Title: We Need You, I Need You
Prompt: Based on this one picture of Mako. Originally published this on my tumblr (completelytwitterpated), which can be found on my profile. It has the picture, in case you want to see it! (Also made cover art for it on my deviantart (justixoxo), which can also be found on my profile.)
Author's Note: I wrote this 3 months ago. I don't really remember if Korra had aired already, or if I had just watched the first two episodes but…it was around that time. I had always imagined Mako to be more stoic, or, dare I say it, the jerk-with-a-heart. So I'm sorry if you think he's OC, (Though he certainly seemed that way at first!) Anyways, I didn't have a fanfiction account back then, and decided to make one now. If it seems familiar, that's probably because you found it on my deviantart or tumblr haha! Hope you guys enjoy!
PS: This may turn out to be a series of drabbles. I've made other Makorra ficlets/one-shots, so I'm all up for posting them here. I'll just wait and see.
"She what?" Mako hisses, his head snapping to face his sheepish brother, who takes a wary step back.
"Er, like I said, she went back to the South Pole." Bolin forces a grin, "Go figure, I mean, they are repairing the Pro-Bending arena from the Equalist incident. She can take her time off if she wants—"
"That's not the point…" Mako sighs, irritated, rubbing his temple, "I know why she's gone back."
"You do?" Bolin asks with a smirk, his tone in a teasing manner.
"I do," Mako snaps, his face as stoic and serious as always, "And I'm serious about this. She's gone back not because she can, but because she feels like she has to."
"…I'm very confused right now," Bolin mumbles, with a slight tilt of his head.
"She wants to make sure her family's okay—that they will be okay. That Amon won't do anything to them, especially after the Pro-Bending Arena incident."
"...Oh."
Silence surrounds the boys, as Bolin finally understands what Mako is saying. Not because she can, but because she has to. Or at least, what she thought she had to do. He realizes Korra had gone back to the South Pole to protect her family. She was going to make sure they weren't harmed—that they wouldn't ever be harmed. Meaning, she was going to stay there.
"She's... not coming back?" Bolin whispers, his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. If he had known that, he wouldn't have let her on the ship back to the South Pole.
Mako gets up to his feet and strides toward his bed, bending over to drag out a ratty potato sack from under it. "Not if we have anything to say about it."
"But, Mako, think about it," Bolin urges, as he watches his brother pack his things in the large potato sack—some worn out clothes, the large gray coat they shared, and quite the amount of yuans—"I most definitely want Korra back. She's an amazing friend, and pro-bending partner. But, she's also the Avatar. She's doing this to protect her family, isn't she?"
Mako is silent. He does not reply to Bolin's question. In all honesty, he thinks her decision was selfish. Selfish of her to leave Republic City in no one's hands. Selfish of her to take action without asking. Selfish of her to put herself in danger. Selfish of her to leave him—without a word.
And yet it was so much like her. So much like her to take matters into her own hands without thinking them through.
Mako wants to reply, What about us, Bolin? Aren't we practically family with her too? But realizes if he said so, he'd only be just as selfish as Korra.
"Uhm, Korra," her mother says, and Korra notices her mother's mouth twitching, as if wanting to smile. Her mother had just come back from fetching some fish at the market place for dinner. "Did you plan to have any visitors tonight?"
"Not that I know of," Korra mutters, feeling quite all right back at her home. It had been about three days since she left Republic City. When she first arrived, it was freezing, and the weather had made her feel numb inside. She was so sure it was the weather too. Was so sure she it had nothing to do with any regrets from leaving everything—no, anything, behind. Yet, she still wondered if she'd ever see it again.
But now, in the comfort of her home—the crackling fireplace, the cozy warmth of fur on the floor, and Senna's soon-to-be fantastic dinner—she should have little to worry about. "Maybe someone from the village?"
"Well, I wouldn't say that, considering that he's bending fire—"
"What?" Korra exclaims, immediately jumping onto her feet and dashing passed her mother. She sticks her head out the door to see Mako in the snow. He was just a few feet from her house, a glare evident on his face thanks to the glow of the fireball in his hand. That familiar red scarf of his billowed endlessly in the wind and he snatched it roughly, showcasing that he was, indeed, irritated.
Her face scrunches up in horror as his glare tightens when he notices her, but he doesn't move at all. He stays there, out in the snow. Waiting for her.
