Shifting Tides

Chapter 1

Korra woke violently from her slumber to feel an ache throughout her body. She rose from her bed, immediately regretting that decision as her sides exploded with pain. It had not even been twenty four hours since she had been rescued from Tarrlok, and she could still feel the after effects of the man's methods.

"Freaking blood bending." Korra groaned to herself as she clutched her ribs. Tarrlok's blood bending had done a fair amount of damage to Korra's muscles, and master Katara had told her it may take a few days before the pain would completely subside. She took several deep breaths, attempting to utilize Tenzin's meditation methods to dull her pain. It didn't help much, but eventually the pain became bearable enough for Korra to get out of her bed. She looked out of her window to realize that it was in fact the middle of the night. The full moon shone brightly through the clouds, its image reflecting off the waters surrounding the island. Korra closed her eyes and took a deep breath, a content grin forming on her face as she bathed in the beautiful white light. Feeling invigorated, Korra opened her eyes with a smile practically sparking with energy; there was no way she was getting back to sleep.

"Well, I'm not gonna get anything done lying in a bed." Korra said. She put on her boots and left her room. She made her way over to the spinning gates, the bane of her existence. She had lost count of how many times she had failed to weave her way through the spinning walls of pain in an attempt to understand the principles of air bending. Despite her less than pleasant memories in this place, she found herself drawn there to do her training tonight. "Okay, what first?" Korra thought to herself, "I guess fire is as good a place to start as any." She took a deep breath and thrust her right fist forward, producing a stream of fire. She almost collapsed in pain as she grabbed her right side.

"Crap!" Korra yelled, "Okay, maybe I'm not ready for that just yet." She stood back up and loosened up her arms.

"Let's try earth." She said to herself as she took a basic earth bending posture. She stomped her foot down, sending a sharp pain throughout her entire body. It took every ounce of willpower that Korra had not to cry out in agony. She slowly sat herself sown on the ground, breathing deeply as she put her head between her knees. She looked at the ground where she had stomped down. A scowl formed on her face when she saw that she had barely caused a crack in the earth.

"Damn you Tarrlok!" She cursed. Though she knew that it was only temporary, Korra hated feeling useless. She sat there for a while, trying to regain her composure when she heard footsteps coming from behind her. Fearing that it may be an Equalist or one of Tarrlok's goons, Korra sprang to her feet and took a striking pose against the potential attacker.

"Whoa, Korra it's me!" The young man in the red scarf announced.

"Jeez Mako," Korra said as she relaxed her stance, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry," The fire bender replied with a concerned smile, "I was just out for a walk and I heard you yelling. I just wanted to see if you were alright."

Korra sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair, "What were you doing out walking? It's the middle of the night."

Mako lightly chuckled, "You know, hurting yourself isn't gonna make the injuries heal any faster." It was obvious that he was trying to avoid the question.

Now it was Korra who was concerned. "Mako's always so calm," she thought, "What's got him all nervous?"

Mako's smile faltered; "Actually," he took a deep breath before he continued "I was hoping to talk to you." He leaned against one of the trees, looking down at his feet.

Korra walked over to her friend, "What's going on Mako?"

He sighed and looked up at the moon, "Asami broke up with me."

Korra hated the fact that she wasn't necessarily disappointed to hear this news. Ever since they had met, Korra had always felt a pang of jealousy whenever she saw Mako and Asami together. Despite these feelings, she didn't like seeing her friend in pain.

"I'm sorry Mako." She said as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay," Mako replied as his gaze turned to Korra's hand, "To be honest, I'm not that disappointed."

Korra's eyebrows rose in intrigue, "Why not? Why did you guys break up?"

His golden eyes rose to meet her ocean blues, "Because we both realized that she wasn't the one I was really in love with."

"Holy crap," Korra thought, "This is actually happening." She began to smile on the inside, but then she found that smile falling. "Wait, why am I not happy about this?" She wondered, but then immediately tried to shrug off the thoughts, "I must just be nervous."

"So… who is?" Korra asked nervously.

