#legend of korra mako | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gladerwolfstarkimagines · 1 year

Text

The Guardian of Republic City: Mako x Female Reader - Part Two

Part One, Part Three and Part Four.

You and Asami were making your way through town and you were very excited because today you were meeting Master Tenzin and his children the famous Airbender kids. You’d been too young to see Avatar Aang but did remember Jinora being born and how excited everyone was. You’d seen them from a distance but never up close...but now Master Tenzin and Pema had invited you to their home for dinner! Apparently Asami had mentioned your work to them and they wanted to meet you. It was a great honour and you only wished your parents could’ve seen it but you knew they’d be proud of you.

You felt the boat gliding across the water and smiled, feeling happy being surrounded by your element. Asami hadn’t told you much about this event just that it was casual and so you wondered who else was coming. “Is Mako going to be joining us?” you asked as casually as you could. Asami smiled “no he had work, why?”. “Oh no reason! I just thought it might be nice that’s all”. Asami looked down to hide her grin and nodded “How's Mako doing as a teacher? I understand he's been coming down a few times a week". You nodded smiling slightly "he's been amazing. The students love him a lot and find him very impressive" and they weren't the only ones.

Mako had been teaching at your school for just over a month now and you were still conflicted about him. Personally, you liked him. You thought he was very handsome and found you had a lot of similar ideals. It sounded like he had a very similar upbringing and you bet your paths crossed numerous times as kids without either of you noticing it. You liked how he could be awkward and blunt but also had a soft side and you could tell how much he cared for people. But your objective side knew he was also a police officer and could not excuse you from stealing from the rich even if you were using it to help the poor. His tolerance of that could only extend so far and you were keeping him at a distance as a result. "I bet they love having a pro athlete as their teacher!" Asami smiled "it's a shame you didn't see him when he was competing. He was very impressive". You were momentarily distracted by the idea before a thought occurred to you. "Is this around the time you dated him?" you asked. Asami paused and you smirked "yeah Mako let slip about that and seemed horrified I didn't know". Asami chuckled "yeah we dated for a while but it just didn't work out...there's no hard feelings there though and we're great friends. He's a great guy really he just wasn't the guy for me". You nodded and desperately wanted to know more details but didn't want to seem too interested. The choice was taken away from you though when the boat finally reached Air Temple Island.

You were met by some guards who took your through to the main building. Pema and Tenzin were waiting and smiled as they saw you. “Y/n welcome, please come in! It’s lovely to see you again Asami”. Asami hugged them both while you went for a handshake. “Your island is beautiful” you commented and Pema smiled “thank you but it’s not our island. Air Nomads don’t believe in owning land, we just live here”. You nodded “of course I’m sorry if I offended you”. Pema laughed “not at all! come through to the dining room”.

You were introduced to the couple’s four children and Ikki had tons of questions about everything but particularly the Fire Nation. “Is there fire everywhere? What about gold? What about dragons?” she cried before Pema restricted her to 2 more questions this visit. You were very grateful. You talked about your business and asked questions about the Air Nomad lifestyle, eager to learn more. Then talk turned to politics as it always does and Tenzin mentioned how just last night there were 2 more robberies. Asami sighed “I know, Mako says everyone is stumped, they can’t work out what’s going on”. Deciding to play dumb you frowned “why? Didn’t anyone see the robbers? Or find the stolen materials?”. Tenzin shook his head “that’s just it, the stolen items just vanish like they never existed. That's why President Reiko and Lin are so confused. They think something nefarious is going on, like another Amon”. Asami shivered “I hope not” you nodded your head pretending to be scared but really you were relieved nobody was suspecting you.

The rest of your visit passed by swiftly in the best possible way and you soon found yourself back on your way to Republic City and decided to walk past the marketplace on your way home.

