I did it. I wrote a second chapter for this.

It's set about three weeks after Korra's departure for the South Pole, to recuperate from the mercury poisoning. Well, mostly.

Kai wasn't entirely sure what kind of punishment this was supposed to be. He expected something harsher, something more... painful. Granted, this dark, cold room wasn't exactly a five-star Presidential Suite, but he'd seen worse. At least he had a roof over his head. He could make do.

That horrible Dai Li "instructor" probably had hoped the isolation would get to him. Well, he picked the wrong boy for that. Loneliness didn't bother Kai, he was used to being alone. He'd always been alone.

A shiver ran down his spine. Bleeding hog monkey, it sure was cold in here! Kai crossed his arms, trying his hardest to rub the goosebumps away. If the Dai Li was to lock airbenders in an underground compound, at least they could have designed the uniform with long sleeves.

Why in the name of Koh did the Earth Queen's army have child-sized uniforms anyway?

Still shivering, Kai shifted in his spot, turning sideways until he could place his feet on the pitiful excuse for a bench he was sitting on. There was barely enough room for him to sit with his knees drawn up, and he was tempted to lean back against the wall. Use what little extra space it had to offer. But he controlled the urge and hugged his legs firmly to his chest, curling into himself for warmth. He had some firsthand experience with the deceptive comfort of a wall to lean against – the cold stone would drain his body heat in no time and leave him much more miserable than he already was. The wood was considerably safer in that respect.

From there, all he could do was wait. The shock, the amazement and joy from talking to Jinora's spirity thing was already fading, and with it the adrenaline in his veins. He felt so sore; his stomach was queasy from the first earth disc he got hit by, and his ribs ached from the other. But Kai knew the Avatar's team was coming, and that was all he needed to hang onto his courage.

He closed his eyes, slipping into a semi-conscious state to conserve his energy and, on a more practical note, avoid boredom. Just like pretty much anything, it was a skill he acquired from growing up on the streets: When he wasn't safely tucked away in an inn or another place only he could reach for one reason or another, he couldn't afford to be unaware of his surroundings for an extended period of time. If the situation called for it, he could go for weeks without sleep before he started acting... off. Not that people cared enough to take notice. No one ever cared. Not about him as a person, anyway.

Kai remembered getting entangled with a Triad gang once. He had tried to steal from a Triad member without knowing whom he was dealing with. But instead of killing him for his travesty, they had offered him to join. He'd been desperate, he'd been lonely, he had nowhere to go, and it was an appealing prospect for his eight-year-old self (or maybe seven, or nine, he wasn't quite sure) to have a group of strong fighters covering his back. He did small jobs for them, usually involving stealing, bribery or participating in scams, and for a couple months, his life bore a resemblance to what could pass as 'normalcy'. At least, until he got sucked into a turf war. Injured and driven into a corner, he had to rely on someone else to get him out of it – only that no one bothered. They had wanted him only for his nimble fingers and innocent looks. The very moment he was more trouble than he was worth, they dropped him like a hot potato. They betrayed his trust. Since then, he was wary of forming connections to anyone.

And with that running through his head, he started wondering how different his current situation was. Not at all. The Avatar had saved his sorry butt from getting dragged to jail, but only because he was an airbender. Surely she wouldn't have done it if he were a random street rat. She only cared about Kai the Airbender, not Kai the Person, just like the Triad had only cared about Kai the Pickpocket.

And now they had a whole bunch of other airbenders. Jinora said they'd come for him, but would they really? He'd done absolutely nothing to endear himself to them. He lied to them, stole from them, used them and slipped away the very moment he found something more worthwhile. Plus, he was separated from the rest. Once again, he was more trouble than he was worth.

Kai shooed those thoughts away. Jinora promised, and he wanted to believe in her. But the doubt had been planted, and it only grew with every passing hour. They did take their sweet time. What if... What if the whole rescue was already over and done with? What if they took the others and left him behind? That must be it. He'd become a collateral again, and he had no one to blame but himself. Third rule of life: No good deed goes unpunished. If he hadn't stood up for Yung, he'd probably been with the others, getting freed by association rather than being left behind. Better get used to the idea of being the center of unwanted attention until the Dai Li found themselves new airbenders to imprison.

