Be The Peaf!

  “Cheer up Zuko!”  Aang called from behind him.  “It’s just a little farther to Yu Dao.  I’m sure the Air Acolytes have some scrolls on bison care.”  Zuko tried not to yell at Aang about not knowing more about his bison.  Appa was currently about a mile behind them, with the runs.  Zuko had never really needed to know what a sick bison looked (or smelled) like.

  “Pick up the pace I want to get there before dark,” Zuko called over his shoulder.  He promised himself he was only going to travel by balloon or ship from now on.  

  “The monks used to say that spirits walked in this forest.”  Zuko could careless what the monks said as another branch scratched his arm.  In fact if there were spirits here they would probably hate him because of something his ancestors did.  

  There was a squeak near Zuko’s feet and he looked down to see what could only be a spirit looking up at him.  The fuzzy blue ball on pelican-flamingo legs chirped again and, with lightning speed, snatched the dagger Zuko kept in his boot (the one Uncle gave him) and ran off.  “Hey that’s mine!”  He called as he took off after the thing.

  “Zuko wait!”  He heard Aang behind him.  But Zuko wasn’t going to wait.  That was his dagger and he was going to get it back!  He chased the spirit deeper into the forest.  He followed it through a veil of vines at which point the spirit promptly stopped, dropped the dagger and took off.

  “What was the point of taking this?”  He shouted at the spirit.  He quickly put the dagger away and turned around to head back.  He half expected Aang to to right behind him but no, there wasn’t a smiling airbender anywhere.  However there was buildings.  More buildings than Zuko thought anyone would put in the forest.

  “Hey!  Don’t you know it’s dangerous here?”  Zuko turned to towards the voice.  He wasn’t that much taller than Zuko and wearing a grey uniform.  “We’re trying to evacuate this part of the city.  You need to come with me.”

  Zuko bristled at his words.  Clearly this kid (though he looked to be about Zuko’s age) had no idea who he was.  “I’m not going with you,” he said defiantly.

  “I’m with the police, if that’s what’s bothering you.  Look I know your apartment might be here but we’ve set up temporary housing,” the boy said soothingly, “if you’ll just come with me.”

  “Do even know who I am?”  Zuko said as he stood his ground.  He was not going anywhere until he knew where he was.  “And where am I?”

  The boy looked puzzled.  “Uh, you’re in Republic City.  I’d like to see some identification, please.”  Zuko stared.  Really he needed to prove who he was?  Slowly he raised his left hand and pointed to the left half of his face.  In the years since the war ended Zuko had tried to go out incognito and learned very quickly that being friends with the Avatar and having your picture circulated meant everyone suddenly knew who you were.  “That’s not a form of identification.”

  “I’m Fire Lord Zuko,” Zuko said calmly.  “And I’ve never heard of Republic City but I know Yu Dao is close by.”

  The boy open and closed his mouth a few times before straightening his back and controlling his face.  “I think it would be best if you accompany me to the police station,” the boy said authoritatively.  Belatedly he added “Sir.”

  Zuko thought for a moment.  The police station might have a few ostrich horses and maybe even a balloon if he was lucky.  But he was never lucky so he resigned himself to the birds.  “I’ll go,” he finally said.

  “Good, so just come with me,” the officer said as he lead Zuko over to the strangest contraption he’d seen.  It looked like a metal box on wheels and he immediately thought the best engineers in the Fire Nation could do better, with whatever it was.  “Hop in.”

  “In that thing?”  Zuko scoffed.

  The officer raised an eyebrow.  “Haven’t you seen a Satomobile before?”

  “I’ve never even heard of that.”

  There was a sigh.  “Just get in.  It won’t hurt you.”  Zuko, tentatively, got into the contraption.  He sat on the edge of the seat and jumped when the engine started.  He at least knew enough to recognize the sound of an engine.  He gripped the seat the entire ride, only vaguely noticed the sprawling buildings whiz by as they drove through the city.  Zuko did note there were a lot of other…contraptions on the road.  A few seemed to be controlled by people who should not be given that power specifically because of the speed they were going and the way they shot in front of other machines without a care.

  Finally they stopped and the officer got out and went around to Zuko’s door.  “I’m Mako, by the way.”

  Zuko nodded as he stepped out only to stop and gawk.  “Is that Toph?”  He asked incredulously.  

  “You should follow me inside,” Mako said as she started up the stairs.

  “You didn’t answer my question!”

  “Well the Chief is going to answer your question.”  Zuko followed Mako inside and into an office.  “Just wait here, you’re in her office and don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Why do people always assume I’m going to do that?”  Zuko muttered under his breath.  He looked around the room for any clues as to the owner.  There was nothing, not even a picture on the desk.  He appreciated the austerity of the room and thought people would think the same of his office.

  Minus the picture of Mai and him he still had on his desk even though they haven’t talked since she left.  And he had that picture of the Gaang, plus one of Iroh.  Actually he did have a lot of pictures on his desk.

  “All right, you claim to be Fire Lord Zuko,” a sarcastic female voice said after the office door banged open.  “But you can’t be because I’ve met him quite a few times.  So cut the crap kid and tell me who you really are.”  The voice belonged to the grey haired woman who sat behind the desk looking at him.  Zuko thought she looked kind of familiar.  She gestured to the chair in front of her desk and Zuko sat.

  “I don’t have to tell you anything until you tell me who you are,” he said stubbornly.

  She scoffed.  “If you’re going to play that game then fine, I’m Chief Beifong and have every right to have you arrested for not complying with an officer and for going into the new spirit wilds.”

  “Beifong?”  Zuko could see the similarity now.  Though this Beifong could see.  “I didn’t know Toph had a sister.”

  Beifong’s eyes narrowed.  “I have no aunts.”

  “Why would Toph having a sister mean that you don’t have aunts?”

  “My mother didn’t have any sisters.”

  “Mother?  Toph is thirteen she can’t have kids.”

  The woman glared at him.  “She’s in her eighties.  Who exactly are you?”

  “I told Mako.  I’m Fire Lord Zuko.”  To emphasize his point he gestured to his scar again.  “I’ve never met anyone with something like this before.  I need to get back to Aang and his stupid sick bison.”

  “Appa wasn’t stupid.”

  “But Aang kind of is for not knowing how to take care of his bison.”

  “Uncle Twinkletoes was not stupid!”

  Zuko held up his hands.  “Sorry.  Wait, Uncle Twinkletoes?”

  “Never mind.  Just tell me who you are.”

  “I already did!”

  She looked him up and down.  Zuko became very appreciative of the fact that Toph couldn’t see if this was how her possible daughter used her sight.  “Tell me something that my mother would know.”

  “Like what?”

  “How should I know!  Something she would know!”

  “I burned her feet once and then I had to carry her around for awhile because Katara couldn’t fully heal her feet.”

  Beifong nodded and picked up the weird stick shaped object on her desk.  She took the extra circular part attached by a cable and held it to her ear.  Zuko had no idea what she was doing when she began to speak.  “Put me through to the United Forces Headquarters,” there was a pause.  “Put General Iroh on the phone.”  Zuko perked up at that.  What was his uncle doing here and why was he a general again?  Zuko had signed his official discharge with honors papers his second week as Fire Lord.  “Iroh?  Good you’re in town…I took a guess.  Get down to the station, now.  You have a relative here who needs you…No I will not tell you until you get here…Look I changed your diapers-good see you soon.”  This woman obviously didn’t know his uncle that well.

  “Thank you for calling my uncle,” he said politely.  “Hopefully he’ll clear everything up.”

  Beifong smirked.  “Oh yes, you’re ‘uncle’ will be here soon.  Tea?”  She offered sweetly.

  “Yes please.”  Zuko watched her leave and leaned back in the chair as he watched her leave.  This whole thing was ridiculous.  He knew his picture had been around the world by the time he finished his first year as Fire Lord.  There were very few people who didn’t know what he looked like (he was still pretty sure the people of Hira’a humored him when he tried to act like he was in disguise there).  He thought about all the things he could say to Aang when he found him again, mainly that Aang needed to talk to the spirits for him and make them not steal.  Ever.

  Beifong came back with the tea.  “Here you go.  I’m going to go wait for Iroh,” she told him.

  “Thank you,” he muttered as she left.  He picked up the tea cup and was surprised to find ginseng tea.  He would never admit it to Uncle but he did like the stuff.

  He waited.  He considered picking up the object Beifong spoke into but decided it wasn’t worth it.  Just as he was contemplating how bad it would be to rifle through drawers the door opened again.

  “Lin I really don’t think I have any relatives in Republic City right now,” a horribly familiar voice said.  That was his voice, Zuko was almost certain of that.  But how?  He turned around.  There with Beifong (Lin apparently) was a man who looked like him.  He was entirely sure those were his eyes and that was a very weird thought because even though he knew he looked like Ozai he’d always thought he had his mother’s eyes.  The other man’s eyes went wide.  “This has to be a joke,” he said.

  “Iroh he told me he burned my mother’s feet once.  You know that’s a family story,” Lin said.

  Zuko stood.  “Who are you?”

  “General Iroh of the United Forces-”

  “What in Agni’s name is the United Forces?”

  “And Crown Prince of the Fire Nation.”  Zuko opened his mouth and closed it again.  That wasn’t right.  He didn’t have an heir, let alone a girlfriend.  “And I should be asking who you are.”

  Zuko rolled his eyes.  “Not this again.  Look if you are the Crown Prince then you know I’m Fire Lord Zuko and you can tell me what is going on!”

  “How did you first break up with Mai?”  Iroh asked.

