Author's Note: Ah, my second contribution to the Avatar fandom, but this time without my dear friend Irradiance. I'm not even sure why this idea came to me in the first place, but I figured I'd just write it out anyhow. We've got a little Makorra goin' on in here, so if you ship Korrasami, that's totally cool, but no Mako bashing.

Feedback and constructive criticism are always appreciated. Thanks! Please enjoy the story!

Fall to Fate by HawkofNavarre

There was always going to be something to do. That was the bottom line. Korra knew that as the Avatar, any sort of real peace would be fleeting. Even though she had been rather sheltered for most of her life, her months spent in Republic City were enough to prove to her that she was always going to have problems to solve. Maybe they wouldn't be as dire as the whole Equalist catastrophe, but people had issues, and they were going to look to her to solve them.

Avatar, Avatar, Avatar. She loved being the Avatar, but sometimes she really just wanted people to shut up and let her live her life. Of course, even when she wasn't dealing with others' problems she had a whole bunch of her own.

Airbending…was not getting any easier.

"Ugh, damn this stupid thing!"

Well sure, now she could dance around ancient boards and shoot blasts of air from her fists, but she couldn't make a leaf dance in the beautiful, intricate method Tenzin did. He'd explained to her now that she could produce current on her own, she needed control, which would come with spirituality. Yeah, okay, like she had any of that.

"Uh, Korra, we need to get going," Mako stated from behind her. She let the leaf in her hands fall to the ground as she glanced at him over her shoulder. However, he wasn't the only one standing there. Bolin and Asami were also peering down at her in the spot where she'd been sitting for hours.

"I wanna do this though!" she growled like a petulant child. Korra was well aware that they had their pro-bending finals rematch in about an hour, but she hadn't accomplished nearly as much as she wanted in her airbending training today. Tenzin had left her to her own devices after lunch and it was already past dinner.

"We'll be late…" Bolin added quietly, not wanting to get into the middle of a lover's quarrel though had a right to say something as he was the third person on their team.

The Avatar was about to say something in reply when Asami stepped in. "Hey, why don't you two take the boat back and I'll fly Korra over in time for the match? She can just skip warm up. She's been bending for hours already anyway."

...What?

Korra swallowed, unable to argue with Asami because that girl was so right, but this was definitely one of the problems she had been thinking about. She really just couldn't catch a break...

It wasn't that she didn't like Asami, because back when they'd first met, all she thought of the girl was that she was a rich, high-maintenance girl. While the girl had turned out to be a bit high-maintenance, Asami was actually astoundingly down to earth. This non-bender had even gone against her father for their cause and she was a part of their team. Asami was undoubtedly her friend, but she was also the girl who used to date Mako. The two of them had never been alone together since the breakup and now that horribly awkward situation was what Korra was faced with.

Mako, please think about this for a minute. Please think about this for a min—

"Oh, that sounds fine. You two can take care of yourselves anyhow," the firebender replied to the suggestion, nodding thoughtfully while Korra wanted to curl up in a ball and die. Why did he have to be such a guy all the time? Didn't he even think about how this might be bad for her?

Oh, what was the point even? Her fate was sealed anyhow.

Korra hated feeling anxiety like this, but she maintained a relatively upbeat appearance as they said their farewells. Bolin was loud and cheerful as they left, completely the opposite of his older brother who was much more reserved and quiet. She wanted to kiss him a little, but they had both agreed not to be too open with their affections, partly because Korra already had too much of the public eye on her and partly because they didn't want to make Asami uncomfortable. After all, when he had been with Asami, they had definitely lacked that sort of discretion around Korra, and she certainly would've preferred it if they had. Instead, Mako simply offered her a small smile and a wave as he turned and she waved back with a sigh.

Stupid, lovable jerk.

The brunette picked up the leaf again gingerly, holding it in her palms and concentrating hard. She thought of the form, the way it would move, bend, and drift, the way the leaf would just be a leaf. She'd made it through those boards. She'd been the leaf then and she could be one now.