Another hour must have passed when the sound of the door opening startled Kai from his half-slumber. He couldn't believe his eyes. The two people in the door frame were not Dai Li agents. They were the Avatar's friends, Mako and Bolin. They came for him! And then Jinora appeared, and she was so happy to see him. She hugged him, she kissed him, and Kai melted into a puddle of utter bliss.

They came for him. Despite of the trouble he caused them, they cared enough to go through the Dai Li without needing to. He decided to give the whole trust-thing another shot. And apologizing would be a good place to start with making amends.

"There you are."

Kai almost falls off his branch with shock. He lunges for the moon peach he's been planning to eat, then forgotten about because of that awful flashback. Still flat on his stomach, the moon peach securely clasped between his fingers, he peers through the leaves of the tree. A familiar figure is standing at the base of the trunk, arms crossed and the distinctive eyebrows set in a stern expression.

"Hey Mako," Kai greets, trying to figure out what to feel at the firebender's sight. Normally, he'd be happy to see him, but something about the detective is spelling trouble. "Didn't see you there."

"Yeah, I kind of noticed. What are you doing up there, kid?"

"Resting," Kai replies, which is technically true. The knot in his stomach notwithstanding, a nice tree branch with moon peaches in every direction is hard to top. "And what are you doing down there?"

Mako sighs. "Looking for you. You're missing the history lesson, you should get back to the temple."

Kai moans, the motivation to sit up rapidly dwindling. Is it time for Tenzin's uber-boring lectures again? He didn't even notice. "Do I have to?"

"Come on, I'm sure it's not that bad," Mako coaxes, switching from strict detective to big brother.

"Easy for you to say. You haven't been there."

But even while Kai is complaining about it, he's making his way down the tree, gliding and dropping nimbly from branch to branch. He plucks a second moon peach in the process, which he drops into Mako's hands shortly before his feet touch the ground. Mako, taken aback by the gesture, blinks at the moon peach for a moment.

"Thanks, kid."

"No problem." Kai shrugs and plops to the ground, making himself comfortable between the gnarled tree roots.

"You're really going to cut the lesson?"

Kai shrugs again, faking nonchalance. "It won't stick anyway, and I can read up on it later."

Mako quirks a meaningful eyebrow and lets silence do the talking. It doesn't take long for Kai to start squirming uncomfortably. In the end, the boy gives vent to an exasperated huff.

"Stop giving me that look, sheesh!" He turns away, draws up his legs and wraps an arm around them. Finally, he grinds out, "I really don't feel like sitting through another guru's... whatever gurus do, okay?" and proceeds to bite into his moon peach.

Mako, for his part, is not sure whether he should be mad, concerned, or both. With Kai's reaction being what's obviously comfort eating, it reminds him of Bolin... from a long time ago, a time he doesn't care to remember.

Mentally kicking himself, he settles on the ground next to Kai. "You're not telling me everything, kid."

Kai keeps chewing on his moon peach, pretending he didn't hear anything. Mako awkwardly runs a hand through his hair. This is gonna be horrible, and he's well aware that this is only horrible because he's horrible at this. Mako has been in the same situation, he knows how hard it is to open up, even when the trust is there. And maybe he should work on his phrasing. Maybe making this sound like an interrogation is a horrible idea, especially considering that Kai has bad experiences with cops. Which, for all intents and purposes, is his very own fault, but still...

Mako sighs. "I get it, you don't want to talk. It's okay, I know I certainly didn't when I was your age. Growing up on the streets is rough. Food is scarce, people look down on you, you never know whom you can trust. At least I had my brother and my fire. I can only begin to imagine how much worse it must have been for a nonbender left to fend for himself." Mako's eyebrows furrow. "Holy smoke, winter must have been awful."

"I got along." Kai's voice is soft, muffled by the moon peach. "I'm from the southwestern coast of the Earth Kingdom. Winter is not really an issue down there."

A quiet laugh escapes Mako's throat. "Could have thought of that myself. Your skin color is quite the giveaway."

