Chapter 3: Turning the Tides
Mako, Korra, and Bolin were caught deep in the throes of battle. Amon had shifted tactics, having already rounded the vast majority of benders-by-trade. Now, the masked man was trying to capture and equalize all the bending children of the city—it was at this point that Korra released her unstable and quivering dam of patience and refused to sit still and hide.
Equalizing benders who were potential antagonizers was mildly justified. However, demonizing innocent children who had yet to use their bending was a completely different matter. Asami had already been injured yesterday and was being cared for by refugee centres down in the tunnels of the city. This left Mako, Korra and Bolin to stake it out at the city's central daycare, where equalists were kidnapping bending children and taking them away. For once in her life, Korra thanks the heavens that the equalists did not use homocide to put down their enemies. Relinquishing bending was bad, but it was nothing compared to murdering children. But even so, honestly, the three of them weren't doing so well.
Bolin had already suffered several electrocutions, and while Mako was trying his best redirect the electricity targeted at him, it was soon becoming painfully clear that bending lightening and controlling electricity were not exactly synonymous skills. Once he realized that he could no longer feel the nerves in his right arm, in the back of his mind, Mako began to panic. However, when he turned his head over his shoulder and saw Korra continue to fight with her shoulder bands torn up and her top slashed over a bloodied stomach, he convinced himself that he needed to keep going despite the fact that he had no feeling in his shoulders anymore. He had strategically been maneuvering himself in front of Bolin so that he would take the first line of assault and Bolin dealt with the residue of any attacks he missed.
Korra, on the other hand, had placed herself out of his line of sight completely and was presently taking on three or four machines simultaneously. The equalists had been concentrating their forces in her direction and Mako worriedly wondered whether or not they had finally been given direct orders to capture the Avatar. He was just about to yell at Bolin to run over to Korra's side and give her some extra cover when he tried, and undoubtedly failed, to bend away the electricity simultaneously thrown at him from two different automatons. His words were cut off and replaced by a loud groan as his body spasmed in mid-air.
He came to, not a moment later, having the luck to have experienced electric shocks during his lightening-training. Other benders who did not have such prior experiences were often immediately knocked out once they came in contact with Equalists. But even Mako could only take so many electric shocks before he passed out, and he bitterly knew he was reaching his limit pretty soon. They had been in this fight not only five minutes and he was already tiring at an alarmingly fast pace.
Suddenly, the whirs of jet fleets surrounded over them and Mako breathed a sigh of relief and wonder as he peripherally noticed the sign of the United Forces instead of that of the Equalists. It was their third day of hiding out and the second of which they had begun actively fighting, and the forces had finally arrived.
Mako, Bolin and Korra were relieved by a sudden onslaught of white, green, and red-clad warriors jumping out of the air-ships. Two dozen of them immediately circled Avatar Korra with their backs to her in a protective stance. He noticed that she, on the other hand, had completely ignored their presence around her and retained her fighting stance, bending water long-range from a sewage tunnel.
Mako, on the other hand, had relaxed once the United Force members had begun taking over the fight for him. The equalist automatons were quickly outnumbered to three to four of the agents. Having assessed that his stamina was at its near-end already, Mako wearily stepped back although he did not want to.
The soldiers were all clad in uniform clothing, but despite this fact, they were some of the most skilled and trained footmen Mako had ever seen. They were slowly and methodically pushing the Equalist machines back away from where Korra and Mako were, efficiently dismantling them by working together.
A figure, outfitted not in a uniform, but rather regal and commanding plainclothes, suddenly jumped up in front of them and with ease, redirected a stream of electricity in a form Mako had not yet seen before.
The man's form was different from even those of the other United Forces soldiers. When he bent the electricity away, his arms made a sweeping gesture in the form of a semi-circle and his stance was wide with his knees bent, similar to Korra's style before she had begun probending. All of his moves were of a different form than what Mako had grown up knowing or using.
The direction of fire seemed to take much longer when the man firebent, but there was something behind the man's moves that made his attacks have more control and power. Although Mako could only see the man's red-clad back, it was coated with both authority and confidence, and with sudden realization, Mako realized that the man was bending in the traditional style of Fire.
