Jinora
"Got it!" Korra's voice echoed through the courtyard on Air Temple Island, breaking Jinora's reverie. She was holding her favorite historical saga in her lap and had been staring out across Yue Bay at the statue of Aang protruding from the lapping waves. Korra's laughter rang out and the sound of feet thumping on the stone met Jinora's ears.
"Give it back," Mako called after his girlfriend. "Be careful!" The couple rounded a corner and came into Jinora's view from the balcony where she was perched.
"What, are you afraid I'll ruin it?" Korra teased as she pouted her lip. She slung the scarf around her neck and began strutting around the periphery of the courtyard, swinging her hips. "It's not like I'm going to-"
"Give it back!" Mako repeated as he caught up to her. He carefully unwound the scarf from around Korra's neck and replaced it on his own.
"What's with you?" Korra asked Mako, somewhat defensively, Jinora noted. She closed her book and laid her eyes on the pair, curiosity getting the better of her. Korra sat down on one of the stone benches that lined the walls, followed by Mako. "It's not like I haven't worn it before."
"No, it's not that I don't want you to wear it," Mako said. "I just want you to be careful with it!"
"You afraid that I'll wreck your most prized fashion accessory?" Korra quipped with a grin on her face. The grin faded when she saw Mako looking at his feet with a frown. "Look, I'm sorry," Korra said, looking to the side. "I don't know why that scarf is so important to you, but it obviously is more than just a scarf. I mean, you hardly ever take it off."
"It was my fathers," Mako blurted, looking up at Korra. She looked startled at this sudden, momentous outburst. He looked down again. "It... It's all I have left of him."
Now silence. The two stared at the ground again. After a moment, Korra let her head fall to rest on Mako's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry," she said so quietly, Jinora could barely hear. "I... I didn't know."
"How could you have known? Mako said. " I didn't tell you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you." He turned and planted a kiss on her forehead.
Silence again. The scarf swayed in the slight wind that swept through the courtyard. It was Korra who broke the silence again.
"Is it okay if... I maybe wear your scarf for a while?" she asked Mako carefully, slowly. Then quicker, "I'll be really, really careful with it, and I promise I-"
"Korra, of course you can," Mako said, and began unwrapping his scarf. Korra straightened up then dropped her head so he could drape it over her neck. She brought her hands up to rest on his as he grasped the ends of the scarf.
"I think...," Korra began, looking at the ground. She looked up. "I think I want to be alone for a while. I want to get to know your dad." She stood up and bent to kiss Mako on the head. He looked up at her, bewildered.
"Korra, I-"
"I've got to make a good impression, since I'm dating his son and all!" She laughed and patted him on the head. Korra turned and walked out of the courtyard, holding the scarf against her as she went.
"You don't have to get him to like you," Mako said to the empty courtyard, long after Korra had left. He smiled to himself. "I know he already does."
Mako sat in the courtyard for a while before getting up and exiting wordlessly. Jinora watched him go, and couldn't help but smile to herself. She opened up her book and buried her nose in it, feeling content as the breeze lapped around her.
Bolin
His feet crunched through the autumn leaves as he trudged through the brush. Bolin had been following Pabu around Air Temple Island, watching his Fire Ferrett collect nuts, when he saw them. Mako and Korra were sitting by the cliff that overlooked Yue Bay with his father's red scarf wrapped around both of them. Bolin picked Pabu up and held him close as turned to leave, when a sudden commotion made him turn back to see what was happening.
"See? I can take your scarf and be careful!" Korra said triumphantly as she stood over Mako with the scarf wrapped around her neck. Mako had his hand on his forehead with a smile tugging at his lips.
"Alright, you win this round," he said, standing up to face his girlfriend. Korra smiled up at him as he ruffled her hair. "Spirits, if you weren't so cute I'm not sure if I would let you get away with it."
Bolin rolled his eyes, but he smiled. He was glad that his brother was finally taking some time for himself. What with Mako's new job with the RCPD and Korra's Avatar duties, the Spirits knew that they barely had any time for themselves, let alone each other. He turned back to look at the two as Pabu scuttled up his arm and perched himself around Bolin's neck.
"Shut up," Korra said, pink coloring her cheeks as she looked at their feet.
