A/N: I came across SweetCaramel22's video years ago. She had used Barcelona's song "Get up" and made a makorra video out of it. I personally never heard of the song before but after watching the video I immediately fell in love with it. It's so deep and beautiful it's just ugh…. Just go listen to it. Anyway that's what the italicized part is, the lyrics.
"Five days after, black and red collide"
Korra stumbled down the streets, struggling to stay upright, grasping the wound at her side. Her entire shirt was covered in black, soaked through with her blood and that of her enemies.
If anyone were to look out there windows, no one would be able to recognize her as the Avatar. The missing girl. Crying out for help was hopeless. Tarrlok had wrapped his bare and invisible hands around her neck so many times as he pummeled her into the floor or the wall and any hard surface he could find, that her throat was closed up almost completely. Making it hard to swallow when she wasn't coughing up thick red liquid.
"The motion sickness past, I'll be the first to stand."
"Does anyone see her yet!?" Mako yelled, standing on top of Oogi as the wind whistled in his ears.
They've been searching the city for hours for the blue-eyed girl. Every day and night for the past two weeks they've done nothing but look for Korra. Mako devoted all hours to coming up with evidence of where she could possibly be. Searching every nook and cranny of the city. Even going as far as meeting with gangs in hopes they might of had any information. Only sleeping when he was told or just couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. Evidence of his lack of care for himself clearly evident by the black circles tattooed beneath his bloodshot eyes.
"Behind that weathered door, I thought it would be safest."
Their hit at the equalist base had been a no go having been caught almost immediately as they piled into the tunnels underground, not even making it to the train cars before they were ambushed. Not one of them escaped unscathed in the process. Luckily Chief Beifong managed to use seismic sensing before they were run out of the equalist hideout and was able to determine whether or not Korra was there. She wasn't.
This crushed their spirits in hopes of Korra being there, bringing them back to square one. Three days later they found Naga limping towards the main doors of the Air Temple. Her once pure white fur was dark and matted with red and brown. Their searches became more frequent after that leaving the healers to tend towards Naga.
"My head is dizzy now, I thought we'd overcome."
She felt like her head would explode with each drag of her feet against the pavement. She didn't know how long she's been walking or where she was for that matter.
It was dark and cold, a sleeping city unaware of the tick, tick, tick of her life draining away just outside their doors.
"We might not make it home tonight."
"Mako sit down!" Bolin panicked, his brother too close to the edge for his liking. Mako felt a harsh tug to his jacket and he fell back.
"What the hell, Bro!"
"It's not going to do Korra any good if you're smashed into the streets like a flat piece of pancake! We're all worried about her too Mako, not just you! She's my bestfriend and I feel sick to my stomach that there is a genuine possibility that she could be DEAD!
"DON'T SAY THAT, she's not…"
"What dead!? DEAD MAKO!? She's been gone for two weeks now! TWO FUCKING WEEKS! We've already lost our parents and there's a chance I… we could lose Korra. That makes 3 of the most important people in my life gone. I don't need you to be the 4th because of your fucking stupidity so sit the fuck down and look over the edge like the rest of us!" Bolin wailed, his face red with rage and anxiety at the thought that Korra might actually be gone.
"Crawling on the ash, she's pitiful."
She felt her knees give out from underneath her as she slid down a street lamp. The rise and fall of her chest fast as she gulped down air. Her vision blurred around the edges as she sat there.
"She lost her sense of light, she has to hold my hand."
She remembered the first time she came to Republic City, the lights were bright in the distance standing out from the dark night that enveloped the city. Like thousands of little FireFlies fluttering from one building to the next.
Just as they were now but closer within reach, seemingly brighter. A lone tear made its way down her cheek leaving a clean trail against the dirt and blood smeared there. Fighting to stay awake as she swayed her head back and forth to take in the scenery before her.
"Had I known we might be two kids without their jackets."
The crew had been quiet for a long while after Bolin's emotional outburst towards his brother. Mako himself at a loss of words. He was so caught up in finding Korra, clouded with his worry for her, that he didn't take into account anyone's else's feeling. Especially Bolin's. They were brothers. They've had each other's backs through thick and thin since they lived on the streets. Watching out for one another was an unspoken promise whether it be emotionally or physically.
It wasn't until then that he really took into account how the others were holding up. Asami, his beautiful girlfriend was slumped in the corner furthest from him looking down upon the city below. The wind blowing away the hair from her face and even from here he could see the tear stains shining against her cheeks before the thick black waves covered any sign of distress once again.
Bolin the same way hunched over the leather saddle his shoulders quaking in a silent cry.
Tenzin's' eyes were just as bad as his if not worse. He looked to Korra as one of his own.
Lin was stiff and had a determined focus but the sadness and worry in her eyes gave it away.
"My fear would come alive, I wouldn't love her now."
He placed a tentative touch to Bolin's shoulder and before he could properly react Bolin jumped at him, tackling him around the waist as he sobbed into his jacket. He could feel the tears build in his eyes as he pulled at his brother so he could hug him the right way, close to him as he struggled to keep the tears at held one another tightly as they struggled to fight the inner emotions taking over their bodies.
The thought that Bolin may be right squeezed the air from his lungs. Korra gone? No more of her contagious laughter that made him feel free, like everything was going to be okay. No more of those silent smiles she sent his way when she didn't think he was looking, that always set his blood on fire and not in a bad way. No more of her stubborn attitude. No more of… Korra. The girl that invaded his life, her fire licking its way into his heart and making it beat for her in a way it didn't for any other.
