Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra are property of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and Nickelodeon. As much as I would like to, I cannot and do not claim any sort of authorship, ownership, or "melon lordship" over the characters, plot, etc.
He awakes early after a fitful night's sleep. The morning and his bed are cold, touched by the crisp chill of fall's breath. He prepares his coffee as usual and sits down at the table to read the newspaper before heading off to headquarters.
Korra's crystalline blue eyes stare at him from the front page and her smile, hesitant and full of laughter and life, tugs at his heartstrings. He'd been a fool…
AVATAR KORRA DEAD.
The coffee cup falls to the floor, fracturing into a thousand pieces and sending scorching liquid sprawling across the floor, as he clutches his chest, gasping for air and heaving forth sobs. He feels strong arms grip his shoulders as Bolin tries to steady him until he, too, reads the headlines and collapses on the floor next to his brother.
Flash bulbs blind him as he barrels out the door of the apartment building. Republic City's press corps descends, peppering him with questions.
"Mako, is it true you broke up with Avatar Korra?"
"What were her last words to you?"
"Do you feel responsible for her death?"
He explodes into a flurry of curses and flames and fights his way through the crowd. All he can think about is getting to Air Temple Island. There he will find her. Safe and sound. Alive. The newspapers, the media, they always lie. That's what Asami had told him when he and Korra had become the talk of the town, subject to rampant tabloid rumor mills.
When he arrives he finds Tenzin and his family returned. Their faces tell him what his heart already knows. She's gone. He crumbles to his knees in the courtyard, his cheek pressed against the smooth, cool stone, as his tears mix with the rain. Even the heavens mourn her passing.
A FUNERAL FIT FOR AN AVATAR.
Thousands come to mourn the Avatar's passing. Chief Unalaq arrives from the North, creepy twins shadowing his footsteps, and he talks of honor and duty and sacrifice and other such bullshit he knows nothing about. President Raiko thanks the Avatar for her service to Republic city, promises a statue dedicated in her memory.
Tonraq is a broken man, his powerful frame hunched over, defeated. Her mother is a shell, quivering and shaking, eyes bloodshot, her arms curled around her tiny frame as if the gesture is the only thing holding her together. Naga lies at their feet, confused by the emotions swirling among the crowd. She whines softly and lightly licks Tonraq's hand.
The airbender children are silent, completely still for the first time in their lives. They don't understand. They don't want, no, can't understand. Pema does her best to comfort them amid her own sadness as she rocks Rohan quietly back and forth while Tenzin sits, straight backed, grey eyes staring ahead, at once seeing and not seeing, as he struggles to hold back tears.
They do not find her body.
It hurts because his beloved Korra is still out there. Cold. Dead. Alone. He breaks down into sobs once more, but his throat is so raw that it feels as though it, too, might crumble.
And in his anger and hurt and rage he sets fire to the rain fall, oranges and reds and yellows mixing with blues and silvers. In that one fleeting moment their elements again become one, and it's as though he can feel her there with him once more.
INSIDE THE EARTH KINGDOM: THE SEARCH BEGINS FOR THE NEW AVATAR.
Thoughts soon turn to a successor. He. She. It. Whatever it is, no one has found it. The White Lotus searches tirelessly, eager to secure the next in line and begin training. The world must have its Avatar.
Every morning before dawn he rises and stands at the shore with questions in his heart and tears streaming down his face. He asks himself why. Why couldn't he save the one who was so precious to him? Why did he ever let her go?
There at ocean's edge, where sunrise and sunset meet the waves, fire and water become one. And every morning that moment slips through his fingers, and he is alone.
Author's Note: I can't even begin to describe the extent of my feels after the "Peacekeepers" episode. Holy mother of saber-toothed moose lions, Batman. Talk about right in the feels. That one hurt. A lot. I think I may need therapy after this.
Thank you for reading!