It has been two days since Mako arrived with Korra to the capital. He travelled here to try and get a job at the royal palace, he will tell them he's from Shu Jing, same as he told Korra, and why work at the palace is something only he knows. He didn't think it wise to share such information with Korra, and he didn't know she was the Avatar either. Right now, the goal is to land a job at the palace.
Mako is a firebender, not a master, but still an excellent one. If asked what his hobby is, he would deny that he has any hobbies in particular, however, cooking will come to his mind as the closest thing to a hobby he could think of. Because of that, he wants to work at the palace's kitchens as it would be the only place where he can probably do a good job and pick up new culinary skills fast and blend in easy.
In the morning after the day they had arrived at the capital, Mako walked up the winding path of the dormant volcanic mountain to reach the Royal Caldera City where the palace is. Korra and Tadashi had already taken the tram to reach the palace the night before, but Mako took to rest in Harbor City before starting the long walk up the mountain, with Pabu perched on his shoulder of course. Come morning, he journeyed up the mountain on foot and soon arrived at the palace.
It'll be hard to convince them to hire me if I show up with Pabu, he thinks to himself. He still doesn't know how he would get the job and who to talk to. He spent the entire morning scouting the palace and the many guests and government officials that are coming and going, and soon took notice of the kitchen staff around the back of the palace unloading new stock of fresh meat and supplies as they do at the start of every day, for the palace is always busy and must be fully stocked daily.
"Pabu, stay!" He orders Pabu, placing him in a bush. Mako walks off to speak with one of the staff, but Pabu follows him, "No Pabu, I said stay! No follow!"
Pabu lets out squeaks and purrs, not exactly understanding Mako's orders and not wanting to be left alone in this new land strange to him. When Mako shouts at him for the second time to stay, he runs up a tree and perches on its branches, looking over at Mako, who smiles in content and walks away.
Mako approaches a kitchen staff member holding a cardboard box filled with fresh veggies, "Excuse me, sir."
The man turns to him, "Yes?"
"Umm, I was wondering who do I talk to for a job at the kitchen?"
The staff member looks Mako up and down, and proceeds to walk away. Mako tries to utter more words, but the man disappears into the kitchen. Mako sighs, and waits for another worker to come out.
"Excuse me, Ma'am, can I talk to you please?" He asks the lady with a pen and paper in her hands.
"What is it, kid?"
"I'd like to work here. I can cook and clean. I'll do whatever you ask of me!"
The lady chuckles, "Go home kid, this isn't a place for youngsters like you."
"But I know how to work in a kitchen believe me, I'm smart and I learn fast!"
She walks past him to the truck driver, who hands her a list of all the supplies delivered, she proceeds to check off her list, and Mako continues his begging, "Please, Ma'am!"
"Kid, I'm really busy here."
He then picks up one of the boxes, "I can help!"
"Put that down! Yo, Kaz, come get this kid outta here!"
A large man comes out and drags Mako by the shoulders, throwing him to the bushes across the street. Pabu jumps down from the tree and licks Mako left cheek with gentle purrs, "I'm not giving up." he says to himself.
He spends most of the morning and afternoon standing in the vicinity, kitchen staff who come outside for a smoke would notice him but none would bother talking to him. He stares at them with beggar's eyes, never feeling defeated and still determined to get the job, but how?
That day, when Korra's first class with Master Zenzo began early in the morning, and Azumi & Natsui left for the academy, he was beginning to feel dizzy and hungry after standing for long hours under the sun in the summer's heat. Pabu, on the other hand, ate few bugs here and there. Mako wanted to try some too, he was so hungry, but his ambition left his mind clouded with thinking and food was the least of his concerns at that moment.
When the sun went down and the hour had come for everyone to sign off and close up, the same female staffer came out of the kitchens, putting on her coat. She notices Mako still standing across the street, "Yo, kid, come 'er."
A cheerful look on his face, he runs over to her without Pabu. She asks him, "You seriously been standing there the whole day?!"
"Y-yes."
"Have you eaten anything?!"
He stares down at his feet, "No, Ma'am. But it doesn't matter."
Annoyed and disapproving, she scolds him, "Tsk, are you serious? I already told you to go. What part of that do you not understand?!"
"But I really…"
She stops him, "I know, you already told me. You want to work here. Well, I'm not sure Izembaro will agree to hire you. Anyhow, wait here."
She goes back to the kitchen and comes out with a meal for him, leftovers from the day. Small cut of komodo chicken with white rice. He thanks her and she leaves after telling him to come back tomorrow morning and she'll try to get Izembaro to see him.
Pabu tries to have a small bite of the komodo chicken, to which Mako reluctantly gives in, "You already had bugs today. I'm hungrier than you, y'know." Pabu chirps, and they eat together. He then takes off his light jacket and sleeps in the bushes.
He emerges from the bushes the next morning with bug bites all over his arms. He pats the dust off and wears his jacket and scarf. When the lady shows up to work, he approaches her and she lets him in, telling him to wait at the door of Izembaro's office until he reports in. Izembaro is the head chef of the palace's kitchen, and no one gets hired in the kitchens without his approval.