The disobedient piece of vegetation blasted up into the air, fraying at its sides. Korra leaned back in exasperation, letting the flimsy leaf float downwards before she chucked a fireball at it angrily. If Tenzin were here right now, he'd be lecturing her about how she needed to connect with her spiritual side before any of this was going to happen. Well, she'd already seen all her past lives! Wasn't that spiritual enough?

"Don't worry; you'll get it soon."

Surprised, she looked up. Korra had forgotten Asami was still there and now there was no way she would be able to concentrate again.

"Uh, yeah, right, I definitely will…!" she replied a little too enthusiastically, a nervous smile twitching at her lips.

Asami took a stride forward and sat down next to the Avatar. "Korra, are you okay? You looked kind of uneasy when Mako and Bolin left and I saw it again just now."

Korra swallowed, deeply uncomfortable. How did the engineering genius act like this situation was no big deal? Or…maybe it just wasn't to her?

"Korra, whatever it is, you can tell me."

She was really a terrible liar. Despite her efforts, there was no way to hide her apprehension from Asami and it wasn't like she was just going to sit here and somehow get over it. Besides, Pema always told her that communication was the key to success. Korra was only more inclined to believe this as her rash, hot-blooded confrontations had never really gone well in the past. Perhaps sitting down and having an adult conversation would actually be better.

Korra struggled to find words, fiddling with her fingers a bit. Man, how did you start an adult conversation? "This is…awkward, right?"

Oh crap. That definitely wasn't how someone would start an adult conversation. Luckily, Asami didn't seem at all fazed by the question, just a little perplexed.

"Awkward? What do you mean?" she asked, blinking in confusion.

"W-well, you know! I'm—me and Mako… You and Mako…" The Avatar simply found herself wanting to smash her face into the ground. Articulation in situations like these were definitely not her strong suit. Did people honestly expect her to make public speeches about stuff that didn't fire her up someday? The only thing she was good at when it came to verbal communication was yelling!

However, the non-bender seemed to grasp the idea Korra was trying to get across, eyes widening after a moment and mouth forming an oval. "You were afraid us being alone together would be awkward because you're with Mako now."

Hearing it out loud really only made it worse. Still, it wasn't like she was going to deny the truth even if it made her want to melt into the floor. Asami even seemed to be completely fine with having this discussion. She was only a year older than Korra and yet she seemed a million times more mature. How in the world had Mako ever fallen for her over the beautiful, strong and intelligent Asami Sato?

"Well, yeah…"

Korra was surprised, though, when the response she got to that was a laugh. "Oh, Korra, I'm sorry. I don't mean to downplay your concern or anything, but there's really nothing to worry about," Asami told her, brushing off the issue like it didn't even matter.

She didn't even know what to say in return. The Avatar felt like she had been the girl that stole her friend's boyfriend, but apparently, that wasn't the case. If it wasn't, then what exactly was?

"I guess…I'm just a little reluctant to believe you'd be completely okay with me right now…" Korra trailed off hesitantly.

Asami smiled. "I'm not that petty," she replied as she pulled her knees up to her chest. "Mako and I were never in love—I mean, I'm not going to say that I wasn't a little jealous, but I liked him and you two love each other. I couldn't compete with that. I can't even describe how absolutely insane he got when you were kidnapped by Tarrlok."

"Really?" She hadn't known that.

The engineer nodded. "Seeing it, I knew deep down that he was in love with you; I just didn't want to admit it to myself. I think he knew too and was just in denial. Whatever the case, we should have talked about it and we didn't. There was just way too much going on." Asami's face brightened as she stood, offering a hand to Korra which was accepted. "Anyway, I'm glad to be single right now. I really just need to focus on myself after everything that went down with my dad."

"Sorry about that, by the way," Korra said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "It must be tough seeing your dad behind bars."

Asami sighed, looking distressed even thinking about it. "Yeah, but he did all the wrong things for the wrong reasons, used my mom to try and justify them, and hurt a lot of people in the process. Right now, that's where he needs to be."

