"No...Don't go…Please…" I heard Korra murmur, as she tossed once more in her sleep.
She doesn't deserve these nightmares, I thought bitterly.
She didn't know him long enough.
After a few more moments of watching her in the throes of her bad dream, I had to leave; I couldn't stand the sight any longer. Korra doesn't have the right to feel sad or angry about his death. The Avatar does, however, deserve every single ounce of guilt. It's her fault he can't joke or flirt or cause trouble. It's her fault I can't see his smile or hear his voice.
It's all her damn fault Bolin died.
I remember the day well. Even now –over a year later– I can smell the acrid smoke and hear the piercing screams…
"Mako! Cover me!" Asami yelled as she climbed into one of her father's robots.
"No problem, but you better hurry!" I yelled back, "Chi-blockers are flooding in!" And almost on cue, an Equalist came running at us, but he was sent to the floor with a fireball. "We gotta move! Those fast airships are attacking the harbor!" I shouted over the general din of war as I punched an Equalist in the gut and kicked another.
"Mako! MOVE!" Asami suddenly roared.
I barely managed to jump out of the way as she electrocuted several chi-blockers at once.
"We gotta hurry to the docks. Korra and Bolin can't take on those airships alone."
She merely nodded as she took off as fast as the robot would take her, with me right on her heels in a SatoMobile.
We raced through war torn Republic City, trying to block out the sight of helpless benders and even more helpless non-benders fighting together for their lives. Can't Amon see this? Can't he see them working together? I will never understand this war.
Asami and I showed up just as an airship crashed into the harbor. I scanned the sinking ships and burning docks until I saw my brother and the avatar. They were in the middle of fighting off Amon's Lieutenant. We gotta help, but how? As I racked my brain for an idea, Bolin's eye caught mine and he gave me a look. A look reserved for probending matches and street fights. I knew what to do.
I shot a fireball towards the man's feet, followed by one for his back, and another for his face. It's the one-two-three-knockout. And sure enough, the technique did not fail: The first flames hit the Lieutenant's ankles, catching him off guard enough to let the one aimed at his back to rock him off balance and turn to see who was attacking him, just to let the last fireball blind him as Bo took his feet out from under him with a little earthbending action. Once the Equalist second-in-command was on the ground, my brother easily tossed him into the water.
"That never gets old!" Bolin chuckled.
"Thanks for the assistance Mr. Hat Trick, but we had him under control," Korra lied.
"Yeah, I'm sure you did…" I replied with a roll of my eyes.
"We did! We were about to knock him out when you showed up!"
"Nope, I saved your sorry butts once again."
"Guys, I don't believe this is the time to argue…" Asami said as she pointed towards Air Temple Island, where several airships were dropping explosives.
"Those bastards are going to regret that," Korra said through her teeth as she prepared to jump into the harbor to seek said bastards.
But I grabbed her arm, "Korra, it's probably a trap. I mean, Amon's probably waiting for you to come so he can take your bending away."
"So? I can't just sit by and let them destroy Airbending's only home!"
"And you won't," Bolin said, "Because I'm coming to. You forgot, it's our home now, too."
"NO! I'm not going to risk losing either of you!" I exclaimed.
"Don't worry big bro. I promise to bring us both back alive and with our bending intact. We can do this Mako, you know we can." Then Bo placed his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes, "I swear on our parents' grave that we will both return alive."
With a serious promise like that, I did all I could do: I embraced the only family I had left and watched him go with the avatar. Please come back to me, little brother.
This is unfinished (if you couldn't tell...) and will be updated as soon as possible. If you have the patience to wait, then you are amazing! :D If you do not have the patience (I understand if you don't, because I myself lack patience) then many thanks for reading this story! :)
