Makorra Week 2015
June 17-23
Author's Note: If it isn't time for Makorra week! What a beautiful time of the year! Gives me something to do while I wait to break my fast. Heh. Okay, so there are 3 prospective prompts for each day, and I chose only one for today (Day 1). That would be "Summer". This is kind of an AU, but the only thing alternative about it is that here, they have the kind of modern technology we have (e.g. smart phones, laptops, etc.) and that would also mean the same types of music, apps, and programs too. I wrote this one listening to "Froot" by Marina and the Diamonds and "Octahate" by Ryn Weaver on repeat. They're both great artists and great songs. Check 'em out, sometime!
Day 1. Summer
The sticky, sweet juice dripped from the ripe mango onto Korra's bare thigh. Reveling in the feeling of something cool touching her skin in such blazing weather, the young woman shivered slightly. She bit into the fruit again and savored the taste, letting the succulence bathe her tongue for a moment.
Brown, painted toes lay across the porch as the Avatar lounged there, sunbathing and thinking.
Her summers in the Fire Nation were...different. Not in a bad way, of course. The Fire Nation was immensely prosperous these days, thanks to the leadership of Lord Zuko and the current leader, Fire Lord Izumi, who always welcomed the Avatar with open arms and a vast palace to stay in. When he was on leave, General (or as he was called in his homeland, Prince Iroh II) gave her tours of the islets off the coast of the mainland, each one uniquely different than the other. Iroh introduced Korra to several types of curries and fruits and sakes (which he favored the most of the three, much to the chagrin of his mother and amusement of his grandfather!)
The people were also immensely hospitable and showed nothing but utter love for the Water Tribe Avatar. Wherever she went, Korra was bombarded with applause and lily bouquets. She was reminded of the struggles her past life had getting this country to trust him, which only made her experiences here richer, sweeter.
However, some things remained bittersweet. This was her first summer in the Fire Nation without Asami. The two women had broken up mutually just two months ago, vowing to remain best friends and confidants, without making their relationship too complicated.
Korra missed the warm, slender, pale fingers interlocked with hers underwater. She missed the ocean breeze toying with those ebony locks. She missed sharing a tall glass of watermelon juice with those soft lips, only to press a saccharine kiss on them afterwards. She missed those vibrant eyes, the color of sunshine...
A piece of mango lodged itself in her throat.
Pounding a fist against her sternum, the tribal woman coughed violently as she choked on the fruit. A few moments later, after Korra nearly coughed up her lungs, the offending fruit flew from her lips and landed on the wooden porch in a tiny puddle of saliva. The Avatar glared at it with glistening eyes and then glared at the mango in her hands before setting it down and licking the remaining juice from her palms.
While she cleared her throat again, Korra made her way up the bamboo stairs into her hut. Well, it wasn't really a hut. The small, but spacious and elegant cabin provided to her by Lord Izumi. It was one of the many that the royal family owned on Ember Island.
The Avatar sighed as a wave of coolness bathed her sweaty skin. The shade felt like heaven. She went over to the kitchen, a compact portion of the cabin, and stood in front of the sink (yes, the cabins had running water!). She twisted the nozzle and bent the overflowing water over her hands, washing away the uncomfortably agglutinative feeling of mango juice mixed with spit. Then she splashed some water over her face, ran her wet fingers through her hair, and wiped her shoulders and arms down to cool herself off.
Once she felt refreshed, Korra stepped back into the main room and approached the coat rack. On it was a purple and blue shawl, which she proceeded to tie around her hips and let sway around her bare legs. A swimsuit was good for the beach, but the Avatar had the dignity to cover up when going shopping. She left the cabin with a final look in the mirror and her wallet, sauntering towards the beach-side bazaar littered with dozens of vendors.
The Fire Nation was unbearably hot and nostalgic, but damn, did it have good deals!
Korra wasn't much of a shopper, unlike Asami. Endless days at the mall waiting for the ivory-skinned businesswoman to finish trying on gowns while the Avatar pretended to look for one on the other side of the store, only to concede to Asami's offers to help because she was nearly hopeless. The only problem was that Asami usually added another two or three or four evening gowns she claimed would accentuate Korra's curves, or compliment her eyes, or something else fashion-y.
