"What am I going to do with you?" Queen Lin yelled.
"Mom, I'm sorry, I just forgot—"
"You know what this meant to me, to your brothers." Mako turned away and stared at the coral, absorbing her anger. "You're my son and I— we!— have a reputation to uphold! And now as a result of your careless behavior—"
"Careless and reckless," Tenzin said, jetting up towards him and jabbing an arrowed claw in his direction. Mako turned his cheek again, and his teeth clenched.
"The whole celebration was—"
"It was ruined! Just like my reputation!" Tenzin snapped his claws, and an explosion of bubbles blew up in Mako's face. "This was supposed to be the highlight of my career, and now I'm the laughingstock of the kingdom! You know how many crabs still hold onto the ways of the ancient composers? Very few, Mako. Very few."
"Cool it, sir," Bolin said, flipping up higher. Pabu squeaked on his skin. "It wasn't Mako's fault!" Lin narrowed her eyes, gripping her trident even more securely, and Bolin continued, voice shaking, nerves aching. "Well, see, first we found this shark, and he almost ate us up for breakfast! And we tried to, but we couldn't, but we did, and then WHOAAA we were safe and there were these three seagulls and there were all this is this and that is that and—"
"Seagulls? … Mako, don't tell me you went up to the surface again?" She stood. "You did, didn't you?"
"Nothing happened," he confessed.
"You could have been seen!"
"I'm always careful!"
"But one day you won't be, and a human will see you and you'll have brought a threat to our seas! I can't have you swimming around getting your nose in places that it shouldn't be!"
"A threat? Humans aren't—"
"Protecting Atlantica is all I care about. I refuse to have you going up to the surface, bringing danger to our waters."
"But—"
"Not another word!" she snapped, "I never want to hear of you going to the surface ever again; do you hear me, young man?"
Mako felt the electricity pulsing in his hands, and he clenched them tighter, keeping his bending in check. She didn't know what she was talking about. She hadn't lived like he had; she'd never wanted more. This was enough for her and always would be. His eyes narrowed, and he whipped away.
His fin flipped behind him; Bolin followed.
"Teenagers," Tenzin groaned.
Lin sighed, and her hands loosened on her trident. "Do you think I was too harsh with him?"
"Of course not! He needs to know who's boss around here; and if he were my son, I'd make sure he never got into these human things. They're a waste of time and a distraction from what really matters. He just needs a patient hand and a good eye—"
"So you think he needs constant supervision?"
"Constant."
"Someone to keep him out of trouble, you might say?"
"All the time."
"Well," she paused, a glint in her eye. "I know just the crab to do it."
"I cannot believe I'm in this situation," Tenzin grumbled to himself as he swam away from the palace, eyes peeled for Mako. "I shouldn't have to be dealing with a teenage boy who doesn't even have the decency to come to my rehearsals on time. I have symphonies to write." He looked up, catching the end of a dark red fin flicking past, dipping into a patch of seaweed. Bolin trailed behind, his fins flopping as he tried to catch up. "What are they up to?" Tenzin asked himself.
He raced after them.
Tenzin watched as the two of them approached a rock wall, littered with stones and broken shells at its base. It seemed completely normal until Mako pushed on part of the rock, shifting it away and leaving an opening. He and Bolin swam inside. Tenzin had never seen this before, yet still he really had no interest in what lay inside.
But Queen Lin had told him to keep an eye out for Mako, to make sure he didn't fall into trouble.
So Tenzin slipped inside before the rock slid back over the entrance, hiding himself in the shadows of the sea.
The grotto looked smaller than it actually was. There was stuff, human stuff, everywhere. Sparkling, shining, human. Tenzin's mouth opened in surprise as he looked at all the things, all the things he had no name for.
Mako was laying on a rock in the middle of the grotto, pulling out the contents of his bag. The snarfblat, the scarf, which he wrapped around his neck again. He stared at the dinglehopper between his fingers.
"Mako, are you okay?" Bolin asked, nudging himself up against Mako's shoulder. Mako set the dinglehopper down.
Tenzin clapped his claws over his mouth.
He stared down at his hands, bending the electricity in them again. He felt the buzz roll through his body. He was different. He knew this. There were very few merpeople who could bend electricity; he'd only heard stories of the others. His family consisted of earthbenders. Even Bolin was an earthbender.
Mako was different.
And so were humans.
