Mako stood behind the counter of The Jasmine Dragon: Tea and Gift Shop, bored out of his mind. Just in case Varrick dropped by or sprang out of some bizarre hiding place, Mako continuously wiped down the same counter top in small circular motions to make it appear like he was doing something important. Unlike the other workers, he hated the slow hours when The Jasmine Dragon didn't have any customers.
"Man, i haven't had a customer in two hours! I should've gone home with Bolin when i had the chance. This place is dead," Mako groaned out loud.
At that moment, the bell above the front door rang out, and a customer, soaked from the heavy rain outside, stepped into the shop. Mako's eyebrows lifted in surprise as he took in the girl's appearance: A toned, muscular body. Blue outfit. Long brown hair tied in a ponytail with two smaller ponytails on either side of her face. Tanned skin. Striking blue eyes.
'She's from the water tribe,' Mako thought. Republic City was famous for its mixed cultures, housing people from many parts of the world, most of which came from the Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom. Since it was such a long boat ride from the South and North Poles, seeing people of Water Tribe descent was rare.
The girl wiped the bottoms of her boots on the door mat and, without glancing in Mako's direction, walked out of the tea-serving portion of the store and went straight to the gift shop. She picked up a magazine from its shelf, but Mako could tell that she was only pretending to read it; she was more interested in looking out the window.
Suddenly, three shady-looking men ran past the window, pushing men and women carrying umbrellas and dressed in button down coats out of the way. Mako narrowed his eyes as he watched the girl shield her face with the magazine. She kept the magazine over her face for five seconds before hesitantly lowering it.
"Hello," A cheerful voice greeted from behind the girl. The girl jumped, whirling around to face the source of the voice. To Mako's surprise, the girl raised her fists, preparing to defend herself. The worker, a man with shoulder length hair, a goatee, wearing The Jasmine Dragon's green uniform, dropped the sky bison toys he'd been restocking and raised his palms to show the girl he was harmless." I'm sorry, i didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to ask if there was anything i could help you find?"
The girl lowered her fists and relaxed, offering the man a small smile." No, thank you. I'm okay."
"Are you from the North or South Pole?"
"Um, I'm from the South," the girl answered, nervously rubbing the blue bracelet on her upper arm.
"Wow, I've never met someone from the South Pole before! What brings you to Republic City?Are you on vacation?"
"Um," The girl's eyes flicked towards the door." Something like that."
Noticing that the girl was becoming nervous from all the question, Mako stepped around the counter and made his way to the girl and his coworker." Wan, i need you to finish restocking the toys before we close, please." To Mako's annoyance, Wan playfully saluted him before going back to restocking the toys. The girl tried sneaking away, but Mako stopped her before she could make it out the front door." Hold on. Are you going to pay for that, Miss?" He pointed to the magazine she still had in her hands.
The girl's eyes widened." Oh, no. I don't have any money." She handed Mako the magazine. The bell rang as she started to open the door, then rang again as Mako forcibly closed it. She gave him an angry look." I gave you the magazine didn't i? Now let me go!"
"Why were those men chasing after you?" Mako asked. The girl glanced down at her feet. He recognized the guilty, embarrassed look on her face; he often wore that look as a kid, after being caught red handed stealing food for him and his brother." Never mind, it doesn't matter, but you can't go out the front door. Those men must know you're hiding in one of the stores on the street by now. They'll see you."
"I'll run fast. They wont catch me."
Mako shook his head, flipping the 'OPEN' sign on the door to 'CLOSED' and twisting the lock." You can wait in here for an hour and leave out the back door with Wan and me. It'll be safer."
"No, I don't want to cause you any trouble," The girl mumbled, keeping her eyes down cast as she let Mako lead her to a table.
"It's okay, really. Just sit here, read any magazine you want, and I'll be back with a cup of hot tea." The girl started to remind him that she didn't have money." Don't worry, it's on the house." The girl then started to protest, but Mako held up his hand and tutted." It would be rude to refuse free tea, and you'll actually be doing me a favor. I'm bored out of mind. If i have to stand around doing nothing for another hour I'll go crazy!" He heard the girl whisper a weak thank you before disappearing into the kitchen to heat up a pot of water.
As a Jasmine Dragon employee, Mako could have anything he wanted for free, just as long as it was one item under five yuons. Bolin requested him to use his five yuons to bring home a package of cookies, but it looked like he'd have to survive the night without them. The water tribe girl could use a hot cup of tea, and Mako knew Bolin would understand.
