Dedicated to Amy. Good luck on the rest of your exams!
And also, a huge thanks to my beta reader, thejournalistinred, for your relentlessness in editing (some) of this chapter. Oopsies.
The toe of Hiroshi Sato's polished black oxfords tap against the freshly waxed marble floors beneath his desk. His head hangs down, resting heavily on his fist, his nails chewed down to the quick. Frustration heats his pale skin and his freshly licked lips are stressed into a frown. He holds a black wireless landline in his other hand, pressed lightly to his ear, listening with contempt to the man on the other end.
"There hasn't been any new information on the girl." Hiroshi says evenly, his fingers curling tighter around the phone. "But she fits the criteria: Her appearance, the lack of material presented on the background check my men ran on her. It's as if Yuke Shen ceases to exist."
Hiroshi dwindles silently through the silence, waiting patiently for a reply. "I see." Is all he says, and Hiroshi's foot freezes under the desk, a heavy exhale of breath huffing through his lips.
"However, the boy I sent to investigate the girl has been given no motives to believe she is lying about her identity. He reports that she is completely ordinary."
"I find ordinary undependable, Mr. Sato."
Hiroshi lifts his head, the heavy dark bags beneath his eyes catching light as his sight catches the gold plated frame on his desk. His daughter, smiling back at him, gives him hope. "What do you suppose I do then?" Irritation tightens his face.
"Anything. I want the girl thoroughly investigated. I could care less if you have to snatch the girl away from her home and put splinters under her nails. I need answers." Amon seethes with the tone to meet the sharpness of a razor blade. "Do I make myself perfectly clear, Mr. Sato?"
Hiroshi nods with closed eyes, teeth clenched. "I understand."
"I am at the end of my rope. I have given you a generous amount of time to conduct your investigation, to appease your growing curiosity, but I cannot waste my time waiting as you tail a girl who may as well be as worthless as the several other claims I've bothered to investigate."
I am not wasting my time. "I saw her earth bend. I saw her, a non bending water tribe girl earth bend."
"That is not reliable evidence."
"It will be. I swear it."
"It very well may be. I am giving you until the end of the week." Amon's smooth voice fails to falter from its impassive tone. "Now onto other business. You do recall what is taking place this evening?"
The thought pulls of the corners of Hiroshi's lips into a smile and adds amusement to his monotonous manner. "I see no reason of how I could forget."
"And my shipment?"
The smile grows wider. "Yes. My men added the finishing touches this very morning. I will have them delivered to the location as soon as possible."
` Hiroshi has never seen Amon's smile, but he could hear it in his words. "Excellent. I would like to give them a test run tonight."
"Famous idea."
Hiroshi's hand slackens on the phone as the heavy wooden door of his office creaks open and a head of long ebony hair peers around the frame.
"I must go." Hiroshi ushers, already pulling the phone away from his ear. "My daughter." Then he clicks the phone to the receiver.
"Dad?" Asami asks, stepping raising a black brow.
"Come in, Asami." Hiroshi says, watching as his daughter, dressed in a olive green sundress, step through the door.
She looks like her mother, and Hiroshi Sato basks in the resemblance. She inherited her sleek, inky black hair, her slanted almond shaped jade eyes, her smile, her exuberance. The full extent of Hiroshi's smile comes back to life. "Can I help you with something?"
Asami returns the smile softly. "Who were you just talking to?"
Hiroshi feels his heart stutter and his palms dampen. He isn't ready to tell her―or how to tell her for that matter. It hurt to keep secrets from her. "No one of importance." He says squarely, clearing his throat. "Just a sales associate."
Asami quirks her glossed lips."Oh. Well okay." She steps forward in her black buckled wedges, a leather tote bag hanging off her shoulder. "Are you ready?"
Hiroshi blinks. "Ready for what?"
Asami rolls her eyes, fluttering her lashes. "We have lunch reservations, remember?" She props a hand on her hip. "At Hakkasan's?"
Her father laughs lightly, pushing his chair back and rising to his feet. "Of course! My apologies for forgetting. It's been a long morning you see."
Dropping her hand from her waist, Asami assesses the bags under her father's brown eyes. "Dad, are you feeling alright?"
Hiroshi nods abruptly. "I feel great!" He moves from behind his desk and stands before Asami, setting his hands on her shoulder. "Let me just make myself decent and we will go to lunch." He kisses her forehead before striding to the door.
Asami twirls on her heel, the feel of her father's wet lips still fresh on her forehead. "Are you sure you're alright? We can reschedule if that makes you more comfortable."
"That won't be necessary." Hiroshi sighs, pausing in the door frame.
"If you say so." She watches him step forward, but before he could leave the room, Asami blurts. "And I invited Mako to join us, if that is alright with you." She teeters back and forth on the thick heels of her wedges.
With Hiroshi's back turned, he can freely sneer. "Yes. That is perfectly alright." His oxfords click against the marble as he disappears down the hallway.
