disclaimer: I own nothing, just a computer.

A Push in the Right Direction

The blaring horns of the band were driving Mako up the wall. This was Bolin's kind of music, not his, and he wished that they would play something a little less harsh on the ears for once. He didn't really see that happening any time soon, though, as the band swung into another fast paced, brass heavy number. From his spot, leaning against the back wall of the ball room, he watched the dancers moving wildly to the music in the center of the room. It was a big party, full of city officials, important businessmen, their wives and children, and the guest of honor was of course, the Avatar. Mako sighed. Korra had dragged him (Bolin had come very willingly) along, citing the need for entertainment.

Well, clearly she hadn't needed him, since she was keeping herself very well entertained, Mako thought as he watched Korra spinning in the arms of some son of a well-to-do stock broker. Mako took a seat, and wondered how long he would have to stay until it would no longer be considered rude to leave. Korra twirled and her dress spun up around her thighs, and she laughed heartily as her dance partner pulled her closer. Mako gripped the edge of the table.

Normally, he didn't indulge in alcohol; he left that to Bolin and Korra. But tonight, since it seemed that he had nothing better to do, Mako found that after an hour of watching Korra flit from partner to partner, he had knocked back more than his fair share of wine. He wasn't drunk, but the watching the dancers was beginning to make him a little dizzy, and the air was becoming a little too sticky for comfort. From across the room, he could see that boy's lips brush against Korra's neck, and the giggle that Korra responded with. As he was about to push his chair away from the table and escape outside, someone plopped down in the chair next to him.

With a half bored, half annoyed expression on her face, Jinora propped her elbows up on the table and let out a loud sigh.

"Hi Mako," she said, her tone of voice matching her expression.

"Hi," Mako replied, and went back to finishing the rest of his current drink.

"Why aren't you dancing with Korra and your brother?" Jinora asked, turning her head towards him.

"I don't dance," he muttered.

"Oh. Me neither," Jinora frowned, "I hate parties, but my dad made me come."

Mako made an effort to smile at the girl.

"I know the feeling."

They sat in silence again, Jinora methodically dissected one of the flowers from the table's centerpiece while Mako made an effort to not be so obvious in his staring at Korra. She had her arms around the boy's neck, and her head thrown back in laughter. Mako drained the rest of his wine glass and motioned for a waiter to bring him some more.

"Hey Mako?" said Jinora after a while.

"Yeah?"

"Remember that guy? The jerk?"

Mako nodded. He remembered sitting on the floor in Korra's room while Jinora cried into the older girl's arms.

"Well, he tried to act like he never did all that stuff, but I told him to get lost and that he was a jerk and stuff," she had a small smile on her lips, "And this other boy, from another class saw, and he said that it was really brave of me to stand up for myself like that, and so now we're friends, and I kinda like him, and he kinda likes me."

"That's really great!" Mako smiled at Jinora.

He was happy that at least someone's love life was headed in the direction that they wanted it to. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Bolin slicked his hair back in preparation for chatting up a giggling girl in a tight green dress. Jinora caught him rolling his eyes.

"Your brother looks like he's having a good time," she observed casually, "And so does Korra."

She gestured to the dance floor, where Korra was being spun around by her partner. Mako curled his fingers around his drink.

"Yeah, it looks like they are."

He stared at his wineglass, fighting the urge to take another gulp.

"Korra looks pretty tonight," Jinora said innocently, "Don't you think so?"

Mako looked up. It was different, seeing Korra in a dress, the soft material floating above her knees, and her hair down, but she definitely looked pretty. She always looked pretty, though.

"Yeah, she does," he mumbled, taking a small sip of his wine.

"That guy she's dancing with is pretty handsome, don't you think?"

Mako studied the boy's strong jaw and shaggy hair.

"Not particularly," he shrugged, and leaned back in his chair.

Jinora sat back and crossed her arms, smirking a little.

"What? Stop looking at me like that!" Mako protested, a little more loudly that he meant to, and a nearby waiter looked over at them curiously.

"You like her," Jinora said, a huge smile on her face.

"What?" Mako could feel his face grow hot.

"You like Korra, right?"

Mako didn't say anything, and Jinora narrowed her eyes at him. He cracked.

"Fine! So what if I do? It doesn't matter!"

"I knew it!" Jinora said, "But why doesn't it matter?"

"Because she's the Avatar, and I'm nobody and look at all those guys over there. They're all so good at all of this," he gestured to the whole party, "And I'm not. And I can't believe I'm talking about this with you," he muttered as an afterthought.

Jinora bristled.

"I'm not some dumb kid, you know," she frowned at.

"I know," Mako sighed, and put down the wine glass. He'd probably had too much of that already.

