Mako

Mako watched as his friends chatted with the great and the good across the room, and sighed. He wished he could be over there with them, but instead he had been put on duty.

"Are we starting soon?" The King asked from beside him. Mako nodded.

They were standing against the back wall on a large stage in a big semicircular room, in the grounds of the Royal Palace. It was time for Kuvira's mission accomplished ceremony. In front of the great and the good of the world, Kuvira was to be awarded with the military medals of the Fire Nation, Water Tribes, United Republic and Earth Kingdom after declaring her work done and stepping down. Once she had done that, King Wu was to offer her a job as Prime Minister, a post with actual term limits and vastly limited powers, in a new government. This would all look very improvised but had in fact been carefully planned.

Mako watched Korra as she trailed behind Asami nervously. This was Korra's first public engagement in three years, and she was plainly not used to it. She only gave short, monosyllabic answers to anyone who attempted to ask her questions. At one point she turned to look at him, and he shot her what he hoped was a sympathetic smile. She returned it gratefully.

As all this was going on, Kuvira was stood a few feet away, in a huddle with Bataar and several guards. The faint sounds of mumbling could be heard from within the group, but Mako could not make out what they were saying over the general hubbub. Instead, he decided to try and recognise the VIPs.

He saw President Raiko of the United Republic and his Vice President both there, though neither seemed especially popular. He also saw Lin, Tenzin and Suyin there, standing in a corner chatting to each other animatedly. He saw two large groups in blue, the delegations from the northern and southern water tribes. He couldn't see Korra's father, Eska or Desna though, so he had to assume that they had not seen fit to travel all this way. These must be delegations they had sent in their stead. Several other groups of figures in shades of green were dotted around the room, representatives from each of the regions of the Earth Kingdom. Mako watched a stocky man wearing nothing but a loincloth with a leaf fastened around his head talking to a tall woman in face paint and an armoured Kimono for a moment, before a flash of red entered his field of vision. In front of them stood several reporters with cameramen, either fiddling with their cameras and radio equipment or talking into them, recording events for the benefit of their audiences across the world.

He looked up to see the Fire Nation Royal Family had come in force, led by the current Fire Lady Izumi. Behind her came her father, the former Fire Lord Zuko, and then her children Prince Iroh II and Princess Hotaru.

Mako felt his breath catch in his throat as he watched the Princess. She was beautiful. Perhaps he hadn't got a good look before but he could admit it now.

Perhaps his gaze lingered too long, for she looked up and they locked eyes for a second. She smiled and gave him a small wave. He raised his hand and gave a quick wave back, and then she was away to her seat with the rest of her family.

Mako still had amber eyes on his mind five minutes later, when Bataar stepped forwards to command the assembled dignitaries to take their seats. There was a rumble as everybody scrambled to do so, with Korra, the Firelord, Raiko and a few others assembled on the front row.

Then Kuvira stepped forward to speak first. She wore the same uniform she had been wearing on campaign, but she did have a slightly looser hairstyle.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" She began. "I come before you at the culmination of the task I was placed in charge of this country to accomplish. The Earth Kingdom is once again United!"

There was a smattering of polite applause.

"Of course the work is not finished," Kuvira acceded. "There is still much to be done to repair the devastation that years of unrest have caused. But with any luck the job of soldiers is done and it is the turn of builders, administrators, and peaceful men to do their part to rebuild this great country!"

There was another pause. Mako saw something change in Kuvira's body language. Suddenly he got a very bad feeling.

"People require governing," she said eventually. "This has been proven enough times over the last three years I hope. But they don't just need government, they need good government. And this is a standard that the Monarchy has often fallen terribly short of."

There was a shocked silence. Nobody had expected Kuvira to launch an open salvo against the King in her speech.

"King Kuei was well-meaning but weak," Kuvira declared. "His daughter was weak too, but she was also incredibly cruel to go along with it. It was she who got us into this mess, and who got us out of it? Some fool who thinks his blood gives him some right to rule, or someone who earned that right?"

"Now look-" Wu spluttered, clearly insulted.

"In our new country, weakness cannot be allowed to persist," Kuvira declared. "And what bigger symbol of weakness is there than the monarchy?"

She spoke above the angry rumbling.

"The King came in here thinking that I would give up my job to him," she said. "That was arrogant of him. I am taking his job instead. From now on, the Earth Kingdom is the Earth Republic!"

She turned to her guards. "Take the King back to his chambers. We are going to have very important discussion about the constitution later."

Mako heard Wu gulp next to him. He looked at the guards closing in, and remembered what Kuvira tended to do to her enemies.

He did something stupid.

In one smooth step, Mako went to stand in between the King and his guards, and ignited one of his hands.

"I'm afraid the King is going nowhere with you," he declared, sounding much braver than he felt.

Wu threw his hands around him in a thank you.

"Get off!" Mako demanded, and the King quickly did so.

"Ah yes," Kuvira said. "Stand aside, Mako. This will be much easier."

"The King is my friend," Mako said. "I can't do that."

"You see?" Kuvira turned to look directly down one of the cameras. "Our King is friends with a Firebender! How can he possibly be on our side?"

"What's wrong with you being a Firebender?" Wu asked, sounding genuinely baffled.

Realisation struck Mako. "Wait, is that why you offered me the job? To make Wu look bad?"

Across the room, the Fire Nation delegates and Royals had stood up in their seats, clearly furious at Kuvira's attitude.

The Great Uniter just shrugged. "Well, if you won't step aside we'll just take you too. No matter."

The guards resumed their advance. Mako decided to play his trump card.

"How can you be trusted to keep the King safe, when we know what you do to all your other enemies?" He shouted. "We know, Kuvira. We know about the disappearances of your enemies, about your secret police, about how you vaporised an entire fort's full of people, and about your concentration camps. Is that really the ruler you think is best for your country?"

Another round of shocked murmurs reverberated around the hall. The suggestion that Kuvira may not have conducted herself well was clearly a new one.

Kuvira looked shocked for a second, but shook it off just as quickly. "Lies," she declared confidently. "And if you don't stop spreading them, I'll-"

But Kuvira never had a chance to say what she would have done, as she was blown off her feet by a blast of air. She somersaulted across the stage and landed on her feet, before straightening up to look at her assailant.

Avatar Korra stood facing her in a combat posture, a look of anger on her face.

Kuvira shrugged and gave a grin as she slipped into a stance of her own. "Very well," she said. "Let's see if you've lost your touch, Avatar."