Your precious Avatar has a son. The words echoed in his mind as he ran through the streets after Korra. He had told the four waterbenders they had rescued where the nearest sewage drain was. He gave them a brief bit of directions of how to navigate the sewage system into the bending half of the city. He didn't have time to lead them himself. He had to follow Korra.
Mako ran faster as she rounded a corner in front of him, yelling for Naga.
Of course Idan was her son. The little boy was so attached to her. Of course.
Mako's mind jumped again. Idan was four. Idan was a firebender.
Idan was his son.
Mako's throat was dry. His thoughts weren't straight. His heart hurt. His head hurt. So many thoughts ran through his head. He thought of Asami and her death. He thought of Korra and the way she had kissed him that one night. He thought of Idan.
When Korra halted to wait for Naga, he finally caught up to her. He put a hand on her shoulder, not being able to say her name.
She turned swiftly, body stiffening.
She didn't relax when she saw it was him. Her eyes widened.
He had never seen her more terrified, but the only thing he could think to say was, "Korra, how could you not tell me?"
Korra swallowed and shook her head. "Not now, Mako. We have to get back. We have to save him."
Mako's heart jumped. He nodded. Of course she was right. This was all too much. "Does he know?" Mako found himself asking, as he climbed behind Korra onto the polar bear dog. "Does Idan know that I'm...?" He couldn't say it. He remembered Bolin's smirk when Idan called him Uncle Mako.
"Bolin knows," Mako said aloud.
Korra nodded slightly. She told Naga to head to the apartment, and the polar bear dog took off.
"In the South Pole, Idan was afraid and called for his mom," Korra's voice was dry. "That's how Bolin found out. That's how Amon found out."
"Korra," he said, wanting to say a thousand things, but instead just saying, "I could have helped you."
"No," she answered. "Not at the time. But that doesn't mean I was right to keep it from you this long."
"It was a before Asami-" he began, but couldn't finish.
"Yes." She answered simply.
Mako remembered how angry he was with Korra for disappearing on some spiritual quest when the city was so wrought with danger. He also remembered how heartbroken he was at the time, over Asami and over Korra.
"That's why you stopped talking to me?" He whispered.
"No." Her voice was tight. "I felt bad for having sex with you while you were with Asami. So I avoided talking to you. I was letting you fix your relationship."
That was the first time either of them had mentioned that night since it happened, and hearing about it made his stomach flip. That made it real. That night had not been a dream.
"Korra, Asami and I were gonna break up. I grew less attached to her. I was going to cut ties with her on that 'date' we went on, and that was the night that Asami was captured. We weren't paying attention. Maybe if I hadn't been so damn wrapped up in myself-"
He let his head fall onto Korra's back. He breathed in deeply. "I failed you both."
Korra didn't say anything, and he wished he could tell what she was thinking.
"It's not your fault that Asami died," Korra said. "If anything, it's mine. I left the city defenseless, and before that happened to her. I'm a sad excuse for an Avatar. The worst part is that Amon is completely right."
"Korra, no." Mako felt stupid. How could he think that Korra's change in behavior over the last five years was all because of him? Why didn't he talk to her about it?
Korra didn't say anything for a moment. When she spoke next, she spoke carefully.
"Mako, if it comes down to saving me or Idan, save Idan, okay?" Her voice was soft.
Mako's throat was dry. "That isn't going to happen."
"It might. They only want me, Mako. They want the Avatar in chains. They don't need Idan." She sat up straighter. "I sacrificed being Idan's mom to be the Avatar. But I will not sacrifice Idan to be the Avatar. It's time I acted like Idan's mother."
Mako couldn't think of anything to say. He wished that he could take her place.
"Korra, I'll save Idan. My first priority is to save Idan," he promised her. "I'll save our son. I promise."
Korra's breath was shaky, and he could feel that she was trying to steady her breathing. "Korra," he whispered her name gently, leaning his forehead against the back of her head. "We'll save him."
"Bolin's giving them hell," Korra said. "I just know it."
"I don't think Idan's going without a fight either," Mako added.
Korra's laugh was pained.
They rode the rest of the way in silence. Mako's head was spinning. He felt stupid for not realizing who Idan was earlier, but how was he supposed to just guess that Korra had a son? He hardly even believed that night with her happened. It felt like so long ago, and it was really more like a dream than reality. He barely believed it happened, so his mind didn't even let him entertain the possibility of Korra becoming pregnant.
A protectiveness for Idan that had already begun to form in his chest. The little firebender was his son, and suddenly he wanted to protect him just as much as he wanted to protect Korra.
Mako's heart fell when he saw large military grade tanks near the entrance to their compound.
"No," Korra choked.
As soon as they were close enough, Korra was off of Naga in the blink of an eye. She ran at the first tank and then stopped briefly, stomping hard on the ground with her right foot. A shaft of hard earth shoved upward beneath the tank, sending the large machine spinning out of Korra's way.
He saw Korra stumble from the effort of the earth bending, but then she ran toward the entrance of the apartment.
Mako jumped off and ran after her, trying to put everything else out of his mind and just think about fighting.
