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Entry tags:

legend of korra: korra

七

[action]

[After a week gone, Korra finally has her head screwed on straight -- sort of. She still doesn't feel ready to face her friends, their worries and their questions, but she knows she can't put it off any more.

She sneaks into the apartment, hoping that nobody's there.]

[voice]
H-hey Chekov. Sorry I've missed our sessions. Can we meet up later this afternoon?

[Korra tries to turn off the device, but accidentally flicks the video on. For a few seconds you can see her -- her eyes are dark and sunken, and there's a gray cast to her skin, a subtle loss of color that anyone who's known the City dead would recognize.

She quickly closes the device.]

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[She almost expects her heart to start beating again when she sees him, like her feelings would be enough to bring her back to life. But that stupid organ remains stubbornly still, and she doesn't know what to feel.]

H-hey. Mako.

[Awkward. That is one thing she definitely feels.]

[ That voice. He's gotta be hearing things. No it's just a figment of his imagination, of what he wants so bad right now but can't have because she's dead. ]

Hey, Korra. [ Maybe it's better to talk to the apparition than it is to ignore it. His answer to her is casual, tired. Mako doesn't seem to realize that she's really standing there, in the flesh. So he carries on past her, disappears into the kitchen.

Stops. Tenses. The hair on the back of his neck feels like it's standing on end! There's a sense of anxiety squeezing his throat and gutting out the pit of his stomach. The dishes drop from his hand and smash at his feet once they touch the ground.

Mako slowly twists to look back at the kitchen doorway, and then spins around completely. His legs feel shaky as he stands to peek out at where he had thought he'd seen her familiar figure.

THERE SHE IS. AHH! ]

...K-Korra?

[ Does he look like he's seen a ghost? Probably because he has... ]

[She hates that look on his face. If she had a heart, it would be breaking right now.]

It's really me.

[She reaches out to touch him, trying to offer some comfort, but she stops her hand halfway, hesitating. Her cold skin might just make things worse.]

[ His eyes focus on the extending hand. It's hard to swallow past the lump lodged in his throat. ]

But you... I saw...

[ Mako slides out from around the frame of the door bit by bit, hesitantly taking a few steps towards her. ]

...how?

[That hand goes back to wrap around her waist, trying to bring warmth into her lifeless limbs.]

I don't know. It's some kind of City...thing. You die, but you don't really die.

[ She's talking, he can see that her lips are moving. She's there. But her words, they seem to go in one ear and out the other. Mako moves before he can think, going straight to her. There's no hesitation from him as he makes to wrap his arms around her, the need to feel that her form is solid and that she's all warm flesh and blood and alive is too strong to resist. ]

[Flesh and blood? Yes. Warm? Not so much.

Alive?

........yeah. No.

She wraps her arms around him and holds tight, trying to steal some of his warmth.]

[ Even through all the layers of her clothing the chill is unsettling. His shoulders slump in relief at feeling her return the hug, his body pressing closer. But something's not right. ]

You're so cold... [ Mako's arms tighten, fingers curling in the back of her top. ] Why?

[She buries her head in the crook of his shoulder. She doesn't want to get into it.]

It's...complicated.

Tell me... [ He concentrates most of his warmth to the front of his body, to his arms and especially to his hands. There has to be a way to warm her up again, it's not normal how cold she is against him. ]

Don't keep secrets from me.

[ His hands start at the back of her shoulders, rubbing and moving, trying to get the heat of his palms and fingers to seep through frigid skin. Gradually Mako works his way down to her shoulder blades, rubbing and rubbing, massaging and kneading. ]

[Oh. Oh spirits, that feels... That's one thing being dead hasn't robbed her of. She presses herself harder against him and tries really, really hard not to moan.

This really wasn't fair.

She can't speak above a whisper.]

I'm dead.

[ He's not Superman here with super-hearing, but because she's so close those words reach him and his reaction is instant. His hands go still at the middle of her back. Those two words sink in, their implication clear. It makes sense why she feels so cold against him.

No... ]

...no. No. [ Mako goes to pull away, his hands gripping at her upper arms as he stares down at her with wide eyes. ] You're here again. You came back.

You're not dead, you're alive. I can... I can feel you...

[ His fingers squeeze around her biceps. He wants to shake her, maybe that will help things. In reality it won't. ]

[Her body hurts where he used to be touching her.]

I told you -- it's some kind of City thing. I don't understand it.

[ His hands, they're still warm as they move from her arms to cup her face. Her skin, it's still so very cold. Mako brushes his thumbs along the apples of her cheeks.

What the hell is wrong with this place? Why would it do something like this? ]

You can't stay like this forever, Korra. We'll fix it, somehow.

Do you have any idea how? Any idea...

[If you keep touching her like that, she's either going to cry or she's going to kiss you. She doesn't want to do either of these things.]

Dead is dead, Mako.

[ His fingers apply a brief pressure. ]

I'm not going to believe that! I already lost Bolin, I'm not going to lose you either.

[ Korra and Asami are the only ones he has left in this place. It frightens him to think that should something happen to either of them, he'll be left alone. That's the last thing he wants. ]

I'm going to find a way, Korra. I don't care what it takes, you'll be whole again. I promise.

[She doesn't say anything, just holds him tighter.]

[ Mako's not ready to let her go. He keeps thinking that the longer he holds on using his body heat, the better of a chance she'll have to actually warming up. ]

...I missed you. I missed you so much.

Edited 2012-11-13 10:24 (UTC)

I missed you too.

[It's traitorous to say. She should pull away. But she can't resist his warmth, his smell... just him.]

[ It's a really traitorous thing to say. ]

Korra...

[ It would be a REALLY traitorous thing to do... getting closer than they already are. Mako's still not pulling away. ]

[Damn you, you're going to make her do it. It takes more strength than she knew she possessed to pull herself away, and she's left feeling empty and colder than before.]

I should...find Asami.

[Your girlfriend. Remember her?]

[ Oh. ]

She's... [ Dammit. ] She's usually out in the garage around this time of the day.

[ Unable to help himself Mako reaches out to snag her by the elbow, stopping her from going anywhere further. ] Korra... [ He can only imagine how Asami is going to react to having her back. She had missed their Avatar friend as much as he had. ]

It's good to have you back.

[She gently pulls her elbow free.]

Thanks.

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