Title: Dirty Little Secret
Author: SplishySplash/LastWaterBender
Genre: Same stuff…different chapter
Pairing: Makorra
Rating: M though no 'M' material in this chapter
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am also home from camp. I will be updating faster.
Summary: Mako waits for Korra to wake up in the hospital.
She was so still.
Mako sat next to her holding her small hand in his own. When had this woman with such big personality become so small and helpless? It had taken every fiber of his being to let the healers put her to sleep so that she wouldn't be in pain during the extensive healing sessions that was going to take place.
So far, it had taken five healers in two different healing sessions before they had left them alone. He could almost hear the bones snapping back into place and the torn muscles being stitched back together. Even though she looked almost healed, the damage had been done.
Korra didn't deserve this.
Mako did.
The poor hospital lighting made her skin look pale and even though the majority of her cuts and bruises had disappeared, she still looked so fragile. The healers confirmed that she would be fine once she woke up, still closed his eyes and prayed to the spirits. "Please let her be okay." He muttered through the silence.
Carefully he stood up to remove her hair bindings, a small detail that seemed to have been missed. Her hair fell down her shoulders and was smooth to the touch. She seemed younger with her hair down and she seemed to be at peace now that her bruises had healed. He shook the knots out of her hair before he sat back down.
He sighed and laid his head down. It was no use pondering why this had happened, he had screwed up by choosing Asami as the safer bet when Korra had told him that she had feelings for him. It had spiraled quickly like a boulder rolling down a mountain side when he had slept with Korra and even though he knew he was dragging the Sato heiress down with him, he couldn't stop seeing her. The Avatar was addicting. He was an idiot.
From the minute that he had confused her for a hopeless fan girl, he had been enthralled by the Avatar, she was the most beautiful and selfless person on the planet and he had hurt her. It was his fault that she was lying in a hospital bed in pain. It was his fault that he didn't end things with Asami before starting things with Korra, let alone becoming engaged to her because he should've known that someone was watching her every waking move.
"Stop it."
A hoarse voice had disturbed the silence and it made the young fire bender jump. Korra had woken up and immediately could read him like a book. It was no use lying to her. "I can't." He said looking away, "This is all my fault."
Korra slowly lifted her hand to cup his cheek. "No it's not." She said quietly as the drowsiness started to overwhelm her.
Her eyes started to struggle to stay open, but after a minute she succeeded and he was greeted by her deep blue eyes gazing up at him. He held her hand that rested on his cheek and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Hey." He whispered, he opened his mouth and closed it again, trying to piece together the words to question how she was feeling.
Again, like a mind reader she spoke up with her normal Korra attitude. "If you ask me how I'm feeling, I'm going to hurt you." She answered softly, her attitude lost.
He huffed. "I'm an idiot." He said.
She nodded. "Only because you are beating yourself up over this, this isn't your fault." Korra extended her hand to run a hand through his hair. "I couldn't let Asami get hurt."
Mako frowned and took her wandering hand in his own. "Why didn't you use earth bending? I don't understand why. . ." He asked, something that had been weighted on his mind for a while.
Korra looked away sheepishly. "I wasn't thinking, I saw her run out and I saw the car . . . I reacted." She answered quietly. "She's okay, right?"
Of course Korra was selfless enough to worry about others even when she was in the hospital. Mako put her mind at ease. "She's upset, but she is fine." He answered softly, he did thank the spirits that Asami was okay, his guilty conscience couldn't handle it if she had gotten hurt also.
"We really did hurt her." She conceded after a long silence. "This is my fault, I should've. . ."
"No, this isn't your fault." Mako said firmly, cupping her cheek to look up at him. "I should have ended things with her after we . . ." He had to stop to control his voice that was starting to waiver. "I don't regret us, but I should have done it the right way."
She looked away and let out a shaky breath as the silence began to swallow her. "We're okay, right?" She asked quietly.
With his thumb and index fingers, he guided her gaze back to him, he had never seen her so insecure and he didn't like it. He kissed her, to solidify his statement that yes, they were okay.
He kissed her to solidify his unspoken promise that they were both okay and that they would make things up with Asami, and Bolin. His lips lingered and she pulled him closer, beckoning him to deepen it. Mako couldn't deny her anything and ran his tongue across her lower lip causing her to respond with a soft whimper.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!" Said a very angry voice that belonged to none other than the very angry master Airbender. Mako jumped away from her immediately, startled by the abrupt interruption. Tenzin weaseled his way between the pair and he turned to face the Avatar. "You are not to see that boy again." His sharp finger pointed at the fire bender.
Korra sat up, her soft eyes suddenly filled with anger. "That boy has a name and it's Mako." She corrected very sternly. "You better get used to him because he isn't going anywhere."
Tenzin grew red and steam almost came out of his ears. "He has caused you nothing but problems and distractions. You will not see him again, you understand." His sharp finger pointed at her before turning it on him. "Leave and don't come back."
Mako took a step back, wanting nothing to be far away from the master Airbender but not willing to leave Korra. "I . . . uh . . ." He stammered as Korra gripped his wrist tightly.
Slowly she sat up fully, turning her body so that she could put her feet on the floor. "This isn't his fault, Tenzin." She said evenly. "I was being stupid and pushed Asami out of the way without bending."
"He has been nothing but a distraction from the moment you met him." Seethed Tenzin, breathing heavily to convey his point. "Your focus on your Airbending . . ."
Korra stood up quickly. "Don't you dare blame him. . . " She suddenly became lightheaded and the world started to spin around her. "I love hi. .m. . ."
Everything went black.
Mako was quick to catch her before she crumpled up on the floor in a heap. A healer opened the door with a stern look. "What is with all of the yelling in here?" She asked before she noticed the state that the patient was in. "Oh my."
She was quick to react and motioned for Mako to lay her back on the bed as she quickly turned on the faucet that emptied into a large basin. The fire bender held Korra's hand tightly and exchanged glares with the air bender as the healer scanned her small body. The older woman looked up at them sternly. "Whatever is going on in here is stressing her out." She snapped. "Both of you need to leave until you can handle this like adults."
She shooed them out, but not before Mako snuck a small kiss onto her forehead and followed Tenzin into the lobby with the door slammed behind them.
It was silent in the hall, the evening sun had hidden itself under the horizon. Both men stood awkwardly in front of the door with no sign that they would see Korra anytime soon. Mako moved to sit on the long couch across from the door when Tenzin finally spoke. "You are not welcome here anymore."
Mako froze and then sighed deeply. "No." He answered firmly, he didn't want to fight with the Airbending elder but he wasn't about to lose Korra in the process. "I'm not leaving her."
"As her guardian, I forbid you from seeing her." Tenzin said firmly.
He was playing that card and Mako shook his head. "I don't care."
Tenzin changed his tactic. "You are only hurting her by staying around." He said turning around with his robes flowing around him making him seem much larger than he really is.
"Hurting her?" Mako cried. "I would go to the ends of the world for her, I love her." He could feel his blood boiling over.
Tenzin didn't acknowledge what Mako said, only stepped closer. "You are distracting her from her Avatar duties thus hurting the world. The world needs her to be focused and to master the Avatar state." He growled. "If you really cared then you would leave her alone."
That hurt.
Mako took a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair, was he the reason that her Airbending was blocked? "I. . ." He started when a very firm voice from behind them made them both stop cold.
"If you leave, you will have to deal with me." The voice came from the doorway and it belonged to the very pregnant Pema. Tenzin opened his mouth and closed it again after she held her finger up to silence. "Both of you are going to listen. . ."