A/N: If somebody would have told me before I watched season four that I would be writing a story about Mako and Earth Kingdom royalty, I would not have believed them. All I knew about Wu before watching season four was that he was a prince that nobody thought was ready for the crown, and my mind went to somebody like his great-aunt, or, in other words, somebody I wouldn't like at all. As for Mako, I haven't exactly been his biggest fan. In the first three season he just seems broody and boring when he's not dating somebody, and even more so when he is. I tolerated him as a character, but never actually liked him.
Both opinions changed within five minutes of seeing Wu and Mako interact with each other in season four. I mean, they're adorable, and I honestly just had to write this.
It had been a few weeks since Kuvira's attack on Republic City, and they had only just finished rebuilding the city enough for many of the citizens to return. Since they couldn't exactly rebuild the central part of the city, as it had been taken over by the Spirit Wilds and the new portal, they had expanded out, just like they had done three years before when the spirit vines had first started causing trouble, except to a much larger scale.
Everybody contributed what they could to put the city back together. Mako himself felt like he should do more, but with his arm still healing his options were limited. He really couldn't do much to rebuild the city itself, even the airbender kids did more than he could, but there was one thing that Mako could do, and that was helping the citizens move back into the city.
Although, when he stopped to think about it, Mako really wasn't very good at that either. Kids were scared of him, adults thought that he was a hoodlum, and anybody who actually took him seriously became panicked by his attitude. Wu of all people, the royal pain in the butt himself, was much more suited for working with the citizens. Often Mako felt like the only thing he could do was fight off the unruly and violent people, as well as keep Wu on track, because that boy got distracted very easily.
Basically, Mako felt like he was still being Wu's bodyguard, and it wasn't fun.
Even though Mako felt like he wasn't doing enough to fix the situation in the city, he still felt completely exhausted, just like everybody else. After a lot of pestering on his brother's part Mako agreed to take a day off and spend some off time at Air Temple Island, which was the only part of the city that hadn't sustained any damage.
It really was quite calm and relaxing on the island. Mako almost forgot what it felt like to be relaxed. But the atmosphere on Air Temple Island was so peaceful that Mako was ready to believe that it was impossible to not feel at ease there.
"Hey, tough guy, you trying to sleep?" A too loud and very intruding voice asked. Mako barely refrained from groaning. It looked like he was proven wrong.
"No, Wu, I'm just relaxing." Mako said impatiently. So much for having a day off. What kind of break was it if Mako just ended up stuck around the person who he actually needed a break from? "Why don't you go talk to Pema?" It was the only thing that Mako could think of to get Wu off his back.
Mako could feel Wu pouting at him. "Fine. I know when I'm not wanted."
"I seriously doubt that." Bolin mock whispered when the ex-prince had left the room. "Seriously, Mako, what is he even doing here?"
"Pema invited him." Mako reminded his brother. For reasons that he still didn't completely understand, Tenzin's wife had become quite fond of Wu. They worked together to make sure the citizens who were returning to Republic City were set, and Pema often invited Wu to have dinner with her family. It was just Mako's luck that Wu was invited to spend the day on Air Temple Island on his day off.
"But he's so annoying." Bolin whined. He frowned slightly when he saw the way that Mako was looking at him. "What?"
"Nothing." Mako sighed. He just found it really ironic that Bolin was complaining about how annoying Wu was when all day it seemed like the two of them were having this unspoken competition of who could annoy Mako more. At this point Wu was winning, but Bolin really wasn't that far behind him. And with Wu out of the room Mako believed that Bolin may just sneak his way into the winning position.
Regardless of what Bolin was doing, the room really was much quieter now that Wu was in the kitchen with Pema. Maybe today could be relaxing yet. Not five minutes after he had thought that a sudden and powerful gust of wind blew in. Mako only needed three guesses to know where the wind had come from.
"Mako, Bolin, come play with us!" That was Ikki. Huh, she would have been Mako's second guess. Meelo was his first choice. Kai was his third guess, and Jinora wasn't even in the running.
