Two updates in one night? Wow, I must love you guys or something

This chapter starts off kind of light and fluffy, because the majority of this story is brooding and angsty. Mostly a filler chapter, but pivotal plot points comes in near the end. Also, I missed Bolin, so he's back.

This is LOOOOOOOOONG!

Korra had grown tired of using her energy sensing to find Mako. It wasn't helping anyway. She decided to locate him the old fashioned way; shaking down pedestrians for answers.

Korra hesitated before exiting the hotel. What would people think of the Avatar running around the Fire Nation on a personal mission? She had already gotten flak for her 6-month disappearance and her brief Spirit World vacation. Some people didn't get that the Avatar needed some time for herself.

Deciding not to risk it, she ducked into the hotel gift shop, picking up a dark red cloak.

The salesperson waved off her money. "On the house," he smiled.

"You don't have to do that," Korra tried not to make a habit of using her title to get free things.

"It would be my honor Miss Avatar," the man bowed to her deeply. Korra muttered her thanks and draped the cloak around her shoulders. She was definitely going to use Bolin's idea.

Korra wandered down to the docks. She faced eastward, looking out at the horizon. Back towards Republic City.

"Home," Korra thought. "Soon we'll all be home." She couldn't wait for this whole ordeal to be over, and to be back on Air Temple Island surrounded by her family.

Korra pulled herself out of the daydream. There was one important step to take before her fantasy could be completed. Korra scanned the dock for people. She found two men, one large and bald who was built like an oak tree and the other much leaner with a long ponytail, unloading a small fishing boat a few yards away. She jogged over to them, deciding to start her questioning there.

"Excuse me," she called out. The men paused in their work and glanced at her curiously. "Have either of you seen a firebender-"

The younger man with the ponytail started laughing.

"I wasn't done yet," Korra grumbled. The taller man smacked his co-worker's head. He immediately stopped laughing.

"Thank you," Korra started over. "Have either of you seen a firebender about this tall," she stood on her toes and marked Mako's height with her hand, "with black hair, deep golden eyes, a permanent frown and a scar running up his arm?"

The longhaired man started giggling, and pointed to his companion. Korra noticed that the large man was approximately Mako's height, wore a deep scowl, and a large, jagged scar running from his elbow to his shoulder.

Korra understood what was happening. She smacked herself in the forehead. "I just described half of the Fire Nation didn't I?"

The short mans' laughter confirmed her suspicion. The bald man smacked him again.

"Forgive Hayato. He has been out in the sun too long. My name is Kouta. And you are?"

"I'm...Akemi," Korra decided it was best to go under the alias Bolin had made up for her. The two men bowed to her in the traditional Fire Nation way. Korra bowed back.

"So who, might I ask, is the person with these specific traits you are looking for?" Kouta asked.

"A friend," Korra responded. "A very close friend. He left home a while ago, and no one has seen or heard from him since. We're all worried. It's not like him to disappear like that."

Kouta nodded. "I see. You were correct in your assumption. The Fire Nation is not as diverse as the Earth Kingdom. If your friend has come here to disappear, he will blend in quite easily."

"That's what I was afraid of," Korra mumbled.

Two days after dropping Korra off, Bolin finally made it to the other side of the Fire Nation. The boat docked at the port closest to the Fire Nation Capitol. He was to meet up with another group of new recruits and take the train up the volcano.

Bolin, ever the social butterfly, decided to start chatting up his fellow recruits. He scanned the small group of young men and women for someone who looked like they were open to conversation. His eyes landed on another young man, about his age, who was standing off by himself, looking around somewhat unsure at the other new soldiers.

Bolin strolled over to him and stuck out his hand, a toothy grin plastered across his face. "Hey. I'm Bolin, from Republic City."

The other man looked amusedly down at Bolin's outstretched hand. "The Fire Nation, and especially the United Forces, still operates in the traditional ways." To emphasis his point, the man bowed deeply to Bolin. Bolin's face flushed in his embarrassment.

"Ooooh, I'm sorry, I didn't know! There's no handbook with proper Fire Nation etiquette." Bolin mimicked the bow.

The other boy laughed. "Nah, it's cool man. I made that mistake this morning to my commanding officer. I'm from the United Republic too." He stuck hand. " I'm Heng."

The boys shook hands and exchanged goofy grins. Bolin could tell that the two of them were going to become great friends.

"All right recruits," an older officer hollered. Everyone turned to face him and stood rigidly at attention. "You can continue your meet and greet on the train. We are going around the volcano to the United Forces base on the other side. Your new home for the duration of your training."

….

Later on the train, Bolin and Heng were exchanging stories. Bolin learned that Heng's father's family was descendant of Fire Nation colonials. He and his mother were the rare earth benders of the family, and his father was a non-bender. He lived a pretty normal life, and enlisted into the United Forces as soon as he was of age. Bolin regaled him with stories of his childhood on the streets, becoming a pro-bender, working with the Avatar and the Great Uniter, and Republic City.

