Undiscovered
Chapter Six
"I think I should go" Asami stated as she looked between the sleeping Korra, and the obviously tense brothers,
"Is it ok if I come back in a few days? I have something I've been meaning to ask you two since the probending has been banned" Bolin gave the raven haired woman a tight smile, but nodded his consent,
"See you then" he called half-heartedly as she left, instantly moving to glare at his brother once she was no longer in sight,
"You could have said goodbye" the earthbender snapped, Mako shrugged, preferring not to get into a conversation,
"Come to think of it, there are a lot of things you could've done, like told me about Korra"
"You know it would never be my place to divulge something like that" the firebender grew defensive, looking angrily at a bare wall just to keep his temper under control, clenching his jaw tight in hopes that nothing would spew out that he would later regret.
"I could have helped her too, she probably needs it" Mako couldn't dispute that, which made him all that more determined on getting her to Tenzin.
"You know, once the world finds out we'll never see her again. Everyone knows Avatar Aang told the white lotus to look after the next avatar, train them, keep them safe. They've been looking for Korra for years; she'll be whisked away and out of our lives forever" Mako mused, hoping to prepare his brother for the separation, himself well and truly detached,
"We're not leaving her, we are all she has, the only family she has, they can't make us just disappear out of her life"
OoO
Bolin stayed at the attic to meet Asami and see what she wanted to ask them, whilst Mako and Korra made their way to city hall, hanging around to see if they could catch a glimpse of the only master airbender left on this earth.
The young avatar huffed and crossed her arms,
"Why isn't he here" Mako chuckled at her, giving her a fond look,
"He does have other things to be doing you know, soon to be four kids, paperwork, making sure the last air benders on earth are appropriately trained, you know, the usual" Korra had never really heard the firebender joke, not with such ease, It caused her to end up staring at him in amazement...opposed to replying.
Cheeks flushed and a little flustered, Korra laugh uneasily hoping it would suffice as her reply.
About half an hour passed, and Mako smiled as the young girl nestled deeper into his side, gripping his shirt whilst she napped. The two were on the floor, rested up against one of the shaded columns in the courtyard that lay way to the main hall.
Mako knew she hadn't been sleeping well lately, or at all, finding out when Bolin had hit him and mouthed that he wanted water last night. Mako was met with two piercing blue eyes as she drew various pretty and detailed drawings at the kitchen table, in a world of her own. He had got the glass of water, rested a blanket over her shoulders, and gone to bed.
Snapping out of his memories, Mako caught eye of a tall bearded man in bright orange, traditional air nomad robes.
"Korra..." he whispered down to her,
"Korra, he's here" grumbling she hid in his chest,
"As much as this is very comfortable, you're the one who wanted to see him, so don't hate me for this"
Mako shuffled around until he was standing, one arm wrapped around Korra the other in his pocket.
"Now remember, you have to be somewhat sociable Korra " A small smile tugged at Korra's lips, too tired to respond to the jest, a feeling of contentment settled over the two.
"Excuse me!" mako waved in the air, hoping to catch Tenzin's attention.
The middle aged man felt his beard twitch crookedly, as he turned in question to the voice.
He saw a familiar looking, well-built young man, with a rather thin and tired looking younger girl; so tired, she seemed to be gripping to the man to hold her up.
"Hello, what can I do for you?" Mako gave him a small and grateful smile,
"I was wondering if you could direct me to the nearest hospital, we're new in town and I think my little sister here has hurt her hands" Tenzin raised an eyebrow,
"May I examine?" Mako gave a nod,
"Korra, a nice man is going to have a look at your hands" at this her eyes flew open, bringing bright blue irises into view, and for Tenzin, the world stopped.
Those eyes were familiar; those eyes had a depth and old wisdom that tugged at his heart, and a connection, one very, very close to that he had to his father.
Quickly, Tenzin looked from the young man to the girl. They were nothing alike, and he knew him. He was a firebender, who was a player in probending with his brother. There was never a mention of a sister. His eyes narrowed and stayed on the firebender as he gently took Korra's hands into his own,
"She was fire bending and we think something was strained" Mako lied smoothly, but Tenzin knew what had happened to these hands. They had been healed, by a waterbender; he would know, his mother was the best in the world. The energy around the healed areas, matched that of the girls, something the way of the airbenders permitted him to realise, given their awareness of themselves and their surroundings through such routine meditation. Tenzin knew then.
"I don't think medical attention is necessary, simply rest" he nodded to the two, lowered the avatars hands and, looking her deep in the eyes, said,
"I hope to see you soon, and rested" it wasn't a polite comment, he meant it, and Korra beamed at him, bowing slowly in respect.
Once Tenzin had disappeared into city hall, Mako turned to Korra.
"So, what do you think of him?" he asked eagerly,
"I think he knows" Mako gave a startled look towards her, holding her closer unconsciously,
"W-what?" Korra chuckled and rested a hand casually on Mako's arm, the one that didn't hold her in a vice grip,
"You can't fool him, he's too wise, too observant" The firebender seemed to be in shock, his eyes filled with fright,
"No" he whispered, Korra ducked out of his grip, removed her hand and placed both on her hips, frowning,
"What do you mean 'no'?" her voice raising in annoyance.