  Zuko blushed.  “I wrote her a letter but what does that have to do with anything?  This can’t be some weird plan she has; she’s not my sister.  The last I knew she was staying with relatives and taking care of her brother.”

  “You really are Zuko,” Iroh muttered.  “I..how?”

  “How what?”  Zuko was really beginning to get annoyed.

  “How are you here?”

  “I followed a spirit who stole my dagger,” Zuko said in a deadpan.

  “Maybe you should take him to Korra,” Lin suggested.  Zuko raised his eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

  Iroh shook his head.  “First to the Fire Nation Embassy, then maybe I’ll get Korra.”

  Zuko gave up trying to follow the conversation.  “Can I just leave?  And do either of you know about bison care?”  They stared at him.  “What?  Appa is sick and Aang doesn’t know what to do.”

  “Fire Nation Embassy and then Korra,” Iroh said again.  

  Lin nodded.  “I’ll call Tenzin for you.”

  Zuko followed Iroh out to one of the Satomoblies parked outside.  They sat in silence as Iroh drove.  Zuko wasn’t great at starting conversations and this was just strange.  They passed by the train station and Zuko screamed “stop!”  He jumped out of the car and ran towards the statue.  A statue of him.

  “Oh, yes, you have a statue,” Iroh said casually as he joined him.

  “‘Founded Republic City with Avatar Aang,’” Zuko read.  “What is going on?”

  “I’ll explain when we’re at the Embassy.”

  “No,”  Zuko said sternly.  “I demand an explanation now.”

  Iroh chuckled.  “Mom always said you were stubborn but I never knew till now.”

  “I’m waiting.”

  “You’re my grandfather,” Iroh said simply.

  It was Zuko’s turn to laugh.  “I can’t be, you’re older than I am!”  It was a guess but a good one.

  “Well technically you aren’t but the you that is somewhere in the world right now is.”

  Zuko gave up trying to follow.  “If I go with you you’re going to explain everything.”  Iroh nodded.  “Good.”

  They didn’t talk for the rest of the ride.  Nor did they talk when they went into the Embassy.  Zuko didn’t even comment on the picture of the woman with the Fire Crown in her hair (though she looked a little like Mai).  It wasn’t until they were in a sitting room that Zuko finally spoke.  “We’re here.”

  Iroh coughed nervously.  “Yes, so.  Here’s what I know: you’re my grandfather and I know this because you always joked with Grandmother about breaking up with her in a letter and her retort would be that she broke up with you at a party before that.”

  “Grandmother?”

  “I…probably shouldn’t have said that but look that’s what I know.  You’re retired now and travel the world promoting peace.”

  “Wait so I’m alive?”  Iroh nodded.  “So the assassination attempts stop and I live.”  Zuko felt so much better about them now.

  “That’s what you’re focusing on?”

  “I’ve been paranoid for the past year and a half because of them.”

  “You aren’t wondering how this happened?”

  Zuko considered everything in his life so far.  He’d seen his great-grandfather’s spirit reappear, he’d met dragons he thought were gone, found the Avatar after years of searching, and watched his mother regain her face and memory.  Zuko just shrugged.  “I’m just going to blame this whole thing on spirits and maybe Aang can fix it.”

  “About Aang,” Iroh began before there was a knock at the door.  Iroh stood and opened it.  “Thank you for coming,” he said as he ushered a Water Tribe girl in.  “Korra you met Zuko before, right?”

  “A few times,” she said slowly.  “But he was old.”  Zuko rolled his eyes.  “So what’s going on?”

  “Mako found him wandering in the spirit vines,” Iroh explained.

  “Oh, well, that’s…why you called me.”  She smiled at Zuko.  “Hi, I’m Avatar Korra.”

  “Aang’s dead?”

  She rolled her eyes.  “And you’re supposed to be in your eighties.”  Zuko had no response for her.  “I brought you a book on bison care and I can help you get back.  I’m pretty good with spirits.”

  Zuko’s stomach growled.  “Can I eat something first?”

  Korra shrugged.  “I don’t see why not.”  She looked at Iroh.  “Food?”

  Iroh looks between the two of them and shrugs.  “Fine, I’ll get food.”

  It takes awhile but when the food arrives Zuko doesn’t care.  There’s meat and, though he’s not as addicted to the protein as Sokka is, traveling with Aang and eating all vegetarian meals does make him crave animals.  “So,” Korra begins, “you know Aang.”  Zuko nods.  “I kept hearing about him and how I should be like him.”

  “If it makes you feel any better Aang kept hearing about Roku and Roku apparently tried to make him do things he didn’t want to do.”

  “Wait, really?”

  “Yeah.  Aang mentioned how he had a disagreement with Roku about something and he stopped contacting him.”

  “So Aang was on his own?”

  “I guess.”  Korra smiled.  “No one told you?”

  “Nope, you’re the first one.”

  “Well Grandfather does like telling stories about Aang,” Iroh said.

  “Really?  Zuko and Korra ask at the same time.  Iroh nodded.  “Like what?”  Korra asked.

  “The time they met the dragons, the time Grandfather broke Aang out of prison, things like that.”

  “Broke out of prison?”

  “Without bending,” Zuko added.

  They traded stories back and forth for the rest of the time.  Zuko was happy Korra saved Iroh from drowning and decided he liked both of these people.  

  “Ready to try to go home?”  Korra asked after they were all finished.  Zuko nodded.  “All right, to the spirit vines!”

  Zuko stared at all the buildings they passed on their drive.  He couldn’t believe this was possible because of him.  He was going to make a difference.

  “I’m going to look for the spirit you described and see if I can convince it to lead you back,” Korra said as she hopped out of the car.  “You two can say goodbye.”

  “Well I guess the next time I see you is when your born,” Zuko said.  

  “I guess,” Iroh said.  “Anything you want to know before going back?”

  “I probably shouldn’t know anymore than I do but this was a colony?”  Iroh nodded.  “Which one?”

  “Yu Dao, why?”

  “Oh I just took over the city once and started a minor war with Kuei over the land.”

  “Grandfather!  You always told me to be nice to the Earth Queen and don’t go around starting wars!”

  “One war!  It wasn’t even that big of one!”

  “At least you didn’t start a civil war,” Korra said as she returned, spirit in tow.  “Just follow this little guy and you’ll be set.”

  “Thank you, Avatar Korra,” he said with a bow.

  “Eh thank me when you next see me.”  Zuko followed the spirit but turned to wave before going back into the vines.  He still managed to get hit in the face with a couple of vines and muttered ‘stupid spirits’ as he kept going.  

  “Zuko, is that you?”  He heard Aang call.

  “Yeah, over here!”  Aang flew right in front of him with a grin.  The spirit chirped before hopping away.  

  “Aw come back!”  Aang called.  Zuko grabbed Aang’s collar before the airbender could sprint away.  

  “I got a book on bison care.”

  “That’s why you were gone for hours?”

  “Sure.  Now we’re going back to Appa.”

  “Great!”

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.

Mako changes the bandages daily. Once in the morning, once in the evening and just as the healers told him.

(“Wash your hands and workplace, remove the dressing carefully, allow the dead skin to peel away and wipe the area with ointment before rinsing clean. Wrap in fresh cloth and try not to scratch – no matter how bad it itches—”)

Staying on Air Temple Island, there’s a number of people who are willing to help. Bolin, Jinora, Pema, Opal… sometimes Kai even offers his hand. But when the Air Nation is called to help in the city and Bolin heads down to Zaofu with Opal’s family to bring order there, he finds it’s easier to do it himself – it’s only half the arm, after all. In the beginning he spends at least half an hour with the task; working with rolls of cloth and soothing ointment that seems to just make a mess over everything. But eventually he gets the rhythm down, and can have the scarred appendage wrapped up in ten minutes flat. It’s still a slow, grueling process; covering and wiping, cleaning and padding – they go on and on and the limb still hasn’t fully healed.

It hurts, sometimes, when he’s dabbing the ointment or dipping it under cool water. Just a twinge – a spark and crack on the surface of fresh skin and tendered nerves but it pulls him back all the same. All at once he can feel the skin heat beneath the water, smell the electricity hanging in the air. It stands his hair on ends, and he’s quick to pull his hand out or throw the gel-coated cotton ball away to wrap it as gently and quickly as he can and put it in its sling. Then he holds his breath and counts to ten… twenty… thirty… until the pulsing stops. Until he can’t feel his nails dig into the palm that’s wrapped over in so much white and red.

When it ends, he packs his things into the corner of his tiny room, and leaves.

In more twelve hours, he’ll do it all again.

.

.

.

Even with a hole in the side of her office, Lin still has time to tell him to “get lost” when he asks to be assigned to a patrol team.

“There’ll be plenty of work for you once your arm’s healed,” she says. “I’m assigning the files in basement 3-D to you; a lot of them were tossed around in the fight, and we need someone to read through and organize them again. Pick up your load from Karruk and get through it. ”

Filing is menial work, but it has to be done. So Mako heads down the broken stairwell to room 3-D, where Officer Karruk is stuffing an arrangement of files and folders into large plastic bins. After signing a clipboard, he hoists one of them under his good side, and hikes up the stairs to his usual desk. Builders mend the wall in Beifong’s room, and he reads the reports carefully, matching up case numbers and incident dates going back the last decade. Many of the files wouldn’t see the light of another day once he was through with them, so he occasionally opens one on the side, hoping to learn something helpful from the scratchy ink lines when he’s back on the beat. 

Three hours in, and the dust from the reconstruction hangs in the room like a bad smell, covering the files, himself and everything else in the room in a layer of dirt and stone powder. It wriggles through the bandages of his arm, irritating the new skin with the likes of needle pricks. He tries to deal with it for another hour, pressing the sling into his chest to shield it from the dirt.