Mako stands beside the door of his office waiting, looking over at the sprawling and huge kitchen. The walls are lined with cabinets and shelves, stocked with a wide array of fine china, silverware, and cooking utensils. Massive islands serve as preparation areas, surrounded by gleaming marble countertops. There are multiple ovens and stoves at one end of the kitchen, unlit as no one has yet arrived to start them. Copper pots and pans hang from overhead racks, reflecting the light and adding to the kitchen's opulent feel. A long-polished table runs along one side of the room, where finished dishes are carefully plated and garnished before being taken. In one corner, a pantry stocked with a wide variety of fresh produce, meats, spices, and dry goods is meticulously organized.
Izembaro arrives. Walking over to his office, he notices Mako standing at the door, "You're the kid Rei told me about."
Mako stands firmly, "Yes, sir! Please, I'd like to work here if you'll have me."
Izembaro sighs, a man in his forties, big boned and tall, he unlocks the door to his office and walks in, hanging his coat and inviting Mako in, "How old are you, kid?"
"I-I'm 16… sir." A lie.
"What is your name?"
"My name is Mako."
"Where are you from, Mako?"
"Shu Jing, in the Fire Nation!"
Izembaro scoffs, "Kid, if you want me to hire you, which I'm starting to be really hesitant about, you're gonna have to be honest with me. Let me ask you again: how old are you and where are you from?"
Mako becomes flustered, "I-I just told you."
"You might be 16, which I doubt, but you're not from Shu Jing, kid, you're not even Fire Nation. That I'm sure of."
He has me, Mako thinks. This might be his one and only chance and he can't screw it up. He looks over the window from Izembaro's office, most of the kitchen staff have come in already and started their preparations for the day. He turns his gaze back at the head chef Izembaro, feeling nervous. Izembaro crosses his arms while sitting in his chair, waiting for Mako to talk, yet Mako says nothing.
Izembaro speaks, "Sorry kid, you're gonna have to-"
"I'm from the city!" Mako interrupts, "Republic City. I- I'm also 14 years old, not 16."
"Why should I hire you, Mako? You're already lying to me, AND you're underage."
"Please, mister, I don't have anywhere else to go, and everyone starts working even when they're twelve."
Izembaro furrows his brows, understanding that this boy is desperate, but why? "Why do you want to work here? There are plenty of job opportunities in the city, restaurants and many more."
"I don't want to live in the city anymore. It's… it's really not a safe place. I want to start over somewhere else."
"So, you must be a firebender, am I wrong? Why else would you choose the Fire Nation." Izembaro asks.
"That is correct."
"Where are your parents?" He asks.
"They're no longer with us, sir."
Izembaro sighs, he stands up from his chair, "I won't have you firebend in my kitchen, EVER, is that clear?"
Mako nods, but Izembaro says, "You respond only with 'yes, sir'!"
"Yes, sir!" He shouts.
"I'll hire you, but you won't do any of the cooking, not yet at least. You'll start with peeling onions and cleaning only. We'll have you go to the market, if need be, and you'll make sure to unload newly arrived stock every morning. Also, I'm assuming you don't have a place to live?"
Gleaming with joy, Mako responds to him, "Thank you so much! I'll do everything you ask of me!"
"Do you have a place to live, boy?"
"Oh, sorry, no I don't."
"That's fine. A lot of palace staff who come from far away are provided with accommodations. You'll be given a room in the staff quarters. For now, go to Rei, she'll hand you your uniform and tell you what to do."
He goes to Rei, the female staffer who helped him. Rei is the sous-chef, the second in command of the kitchen. "So you got the job. Good. We need an errand boy; our last one couldn't take the pressure. You better be ready for this."
She gives him a white apron suited to his size and a hairnet with a cap. "You'll need to wear these every time you're inside the kitchen, and make sure they're clean."
She instructs him to memorize where all the kitchen wares are, telling him that every item needs to be returned to its original place. Everything must be in order. "We don't only cook for the royal family here. The Fire Lord has many guests visiting every day, they visit to see her or her advisors, so we must prepare dishes and full meals on the hour. Main courses will be served as well as appetizers and desserts. The work we do here is important. Think of it as political. The food we serve reflects the Fire Lord herself, and she must present her guests with the best dishes. The palace's reputation is on the line."
Rei takes him with her once the grocery truck arrives. "We get most of the produce we need every morning, however, not everything is delivered easy, and sometimes we run out quickly, so we will need you to run to the market in Harbor City to gather stuff. When you do so, be quick about it."
Pabu waited long for Mako to return, yet he hasn't. He had accomplished his goal and gotten the job he wanted, and now he'll be there until late at night. Afraid of approaching the door to the kitchens, with so many workers coming in and out, Pabu instead climbs the walls at the back of the palace and races along, reaching higher floors and towers, crossing to the other side of palace, trying to sniff out Mako's location or hear his voice. He was far from the kitchens though, as he had crossed over to the top of the front gate and continued along the outer walls to the royal apartments' quarters, where he reached the serene courtyard where a friend is in her second day of training with Master Zenzo.