His mouth turning down, Mako frowned as he watched him. The traditional style was exceptionally hard to learn, and much less harder to master. That was mostly the reason why it was usually forgone in favor of more recent, modern methods of firebending. The man must be not only very powerful, but also very important to have been trained and become so adept in the traditional style. It wasn't even the normal aged form that Korra used, but rather the ancient style traditionally taught by the Fire Sages in the Fire Nation temples.
He then realized this was the General of the United Forces.
The United Forces had laid a new siege to Republic City as soon as they had arrived. The trained soldiers swiftly began scouring and securing the city, waging war right back where Korra and Team Avatar had been unable to. As Air Temple Island was on the outskirts of Yue Bay, General Iroh had procured its safety and stationed the majority of his fleet within its parameters first and foremost. It was made into a home base, refugee and recuperation center; soldiers were sent out from the Island to the city to locate Amon's whereabouts and they returned in shifts to rest up and sleep.
It was there that Korra, Mako, and Bolin returned. Within a matter of hours of the United Forces' arrival, the Air Temple had been completely transformed. Sentries were stationed at every door and entranceway while inside, the Air Accolades were assisting United Force medics of different nationalities. The Island itself was seeing a flurry of activity as soldiers continued to stream in and out, having their wounds treated before being dispatched again to the mainland to continue their search and seizure of equalists and Amon.
It was amidst this flurry that Mako woke, sitting up from his treatment bed and immediately torn with anger that he had unknowingly been knocked out.
Nevertheless, he immediately got up, acutely aware of the hundreds of wearied new faces and uniforms walking purposefully around the halls of Tenzin's home, which had immediately been turned into both a hospital and barrack. The United Force soldiers seemed to be taking shifts in their attacks in Republic City.
Looking out the window briefly, Mako caught sight of the city and noted that the chaos was definitely dying down methodically and efficiently. He doubted Amon was found yet, for everyone walking by had coffee cups in hand and dark bags underneath their eyes.
Finding his top to cover up his white undershirt with, Mako walked out of the room to quickly locate Korra and Bolin. Walking out of his room, he immediately noticed Bolin sleeping in an undershirt in the room beside his, a bottle of liquid on the night table beside the bed. Undoubtedly the liquid that had knocked him out and rejuvenated his strength too. In the room beside his, Asami was also lying down, asleep.
Korra had had enough trauma in the past two days—had they knocked her out too? Twice in less than a week was too much.
Storming through the wooden halls, bypassing hundreds of uniformed United Force soldiers with their helmets casually off, Mako searched for Korra.
He finally found her in her room, but she was sitting up instead of asleep.
The dark-haired man Mako had seen firebending in the traditional Fire Nation style was sitting in a chair pushed up to the side of the bed Korra was sitting cross-legged on top. Along with them was another man wearing a uniform signifying his higher status in the army. The three seemed deep in conversation. Mako paused before entering, gauging that the three of them were re-briefing Republic City's current state. He could help, there.
"Mako!" Korra exclaimed as he walked in with purpose, his red scarf billowing behind him. His brows furrowed in tense worry as he looked her over to assess her state.
"Korra, are you alright? Did you get knocked out too?" he anxiously asked, searching her eyes.
"No, Mako, I'm fine," Korra reassured him, albeit tensely. Undoubtedly, she was worried about the war currently being waged on Republic City. From the corner of his eye, Mako noticed that she had bandages over her upper arms and over her water-tribe shirt. "Guys, this is Mako. He's the captain of the probending team I've been playing on," Korra introduced.
The General turned over to nod politely at him. "Pro-bending? Interesting... I hadn't heard about your involvement in that."
"Well, I was only on the team for three months," Korra shrugged. The man standing off to the side crossed his arms and looked impatient for a moment, undoubtedly because the conversation had veered off dramatically.
"Lets go back to the point," the man standing beside lightly suggested, turning back to them, "So you said that Amon's prisoners were found in an underground area before? We'll need earthbenders to scour out the City's corners at low ground level then."