Thirty minutes later, he goes back across the bay with a load of paper beneath his arm.

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.

The next day, he sorts through the files on the steps of the temple’s library. The sky is cloudless and the air is calm and cool. It makes the work a little easier, and without another soul to be found in this lonely part of the island, time seems to stand still. Mako reads through a case dating back six years about a robbery in the South Sector, holding the paper just out of the shadow’s reach, so he doesn’t get hot in the sun. When he’s finished, he tucks the paper into the right folder, and moves on to the next.

He’s sorted through another twenty pages when Jinora and Kai walk past him at noon.

“Hey, Mako,” Kai says, stopping at the base of the steps. “What are you doing here?”

“Organizing some old reports,” he says, looking behind as Jinora and the other airbenders start loading books into crates. “What about you guys?”

“We’re getting some books to hand out in the park,” Kai says. “There’s still a lot of people hanging around there for refuge supplies, we thought a book might give them something to do.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” he says.

As Kai runs into the library to gather books into crates, Mako smiles, and rests his eyes on the report hanging in his hand. The nomads were doing everything they could to help the city – collecting food, water, blankets and other necessities to give to the people, while the police were busy setting up patrols and guarding the masses from riots and panic. They were all trying to keep it under order, and he was stuck reading old paperwork because his arm was in a sling.

He gathers the reports back in the box, and walks into the library. Kai looks at him with surprise, but once he sets the box down and rests his palm on top of it, Kai smiles, and tosses him a book.

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In terms of damage, Avatar Korra Park was luckier than most on the main island. Debris from blown-apart buildings lay scattered over the grounds, but it’s one of the best place to hold the crowds of people who were displaced in the attack. There are tents set up everywhere – filled with kits and water and food for those without homes or jobs. Mako can hardly believe it when he first lays eyes on the masses, he feels the ghosts of his childhood eclipsing the city.

The people gather around the bison as soon as they land, graciously taking the much needed supplies from outstretched hands and spirals of air. Mako slides to the sound with a box of the temple’s books in hand, and Jinora points him over to an awning nearby, where an old man stands behind a small table towering with volumes and stories alike. As he approaches, he notices the books range in all kind of genres and subjects, from simple children’s classics to numerous copies of the ever-popular “Avatar Aang’s: How to Be a Man” and “The Way”.

Mako does his best to help the man sort through the contents of the temple’s library, but between trying to decide if “The Nomad’s Guide to Vegetarianism” should belong in cooking or lifestyle and sorting a small series called “Untitled: Tales of The Mountains”, Mako eventually elects on leaving the organization to the bookkeeper, and focuses on handing out the tomes instead. He hands out books to people of all ages: two young woman, a Water Tribe boy dressed in blue, one middle-aged man, a father and a son…

A boy in blue. Again.

The father hoists his son on his shoulders, carrying away a copy of “Tales of Ba Sing Se”, and Mako peers at the boy standing by the postings of the tent, staring intently at the table before him, and not the two books Mako placed in his hands moments before. The bookkeeper places a hand on his back and gives him the crates – the books emptied and sorted. Mako leaves the tent with the boxes in tow, wondering if the child was simply a book fanatic of some sort. It’s only when he sees the boy hiding behind the trunk of a tree halfway to the bison that he realizes it. The boy is following him.

Setting the crates to the ground, Mako turns around slowly.

The boy doesn’t run when he walks toward the tree. Instead, he clings to it, face half hidden behind the bark, and looks at Mako with a mixture of wonder and gleeful excitement. Neither of which Mako can understand the reasoning for.

“Uh… hi,” he says, stopping beneath the tree. “What’s your name?”

“Kesuk,” the boy says. Mako kneels down, the way he’d always seen Korra do when talking with Tenzin’s kids, and rests his arm on his knee, looking the boy straight in the eyes.

“Well, Kesuk,” he says. “Is there something you wanted to ask me?”

Kesuk teeters on his heels, holding the books tight against his chest, clutching it like he just won a prize.

“What happened to your arm?”

Mako leans from at the question, words sparse in his throat.

“I was hurt during the fight with Kuvira,” he says after some thought. The boy’s smile widens.

“I knew it!” he says, throwing a fist in the air. “Are you part of the United Forces? Did you fight a metalbender? Or a mechasuit?”

Mako chuckles at the boy’s many questions.

“I’m just a cop,” he says. “But my friends and I did go toe-to-toe with Kuvira’s giant one.”

Kesuk’s mouth drops to the ground.

“You fought the Colossus?” he exclaims. “That’s amazing!”

“It wasn’t too fun when it was happening…” Mako says under his breath. Kesuk steps out from under the tree.

“Hey, why don’t you come to my place?” he asks. “My mom’s a nurse at the hospital near here – she can fix your arm right up!”

“That’s okay,” Mako says. “I’m here with the airbenders, I have to get going.”

Mako walks away from the boy, but turns back and sees him sagging, the books slack in his hand. He looks around the area, and realizes he hasn’t seen anyone with the boy in the whole time he’s been around.

When he steps in front of him again, Mako bends down, and takes the books from his hand. Kesuk looks at him with confusion, but Mako holds them at his chest.

“Lead the way,” he says.

Kesuk smiles, and wraps his hands around the books.

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.

Kesuk takes him down three blocks and one alleyways before arriving at his home. Swiping a key from beneath a flower pot, the boy opens the door, where a woman rushes to his side, sliding to a stop on her knees as she wraps him in a tight hug.

“Kesuk, where have you been?!” the woman asks, holding his head between her hands. “I was worried sick!”

“I was just down at the park, Mom,” the boy says. “Look! I got two books!”

The woman, lowers the books from her face, looking Kesuk square in the eyes.

“I told you not to go down there with all those people!” she says. “Who knows what could have happened!”

She gives the boy one more hug before standing, her eyes finally landing on the stranger at her door.

“I’m with the police force, ma’am,” Mako says. “My name’s Mako. I wanted to make sure he got home safely.”

“My name’s Anik,” the woman says, extending her hand. “Thank you, Mako.”

After exchanging a brief handshake, Anik crouches and takes the books from Kesuk’s hand before turning back to Mako.

“Keep them,” he says. “We’re happy to put them to good use.”

Anik nods, holding the books to her chest as Mako turns to the door. But just as he steps between the thresholds, Kesuk throws himself from his mother and grabs onto Mako’s wrist.

“Wait! Mom, you gotta fix Mako’s arm!” he says, pulling Mako back inside. “He helped save the city!”

Anik raises her brow in concern, but Mako raises a hand.

“It’s nothing,” he says. “I should get going.”

“No, it’s alright,” she says. “Let me take a look at it, it’s the least I could do after you helped Kesuk home.”

Mako looks at the light casting down on the street, and shuts the door.

.

.

.

Sitting on a chair in the kitchen, Mako unties the bandages from his arm, while Anik washes her hands in the sink. Kesuk retrieves a first aid kit from another part of their home, and places it on the table as his mother bends the water from her hands away. Mako opens the kit for her, and Anik takes out a roll of fresh bandages, some tape and one small vial of spirit water. It wasn’t an uncommon item, since the spirit vines overtook the city the people had found plenty of use for it besides offering tours. It also gave them a fresh source of spirit water, which was gathered by benders to send to use in hospitals and homes alike, due to their healing properties.

Mako pulls his arm from the sling, and props it on the table. Kesuk stands on a chair on the other side of him, his mouth a perfect “O”.

“Whoa….” Kesuk says, looking at Mako’s arm. “Does it hurt?”

“Sometimes,” he replies.

“Let’s take a look…” Anik says, bending the vial of water into a circle. “Let me know if it feel uncomfortable, okay?”

Mako nods, and Anik presses the water to his skin. She moves it down his arm slowly, taking care to wipe away dirt he’d missed after the previous day’s irritation. Even with the healing properties, the water isn’t a miracle solution, but it cools the heat built up within his arm, and the limb feels normal for the first time in weeks.

Anik smiles at him.

“You’re a firebender, aren’t you?” Anik says, bending the water to the underside of his arm. “I can recognize the burns when I see them, kids are always coming into the hospital with them. Trying moves they weren’t ready for, I guess…”

“I was ready for it,” Mako says. “It just got the better of me.” 

“You helped stop that giant machine, right?” she says. “You must be very brave.”

Mako shrugs. “I’ve kind of gotten used to it. You know… job and all…”

“Do you know the Avatar?” Kesuk asks, leaning on a chair.

“I do,” Mako replies. “She’s one of my best friends.”

“I heard she went away again,” Anik says. “Do you know when she’ll be back?”

“She went one a trip to the Spirit World with one of our friends,” he says. “I don’t know when she’ll be back.”

“You must be lucky to know her,” Anik says. “I’ve heard she’s an incredible person.”

Mako smiles. “She is.”

Anik smiles back, and continues to work on his arm for a minute longer. Then, she puts the water back in the vial and corks the top. She wraps his arm in fresh cloth, and ties the knot nice and tight.

“How’s that?” she asks.

“Much better,” Mako says. “Thank you.”

.

.

.

That night, Mako removes the bindings from his arm. It feels better thanks to Anik’s treatment, but his skin is still left with pink-tinge. It would take a few months, even years, until the scarring was matured, but Mako’s just grateful the heat is gone. Whatever comes after is manageable.

He walks along the temple’s edge, finding a clearing by the cliffs of the sea. Water beats on the rock, and it’s there that he lifts his arms into a guarded pose, and strikes with his right hand. A blossom of fire breaks the darkness of the sky, followed by a sharp slice from his leg. But when he pushes the pink-limb forward in an open palm thrust nothing comes out. After a beat, he tries again with two, three, five blows and still nothing is produced from his hand. All he strikes is air.