Consciousness eases back slowly for Korra, the atmosphere materializing around her as she blinks her eyes back into focus. The first thing she takes notice of is the pain pulsing in her head, the ceiling above her warping and swirling. The second thing: the room is unfamiliar. The walls are a bleak tan, and the room is limited of furniture save from a small night table, a rickety wooden cabinet and a cot of which Korra lays on. The room is softly lit in the golden afternoon sunlight.
She reaches her arm up, the limb stiff and heavy, and rubs her fists against her watering eyes. Her wrist brushes against a soft strip of cloth swathed across her forehead. Her fingers run across the fabric tied tightly across her head and she immediately realizes it is gauze, and the barely bearable throb radiating from the side of her head is a head wound. Korra blinks, trying to recall her memories that would explain as to why she lies, wounded, in a unfamiliar room. She can think of nothing.
"Korra, you're awake."
She turns her head to the voice and finds Tenzin, sitting on a stool close beside the cot. His expression a mix of relief and concern . Korra swallows, her mouth dry and her throat aching. "Tenzin." She says hoarsely. To calm the itch in her throat, she coughs. Her brain feels as if it is convulsing and she winces. "This isn't my bed."
Tenzin shakes his head. "No, it isn't. You are in the Air Temple infirmary."
Korra nods, still feeling considerably confused. "Oh." She breathes, massaging the side of her head with her fingers.
"How are you feeling?"
Korra flinches as her fingers press into a raw spot below her hairline. "My head hurts."
"It should. You were concussed." Tenzin says.
"Concussed?" Korra's eyes widen, a horrible feeling of hollowness twisting her stomach. "Where is Susi?" Korra uses her slack arms to push herself up from the cot, her skull fiercely throbbing as soon as her head leaves the pillow.
Tenzin pushes Korra back into the bed by her shoulders. "Your friend is fine." He insists removing his hand from her shoulder as soon as her head is snug back on the pillow."She is in stable condition, recovering at Republic City hospital."
Korra breathes a sigh of liberation, the hallow pit in her belly filling with relief. But just as a new face materializes in her head, the hollowness returns. "Did…" Korra's mouth dries and flashes of amber eyes panic her heart. "Is Mako alright?" She manages to say, holding her breath.
"Who?" Tenzin's scrunches his nose. "Oh, your gentleman friend. I assure you he is perfectly fine." Korra releases the burning breath from her throat. "He initially brought you to the hospital. You had a threatening head injury and an abrasion on your cheek." He explains, watching Korra as she prods her fingers at the bandage around her head before letting her hand trail over her smooth cheek. "The doctors healed the cut, but it will take a few more sessions for your head injury." Tenzin rubs hi temples, easing the stress away before raising his head and catching Korra's dim blue eyes. "You should thank him, as I should too. That is if you ever see him again."
The mere thought of never seeing Mako again troubles Korra. "I will."
"Can you please explain to me everything that happened last night?"
Korra adverts her eyes, recalling the events and tossing around ways to sugar coat her explanation. "I don't remember a majority of what happened. My memory is pretty hazy." She lies.
Tenzin leans forward with his eyes intent. "Try to remember." She can see the plea in his eyes.
Korra sighs, squinting her eyes close. "Try to remember Korra. Please. It is of the uttermost importance."
"I was on patrol with my partner, Susi." Korra says slowly while looking forwards at her sheet covered feet. "We were up on the roof and Susi got shot by someone-"
"Who?" Tenzin interrupts.
Korra looks to Tenzin and shakes her head. "I didn't see their face.."
"Sorry. Please continue."
Korra inhales. "I went to go get help cause there was no way I was getting her off that roof on my own. I remember running and taking a nasty fall. Then nothing." Then I got cornered by some Equalists and they knocked me out, and nearly took me to Amon. But don't worry about me. I'm fine.
Tenzin's fingers run over his beard. "That would explain the concussion, but what of the abrasion on your cheek?"
Korra couldn't help the stressed chuckle that passes her lips. "Well, funny story." She bites the inside of her cheek and tangles her fingers together over her lap. She watches as Tenzin raises an eyebrow and his lips go straight. "The bullet that hit Susi grazed my cheek."
Korra watches as the vein running up Tenzin's neck twitches. After several moments, Tenzin releases a weighted sigh."Well it's a relief."
Korra furrows her brows. "I'm sorry?" She pushes herself up so she is leaning comfortably against the headboard of the cot. "Did you just say you were relieved?"
"I meant that I am relieved that I don't have to worry anymore about you getting killed because of this task force."
"What do you mean?"
Tenzin rises to his feet and pads across the wide room to a shuttered window―beams of dull sunlight seeping through the openings of shutters. "I guess now would be as good as time as any to tell you that I have resigned you from Tarrlock's task force."
Korra's eyes widen and it takes all her willpower not to catapult herself up from the bed. "You what?!" She demands, the pitch of her voice sending the pain of her head into a frenzy. The room tilts a bit, un-focusing and swirling. She fights the dizziness.
Tenzin folds his hands behind his back, gazing through a slit from the shutters that reveals a bed of blooming white tropical flowers. "This is the second time you have come home with some kind of injury. The next time, you could only hope as to be so lucky."Tenzin sighs and turns back to Korra who is glowering at him. "It is what's best for you."