"Ooh, what are you playing" Bolin asked.
"We were going to play tag, but we can't have a good game with just four people." Meelo said as he ran into the room behind his sister. He said it in his serious tone, even though there was nothing serious about a game of tag.
"What's going on in here?" Pema asked as she came in from the kitchen with a tray of dumplings. Wu came in right behind her, with little Rohan practically glued to his side. That was another thing that Mako really didn't understand. For some reason the three year old liked being with Wu, who, in return, absolutely adored Rohan.
"We want to play tag, but they're too lazy to join us." Ikki pointed an accusing finger at Bolin and Mako, even though neither of them had said that they didn't want to play. She did have a point though. Mako had no intentions of playing tag, and even though Bolin seemed interested Mako knew he wouldn't actually end up playing. Even Bolin was too tired to be running around like that. Besides, the both of them were really too old to play something like tag...actually, weren't the airbender kids getting too old for the game too?
"I wanna play." Little Rohan spoke up. His older siblings faces all brightened. Their mother's, however, did not.
"I don't think that's such a good idea." Pema said to her youngest. "You're a lot smaller than they are." Not to mention the others all naturally used airbending in their games, and that was something Rohan couldn't do. The boy was three years old and still hadn't shown any signs of airbending. Bumi and Tenzin both thought that Rohan was a non-bender, because they were familiar enough with the early signs of an airbender. Kya, Katara and Pema on the other hand insisted that he was just a late bloomer, and they had much better instincts when it came to these matters. As it was though, he couldn't bend.
"We'll be gentle." Jinora promised.
"Yeah, we'll keep him safe." Ikki added sincerely.
"Oh, really?" Pema crossed her arms and looked sternly at her kids. "Last time you said that Rohan fell out of a tree."
"He didn't get hurt." Meelo said, which was true. Jinora's quick thinking and airbending had softened the blow, but it was still a close call.
"Still, I would feel better if someone older played too." Pema eyed Mako, who pointedly avoided her gaze. He knew she wanted someone to spend the game keeping an eye on Rohan, but he really didn't want to be the one to do it.
"Well, why doesn't Wu play." Mako asked to try to get out of the game himself. "He's never played tag before." Immediately all eyes were on Wu.
"You haven't? Why not?" Ikki asked quietly, as though it was the saddest thing she had ever heard that somebody had grown up and never played tag.
"He was raised in the palace." Mako reminded everybody. "Who do you think he would have played with?"
"Nobody, I guess." Jinora frowned slightly. She looked at Wu thoughtfully. "Do you want to play? It's a really easy game to learn."
"I help you." Rohan tugged at Wu's sleeve, which just made the ex-prince smile.
"Well, how can I say no to that?" Wu said enthusiastically. He then turned to Pema and bowed ever so slightly. "I swear, I will keep an eye on Rohan for you."
"I'm sure you will." Pema smiled, satisfied with the arrangement. The second they got their mother's approval the airbender kids dashed outside to play, with Kai leading the charge and Rohan and Wu bringing up the rear.
"I don't know where they get their energy from." Bolin stretched. "They've been working just as much as us, and I'm exhausted."
"They're kids." Mako said. Surprisingly mature kids at times, with more responsibility and power than many adults could imagine, but kids nonetheless. "It's what they do."
"It's what some adults do as well." Tenzin spoke up suddenly, which surprised Mako slightly. The airbending master had been so quiet that Mako had almost forgotten he was in the room at all. "I don't think my brother will ever get over his childish games." Tenzin didn't sound all that bothered by it though. More like he was just pretending to be annoyed.
"Bumi's gotten so serious though." Bolin said with a slight frown. Tenzin just looked confused by the remark.
"I assure you, he's no more serious than he's ever been." Tenzin said. "Bumi pretends to be serious, and he may know how to get a job done, but he still takes every opportunity he can to act like a child."
