Don't Think Twice

Intro: Avatar: The Last Airbender Theme

Chapter 9: Turmoil

In the pro-bending gym, Blaze was currently training Mako on how to become better with his firebending. Mako was a darn good firebender himself, but to prepare for the tournament, he asked Blaze for her help to train him. Ever since Blaze accepted the offer, Mako has been getting beat to a pulp in their training sessions. It's not because Mako sucks as a firebender, because he clearly doesn't. Though, Blaze could tell that a lot was on his mind, and that same mental turmoil was causing him to be off his game.

"Where was the power in that fireball?! I know you can do better than that!" Blaze exclaimed, shooting her own fireball at Mako.

Mako's eyes widened, dodging the fireball at the last second by the skin of his teeth. He was panting heavily, now getting frustrated. "Oh, I'll show you power!" he replied, now sending multiple fireblasts at Blaze.

Blaze, using her great agility, dodged the fireblasts effortlessly. With each one she dodged, she was getting closer and closer to Mako's position. When she finally got close enough, to the point where she could blast him at point blank range, Blaze only punched him in his chest, knocking him down to the floor.

This was the billionth time this has happened to him ever since they started training, and the person that would have a front row seat to all of this would be Bolin. He could only sigh as he watched his brother lose to Blaze yet again.

Mako looked up to see Blaze standing over him, having her hands on her hips. "Something's bothering you."

Mako would instantly refute that statement. "What? There's nothing bothering me."

"I can tell by the way you're moving that something is bothering you. Everything about you, your form, your firebending, is the definition of sloppy right now."

"Look! I'm fine, okay? Maybe I'm getting bothered because you keep on saying that something is bothering me!" Mako retorted, getting up and angrily left the gym. Blaze's eyes lit up in anger, not believing that Mako would just walk away like that.

"What is his problem?! I'm the one that's trying to help him!" Blaze shouted, with Bolin being silent in the background for a short moment, watching everything that would go on. Maybe giving Blaze more of an in-depth look at his brother would help her understand him.

"Mako's a complicated dude, Blaze." He told her, Blaze folding her arms as she was clearly still annoyed.

"Don't have to tell me that. That's quite obvious," Blaze replied, Bolin making a frown.

"There's a lot that goes on inside his head, and that hasn't changed in a long time. He doesn't really like to show his emotions that much, but when he does… Well, you get outbursts like that." Bolin was obviously referring to the outburst that Mako just had, Blaze now giving her full attention to Bolin.

"But why is he like that?" she asked curiously, the question making Bolin look down at the floor in a sad manner.

"Ever since our parents got murdered, he's put a lot of pressure on himself to handle everything. He wasn't just a big brother anymore, he was essentially playing the role of dad and mom at the same time." Bolin explained, Blaze's look turning into surprise.

"Oh…" Blaze said, her tone being a mixture of sadness and awkwardness. "Bolin, I'm so sorry." She replied, now feeling like an idiot.

"You're fine. You had no idea, so there's no reason to blame you." Bolin assured her. "The death of our parents caused him to become really closed up when it came to his emotions. It didn't help that the whole thing happened right in front of us. It's safe to say that both he and I never truly healed after that, but then again, who could?"

Hearing this story, Blaze would walk over to Bolin and sit next to him, having a look of concern. She was about to say something, but Bolin would continue with his story.

"Mako obviously took on more adult responsibilities. Since he became a lot more serious since that day, I've always tried to be positive, as hard as that may be. It's the reason why I am who I am today, the goofy dude that tells jokes all the time for the sole purpose of putting a smile on my brother's face. I guess you could say that's a form of hiding the pain, but that's the only thing I can do, really." Bolin would look to Blaze, officially now giving her a history lesson.

"Our lives after that weren't easy, but I'm sure you kinda already figured that out. We were living on the streets for a long time. That is, until we joined the Triple Threat Triad. We finally started making money, albeit not in the most… legal ways, but we weren't broke anymore. It didn't take long to realize that what we were doing wasn't right, though, and we eventually left. Toza, the dude who owns this gym, offered us a better opportunity instead of getting money from gang related things. If you're wondering why he's putting so much pressure on himself to win this tournament, now you know. He's said it before, but now you really know the true reason behind it."