Korra says nothing as she flips back the white sheets from her legs and swings herself from the bed. Stumbling forward, she regains her balance as she eases the dizziness away. Tenzin steps forward, grabbing Korra's left shoulder to steady her. "Korra, please get back into the bed. You are not well enough to wander around." Korra shoves away from him, hunching over as a feeling of weightlessness teeters her on her feet.
"I'm fine." She insists, taking one crooked step forward. "You can quit coddling me. I'm just going to the bathroom."
Korra's fingers find the knot holding the strip of bandage around her head and she pulls the end until it unravels and the blood blotched cloth falls to her hands. Looking onward at her reflection in the streaked mirror, Korra first notices the tender spot of missing skin on the right side of her head, just below her hair line. She smoothes back the threads of hair falling over her eyes and squints at the injury.
The second thing she notices is a barely there scar, raveling up her right cheek and ending just below her eye.
Her fingers phantom over the thin white line now plaguing the curve of her cheek bone. Biting her lip, she frowns and turns her head down―away from the mirror. A tear hangs from her eyelash.
Korra fills the bathroom sink to the brim with water and dips her hands into sink. The water glows an ethereal blue.
She didn't bother asking Tenzin if she was allowed to go into the city. She figures that some decisions should have the power to make on her own. Korra, after visiting Naga in her pen, walks to the temples garden. She plucks various flowers of an assortment of different colors and ties the stems with a woven thread.
Within the hour, she is stepping through the doors of the Republic City Hospital. Tugging at the collar of her navy blue tee-shirt, Korra approaches the front desk with even steps. The old man behind the desk looks up and smiles kindly. "Hello, what can I help you with?"
Korra hugs the bouquet of flowers tighter to her chest before huffing a strand of brown hair out of her eyes. "I'm here to see Susi."
The man quirks a graying eyebrow with a lethargic smile. "Does Susi have a last name?"
"Uh, I'm sure she does." Korra says with a feeble chuckle. She watches as the man quickly types on his computer key board.
"Well, the only Susi here is Susi Hanaka, and she just got out of surgery and is in recovery. Unless you are family, she is not allowed any visitors." The man explains.
Korra nods, disappointed, but at the same time relieved. "I understand. Thank you." She turns away from the desk and walks across the chair scattered lobby to the sliding glass doors. Just as she passes the threshold, a unfamiliar voice turns her around.
"Why do you need to see my sister?"
Sitting in a stiff metal chair by the door is a boy no older than fourteen with short and spiked black hair, dressed in a red flannel, a dark blue pair of jeans, and a pair of red sneakers on his small feet. From his soft pale features and emerald green eyes, Korra realizes instantly that this is Susi's little brother. "I uh, wanted to see is she is doing okay, and to give her these." Korra holds up the flowers to the boy.
The boy's mouth twists. "Those are ugly." He says.
Korra laughs of all things. She looks at the flowers, noticing some missing petals, and others bent in a unappealing fashion. "Yeah, they are. It was kind of a last minute decision. It's the thought that counts."
Susi's brother shrugs.
"May I sit?" Korra asks gesturing to the metal chair beside him.
He shrugs. "Go ahead."
Korra sits in the chair beside the boy with the flowers laying in her lap. She turns her head to Susi's brother who is watching his feet as he scissors them back and forth under the chair. He's troubled. She can easily see it in the bags under his eyes and the ruggedness of his hair which she guesses he hasn't bothered brushing in a while. The boy's thin lips are bitten raw and his fingers are noticeably fidgety.
Korra fishes around for the right words to say to ease him. But before she can open her mouth to say one word, she realizes the boy has beat her to the punch.
"How do you know Susi?" He asks meeting Korra's eyes. His green eyes are bloodshot. He has been crying.
"I was there last night, when she was shot." She says easily, dropping her gaze from the boy.
From the corner of her eye, she can see him shift uncomfortably in his chair as he sits on his hands.
"I'm sorry." She says. "She's strong―your sister."
The boy nods. "I know." His voice is quiet.
"If you don't mind me asking," Korra speaks softly. "the receptionist says that Susi is allowed visitors who are her family. You're her brother. Why aren't you with her?"
The boy stops kicking his feet and bites down on the inside of his cheek, tears brimming his eyes and his heart a fine frenzy in his chest. "I can't." He chokes.
Korra's chest tightens. "You can't?"
A single tear escapes the bridges of his eye. He hunches over, hiding his face from Korra. "It's my fault she's here, my fault that she almost died last night." A small broken sob strangles from the boys throat. "She only joined that stupid task force because of a promise she made to me, and now she almost died for it, for a few worlds and an unrealistic mission. And it's all my fault. I can't face her. I just can't."
