Part Two

"What?" Mako asked, confused and dumbfounded. He looked to his brother for an explanation, but Bolin was just as lost.

"I said get away from me," she yanked her hand out of his and makes like she's about to get out of bed and fight.

"Korra, wait, calm down!" Bolin shouted, dragging a bewildered Mako away. "He's leaving, okay?"

She glared at Mako's utterly heartbroken form as Bolin practically shoves him out the door. She doesn't really know who he is, only that he makes her blood boil and she sees flashes of the two of them shouting and a moment that somehow breaks her heart though she doesn't know how or why.

Bolin shut the door and looked at her like she was about to attack him. Once Mako was gone, she calmed down a little, though her breathing was still hard and irregular.

"Mind telling me what that was about?" Bolin asked gently.

"I don't know," she shook her head and pressed her fingers to her temples. "I can't explain it, I just got a rush of feelings. Feelings of him shouting and hurting me. I don't know," she repeated, fighting to figure it out. "Is that wrong?"

"Korra," Bolin fought to stay calm and not let his fear of her misconception take over. "He loves you, very much. And you love him. You've been dating for months now. Granted, it hasn't been the smoothest relationship, but he would die for you. He's tried - a few times, the idiot."

"I don't understand." Korra felt tears of frustration build up in her eyes and she angrily wiped them away.

"I don't really either. Maybe your injury warped some of your memory?" Bolin suggested hopefully. "I'll ask the next healer I see."

Korra didn't feel too reassured.

—

The healer confirmed Bolin's guesses, but the reunion with Tenzin's family went much smoother. She remembered them properly and thanked the children for their drawings, reassuring them she'd be back on the island and training with them soon.

After their visit was over and Pema herded the children out to get some lunch, Tenzin lingered to ask her a few more questions.

"I heard your reunion with Mako didn't go so well," he began. "Do you really not remember him?"

"No." She said sulkily, tired of everyone telling her what she was supposed to know. "All I remember are bad things. I don't want him in here."

Tenzin glanced toward the door, where he knew the poor boy was waiting. "He feels awful, Korra, and you really did love him. I didn't like it at first, but he's a good man. Give him a chance."

"Not until I'm strong enough to beat him up if he tries anything."

Tenzin felt that was going to be the best answer he would get, and told her he'd tell Mako to keep out of her room until she returned to the island. "I can't promise he'll obey, but I'll tell him it'll help you get better. That might convince him."

Mako was pacing in the hallway when Tenzin left Korra's room. Immediately he asked how Korra was.

"Mostly the same, a little stronger," Tenzin said. "She…doesn't want to see you, though. I'm sorry."

Mako looked like a broken man. "She still hates me?"

Tenzin didn't say anything, but his silence confirmed it.

"We fought, just before we left for the mission," Mako confessed, his voice strained. "She didn't want me to come. I didn't want her to be alone. Tension had been building all week. We both said some awful things that are just so stupid now. Tenzin, what if that's why she can't stand to be in the same room with me anymore?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "But don't lose hope. She may regain the rest of her memories soon, and then be back to normal." His heart ached for the boy, but had no other way to comfort him. As long as Korra didn't remember him, Mako would be in hell.

—

Korra's health continued to improve, though her memories of Mako were still tainted. She began to remember Bolin, but nothing of his brother. When she talked about some of these memories with Bolin, she told him they were a little fuzzy, and Bolin said it was because Mako should be there, too.

"The three of us were on the Fire Ferrets together?" Korra clarified. She was sitting up in her bed, with Bolin in a chair beside her, keeping her company.

"That's right. We were pretty good, too. Made it all the way to the championship tournament finals, thanks to you."

Korra frowned. "I can only remember you. I remember fighting in the ring, and the thrill of it all, and the time I creamed Tahno, but I don't see Mako anywhere."

This worried Bolin, but he tried to hide it for her sake. "He wasn't that great anyway," he tried to joke. "You're not missing anything there."

Her frown relaxed, and she tried to smile for him. She knew it was hard for him, too, but she was just so frustrated. She couldn't get her brain to work right and she didn't know how to fix it – or if it was even fixable.

—

Mako tried to stay away, he really did. Bolin reported to him daily on Korra's progress and she was nearly ready to come home to the island.

But it was their six month anniversary, and he couldn't bear to be away from her.

He thought if he snuck in while she was sleeping, she wouldn't know he was there, and wouldn't get upset. He didn't plan on her waking up.

"What are you doing in here?" Her voice cut through the dark room like a knife.

"Korra." He didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, I just had to see you again."

"In the middle of the night?"

"I didn't think you'd be awake."

"Do you realize how creepy that sounds?"

"I'm sorry," he said again, hanging his head. "I didn't want to upset you again. I didn't know what else to do."

Some of her anger cooled and she looked at him, really looked at him.

His face was illuminated by the pale moonlight that shone through the thin paper windows. It looked worse than when she'd first seen him. There were bags under his eyes, and lines across his brow. His cheekbones stood out and it looked like he'd lost weight.

