SPARKS
An unexpected encounter with a certain fire nation princess sets Mako on the path to self-discovery and learning the true nature of firebending. A little nudge from his friends doesn't hurt, either. A slight AU take on the last part of the Korra series finale.
Captain Rina's golden eyes surveyed the blazing inferno below through the airship's window. Clouds of acrid black smoke billowed from the flaming remnants of the United Forces fleet. Kuvira's giant mecha continued to rampage through the city's skyline, barely impeded by the Avatar and her friends. Republic City was officially a war zone.
She felt her ears pop as the airship rapidly descended onto a clear patch of pavement just outside the city center. A few moments later she heard the airship's landing gear impact the ground. Static crackled through the Captain's radio, immediately followed by a familiar voice.
"Dragon Squadron, this is General Iroh."
At the sound of her unit's call sign, Captain Rina depressed the radio handset clipped to her flak vest. The blue Dragon Squadron insignia on her shoulder patch denoted her membership in the most elite group of special-forces operatives in the Fire Nation. Each member of her eight-person cell was a battle-tested master of multiple forms of combat. Unfortunately, they were deployed on the other side of the continent when they received their orders to assist in the defense of Republic City. Rina knew they were lucky to make it in time to assist in the battle at all.
"General Iroh, this is Captain Rina."
"Have you arrived at the landing zone?"
"Affirmative."
"Good. Operation Crucible is a go, Captain."
Rina understood full well the parameters of her mission. Take down the mecha, capture Kuvira, and protect the Avatar.
"Roger. "
"Captain, one more thing. Take care of yourself down there."
Rina smirked at the concerned tone in General Iroh's voice.
"You too, big brother."
"Don't worry, sis. I will. Over and out."
"Roger that," she concluded before shutting off the radio.
Rina strapped her twin platinum alloy kodachi swords to her back as she made her way to the airship exit ramp. She wasn't surprised to find the other seven members of her team already assembled by the staging area, standing at attention in their black battle dress uniforms. Each operative wore a form fitting yet rugged long-sleeved combat shirt and tattsuke hakama pants tucked into shin-high combat boots. Sleek flak vests covered their torsos and protective armor adorned their forearms. Since they were participating in a non-covert operation, they forewent the masks they often wore to conceal their identities. Their normally all-black uniforms had colored shoulder patch insignias identifying their unit and Fire Nation affiliation.
The airship opened its main door and lowered its ramp to the ground. As she did before every mission, Captain Rina looked each of her soldiers in the eye. She had the utmost trust in the seven men and women before her. Each member returned her gaze with looks of absolute respect and confidence in their commander. After so many harrowing missions together, the members of Dragon Squad developed an almost instinctive ability to communicate silently with each other. Captain Rina merely nodded her head at her comrades and they fanned out in formation towards Kuvira's mecha.
A few moments later the sky blazed with a purple light when a circular disk of energy exploded from the giant mecha's mid-section. The top half of the mecha plummeted towards the street, spurring Dragon Squad to break out into a full sprint towards the site.
Mako clutched his badly burnt left arm to his body as Bolin hoisted him out of one of the escape hatches in Kuvira's mecha. The spirit vines' explosive reaction to his lightning bending made it feel like every muscle in his body was fried.
"Come on bro," grunted Bolin, "lets get you out of this exploding deathtrap!"
Mako heard Bolin's labored breathing and observed his younger brother badly favoring the right side of his torso.
"Bolin, did you break your ribs?"
"What? Of course not!" Bolin made a show of lifting his arms above his head. But as soon as he did, the earthbender cringed in pain and grabbed his side.
"Well," he admitted with a sheepish look to his older brother, "maybe I cracked them just a little bit."
"Bolin!" scolded Mako.
Despite his brother's reprimand, Bolin determinedly continued to push his brother up through the opening in the robot's hull. With a final heave, Bolin finally managed to lift his brother out of the fallen mecha and onto the Republic City sidewalk. Bolin tumbled to the pavement shortly after and groaned in pain as the impact jarred his injured ribcage. Their respite was short-lived, however, as a platoon of Kuvira's foot soldiers and mecha suits promptly descended on them.
"Tell us where Kuvira and the Avatar are!" shouted the lieutenant in charge.
