Title: Injury

Words: ~2100

Rating: K

Note: Yay for starting the 100 Themes! I don't know if I will get to all of them for NaNo since I am writing all kinds of different things related to Korra. I will say that all of my stories for the 100 Themes are connected, so references in one will probably pop up in other stories. Check back periodically as I will post more of my stories as I work through them.

"We should be increasing aid to the Earth Kingdom cities that are further away from Ba Sing Se, as they are the ones that are not receiving the our care packages like we had initially discussed."

President Raiko leaned back in his chair and observed Korra who was sitting opposite of him in his office. She had changed so much from the teenager he met almost over years ago. Besides her shorter hair, she had noticeably mellowed and aimed more at diplomacy. She was still intense when she needed to be, but the years away from Republic City had matured her.

She had talked the President into giving more aid to the Earth Kingdom since everything was still in shambles after the war nearly six months ago. Preparations were in order to have another coronation with Wu to be placed on the throne, but Wu had also changed from his naive and materialistic youth; he still enjoyed the luxuries life had to offer, but he had a better understanding of what it means to be a leader.

Korra could hardly believe it was Mako who had taught him this lesson.

"I will contact Wu at once and we can negotiate-" The phone rang, and Raiko paused to answer. "Hello? Oh yes, Chief, go on. We are just finishing up." He glanced at Korra as he gave Lin the time to speak, but suddenly he blanched. "What? What happened?"

Knots formed in Korra's stomach. Anything that involved a call to the President from Lin meant trouble. And when trouble and the police were involved, she was instantly concerned about Mako.

She tried to catch Raiko's attention, but he seemed to be purposely avoiding her gaze. The only sounds were the buzz from the receiver and his occasional "Hmm," which was driving her crazy. He eventually concluded. "Yes, thank you, Chief. I'll be expecting a full report as soon as it's finished." When he hung up, he sighed and eyed Korra wearily.

"What's going on?"

He shuffled the scattered papers on his desk into a somewhat organized pile and considered his words carefully before speaking. "Last night there was a raid gone wrong on the Red Monsoons. Lin informed me that they captured one of the members and have him in custody for questioning. However, several officers were injured as a result."

"Do you know who?" That unsettled feeling in her stomach grew, and before she realized what she was doing, she was on her feet and grabbing her parka. Mako couldn't always share the details of his job with her, although sometimes she knew of police activity from her responsibilities as the Avatar. She knew he had been following a lead on a suspected drug trafficking ring, but she didn't know he had been out on a raid and she had no idea which Triad was involved. Whenever the Red Monsoons name was mentioned, it usually meant trouble.

"Lin didn't say. Just that all of the troops are currently in the hospital near the station." He glanced at the clock on his desk. "If you want to take off, I understand. I will bring up your concerns with Wu and we can reconvene tomorrow."

"Thank you, President."

She jogged out of the City Hall and hopped on Naga, sprinting to the hospital that was not too far away from her current location. Thinking back yesterday, Mako had hinted at this event without actually giving away too much information.

He had come to Air Temple Island to have dinner with her and Tenzin's family. "So what awesome task do they have you doing now? Busting into evil laboratories? Epic chases with criminals?" Meelo asked with his usual vigor towards anything that was macho.

Mako had laughed. "Oh, no, police work isn't terribly exciting all the time. I mostly do paperwork, and when I'm not doing that I'm out interviewing people."

"That's lame." Meelo crossed his arms and huffed in disappointment.

"It's not how I like to think of it," Mako mused. "Rather, it's kind of like the calm before the storm, you know? It's what has to be done before you get the payoff of busting the bad guys."

"And how often does that happen?" Korra had chuckled, knowing full well that he hadn't made any arrests in a while.

He shrugged. "More frequently than you think. And hopefully we'll be doing some more of it shortly."

Since he didn't tell her that he was going on the raid, she hoped meant that he was unharmed. Perhaps he didn't know last night, or maybe he didn't want to have her worry about him. He still liked bearing his burdens without letting anyone else in, and that made her want to smack him until he was back in his right senses.

He's such an idiot, she thought.

Waiting in the lobby was Deputy Chief Yun, fresh off a recent promotion, who was in charge of this entire operation. He was one of the remaining metalbenders from the Equalist Revolution four years ago. He looked quite stressed as he talked to a doctor, running a hand through his balding hair, but overall seemed relatively unscathed. As she approached the duo, Yun nodded toward the doctor and she made a hasty exit. Korra eyed Yun carefully.

"Avatar Korra." He sounded tired. She could see the bags under his eyes. "I assume you're here to tell me the same thing that I've already been beating myself over all night. That I should have been more careful, or I should have -"

"Actually," she interrupted, "All I want to know right now is whether Mako was involved in the incident." Her words were awfully calm considering how fast her heart was beating. She wasn't interested in berating him; she had long ago learned what battles were the right ones to fight. And she and Mako had come to a truce about Korra being overly opinionated about the affairs of the police, especially since she had been out of Republic City for so long. She wasn't as versed in the new issues that had arisen in her absence.

