Work Text:
Mako counted the times where Korra and Asami seemed a little more than friendly. His thoughts strayed back to the day Korra returned when their lunch date went downhill as soon as Wu was kidnapped. “What’s going on between you two?” he had asked. He was slowly beginning to realize the weight of his question.
——
The first time he noticed something was the night of Kuvira’s defeat. He was surprised he noticed anything at all in the first place since his mind was clouded by pain and exhaustion.
Air Temple Island served dinner for everyone after the battle. The usually boisterous crowd remained silent in the dead of night. The only ones who were still energetic enough to celebrate were Meelo and Ikki, both of which were still too tired to express their enthusiasm to its fullest potential.
Mako rested silently, eating his dinner in small bites with his good arm. Bolin sat opposite to him, Korra sat to his right, and Asami sat opposite to Korra. When Mako finally looked up from his food he noticed Korra was falling asleep and was about to faceplant into her bowl of noodles. Mako was about to elbow her side to wake her up until Asami got to it first.
“Korra,” she whispered. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concern. Mako watched as she took her right hand to lift up Korra’s chin. Korra’s eyes fluttered open. The intimacy of the action made Mako avert his eyes to give the two some privacy, but he kept an eye on the two through his peripheral vision. Asami’s hand went up to rest on Korra’s cheek. Mako looked up and made eye contact with Bolin. He lifted his eyebrows and let his eyes flicker towards Asami and back at Mako as if to say you seeing this too? Mako gave a single nod back in response.
“Hey, hey, wake up, Korra,” Asami said softly. She brushed her thumb over Korra’s cheek. Instead of waking up, Korra only seemed to get sleepier and she let herself rest her head in Asami’s hand. “You’re about to faceplant into your food, Korra,” said Asami. A tiny bit of amusement leaked into her voice and that’s when Korra finally opened her eyes fully. Korra’s surrounding seemed to take a second to sink in and once she registered Asami, Bolin, and Mako all looking at her she widened her eyes and sat upright immediately. A slight blush also graced her features, which did not go unnoticed by Mako. Asami’s lips upturned in a small smile in sight of the Avatar. That did not go unnoticed by Mako either.
Korra shook her head to rid the sleepiness.
“Sorry, just tired,” she said softly. She was only looking at Asami, however. “What about you, are you ok?” Korra asked. Asami sighed.
“I… I will be,” she answered. Mako didn’t know what happened but she looked more worn down than usual. He began to grow even more concerned for his friend. “I think… I think I’m gonna go get some rest.”
Asami’s voice cracked near the end of her sentence and she hastily got up to go to the women’s dormitories.
Korra cursed.
Bolin looked back and forth between Korra and where Asami went off to.
“Is she ok? It looked like she was hardly holding herself together all of dinner..” Bolin said. He was still looking at the doorway where Asami had disappeared. His thick eyebrows were furrowed in concern and it kind of looked like he had a unibrow. Korra let out a deep sigh.
“Hiroshi died,” she said bluntly. Mako’s jaw dropped and he turned his head so quickly to Korra he almost got whiplash. A noodle also flew out of his mouth but he decided to ignore it for the time being. At the same time, all minimal chatter in the room went silent. Everyone turned to look at Korra, and it seemed everyone was just as unaware as Mako was.
“Pardon?” said Tenzin. His beard quivered with the shake of his lips.
“Her dad sacrificed himself to open that hole in Ku- in the mecha suit’s leg,” Korra explained heavily. Mako noticed how she deliberately avoided saying Kuvira’s name. A blanket of silence enveloped the room. No one knew what to say.
“I’m going after her,” Korra said, breaking the silence. Mako grabbed her wrist with his good hand before she left too fast.
“Are you sure? She might want to be alone right now,” he explained to her. Mako watched Korra’s eyes soften. She looked towards to door then back at him. Mako let go of her wrist.
“She came to me when I was at my worst, when I didn’t want to see anybody either. I’m going to return the favor,” she said with certainty. Mako nodded in understanding and watched as Korra left the room to chase after Asami.
