WARNING! SPOILERS for S1 Finale "Skeletons in the Closet" & "End Game."
When Korra climbed peak over the rocks, the first thing she noticed was the Equalist airship hovering over the tower of the temple—a place she had come to see as home over the past few months. She squinted when the airship began lifting someone up on a small platform.
"There's Amon," Korra pointed as he disappeared from view.
Mako nodded. "We need to get into the temple. Then, when he returns…"
"We ambush him," Korra finished. "Come on… we should be able to walk right in with these Equalist uniforms."
The two benders made their way towards the air temple at a moderate pace—quick enough to look like they had a purpose, but slow enough as to not arouse suspicion. The pit of Korra's stomach was twisting as the Equalists glanced in their direction, but no one approached them. When they were at the base of the stairs, she thought for a fleeting second that they would make it. Then—
"What are you two doin' here?"
Surprised, they spun to their left and saw Amon's lieutenant addressing them.
Mako was the first to recover. "Ahh… We were just transferred."
"Well… you're getting transferred again. Amon wants extra security at the arena today."
"The arena? For what?" Korra mentally slapped her head. She hoped he hadn't just given them away.
"The rally. You should have been briefed about this."
"We'll be there, sir." Korra bowed. As the lieutenant walked away she nudged Mako softly. "I know another way in."
Mako followed and, when she revealed the hidden door in the bushes, he began to wonder just how much time Korra had been sneaking around Air Temple Island between lessons to discover it.
"Let's hide in the attic," Korra suggested when they made it inside.
The attic wasn't dusty like Mako expected it to be. There were wooden crates stacked in two neat rows in the middle of the room. A frosted window let in a modest amount of light and though it was convenient that nobody would spot them through the window, Mako couldn't see outside. As cupped his hands on the window and tried to see through the fuzziness, Mako felt a breeze flow in from the bottom where the window was cracked open slightly. He tried to peak out, but was unable to see anything. He didn't dare open it wider. Instead, he ran a finger across the windowsill. It came up clean. Korra noticed his puzzled look.
"The air acolytes keep everything pretty tidy around here."
"Think they would clean Bolin's side of the room?"
"Sorry... they say everyone is responsible for their own part. Trust me, I tried." She rummaged through a box. "Hey, look at this! A little sky bison! It looks ancient… Tenzin must store artifacts from the old Air Temples here."
Mako walked over and looked in. "This one must be games. I see some pai sho tiles in there."
They quietly looked through the crates, examining the airbender relics mostly in silence. Occasionally, they would discuss a find before replacing it in the boxes. Mako opened the next box and pulled out piece of pottery. The outside looked as if it was made of red clay, but the inside was stained blue. A crack ran down the middle of the bowl, threatening to break it in half.
"What did the airbenders eat that was blue?" Mako held up his find.
"I think that was used to mix the dye for the tattoos airbenders receive when they become masters. From what Tenzin tells me, it's a very spiritual ceremony." She winced as Mako moved to cup the bowl between his two hands to stop the ever-widening crack. "I would be really careful wit that."
"Oh. I think I'm done snooping around now." Mako put the bowl back into the box and sealed it. He settled down on the floor and leaned against a stack of boxes facing the entrance. "It's weird seeing all this stuff, you know? I never really thought about it before because it's just the way it's always been… Tenzin and his kids—they're really all that's left of these people."
"I know," Korra sighed. She replaced the lid on the last crate and joined Mako on the floor. "I wish I knew where Tenzin was taking them or he would send word that they made it okay."
"I'm sure they're fine. Tenzin will take care of his family. And Chief Beifong is with them. You'd have to be mad to cross her." A small smile crept across Korra's lips but it didn't reach her eyes. "This isn't all on you, Korra."
"It feels like it is. It kinda comes along with the whole Avatar thing. I'm supposed to be a leader…"
Mako shook his head, "No, this is on all of us. And a leader shouldn't be the scapegoat to blame all of our problems on. Maybe someday we'll realize that we shouldn't count on any one person to lead us to a perfect world. One person can't do it all alone. But, if everyone changed the small part of the world that they live in…"
"I didn't take you for such an idealist, Mako."
He shrugged. "You shouldn't have to fix the problems of the world, Korra."
"But I do. That's my job."
A/N: Hello! This is my first fanfiction. I've been reading for a while, but I've finally decided to take the plunge and publish some stuff. I have a ton of ideas (seriously- 12 other ideas in my list besides this one) of things I want to write about for Legend of Korra. You can count on some Last Airbender stuff in the future too.
This chapter gets off to a slow start, but the plot will pick up more in the coming chapters. I'm anticipating about 5 chapters right now so it won't be too long. As you can see, since Tarrlok wasn't kept in the attic, so Korra & Mako have no idea that Amon is Yakone's son & he is actually a waterbender. Stay tuned to see how this turns out and let me know what you think so far! -Dreamer009