"You know, pouting only makes you cuter," Mako grinned as he kissed her on the forehead. Mako stepped forward and rested his chin on her head as he wrapped his arms around her. "And besides, it makes no difference if you steal my scarf from me because you're mine too."
A mischievous grin crawled across Korra's lips as she continued to look down. She pushed Mako away, rather forcefully, and he stumbled back.
"I have an idea!" Korra exclaimed, tugging at the red fabric that still clung to her neck.
"Oh no," Mako sighed, looking down and rubbing his brow with his thumb and forefinger. He chuckled to himself and looked up. "So shoot. What is it?"
"Well, now that we're not on the Pro-Bending team anymore, I think we've been lacking a little competition in our lives." Korra began to pace around Mako. Bolin leaned forward, curious to see where Korra was going with this. He had seen her grab the scarf when she declared that she had an idea.
"Your point?" Mako tried to hide his grin.
"My point, my good sir, is that I've been feeling competitive lately. So I propose a game."
"A game?" Bolin nearly laughed out loud at Mako's response. Mako hadn't played games, save Pro-Bending, since before their parents' passing, and Pro-Bending was only acceptable for Mako to play because it put food on the table. That wasn't the funny part. What made Bolin almost reveal his hiding place was the fact that this girl, this Avatar, had come into their lives so unexpectedly, and had uprooted all the calm, all the order that Mako had worked so hard to achieve since he was eight years old. And Mako was enjoying it.
"And now she throws this at him," Bolin whispered to Pabu with a smile. "Sometimes I wonder if that doofus even remembers how to have fun anymore!"
"Yes, a game," Korra repeated. "Is that okay, Mr. Hat Trick?"
"Only if you tell me the rules, Miss Hat Trick," he retorted. Korra felt her face grow warm.
"Okay, here's how it works. Whenever I successfully steal your scarf, you have to tell me something about your father. Whenever I try and fail to steal your scarf, I get to ask you something about your mother."
"That's it? That's the game?" Mako said, surprised at her bluntness. Korra's face instantly fell, which surprised him even more. "What?"
"If you don't want to tell me, you can just say so," Korra said, turning away from him. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it." Bolin sighed and rested his forehead in his hand. Man, was his brother stupid.
"No, no, no, that's not it at all!" Mako said, closing the space between them. He grinned. "I just didn't expect for you to make up a game like that to play. Since, you know, you can't win at it."
"If I could win, I'd beat you," she said, pouting again.
"Uh huh, sure," said Mako. "And Korra, I'd love to play with you. Although you could have just asked about my parents."
"Yeah, but that's not as fun," Korra grinned. "And besides, you already owe me one thing about your father. I'm wearing the scarf right now, remember?"
"Hey, no fair!" Mako said, chasing Korra as she ran off towards the Sky Bison stables, their shouts and cries of laughter pealing into the air.
"Huh," Bolin said to himself as he watched them run out of sight. "Who knew Mako actually knew how to talk to girls!" Pabu made a chattering noise and bumped Bolin's cheek with his snout. "Yeah, Pabu, you're right, he can't talk to girls. Just Korra." The couple's laughter faded away as they ran out of Bolin's hearing range. He thought about how focused, how unhappy Mako was before Korra came into their lives, and how much his brother had changed. Bolin smiled. "Just Korra."
Tenzin
"Come now, Oogi," Tenzin said as he placed his hand on the Bison's nose, trying to lend comfort as the airbender tried to coax the beast out into the snow. He needed to fly to the mainland for a meeting with Lin regarding the training of new recruits. The meeting was in an an hour but he knew he needed the extra time to get there since Oogi hated flying in the snow and was difficult to manage in such conditions. With no success thus far, Tenzin made his way to the stable cabinets to get some berries to use as bribery for the Sky Bison. As he neared the cupboard, he passed the door that led to the garden path. On the other side of the door, he heard quiet voices talking with one another.
"Oops!" he heard Korra say, followed by a shuffling noise.
"Come on, you're just doing that on purpose now," Mako's voice scolded, though the smile was apparent in his tone.
"Am not!" Korra's lie was completely transparent. "Just because I accidentally dropped it in the snow does not mean I'm doing it on purpose. Now tell me what your mom's favorite thing about winter was."
"Fine," Mako said. "Now let's see, my mom's favorite thing about winter...," Mako trailed off in thought. Tenzin's hand dropped from the cabinet door, where it had been resting since the beginning of the pair's conversation. "She never actually said it, but I think it was the snowflakes."
