Fade to Black Chapter Seventeen: Deception

Training in Martial Arts was difficult, if not entirely frustrating. It was a week until the end of June, and a week since training had begun—almost a month and a half since he had been brought back to Republic City, on the brink of death, in mid-May. Even though his speed had managed to graze the side of Korra's face during training the first day, she now predicted that and was able to compensate. Since that day a week ago, he could not land a single punch on the young Avatar. Granted, the exercises had made things easier in the sense that he could discern which blows she would throw at him, and by the end of the week he could block about eighty to ninety percent of those attacks.

He remembered sparring with her during their Fire Ferret days, and was surprised, if not a little irked, to find that her technique hadn't changed at all. It was becoming increasingly obvious as he sparred with her now, his blocks one step ahead of her blows and a pattern falling into place.

A kick from the side came at him and he quickly blocked it with his arm; next would come a punch from her right arm; as expected, he blocked the blow as it came. He blocked the next few expected attacks, his mind searching for a possible opening in which he could get in an attack of his own.

Often he would keep her arms occupied with his blocks, and she would twist away out of his grasp before he could get at her, but if he could attack before then, he could have a chance of getting her. His two arms were presently occupied with blocks—he would have to go for a kick, a trip kick. He felt the pressure on his arms starting to ease, signaling that she was starting to spring away; he would have to strike before she was out of reach. He crouched speedily on his left leg, swiping out with his right, attempting to catch her at the side. He dropped his arms and braced against the ground, increasing the momentum of his kick. If she was surprised, and if he was fast enough, and if he hadn't waited too long, then maybe he could hit her. There were too many 'ifs'.

There was the quietest of gasps from Korra and he smirked at the sound. He had indeed surprised her, and now he was going to gain an advantage. The sudden shock of meeting more air instead of colliding with her feet forced him to convert the momentum to returning him to a standing position to prevent spinning out on the ground. She had jumped out of the way at the very last moment, causing him to miss her entirely.

Movement from the side—sounded like a lunge from the rustle of the fabric. He rolled away quickly and was startled as she leapt over his crouched form and grabbed him from behind. That was new, he noted grimly as he felt the touch of her fingers at his neck; she had never leapt over him before.

"That was good," she praised him, dropping her hands from his throat, and pulling him back up onto his feet. A dark cloud of irritation formed in his mind as he dusted himself off; he was frustrated for two reasons: first of all, when he figured that he knew her attacks, she had gone and pulled a stunt like that. The second thing that bothered him was that even though he knew that it was almost inevitable that he would lose the fight against her, it still irked him to lose, despite the loss being a given.

"Once more," he told her, as she dropped her arm, getting into a ready position. He would beat her this time, he told himself—just like all the other times…

"No," she stated firmly, taking his hand, her thumb ran habitually over his knuckles, "We went without lunch yesterday, and I will not have you go without again. You need your strength, Mako. –It's one o'clock now, let's stop for lunch, then we'll come back for the afternoon and try something different for a while."

"Like what?" he demanded grouchily—in his opinion, nothing was more important than getting his Martial Arts up to par. What was she thinking, trying to stop with physical training for the day?

"You need to become accustomed to laying and detecting traps," she replied lightly with a shrug, "And I also want to try a meditation experiment on you, so you'll need plenty of energy to put up with what I've got planned."

Meditation experiment? He had always had a strong mistrust of the Spirit World—and rightfully so. Many of the Spirits were out to trick you, trapping you in the Spirit World for all eternity. So when Korra said meditation experiment, he immediately became wary of the notion; he knew Korra would never do anything to hurt him intentionally. Even though he wouldn't admit it, he was worried.

