The wind on his cheeks, the salty smell of the ocean, it was all very soothing to Mako. This was the first time in a long time that Mako had ridden on the Yue Bay ferry. The last time he had ridden it was when he was seven, with his parents. He pushed the memories out of his mind. He just didn't have the energy to handle them then.

A warm feeling of tranquility spread through him as he started pushing all of the painful thoughts out of his head to be worried about another day. It was the closest feeling to joy he had felt in a long time.

The ferry reached the dock and Mako stepped onto Air Temple Island. He looked at everything before him. The island looked so calm. Mako could imagine a spit-fire like Korra living in a place so peaceful. The thought almost made him laugh.

A female guard noticed Mako still standing on the dock after everyone else had cleared away and approached him.

"Hello Sir, how may I help you?" a female guard asked in a forced-polite tone.

"I'm looking for Avatar Korra," Mako stated bluntly.

The guard shot him a look that said You've got to be kidding me.

"And you are…?" She asked with a bit of sass in her voice. The Order of the White Lotus guard could tell that this boy had poor social skills.

"Korra's..umm..teammate."

Mako realized that he wasn't exactly on the team, but he wasn't exactly sure what other role he played with Korra.

From what Korra had told him, most of the guards on the island were major Pro-Bender fans. Hopefully this one wasn't one of them. He didn't want her to think he was some sort of liar.

"Uh huh. And does this 'teammate' have a name?"

"Mako."

There was a moment's pause that made Mako want to cringe. This guard made him feel as if he was breaking the law just by standing there.

"Ah, yes," she stated simply, "She's training right now. If you'll follow the left-most path up the stairs and around the bison nursery, you'll find her."

"Uh, thanks," Mako said and headed into the indicated direction.

When Mako's back was turned, the guard rolled her eyes. Who just walks up to Air Temple Island and demands to see the Avatar? That kid was lucky that Korra had told the guards of the new friends she'd made the previous day with explicit directions to let them in, or that kid would have been drinking bay water for dinner.

After getting lost once or twice, Mako found where Korra was training. She was in a big open courtyard, alone, dueling an imaginary partner. He was able to see her from quite a distance away, but she was so focused that she didn't see him. He took just a moment to admire her movements. Mako had never seen airbending moves before Korra's first pro-bending match. The motions were graceful and light, like nothing he had ever seen before. He wished he could learn some of those moves. He could imagine how the new style could be incorporated into his current one. Maybe he'd ask Korra to teach him sometime. Maybe…

Korra finally noticed Mako standing a distance away. She stopped her forms and waved. He snapped out of his trance and continued his approach.

"Hey, Mako," Korra said, breathing heavily.

"You seen Bolin?" Mako asked immediately, forgoing the curtsey "hello". He wasn't there to chat with the Avatar.

"Nice to see you too," Korra responded sarcastically, "And no. I haven't seen him since practice. Think something's wrong?"

Mako winced to himself. If Bolin wasn't with Korra then he could have been anywhere in Republic City. If Mako didn't know where his little brother was, it usually meant that Bolin was in trouble.

"I don't know. Bolin has a knack for getting himself into stupid situations. See you later."

Mako began walking away.

"Wait. I could, uhh…help you look for him," Korra offered, taking after Mako.

"Nah, I got it," Mako responded, still walking away from the Avatar.

She grabbed him gently on the shoulder to stop him. With her usual confidence, Korra said, "Hey, cool guy, let me help you. We can take Naga."

The unusual name instantly provoked his curiosity. "Who's Naga?"

Korra's face lit up.

"My best friend. And a great tracker."

Korra burst into a run and headed towards the bison nursery. Mako was given no other choice but to follow.

They ran all the way down to the nursery and entered a giant kennel right next to the bison's tower. Inside was a gigantic white fluffy monster.

"This," Korra motioned to the creature, "is Naga."

This was definitely not what Mako has been expecting.

"Your best friend is a…polar bear-dog. Somehow that makes perfect sense."

A wide grin spread across Korra's face.

"I'll take that as a compliment, city boy."