He tries again for a few times. Throwing his arm out in all directions, waiting for one to finally make something. But there isn’t – not even a spark of fire will come from his hand. Mako stares at his palm. There had to be something wrong with it – these things don’t justhappen.

A low padding noise across the ground draws his attention away. Turning, Mako sees Naga coming toward him. He sits cross-legged in the dirt, and reaches out as the polarbear-dog lays right beside him, turning her large face to rest on his lap. Mako leans back, propping himself up with his right hand as he scratches her behind the ears.

“You’re probably getting lonely out here, aren’t you?” he says and, as if to respond, Naga rolls onto her side, curling her tail toward her snout. Mako can’t help but smile, and he rests his burnt-out hand on the beast’s neck, feeling the rise and fall of the muscles as she breathes in and out.

Again, he looks to the sky.

.

.

.

A week later, Beifong says he can get back to work.

Patrols are nothing new, but with the city only four weeks into recovery, it’s not like he has any fresh cases to work on. The gangs of the city have started taking root in downtown’s ruin, hiding in the decimated buildings. Mako spends most of his patrols in the rubble, scouting sector after sector, making sure no one is sneaking within. No one causes more trouble than they can handle. It’s simple work, boring at times, but he’s glad to be doingsomething.

When night comes, he goes to the cliff again, throwing flames and fire-whips across the water. Most times it just the same as the first night, but sometimes, when he gets the movement just right he swears he can see a spark snap out of his hand. The heat of his chi burns low – it almost doesn’t feel like there’s anything at all. But he knows what he saw, so he does it. Night after night until he falls asleep in the dirt, or Naga’s side.

.

.

.

Team Avatar returns on the same day.

It’s a happy coincidence, and the island is more than ecstatic to see them home. Pema makes a big meal and while Bolin eats a helping of nearly everything at the table, the two spirit-trekking women eat more than that, sorely missing a homemade meal that, to quote Asami, “wasn’t trying to eat them”.

After Bolin is done describing the progress made in Zaofu, Korra goes on and on about the Spirit World, what they saw, who they met. Between talk of giant pink lily pads floating in the sky and how many kinds of tea Iroh made, it all sounds bizarre to Mako, almost like something out of a book. A very strange, wondrous book, but both girls have smiles wider than the whole room, so there’s something to be glad for in that.

When the two of them hold hands beside the table, no one says a word.

.

.

.

With everyone back on the island again he has no way of sneaking out to practice (not if he doesn’t want Naga to lead someone to him, that is) so he goes to the station’s gym after work, firebending at metal dummies from opposite ends of the room.

He keeps to his right side, going at the dummies hard with sweeping kicks and balls of flame that snap when they burst from the ends of his knuckles. Heat builds in his left arm as he bends, but he never tries anything with it – he knows that after more than a week at this, the results will be the same. The metal figures wobble on their spring stands, a glow dimming from them as the flame disperses.

He’s about to kick when he hears someone clear their throat behind him. He lowers his leg smoothly and faces the door, finding Korra leaned against the open frame.

“Hey,” Korra says, waving at his stand-still form as she walks across the room. “What’re you doing here?”

“Just getting some practice done,” he says. “I didn’t feel like going back just yet.”

She steps onto the starting marker beside him and squares off against the metal practice men. Her stance is low, arms locked in place. It reminds him of when she and Bolin practiced earthbending in the Arena after morning drills. That seemed like a lifetime ago – Mako is surprised he even remembers it.

“What about you?” he asks as she throws a fire punch at the target. It’s a direct hit to the chest, filled with power and precision. Korra smiles at the feat, and draws her feet together to face him, hand on hip.

“Well, Bolin’s been on the phone with Opal for the last hour, Asami’s looking over designs for the city’s expansion, and I wanted to talk to you,” she says. “I barely heard a word out of you at dinner the other night. What have you been doing?”

He runs a hand along his neck. “There’s not much to say… I’ve just been getting back to the swing of things. Patrols, handing out supplies in the park, bending….”

Korra brings a finger to her chin in a “hmm”, and narrows her eyes on him. Then, after a moment, she smiles with some bright idea, and turns around to the door.

“Come on,” she calls, and Mako scrambles to grab his coat before she walks out completely. Heading to the station’s exit side-by-side, Mako sweeps it over his shoulders. He pushes the door open above her head, and she doesn’t miss a beat, walking straight to Naga, as if the door opened automatically.

“Where are we going?” he asks, taking her hand as he climbs onto the polarbear-dog’s back.

“Narook’s!” Korra says. “I’ve been craving some Water Tribe food since I got back. Oh, wait – it’s still around, right?”

“Yeah…” Mako says, settling his hands on either side of the saddle. “I think so.”

“Good,” Korra smiles, steering Naga down the street toward the Little Water Tribe neighborhood.

.

.

.

As if he’s the only guy in the city who knows how to make seaweed noodles – Narook’s is packed at the seams. Mako braves the lines for ten minutes while Korra waits with Naga on the street, and returns with two servings of noodles warming the sides of takeout containers. After confirming to another that the noodles were good, they eat in relative silence – Korra throwing food down her throat like no tomorrow, and Mako picking mildly at his, not knowing what to say. He can’t even remember the time they went out to eat like this, but he was sure it was a long time ago.

Then, he thinks he hears his name being called.

“Mako!”

Lowering his noodles, he looks on either side of the street, eyes grazing over the people milling about, trying to find the source of the sound. It’s not a moment later that Kesuk comes barreling between the sides of two men walking down the street, his mother keeping up a small ways behind him.

“Hey, you’re arms better now!” Kesuk says. “Does that mean you’re chasing the bad guys again?”

“Sort of,” Mako shrugs, smiling at the boy’s enthusiasm. Anik finally reaches them, placing a hand on her son’s shoulder as she looks at Mako.

“It’s good to see you again,” she says. Mako nods, and Kesuk takes a questioning look at Korra and Naga, then looks at them in awe.

“Are you the Avatar?” he asks eagerly. “Is that your polarbear dog?”

“Yup, that’s me,” Korra says, and puts a hand on Naga’s sleeping side. “You wanna say ‘hello’?”

While Kesuk runs his hand on the fur, Mako faces back to Anik.

“How’s your arm?” she asks.

“Much better,” he says. “Thanks again for your help.”

“You’re welcome, I’m glad you’re doing better,” Anik replies, tucking some hair behind her head. “Come on, Kesuk, we’re holding them up.”

“Aww…” Kesuk moans, and Korra laughs and waves them goodbye. Mako tosses the noodle containers in the trash as Korra saddles back on Naga, giving him her hand as he approaches.

“Friends of yours?” she asks.

“In a way,” he replies. “I met Kesuk while handing out books in the park.”

Korra looks at him with a frown. “They weren’t displaced during the attack, were they?”

“No, they live around here,” Mako says. “I helped him home and his mother healed my arm. She works at the hospital nearby.”

Korra is silent for a moment, and Mako leans forward, trying to see her face.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” she says, brightening up. “There’s just something I wanna do first before heading back, okay?”

Mako nods, leaning back in the saddle, while Korra whisks them down the streets.

.

.

.

The park is emptier now that the city is converting more places into shelters and supply deposits. Naga passes chunk of debris swept to the sides of the brick-laid path, and Mako can barely hear a sound between them. Korra hops off once they get to the fountain, and Naga bends down to the water, lapping it up with her long tongue. Mako slides off a moment later, and sits the fountains edge, looking at a group of people resting – or sleeping – beneath the trees. He knows Korra is watching them too, but neither of them say a word to each other until Korra steps in front of the fountain and holds her hand to him.

“Let me see your arm.”

Mako is taken aback for a moment, and he glances at her, holding her gaze for a brief second, and extends his arm with a sigh.

“I told you; it’s all better now,” he says as she sits with the arm cupped above her hand. “I’ve had enough healers look at—”

He inhales quickly as Korra quickly bends water deep into his arm. It feels sharp – like needles are moving under his skin, but she grip on his wrist can’t make him budge an inch.

“Sometimes, firebenders can misalign their chi-paths from bending too much lightning,” she explains. “That’s why you haven’t been able to firebend with your left arm as well.”

“When did you—”

“Back at the gym,” she says. “I noticed you weren’t using your left side as much.”

Mako sighs. Korra continues to do her work, her expression is very concentrated. She draws the water from his elbow, up his arm and through his finger, her hand hover just above his skin. After a moment, she releases him.

“Try it again,” she says.

Mako stares at her, then stands and extends his hand in a punch full of bright flames. He stumbles back, hardly believing what just happened. Looking at his hand, he opens his palm to make a small flame. The heat flows evenly now that the paths have been realigned. It feels normal – it feels good.

“I don’t know what to say…” he says, facing her. “Thank you.”

Korra smiles, but it fades as he sits back on the fountain. He doesn’t understand.

“What’s wrong?”

“The city,” she shrugs. “You. Me… It’s been weeks since this all got over, but everything’s still trying to recover and I didn’t even think about what would happen once I left. I guess I just figured things would be back to normal by the time I came back… or better…”

“You did what you felt was right at the time,” Mako says. “Besides, things aren’t going to bounce back right away – there’s plenty of work to do, and now you’re here to help get it done.”

Korra looks at the trees behind him. “I guess…”

Mako rests his palms into the fountain, unsure of what else to say. He’s never been very good at this kind of thing – he’d need a pen, paper and a whole load of time before he could come up with the right words. He doesn’t want to look at Korra, or the trees lined with people or the chunks of building at their feet. Instead, he looks up at the golden gray sky and the pillar shining miles above their heads.

