Thank you for all the love! Will be posting two chapters next week, and I hope to have the entire thing done by the end of August, if everything goes to schedule. Enjoy
Mako pulled up to the station on his brand-new bike. He pulled off his helmet and stared at the sky pensively. All of the lights that had come about from the portal were gone, all sucked back in with Korra's escape. The spirits weren't wandering around anymore, and it seemed that one of his closest friends was now a criminal. He locked his bike in the garage and headed up to Beifong's office. She wanted to talk to him about something, and he knew that it couldn't be good if she was making time for him with all the commotion that was going on.
Airships were patrolling the skies for the sake of staying alert, but everyone knew that she wouldn't be traceable in the spirit world. They may as well chase a school of fish in the sea. He knocked on her door, and she beckoned him in. He entered and waited nervously for whatever she had in store, although he didn't dare show it.
"Shut the door and sit down" Beifong ordered. Mako obliged.
"What's the problem Chief?" he asked.
"I'll get straight to it," Beifong began. "Korra was caught red-handed bloodbending Asami Sato last night and we brought her in here on the preface of helping us out with a job. When I mentioned the Triads claims, she denied it, and I was inclined to believe that.
"But then she lied when I asked her if she had bloodbent any other time. I told her we had people who saw her bloodbend Asami and she confessed. Then, she resisted arrest, and blew that hole in the wall just outside the door as I'm sure you've already seen. She assaulted dozens of officers, including myself, and then shut the portal after her when she fled to the spirit world."
Mako stared dumbly at his boss, the second part of that catch-up lost on him. He had had a hard time accepting that she might have bloodbent the Triple Threats, but they were gang members. They weren't exactly looking out for her safety. But… Asami?
"She bloodbent… Asami?" Mako asked, scarcely believing his ears.
"Yes, Sim was on the lookout, I wouldn't have had anyone I couldn't trust on the case," Beifong answered. "She was looking not much time before, but now, she'll be facing a lot more than previously."
"Shiiiiit!" Mako cursed slowly to himself. "Can't we pardon her this one time? She's saved our asses too many times to count! She's got to have a bit of credibility at least."
"I told her that, but she ignored it," Beifong replied. "Look; I like her too, she's been very helpful to us over the years, but there's no way we can just brush this off now. She could've stayed and faced the repercussions, but she ran off! My hands are tied."
"She gave you your bending back, for crying out loud!" Mako argued, his voice raising. "Aren't you in the slightest grateful for that?"
"Don't you dare raise your voice when speaking to me!" Beifong commanded, and Mako shrunk back down. "Of course I'm grateful for that, and I always will be! But do you remember who took it away in the first place and terrorised the city?"
"Amon," Mako answered.
"And what did he use to take it away?" Lin Beifong pressed.
"Bloodbending," Mako answered glumly, remembering how he was terrified at the sight of Amon looking over him, before Korra saved him. He'd had countless nightmares about it in the weeks after. He still got slight PTSD whenever he saw an old picture of the disgraced Equalist leader.
"Now, I am ordering you to go and search for clues as to where Korra might try to lay low," Beifong told him. "I only really ever had a work relationship with her, but you're one of her best friends, so I want you to get inside her head and think where she would go.
"But you're also close friends with Asami Sato, so I want you to go to her and get every detail out of last night from her. We couldn't get close enough to hear what they were arguing about, and we don't know how responsive she'll be to questioning from random police officers. Find out what they were fighting over and ask Asami if she has any idea on the whereabouts of Korra. This isn't a friendly visit, Mako! Keep it strictly professional."
Mako didn't answer back immediately. He still didn't believe that Korra and Asami were fighting over something so bad that Korra would bloodbend Asami. He realised that he probably would have gone to Asami and asked her himself regardless.
"Well? What are you waiting for? I don't have all day!" Beifong snapped, and Mako shot up out of his chair.
"On it right now, Chief," he said, and saluted as was custom. He left her office, and nearly ran back to his bike, the engine still warm from being on not even ten minutes ago. He put his helmet on and rolled out the garage. He drove over to the city map in front of the station which was for anyone to see, and planned out his best route. It was early in the afternoon, and the traffic looked really bad from what he could hear of all the beeping. He reckoned it would take around 35 to 40 minutes to get to the Sato Mansion.
He wasted no time and started on his way. He patiently wove his way through the streets, wide and narrow. He was making really good time when he passed by The Sun headquarters, a thirteen-storey building. There was a huge crowd outside, dozens upon dozens of people fawning over papers. His curiosity got the better off him and he drove up to one of the stands. He ignored the people trying to shove past him for a paper and grabbed one for himself.
"Get in the line, dipshit!" someone called out to him, despite the fact that he was clearly a policeman. Normally, he would've challenged whoever said that, but his eyes were glued to the headline. It read:
"AVATAR KORRA FLEES CITY AFTER CAUGHT USING BLOODBENDING TO ENFORCE THE LAW"
How do they know? And so soon too? he thought. He looked for the author of the story, intending to find out who they were, where they lived and question them. But his eyes widened as the name HAZUKK ARAHONOV was written in bold just under the headline.
