Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Mako

You're nineteen, your brother is seventeen, and things are different now. No more running numbers, no more going hungry, sleeping out in the cold. You still fight, but it wasn't because people bigger and meaner and tougher than you threatened you and the goofy little brother you love and were responsible for anymore. It was more for sport. Your name was known for the skills and style you had learned so long ago and honed in Toza's gym now.

You hadn't thought about Lightening Bolt Zolt or The Triple Ts in two years.

Not until the night you had seen Amon take Zolt's bending with your own two eyes.

You had kept your ears open to any word on what had happened to him afterwards, when you and Korra had disrupted the Equalist rally. There had been news of the triad disbanding, headquarters being abandoned, and workers heading over to the Agni Kais. But no news of Lightening Bolt Zolt himself.

And it wasn't like you could do anything for him now, but he had done something for you long ago. Ignoring what had happened right in front of you was stupid—because it had happened right in front of you. And it could have been you or your little brother.

You had to know.

So you dug up a set of numbers from memory.

34 500 73 4 10

Province 34, the residential district they made almost eight years ago, on the 500th block of Republic City. Building No. 73, a skyscraper that still looked the same from the outside, but the apartment lobby inside on the other side of the glass wall had been remodeled. The 4th floor, where the apartments actually were, and the buzzer for Apartment 10.

Bzzt bzzt. Quick, as always.

Static came through the intercom. Somebody was listening.

You press the button to speak and say the magic word: Cherry.

"...Who is it?"

You say your name.

"Really?"

Yes. It's really you.

The lobby door buzzes opens and you walk past the guy at the front desk that recognizes you from the fights, and thank him and you promise to sign whatever it is he wants you to sign after you come down.

The carpet and doors were still black, but the color and material looked new. And they had changed the wall fixtures.

Cherry's waiting for you outside of her door with a smile on her face. She hugs you when you get close, and you realize that she's not wearing anything underneath her robe as per her nature. You try not to blush. Two years ago, you had been used to it, but now, she was making you feel embarrassed like the first time you had met her. It doesn't help that you remember that while only a few people knew where Cherry lived, not a lot of people were allowed inside. Just Zolt, Rui, and you for whatever reason. And because no one was able to get inside of her building without force, and Zolt would've killed Rui if he had done anything to Cherry, and no one had to worry about you anymore, Cherry had been allowed to dress however she wanted when she was at home.

"Come in, come in!" She closes the door and shuts all the locks she got placed on her door over the years. She cups your face and traces the curve of your cheeks with her thumbs like you're a piece of art. "You look so different. Even different from the newspapers."

Soon after becoming a runner, you had learned that even though Cherry's big cheeks and almond-shaped eyes made her look like she was eighteen, she had actually been twenty-one, ten years older than you. She still didn't look all that different after ten years, face and frame were mostly the same, except for her hair that she kept up in a coif, a very curly rooster's crown now, and the makeup she had put on her lips, the peach-colored lipstick. You're in the beginning of a new relationship with a girl that's definitely out of your league, and that girl, Asami, is beautiful, but you remember that Cherry had been a crush from your past and the subject of your wet-dreams for awhile when you were fourteen.

"I thought that after you had come here the last time to tell Zolt you weren't running numbers for him anymore, you weren't going to come back. ...Remember?"

You did. Cherry had actually been the one that had told Zolt to give you your money and let you go, but she was sad when she had hugged you goodbye as you walked out her door, yuans in hand, and whispered that you were a good kid and she was happy that you weren't going to do this anymore. She had closed the door on you softly that night.

"And remember how I never cared about Pro-Bending?"

You remembered.

"Well, I started following your team. I always listen to your matches on the radio. You and Bolin sound like you're so good—better now that you got rid of that one guy, Hanook."

She smiles, pleased with what she knows, and you don't correct her.

"You want a beer?"

No, you're good.

You watch her fly around her kitchen, reaching in the icebox for a bottle and then yanking open a drawer and pulling out a bottle opener, waving down your offer to open it for her. She pulls up the stool beside you and sits in it, tipping her bottle and body back slightly for the first sip. Her robe opens a bit at the top and slips off her shoulders and you see skin and her cleavage and the fold of her stomach. Her legs cross and the bottom half slips back and you see the skin of her hip and bottom.

...She has really kept herself put together.

She places her bottle down and stares at you like she kinda knows why you're here. Her look was mature, somber, expectant and patient.

So you don't keep her waiting.

You had...heard about what happened to Zolt. Was it true?

Her face tenses. "Yeah," she whispers.

Where was he?

"He's not in the back if that's what you're asking, and you know I can't tell you where he is exactly."

