note: I always forget to post my stories on here. I've been posting my recent ones on Tumblr, but I really need to get into the habit of posting on both sites.
My URL on Tumblr is shirleythisgetsold so feel free to follow! ;)
Anyway, this was written a while ago. It's inspired by Taylor Swift's Ronan. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Any characters from The Legend of Korra belong to Bryke.
Come on, baby, with me, we're gonna fly away from here.
When he first learned to walk, he frustrated them to no end.
"Mako!" Korra screeched. "Mako, Rohan's about to fall down the steps!"
The one-year-old airbaby was standing rather precariously at the top of the steps leading to the Air Temple. Mako hurriedly lifted him up, avoiding another near-accident.
"What are we going to do with you?" Mako grumbled.
Rohan giggled and waved his hands in the air, oblivious to the danger he had been in. Korra, who had been busy with the other children, rushed over to Mako in relief. She took the baby from his arms.
She sighed. "This is the fifth time that's happened today. I really don't understand why Pema always has us babysit. We're not very good at this."
"Tell me about it."
When he first learned to talk, he embarrassed Mako in the worst of times.
Mako shifted a squirming Rohan in his arms, who was trying to tug on his ear and mouth. Meanwhile Korra, sitting beside Mako, was trying her best not to laugh.
"I'm so sorry," Mako apologized to the interviewer seated in front of him. "It's our turn to babysit."
The interviewer, a middle-aged man with a friendly smile, waved dismissively. "It's not a problem at all. I'll just put in the article that Avatar Korra spends her free time babysitting Councilman Tenzin's children."
He cleared his throat, looking down at his notes. "Now, Mako. It's understood that you are currently in a relationship with Korra. What is it like dating the Avatar?"
Mako opened his mouth to answer, but was beat by Rohan. "Mama Mako."
"Pardon me?" said the interviewer.
Rohan turned to him and pointed at Mako. "Mama Mako."
Korra clutched her stomach as she laughed in silence to the side. Mako, on the other hand, felt the blood rush to his cheeks as the interviewer made to write something in his notes.
"Don't—don't write that down!" he exclaimed.
The interviewer looked up at him and smiled. "No worries, I was just making a note for myself. Let's continue then. Now, Mako—"
"Mama Mako!"
"Rohan!"
But he never failed to win them over.
Mako and Korra looked up from their conversation at the dinner table when Rohan entered the room, clutching his blanket.
Korra frowned. "What are you doing up this late, Rohan?"
"I can't sleep," he replied.
Rohan settled in Korra's lap, snuggling up to her and closing his eyes. "Tell me a story, Mama Mako."
Korra laughed. "Yeah, Mama Mako, tell Rohan a story."
"Stop encouraging him to call me that," said Mako, scowling at her.
"Mama Mako," Rohan whined. "Tell it now."
"Okay, okay. Easy there, soldier," Mako chuckled before beginning the story. "Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony…"
Before he was even halfway through the story, Rohan was fast asleep. Korra smiled softly at his sleeping figure as she stood up to carry him back to his room. Mako followed her down the hallway and stood at the doorway to the room, watching her tuck Rohan into bed.
After sliding the door behind her, Korra looked up at Mako. "Remind me again why Pema makes us babysit the kids."
"According to her," he said, "it's practice for when we have our 'millions of beautiful babies.'"
She blushed but asked, "And why do we always agree to do it?"
"Because," Mako circled his arms around her waist, "we love those kids."
She sighed. "Yeah we do. Especially that little rascal in there."
"Especially him."
When he was first diagnosed, it broke their hearts.
Mako and Korra crept quietly down the hallway, in case he was still asleep. They each had a bag full of his favorite things: chocolate, chocolate cake, toy cars, stuffed animals, dinosaur figurines, and more.
They stopped just outside of the room, however, when they heard him say:
"Mommy, it hurts."
Korra squeezed Mako's hand tightly and buried her face into his shoulder.
"I know, sweetheart," said Pema, her voice breaking.
"Don't cry, Mommy," Rohan said.
Pema didn't reply; her voice was swallowed by sobs that drifted into the hallway. Outside, Mako gave Korra's hand a gentle squeeze and nodded, silently telling her that they should go in.
They slowly entered the room to find Pema seated at the edge of the bed with her head in her hands and a frail-looking Rohan lying against the pillows.
"Hi, Rohan," Korra said softly and turning to Pema said, "Maybe you should take a break. We'll look after him for you."
Pema managed a weak smile as gratitude before leaving the room.
"Hey, little guy," said Mako, smiling at the four-year-old. "We brought some presents for you."
Rohan's pale face lit up. "Presents?"
Korra and Mako laid out the contents of the bags on the bed before sitting on either side of him.
"So," said Korra, "which one do you want first?"
"The cars!" Rohan yelled, pointing at the toy cars piled up near his feet.
Mako reached for them and placed them on his lap. Rohan grabbed a bright orange one, rolling it back and forth on the blankets. When he rolled the car up Korra's arm, a giggle bubbled out of his mouth, its innocence almost painful.
For the rest of the afternoon, he played with his new toys and enjoyed the sweets. And for the rest of the afternoon, Mako and Korra pretended that he was a four-year-old boy enjoying his life, a life where his days weren't numbered.
When he was gone, they mourned with everyone else.
The silence in the air was laid heavily upon the guests of the service. It was a silence of pain, sorrow, grief, and it was only broken every so often by quiet sobs. Gathered around the freshly dug grave, they watched as his casket was lowered into the ground.
Tears were streaming down their faces, but no one cried as hard as Tenzin. Stoic, composed Tenzin crumbled into pieces as he watched them bury his youngest son.
Watching him break before her eyes undid Korra. She held onto Mako tightly and let her tears soak his jacket, his arms the only things keeping her from falling to her knees.
"He was so young," she whispered. "It's not fair."
Mako nodded. "I know."
Even after the service was finished, every one of the guests stayed, each remembering the young boy in their own way. But whether they remembered him as the one-year-old always playing on the stairs or the little boy eager for bedtime stories…
They remembered him as Rohan, the boy who captured their hearts.