Mako looked at Korra then, his eyes intense and burning with so much emotion, he was trying to tell her how much he wanted her in his arms forever, to never let her go; he thought he was ready to let her take her rightful path but he wasn't. Not if he couldn't be there with her, he needed her to stay with him. And that scared him a little bit.
And for once, he was open with his emotions, he was honest,
"They can't take you away from me"
OoO
"She sorta scares me when she's like this" Bolin whispered to his brother as they put away groceries onto their appropriate shelves, Make raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder at Korra.
She was sat in a meditative state facing out the window at republic city. And had been for just over an hour now,
"What, when she's meditating? Bo, what do you think's going to happen?" Mako chuckled, his brother jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow before leaning up to whisper,
"You know what I mean, she could do that crazy thing with the white eyes and the floating and the destruction and the 'ARGH IM SO ANGRY! I'M GUNNA TERRIFY YOU ALL' thing!" Mako looked at his brother in concern, wondering if he should check for a temperature,
"Bo, she's always done that, chill"
"I can hear you, just to let you know" came her undemanding voice, like the soft breeze in the summer, easy, flowing and free.
She unwound her legs only to cross them and pushing herself up, so she could have her hands free to straighten her clothes in the same movement,
"You never did mention why Asami was here" she carried on upon not getting a reply, failing to realise the way the boys eyes and thoughts were fixated on her every move. Her delicate little hands made quick work of packing away the remaining jars and packages,
"I might go and ask her myself at this rate" the girl laughed and whacked them both with an open palm on their shoulders,
"Don't ignore me guys!"
"Right! Yeah, sorry, she was um, offering us jobs actually" Bolin said, a hand on the back of his neck, looking at his feet,
"That's great!" Korra tried to muster up enthusiasm, but didn't quite manage it,
"Will you both be out at the same time or-" She didn't finish, stopping herself short to make sure she didn't sound any more desperate that she already had. Mako gave her a soft look, shaking his head,
"We aren't taking the jobs Korra" The avatars once peaceful state shattered and she looked at the boys in confusing,
"What? No, you need those jobs, and Asami's nice and, and-"
"-and we're staying with you. You're stuck with us!" Bolin beamed at her, arms wide, wiggling his eye brows,
"Hug worthy right? Yeah, I thought so" His grin spread wider as soon as Korra was in his arms, but his happiness was short lived when she removed herself and went over to gingerly wrap her arms around his brother. It was different between them.
Mako rested his head gently atop hers, their eyes shut and bodies close together, their breathing quickly fell in sync and their grips on each other tightened just before letting go. Bolin saw that there was never going to be any competition between him and Mako. If Korra ever wanted one of them as anything more as a friend, then it would be his brother, not him; there was far too much of the magical chemistry he'd heard so much about, yet never experienced for himself. So he wouldn't fight any longer, he would be what she wanted, whatever she needed, but he would not fight for more.
OoO
It was a few weeks later, just before dawn; there had been a soft knock at their apartment door. Korra had felt a pit settle in her stomach as her hand reached to pull the door back, and it revealed what she knew had been coming. What she had been preparing for.
She sighed, nodding towards the kindly smiling group of air acolytes; slumping she headed back inside to gather her things.
Korra had her heart beating impossibly loud in her ears, making everything feel unstable and her head dizzy. Breathe, she gently reminded herself.
Quickly, her shaking limbs make their way up the ladder to the boys beds, blushing slightly at their bare chests and sleeping forms. The firebender was the closest to her, just within reach,
"Mako-" she shoved his shoulder, not getting a response Korra then proceeded to really ram his shoulder with her palm,
"Mako, they're here" His eyes shot open, looking around as if they were being ambushed . His guard went up, and Korra could see it.
"Hey, we talked about this, it'll be fine. Get Bo up" the way she smiled at him, encouragingly and full of that timidness that Mako had grown quite fond of, it made him slow his breathing, coming back to rational thinking.
He loved trying to bring Korra out of her shell; it was something Mako had taken every opportunity to exploit. And even though they had received a letter saying that Korra would be taken to air temple island in a couple of weeks, and that yes, she could bring a few members of family, but this did nothing to calm the firebender. He was absolutely petrified of her being taken away from him.
Mako grabbed her wrist, staring at her steadily,
"Korra I-" love you,
"I don't know about this" She smiled again, patting him on the head patronisingly,
"It'll be fine" And she went off, gathering their stuff.
OoO
The three stood, clutching each their own small sack with their belongings, staring out over the waters of Yue bay,
"Goodbye republic city, hello air temple island!" Bolin broke the serene scene by pumping his fist in the air, and galloping onto the ferry, Mako simply sighed and offered his hand to Korra. Her blue eyes met his golden ones, and snatched his hand into her own…showing how truly scared she was, no matter how much she hid it.
OoO
A:N
I really am so happy so many of you are enjoying the story, and I'm really bad at linking ideas, and haven't been able to write them down due to being in hospital for some number of days, so I really loved coming back home and to read all your lovely reviews, it made me feel plenty better so thanks :) to AmericanCowGirl44 feel free to leave suggestions! I really don't mind, I won't promise I'll incorporate them, if it doesn't fit in with my plot but if it does then sure! Again thank you, and I'm going to apologise in advance because you aren't going to like what happens next, but max it'll last one or two chapters. Sasha x