A/N: Flameo, Korra fans! Here I am, riding the wave of the Korra being added to Netflix and the rest of the world catching up with the rest of us. My own rewatch made me think a lot about Mako, and how the writers failed our poor angsty boy. His redemption arc never fully came through, and he never fully came to terms with the fact that he is GAY. I mean, Nickelodeon could barely handle Korrasami. We can only ask for so much.

So I started to think about all the people I'd shipped Mako with at some point during the show's run. And then I decided to create a fic where we could cycle through all of them, in the hopes of giving our angry gay firebender the coming out story he deserves.

Disclaimer: I do not own the stunning gay masterpiece that is The Legend of Korra.

Onward!

"Mako Alone"

By WickedHope

Wu

Mako sometimes wondered if his time with Prince Wu hadn't started to run its course..

The Earth Kingdom was becoming a democracy, and Mako knew that meant a transition of power, just like when Wu took over for his aunt. To Mako, a transition of power meant danger and intrigue, assassins around every corner, an attempt on Wu's life every other day.

But ever since they'd returned to Ba Sing Se, Mako had identified only one enemy: routine, and it was far more terrifying than any he'd ever imagined.

As days grew into weeks of Mako accompanying Wu to meetings and doing push-ups in the hall as he waited outside, Mako thought a lot about his life. Suddenly, the greatest danger he saw was the rising price of a hot meal in the Middle Ring. Republic City's hero cop, the man who'd electrocuted a terrorist with octopus arms and taken down a giant mech, found himself free with nowhere to go at sundown each night. His firebending's most common use became lighting the shitty stove in the apartment he shared with Wu.

His free time filled up with his role of part-time educator, coaxing Wu slowly into the humdrum of ever day life – how to do his laundry, hail a taxi, find a job.

"I think I can go out on my own tonight, actually."

It was a month in when Wu dumped that one on him. He wanted to go out on the town in the Middle Ring, see the night life.

"You're welcome to come, but not as a bodyguard," Wu insisted, taking Mako's hands in his. "As a friend."

Mako stayed home alone that night. And that joined the daily routine, too. Hot desert evenings, watching the sunset alone from their balcony. More push-ups, curl-ups, just to remind his body that it was strong. Flexing his biceps and admiring them in the mirror. Scowling at himself. Spiking up his hair and watching it slowly deflate with the waning light. Repeat.

And before long, months flew by in a blur, like sand caught in Mako's eyes had dulled his vision. As Ba Sing Se prepared for its first election, Wu found more of his days to be free. By extension, so did Mako. In his bored stupor, it hadn't occurred to Mako that Wu stepped down meant he'd be doing less.

"You don't need to be around me so much any more," Wu told him, adding with a sly smirk, "unless you want to be."

Mako resolved to check on Wu three times during the day – mid-morning, noon, and mid-afternoon – before they reconvened at home. So Mako spent the days wandering the city, walking the walls and visiting his grandmother on occasion, all the while peering down every dark alley for some sign of trouble – just to pass the time.

The night before the election, Wu came home with wine. To celebrate. They sat side-by-side on the couch, Wu drinking from a glass, Mako straight from the neck of the bottle. Wu was dressed in a gold-trimmed, green button-up shirt. He sat perched on the edge of his seat, like he was ready to go somewhere. Mako wore a white tank top on top and a pair of underwear, and sat back lounging, legs spread.

"I think I'm going to go back to Republic City," Wu announced, after a long silence.

Mako took a swig from his bottle. "Does that mean you're trying to extend my contract?"

Wu chuckled, sipping from his own wine. He placed it on the coffee table, sliding it away from the edge. "You know, I think I'd actually like to try that bodyguard-free life," Wu replied. "You should see it when I walk out on the street now. People hardly care that I'm the prince. It's great!"

"Good for you," Mako grunted. "So does that mean I get to stop caring about who you are, too?"

He looked sideways at Wu, raising an eyebrow. Wu rubbed his palms against his thighs. Color crept onto his cheeks. Mako couldn't remember ever seeing Wu so bashful.

"Well," Wu began, chewing on his lower lip, "I would like it if you came along. Employee or not."

Mako smirked. "Oh, really?"

Mako's bottle clattered against the stone floor, spilling it's contents. His other hand went for the small of Wu's back. Wu responded eagerly, sliding closer to Mako. His hands found Mako's thick, muscular shoulders, gripping them as their lips collided. Mako kissed Wu hungrily, licking at the sweet taste of wine on the prince's lips. Wu crawled on top of Mako, planting his hips between Mako's legs. Mako undid Wu's pants instinctively. His hands found their way inside, cupping Wu's bare ass and pulling him close. His hips thrust up into Wu as the Prince's lips trailed along his jaw. He licked behind Mako's ear and nibbled on his neck, and Mako let out a moan.

Within minutes, they found the way to the bed. There was only one in the apartment. They'd started sharing a long time ago.

It became part of Mako's routine, almost instantly after they arrived. Mako spent two, maybe three nights on the couch before a little too much wine led to their first kiss. And it was only a kiss that night. But the next night it was hours of kissing, and then their clothes came off and their hands went exploring. For a while they went no further than hands and mouths, their heads bobbing between each other's thighs. But Mako still returned to the couch when they were finished.

One cold night Wu asked Mako to stay in bed all night. After that, he never went back to the couch.

Mako's greatest joy since he'd come to Ba Sing Se was the relief he found in that bed with Wu. Each night – and sometimes each morning – Mako would lean over Wu, sweat dripping off his chin. Wu's fingers clawed into Mako's back as Mako fell into him over and over again. The headboard rattled against the bedroom wall. Wu yelped and Mako groaned, until they silenced each other with their mouths again.

