Title: "Cooler Waters"
Writer: A6
Rating: T (Makorra romance)
Word Count: 2085
Summary: A crushing heat wave has gripped Republic City, and despite the best efforts of Korra and other water benders, there is no relief. When ordered to rest by the City Council with Mako by her side, Korra finds a solution to the crisis in the high mountains.
...
It was the hottest summer on record in Republic City. People were sweltering in the concrete caverns. Electric fans didn't do the job for people working daily in the skyscrapers. The fire department opened the fire hydrants for some relief, but it was just not enough. Air conditioning was only a promising experiment in the Future Industries Labs.
Water benders were literally being hired to create cooling mists in neighborhoods using city water and pulling the humidity out of the air and transpiration-cooling it to help people weather the terrible conditions. Priorities were placed on helping retirees and hospitals. Korra was working and teaching countless hours with other natural water benders to help. But she had her own limits.
The heat was also overwhelming to Naga and Korra, used to the frigid polar climates. Naga was shedding hair in big clumps. Avatar or not, Korra was near heat exhaustion several times from overwork from creating the water bent cooling mists, and Mako had to assist her.
The snarky question 'hot enough for you?' actually made people angry.
Finally, the City Council ordered Korra to take some time off. She had to recharge, having taught hundreds of water benders - who had only known water bending in the City - how to chill water and create cool fog and mist in the Southern Water Tribe style she learned from Katara.
The morning of her weekend-long Council-imposed 'time out', she looked from her room across Yue Bay toward the mountains that protected the City on the east. The morning sunlight glistened off the ice and snow, that even in this intense heat gripping the valley, still capped the highest parts of the peaks year-round. She had an idea, and smiled.
She turned to a still-sleeping Mako, shook his uncovered shoulder slightly, and said, "We're taking my 'break' in the mountains."
"Huh? What?" a startled Mako muttered as he was jarred awake.
"I said, gather your things, we are taking our break right now."
"But what about my police training?" he asked, still only half-awake.
"Remember you are between terms. If I gotta take a break, we are going where it's cool."
"You don't have to ask me twice. Let's go," Mako grinned, as he considered the advantages of being alone with his love in an environment where they didn't stick together because of sweat.
They rode out of the city astride Naga. At mid-morning, it was already blistering hot in the City, but they noticed a gradual change in the climate, crossing the rivers and entering into the forest.
It was still pretty warm in the majestic trees, which had an insulating effect from the heat. It was nothing like the inferno of concrete, metal, and stone of the City exposed to the sun. It was soothingly quiet as they got deeper into the woods. Only the bugs and little forest creatures scurried in the underbrush. It was cathartic for her. For a day or so, they just hiked and camped, and dined on a delicious roasted squirrel-boar that she had speared with a couple of ice daggers. Each night, the pair curled up together and slept, comfortable for the first time in three weeks of the heat wave. They were feeling rested quickly. They often just silently walked hand-in-hand, just taking in the forest, simply enjoying each other's uninterrupted company.
Early morning their third day, their trek through the forest gave way to a majestic scene: a tranquil mountain lake, fed by a small waterfall that splashed on a pile of rocks, with a jagged snow-covered peak miles above the lake, framing the entire scene. It was breathtaking. She took Mako's arm.
"It's beautiful, Mako."
He felt her grip and responded, "True. But this is still nothing compared to you, Korra."
She hugged him more tightly, "Aww. Flattery will get you everywhere."
They stood and took it all in.
She broke the silence by asking, "Are you thinking what I am thinking?"
"Yep. I wish we had something to wear to go swimming."
She poked him playfully, "Wrong answer, City Boy. We don't need anything to go swimming here."
She peeled off her tunic and stepped out of her boots, but stopped. He was still standing fully clothed.
She gave him a puzzled look, "Mako! We've seen each other plenty of times. C'mon. This will be fun."
Her boyfriend blushed and stammered, "Well… I… uh…"
She laughed heartily realizing the truth, "Mako. You're shy! You've never skinny dipped before!"
He gave her an accusatory look, and asked, "So how do you know about skinny dipping?"
She looked at him seriously with a cocked eyebrow, "Well, fire bender, do you know what happens to wet clothes if you swim in them at a South Pole hot spring in sub-zero temperatures?"
"Oh. I see." he realized.
Korra noticed he was gazing intently at her top and quizzed, "So… are you gonna do this, or just gawk at me all day?"
"Do I have a choice?" he smirked.
She splashed him with a water ball, and gave him an impatient look.
"OK, OK. I'm doing this. Korra, you gotta give me a break here. I've never done this in public. Just around you," he explained.
She laughed harder, "You need an incentive."
She stripped down completely, and gave him a seductive pose, "Do you see anyone here but us?"
He stared at her, admiring her incredible athletic shape and wonderful mocha skin, "If there were, I'd never see them. You kinda have all my attention."
"I'll take that as a compliment," she snickered. She watched him do the same, and as always was impressed with Mako's build. Finally there he stood.
"OK. Let's go. I'm finally ready," he said, still a little embarrassed.
Responding to her beauty as he had disrobed, she glanced down and teased, "Yeah, I can see that you are ready. Let's have some other kind of fun first."