Korra wants to comfort him, but she's never been good at that. But her heart breaks a little more every time a tear falls from the boys face. She sees her own pain reflected in his. She keeps her hands tight around the stem of the flowers, her mouth going dry. "From what I heard from last night, your sister thinks the world of you. She wants to keep you safe. She wants this world that you live in to be a better place. Sometimes the people we care about make sacrifices we don't like, sacrifices that are dangerous, but they do it because they love us. Love, I have come to realize, is just as dangerous as sacrifice. Susi loves you very much and she would take a thousand more bullets for you to keep you safe. That is her sacrifice. You shouldn't blame yourself because your sister loves you." Korra's eyes water as her fingers uncurl from the stems of the flowers and she rests her hand lightly on the boy's quivering shoulder. "Like I said, your sister is very brave and very strong. It would take a little more than a bullet to knock her down."
The boy sniffles, and drags his hand across his face, smearing the salty tears trailing from his eyes. "She's the strongest person I know." He turns his head to look at Korra, the white of his wet eyes shot with red. "It's just scary. I don't want to lose her."
"You won't" She draws her hand away. "I promise that you will never lose your sister."
The boy shakes his head, using his sleeves to dry the tears under his eyes. "You can't make that promise."
"Yes, I can." Korra swears.
The boy gazes with glistening at Korra, holding to her promise like a life line.
Korra breaks the eye contact, tucking a tuft of hair behind her ear. "You should go be with her." Korra stood with the flowers at her side. The boy's eyes widen then relax. He hops to his feet. Korra extends the bouquet to him. "I know these are ugly, but can you give them to Susi for me? And tell her I stopped by?"
He takes the flowers from Korra's hands with a small smile. "I will. What is your name? Y'know, just in case she asks."
"Yuke. And what's your name? Y'know, just because I am curious."
He chuckles, his braced teeth flashing in the sunlight. "Kiba."
Korra smiles and pats Kiba's shoulder. "Well Kiba, it was nice to meet you. I should get going, and you should go to your sister."
"Yeah." He nods. "Thank you, Yuke." He walks past her and she watches him go. Before
Kiba disappears behind the blue hallway door, he spins on his toes with tears pooling in his emerald eyes. "I will hold you to your promise."
Korra cracks a smile. "I hope you will."
The door shuts behind Kiba, and Korra watches through a small window on the door as he rounds a corner and disappears.
The quickest way to avoid the city traffic back to the pier is to cut through the city park, and Korra who is in a rush to get back to the island before Tenzin notices she is gone, decides to take the shortcut.
She walks along a paved path through a ripe green field of grass. It's uncomfortably warm, with the sun at its highest in the cloudless luminous sky. Korra ties her hair back from her face and digs her hands in her jeans. She strides slowly, her head angled at her feet as she kicks a small rock with the toe of her grey sneaker.
Within minutes, her thin collared blue shirt is sticky with sweat, and a headache breaks through the relief the healing session had given her. Sweat dampens her hairline, and her drying throat demands water. I miss the South Pole. She thinks whisking her arm across her bowline to rid of the moisture.
Korra swings her leg back to kick the small grey rock and by mistakes punts the rock down a hill where it drops into a murky pond. Korra hides an exasperated huff under her breath, her fingers curling in her pockets. She shakes her head, realizing the futility of her sudden burst of anger. Why is she grappling with her anger over a rock?
Admittedly, she is just on edge, staggering dangerously on the edge of her sanity. Hopelessness is draped like a heavy and unseen veil over her shoulders. She was reaching the end of her rope.
Korra, abruptly struggling to draw in enough air to ease the burning of her chest, stumbles off the paved path and sits against the trunk of a tree, long leaf covered branches sheltering her from the heat. She draws her knees to her chest and sticks her head between her knees.
She draws in slow and rehearsed breaths of air through her nose until her lungs are full of air. She holds it in until her face is beet red before releasing it in one rushed spurt. Keeping her head secure between her knees, she hugs her legs, fighting the tears biting at her eyes.
There must be something, and she racks her brain for it, to lead her to Amon, to end this chaos, these murders―something she must be overlooking.
Korra leans her head back against the trunk of the tree and gazes up to the labyrinth of decaying leaves and dark branches.
C'mon spirits, throw me a bone here!
Korra lets her eyes close as she finally gains a grapple on her breathing. She can hear spews of laughter, the barks of dogs, and angry chanting?
Korra raises her head and squints through the sun glaring off the lenses of her glasses in the direction of the chanting.
Instantly, she notices a thin man standing atop a pedestal with a mega phone to his mouth, entertaining a small crowd circled around him. The crowd grows with every passing civilian. Korra removes the frames from her face and stands.
"Are you tired of benders running this city? Are you done with being oppressed with their divine authority over us non-benders?" Korra takes steady steps until she is standing among the small crowd surrounding the protesting man.
She places the glasses back on her face as she gazes up with contempt to the man.
"Then join Amon and together, with our strength in numbers, we can take down the oppressive benders of Republic City!" He booms with a loud angry and charismatic voice.
Korra's blood freezes in her veins and her heart falters. She is surprised she didn't fall over. This man is protesting for Amon?! And as Korra's eyes graze over the audience, she is horrified to see a majority of the crowd nodding in agreement with the man's callous and nonsensical words.
His audience grows. Korra and the insignificance she feels hardens to anger. She bites down on her tongue to prevent her from giving her piece.
"The Avatar is gone! That hold she had over us, the binds that tied the benders to her have unraveled, and we are free. Now is the time to end the bending triads, the political statements and to shine light on the shadows us non-benders are forced to live in!"