While waiting for the water to boil, Mako recalled how soaked the girl was. Her boots had made that sloshing noise as she walked, and left behind small slippery puddles on the floor for him to clean up. ' I should get her a towel to dry off with.' He had a feeling the girl was probably hungry and decided to cook a pot of seaweed soup to go with her tea.
. . . .
"Wow." The girl's eyes lit up as Mako brought out the tea pot, an empty tea cup, and a big bowl of seaweed soup." Is this all for me?"
"Yep. Dig in," Mako said, laying the wooden chopsticks in front of the girl so she could eat while he poured her a cup of tea. He had the towel draped over his arm, and started to hand it to the girl until he noticed that girl was completely dry. It was like she hadn't been out in the rain at all!
'That's strange,' Mako thought, biting his lower lip. It was still heavily pouring outside. The girl did not have an umbrella. Was it possible she dried off during the time it took him to boil the tea? Could Wan have handed the girl a towel while he was busy?
Mako folded the towel and placed it at the center of the table, laying the tea pot on top of it.
"I have to clean the floors now. Holler if you want more tea."
The girl made an agreeing noise as she filled her mouth with the seaweed. Mako smiled at the girl's piggish table manners. It was just as he thought, the girl hadn't had a decent meal in a long time.
Mako traced the steps the girl had taken from the door to the magazine stand, but couldn't find the puddles. He called Wan over and asked if he cleaned them up.
Wan thought about it for a moment, then shook his head." No. Did you want me to do that after i finish putting the toys on the shelf?"
"No, I've got it." Mako replied, cupping his chin.
Wan lingered to observe Mako for a second before going back to his task.
Mako glanced at the water tribe girl's back. No matter how much he tried to rationalize her dry clothes and the dry floor, absent of the puddles that were there earlier, nothing made sense, and he kept coming to the same conclusion: The girl was a water bender.
He knew it was impossible for her to be a water bender. Benders were unheard of, and if someone were cursed with bending capabilities, well, Amon immediately took care of that. No bender could hide them self from Amon.
Although, Mako could name at least two benders that still had their bending.
. . . .
Mako pushed his suspicions aside as he swept the floors from the tea-serving area and gift shop, then lost himself completely to scrubbing away dirt stains as he got on his hands and knees. A loud, satisfied belch and the sound of chopsticks hitting an empty bowl brought Mako back to his senses, and he suddenly remembered the water tribe girl.
He stood up." Oh, sorry. I forgot you were here. Would you like more tea?" Mako's eyes widened when he lifted the tea pot and found it was empty.
"No, I'm fine. Everything was delicious," The girl purred, patting her full stomach like a drum." Thank you. I don't know how I'll ever repay your kindness."
Mako took back the empty dishes, troubled by the tea pot. He'd only poured the girl one cup of tea, it shouldn't have been empty.' It doesn't make sense. I should've heard the bells. I always hear the bells.' At the Jasmine Dragon, it was rude to make the customers pour their own tea, so every tea pot had a small string of bells tied to the handle, which alerted the employees in time to stop the customers from pouring their own tea. Strangely, Mako hadn't heard the bells once. At one point he was beside her table, scrubbing the floor beneath another table where he definitely should've heard the bells.
The only explanation Mako could think of? The girl was a water bender, and she bended the tea out of the pot and into her cup when he wasn't looking, probably to cause less trouble for him since he was busy.
Mako came back to the girl's table and sat down." Look, i know what it feels like to go hungry and I know how embarrassing it is to get caught stealing. I've been down that road before, and i never want to go down that road again." He produced an application and slid it in front of the girl." We're hiring. The wage is low but at least it's something. I'll put in a good word for you to my boss, but that's only if you fill out the application and turn it in." Mako knew he could only help the girl so much. If she wanted the job, she'd have to put in some of the effort.
The girl smiled and held out her hand." Great. I'll fill it out now. My name is Korra."
"Mako."
Surprisingly, Korra had the strongest bone-crushing grip Mako had ever had the pleasure of shaking hands with.
How was the chapter? Too quick? I plan on having Lin and Asami in the story. . . dunno about the others yet, i haven't thought too far ahead.
So, yeah.* waves both hands * Hi! ~ T