The Unpredictable Fire Princess [Mako x Reader][Legend of Korra]

... and her test

A/N: Ummm I realized now that I started this story 5 years ago and barely updated cause I wanted to finish my Iroh story. When it finished, I got tired of the fandom and took a break for a bit and wrote other things. I'm still interested in completing this so I'm gonna try again. u_u

I cracked my fingers so let's see how this attempt goes. Haha...

[-x-]

"Are you all warmed up?"

When you first mentioned needing to test his skills, Mako thought it was somewhat a joke. You can't just beat up your future husband in order to gauge his capabilities. Wouldn't that appear tyrannical? Wouldn't that be insane?

Upon accepting the engagement, your immediate response was to challenge him to a duel, and so he finds himself standing at the palace training grounds. He wears training gear while you walk in with yours as your attendant Aki rushes behind you. 

Iroh sighs his response, "Ready as I'll ever be to fight against my fiancé."

"Perfect~ Don't disappoint me," you warn him as you stop five feet in front of him. 

Aki rushes for the middle, performing his duty as referee, but Mako doesn't trust that he will be impartial. The man clears his throat as he explains the rules shrewdly, "Participants are allowed all forms of bending and may use lethal means to ascertain victory."

Mako blinks, "Lethal?"

"Begin!"

A shot of a fire stream flies at him. His first reaction is awe at the color; it's a fiery blue that is rare amongst all firebenders. Its heat scorches the air more than the usual fire attacks and aims straight at him. He realizes that he must evade or his face will resemble Zuko's soon enough. 

His dodge is messy as he drops to the floor as if he's fallen. At the sound of her footsteps, he scrambles back to his feet and uses a wall of fire to halt the stream from touching him. Once the wall dissipates, he spots you jumping in the air and kicking out a fire stream from your feet. He punches out fire, one large enough to counter you.

As you land on your feet, he kicks out his own fire that will land near your chest. He expects you to block it with your hands, but you instead continue falling to the ground on your landing, performing a split to dodge the fire completely. You then bend backwards, using your hand as leverage to perform a handstand that kicks out two balls of fire at him.

He stands there stunned at the beautiful evasion, and his heart even skips a beat... He must be crazy if his heart skipped a beat over this! He curses himself for the absurdity while you gaze at him curiously.

"That was weak. I'm sure you can do better than that," you taunt. 

He retorts, "Lethal means to attack my fiancé is not something I had in mind."

"At least fight with some vigor!"

Your consistency in personality has him scoffing, and he puts his hands up in front of his face as he reverts back to his pro-bender days. "Fine, fine." His speed brings him close to your proximity, and he punches quick jabs near you. You mirror his movements in the opposite manner, dodging in succession as you try to land your own attacks.

"Wow, wow! What's this you got going on?" you hum with amazement.

"You've heard of pro-bending, haven't you? I was one of them back in the day," he explains between pants.

Your eyes sparkle with mirth, again forcing his heart to beat rapidly in interest. "You're always full of surprises!"

He smiles a bit but returns to his fight. With every clash, he takes note of your fighting style. Agile, murderous, powerful are the words that come to mind in reference to your onslaught. You do not hesitate, nor do you think of the consequences for every blow. You know when to disengage and when to engage, and your eyes analyze his mannerisms as well to counter him efficiently.

And for some reason, he feels alive in this clash. Always having to fight for survival, protection, or work, Mako has never used firebending as a form of entertainment. Even pro-bending was a method for survival as they needed the coin to live in the harsh Republic City environment. Now he uses his full capabilities without needing to think of others or himself, providing him a sense of freedom that he's never had before.

It invigorates him enough that he falls into the sway of the fight. His speed picks up, his strength doubles, and he pushes back on your assault. Though your power shows in your agility and resolute foundations, you don't have the strength to not be blown back by his full explosion of intensity that has you rolling on the floor.

He pursues your form and kicks his feet with fire at you to keep you on the ground. You once again stand on your hands but then drop on your back and twirl your legs around to create a ring of fire around you to block him away. He slices through the ring with his hand though the slight burn on his skin does cause him to flinch. When he gets to you, you're still on the ground and about to backflip, but he pauses when he realizes his hand will connect with your arm. The skin is untouched and smooth, slight muscles protrude but they aren't as bulky as Korra's. It's a beautiful arm that will be marked should he burn you there.

In that moment of vulnerability, he sees you differently. Up close, you appear regal and strong. Alluring with a spunk that screams with charisma. You aren't afraid of his full power, of the trauma he carries from the hard life he had to live, and of the mistakes he made in romance. You seem to be looking for someone that will be strong enough to do the same with you.

He freezes, and in that moment you take the chance and kick his abdomen, using fire to strengthen the impact and sending him flying towards the fence that encircles the training grounds. He tries to get up, but his head spins from being disorientated. You travel to his side to land the finishing blow, kicking him up in the air and following him to the sky before kicking him back down. His vision blackens, and he knows that he now relies on your mercy.

[__]

His eyesight returns. There's a bump on his head and chin and an ache that won't quit. He groans from the pain, and your face hovers his, filling his sight of only you. You are kneeling by his side though there is no concern present on your expression, just anger.

"I can't believe you hesitated. You could have landed a good punch on me! What a waste!" You shake your head, not knowing why he didn't burn you.

"Did you have to go that hard when I was already down?" Mako grunts.

Aki comes over and hands you something. He finds out what it is when a cooling sensation rests on his bump. His hand reaches out to hold the bag of ice,  but it touches yours and causes him to flinch. "Oh, sorry."

Your other hand flicks his nose. "Dummy, I don't care. Touching hands is the tamest thing we'll be doing when we're married."

His eyebrows raise, "You still want to marry me?"

"Mhm~ I found your fighting style interesting and handsome. We must do this more often."

"I rather not..."

"Come on! You looked like you were having a lot fun," you grin.

"You did too," he chuckles but stops as his body hurts from the shake. "Ow."

"I'll bring you to the infirmary soon, but they said you need to go on a stretcher." You glance at Aki's receding back as you think on some matters. "Ne, Mocha, what do you think I should do to convince my mom to retire?"

He's already given up with the name situation and ignores the new nickname. "Didn't she say that you've done nothing to help the citizens? Why don't you work on that?"

You nod your head. "So, I should feed them or something."

"You're not wrong, I guess," Mako sighs.

As you continue to ponder the logistics, Mako gazes at the different expressions you cycle through. After the exchange, he knows that you hide your truest sentiments behind ignorance and absurdities and wonders what he will find beneath it all. A girl looking for acceptance? A girl wanting companionship? Or someone absolutely insane without a will to change?

"Do I just throw food at people in the streets or something?"

He prays that it isn't the last option. "That's a form of assault, [Name]."

"Wow, cops really know a lot."

"It's basic decency..."