I'm right here buddy. Korra's stomach sinks to the boom of applause. A small bead of sweat trickles down the side of her face, and down her neck. She shudders.
"Tonight! Take part of the change about to be made. Join Amon!"
"No!" as soon as her teeth slackened on her tongue, the words flew from her mouth in a curt shout. She shoved through the crowd until she was upfront, all eyes on her. "You're wrong. Everything that is coming out of your mouth right now is wrong! Join Amon? Are you insane!?"
The man crinkles his nose and scowls down at Korra with a scoff. "And I suppose you're a bender, young lady?"
"I might be." She seethes, perching her hands on her hips. "But that has nothing to do with it! You want people to join this war Amon is raging? You want to work alongside a murder?"
Korra hears a few gasps ghost from some lips among the crowd.
She turns to the agape mouthed people. "That's right. Amon is the one who murdered those teenagers. He killed four innocent people and he," Korra points back at the protesting man. "he wants all of you to stand by him and his homicidal army."
"And how do you know it was Amon?" A man asks anonymously from the cluster of people.
"Yeah, why should we take your word for it?!"
"For all we know, you could be a bender!"
Korra's face heats to a angry red. "And so what if I was a bender! I'm not here to oppress anyone! But listen to me. When did the murders start happening? Right after Amon arrived here in Republic City. And what do all the victims have in common?"
"They're all in High school?" A woman with a small voice guesses.
Korra shakes her head, a strand of hair catching on her chapped lips. "No. All of them were Benders!"
Korra could feel the wave of realization skim over the crowd. Her legs feel like lead, stiff and shaky. She breathes erratically from feeling that hallow pit of nervousness. More sweat collects on her brow line and she uses the sleeve of shirt to wipe it away.
A single set of applause from behind Korra spins her around. "Very good little girl, but you're preaching to the choir. Amon didn't kill those people. You're just some attention starving little child who doesn't know what she's talking about. Why don't you just go home and complain to your mommy, that is if she is willing to listen to the lies coming out of your mouth!"
The last straw is pulled from Korra's patients. Before anyone, including herself, can stop her, Korra is lunging at the podium. Her fist curls around the collar of shirt and yanks him until half of his body is hanging off the podium. She wrenches him forward until his nose is pressed against hers, and her eyes are like fire as they burn into his brown ones. Her lips bend over her teeth and harsh breath puffs from her nose. "I watched my friend get shot last night, and now she is laying in a hospital bed with her little brother praying to the spirits she is going to recover. And you know who shot her? It was one of Amon's scum soldiers! This assertion of oppression you so openly dictate holds no leverage to murderers."
The man open's his quivering lips to speak, but before he could so much as muster a syllable, Korra shakes him. "Shut up and listen to me!" He clamps his mouth shut. "If you even try to convince me of anymore of your lies, I will punch you so hard that your face will look inside-out. Am I clear? Don't test me." As soon as he nods, Korra shoves him away, still maintaining her grip on the collar of his shirt. The man's hand cuff around her wrists, trying to maintain his balance she guesses. "You spoke of an event tonight. Where?"
Between the man's stricken breathing, he chokes out a scoff. "And what makes you think I would tell you?"
Korra licks her lips with a dark chuckle. "I told you not to test me." In one fluid motion, Korra kicks the podium from between her and her hostage and the man finds himself on his back with Korra crouched over him, her arm bent above her head, fist closed.
The man recoils his head to the side, his eyes wide on Korra's fist.
"I'll give you one last chance." She seethes in a venomous whisper. "Where?!" She bellows. Her closed hand inches closer.
"Hey! You there!" Korra pays no mind to the policemen now making their way over to the crowd. "Release that man now!"
"Help me!" The man bellows pathetically, turning his head to plea with the police men.
"Tell me!" Korra growls so furiously, that she barely recognizes the voice being spat through her lips.
"I-It's at Sinji's warehouse in Dragon Flats Burrow. Tonight at nine." The man confesses with watering eyes and broken wheezes.
Korra stretches her lips into a sickly sweet smile. "See, now that wasn't very hard at all, was it?" Korra jerks the man to his feet before releasing him with a hard shove. The man stumbles before regaining his balance.
The policeman break through the appalled crowd to grab the girl. But she is already gone, sprinting down the paved pathway with a stack of fliers from the fallen podium clutched in her hands.
Oh I am dead. I am so dead. Asami is going to kill me.
He overslept and the lunch plans Asami had made with him the night before had completely slipped to the bottom of priorities he had so neatly arranged in his mind. In other words, he forgot.
Mako takes two steps at a time, his shoe laces lethargically tied and his hands in a heist to button up his black shirt. He didn't bother running a comb through his hair, or wash and shave his face. But he found importance in taking a few minutes to brush his teeth and rolling on some deodorant.
At the bottom of the steps, Mako runs his hands through his untamed dark locks of hair until the tendrils lay flat back and out of his face.
As Mako stumbles past the gym, Bolin who is punching disks of earth into a threaded net, notices his brother's haste. "Mako!" He calls as he watches Mako's frame speed by the door. "Where are you going?"
