A/N: Happy Holidays to everyone! This is my holiday present to you all so enjoy your time off, and I'll be seeing you really soon with an update.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.

Chapter Fifteen: Night of Silence

So far, Iriah and Bing Su had had no luck finding the two brothers. Instead, they had a run-in with some of the gang members who had been chasing Mako and Bolin down the streets. Unfortunately for the girls, the thugs didn't seem particularly picky about whom to be hostile to.

A resounding crack echoed along the alley followed by a gurgling scream and a thud. Iriah stood over an unconscious thug, his arm sticking out at an odd ankle, his mouth wide open in shock. Panting slightly, Iriah looked over at Bing Su who had managed to knock out another thug sporting a crude buzz cut.

"Well, that was rather rude," said Bing Su, dusting off her hands as she turned to face Iriah and then the body at her friend's feet.

"Uh, darling, you should be more careful. I think you broke his arm." Bing Su pointed at the body at Iriah's feet, grimacing with distaste.

"Yeah, like I care," scoffed Iriah, pondering which way to go now that they were clear of their obstacle. The alleyway they were standing in branched out in two different directions and smelled like a gutter. Eager though she was to extricate herself from such a tight smelly maze, Iriah was thoroughly lost and had no idea where the two brothers could possibly be. To make matters worse, it was now completely dark outside and, apparently, the townspeople liked to walk around blind because there was no sign of a streetlamp anywhere along the alley.

Just when Iriah was about to suggest that they head back and try a different route, a dark figure stumbled out from an intersecting alleyway, breathing heavily and walking at an angle. One hand was outstretched, holding onto the walls in order to stand upright.

"Wait," said Bing Su suddenly, dropping her guard. "Is that –"

"Bolin?" Iriah darted forward just in time to catch Bolin who collapsed in her arms, groaning with agony. It became obvious why; his left shoulder was badly burned, the acrid scent of scorched flesh stinging the night air.

"Talk to me, Bolin, what happened?" Iriah asked him urgently, snapping her fingers for an instant light source. The small flame illuminated his exhausted expression, his eyes barely focused, blinking sweat out of his eyes.

Bing Su knelt down beside the teenage boy as Iriah helped him down. Bolin seemed to be on the verge of going into shock and Iriah couldn't blame him. Growing up with her father had given her ample knowledge of the kind of pain burn injuries could inflict whether it was caused by a training accident or a direct attack during a probending match.

"We… we were attacked," mumbled Bolin, shivering slightly even though the summer night was fairly warm. With a sharp intake of breath, his hand hovering inches away from his damaged shoulder. "Please… Mako… he's…"

"He's what?" prompted Iriah, half-impatient to hear what had become of Bolin's brother and half-afraid to find out.

"He's… help him…" croaked Bolin, taking shallow gulps of air. He raised a shaking hand and gripped Iriah's forearm. For a burn victim quickly losing strength, his grip was surprisingly powerful. With what seemed to be all the energy he could possible muster, Bolin managed to speak two words: "Agni Kai."

"Oh, great," whispered Iriah, adrenaline suddenly coursing through her body. "That's just bloody –"

"I'll get him some help, Iriah, you go find the other one," said Bing Su shortly, noticing Iriah's tone of voice. When Iriah merely stared down at the half-conscious boy Bing Su repeated her words in a slightly irritable tone. "Iriah, go now!"

She didn't need telling twice. Standing up to her full height, Iriah began running, her portable light flickering ahead of her as she raced down the narrow alleyway, praying she wasn't too late.

It was a strange feeling, the whole process of dying. Of course, it was also painful. The feeling of your windpipe being crushed, being unable to inhale, and the indescribable agony of having someone burn holes in your neck were all things Mako could've done without. But that was precisely what Mako was going through, lying flat on his back with a heavy man weighing him down, large hands clamped tightly around his neck, squeezing the life out of every cell. Painful, yes, but also strange.

It was strange because, after what felt like hours of desperate struggling, Mako's mind began to slip. He was no longer looking into his assailant's cold, manic eyes. He was no longer clawing at the man's hands, trying to pry the thick fingers loose while feeling the unbearable heat emanating from them. As Mako's body slowly failed to respond, his brain began to slow as did time itself. The dark alleyway seemed to melt away, replaced by a face that, in his hazy state, he nearly failed to recognize.

