He was never quite the same again after the fire.
It happened late at night when the home on air temple island had caught fire. Everything he ever had burned down , everything he had worked so hard for in life, Gone. Everything was just dust in the wind, he had nothing and no one. No one ,except Jinora.
All he remembers about that night are flames of red, and the horrifying screams of the people he loved. He still heared those screams late at night, they haunted him. He lay awake, and it was all he could hear.
His wife who he had known ever since she was a young air acolyte student. The woman that confessed her love for him while he was sixteen years her senior, but she didn't care, she loved him. He's always loved the way she said his name, caressed his skin, and kissed his lips. Everything she did was always filled with such love and care, such which he has never experience in any other person before, no matter how gentle they were. He would never forget the love of his life. Pema.
Even as years went by he never even looked at another woman , he couldn't bare it . He saw her everywhere , heard her voice late at night, and coudn't sleep without the warmth of her body next to him.
He didn't talk about the fire, not even to Korra , Lin or Jinora. No one knew what was going on in his head, and that'was the alarming part of it all.
Jinora was sixteen now. S
he had moved on from the past, but she missed her brothers and sister, and her mother, but she didn't let that hold her down. She was dealing with it better than her father.
They fought a lot, almost every night.
"Why won't you let me go out with my friends?!" , Jinora shouted at her father one night.
He sighed " You could get hurt" , he said .
She glared at her father " You always say that!" , she screamed.
The man sat on the dinner table with his head rested in the palm of his hand, and looked down at his plate.
" I can't lose you too " , he said weakly.
" You can't keep holding me prisoner just because of that fire!".
"Just go to your room", he said.
It was the only defense he had. He wanted her to be safe , at home, where no one could hurt her. He couldn't stand the thought of losing her too. She was the only thing that kept him from ending it all. The only thing that meant something in his life.
Korra didn't like the noises she heard coming out of his room at night . She brought him tea almost every night , to calm his mind, in hopes that he would at least get a couple of hours of sleep, but before she could enter the room, the sound of his uncontrolable sobbing stopped her every time.
"He's still isolating himself " , Korra said to Katara, when they all visited the southern water tribe. Katara looked over at her son , who sat alone at a table far off from everyone elses. He held his cup of water in one hand, and stared into the distance. He seemed to be in his own little world.
"I wonder what he's thinking about " , Korra said out loud.
Katara sighed " Only he knows. He wouldn't talk to me either", she said helplessly.
The young woman looked at Jinora who was vibrantly talking to one of the water tribe boys. "I mean , Jinora is handeling it so well", Korra said, then looked at the elderly woman.
" I don't hear her crying every night, and she talks to me about her feelings toward what happened. She misses Pema, Meelo, Rohan and Ikki , but she knows they are with her no matter where she goes".
Katara nodded "She's always had a gift of seeing things differently" , she turned and smiled at her grandaughter, who waved at her , smiled ,then engaged back in the conversation with the boy.
Korra sighed again, unable to think of what to say next.
Even Bolin , Mako and Asami grew worried of the isolated man. They came over to air temple island every second day , looking for progress, but always finding that he hadn't stepped out of his room yet again.
Mako and Korra fought more often now, since, after some time he couldn't understand why Korra was supporting this old man , who grew to be secluded, miserable and egocentric.
"You don't know what he's going through ! " , Korra shouted at Mako .
Her boyfriend looked at her , his eyes blazing into hers " I don't want to know! " , he roared " but I want to know why you are still here, babying him".
Korra sighed "He has no one", she whispered , looking up at Mako, tears filling up azure eyes.
"He has Jinora!" , the room shook at the volume of Mako's voice.
Korra's face was now over run with tears and anger " And I guess you would want her to see her father broken down and depressed ?!. She's a teenager, and she needs to live her life as normally as she can".
Mako stood there in silence, his flaming ember eyes still digging into hers.
Korra turned on her heels " I can't deal with you!", she shouted, then stormed out of the room..
" Really sensitive Mako " , Korra heard Asami say sarcastically , as she ran upstairs and barricaded herself in her room, and dug her face into her hands, relieving herself of emotions.
" HE'S LONELY " , she yelled at the top of her lungs . She layed herself down in her bed, and lifted her knees to her chest.
"..he's just lonely", she whispered , as she lowered her head, and cried onto her knees.
She felt an arm caress her , as she continued to sob uncontrolably. She looked up , and through tear filled eyes she saw Bolin sit at the foot of her bed, trying his best to comfort her.
Korra pulled him down , and he hugged her, and they both lay there , Korra in his embrace and crying onto his chest.
Korra and Mako broke up not soon after the argument. It was awkward for Asami and Bolin to be in the same room with the former couple, since Mako still got upset that Korra was taking care of him.