That last part made Blaze confused in a way. "But isn't Asami rich? You and Mako should be fine because of that, right?"

Bolin shook his head, basically saying no. "There's no guarantee that they're going to be dating forever. I'm sure you know how complicated relationships can get, so that's why he's still putting a lot on the line for this tournament. It also doesn't help that he might not be… Well, fully committed to Asami."

Blaze raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Things aren't working out between them?"

"I don't think it's that. It's more about him being confused, because he also really likes somebody else." Bolin paused, peaking Blaze's curiosity.

"Who?" Blaze asked.

Bolin made another pause, before finally revealing who it was.

"Korra."

We go back to Air Temple Island, where Sonic was still sitting by the water. He was doing this for long periods of time, reminiscing about all the good times he's had with Uncle Chuck. What he wasn't expecting, though, was a hand to touch his back.

When Sonic looked behind him, it was Tails trying to comfort his best friend. Knuckles was right beside him, trying to make Sonic feel better by rubbing his back. They knew exactly what day it was.

"Today's that day, huh?" Tails spoke, Sonic only replying with a nod, looking back at the water.

"You know, Uncle Chuck would be really proud of you for all the good you've done. Can't even count the amount of times you've saved the day over the years." Knuckles told him, showing a smile.

His two best friends trying to make him feel better put a smile on Sonic's face. It's good to know that even with all the drama, world traveling, and all the other crap, he could always count on his two best friends to be there for him.

Sonic got up, still keeping his smile as he looked at the two of them. When he looked at them, it gave his adventures a form of validation. Not only has he saved his world countless times, but along the way, he couldn't dream of making better friends.

Uncle Chuck would definitely be proud and so, so happy for him.

"Thanks guys."

That's when Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles would all embrace in a group hug, showing the bond they had.

It would only be a couple hours after that where Sonic would get himself together, being in the middle of the Air Temple Island training grounds. He was actually practicing some airbending forms that Tenzin was trying to teach him and Korra. He didn't think he would end up doing this, but this honestly took a lot off his mind. Him just being alone, practicing forms even though he can't airbend.

It was a nice distraction.

He thought he would be alone for a good amount of time, until somebody would show up on the island.

From the corner of Sonic's eye, he saw that a certain firebender boy would decide to grace him with his presence.

"Mako?"

"Hey Sonic, what's up?" Mako said.

"Ah, nothing much. The usual." Sonic would decide to not go all sob story on Mako today. There's only so many times that he can talk about the story. "So, what brings you to the island?"

Mako scratched the back of his head, thinking about what he wanted to say, but didn't quite know how to put it out there yet. "What brings me to the island?" he repeated, still thinking on how he wanted to say this. "I actually wanted to talk to you."

That caught Sonic's attention. "Uh oh, don't tell me Blaze burned down the entire gym." He said, sounding worried.

Mako shook his head. "No, it's not that."

Sonic had a sigh of relief. "Phew, that's good to know." He said, continuing to look at Mako. "If it's not that, then what is it?"

Mako still wasn't sure how to put it into words. Heck, should he even mention this to Sonic? God, this was so frustrating. Mako's reluctance to say anything was starting to annoy Sonic.

"Spit it out, man. Whaddya wanna talk about?" Sonic asked, now pushing Mako to speak as he was now tapping his foot, signaling that he was getting impatient. "I'm waaiiiiitiiiiiing."

Mako closed his eyes, figuring that there was no way out of this now. He would take a deep breath, opening his eyes and looked directly at Sonic. "Has Korra… mentioned anything about me?"

Uh oh, Sonic knew where this was going. He didn't know that he would be caught in the middle of it, though.

"Why do you want to know?" Sonic replied. "Is everything good with you and Asami?"

"Oh, everything's fine. We couldn't be better." Mako was telling the truth.

"Then why are you concerned about Korra if everything is all handy dandy? Is something wrong with Asami?"

