A/N: Sorta of short. Sorry, I'm tired and the chapter got too long so I broke it in half. I'll fix the grammar mistakes tomorrow; I just wanted to get this posted. I really like this chapter but that's just me. Anyway, I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. I'm definitely thankful for all my readers. Cool fact: I just found out there's such a thing as triplet conferences where other triplets meet each other and talk about what it like to be a triplet. Random, I know, but it's totally relevant since I'm actually a triplet (I'm not identical… just wanted to get that out of the way). Please Review. Love you all. Go Amorra.
A Terrible Synergy
Chapter 12
"How long has she been sitting out there?"
"A few hours."
The pregnant woman stopped what she was cooking and turned around toward her husband, "Tenzin, she has been sitting out there in the cold for almost the entire day. It's starting to worry me. You should go out and talk to her. Something is obviously wrong."
"I tried before, dear," the airbender answered wearily, "she won't tell me anything. I don't know what Amon and his men did to her during her imprisonment, but I pray to the spirits it wasn't torture or anything like it." The councilman understood that it had been only a few hours after her release, but her strange behavior was hard to miss. It seemed like her second incarceration in the equlaist compound had affected her more than her first stay.
"Well, please do something soon because I can't stand to watch her sit out there any longer. Have one of her friends go talk to her." Asami and the probending brothers had moved onto the Island a few days ago since their residence at the Sato Mansion was no longer an option; the police still were scouring the underground factory for evidence or clues that could be used to take either Amon or her father down. Sato's poor daughter didn't want to have anything to do with the place because it was only a sanctuary of lies and misery for her, so airbender opened his home to them.
"They tried too. Right now she doesn't want to see anybody. We should just let her be until she is ready to tell us what she needs to," he crossed his arms and leaned against the counter pondering the situation. Korra had returned to the Island yesterday and barely spoke a word of her stay to anyone. She would spend most of her time staring out toward the city on the cliff facing Yue Bay. He could only wonder what was going through her mind. Tenzin didn't care how long Korra needed to recuperate. He was just content to know that she was alive and on the island.
The dark, red curtain dividing the kitchen and dining area flopped open and the firebender came walking in with an empty tea pot in his hands. He sported his usual soft brooding expression but the master could tell he was happier than him to see that Korra was alright, "Pema, do you have some extra tea? I'm going to try to give some to, Korra."
"Of course," she took the tea pot from the firebender's hands and a filled it with warm, sweet-smelling liquid and promptly handed it back to him.
"Has Korra moved or talked to anyone recently?"
The bald man shook his head, "No," he hesitated in responding. The delicacy of the situation could be easily observed from the airbender's tense, pensive body language, "Mako, be gentle with her," he finally implored.
-0-
The weather was still bitterly cold outside. The winter never seemed to go away as fast as summer always did. The firebender looked up realizing that it was beginning to snow. The white snowflakes got caught in his dark hair and rested on his shoulders. He pulled his collar tighter around his neck as a freezing gust brushed past his face. She was sitting on the east side of the island facing the probending arena. Nearing her, he could make out her silhouette in the dwindling light of the evening. He made his way through the small forest of bushes and trees and sat down beside her. She wore her parka and a single, thick blanket over her shoulders, one which Pema insisted that she wore.
"Korra?" she didn't turn or react to her name. She knew who it was, "I brought you some warm tea. Would you like some?"
She nodded meekly but she kept her focus on the bay, "Sure," she took the cup from him.
Their legs dangled over the edge of the lofty promontory that overlooked the glowing city. The illuminated buildings took the form of emeralds against the awakening blanket of stars, but the waterbender didn't appear to take notice of it or anything for that matter. She sat very still holding the hot beverage between her hands in order to rid her fingers from the numbness that the cold weather had invoked upon them. They sat there in silence for a while watching their breath curl around the tips of their noses until it disappeared, until the sun was kissing the tops of the city's mountains good night. The Avatar could feel his eyes watching her and the weight of his forceful stare was becoming unbearable. She loved her friend with all her heart and his stanch loyalty to her, but she did not need him here; she simply wanted to be left alone.
"The sun set is the most beautiful when you watch from the top of the arena," he commented, "You really get to take it all in," she listened but didn't answer. The firebender turned away noting how her face looked so devoid of anything, and how a murky, indecipherable smog of emotion supplanted her usual spark and vitality. All he wanted was her to be back to her normal self and he couldn't help but blame himself for her capture at Mr. Sato's underground factory.