"I'm not sure..." With his moon peach now gone, Kai picks up a twig and starts fumbling with it. "I'm not really a stickler for these kinds of things, but you'd have a hard time finding someone as dark as me, well, anywhere in the Earth Kingdom. It's more of a Water Tribe thing, I guess. Not even the sandbenders are this dark."

"You met sandbenders?" Mako cuts in, partly to steer the conversation away from his slip-up (even though Kai doesn't seem to mind), partly from genuine curiosity. The kid must have gotten some serious wandering done, where Mako and Bolin stayed in the city they were born in.

Kai chuckles awkwardly. "Once. After I gained airbending, I figured my best bet at losing the sheriff would be crossing the Si Wong. So I tried to steal a sand sailor, but I couldn't control my airbending yet and flipped it over. The sandbenders did not take it well."

"That I believe." Mako rubs his face, unable to think of another way to deal with this flagrant violation of common sense. "You sure are one snatch-happy kid. Even a toddler knows better than to mess with a sand sailor."

A wry smile tugs at Kai's lips. "That's why I did it. No one would have seen it coming. Plus, I was still high on airbending." The twig in his hands snaps into halves. Kai's expression changes to solemn, he doesn't volunteer any more information.

Mako is not sure what to say. It's not that he's confused, it's obvious to him that Kai is carrying more pain than he's letting on. Mako has encountered many orphans in his life, and their many ways of dealing with being stuck in the streets. There are roughly three categories: The broken, the resigned, and the fighters. Mako and Bolin were fighters, constantly striving to get out of the situation they were in, and eventually landed a placement in the pro-bending tournaments, thanks to Toza. But Kai, Kai is the kind Mako sorts with the legendary fourth category: the takers. Kids who embrace the life they've been thrown into, make the best of it, who actually end up flourishing and obtaining a semblance of happiness. They are the rarest type, in fact, Mako could hardly believe they existed until he came across Kai. The takers are the hardest to pull out of the routine they settled into, as they have the least reason to try and start over. Kai did it, and needs time to adjust.

Mako digs his finger into his untouched moon peach and tears it into halves. He hands one half to Kai and bites into the other.

"Uh... thanks?" Kai drawls, taken aback. "But you don't have to, I can easily pluck another one."

"Well, that would require standing up, wouldn't it?" Mako retorts, amusement lifting a corner of his mouth. The statement causes Kai to laugh.

"Fair enough."

It comes as a surprise to both of them how much comfort they can draw from their joint effort to be as lazy as possible. Kai crosses his arms behind his head and relaxes deeper into the tree roots until he's basically lying on the ground, while Mako stretches a leg and leans forward to place an arm on the knee which is still up. The gentle breeze and the warmth of the sun do the rest, reassuring both fire- and airbender.

"Mako?" Kai decides to speak after a while. He sits up and crosses his legs, while Mako swings his gaze around, an eyebrow raised for silent encouragement. Kai breathes deeply, which can take a while when airbenders do it. There is plenty of caution in his voice when he finally asks, "Does Bolin really see me as a brother?"

That questions comes so utterly unexpected that Mako is dumbstruck for a moment. "Uh..." is the most eloquent he can piece together in a rush, then he composes himself. "Sure he does. Why would you think otherwise?"

"Because he treats me like a pet," Kai explains, voice somewhere between resentment and helplessness. "Don't get me wrong, I like him and all, it's just..." He cuts himself off and shakes his head. "Never mind."

Figures. Considering the current level of closeness in Mako and Kai's relationship, Jinora would probably be the better choice when it comes to talking things out. Or Bolin himself, or even Korra if she weren't...

Mako pinches the bridge of his nose. Girlfriend or not, Korra will always hold a special place in his heart. To think about what the Red Lotus did to her, made her into... it's agony.

"Mako?"

Kai's voice snaps him out of it. The firebender lets go of his nose and sighs. "Don't worry about me, kid. I'm alright."

Kai emits a noncommittal hum and shrugs. "If you say so..."

He doesn't probe further, and Mako realizes that's pretty much the reason why they don't get anywhere. They're both withholding information, and neither of them is straightforward enough to actively demand something. Bolin would pester him until he spits it out, that's clear.

And thus, Mako ends up elaborating, "It's about Korra. You've seen what a terrible shape she was in, and I can't stand not knowing how she is. She doesn't write, and the White Lotus wouldn't tell me anything for security reasons."