Mako shook his head once more, waving his hands this time. "No, no! Asami's great. She's an awesome girlfriend, really."

"But you also have feelings for Korra. That's where this conversation is headed, right?" Sonic asked him, already knowing what the answer would be, but he wanted to hear it come from Mako's mouth.

Mako sighed, looking down at the ground in shame. "Yeah… I have feelings for Korra too."

"And you came to me to talk about this, why?" Sonic continued his questioning, wanting to hear what Mako wanted to say.

"I mean, you and Korra spend a lot of time together. I was just wondering if… You know, if it was possible she felt the same way about me?"

Sonic remained silent for a minute, before shrugging. He wouldn't rat out Korra like that. He would sit down, motioning for Mako to sit with him. Mako would accept Sonic's offer, sitting by him to hear what he had to say.

"That's classified information. But, I will try to help you in some other way." Sonic told him. "First, what do you like about Korra?"

Mako looked to the sky as he answered this question. "Oh man, where do I start? Well, she's brave, she's selfless, she's loyal, and it also doesn't hurt that she's beautiful." He told Sonic, earning a nod from the blue blur. That wouldn't stop his line of questioning, though.

"But isn't Asami all of those things too?"

"Yeah, she definitely is." Mako confirmed.

"Then that makes me ask the same question again, why are you so concerned about Korra?"

"It's because I'm confused, okay?!" Mako exclaimed, Sonic's face being blank. Mako realized how his tone sounded, making himself sigh as he touched the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry. It's just that my mind hasn't been the greatest as of late. I was training with Blaze and it's like I couldn't even hit her. This wasn't the first time that this happened either. This has happened literally every time we've had a sparring session. Blaze is convinced that something is bothering me. I didn't want to accept it at first… but she may be right after all."

Hearing this, Sonic took everything in, clearly noticing how truly frustrated Mako was. Why was he always stuck with the role of giving people advice?

Guess that's what comes with being a hero.

"Well man, that thing comes down to you. You gotta decide whether or not you want to be with Asami or go after Korra. That is your choice. I'm not a love doctor whatsoever, but I can at least tell you that." Sonic said. Though, he wasn't done.

"There's gotta be more to it than that, though. Relationship drama can't be the only thing that's driving you crazy, right? Somebody doesn't just come all the way over here to only talk about that mess."

Now we're getting more personal, we're getting into the nitty gritty.

Mako looked to Sonic, agreeing with him. "You're right. There is more to it than that." He confirmed. "Winning this tournament could change so much for me and Bolin. We would finally be set for life and not broke. Seems like all our life, we've been struggling to survive. This might be the only chance we get, because who says that we're gonna have a pro-bending season like this again?"

Mako wasn't finished, but this made Sonic think back to the first night he met him, Korra, and Bolin. He did mention that they lived on the streets before, but never expanded upon it.

Maybe he would get that expansion now.

"Ever since our parents died, things would never be the same."

The History of Mako & Bolin

Mako and Bolin could be seen playing with their mom and dad. Mako and Bolin were running full speed around the house, yelling, "You guys can't catch us!"

"Don't be too sure about that, boys!" Naoki yelled, winking at her husband as they chased their sons around. San would wink back, going the other way as they set their plan in motion.

As Bolin and Mako continued to run, they would look behind them to see how much distance they made from their parents. They saw that Naoki was still chasing them, but San was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, where did dad go-"

Before Bolin could finish, San had cut his sons' pathway off, suddenly picking up Bolin and smiled widely. "Haha! I got you!"

"Where in the world did you come from?!" Bolin exclaimed. Mako was now distracted, and it caused him to be picked up by Naoki.

"Gotchya, Mako!"

"No fair, I was distracted!"

At the end of the game, all of them started laughing, showing the joy in their family that was once always there.

"Mom and Dad meant the world to us. It's going to start off like a typical, happy family story, but honestly, that's how it was. We were truly a happy family, and it seemed like nothing would be able to break us apart."