Maybe it was all those years of finding human treasures and selling them; of continuing the habit until it reached a collection. Maybe it was the fact that he felt more at home here than in the palace (for he'd never gotten used to the place, even after so many years). Maybe it was both… but he found himself drawn to the surface, drawn to humans, wanting to know more about them, of them.
Sometimes it was hard not being on his own anymore.
"I wish I could just… I wish there was a way to make her understand." Mako paused, looking up. The moonlight fell through the opening at the top of the grotto, sending a bluish glow throughout. There were shadows on the rocks. "I don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things… could be bad."
Mako couldn't see Tenzin frowning at him, but he picked up the dinglehopper again, and he started to sing.
"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat?
"Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?"
He placed the dinglehopper up.
"Wouldn't you think I'm the boy
"The boy who has everything?"
He glanced up, staring at his collection, of all the things he had gotten over the years. His voice was a smooth baritone, filling the cavern, his little piece of a hidden home.
"Look at this trove, treasures untold
"How many wonders can one cavern hold?
"Looking around here, you'd think
"Sure, he's got everything."
Mako swam up to one of his shelves, touching the treasures. They made little clinking sounds. Tenzin couldn't stop staring.
"I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty
"I've got who's-its and what's-its galore
"You want thing-a-mabobs?
"I've got twenty."
He'd grabbed a box and opened it excitedly in front of Bolin, who admired its contents with an awestruck look. Pabu pulled a tentacle back so he could get a better look too. Then Mako closed it slowly, reverently.
"But who cares? No big deal. I want more."
He looked to the surface, to his next big adventure.
"I wanna be where the people are
"I wanna see, wanna see 'em dancin'"
A statue of two dancing figurines caught his attention, and he spun it, watching them dance.
"Walkin' around on those
"Whaddya call 'em?"
Bolin wiggled his fin in front of him, and Mako grabbed it, laughing.
"Oh, feet!"
"Flippin' your fins, you don't get too far
"Legs are required for jumpin', dancin'
"Strollin' along down the—"
He pretended to walk, swaying his hips, and Tenzin climbed up on a shelf for a better look.
"What's the word again?
"Street!"
Mako swam upward, holding Bolin's fin in his hand, spinning as he looked at his collection. A school of fish swam past.
"Up where they walk,
"Up where they run,
"Up where they stay all day in the sun—"
He twirled up, desperate for the surface. One hand drifted down, fingers touching the scarf on his neck.
"Wanderin' free, wish I could be
"Part of that world."
Mako hadn't quite realized until now how much he craved it. How much he wanted a pair of legs, how he wanted to explore and be free up above. Maybe once he did, he could show Queen Lin, show his mother how humans weren't a threat to their kingdom. And really, he just wanted it.
"What would I give if I could live
"Outta these waters?
"What would I pay to spend a day
"Warm on the sand?"
He lay on the ground, and Bolin buried himself in the sand next to him.
"Betcha on land they understand
"Bet they don't reprimand their so-ons—"
He sat up.
"Bright young mermen, sick of swimmin'
"Ready to staaaand—"
He flipped back up, swimming upward.
"And ready to know what the people know
"Ask 'em my questions and get some answers."
Mako swam up to a treasure he had found, a painting whose colors hadn't disappeared in the water. He stroked the canvas with one finger, over the yellow and orange.
"What's a fire, and why does it
"What's the word?
"Buuuuuurn!
"When's it my turn?
"Wouldn't I love?"
He jetted upward again.
"Love to explore that shore up above—"
He reached out.
"Out of the sea, wish I could be—"
Mako sank back down.
"Part of that woooooorld…"
Mako sighed, wanting, yearning. Just one day, one hour, one minute up there and he'd be happy. At the very same moment, Tenzin ran into a mug and crashed down, sending more things falling around him.
"Tenzin!" Mako said. Tenzin unburied himself from the heap of treasures. Mako frowned at him.
"What are you— how could you— What—" Tenzin began, pointing his claw at his face before Mako's face before gesturing above. "Is all this?"
Mako coughed and then ran his hand through his hair.
"Just my, uh, my collection?"
"Oh. I see. Collection, yes… IF YOUR MOTHER KNEW ABOUT THIS—"
"You're not going to tell her, are you?" Bolin asked earnestly. Mako swam forward, hands clasped.
"Don't, Tenzin, please. She'd never understand! All she cares about is protecting Atlantica—"
"For good reason, too!" He cut him off. Mako's mouth hung open. Tenzin grabbed his hand and started scuttling back to the entrance. "You seem to be under a lot of pressure," he mused. "I just need to get you home, maybe you'll feel better then.