Korra didn't understand how this boy was connected to the one in her memory.

She sighed. "Sit down."

"Really?"

"Just do it before I kick you out of here."

He obeyed quickly, trying the squelch the hope that was rising in his chest before it choked him, before he knew she'd forgiven him.

After a long moment of silence, she finally asked, "Can you tell me why I feel the way I do about you? Why you make my heart race and blood boil, but my face grow warm? Why I hate when you're in here, but feel it when you're gone?"

He couldn't help the desperate laugh that escaped him. "Because that's you and me in a nutshell," he said. "We drive each other crazy, but that's what we love about each other. You call me out when I'm being a jerk and I rein you in when you start to get out of control."

"Then why do I feel so much pain around you?" She asked in a small voice, afraid of the answer.

Mako held his head in his hands. "Because I've hurt you in the past. You've forgiven me too many times, Korra, and I think your subconscious is finally realizing it. And just before…everything… we fought. I said awful things that I didn't mean, and I'm so, so sorry, but that doesn't mean anything to you now, does it?"

"Maybe not, but your explaining means a lot. This…must be hard for you, too," she finally admitted. She hadn't thought about how much torture he must be in, if all of this was true. And she saw no reason for it to be false.

He scoffed. "This is nothing compared to what you must be going through, or what I've put you through in the past. I don't deserve your kindness, Korra, I've told you that before. But I need it. So much. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing, it won't change anything."

He laughed again, that said little chuckle. "You used to say that a lot, too."

"Good to know some things haven't changed."

"That's the thing, though." He stood up and walked over to the window, his arms wrapped around himself himself. "You haven't changed at all, aside from where I'm concerned. You're remembering Bolin, and you knew the others when you woke up. Your personality is the same, and once you're up and moving, I'll bet your fighting is the same, too. It's just me."

He looked at her again, then returned to his seat in the chair furthest from her, afraid to get any closer. They both sat in silence for a long time.

"I don't know what to do," Korra admitted. "Being around you still makes me tense, but there's also something that I can't explain. Something that makes me want to understand who you are."

"I'll do whatever you need to get your memory of me back. Just say the word, and I'll do it."

His eyes finally met hers and held them. She could see his resolve burning, and felt something inside of her crumble.

"I believe you."

—

Korra's move back home was uneventful. She had a slew of visitors the first couple days, but she only had foggy memories of most of them. The two that stuck out the most were Lin Bei Fong and Asami Sato.

Lin came by first, and her visit was brief. She said she didn't want to overwhelm the girl, but was glad to see she was recovering. She also wanted to thank her for her help in the base. She said Korra fought remarkably and should be proud.

Asami came by the first afternoon, and Korra didn't remember her at first, but as the other girl chatted, it came back to her. She remembered they didn't start off well - though she couldn't remember why, and was starting to notice a pattern of bad first impressions in her life – but they'd grown to be good friends. Asami didn't visit in the hospital because she only just got back from a business trip.

"I came as soon as I heard," she'd said. "How are you memories coming?"

"They're coming, slowly. Except where Mako's involved," she admitted.

"Really?" Asami looked surprised. "I would think it'd be the opposite, and he'd be the first thing you remember."

"That's what people keep telling me," Korra said dryly. "But sadly that's not the case."

"I talked to him a little about it," Asami said. "He told me things are getting better, but he still looked really sad."

Korra groaned. "I know, I know. I'm breaking the sap's heart. Tell me something I don't know."

"It's just kind of funny, in a tragic sort of way. You two finally get together, and then this happens. Only with you two."

"Tell me. I don't even know how we met."

Asami was happy to comply. "You snuck into the arena on a game night, and Bolin took you down to the pit. Mako said you were a total fangirl at first, but then he realized who you were and gave you a bit of a second chance. Then you filled in when the waterbender for the Fire Ferrets backed out, and it sort of snowballed from there. You offered us all a home when we had no place to go and we moved to the island. I moved back after my father was arrested and I took over Future Industries. Mako and I were dating when I first met you, and I don't think that endeared me to you any, but you became a dear friend. Then, me and Mako broke up when I realized how awful we were together. He didn't trust me to take care of myself and was always checking after me. It drove me crazy, and not in a good way. He didn't do that with you and it wasn't because you two weren't dating.

"So eventually we broke up, and a few months later, Bolin and I convinced the two of you to go out. You've had your rough patches, but it was clear to everyone who saw you that you two were mad for each other. You've been together about six months now, I think."

Korra digested this new information. "Thanks for telling me, Asami. And I'm sorry if I did anything stupid that I haven't already apologized for."

She laughed. "Don't worry about it. What's passed is passed."

Korra had a lot to think about after Asami left, and though she was supposed to be on bed rest for another couple days, ventured out of her room. She wanted to find Mako, and ask him more about the two of them as a couple.

She found him in the meditation pavilion, watching the sunset over the bay.

He turned, startled, when he heard her approach, but didn't say anything.

"Tell me about our first date," Korra commanded.