Her finger traced the opening of tea cup with mounting speed and force as if she was growing increasingly uneasy, "You came out here to ask me something. So what do you want to know?"
"Nothing, Korra, you don't have to tell me anything. I'm just here to make sure that you're okay."
She glanced at him with her never-changing, iridescent, blue eyes and looked down again, "I'm sorry."
"It's alright. You have nothing to be sorry for," he paused and assessed whether or not he should continue the conversation. She looked like she did not want to talk any farther but he continued anyway, "I'm the one that should be apologizing. I left you back there in the grasp of that monster. I'm sorry, Korra. I really am. It's all my fault," he grabbed her hand. They were so cold it frightened him.
She looked over and smiled weakly, "You shouldn't blame yourself either, Mako. You needed to get out of there, and if you had tried to get me you would have put everyone else in danger. I am no more important than you or your brother or Asami or Tenzin or even Bei Fong. Don't worry, Mako, I know how to take care of myself, and even if you don't believe it, I am alright. I just need some time to process what happened." He nodded satisfied that she had opened up to him, at least a little bit. The waterbender and firebender didn't speak again until the last rays of the day were replaced by the panoply of light created from the canopy of stars above.
The cold weather began to take its toll once the warmth from the sunlight was lost, "Korra, we should go inside. It's going to snow a lot tonight. I don't want you to get sick."
"Please, Mako, Just give me a few more minutes alone and I'll meet you inside, I promise."
"Okay," the entire time his hand had remained in hers secretly warming it with his firebending. He squeezed it reassuringly like she had done with him multiple times in the past. He wanted to make sure that she knew that somebody was there for her.
Avatar smiled weakly again, "Thank you, Mako," and kissed his cheek in a loving gesture, "You're a good friend." He bobbed his head once and his tall body rose and left without another sound.
The snow fell all around her. Each white particle appeared like they all had coordinated their landing times and positions, but that was just her mind playing with her. Even so, they did seem to land in a rhythm all around her. They settled in her hair, stuck to the woolly strings of her blanket, and tickled her face as they floated to the icy ground. The pulse of winter reminded her of what home felt like, of the memories of her short-lived childhood in her parents' tiny igloo and the endless training sessions with the white lotus. She wondered what her sister was doing, wondered if she ever thought about her. She closed her eyes trying to picture what she would look like. Her name was Aumanil, but she liked to be called Auma. In her people's language, the name meant goddess who lived in the ocean. She only knew the existence of her sister because of a letter her mother had sent to her a long time ago. It was addressed 'to my beloved Korra'. She could recite every word in that note. She pulled her blanket closer to her body shivering. She knew it wasn't the cold that was bothering her. It was strange to have a family and barely know them; still they loved her unconditionally. She watched the reflection of Republic city dance in the black, swaying current of Yue Bay. She knew that once Mako was gone and the sun was down that it wouldn't take long for him to show up. She knew he would.
Five more minutes passed and her name was called out from behind her, "Korra," he started softly only to get shut down.
"Go away. I don't want to talk to you."
He was not convinced of this since she had waited out for him. He speculated that this was her way of showing her vexation towards him, "Korra, please."
She stayed where she was. She didn't want to look at him, "What? You think that I'm going to be alright with what you did yesterday?" she shouted out with rage.
"No," he did not flinch from her display of anger, "Be quiet someone may hear us."
She stood up and faced him. He was wearing dark trousers, leather boots, and a heavy, black overcoat, "Like I care anymore."
"Please don't talk like that."
She jabbed her index finger at him, "You can tell me all you want with that little, prim mouth of yours but I won't listen anymore! Why the hell would you do that yesterday?"
"Because I can't just give up in what I believe in."
"Believe in? You took the bending of ten innocent men! What the hell do you believe in that makes that okay?"
"Equality, Korra. I believe in the principle of equality. Benders have held an advantage over nonbenders since the dawn of mankind. I am only making things fair, and it's the only way that true change can happen, through revolution," he stepped closer but she moved away.
"You disgust me," she spat so indigently and filled with anger that he couldn't help but feel the overwhelming culpability for making her this way. He craved to make her smile, to see himself place happiness upon her face, but he couldn't. All that was staring back at him were hurt, blue eyes and he hated himself for it; it was his fault, it was all his fault. She slapped him right across the face, but the blow didn't break his heart as much as her words, "You know what, I hate you!" she gritted her teeth. He knew that she didn't mean it. She was only saying it because she was upset; at least that's what he told himself, "I hate you!" she backed away from him creating distance between them, "Everything you ever told me was a lie! Every goddamn word out of your mouth was a lie just to get to me, just to rip my heart out! Well, congratulations! You did it!" she huffed, "You're worse than councilman Tarrlok," she started walking back to the temple ground, but he thwarted her efforts to flee.
