Author's Note: despite being reassured that she would be completely restored, it must be strange for Korra's parents seeing that their daughter is still somewhat blue all over...will she finally get back to normal?
The rest of the day was spent showing Korra's parents around the chocolate factory. She, along with Bumi and Mako, took Tonraq and Senna to all the rooms they visited, and gave commentary to what had happened in each room. Both Korra and Mako were relieved when they took the Bumi-vator in turns to all the rooms. They didn't want Tonraq and Senna to be terrorized by the boat trip. The Avatar's parents were frightened when a more-detailed story of Korra's transformation was told to them while they were in the Inventing Room. Korra herself grew queasy upon spotting the machine that made the three-course dinner chewing gum. Thankfully, Mako put his arm around Korra's shoulder in gentle reassurance, which did make her feel better.
Finally, the day was ending as the sun got low in the sky. Unfortunately, Korra still couldn't leave the factory as her skin was still a vibrant sky blue. Bumi was kind enough to offer her parents a room at an upscale hotel near his factory, which they gratefully accepted. Korra shared a hug with her mother and father, who promised to be back in the morning to return home together. But it was a moot point if Korra' skin had not returned to its normal pigment by then.
Realizing they might not see each other again for a while, Mako and Korra agreed to have a makeshift camp out in the Chocolate Room that night. Bumi could tell by from the looks in their eyes that this was going to be a romantic situation, and gave strict orders to his Oompa-Loompas to not disturb the two teenagers. The lights in the Chocolate Room had been dimmed, and the only sounds echoing through the room was the flowing of the chocolate river and the chocolate waterfall cascading down.
Mako and Korra were lying on a blanket, looking around at the bright colors of the edible pieces of the room, and also looking at each other.
"I know I told you this before," Korra said sincerely to her crush. "But you totally deserve this, Mako. You've worked so hard for so long, and now you've finally gotten it."
"It's better knowing that I get to share this with you, and with Keira, too," Mako replied. He knew that Korra would be heading home tomorrow at the earliest, so he wanted to make the most of this evening.
"Did you ever think of one day moving here," the firebender asked.
"I did," Korra answered. "I knew that I would come back to Republic City one day, although it would probably be for my Avatar duties first, and meeting with you again second."
The Avatar paused and added, "But I never thought that when I came back all of this would happen."
Korra gestured to herself, indicating her light-blue skin. True to Bumi's word, the blue pigment was fading away rapidly. Korra would probably be completely restored by morning.
"Neither did I," Mako agreed as he slid closer to Korra. He then took her hand and gave it a squeeze. In response, Korra leaned toward him and pressed a kiss to his mouth, which Mako returned. He was pleasantly surprised to feel the taste of blueberries on Korra's lips.
"I wanted to thank you, City Boy," Korra said kindly. "For everything you did while I was still a big blueberry and after I was juiced. This just proves you're worthy of running this place when Bumi can't do it anymore."
Mako simply hummed his agreement, and laid back down, pulling Korra with him. Their slumber was peaceful and lengthy, and upon morning, Mako awoke first. He distinctly remembered Korra telling him that "mornings were evil" and that she couldn't stand them. As Mako turned his head to his friend, his humorous recollection was halted by surprise. Korra was still sleeping, but Mako had expected that. What prompted his surprise was that Korra's skin had completely reverted back to its original mocha hue. He knew that she would be happy to see herself fully restored, but he also got a ping of sadness, knowing she would be heading back home.
"Korra? Wake up," Mako said gently as he nudged her shoulder. "There's something you need to see."
Korra stirred and wearily blinked open her eyes. Her brow was furrowed with slight annoyance as she said, "Mako, what's so urgent that you had to wake me so soon for? Just because firebenders rise with the sun, doesn't mean everybody should."
Mako gently took Korra's hand and kissed it, and then lifted it up to eye level. "Take a look for yourself."
Korra drew a breath of surprise upon seeing her hand. She then quickly drew some water out of the air, and froze it to ice. Looking at her reflection in the ice, Korra was elated to see that her skin was no longer blue.
"Oh, thank goodness," Korra cried happily as her tired feelings dissipated. "Now I don't have to be cooped up indoors anymore! I can finally…"
But the Avatar trailed off as she realized she would be going home today; leaving Mako behind. She turned to him, but Mako simply gave her a sad and understanding smile. After sharing a hug, the two teenagers got up to get Korra ready for her journey home.
Several hours later, Korra was once again with her parents, who along with Mako and Keira, were standing at the docks and about to exchange farewells before the next boat left for the South Pole. Bumi had already given Korra his farewells, along with assuring her that her first installment of her lifetime supply of chocolate/candy would be delivered to her very soon.
Surprisingly, Korra actually then apologized to Bumi for snagging his three-course dinner chewing gum, and all the trouble she put his Oompa-Loompas through. Bumi waved it off, saying he had slightly expected it to happen, and the fact that she was now restored was all that mattered. Korra then gave Bumi a brief hug and thanked him for the tour before she, Mako and Keira went to meet up with Tonraq and Senna.
Korra had knelt down to hug Keira, who was nearly in tears to see her new friend leave.