Mako's POV Mako sighed as he finally left the office after a long day of nothing. All the officers had been pulling extra shifts trying to clamp down on this recent crime wave but they’d been getting nowhere. Lin desperately wanted to know who was responsible, especially because the robberies were getting more sporadic. She was worried the thief was winding down and their chance to catch them was going.

So Mako had been doing extra hours voluntarily, patrolling the streets even on his nights off and was on the lookout for anything nefarious...except when he was teaching at your school of course. Oddly, your school seemed to be a new beacon in the city. Mako recognised many people who had been in the cells, now studying sciences and languages which were luxuries they could never afford as children themselves. Every time he walked into your school he felt more and more hopeful that the city was becoming a better place...and then he'd leave and remember the rise in crime and it would all creep back in. Mako was on his way through the market on his way home when he heard a commotion in the street. Some man had a hold of a child by their collar and was yelling. Mako walked into the crowd and came up to the man "what happens to be the problem here?". "This street rat took my watch" he said while the child cried that he didn't. "Please let go of the child" Mako said and the man glared "I will not until I get my property back". "Sir you are hurting him. I am an officer and won't ask you again". The man looked at the badge and reluctantly let go of the child who didn't try and run. Mako supposed he couldn't be older than 9 but he did have the same look he and Bolin had at the age, the look of a child who is up to no good. Mako turned to the man "did you see him do it?". "No but I felt someone brush past me and the watch loosen off my wrist. When I looked down it was gone". Mako looked down at the boy taking in his lack of layers and hence obvious places to hide it. "What do you say?" he asked the child. "I didn't do it!" the child replied adamantly "you can even search me!" and he held his arms up. "That's because there were two of you! I saw your friend scamper off you little rat!" the man yelled getting angry and as Mako went to restrain him, a figure quickly ran in and pushed him and the man hard. The man fell over but Mako managed to keep his footing and turned to see a figure grab the child’s hand and break off running. "Stop!" Mako yelled and began to give chase but he hadn't been in the market in a while and the other figure clearly did. The duo ducked under obstacles and whizzed around corners. Mako lost sight of them for a while and the next they saw them the child was no longer with the figure. No doubt they'd split and the child was long gone. Mako followed the figure, wondering who they were. They wore a cloak over them disguising everything but their height which was about average and they appeared to be in shape. With every step Mako was more and more sure this was the waterbender who had robbed the factory and dispatched him easily. Mako was studying the figure so intently he didn't notice his surroundings and fell over a cart of cabbages in the street. When he got up the vigilante was lost in a sea of people. Your POV You were still breathing heavily when you reached one of your hideouts minutes later. You'd seen the disturbance and knew the child didn't serve punishment from the law. You'd handle that yourself. You abandoned the cloak you’d managed to quickly grab to hide yourself and went back outside, pretending nothing was wrong. You headed to the boy's home and his parents accepted you in graciously. A few minutes later the boy and his friend arrived. They were smiling but froze when they saw you and his parents frowned "sit down". "You do not steal. Not anymore! Did Ms Y/n create a school for you for nothing? Has she given me and your mother a job, a legal method to put food on the table for nothing?" their father asked "this is how you repay her". "We are so disappointed in both of you" the mother added and you placed a hand on her arm. "I understand it is hard to remove yourself from a life you have always known and even harder to believe things have changed but that is no excuse for inflicting harm on innocent people who do not deserve it". "But the man was horrible" one of the boys cried "he's the one who would burn defective fruit and vegetables instead of giving it to beggars". You frowned "still it was reckless to put yourself in that situation. If I hadn't been there you would've been arrested. Do you really want to meet Lin Beifong herself?" you asked. The boys shook their heads and you nodded "you both need to stay quiet and hidden for a while. That means neither of you can come to class for 3 weeks". They both began to protest but you cut them off "it is for your own safety as well as a punishment. We have police officers there or did you forget? I will not put you in danger and I hope this will be a good reminder for you. You do not need to do that anymore. I will not accept any crime in my school and if I catch you doing it again I will expel you both is that clear?". The boys and even the parents froze at your tough words but the message got through and they promised never to do it again. "Good, I will see you both in class in 3 weeks" and left. As you left the hypocrisy of the day’s events didn't miss you. You were lecturing children for stealing when that is exactly what you did. The money from your own robberies had paid for some of the earliest textbooks in your school and were a means you didn’t mind resorting to. You didn't have a problem with stealing from the rich to give to the poor. The rich had too much and were not taxed enough to make it fair. The poor held all of that burden and if the legal system didn't work, well then you'd find ways to make it fairer. Your issue was with the children doing it. You'd purposefully kept your own missions under wraps so they wouldn't get inspired or grow up trying to emulate you. You'd seen how the legal system spat out poor children who had no choice but to turn to crime and would never let that happen to yours if you could handle it. Your own criminal plans were almost phased out now your factories and schools were self-sustaining. There would be a day soon when everything was legal and you could lecture children without feeling guilty...but still if you ever saw a child facing jail time you know you would do what you did today. Mako's POV Mako knew the second Chief Beifong walked in that this wasn't going to be good. This was twice in the past 3 weeks that he'd personally been foiled by this vigilante. It had to be the same person, of that Mako was certain but he still had no idea who it was. All they knew was the rich and upper class were the targets. Plus whoever was stealing the materials wasn't selling them in Republic City and was someone hiding and moving them without being detected. Lin was furious not a single criminal had been caught and it was hard to find suspects. A lot of the smaller criminals had become ordinary citizens working for you and that only left the gangs which Lin didn't want to anger unnecessarily. So they needed proof some sort of gang war was going on and Lin was determined to get it.