So the tribal woman held the two melons in each hand, eyeing them like she was studying an ancient scroll. Did she really need two watermelons? She could hear her friends' voices in the back of her head as if they were really there, giving her their two cents.
Bolin's optimistic, "If you get two, you can share one with a stranger!"
Asami's extravagant, "If there's two melons, then there's an even bigger drink and a snack."
Mako's cautious, "If one's bad, you have a fresh one. If they're both fresh, you have a melon you can save for later. If you have two bad melons, you come get me and I'll arrest the vendor for selling rotten produce to you."
A quiet laugh escaped Korra's lips and she smiled at the melon vendor, who looked a little hot, if not impatient and somewhat confused.
"I'll have both, please."
She walked back to the cabin with her melons and set them on the table. While she searched for her supplies, she turned on the radio plugged into the kitchen outlet. Shiro Shinobi's excitable voice tore through the air, spitting a rapid-fire account of what was going on in Republic City.
Korra grinned almost devilishly as she examined the chef knife she pulled from the drawer. The silver-tinted blade glided effortlessly through the first fruit, splitting it in two. As she began dicing the melon into smaller bits, she listened to the news. The United Republic and The Earth Republic were making progress together as sister nations. Master Jinora of the Air Nation just announced her engagement to student Kai, who was still earning his tattoos. That one made the Avatar smile.
Future Industries just released a new voice-activated Satomobile radio system, one that apparently let you name any song or audio book and it would play it as many times as you told it to. Korra made a thoughtful noise. She'd need to get one of those soon.
Chief of police Lin Beifong was retiring after forty years in service. Korra remembered the retirement party she and her friends threw for the rigid woman before she left. To her greatest joy, Beifong cracked the tiniest smile after the initial surprise and annoyance wore off.
They weren't sure who would replace the former chief, but names had thrown around. Most of them reiterated Saikhan or Mako. Korra knew for a fact that Saikhan sustained a horrid back injury last year and needed to retire, already. She recalled encouraging Mako to take up the position. He was experienced. He was prepared. He was the kind of chief Republic City would be honored to have. Then encouragement turned into pushing, then into demanding.
But Mako didn't see it her way. The young detective was, if anything, timid. At 25, he still felt like he hadn't done enough to earn such a title, let alone the work that came with it. That was always his type, though. Itching for more, cautious and careful of overstepping, desperately trying to change things about himself...
Eventually, the Avatar stopped pushing him into it. After all, she had no say in what he did. He never pushed her to anything she didn't want to, anyways. When Korra was ready to leave for the Fire Nation, Mako had apologized for being so stubborn. The tribal woman had returned the apology, calling herself "a drill sergeant" for always barking orders at him. That had made the detective laugh as he pulled her into his embrace. He'd hugged her tight, almost tight as the time they were hopelessly lost in the Si Wong Desert, and leaned forward to kiss her temple.
"Stay safe," he'd murmured. "And have fun."
Just then, the knife hit her forefinger. Korra hissed and pulled back, examining her finger. A tiny blot of blood formed at the tip, but it was just a nick. She bent some water over it and healed the cut, muttering, "What is wrong with me today?"
She decided she didn't want to listen to the news anymore, and silenced the radio just as Shinobi was rambling about Cabbage Corp. stocks. She went to find her phone, which sat in her purse pocket, and proceeded to call Iroh.
"Prince-General Iroh speaking."
"Hey, Iroh."
"What's going on, Korra?" The squawking of seagulls could be heard around him.
"I'm making watermelon cocktails," she teased. She knew the prince couldn't resist a good melon. "You busy?"
He was silent. "...At the moment, I am. Can I come around 7?"
"If you bring the liquor."
A breathy laugh. "You drive a hard bargain, Avatar."
"I do what I must, General."
Korra hung up with a grin, but opted to play with her phone for a while before she resumed making the cocktails. She slid her finger over the photos she'd taken-mostly of the landscape. The golden sand of the beach and the crystal blue ocean water were too beautiful not to capture. She'd also had the fortune of watched sea turtles hatch and make their way into their watery home for the first time. She also took selfies, a few with Iroh, and few with Lord Zuko (it was a surprise to find that the 93 year old monarch could even work a smart phone) but many of them were of her alone.