Mako brought his hand up to hold hers. Korra should have been jumping for joy on the inside; she knew she should have been holding his hand right back, but for some reason she felt the urge to pull away. "What is going on with me?"

Mako took a deep breath, "You are."

A striking pain of anxiety shot through Korra's body in place of the joy that she thought she should have felt. "I don't get this. I thought this is what I wanted." She fought to try and feel the happiness and love for Mako that she thought was there, but all she felt was anxiety and indifference. She used every ounce of willpower she had to try and feel the love for Mako that she thought she had, but it just wasn't there.

"I love you Korra." He said. Korra could feel the love that came from his words, and she felt like she was gonna throw up. "Oh god…I'm not in love with Mako. I can't believe this." Korra just stood there, lost in her own thoughts, "I always felt jealous when he was with Asami. I thought that meant…" Mako could cut the awkward tension with a knife. He didn't want to push Korra into anything, but he did want some kind of reaction.

"Korra?" He asked, pulling her out of her thoughts, "So?"

"So…" Korra tried to reply, now feeling incredibly uncomfortable with the realization that she did not have the feelings for Mako that she thought she did.

"I just told you I love you." He said, starting to feel a little worried, "Any thoughts on that?"

Mako tried to take hold of Korra's other shoulder, but she pulled away. She turned from Mako's gaze, hoping that he would take the hint and leave.

"Korra, what's wrong?" Mako asked, starting to become genuinely concerned.

"Look, I think you're just upset about Asami," She said, trying to distance the topic from herself, "I'm not sure you mean it."

Korra's tactic failed, as this only strengthened Mako's resolve, "No Korra, I mean it with all my heart." He gently clasped her shoulders and turned it around, "I realized it when you were taken by Tarrlok." He crooked a finger under her chin and raised her head to meet his gaze, but her eyes refused to lock with his, "I was so scared for you. Nothing could've stopped me from finding you… that's when I knew I was in love with you."

Korra bit her bottom lip in discomfort and she still refused to raise her eyes, "I'm sorry Mako." She whispered.

"What?" Mako asked, desperately hoping that he had just heard her wrong.

His worst fears were realized when Korra pulled away from his hold and said, "I am so sorry Mako, but I don't love you."

He felt like his heart literally shattered. He leaned back against the tree, sliding down to the ground. His mind became overwhelmed by feelings of sorrow, and rage.

"I don't understand." Mako said, the pain in his voice clear as day.

"Neither do I. I thought I had feelings for you… but I don't." She felt her heart become constricted by guilt at the sight of her friend looking so defeated.

Mako nearly jumped up from his seat on the ground and began to storm off. Korra couldn't bear the idea of just leaving things like this.

"Mako, wait!" She called desperately.

"WHAT!" Mako yelled as he turned around angrily, a stream of fire erupting from both of his hands as he did, "What could you possibly have left to say to me!?"

"I… I don't know." Korra said, tears beginning to form in her eyes, "I'm sorry."

"You've said that three times now!" Mako replied, the rage in his voice refusing to subside, "It doesn't matter how many times you apologize Korra. What matters is that I ruined an amazing relationship with Asami because I thought we had something! Now I find out that you have no intention of returning my feelings!?"

Korra just stood there. What else could she say? She forced her eyes to the ground, too ashamed to meet Mako's hateful eyes.

"Well that's just great!" Mako threw his hands in the air as he turned around and walked away yet again. Before he was out of earshot, Korra heard him mutter, "I hope you're happy."

Korra stood there for what felt like hours, just trying to find a way to process what just happened. Eventually her legs started getting tired, so she walked over to one of the gates and sat next to it, leaning her head back against the board of the gate. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Well that really sucked." She said to herself. Her thoughts were a chaotic war ground. She couldn't understand why she no longer had feelings for Mako.

"I did have feelings for him… right?" She couldn't even answer her own question. She found herself thinking over her entire relationship with Mako. Before he started dating Asami she only saw him as a friend. After that, she felt jealous whenever she saw them together, which she had always assumed meant that she had feelings for Mako.

"But if I never had feelings for Mako," Korra wondered out loud, "Then why the hell was I so jealous?"