"Hey, are you gonna pay for that?" the vendor asked, and Mako looked up at the short man.
"How much?"
"Ten yuans," the vendor informed, and Mako tossed him the change from his pocket. A few people started to give out about how he skipped the line, but he ignored them and hopped back on his bike. He shoved the paper inside his belt and arrived at the Sato Mansion sixteen minutes later.
"What's your business here?" the security guard at the front gate asked. "Ms Sato explicitly said that she doesn't want any visitors."
"It's police business," Mako answered, the guard clearly not recognising him. That was logical, he hadn't been there in over a year with escorting Wu everywhere and whatnot. He held the badge up and the guard looked at it sceptically. "And tell her it's Mako."
The guard eyed him suspiciously before brushing it off and radioing someone in the mansion, presumably Asami. Mako drove up to the door and held his helmet in one hand as he banged loudly on the door three times. An elderly servant opened it almost instantly.
"Ms Sato is in a very fragile mood and she is refusing any visitors at the moment. She hasn't left her office all day and barely eaten," the servant said. "I think that's it's best you come another time."
"This isn't a friendly visit, it's police business, and we know about her and Korra's incident," Mako declared formally. "I'm coming in either way."
The servant paled at the mention of Korra. He pursed his lips, then reluctantly let Mako in after a second. "Her office, you said?" Mako asked.
"Yes," the servant confirmed. "I'll go with-"
"It's fine, I know this place well enough, I've been here before," Mako stopped him, and quickly made his way to the grand office doors upstairs, which seemed to be locked. There seemed to be a lot of sniffling inside. He knocked once, and called out; "Asami, this is Mako, I'm here on police business."
"Fuck off!" was the reply he got, but he didn't take it to heart. He decided to try be nicer.
"Asami, we know what happened last night between you and Korra, we've had her on a watch," Mako said, and the sniffling stopped suddenly. "I don't want to be a prick about it, but if you turn me away now, they'll send someone else with no time for your feelings, and they might assume that you're trying to cover up for her. Please, open up."
"What did they see?" Asami's hoarse voice travelled through the door, to see if he was bluffing.
"That Korra bloodbent you. She confessed to Chief Beifong," Mako said, cupping his hands so that it wouldn't travel through the halls. He didn't know if the servants knew the exact details behind why she was so upset, but he couldn't be just shouting it out anyway. Asami didn't say anything. Then Mako heard her feet thud thud thud along the floor on the other side. She unlocked the doors and flung them open. She grabbed him by the shirt and tugged him inside before slamming them shut again and locking them.
Mako was taken back by her appearance. Her face was red and swollen from crying, but there were no streaks of makeup or trademark eyeliner it. Her hair was all over the place, and she was still in her bedclothes. She trudged over to one of the couches in the room, and Mako noticed how it was torn up. Everything from the books ripped open with torn pages all over the floor, and clouds of stuffing from her furniture. It looked like an angry tigerdillo had been let loose in there. She fell miserably down into the couch, which sunk a fair bit under her weight, and nearly started crying again, but managed to hold it in.
"Did you just get out of bed?" he asked, trying not to sound stupid.
"I didn't sleep last night," Asami replied dryly, evidently not in the mood for talking. "If you're wondering, we broke up."
"Really?" Mako asked, then mentally slapped himself on the forehead. Of course they would've broken up! "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Mako, do us both a favour and cut the small talk," Asami said, projecting her impatience across the room.
"Right," Mako obliged, and straightened himself up. He got out his notebook and pen. "Is it true that Korra bloodbent you last night?"
"What type of question is that?" Asami snapped. "You already know the answer to that! You just said it a few seconds ago!"
"It's better if we hear you say it aloud," Mako explained. "That way we have a quotable witness other than the police."
"Yes," Asami confirmed with almost no hesitation. "That bitch Korra bloodbent me." Mako copied it down word for word, putting aside the fact that Asami, who was head over heels for Korra the last time they had met, showed no remorse in that sentence.
"Did Korra mention anywhere at all that she might be going?"
"What do you mean?" Asami asked, confused. "Shouldn't you guys know where she is? She didn't say anything about where she was going. She bloodbent me and I ran into the house. She didn't follow me."
Mako groaned, the search for Korra now much harder. He hadn't expected any real clues or tips from Asami, but that wasn't even pointing in any direction. "She closed the portal after she escaped to the spirit world."
"Escaped? Shouldn't the police have her in custody right now?" Asami asked, silently demanding a 'yes'.
"We tried but…" Mako started, trying not to add fuel to the flame. "She attacked Chief Beifong and blew a hole in the side of the station. We had countless men and a bunch of airships, but she beat up a lot of them and escaped the airships. Then she stopped anyone from following her into the spirit world by shutting the portal. That's why we're wondering if you know anything."
"Coward," Asami cursed Korra, then looked back at Mako, a tiny note of satisfaction on her face in the fact that Korra was being hunted down so soon. "No, although if I were you, I'd probably check the South Pole. She's bound to come out of one of the portals eventually. Why don't you just guard them from our world?"
