Hey guys! It's Crazy Alligator here, taking my first fanfiction venture into the LoK fandom (and the avatar fandom in general). But don't worry, I've written about 30 other things for Bleach ;) Anyways, this is basically all my headcanon for after episode 8, some things I think would be really sweet (and awesome) if they happened (even though they won't). Hope you guys enjoy!

Cuts, Scrapes, Scars, Love

Cuts.

That was the first thing he saw, upon bursting into the small recovery room, those prominent, reddish-brown slashes adorning Korra's dark skin amid the myriad of other scrapes she had sustained.

Pema had perked up at his entrance, at first staring, owl-eyed at his sudden intrusion as she bandaged up Korra's injuries. But then, as she looked to see who it was, and his expression, her gaze softened to understanding, and she put on a smile, telling Korra sweetly that she would leave the two of them alone for a few minutes, that the remainder of the young avatar's abrasions could wait for a few minutes. And then she left.

And he was alone.

Alone with Korra.

…

It was supposed to go better.

With the help of public confrontment, learned during the many years Tenzin had served on the council, the old airbender had managed to chase Tarrlok into a corner to the point where the waterbender was practically forced to release the teens. Step one: complete.

Tarrlok made up a story-that Korra had unexpectedly attacked him in his office at night, and that, in the purpose of self-defense, he had been compelled to…"Take care of the problem", as the councilman had so callously put it. Obviously, to Mako, Bolin, Asami, and Tenzin, however, the excuse was a load of bull-moose crap.

And before Mako could go on a rampage of lightning and flames throughout the city, Tenzin assured the trio of young adults that the chances of Korra having been killed under any circumstances was slim. Tarrlok was smarter than that, he said. Aside from a rare exception, the only thing a dead avatar meant was that another avatar was on the way, being born the second the previous breathed his or her last breath. And another genocide was completely out of the question, being that, for one thing, there were many, many more earth kingdom inhabitants than there had been air nomads one hundred and seventy years ago.

Then, the second phase of the plan happened; find Korra. This part was, by far, the longest and most frustrating part of the whole situation, trying to track Tarrlok's movements while fruitlessly chasing down those he was affiliated with, in an attempt to get any kind of information. And, after several sleepless nights, countless days of headaches brought on by worry and desperation, and the hope in Mako's heart slowly withering, they found her. Korra was alive-locked up by Tarrlok, yes, but alive. Now came the exciting part.

Mako was far too anxious to get to her. At night, they went to where the avatar was being held-he, Asami, Bolin, Tenzin, and former-Chief Beifong, and they broke in, Mako's heart full of fire and anticipation, and just as they were on the first leg of their operation, running through the grimy hallways, trying to find Korra's cell, he was hit, smack-dab in the side of the head. It could've been a fallen brick, a surprise attack from a hidden equalist, or even accidental friendly fire-he didn't know, or care, but the next thing that happened was that everything went black, Asami's blurry, shocked face falling from view as he fell.

He'd woken up what he was assuming was a day later, Bolin's joyous face greeting his newly-opened eyes as he stared upward, events from just before his unconsciousness flooding into his brain, consuming his thoughts. He started, as he remembered the mission he'd passed out in the middle of, flying up onto his forearms as he realized that he was in his room on Air Temple Island, safe.

"Where's Korra?" he asked, panic seeping into his normally "cool" tone, the words having barely registered in his mind before he blurted them out. His eyes had darted to Bolin's, then, showing that he required an immediate answer.

"She's in recovery with Pema right now, but-" the young earthbender was abruptly interrupted by Mako, the older sibling throwing his covers off and rising to his feet immediately. Disregarding the bandages wrapped around his head and arm, and barely acknowledging his brother further, Mako also seemingly failed to notice Asami, who had taken a seat in a chair near the foot of his bed, watching over him just as his brother had been doing a moment ago.

And he ran. He ran to see Korra, his want turning into an insatiable need, like he couldn't continue to function until he saw her safe and sound, the impending scene playing out in his head. His immediate relief at her safety, her smile at him, saying that he shouldn't worry-she was the avatar, after all, she could handle herself!-and the fact that, true to her word, she would be virtually unscathed (even though he suspected that she secretly adored his concern).

But what he witnessed now, at this moment…it was a disaster, a far cry from what he had visualized.

…

Her shoulder. Her arm-Agni, there were two on her arm, paired together like twins. White gauze covered her torso and leg, parts of her that Mako was almost certain were similarly afflicted. And…her face. She was cut in all those places, slashed by who-knows-what, and Mako could only look at her, could only observe her new marks, the anger rising inside of him as-

Oh, Agni, was his only thought, as he came upon a realization. It was two weeks, today, since Korra had initially gone missing, and those cuts were half-healed, and he was sure she didn't have access to enough water to heal herself during her imprisonment, and there was still dried blood in and around them, so they definitely hadn't had any medical attention recently and-

There was no way her abrasions had received the proper attention in time. With how long they had been left untreated, not even water could completely heal them now. Oh, Agni. Agni, Agni, Agni-

The cuts would scar.

Scars.

Mako thought he was angry before. But now, the cap on that rage had been blown off entirely, giving way to an internal eruption of animosity the likes of which the young firebender had never felt before. It was Tarrlok's fault, it was all Tarrlok's fault. By whatever scenario, he had caused Korra's hurt by capturing her in the first place, and Mako made a mental note to see to it that the councilman would receive retribution for his actions sometime in the future. But now, the young man focused on Korra, the girl sitting feet away from him, hunched on a cot.

And when he went to look up at her expression, his brain hit a brick wall, as he saw that Korra was…smiling. She was relieved at his safety, happy at the fact that she got the chance see him again-an open book, as always. But it wasn't her joy that stopped his mind in its tracks. It was what she was ignoring. She didn't shy away from his presence, didn't try to hide herself in shame of her new markings. She disregarded the blemishes, blowing them off as easily as a leaf blew in the wind. She didn't care that Tarrlok had scarred her body permanently, that she would live with the scratches for the rest of her life. She was too concerned with others, with her friends, with the city, with the world. She was too selfless to give a damn about such vain things as scars and cuts and scrapes and scratches.

She was amazing.

It was at that moment, at her blissful smile towards him, that he was reminded of that fact. She was amazing. Strong, resilient, tough, selfless, caring, kind, courageous, fearless, confident, compassionate, capable and…absolutely beautiful. Amazing. Korra was absolutely, positively, unquestioningly, truly, unconditionally, without-a-doubt, come hell-or-high-water, really, really, really amazing.

And he loved her.

She opened her mouth to talk to him, but didn't get a chance to speak, as he lunged forward and practically threw his arms around the avatar (almost crushing her, he was sure, but he didn't care at the moment), his face burying into the skin where her neck met her shoulder. And she hugged him back, and he could feel her grin into his own shoulder.

And everything felt right. At that moment, embracing her as she did so in turn, Mako was momentarily able to let go of his grip on reality, his anger at Tarrlok, his regard for everything except Korra. He was engulfed in her, drowning in her, Korra, Korra, Korra, Korra, Korra…

He loved her. More than anything, he loved her.

END

Opinions? I'd really like to know if I kept Mako reasonably in character, honestly…that's the only part of this fic I was afraid of screwing up. Anyhow, I hope you guys like it, I really enjoyed writing it. The Legend of Korra belongs to Nickelodeon, Bryan Konietzko, and Michael Dante DiMartino. All comments and feedback are appreciated and loved.