Reluctantly he followed her out of the vicinity, much rather wanting to stay and train the rest of the day with Martial Arts as they had done all week. But he had come to know Korra over the past month and a bit, more so than he had done in the past, and he knew that she would not hear of it. Korra had changed in personality, but while she was still kind to him and watched over him, she no longer reserved her sharp tongue or stubborn temperament for just Lin or Tenzin. She was firm, stubborn, and scolded him when she felt he had done something he shouldn't have, but she was kind, gentle and was there for him. Something sharp seemed to poke his insides as he realized that Korra was much like his mother had been—similar, yet different too.

He had also learned that while she often complained about her family, she deeply cared for them and he knew that she would be devastated if any of her immediate relatives were to be killed. She spoke fondly of them; she often protested about her father's tendency to be unreasonable; and she seemed to cherish her mother, whom Mako had come to respect in the few encounters he had with her.

As he and Korra made their way back to town, chattering pleasantly about the weather or something of the sort, he thought of Korra's family. Something within him seemed wistful, nostalgic and almost jealous—she had things that he no longer had, and he felt a protective instinct emerge. No one should ever go through what he had suffered; he would protect Korra, her family and her friends, even if it killed him.

Korra squeezed his hand suddenly as she became aware of his silence, "You're not mad at me because we stopped training, are you?"

"No," he replied shortly, shaking his head.

"Okay, well if you want to talk about it, just let me know," she said after a moment.

Always there to listen; she always accepted him, no matter what he did to her. The mere thought was almost implausible to him. It was then that he heard the quiet tune that she was humming into the summer breeze—the song his mother used to hum to him. Without really realizing it, he held her hand tighter; in response to the gesture, she put her other hand on his arm, walking closer to him in a supportive manner. And he didn't know why, but he didn't want to push her away; he wouldn't consciously acknowledge it, but the gesture reassured him.

"Oi! Korra!"

A smile came to the face of the Avatar as she turned her head to the call of her name. The voice was very recognizable, unmistakable to anyone who heard it. She and Mako stopped as she looked down the street to where they had just come from, where none other than Kai was jogging down the road towards them. Her smile turned to a playful grin as she mentally prepared herself for an onslaught of teasing, however the first thing Kai did was engulf her in an enormous bear hug.

"Hey!" she heard herself squawk in a very unladylike fashion, "Get off me! I'm caught on Mako's arm and you're hurting me!"

Kai released her with a laugh and grinned at Mako, "Heya Mako."

Mako gave an acknowledging grunt but made no other indication that he had even heard Kai.

"Still loaded with creative responses I see," Kai mused with a good-natured laugh, "You know, you need a nickname. Calling you by your first name sounds so formal."

"How about not?" Mako replied sourly, shoving his hands in his pockets now that Korra had dropped his arm.

Korra grinned at the ebony-haired youth's behaviour and turned to grin at Kai, "When did you get back? And how long until your next trip with Tenzin?"

"I got back yesterday—the next trip I hope will be ages away. It's so boring, visiting all the Air Temples with Tenzin," Kai replied heartily, shrugging off Mako's behaviour as well, then added in a teasing tone, "Why do you ask? So eager to get rid of me already?"

"Of course," she replied lightly, her eyes sparkling, "You have no idea how quiet it is around here with you and the other air bender kids gone. And if you and Meelo both leave for trips at the same time, it's so silent that you can hear a pin drop from the other end of town."

"Ha. Ha," Kai remarked sarcastically before giving her a light punch in the shoulder, "Where were the both of you yesterday? We were expecting you two to drop by Air Temple Island. But you didn't. At all. All day."

"Oh, well we were out training all day yesterday," Korra replied, with a shrug, "Bolin's been complaining, saying we're anti-social. In any case, how do you know we didn't visit the whole day?"

"Jinora and I sat on the steps to Air Temple Island and waited. For four hours," Kai explained with a shrug.

"Stalkers," Korra threw in with a smirk.

"But training?" he raised an eyebrow and turned to the silent Mako, "My sympathies, friend."

"Oh, stop it," Korra retorted indignantly, "You make it sound like I'm violent—you'll taint my reputation as a kind and caring Avatar."

