AUTHOR'S NOTE
I decided to write a series about Mako cause he totally deserves the attention. This story will explore some of Mako's past trauma and current relationship (especially with his brother, Bolin). I'm not really good at writing so I hope I'm not gonna disappoint you guys.
Anyway, I might be a little slow (or really slow) on updating cause I'm a quite busy person, but I'll try my best. Enjoy the story!
Chapter 1: Nightmare
The smoke stings his nose with smells of charred woods. Mako is jolted awake. He instinctively opens his eyes, only to close them again as they aren't ready to endure the hot fumes.
Shit! Shouldn't have done that. It stings as hell.
After a good two or three seconds of adjustment, he opens his eyes back and tries to gain enough senses of his surroundings. The smoke comes beyond his room's door, "Now please don't tell me our apartment is on fire." Mako jumps out from his bed and literally flies from there to his door. He grabs its hold and shock overloads his thought. His apartment is indeed on fire!
He scans his home and sees that his brother's room is still shut. "Bolin! The place is on fire. Wake up, bro! Gotta get out of here fast." As he shouts over for his brother, Mako tries his best to calm the fire and pave his way to Bolin's room. His firebending is working – to some degree. The fire is already too spread out.
When he finally reaches his brother's room, he just goes straight kicking the door. No use in knocking anyway. Mako enters Bolin's room, expecting to meet his brother – preferably not unconscious. It would be a ton of work to get out and carry his brother in the middle of this chaos.
Mako doesn't expect however to find what lies in front of him. He is not in Bolin's room. The place is definitely not Bolin's room, yet it seems familiar.
"Help! Help me!", someone, a woman by the voice, shouts from deep within the sea of fire and smoke. "Who's there? Don't worry I'm coming."
Again, thanks to his bending, Mako marches his way into the fire. His eyes spot a figure lying in on the floor. Mako is about to move when suddenly the roof collapses. "No!"
The woman is buried under the rubbles. Mako channels all his strength to dig her out. "Don't worry Ma'am, I've got you." It takes some effort, but Mako can finally see the woman's face.
He meets eyes with her and waves of disbelief smash his head. The woman's eyes are never forgotten from Mako's thought nor heart. They are as amber as his own. "Mom?"
Mako freezes, his body is as still as rocks. With quick quite glances, Mako finally recognizes the room. The wood cabinet, still somewhat visible and a bit intact despite the smoke and the fire, is where his children books lie. He immediately spots a book with red cover and golden line. The book is once his favorite: The Dance of Dragons. It tells tales of dragons of old, rode by great firebenders such as Avatar Roku and several Fire Lords. A large bed which is actually not that large now that Mako is an adult lies in the right corner of the room. Flames already engulfing it, painting it in reddish color of fire and blackness of burned woods. It was used to be his bed that he shared with his little brother in his childhood. The room he is in is his childhood bedroom. Before all the flames engulfed it in the night that firebender mug bragged into his house and claimed his parents' life (and his and his brother's childhood).
His silent and quick study of the room and his shock of staring eyes to eyes with his mother prevent Mako from noticing the collapsing floor under him until it is too late. Mako is pulled under along with the floor into a pit of complete darkness. "No! Mom! Mom!"
His fall is stopped suddenly as he lands on a mud pool. "Ahh", Mako grumbles at the sticky mud. He cleans himself a bit while catching in his surroundings.
This looks like Republic City's Spirit Wilds. Well, at least before Korra replacing it with a portal.
It's night already and the place is a bit dark as only a bit of moonlight can pass the canopy. Mako opens his right palm and tries to conjure a small fire. Strangely, he can only manage some sparks. "What?" He tries again and it takes him a little more force to finally able to produce a flame. "Okay, that's weird."
He then hears blurry voices coming deep within the vines. Taken by slight curiosity and much to his logic's protests, Mako ventures into the wilds. "Mako...", said the blurry sound. The sound feels familiar to Mako. "Who's there?"
"Mako... Help me." The sound replies, weak as of fading. Mako runs a bit to track the sound. He cuts through some bush and large roots and curtain of vines. He is almost stumbled by the smaller vines several times. "Hey, where are you?"
"Mako. Mako!" The sound replies again, weaker than before. Mako tracks it to a large tree behind him, the sound comes from the other side of the tree.
Mako is flooded with shock upon finding Bolin to be the one calling for him. To put it simple, the tree is eating his younger brother. The earthbender's face is the only thing visible now from outside world. "Bolin! Hey, I'm here. I'm gonna get you out. Don't worry baby bro." Mako tries to pull some trunk. He considers using fire, but he's afraid of burning Bolin all together with the tree. "Mako." Bolin calls to him. "Not now, Bo. I'm kinda busy here."
Bolin screams out of sudden, "Mako, the tree!"
Mako is startled by Bolin's warning and it's then when he sees that roots are emerging from the ground below, from the tree, and even from the sky above. The tree is trying to catch Mako as well. Mako instantly move backward to evade them.
Then, everything goes pitch black.
.
.
Mako sits up abruptly with his eyes wide open, but his vision is all blurry. His breathing is a bit erratic, though not in an alarming state. His body is all covered in cold sweat. "It's just a dream, just another dream" Mako tries to compose himself, trying his best to steady his breathing.
In and out. In and out.
Mako always finds the breathing technique of firebending as soothing. It calms him.
After a minute or two of just breathing, Mako looks at the clock, it's 2 in the morning. "Better go back to sleep." The firebender pulls back his blanket and rests himself back to his bed. With another help from the breathing exercise, Mako drools back to sleep.