"It's frustrating," Kai concludes, nodding along sympathetically. "I know. I'm worried, too. But moping about it won't help anyone. If Korra doesn't want to write back, there's nothing we can do."

"Sounds like you tried it, too."

"Of course I did!" Kai pouts, taking offense at the surprise on Mako's face. "I know, my spelling is all over the place, and the letter took me all day, but I tried, okay? Three, four days ago. I thought she should know what Tenzin is putting us through since he decided that we should be doing Avatar stuff. For Koh's sake, the day only has 24 hours!"

A corner of Mako's mouth twitches. Watching Kai rage against the old airbending master might have been funny if it had been for a different reason. "Well, I hope you didn't phrase it that way."

"Hey, I wasn't trying to make her feel worse! It's not her fault that bunch of idiots poisoned her!"

Okay, that outburst is more shocking rather than funny. Mako raises his hands defensively. "Alright, alright! Calm down, kid, I wasn't serious."

That puts a stop to Kai's anger, but he remains skeptical. "You're always serious."

"What?!" Now it's Mako's turn to be offended. "No, I'm not!"

"Of course you are, Detective!"

"I'm not! I always carry a note with a few zingers on duty!"

Kai hastily clamps a hand over his mouth to keep the laughter contained, only to end up snorting it out. Then he gives up on the concealing attempts and howls with glee. "A note? Are you serious?"

"Well, apparently, I'm always serious," Mako gripes, a fact that Kai completely fails to acknowledge.

"Can I see it?"

The question causes Mako to give Kai a suspicious glance, evaluating the kid's possible intentions. Then he decides that there is no harm in letting Kai take a look. He produces the note from his pants pocket (you never know when inspiration strikes) and hands it over. As Kai scans the small slip of paper, his mouth stretches into a thin line, a picture of concentration. Mako has kept a close eye on Kai ever since he caught him and Jinora in the library practicing reading, and seeing the kid now, Mako nods to himself, a small smile on his face. Kai's definitely making progress.

No sooner he finished the thought than Kai bursts into laughter again. "Car trouble! That's not half-bad, actually."

Mako raises a brow and stares at Kai. The young airbender senses the gaze and looks up, grinning innocently, perfectly unfazed by the skeptical gaze. Mako gives it two seconds for good measure, then says, "I'll take that as a compliment."

Kai's grin grows even broader before the boy turns his attention back at the note, chuckling every now and again. When he puts out his hand to return the paper, he comments, "Didn't know you had it in you!"

"You're pushing it, kid," Mako warns, only half-jokingly. He takes the note, but before he can stuff it back into his pants, Kai leans over, untangling his legs and resting his hands on the tree root next to Mako. A playful smile spreads on his face, setting his eyes gleaming. Mako is suddenly reminded of a cat, a very mischievous cat.

"Hey, I've got one, too! How's this?" Kai sits back on his knees and clears his throat. "Got off course? I'm more than happy to show you the way to the police station."

At first, Mako is a little freaked out by the uncanny accuracy Kai shows in imitating his manner of speech, but then a corner of his mouth rises into a smirk and he nods his approval. "Not bad, not bad."

Mako whips out a pen and uncaps it to write the line down, then changes his mind and holds the two items out for Kai. "How about you write it down?"

But Kai flinches back and waves his arms defensively. "Me?! No, no! I've met my writing quota for this week."

"Well, then you'll exceed your quota," Mako prods with an encouraging smile. Kai rolls his eyes, showing no signs of taking the offered utensils. The smile falls, making room for a frown. "You need to practice every day, kid. If you skip history, you should at least get some writing done."

Kai concedes, albeit reluctantly. "Alright," he grumbles and reaches for pen and paper. If he had known what his input resulted in, he would have kept his mouth shut.

Smile back in place, Mako turns his back for the young airbender to use as a desk. Kai accepts the invitation, then stares blankly at the note, his brain suddenly refusing to supply the correct strokes. Or any strokes at all. But maybe the sentences write themselves if Kai wishes for it hard enough?

"You got this, kid. Take it easy, we have all the time in the world."