"Kind and caring Avatar?" Kai laughed, "This is coming from the person who beat Bolin up for doing who-knows-what, and then heals him so she can beat him up all over again."

At this remark Mako gave a snort of deep amusement; Kai and Korra both turned and looked over at the Fire bender in surprise. A wide smirk decorated his lips and he seemed profoundly entertained by the mere notion.

"Almost had a laugh there," Korra commented, blinking slightly, before turning back to Kai, "And Bolin deserved that!"

However Kai wasn't paying attention, but was rather studying Kai with mild interest. "I've decided to embark on an daring quest and document it so that it shall one day be shared with the world. I shall call it 'My Epic Adventure on getting to Know Mako Better'. Chapter one: Trying to make Mako laugh. But before I begin, he needs a nickname."

At this statement Mako turned his head towards Kai and raised his eyebrows ever so slightly—a slightly annoyed expression was on his face, bordering the emotion 'peeved'. Korra on the other hand burst out laughing and couldn't stop for about thirty seconds, a time span in which she had received a number of stares from passing onlookers.

When she had finally managed to get her giggles under control, she managed to gasp out a statement between her deep breaths. "I wish you luck on your epic endeavor, Kai," she mused breathlessly, "you'll need it."

"You always have the utmost confidence in me Avatar Korra," he replied dramatically, "You flatter me."

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up," she smirked, holding her cramped stomach, "Anyway, we were on our way for lunch—do you want to come along?"

"If this guy doesn't mind—" Kai said jokingly, giving Mako a light punch on the arm, "—sure. –I really need to come up with a nickname for you."

"I don't mind," Mako said with a growl, shrugging noncommittally. "No nicknames."

A smile came to Korra's lips; she got the feeling that Mako had just agreed to Kai's presence because she had already invited him to come along, and was merely being polite—as polite as Mako could be. Inside she got an inkling that Mako wouldn't mind anyway that Kai tagged along; if he could stand Bolin, he could definitely put up with Kai.

"Come on, let's go," she said brightly with a light laugh, taking Mako by the arm while grabbing Kai's sleeve and dragging him after them, "There's a nice café that Hasook took me to once; we'll go there."

"What? You went out with a guy?" Kai suddenly exclaimed with melodrama.

Korra merely rolled her eyes. "Oh, just shut up," she retorted, shaking her head slightly, tired of the teasing.

Korra was too busy leading them towards the café she mentioned to notice, but Mako faltered slightly at Korra's ambiguous retort. Kai had caught the movement though and studied Mako for an insightful moment. Korra's response was a clear indication that she had never gone out with Hasook, but the tone in her voice merely sounded annoyed. If one did not see her actions, her remark could interpreted two ways: the first was that she was annoyed at Kai and just wanted him to back off; the second was that she was on the defensive over the matter and didn't want any more meddling in her private life.

Maybe Mako had just stumbled on the path, but Kai was doubtful—he had strong suspicions that his small stagger had something to do with interpretation number two. Now why this would bother Mako, he didn't know—but he had his suspicions and was going to do what he could to find out the answers. Getting answers from someone who didn't know, or trust you—hmm, could be difficult, better get working on his epic quest.

"Oi, Mako," he called out to the dark-haired man suddenly, "What do you think of the nickname 'City Boy'?"

Mako almost stumbled again while Korra choked on her spit.

"Absolutely not," Mako replied firmly, casting a trademark glare at Kai.

Mako was still feeling grouchy from the early morning losses that he had suffered while training, and while he didn't mind Kai, said boy wasn't doing anything to improve his mood. It was like having a second, less annoying Bolin around. Korra had beaten him twelve times that morning, five of which had occurred in very short succession between each other. Sometimes it was almost impossible to tell where on earth she was coming from or what her attack was. The rustling of her clothes and the jangle of objects helped to some extent, but it became almost useless on a windy day. Even with his speed, she was just too quick for him to keep up with.