Korra stared at the non-bender for a moment. Because she was a tomboy, she had always felt more comfortable around males in general. Girls were so…pink and bubbly and enjoyed things like spas and shopping. Asami definitely had all the traits of the defined female, yet there was something about her that was different. She wasn't superficial even though she had beauty a goddess would be envious of, nor did she act like a spoiled child that got whatever she wanted when she could. She loved machines and could work them better than any man. On top of that, she was easy to talk to despite their highly evident personality differences.

Korra had always thought that she was closer to Mako and Bolin than Asami, and maybe that was true, but she didn't want it to be like that anymore. In Team Avatar, she didn't want to trust one person more than the others, and that meant it was time to put aside stupid boys and assumptions to make room for a better, stronger bond. This person she was standing in front of was someone with a golden heart, someone she shouldn't be pushing away.

"You know, Asami," Korra began, the corners of her lips tugging upwards, "I'm really grateful that we're friends."

"So am I," the non-bender responded, that radiant face glowing with a smile. "Besides, you definitely need someone to teach you how to drive."

Korra grimaced, thinking about her first and last parking job. It wasn't her fault that that pole had been in her way. Plus, the brake was the strangest thing in the world. When she rode Naga, she always pulled up on the reins to stop. She'd almost forgotten the pedal needed to be pushed with her foot when she'd been driving! She had been looking for something to pull for the longest time. In some ways, driving a Satomobile was almost as bad as learning how to airbend.

"Y-yeah… Let's just go," the Avatar suggested as she began to push Asami towards the landing area, not wanting to talk about it anymore. "You can show me how to land or something."

"Oh come on, Korra! It wasn't so bad for a first try!"

"Or maybe I'll just swim there."

"Hey, wait up!"

Mako wondered vaguely if he had done the right thing as he grabbed his helmet out of his locker. Korra's anxiety had been pretty obvious, but he had thought it best for her to work things out with Asami. He and Asami had spoken about their relationship after the whole Equalist debacle and sorted things out, but neither of them had ever suspected that Korra would feel as though she had betrayed Asami. Of course, Asami hadn't really noticed how much effort the Avatar had put into not being alone in the same room as her, but Mako had. It was only luck that brought him today's opportunity. He did feel sort of bad for dismissing his girlfriend's feelings about being alone with Asami, but it was important for her and the team that they all worked things out.

It was only a minute later that he was pulled from his thoughts but a pairing of giggling females. He looked over to the door, thinking for a second that Bolin had let in some random fan girls again, but he had to do a double take when he actually saw the female counterpart of Team Avatar walking in. Korra was giggling. Giggling. There was something greatly chilling about that fact that he just couldn't shake.

"Hey, you two. How was the ride over here?" he asked, opening Korra's locker for her.

"Oh, fine," Korra answered, a tickle of laughter still escaping her throat. She turned back to Asami, hand over her mouth as she lowered the volume of her voice. "I see what you mean about the eyebrows now."

"Right?" Asami whispered in hushed amusement, giggle barely contained.

Mako looked up self-consciously, as if trying to look at said eyebrows. "What? What's wrong with my eyebrows?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" his girlfriend supplied helpfully as she clutched her sides. He could see her exchanging looks with Asami, the other girl equally as taken by the humour.

Mako looked between them, the transformation in their relationship prior to this quite clear. He kept his expression neutral, but inside, even as he stepped over behind Bolin onto the mobile platform, he couldn't help the feeling of worry that cemented at the bottom of his stomach. Korra and Asami's friendship seemed to have been mended, but suddenly he wasn't so sure if he was happier with the end product.

"You realize you're doomed, right?" his brother whispered while they waited for Korra.

"Shut up, Bolin," Mako muttered miserably. Of course he knew. Girlfriends knew things and told each other those things and discussed those things. What was next? His kissing ability? Ugh, please not his kissing ability. He was already paranoid enough about that.

His shoulders slumped even as he tried to focus on the match ahead. But really, there was no point. He was dead no matter what happened. Instead, he decided he would accept his fate and pray that there was really nothing wrong with his poor eyebrows.