"The snowflakes? What about them?" Korra asked.
"Everything," Mako replied. "She would always talk about how beautiful they were. How there aren't two snowflakes in the world that are the same. She would say it reminded her of the people in the world, how each one is distinctly different, but beautiful in their own way."
"Your mom sounds like she was the type of person to bring out the best in people," Korra said.
"She was."
Tenzin retrieved the berries from the cupboard and returned to Oogi, coaxing the Bison outside. He climbed up to the saddle and grabbed the reigns, flying across the bay towards the city, lost in thought.
Pema
"Come on, Pema, you have your one year old son in your arms, you can let us do the dishes," Korra encouraged, pushing Pema gently on her shoulder.
"Oh, alright," Pema said, looking down at her son's face lovingly. "If you insist."
"Maybe she just doesn't want you to do them because you broke so many last time," Mako said as him and Korra made their way to the kitchen with their hands full of dishes.
"Hey, it's not my fault that Ikki and Meelo were trying to get me to play Air Ball with them! You try doing dishes with little kids spinning around you on their air scooters!"
"I'm just kidding, relax before you go into the Avatar state and break them all," he joked as he set his stack of plates in the sink and turned the water on. Korra set hers down on the counter. "I'll even give you the easy job. Drying." There was a slight clinking of dishes. "Hey!"
"Gotcha!" Korra laughed. "Now tell me something about your dad."
"He had good reflexes. And you're lucky that I inherited it, because you almost made me drop that plate."
"Come on, that doesn't count!"
"You shouldn't pout so much. It has too much effect on me."
"Mako!" Korra said in her best whiny girl voice. Mako chuckled.
"Fine." A pause, and a change in tone his tone. It was soft now. "How about I tell you how I learned to bend lightning?"
"Yes! Do you have any idea how long I've been wanting to know that?" Korra said. Pema heard a splash and a quick apology from Korra.
"You know you can just ask me about stuff like this, right?"
"I told you, it's more fun this way. Now tell me the story."
"Alright. So I actually learned just a few days before my parents were killed. My dad taught me."
"He could bend lightning?" Korra asked, impressed. She still had not learned how redirect lightning, let alone bend it. She wasn't exactly the calm and patient type.
"Yeah, and he was really good at it," Mako continued. "Ever since I was really little, he would always tell me that he would teach me when the time was right. I don't know if he somehow sensed that he wasn't going to be around much longer or if it was just a coincidence, but three days before he was killed he brought me to a little cove on the ocean and told me it was time to learn.
"Before he even taught me, he told me to never, ever use lightning to hurt anyone unless my life was on the line. He told me that lightning is deadly, and almost too wild to control. Then, he demonstrated. He shot this huge bolt out over the ocean. I had only seen him bend lightning once before, when an earthbender tried to mug my family when I was six. As a little kid, it was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen my dad do, until that moment. Only in that moment did I realize how much my dad had been holding back against the thug and I realized how powerful he actually was.
"Over the next two days, he taught me the movements. Then he taught me how to breathe and how to position my feet. It was hard work, but he wouldn't let up on training me, and now that I've actually bent lightning, I understand why. The day before he died, he had me actually try it for the first time.
"The first few times led to an explosion in my face. I had burns for a while and they hurt pretty bad, but luckily they weren't serious enough to scar. After I had tried what felt like a hundred times, my dad let me take a break and reminded me that I needed to stay calm and centered. He said that we could try again the next day."
Mako paused. Pema cocked her head slightly, listening. She heard Mako take in a breath before continuing.
"The next day my parents were killed. Bolin was with a friend of his, playing by the monument of Fire Lord Zuko. We were just on our way to pick him up when a firebender jumped out of an alley to our left, pushing us into the opposite alley with his bending. We were cornered, and he demanded all of our money.
"'We don't have any,' I remember my dad said. The thug accused him of lying and sent a pillar of fire down the alley at us. My dad stopped the fire and split it to the sides and into the walls. The firebender was about to send a blast at my mom and I when my dad shot a bolt of lightning at him to stop him. That's when he redirected the lightning and sent it right back at my dad.
