As the guards slipped the pair into the room, Korra could hear the clicking of the door, indicating the lock put in place.
"What the hell?!", she exclaimed as she grabbed the knob.
"What's wrong?", Mako asked.
"They locked us in!"
"What? Why?!"
"I think the queen's-"
She was interrupted by the sounds of yelling from the hallway.
"I TOLD YOU TO GUARD THE ENTRANCE TO THE CAVE! AND YOU LEAVE FOR ONE MINUTE AND NOW SHE KNOWS!", the queen yelled.
"Your majesty, we're sorry-"
"It's too late for Sorry commander! General Shang, take him to the execution hall!", the queen ordered.
Korra could hear chains being dragged on the floor, and the guard beg for the queen's forgiveness.
"Korra...do you think-"
"I hope not, but it looks like its heading in that direction.", she said.
"No, I mean, do you think she did something to Asami and Bo?", he asked nervously.
The thought hadn't even cross her mind. But they weren't around before the queen knew where she and Mako had run off to. What would the queen be doing with them then?
"They weren't around before she knew about the cave Mako. I don't think she's that drastic."
"But now she does know. And she has us locked up.", he reminded her.
Damn it. The queen had them cornered. Or did she?
"Maybe I can bend us out of here!", Korra thought out loud.
"I don't think so.", Mako said as he gestured towards the door. "It's made of metal."
Yeah, she did.
Korra hated being caged into to places. And she didn't want to stay here for one more second.
"I knew this would happen! I knew that stubborn little teen would go picking her nose into somewhere she doesn't belong!", the queen complained.
"It wasn't exactly preventable your majesty. Avatar Aang was in there. He might have been leading her there.", a guard said.
"That's ridiculous! Avatar Aang and all the other avatars disappeared after Vaatu extinguished them! She's lost all connections to Avatar Aang!", the queen yelled.
"Your majesty please- we're trying to-"
"If I see those little republic city rats out of their rooms once again. you can forget about being my General, or anything else in this city! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
Well, apparently they're not so welcomed anymore. Korra backed away from the door as the yelling continued.
"I don't think we'll be leaving any time soon.", Korra said.
"I don't think we should be worrying about that. I think we need to figure where Bolin and Asami are.", Mako suggested.
"They're probably in the same situation as us. But what could-"
Then the doors burst open, and Bolin and the Sato heiress were pushed in. And then they shut just as quickly.
"Where have you guys been?!", Mako asked.
"We could ask you the same thing! I thought you were chasing after her!", Bolin said.
"I was! And then we kinda...got...lost.", Mako explained.
"Lost where exactly?", Asami asked.
"In a cave. But we eventually got our way out.", Korra said.
Mako couldn't help but smirk at her words of masking just what exactly they did in the cave.
"Uhh..Mako? Is that a hickey?", Bolin said, gesturing to his neck.
Shit.
"Huh? Uh, no! It's from uh...the rubble from when the bombs went off...from before. Yeah. That."
Korra tried her best to hold back a laugh.
"What are you talking about? There were no bombs.", Asami said.
Ok, now things were getting weirder.
"Yeah there were. That's why we were running away. Remember?", Mako asked.
"We were running away?", Bolin asked.
"Yeah...we said that like thirty seconds ago.", Korra said.
Then, the lights went out. Then Korra and Mako could feel random jabs hitting them. She knew what they were, chi blockers. But before she could react, she was out cold.
***
"There is no cave in Ba Sing Se. There is no cave in Ba Sing Se."
Mako's eyes struggled to open to the sound of that sentence repeating over and over again. And then, we his vision came back to him, he saw Korra pinned to a wall by small rocks, and a light rotating around a man dressed in green.
"There is no cave in Ba Sing Se."
"This is Omashu you idiot! Not Ba Sing Se! Start over!", he heard the queen order.
Mako tried to get up, but his limbs were still numb from the earlier chi blocking.
"Your highness It's hard adjusting when-"
"I don't care if it's hard! Start over or I'll feed you to the creatures!"
"LET HER GO!" Mako yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Ahh, the young firebender woke up from his little nappy. Did you have sweet dreams dear?", the queen asked.
"Let her go or I swear I'll-"
"You'll do what Mako? You'll burn the whole place down? I doubt you will."
He scowled at her as he kept trying to move, but it was pointless.
"I supposed you're wondering why I didn't want you paying a visit to my little cave.", the queen said.
"Let her-"
"I would listen if I were you, unless you want far worse things to happen to your little precious girlfriend over there.", the queen warned him.
His eyes went back to her. Her mouth was covered in rocks to prevent her from speaking, and her arms and legs were held down under the rocks. She was fprced to stare and listen as the light kept passing her.
"I-I'm listening.", Mako said sternly.
"Well, we've had a lot of construction going on in our little city. But our people just don't seem to want to leave. And with the Avatar here, it's not helping. So we planned to have a little, "attack take place". The citizens would retreat, and so would the wounded Avatar. We'd close the city until the changes were done, and then everything would return to normal. That is, until you two decided to pay a little visit to the cave. Now you both have seen it, but now you won't remember it. Or any of this. All of the events of what happened after you escaped the bombs will vanish, and you'll return to the city. Safe and sound."
No, if Korra were to forget about what had happened, she'd forget about how they got back together again. No. He wasn't losing her. Not again.
"Why would you want to get rid of the cave?! It's a tomb for the people who founded your city! Without it, you wouldn't even be queen!", Mako retorted.
"The main reason I'm getting rid of it is because of those smelly giant badgermoles. They've tried to enter the city many times, and have interfered with travelers. But many of the citizens stayed in the city of protest in order to keep them here. So, I hatched a plan. And you and that silly little waterbender ruined it!", the queen exclaimed at him.
"They're the reason people are able to Earthbend! How dare you-"
"One more word out of you young man and I'll have it made sure that girl forgets she's even the Avatar!", the Queen yelled to him.
He was powerless. He was weak. He wasn't strong enough to save her. And he wasn't strong enough to watch as they erased her memories.
A/N: WOW. I am soooooooooo sorry this took so long. School, life crap, writer's block, damn. I mean, four months. I'm so sorry guys. But good news! Since book 3 os pre,iering this Friday, I'm gonna finish the last chapter this week! HELLS YEAH! And thank you so much for waiting and putting up with me. SORRY. *huggles you guys*