as to be expected; she always started before Bolin got there, specially since his brother was usually late. Though that was better than not showing up at all because he had a date with some girl called McSomething, he had failed to pay enough attention to. He played the scene of him announcing himself a couple times in his head, thinking about the best way to avoid any awkwardness, he wasn't smooth, or funny, or light hearted as Bolin was, and at some length he was happy his brother had turned out that way, the harshness of being left by their parents not weighing Bolin down like it did to him sometimes.

Mako's POV.

"Hey, Mako..." I looked up as I heard someone calling out to me, and all of the scenarios I had pictured inside my head were thrown out the window as she had now noticed me, and was walking my way. "Where's Bolin? He was supposed to be here... Helping me train and all, you know? Big tournament to win." She laughed a bit, swinging back and forth on the balls of her feet, and making me arch an eyebrow.

"Yeah... Bolin's not coming." I answered simply, nodding slowly, as I scratched the back of my neck, wondering how I should go about the next part, not that I had a chance to, before she started talking again, as usual.

"Oh, right... Okay, I guess I'll just stay a while longer before heading back to the island then." She said, looking back at the training disks.

"He asked me if I'd mind filling in for him." I said, quite forwardly, rolling my eyes a bit because it didn't look like she'd let him get any input in if I didn't deliver it fast and clearly.

"He did?" She seemed genuinly surprised that Bolin would do that. "And you said yes?" Or maybe it wasn't really Bolin's request that had surprised her, but the fact that I had agreed to it. The realization flustered me a bit, and I wasn't really sure of what to say.

"You need the training, I want to win the tournament, it sounded like a no brainer to me." I went for simple and direct, since that seemed to be working, for as much as I could tell.

"I... I understand, of course... You're right." Korra nodded in agreement with him, cocking her head to the side, curiously after, pressing her lips together, as if she was dying to ask something, and he just looked at her in expectance, wondering why she didn't just get it over with, she wasn't the one who had communication issues there.
"I guess I just thought you didn't like me very much." She finally admited, blushing a bit.

"I..." Blushed as well once she said that, looking down, and breathing in slowly. Besides the day we met I had tried my best to change her impression of me, as discreatly as I could. I had been a jerk, when I hadn't known her, and hadn't known she was the Avatarm and not just some stupif fangirl I was tired of dealing with, but I tried to be as nice as I could, without seeming fake, though any effort I made of being cordial was probably overshadowed by Bolin's boistrous antics.

"See? You don't have to deny it, it's okay... We can just train, and I'll be out of your hair." She said, a bit embarassedly, which was a rare thing for Korra, as she shuffled with her feet. "Besides, I'm sure you won't sugar coat my mistakes like Bolin does... I could use the honesty, you guys need this tournament."

"Listen..." I trailed off, looking straight at her, holding onto her arms so she'd stop toying around with her feet - it was distracting me - and I wanted to clear things out, once and for all. "I like you... I mean, if I didn't like you, you'd know, for sure. I'm sorry if I'm not more like Bolin, but that... That's just not me." I shrugged, with a bit of what could be considered nonchalance. "So, just so we're clear... I think you're cool. A little crazy, but alright."

"Oh..." Korra mumbled, but smiled after, and I finally pulled my hands down from her arms. "You're cool too Mako, a little uptight, but you're cool." She smiled, and winked at me, and I just blushed a bit, shaking my head a little flusteredly. "Now, how about we get some training done, and you give it to me straight?"

"Sure." I said a bit dumbly, because somewhere in my mind, even if I knew she meant that she didn't want me to beat around the bush, and be afraid to tell her things as it is, the way she put it made me think of other things, things I hadn't imagined myself thinking about doing with Korra, but suddenly, I was looking at her with completely different eyes. As much as I could be the cool, distant, some girls called mysterious type, which annoyed the hell out of me, because I wasn't trying to bring any mystery to the equasion, I was still a guy.

And a firebender of all, I could be quite intense, and my emotions got the best of me at points, but I had learnt to keep those to myself as best as I could, to the point where it just bottled up, and I ended up taking out on the pro-bending ring, on their oponents, and putting all my anger and frustration in my training, there was a reason people thought I played agressively. It wasn't too often that I had thoughts like these, when I did, I usually took care of them quickly, either on my own, or finding a girl I could be straight forward with, and get it done. It wasn't so hard being a Fire Ferret, not that I took pride in it, but it took care of the urges.

"Is something wrong?" She had to ask, in order for me to snap out of my trance, and I cleared my throat blushing a bit, wondering if I had been staring at her while I thought. "Have I got something on my face?" She asked, looking down at her nose, and I laughed a bit nervously, shaking my head slowly.

"No, sorry, let's get to it." I said, smiling at her, before turning to the disks. "Let me see some of the moves Bolin's gone through with you." I told her, and she nodded, smiling back at me, before focusing on what I had asked for, and getting started.

Once again, I started paying attentions to not only the details I should be paying attention to, but to other things. The way her hair moved along as she practiced keeping herself light on her feet, and moving around, the way her body curved certain ways, and how her chest strained against her shirt with some movements, the way her lips pursed in concentration, and what those lips would feel like if he...

I shook my head again when my mind lead me down that road and I started taking note of the things I should have been noticing, how she opened up to attack at some points, and how a more experienced pro-bender would see that clearly, how she could be stronger in her attacks, if she put a little more anger into it as well.

"So?" She asked, breathing quite heavily, and she had to call my attention again, before I finally came fully back to my senses, after getting a bit lost again in the way she was breathing, and how she was pushing her hair away from her eyes. "Mako?"

