A cold wind blows, gently brushing Korra's hair across her face. She impatiently shoves it back to its proper as she looks at her friend Mako standing a few feet away from her. She knew why he's here. He's here to keep her from leaving. She guesses Tenzin thinks that a friend will be more persuasive than he was. But he was wrong. Nothing could keep her at the place where she was a failure. She had to leave.

"Korra, you don't have to go," he says.

Korra rolls her eyes. "You know I do. I'm not… needed here," she mutters. She turns to leave, Naga already on the boat.

All of a sudden, he's close to her. He grabs her arm and makes her face him. She could easily pull away. For all he could boast in fighting prowess, she easily had him topped in strength. But she liked being so close to him. She might as well enjoy it she thought, this is going to be the last time you can.

He's looking in her eyes, trying to find some sort of lack of resolve, but all he's met with is Korra's determined eyes. Determined even in their defeat.

"But me and Bolin…" he began.

She interrupts. "Will do fine without me. You got that far in the league without me, I'm sure there's some other water-bending prodigy who will fill my place."

"But we don't want another waterbender," he growls. "We want you."

She begins to back away. Doesn't he get just how badly she's screwed up? "I can't."

"What kind of Avatar are you if you're just going to run away?" he demands. She notes his old arguing tricks. He's very good at goading her. He always got her to go harder in practice when she thought he doubted her power. It wasn't going to work this time though. She didn't need him to tell her she was failing, she was well aware of that fact herself.

"One who follows in her predecessor's footsteps," she declares with a smirk.

Mako deflates after that. She doesn't like to see him so sad, but she knows he knows that she's not going to be swayed. She's going, and nothing will convince her otherwise.

"But Korra…" he mumbles. He's not looking at her.

She thinks that this is going to be the last time to see him. She didn't like that thought, but it was a fact. She hopes he knows how much safer they'll all be without her. Asami won't ever be threatened with death threats and people won't try to sabotage her father's factories, and the fabulous bending brothers wouldn't be threatened by people trying to get to her. It was a win situation for them. She had failed everyone else, but she would at least try and save her friends.

He's still not looking at her. She doesn't want to say goodbye. But she's got to. But she's not good with words, so she simply decides to kiss him. There wouldn't be any awkwardness later, she'd be gone, so what the hell.

She leans in and kisses him on the lips. She doesn't know this, but his eyes are wide open. She pulls away just as they begin to close.

He looks so confused. It's cute. She gives him a salute and then runs onto the boat. It almost had left without her. Avatar or not, they had places to be.

By the time Mako recovers his senses, she's gone, and he's left alone on the dock with nothing more than the memory of her and her kiss.

He slumps to the ground. He's trying to figure out if that really just happened. Did she really just kiss him, the thing he had kind of wanted to do to her for months? And did she really just leave, the thing that everyone and their pet had counted on him to keep her from doing? Tenzin had told him how much she needed to be here. He was going to be so mad. And Peema the kids were going to hate him for failing. Bolin wouldn't be mad at him, he'd just be sad. Korra, after his brother, was his best friend. Mako thought that was going to be the worst of all.

He looks back at the island and sees the faint lights of the compound as everyone waits for the two to return. He feels a swelling rush of anger towards Korra. How dare she just get up and leave everyone? And they were all counting on her! He didn't want to admit he was also a little bit more than angry that she had kissed him and not even given him a chance to respond.

He begins the long walk back to the airbenders' home. When he arrives he's a bit confused. None of them are mad, Bolin's even smiling. He's very grateful, but he's very confused on the why.

Then he notices they're all packed. And there's the familiar growl of Tenzin's bison. A small smile forms on his lips.

She wasn't getting away that easily.