Up above in the alcove, a shadow fell over, blocking the glowing moonlight from seeping down.
"What?" Mako asked nobody in particular, dropping Tenzin's claw.
"Mako… Mako!" Tenzin called after him, but Mako was already swimming out of the grotto and up towards the surface, up to the shadow that called him.
As he swam, he saw that there were more lights coming down, not just the dim blue of the moon. There were colors, colors that he had never seen before. Bright yellows and smooth greens, purples and reds, lighting the surface from above. A huge blast of orange leapt from the shadow above, and Mako swam faster. What was going on?
Slowly, his head broke the surface and he brushed his hair back. It was a ship! A huge, three masted ship, carving its way through the ocean. He didn't know what they were, but these loud explosions were filling the sky with sound and light and color, twirling through the air. Occasionally, a blast of… fire! That was fire that was being thrown off the ship! The fire would go into the sky, and then there would be a color burst!
He grinned at the realization. It was fire!
Bolin and Tenzin had both swam up to the surface to meet Mako. Tenzin's eyes widened at the sight of the ship.
"Jumpin' jellyfish!" he cried. Mako started diving and leaping closer, because he had to get a better look, he had to understand, and Tenzin called after him futilely.
As Mako approached, he was greeted by the sounds of humans, joyful and excited. They were talking and laughing and dancing and celebrating! The sounds of music hit his ears, and he couldn't resist temptation. Mako grabbed onto the side of the ship, fingers digging into the wood, and started to pull himself up so he could see what was happening, what was really happening.
He peeked his head up and watched the feet (the feet!) moving around, dancing and jumping to the music. There was a huge, furry creature that was bounding around excitedly too. Mako tried to remember reading… he believed that these were called sailors. He couldn't remember the name of the animal, though. It was an animal, right? It had a very large tongue. Mako smiled as its nose started twitching, leaning down to the floor of the ship, smelling, walking, and it started approaching him. Mako gasped and turned, hiding his face by leaning against the side of the ship.
He peered back, stricken with curiousity, and the animal licked him!
Then there was a whistle, pierce and shrilling, and a voice.
"Naga! C'mere, girl! C'mere!" Naga bounded back, and Mako leaned toward the opening again to take a look. The animal ran to a girl… a human girl. She spoke excitedly. "Whatcha doin', girl?" Naga licked the girl's face, and the girl hugged her back, burying her face in the soft, fluffy white that covered the animal. "Good girl!" The human had these bright blue eyes; and this smile, this perfect smile.
Mako had seen a lot of beautiful things in his lifetime. He lived in an ocean full of wonder and beauty and color and life; he collected shining human treasures, things that amazed and surprised and changed him. But still, this girl?
She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
"Quite a show, huh?" a voice from behind him squawked. Meelo, Jinora, and Ikki flew down beside him.
"Be quiet! Don't let them hear you!" Mako said.
"Ooooh, are we being sneaky?" Ikki asked.
"Sneaky, sneaky!" Meelo cried, flapping up.
"Shut up!" Mako hissed. He paused, looking back at the girl. "I've never seen a human this close before."
"Ready, Naga?" the human cried before tossing something in the air. Jinora's, Ikki's, and Meelo's eyes followed the flying object, but Mako couldn't stop staring at the human, who threw her fist out in the air. Her sailors watched in awe.
She created fire. It burst out from her, lighting her target, which exploded in a burst of color and noise.
That was it. That was a fire, and it burned because she wanted it to.
He felt the heat, and it felt familiar, like it was inside him too. Mako gripped the deck with one hand and held the other out in front of him, palm outstretched. No, he wasn't…
Jinora was curious. "Mako, what are you—"
A tiny flame rose up in his hand, and he gasped, nearly falling off the ship. He could… he was…
He wasn't just a lightningbender… he was a firebender!
But even that realization wasn't enough to keep his eyes off the human permanently. The flame extinguished, and he looked back, and watched her yell and bend fire again, lighting up the sky with flames and a smile.
"She's so beautiful," he confessed, staring at how the light from the fire shined off her face, how it created shadows and highlights on her cheeks and brightened her eyes, her lips.
"Silence, silence!" Mako looked to the new voice's owner. An older woman, with gray hair and a lined face walked forward, hushing the sailors. The woman continued. "We all know that today is special—"
"It's my birthday!" the girl cried, grinning.