And he still doesn’t know exactly what to say, but it doesn’t really matter.

:Fin:

Thanks for reading! :)

Asami opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, her wife did. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Korra smiled a sickeningly sweet smile in the direction of the matron. Her forehead was slick with sweat and her dark skin looked pale, even against the white sheets of the hospital bed. “Were my contractions bothering you?”

“Yes, in fact, they were.” The healer said in the exact same tone. “Given that you shouldn’t even be having contractions at this point, because we could have dilated you an hour ago!”

“I told you, lady-” Korra began to sat up, despite the fact that- uh- no, bad idea. Asami pushed her back down as she struggled to yell in the matron’s face. “This birth’s not happening until Mako and Bolin get here!”

“And I told you that all you’re doing is causing yourself needless pain and an unnecessary amount of noise! And would you please stop moving? Tui and La, you’re in labor! Settle down!”

As this same exchange had been happening since Korra announced that she wouldn’t be giving birth until her friends were there, Asami didn’t even bother interfering. She picked up the book she had been reading for the past few hours and went back to it, ignoring the two women shouting at each other next to her. It was almost impressive. Neither of them seemed to feel the need to breathe.

There was a crash down the hall. A familiar wheezing interposed by heavy, frantic footfalls caught Asami’s attention. Bolin, face red and chest heaving, slid into the doorframe, crying, “Pleeeeease tell me the baby hasn’t been born yet.”

Neither Korra nor the matron noticed. Asami shot him a small smile. “You’re late.”

“I know, I know, Mako got a call while we were driving over and he was like ‘I have to take it, Bolin’ and I was like‘uh, but, baby?’ and he was like ‘it is my heroic duty to stop this robbery’ so we took a pit stop and it took solong.” Bolin was still flushed and panting. He finally seemed to realize that there was no baby around, just two women yelling. “I’m guessing this means we didn’t miss anything?”

“Bolin, what were you thinking, running in a hospital?” Mako appeared, grabbing Bolin’s arm tightly. He looked ruffled. “You ran into a healer’s cart- I had to promise to pay for whatever you broke.”

Bolin winced at the grip on his bicep. “Aw, I’ll pay you back! But, hey, look! We made it in time!”

Mako turned away from his brother, smiled and nodded a greeting at Asami, and turned his inquisitive gaze to Korra and the old healer. Asami sighed. “They’ve been at it like this for the past fifteen minutes.”

“Korra…?” Mako called. Korra paused in the middle of telling the matron that she’d “rather meet Koh the Face Stealer than see you ever again” because “at least without a face I wouldn’t have to stare at your ugly one“ and looked to the door. Her face lit up.

“Mako, Bolin!” She laughed, her throat raw from yelling. “You’re here!”

“Yeah we are!” Bolin strolled in and tossed an arm around her shoulder. “And you’re still pregnant.”

“Told you I’d wait.”

Mako blanched. “She wait- of course she waited.” Asami shared a long-suffering look with him before nodding at the matron.

“Please dilate her. Now.”

The birth was a quick affair, given that it could have been done a while ago. Only Korra could decide when her baby was born. Asami was hit with fond, loving exasperation as she watched her wife banter with the healer through painful contractions. Only Korra.

Of course, Korra did not exactly share Asami’s fondness at the moment. She held Asami and Mako’s hands, gripping them with terrifying force. She grunted and groaned in pain, and managed to hiss in between attempts to break Asami’s bones, “You’re having the stupid baby next time.”

Feeling her phalanges pop, Asami decided that it was best to agree.

The baby came into the world fists shaking and screaming. The midwife ran a few checks and announced that she was a girl, and a very healthy one. She handed the swaddled baby to Asami with something like relief. As she left, Asami heard her grumbling, “Maybe now she’ll shut up.”

Asami turned her attention to her daughter, who was still sniffling unhappily. She had a skin-tone leaning towards her mother’s dark shade, chubby cheeks that stretched and flattened with every cry, little tufts of hair that fell flat against her forehead and- oh. Oh, she was beautiful.

Through her own tears, she could see her daughter open her eyes. They were a warm blue, like an ocean streaked in the colors of a sunset.

“You gonna let me see my kid,” Korra’s voice was tired and amused and so, so soft. “Or did I do all that hard work for nothing?”

Asami grinned and Bolin, who was a sobbing mess, shifted out of the way to let her pass. She sat on the edge of the bed and handed Korra their child, watched her look over her familiar features, look over the ones that weren’t so familiar, trace the outline of her nose with the pad of her fingers, and suddenly turn away. Her eyes glistened suspiciously as she said, “I guess we can keep her,” and they all shared a laugh.

Mako sat on the edge of the bed and smiled down at the baby, who was now more interested in examining her surroundings than crying. She blinked up at all of them, not yet understanding that they were her family, but she would soon. They knew she would.

“What’s her name?” He asked, hand on Korra’s shoulder.

Korra slumped against the touch. “Her name’s Kota.” She looked down at the baby. “How’s that sound, kiddo?”

Kota smacked her lips in response. Asami thought she might’ve been saying “hello.”

Anyway Tenzin suggested I write to you.  Specifically because of Harmonic Convergence and how alone you might feel as the Avatar.  I know I did at times but I also had people there for me who encouraged me.

So let’s start.  Hopefully you are reading this when you’re sixteen and not any younger.  The White Lotus and I discussed when to tell you (they will tell you the discussion was me yelling at them…which is true) and decided to go back to the traditional sixteen.  Both Aang and I were told earlier and that didn’t work out too well for either of us (he froze himself in ice for a hundred years and I grew up in a compound because the Red Lotus knew who I was and wanted to kill me).  I’m also going to hope you weren’t as obviously the Avatar as I was.  It’s pretty obvious when your waterbending daughter all of a sudden causes an earthquake and then screams fire.

Back on track.  Congratulations you’re the Avatar!  Or maybe not so much congratulations as “now you get to learn how to bend fire, then air, then water!”  Maybe you’ll have an easier time with air than I did.  Actually let me mention that: you’re going to have a hard time with one particular element.  It’s going to be the opposite of your personality, not so much the opposite of your bending.  It’s going to be frustrating and most likely your bending teacher will be patient (if it’s air I suggest getting Jinora to teach you, she’s really good at being patient and explaining airbending techniques).  You might feel like a failure because you can’t do this one different kind of bending.  You’re not.  It’s hard and it feels unnatural at first.  Once you get used to it, however, it will come as naturally as your native earthbending.

Make a close group of friends.  They’ll be there when you need then and you can be there for them.  Make sure they know you’re you and not just the all powerful Avatar.  They’re going to help you through whatever the world can throw your way and have your back.  You’ll also have theirs.  Open up to them, share with them.  They might even have some insights on how to deal with whatever you’re dealing with (they might not).  Maybe they’ll come with you on adventures so you won’t be alone all the time.  But if you have to travel alone do it.  Don’t be afraid.

Don’t worry about contracting me.  I worried about trying to get in contact with Aang for the longest time.  When I finally did he helped but there was only so much he could teach me.  In fact I learned more from Wan and Raava than I did from him.  So don’t worry about me, try to connect with Raava, the spirit of light and peace.  Know she’s always with you, a part of you.  I hope she’s as comforting to you as she is to me.

Most of all being the Avatar isn’t going to change who you are.  I had to learn that I’m Korra and the Avatar.  So don’t feel like all of a sudden you need to know everything about how the world works or how to be a perfect person.  I’m not.  I made mistakes and I’ll probably make a few more after writing this letter.  

I guess you might want more advice but this is the only other thing I can think of: remember to be you.  Don’t try to be someone you think other people will want.  Make them deal with you.

We might talk soon,

Korra, the Avatar before you

P.S.  Oh and don’t piss off spirits.

  The earthbender folded the letter and stuffed it into his pocket.  He’d ignored the letter since he got it a week ago on his birthday.  In fact he’d ignored pretty much everything since then and refused to believe he was the Avatar.  He’d had way too many issues with earthbending, how was he going to bend the other elements?  His mother always said he was too wishy washy for earthbending.  

  Now, however, he did feel better.  He could at least try.  He walked over to the house the White Lotus members rented (they let him have all the time he needed before offering training).

  Before the old man could say a word after opening the door he said “I think I’m ready to try earthbending again.”

"I spoke to President Raiko. Tomorrow, he’s announcing a plan to expand the city, rather than rebuild downtown." Tenzin joined her, his gaze lingering across the water and over the ruined city.

Korra looked at the airbending master, “I bet Aang never could have imagined there’d be a spirit portal right in the heart of Republic City.”

"Korra," he smiled warmly at her, "you have transformed the world more in a few years than most Avatars did during their lifetimes. And you did it by blazing your own trail," he looked again at the spirit portal. "This is all because of your strength,” he emphasized.

She smiled broadly, “And I’ve only just begun.”

She thought about all she had accomplished over such a short span. She had mastered all four elements and connected spiritually. She defeated and exposed Amon. She survived and thrived after losing connection to her past lives. She saved the world from the potential devastation of Harmonic Convergence. She saved the Air Nomads. She gave the people of the Earth Kingdom (or whatever the people would choose to call themselves collectively) a new chance to be heard.

"There’s so much more I want to learn and do," she leaned back contentedly, "and I can’t wait to see what’s next."

"You don’t know how happy I am to hear you so full of hope again."

"It’s been a bit of a bumpy ride, huh?" She laughed.

Tenzin nodded, “I’ve come to realize life is one big, bumpy ride.”

