Korra awoke in a dark room. She was lying on the floor made completely of metal, it was cold and damp. As she breathed out she could see the air coming from her mouth. There was only one light on the ceiling in the small room she was in. She was weak, she could barely move. Her arm was positioned by her face; she could see the burn marks from where she was electrocuted. She was scared; this place was foreign to her. She noticed the silhouette of someone in the shadows of the far corner of the small room. She concentrated her eyes on this unfamiliar figure and concluded the figure to be a man. She didn't know who he was but since he was there with her he might know where she was and why she was here.

"Hello?" She let out weakly, hardly comprehensible. He didn't hear her. "Hello." She said a little bit louder.

He turned his head in her direction. His was now in the light. She could see his face now. He had dark as night black hair, light skinned and golden amber eyes. She admittedly thought he was attractive. He looked beaten up. His clothes were ripped and frayed. He had bruises, cuts and scars on his skin. He wore a grey long sleeved shirt rolled up to his elbows, black pants and an iconic red scarf. She took a closer look at him, she could notice blood stains on his clothes. He seemed immune to the temperature of the room, or at least he was used to it, while she was shivering. His expression was defeated. He regretfully smiled lightly at her.

"I guess you're awake now." He expressed in a low tone.

She slowly sat up "Wh- who are you?"

"I'm Mako, your cell mate. And you?"

"I'm Korra. Wait, cell mate? Where am I?"

"You're in one of his working camps where we are forced to either work or die." He scowled.

"Who is he?" She innocently asked.

"Amon." He winced just saying that name.

"Do you mean President Amon?"

"If that's what you call him, yeah I guess, but he isn't my president."

"Well then why am I here?"

He looked at her with a serious expression. "Because you're a bender."

"A bender, what is a bender?"

He was confused. "You don't know?" She turned her head back and forth. "Well, a bender is someone who can control and use as they will with one of the four elements: air, water, earth and fire. I am a firebender and I guess since you are in the same cell as me that you are a firebender too."

"That explains why fire came out of my hands and why I could control it. But, why does being a bender mean that I have to come here?"

He leaned on the wall behind him. "About eighteen years ago there was a revolution. I was just born. Amon and his equalists started gaining power. They stood for the non benders, or people who can't bend an element, and were against the oppression of non benders by benders, which would be okay if they approached the solution to their problem diplomatically. However, Amon and the equalists hated all benders and sought out to "equalize" everyone. So they could reach the equalization that they wanted Amon would physically take the bending away from people and sever their connection to their element, to this day no one knows how. They soon after became a terrorist organization. Amon's cause grew popularity fast, many of non benders fought for his cause but there were also many who didn't agree with him. Benders of all kinds, including Avatar Aang, fought against him to stop him from hurting innocent citizens. Full out war started. Amon quickly realized that no matter what he did the benders would still fight back; instead of taking their bending away he would kill them to reach equalization. In one of the last battles of the war, about a year after its start, Avatar Aang was killed in battle. Once that happened, the war was basically lost for benders and people against Amon. Amon took control of Republic City and rounded up all benders and brought them to the camps. There are two types of camps: death camps, where you simply are killed, and work camps, which is where we are. All children and elders that were taken were killed, because they would not be able to handle the heavy workload of the work camps. Also, if there were already enough people working on the work camps or if people defied the government they would automatically bring those people to the death camps. Bending, for centuries, was once an art form, celebrated by many and known by all, but now bending is a crime punishable by death and benders are forced to hide their powers or be kept down by the government, no one even remembers it anymore."

She moved next to him also leaning on the wall behind her. "What is the avatar?"

"The avatar is someone who can control all four elements. They are reborn into one of the four elements as their native element and when they die they are born into the next. The last avatar we had was Avatar Aang from the Air Nomads. The avatar's job is to keep peace between all people."

"So then, where is the new avatar to stop this?"

He lowered his head. "I don't know. Amon claims that Avatar Aang was killed in the avatar state, meaning that the avatar lineage is stopped forever, but I personally don't believe it. The next avatar is supposed to come from the water tribes, so their native element is water. I don't know, you might think I'm crazy a lot of people do, but I have this feeling that the avatar is out there somewhere and is still alive and someday he is going to fight back against Amon and stop all of this."

"No I don't think you're crazy, I believe you. Plus, it doesn't hurt to hope for something." She told him with a smile. Mako smiled back at her. "Although, how does the government get away with this? I mean, bending was a part of not only benders but non bender's history. I am a bender and I didn't even know what it was."

"When Amon took full control, he copied the technique used by the former Dai Li from Ba Sing Se and basically warped anyone's memories of anything that had to do with bending. So, you were either brought to the camps, or lost your memory. The newer generations don't know about it because there is no one to teach them about it."