The woman smiled. "And we have a gift for you, Princess Korra."
Princess… Korra? …Korra… even her name was beautiful.
One of her sailors strode over to her. "We hope you like it," he said lowly.
The woman was not deterred by the interruptions. "Now, it's tradition that each Avatar is immortalized in stone. Avatar Roku, Avatar Kyoshi, and even my late husband, Avatar Aang, had statues created in their likenesses. And now—" She gestured towards the mass covered in fabric, and the sailors standing by yanked off the covering. "You have one too!"
"Happy birthday!" the crew shouted.
Korra stared up at the stone and coughed against her hand. "Gee, Katara… I don't know what to say." She seemed to be half awe-struck, half crippled by embarrassment. Mako had to cover his mouth from laughing at her. "My own Avatar statue! It's something, alright…" She rubbed her arm, and Mako had to strain his ears to hear her. "But…I haven't even done anything to deserve this… I haven't even learned airbending yet…"
Katara placed a hand on Korra's shoulder. "You'll get there. Like I always say: one day it'll all click."
"I know," Korra said with a sigh. She looked up at her statue, and Katara changed the subject.
"We'd hoped it would be a wedding present," she said.
Korra finally laughed and pushed the woman playfully away from her. "Are you still sore that I didn't fall for General Iroh?"
"We all just want to see you happy, Korra. The Avatar always has a soulmate. And besides, maybe your soulmate would be the key to unlocking your airbending."
Korra climbed up onto the side of the ship and sat, stretching one leg out. Mako heard the frown in her voice. "Well, he's out there somewhere… I just haven't found him yet."
"How are you sure?" Katara asked. It was a question meant to get Korra thinking. She must be her teacher, or something.
"I just… I'll just know. Without a doubt. I'll meet him one day and bam!" She shot off a blast of fire. "Just like lightning."
Mako felt the electricity in his hand, and it became fire once more.
A rumble fell from the sky, and Mako turned, watching the lightning arc its way down into the ocean. Another crash towered directly above them. Mako stared at the rigid, bright marks making their way through, and he thought… if his bending turned to fire on the surface, maybe he could also—
"Hurricane coming!" a sailor shouted from the crow's nest, tearing Mako away from his thoughts. "Secure the rigging!" Almost instantly, water started falling down from the sky, but this water was different. It wasn't like ocean water. And it was cold. A streak of lightning flew across the sky again, and the shouts of the sailors pierced the air. They were terrified.
The ship was shaking, and Mako gripped onto the wood, the scarf tugging on his neck as it blew back. A blast of wind came through, catching under the wings of the three seagulls, and they were torn away from the ship. Mako watched, a pit of worry forming in his stomach as they were thrown into the sky. He felt the pit flop as the ship climbed over a wave, crashing back down.
The wind took hold of him too, and he flew back, grabbing onto some cordage before he was flung off completely.
The water rushed over the edges of the ship, pushing the sailors down, including the captain. Korra ran to the helm, trying to get the ship under her control. One of her hands gripped the wheel, the other stretched out before her… wait, was she waterbending too? Another burst of wind came through, and Mako was torn away. He fell into the ocean with a splash, and he instantly swam back upward, curving to the other side of the ship.
He watched in shock as the lightning struck one of the sails, catching it on fire.
"Look out!" Korra screamed raising her hands up to calm the flames, but they hit another wave too hard, the water solid and strong, and the whole crew was knocked off the ship. They fell into the water, bobbing up, trying to orient themselves again.
Mako watched as the old woman and Korra waved their arms, and spirals of water jetted the crew out onto a tiny boat that looked as if it was going to be eaten by the sea.
A barking could be heard from the ship.
"Naga!" Korra cried, diving into the ocean.
"Korra!" Katara yelled after her, but it was too late. Korra was already swimming back, accelerating herself with a shove of waterbending. She swirled herself down and the sea moved to meet her, and she bent herself back onto the ship.
She cleared a path through the fire with her hands, bending the heat back away from her. Everything was burning; it seemed to be too much for her to handle. "Naga! Naga, jump!" Naga backed up and leapt down, and Korra climbed on top of her, steering her back towards the edge of the ship as quickly as possible.
When Naga jumped off, however, Korra fell back, rolling onto the deck.
