A/N: A short but very important chapter. I wasn't going to publish this one so soon, but things are going to be quite busy around here tomorrow, and I wanted to put this out before the weekend. Thank you again for reading and for your kind comments. :)
Previous chapter: Noatak and Korra bond on the rooftop, and she confesses one of her darkest secrets. Then, Mako arrives at the hotel...
XII
Betrayal
Korra's wounded leg is screaming at her by the time she returns to her room, and she realizes both she and Amon are overdue for a fresh round of healing. She is just debating if she has enough time to heal herself, when a knock sounds at the door.
She isn't sure how she's going to feel when she sees Mako - angry, or repentant, or embarrassed. She throws open the door, and discovers that anger is the first emotion to bubble to the surface.
"Mako, what the hell are you doing here?" she snaps. There are heavy bags under his eyes even though it's early afternoon, and she wonders how long they have been there. Were they there all along, and she never noticed? He looks so tired.
Turning her back, she hobbles away from the door. He closes it behind him and follows her inside.
"Well?" She sits on the corner of the bed, but he starts to pace. Her anger starts to fade, and concern takes it place.
"Mako?" she asks quietly.
He stops pacing and faces her, his hands balled into fists. "I had to track you down," he says. "I'm here to take you home." He winces at his own words. "Not home. But away from here."
Red haze is in the fringes of her vision, and she is glad that Amon chi-blocked her, because the last thing she needs is to go feral on Mako. "What are you talking about?"
He shrugs. "I had a long talk with Tenzin a couple days ago, Korra, and I realized I haven't been fair to you. I haven't been helping you get well - I've been enabling you. You've cut yourself off from everything it means to be an Avatar, and I've stood by watching and just letting you do it." His head bows. "I'm not what you need right now. So we're moving you back to Air Temple Island. I was going to wait until after the mission to-"
"Back to Air Temple Island?" She stands up, her teeth clenched. "You're kicking me out?"
"No- Well, yes, I..." He looks panicked, and tries to steady himself. "I'm not any help to you, Korra, but Tenzin can be. He can help you reconnect with your Avatar roots, and they have herbs and rituals that can help you get control over your life again."
She feels rage bubbling up inside her. "Is that how you see me? Someone who has lost control over her life?"
"Yes," he says quietly. "It is."
She stands rooted in place, stunned by his admission. Of everyone she knows, she thought Mako had faith in her.
There's a long silence, and after all the awkwardness and tension on the rooftop, she's had quite enough of long silences for one day.
"I'm having problems," she says, "but I haven't completely lost control." Lies, her mind tells her.
He won't look her in the eye. "You're bloodbending," he says quietly. "You kissed Amon. And it's not just that. The way you've hidden away from all your responsibilities-"
"Asami died because of me, Mako," she snaps. "I'm not just going to forget that overnight. It's taking me awhile to get back on my feet."
"It started before that."
She lets the words hang in the air, because she knows they're true, and she knows she needs to hear them. With a sigh, she sinks to seat on the corner of the bed.
"So you're kicking me out," she says dully. "And you think that will help me?"
"I've tried to help you every way I know." He still won't look at her, and she's had quite enough of people not looking her in the eye, too.
"Mako, look at me."
He lifts his head, and she's startled to see tears in his eyes. The sight should make her sad, or guilty, or worried, but instead, she feels hollow. It's as if her insides have been scrubbed clean with a wire brush, and there's nothing left but an empty sting.
"You look tired," she says quietly.
"I am tired."
"You aren't just kicking me out of your home, are you?" Her throat tightens. "You're kicking me out of your life."
His eyes close. "Korra..."
"Tell me I'm wrong."
His lips purse until they turn white, and he doesn't answer.
"I understand," she says. She still feels no sadness, just anger, though there seem to be tears welling in her eyes. "It's hard to keep loving someone when dealing with her is so exhausting. I would have left myself months ago."
He hesitates. "Maybe we just need some time apart."
"You're just saying that so you don't hurt my feelings."
He gives a long, shuddering sigh, and she thinks it's unfair that he looks so sad and alone when she's the one being dumped. There's a heavy weight in the pit of her stomach, and that red is still fringing her vision. She wonders how long she was on that roof talking to Amon - time kind of slipped away. She's still chi-blocked, isn't she?
"Come on," says Mako softly. "We can talk more about it on the way to the Island."
She bristles. "Excuse me?"
He looks taken aback. "I though you agreed. You're going back to Air Temple Island."
"I didn't agree to anything. I'll go once the mission is complete." She feels anger broiling inside her, and this time, she recognizes what it is. "Mako, you have to leave."
His eyes narrow. "Korra-"
"No, please, you have to leave." If she loses control and attacks him, she'll never forgive herself.
"I'm not leaving without you," he snaps.
"Yes you are. I have to see this mission through. It's my chance to redeem myself."
"Korra, I'm not leaving you with a madman's curse running through your veins, in the care of the man who gave it to you." His eyes flash, and she finds her anger rising up to meet his.
"Did you tell anyone?" she demands.
He looks confused. "Tell anyone what?"
"That I'm a bloodbender?"
"Of course not! I don't want you thrown in prison." He takes a step toward her, and she falls into stance.
"Stay back," she growls, because she's not sure she can hold the Avatar State at bay much longer. "Mako, please. You have to leave."
.*.*.*.
As Noatak climbs in through the window, he hears the couple arguing, and he recognizes the strain in the Avatar's voice. Glancing at the clock, he sees that the chi-block certainly will have worn off by now. He curses under his breath and strides for the adjoining door.
When he opens it, two sets of eyes - two yellow, and two thankfully still blue - lock onto him. The first set narrows.