We transfer to another scene where the family was walking down the streets of Republic City, having a nice time out. "Hey mom, how about we go to the park after this?" Mako asked. "I'm sure it would be fun!"

"That's up to your father, dear." Naoki replied with a smile, turning to San. San could only laugh and shake his head.

"Sure, why not? Walking is good exercise anyway." San said, with Mako and Bolin saying, "Yay!" in unison.

As they were making their way to the park, they noticed that a figure was standing in their way. The family started walking slowly until they came to a halt. San would decide to speak to this man.

"Excuse me, sir, but we're trying to get into the park here." He told him, the man now coming closer to the family, his hands being lit with flames.

"And I'm trying to get some money. So how about you hand it over before anyone gets hurt?" the mugger said, the family now taking a few steps back.

"Mommy, I'm scared!" Bolin said, Naoki putting her arm around him.

"Don't worry, sweetie. Everything's going to be fine."

Mako was quite frightened by this as well, but he was more quiet than Bolin was. San, deciding that it would be best to just give the mugger what he wanted, gave him his money so his family could be safe.

But that's not all the mugger wanted.

"Your turn, lady!" he said, turning to Naoki. It's clear that she wasn't prepared for the mugger to come to her. She was all over the place, trying to get her money out, but she was taking too long for the mugger's taste.

"You think this is a game?!" the mugger yelled, now coming after Naoki with his fists having a large amount of fire. Before the mugger could strike Naoki, though, San jumped in front of her, taking the blow. The flaming fist that the mugger had went right through San's chest, making him cough up blood as his eyes turned to white. When the mugger took his fist out of San's chest, San fell to the ground, his eyes being nothing but white as his family could only look on in nothing but horror.

"OH GOD, OH GOD, SAN!" Naoki yelled.

"DADDY!" Mako and Bolin shouted, tears now coming to their eyes.

"You're too loud for my liking!" the mugger told Naoki, now coming after her.

"RUN, BOLIN! RUN, MAKO!" Naoki shouted at the top of her lungs, before a flaming fist went right through her stomach, blood now coming down from her mouth.

"MOMMY!" Bolin and Mako yelled, seeing their mother fall to the ground, looking as lifeless as her husband, falling on top of him. A pool of blood was now forming under them, the mugger now coming towards Naoki's body and took her money. The mugger would look at the traumatized faces of Mako and Bolin, before running away as fast as he could.

Bolin was crying his eyes out, while Mako was trying to process what just happened. This couldn't have happened. No, it had to be a dream.

Mako dropped to his knees, his tears dropping on his dead parent's bodies.

They were gone forever.

"But I was wrong. I guess the only thing that could break us apart was life itself."

End of Flashback

Now knowing Mako's story, Sonic wasn't sure what to say. "After that, Bolin and I lived on the streets. You already knew that part, but how we survived on the streets is a whole different story. I tried my absolute hardest to take care of Bolin, but I couldn't do it without the money. We joined the Triple Threat Triad, and that's how we stopped being broke for a while. But then we realized if we kept on going down this dark path, there wouldn't be a good ending for us. Toza, a guy I assume you met because you entered his gym on the night we met, gave us a chance at a new life. Ever since then, Bolin and I have been pro-bending."

Finishing his story, Mako was now silent. It was tough for him to talk about these events and replay them in his head, but somehow, he did it. Sonic was still trying to figure out what to say. I mean, seeing your parents get murdered in cold blood like that? How in the world does he reply to that?

"I'm sorry, Mako. I know what it's like to lose somebody you love, so your story really hits home." Sonic told him, now understanding why Blaze apparently said that Mako was all over the place when it came to his mental state. It's stuck with him for a long time, probably ever since it happened, but since the opportunity is now there for him, the opportunity to live a better life if he won the tournament, which is something that he once considered an impossibility… All of it is coming right back in his face, and he's feeling the pressure.

"I lost my uncle a long time ago. It's tough to move on from something like that, especially when you were so close with those people. The important thing is that we make sure they live on in not only our hearts, but we need to continue their legacy with our actions. Your childhood was essentially stripped from you, but you took on the challenge of becoming an adult so quickly. That right there is incredible, and it shows the type of person you are. I know for a fact if your parents could see you and Bolin now, they would be so proud of you guys."