"Right... Right..." I trailed off, taking a deep breath. "You want me to be honest, right?" I asked, and she nodded, her eyes wide in antipation. "You're good Korra, much better than me and Bolin ever were with the little training you have in pro-bending techniques." I told her, making it clear that I was reffering to pro-bending only, because I knew she had been training on bending techniques and combat her whole life. "But, as it is, you're still a little green."

"I knew it! Of course... Bolin's just always so nice, and saying I'm right on target, and how great I am, sometimes he tells me to practice this and that a little more, but he's never... Direct with me." She said in a small sigh. "Sometimes I wish he was a bit more like Master Tenzin, but mostly I don't really." She laughed a bit at herself in the end, and I chuckled lightly, in a small smirk.

"The problem, mostly is that... You leave yourself open for attacks quite often, that's usually a problem with over-confident benders... And I figure that wasn't a problem in your Avatar training, because you must have kicked all their sorry asses." I cracked a smile, since I had seen how powerful she could be, and she smiled back at me. "But with pro-bending it's different, it's a sport, you're not really attacking someone who's a treat, but an oponent, you've got to be smarter and less aggressive, but not gentle either."

"It's about finding balance." She mumbled, almost bored. "Sorry, that just sounded a lot like what Tenzin tells me, though less... Ancient?" She teased a bit, and I snorted lightly. "So, how can you help me?" She asked, ready to listen.

"I can show you how you should hold yourself during some movements, to better protect yourself while attacking, and then... I thought that we could train with me throwing some disks at you, and you swurving away, or smashing them, if you're okay with that?"
"Sounds brilliant, really!" Korra replied enthusiastically, and I let out a little chuckle, for someone that could be so fierce, and short tempered, she could be quite naive and childish too.

I treded over to her slow and carefully and stood beside her at first showing her some movements, that she followed almost perfectly, but less fluidly, I showed her everything I thought she'd ought to learn, and watched her get frustrated as she noticed she could do better, and against my better judgement, I stepped behind her, and started showing her, holding onto her arms, carefully, what she could do differently, pushing at her legs with my feet and moving along with her, until she finally got it, turning around to look at me surprisedly after.

"I knew you could do it, Avatar Korra." I smirked a bit, and she blushed lightly, but smiled up at me, and eventually, before I could sense it coming, she squealed and threw her arms around my neck, and jumping over me. I wasn't really used to any of these big affections displays, so I wasn't really ready for her to hug me like that, and with me being unprepared, which was a rare thing, we both fell to the floor, my head hiting the hardwood lightly.

"Oh my spirits Mako! Are you okay?" She asked, as she looked down at me, concern filling her light colored eyes, as I rubbed the back of my head, one eye open looking up at her, as I nodded slowly. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think this would happen."

"Gee, really? I really thought you wanted to knock me down to the floor." I smirked in a small chuckle, as I sat up, making her slide a bit back towards my lap, which had me pursing my lips together, and close my eyes.

"That wasn't funny." She said, hitting my arm. "And what's wrong?" She asked, once she noticed the look on my face, and I shook my head, as I opened my eyes to look at her, not anticipating that she would have gotten closer, and she obviously hadn't anticipated that I'd open my eyes, because she blushed quite red when I did. She looked pretty with her cheeks flushed, her eyes curious, and her lips slightly apart, her lips, spirts, why did I look down at those. I thought to myself as I looked up to her eyes and noticed she was doing the same, her eyes were on my lips as well, and when she noticed I caught her looking at them, she blushed even deeper, and I couldn't help the smirk creeping up my lips, so, the famous Avatar wanted to kiss me?

"What are you blushing about, Avatar Korra?" I asked, unable to resist a little teasing, but not anticipating the fire I'd see the fire igniting in her eyes, in response to my little tweek, and she just looked at me, defiantly for a while, before she held on to my face and planted one on my lips, quite unabashedly. I was quite surprised at first, eyes wide, and arms spread out, until I felt the fire rolling down from her eyes, and into her lips, and felt a fire of my own, igniting inside me, as I rested my hands on her waist, to respond in kind, and easily taking the lead from her.

Her lips moved against mine willing, but a little unexperiencedly, and I wondered if this was the first time, or one of the first times she had ever kissed a guy, if it were, I figured I should show her what a first kiss should really be like. I moved one hand to the back of her neck, barely brushing her hair, and tilted her head a bit more comfortably, and kissed her languidly, feeling her body relax in compliance over mine, her hands slowly moving from my face down to my shoulders, as her arms wrapped around my neck, her fingers tempitively moving into my hair as she curiously moved closer to me as well.

"Mako..." She whispered into my lips, and I opened my eyes slowly, humming in acknowledgement, so she'd go on a speak. "I'd never done that before." She admited, in a small tone, blushing a bit, but smiling through it.

"Do you want to stop?" I asked her, in a small smirk, because I had been right in my wonderings, smirking even wider as she shook her head slowly, holding onto my shirt.
"Okay." I said, and kissed her cheek slowly. "Do you want to head on up to the apartment?" I asked, and she looked at me for a while then upwards, then back at me, and nodded in agreement.

Author's Note: So, lovelies... This is my first atempt at writing a little Makorra. I was never a huge Avatar fan, I watched it sporadically, the fact that they were children was the thing that annoyed me the most (I was a bit older when it came out here in Brazil, so the idea of watching a TV show with children at the age I was, was absolutely embarassing) anyways, Korra was all over tumblr and my curiosity got the best of me. It's safe to say that I'm hooked, and everything is Makorra and nothing hurts. So, leave me feedback, and if you guys ache for a continuation, I might get to it.