...How was he holding up?

"...Not good. He's...calm now. But the first night, he had spent the rest of the night here trying to bend again. The entire night opening his palm, punching air, and nothing. He said he couldn't feel it, like part of him had been taken out of him. And I thought he was going to start crying...he looked like he was gonna cry, which I have never seen him do before...But then he started screaming and knocking my stuff down. Auntie's picture, my vases and figurines. I spent most of the night in my room afterwards..."

She looked over at her living room and you follow her gaze. She hadn't redecorated since the night you left. She was missing stuff. Auntie's picture on the wall, the only thing left of the old woman that almost bit your head off the first time you came here, was now sitting in a frame with a huge chunk missing bottom left corner.

"I didn't come out until I heard him snoring."

If it hadn't been Cherry, you might've asked if she had gotten hurt, but you know Zolt wouldn't harm one hair on her head. So you move on.

Was he better now?

She shook her head and got this far away look. "He'll never be better...He loved firebending. It's what made him different, you know? He liked all benders, but he loved firebending the most. Firebending got him everything he ever wanted.

Her eyes snap back to look at your face. "...It's so funny that you're here today. Did someone tell you?"

What?

"Zolt. He's leaving Republic City and going to The Fire Nation."

But Zolt loves Republic City.

"He still does, but...he can't be here anymore. Not with the way things are now. When the Chi-blockers had popped up that night, they had come into headquarters with no problem. A place crawling with benders and they just came through like they owned the place. And when Amon took his bending, he did it like it was no problem. Zolt has always been untouchable in Republic City; not even the police department can keep him for long. But, Amon kept him longer than any of the metals had done his entire life. Touched Zolt like he was nothing." Her hand grabbed for the neck of her beer again and took another swig.

"He wants Amon's mask, but he's not calling for a bid on it. He...he gets nightmares, like Amon could take his life next. If anyone else tried to get close to Amon, they'd probably take away their bending too. He doesn't want that."

But The Triple Ts...

"There's no point in running a group of benders when he can't bend himself anymore, and just about anyone who was part of the triad is probably with the Agni Kais now. You know Zolt has always run stuff on power, not sympathy... He had been wanting to retire; this just speeds it up.

"And...He's taking me with him." Her voice cracked a bit, emotional. "He's leaving and he wants me with him. I was packing when you came in. We're gonna live together."

You look up and she's staring far away at the ground, and you know that this was still a shock to her, one that she was happy about. Cherry was never the only girl Zolt had, she had always known that, but she loved him and was loyal to her feelings for him. Stayed with him for ten years, maybe more.

And she was his favorite. He had told you that once during a conversation about how this world was yours for the taking, that anything you wanted could be yours: money, cars, houses, and girls like Cherry. She was the only girl he had never stolen from another wannabe crime lord; from the moment he had met her, she had proved her loyalty time and time and time again. That was why she knew just as much about his business, almost as much as Rui, and why he trusted her word. That's why he had kept her around longer than any other girl he had had; flaunted her everywhere. Told her things—made sure that his inner circle recognized and respected her word after him.

Even though she wasn't a Bender.

And now that he was saying goodbye to Republic City, she was going with him.

...When are you leaving?

"I can't tell you anything like that, but we'll be there in a week. Where we're going, I get to design everything...the house we're going to live in." She grins to herself. "I know we're moving because things are bad, but I know I can help make it better for him."

And you're happy because she's happy and you tell her so.

...You stand.

There's really nothing else left to say. You had come here because she knew about something you wanted to find out. And now that you knew it too, it was time to go. This part of your life was over and soon, it would stop existing entirely.

She gets out of her chair, even though you say she doesn't have to, and she opens her door for you. "Bye, Mako." She cups your face once more and kisses your cheek. And then keeps her lips on your skin for a long time. Her eyes are glassy when she pulls away.

And it's awkward for a moment: you'd tell her you'd miss her, and that would be true a little, but she probably wouldn't cross your mind too much; after all, you'll never see her again. But at least when you did, you'd remember her being happy.

"Win your first season okay? You're not allowed to lose any matches, or I'll come back and beat you up myself. I'll make sure I keep up with your season...Tell Bolin I said hello."

You say you will.

She goes inside and her door closes, softly.

And you go back the way you came: 10 4 73 500 34

Numbers II

A continuation of "Numbers" and inspired by "The Revelation". It had been weird to me that even though Mako had done work for The Triple Threat Triad, when he saw Zolt get his bending get taken away, he didn't really react. Maybe that was because he didn't know who Zolt was, but Amon had introduced him. ...Whatevs. I'm happy I got to bring back Cherry again.