"So that's what happening in the Earth Kingdom," Bolin finished his story about rebuilding Zaofu. "Got any news about the Fire Nation?"

Heng, looked around. Bolin followed his lead. The two men were seated a good distance away from any listening ears, but Heng lowered his voice and motioned for Bolin to come closer. Bolin complied; he loved gossip.

"I overheard some of the other guys talking on our way from the south side. Rumor has it there's an old cult on the rise in the eastern regions," Heng whispered. "They're called the fighters, or the gladiators, or something. Anyway, word is they're hardcore, Old School types. As in, there's no getting out once you're in with them. You're a member for life."

Bolin nodded. He knew the type.

"But," Heng's voice rose slightly with excitement, "there is also a rumor that someone did escape them. Just recently actually."

Bolin's eyes widened. This was getting really good.

"Yeah," Heng's expression matched Bolin's. "This guy just pops out of nowhere, and join's the gang. Nobody knows who he is, or where he came from. Some think he's an ex-criminal who escaped from the Boiling Rock!"

The two men stop whispering as an admiral walks by them. As soon as he was out of earshot, Heng continued his story, the words tumbling out in his excitement.

"Anyway, this mystery man joins the group and becomes their best fighter. They even say that he knows some ancient forbidden firebending techniques. He's powerful. And the cult couldn't control him. They say that he burned down their headquarters, and nobody survived but him. And now he's on the run."

Heng leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms and looking out the window. "He won't get far though," he smirked.

"Why do you say that?" Bolin asked. "It sounds like this guy is more than capable of taking care of things. He'll probably go back underground or something."

"Nah," Heng shook his head. "This guy's got an identifier. A scar. Pretty unique one too."

"Like Lord Zuko's?" Bolin wondered how much Heng heard about this mysterious figure. He seemed to have the whole story.

"Sort of. It's pretty intense," Heng started tracing patterns on his left forearm. "I think it goes up to about here. I didn't catch all the details. But it doesn't look like a normal burn. I think they said an electrical or chemical burn."

"I heard about that automobile factory that blew up here in the Fire Nation ten years ago," Bolin chimed in. "There were probably a lot of people who got seriously injured from that. Maybe this guy was a factory worker before he became a street fighter."

Heng shrugged. "All I'm saying is, not a lot of people in the Fire Nation are that marked up, not unless they run with the wrong crowds."

And with that, the conversation ended. Both men turned to look out the window, consumed in their own thoughts.

Something nagged at the back of Bolin's brain, but he ignored it.

Two days.

Two days without food or water.

Two days of dragging himself out of sight.

It was a miracle that Mako had managed to elude the villagers for this long. But he was fading fast. It would only be a matter of time before they caught up to him, if starvation didn't claim him first.

Mako was slumped deep in the shadows of a back alley. He had been moving through the shadows and trying to stay out of sight since he barley escaped the full wrath of the mob. His body still ached where they had attacked him. Mako brought a hand to his ribcage, fitting his fingers in the spaces in-between each rib. The skin was hot and swollen. Probing with deft fingers, he poked the bones with the slightest bit of pressure. He hissed through clenched teeth at the stabbing pain. "Definitely broken," he concluded.

Mako could feel the tight, swollen bruise blossoming under his cheekbone, where someone's foot had come down on him. He flexed and stretched his muscles, taking inventory of his injuries. Other then the ribs, nothing else seemed to be broken, but every square inch of him was battered. He felt like Asami had run over him with her Sato-Mobile, than backed up.

Mako lay carefully down on the hard ground, arranging his body in a way that hurt the least. His body had gone through more physical anguish in the past couple of months then it had his entire life. Mako was tired. Tired of hiding, tired of hurting, tired of…

Mako stared up into the night sky at the stars that burned billions of miles away. Legends were told of great firebenders whose souls became the stars when they died. Mako didn't think he qualified as a 'great firebender', but he entertained the idea of becoming a star. Watching life continue on from up in the night sky, watching triumph and suffering and being removed from it all, blazing in his brilliance.

The ache in his chest with each panted breath was a harsh reminder that Mako was not a star, but a man trapped in a bleak situation here on earth.

Mako closed his eyes. His body felt heavy, but at the same time he was floating. It was a strange sensation, but it was peaceful. Is this what dying feels like? He could get used to this.

What are you doing here?

Mako groaned. Not him again. Mako wanted to continue to float, uninterrupted.

"What are you doing here?"

A hand was shaking his shoulder. Mako frowned. What does He want?

"Hey. Hey! What are you doing here? Wake up." Mako recognized that voice, but it wasn't the old stranger from Republic City. Mako slowly opened his eyes. Standing over him was the man who saved him from the desert. The same man who turned him over to the angry mob, and left him in the street.