"Sounds like you, little bro." Mako smirked and ruffled Bolin's hair, which he didn't like one bit. Somehow the conversation turned to Mako and Tenzin exchanging stories about their brothers and their exploits. Bolin pretended to be offended about the whole thing, but when Pema started sharing her embarrassing stories about Tenzin he tossed in a few of his own about Mako. It may not have been the relaxation and peace that Mako had been looking for, but the conversation was familiar and easy, which was, in some ways, even better.
They had been talking for awhile before Tenzin realized that Pema seemed to be nervous. "Is something the matter, dear?" He asked with concern.
"No, and that's the problem." Pema frowned slightly. "The kids have been out there for awhile, and nobody's come in screaming about how someone is cheating, or how they fell and scraped their knee...nothing."
"I'm sure they're fine." Mako assured her, though he wasn't feeling all that positive about it. The airbender siblings were always getting on each others nerves about something. Add in a toddler and a spoiled rotten prince and they definitely should have heard something by now. Maybe it would be a good idea for somebody to go out and check on things. Mako was about to volunteer when they heard some terrified screams coming from outside.
Within seconds the four adults were at their feet and running outside, all of them fearing the worst. Once outside they were immediately greeted by Ikki, who barrelled into her mother's arms looking absolutely terrified. Jinora, Meelo and Kai were all right behind her. None of them looked as scared as Ikki, but Jinora and Meelo still looked freaked out. Even Kai looked unsettled.
"What happened?" Tenzin asked. "Is somebody attacking the island?"
"N-No." Jinora said with only a slightly shaky voice. "We were playing tag and Rohan stepped on a beehive. There was...there were so many of them. We panicked." Mako nodded. He didn't blame the kids for getting scared. Bees could be pretty scary, especially when there were so many of them. The good thing was that they were all okay and...wait a second.
"Where's Rohan?" Pema asked fearfully.
"And Wu." Mako added, because the ex-prince was definitely not there with them.
The kids all looked at each other. "I thought they were right behind us." Kai muttered.
"You left your baby brother with a swarm of bees?!" Oh, Pema did not sound happy. Mako paled when she said that, because as immature as Wu could be sometimes, he wouldn't ever leave little Rohan alone and in danger. So if Rohan was still near with the bees, than Wu must have been too, which was not a good thing at all.
Tenzin immediately ran off towards where the kids had been playing, and Mako was right at his heels, a sick feeling twisting up in his stomach. Tenzin, even with his age, outran Mako and was already airbending gently but firmly at the bees to make them go away. By the time Mako got there the bees had scattered, but he was still nervous about what he saw.
Wu was on the ground and shaking, his body curled protectively around Rohan who was crying. Tenzin took Rohan into his own arms and tried to calm him down while Mako focused his attention on Wu. He didn't think had ever been so unsettled that the ex-prince wasn't crying out 'Wu down.' before.
"Wu!" Mako put his arms around Wu and forced him to uncurl so he could get a good look at him. Wu's throat looked swollen and he seemed to be having a hard time breathing, which definitely wasn't a good sign. Wu was conscious, but his eyes were dazed and completely unfocused. He also had a bunch of nasty looking hives where the bees had stung him. Overall, he really wasn't looking good. He needed a healer.
"Is Kya or Katara here?" Mako asked urgently. Both women had come to Republic City to help get things back to normal.
"Kya's back at the temple." Tenzin responded quickly, and that was all Mako needed to hear. He draped Wu over his shoulders and ran back to the temple. He tried to balance going quickly and keeping Wu steady. It ended up slowing him down quite a bit and Tenzin soon passed him.
"M-Mako?" Wu's voice was shaky, probably half from fear and half from the effects of all the bee stings.
"Don't talk." Mako scolded gently. If Wu was having a hard time breathing than the last thing that he needed to be doing was trying to talk. "You're going to be fine Wu, just relax and focus on breathing.
"Silly Mako." Wu laughed slightly, which just turned into a cough, which, of course, made it even harder for him to breath. It took a moment for Wu to calm down enough to speak again. "I k-know how to breath."
