Title: Forgetful Face
Word Count: 1,785
Summary: [AU – They meet earlier than expected, sitting in the stands. Only Mako's not really paying attention; and both of them are forgetful of that night. | Mako. Korra. Ep. 1 / 2]

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Not sure where this came from… just doing some free-writing. :/

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In bad weather, the arena had the appearance of a golden palace. The rain would fall and tap upon the glass roof and fog would be quick to sweep around exterior; making it appear like something from another world, ghostly and calm out on the sea. The interior was the opposite on most occasions and even in bad weather fans of probending would manage to find their way to the stands, eager to watch the teams go against each other in a match. On days when there were no matches, teams would occasionally go against each other for practice, drawing people to the ring.

Even though Mako thought it to be a waste of time and strategy to show other teams your moves before a real match, he would still find himself sitting high up in the stands, taking notes on which player's footing was off, where the group positioned themselves after the bell, and so on. The crowd isn't too big, only a few dozen groups scattered here and there. Professional fans; not wanting to miss a single thing with their team and Mako crosses his arms and scoffs, wondering how anyone could come and sit in an empty stadium for hours with the weather like this.

Ridiculous.

He shakes his head and focuses in on the practice match at hand. The two teams competing were the Xiao Yao Zebra Frogs and the Golden Temple Tigerdillos; the latter of which Mako and his team would be facing off in just a few days' time. He knew he needed to take every opportunity to hone in on their opponent, especially since Hasook ditched out on practice that morning. He would have to find out where he was eventually, but for now it wasn't the time. Right now he had to watch the match.

The Tigerdillos would be their toughest opponent yet, and Mako already knew why. They played as a team, pummeling the Zebra Frogs with a barrage of attacks as earth, water and fire flew over the ring. The Zebra Frogs were doing a decent job at dodging and weaving, but Mako knew that if it was his team out there, they'd be in trouble. He and Bolin were always light on their feet, but he knew that it only took one player out for the match to go sour, and fast. If Hasook got knocked out early then the team would be in trouble; three-on-two are never good odds.

Mako sits and watches the match with a close intensity, leaning into his legs to get a better view. He doesn't even notice that there's someone walking up the stands towards him, much less when they stop behind, standing over him with a quiet curiosity.

And they say a small hey, in greetings. And for a while, he doesn't move.

After gazing at the ring with a long drawn-out glare, Mako finally pulls his eyes away enough to turn and look at the person standing behind him. She's leaning in with her hands clenched behind her back, her eyes pleading at his and he's sure he can see her lip tighten as she swallows. He looks over her Water-Tribe clothing; the furs and thick boots and light blues of the tundra – she's not from around here, that much is obvious. He's certainly never seen her around before.

"What do you want?" he says in an annoyed tone, going back to the match. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the girl lean down and point to the space beside him.

"Mind if I sit?"

"Yes, I do."

She sits anyway. Mako folds his hands beneath his chin, rubbing the tops of his knuckles. He tries to pay attention to the game, for whatever precious time he may have left until the practice is over, forcing whatever ill thoughts he might have for the girl away. She's probably just some fangirl playing the part of a newcomer, pretending not to know who he is. It's not the first time it's happened to him, and it certainly won't be the last, if he knows his brother. Mako rolls his eyes at the thought, blowing out a hot breath between his lower lip.

The girl watches the match with the same intensity as he is; only with so much more joy. He's focused on the ring, but he can see the way she's staring down at the player's, hands and arms tightening as they go head-to-head. He glances over and sees a wide grin on her face; she's pulling the part of a newcomer well.

The girl leans over at him, not taking her eyes off the match. "This is great, isn't it? A real probending match!"

"It's just a practice match." He says, not too keen to talk with her. Mako looks up at the clock light up next to the scoreboards. It reads 11:44. There's only a few minutes left until the practice ends and they close the arena for the night. He doesn't have much time and sitting next to her isn't going to help his concentration.

"Well, I know that." The girl sighs. "But I've never been to a real match yet, so this is just as good."

