Prompt: Korra's gone and Mako doesn't deal with it very well.
Her death changed him, and it changed him forever.
Bolin doesn't like what it did to his brother. Sure, they were all incredibly sad at the loss of one of their best friends. Bolin and Asami didn't get over it for months. The airbending family created a Meditation Pavilion in her honor and held a mourning period for one month straight.
But Mako…Mako changed.
He had always been brooding, but it was different. Without Korra, he didn't smile. He didn't laugh. The only times he would actually lighten up was when he would look back at pictures and memories of the Avatar.
Bolin didn't know where he went, but in the middle of nights, Mako would just get up and leave. He'd come back drunk, giggling, and crazy. It happened at least 3 times a week. In the morning, he'd apologize, he'd say he wouldn't do it again- but then he'd get back and forget his words all over again.
However, one of those times where Mako came back drunk and crazy, he told Bolin something that Bolin probably was never supposed to know.
—-
"Bo," Mako had said, on the couch, still giggling. Bolin sighed from his seat beside his drunk brother, holding his head in his face. It seemed like these days, it was Bolin who was the parent of the two.
"Bo," Mako repeated, urgent. "I need ya to get me somethin'."
"No, Mako, I'm not getting you anything," Bolin answered, fed up.
"Boolliinn," Mako whined, grabbing his brother's hand. "It's the ring. I need ya to get the ring in my drawer."
Bolin now looked at his brother, paying full attention. "Ring? What ring?" For all he knew, Mako wasn't one for jewelry.
"The ring for Korra, stupid," Mako said, annoyed. "I need ya to get it. Go give it to 'er."
"You…you got a ring for Korra?" Bolin clarified, not fully putting the pieces together. Or rather, not wanting to. Because, if this was what he thought it was, then…
"I need ya to bury it with her grave," Mako continued, putting his hands on his stomach as he stared up at the ceiling. It seemed like he was suddenly sober- but the occasional burp and giggle told Bolin otherwise.
"I was gonna propose to her," he whispered, drowsiness overtaking his features. "The day she died? I was gonna propose to her, at this nice café near the bay." His eyelids drooped, but he continued. The fatigue was evident in his voice, but it seemed like Mako was fighting against it- at least until his tale was done.
"She died, Bo," Mako whispered. "She died moments before I was going to ask her to marry me." The firebender let out a short laugh. "Fate's funny, huh? It's always working against me."
Finally, Mako fell asleep, his story leaving Bolin shocked.
—
The next morning, Mako didn't mention the story. So Bolin didn't either.
But part of Bolin wondered if Mako would ever get past Korra's death.
And part of him suspected he already knew the answer.
—
"Hey, Kor," Bolin said, greeting the grave on the ground. "We all still miss you. It's not the same without you."
He grew silent, taking the ring out of his pocket and burying it in the dirt next to her grave.
"I think Mako should be the one doing this," Bolin continued, his hands still working with the dirt, "But he'd break down. So I'm taking care of it for him." He patted the dirt, wiping his hands on his pants before turning back to the grave.
"He really misses you, Mako does," Bolin whispered, touching the gravestone with his right hand. "He's…not the same. I know you wouldn't like that though." Bolin smiled slightly. "So, I'm being a good brother and helping him out."
Suddenly, Bolin's words got caught in his throat as he saw something in the corner of his eye. A piece of white paper was buried, right behind Korra's tombstone- who'd put that there?
Curious, Bolin stood and bent over, unburying the sheet of paper to see it was a letter.
Dear Korra,
I haven't been dealing with your death well at all, have I? I know. I'm pathetic. Without you, I'm so pathetic.
If you were here, you'd probably yell at me. You'd say I needed to meet someone new, to move on. But I can't. I'm stuck wondering what you'd have said when I would have proposed to you, what you would have looked like- I'm stuck on you, Korra, and I want it to stay that way. I never want to replace you with another woman or friend or anything because-dammit, Korra- I thought we were forever.
I think Bolin took your ring. It's a good thing he did, too, or I'd have killed myself eyeing that thing day and night. I have so many questions, so many, just because of that stupid ring.
Can you answer one of them for me, Korra?
Was it my fault you died?
Did you die on the way to the café?
Was it my fault?
Bolin had to stop reading.
His tears would stain the paper if he continued.
—-
Mako brought lady friends home, he got drunk, he went to the darker parts of the city. He was never the same.
The only time Bolin would see a glimmer of the old Mako was when they'd visit Korra's grave together, when Mako would sit there and just touch the tombstone in silence; sometimes for hours per visit.
And Bolin knew, that no matter what happened, Mako would always let one thing haunt him:
Was it my fault she died?
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