"I know there were sirens ringing, but I didn't hear them. My mom and I went straight to my dad's side, ignoring the thug's advancing. He started to get really uneasy as the sirens got louder and sent another blast of fire at us. My mom pushed me out of the way and sent up a wall of earth to shield me, but she was too late to protect herself. When I came out from behind the wall, all I saw was a burning mass at my feet and the thug's back as he ran from the alley.
"That was when I produced my first bolt of lightning. As I looked at the smoldering, I felt like I was slowly being trapped in ice. I took a deep breath, aimed at the coward's back, closed my eyes, and shot. I heard him scream, and looked back at my parents. There was nearly nothing left of them now. I was about to run away when I saw something towards the back of the alley. It was the scarf. It must have blown off during the fight. I took it and ran. I ran to the statue of Zuko and as soon as Bolin saw me, he knew what had happened. That we'd lost our parents."
"Spirits," Korra whispered. She slumped onto the ground and leaned against the cabinet. "Mako, I'm so, so sorry that happened to you. To you and Bolin."
There was silence in the kitchen, save the still running water. Pema held her now sleeping baby against her chest and rocked it gently.
"Your parents were brave people," Korra said quietly.
"I know."
Ikki
The spring flowers were just beginning to bloom on the island. Ikki was walking around the gardens looking for Jinora when she saw them. Mako and Korra. They were by the spinning boards Korra had used for airbending training just a little more than a year ago. The two sat on the steps looking out over the sea. Ikki crouched behind some bushes, watching the pair talk.
Korra brought her hand up to Mako's shoulder and tugged on his scarf, then dropped her hand to his.
"Oops, I couldn't get it," she said with a slight smile. She leaned her head on Mako's shoulder.
"What do you want to know?" he asked.
"I want to know," Korra said, "what your mom would think of me." Mako looked at her, then leaned his head on hers.
"I was wondering when you were going to ask that."
"Well?"
Mako sat up and held his fist to his mouth in thought. He looked at Korra, then crossed his arms over his knees and buried his face in them.
"What is it?" Korra asked him, alarmed. She put his hand on his back and leaned closer to him. Ikki covered her mouth and leaned into the bush, trying to see better.
"She would have thought you were amazing," Mako murmured. Korra looked back out at the ocean, unknowingly hiding her face from Ikki. She leaned against Mako and wrapped her arms around him. The two stayed like that as Ikki quietly crept away.
Mako
"I know how to change a diaper, Mako," Korra whimpered as Mako gently lifted Rohan out of her arms and set him on the table.
"You're not being very convincing. You whine more than the baby you're trying to take care of." Him and Korra had been tasked by Pema to watch Rohan as her and Tenzin attended a dinner party for the council members celebrating the Summer Solstice. Bolin had his hands full watching Ikki and Meelo and Asami had taken Jinora out to shop, so with the White Lotus sentries gone, it was just the three of them in the house.
"Let me do it!" Korra stood up and gently pushed Mako out of the way while he pretended to fight back. She grasped Rohan gently and laid him on his back. The way she handled the baby astonished Mako. He had no idea that the Avatar could possess such a softness.
"Now where did that come from?" Mako asked her with a grin as his girlfriend settled into the nearby chair with Rohan in her arms.
"Where did what come from?" Korra asked as she looked down at the baby, slowly rocking him.
"That. This. Your... tenderness. With him."
"What, are you jealous?" Korra grinned widely at Mako. He rubbed his eyes and knelt down next to his girlfriend and Rohan. He looked up at her, noticing how content she seemed.
"Of course I am. I'm jealous that he's getting so much attention from someone as beautiful as you," Mako said. He leaned in to kiss Korra on her reddening cheek and stood up. "I'm going to go get some warm milk for him. Do you want anything?"
"How about some leechy juice?" Korra asked. She looked down at Rohan. "I'm going to take him into my room to play with him on the bed where there's more room, so if you want to bring it there..." She trailed off as she carefully lifted the baby up in her arms.
"Alright, see you soon," Mako left the girls' dormitory and headed outside towards the eating quarters. As he neared the kitchen, he heard playful shouts ring out from the training grounds. Might as well check on Bolin and the other kids while I'm out here, he thought to himself. Mako turned left towards the training grounds and laughed out loud when he saw Bolin laying on the ground in the center of the yard with Meelo and Ikki riding in circles around him on their air scooters.
