Korra froze.
The sound tore into her heart and startled her still. Her eyes widened at the fabric in her hands and how it was hanging at an odd, screwed angle. She couldn't think for what felt like the longest time before reality crashed in and nausea settled in.
She ripped Mako's scarf.
No, she ripped the only think Mako had left of his father. She broke something dear to him, ripped it. Sick with herself, Korra fell to her knees and stared at it in her hands. It wasn't even a small tear, of the six feet the scarf had, it was ripped an inch into the width and two feet down the length. It was very noticeable, and the red threads stuck out and mocked her.
It was supposed to be a favor. It was supposed to be her doing something sweet for her boyfriend, straightening up his room and doing his laundry. The scarf had been hanging over his bedpost, and a loose nail grabbed it. Tore it. But she'd been the one pulling on it. She's the one who destroyed it. He rarely ever forgot to put it on, it shouldn't have ever been there.
He'd never trust her again.
"No!" Korra shouted and sprang to her feet. Her mind racing now, she shoved the scarf into her pocket, piled the laundry into the bag she'd brought, and ran down to where Naga waited. In seconds they were swimming the channel to Air Temple Island and she ran inside. "Pema!" Some of the other acolytes could probably help her, but Pema would know how to really fix this. "Pema!" She shouted louder, searching everywhere for the calm woman.
"Korra, stop shouting, Tenzin will have a fit." Pema smiled serenely at her charge, the girl who'd become something like a daughter to her in the last few months she'd live with them. And knowing her so well clued her into the panic that lit Korra's face. "What's the matter?"
"I ripped it." Korra pulled the red scarf from her pocket and laid it out before Pema. "I ripped it and I need to fix it, but I can't sew and I don't know how and it's his father's and it's all he has left and he needs it back and he…"
"Stop." Pema held up her hand to stop the run-on sentence pouring from Korra's mouth. "This is Mako's?"
"Yes." Korra moaned. "I was trying to do his laundry, something nice, a girlfriend thing, but I ripped his scarf." She fell onto her bottom and gathered her knees to her chest. "I'm a terrible girlfriend."
"Tearing his scarf doesn't make you a terrible girlfriend." Pema laid her hand on the sling that held Rohan to her chest and moved to find a needle and some red thread. "You made a mistake."
"A big one." Korra muttered darkly from where her face was pressed into her arm. "It's the only thing left of his father's and I ripped it."
"It can be fixed." Pema smiled and held the needle out to the young woman. "You will fix it."
"I can't sew." Korra protested lamely.
"You're going to learn." Pema replied patiently and handed her the scarf and spool of thread. Korra's legs fell so she was sitting cross legged. The older three children must be with Tenzin because it was quiet in the family rooms. "Thread the needle." Pema instructed her and tended to little Rohan while Korra considered the tiny silver thing in her hand. "It won't hurt you." She laughed and Korra flushed a little.
"I'm just, I'm not good at these things." Korra shrugged and unraveled some of the thread. "Housey things."
"Then you should learn some." Pema smiled at her. "Even Avatars may need to sew something once and a while."
Korra wanted to protest, but something in Pema's eyes stopped her and she reluctantly threaded the needle. For the next hour, Pema patiently taught Korra how to sew the scarf together with neat stitches until it was again in one piece. There was a clear line where it had been repaired, but when it was hanging it didn't look too bad. "It looks alright."
"I'm sure if you explain what happened, Mako will be fine." Pema smiled at her. "He cares about you, Korra, it's a scarf."
"I know." She hugged it against her body and fingered the frayed edges. "Thank you, Pema." She gave her friend a weak smile before leaving the room, wandering toward the other air acolytes with it in her hands. She thanked them for doing Mako's laundry and threw the bag over her shoulder and wrapped the scarf around her neck to keep it safe while Naga swam them back across the water.
Anxiety built within her as she approached the apartment building Mako now lived in and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw he still wasn't home. It gave her time to put his clothes into their proper places and straighten things up. She kept the scarf around her neck though, and buried her nose in it as she moved.
"You look warm." She jumped at his voice and turned to him, fear in her eyes instead of happiness to see him. The smile on his face slid off. He'd been happy to see her in his apartment already and it was amusing that she'd put on his scarf, but she looked terrified. "What's wrong?"
"I ripped it." She blurted it out. "I'm sorry, it was an accident, I'm sorry." She unwrapped the scarf from her neck and held it out to him. "I didn't know there was a nail there."
Mako took the scarf in his fingers and touched the uneven stitches. They were small and held it together well, but some were a little off center. "Did you fix it?" He asked her softly.
"Pema tried to show me how to sew; I told her she should've done it." Korra shook her head. "Mako, I'm so sorry." She let out a sigh of frustration and went to pace the room, but he grabbed one arm out and grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to him.
"It's fine." Mako smiled at her, no anger in his face. "I'm glad you fixed it." He wrapped one end around his neck and the other around hers. "Now it's got a part of you too." He smiled and pressed his forehead against hers. "It's fine, Korra."
"I'm still sorry." She muttered, but she was happy, and laced her arms around his neck. "I love you, Mako."
"I love you too." He grinned and laid his mouth over hers. Korra smiled into the kiss until he nudged her lips open and moved in briefly. "No harm done." He murmured softly. "No harm done."