"Korra!" Katara shouted, trying to calm the waters around the ship. But it wasn't the waters she should have been worried about. The flames were overtaking, overpowering, and Mako started swimming forward. He had to help, he needed to help, he—
BOOOOOM.
The ship exploded, and Korra's body was sent flying off into the sea. After searching through the rubble, the pieces of wood and rigging and sail, he saw her, unconsciously clinging onto a piece of wood. She was only on the surface for a second before she slipped under, the waves swallowing her whole. Mako flipped back and swam down as fast as he could for she was sinking fast, and he knew that humans couldn't breathe the water like he could. His fin ached, but he was there, hands underneath her arms. He yanked her back up to the surface.
Color explosions still rained down from the sky.
Naga barked.
Mako kept Korra's head on his shoulder, and he swam backwards, swam to the shore.
The morning dawned bright and clean.
He'd laid her out on the shore, in an area almost surrounded by rocks, and he stayed with her, watching and waiting. The sand was irritating the scales on his fin.
Ikki, Meelo, and Jinora flew down and hopped over to the two of them.
Mako glanced up at Jinora. "Is she… dead?"
Jinora pried open one of Korra's eyelids, looking at her eye once before snapping her lids shut again. "It's hard to say," Jinora confessed.
Meelo brushed a wing over her hair, now loose and tangled.
Ikki hopped over to Korra's feet, picking one of them up and holding them to the side of her head. She looked up at Mako sadly. "I can't hear a heartbeat."
"Look!" Mako cried, glancing back at Korra's face. "She's breathing!" Her chest rose and fell, her lips open slightly as the air moved in and out of her body. He laid a hand on her face, stroking down, caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers.
His voice came out of him before he knew what he was doing.
"What would I give
"To live where you are?"
He touched her lips, soft and full. He sang to her, only to her.
"What would I pay
To stay here beside you?"
The waves crashed against the rocks, washing Tenzin and Bolin up. Mako didn't notice them, however. He only could notice Korra, and he held her face in his hands as he sang, fin flipping against the sand.
"What would I do to see you
"Smiling at me?"
Tenzin's jaw dropped, and Ikki closed it for him, grinning.
"Where would we walk?
"Where would we run?
"If we could stay all day in the sun?
The sky began to clear, and beams of sunlight fell down on Korra's face. Her eyes still closed, she smiled at the warmth, and her hand reached up to his. Her fingers were strong, cool.
"Just you and me,
"And I could be—"
Her eyes fluttered open. A glow fell over Mako.
"Part of your woooorld."
A bark rang out from the other side of the rocks, and Mako looked up at Naga running over. He pulled his hand away and dived back into the ocean, just before Katara came after Naga.
"Korra!" she yelled. Naga licked her face, and Korra struggled to right herself in the sand. Katara leaned over and helped her up. "Korra, you scared me half to death!"
"A boy…" Korra said, holding her forehead with one hand. "A boy rescued me. He was… singing. And he had the most- beautiful voice." Her knees buckled, and Katara caught her before she fell into the sand again.
"I think it's time I get you home." She pulled her arm over her shoulders. "You look like you could use some healing. Come on, Naga."
Mako watched them leave from a distance. In his hands, he lit a fire again, the same kind of fire that Korra had created. Maybe humans and merpeople weren't so different after all. Both Tenzin and Pabu were sitting on Bolin's head as he bobbed in the water.
"Queen Lin will never find out that this happened. No," Tenzin said to Bolin, gesturing. "You won't tell, I won't tell. We'll both come out of this in one piece."
Mako pulled himself up on the rock he'd been hiding behind, leaning up so he could catch the last glimpses of Princess Korra as she stumbled away from the shore.
"I don't know when," he sang.
"I don't know how,
"But I know something's starting right now."
Korra walked away, and Mako watched her go. It left an ache, but he knew… he knew this would not be the last time he saw her. He would see her again. He would.
"Watch and you'll see,
"Someday I'll beee-"
The waves crashed behind him, and he pushed himself up higher on the rock. The scarf blew back in the wind.
"Part of youuur wooooooooorld!"
a/n: SORRY I AM SO TERRIBLE AT UPDATING MY . THIS IS OLD; I KNOW. I'LL KEEP UPDATING THIS AND DO A BETTER JOB AT PUTTING MY OTHER FICS ON HERE. SO SORRY. ^^;
ALSO. Many many thanks to Bryke, Disney, Alan Menken and all that jazz. THEIR INFLUENCE IS OBVIOUS.