The room collectively sighed as everyone returned to their now cold dinners.
——
The second time Mako noticed something was only moments later. He had just finished dinner and was headed to the men’s dormitory when he walked past Asami’s room in the women’s dormitory. Strangely enough, he heard two hushed voices.
“Thank you for telling the others… I don’t know if I could’ve said anything,” said Asami through the door. Mako felt a little guilty for evesdropping on their private conversation, but he was also worried about his friend.
“Of course, I’m here for you, whatever you need,” Korra said. Mako heard a sniffle from who he guessed was Asami and took it as his turn to leave.
——
The third time he noticed something was the morning after. He saw Korra and Asami exit the same room together. Asami had curled herself around Korra’s arm and rested her head on Korra’s shoulder as they walked out of the room together.
Mako was about to tease them until she saw the dried tear marks on Asami’s face. Korra must’ve kept Asami company the whole night judging by the size of the bags under her eyes. Both looked worse for wear.
Deciding against teasing them, Mako opened his good arm and embraced the two from Korra’s side. Korra immediately sunk into his embrace, much like Asami did to her, and he guided them to the dining area for a hearty breakfast.
——
The fourth time he noticed something was at Varrick and Zhu Li’s wedding. It’s been a very long time since Mako had to dress up for a formal event, and he felt quite out of place despite everybody around him dressed with similar formality. Even Lin Beifong managed to wear a dress. You comment something like that again and you’re fired, Lin had said when Mako mentioned her dress. Mako grinned at her because he detected the lighthearted tone in her voice.
After speaking with Lin for a moment Mako went off to find Asami, that was until she found him first.
“Hey, Asami! You look-“ he was going to say “beautiful” but Asami interrupted him.
“Mako I need your help,” she said. She gripped her hands on his uninjured forearm.
“Uh okay, yeah, sure, what do you need?” he asked and stuttered since this was the last thing he expected. Asami’s eyes darted back and forth between him and where Korra was speaking with Tenzin.
“I..” she pursed her lips. “I need to speak with Korra.” She blushed when she said Korra’s name and Mako raised an eyebrow.
“She’s right there,” he said dumbly while pointing at the Avatar.
“No, I mean-“ Asami let out an exasperated sigh. “I need to speak with her in private, where no one else can hear us.” She pursed her lips again and her eyes held an emotion that Mako couldn’t identify.
“Ohhh okay,” said Mako. The meaning behind her words still hadn’t registered in his mind and they wouldn’t for a while. “What if you distracted Tenzin? That would work right?” Asami seemed to think the idea over in her head and nodded to agree. “Something really dumb would work even, the guy’s more gullible than Bolin,” he said. Asami let out a little laugh and nodded again.
“Okay, yeah, that should work. But what should I say?” Her eyes continued to dart back and forth between Mako and Korra.
“Hmm,” Mako hummed. His eyes strayed to Varrick who had knelt down and was having a very in-depth conversation with Meelo. Mako felt a lightbulb go off in his brain. He looked back at Asami and said seriously, “Tell Tenzin that Varrick is trying to jump off the temple towers with an air glider, it’s Varrick-enough and crazy enough for him to believe it.”
“Ha!” Asami laughed. “Great, thanks, Mako! I owe you one,” she said as she walked off in Korra’s direction. From afar, he watched the interaction between Asami, Tenzin, and Korra. When Tenzin ran off to find Varrick, Asami snuck a look back at Mako and smiled. He raised his drink towards her and nodded in response.
A couple minutes later when Mako had made his way to the dance floor, he spotted Korra and Asami exiting the pavilion they had talked to each other on. He was about to approach them to ask if they wanted to dance, but then he noticed their closeness.
Their pinkies were linked.
Mako smiled and let Bolin drag him further into the crowd. He lost sight of Korra and Asami quickly.
