Title: Losing
Rating: K
Word Count: ~1200
Summary: They've been together for a lifetime. Three children and four grandchildren later, Mako watches Korra slowly lose herself. [For Makorra Week 2014 Day 4 – "Losing"]
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"Mako," Korra kisses him sweetly. "Happy fiftieth anniversary."
They have both aged, as much as Mako hated to admit it. Yet, somehow he still feels twenty-five in his head, his aging body the limiting factor in his day-to-day activities. Of course, he and Korra are both very active. They still bend together each morning in the courtyard of their home on Air Temple Island. It was nice to be away from the bustle of the city; it was wonderful in their youth, but the quiet of the bay grew on them as time passed.
"Same to you," he lets her rest her head on his shoulder. "How about we hold out for many more?"
Korra throws him a wink, "I did agree to 'always' didn't I?"
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"Mako!" Korra yells. "Someone is at the door. Were you expecting someone?"
Mako runs a hand through his silver hair and dropped his reading glasses to the table. "Korra, it's the grandkids. Don't you remember? They're spending the afternoon with us."
Korra stops and thinks for a moment, "Spirits you're, right it must have just slipped my mind!"
"Granny!" The two young boys run into her waiting arms.
Mako swears they get bigger with every visit. They're growing up just so fast…he misses when they were toddlers running around the house screaming with joy.
"Mom, I'll be back at eight to pick them up," Kala ruffles one of the boy's, Shiro's, hair. She had the golden eyes of her father when she pulls Korra into a hug, "Have a good time. Make sure they—"
"I know," Korra smiles affectionately. "I raised you and Akama just fine. You both turned out well…I still know a thing or two." She turns her attention back to the boys. "Come on now, let's go see your grandpa."
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"Mako, have you seen my betrothal necklace?" Korra checks through the drawers in their bedroom. "I took it off last night and I just can't find it."
"Can you retrace your steps?" He pulls her into a hug and kisses her on the cheek. He can sense her distress. "It has to be here somewhere."
"I was just coming back from…" she trails off, stopping her search while she thinks.
"…From City Hall," he finishes for her.
"…Yes from City Hall! And I was just so tired…"
She does this more often lately. Just the other day it was her keys, which he found later in the refrigerator next to the milk. She'll read an article in the paper and forget it almost immediately. It's the aging, and he knows it. But there's something scary about how she's outpacing him in "senior moments" despite their small age gap.
"It's not that big of a deal," Korra crosses her arms and frowns. "It'll turn up."
She presses her lips against his. Even many years after their first, a kiss from his wife never fails to stir butterflies in his stomach. She's right; the necklace will turn up. For now, they have each other and a lunch out with Jinora and Kai to enjoy.
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"Mako," Korra leans into them as they relax on their sofa. "Has Akama enrolled Bo yet in a firebending class?"
"Sweetie…" he presses his lips to her temple. "Yes he did. Remember it was the school that you recommended?"
"Oh right!" She smiles, eyes lighting up. "That new academy with the new instructor out of the Fire Nation."
"Korra, are you feeling alright?" he brushes a few strands of her silver hair away from her face. "You've been missing a lot of stuff lately. It isn't like you."
She waves him off, "I'm just fine. Just getting older."
But Mako isn't so easily convinced. He swears her blue eyes are just a bit glassy as she struggles to come up with the right words. He can't help but worry. It feels like she's slipping slowly through his fingers.
"Why don't we see a healer?" He rubs her hand.
"Mako, I'm fine."
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"Mako?" Korra calls him over. "Is this okay?" She motions to her clothing.
"You're not twenty anymore," he smiles, and helps her pull a jacket on. "You'll freeze without sleeves."
Things are different. The healers say they can't stop the process. She'll slowly forget who she is and lose the ability to function. But for now…for now they have this.
"We'll take a nice walk through the city," Mako kisses her on the top of the head.
He has to keep her close. She can no longer remember their address, or the phone numbers of any of their kids. They'll walk through the city hand in hand, but at some point she'll stop him and ask where they are, confused how they even got there.
Losing someone was difficult. But watching someone slowly decay, especially someone as amazing as Korra was hell.
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"M-Mako? Korra says it like the name is unfamiliar on her tongue.
"Yes, I'm your husband," he sits patiently by her bedside.
Same days are worse than others. There are days where she doesn't even recognize his face. She knows he's familiar, but just cant place him. She can't dress herself anymore. Ever since she wandered off Air Temple Island and spent six hours lost, with no one knowing where she had gone had forced his hand in asking for help. Now at least one healer was with her at all times.
Korra can barely remember who she is, but somehow she can still bend. As naturally as the elements came to her as a child, the healers think it'll be one of the last things she forgets.
She nods, not entirely convinced. "I'm tired."
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"Mako."
He took a deep breath.
"Mako…sir," the healer put a hand on his arm. "It's only a matter of time now. Her swallowing is impaired…you'll need to make a decision."
The firebender still visited every day even as even the smallest sparks of recognition drained from her eyes.
In reality, she was a shell. The Korra that he knew and loved had died long ago, leaving only a vacant vessel in her place. This didn't mean that there wasn't grief on the horizon to tackle. The thought that she never would have wanted this slow decline and how she would have detested watching him go through the same played over and over through his mind.
"I'll sign the do not resuscitate," he patted his wife on the hand.
Mako had lost her long ago.