The losses themselves were a hassle, but the addition of Kai, bouncing nicknames off of him wasn't really making his day any better. He was brooding, and he knew it. So what? He didn't care what others thought. He would much rather be training and devising methods of how he could conceivably kill Amon than take a break for lunch.

The first indications that they had arrived at the café came when the chatter of people on the streets became more concentrated. He was slightly thankful to have finally arrived, despite wanting to skip lunch all together—he was tired of having Kai bouncing nicknames off of him.

"Is this the place?" asked said Air bender.

"Yeah," Korra confirmed cheerfully pausing in front of the outdoor seating.

"I see a table over there," Kai said, "Do we just take a seat or what…?"

"Go grab it before someone else takes it!" Korra snapped hastily at Kai. Mako couldn't help but be reminded of how she treated Bolin.

"Okay, okay! Sheesh!" Kai exclaimed before his footsteps were heard jogging away.

Korra sighed slightly as they made their way to the table. She was humming that song again, but quietly; sometimes he wished she wouldn't, sometimes he wished she would—right now he was feeling both. He was distracted by the melody, so he almost committed another graceless act that day and crashed into an adjacent set of table and chairs.

"This okay with you?" Korra asked as she began to sit down. Mako nodded in response. "It's pretty busy today—tell me what you want, and I'll get it for you. Saves time that way. What do want for lunch, Mako?"

"Anything," he replied, crossing his arms and reclining back, "You know what kind of stuff I don't like."

"'Kay. Kai?"

"I'll have a large slice of cake," he declared after a moment's consideration.

"That's far from healthy."

"Oh come on, Korra."

A resigning sigh followed, "Fine, fine. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Her footsteps were soon lost in the chattering of the crowds, disappearing amid the clamor that came with conversation. Mako sat up in his chair, leaning forward so he could rest his elbows on the table, his fingers laced together under his nose. He didn't need to look at Kai to know that he was gazing at him intently, and after a minute or two of silence he heard the boy shuffle his chair slightly to his left.

"It's a nice café, I can see why Korra liked it when she came here with Hasook."

Outwardly, Mako made no movement, though inwardly he frowned slightly with confusion. Hasook; The Fire Ferrets original Water Bender. Bolin called him grouch or something of the sort. A slight frown began to descend externally on his attractive face—Korra had come here with that guy?

Mako was too preoccupied with the concept to notice Kai's gaze on him. It wasn't his business whom Korra went places with, and he frankly didn't care. He was more or less confused by the prospect instead of bothered by it. Of course it was absurd to expect her to wait forever on him, and he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised if she went out with other guys. But Hasook of all people? What on earth had caught Korra's eye that had turned her attention away from Mako and towards Hasook…?

"You seem lost in thought," came Kai's voice, jolting Mako slightly from his reverie.

He gave a grunt that could easily be interpreted as 'bugger off' before shoving all thoughts aside. The fact that Korra had possibly gone out with Hasook did not bother him; Korra's love life wasn't his business, and he definitely wasn't going to concern himself with it. He was pretty sure that she still loved him, even though he hadn't heard her say it since he had left; and even though she had gone out with other guys, it didn't necessarily mean that she had ever felt anything serious for any of them. Not that he cared either way.

After another long spell of quiet, the boy who sat at the table with him braved conversation once more, "So, Mako, tell me about yourself."

"What do you want to know?" Mako resigned to reply, turning his attention to Kai.

"Anything," Kai said lazily, "What are your interests? Likes, dislikes. Favourite colour. Whatever you want."

"Training covers my interests. I don't like a lot of things. I dislike many things. Blue," he replied evenly.

"You sound like a very interesting person," was the reply, and Mako wasn't sure whether it was intended to be sarcastic or not, "But you're very vague."

He gave a light shrug, "I suppose."

"How are things at the house going?"

"Fine."

"How's the weather been?"

"Warm."

"Do you answer questions in anything but one word answers?"

"Rarely."

Kai suddenly slapped his hand down on the table. Mako flinched slightly.