Dad. Mako would've said the words – screamed it even – if he hadn't been so weak. His father's face was exactly as he remembered it, lined with age but still happy to see his son, his amber eyes glinting, and his thick eyebrows slightly arched. With jet black hair, he was very much like Mako, incredibly tall and, of course, a firebender.

"Mako," said his father, speaking in a reverberating, distant voice. "Son."

Mako tried to answer back, to reach out, but it was useless. Even in this hazy dream world, he had no control of his own body and so was unable to touch the one person he had yearned to see for the past two years, even during tonight's Agni Kai. Mako could only stare until the image of his father faded away, blending into the mist and fog that pressed down on him.

As Mako lost all feeling in his body, he saw more people immerge from his foggy memories. His mother was standing over him now, her green eyes tearful like they had been during Kenji's departure. Then appeared the thin figure of his younger brother Mireu, his watchful eyes looking down at Mako, willing his older brother to say something but knowing the words would never come. In a nearly unconscious state of mind, Mako realized how intuitive Mireu was, how brave he was, knowing all the truths the adults so painstakingly tried to shield from him and yet still capable of standing strong. Mireu faded and replaced by his baby sister Min who smiled lovingly down at her oldest brother, probably unaware what was going on. At the sight of his innocent little sister, Mako cried without tears, feeling the emotional collapse in his barely beating heart.

"Mako?" A voice called to Mako. It wasn't Min, who was beginning to fade away into the fog, but that of a young male's. It was so familiar but Mako's brain seemed to have stopped functioning. He was aware of his entire body failing him now, could almost hear the blood slowing to a crawl, suffocating his oxygen-starved organs. He couldn't even see the hazy dream-world anymore. It was growing dark.

"I know you can hear me, bro, it's gonna be okay," the voice repeated. It seemed close and, at the same time, a million miles away, calling from a distant realm that Mako was no longer a part of. Again the voice said, "You're gonna be okay. I promise."

He was in darkness now. There was nothing more for him to see, no more visions of his family members, no friends (though admittedly he couldn't think of anyone), and no more goodbyes. Just a far-off voice speaking to him, uncannily familiar but incredibly soothing, was all that was left.

"I'm here, bro."

The darkness engulfed Mako, leaving him lying all alone in the silence.

As Iriah's father used to say, probending was a sport built on teamwork and skill. Therefore, it was theoretically possible for a well-coordinated team of relatively weak benders to beat a team of three individually strong benders who were less unified. This was one of the things that made any probending match of three-on-three so exciting: the unpredictability of the outcome. However, when it came to one-on-one matches, most people agreed that brawn outperformed brain in any competition.

When Iriah's father had been part of the champion team, one-on-one matches were hardly ever considered official. Of course, it never stopped people from watching them. Because of the immense popularity garnered by pro bending in general, debuting in the world of elemental brawl was as competitive as it could get. Most benders hoping to participate in the Pro Bending League either needed to create a competent team all on their own or stand out enough to be recruited. The easiest way to do this was to fight in a pay-per-view matchup where, if you were lucky, you were paid absolutely nothing to face off against an opponent. Supposing you made a good impression on any of the recruiters who might be watching, you were then picked up and placed in a team no one really knew about.

Not her father's daughter for nothing, Iriah had once participated in a one-on-one match just after her sixteenth birthday. Although Iriah was rather proficient at firebending and enjoyed watching pro bending matches, the thought of actually fighting in the arena with other teammates had never crossed her mind. She had only agreed to fight due to her father's constant pestering.

As Iriah quickly moved along the alley, straining her ears for any signs of a struggle, she remembered this one-time matchup between her and some guy she remembered as a weedy yet agile firebender. This long ago "audition" of sorts was the closest Iriah had ever come to an Agni Kai, and she silently wondered whether this experience would help her take down an opponent who was confident enough to challenge a complete stranger in the dead of night.

Iriah stopped suddenly. The muffled sound of a struggle reached her ear. She backtracked, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. Her light flickered in her hand while she scanned the surrounding area for any sign of life. The noises, though close by, seemed to be hidden behind a wall in the labyrinthine alleyways.

Out of sheer desperation, Iriah extinguished the light and started climbing the wall nearest to her, trying to listen for the sound again. Digging her boots into the niches along the stone wall, she started to haul herself up. Unable to see in front of her in the dark, she navigated using just her sense of touch, slowly ascending one stone block at a time.

Enjoy your holidays, everyone! Thanks for reading~!