His gaze sparked with realization. "Ah, I see." When he glanced down at his feet, Korra's heart sank. Oh, no. Please, no.

"What?"

"It's just..."

Her chest constricted painfully. "It's just what? I need to know if he's okay. Please, I need to know." She could sense the panic rising in her voice.

Yun sighed again and he frowned, wrinkles creasing his forehead. "He wasn't supposed to come with us initially, but he had found the lead that we were following up on, so he wanted to be there." He paused again and sighed. "But if you want to see him, he's in room 211. They're allowing visitors."

She exhaled. At least she could see him. That eased her nerves somewhat. "Thanks." She fought to keep her tone steady and tried not to shake too much as she slid past Yun towards the hallway. What if he was severely hurt? What if he's unconscious and won't wake up again? She couldn't quiet down the negative thoughts that bombarded her as she walked past numerous doors that held many other sick and injured people. How many had been wounded in this battle? How many more would continue to be hurt as a result of the Triad turf wars?

At 211, she stopped to compose herself. You can handle anything you are about to see, she told herself. Be strong for him like he has been for you. With that, she twisted the handle and let herself in.

She blinked to fight off the light that radiated through the windows. It was a room with a single bed and a lounge chair nearby, and trolly was parked next to the bed carrying a glass of water and some food. Lying propped up in the bed was Mako, dressed in a tan shirt and his uniform pants, book open in one hand. That's when she noticed his other hand had a splint on it. He looked mostly whole, with some bruises on his arms and and neck, as well as a decent size scar on his cheek that had been treated with stitches. But otherwise, he seemed to be well.

She tried really hard to quell her burst of anger and instead tried to focus on her relief.

When he heard the door open, he looked up and smiled in a way that made her head feel light and dizzy. "Hey, Korra."

Her hands clenched at her sides. "You're an idiot, you know that, right?"

His expression faltered. "Excuse me?"

She groaned and headed towards him, grabbing the chair and moving it in his direction before taking a seat. It took a lot of effort not to start yelling at him. "Do you know what it was like for me to not know if you were safe? You didn't even tell me you were going to be involved in a raid, and now I had no idea whether or not you had been hurt, or worse." She didn't want to think of the possibility. Her eyes felt wet, but not because she was upset; she was still mad at him for withholding this. They had promised to be more open with each other.

He looked out the window thoughtfully before speaking. "If I remember correctly, I had to deal with something similar for three years." He spoke softly, which surprised her. Years ago, they would have exploded at one another, but now they were both fighting back their irritation in the attempt of being civil and constructive.

The room was quiet for several pregnant moments. She stared at her hand in her lap, not quiet able to meet his gaze as his words struck a chord. This was one night, but she had been gone for three years without giving him a word of how she was doing, and it was made all the worse when she ran away for six months. At least she had caretakers during her time in the Southern Water Tribe, but during that second stretch anything could have happened to her. She still had a lot of enemies, many of whom would go through extremes to see her gone.

Her accusations seemed quite insignificant in comparison.

She ran a hand through her hair and breathed deeply. "I'm sorry for overreacting."

He set down his book and reached out his good hand, squeezing her knee reassuringly. "It's okay. I know why you did it. I'd be pretty angry, too, if you did that to me."

"Normally I gave you warning before I did something dangerous." She chuckled darkly at the reference to her past enemies. That soured Mako even more, and the look he gave her was full of reproach.

"I'd prefer if we didn't talk about that now." He shifted and winced as he threw both of his long legs over the side of the bed. "Besides, I should be discharged soon. Then you can revel in the fact that I won't be doing anything too threatening for the next few weeks at work with this thing." He lifted his splinted hand in the air.

She moved from her chair to sit beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist tenderly. "What's the damage?"

"Broken wrist. The healers were able to mend the fracture, but they want to keep the splint on for a while just to make sure it heals properly. Then I may need therapy. Aside from that-" he paused as he grimaced again, "-got a couple of cracked ribs. Nothing I haven't really experienced before from Probending."

"Well that's...I don't want to say good. But it could have been a lot worse." She gripped him tighter but was now conscious of the bandages she felt under his shirt. In response, he laced an arm around her shoulders in a side hug. He rested his face atop of her hair, unconsciously breathing in her usual scent of the ocean as brushing his lips against her hairline. "Would you please warn me next time, though? I don't care what the mission is, and I promise not to get involved. I just need to know for my own sanity."

"I promise to tell you." Satisfied with his answer, she tugged at the collar of his shirt and pulled him in for a light kiss. Since her return to Republic City, she was surprised at how sometimes it felt as though she had never left. Times like these with Mako made her forget of all the troubles between them in the past. But she never wanted to lose sight of those hardships, or the ones that led her to wander on her own for those long six months. Those were what has shaped her into the woman she is today, and she knows she's a better Avatar and person because of all she has endured and triumphed.

The two of them here together in a loving embrace was proof enough.