Republic City. A shining beacon to the world, beaming a brilliant light of freedom, history and innovation. The size of the buildings put to shame even the tallest temples of the Fire Nation, being dwarfed only in size by the mountains that lift the Air Nation into the heavens, and in the highest room of the tallest tower stands a young man, gazing at the wonderland of urbanization in pensive misery.
"Hey, Mako! You ready for the big day?"
The young man turns away from the city to face the stout, elated gentleman walking through the doors. "Oh, hey, Bolin. Yeah. I'm excited."
"Really? Because you don't seem too excited."
Mako flinches at being exposed so easily, but stands his ground in an attempt to persuade his brother. "What are you talking about? I've been with you planning this wedding all week!"
"Which means that I've had a whole week to figure out that you're not really all that happy about this wedding."
"There you go again, pretending like you can just read my thoughts. I can be happy about other people being happy too, you know."
"I know. I know, but maybe it's just a little easier when you're not celebrating your ex-girlfriend getting married to someone else."
"That's just it!" Mako presses his palms against his forehead, his fingers combing through his hair and gripping his scalp. "It's not just one of my ex-girlfriends getting married to someone else! It's two girls who I dated and broke up with who are marrying each other!"
After a long silence, Bolin says, "You really don't want them to be together do you?"
"You're crazy!"
"Am I?"
Mako, for the first time this evening, meets Bolin's eyes, but not without shooting him a fiery glare matched only by his most heated fire-bending. Without saying a word, he takes a seat on the room's luxury bed, dropping eye contact with his brother yet again.
"Of course I want them to be together," he says in a much softer tone. "They're my best friends, and I want them to be happy. It's just… I wasn't good enough for either of them. Then they met each other and… Bolin, this isn't exactly something people can relate to."
"I can relate to it."
Bolin, breaking his lips into a gentle smile, sits down next to his brother, who continues to look the other way.
"How would you know what this is like?"
"I used to have a crush on Korra too, remember? Do you have any idea how heartbreaking it was for me to finally open myself up emotionally, just to see the love of my life making out with my brother?"
"You know, if you're trying to make me not feel like a terrible human being, you're doing a pretty bad job."
"I know, but just listen to me. I've been through what you're going through. I've seen someone I cared about move on without me, and I just had to put on a happy face and pretend like everything was alright."
"You got over Korra eventually, though, right?"
"Absolutely! Eventually, I just wanted to see her happy, no matter who she ended up with. You'll get there someday too, Mako."
"You don't get it, Bolin. She's someone I fell in love with, dating someone else I fell in love with. It's not like you've ever dealt with anything like that."
"Sure I have."
"What?"
Mako raises his head to make eye contact with his brother, but when his eyes meet, instead of seeing the carefree smile he's used to, he sees a pair of light green eyes gazing straight into his. Mako's cheeks begin to burn as a sudden pulse running through his body makes him flinch backwards.
"I've been there, Mako. I know exactly how you feel."
As Bolin begins to slide in closer, Mako drops his head and looks away again. "What do you mean?"
"When you and Korra were dating, I felt like I had lost the affection of two different people."
"But… I'm your brother, so it's different."
"No."
Mako lifts his head back up to Bolin, but when their eyes meet again, their mouths and noses are separated solely by an inch of air. Mako's eyebrows lift up as his heart does jumping jacks in his chest, creating an almost painful sensation as it beats to escape. Bolin's breath grazes against Mako's lips, which begin to tremble without control.
"Mako, Korra may be moving on, but there's still a chance for me to be with the other love of my life."
"Bolin, what are-"
But before Mako can finish his question, his lips are met with Bolin's in a romantic dance. Once the initial shock wears off, Mako's eyelids begin to close, his mouth caressing his brother's in a fit of passion.
As the two get more comfortable, Mako leans one arm back on his bed, using his other to wrap around Bolin's shoulder. The earth-bender then wraps one arm around his brother's waist while his other moves up his back to gently play with Mako's hair. All the while, their lips entangle each other's with the only sound in the room being their deep breaths and mouths coming back together.
Finally, their kiss breaks, leaving the two to lean on each other and smile as wide as they can.
"Bolin, we should know better than this. We're brothers. This isn't right."
"I don't care what anyone thinks is right, Mako. You're the most important thing in the world to me, and I don't want to spend a single day without you."
Mako tries to keep a serious face, but as soon as a small breath escapes his lungs, a roar of laughter erupts, nearly knocking him back onto the suite's luxury bed. Bolin's expression transforms from one of happiness to one of embarrassment, and then to one of annoyance. Mako then stands up and begins walking back toward the window, but looking back at his brother's facial expression, he smiles and motions for him to follow. Bolin's lips slowly curl upward in relief as he stands up, walks over to his brother and subtly interlocks their fingers together.
"You're crazy, you know that, Bolin?"
"You know, I get told that a lot, actually."
"We're brothers. Of course I'll spend everyday with you."
"I hope you know, I'm gonna hold you to that."
With a silent chuckle, Mako wraps his arms around Bolin's waist once more.
"Everyday for the rest of our lives."
And as the sun finally sets on Republic City, the two brothers embrace once more with a kiss that makes Mako forget why he was ever upset in the first place.