"Out to lunch with Asami. I'm late! Can't talk!"
"But you're talking right now!" Bolin shouts.
"Bye, Bolin!" His voice sounds farther now.
Mako busts through the grand golden doors of the Arena entrance and takes two steps at a time down to the parking lot.
"Mako!" His head snaps up at the sound of Korra's shout, and he nearly missed a step and fell on his face. She's sprinting across the empty parking lot with something clutched in her hand. Her short legs carry her quickly across the white lined asphault, her arms swinging back and forth to maintain momentum.
She's out of the hospital?
Korra skids to a halt in front of him, her breathing labored and fly always from her ponytail sticking out every which way. Her russet cheeks are flushed a deep red and sweat coating her skin glistens off the sun. She doubles over and gasps for breath.
"Korra?" Mako questions, his hand hesitant over her back. He pulls his hand away as she snaps back up. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the hospital!"
Korra shakes her head. "I made a speedy recovery. So listen, we need to talk." She blubbers.
"I can't right now." He steps around Korra and strides to his motorcycle. Korra follows him. "I'm late for a lunch date with Asami. Can it wait?"
Korra shakes her head. "Mako it's urgent―" She sputters.
Mako, reaching his bike, pulls the black helmet hanging from the handlebars. "Look, I'm glad you're alright, but I would really prefer not to tick off my girlfriend anymore than I already have. I'm sure whatever it is can wait a few hours." He yanks the Helmet onto his head. He turns his head to Korra who is still gasping to regain a steady pattern of breath. "We'll talk later alright?" His voice now muffled, Mako swings his leg over the seat of the bike and jams the key into the ignition.
Korra grabs Mako's bicep as gently as she could, her eyes wide with plea. "Mako, it's really important we talk now." He jerks his arm out of her light grasp.
"No, what's important is I leave right now so I'm not single by the end of the night." His glare softens as he catches a glimpse of an uneasy but unreadable emotion in the cerulean of Korra's eyes. "I'm sorry, but I have to go." He puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Mako―"
He removes his hand from her shoulder and flicks down the dark plastic of the helmet to cover his eyes. "I promise that we'll talk later."
She sags her shoulders as she watches Mako peel out the parking lot with the roar of the engine and the screech of the rubber tires on hot asphalt.
Tenzin did not notice Korra's absence, she learned from Pema after she returned. Tenzin himself had an urgent council meeting in the city and was too preoccupied to even begin to wonder if Korra was still on the island.
Korra found that of convenience. Between the hours the meeting may stretch into, and the time it takes for Tenzin to fly on his air bison, Oogie, back to the island, Korra could easily sneak past the White Lotus and swim her way back into the city. That is, if she is willing to do this.
Of course she was willing. She begged for the spirits to give her something to lead her straight to Amon, and they did. This rally is her advantage, and she would be foolish not to take it. Of course Amon would be at his own rally.
Tonight, this ends.
Korra sits on her knees in the middle of her bed room. She splays the stack of fliers messily out in front of her and instantly, her thoughts were on Mako.
She needs him now more than ever, and he is too busy worrying about his relationship to take five minutes to hear her out. The rally stands as much more important than some stupid lunch date. She accepted halfway down the Republic City pier, that she is in this alone. She is going to take down Amon on her own, without Mako and without Tenzin.
She recognizes that she told Mako to stay away from her, and he was doing a fair job of regarding her wishes, but it was her who couldn't consider her own promise she had forced him to take. She needs him. Mako is her gulp of air after being submerged deep in dark waters for too long, and it is so incredibly selfish of her. She has a target on her back and Mako being connected back to her is so outrageously dangerous. She tried, so hard, to let him go. She cannot, and she will not.
Korra's lips quiver as she bites down on them.
Everything changes tonight.
Korra shakes Mako from her head and lets her eyes travel along the fliers, breathing shallowly at the picture of Amon's mask painted so vibrantly in red's blacks, and yellows on the paper.
It reads: Join the Revolution!
She recalls where the rally takes place, the information Korra had easily and aggressively dragged out of the man. "Sinji's Warehouse." She repeats quietly to herself. "Dragon Flats Burrow. Nine o' clock."
She will take a bus and ask directions from there. This doesn't have to be hard. She coaxes herself as she finds herself skirting over second thoughts. I can do this. I can do this.
She scratches her lips with a wavering breath before letting her head roll back till she is looking at the ceiling. She breathes in once, twice, a third, four times before she collects the fliers in her hand and rises to her feet.
Before Korra could get any further into her plan, her phone's muffled ring sounds in her pocket. She fishes it from her jeans and cringes as she reads the caller I.D. After several rings, she finally muster's the courage to answer it.
"Hello?" She says holding the phone to her ear.
"Korra, hey. It's Mako." He sounds breathless.
After a long moment, Korra replies. "I know. I have caller I.D." She says flatly falling to her bed.