"Now we're getting somewhere!" Kai exclaimed enthusiastically, causing Mako to raise his eyebrows slightly. He supposed he had to admire the determination the boy showed in wanting to get to know him.

From behind Kai, Mako could see Korra approaching. He sighed with relief.

"What are you doing, Kai?" she asked in a tone that Mako knew she used when she was annoyed with Bolin or the Air bender kids.

"Mako and I are just getting to know each other better," came the cheerful reply as Korra set down a tray on the table, "What? Carrot cake? No chocolate? It's like you're afraid I'm going to get hyper or something."

"Hyperactivity is mentally-induced, Kai," Korra replied sitting down on Mako's left, "Your pancreas uses insulin to regulate the sugar levels in your bloodstream, so no matter how much cake you eat, you won't get hyper from it."

"Then why'd you get me fruit cake?" he complained, and Mako was almost reminded of Bolin—almost.

"Because if I let the idea of fruit cake deter you mentally, you won't get hyper off of it," she replied lightly, before turning to Mako and saying, "I got you a sandwich, I hope it's enough."

"Mm. It's fine, thank you."

Kai sighed, "Fruit cake indeed!"

With Mako's hints pressing for more training, lunch passed swiftly and soon they both managed to remove themselves from Kai's company, but not before he had made many more attempts to 'get to know Mako' and bounced a number of nicknames off the young Fire bender. Korra was half-scolding Kai, half trying not to laugh—which didn't particularly please Mako, especially because he couldn't understand what was so terribly funny.

After politely excusing themselves, Mako and Korra had headed back to training in the gym of the Arena, where she was now spending the better part of the hour setting up a number of different non-lethal traps while he practiced his Martial Arts on a helpless test dummy. The training dummy was oddly satisfying to beat on—at least he could land some hits, and not appear completely graceless like he did when up against Korra. It would be untruthful to assume that he hadn't hit her at all, but most of his attacks were blocked, even if he threw in all the force that he could.

It mystified him that she could block such attacks and not end up injured; how on earth did Korra block his attacks without becoming injured? It was apparent to him that while her attack routine wasn't any better she had dramatically improved in her defense.

'How…?' he asked himself while taking another violent blow at the dummy, completely shattering part of its face.

It was something that he knew that he couldn't muster, blocking blows like that, not without injuring himself. That's why speed was such an important factor in his technique; he had to get out of dangerous situations before he got hurt. Yet Korra could take one of his strongest blows and not become injured at all. In fact, the only time that he had hit her, she said he had bruised her, and he realized that was because she had not gotten out of the way in time, and he had underestimated her then too, not hitting her too hard.

Korra—she was so much more mysterious about herself now, than when they had first met. She hadn't once mentioned the depression she had suffered during his absence, nor had she spoken much about her time with Katara. In fact if Katara hadn't mentioned that Korra had become spent time with her in his absence, he most likely wouldn't have found out at all. Contrarily, she was outspoken and would voice her opinion often; she would talk to him about almost anything, and even reprimand him—something she wouldn't have done so easily just a year ago.

"Mako!" Korra called to him from behind him.

Relaxing his stance, he turned to face her, waiting for her instruction.

"I've finished setting up the traps," she told him, "I want you to try and make it over to where I am without setting many off."

He shelved all perplexing thoughts he currently had on Korra, and focused on the task at had. He needed a good challenge; it helped keep his mind from wandering where he did not want it to go.

Korra watched with slight interest as Mako began carefully walking across the open area clearing that lay between her and him. There were a number of traps, but she knew that some he would come across right away, because he would be able to see the strings before setting them off. His senses had grown better over the month and he was starting to pick up on things that even she hadn't noticed right away. Additionally, he seemed to have developed a sort of reflex action to moving away from things he abruptly contacted, so coming across a trip wire would be easy for him. However the other traps, which she had disguised—she would have to see how he would react to those.

