Nightmares

Sweet dreams

It didn't take us long to scramble up some sandwiches and drinks to bring. Instead of going into Republic City, Mako found us a nice place on the island to have our lunch at. He had been thoughtful enough to plan this ahead of time and lay out a blanket for us to sit on when we arrived.

He sets the basket down and I look around, taking in the sight of our surroundings. There's a few clusters of beautiful pink and orange flowers, trees with bright green leaves, and big puffy clouds that blotch around the blue sky. But there's one thing I notice that I'm not thankful to see.

We are very close to the shore where there's water.

I take in a deep breath and quickly jerk my head away. Mako seems to notice because he is looking at me with concern spread across his face.

"Is something wrong?" He asks.

I smile to try and cover up my discomfort and say, "Oh, no. I just got something in my eye."

I rub my eye, hoping that he will believe it and not question me any further. To my relief, he does. Or at least he's pretending to believe me.

"You look beautiful today," he says, smiling at me.

I notice that the lighting is just right to make his eyes brighten up to an almost golden color.

I smile back shyly and tilt my head down.

"Can we eat now? I'm starving," I say.

He responds by digging in the basket and picking up a sandwich and hands it to me before he serves himself.

I take a bite of mine and my eyes start to wander off towards the bank again. A flashback of my dream wedges into my mind and it stops my breathing. I'm remembering how I was being drug under the water and now I can't seem to even find air to breath in reality. I finally suck in a short breath that causes me to choke on my food and I cough. Mako hands me my drink.

"You alright?" He asks.

I cough for a second time but I can't form the words in my mouth to tell him that I'm fine. I'm looking at the water again and I start to hyperventilate.

Mako grabs my arm and says, "Korra, calm down. What's wrong?"

I'm still hyperventilating and I drop my sandwich so that I can use both of my hands to grab at my neck.

Mako moves right in front of me and blocks my view of the water. It doesn't help because I'm already overwhelmed with the thought of drowning.

"Korra, look at me!"

I start to feel lightheaded and the inside of my chest and throat clench so hard it's painful. I can't hear him over the sound of my own suffering but I see his lips moving. I'm beginning to get dizzy as Mako stands and pulls me up to my feet. He grabs my arm and half drags me back towards the airbenders' home. My vision starts to darken at the edges and I go limp. I feel my chin and elbows hit the ground.

• • • • • • • • • • •

I slowly open my eyes. I must be laying down in the house because I'm looking at the ceiling. I raise up too fast and it causes my head to spin. I burry my face into my hands as I wait for the dizziness to fade away.

"Korra?"

I look to my right and see Mako getting out of a chair he must have brought in here.

"What's going on?" My voice croaks.

"You passed out," He says.

I'm still confused so I ask, "How long ago was that?"

"About nine hours. I've been waiting in here for you to wake up ever since Tenzin said you would be okay."

"Ugh. I feel exhausted," I say as I rub my face into my hands again.

"Yeah, it's pretty late," he says while he walks to the other side of my bed.

My eyes get wide when I realize he shouldn't be in here. I jump up and grab his arm to lead him towards the door.

"Korra? What are you doing?" He asks as he jerks his arm away from me.

"Tenzin caught me sneaking out of your room this morning and you can't be around me like this anymore," I say, looking at him.

"What did he say?"

"He threatened to find a new place for you and Bolin to stay," I reply.

He looks at me, thinking about something for a few moments and then starts to grin.

"What are you smiling about?"

"I guess we'll just have to be more careful," he says.

"Yeah, and the best way to do that is for you to get out of here," I say while trying to push him towards the door.

Still grinning, he quickly grabs me under my thighs and my back and throws me over his shoulder.

"Mako!" I try not to say too loud.

"It looks like I'm the one doing the fondling tonight," he says.

I put my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing too loud as he carries me to my bed and puts me down.

He crawls onto the bed, hovering above me, and stares at me for a moment, inches away from my face. I see him glance down at my lips and back up. He starts to lean towards me and I let him. My eyes close and feel his lips gently brush mine. He breaks away to look at me and moves his hand to sweep a lock of hair away from my face.

"I'm in love with you," Mako says.

"I'm in love with you, too."

I lean back in because I know what I want now. I kiss him harder than we did a moment ago. We continue for a few seconds more and then his mouth starts to move towards my jawline leaving trails of kisses as he moves down my neck. I start to grip the hem of his shirt and tug it upward. He stops long enough to remove his scarf and the shirt himself.

"Are you sure?" He asks.

I respond by pulling him back onto me and kissing him. We pause again to remove the rest of our clothing and toss it all onto the floor.

• • • • • • • • • • •

"Good morning, Korra," I hear someone say.

I open my eyes and find Mako smiling and leaning over the bed above me, already dressed back into his clothes.

"You need to be leaving before Tenzin catches us again."

"I know, that's why I'm up this early," Mako says.

I smile.

"How did you sleep?" he asks.

Sleep? How did I sleep?

It hits me that for the first time in weeks I didn't had a nightmare.

I get giddy with excitement and blurt out, "I didn't have a nightmare!"

I think about it even deeper as the sleep slides away from my mind.

"I didn't have a nightmare," I repeat.

My mouth is open in disbelief and Mako's smile starts to grow.

I look into his eyes for a few seconds before I lean in and kiss him.