"It's not very exciting," he mutters, taking note that Tigerdillos firebender has a slight tendency to curve his shots. That'll be important later on. He lifts his head slightly, peering down to watch the different players slowly, his eyes moving to each and every one of them.

"I'm hoping to get to a real one soon, if I can get out, that is." she laughs, playing with her hands subconsciously. "Although I'm not even supposed to be out now; the only reason I was able to slip by unnoticed was because of the fog."

"Oh, right." Mako says, looking up at the dark clouds above them, the rain still pitter-pattering on the roof. It would be good cover, but also wet. Looking over to her, he notices her clothes are soaked, too wet to be from the rain. "What did you do? Fall into the bay?"

"No, not really…" she says, biting her thumbnail as the Tigerdillos knock another player out. "I kind of swam across it."

"From where?"

"Air Temple Island; I kind of live there." She says. Mako leans into the ring, mouth open slightly to respond. The Rabaroos are trying to push the Tigerdillos back, but not by much. They've hit a loss since their waterbender got knocked out, they won't be able to keep up with the onslaught of elements coming at them. This round is as good as done and Mako shakes his head, remembering he was going to say something.

"Air Temple Island, huh?" he mutters, making sure he got it right. Then he does a quick look over her once more. "Do you work there or something? You don't really look like a monk."

"No, I…" The girl huffs a large sigh, craning her head back towards the ceiling. "I'm just staying there."

"You must be well off then, not many people can just waltz onto that island." Mako says, annoyance coming off his voice. While the island was a different life than most people in the city, to be able to just go to it and stay without any conditions is astounding. Mako rubs the tip of his chin, thinking of what it would have been like if he and Bolin could have made it there. Then he pushes the thought aside; as if anyone, much less the only family of Airbenders in the world and their monks, would have wanted to take two filthy street urchins from the city. Republic City was full of people like him, what are two more in a sea of thousands.

He expected the girl to have responded but she doesn't. She must have finally gotten his hint that he's not in the mood for talking, and the conversation is dropped. Mako watches the last few plays of the match, all the while the girl sits in silence; her eyes on the game but her hands keep rubbing themselves in a nervous manner. Maybe he's struck a nerve, or maybe she thinks she did – either way, he doesn't really concern him.

The game ends a moment later and Mako is quick to rise from his seat, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his coat. He says a weak goodbye, leaving her to go the other way as he heads back to Toza's gym to reach the attic. He doesn't notice her staring at his back as he leaves; he's got too many things to think about than some girl he's met for one night. He knows the chances of them meeting up again are one-in-a-thousand.

-.-

When he wakes up the next morning, squinting with watery eyes as the sun comes through the attic; Bolin is already up fixing breakfast on the stove. It smells like noodles and Mako groans and rolls over on his bed, propping himself up with an elbow. Bolin turns slightly to see his brother. Pabu squeaks.

"Morning." Bolin says, smiling as he shifts the noodles in the pan. "You didn't get back for a while. Did the match go that long?"

"Yeah…" Mako rubs his eye. "It did. I've got a few notes on the Tigerdillos, we should get word to Hasook and practice today. We've got a big match in a few days."

"Yeah, I know." Bolin takes the pan off the burner, petting the top of Pabu's head as he goes to the coffee table. Mako climbs down the ladder as he divides the noodles into even portions. Handing one of the bowls to Mako, Bolin sits down on the couch, taking a huge slurp of noodles.

"So I went in for a bit and watch the match..." Bolin says, chewing and swallowing. "Who was that girl that was sitting next to you? I've never seen her before."

"The girl? She's no one, just some probending fan." Mako says, blowing on his noodles before bringing them to his mouth. He tries to thinks back on the girl; what she looked and sounded like… but nothing comes to mind. He was so focused on the game last night; he didn't really process anything else.

"You two seemed to be talking well," Bolin says cheerily. "Maybe you'll see her again."

"I doubt it." Mako mutters. "I can't remember what she looked like."

:Fin:

That was much much longer than I expected it to be, and I'm not sure even now if it seems to make sense. There won't be anything more to this, really. It was just an exercise to work on a little bit different way of writing. Sorry if it's disappointing to any of you.

Review and comments are always appreciated. Thanks to all who do so.