Korra took a deep breath. “I was in a pretty dark place after I was poisoned. But I think I understand now…”

The airbending master raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

"The past is something that happened. Suffering for those three years didn’t make me any better of a person…it just changed me. Everything I ever needed to succeed was inside of me the whole time. Everything that happened…I wish it didn’t. But that won’t change and I didn’t deserve any of the pain. All I can do is find balance within myself to accept that it did, and move forward."

Tenzin placed his hand on her shoulder. “Korra, you are an amazing Avatar. But more importantly, you are an incredible person.”

"Well, I am the Avatar,” she smirked and put her hand on his. “But I’m a lot more than that.”

"Excuse me Tenzin, Varrick is looking for you." Asami spoke up hesitantly. "Something about wanting to borrow a glidersuit to fly off the tower?"

Korra turned around as Tenzin’s hand slid off her shoulder. Mako, Bolin, and Asami stood together practically shoulder to shoulder.

"That doesn’t seem like a good idea!" Tenzin ran off frantically.

"You wanna sit with me for a minute?" Korra looked over the faces of her friends.

The three smiled as they joined Korra on the steps, Mako and Bolin on each side of Korra and Asami just to Bolin’s side. They sat for a few moments in silence bathed in the spirit portal glow. There was just something familiar and comforting of the four of them being together again as one crew, one team, one set of friends. Korra missed this. The camaraderie, the laughter; there had been so much missing in her life the past three years.

"Kind of feels like an end of an era…" Mako broke the silence.

"Nah," Korra shrugged. "More like a chapter close."

"A new beginning?" Asami asked.

"Exactly," Korra nodded.

They were all getting a fresh start. Varrick and Zhu-Li had a chance to start a life together. Republic City was going to be rebuilt into something new, mixed with the flavors of old and a healthy respect for what was. As the dust slowly settled in the aftermath of the conflict, the picture that had begun to emerge looked bright. The future belonged to those who acted today.

"I think your statue got destroyed in all of this," Asami pointed across the water.

Bolin bumped Korra’s playfully with his. “Forget having a statue. You’ve got an entire spirit portal!”

The whole group laughed.

"I missed you Bolin," Korra dropped her head on to the earthbender’s shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," he patted her on the back. "I missed me too."

Mako and Asami rolled their eyes, and the group fell into a comfortable silence yet again.

They sat shoulder to shoulder. This was the way it was supposed to be. The four of them as Team Avatar, ready to face whatever came to them next. There was an unwavering confidence that Korra now had that she could face and defeat any challenge that could come her way.

"What next?" Mako looked over at Korra. "For the future, I mean. I know I need some time to heal," he looked down at his arm still immobilized in a sling. "Tenzin suggested I might want to go to the South Pole and have Katara work on my hand."

Korra squeezed his good hand in his and gazed at him reassuringly. After everything that had happened, she still wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about Mako. Even if she did, it hardly felt like the time to jump into anything new. But that was something that she could decide with time.

"Well, I’m not going to miss the cleanup of the city," Bolin leaned back. "And Opal…yeah there’s a lot of stuff to work on."

Asami leaned forward so she could look at the three on her right. “I-I…I really need some time. Everything happened so fast I don’t really know how to feel…”

The trio nodded in understanding, and Bolin threw his arm around her in a one-armed hug.

"What about you, Korra?" Mako spoke up.

All eyes were on her.

"Well, first…I think the spirits deserve to know that President Raiko is going to respect the new downtown," a smile crept up on Korra’s lips. "You know, they’ve been waiting too." She stood slowly. "I think they should know as soon as possible."

"We trust your judgment," Asami leaned into Bolin, his arm still around her in a friendly hug.

"I won’t be long," she assured them. "There’s a lot of work to be done and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Now if you’ll excuse me," she threw them one more glance over her shoulder before walking out towards the bay.

She needed no one else to complete pieces of her that were missing; her friends were there for her to lean on if she needed or wanted it. There was no weakness in seeking help of course, but with the power that she wielded effortlessly there was no arrogance in standing alone. She really was whole.

As Korra’s silhouette bathed in green grew smaller and smaller, it was impossible to ignore that there was lightness in her step that hadn’t been there in a long time. She had the gait of the Korra who had just passed her firebending test and was eager to take the world on head on and at her pace. There was the confidence in her posture that only the girl who on her first trip to Republic City beat up a trio of Triads could wield.

Eventually she reached the edge of the island. Unflinchingly, she bent the water around her and disappeared into Yue Bay and into the darkness. They knew if they watched long enough she would emerge again, a shadow in the light of the spirit portal.

"Whoa," Bolin grinned in sheer awe of it all. "She’s a real hero."

"No…" Mako shook his head.

A familiar smile graced his lips. It was the same that had appeared moments ago at the wedding, and years ago at the reunion at the oasis and when Korra hugged him goodbye before heading to fight Zaheer. Even further in the past, it was the same look that he was moved to on the cliffs of the South Pole when Korra unlocked her bending. There was meaning in this expression that stretched beyond words; to put it in such a verbal way would be a grand disservice to the depth of his feeling. There were something one could only express through action, like promising to follow her into battle and back.

"She’s not a hero," Mako stood up slowly and placed a hand on Naga, waiting to catch sight of Korra again. "She’s a legend."

.

.

“Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.” – Babe Ruth

.

.

Thank you Korra. Thank you Be the Peaf. It has been a pleasure.

.

.

Sha-Yu glances over his shoulder as Chin, his second mate, crouches beneath the high-hanging curtain and stops at his side. He was leaned over, pressing his palms into his thighs as he collects his breath. Sha-Yu shifts in his stool with one arm laying across the counter and lets out a mental sigh at the sight.

Guess I shouldn’t blame him, he thinks, Sailors make for terrible runners…

“What do you want, Chin?” he asks, slamming his hand on the wood. “Can’t you see I’m trying to eat something that doesn’t smell like fish?”

“I came to tell you something,” Chin says, still out of breath. “Shu’s gathering up the crew to go around town.”

“What for?”

“A few of the traders next to us said a waterbender’s been spotted around here,” he says. “Both sides are offering a big reward for whoever finds them first.”

Sha-Yu cups his face in his hand.

“Chin, you fool, no one’s seen a waterbender in forty years! Why would one pop up now all of the sudden?”

“The Earth Kingdom thinks it’s the Avatar,” Chin says. “Finally come to end the war.”

“Well then I’m mistaken - you’re not a fool, you’re a damned half-wit,” Sha-Yu says. “The Avatar’s been gone for nearly a century now. They’re just an old legend, practically a myth at this point.”

Sha-Yu turns back as the cook puts a bowl of hot noodles on the counter. Digging a few coins from his pocket, he hand them to the cook, who throws a towel over his shoulder, and walks into the back of the shop. Chin leans into the stand as Sha-Yu blows steam through the air.

“But what if it’s true? What if they’re really alive?” Chin says in a low voice. “I heard another thing from Su: the Fire Nation’s gonna bring in more men from Omashuto tighten borders around this place. Should be here with in three days. Shu’s thinking we get our men, search every nook and cranny of this place tonight till we find ‘em, get back on the water and give the prize to the highest bidder. We’ll be rich men for the rest of our days!”

“You and every other cross-eyed bloke in this town,” Sha-Yu says. “You saw those patrols at the docks, this place is already crawling with soldiers as it is! We can’t stay here for any longer than we need - you’d best leave just it, if you know what’s good for you….”

Beside the stall where the two sailor’s speak stands a young man, waiting for the shopkeeper to retrieve his supplies from the store next-door. He listens to their conversation with little investment; not caring for the wishful hopes to achieve wealth through the rumors of a people who have not set foot from their iceberg homes in half a century, or the legend of a being that is nothing more than a children’s tale. His interest does perk when the first man mentions increasing patrols and troops along the south roads. He and his brother were planning on taking the coastal route to the Earth Kingdom’s capital, but if they were going to run into the Fire Nation’s armies, then he knew they would need to change their plan.

As the second sailor ducks beneath the noren to leave, the shopkeeper arrives, holding a bundle filled with all the supplies for the man. Smoked meat, canteens, blankets, spark rocks - everything one could need to go on a long journey. He pays the man with copper coins heated with sweat, and lugs the pack over his shoulder, turning to the way opposite of the docks. His brother had the other half of their finances, and was set to acquire their means of travel along their now-forsaken path.

He needed to find him - before it was too late.

.

.

.

With luck Mako spots him outside the ostrich-horse stable, chatting up their owner in some attempt to swindle the price from the usual ten silver pieces to eight. Bolin always had a way with words – if you gave him enough time, and on any other day he’d stand back and watch him work, but as soon as the man walks up to his brother (“Hey, Mako, I fou—”) he drags him away by the collar of his shirt. Hiding themselves in the shadows of the trees beside the town, Mako leans into his brother’s face and speaks to him in a low, hushed voice.

“Change of plans, Bolin,” he says. “We’ll get to Ba Sing Se through the east forest.”

“The forest?” Bolin repeats in shock, taking a few steps back. “That’s crawling with bandits and freedom fighters! What happened to taking the safe way around?”

“It’s not safe anymore; Fire Nation’s moving up the coast,” Mako says. “It won’t be a good idea to travel with all those soldier crawling around.”

“What are we going to do about a ride?” Bolin asks, pointing to the stables behind. “All the riders and cart drivers here are heading south.”

Mako sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looks behind Bolin, where the man he’d been talking to was making his way to the inn beside the stables. A loud uproar came from inside as he opened the door, the main room undoubtedly filled with soldiers and traders alike, all of whom were done with their day’s duties. They would drink and eat and have a rousing time until dawn – which meant the stables would be unattended and empty for at least a few more hours.