"Come on, we gotta go," he looked around nervously. "Come on! They'll find you, and I don't think they will spare you this time."

Mako blinked stupidly. Why was his life suddenly so important to this man? Why would he come back for him when Mako was the one who injured his brother?

He read the confusion on Mako's face. "Look, I know what you are, and I don't forgive you for what you did. But back there in the town centre, when that mob was attacking you, you….you didn't fight back. You didn't firebend. You just…you could have lashed out. They all expected you to. That's what any other Senshi would have done." He looked away from Mako. "We live in constant fear of the Senshi. They have invaded our town many times in the past, kidnapping and killing people. They do it for sport."

"I'm not them," Mako whispered weakly. "I'm not a part of that."

"I know," the other boy assured him. "I've heard stories about the Senshi and their recruiting methods. They break people's spirits, strip them of compassion and sympathy until they are just killing machines."

"I'm not-" Mako started to protest again, but the man held up his hand to stop him.

"I heard you tried to spare Ryou. He told us what happened. Something snapped; you were pushed too far. But you obviously aren't too far gone. I saw that the other day. I don't think you're beyond saving like the others. I want to help you get out of here."

He helped Mako up into half sitting position. He then pulled the canteen slung around his shoulder off and offered to Mako. Mako brought it to his lips with shaky hands. He sipped delicately for a moment, savoring the feeling of water drenching his parched mouth. He continued to drink more deeply, gulping down the remains of the water. He handed back the empty canteen.

"My name is Hikaru."

Mako studied him for a moment. Hikaru looked to be roughly the same as him, with kind brown eyes and short black hair.

"Ma…Mayou," Mako decided to use the fake name given to him when he first arrived in the Fire Nation. Hikaru simply nodded.

There was a noise at the end of the alley. It put both men on alert. Hikaru glanced around nervously.

"Can you stand?" Mako tried to pull himself to a full sitting position. His ribs cried out in protest. He groaned and shook his head. Not wanting to watch him struggle, Hikaru wrapped Mako's arm around his shoulder and wrapped his other arm around Mako's torso. He gently pulled Mako off the ground. He led Mako deeper into the alley, supporting most of his weight.

"Why are you helping me?" Mako grunted.

"I already told you-" he quickly stopped talking and backed the two of them into a shadow as couple walked by the alley. Once he was sure the coast was clear, Hikaru led Mako across the street into another dark walkway.

They stopped so that Mako could take a break. Hikaru kept lookout while Mako slumped against a wall.

"Why did your brother go out to the fights? You all seem to know about how the Senshi operate, so why would he risk it?"

Hikaru sighed. "An honor thing I guess. Or you could call it ego. Some people go to the Senshi fights and even participate in them. The Senshi have some of the best fighters from around the Fire Nation. They terrorize the small settlements around these areas. I guess beating them on their own turf is a way of taking back our dignity." Hikaru shook his head. "My brother, however, is just a reckless knucklehead sometimes. He's lucky you still have some humanity. The other warriors would not have hesitated to cut him down. I'm not excusing what you did, but I am still grateful that it wasn't much worse."

"I still don't understand why you're helping me. If someone hurt my little brother, I wouldn't be risking my life to save them."

Hikaru's eyes flickered towards Mako. "Like I said, I get the feeling that you aren't evil by nature. I don't know, I see something in you."

"The spirit of a dragon?" Mako muttered, quoting the person who sent him on this journey.

"Huh? No. I just get the sense that you weren't meant to die here."

You were born for greater things

Mako didn't know what to say to that, and Hikaru didn't offer anything else, so the two men stared at each other in silence. Finally Hikaru decided it was time to go.

"We have to keep moving," He slung Mako's arm around his shoulder and the two started moving again.

"Where are we going?" Mako asked.

"I'm getting you out of here tonight," Hikaru said plainly. "But first, there is someone who wants to see you."

Mako gave him a worried look.

"Don't worry, it's not an angry hoard of people," he chuckled. "It's the town elder. She is…all knowing is the only way I can describe it. It's hard to explain really. She's kind of like a psychic."

"She sees the future?"

"She can read people's souls. See their true nature."

They moved through the dark streets for a few more blocks, before Hikaru stopped in front of a boarded up building.

"The entrance is around this corner. I have to go get my jeep and some supplies. I'll be back." He turned to go but stopped. He looked back at Mako.

"I hope I was right about you." And with that, he gave Mako a quick nod and disappeared.

Let the redemption process begin

A/N: guys, I don't know why Mako has spent a majority of this story getting his butt kicked. I didn't intend for this to happen! (Clearly, I need more hugs or something) But on the bright side, Mako finally has someone in his corner! And Bolin made a new friend! Things are looking up, maybe.

Review if I did something right. Follow/Fave if you haven't already.

Emmy