"Hey, Bo!" Mako called to his brother. Bolin sat up and looked over, waving enthusiastically.
"Mako!" Bolin shouted back over the air kids' wind. "Nice timing!" He stood up and brushed himself off, making his way over to Mako where the brothers met halfway. "I swear, I don't know how Pema handles all of these kids literally flying around everywhere. I've been with them for barely an hour and I'm already exhausted! So how are things going with Rohan?"
"Fine," Mako said as he watched the pair of kids chase each other around the yard. "I'm getting some drinks for Korra and the baby right now, actually."
"Jeez, when you say it like that, you make it sound like you two are married," Bolin laughed.
"What? Say it like what?"
"'Korra and the baby'," Bolin air quoted the phrase. "Seriously, it's a wonder you two aren't engaged yet."
"That we're not... Bolin!" Mako punched him in the arm, sending his brother into a new fit of laughter. "I'm her boyfriend! I'm not, we're not..." Mako trailed off, flustered.
"A bit defensive, huh?" Mako glared at his brother. Bolin chuckled. "I was only kidding. If I would have known you felt so strongly about it, maybe I would have been serious."
"Whatever," Mako said as he turned and headed back towards the kitchen. Bolin's eyes followed his brother before he called out.
"You know, maybe you should propose to Korra! Spirits forbid you do something to make both of you happy!" Bolin's laughter echoed out as he turned back towards the yard to chase the air kids.
Classic Bolin, Mako thought to himself. He opened the door to the kitchen and entered, walking to the cupboard to retrieve two cups. He set them on the counter and paused. Even if I did propose to her, she probably wouldn't say yes. She's the avatar, and I'm... Mako shook himself and retrieved the milk and leechy juice from the ice box, pouring them into the two cups. I'm an idiot, Mako finished the thought in his head, and smiled as he remembered the first time he met the reckless girl sitting back in the girls' dormitory with a nearly two year old baby. He closed the ice box and left the kitchen, being sure not to spill the beverages.
Carefully, Mako slid the door of the girls' dormitory open. He was greeted with an unexpected silence, which surprised him. Usually when Korra played with Rohan, the hall was filled with shrieks and laughter from both his girlfiend and the baby. Mako held his ear up to Korra's door, wondering if the quiet was some kind of folly and she was going to jump out at him as soon as he entered. At least, that was certainly what he expected.
Instead, when Mako slowly slid the door open, he was taken by complete surprise. Korra and Rohan were on her bed, eyes closed, wrapped in sleep. Korra's arms were draped around Rohan, and the baby's tiny body was curled up in a ball, fitting perfectly within the curl of Korra's torso around it. Mako quietly set the drinks down on the side table and sank into the chair next to the bed, studying Korra's face as she slept.
Poor thing, she must be exhausted. Mako resisted the urge to reach out and touch Korra for fear of waking her up. This was the first time she had been home in weeks, after making multiple visits with the Fire Lord and Earth King over the past month to discuss diplomatic matters regarding Equalist radicals. It had been nearly two years since the Equalist movement had plagued Republic City and still, the young Avatar was running herself to the core.
She really does look like a mother. Mako's eyes trailed along Korra's skin, down her arms and came to a stop on Rohan. I wonder what ours would look like.
Mako realized that his hand was clutching his scarf. He thought back to the last Autumn, and Korra's words rang clearly in his mind.
'I have an idea!' In just a few short months, a year would have gone by that they spent playing that precious game.
'Whenever I successfully steal your scarf, you have to tell me something about your father.'
Mako unwrapped his scarf and laid it over Korra's shoulders, draping it over her arms and around Rohan like a blanket. Korra made a soft sound, shifting slightly and bowing her head towards the baby.
"Looks like you managed to steal it again," Mako whispered, the corners of his lips tugging upward. He brushed a stray hair out of Korra's face, and he thought back to the first time he had the privilege to do such a thing, back when he had taken her into his arms after Tarlokk had abducted her so long ago.
"The truth is, my dad would have wanted me to marry someone like you."
Aang
"Ah, there it goes again." Aang clutched at his chest, grasping at the familiar tugging feeling beneath his skin as a smile spread across his opalescent lips.