Chief Beifong gathered every single detective and demanded suggestions from them all. The room went silent and then gradually suggestions started coming up. "What about that new school?" an older officer asked and everyone paused. "Y/n's?" Lin asked "why would her opening a school have anything to do with this?". "Well it's not just her school but her factories too, they all employ...a certain type of people who we haven’t seen in our cells for a while, what if she's utilising them or if they're using her factory as a base?". Mako shook his head "so poor people trying to better themselves are automatically suspected criminals?" Mako asked. "No of course not...". "Then why don't you point the finger at some rich private school instead of at the only one doing this city any good" Mako snapped. Lin sighed "we don't have any leads so we have to start somewhere". Mako's head shot up "you can't be serious? Chief she has nothing to do with this...I know her!". "Maybe you're a little too close to be objective then?" an officer asked and Mako glared. Lin sensed a fight and asked to speak to Mako alone. "Look kid I don't think it's y/n either but we have to investigate her to rule her out. You volunteer there so just keep an eye out okay? See if that kid turns up there". Mako frowned "going to her school doesn't mean she's running a crime ring. That kid is probably there because he can hardly afford a private school". Lin sighed "I know but just keep a lookout okay? Tell me if you see anything strange". Mako sighed but nodded "okay".

Your POV After grilling the student you spent the remainder of the day at your school and it was quickly becoming your favourite place in Republic City. Not because you felt a draw to teaching or anything like that but because you got to see first-hand why it was all worth it and why you had to keep going. You were getting back to work when there was a knock on your door and Mako entered. He was dressed in his detective uniform which made you pause...then he smiled. "Hi Y/n, can I talk to you?" he asked. You nodded glancing at the clock "of course, did you just finish your lesson?". Mako nodded "I did". "How did it go?". "Well, there are some strong benders there and they’re progressing well". You smiled "I'm pleased, now what can I do for you". "I was wondering if you could help with the recent rise in crime targeting the rich". You thanked the Fire Nation for training you to keep your emotions hidden and nodded "of course, how can I help?". "Have you noticed any of your students or workers...acting strangely? Like they could possibly be involved?". You sat up straighter and put a cold expression on your face "so because my workers don't come from money they must be thieves and criminals?". Mako shook his head "no that's not what I mean at all...trust me I know better than anyone how annoying that stereotype is...but some people at the station are asking questions and of course they're looking at the people they always suspect, the poor. If you can help me prove them wrong, show there's nothing suspicious here then I can get them all cleared". "Well how do I do that? You work here, surely you'd notice if we were smuggling goods out the back door or gathered around in groups whispering about our criminal plans". Mako sighed "yeah you're right, I hate myself for even asking you. I'm going to go back and tell Chief Beifong there's nothing going on here...I'm sorry Y/n. I hope you don't think less of me" and Mako went to leave. You could see the guilt on his face and felt slightly bad for lying to him. "Wait Mako...I don't think any worse of you. I get you had to ask and that must've been hard for you given your history here". Mako sighed "yeah it was, those stereotypes followed my brother and me around for a long time and I promised never to put them on anybody else...guess I failed". You frowned and got the feeling no matter what you said, nothing would change Mako’s mind. So you tried to distract him instead. "Have you had anything to eat yet?" you asked. Mako looked at you surprised by the change in conversation "what?". "Have you had dinner yet? Because I haven't and was wondering if you'd like to grab some?". Mako relaxed and smiled "sure I'd love to!". You set off together through the streets and it felt nice. You’d obviously gotten to know Mako a little in the weeks he’d been teaching at your school but this was the first time the two of you were making an effort to spend time together and you liked how it felt. Not just because he was very handsome but because it had been so long since you’d even made a new friend or just done something social.

"So is there anywhere you'd like to go?" you asked Mako and he frowned before nodding "there's this place I used to go all the time and I haven't been there in ages". You nodded content to let Mako choose when with a sinking feeling you realised you were heading closer to your old neighbourhood. Republic City was a fairly big place and you'd managed to avoid your old side of town pretty well so far. You'd changed everything about you that could be changed in the past years, your hair, your face, your voice... but still going back there made you feel like an accident waiting to happen.

