Serendipity

Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was still deciding if I should continue this story. Actually, I'm still deciding. But anyways, the muse hit. So here I am with another chapter.

Please note that for this chapter I changed up my writing style, uhm, yeah, so I don't know if you guys will like it :/ It's more "poetic-y" and there's a lot of repetition and stuff, but yeah. This also means I also underused or overused my commas (hehe sorry). It's also fast paced and—I dunno, it just sounds different XD

Information you need to know for this chapter and the rest of the story: Republic City is very much like 1920s New York in the show, so THIS STORY TAKES PLACE IN THE 1920s. (P.S. The 1920s was awesome) So Air Temple Island is sort of like, Long Island or something? You know what? I don't know what I'm talking about. But just imagine Air Temple Island as not only a place for Tenzin and Co. but it's also going to be where all the rich people live, okay? OK. Cool. You guys are awesome.

Chapter Two

Integrity: the state of being complete; honesty; moral soundness

"Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you" ~H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Before Mako fully slips into darkness, he hears a pained, broken whisper. From what he is able to make out, he knows that it's Korra. And he wants to tell her to run—leave him behind and save herself, because he's not worth it. He's not worth saving if her life is the price.

His head is cradled to her chest; he knows, because her heart pounds loudly when rough voices approach them. They are shouting, and Mako knows she is scared. As tough as Korra is, her heart is her weakness. And he knows how much it terrifies her to be holding his dying body in her arms, faced with the choices of futilely protecting them or leaving him behind.

He can feel her body trembling as she holds him tighter, whispering something again, but he can't quite hear it over the pelting rain. Her warm breath glides over his body and warms him, if only for a moment, as she finally exhales. Mako doesn't know what's happening, but he wishes that he could save her one last time.

News of the long lost Avatar spread across the Four Nations like wildfire. Every radio station talked about her, her name integrated in every conversation.

Avatar Korra.

Orphaned at the fledgling age of six, growing up in the crime-infested streets of Republic City and struggling to survive when she should have grown up in a different lifestyle. Her implied hardships and warm but quirky nature easily won her the heart of Republic City. No one could ever forget the first picture they saw of their Avatar—her tear stained cheeks, her bloodied hands. She was being carried in the arms of Councilman Tarrlok. Her eyes gaze in only one direction, and that was at the unconscious man who was being carried next to her.

Mako.

That was the first word she had said in front of the invading cameras, in front of the entire nation.

His name became almost as famous as hers. Little girls would fabricate stories about Avatar Korra and this Mako guy. No one saw him as the dangerous triad member, no one remembered his past, no one . . . except Korra, himself, and Tarrlok.

A satomobile passes by the scene where crowds have gathered. The man in the backseat tells the driver to stop, and he steps out of the vehicle, his elk shoes splashing in puddles of rainwater as he approaches the sea of people. They acknowledge him as a councilman and part at his advent.

When he's made it to the center, his cerulean eyes widen. He's been looking in the wrong direction all this time, because suspended a few feet above the ground is a young water tribe girl—the missing Avatar. Her previously glowing eyes dim and return to their natural blue and she falls. There's a slight hesitation in the man before he steps forward and catches the girl in his arms. He does this before anyone else can. He hears the murmurs of the people but ignores them and examines the girl's face. It's dirty and unwashed, despite her naked beauty, and as his gaze lowers, he notices that her clothes are faded and tattered. But something in particular catches his eye. On the inside of her wrist is a tattoo, the mark of the Triple Threat Triads.

At night, Korra noticed that Mako would slip out of bed and would head straight to the shower, when he returned hours later. In the morning, new bruises and red markings would appear on his skin, and Korra decided that enough was enough.

So she followed him one night and found herself in an underground fight ring.

The Black Phoenix, she found out, was his ring name. So this was where he was getting all the extra cash.

Throughout the match, she pulled and twisted her hair braids, eyes widening, teeth grinding. With every punch and kick of fire, she grew closer to the edge of her seat, forgetting why she'd come there in the first place. When the warning bell sounded, everyone got on their feet to see who would win the match. A punch here, a kick there, and then . . .

Lightning.

A stream of bright blue light shot from Mako's middle and index fingers, hitting his opponent square in the chest. The crowd roared and got to their feet, cheering and chanting his name because he's so strong, so invulnerable.

He's helpless and weak and vulnerable as he's lying on the bed. The Healers have done everything they could possibly do to help him, but he doesn't wake. Instead, he lies. He lies still on the bed. Quiet. Motionless.

And there's a girl at his side that refuses to leave him.

Not until he wakes up, she says.

She's tired of waiting, everyone knows. Everyone can see. But they don't say anything because it's her only request. She wants to be alone with him. She wants to be the first thing he sees when he wakes up. She's confident that he'll wake up.

She speaks to him while he sleeps, soft whispers telling him all her fears and secrets that he's always wanted to know. But he doesn't hear them. He doesn't hear her.

But he feels her.

He feels her fixing his pillows. Her warm hands touching him as she changes his clothes. Her soft lips as she kisses his forehead. Her hair as it tickles his neck.

When he has his first fit of seizures a few days later, he can feel her hand squeezing his and then a bolt of electricity courses through his body. Multiple hands are holding him down now and then another bolt and then nothing. He can't feel anything. He's lost himself in darkness again, yet he can't help the feeling of content.

And then he hears it again. The same pained, broken whisper he had heard when he'd gotten shot. But this time her words are much clearer.

"Mako, I love you."

"We shouldn't be sharing a bed," Mako told her.