"We don't know!" Bolin honestly exclaimed.
Mako could tell it wasn't the answer Kuvira's troops wanted to hear.
"Arrest them!" the officer commanded.
Bolin and Mako exchanged silent nods. They both understood that they couldn't afford to be captured. Not when they could be used as leverage against Korra. Beaten and battered, Mako and Bolin knew that they were in no shape to continue fighting. They just hoped that Bolin's lava bending would be enough to keep Kuvira's soldiers at bay. If not, the brothers were willing to go out on their shields.
As Kuvira's men inched closer, Bolin did his best to settle into a solid stance in order to bend a protective barrier of lava around him and his brother. He succeeded in creating a small molten moat between them and their attackers, but nearly collapsed in pain from the effort. Mako supported his brother to keep him upright.
Bolin sent an apologetic look to Mako when he realized that the moat wasn't wide enough to keep the mecha suits from crossing.
"Sorry bro."
Mako gave Bolin's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"It's okay Bolin, you did what you could."
With a resigned determination, the injured brothers took up their fighting stances, ready to fight until their last breaths.
Mako grimly observed as one of the mecha suits took a running start and leapt over the lava moat. All of a sudden he felt a familiar yet ominous pressure in the atmosphere, quickly followed by the telltale putting sound of air compressing. He looked up to see a beam of super-heated air and chi strike the mecha as it landed. Upon contact, the beam instantly formed a giant fireball that exploded with so much concussive force that it sent the mecha suit flying back into the air. The suit left an arcing trail of smoke as it flew dozens of yards away before it smashed into the ground and shattered into several flaming pieces. The brothers and Kuvira's men leveled equally stunned expressions at the now-smoldering mecha suit.
Out of nowhere a woman dressed in black flew over the lava moat, propelled by jets of blue flames coming from her feet and hands. She landed gracefully a few feet in front of the two brothers. Mako instantly noticed the amber color of her firebender eyes and the fine features of her face. Her mane of straight et-black hair was piled on top of her head in a tight bun that was secured by a particularly dangerous-looking hairpiece. She immediately made eye contact with the brothers. Her gaze communicated strength and authority. Mako could only describe it as arresting.
"Stay behind me," she commanded in a refined voice that carried a surprisingly rich and powerful timber.
The female firebender then turned her full attention to Kuvira's soldiers. Several mecha suits jumped over Bolin's lava moat and charged at her. She took a deep breath and dropped into a firebending stance. Mako could sense the chi moving through her body as she concentrated it in her belly. In an instant, she shifted into a bow stance and thrusted the pointer and middle fingers of her right hand at the approaching mechas, sending a pressurized ray of chi energy directly at her targets. An enormous explosion ripped through the air, obliterating the mecha suits and sending them hurtling back across the lava moat.
To Mako's surprise, the woman fired four more consecutive combustion blasts targeted at the remaining mecha suits across the moat, alternating hands and shifting her stance with each shot. Kuvira's foot soldiers dove for cover and hid behind hastily earth-bended fortifications. After the final explosion, the only sound in the clearing was the hiss of vaporized steam and burning mecha parts. In mere seconds the mysterious firebender decimated an entire squad of Kuvira's prized mecha suits. None of the foot soldiers dared move from their fortifications.
Mako and Bolin stared at each other in utter disbelief, their gaping jaws mirroring each other. Bolin finally broke out into a shell-shocked stutter while pointing at their savior.
"She, she, she . . . did the thing . . . like P'li!"
"Yeah, I can't believe she just combustion bended," Mako added in a dazed voice.
Despite his injured ribs, Bolin continued to gesticulate excitedly.
"But . . . but she doesn't use that freaky head tattoo thing! All she has to do is point and things go kablooey! And she flies! On blue flames! I've never even seen someone bend blue flames before!"
"Me neither," said Mako as he patted his brother on the back in what he hoped was a calming matter. The last thing he needed was for Bolin to have a stroke.
Mako took a closer look at their rescuer and noticed that despite her commanding air, she actually looked fairly young. He was willing to bet that she wasn't much older than he was.
"Man," Bolin noted, "we really could have used her earlier."
"No kidding," laughed Mako in agreement.
"Look alive," she suddenly ordered, "we've got more company."