"Something big is going to happen soon." The past Avatar drifted through the forests of the spirit world, searching for an ideal place to meditate as the events of the physical world unfolded themselves before him. He came across a perfectly round, yet naturally occurring clearing within the wilderness. His toes lifted gracefully off the ground as he settled himself into a meditative position, floating just inches above the grasses lazily swaying below him.
"Korra." Aang spoke the name of his reincarnate to the trees as they swelled about him, scattering the light of the spiritual plane. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he stood at the cliff's edge where the younger Avatar herself was meditating. Holding up a hand to the diffused light from the autumn leaves above him, Aang saw the light pass through, and his skin shown a pale blue.
She can't see me. He glanced back at her. She doesn't know I'm here. A soft crunching interrupted Aang's gaze on the young Avatar as he turned to face the young man that approached Korra on the cliffside. As Korra turned to face the boy, Aang felt that familiar pull in his heart again. I see, Aang thought to himself. This must be-
"Mako!" Korra stood up to greet her boyfriend, throwing her arms around him as he picked her up and spun her around in his embrace. "What are you doing here? Beifong said that you wouldn't be back for another few weeks!"
"The new recruits will manage to get by without me," Mako smiled widely. His eyes traveled around Korra's face, studying every feature as if seeing them for the first time. His eyes landed on hers. "I just couldn't wait anymore."
"I missed you too," Korra said, burying her face in the firebender's chest. He chuckled, pushing her back gently, resting his hands on her shoulder.
"I missed you," Mako began, slowly dropping to one knee in front of the Avatar, "but that's not what I meant when I said I couldn't wait any longer."
"No," Korra said, disbelievingly, taking a step back. She brought her hand to her mouth, shaking her head slowly. "No, you can't be..."
"Korra, will you marry me?" Mako held up a small pendant, hanging from a short length of red cloth. Korra reached out and delicately picked the betrothal necklace from the firebender's steady hands. She laid it out in her quivering palm, turned it over, studied it.
"It's beautiful," the Avatar said, lightly brushing surface of the carved pendant with her fingertips. "This..." She held the fabric between her thumb and forefinger, feeling the texture. "This is from your scarf!"
"I'm aware of that," Mako said with a small smile. He stood up, brushing along Korra's forearm with the back of his hand as her eyes remained glued to the necklace in her palms. "Korra?"
"Of course I'll marry you!" She threw her arms around him, holding the pendant tightly as tears threatened to spill over onto her flushed cheeks.
"Let me put it on you," Mako said. Korra handed him the necklace and turned her back to him. He slowly reached around her front and pulled the fabric back, tying it carefully around her. He leaned forward and kissed the nape of her neck warmly, resting his hands on either side over the red cloth. The Avatar turned around and, with her smile wide and her cheeks streaked with new tears, pressed herself against Mako's chest. The firebender held her tightly, his throat becoming choked and his eyes threatening to well over themselves.
"She's the one, isn't she?" Aang turned to see a couple standing next to him, a young man and woman. The woman looked up at Aang through shining green eyes. "The Avatar."
"Yes, she is," Aang smiled at the couple. Their skin shown translucent blue, they themselves being from the spirit world as well. Tears moistened the woman's face, and the man's amber eyes shone with pride. "Is he yours?"
"Yes," the man said, wrapping his arm around his wife's shoulders, pulling her close to him. "He's grown up so much." Aang felt the familiar tug at his heart again, and Korra broke from her embrace to turn around, looking right at the trio but not seeing them.
"We should go," the woman said, looking up at her husband with a smile. "He doesn't need us to be here anymore. He's finally happy again." The man nodded, and with one last look at his son, the couple faded away, back to the spirit world.
"What is it?" Mako asked Korra, looking at the place where is parents had been standing, invisible to him, just moments before.
"I thought I saw...," Korra said, looking into eyes of her past life. Aang nodded at Korra and noticed, just for a split second, an almost imperceptible, knowing smile flash on her lips. "It's nothing," Korra murmured, turning back to Mako. "It's just... your parents must be really proud of you."
Mako turned towards Aang, gazing past him and into the trees behind him, where it seemed Korra had just been looking. Just as the previous Avatar faded with the wind and back into the spiritual plane, Mako smiled.
"I know," Mako said turning back to Korra. "I felt them too." The couple embraced, letting the breeze surrounding the island carry their pain, happiness, and gratitude to those who they'd see again in lifetimes to come.