"You're not really boosting my confidence here." Mako said. "Just shut up and let me do my job." He just naturally said what was spoken often when he was Wu's bodyguard. Neither of them even remembered that Mako didn't work for Wu anymore. Mako was too focused on getting back to the temple, and Wu was just too out of it.
By the time they got to the temple Tenzin had passed Rohan to Pema, who was carefully taking the bee stingers out while Kya soothed the stings with her waterbending. Kya took one look at Wu and turned her full attention to him, leaving Pema and her other kids to calm down Rohan.
"What happened to him?" Kya asked as Mako lowered Wu to the ground and knelt next to him.
"He's allergic to bee stings." Mako said.
"No, 'm 'llergic to strawberries." Wu tried to insist.
"No, you're allergic to bees." Mako said. He had no idea how Wu could keep on mixing the two up.
"Uh, yeah, I gotta agree with Mako on this one." Kya used her healing over Wu's throat to try to bring the swelling down so he could breath easier. Mako got to work getting the stingers out. Wu was basically rambling the whole time, but Mako mostly just blocked out what he was saying. He started paying attention when he heard Wu directly address him.
"You saved me again." Wu said quietly. He practically snuggled up against Mako. "Always saving me."
"Stop talking, kid, okay?" Kya asked.
"M'kay." Wu said.
"What, so you'll listen to her?" Mako frowned slightly. "And you know, I won't have to keep saving you if you would stop getting yourself into these situations."
"Yeah, but we all know that you'll keep saving him anyways." Bolin commented unhelpfully. Mako glared at him. "What? It's true. You're his bodyguard, it's what you do."
"I'm not his bodyguard!" Mako all but shouted. Those days were over.
"Really?" Bolin raised an eyebrow at him. "Because you were definitely in a hurry to go, you know, protect him, guard his body...like a bodyguard.
"Shut up." Mako snapped, because he really wasn't talking about this. Despite what Bolin said, Mako was not Wu's bodyguard. Just because he had been concerned about Wu's safety didn't mean he was one. It just meant that it had become habit by now...and also that Mako had actually grown to care about Wu at least a bit and didn't want something bad to happen to him. But he wasn't going to tell anybody else that.
Rohan had calmed down by this time and desperately wanted to be by Wu. His feet were absolutely covered in bee stings though, so Pema carried him over. Rohan curled up against Wu, who leaned into the contact. Mako knew from experience that Wu was a very physical person. He hadn't gotten very much physical affection as a child, so now Wu craved it. Mako himself wasn't a fan of physical contact, so things always ended up with either Mako being uncomfortable or Wu being gloomy because he wasn't getting the attention that he wanted.
Mako was just glad that Wu was starting to get more people to get physical affection from. It would make things better and easier for the both of them. It would also be good for Wu to have some friends besides just Mako...not that they were friends, they were just….yeah, okay, they were friends.
"Hey, Mako?" Wu said. Mako should have known that him being silent wouldn't last long.
"Yeah?" Mako said casually as he worked at getting the last stinger out.
"Thank you." Wu smiled at him, and Mako really couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Anytime." Mako said, and he was surprised to find that he actually meant it. His tone turned stern in a second. "But never do that again." Just because he was willing to do something didn't mean that he wanted it to happen.
"I won't." Wu said, even though they both knew that it was a promise he couldn't keep. Wu had a way of running into trouble. Whether the next time included bees or not, only time would tell. Mako just had to keep on his toes, because goodness knows that Wu wasn't going to. That guy really needed to learn how to take care of himself. Until that happened though, Mako supposed that he could watch Wu's back for him...but only until he could do it for himself.
A/N: I actually mostly wrote this because, as far as I can tell, nobody has written about how Wu is allergic to bees. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but Prince Wu being allergic to something, and he always forgets what exactly he's allergic to, just seems to be a scenario waiting to be written out. Maybe somebody else already has, but I haven't seen it, so I did it for myself.