"Yep. Thats how we got away with a makeshift refugee camp underground, where you guys probably found Asami," Mako said. "They didn't expect us to go back to the place we knew that they came from. And it was also practically empty of equalists by then because they were all above ground. It was our safest bet."
The General nodded authoritatively.
"The waterbenders should locate the area with the lowest ground levels first, and then start a first dispatch of earthbender soldiers in V-formation starting from the outer edges of the bay, approximately 2 miles apart each." The General's brows furrowed as he concentrated on the plan formulating inside his head. "They should take 15 minutes in each 225 square feet parameter before moving forward a city block. Have them wire me as soon as one of them finds something. The offensive soldiers should still be covering the city as we speak, but make sure the earthbender operations underground stay covert. We might be able to take their plan and move our bases underground to secure the city from the inside."
The man standing to the side nodded an affirmative, saluted the General, and quickly marched out past Mako. The plan was to move their base from the Air Temple to the underground of the city, thereby pushing all of the Equalists out and above ground at once. Once he was gone, Korra spoke.
"Wow. I thought you would hate this stuff," Korra said with a note of surprise in her voice.
"Its not that hard... And people change," the General replied softly before pausing. "So what else do you two know about the Equalists?"
Mako stepped even closer, narrowing his eyes at the dark-haired General. Although he wasn't pressuring Korra for information even though the situation was dire right now, it still slightly irked him.
Mako and Korra both launched into a comprehensive debriefing of all that happened since Korra had first arrived on the island. It was only when they told him about Korra's kidnapping that the General interrupted.
"What?" he exclaimed, for the first time since Mako had encountered him. "They knocked you out and locked you up in a metal cage?"
Korra shifted sheepishly and nodded. Mako frowned. She hadn't elaborated on the details when she had told Tenzin about her capture over the dinner table because they didn't have the time.
Watching the exchange between General Iroh and Korra, Mako realized they had probably been closely acquainted with one another before. His eyes narrowed suspiciously at the foreign man, noting the gelled-back hair and his expensive clothing. He obviously radiated wealth.
Mako, Bolin, General Iroh, and Korra found themselves all downstairs in the large common dining area normally used for the Air Accolades. Many of the soldiers who were off-duty at that time were also standing with their food outside due to a lack of available space inside. It seemed that the General made it a point to eat with his men.
"It establishes a sense of camaraderie," he explained to Bolin as they had walked down the corridors to the dining hall, his eyes looking forward instead of directly at the earthbender. "In battle, we are all one and the same, without rank or modest semblances of superiority such as those signified by mere trifles of badges or caps."
Walking significantly further off behind them, Mako scowled. He didn't like Iroh. Perhaps it was the fact that the General was so obviously raised in wealth, seemed to sound the slightest bit conceited, or because he seemed so self-assured. But then the man would go ahead and say something as noble as what he just did, and would promptly shut down all of Mako's justifications for hating him. It made Mako hate him even more.
He idly recalled what the return telegraph from the United Forces said: "The General looks forward to taking back Republic City... Together, with the Avatar."
Well, Iroh and the Avatar did indeed seem close. Whereas he was stiff to all his soldiers and commandants, he would often make slight and off-hand remarks to Korra that alluded to a personability that came with years of companionship.
Sitting gloomily at a table with Bolin and Asami, Mako stared across the room at Korra and the General, who stood side by side and picked out their food from the buffet table set up against the far wall of the dining common room. Bolin nodded at them. "He's pretty cool, isn't he, the General? Korra and him probably grew up together."
Of course they would grow up together, Mako repeated in his head suddenly, not knowing why the thought made him frown. He watched her laugh at something he said, a serving spoon in one of her hands and a plate in the other. Their backs were turned to the table the rest of Team Avatar was sitting at.
Of course they would grow up together. She's the Avatar, for goodness' sake. She was trained by Master Katara. Why wouldn't she encounter Fire Nation princes while growing up?
Important people met important people. She lived in Councilmen Tenzin's home. Korra had been important since birth.
But that didn't justify -
"HEY!" Mako stood up and shouted suddenly, pointing at the backs of General Iroh and Korra, who were too far away to hear his furious and indignant protest.