As he approached the first tripwire, Korra sat down on a bench at the opposite end of the room, watching his behaviour. Each footfall was placed with care, and as his leg brushed the first of the wires, he abruptly took a step backwards. That was close, she mused; the pressure on the line had bordered on setting the trap off. He kneeled and reached out carefully, his hands grasping the wire with care. He ran his fingers along the thin metal and after a moment, stood up again, taking a step over it.

'Not bad,' she smiled, but it was far from over.

The next few traps proved to be easy finds as he crawled over and under each one without difficulty, however, as he stepped out over the first pitfall she had quickly dug— using the techniques she had learned with Lin—Mako ran into a little difficulty. He had put his foot down on the ground and felt it give a little under his weight; removing his foot and putting it back on solid ground, he stood motionless for a moment, pondering the dilemma. Korra gave a small smile; the pitfalls weren't deep, only a foot, but Mako didn't know that. Of course he could rule them out as being dangerous, because she hadn't spent that much time with the traps, however the unknown nature of the trap could still cause injury. Also, the goal of this exercise was to avoid setting off any of the traps, so it would be better if he didn't set it off at all.

He took an experimental step to the left and when satisfied, moved along.

Korra stretched luxuriously and leaned back against the wall. It would take the rest of the afternoon at this rate. She hoped it wouldn't take too long—she wanted to get that meditation experiment done. Closing her eyes, she rested a little; when she had blocked his blows that morning, she had drained her energy when she focused it in certain spots so that Mako wouldn't break her bones—she was tired, even though she didn't want to admit it. Mako would bother her about it if she let it show, saying that she shouldn't worry about him, and should get a decent night's sleep. Korra grimaced inwardly at the very thought, the hell she was going to let him suffer those nightmares.

A sharp snap and a twang caused her to jump alert again as Mako set off one of the traps. She opened her eyes just in time to see a small bag she had filled with dirt, whack him in the back, knocking him forwards. She couldn't help but smirk as Mako landed on top of one of the pitfalls, promptly falling flat out onto the ground. He had bypassed about ten of the thirty traps she put up, and had only set of two. He was doing well, she noted before closing her eyes again, ignoring Mako's colourful language.

It took only a moment for her drowsy brain to register that she was being called. Startled, she looked about wildly, trying to figure out where she was. Where was Katara? What was the situation? Was someone dying? Those were questions that automatically flitted across her mind as she was instantly awake. But the fumes of hospital disinfectants didn't meet her nose, nor were there the white painted hallways illuminated with that terrible fluorescent lighting.

Her body had become tense and ready to spring, but as she remembered where she was, she relaxed slightly, looking over at Mako, who was sitting down next to her. She felt guilty; she had fallen asleep.

"You fell asleep," Mako told her needlessly, causing her to blush furiously.

"Sorry… I just…" her voice faded away, having no idea what to say.

A frown descended on Mako's brow and she quickly stood up, trying to avoid what was coming.

"You're not getting enough sleep," he told her firmly, and she halted in her path, facing him defiantly.

"It doesn't matter," she told him, equally as firm, "Don't worry about me."

He grumbled incoherently, but otherwise made no other comment. Satisfied that using his own words against him had effectively silenced him, she turned away from him and surveyed the room. As she had expected, a number of the last few traps had been set off, as she had made them more difficult; she noted with satisfaction that he had at least made it past half of the traps without setting them off.

"You did well," she said honestly, his silence unnerving her. When he made no response, she went on to ask, "How long did you let me sleep?"

"As long as it took for me to get across," he replied honestly, beside her he shoved his hands into his pant pockets.

"Then it took you an hour to get across," she stated, a small frown of displeasure crossing her face, "Much too slow. Well, forget about it for now—it's growing later in the day. I want to try that meditation thing with you."

"What did you have in mind?" he asked her, and she barely caught the tone of uncertainty in his voice.