"Then how do you know about it?"

"Amon didn't bother to wipe the memory of the benders since they would be cut off from society if not killed. Some benders went into hiding, pretending to be non benders, and others but, not a lot, actually escaped from these camps. People who escaped were few and far between because the security is extremely tight but apparently it is possible. Many people who do this have to live on the streets to avoid the government. My parents faked their death along with a few other families and the rest of the resistance that they were in when I was young and took up new aliases as non benders. My parents taught me and my younger brother, Bolin, all about bending and its history. They also trained us in secret. My father taught me firebending and my mother taught Bolin earthbending. When I was seven the government uncovered a list of most of the families that faked their death, hiding under the government's nose, then they rounded up all of those people and took them directly to the death camps. On the night that the government took my parents my mother and father knew what was going to happen. They came into our room and told us to run, so we did. Bolin and I were reluctant at first, we didn't know the entirety of what was going on, but my mother made us. She told us that they would meet up with them later but I knew she was lying. My father gave me his scarf for safety. So we ran and I've never seen them since." From the memories, one tear fell from his eyes. He clenched the scarf that was around his neck with his hand.

Korra placed one hand on his shoulder for reassurance. "I- I'm sorry. I lost my parents at a young age too. I was six."

He looked at her, shattered. "What happened?"

"My memories are sort of foggy, but like you my parents were taken away from me during the night. I never got to say goodbye though. I was lying in my bed, I wasn't tired, and then I heard the doorbell ring. I got out of bed and opened my bedroom door slightly to see who it was. My parents didn't know I was awake, or at least I didn't think they knew. They opened the front door. A police officer was at the door. He handcuffed my parents, and they didn't fight back. Another police officer was there too. He walked towards the steps as he asked 'where is she?' My parents didn't answer until he started to walk up the stairs. My mother cried out. 'She is not who you are looking for! Leave my baby alone!' She was in tears. The officer ignored her and continued to walk up the stairs to my room. My father looked at me with a stern but broken expression. I looked back, I admittedly was scared. He mouthed the word 'run' to me and I jumped out of my window onto the tree beside my house. I hid in the shadows by my house for a little bit. I waited for the police officers to leave but when they did they left with my parents. They left in a truck and after that day I was living alone on the streets. I didn't know why any of that happed but now I guess I do, they were benders."

"And they were hiding you from the equalists because you were a bender, too."

"Yeah I guess they knew that about me before I did."

His eyes widened. "Wait, how old are you?"

"Seventeen, why?"

"If I was seven when my parents were taken and now I'm eighteen and you were six then do you think our parents were in the resistance together? Maybe they knew each other."

"Maybe, I mean it would make sense. But, what exactly was the resistance?"

"Well the resistance is a group of people who are against Amon and their main goal is to take him down. You can't tell anyone what I am about to tell you, even benders, conditions like this can make anyone squeal. It is run by Lin Beifong and Master Tenzin, Aang's son. It was created right after Amon took full control. They all faked their death and now live against the law undermining everything Amon does. The resistance lost a lot of people around the same time my parents were taken. No one, even benders, know where they are based unless you are actually in the resistance. The only way to join is by invite. Since my parents were part of the resistance my brother and I were allowed to be part of it too when Beifong found us on the streets when I was thirteen. I'm in the resistance, or at least I was before I was captured."

"How did you get captured?" She asked.

"It's not even an exciting story but it was about five months ago. My brother and I were walking in the market place downtown. I guess someone tipped off the police that we are benders and gave them our pictures because the minute the officers that were positioned there saw us we were handcuffed and brought here. Good thing they didn't know we were part of the resistance because if they did we would be dead right now. What about you?"

"Oh it's nothing, I just got in a fight last night, or I guess tonight I don't know what time it is, and fire bursted from my hand and the cops saw me and attacked me."

"The cops probably would have attacked us if it were broad daylight." He noticed her shivering. "Are you cold?"

"Yeah, it is freezing in here. Why?"

"They keep it cold in here and the oxygen levels low enough so it is almost impossible for us to bend in here. You'll eventually get used to it." He took off his scarf and, to Korra's surprise, he wrapped it around her neck. "Here, you can wear my scarf." He smiled. His hands lingered as he wrapped the scarf around her. Their eyes locked, but then he broke their stare.

She blushed a little bit and smiled. "Thank you."

Unlike before, Mako grew colder towards Korra. He turned on his side away from her. "You're welcome. I'm going to go to sleep now, you probably should too they wake us up pretty early." Then it was silent. She moved to the ground and laid on her hands for comfort as she held the red scarf close to her. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.