Mako considered this possibility. He toyed around with it for a long time. He thought that this might be the truth, but he never admitted it to himself or to anyone else. He did not want to be viewed as a freak. He did not wish to be ousted from his community. Most importantly, he was terrified. This is a big step.

He tried to hide it and he thought he did a pretty great job. He trained himself to push these thoughts away whenever they visited his mind, but the likelihood that this was the truth - the real Mako - nagged him.

It would explain the failures of his past romances, why he could not settle on one girl. He had thought that he would be able to trick himself into believing the lie that seemed appealing to him and to everyone around him.

Korra and Asami were distractions. By dating both of them and toying with their emotions, he would be viewed as a playboy, a bachelor, a heartbreaker. That would disguise the truth he was desperately trying to avoid. He wanted to prove something false to himself.

He spent many years and much effort in building a wall to hide himself from the facts, but the wall was blown to bits when he met Huan Beifong, the punky metalbender.

Mako had never met anyone who was so like him and unlike him at the same time. Huan, like Mako, is a quiet fellow with loud family members. He broods and he thinks. He becomes easily annoyed with his rambunctious brothers, but he loves them anyway. He accepts them for who they are, even though they are so different.

But unlike Mako, he does not fight; he prefers to use his bending to make sculptures. While Mako enforces the law, Huan bends the rules with his art. This strikes Mako as very poetic and intriguing.

Right when Mako saw Huan, the barriers were torn down. He realized that he could not hide from the truth anymore, that there is no point running from it. He has to accept himself as he is if he wants to live a happy and good life. There is no point in being someone he is not.

Mako is tired of the running and the hiding. He is tired of the lies. He is tired of the charade. He is tired of the damn wall. He wants to be free. He wants to be himself and nobody else.

He has to come out and everyone has to accept that. If they do not, they are not his real friends and they are not worth his time.

Mako feels relieved. He feels liberated. He feels lighter, no longer suffocated by the burden of the deceit. He has finally accepted his true self. He exhales. He smiles.

This was the hardest thing he has ever accomplished. It was harder than helping Korra fight Amon, Unalaq, and all those spirits. It was harder than his days on the streets, struggling to survive. It was harder than catching criminals. He is very proud of himself.

Now, he loves himself more than ever and he cannot wait to share the real Mako with the world and the people he loves.

He also wants to find Huan and find out if the metalbender is interested in this hottie.