Mako listened to Sonic, taking his words to heart. A small smile appeared on his face, feeling that he was getting kinda teary eyed. He wouldn't cry, though. He would hold it in.

"Thanks, Sonic." He told him, now looking at his scarf. "This scarf was my dad's... It's the only thing I have left of him. I'd like to think that me having his scarf makes me feel like he's still here with me, and I'm continuing his legacy as long as I'm living." Mako explained, revealing how much his scarf meant to him. Sonic's eyes went into realization mode, now knowing why Mako wears that red scarf all the time. "I can see why Korra likes to talk to you so much. You give people hope." Mako said, smiling.

Sonic shrugged, smiling himself. "Hey, that's what I hope to accomplish. I'm always trying to help people, especially my friends."

Sonic put out his fist for a fist bump, Mako realizing what he wanted to do and did the same, their fists connecting. Truth be told, this was the first time Sonic and Mako really sat down with each other and just talked.

Right here, this was the moment that they became friends.

"You know, I'm really glad I came here now. That was a talk that I needed." Mako said, getting back on his feet with Sonic doing the same. "And, uh… Sorry about your uncle."

"Ah, it's alright. Don't worry about me, just wanted to help you out." Sonic said. Before Mako could say anything else, that's when Korra showed herself.

BGM: Aaliyah - At Your Best (You Are Love)

"Hey Mako! Didn't know you were here!" She told him, clearly being happy to see him. Probably a bit overly happy? Who knows?

"Oh. Hey, Korra." Mako said, being happy to see her as well. Him being here made Korra think.

"Oh no, don't tell me Blaze burned down the gym!" Korra exclaimed.

Again with the Blaze burning down the gym theory. My goodness, they had no faith in her.

"Why does everyone think Blaze burned down the gym?" Mako replied, referring to Sonic by a look because he said the same thing.

"Oh, trust me. She's like that." Sonic confirmed, giving Mako a warning.

Mako could only shake his head, laughing a bit. "She's fiiiiine. She wouldn't do that… Right?" he asked, now remembering how he spoke to Blaze before he left.

Oh God, the gym may have been burned down by now.

Before he could go, Korra grabbed Mako by the hand. "Oh! Since you're here, you might as well stay to eat something!" she told him, Mako now blushing as Korra grabbed his hand.

"Korra, I-"

"LET'S GO!" She exclaimed, now pulling him away, Mako now finding it futile to do anything due to Korra's strength.

"But Korra, I'm not even hungry!" Mako said, but Korra wasn't listening to him. The main thing Korra wanted to do was to spend time with Mako.

That left Sonic alone, leaving him to watch as Korra dragged Mako to the kitchen. His face was blank, but he felt weird inside as he saw the two run off.

But why would he feel weird at seeing the two run off? That doesn't make any sense.

He continued to look on until they were out of sight, honestly not knowing why he was feeling the way he was feeling, nor could he tell what he was feeling.

Odd.

END OF CHAPTER 9: TURMOIL

BGM: Sonic R – Number One

Tails: Thanks for showing us around, Asami! This is definitely a mechanic's dream!

Asami: Aw, well I'm glad you like it, Tails.

Knuckles: What's wrong, Asami? You don't sound right.

Asami: Oh, I'm fine.

Sonic: BULLCRAP!

Next time on Don't Think Twice!

Turning Point

Sonic: Why am I scared at the next chapter's title…?

Author's Note: And chapter 9 is in the books! Everybody's getting closer with each other, huh? Chapter 10 is going to be the real turning point, though, and I can't wait for you guys to read it because it's gonna dive into Asami's character. As always, if you like what you read, leave a follow and a favorite. And like I always say, READ AND REVIEW!

Also, it's officially been like a year since this story's been released. Wow, time flies. Is this an anniversary chapter? I don't know, lol. If you guys want to see a mini special of some sorts, let me know!