"Right." Mako chuckles, clears his throat and sighs. "So listen, I'm sorry about earlier. Asami and I haven't exactly been on the best of terms as of late and I didn't need another reason for her be pissed off at me. I haven't really been giving any effort in our relationship with everything going on and I don't want to lose her." Her grip on the phone tightened. "I hope you understand."
Korra nods, though she does not understand. "It's fine. You don't need to explain yourself. I understand." She bit out
"Great. So, what did you need to talk to me about?" Korra's face paled at the anxiousness in his voice.
"Oh, uh nothing. It isn't really important anymore." She was stumbling over her words, recalling how Mako once mentioned how bad of a liar she is. She is starting to believe it.
"Are you sure? Earlier you seemed pretty desperate about needing to talk to me." There was a pause, and for a second, Korra thinks the call was dropped. "It's alright Korra. You can tell me."
"It doesn't matter anymore, but thanks for calling anyways. I'll uh, see you at school, okay?" She went to hang up the phone, but his voice through the speaker stops her cold.
"Korra don't ha-."
She says nothing as she snaps the phone shut. It rings a couple of times after that, his name flashing on the caller id. She doesn't answer.
In the back of her wardrobe, conveniently enough, is a long, brown button up coat. She also finds an old tattered grey scarf. It reminds her of Mako's scarf―vibrant red, tattered, always draped with care around his neck. She kicks herself quickly before stashing any thoughts of Mako away in her mental vault. Her last find is dark brown newsboy cap that will hide her hair and shadow her face perfectly.
She strips from her sweat stench clothes and replaces them with a simple black crewneck tee shirt and a pair of blue jeans.
The sun is still high in the sky. The rally was still hours off. She falls into her bed and curls into herself.
After hours of looking at the ceiling, tossing her plan back and forth in her head, the sun sinks behind the mountains.
It's time.
Looking in a small round mirror hanging on her wall, Korra frowns at the appearance of her hair. It's getting longer with every passing week. The chocolate waves nearly hang past her shoulders now. She yanks her hair back and twists it to the top of her head before fitting the cap over her hair. Straightening the hat, she sighs with satisfaction of her "disguise".
It isn't hard to sneak past the sentries. It never is. The swim to the shore is a long and strenuous task, the tide working against her, the water painfully cold. Korra stumbles up the sand, her boots sticking in the sopping wet sand. Shivering, Korra isn't slow to bend the water from her hair and her clothes. She shakes her hair out, pulling a strand of sea weed from her curls. After digging the newsboy cap from her coat pocket, she shoves her hair to the top of her head and replaces the cap.
She reaches the bus stop just moments before the bus is about to take off. She pays the fare of three yuans and takes the seat in the back of the bus, away from the evening crowd. She gets off at the third stop, politely thanking the driver as she skips down the metal bus steps.
The streets are surprisingly empty, save for a few dwellers of which she asks one for directions. From there, the warehouse isn't difficult to find. Big and black, it contrasts between the minuscule buildings that surround it. Other civilians file through a double door guarded by a burly balding man. As she approaches the man, her stomach wads and her breath shallows. She pulls her cap tighter over her head and inwardly wishes Mako was here. She would feel a lot less exposed if he was by her side.
But Mako isn't there. She's alone. I can do this. I don't need him.
She approaches the man with eyes down and hopes to skirt past him without conversation, but as a thick hand clamps her shoulder and pulls her back, Korra catches dark narrow eyes.
"Where do you think you're going missy?" The man demands in a intimidating voice.
Korra's eyes widen a fraction as words tumble from her dry mouth. "This is the rally right? For the Equalists?"
"This is an invitation only event." He says gruffly.
Korra blinks, feeling sick to her stomach. "Invitation?" She deadpans. The man nods curtly with his thick arms folded over his chest. An involuntary panic sets down on her―her carefully constructed plan hanging by a thread. "Uh," she drones while clawing through her head for an eligible excuse.
The man moves to shove Korra away, but as an arm links with her and pulls her back, she loses balance and stumbles backwards, but the arm hooked around her elbow steadies her. Korra is rendered speechless as she looks up and sees cold hard amber eyes looking forward. A newsboy cap similar to Korra is placed on his head, concealing his black hair. His lips are upturned in a smirk and his gloved hand is holding up a flyer, similar to the one crumpled up in her pocket.
"Sorry sir. Sometimes my girlfriend can be pretty brainless." Mako explains charismatically. Korra tries not to wince, knowing his lie is laced with the insulting truth. "We have our invitation here."
Girlfriend? She fails to keep her cheeks from flushing red.
Relief sweeps over Korra as the stoic bouncer's eyes soften and his arms extends toward the entrance. "The revelation is upon us my brother and sister." He bows with a warm accepting expression.
Korra offers a forced smile as Mako yanks Korra forward and over the threshold. Resist proves to be futile as he tows her into a secluded dimly lit corner of the catwalk. She is practically tossed into the corner. She braces herself against the wall, her stoic expression unfaltering.
He's angry. She guesses as he looms over her, his eyes dark and irate.
"Are you following me?" She accuses in a sharp hiss.
"Am I that obvious?" He scoffs then leans back, shifting his weight to his left leg. He folds his hands across his chest.