Sure enough you recognised the elderly couple across from you the moment you sat down in the restaurant. They were your next-door neighbours and owned a store, they always gave you discounted food or even just free food when you most needed it. They were a nice couple, both truly sad when your parents had died and had always been kind to you. You felt a tug in your chest as they reminded you of your parents. You'd been avoiding this area of town for that reason too, everything reminded you of them here and you'd been putting off visiting their small graves for a long time. "Y/n?" Mako asked as you didn’t reply when the waiter asked if you wanted water. You blinked and fixed a smile on your face "sorry what?". You figured you could just ignore the couple and focused on Mako instead. Which wasn't hard, you'd spent a long time in the Fire Nation but he was by far the best-looking fire bender you'd ever seen. You weren't sure if it was stupid to have dinner with him considering he literally just told you the chief asked him to investigate your school but figured it would also give you a chance to keep him close. To give the impression you had nothing to hide and that would avoid suspicion. Plus you'd been wanting to talk to him more since you first met him so it was a win-win really. "So how did you get into pro-bending?" you asked. Mako paused "it's not really a heartwarming story...it was basically that or continue on in the gang. Pro-bending was safer so I chose that". You nodded lost in thought, it was hard enough when your parents died so you couldn't imagine what it'd be like to have a younger sibling depending on you too. Mako smiled though and changed the subject "how about your family? I don't actually know much about them". You smiled sadly "my parents are dead too". Mako's eyes widened "I'm so sorry, how did it happen?". "It was a street fight they got caught in the middle of...they left everything they had to me". You were purposefully leaving some things out but the basics were all true. Mako frowned "I'm so sorry, I know what that feels like". You nodded "I know there's a lot of kids out there who do and they don't all have big brothers to protect them, what you did for Bolin is really amazing". Mako blushed as you complimented him and you got the feeling he didn’t like compliments so you rushed on "what's your brother like? Bolin?". Mako suddenly relaxed and a huge smile took over his face "wow how do I even begin" Mako chuckled. "He's got the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met, he's a huge softie even though he's a sturdy strong earth bender and there's nobody I'd want in my corner more than him". You smiled "that's so sweet, do you look alike?". "God no!" Mako said his smile getting even bigger "he looks like our father and I look like our mother" and he took out a photo and passed it to you. You smiled immediately at the beautiful family and understood immediately what Mako meant. "Wow your mother was so beautiful...and your father". "They were" Mako said nodding and you smiled "Bolin looks adorable, that button nose and big eyes". Mako chuckled "yep, he always used them to get his way. He'd put on the puppy dog eyes and I just melt". You smiled handing him the photo back "I'd love to meet Bolin, he's helping Kuvira in the earth kingdom isn't he?". Mako nodded "Bolin's struggled to find his calling but he thought going back to our roots might help him". You knew all about that and nodded. You and Mako chatted about pretty much anything and you felt more relaxed and youthful than you had in years. You discovered you were quite similar, you were both introverts who liked your own space and company. You disliked loud social events and preferred quiet events with a few