Mako lowers his hand to his chin, an idea forming in his head.

A dangerous one, he thinks, but we don’t have much of a choice…

“We’ll have to take the ostrich-horses ourselves if we want to have a chance on the road.”

“Whoa, wait,” Bolin says, raising his hands. “’Take’ as in steal?”

“Look at the saddles,” Mako says, holding a hand toward the stables. “Most of those mounts are from farmers all along the villages we passed, and most of the people in there are soldiers. Fire Nation soldiers. How do you think they got them?”

Bolin turns and studies the saddles intently for a few moments. Then, with a soft sigh, he heaves his shoulders, glancing at his brother.

“I dunno, Mako,” he says. “It seems kind of risky…”

“We’ll be taking a bigger risk if we try to get through the Great Divide and the rebel’s woods without them,” Mako steps in front of Bolin with both hands on his shoulders. “This is our only way.”

Bolin stares at the ground.

“Alright,” he says, lifting his head. “How are we gonna do this?”

“It’ll be easy,” Mako says. “All we have to do is sneak to the stables without anyone from the inn seeing us, and lead two of them away.”

“Oh, okay,” Bolin says, leaning to the side to look behind Mako.

He points. “You mean kind of like that guy?”

Mako draws his brow together, and turns around to the stables to see cloaked figure crouching beside the pens. Hidden from the view of the inn, they take a knife from their side and cuts the gate’s rope that was keeping the ostrich-horses in. The animal squawk as the figure opens the gate, taking the reins of the nearest one. Then, after pulling the front of their hood down, they climb on it and slap the feathered animal across its back, fleeing on the road right beside Mako and Bolin–

– with the rest of them following close behind.

The door to the inn opens moments later.

“Hey! What’s going on out here?!”

“Quick!” Mako shouts, running to the stampede. “Grab hold of one!”

Men from the inn come pouring out, shouting at the boys or the ostrich-horses (they can’t really tell) as they speed at the group. Bolin grabs one of the reigns, pulling the frenzied animal to a stop. Mako jumps onto it, and hoists Bolin on his stomach across its backside. Some of the men take hold of the other reigns, while others run at the boys, looking to grab them. Mako doesn’t want to stick around for them, and with a kick to the ostrich-horse’s sides they speed into the forest.

Bolin takes hold of Mako’s shoulder as they pass under the dark branches and pulls himself right-side up with a heavy sigh.

“Well…” he says. “That could’ve gone better.”

Fire flies past them, the flames so close Mako can smell the aftermath as they fade into the wind. The animal cries, swerving to the side but he pulls it back on the path as Bolin’s hands dig into his shoulders.

“Looks like I spoke too soon!”

Mako looks behind to see three soldiers riding at them.

“Bolin!” he shouts.

“Yeah, on it!”

Bolin turns around so his back is against his, securing his legs around the ostrich-horse. The rider’s fire flies at them, but no matter how much it scares their bird to run, the other’s run faster. Bolin waits as they get closer and closer, then with a sharp movement, he bends the path in front of him, lifting the earth to an uneven, jagged heap. The riders, having nowhere to go on the upheaved road, pull back on their reigns, shouting into the night as the brother’s escape.

“Nice!” Mako says, looking at the mess behind them. “Good job, lil bro!”

“Well, you know,” Bolin turns around. “I do what I do…”

.

.

.

They keep to the path as dawn spreads into the sky. It’s been a hard ride, and Mako’s body is aching from being tossed around on the ostrich-horses back. He licks his lips, and finds them dried – his mouth parched of thirst. Reaching into his pack, he finds the canteen’s he bought earlier that night, only to find them empty. He sighs and puts it back, pulling the reigns to their right. He’d studied the map for ages as they plotted their course to Ba Sing Se. He knows there should be a river around here - they’d be able to fill up on water there, and maybe even make camp for the night.

They find it minutes later, the water rushing fast and clear. The brother’s dismount, and Bolin sighs as Mako removes his pack, sitting in the dirt at the animal’s feet. Mako pulls the canteens from the pack and goes to the water’s edge, sinking his hand into the cold bank, filling them one at a time.

Bolin slides to the bag Mako dropped and begins to rummage through it. Pushing the blankets and spark rocks around, he pulls out one of the bundles of smoked meat and sniffs it, trying to see if he can guess what kind of meat it was…

Then, he drops it.

“Hey, Mako…” he whispers. “Look over there.”

Mako turns to see the silhouette of a lone ostrich-horse standing fifty feet away from them at the river’s edge. The brother’s look at each other for a long moment, and then Bolin gets up without a word, sneaking over to the animal. Two rides for two brothers – the night was looking better by the minute.

But when he’s a few feet from it, Bolin sinks into the earth.

“What the–” Bolin gasps, wriggling in a mess of sand and soil. “I can’t get out!”

Mako throws the canteens away and runs toward him, but a mound of earth lifts from under his feet and knocks him down. He recovers easily, facing the treeline of the forest when a cloak flies at his face. He knocks it aside with his arm, but their assailant is right in his face. Without a moon in the sky he can’t see them clearly, they’re all shadow and limbs moving at him, so Mako throws some fire punches to make them back away, pushing them toward the river.

“You got ‘em on the ropes now!” Bolin cheers, getting his arms free from the dirt.

Mako holds a fire dagger in his hand and approaches the figure slowly. He had no doubt in his mind this was the same thief who had stolen their ostrich-horses early, and caused them so much trouble on the road. They must’ve thought he and Bolin were from the same group at the inn, looking to track them down and take back what was theirs.

“Easy…” he says. “We don’t want any trouble…”

The thief stands in a closed stance, arms drawn in toward their chest. Mako edges toward them, getting himself between the thief and Bolin as his brother continues to free himself from the dirt. He stares at the thief for a long moment, the flames heating the side of his arm. Then the thief stands straight up, arms slacked to their side, but not in a hostile way. Mako looks a moment longer, and then turns back over his shoulder at Bolin.

“Bolin, you–”

The words are lost as Mako is hit with a hard burst of water, sending him tumbling backwards. He barely has time to look up as the thief runs at him, and Mako can see the glint of the knife in the air. But they’re already on him, there’s nowhere to–

–the earth at Mako’s feet rips open, sending chunks of rock right into the thief’s chest. They fly back to the edge of the river, and the knife clatters some distance away. Mako breathes for a moment as he sits in the sand, staring at their motionless body. Thinking of what could’ve happened…

“Mako!” Bolin shouts, sliding on his knees to his brother’s side. “You okay?!”

“Y-yeah, Bo…” Mako says. “I’m fine.”

Bolin sighs and sits back in the sand. He follows Mako’s eyes to the thief, and slowly makes a connection…

“They’re a waterbender….” he says. “And a earthbender….”

“You don’t know that,” Mako says. “They could have just made that trap. Or they could have friends hiding somewhere…”

Mako gets to his feet and gathers the reigns of the thief’s stolen ostrich-horse. He turns to give it to Bolin, but finds his brother crouched over the thief with an intense stare on his face.

“Bolin,” he says, stopping beside him. “We have to go.”

“They could be real deal,” Bolin says. “They could be–”

“It’s not worth it.”

Bolin gets to his feet.

“Not worth what, Mako?” he asks. “Mom and Dad died making sure we could get away from the Fire Nation, the least we could do is try to make sure no one else gets hurt because of them! If they find her, who knows what they’ll do!”

Mako sighs, and looks at the thief. They were undoubtedly the waterbender he’d heard the two men speak of in town, but if she was anything else, he couldn’t know for sure. Avatar were supposed to be old men withered with age and dressed in long robes, brimming with stories and adventures to tell young children in the night. They aren’t supposed to be dangerous women who sneak beneath the city’s darkness with knives and tricks at their side. They weren’t supposed to be his age, dressed in clothes made from skins and furs. They weren’t even supposed to exist.

Mako takes a long look, perhaps longer than he should with dawn breaking and who-knows how many soldiers searching for them. But then he stops and blinks, and takes a rope from the ostrich-horse’s saddle. He crouches next to the thief, and ties it tightly around her.

Whatever they were doing, they had to be careful.

“We might need your bending on the road,” he says. “I’ll carry her.”

  “Sorry,” Bolin wheezed, “but it’s not like you’re going to get a date otherwise.”  He elbowed Mako in the stomach and began to crawl away.

  “Take it back!”  Mako yelled as he grabbed Bolin’s foot.  The rolled around on the floor for a little while more, landing a few good hits in the process.

  Finally they both sprawled out on the floor.  “It’s not like you’re going to win,” Bolin said.

  “Sure, sure,” Mako replied.

  ~*~*~

  Mako’s phone lit up with an unknown number.  He wasn’t supposed to answer his phone while on the clock but he had a break due anyway.  He hurried into the corridor before answering.  “Hello?”  He asked tentatively.

  “Are you Mako?”  An overly cheery woman asked.

  “Yes, who’s calling?”

  “My name is Ginger and I’m Avatar Korra’s publicist-”

  “Why are you calling me?”

  “To congratulate you of course!  You’re going on a date with Avatar Korra!”

  “Fuck!”  Mako screamed.

  “You better have a good explanation for that kind of language,” Lin said as she walked past him.

  “Sorry Chief,” he mumbled before returning to his phone conversation.  “Look I don’t want to go on a date with this girl, get someone else to do it.”

  “Sorry, no can do,” Ginger said.  “We just announced it on Facebook and Twitter.”

  “Well unannounce it!”