——
The fifth time he noticed something was three weeks later. Korra and Asami had returned from the spirit world no less than a week ago and Mako and Bolin haven’t seen much of them since. So, Asami invited the gang (the gang being Korra, Mako, Bolin, and Opal) to her mansion for a fun night of normalcy. Since the Sato mansion was much further out from the city, it hardly suffered any damage from Kuvira’s assault on Republic City.
Bolin heaved a great sigh as he let himself into Asami’s mansion. He spread out his arms widely and exclaimed, “HONEYYY, WE’RE HOMMEEEE!” Mako laughed at his antics and let himself in after his brother.
Asami appeared around a corner and smiled at the two of them. They all greeted each other enthusiastically before Asami led them to the main room.
“Could Opal not make it?” Asami asked the two as she led them.
“Ah no, she’s gonna be a little late, got caught up with the Airbenders back on Air Temple Island, ya know?” Bolin explained. Asami nodded in understanding. “What about Korra?” he asked.
“Oh, Korra’s already here, she’s been here actually,” Asami said. Mako raised his eyebrows at the last clarification. “She actually just fell asleep maybe an hour ago so keep quiet,” she whispered as she opened to the door to the main room.
The sight that greeted Mako almost made him coo in adoration. Korra was sprawled on Asami’s couch, fast asleep. Naga was there too and she had her head and paws resting on the front half of the couch, serving as Korra’s pillow. Both the Avatar and her animal companion were fast asleep and embracing each other. The last thing Mako happened to notice was the fact that Korra was not wearing a shirt. Her chest was covered by her usual bindings, her arm bands and sleeveless top were folded neatly on the table across from the couch she was sleeping on.
“You guys go on ahead, I’ll wake her up and bring her over,” she whispered to Mako and Bolin. Bolin was still looking at Korra. He had both his hands clutched close to his chest and his bottom lip was quivering.
“My heart swells, they are so cute,” he whispered dramatically. Asami smiled and nodded. Mako gave Asami a small smile and dragged Bolin out of the main room and towards the game room.
The last thing Mako saw before the view of the main room left was Asami kneeling down to brush away a stray hair behind Korra’s ear to lean down and kiss her forehead.
——
The sixth time Mako noticed something was when he visited Asami in her office on the top floor of the Future Industries tower. Asami invited Mako over for lunch on the one afternoon when they were both free. Asami had been swamped with rebuilding the city again, and Mako with his police work.
He was in the elevator, lunch in hand, waiting for it to reach the top. Mako tapped his foot with the beeping of the elevator as he ascended floors. At the final ding, he stepped out at the open doors right into Asami’s office. She was seated at her massive desk, surrounded by hundreds of papers and blueprints that gave Mako a headache to look at. Asami seemed far too engrossed in her work to notice her visitor so Mako made himself noticed.
“Hey, Asami,” he said. Finally she looked up at him and her face broke out into a smile.
“Mako!” she greeted enthusiastically as she maneuvered her way around the desk and papers crowding her office to go and hug him. “I’m so glad you could make it, it feels like forever since we last saw each other.”
“Well, if forever for you is six days then yeah,” he joked lightheartedly. Asami rolled her eyes fondly and led him toward the corner of her massive office where there lied a table and some comfortable couches. Mako tried his best not to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows because they always made him dizzy, but the windows that surrounded the entire office made it quite difficult. One thing that made him even more concerned was how one window was open from the top half.
“Uh, Asami?”
“Hm?”
“Why do you have an open window at 84 floors above the ground?” he asked her. Instead of looking shocked like Maki expected her to, Asami actually smiled fondly.
Asami opened her mouth to explain but before she could say anything, Korra dramatically flew into her office through the open window with her glider, tossing up Asami’s papers in a tornado.
“ASAMI!” she yelled excitedly. “Ah! Sorry about the papers again! Let me fix that really quick.” With a flick of her wrist, the papers returned to the rightful spots. After she cleaned up the mess she caused, she jumped over the couch Asami was sitting on and sat herself next to her. Meanwhile, Mako had stared slack-jawed at events that unfolded in front of him.