He immediately recognized Korra, who is sitting in front of Zenzo cross-legged. Pabu leaps from the wall into the bushes and runs as fast as he could to Korra, jumping on her shoulders.
"Woah!" He catches her off guard, "Wait, Pabu?! Hey buddy!"
"Ehm," Zenzo clears his throat, signaling for Korra to focus. She apologizes and asks if the fire ferret could join them. Zenzo lets her, and she places him on the ground next to her, but he proceeds to sit on her lap as she sits cross-legged meditating, inhaling and exhaling as part of her breathing exercises. The session goes on for the rest of the morning to the afternoon, during which Pabu slept all the way through in complete peace. He loved the experience and after the training ended and Zenzo dismissed Korra, Pabu was feeling refreshed.
She holds the ferret with her arms to her eye level, "What brings you here, Pabu?" He purrs, his beady eyes gleaming, "Is Mako here with you?" His furry ears perk up at the sound of Mako's name. "Can you take me to him?" He tilts his head, not exactly understanding what she's saying.
"Hmm…" She takes him with her to her room and feeds him the fruits the servants had brought to her table. She brushes his beautiful red fur and wonders.
Perched on her shoulder, she takes him with her to the common room to meet Azumi as they had agreed once Azumi is back from the academy.
"Oh my goodness, it's so cute! Where did you find it? These creatures are native to the bamboo forests of the eastern Earth Kingdom. We don't find many of them around here." Azumi says.
"I don't know, he belongs to this boy I meant on the ferry on my way here."
The two girls play with Pabu in the common room and bring him to the gardens for a stroll, however, when the sun sets, Pabu's ears perk up when he hears a distant familiar sound, the sound of Mako's voice calling to him. He immediately jumps off Azumi's arms and scales up the walls, running off. Korra and Azumi run after him. He is fast and soon vanishes from their sight. Azumi, however, scales up the wall too and continues her chase after him. Korra couldn't do the same, so she ran after them from the ground. Exiting the main gate and arriving at the back of the palace.
Azumi jumps down to the ground, "There it is, over there." She says to Korra.
"Mako!" Korra shouts.
Azumi asks her, "Is that the boy?"
Korra nods and they both walk up to him. He looked a little different to Korra, now wearing a full-length white apron that ties around the waist and a hairnet covered with a cap.
"Hey Korra! I see Pabu has found you." Mako says.
"You work here?" Korra asks him.
He tells her that it's his first day, and she introduces him to Azumi. He blushes when his gaze turns to her, and she offers him a handshake.
"So, you'll be cooking for us from now on, you better know how to use spices. My uncle likes the food hot and steaming."
A genuine surprise shows on his face, "You live here?!"
Azumi tells him, "Korra does too."
He turns to Korra, "Who are you, Korra?"
Korra smirks, "Can you guess?"
Mako stands there, blinking at Korra, his curiosity piqued. "Guess?" he repeats, a bit perplexed.
Azumi giggles, nudging Korra playfully. "Oh come on, don't tease him too much. He's had a long day."
Korra laughs and shakes her head. "Alright, alright. Mako, I'm the Avatar."
Mako's eyes widen in surprise. "The Avatar? I had no idea! I mean, I kinda suspected something was odd about you, but… wow."
Korra furrows her brows, "Odd, how so?"
"Oh it's nothing." Mako tries to brush it off.
"Tell me!" She says to him.
"I was just amazed at the guy you were traveling with. Traveling with someone like that, I suspected you were a big deal."
The girls giggle. "You mean Tadashi. Yeah, he's the big deal, not me, trust me."
Azumi smiles warmly, "Welcome to our home, Mako. It's a big place, and it can be a bit overwhelming at first, but you'll get used to it."
Korra nods in agreement, "And if you ever need anything, just ask us. We're all here to help each other."
Mako feels a wave of relief wash over him. "Thank you, both of you. I really appreciate it… umm, I was actually worried about Pabu. I'm not sure we're allowed to have animals in the staff quarters."
"Oh, so that's why you didn't want to bring him with you." Korra says.
Azumi quickly offers to take care of him, "He'll be fine with us, right Korra?"
"Of course. He'll probably be safer with us anyway. Mako hates the poor animal."
"I don't hate him!" Mako says in rage, "And don't say that in front of the Princess!"
Both girls laugh. Rei shouts for Mako, and he excuses himself, handing them Pabu and leaving off to the kitchen.
"Let's me again!" Korra shouts to him.
As the girls walk back towards the palace, Korra wonders where Tadashi is.
"I honestly have no idea." Azumi says, "We're supposed to be training with him, Natsui and I, but he isn't showing up, which would only mean that he's on a mission, probably."
That evening, Mako gets to experience his first dinner service in the palace kitchens. Under Rei's watchful eye, he peels and chops vegetables, washes dishes, and helps with various tasks.
After the dinner rush, Mako finds a quiet moment to step outside and take a breath. The sky is full of stars, he gazes at them with hope. Despite the hard work, he feels a sense of fulfillment and purpose that he hasn't felt in a long time.
Mako smiles. This was the first big hurdle, and he passed. He started his journey all the way from Republic City with a certain goal in mind, and now he feels like he can actually accomplish it in due time.