With a deep breath, Kai forces himself to relax, and as if by a miracle, his mind unblocks, forming senseful characters. "Okay!" And with new determination, Kai starts working on the note, the tip of his tongue poking out. Jinora would be scandalized by his blatant disregard for stroke order, Kai knows, but he's too pleased to care.

"So, what about Bolin?"

"Uh..."

The question was meant to blindside Kai, and it did the job well enough. Mako figures that the boy would be more willing to talk when he's not busy moping about.

He's right – after some meditative pen-chewing, Kai confesses, "I'm not sure. When my parents died, I swore I'd never let anyone replace them. But I don't have any siblings, so the idea of a big brother..." Kai sighs. "I don't know. Maybe if Bolin wasn't so pushy. When we first met, I felt I could barely breathe around him. I only put up with it because... you know..."

"Because you were after our wallets."

"Your transport, actually. Though I can't deny that the wallets were a nice bonus," Kai corrects, forcing a teasing tone to fight the guilt. Then he shakes his head and drops the act, it's not working anyway. He lets the note be a note and shifts until he returns to his original position. Mako, suddenly missing the feel of pen and paper pressed against his back, turns his head.

"I'm sorry for what I did." Kai's voice is quiet, filled with remorse. Head hanging low, he can only hear Mako moving with the rustle of clothes. He doesn't dare looking up. "I knew what I was doing when I left you and Bolin on that train without money for a ticket back. I shouldn't have done it."

"It's okay, kid." Mako puts an arm around Kai, a little cautious after the boy remarked on Bolin's unmindful overeagerness. But Kai quickly proves him paranoid, curiously looking up instead of pulling away. Mako chuckles. "You know what? I think it was destiny. If you hadn't run away, Bolin and me wouldn't have found our family. We never would have found out about the Dai Li imprisoning airbenders, and we never would have been able to locate the compound if you hadn't been there to function as a spiritual port for Jinora."

"I guess that's a way to put it..." Kai tilts his head slightly, intrigued by this new perspective. "Crazy, huh?" Then he huffs and cups his face in a hand, elbow resting on his knee. The other hand is clenched into a fist, still holding onto Mako's pen and the now crumpled note. "But I still could have done without being locked up and forced to fight for someone who's not interested in returning the favor."

Kai's bitterness leaves Mako at a loss for words. No matter how misbehaved the boy initially was, he didn't deserve being forced into what's essentially slavery. It's wrong, plain and simply wrong.

"Mako? Are you okay?" Kai rips him out of his musings, making him wince.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But you may want to avoid my grandma. She practically worships the Earth Queen."

Kai's scowl deepens. "How's that even possible?"

"Don't ask me!" Mako complains. "My guess is that she remembers Queen Hou-Ting's father, Earth King Kuei. There are a lot of stories about him working together with Avatar Aang to found the United Republic, and that he was a wise and well-traveled ruler."

"Yeah, I've heard about him." Kai heaves a long, deep sigh. "You'd think his daughter would have turned out better than this. He probably spoiled her rotten."

"Probably..." Mako repeats vaguely, scrutinizing the kid who still hasn't made a move to get away from his arm. Right now, Kai reminds him a bit of Korra. Mako himself feels uncomfortable with speaking ill of the dead queen, tyrant or not. Kai doesn't care and speaks his mind, the way Korra would if she were with them. In a surge of protectiveness, he pulls the kid a little closer, an action to which Kai responds with puzzlement. Which in turn sends Mako into a wide-eyed panic, wondering if he overdid it. But then a grateful smile lightens up Kai's features and he scoots even closer, snuggling up against Mako's side.

"You know, Bolin's lucky. He's got a great brother."

That's about the last thing Mako expected Kai to say. Overtaxed and his feelings in a mess, he stutters a substantial collection of ahs, uhs and ohs together before he finally manages a "Thanks, kid."

Kai answers with an awkward laugh, half bewildered, half amused. For a detective, Mako sure is easy to fluster. They'd probably be better off changing the subject.

"By the way, I think I figured out why airbending chose me."