The apartment was a mess of overturned furniture, scorch marks, ripped earth, and fighting. Tenzin and Jinora were there; he could feel the residual gusts from their blasts of airbending. They were taking on six chi-blockers between the two of them.
Mako looked for Idan. He found Korra first; she had passed Tenzin and Jinora's fight. He followed her line of vision. She was heading toward Idan.
The little boy was standing next to a chi-blocker who was holding his arm in pain, his clothes scorched around where Idan had burned him. There were two chi-blockers looking between each other and Idan, obviously trying to decide how to best deal with the boy.
Bolin was holding off four chi-blockers alone, keeping them away from Idan as best he could.
Mako ran into the battle. He surpassed Jinora and Tenzin, who seemed to be holding their own. Bolin, on the other hand, was sweating profusely, and Mako noticed the wobble on the earth he bent. He recognized when his brother was working past exhaustion. Mako wondered how long it had taken Tenzin and Jinora to show up and help him.
Mako whirled a fireball straight into Bolin's nearest chi-blocker. The chi-blocker went sprawling, surprised by Mako's addition. Bolin's lip twitched into a small smile. Mako proceeded to fight alongside his brother, like old times.
After a few minutes of fighting, the scream of a child rang through the room. Mako looked to the source. Idan was in the arms of one of the chi-blockers. Korra was facing down the other one, but she was being sloppy. All of her blows were strong, but not well aimed. Emotions were controlling her bending.
Another yell, more restrained, came from much closer to him. Mako turned back, and Bolin was on the ground, a chi-blocker standing over him.
"No!" Mako yelled.
He couldn't get past the other chi-blockers quickly enough. He did finally take them out, but Bolin was out of his sight, having already been dragged away by the chi-blocker.
Mako considered trying to go find his brother, but he had to help Korra and Idan. One chi-blocker still had Idan. Korra was keeping the one holding Idan and his partner from leaving.
"Take me!" Korra was saying.
Mako's eyes widened.
"Take me. I'm the Avatar; it's me you want. Let him go." Korra sent a burst of fire at him, but the soldier dodged it and ran forward, hitting her in the perfect location on her neck.
She fell to the ground, limp. Her eyes were still opened, and he could tell she was trying to speak.
A chi-blocker snapped shackles on her wrists. They were slightly electrified, just painful enough to keep the prisoner submissive, but not enough to knock them out.
"Let Idan go," Korra said, her teeth gritted in pain.
"Not that easy, Avatar. He's still a bender that must be purified."
Mako sent a stream of fire at the soldier, who rolled out of the way.
"Save Idan, Mako!" Korra yelled at him, her voice forced and pained.
Mako saw the chi-blocker with Idan running toward the exit. Jinora and Tenzin weren't in the front of the apartment anymore. He started to run after Idan, but a chi-blocker who Mako had thought was knocked out grabbed his ankle from the ground.
Mako tumbled, kicking at the hand holding his ankle.
By the time he got the chi-blocker off of him, the apartment was empty except for him and the fallen chi-blockers.
He tore for the outside, praying that they hadn't gotten away yet.
Korra and Idan were being loaded into the nearest truck, and Mako ran for them. He grabbed the closest soldier, pulling him back and punching him square in the jaw.
Korra was trying to fight out of her shackles, but every time she did, he saw her wince in pain. Electric shocks. A soldier shoved her into the back of the truck, and she fell on to her back.
Idan was similarly shackled and crying.
A chi-blocker grabbed Idan pulling him close, using him as a shield from Mako. "Give up, firebender."
Korra kicked with her unbound feet and pieces of earth slammed into the soldier holding Idan, narrowly missing the boy. Idan fell to the ground, out of the soldier's grasp.
Mako grabbed the boy, and Idan clung to him. "Get Mommy," he whimpered just loud enough for Mako to hear.
Korra was being shackled at her ankles in the back of the truck as he stood there. Three chi-blockers had appeared and were standing between he and Korra, advancing in a hope to capture them. Mako would be risking Idan to try to fight them and save her.
Save Idan, he heard Korra's voice in his head.
Mako shifted Idan to his left hip. With his right arm, he mustered all of his remaining strength and moved his arm in an arc, creating a giant wall of red-hot fire separating Mako and Idan from the chi-blockers.
Separating Mako and Idan from Korra.
Idan reached out his hand. "No! Mommy!"
When the wall of fire burned out, the tuck bearing Korra was gone. Idan wept into Mako's shoulder, his fists balling in Mako's sweat-soaked shirt.
Mako fell to his knees, still holding the crying Idan in his arms.
"No."
Mako turned, and mix of worry and relief crept in to him when he saw Tenzin and Jinora holding Bolin upright. Bolin's body was limp and his head was hanging slumped.
"We managed to save him. He's fine ,but unconscious. One of those chi-blockers struck him with an electrified glove" Tenzin said with a troubled face. He took a deep breath. "As for Korra-" He and Jonora collectively looked down at the ground..
"We'll save her" Mako sounded as determined as ever. He looked down at Idan in his arms. "We'll save your mommy." Daddy will was the words he was about to say, but figured now wasn't the time to break the news to Idan. The thought really pulled at Mako's heart strings.
"We'll save Mommy" he assured Idan again, subconsciously forgetting to put 'your' in front of 'Mommy'.