"Just simple meditation," she told him, turning towards him to better study him. The uncertain tone did not match the emotionless expression on his face. She wondered if she had imagined it, "It's an experiment because I don't know how it'll work on you. Meditation has different results on different people. The meditation I want to try with you is similar to that of entering into the Spirit world."

"Assuming it works, what kind of world would you thrust me into?" he asked after a moment's pause.

"I actually have no control on where you end up, I suppose I could try to cast you into a particular setting," she said off-handedly, "Anything specific?"

He shook his head, "It doesn't matter."

"Okay," she shrugged, then moving to stand in front of him, "Sit down opposite me and make sure you're focused on nothing but calming your mind; I'm going to try it now."

She stared straight into his eyes, aligning her turquoise irises with his amber ones. A serious expression was on his face, and she noticed that he was slightly tensed up; she wondered dimly if he was nervous. Meditation was not something to be taken lightly, and you had to trust someone to a tremendous degree if you were to willingly let someone phase you into the spirit world. Selecting a location in her mind, she formed the signs with her hands, and signing the last symbol, she focused her energy and prayed for the best.

At first Mako wondered if anything had even happened to begin with—it was dark around him, there were no illusions, and there was still the rustling of the leaves. Then the world spun dangerously and he felt himself lose his balance, the ground seeming unnaturally soft, and fake. He was falling over, unable to get his balance, and as he fell, he kept falling, and falling.

'Mako…?'

The voice echoed from far away, almost drawn out on the whispers of the breeze. It came from everywhere, no fronts and backs, ups and downs existing in the insubstantial world, yet he could recognize it as Korra's voice. He tried turning his head, getting a pinpoint on her illusionary location, but the vertigo was overwhelming, and he felt sick.

"Your projection had better be me falling endlessly over in a world with no directions," he told the air, trying not to vomit, "because that's what I'm experiencing at the moment."

'No, that's not what it is at all,' came Korra's voice, 'You can tell it's an illusion?'

"Yes," he croaked, holding onto his illusionary stomach, "Unless you want me to feel the sensation of falling endlessly off a cliff."

There was a pause, and Mako continued to feel ill, before her voice came to him.

'Can you break out of it?'

He considered the possibility for a moment. Once the body became aware of an illusion, it was generally simple to escape. If they had the ability to bend the elements. Mako however, no longer did.

He released his stomach and answered, "No. Without the ability bend I have no chance of breaking out of it. You'll have to phase me out of it."

'Okay. This may be slightly unpleasant.'

The world instantly stilled, and he felt his back against the ground; a dumbbell poking painfully into his right shoulder blade. He felt Korra's hand on his shoulder, and while the breeze through the window was still blowing softly, there were now birdcalls in the air, something that had dissipated in the illusion.

"Okay, so that didn't have any affect on you—visually that is," she said quietly to herself; Mako didn't move from his spot, the dumbbell jutting into his back was a nice reminder he was back in the real world.

He grunted at her voiced thoughts, he himself wondering when she had learned so much on meditation and channeling her spiritual energy.

"If you don't mind, I want to try one more," she said after a moment's pause, "There's something Tenzin taught me when I was studying under him. Though it's not as commonly used, due to it being in an inconvenient place to try and attack, meditation and phase points can be applied to the back of one's skull. Because most information received from the senses is received by the cerebrum's occipital and parietal lobes, close contact with it should have a greater affect on you."

"How is it more effective?" he asked, trying to absorb what she had just said, only getting a vague grasp on it.

"For it to work, one often has to trick the primary sensory organ: the eye. But if one has their eyes closed it's hard for another to channel into their spiritual energy," she clarified lightly, the explanation seeming almost automatic, and her mind elsewhere, "Most of the projection is recognized as information sent to the brain. But if one targets the brain directly, information is instantly received and perceived as true, before other parts of your brain can work out what's real and what's not."

"Why the back of the head?"