Mako, finally regaining control of his feelings and body temperature, is about to tell Kai that airbending 'chooses' no one, but is simply a consequence of the Spirit Portals remaining open after Harmonic Convergence. But he stops himself, there is no reason to pop Kai's little bubble just yet. The young airbender should keep what little of his child-like naivety is still left.

And thus, Mako encourages Kai to continue, which he happily does.

"Tenzin says that air is the element of freedom. When I learned how to fly with a glider, it was so amazing!" Kai drops note and pen and spreads his arms. Mako leans back to dodge the hand threatening to whack him upside the head, but Kai is too busy beaming to notice. "I wouldn't trade it for anything! When Lefty grows up, I want to travel the world!"

"Sounds great," Mako says, trying to keep the strain out of his voice. He decides that enough is enough and gently pushes Kai's hand out of his face, making the young airbender finally realize what he's doing. He places his hands in his lap and chuckles awkwardly.

"So you love your freedom, right kid?" Mako questions, but Kai shakes his head in response.

"Not only mine. I want to protect everyone's freedom. I was a prisoner once, and I don't want anyone to go through the same."

Mako frowns. Idealism is nice and all, but in the light of happened with the Red Lotus those past weeks, a little interference may be in order. And who better to do it than a cop? "But what about those who would abuse this freedom to hurt others?"

"I've thought about that, but..." Kai shrugs helplessly. "I'm not sure yet. But I am sure that it'll come to me someday." He emits a brief snicker. "Who knows, maybe a Tenzin from a few generations later will stand in front of his students and tell a long, boring story about Kai, the freedom guru."

"So you want your life to be a long, boring story, eh?"

Mako smirks while Kai pretends to think about the question. The answer is crystal clear: "Nah, I'd rather not. Besides, 'Kai the freedom guru' sounds pretty awful, doesn't it?"

"I think it would be more along the lines of 'Guru Kai'," Mako comments, evading the question. Even when a person expects agreement, telling them that their name sounds awful isn't exactly the way to go. And judging from Kai's nod, Mako's suggestion seems to please.

"Well, I still don't want to be a long, boring story to put future generations of airbenders to sleep with," Kai declares and Mako raises a brow.

"It's really that bad?"

"It's really that bad. Although, Bumi said that, according to Tenzin, everything's a matter of perspective. So from the perspective of someone who needs to catch up on sleep, Tenzin's lectures are pretty awesome. You should have seen Tenzin's face!" Kai dissolves into giggles at the memory, and Mako ends up being infected by it. To be fair, the airbending master really does look funny when he's embarrassed.

Eventually, Kai calms down. He twists in his spot, intending to test Mako's qualities as a backrest, when he senses something smooth and hard bumping against his thigh. A pang of guilt rushes through him as he picks up Mako's pen and paper, the latter apparently has suffered terribly from his various moods. To top it off, his own line is still only halfway done.

"Uh, sorry for ruining your cheat sheet..."

"No matter," Mako assures the boy and takes his writing utensils back. He smooths out the note, nods approvingly and stores it away. "Still readable. I'll copy it later."

Kai sighs with relief.

"But don't think you can weasel out of writing practice, kid!"

"I give you another moon peach?"

"No bribery," Mako smirks and Kai's lips curl into a pout. He looks up and picks a moon peach to serve his purposes, then uses some subtle airbending to create pull. Tenzin keeps preaching against revenge, but there is no harm in having some fun, right?

The moon peach comes loose and falls, directly into a nest of combed up hair.

"Ow!" the firebender attached to said hair yelps and lets go of Kai. He catches the moon peach rolling off his head and rubs the offended spot. Kai for his part doesn't even try to conceal his amusement, doubling up with laughter and holding his sides.

Mako sees the reaction and puts two and two together. Grumbling, he fixes his hair, but he wouldn't dream of using his firebending to retaliate, or stoop so low as to misuse the moon peach for it. Instead, he turns up his nose and puts on a stern expression.

"I told you, bribery doesn't work, kid."

The only effect the announcement has on Kai is refueling his laughter, and Mako finds he can't stay mad. Without him realizing it, his heart has sorted Kai into the little brother box, to Bolin.

By the time Kai stops laughing in favor of gasping for air, Mako once again has torn the moon peach into halves. Kai accepts the treat eagerly, his raw throat very much agreeing with the juices.