Another two squads of Kuvira's foot soldiers arrived to support their comrades. Emboldened by the reinforcements, the soldiers in hiding emerged from their fortifications.
Mako knew that the female firebender could easily kill the remaining soldiers with her combustion bending. Yet the thought of brutally murdering so many people didn't quite sit right with him, even if they were the enemy. Using combustion bending against heavily armored mechas was one thing. But using the same devastating technique on lightly armored infantry would lead to unnecessarily gruesome results.
Mako carefully approached his ally and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned and their eyes met. Instead of seeing the raging bloodlust that seemed to overtake many powerful firebenders in battle, her gaze simply radiated a calm strength wrapped in absolute serenity. He'd never witnessed anyone maintain such inner peace in the midst of furious combat. Mako found it strangely beautiful.
"Yes?" she asked innocently without breaking eye contact.
Transfixed, he stumbled over his words.
"Well, Miss, uh …"
"Rina," she supplied, a slight grin breaking through her otherwise impassive expression at his awkwardness.
"Oh, okay. Well, I'm Mako."
"Real smooth bro," interjected Bolin with a thoroughly unhelpful stage whisper.
"Bolin!"
The sound of Rina gently clearing her throat brought Mako back to reality, and he immediately resumed speaking at the prompting of her expectant yet patient stare.
"As I was saying," Mako continued with renewed conviction, "I'm extremely grateful that you saved me and my brother. But do you think there's any way we could take down the rest of Kuvira's soldiers without blowing them to bits?"
Rina ever so slightly raised her eyebrows at his request. For a second Mako was almost certain she would scold him in typical Fire Nation fashion for being too soft on the enemy during battle. Instead, a pleasant smile filled her expression.
"That wasn't what I was expecting to hear," she responded, "but you're right of course. There's no need to spill blood unnecessarily."
"Well," said Mako as he let out a relieved sigh, "that's great!"
"Just stay back," she gently demanded. "I'll take care of this."
"Okay," he instantly assented. Something inside him instinctively trusted her.
The sound of Kuvira's troops earth bending bridges over the lava moat redirected their attention. As the soldiers poured over the bridge, they shot a hail of earthen and metal projectiles towards Rina.
"Look out!" warned Bolin out of concern for the female firebender.
As the hoard of projectiles drew near, she lifted her hands to the sky. An impenetrable wall of incredibly hot blue flames rose up from the ground, engulfing and incinerating all of the incoming missiles.
"Never mind!" Bolin shouted as soon as he saw how easily she dismissed the attacks.
To Mako and Bolin's disbelief, Rina promptly leapt into the middle of the mass of soldiers. She whirled, ducked, and jumped, deftly avoiding the attacks of her enemies and causing them to strike their own comrades. To Mako's surprise she also began chi blocking her more lightly armored opponents, rendering one after another unconscious or paralyzed.
Once the soldiers became aware of Rina's chi blocking ability, most of them bent metal plates over their vital chi points to defend against the technique. This did nothing to slow her down, as Rina responded by sending small currents of lightning through her fingers that caused her hands to be engulfed in electricity. She then directly attacked the metal armor of the remaining soldiers with her electrified hands. A mere touch from her palms delivered powerful electric shocks to her metal-clad enemies that rendered them unconscious without killing them. One by one, each soldier fell to her surgically placed electrical strikes.
Bolin looked on in astonishment as Rina stood over the last of the foot soldiers, her hands still glowing with electricity.
"Are you for real? Dude, it's like she has Equalist gloves, but with lightning bending!"
"Incredible," admired Mako, "I've never seen anyone control lightning to such a fine degree."
Another mecha suit emerged from the smoke, but it was alone. Without hesitation, Rina unleashed a lightning bolt so powerful that the thunderclap it generated caused the brothers to cover their ears. The lightning struck the power cell of the suit, rendering it unable to move.
Knowing that the driver was still a threat, Rina quickly closed in on the disabled mecha. She generated a large fire blade in her right hand that slowly turned from blue to nearly white as she neared her target. As the blade's temperature rose, it gradually grew thinner and more concentrated until it resembled an elongated blowtorch. Rina then slashed across the armor plating of the suit, cutting through it like butter. The exposed driver cringed in fear before Rina unceremoniously rendered him unconscious with a well-placed chi block to his neck.
