The Forgotten Child
Onesmartcookie78
Summary: "You're," she pauses, "you're orphans? I didn't know you were—"
"You didn't know we—what, did you think we just like hanging around in alleys?"
Or: Lin and Tenzin have a child, but Tenzin doesn't know it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Korra or Avatar: The Last Airbender, but I do own any of the characters you don't recognize
A/N: So I continue to receive more attention for this fic on AO3 than I do on FFnet. Considering how much of a pain it is to upload fics on FFnet, I'm wondering if I should continue to post on AO3 and stop posting here.
At any rate, happy Thanksgiving to my American viewers! Stay safe and healthy-I know it's tempting to spend time with friends and family that you haven't been able to see in months, but covid is real and it's dangerous to gather indoors with people outside of your pod. If you absolutely must see your family, please make sure to gather outdoors!
MAKO
He hastily excuses himself from his conversation with the girl, with Sarri, and leaves the police station. He's irritated because he'd been forced to wait around all night until they'd actually found the children and, beyond that, he still feels guilty for having been the cause of Sarri's abduction in the first place. Sure, he'd informed the police that Shady Shin was keeping the kids at the docks, and sure, he'd apologized to her, but that didn't make him feel any less bad for his actions.
He should have never trusted Shady Shin, never believed that it was a simple robbery. He knew that she was a non-bender, just a weak little girl, and he'd heard the whispers on the streets about non-bending orphans going missing, but he'd never even considered that Shin might take her. If anything had happened to her, to Sarri, then he would—guilt twists at the pit of his stomach once more and he feels physically sick.
No. He isn't willing to go there.
It's not his fault. He was just trying to make some money, just trying to support his brother, just trying to survive. It was Shady Shin who decided to kidnap her, who decided to take those kids off the streets and lock them in cages to sell to the highest bidder. And Mako had helped stop that, hadn't he? So, he has no reason to feel guilty, no reason to feel bad; because, in the end, he had done the right thing.
Speaking of Shady Shin, Mako realizes that he has a problem as soon as he sets foot in a familiar alleyway right down the street from where he and Bolin are staying and bumps into the man himself. And, boy, does he look angry.
"Mako," Shady Shin greats him with a lazy smirk. "So nice to see you."
Mako suppresses a gulp, trying not to outwardly show any signs of weakness; if he does, Shin will pounce on him and show no mercy. No, he has to remain impassive, has to remain collected.
Because he had failed to consider the fact that Shady Shin might find out that he had tipped off the police.
Well, that's not strictly true. He had briefly considered the possibility that Shin would know he'd snitched, but it had been little more than a passing thought, a brief consideration that had melted into fear, fear of what it would mean to have been the reason behind a little girl being sold into, presumably, some sort of slavery. Even though it wasn't his fault, even though he isn't to blame, he would still have felt that same sickening guilt. And so, he'd pushed away the thought of what might happen if he'd gotten caught, if Shin were to find out, and now here he is, having to deal with the repercussions of his actions.
"Shin," he greets in return, swallowing his misgivings, swallowing his fear.
"A little birdie told me," Shady Shin begins, "that you stopped by the little girl's house."
That, he can't deny. Mako inclines his head. "I did," he confirms.
Shin's grin widens; he's tasted blood. "And why would you do that, kid?"
Mako swallows. Maybe he doesn't know, he thinks, maybe he only thinks I went to check on her. "Just wanted to see how she was doing," he says with a casual shrug. He neglects her name, refrains from saying it (and he's not sure if he does so because even hearing it fills him with guilt, because it reminds him of what had almost happened to her, or if it's in some effort to protect her, her identity.)
"That so?" Shin asks. He raises a hand to his chin in contemplation. "Little birdie also said you'd swung by the station."
Mako tries to remain calm, he really does, but he can feel his eyes widening in response, in fear. "I did," he acknowledges, shrugging again. "That a crime?"
Shin's smirk threatens to split his face in two. "Ya know, Mako," he says, his eyes narrowing until all Mako can see is beady black pupils and dark blue irises, no trace of whites in sight. "I always took ya for a smart kid," he says. "Much smarter than that brother of yours, at any rate," he adds with an amused chuckle. "But you really fucked up today, huh?"
"I don't know what you mean," Mako says, voice tight. He doesn't know, he's just trying to intimidate you, don't give anything away.
"Sure you do," Shin prompts, "allow me to refresh your memory."
And with that, Mako's world explodes in pain.