"You know, I'm sure glad you're not out for my blood anymore," he chirps between two bites, so the unexpected remark takes a second to register with Mako.

"Well, I'm sure glad you're not out for my wallet anymore."

"Don't tempt me," Kai jests, causing Mako to shake his head.

"You're strange, kid. What the flameo made you into this?"

Kai freezes for a split-second, then looks up, eyeing the firebender warily up and down. "Is that a rhetorical question?"

Mako blinks. The question was, in fact, meant to be rhetorical, but he can't deny a spark of curiosity. After all, a small, unwanted part of him is still hardwired to admire everyone who does well in the streets, regardless of the age gap. To that part, Kai is a little legend of his own.

"If you want it to be."

Kai rubs his head. He senses the honest curiosity, but he's afraid of putting his feelings into words. Words are so harsh in their precision. They draw attention to the wrongness of getting one's kicks out of stealing, make him feel ridiculous and selfish. Like he really should know better.

He sighs. "After my parents died, no one wanted anything to do with me. I don't know why, I don't want to know. And I ran away. I was scared, hurt and upset. I was angry at the world for taking everything I had away from me. I guess I just... started taking it back? I wanted the world to pay for all the pain it put me through, and I found it to work very well so long as I didn't stay in one place for too long. It wasn't all roses, of course, but the more I traveled and the older I got, the more I started to enjoy it."

Kai crosses his arms and refuses to say anything more, but Mako is satisfied. He himself had been too busy keeping Bolin and himself alive to look for someone or something to blame, and even if he hadn't, he doubts he would have picked up a me against the world mentality. But he can certainly understand it happening.

"Tell you what, kid: When I got the chance to get off the streets and become a pro-bender, I flinched too. It was a huge change and seemed too uncertain. Of course, life in the streets was also uncertain, but at least it was a familiar brand of uncertain. It's thanks to Bolin jumping at the chance that I'm here now."

"Really?" Kai's interest is clearly piqued. "Now that's juicy! Detective Mako prefers the criminal life. I never would have guessed, you're such a stiff!"

"I'm a professional."

"Yeah, yeah!"

Kai grins, teeth bared, and Mako curls his lips in mock offense. He places a hand on Kai's head, pushing down slightly. Kai plays along and ducks, laughing while Mako ruffles his hair. The firebender suspects he shouldn't have as much fun as he has, but the height difference is just begging to be used. And so long as Kai likes it too, why not?

"What was that, kid?"

"Backtalk?"

"You always want the last word, don't you?"

"You're making it too easy!"

Before Mako can react to the jibe, Kai has slipped from underneath his hand and rolled away, using his momentum to come up standing.

"Race you back to the temple!" he chimes and speeds off, leaving Mako sitting between the tree roots.

"Hey!" Children... No sense of fairness. But the challenge was issued, and Mako wouldn't be a firebender if he didn't rise up to it. He leaps to his feet and chases after Kai, determined to make him regret his words.

"Okay kid, you asked for it!"

Kai turns his head to send Mako a smug grin and initiates an airbending-powered acceleration.

Naturally, Mako wins.

I love the idea of Mako and Kai having a brotherly relationship. The series itself has mostly Kai and Bolin, but there is that one little scene at the end of Enter The Void where everyone mounts up to fly to Korra's rescue, and Mako walks over to Kai to thank him for getting them out of the melting Air Temple, and also to apologize for giving him a hard time. When Kai remarks that he probably deserved it, Mako goes: "Yeah, you kind of did."

That's brotherly ribbing, people! Savor it, because it's amazing!

I think Kai is partly Water Tribe. Teal eyes and Korra's skin tone... Very suspicious, no? (For the record though, an Earth Kingdom character with darker skin than Kai does appear, in a crowd shot. There are probably more.)
Maybe he and Jinora would have a waterbending child? ^-^

The thing about Mako hesitating to become a pro-bender is canon, and I loved the irony so much, I simply had to. It puts a bit more meaning into his "I know exactly what you're all about because I've been there before" line from Rebirth. He hesitated. Of course he would suspect Kai to hesitate, too.

Anyway, I'm officially done. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Peace out, and Mako and Kai FTW!