Surveying the unbelievable (and mostly non-fatal) carnage before him, Bolin whooped in celebration. Momentarily forgetting his injured ribs, he hugged and picked up the woman responsible for said carnage, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she could incinerate him at will. To Mako's surprise, Rina didn't retaliate. Instead, she merely patted Bolin awkwardly on his back in an attempt to gently coax him to put her down. Mako laughed at the sight of the most powerful firebender he'd ever seen timidly trying to calm down an overexcited Bolin.
"Whoo hoo!" shouted the overjoyed earthbender with Rina still in his arms. "You, my lady, are a one-woman army! They should start calling you the fire goddess or something like that!"
"Actually," called out another voice, "some people call her the 'Blade of the Sun.'"
Mako and Bolin turned to see an older man accompanied by six other soldiers dressed in the same uniform as Rina.
"You need some help there, Captain?" the older man asked Rina with a chuckle.
"I think everything's under control, Lieutenant Ryo," Rina responded calmly while sending a patient look at Bolin.
"Indeed, it seems like you've definitely cleaned up here," replied Ryo as he observed all of Kuvira's defeated soldiers littering the ground before smirking at Bolin.
At that moment Bolin suddenly realized that he was still hugging Rina and holding her up in the air. Without her permission. And by some stroke of luck she hadn't yet burnt him into fire flake crisps.
"Oh, sorry, sorry!" he exclaimed as he quickly put her down and suddenly winced from the reawakened pain in his ribs. "I just got a little carried away there."
"Don't worry about it young fella!" chimed in Lieutenant Ryo as he clapped Bolin on the shoulder. "Seeing you twirl our unflappable captain around like a kid's doll totally made my day!"
"Insubordination," Captain Rina said flatly to her lieutenant, but Mako could tell there was no sting in the accusation.
Lieutenant Ryo merely shrugged in response, causing Rina to roll her eyes in mock exasperation. Looking at them, Mako had the distinct feeling that he was an outsider looking in on a running inside joke between the two officers. Witnessing their camaraderie only intensified his desire to find Korra and the rest of his friends.
Lost in his thoughts, he failed to notice when Rina turned her attention back to him. He suddenly found himself looking into her amber gaze when the feel of her hand startled him from his musings.
"Mako, let me see the burn on your arm."
He wordlessly complied with her command. As Rina took his injured hand, he immediately felt her chi probing through his arm's pathways. Even though the burns on his hand and arm hurt tremendously, the sensation of her energy mingling with his was unexpectedly soothing. In fact, it felt strangely intimate. The mere thought made him fight the blush rising through his cheeks. He sincerely hoped that she didn't notice the spike in his heart rate.
Luckily for Mako, Rina seemed completely preoccupied with assessing his injury. Her brows furrowed in concern as she paused her inspection.
"This burn is pretty bad," she informed him as she gently released his arm. "It seems like your chi got caught in a feedback loop. Were you lightning bending?"
"Damn right he was," Bolin volunteered proudly, "Mako was the one that shot lightning into the spirit vine generator inside of Kuvira's giant mecha! You know that giant explosion that ripped the whole thing in half? That was all Mako. He was awesome."
Bolin's recollection of Mako's heroics earned respectful nods from Lieutenant Ryo and the other soldiers from Rina's unit. Rina fixed Mako with an appreciative smile.
"That explains a lot," she sighed. "You're quite lucky to walk away at all. I can't believe you actually survived that explosion."
"I wasn't exactly expecting to, in all honesty. I certainly wouldn't have if it weren't for Bolin."
Rina turned to Bolin and sent him a thankful smile as well. The earthbender responded with a toothy grin.
"In any event," she continued, "thank you both for stopping the mecha. You saved a lot of lives by doing what you did."
Mako waved off her thanks as unnecessary.
"We would have done it regardless. This is our home. Our family and friends are here. Korra's like family to us."
Rina visibly perked up at the mention of Korra.
"So Avatar Korra made it inside the mecha with you and Bolin?"
"That's right. Korra sent us to shut down the spirit vine engine that powered the mecha while Lin and Su Beifong disabled the spirit weapon. Korra went to the control center to take down Kuvira."