Often, she saved them for her SnapChat account, but she hadn't uploaded in a while. She decided to go check up on what the world was capturing. The tribal woman found that Opal sent her several Snaps, one of Bolin snoring like a chainsaw in their bed while the air bender giggled quietly behind the camera. Others included Pabu chasing a mouse, Bolin playing the Tsungi horn excitedly, or Opal giving little snippets of her singing to the audience.
The Avatar watched almost every Snap, watching all of her friends and family enjoying their summers. All except one.
She investigated the account, kind of shocked but also not surprised at all to find that Mako hadn't uploaded anything since late April, when they threw Lin her retirement party. Hell, even Iroh posted more Snaps.
Running a fingers through her wind-blown hair, Korra stepped outside to find some good lighting and posed with her bright blue eyes reflecting the sunshine and lips turned up in a soft but meaningful smile. Satisfied with the third take, she typed in a quick, witty caption and sent it over.
It didn't take too long for him to respond. Korra opened the Snap and found Mako, holding a pen up to his partially parted mouth, black rimmed glasses framing his half-lidded eyes, and a painfully bored expression on his face. He was wearing his signature white tank top, sitting against the stucco outside his apartment. There was an open book sitting on top of his head, flattening his spiky black hair.
"Boards? More like BORED's" He'd typed.
Korra laughed. Like, really laughed. Shitty puns were just Mako's style. She sent back a photo of her glaring humorously into the camera, and drew on a pair of thick, academy spectacles. "PAY ATTENTION IN CLASS" The caption read.
Then she sent a more serious one, asking, "What're you testing for?"
Mako sent back a goofy, crooked grin, like he'd tricked her. "Nothing. Just reading!"
Rolling her eyes, Korra took the phone to the melons in the kitchen and asked, "Cocktail, Professor?"
He sent back a Snap of him holding up a coffee mug painted like a watermelon and yelling, "WHAAAAAT?"
Korra sent back, "Great minds think alike, Detective."
Just then, there was a knock on her door and Korra set the phone down to go answer it. She was greeted by the Fire prince, who held up two massive bottles of something alcoholic, she hoped. The general wore a mischievous grin that was somewhat uncharacteristic of him.
"I had a drink on the way here," he admitted.
"Just a drink?" Korra teased, taking the liquor from him and stepping aside.
Iroh approached the watermelons and made a sound of curiosity, asking, "Did you know scientists have found a way to grow heart-shaped watermelons?"
A surprised chuckle left the Avatar's lips. "That's sweet," she said, before laughing at her own lame joke.
The Fire prince picked up the knife and started cutting up the rest of the fruit while Korra set up their drinks. They worked in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. The humidity of the summer day was finally leaving, being replaced by cool, fresh sea air as the sun finally began making its descent.
When they were finished, the two friends sat on the porch, watching the sunset, sipping their drinks. Korra was reminded of the golden yellow color and a wave of sadness passed through her. She missed looking into eyes that color. She missed sharing a summer with those eyes watching her as she dove into cerulean waters, as she wiped sweat off her brow, as she peeled off a sopping wet swimsuit.
She snapped a quick photo of the pink, chilled liquid in her glass, two heart-shaped chunks of watermelon rind sitting at the bottom. She focused on the hearts and sent the photo with a caption of "Thinking of you."
Immediately, she regretted it, because, surely, it was the fruity alcohol clouding her judgment. She didn't really mean to send him that. Did she? Of course not, he's busy. Stop playing around. Let him enjoy his summer, dammit.
Her phone beeped in her hand and her heart skipped a beat. She picked it up and felt the ice in her glass melt as she opened the Snap.
The sun was setting in the photo, too, and Mako smiled warmly into the camera as he held the watermelon mug up in response. A badly-drawn pair of hearts sat on top of the mug. "And I you," he replied. "Cheers."
Korra put the phone down with a dreamy smile and sipped her drink. She couldn't wait to go back home.
Author's Note: Some nice, summery Makorra, post finale. Threw a teensy bit of Korroh/Irorra because it's a nice pairing and I do ship it as well. Can't wait to get crackin' on those prompts! Have a lovely Makorra week!