"What?" Asami loudly snapped at her boyfriend, eyes narrowing at him as she glanced at where he was staring.
"He's... He's..." Mako stuttered weakly, sitting back down and not dislodging his stare from them. "Did you see that?" he asked Bolin and Asami incredulously.
"See what?" Asami asked slowly and venomously, not sounding at all interested in his answer.
"That General just... He just..." Mako's mouth dropped open again in astonishment. "He just brushed his elbow up against the side of her chest!"
Against her chest! The General's elbow just brushed up against the side of her chest. They were standing too close together! How dare he!
Bolin turned to face the direction Mako was pointing at and then let out a low wolf-whistle.
"Whoo-hoo! Someones gettin' it on!" Bolin whistled.
"Shut up, Bolin," Mako snapped at his brother, turning to glare at him. "What does he think he's doing?" he growled lowly, going back to survey their backs.
"Whats the problem here, Mako?" Asami asked again, glaring at him from across the table with her eyes lidded.
Finally noticing her imminent and threatening anger, Mako turned to Asami.
"Nothing, Asami. I just... don't want him taking advantage of her," Mako gulped.
"No offense bro, but she's the Avatar. I'm pretty sure she can take care of herself," Bolin stated.
Mako felt like throwing a punch at his brother. Sure, Korra was the Avatar, but that didn't mean she didn't need to be taken care of.
"Yeah, Bolin is right. I think the real question is why you care so much," Asami glared at Mako. He huffed and looked away from her, breaking eye contact.
"Look. Can we talk about this somewhere else?"
"Like where? When? Never?" Asami shot back before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "You know, I'm glad for Korra. She deserves much better than you. You don't even know what you want." Asami slammed her hands on the table, got up and walked away from them. Bolin stared at her back, eyes wide.
"Woah. You really messed up there, bro."
"Shut up, Bolin! You're the one who told her about the kiss!"
"Hey, its not like it didn't happen!" Bolin defended himself, raising his hands up in front of him. Mako shook his head wearily. At this point he was more disappointed in himself than in the stupid situations he allowed himself to get into. "And its not like you actually like Korra anyway," Bolin continued to say.
At that, Mako tensed up. Still staring down at his folded arms on the table, Mako felt his lips purse and his pupils slide off to the side. Did he really not like Korra?
"And yo, they're like perfect!" Bolin suddenly exclaimed, clapping his hands together in delight. "Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin were best friends turned enemies, Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko were enemies turned best friends, and Avatar Korra and future Fire Lord Iroh? Best friends turned lovers. Its perfect."
Mako felt his jaw drop inside his closed mouth as each and every one of Bolin's words fell from his mouth.
Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin were best friends turned enemies.
Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko were enemies turned best friends.
Avatar Korra and the future Fire Lord Iroh, best friends turned...
No, Mako finally thought. No.
A/N: Thoughts so far? ;)
I haven't decided to make this Makorra or Korroh. Leave a review if you have any suggestions about the pairing. Right now, it can go both ways.
A few thoughts on Iroh: In the two-second screencap, I realized that he's like the cartoon version of Daniel Henney. (google him).
And I realize that Bryke is probably doing fanservice. I mean Legend of Korra only exists because of the huge fanbase after the end of ATLA. So it makes sense they'd do fanservice. Some of is just so obvious though:
1) "Endgame"? Bryke has tumblr! They know these terms.
2) So... Zuko and Katara are the only ones still alive...
3) In order to make EVERYONE happy, they made sure that ALL pairings are actually canon. Borra = canon; Bolin liked Korra. Makorra = cannon; they kissed. Masami = canon; they were together. Linzen = canon; they were together. Even Ikki said Mako was handsome. and Meelo said Asami was beautiful.
And then Iroh said, "I look forward to taking back Republic City... Together, with the Avatar" - KORROH = CANNON.
What is fanservice? Making EVERYONE happy. Lol. But to be completely honest; I'm serious. This fandom is crazy. Everyone blew up after Asami said, "I like Korra" in episode 10. making Korrasami cannon too.. This is getting ridic yo's. ;)