They were currently in the middle of a sparring match, water versus fire, and he was winning. So it seemed odd to Korra that he chose this moment to bring it up. Her eyebrows knitted together and blue eyes looked at him strangely. "We've been sleeping on the same bed for as long as I can remember," she stated nonchalantly, and then with a smirk added, "Even when I went through puberty." She blushed and looked away briefly, remembering the first time she'd gotten her period and had thought that she was bleeding to death. She couldn't forget the look of relief on Mako's face when one of the female triad members told them that it was natural. That was the first time she saw any kind of emotion from him.

Mako's eyes hardened as he scanned her movements. "Well we should have stopped a long time ago."

"It's not like we're doing anything wrong," Korra argued, blushing a deeper shade of pink. She jumped back when Mako lashed flames in her direction before extinguishing it with water in the air. They continued to circle each other before Korra spoke again. "Besides, I like having you beside me." The firebender let the fire in his hands die, turning his head because he didn't want to hear her next words—the ones that always broke down his resolve no matter how upset or angry he was at her. "I feel safe with you." She hadn't the slightest clue of the poignancy of her words. It was all so innocent to her. Uttering those words to him when in fact, his heart clenched every time she said them.

Later that night, after his scheduled match at the ring, he found Korra fast asleep on their bed. His amber eyes traveled from her long slender legs all the way up her face that looked so peaceful, so at ease. He never removed his gaze from her as he went to sit on the edge of the bed to remove his shoes. She had changed so much within the decade that he had known her. What was once a short, chubby little girl was now a tall, beautiful young woman.

His breath hitched in his throat when she sighed and shifted to her side, mumbling something under her breath. He exhaled in relief when he'd realized that she was still fast asleep. How long would she hold it against him if she knew that he'd been watching her?

But when he glanced at her again, something caught his eye. Something old and tattered, yet still bright red in color. It was strewn around Korra's arms, like a snake spiraled around a tree, and it was almost like watching a mother with her child because for some reason, it left Mako in complete awe. And then he'd thought about what she'd said to him earlier, about him making her feel safe. He hadn't really been sure if he knew what safe felt like, but seeing Korra with every stress and melancholy wiped from her face, gripping his scarf tightly to her chest, it dawned on him that maybe he did know.

Maybe he'd known all along.

Her blue eyes are the first thing he sees when he wakes up. It's the color of the ocean, and he realizes just how much it suits her, because this isn't the first time he's drowned in her gaze.

But then, her words— "Mako, I love you" —echo in his head, and the small smile that he has on his face vanishes.

He doesn't ever mention that he heard her confession . . .

And that he doesn't feel the same way.

"So have you found an escort for the dinner tonight?" Tarrlok asked. He watched the young water tribe girl and leaned against the doorframe to Korra and Mako's room, which was questionably left closed most of the time.

Korra groaned and threw her face in her palm. "Is the dinner optional, because to be honest, I'd really like to opt out of it." I'd rather go watch Mako's fight tonight than go to some stupid party.

"I don't know how many times I must say this, but Korra, you are the Avatar. It is obligatory for you to attend all the parties and banquets that are being held in your honor."

"Exactly, I'm the Avatar. Shouldn't I being out there, saving people? Not attending—"

"How can you save people if you've only mastered two elements?" Tarrlok interjected sharply. "You're a half-baked Avatar, Korra."

Later that day, Mako found Tarrlok and left no room for an explanation as he shoved the older man into a wall by the collar. His lips were pursed in a feral growl, his gold eyes sparking with something much scarier than rage. "What'd you say to Korra?" he barked.

Icy blue eyes challenged the young man, as if to say 'what can you possibly do about it?' and a small, menacing smirk curved his lips. "I told her the truth."

The firebender's grip on the councilman's collar slackened, and he pulled back. "Well the truth was tactless enough to upset her," Mako replied firmly.

"Young man, sometimes, the truth is painful." He paused and watched for the other man's reaction. "Sometimes, it may even put others in danger."

Mako narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Tarrlok leaned in to whisper something in Mako's ear, "You know precisely what I'm talking about," he goaded. "You and the Avatar, former Triad members.What would happen if that sort of information got out? What would happen to her?"

"I know for a fact that you wouldn't be the one to talk. You enjoy all the recognition for being the one that found her, don't you?"

A chuckle emerged from the waterbender's throat, amused. "There are other ways for the truth to reveal itself. For instance, the fact that a street-rat like yourself sleeps, not only in the same room, but in the same bed as the Avatar. If you care for Korra and want her to be respected as the Avatar, I highly advise that you stay away from her."

Korra is the only thing that matters to him.

It's a simple fact that he's so dimly avoided—a fact that has proven itself inevitable. She came into his life when he'd thought he was losing all of his morals. Aside from Bolin, she's all Mako has ever known. His thoughts, his actions—they revolved around Korra and Korra alone.

Her greatest joys are his joys.

And her greatest sorrows are to be his as well.

If he can't love her, then he'll protect her with every integrity of his being, because she's Korra—and she's all that matters.

It's a simple fact that he's so dimly avoided.

He doesn't have to say anything for that fact to become their reality—because it already was.

Mako is hers.

And she is his.

Gah. I had a really hard time with the ending :c I'm sorry it sucked.

I posted this earlier for my followers on my tumblr: maximumrain3

You can give me suggestions, bug me to update, ask me stuff, or just talk to me ^u^ I'd like to get to know some of my readers!

Shout out to "sarathesmall" for writing "Magic Mako". MAKO IS A STRIPPER IN THIS STORY. Need I say more? Go read and review it! It's awesome. That is all.

Hope you enjoy the last days of summer guys! (: Love you all *blows kisses*