Korra bites her lip, not expecting his arrival. She swiftly turns back inside her house, closing the door behind her and leaning on it. She lets out an exasperated sigh and looks at her mother, as if asking for help.
Her mother only smirks at her, "What? You put yourself in this situation, young lady."
"I thought he'd just let me go," Korra mumbles guiltily, more to herself than to her mother, "I figured he didn't need someone messing up his…his perfectly controlled life anymore."
"Well it certainly doesn't seem that way," her mother says, walking over to Korra and placing a hand on the wooden door handle, "seeing as he came all this way to bring you back."
She pulls the door open, and Korra is visible to Mako again. This time he looks away. She notices that the fireball in his hand had grown dimmer. He was cold.
She looks at her mother once more and says, "I can't leave you and Dad." She shakes her head, "I'm scared of what Amon could do to you. And the thought that I can prevent that is just..."
"Honey," Senna sighs, embracing her beloved daughter tightly, "You have nothing to worry about. We are under the protection of the White Lotus members. If anyone truly needs you, it's Republic City." She pulls away, and nudges her daughter towards the door slightly, "And Bolin and Mako too, of course."
Korra walks out into the snow. It's falling lightly, and it's definitely cold, but she's used to it. She wonders how Mako is doing, even under all those layers of clothes. When she reaches him she stands there, silent. He doesn't say a word either, but Korra can see it-him shivering. He's more than cold, he's freezing. In fact, the fireball in his hand is almost completely out.
"Why do you do that?" she asks, slightly irritated.
"What?" Mako mutters, and she hears his voice crack.
"Act like you're perfectly fine. Never showing your true emotions," Korra mutters back, "It makes it hard to make decisions."
"What's t-that supposed to mean?" Mako turns to face her, the familiar glare back on his face, "That your decision to come back here is my fault?"
"No, that's not—"
"Forget it. I'm not here to argue about why you came, Korra, I already know why you did," he hisses, "I'm here to bring you back to Republic City before they realize you're gone, so let's go."
"Why?"
He's caught off guard by the question. "Why what?"
"Why do you want me back?"
Mako should have expected that she'd ask that. She always asked the weirdest questions in the bluntest manners. He thought about his supposed reply to Bolin, Because we're your family too, and we need you. But he wasn't going to say that. "Republic City needs you. Now let's go."
Korra knew better. He meant they needed her—him and Bolin. She knew he could have easily found a replacement waterbender for the Fire Ferrets. He didn't have to hide anything, and yet he was. Why couldn't he just say he needed her?
Korra wondered how differently this conversation would go if Bolin had come for her instead. Bolin probably wouldn't be stupid enough to wait outside in the freezing weather. He'd probably rush to each and every house till he found the right one, drop to his knees and hug her like there was no tomorrow. Then he'd tug her along with him to come back and ride the ship—
It hit her again. The ship? If Mako was here, why wasn't Bolin? Korra's eyes widen in realization. The tickets were too expensive for the both of them. They were out of yuan completely.
Korra covers her mouth in guilt. He had done it again—used money on her—this time to bring her back. The guilt was so overwhelming, and tears threatened to spill from her eyes, which were already stinging from the cold. These brothers-they really knew how to get to her. They meant so much to her. And they needed her-would do anything to get her back-and she needed them too.
And if they were this important to her-why had she even left them in the first place? One of them had already been in Amon's grasp, had been in the threat of danger. That was bad enough for her. And if it happened again-to either of them, to Mako-she would never forgive herself.
The brothers didn't have the White Lotus protecting them. But they certainly had her. And she was sure she was just as good.
Mako knows she's understood. Her eyes say so. They are sad, but they express her genuine determination—of coming back, of staying with them, of protecting them. Not just him and Bolin, but the entire Republic City. Amon was not going to win. He was not going to escape again. Not anymore.
He doesn't expect the hug at all. It comes out of nowhere. It was almost as if she tackled him, and he stumbled to regain his footing, balancing them both. Her hands are around his neck, and she's so close, he can feel the warmth radiating from her skin. The fireball in his hand is completely out now-but he had no need for it. Korra was enough. Korra was better. And for the first time in his life, he decided to express what he was truly feeling. Slowly, but surely, he wrapped his arms securely around her and whispered lightly into her ear,
"I need you."
She replies quickly, half-expecting it, "I know."
-end-