Mako wanted to laugh. He had never seen anyone look as happy as Korra did at that moment. She was beaming with pride over her companion. As if to return the favor, Naga bent down and gave Korra a big, sloppy lick on the face. Korra began laughing at that point, and Mako couldn't resist the urge any longer. He began laughing with her. The feeling felt almost foreign to him. Sure, Mako laughed at some of Bolin's jokes or when Kai would mess up in practice and end up face-to-the-floor. But this kind of laughter felt different. Mako just felt good. Better than he had felt in a long time.

When the laughter died out, Korra saddled Naga up and mounted her. She motioned for him to climb up behind her. He copied exactly how Korra had gotten up there. He didn't want to fall and make a fool of himself.

"Alright, First time riders hold on tight. Let's go, Naga!"

Naga burst forward with more speed than Mako had expected. He scrambled to grab onto the saddle before he fell off. With his arms behind him, he found a secure position and stuck with it for the duration of the ride.

Korra, Mako, and Naga approached the giant statue of Firelord Zuko at the Central City Station. The teenagers dismounted Naga and began scanning the area.

"Well this is his usual hangout…" Mako stated. They didn't see Bolin or Kai anywhere. Just as Mako was about to give up and try somewhere else, he saw a familiar child run through his field of vision.

"Hey, Skoochy! You guys seen my brother 'round here today?" Mako called to the boy.

Skoochy stopped playing and turned to face Mako. Sure, he had seen Bolin a while ago. But he would never just tell Mako that. Skoochy knew how to milk information for all it was worth.

Skoochy walked closer to the older orphan.

"Maybe. My memory's a little…foggy. Maybe you could help clear it up," Skoochy said, holding out his hand in a way that was very recognizable to Mako.

"You're good Skoochy. A real pro," Mako said sarcastically, pulling out a bill. He slapped it into Skoochy's hand. Only when the boy had securely stashed the money in his pocket did he begin talking.

"Yeah, I seen him," Skoochy whispered as if it were top-secret information.

"When?" Mako was just relieved to know he had a lead on his brother.

"'Bout noon."

"What was he doing?"

"He was performing some kind of monkey-rat circus with that firebender kid. And then…" Skoochy held out his hand for another bill.

Mako rolled his eyes and gave him another yuan.

"And then what? Why did they leave?" Mako asked.

Skoochy began speaking very quickly: "Shady Shin showed up and flashed some serious cash. Bolin and the firebender took off with him in his hotrod. The Triple Threats? The Red Monsoons? The Agni Kais? All the triads are musclin' up for something real big. Now that's all your getting' outta me!"

Skoochy ran away to rejoin his friends.

When he was gone, Korra asked, "What's he talking about?"

Mako's voice became extremely serious. "Sounds like there's a turf war brewing. And Bolin and Kai are about to get right in the middle of it."

Mako ran to Naga and got on her back, motioning for Korra to join him.

Korra followed suit.

"So where are we headed now?" she questioned.

Mako gave Korra directions to where they needed to head. Korra grabbed hold of Naga's reins and guided her to their destination. Mako had technically answered her question. She knew where in the city they were heading. But Korra didn't know what was going to be at this location. She wanted more information. After several minutes of hoping Mako would start to explain, Korra broke the silence.

"So where exactly are we headed?"

Mako let out a sigh.

"To the Triple Threat Triad's headquarters. Hopefully Bolin and Kai are there and nothing's gone down yet."

Korra let that process for a moment.

"The Triple Threat Triad? I beat up some of those yahoos when I got into town. Why would the guys get tangled up with-"

She was cut off when Naga suddenly veered off course. Mako almost fell off the back of the polar-bear dog.

"Whoa, Naga!" Korra yelled, trying to get control over her companion.

Mako looked ahead and saw that Naga was chasing something. That something was red and fuzzy and looked an awful lot like…

"That's Pabu!" Mako shouted when he was finally able to recognize the creature. He started to feel a little nauseous. Bolin and Pabu were inseparable. Bolin was in trouble. He knew it.

Pabu climbed up a light post to escape Naga's drooling mouth. Korra yanked back on her polar-bear dog's reins, making the animal stop.

"No, Naga," she stated, "Pabu's a friend, not a snack."

The polar-bear dog understood her owner and backed off. When Pabu saw that Naga was no longer a threat, he stretched out toward her to get a good whiff. Naga and Pabu took a moment to sniff each other before Pabu hopped off the light post and onto Mako's shoulders.

Mako was getting anxious. "We gotta hurry."