"Where are you going?" he grabbed her arm.
She fought against his grip but it was futile, he wasn't going to let her go, "Let go of me!" she shouted; she was crying now, her sadness couldn't be concealed by her rage any longer.
"KORRA!" Mako shouted through the trees, "KORRA! ARE YOU ALRIGHT? IS SOMEONE ELSE OUT THERE?"
He pulled her to the ground in the foliage of a large bush covering her screaming mouth with his hands, "You want to know the truth, Korra, hhmmm? You want to know it?" His voice was a clear and sharp whisper.
She swatted his hand away, "I don't want to hear it! Leave me alone!" she yelled at him, pulling away with all her might, but it was nearly impossible to escape; he was on top of her pinning her down with his bodyweight and despite her unparalleled strength she couldn't move a man so large in stature from her disadvantaged position on the ground. Out of frustration and desperation to get away from him, she produced sparks in her hand as a last resort, but he swiftly chi blocked her. Her head bounced off the ground in momentary weakness, "I thought you were different! I thought I could help you!"
His eyes were intense staring down at her, "I'm love with you, alright. Does that make you happy?" he swallowed hard and laughed trying to cover his own heartache and slight inability to express his actual feelings, "The powerful Amon fell hopelessly in love with you, Okay," he stopped, trying to find his words, endeavoring to continue but for the first time in his life his emotions had gotten the better of him. She had got to him, she was under his skin. The Avatar's piercing stare softened as they honed in on the single tear that rolled down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away loosening his hold on her. She watched on in shock but he was surprised from himself too. He sighed and a shaky breath left his body as he composed himself again, but when he looked at her for the second time, there was no pride left, no mask to protect him, it was him. It was him, it was Noatak, "You can send me away forever if you want and I'll do what you want. I'll stay away and you will never see me again. I don't care what you choose, Korra. I love you, and you could just roll me up and crush me and I wouldn't care because every time I try not to think about you I do. I think about you every waking moment of the day, about if it would be different if we weren't who we were, about the way your lip curls when you're frustrated and about how your eyes shine when you're happy," he paused allowing his words to sink in, the firebender was almost at their position, "You have no reason to trust me, I know, but I wouldn't be here if I wasn't speaking the truth, Korra, I won't have just risked it," he released his grip entirely on her. Sensing the boy's approaching presence, he quickly retreated into the surrounding darkness.
"Korra?" the flickering light of the firebender's flame curled around her body, "Are you alright?"
The waterbender looked around in wonder because Noatak had literally vanished before her eyes. The probender helped her to her feet, "Yes, I'm fine. A baby wolf-bat flew right at my face and made me trip. I guess I'm still a little jumpy."
"I could've sworn that I heard someone else out here," the firebender looked around and in the newly fallen snow he discovered foot prints that were much larger than Korra's own feet. They were made freshly and suspicions began to take root in his mind. He wanted to know if she would lie to him.
She dusted her clothing off, "No. It was just me and the bat. You probably mistook it for the sound of the wind or something." He nodded; she had lied to him. The Avatar continued to look around with a wide-eyed expression spewed across her face; the firebender didn't know that she had such a 'fear' of wolf-bats, "I didn't know you were so afraid of the wolf-bats. They're not all that bad," he laughed observing her reaction, "I mean you handled Tahno pretty well," he joked.
"What?" she hadn't heard what he said, "Oh, yeah… very funny," she smiled but he knew she was only being polite. He could tell that her mind was elsewhere, probably on who ever made those footprints. He wondered if that was the reason she had stayed out there so long. They started making their way back to the temple. She glanced back once and there he was standing tall, staring right back at her; she didn't know what to think. It all was happening so fast. He loved her and all she could tell was that she needed him too. As they trekked back to the temple through the progressively harsher weather, Mako decided to keep his qualms to himself. He would find out what she was hiding when there were no more lies to tell, but Korra needed the truth first to even know she was lying. Her mind wandered again, contemplating whether or not she should tell Noatak about the coerced meeting with Tarrlok tonight. She didn't know who to trust but how badly she desired to trust the man who wore two faces; her head started spinning. Her world seemed so far away when the thought of him rushed through her mind and she couldn't stop herself from wondering, from replying his words in her head.