"Do either of you have any idea where Avatar Korra and Kuvira are now?"
"Sorry," he apologized. "We wish we knew. We got knocked out when the mecha exploded and woke up just before you found us."
Rina nodded in acceptance before a concerned expression returned her face.
"Look, " she said with a serious expression, "I want you to take this salve."
She placed a small glass jar in his good hand. Then without warning she stepped in much closer and cradled his left forearm close to her body with her right hand. He felt her left shoulder bump against his chest as she brought her left hand to hover over his burns. He immediately felt her chi coursing through his injuries once again.
Rina stood so close that Mako couldn't help but breath her in. He wasn't surprised when he detected none of the flowery perfumed scents favored by most women. Instead, her fragrance reminded him of the air above a newly extinguished candle, clean laundry, and the revitalizing smell of the atmosphere just before a thunderstorm. It was like smelling the bottled essence of a firebender.
Her intense focus on his injury also allowed him to study her face unnoticed. Mako liked the fact that Rina's face didn't have a trace of makeup. He realized during his previous infatuation with Korra that he had a particular weakness for unaltered natural beauty. Up close, he observed that Rina's unadorned features contained delicately curved, sweeping lines and strong, sharp angles that combined to form a beautifully balanced symmetry of elegance and strength. As his glance drifted down to her lips, she began speaking again.
"Apply the salve three times a day to your burns and to your chi points here . . ."
She gently touched a chi point near the base of his wrist. A warm energy briefly suffused the connected pathways in his arm and he nearly shivered at the unexpected contact.
" . . . and here."
Rina then ghosted her finger up the inside of his forearm before resting on a spot near the crook of his elbow. Mako felt himself gulp involuntarily at the gentle warmth that radiated from her finger to the rest of his arm.
"Okay," he whispered.
"And no bending for the next three weeks, whatsoever."
Mako's eyes went wide with disbelief.
"Wait. What?"
Rina shot him an uncompromising glare.
"You literally almost disintegrated the chi pathways in your left arm. If you don't fully heal those pathways before exposing them to more stress, you could cause permanent damage. Even now, there's a chance you might never bend lightning again and that your firebending could be severely hampered without intensive treatment."
The finality in her voice brooked no argument. Her diagnosis struck him like a punch to the solar plexus. He looked down at his charred limb and had difficulty envisioning that it could ever be the same again. Without Rina's chi, he couldn't even feel the pathways in his arm anymore. The thought of never bending properly again stirred a feeling of panic inside of him. For a split second he forgot how to breathe and the sound of the world around him faded into a muffled garble.
The unexpected sensation of Rina's hand on his cheek drew his attention back to the woman in front of him. She locked her resolute eyes onto his panicked orbs and captured his scattered gaze with her unyielding stare. After a moment Mako could feel himself breath again. When she spoke, her firm and determined voice brought his hearing back into focus.
"You will recover from this. You haven't even reached your full potential yet."
There was no doubt in her voice. Her eyes did not waver. He believed her.
"It'll be difficult," she added, "but I can help you figure things out if you need it."
Mako felt humbled by Rina's offer to help him fully recover his bending. She had no obligation to help him at all. If anything, he owed her for saving his and Bolin's lives. He felt that the least he could do was repay her faith in him by showing her his own determination to recover.
He held her gaze and smiled.
"Thank you, Rina, for everything. I might just take you up on that offer."
Her determined expression softened into a confident grin.
"Good."
"Man," Bolin whispered quietly to Lieutenant Ryo, "I've never seen anyone snap Mako out of a self-imposed brood so fast."
Ryo snorted.
"That's just the Captain bein' the Captain, kid."
"Really?" Bolin shot back, puzzled.
"How do you think she got the seven craziest firebenders in the world to follow her around for so long?"
The earthbender rubbed his chin in thought before answering.
"Umm . . . threaten to blow you up by pointing at you?"
"That only works short term, kid," answered Ryo in a matter-of-fact tone. "If that was the case, she probably would have blown us all into smithereens by now."
"Huh," Bolin conceded, "good point."
Before Ryo could respond, the unmistakable deep, echo-filled roar of the spirit weapon reverberated through the air.
"That's not good," dreaded Mako, "it's the spirit weapon."
