Takes place right after Kuveria surrenders. I think Mako has fully regained his honour, even if he did fail to capture the Avatar('s heart)

Disclaimer: I only take credit for the FEELS. Nothing more.

Battle Scars

The moment Kuveria was taken into custody by the Beifong's, Mako ran to Korra. He wrapped his right arm around her in a bone-crushing hug and buried his face in her hair.

"I thought you were dead," he choked. He had never been more scared. Losing his parents had been traumatizing. Mako didn't know if he could handle losing any more important people in his life.

Korra hugged him back hard, unaware of the severely burned arm hanging limply at his side. Mako gasped in pain at the contact, but didn't let go of her. Korra tried to pry herself out of his grip, realizing he was hurt. Mako pulled back an arms length, hand still on her shoulder. Korra took in his injuries and gasped.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Mako's lips quirked slightly. She stepped in front of a giant Spirit laser, but wanted to know if his booboo was okay. Classic Korra.

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied. Korra ignored him, stepping closer to examine him.

"Does it hurt?" she studied his face for a sign of pain. This confused Mako more.

"No. Actually, I don't feel it at all. Why?" Korra's confused look turned to worry. Mako began to feel uneasy. His heartbeat quickened.

"Look," Korra looked down and Mako followed her gaze. What he saw terrified him. Korra was grasping his hand, her knuckles white and her muscles flexed with force. Normally, Mako would be on his knees in pain if she did that. She let go and his hand swung lifelessly. Their eyes locked, matching looks of worry.

"Can you feel this?" Korra tentatively placed her trembling hand on his bicep. Mako braced for the burning agony that should have come. The fear that wracked his body was almost as numbing.

"Korra," he whispered, his vision starting to blacken around the edges. His whole body went stiff and mouth tasted like bile.

"Tenzin, I think he is going into shock!" Korra yelled as their friends came rushing over. Bolin caught Mako just as his legs gave out. He could hear Asami's voice yelling, probably CPR instructions. He registered the hard shaking object keeping him steady was Bolin's chest. Korra's face was inches from his, her hands cupping his face as her tears fell on his cheeks. Mako tried to read her lips, to make out what she was trying to tell him, but his panicking body was taking over. He stared into her eyes, using them as a lifeline while his breath came in ragged pants. Everything started melting away but he clung to consciousness, Korra's eyes the lighthouse in the fog settling in his brain.

Then the blackness took over.

There was the sound of water moving and a woman's voice humming softly. There was the soft smell of aloe as well as the burning scent of alcohol. There was a soft sheet surrounding his body and a strange chaffing material on his in left arm. As Mako's senses started to come back, one sensation stood out.

He could feel the dull burning of his injuries. He flexed his muscles and hissed at the fiery pain that shot through him. Mako's body jerked and curled around the source of his pain.

Suddenly, Korra was there, shushing him and easing him back on his back.

"Hey," she whispered tentatively.

"Hey," Mako weakly whispered back.

"I'm glad you're finally awake. You scared us back there." Korra lifted the bowl of water she was bending and placed it beside his bed.

"This is your fifth healing session. There was a lot of nerve and tissue damage. The scars are going to be bad. We couldn't heal them all," she removed the gauze from his arm and went straight to work. Mako flinched as the water made the burning intensify, then relaxed as it started to glow and cool.

When Korra finished, she lightly placed her hand on one of the lesser-damaged areas of Mako's arm. "Can you feel this?" she asked.

It was an odd sensation. Mako could feel the pressure of her hand just below the surface of his skin, but he couldn't feel the smoothness of her palm.

"Yeah, barley," he replied. He smiled at Korra, grateful for what she and the other healers could do.

"Good," she said, smiling down at him.

Then she slapped him.

"OW! What was that for?" as asked incredulously, his cheek burning more than the arm.

Korra crossed her arms and pouted. "Bolin told me what you did. New team rule: only the Avatar is allowed to almost blow herself up. Got it?"

That was the thanks he got, after risking his life to stop Kuveria? Mako couldn't believe it.

"I did what had to be done. I stopped the Mech didn't I?"

Korra's face softened. "I understand, you did what you had to but…" she looked away, not allowing her tears to fall in front of him. "But what if you failed? What if Bolin didn't pull you out in time? Where would we be without you Mako?"

"Yeah, Team Avatar wouldn't be complete without the brooding fire bender," Mako joked, trying to lighten the mood. Korra laughed and turned back to face him. She went right back to work.

"I think I can heal most of the scars," she mused, bending the water out of the bowl again.

"Leave them," Mako said, waving her hands away. "They're battle scars. They will show the world what we did to protect it. And they will remind me of how I proved my worth; how I redeemed myself."

"Uh-oh, turning into Prince Zuko? Trying to regain your honor cool guy?" Korra giggled. Mako reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Gotcha," he smiled tiredly at their little reenactment. Korra rolled her eyes and kissed his forehead.

"Get some rest. I expect you to be doing one-armed pushups on that thing by the solstice."

Mako chuckled and dozed off to the sound of Korra's voice humming softly.

Couldn't help myself. I ship Makorra, but if you don't you can just read it as Korra freaking out because one of her best friends almost died in front of her.

Review, and also check out my version of the finale titled Together(edited).

Emmy