I had an idea. A seemingly sadistic, but totally feels-wrenching idea.

Pairing/s: Makorra
Summary: Korra won a temporary victory in a battle with Red Lotus, at the expense of Mako's life. For months, everyone was sure he was dead. But behind the shadows, their group reformed, growing stronger then ever. They took Mako, half-dead and with lost memories, trained and brainwashed him, giving him a new life, a new name, and a new purpose. To defeat the Avatar.

…

The last moments of his life, at least through Korra's eyes, played out like a hurricane.

She was barely given a chance to speak a single word to him when they reunited. The fighting between the Red Lotus and Team Avatar had already begun, and it was intense and scorching and deathly. So early in the battle, they were already close to defeat.

It only made it worse that Mako and Bolin were both fresh from torture. They were black and blue from the bruises and wounds and scars that lined up their body. They made movements that looked strained, that could only mean they had dislocated joints or pulled muscles or broken bones. The sight of them made her heart feel like it was dipped in acid.

She fought with ferocity she had never known she had. The Team had never faced any adversary as formidable as them. They attacked her left and right, so she threw her attacks left and right, barely given any chances to think. It was like a mad hurricane of air and fire and water and earth and storm. She couldn't make sense of it all.

She was nearing the edge of a cliff. The sight of vicious rocks and waves only spelled death if she made the wrong step, or if she let the enemy intimidate her. She pushed on, sending element after element.

"Korra, watch out!"

She was too caught up with P'li and Zaheer that she had let Ming Hua sneak up on her, sending a rush of water she bent from the rain spiraling at her. But Korra was already defending herself from the combustion and air bender - if she attacked Ming Hua, she'd be right open from the other side.

That's when a wall of fire blazed in front of her, momentarily blinding her. It was Mako. Weak, but fighting for her. But it wasn't enough. Ming Hua defeated him once, and it was easier to defeat him again, in his injured state. Ming Hua's water was strong, it sent the battered Firebender right over the cliff.

In that moment, nothing else mattered. She didn't care whether she had to defend herself from other enemies. They wouldn't kill her anyways. They still needed her. Injured and hurt, but alive. That wouldn't be as bad as if Mako died.

So she reached out her hand, but it was futile. Their fingers only lightly touched, miles and miles away from a grasp. His eyes were wide with terror, blazing like the element he bent.

"No!" she screamed, tears mixing with rain on her face.

She tried to bend the air beneath him, making a cushion to land his fall, until she felt a sharp pain on her back, sending her falling face first on the ground. She was weak and tired. She could see the edge of the cliff. There was already no sight of him within the waves thrashing against the sharp rocks.

Like magma in a volcano, she gathered every ounce of fury, rage, grief and pain inside her to a boiling point. With tears in her eyes and her heart pounding, she went to the Avatar State.

…

"It's been months," said Zaheer under his breath, his voice strained and husky, "but I believe we're ready to carry out our new plan." Side by side with P'Li, he walked by the training hall, eyeing each initiate with genuine intent. They clearly had different levels of skill, for the first phase of the plan, they needed the most cunning and skilled.

His eye caught on a firebender that was taking opponents down with calm, wit and tactic. His bending was also superb, a lot better than it was when he had still been on the other side. Zaheer couldn't help but smile. This would such a nice surprise to the Avatar when he would be the one to come over tomorrow, attacking her with such burning hate in his eyes that could disintegrate anyone to ashes.

Zaheer walked over to him. "Kaizen," he called using the name he was baptized with during his forced recruitment. They were maliciously overjoyed when they had found the boy washed up along the shore, badly injured. They had found him before the Avatar did. To top it all off, his fall had him badly concussed. He lost his memory and partially his ability to move.

In time, they managed to cure him and train him. He was better than ever. But none of his memories from before the fight resurfaced. They drummed into him the valiance and nobility of the Red Lotus, and the misguidance of the Avatar. He had a new life, a new name, a new purpose. He was no longer Mako, he was Kaizen of the Red Lotus.

And tomorrow, along with other top recruits, he was going after Avatar Korra.

Thanks for reading. I sort of imagined Mako's 'death' to be in the finale episode of Book 3 and by Book 4, it'd be revealed that Red Lotus is back with an amnesiac Mako as a member. Plus with all the Makorra we're getting in the latest episodes, I just had to write a fic. It was too tempting!