“Oh, hey Mako! What brings you here?” she asked. It took Mako a moment to collect his thoughts but once he did he answered Korra’s question.
“Uh, Asami invited me over for lunch.. um, is this a normal occurrence?” he asked, referring to Korra jumping through the window.
Korra nodded enthusiastically and Asami shook her head in amusement.
“Yes, that’s actually why I keep the window open. Korra doesn’t like taking the elevator or the stairs,” she said teasingly. Korra smiled brightly in response and rested her hand on Asami’s thigh, which did not go unnoticed by Mako.
“Har, har, anyway, I hope you two don’t mind me crashing your lunch party, what do you got? The Avatar is hungry after flying up 84 floors.”
——
The seventh time Mako noticed something was back on Air Temple Island a couple days after he visited Asami for lunch. It was a Saturday and Tenzin had invited everyone for dinner.
After eating all their food, Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, and the airbender kids all went outside on the pavilion. Mako watched as Korra flew around with the airbender kids in the orange light of the setting sun. His heart warmed at the sight.
“Hey Bolin, wanna spar?” he asked his brother. Mako’s eyes were still on the horizon however.
“I would, buuuut, I’ve kinda got the CEO of Future Industries asleep on my shoulder,” he said. Mako looked over and Asami didn’t stir, so she must’ve been really tired. Her mouth was slightly open and the eyeliner on her left eye was slightly smudged. To make Asami more comfortable, Bolin put his arm around her and let her nestle further into him.
The orange light from the sunset began to fade into purple, until a shadow came over them. Mako looked up and saw Korra standing above him with Meelo and Rohan each on one shoulder. She let them down gently where the two ran off in a frenzy and sat herself next to the sleeping Asami.
“Had fun?” Mako asked. Korra smiled and nodded. She was breathing quite heavily so she must’ve been winded from playing with the kids for so long. The light from the setting sun reflected in her blue eyes and made them look almost purple. Her purplish blue eyes glistened with an emotion that Mako couldn’t identify as she stared down at Asami. Mako seemed to spot that look on Korra a lot lately.
“I’m gonna take her inside, she’s been overworking herself at the office and I want to make sure she gets some rest,” Korra explained. She still hadn’t taken her eyes off of Asami. Bolin nodded and took his arm off of Asami so Korra could carry her. Almost effortlessly, Korra lifted Asami up in a bridal carry. Unconsciously, Asami wrapped her arms around Korra’s neck and shoulders as if it were common practice. Maki and Bolin watched the exchange with curious eyes.
“Alright,” Korra adjusted Asami in her arms, “I’ll take her inside, thanks Bolin, Mako.”
——
The eighth and final time Mako noticed something was upon Korra’s return from the Earth Kingdom. She spent a week and a half miles away from Republic City helping Wu and Suyin begin the rebuilding process of the Earth Kingdom.
Mako, Bolin, Asami, and Tenzin and his family were all waiting on Air Temple Island to greet Korra. In the far horizon, Mako spotted the flying bison which Korra rode on. He pointed it out to Asami who clutched her hands to her chest in excitement. Tears glistened in her eyes and Mako watched the reflection of Korra’s bison in her eyes. Mako knew that ever since the battle in Republic City ended, Korra and Asami’s bond became much stronger than before, and much more intimate he noticed.
The arrival of Korra’s bison shook Mako out of his thoughts. Before the bison even reached the ground, Korra lept off in an extremely impressive somersault and bounded over to Asami. Korra laughed in delight as she lifted up Asami and spun her around in excitement. The two couldn’t keep their eyes off of each other and Mako watched them tenderly.
”Aren’t they just the cutest couple,” said Bolin next to him.
Mako froze.
Couple?
Couple?
Couple!
Suddenly all the jumbled puzzle pieces in Mako’s head clicked together. He watched as Korra let Asami down, and not moments later kissed her fiercely as if she were her lifeline. Asami’s arms were wrapped tightly around the Avatar’s back and Korra’s hands cradled the sides of Asami’s face.
Mako whistled.
”Man, I’m so dumb.”