"She might not make it home tonight."
She was laying against the pavement now. Her body too beaten and too broken to move any further.
"Get up."
"I'm so sorry, Bo." Mako whispered into his brother's shoulder not quite ready to let go.
"I'm sorry too."
"Get up."
The lights were just fuzzy now. The gray of the buildings, the black of the night, its yellow glow, and the red staining her fingers all swirling into a unique painting.
Her breathing slowing as she finally let the tears fall. She wanted the pain to go away.
"Get up."
"We'll find her." The boys looked up to find Lin standing above them, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"Don't give up hope just yet."
If Mako had been in the right mentality he would have realized that it sounded like she was saying it more to herself than to anyone else.
"Get up."
The fact that Korra may be gone weighed heavily on everyone's mind as they spent another hour soaring the sky.
"I think we better call it a night." It was the first time Tenzin's spoke since they began this trip. No one acknowledged him with spoken words. Choosing to agree silently with one another as Tenzin commanded Oogi to turn around.
"Get up."
A man was standing next to her bending down to her head as he wiped away the sweat slicked hair from her forehead. His red and yellow robes all too familiar.
"Aang." Her voice hoarse as she spoke softly. The name almost incomprehensible with the swelling in her throat.
"Come Korra." His eyes were nothing but sympathetic as he took in her injuries.
So she did.
"Get up."
Asami's screams of stop stop stop is what caught everyone's attention. She was pointing down a street they had just passed. Mako and Bolin broke apart as they huddled against Asami trying to catch a glimpse of what she had screamed about.
"What! What is it?"
"What's wrong back there!?" Lin shouted from her seated position near Tenzin.
He caught sight of the person lying dead to the world next to a broken streetlamp just a few feet ahead and he felt like he was drowning from suffocation because he could've sworn someone took a needle to his lungs. He would recognize that fur pelt from anywhere.
Tenzin must've noticed as well. He had never seen Oogi move so fast.
"Get up."
"Am I dead?"
Korra sat with Aang in the Spirit World head low as she stared at the tiny creatures fluttering around her feet.
"Yes and… no. You're body has been through a fatal amount of damage yes, but you've also lost the will to fight and that Korra is what has died within you. You're body is still fighting on it's own but it can't survive much longer without the right mindset. You have to push yourself through the pain which is going to hurt. I wouldn't lie to you the pain is going to seem unbearable but in order to make it out of this alive you must try. Its up to you whether you're up to willing to put in the effort or not."
"Get up."
Mako's feet landed hard on the rough road beneath them before Oogi could even land, the others hot on his tail.
The closer he got the more and more he hoped the body lying ahead wasn't korra. The figure that lay slumped against the ground was almost unrecognizable.
"Get up."
"I want to go back." Korra broke the silence. She breathed out roughly, terrified of the pain that awaited her but more terrified of leaving those she loved behind, "I can't, I won't let Amon or Tarrlok win this. The people of Republic City need me. They can't wait another 16 years for the next Avatar to come and save them. Besides I.. can't leave those I love behind just yet. I'm not ready for that. If there is another chance at life i'm going to take it and if i'm going to have to fight along the way then so be it."
"Get up."
What was once something you'd see in nightmares it all became real when they got closer to the figure. The group was horror struck as they stood around their beloved family, friend.
Korra's entire abdomen was soaked in blood half of her shirt ripped to shreds from the slash marks that tore apart the woven threads. All up and down her arms and legs, her once long baggy navy blue pants were cut just above her knees. The fabric completely uneven. She was missing an armband. Her feet were bare and caked in dirt having lost her boots when her pants were torn. Worst of all was the deep bruises and cuts that seemed to stretch on the skin for miles on end. Her face was no different. If it weren't for what was left of the clothes she wouldn't have recognized her as their treasured Avatar.
Tears ran down Mako's face as he assessed the damage done to her body. He couldn't believe someone would do this to Korra. His Korra.
His hands grasped Korra's wrist as he noticed the lack of movement from her chest. Panic striking his every nerve.
No pulse.
"Dammit korra come on don't do this to me!" Bolin and the rest of the group had joined in around him now.. Their cries echoing loud in his ears.
"Open your eyes Korra, come back to me please." He whispered laying his head gently against hers as his eyes flickered back and forth over her closed eyelids.
"Get up."
Just a few feet ahead of the two Avatars a beam appeared light blue and pulsing with each passing second.
"It's time."
"Get up."
He didn't know long he sat there holding him against her. His cries as he whispered please over and over, and over again, "Just open your eyes Korra", like a mantra.
"Son, she's gone."
Mako couldn't hear anything, holding onto her in a vice grip.
Asami sobbed against Bolin's shoulder as he too cried out for his fallen friend.
Refusing to let anyone else lay a finger on her he gently slipped his hands under her back and knees and held her close to his chest as he made his way towards Oogi.
They were halfway to Air Temple Island when he felt the shift against his body. He gasped as he looked down to find her eyes wide open. Pain embodying her entire being and it showed in her eyes. Amber gold and cerulean blue.
He stroked away the hair that had fallen in her face.
"Shh it's okay, it's okay we're almost there and then we will get you the best water healers there are. I promise." he whispered tears falling from his eyes again. When he looked up, he could see Bolin and the rest of the group watching him. A smile grew on his face as he nodded, the tears swimming across his vision before he focused back to Korra. The groups cheers as they cried in relief were loud and clear into the night.