good friends. You were just debating your favourite hideaway spot in town when the couple across from you stood up and got ready to leave the restaurant. You paused as they came closer, hoping they wouldn't look at you but of course they did. The woman paused as she got a good view of your face and then smiled. "Do I know you?" she asked and you resisted the urge to turn away from her. "I don't know...have you come to my school or does one of your family work at my factory?". The woman smiled "oh you're her...no it's just me and my husband and we're too old for work or school". "You're never too old" you said trying to ease the tension but the woman kept staring at you "your face...it reminds me of a child I used to know. So similar but so different". "Well you spent some time here as a child didn't you y/n" Mako said "maybe you met then?". "Oh, when were you here? Did you live local? We own a shop, maybe you visited us?" the woman asked bombarding you with questions you didn't want to answer. "I wasn't here long so I doubt that was it...I spent most of my time in the city centre as that's where our hotel was. I never really travelled this far south". The woman nodded "odd, maybe we met in a past life". You nodded "maybe we did" and smiled as she walked away. "That was strange, she acted like she really knew you" Mako said and you shrugged "old people do that sometimes". You played it cool in the restaurant but that encounter really shook you up and you weren’t 100% sure Mako had bought it. As you left the restaurant you felt like everyone was watching you and to be fair quite a lot of people in the lower quarters did know you. They smiled as you passed or said good evening and you did the same. "You're famous" Mako commented and you laughed "not really, in the upper-class section nobody recognises me at all". Mako smiled "that's probably a good thing, maybe even a compliment" and you laughed "yeah you're probably right". Mako said he'd walk you home. "Probably safer with all the attacks on high-ranking members of society" he explained and you nodded along innocently. You really liked Mako and never expected to get along this well. You knew your childhoods were similar but didn’t think your personalities would fit so well too. If things had been different, your parents had lived and you'd stayed in Republic City, you could've imagined falling for him. Dating Mako, bringing him home to meet your parents, fighting to make a living with one another...but if you brought anyone into your world let alone an officer it risked your secret and all the people depending on you. You reached your door and Mako smiled "this was really nice, I'd love to do it again sometime". Your heart was beating rapidly at the way Mako was looking at you and you thought he might try and kiss you. The thought made you beyond happy but you'd given up hopes of love and romance when your parents died, the world was cold and you had to be colder to survive in it. "Me too! I must admit I've struggled to make some friends here besides Asami so I'm really pleased I can call you a friend" you said "I hope we can be great friends Mako". You nearly winced at how obvious you were being and saw realisation go through Mako's eyes. You saw realisation go through his eyes but he never stopped smiling or acted like being just friends was a bad thing. "Me too! I'm glad to call you a friend" he said lightly knocking your shoulder in an awkward display of friendship. You smiled "goodnight Mako" and walked inside. Only once you were inside did you let the act drop. Pretending to be something you weren’t was hard and you didn’t know how much longer you could keep it up...

________

Next part is the final one in this series!

60 notes · View notes