promise

Avatar Korra made a lot of promises.

Some of them were promises she couldn't keep.

"You SWORE. You SWORE nothing would happen to him. You said he'd be just fine. You said you wouldn't let anything happen to him." The anger was a trembling and terrifying power in his voice. It shook her to the bone. She'd never heard Mako speak like this. This was a whole different side to him. She wasn't sure she was ready for it.

He stood across from her. The air seemed to shimmer around him, like car exhaust over stone during a hot summer day. He pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly trying to reign in some of that raw energy. He seemed to be boiling from the inside out.

Korra pawed nervously at the swinging door at her back. She considered going back in, making an excuse to Katara that she wanted to help heal Bolin, but she doubted he'd let her get away with it. No, Mako wouldn't let her walk away from this. She'd broken her promise to him. And she hated herself for it. But it took every shred of her being to keep herself in place.

The shame was all-consuming.

"I know what I said." Her voice quivered but it was clear. She wouldn't back down from this fight. She never did back down, no matter how many times she had truly wanted to. It wasn't the sort of person she was.

Her hand slipped from the swinging door, shedding what little safety blanket she had left. Her feet shifted, her fists clenched, and the muscles in her jaw worked until they ached. "I know what I said and I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. You know—" She broke off, taking a hesitant step toward him. He looked up, a savage light in his eyes. They watched each other, suspended. "You know I never would have let him come with me if I thought something like this was going to happen. He made a choice. I did my best." She paused, her hand pointing at his chest. She didn't remember moving but somehow she was now less than a foot from him.

He didn't seem to notice the difference.

"I did what I had to do. There were hundreds of people in danger. I couldn't… There was nothing I could do. If you put me there again I would make the same call. And you know Bo would say the same thing." She started to turn away but seemed to think better of it. "And don't you dare try and lecture me about promises. You can't make me feel any worse about this than I already do. I never wanted him to…" Her voice faltered and drifted away. The lump in her throat tightened and she let out a quaking breath, looking up at the ceiling with the hopes that the tears might sink back into her skull and stay there. But they came, fast and unrelenting.

And suddenly she was in his arms, silent sobs traded between them. She mutteredI'm sorryinto his shoulder, tears staining his scarf. His hand brushed through her hair, down her neck, and he pressed his forehead to hers. The heat was gone, left with nothing but a slow burn, like a bubbling wound. She hissed through her teeth, trying to reign in the tears. "I'm so sorry, Mako. I wish…" He shushed her and pressed a long kiss to her forehead.

"I'm sorry." He echoed, brushing tears from her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs.

"Bo, he's—" She couldn't form a sentence. She didn't know what would become of Bolin. She just hoped that her sloppy work didn't spell disaster for any work Katara could do.

They stood silently, holding each other, for a very long time. Both of them lost track of how long. Their muscles began to ache, standing there, but neither of them moved until Katara emerged looking rather tired but overall optimistic.

"Your brother is going to be fine. He just needs plenty of rest. No bending for at least a week. In fact, he probably shouldn't leave his bed. But he'll be just fine." She smiled warmly at the pair of them.

Korra nearly cried out with relief, the tears coming fresh. Her knees gave a little but she recovered quickly. "Thank the spirits."

"Would you like to go in to see him? I gave him a little something to distract from the pain—cactus juice. Powerful stuff. He might be a little out of it."

Mako let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He twined his hand with Korra's and nodded. "Yes, definitely."