Korra feeling scrutinized under his glare, adverts her eyes to her boots. Stunned, Korra said, "How did you know?" She almost sounds ashamed, like a small child caught with their hand in the lychee cake jar.
"It wasn't hard." Mako answers bleakly. He drops his hands and exhales. "Everywhere Amon is, you seem to follow." Korra looks up at him through her lashes, noticing the heavy black fastened trench coat he is wearing and of course, his threadbare red scarf draped across his shoulders. "Also Bolin saw you drop this." Mako holds up the flier he used to get them through the door. Korra's eyes widen. "He showed it to me when I got back from my date with Asami. It wasn't difficult to put two and two together." He took a step toward Korra, something like an angry frown pulling his lips. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Incredible. Korra snorts."I did try to tell you, and I would have if you weren't too busy worrying about your stupid relationship." She spat, fighting her violent urges to shove him back. She can feel the heat radiating off his body.
"That's what you wanted to talk about?" The anger flees from his face, but as a thought strikes him, the infuriated expression returns. "I called you, Korra. You had every opportunity to tell me then!"
"Well you're here now, so I don't think it matters anymore." Korra moves to shove past him, but as he blocks her, she swats him aside and successfully passes him.
It takes four steps to reach the catwalk railings, Mako following in pursuit.
Any blanket of security covering Korra is wrenched away. Her disguise inexplicably feels stripped away, exposing her, like there are not enough layers of clothing to hide the panic.
"I knew people hate benders, but I've never seen so many in one place before." She rasps, looking over the sea of what she guesses to be a couple thousand of bodies crowded around a brightly lit stage. Hanging over the stage is a large banner with Amon's mask printed on it in vivid primary colors, similar to the design on the flyers. A sickly feeling twists her stomach and she braces her hands on the railing.
"Are you alright?" Mako asks leaning over to see her paling face. "You're not looking so good." His fingers ghost over her shoulder, but she jerks upright and begins walking down the catwalk to a metal staircase. He follows after her, catching up to her fast paced steps in three easy strolls. He catches her arm and reels her around to face him. He releases her before she has the chance to rip away.
"Korra wait. What are we doing here? What's your plan?" He asks, and Korra bites the inside of her cheek. After a moment of silence, Mako rolls his eyes. "Well?"
"Amon is here. This is my chance." She answered abrasively.
"Your chance to what, fight him? With all these people around? Even with my help, you wouldn't stand a chance." Mako swings his arm out, gesturing to the thick crowd of people. "He has an army, Korra. Think about it. We would be dead before we even get in fifteen foot radius of him."
A sense of foolishness rips Korra's original plan to shreds. As much as she would have liked to argue, Mako's argument stood to be valid. Attempting to fight Amon tonight would surely end up in her early reincarnation. However, things could go differently than Mako's guess. She had to try. Lives depend on it. She cannot stand idle as Amon continues his man slaughtering antics. "I have to try." She huffs, her glittering eyes locking with Mako's. "And I can do this alone, but I would appreciate your help."
Mako drops his eyes, his jaw working. He says nothing as Korra shook her head and mutters out a dismissal before walking past him and down the stairs. Third to the last step, a hand on her shoulder stuns her. She turns to Mako.
The swell of fear is comprehensible in his eyes. "Hypothetically speaking, we get to Amon. Then what?"
"Then I fight him―end him." She says darkly, her brows furrowed.
Mako's eyes widened. The last thing he thinks Korra is capable of is murder. She couldn't stoop to that level―to Amon's level. "Are you sure you're ready for that?" He breathes.
"It doesn't matter if I'm ready or not. This isn't about me. It's about ending Amon's tyrannical reign."
"But isn't it?" Mako exasperatingly demands quietly. "Isn't it you Amon tried to kill? Isn't it you that Amon is trying to lure out." Each of his words hold a direct blow to her resolve. "Of course this about you. Everything about Amon even being here in the city is about you." He might as well have punched her in the face. Her expression hardened, refusing to let the moisture burning her eyes spill over. She would never admit he is right.
"I'm doing this with or without you." She says stiffly.
He still isn't convinced that her idea would be effective. Already he could rattle off so many things that could go wrong. But the worst thing Mako could do now, is let her fight alone."Okay, I'm with you, " He nods, and Korra returns the gesture. "only because I don't need your name on my conscience."
Together they step down the stairs and descend into the thickening crowd of anti bending revolutionists.
So I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, the next chapter is almost complete, and the bad news is that The Legend of Korra officially ends next week. Please proceed to cry with me.
Also, I know it's been 84 years since I last updated and I don't really have a credible excuse as to why it took so long to update. However, I decided to update today as a promise to a friend who has been stressing out about her exams.
But don't fret, the next chapter could be posted as soon as next week, and chapter 14 is honestly my favorite chapter. It's so Makorra rich. I think you Makorra lover will appreciate it. And if you're not reading for the Makorra, than my apologies.
Also, if you're interested to follow all my Legend of Korra shenanigans, I have a tumblr. You can find me at mako-licious!
You'll hear from me soon! Toodles!
Feedback and creative criticism is also very much encouraged!
~Megan~
