BROTHERBENDING
Mako buried his head in his hands at Dr. Tao's office, not wanting to accept what the psychiatrist was trying to tell him.
"Bolin's not real."
The words echoed in Mako's mind. It couldn't be true. His dear brother, the only family he ever had? It must all be a lie. "You're trying to trick me, aren't you doctor?" Mako sighed. "I know my brother better than anyone. He has to be real." Mako looked around the room of the cold office, and suddenly shouted at the doctor in front of him. "Where is he? I want to see him. Right now." Mako bolted up and got in the doctor's face, concerned for his brother's safety.
The doctor shook his head as Mako stood up, and gestured to a burly man in all white in the corner of the room. "Administer the sedative."
Mako spun around, his fist ablaze, trying to avoid the grasp of the orderly to the right and the needle of the nurse to the left. As he tried to dodge the large burly man, the woman stuck him in the arm, and pressed down on her syringe. Dark blotches enveloped the young firebender's vision, and he fell hard into the arms of the nurse and orderly.
"You know the truth, Mako." He heard a familiar echo in his mind. "They're Equalists, trying to brainwash you… don't believe them!"
Memories of their family playing in the park flashed by; he saw himself teasing Bolin about his hair as they fed baby turtleducks near the pond.
"Your hair looks like them!" Mako laughed and pointed.
"Well… You're mean!" Bolin barked, his sensitive eyes tearing up from the insult. Bolin ran over to their mother and cried into her chest.
"Mako said my hair looks like a turtleduck!" Bolin sobbed as Mako was walking back over. Their mother looked up from the crying younger brother in her lap to glare at her older son.
"Bolin, sweetheart, turtleducks are cute!" She reached to lift up his chin and kissed him on the forehead. "Just like you." Bolin sniffled and smiled, but frowned when he saw that Mako had been watching.
"Meanie!" he shouted as he pelted a bit of mud in his brother's face. Before their mother could say anything, Bolin ran off to play with the ducks again, for fear of a bending fight with his brother. Mako started to turn away to follow him.
"Mako." His mother stated firmly, stopping her older son in his tracks. "You know better than to treat your brother that way. I would've said something about him bending at you, but… He's only five. You should know not to be so mean."
Mako rolled his eyes. "Yeah, mom. I know, mom." He grinned as he ran back to the pond and teased Bolin about pushing him in.
Mako bolted awake suddenly in a cold sweat, to find himself strapped into a medical bed as he tried to sit up. He was in a cold cement room with bars over the window and a small viewing through the door. "Hey!" he shouted. "Lemme out of here!"
A curious orderly opened the door to check if something was wrong. "Straps too tight, pretty-boy?" he cackled, beginning to shut the door once more.
"You can't keep me in here!" Mako barked. "I'm… I'm not crazy!"
"Yeah, that's what they all say," the burly man grumbled. "A nurse will be back in a while to administer some sleep aids, seeing that you'll probably need them. If you're good, we may let you out of solitary in the morning. You just gotta stop lunging at the doc with your bending out, sparky." The door clicked shut, and Mako was alone once more.
Was he crazy? How could he have imagined his brother? Bolin had to be real. There was just no explanation for it. There's no way he could've made up 16 years of someone's life. Mako shut his eyes, frustrated with the restraints holding him into the bed. They even had his feet strapped down; the only parts of his body he could firebend with would be his nose or mouth, if he needed to.
Otherwise, he was completely helpless. They might as well had blocked out the sun or taken his bending away, because there was nothing he could do.
As Mako opened his eyes, a kind, tribal-looking nurse walked in with a glass of water and a paper cup full of medications. "Hey, Mako." She grinned at first, but looked concerned when he didn't immediately recognize her. "Well, uh… I'm here with your medications for the night."
"What are they?" Mako grumbled, noticing the name tag on her uniform. Kara. She had bright blue eyes and warm, dark skin.
"They're your usual," she explained, pouring the paper cup of pills into his mouth, and following it with the glass of water. "It's an anti-psychotic and a healthy dose of melatonin, to help you sleep."