"She only escaped about an hour ago, and that's something for the presidents and water tribes to discuss. Though now that you mention it, Tonraq is the Southern Chief. He probably won't agree to letting his daughter be handed over so easily."
"Just suggesting it," Asami said. "What else do you want to ask me?"
"Has Korra ever bloodbent you before last night? There's no shame in admitting it, Asami."
"I wouldn't hide it," Asami declared, "but no. We'd never had a proper fight before last night. That was the only big one."
"You're sure about this?" Mako asked. "Remember, there's-"
"I heard you fine the first time!" Asami snapped. "As much as I'd like to see her rot, I won't give her any type of stick that she can beat me with."
Mako blinked. That was dark. Let her rot? he thought. What in the world were they arguing about? "Ok," he said, trying to avoid making eye contact with her such was the intensity of her stare. "What were you two arguing about?"
"You don't already know?" Asami said, surprised. "I thought you said you had a watch on us last night."
"They couldn't get close enough to hear any of the details," Mako answered. "You said that it was your first big fight."
"Yeah," Asami confirmed. "She really didn't tell anyone then?"
"What is it?" Mako pressed, his pen hovering above the paper.
"Korra's pregnant," Asami said. Mako dropped his pen, the clatter of it on the ground bounding around the walls. He pierced Asami with a gaze that even caused her to back away despite her shitty mood.
"What?!" Mako practically shouted. "You can't be serious!"
"I'm dead serious, she's pregnant," Asami repeated. "She hid it for ages, and she had the audacity to start asking me for forgiveness when I found out."
"Who's the father?" Mako asked, his police duties temporary in the rear view. "When did this happen?!" He racked his head, trying to think of men that Korra was close to.
"While I was away on a business trip," Asami said. "And it was with… was with…" She started to breathe deeply, struggling to control herself, trembling a bit.
"With who?" Mako demanded. "Was it… no, it couldn't be… Was it Bolin?! No, he's probably in Zaofu with Opal right now."
"No, she said it was with… 'some random guy'," Asami said, and with that, she broke down into more fresh tears. She sobbed uncontrollably, but when Mako tried to go over and comfort her, she pushed him away.
"I'm not letting myself get close to anyone ever again!" she shouted. "I always get crushed by anyone I let myself be attached to one way or another. You, my dad and now even Korra!"
"Asami, please, that's kinda stupid to say," Mako said as he tried to talk sense into her, but he instantly realised that was the worst thing to say to someone emotionally distraught like Asami.
"I'M BEING STUPID?" Asami screamed, standing up. "GET OUT! FUCK YOUR STUPID POLICE INTERVIEW!"
"Wait, Asami, I didn't mean it like that," Mako said, holding his hands up. She ignored that and tried to swipe at him, but didn't even manage to reach his arms. She fell over onto the ground on all fours, and lay there. The floodgates continued to stay open. Mako tried to put a calming hand on her shoulder, but then, she bit him.
"AGH!" he cried out, pulling his arm back. There were red marks on his forearm, and thankfully weren't bleeding, but it still hurt a lot. He squeezed his notebook as hard as he could to redirect his adrenaline into something. He backed away from her, sharps breaths coming out of his mouth. "What was that for?" he cried out.
"I told you to GO AWAY!" she shouted. Mako's temper started to rise.
"What gives you the right to go around BITING people when you're in a bad mood?" he snarled, nearly lashing out. "I'm still a police officer, you know!"
"I don't give a shit!" Asami snarled back.
"Well, I'll get someone else to come back later and finish the questions!" Mako yelled. He picked up his pen and walked over to the doors. He straight up fire kicked them open, scorching them in the process. He stormed all the way to the front door, and put a hand on it. He looked at his reflection in the mirror just beside it and thought over what had just gone down. His forearm throbbed painfully. Asami really took care of her teeth.
Korra is pregnant, he reminded himself. Korra! But who could the father be? He went over all the men he knew to be close to her once again, but didn't find any suitable options. He thought about Bolin being an option seriously for a minute, then dismissed it. He hadn't spoken to Bolin ever since the fight in the hospital, but he knew that his brother wouldn't cheat on Opal.
"I'll wait 'til later to figure it out," he said aloud to himself, and left the house. He hopped on his motorbike and started making his way down back to the station. He remembered the newspaper shoved in his belt, realising that he would have to face Beifong over it, given that he had backed the journalist to come in the first place.
"What's Hazukk playing at?" Mako muttered, his words snatched by the wind as he sped out the Sato residence.
Asami rested on her elbows, no more tears available. "I'm never letting anyone get close to me ever again. Never." With that, she passed out from exhaustion. The elderly servant who let Mako in peeked his head in the open doorway, afraid of getting assaulted by whatever object was closest to her. He sighed when he saw her lying quietly on the floor, partially out of relief for his health, but mostly out of sympathy for her.
"Money can't buy happiness," he muttered, placing a blanket over her, before fetching a couple of younger servants to help carry her to bed.