"The parietal lobe—which processes sensory information—and the occipital lobe—which processes visual information—are both located towards the upper back of the head," Korra continued, "Target those directly, and your partner, or in some cases opponent, should be projected into another dimension without being able to do much about it. It's a stronger method, and because of that, few people are able to break from it. Conversely, because the back of the head is difficult to gain access to, it is a generally unused practice."

"If you can get out of a forced illusion that was aimed at your head…" he started, voicing his thoughts—something he seldom did, "Then you can escape any kind of external dimension, correct?"

"In theory, yes," she replied lightly. "Anyway, with your permission, I'd like to try it on you. Just to see the effects."

He paused for a moment before answering.

"I trust you."

The sight of a wide-open field surprised him. The grasses were a lush green, the sky an uncanny hue of blue; all around him, cheer and happiness seemed to jump out at him in the forms of colour.

"Mako?"

Korra's voice was no longer coming from everywhere, but was projected from a spot behind him. Turning he saw the chocolaty locks, those bright turquoise eyes, but she appeared to him in the form of a child. As she realized that he was looking at her, a radiant smile crossed her face.

She walked over to him and it was as she approached that he realized that his mind had been misled so that he too was in a child's body. He reached out his hand to her and she met it with hers, their palms touching, and fingers outstretched. She felt real, looked real, sounded real.

"I guess it worked," she said happily, smiling at him, "You can see me, right?"

"Mm," he replied, looking at their small hands before them.

"You don't realize how strange that sounds coming from you as you look now," she said, her smile fading slightly, replaced with a disapproving frown.

He shrugged lightly, dropping his hand away from hers, and looking out over the field. The location seemed familiar, like a place from a dream, or a forgotten memory.

"Where are we?" he asked her after a moment.

"I don't know," she said, coming up beside him, following his gaze over the horizon, "Somewhere I've not yet been in the Spirit World would be my guess."

"That's strange," he told her, a frowning deeply, "This place seems familiar."

"Really?" she asked, sitting down on the grass, toying with the ends of her hair, "A powerful enough projection can influence other parts of the brain that are associated with memory. Maybe that's why it seems familiar to you; perhaps you're being influenced by my memories. Don't forget though Mako, false memories can be deadly."

Something jolted within him at this new information that she had given him. His mind registered two things at once. One was that if he had parts of his memory missing, as he did now, and if he was susceptible to false memories, he would be very vulnerable to attacks. What if Amon knew about implanting false memories? He could use it against him if he ever wanted to hunt down the young Fire bender. False information, false locations, false names—all could result in dangerous situations because he had no other memories to conflict with, or correct the implanted ones.

The second thought was the realization that Korra possessed the ability to cast a powerful projection on him, one powerful enough so that he believed that this world was from his own memories.

"Well, I guess that answers any questions I had on the influence meditation would have on you," Korra stated grimly, "I'll dispel it now."

"Wait."

He found himself speaking without even thinking of it, baffling both Korra and himself at the same time. He looked over the green field—a place that seemed so real, yet it was an illusion. It was entirely deceptive— a place with no war, no conflict or pain. He should know better, that a world like that doesn't exist, but…

"Mako," Korra said after a moment, her voice gentle, "It's not real. As much as you might want believe that it is, you can't forget how things really are. Don't lose yourself to an illusion."

He grunted in response, but did not turn from the scene, imprinting the scene on his memory until the very last moment when he woke, with Korra kneeling opposite him, the rock digging into his back, and the world—dull.

Long long chapter to make up for my long long absence (I'm slack, I know.) Now that I do find myself with a little extra time between study and work, you can expect to have a few more chapters coming your way soon. I can't say that I'm particularly happy with this chapter as I found it difficult to convey what I wanted. Essentially the visit to the Spirt World was, for lack of better description, a trip back to the past for both Mako and Korra. It was to a time where Mako's parents were still alive and he knew happiness and joy, as did Korra. Now though, as adults, their lives have led them into a world that is dull and full of pain for the pair of them. That is what I wanted to convey. Anywho, enough of my rambling. Enjoy and review.

Bonami27.