Korrasami FanFiction: The Masked Revenge

Chapter 23: The Red Bride

Mako stood against his seat as he petted Pabu. As the little ferret notices the two acquaintances, the creature runs towards Asami's shoulder, giving her a lick against her cheek. Mako turns over as he oddly presents himself. While Mako was still alive, his body was barely functioning as his left leg was seriously injured. Pulling down his sunglasses, his left eye was completely white. With a fedora on his head and a cane on his hand, Mako started making conversation.

"It's been a while..." Mako stated.

Asami starts panicking as she runs for the stairs. As she is about to leave, Korra grabs her wife's hand and she pleads for her wife to stay by her side.

"Asami, please. I invited him here so we can settle the matter." Korra stated.

"It's true... besides I'm dying anyway so killing you would be pointless." Mako replied.

The two wedded women were shocked as neither of them expected to hear the terrible news. What intensified the moment wasn't the statement itself but the timing and the tone Mako used to express it. Instead of stating it in a melancholy way, Mako made the statement passively as if he didn't seem to care.

"What? What are you talking about?" Korra asked.

"What do you want me to say, it's lung cancer." Mako replied.

Korra was somber to hear the news as she realized there wasn't enough time for the two to make up or fix the mistakes they made. Seeing Mako for the first time, she believed there was still a chance she could return things to the way they once were.

"How did you get it?" Korra asked.

"I didn't come here to talk about my health. I came to apologize." Mako stated.

Still angry at him, Asami intervened in the conversation.

"I can never forgive you for what you did to me and Korra. Not after your actions got Suyin and Opal killed!" Asami retorted.

Mako begins coughing as blood spills from his dry lips. His face turns pale, Korra pulls out a white handkerchief as she cleans the blood off his face. Mako thanks her for her hospitality as he continues to speak.

"It doesn't matter if you can forgive me or not. I just want to apologize and reminisce about the good times before I die." Mako stated.

Realizing Mako had given up on his life, Korra wraps her arms around Mako's shoulders as she starts to wail. Korra begs Mako to change his stance on her as she wants to save Mako. It wasn't because she cared about others over herself, it was quite the opposite. After a year of reflecting, Korra had learned to be a little more selfish than before. Instead of caring about the entire world, she learned to care about those that mattered to her the most. She cared about releasing herself from her own guilt.

While Mako had tormented the Avatar for the past year, there were no worldly words or gestures to express how much she thanked Mako for being her friend. From the day they met as pro-bending allies to the day Korra believed he died, Mako had served as Korra's guide, always risking his life alongside Korra.

Mako had chosen to risk his life to save the young Avatar and helped her in her journey to restore balance to the universe. Even during the short dating phase, Mako was always faithful and caring for Korra as his girlfriend.

Korra felt a huge surge of guilt within her when she remembered the times they shared as friends. It only seemed cruel to her that she couldn't return the favor. While she does agree that forgiveness won't bring Suyin and Opal back, Korra wanted to forgive Mako as it might encourage him to get treatment for his disease.