  The woman huffed.  “Look it’s one measly date.  It’s not going to kill you to have some fun.  Besides you only have to give the idea and then we plan everything and you two do a few photo ops and maybe a few quotes and bam we’re done.  You don’t even have to really talk to her if you don’t want to.”

  “Promise?”  Mako asked.

  “Geez you really don’t want this, do you?”

  “Promise?”  Mako said again.

  “Yeah yeah promise.  Date idea?”

  “The boardwalk in Republic City.”  He figured it had enough places for photo ops while also being a great place to waste a few hours.  Not to mention he could play endless games and not actually have to talk to her.

  “Excellent choice.  We’ll scope it out and make sure everything is set for the date.  We’ll be in contact with the time.”

  “Yeah, sure fine.  This isn’t going to be a big deal, is it?”  

  She laughed.  “Oh you’re precious.” And then she hung up.  Mako stared at his phone and cursed under his breath.  

  “I’m going to make Bolin do this for me,” he muttered before heading back into the bullpen.  

  A few minutes later his phone buzzed.  He looked down and saw a text from Bolin.  

  “Bro you won!  You’re picture is everywhere!”  Attached was a screencap of the tweet announcing the winner and a picture of him.  A picture he knew Bolin posted on his Facebook from his last birthday party.

  He had a red mark on his forehead for about an hour after hitting his head on his desk.

  ~*~*~

  Ginger called him back to tell him everything checked out and the date was going to be in three weeks and on a Wednesday.  Apparently something about the place being less crowded that day.  The week before an appropriate outfit was sent over for him.  He didn’t mind the red button up shirt but the black jeans were a little much.

  “Aren’t you going to do anything with your hair?”  Bolin asked as Mako waited for the car to come pick him up.  

  “No,” he said.  “Should I?”

  “Well it all depends on what you’re going for.  Your hair currently says ‘I don’t care but I actually spent a long time getting my hair perfect’ but it we do a little work you can get it to ‘I really don’t care and you wouldn’t guess I spent hours on it.’”

  “That sounds like the most useless thing ever and I showered after work and you know this is just what happens.”

  “Please let me do something with it Mako!” Bolin begged.  “Please you’re already going on the date I want to go on and you know nothing about her!”

  “No and what is there to know?  She’s famous for being the reincarnation of the Avatar.”

  “She’s also an amazing bender!  Plus her tweets are super cool and her instagram pics are amazing!”

  “You don’t know anything about her!  For all you know she’s super boring!”

  Bolin eyed his brother.  “Fine prove me wrong.”

  “What?”

  “Go on the date and if she’s as boring as you think she is I will clean the apartment for a month.  If you end up liking her then, uh…”

  “Then I what?”

  “You…have to let me style your hair for a month.”

  “Deal and I can’t wait to not clean.”

  “I’ll be out buying hair products while you’re gone.”

  The doorbell rang just in time and Mako headed out for his probably boring date.

  ~*~*~

  His cheeks hurt from smiling.  “Is this the last one?”  He asked through clenched teeth.

  “Spirits I hope you,” Korra said as she shifted slightly closer to him for their promotional pictures.  Since meeting the Avatar he’d been whisked all over the boardwalk to take pictures with her.  They’d posed with cotton candy, by a game, in the roller coaster (they didn’t actually get to ride it), and finally in front of the water.

  “Just one more, the lighting is doing amazing things,” Ginger called.  “Korra rest your head on his shoulder and look happy.”

  “I would be much happier if you’d just leave me alone,” she muttered.

  “And that’s it!  Now you two have about two hours to go around and do whatever it is you want.  Mako I expect you to give a few interesting quotes about the date and then we’ll run a story a story on it.  Korra I expect you to be at the gate on time.”

  “Of course, Nanny,” Korra said sweetly with a little wave.  Ginger rolled her eyes and walked away with the photographer.  “I’m sorry for all that.”

  “I kind of figured that would happen,” Mako said.

  She chuckled.  “Yeah and look, this is all kind of weird for me.  You’re probably some super fan who is expecting someone completely different but-”

  “I’m not.”

  “Uh, come again?”

  “My brother entered me.  He’s the one who entered me and I’m not even sure how I passed the background check-”

  “You’re a cop who was orphaned.  You had some misdemeanor as a kid but that’s entirely sealed.  Nothing else about you turned up anything and Chief Beifong personally vouched for you.”  He raised an eyebrow.  “I got your whole backstory because I was kind of worried I’d have nothing to talk about.”

  “And here I know nothing about you.”

  “Ok fine.”  She held out her hand.  “I’m Korra, the Avatar.  I was raised in a compound where I studied bending everyday and was homeschooled.  About two years ago I discovered the Internet and for some reason people wanted to know what I was doing.  So my parents hired a PR person and I became a kind of celebrity.”

  Mako looked at her hand.  She wiggled her fingers at him.  “Fine,” he took her hand and shook it.  “I’m Mako, a junior detective.  My parents died when I was a kid and my brother and I did some things that I’m not too proud of to survive until we found a home with Toza who taught us bending.  We formed the Fire Ferrets and-”

  “Wait, wait, that was you?!”

  “Uh, yeah? Wasn’t that in my history that you got?”

  “No!  I knew all your stats!  You were my favorite player!  Your single handed win against the Golden Temple Tigerdillos was the best match I ever saw!”

  “That’s…rather impressive.”  

  She blushed.  “Yeah I kind of got really into it for awhile.  Shame the players strike shut things down for so long.”

  He huffed.  “That was the stupidest thing ever and all Tahno’s fault!  He was going to benefit from it, raising the stupid cap on how much money they can get from sponsors.  Which just meant teams with twice as many sponsors could get twice as much money.”

  “Very opinionated on this, are we?”  She teased.

  “Kind of.  So you liked probending?”

  “Yup.”  They started walking down the boardwalk.  “What do you want to do?”

  “I was kind of thinking we could go do our own thing for the next few hours.”

  She stopped.  “You really don’t want to do this, do you?”

  “It’s just stupid and I-”

  “Do you have a girlfriend?”

  “What?  No.”

  “Someone you like?”

  “…no.”

  “Then what’s your problem?  You’re on a date with an admittedly hot girl and all you want to do is leave.  Come on, let’s get something to eat, I’m thinking meat on a stick, and then we’re going to ride the stupid roller coaster at least five times and then we’re going to see how can win the best carnival prize.”

  “I’ll get sick going on the roller coaster after eating.”

  “Counter or I’m getting you a vomit bag.”

  “Fine.  Counter: we get food then try to win prizes then roller coaster and then we get ice cream and eat it while riding the sky ride.”

  “Oooohhh ice cream.  I think I’ll have to take you up on that.  Now come on let’s get some food!”  She grabbed his hand and dragged him down boardwalk.  “I yelped this place and they said this little stand is the best food here.”

  “You’re kind of crazy,” he shouted.

  “You kind of like it.”

  He had to admit the skewers were pretty good.  Especially with the spicy sauce that he ended up licking off his fingers.  She beat him at every game and they ended up with a bunch of toys: a huge stuffed polarbear dog, a flock of stuffed turtleducks, three different bouncy balls, and one complete dvd of pro bending highlights from the past ten years.  The bored roller coaster operator let them ride six times in a row before saying they had to go wait in line again.  They rode it two more times before deciding it was time for ice cream.

  They were currently squished into the sky rider seat, polarbear dog between them and turtleducks on either side.  “I’m going to give the turtleducks to Tenzin’s kids,” Korra said as she licked her spoon.

  “Really?  I wouldn’t have guessed you liked kids.”

  “They’re like the siblings I never had,” she said.  “I babysit them all the time.  You should meet them sometime.”  He choked on his ice cream.  “What?”

  “Nothing.”  She reached over and took a spoonful of his.  “Hey I didn’t say you could do that!”

  “But your chocolate caramel swirl looks so good!”  She whined.

  “Then I get some of your cookie dough,” he said as a took a spoonful, careful to also take some of the hot fudge she insisted on getting.

  “No fair!”  The ride stopped and then looked at each other.  “Is it supposed to do that?”  He nodded.  “Why did you want to ride this anyway?”

  “Before my parents died as a treat my mom would take Bolin and I here and get ice cream and ride this.”

  She smiled.  “That’s really sweet.”  The ride started again and they sat in silence finishing their ice cream.

  They were walking back to the entrance, Mako holding the polarbear dog and Korra with the turtleducks (the balls and dvd were in her purse).  “I had a good time,” she said.

  “I did too.”

  She mock gasped.  “Mr. Grumpy Pants had a good time?  I should put this out to the world!”

  “Haha, I get it.”

  “No really, let’s take a selfie for my instagram.”  She fished her phone out of her purse.  “Come on, just one,” she begged.

  “Fine.”  They stood close, Korra’s head fitting just under his chin.  

  “Smile,” she commanded before taking the picture.  She showed it to him and he had to admit they did look good.  “I’ll even send it to you,” she said.

  He smirked.  “Is that a roundabout way of getting my number or email address?”

  She rocked on her heels.  “Maybe,” she said coyly.  

  “Here, I’ll enter it into your phone and then call the number so I can have yours.”

  “Plus it proves its the right number.”  He’d let her have that one.

  “Where have you been?”  Ginger yelled as they reached the designated meeting place.  “You are two hours late!  I was about to call security in case you were kidnapped and-”

  “Sorry it was my fault.  Korra found out I’m her favorite probender and we kind of lost track of time.  Not her fault at all.”

  “What he said,” Korra added.

  “Well come on, I promised to have you home at a reasonable time.”

  “Bye Mako!”  Korra called as she followed Ginger.

  “Wait!”  He shouted before running up to her.  He quickly kissed her.  “Goodbye.”