"You're so awesome, Korra! I'm going to miss you so much," Keira whimpered.
Korra drew out of the hug to wipe away the tears of the little waterbender. "Don't you worry, Keira. You add whatever you want to the letters that Mako writes to me, and we'll see each other again someday. I promise."
Keira nodded with vigor, and Korra stood back up to hug Mako one more time. As they embraced, Korra whispered in his ear, "Again, thank you for taking care of me while I was a blueberry, Mako. I will always love you."
"And will I to you, Korra," Mako replied. They broke off the hug and shared a quick kiss. They would have made it longer, but Korra's father was watching them like an eagle-hawk, and neither of them still felt comfortable if he was watching. But as they both turned to Tonraq and Senna, Korra's father was smiling kindly.
"Again, thank you for watching out for our daughter when we weren't able to," he said. "Korra told us so much about you from your letters and it pleases me to now know you are everything she said you are, Mako."
The new heir to the Bumi Chocolate Factory felt a surge of pride well up inside him as he replied, "Thank you, Tonraq. I will never disappoint you, your wife, or your daughter."
"I'll hold you to it, son," Tonraq added as he and Mako firmly shook hands. Senna then came forward to embrace Mako as well.
"If you ever find the time, you are always welcome in our home, Mako," she said with the tone of a loving mother. Mako whispered his thanks, as he blinked back tears. It had been so long since he had a father or mother figure in his life. Now, thanks to Bumi, and Korra too, Mako was finally getting his life back to normal.
Finally, the order was given for passengers to begin boarding the boat. The group of five people gathered together for a group hug, and then gave Korra and Mako one last moment together. As they shared a deeper kiss than the one before, Mako nodded his head to the bag on Korra's shoulder and whispered to the Avatar, "I packed a special surprise in your bag for you, sweetie. Don't open it until the boat leaves."
Korra nodded, and turned to join her parents, who were already on board. Mako stood rooted to the spot until he couldn't see Korra anymore.
"Well, shall we go back," he asked Keira.
"You don't want to stay and wave good-bye," Keira confusingly questioned.
"It will just be more disheartening seeing Korra leave," Mako stated as he and Keira started walking. "Besides, we should head back to the factory before we get mobbed. I'm a pretty popular guy seeing as how I found one of the Golden Tickets, and I'll be even more so when Bumi and I announce that I'm the heir to the factory."
"HEY! There he is! That's Mako, the guy who found the last golden ticket!"
Mako's head turned toward the excited shout and saw a group of about half a dozen reporters rushing towards him and Keira.
"See what I mean," Mako said in a half-joking tone.
"We'd better split," Keira agreed as she snagged Mako's hand. The two immediately turned and started running, trying to lose the reporters. The media members had no idea they had just missed the opportunity to talk to another golden ticket winner. Korra had been watching from the deck railing of the boat and laughed at the sight of Mako and Keira having to duck and dodge the reporters. She would miss Mako, and was very curious to what he had left for her in her bag. But despite her impatience, the Avatar would honor her pen pal's wishes and wait until the boat had left Republic City.
Hours later, night had fallen on the seas, and Korra's parents were already in bed. It would be a while before they reached the South Pole. Korra had wanted to open Mako's present to her when she could no longer see Republic City, but her mother and father had wanted to catch up. So, the Avatar and her parents did just that.
Now that she was alone and still awake, Korra opened her bag and carefully dug through it until she found a plain-looking white box with an envelope taped to the lid. As she lifted it out of her bag, Korra caught a very familiar scent coming from inside the box. The scent had been associated with her unfortunate accident at the factory days before. Korra opened the box, and wasn't sure whether to be irritated or amused at what she saw inside.
Laying inside the box was a freshly-baked blueberry pie!
Korra was quite taken aback; why would Mako have given her a blueberry pie? Certainly, it wasn't to embarrass her. Remembering the envelope, Korra closed the box and set it down; she then snagged the envelope and opened it. Inside was a letter:
Hey Korra!
I'm guessing you've already opened your present. Before you get too angry, just hear me out. I'm certain that what happened to you was humiliating, but you shouldn't let one accident like that get you down. Don't let it stop you from being ambitious and trying new things, or doing things you already love. Before you started becoming one yourself, I could tell you were really enjoying the gum, including the dessert. And since you couldn't really enjoy it when you were becoming a blueberry, I figured you deserved a second chance to do so. Don't worry! You won't swell back up and there's nothing to fear. Until we meet again, keep being yourself, because that's the girl who I fell in love with. But also, don't ever stop trying to be a better person. See you again soon, Korra…aka, My Blueberry Girl!
Love, Mako
Korra couldn't help but laugh a little at Mako's nickname for her. She had a feeling he would be calling her that a lot the next time they saw each other. She also realized that Mako had a point in his letter. By giving up chewing gum, she was already trying to be a better person. And despite being wary of the blueberry pie, Korra also knew that she truly had nothing to fear. Sticking the letter back in her bag, Korra took the box that held the pie and headed for the ship's galley. If she wanted to put her fears to bed, she figured now was a better time than ever to do so.
A/N: Korra is now completly back to normal! But when are she and Mako really going to be together? There's more to get through before we arrive at that juncture!