"You!" yells Mako, and he takes a step into stance, firing bolts of flame. Noatak ducks and rolls out of the way, the movement bringing him into the room, next to the Avatar.
"Don't attack him!" she cries, but the officer has snapped.
"You did this to her," yells Mako. "You gave her this curse and seduced her!"
Noatak knows enough about the inner workings of the human mind to understand exactly what has happened. Mako is upset about the Avatar, but loves her too much to pin the blame on her directly. A criminal - one with a history of attacking them both - makes a convenient scapegoat. It's a shame he is having second thoughts about death, because the mission ending in his death at the hands of an officer would not only likely secure Tarrlok's release, but also net him a hefty settlement.
"Calm yourself," says Noatak. "I have done nothing."
The officer is too rage-filled to be reasoned with; he darts forward, shooting another bolt of flame.
Korra steps into the line of fire and deflects it. "Don't hurt him."
The two lovers stare at each other, eyes locked.
"Why are you defending him?" asks Mako, breathing hard.
"None of this is his fault. It's all me." Is her voice gaining an echoing quality, or is Noatak imagining things? She's only a few feet in front of him, and he could land a chi-block easily in about two seconds, if he wanted, but he doesn't see any of the shadow flickers, and there's no wind.
"He's the reason you bloodbent," says Mako.
"I took his bloodbending from him because I wasn't strong enough." She takes a step forward, and Noatak moves to maintain the distance, eyes locked on the location of the chi point between her shoulder blades.
Her voice has a strong echo to it now. "I am the one who has abused bloodbending, and who has lost control over it. He kissed me not out of a desire to manipulate, but only to protect himself. And the way I feel about him is my fault alone."
The way I feel about him. Noatak's muscles stiffen; he forgets about the chi point as the unexpected words root him in place.
"You will step down," she commands, still closing in on Mako. "You will return to your home, and tell no one of our whereabouts. You will not interfere with the mission, until it is complete. Then and only then will I return to Air Temple Island."
"No," says Mako. "You will come with me now, Korra. This has gone too far."
Her hand claws in the air, and he yells.
Noatak curses to himself. He was too hung up on her words, and let it go too long. The wind is already kicking up around them, and by the black waves of energy around her body, he knows the state has fully overwhelmed her. Quietly, he darts toward her back.
Korra glances back in his direction, red eyes wide.
The vice of psychic bloodbending tightens around him, squeezing the breath from his lungs. His yell of protest comes out as a wheeze. She's going to kill us both. His pulse beats in his ears as he holds eye contact with her, willing her to come to her senses.
Instead, she turns back to Mako.
"You will step down." Her arm rises into the air, and Mako floats toward the ceiling. Noatak recognizes the panic and anger on his face - it's the same expression Kwan wore on the day, the moment, that the Revolution ended. Oh spirits, this situation is exactly the same. Mako coming to confront her, just as Kwan had. Korra reacting defensively, bloodbending the man she loves. Noatak feels tears building in his eyes.
There has to be a way out. This situation has to have a better ending.
"Avatar," he says, his voice croaking with the strain of the grip on his body. "Let him go."
She ignores him. "You will return to your home, and tell no one of our whereabouts." She flicks her hand, and Mako slams sideways into the wall.
"Korra, stop," pleads the officer. "It's me."
"Avatar," barks Noatak, and a gasp leaves him as the bloodbending pulses around him. A threat.
"You will not interfere with our mission, until it is complete," she says to Mako, and she just starts to flick her hand - the officer's body moves about a foot to the side- when Noatak calls out,
"Korra!"
At her name, she turns, eyes boring through him.
Noatak's breaths are harsh, and he can barely form the words. "You don't want to hurt him. Let him go."
She's still staring at him, her loose hair dancing around her in the wind. Mako hovers mid-air in front of her, looking at her with panic in his eyes, a tear trailing down his cheek.
Exactly like Kwan.
Now Noatak is determined to free the officer, as if saving him will somehow undo all he did to his lieutenant six years ago. His voice strengthens. "Officer Mako is a reasonable man, who will agree to a reasonable deal. Tell him you will release him and let him leave without fuss. In exchange, he will tell no one what happened here, and allow you to continue the mission. Tell him that if he betrays you, you will find him and you will make him suffer." Not a kind thing to add, but he has to ensure that the officer won't just shut them down once he's free.
Mako is watching him now, brows pinched with confusion, and as Noatak stares at that face, he can only remember his own regrets. "And tell him that you're sorry you have to do this," he adds quietly. "You're so sorry. You love him, and you wish it didn't have to be this way, but sometimes a person's calling and love come into conflict."
His eyes close under the weight of all his memories.
"You heard all that," says the corrupted Avatar. "Are you going to betray me?"
"No," yelps Mako, his voice that of a child, not an adult.
"Then you may leave."
The bloodbending falls away. Without it holding him upright, Noatak falls to all fours, gasping for sweet air. He hears the sound of hasty footsteps and a door open, then slam, but it's another minute before he can bring himself to lift his head.
The officer is gone. Korra looms over him, still in the corrupted Avatar State. Slowly, Noatak rises to his feet.
"I didn't want to do any of that," she says, voice still echoing. Her glowing eyes pierce through him. "I didn't want to hurt him."
"I understand." The words aren't strong enough to convey just how perfectly he understands, how alike they are at their cores.
"Make it stop." Her voice is surprisingly small.
He steps forward, eyes squinting against the wind, and embraces her. His fingers find the chi-point immediately, and he presses it.
Korra slumps against him, and his arms tighten around her as the wind fades.