Every time, as soon as they finished and lay panting against their sheets, Mako always expected it to end for him there. The urge to roll over, hang his legs over the side of the bed, and stalk back to the ouch never left him. But each time he stayed, and held Wu against his chest until the quiet rhythm of his breath signaled sleep.

There was a time, years ago, when Lin first assigned Mako as Wu's bodyguard, that the sound of Wu sleeping drove Mako insane. He didn't snore. But Mako couldn't get himself to sleep with the constant knowledge of Wu being there.

Now it lulled Mako to sleep. It comforted him, like their mattress was the beach, and Wu's breath the cold waves washing over Mako, cooling the fire beneath his skin.

As long as it took Mako to stay in bed with Wu, it took him just as long to hold Wu through the night.

It had been so long since he'd held someone through the night like that.

Wu acted nothing like Asami, and even less like Korra. Not brash, nor intuitive, soft, vulnerable, cunning.

Wu was a maverick.

Mako never could have imagined thinking that when he met the prince.

But Wu felt like them.

Encircled in his arms, Wu could've been Korra or Asami, easily. He felt strong, warm. His back nuzzled against Mako's midsection in the same way. His hair was just as soft. His dark skin begged to be kissed, just like theirs.

But Mako couldn't help but wonder if it was just that.

It could have been any of the three of them, and he might not have noticed the difference.

That last night before the election, when they were finished and Wu was drawing circles on Mako's chest with his finger, he asked again. "Would you come back to Republic City with me? As..." Wu swallowed hard. "...as more than a bodyguard."

Instead of answering, Mako trailed down Wu's body with his hands, reaching between Wu's legs.

Wu smacked him away, sitting up sharply. "Don't do that, Mako!"

Mako shook his head, smiling. Almost laughing. "After all this," he waved his hands at the bed, "now it's too much?"

"Answer my question." It was a command, the most princely Mako had ever seen Wu. But his chin just out. His lower lip was wound tight. It trembled.

Mako rolled his eyes, settling his gaze on the couch, far outside the bedroom door. "If Beifong wants me to – "

"No," Wu said, his voice hard. He sprang to his feet, fumbling out from under the sheets.

Grace, Mako thought. Something else Wu lacked.

"I won't be the prince anymore," Wu continued. "Not in practice, anyhow. I've spoken to the ministers. In a few months, I might be able to go on without security. I want to hear what you want to do. Forget Lin. Forget the crown. Do you want to be there with me?"

Mako shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Well, do you?" Wu stamped his foot.

"Wu, you're being..." Hot breath huffed from between Mako's lips. He stared at the wrinkled sheets, gripping them in his fists.

Wu stared. Mako could feel his gaze on the top of his head. "Well, finished the sentence," he pressed. "I'm being what? Mako!"

"Childish!" Mako snapped. "Unrealistic! Stupid! Naive! Are those enough options to finish the fucking sentence?" Mako watched across the bed as Wu's shoulders fell. The prince's mouth hung open.

"I – um..."

Mako's insides lit up like brush. "You know, I don't understand you. There are days where I think maybe you could have led Earth Kingdom, like sometimes you actually choose to screw your head on straight. But then you go and think up shit like this!" Mako flew to his feet. He paced the beside, steam pouring from his nostrils with each hot exhale. "Like it or not, my life doesn't revolve around you. It doesn't have. My sun doesn't rise and set on you just because Lin Beifong told me it should."

Wu folded his arms over his chest. "I never realized I was such a – "

"Burden," Mako spat.

"An obligation."

Mako paused in his warpath. The last thing he needed was one more second doing the same thing over and over again. "That's all you ever were," Mako breathed, the new thought springing intro truth outside his body. He shook his head, frowning at the floor. He motioned from himself to Wu. "This? I won't deny that it happened. And I won't ever deny that it felt good." He bit his lip. "But it was the best thing I could find at the time."

He heard Wu take a sharp breath in, but he didn't look up to see whether or not there'd be tears in his eyes. He hurried into the living room, finding his tank top, pants, jacket, scarf, and stumble into his shoes just in time to step out the door and let it click shut behind him. He wasn't sure he'd ever come back again.

"Don't forget to bolt the door behind me," he grumbled over his shoulder on the way out.

His grandmother's.

That's where he'd go. Sure he'd have to spend his last night in Ba Sing Se regaling her with tales of the fabled prince, but it was a small price to pay. It would be one last night with the prince that lived in his head, but that he could never full will into life.

There wasn't a night in the apartment in Ba Sing Se that I didn't try to reach him.

From the moment we got there, I went to bed every night dreaming he would join me there. Mako had been my lifeline, my path back to life when my reason for being in the world began to disappear. Yes, he scared me. And I knew I annoyed him. I walked too slow on the street, never looked before I crossed. There were days I thought he really did see me like some overgrown child he was saddled with.

But I thought we'd outgrown that when he kissed me that first time.

His lips were too warm. I thought my lips might melt. I could feel fire inside him. He lived like he was afraid that fire might burn him from the inside out.

My body still shakes as I lie in bed alone, quivering with the memory of what we'd done there. But even the sex – frantic and hot – slowly faded to a routine rhythm. Something we needed to do, because if we didn't, he'd explode.

I guess, in the end, even that wasn't enough to keep the explosion at bay.

I used to think Mako had saved me. In my mind, he was the sturdy prod (no pun intended) that pushed me into reality.

And I thought, if I could hang on long enough, I could save him, too. And one day, he might learn to be grateful.

But Mako didn't save me. I saved me.

And Mako needed to learn how to save himself, too.

A/N: One bizarre sexual fantasy down, four more to go. I'm not gonna spoil who's next, so give a follow and a favorite, and drop a comment if you have a guess! Stay tuned...

WickedHope