Moon Child

Chapter One

"Mako?" Beifong's voice was way too loud in the empty precinct. Mako flinched so hard, the nib of his fountain pen left a long dash across his hard work.

"What are you doing here, kid? Your shift doesn't start for another hour."

Twenty three years old, recently named Detective Sargeant, helped the Avatar save the world a few times and Mako was still just 'kid' to the Chief. As for her question, he usually came in to work early, to take advantage of the brief time the precinct was empty. That magic hour between the day shift and the night shift when he could use the quiet time for paperwork.

Mako stood up from his desk, slightly bowing his head to give Chief Beifong the respect she deserved. "Just getting some papers in line for the sting, tonight."

"Ah, right. Unit Commander Yang was telling me about that. You're going after Shady Shin."

"He's a heavy hitter with the Triple Threats, now. It'll be huge to finally get him off the streets."

"The paperwork is Commander Yang's job, Mako." Beifong's harsh brows lifted in her curious disapproval.

"I know. I just want to make sure it gets done."

The Chief thumped her metal plated knuckles on the top of his desk. "You really have your eye on the Lieutenant position, don't you?"

"To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it. I just want to see this gets done."

Beifong stared at him with that trademarked, unpleasantly stern gaze of hers. He couldn't tell if she was impressed or annoyed. He never could.

"You have a visitor, by the way." Beifong said, jabbing her thumb towards the exit. "She's waiting in the lobby."

"A visitor?" Mako's amber eyes widened. "Who? I'm not expecting anyone."

"You don't have a lot of friends, Mako. So why don't you take a wild guess?"

Mako gave Beifong a blank stare as she turned and left. "Always a pleasure, Chief!" He said sarcastically, ending his awkward wave by scratching the back of his head.

A visitor…? Mako sighed and rested his hands on his hips. He knew that a girl visitor could only have been one of two girls he actually associated with.

Spirits knew, he didn't really get out much, anymore. And he hadn't been on an actual date in….

He couldn't even remember. What did that mean?

Mako walked away from his desk and made his way to the elevator, and he rode it down to the main floor lobby. He felt himself smile for the first time in days when he spotted his visitor in the lobby, through the sparse crowd of detectives and beat cops filtering in for the graveyard shift.

"Korra…!"

He had only seen her a handful of times since Varick and Zhu Li's wedding, and she hadn't changed much. She still kept her brown hair in a chin length bob, and still wore traditional blue water tribe outfits. And even though she was a real big shot, a celebrity throughout the whole world, she still was so down to earth.

She was still Korra.

Her face broke out into a broad grin the moment she spotted Mako, her big blue eyes sparkling when she rushed to him. "Mako!" She wrapped him in a hug that could have crushed bone, lifting him right off his feet and Mako coughed and laughed.

"Take it easy, Korra!"

"Sorry!" Korra plopped him back down and took a step back, still grinning from ear to ear. "I just haven't seen you in so long! How have you been?"

"Oh, you know… just working a lot." Mako scratched the back of his head, realized he was doing it, then quickly shoved his hands back in his pockets.

"So I've heard. Bolin says you've been working so hard, lately. You look totally bushed. And when was the last time you had a haircut?"

Mako patted the side of his head, only to realize that his hair was long enough to tickle his ears. "I don't even remember. And I have been working hard. The criminals never really take a break in Republic City, anymore."

"I feel like that's my fault. I've been so busy helping Wu convert the Earth Kingdom into a republic, I've been ignoring this city."

"It's fine, Korra. You can leave some bad guys for us little people, for a change." Mako laughed and took Korra by the elbow, to lead her away from the steadily growing crowd of cops streaming in for their shifts. "So what brings you back here, anyway?"

The smile on Korra's face faded, and she looked dismayed. Mako stopped and stared, frantically searching his memory. Was something going on today? Had he forgotten something important?

"Are you kidding?"

"…. No?" Mako said slowly, cautiously.

"Mako. It's your birthday."

Silence.

"What? No it isn't. My birthday's on-"

"The tenth. Which is today."

Mako's mouth opened, a million indignant words of protest ready to pour out. But he stopped and thought about the date he had written at the top of each paper he had worked to fill out since he arrived at the precinct. Sure enough…

He had completely forgotten, and he laughed, feeling relieved.

"Oh, man. For a second I thought I had forgotten something important."

"Mako." Korra crossed her arms and stared at him, her voice flat and disapproving. "It's your birthday. Of course it's important!"

"No, that's… That's not what I meant! I mean… sure it's important, but for a second I thought maybe I had forgotten your birthday, or… something." Mako laughed again in an attempt to break up the tension on Korra's face, the look of worried disapproval.

"Mako, you know we've been worried about you." She said, gently enough to make Mako even more uncomfortable.

"Why?"

"Why? Because all you do is work, anymore. After the thing with Kuvira, you were back on the force before you were even out of your bandages! We all took time to relax. I went on vacation with Asami, Bolin and Opal moved back to Zaofu to spend time with Opal's family… I mean, come on… When was the last time you went out on a date?"

"Girls are the last thing on my mind, Korra."

"Well, are you into boys? I know some nice Earth Kingdom guys who'd be interested." Korra's somber look dissolved into a half-baked, playful grin and she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"No. I still like girls, Korra. I just don't have time for them." Mako said flatly, rolling his eyes. This was definitely a conversation that he didn't want to have. Especially not with Korra.

Some things were still a bit too raw.

"Mako…" In an instant, Korra was serious again. She rested her hand on Mako's shoulder. "Bolin, Opal and Asami are all waiting at that restaurant up the street you like. For your birthday. Why don't you come join us?"

Mako shook his head. "Korra, I can't. I've been working on getting this sting set up on Shady Shin for weeks, now! I can't just take tonight off. I have to be there."

"No, you don't. They can go through with the sting without you, you know."

"I want to be there. This is important to me."

"Okay, Mako. Fine. But when are your friends going to start being important to you, too?"

"Okay, that's low." Mako said with a frown that looked too much like a pout. "You guys are important to me. You are! But… I just have a lot on my plate, right now. It'll get better once we take out this part of the Triads. I'll take a vacation, I swear!" He'd take a whole month off, if it meant getting that dejected look off Korra's face. "You don't need to worry about me, okay? None of you do. I'm just a little wrapped up. After the wedding, you guys all left to do your own thing and… So did I. It doesn't mean I don't care about any of you."

"There isn't anything wrong with you loving your job, Mako. But what happens when you realize that it doesn't love you back?"

Frustrated, Mako tossed his hands up. Heat flushed his cheeks and he raised his voice. Fighting with Korra, again. Some things would never change. "So what, I'm just supposed to find a girlfriend and I'll be happy?!"

"No! I'm just saying it couldn't hurt, is all!"

"I don't need a girl to define who I am, Korra!"

"Of course I know that!" Korra fired back, and held up her own hands in an attempt to cool the conversation back down. "I just… I hate seeing you alone. You don't have anybody here in Republic City, anymore."

Mako was still angry, and he tugged on a bit of hair behind his ear, fidgeting. Finally, his shoulders slumped in a sign of defeat. "If I promise to take some time off after the sting tonight, will you get off my back?"

Korra perked right up. "You'll come out with us tomorrow, then?"

"Yes." Mako grumbled, and Korra jumped and whooped in victory.

"I'll hold you to that!" She socked him in the arm and Mako just waved her off. He had a sting to prepare for.

Mako saw Korra to the entry of the precinct and said goodbye. He stalked over to the elevator and pushed the button so hard, he was surprised it wouldn't break.

A vacation…? What the heck was he going to do on a vacation?