Welcome to this Korra/Mako Story! It's my first Legend of Korra fanfiction but hopefully not the last. I was a fan of the couple since the beginning, and although I was satisfied with the show's ending, I couldn't help but long for this pairing that I've always loved.

This Story takes places when Korra left to the South Pole to heal after the fight with Zaheer.

ENJOY!

Summary: Following the Battle with the Red Lotus, Korra tries to recuperate from the trauma, while dealing with the demons haunting her at night and a surfacing connection with a certain Firebender.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the World of Avatar.

Rating: T will sometimes include curse words and possibly non graphic sex scenes.

"Even in the material world, you will find that if you look for the light, you can often find it. But if you look for the dark, that is all you will ever see."

–Iroh

I

She woke up screaming once again. Her shaking body, covered in ice cold sweat, reacted to the danger her nightmares had engulfed her in. Every night her demons would haunt her to the point that reality became more bearable. And her reality per se was traumatic enough.

Her eyes remained closed while she took a deep breath. Korra propelled herself up with her arms with difficulty, her lower body completely immobile. She sighed with annoyance. The Avatar, powerful bender of all elements, and such a basic movement had turned into a challenge. She didn't know whether to cry or laugh at the irony of her condition.

She finally opened her eyes, adjusting her vision to the darkness around her. The only source of light came from the window opposite to her bed, the Southern Lights dancing in the sky. It was breathtaking. She wished she was as infinite as those lights, able to go on forever and feel attachment to nothing; they were life and truth. Lights were freedom itself.

With a swift movement of her hand, a small flame ignited from her finger tip. The flickering light was captivating, but it wasn't the same anymore. She wasn't the same. Fire was life, yet she didn't feel any within herself. And with that, the flame was gone. Korra was also infinite at some point, she thought, she had had thousands of past lives. The Avatar legacy and wisdom had lived inside of her, and had lived for generations before her. Her power used to be limitless. But she looked down and saw weakness. She couldn't imagine Kyoshi or Roku as cripples.

Her friends and family kept telling her that she was strong, but she noticed the pity in their eyes, they thought she was helpless now. Korra pushed herself towards the edge of the bed and let her feet touch the ground. She could do this, she was going to prove them wrong. She was not weak. She was the Avatar. Air filled her lungs as she concentrated with all her might on standing. Suddenly, pain swallowed her whole as she tried to put pressure on her limbs and her body gave up under her. She let out a scream in defeat, her cheek in contact with the cold ice beneath her, and frustration caused hot tears to stream down her face.

Rage built up inside of her as she dragged her body towards the bed. Her back leaned against the edge while she moved her hands towards her legs to massage them. A burning pain lingered on them and she took slow breaths to stabilize herself, "Fuck," she muttered. She didn't want to move a centimeter after what just happened, but she knew she was in for a lecture if anyone found her like this. She was ordered to stay in bed after all. But who gave them the authority to tell her what to do? This was her problem. It was her pain, and if they couldn't help her out of it, she didn't want to hear any of them.

She reached under her bed to grab a stack of letters from her friends sent some months ago. Korra hadn't read any of them; she did not want to hear how exciting their lives were. She felt jealous of their easy lives and even resented them a bit because of it. She knew it was not their fault at all that she was in this condition, but no one wants to read about adventures when they are stuck in a wheelchair. No one understood what she was going through. She felt completely alone.

She looked through the envelopes to see which one she should read first. There were dozens of them but it was a long night and she knew she would not be able to sleep again. Her eyes scanned one by one "Asami, Bolin, Tenzin, Jinora, Bolin, Milo, Bolin, Asami, Ikki, Bolin, Bolin, Bolin…" she smiled every time she came across Bolin's name. He had kept his word and had sent her countless letters. Immediately she felt a wave of remorse for ignoring his effort. He obviously cared about her, so did the rest of them, and she had been shutting them out for months.

She promised herself she would read every single letter and decided to open the first one from Asami, but as she started to rip the envelope, she spotted one letter from the corner of her eye. Her heart started to beat faster than usual and she could feel her pulse grow stronger in her temple. She did not even know why she was feeling like that but when she saw his name, she froze.

She did not remember receiving this letter at all. And unlike the others, he had sent just one. She understood why; he had never been the best with words and maybe it was uncomfortable for him, and her. But after their breakup, they started to connect in other ways. She didn't need him to say anything because she knew he would always be there. She believed both of them got closure from their relationship, but sometimes it felt like there was something left. However, she did not know what that something was. She had said before that she would always love him, but in what way?

She was scared of all possibilities.

Korra opened the envelope and recognized his tidy handwriting. She felt strangely close to him for a moment, as if she was listening to his voice next to her.

"Dear Korra,

It feels like years have passed since the last time we saw each other, and I'm sorry for not contacting you before, but I didn't know what to say. I still have no idea what I should say but I want to try. You probably know what the others are up to so I'll tell you a bit about myself. Things are very calm in Republic City at the moment but I've still been busy working almost every day.

I also wanted to tell you that I've been having strange dream. Nightmares. Sometimes I even wake up with pain on my legs, but it only lasts for a few seconds. Then it just goes away. I don't know what to make of it, but maybe it's just because I'm under a lot of stress.

Your parents have kept us informed about your progress. I can't imagine what you're going through but I'm sure everyone is doing their best to help you. I hope you're holding up, and if anyone can do this, it's you. I know you will get through this.

I truly miss you Korra. We all do.

Mako."

Korra felt something inside herself that she could not quite pinpoint. She didn't know if it was sadness or anger or happiness. There was no reason for her to feel any of those after reading the letter, but she felt like her emotions were intensifying somehow. Her body started shaking again and suddenly, weak flames appeared from her fingers, disintegrating the paper she was holding. She gasped.

"For some reason, I expected you to set that on fire." A voice said behind her and Korra did not need to turn around to know who it was. Her body tensed and she skipped a beat.

"Mako?"

Let me know what you think, it keeps the motivation going.

I promise you, there's a lot of Korra/Mako Interaction coming in the future! Thank you for reading!

Until next time!