In the distance, they could see a giant ball of purple energy explode outwards.
"It's coming this way," warned Ryo.
Mako looked at all of Kuvira's unconscious soldiers lying on the ground and knew there was no way they could shelter everyone from the blast.
"Rina," he shouted, "we can't move all these people! They'll be killed!"
She sprung into action immediately, barking out orders to her squad.
"Form up! Coil Formation! On my mark!"
All eight of the Dragon Squad members quickly formed a circular perimeter around Mako, Bolin, and Kuvira's soldiers. Spaced out evenly around the clearing, each operative faced outwards and kept their backs facing the inside of the circle. Rina positioned herself at the closest point to the incoming wave of purple spirit energy.
"Stay inside the circle!" she yelled at Mako and Bolin.
"What are they doing?" Bolin asked his brother in confused panic.
"If they're doing what I think they're doing," Mako responded cryptically, "this could either end up very good or very bad."
"If you were trying to keep me from freaking out, " Bolin replied, "you just totally failed."
With the wall of spirit energy rapidly approaching, Rina barked out one final order to her troops.
"Fire!"
At her command, each Dragon Squad member bent an incredibly wide and powerful wall of flame diagonally from the ground up. Each individual flame wall met with the one adjacent to it, creating one giant spiraling cylinder of fire around everyone inside the circle. Each squad member, a master firebender in his or her own right, poured even more power into the now swirling inferno. This caused the flame cylinder to spiral faster while also growing taller and thicker. Rina's blue flames swirled and mixed with the yellow, red, and orange-colored ones of her teammates. The rotating flame walls radiated an almost unbearable heat and high winds. Mako and Bolin looked up in awe at the swirling kaleidoscope of colored fire soaring high into the sky.
When the wall of purple spirit energy reached them, the flame cylinder did not falter. Instead, the swirling motion of the flames seemed to pick up and absorb the spirit energy, actually incorporating it into the fiery cylinder. Mako and Bolin could only gape as the blue, yellow, red, and orange flames swirled in unison with the newly incorporated purple from the spirit energy. The flames flew higher and higher, pushed upwards by the freshly absorbed spirit energy.
After a few moments, the spirit energy retreated back towards the epicenter of the explosion. With the group out of danger, Rina ordered her squad to release their flame walls. As the fire dissipated, Bolin promptly hugged the nearest Dragon Squad member he could find and raved about their feat.
"It actually worked! I had no idea fire could do that! You guys are incredible!"
Unfortunately Bolin's celebration was abruptly interrupted by another explosion. This time, a beam of yellow energy shot straight into the sky, parting the clouds around it.
Everyone looked up, mesmerized by the incredible sight.
Rina was the first to break the spell.
"Is that a spirit portal?" she asked out loud.
"I think so," Mako answered.
At his confirmation, Mako could see the serious, business-like expression return to her face. He could tell she was a woman on a mission. She tore her eyes away from the spirit portal and addressed her team.
"Avatar Korra must have been at the center of that blast. We need to get to ground zero now."
All the members of Dragon Squad nodded in assent.
Rina then addressed Mako and Bolin.
"I'm sorry Mako and Bolin," she apologized, "but we have to leave you here for the time being."
Mako completely agreed with her decision to leave them behind. They needed to reach Korra as fast as possible and he would only slow them down. And there was no one else other than Rina's team that he would rather have watching Korra's back right now.
"Just get to Korra as fast as you can," Mako insisted. "We'll catch up."
Rina silently nodded her head to the brothers in acknowledgment. She then turned to her team.
"Squad, move out! Double time!"
At her command, each Dragon Squad member generated jets of flame from their feet and hands. They all shot into the air and began flying in formation at great speed toward the spirit portal.
"And . . . they're flying," Bolin huffed out incredulously. "Man, I am never going to look at firebending the same way again."
"Neither will I." Mako admitted.
Mako looked down at his burnt arm. He opened Rina's jar of salve and applied a small amount to the chi point she had touched near his wrist. Despite the urgency of their situation, he couldn't stop thinking of golden eyes, blue flames, and the smell of thunderstorms. He would get better. He would regain his lightning. And then he would see her again.
Let me know what you think. Reviews are greatly appreciated!