"And you're not nobody. You're a great pro-bender, and you're smart and handsome," Jinora blushed a little, "And you've got something going for you that none of those guys do."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" asked Mako sullenly. He really couldn't believe that he was having this conversation right now.

"Korra obviously likes you," she said, glancing back and forth from Korra to him.

"So what? Even if she did like me, there's nothing I could do about it now. She's dancing with all of them."

He gestured vaguely in the direction of the dance floor, and raised his glass again. Maybe he hadn't had enough quite yet.

"Don't be stupid!" Jinora sounded annoyed, "Just go dance with her!"

"I don't dance!"

"Just go!" she said in an angry stage whisper, "You like her, she likes you, and if one of you doesn't make a move sooner or later, no one ever will!"

Mako looked up at the dance floor and saw Korra dancing wildly. He looked back at Jinora.

"I better not regret this," he told her, and knocked back the rest of his wine before standing up. Jinora gave him a little push, and before he knew it, Mako was making his way to the dance floor.

The song ended, and for the first time that evening, the next song was a softer, more elegant piece of music, and required a much different type of dancing than had been going on. Mako groaned inwardly. With the loud, fast music, no one really danced all that well, they just spun around and laughed. Soft and slow meant controlled and formal, and it also meant more visible mistakes. He hesitated, and looked back over his shoulder, but Jinora shooed him towards the dance floor with her hands. He couldn't believe that he was letting himself be bullied by a child.

The first step he took on to the dance floor was terrifying. Korra was only feet away; he still had time to turn back. No, he thought, keep going Mako, this isn't that hard. Just do it.

"Mako!" Korra exclaimed, when she saw him making his way across the dance floor.

"Hey," he mumbled, feeling shy, "Do you, uh, wanna dance?"

Korra gave him a strange look, and Mako could feel the butterflies in his stomach trying to beat their way out.

"Of course!" she said, and grabbed his hands, pulling him towards her.

Glancing around to see what everyone else was doing, Mako gathered that in general, all the guys had their hands on the girls' waists, and all the girls had their arms around the guys' necks.

You can do this, he told himself. Korra slipped her arms around his neck, and pulled him closer.

"Put your hands on my waist," she told him, glancing down at the space in between them.

"I know," he hissed back at her, but circled his arms around her nonetheless.

They swayed together, bodies at a casual distance as they moved with the flow of other couples on the dance floor.

"So, have you been having fun?" Korra asked him, "I haven't seen you for like this whole time! Did you find some girl and sneak outside with her?"

"No!" Mako snorted, "I've been talking to Jinora, actually. We share the same opinion about parties."

"Mmm, and what's that opinion?" said Korra, drawing a little closer to him.

"That we don't like them."

Korra rolled her eyes.

"What's not to like? Free food, lots of drinks, music, cute guys! Lighten up a little, Mr. Hat Trick."

The grin that crept across Korra's face was infuriating and endearing all at once. Mako found that a lot of things about Korra were like that.

"I thought I told you not to call me that," he muttered.

Korra stuck her tongue out at him.

"What are you, five?" he asked her, pulling her a little closer.

"Six and a half," she told him solemnly, "Anyways, did you see that girl Bolin was going off with? Your brother's got some moves; she's like the prettiest girl here!"

Mako watched her scan the crowd for Bolin and the girl in the green dress.

"Not really," Mako said quietly. Oh?" said Korra, leaning forward, "Got your eye on someone, then?"

Mako could have sworn that despite the smile, she sounded a little sad when she said that.

"You could say that."

"Do tell."

They were scandalously close now, bodies almost pressed together. Mako swallowed.

"You," he whispers, and it was almost like a kiss. Their faces werere inches apart and Mako could hear the slight hitch in her breath.

"Oh," she said, and Mako wondered if Jinora had been wrong.

Maybe she wanted to date that guy who had been swinging her around earlier, or maybe she had never really flirted with Mako at all, maybe she had just been friendly, or maybe she really did think that he was just a jerk or maybe he was just projecting his own feelings on to her to give him some sort of hope that maybe she could possibly like a guy like him or-

There was a space of about five seconds where Mako had absolutely no idea what was going on, and the only thing he knew was that Korra's lips were somehow pressed against his. She was warm and confident and full of energy, and when he fully realized what was happening, Mako pulled her as close to him as he could. Forgetting the music and the dancing, they leaned together as they kissed, Korra's hands moving gently through his hair. She tilted her head away from the kiss for a moment and smiled up at Mako.

"Having a good time now?" she asked him. "Yeah, pretty good," was all he could say, and Korra hugged him, burying her face in his neck.

Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, Mako looked back to the table where he had been sitting. Jinora was still sitting there, leaning back in her chair, a smug smile firmly in place as she watched Mako and Korra embrace in the middle of the dance floor.