They held hands, ran together, and leaped off the cliff side into the smooth waters, shuddering at the coldness of the melted snow runoff, and adjusted their body temperatures to handle the chill of the high mountain lake.
They swam, dunked each other, and splashed water constantly. They climbed and jumped off the rocks together, laughing and wrestling together. They both found it was a lot easy to tickle the other like this. She let him carry her astride his shoulders in the deepest part of the pond, and it made them both feel wonderful. They kissed more often as they played as lovers.
Ordinary water games weren't enough for his pair. He shot steam at her and she responded with snow balls to his face. He heated up the water right next to her thighs, and she squealed and jumped into his arms, feeling the hot spot. After a heartfelt kiss, she retaliated by forming ice clumps around him in sensitive spots, giggling while he gave her fake nasty looks as he shivered.
They slowly edged toward the base of the gentle falls, and suddenly all the laughing and was replaced by a silent, intense embrace and kiss. As they became lost in each other's arms and tangled together, there was soon only the sound of their loving and the water fall.
In their afterglow in the shallow pools, they didn't see a chunk of ice fall over the falls, and it swirled up against them. They both gasped when it touched them.
"No fair Korra!" he accused.
"I didn't do that," she complained.
"Then who did?" Mako wondered.
An idea flashed to Korra as she realized, "The… mountain! Mako - we can break the heat wave. We can't bring the people to the mountain but we can bring the mountain to the people."
"But that is ice bending on a huge scale," Mako puzzled.
"Nothing is too big for the Avatar. C'mon get dressed. We have to help the City right now. Vacation's over."
They climbed until they were at the vast ice field at the edge of the peak.
"Slice that slab with your fire bending."
He completed carving out a monstrous chunk of ice for her.. She strained to lift gigantic ice block, couldn't move the tons of ice.
She muttered mostly to herself, "I need some help."
"I can't water bend, Korra."
She noted, "No, silly, I need some other kind of help."
She sat cross-legged on the ground in a lotus position, and sighed. Mako backed away to not disturb her. She flashed her eyes in the controlled Avatar state. She stood, and made an effortless water bending move. Enormous slabs of ice from the mountain ice pack broke off and sailed skyward toward the City.
Over the city, the people watched as the ice blocks soared and hovered over the City. Many were near panic, not seeing her and not knowing what was going on. In another delicate move, she sublimed the ice – turning solid water directly into a sun-shielding fog over the entirety of the City that was super-cooled. It broke the grip of the heat nearly instantly. The City began to feel the relief and people cheered. She bent more and more giant blocks of ice continuously as they made their way back. Mako helped guide her as they returned. At the main bridge to the City, she was greeted by Tenzin and dozens of other water benders.
Still in her Avatar state, she spoke loudly to the dozens of volunteers, "We can bring the ice here and help the people."
Other water benders helped her carry the load, bending smaller chunks of ice by the thousands from the mountains to the City, in a kind of bucket brigade, with one group of water benders slicing and moving the ice from the glacier, handing off to other water benders down the mountainside, and to the City to convert to soothing ice fog. It was truly an impressive sight. The scientists on the radio commentary explained how water benders could do all this to the other benders and non benders of the City – they had complete control over water's triple point. Once again, science and the ancient arts of bending came together in an explainable way to their modern world.
The City's water benders kept it up for several days, constantly aided by Korra. The people of Republic City felt renewed, and the sick and the elderly were out of trouble. Finally there was relief that came naturally. From the west, far out to sea, Korra could see dark clouds forming. A cold front was coming from across the ocean. Heavy rain soon fell on the city, cooling everyone and everything in the metropolitan area with a much-needed soaking. The heat wave was finished, and the temperate climate that normally favored Republic City returned.
After the crisis, the City Council commended Korra for her creative thinking, giving relief to the citizenry during the terrible heat, saving hundreds of lives. If nothing else, it renewed the people's confidence that bending could be used for good for everyone – a confidence shaken during the time of Amon.
…
Hugging together in their bed as a cool breeze came in from the open window, Korra and Mako were comfortable for the first time in weeks. They kissed and held each other in their quiet end-of-day privacy.
"You are always amazing to me, Korra," praised Mako.
"It was just a little water bending," she shrugged.
Mako rolled his eyes, "Oh really? A little water bending? To quote the paper: 'Water bending the most massive scale ever known to the modern world'. You saved hundreds of people. All because of a skinny dip with me!"
She laughed, "Not something I want in the papers, but something just you and I will always remember."
Mako expressed a wishful thought, "I hope we can be there again soon. As much fun as that lake was, I wasn't really done being alone together with you."
Korra grinned, "Me too, Mako, but y'know… that fountain in the garden is just the right size for two."
"You're on, Korra," Mako responded with a look of desire in his eyes.
They couldn't run fast enough hand in hand, losing clothing parts as they ran, suppressing giggles the whole way as to not wake the Air Family. It would be too hard to explain to the girls and Meelo.
Tenzin stirred from his bed, sat up, and peered out the window for a moment. He watched them as they ran, smiled to himself, and glanced lovingly at a peacefully sleeping Pema, knowing that tonight wouldn't be the first time that fountain held two young lovers.