Mako stares at her, realizing something odd as he picks up little details of her face. "Did anyone ever tell you that you look like Korra, the Avatar?" he questioned, a bit perplexed.
The young nurse stared at him momentarily. "Who?"
Mako's eyes widen as she places the cups back on the tray and starts to leave the room. "Well, Mako… Please try not to threaten anyone tomorrow. If you're good, we'll integrate you with the rest of the population. But if you keep this trend up, we may have to keep you in solitary for a longer period of time." She frowns. "And I wouldn't want my favorite patient locked up forever, now would I?"
Mako's head feels heavy as the door clicks shut again. Thump. Thump. Thump. It could be the medications setting in quickly. Or he could really be going insane. Korra? How could this girl not have heard of her? Korra was the Avatar. She was famous.
Everyone knew Korra. Everyone.
"They're just trying to trick you!" Mako heard Bolin's voice again as his eyes involuntarily shut. "Don't listen to them… They're all Equalists, Mako!"
Sunlight trickled in through the barred window, and Mako groaned as he woke up. His head stung, but at least he knew where he was this time.
The restraints had been removed. Mako sat up and walked cautiously over to the door. It was unlocked.
He peeked out into the hall, and saw a group of people crouched over on couches surrounding a television set playing a silent soap opera. A younger boy walked past him, and he grabbed his shoulder. "Hey!" Mako barked at the boy. "Wh… Where am I?"
"Hey, Mako. See you're going through the electro-therapy amnesia again." The boy cackled. "Well, just so you remember, I'm Skoochy. And we're in the loony house. I'm here because it's free food, a warm bed, and I seem to have a bad case of chronic depression." He held his hand over his mouth and leaned into Mako's ear. "And, well, I'm your only friend in here."
Mako raised an eyebrow, not sure if he should believe the kid. But he seemed to know his name; maybe Skoochy could help him find Bolin. "Do you know where my brother is?" Mako pleaded with his fellow patient.
"Yeah, sure, we all know about Bolin," Skoochy sighed. "Really. He's the only person you ever seem to remember after the doc tunes up your brain."
"Well…" Mako started, looking around to see if anyone else was listening to their conversation. "You gotta help me get out of here! I need to find him. I… I need to know that my brother is safe."
Skoochy spurted out a short laugh at Mako's proposition. "You can probably go whenever you like," he shrugged. "Just walk out the front door. This facility is entirely voluntary. They can say they'll keep you forever, but it's all empty threats. There's no part of the law that really allows them to."
Mako stared silently for a minute, and then put his hands on the kid's shoulders. "Thanks, kid. I owe you one." Mako bolted away, immediately searching for the door out of the facility.
"You can just pay me back in yuans!" the kid shouted ahead, shaking his head. "Nut." He muttered once Mako was out of his sight.
Mako burst out the front door and into the sunlight. He untucked his scarf from under his patient clothes, and proceeded to try and walk like a normal person off the asylum's grounds. No one was stopping him. He was on the outskirts of the city; he could see the skyline not too far off. Mako took a deep breath, and started walking.
The last thing he remembered, they were in the middle of an invasion. But there were no Equalist airships floating overhead, no chi blockers running rampant in the streets.
Republic City seemed normal.
Where would Bolin, Korra and Asami be? Were they at the Island? Hiding from Amon? Was the war still even happening, or had he missed it entirely while in that hell hole? Mako didn't even remember how long he had been in that facility.
"Weeks." Bolin's voice echoed in his head. "We're at the Island, Mako. Come find us."
Mako tried to shake the eerie voice off, and picked up a few yuans that were sitting in the gutter. "These will come in handy," he muttered to himself as he placed them in a canvas pocket.
He wandered in what he thought was the right direction for hours; it was nearly dark. He seemed to be in the central market at this point, but all the stores were closing up. Mako needed to get inside soon. He knew it wasn't safe to be on the streets alone at night; He and Bolin had experienced the gang violence that went on in the darkest hours firsthand, long after they had been orphaned.
