A/N:
The last chapter, Sink, is titled very appropriately, for the ship has sunk.
My loyal fans, Bolin is no longer in love with Korra, and Mako is.
My loyal fans, I cannot write Bolin out of character.
My loyal fans, A Guy Like You has reached its end.
Thank you all for staying with me.
Thank you all . . . for having your hearts broken with me.
-Flut
Korra.
Her name springs to his lips, the sight of the polar bear dog filling him with a hope he has never felt before, not on the streets, not with Mako, not ever, a hope that can never, ever leave him, not even if his heart were ripped from his body.
For that one moment, everything is perfect.
And then that moment ends.
He begins to run towards her, every muscle quivering with the need to touch her, to embrace her, to tell her it's going to be okay, but his brother pushes him back, back in the dark, back onto the side-line to watch, and then Mako takes off.
He sees his brother push Tenzin and the chief out of the way, sees his brother take her in his arms, sees his brother lead her to the sky bison, tenderly lay her out on the saddle, stroke her cheek.
And in that moment, that moment that defies time and space, that moment that destroys his life, he understands that he never had a chance.
The hope leaves him, drained from the soles of his feet. No matter how much he loves her, she loves Mako, and Mako, he realises now, loves her. He didn't believe it when he saw the kiss, didn't believe it there in the satomobile, didn't believe until now.
It's as if his brother has shot him with lightning, the electricity shivering up his spine and stopping his heart. Or maybe his heart was already broken long ago.
He didn't recognise it.
Now he does.
Exhausted. That's all he feels. Exhausted, and tired, and worn beyond repair. If only the earth would swallow him whole so that he wouldn't have to think, to dream, to hope, to love.
Love.
Love.
How cruel life can be in unrequited love.
"I want you to be happy," he murmurs, his cheeks wet. "That's the only thing I want. The only thing."
He remembers that one day he had her; he remembers her laughter; he remembers the light in her eyes.
A light in her eyes meant, now and forever, for Mako.
The memories come to him softly, gently, and then more quickly, rushing, running together, overwhelming him, and he collapses to his knees.
If she wants Mako, if she needs Mako, if she loves Mako . . .
Then he will let her go.
No matter that he loves her a thousand times over. No matter that he would sacrifice himself for her. No matter that his façade is shattered, his clever façade he's built to hide that he still loves her.
He has to let her go.
"You wanted a guy like me." It burns him to say it, even this quietly, silent and inaudible as the whisper of wind across the waves. "You thought he didn't exist. But he does." He closes his eyes, the dam cracked, the tears flowing. "Mako is that guy."
His voice breaks.
"I love you, Korra."
And then he lets her go.