A payphone glowed in the center of the expansive market square, and Mako rushed over to it eagerly. He picked up the phone and dialed the number for the Air Temple.
It rung once.
Twice.
Three times.
"Hello?" a man's voice boomed, interrupting the fourth ring. "You've reached the residence of Councilman Tenzin, Tenzin speaking. May I ask who is calling?"
"It's me, Mako!" Mako let a sigh of relief, glad to hear a familiar voice. "Korra, Asami, and Bolin… Are they with you?"
A long pause came from the other end of the line. "Young man… You've called this residence multiple times, and you've even threatened the security of me and my family with your outrageous beliefs."
Mako's heart nearly stopped beating as the Airbender lectured him. "For the last time, you don't live here. Neither do you or any of your so-called friends."
"Bolin is my brot-!" Mako shouted as he heard the receiver click. Tenzin had hung up.
Mako shook his head in disbelief. "The Equalists got to him, too, Mako!" he heard Bolin whispering in his ear. "You need to find Asami. She'll help you. Try calling her house. She might be back home… Hiroshi got to her, but she still loves you. Asami will help you find us."
Mako rubbed his temples with his hands and placed his last yuan in the payphone, then dialed the number for the Sato Estate. The phone rung twice, and was answered by a butler. "Is Asami there? It's her boyfriend… I need to talk to her, right now!" he demanded.
The phone was silent for a few seconds, then Asami's voice chimed over the receiver. "Hello? Mako? Is that you?"
"Asami!" Mako sighed, finally happy that someone recognized him and didn't treat him like an outcast. "I need your help…" he pleaded.
"What is it, Mako?" she sounded very concerned. "I'll help you in any way I can."
"Can you come get me? I'm in the central market… I'll explain everything to you then." Mako begged. "I'm at a payphone, and it's about to expire, so…"
"I'll be right th-" the phone cut her off.
Mako hung it up gently and stood back.
This was it. He'd finally get some answers, he hoped. Asami would understand.
A pair of bright headlights focused on him after Mako had been sitting on a market bench for nearly an hour. The engine cut off, and Asami jumped out of the car. "Mako, is everything okay?" she pleaded as she ran over to him. "I've been so worried… Where have you been? You disappeared on us…"
"Us?" Mako asked, curious.
"My father and I… We were so worried that something had happened to you." Asami explained, her arms wrapped around his neck. "We tried to find that Bolin for you… we put all of our possible resources into it, but Mako… And right before we found out, you vanished!"
Mako stared at Asami, confused. "Asami, you've met him before! Why would you need to search for him like he's someone you don't know?" he pushed her back. "You guys have talked plenty of times… You're friends, even!"
Asami stared into Mako's furious amber eyes. "Mako, I… I don't know what you're talking about…"
"He's my brother, Asami! Don't you know that?"
"Mako… All of the birth records we could find, all of the census documents… everything we could find out about your family… suggests that, well…"
"Suggests what? That you pay absolutely no attention to my life?" Mako barks.
Asami scowls and starts to tear up. "He doesn't exist, Mako." She states coldly.
"She's lying Mako."
"There's no record for a live birth of a Bolin born to your family in the year 154. You're an only child."
"Don't listen to her, Mako."
"The only child born to your family besides you was a stillborn, unnamed boy."
"Mako, don't believe her."
"I have copies of the documents in my dad's office, if you want to see them."
"Her dad's an Equalist! Don't forget that, Mako… She's probably an Equalist, too."
"But of course, why would you listen to me! You never do."
"Forget her, Mako."
"Sometimes I wonder why I'm still dating you. I can tell by the blank stare on your face that you're not even paying attention to me. Not that it matters."
"Kill her, Mako."
"Bye, Mako. I don't even know why I came out here." She turns and starts to walk away.
"Do it, Mako. She's an Equalist."
Kill her.
Now.
A burst of lightning releases from Mako's hand, and Asami falls lifelessly to the ground.
The voice in his head goes silent.