Serendipity

Hey guys! After watching the season finale of Legend of Korra, I realized that the next season probably won't premiere until 2013. So, I decided to write a story to keep me satisfied until then lol. I wrote this earlier today and I haven't really read over it, so I'm not sure if it's boring or not haha. But anyways, enjoy!

Yes, this is a romance story ;)

Prologue

Humanity: the quality or condition of being human; human nature.

"Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity, nothing exceeds the criticisms made of the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed" ~Herman Melville

"Sir, could you please spare some bread?" a young boy pleaded as he bent down on his knees, begging to a stranger. "My brother is sick and he needs something to eat."

The man who was garbed in silk robes threw a look of condescension to the beggar before turning his head the other way. "Your brother would not be sick if he did not eat garbage," he had the nerve to say. "Now go on, shoo!"

The boy's fists clenched at his sides, knowing that the man was right. But they were just children without parents, they had no means of acquiring food better than the occasional rolls of bread they found in trash cans. "Please, Sir, I've searched every place I know, and I found not a single loaf of bread for me and my brother. Please," the child implored, his golden eyes glistening with tears.

It was unknown to the man that the young boy was a firebender and could have easily taken his money. However, unlike the majority of street kids broken down by desperation, the child still held some morals. He would not use his firebending to oppress normal folks, even the ones as wicked as the man in front of him.

"I won't warn you again! Get out of my sight before I call those officers over here," threatened the selfish individual. "Where is my ginger tea?" he called impatiently to the young lady cleaning a table.

"It will be coming soon, Sir," she answered meekly, glancing at the young boy who was making his way out of the teashop. She rushed into the kitchen, the man sitting at his table gratified in thinking that he'd made another servant of the employee, when actually, she had gone to get the boy a one day old loaf of bread.

As the boy's hand touched the door, the hand of the gentle lady had touched his shoulder, a soft smile curving her lips. "It's one day old and has been sitting on the counter, but this is all that I can rid of." She pushed the loaf into the boy's stunned hands, ruffling his hair before returning to the kitchen to fetch the older man his tea.

"T-thank you," the boy called. He ran out of the teashop, cradling the loaf in his arms as if it were an infant. "Thank you, kind lady!"

~:*:~

A boy crawled hurriedly into his cardboard dwelling that he had made with his younger brother. It wasn't anything fancy, just enough to shield them from the occasional rainstorms, like the one that was currently taking place.

"Bo," he said breathlessly, shaking the small body that lay sleeping beneath a blanket, "I brought back some bread."

The pile of covers stirred as the older boy unwrapped the loaf that would be the main entrée of their dinner. He raised a hand over the bread, heat emanating from his fingertips as he warmed it slowly to hide its staleness.

A small boy rose from the blankets, his eyes encircled with sleep before he raised tiny hands to rub the small grains of sand away from his face. "Mako, you're here. I was scared you weren't coming back."

A few days ago, another boy had gotten sick and his older brother had left him. Just like that. With no goodbye or explanation or even a reason for leaving his own flesh and blood behind to die. Poor Bolin was scared that his brother might have done the same.

The older boy frowned, "Why wouldn't I come back for you, Bo? You're my brother and brother's gotta stick together, right?" He reached over and tousled his younger sibling's scruffy hair, giving him a soft smile before pulling the loaf apart, handing his brother the bigger piece.

"Yeah," Bolin said, smiling a toothy grin, "brothers gotta stick together."

If only bread, water, and love were the only things needed to sustain human life, than maybe Bolin would have survived past the age of six. But in the dead of night, when he and his brother were curled together on the cold ground, when their arms were wrapped around each other in an attempt to keep warm, Bolin suffered from a fit of coughs and seizures, leading to his untimely death. Pneumonia was common in the part of the city the brothers lived in due to the frequent rainfalls. And because they had no parents to tell them to bundle up and change their clothes if they got wet, many kids ended up dying from it.

Tonight, it took Bolin's life and Mako's mournful yell of his brother's name woke every homeless child within a mile radius, and each child who heard it took a few seconds to murmur a quick prayer for the deceased, because they knew all too well the difficulties of the real world. Some were lucky and picked up by people who saw them pillaging through trash cans, others died of being starved of both food and privilege, and the other half thrived by linking themselves with a group of people who promised to give them everything they never had . . .

~:*:~

2 years later . . .

A boy of eight years sat sprawled on a wooden bench, staring at the dwindling sign that hung above the entrance of a familiar teashop. He wore ripped, faded denim jeans along with his plain white t-shirt, accentuating his striking gold eyes that glinted against the rays of the sun. His uncombed dark hair blew freely in the wind as he raised his red scarf over his nose, inhaling deeply.

"It's time," called another boy, whose dirty waterbending techniques earned him the nickname "Shady" Shin. "Let's go, Mako."

A young earthbender was squatted on the roof of the teashop, giving the OK before the other two boys approached the entrance. Without warning, a whip formed entirely of water struck in front of them, breaking the glass door of the shop. Startled customers rose from their chairs, shattering the potteries that were previously overflowing with various soups and teas.

The three benders waited for the shop to empty out before commencing their pilfering and they reached into their back pockets, pulling out black trash bags to put their stolen goods into.

Mako was intent on picking up the most expensive items when the earthbender had said, "Shin, someone's hiding behind the counter."

When Mako raised his head again, Shin and the earthbender were circling a young woman in her early 20s, her green eyes wide with fear. The other two benders were so caught up in their impish desires that they failed to notice the small bump on her stomach that indicated life. They didn't care to think that maybe her husband was hard at work in one of the city's power plants while she spent her days working here only to come home to barely make ends meat. They didn't care to think that, in many ways, she was just like them.

Shin formed another water whip and ordered the girl on her knees. And if it weren't for the kind deed that the woman had done for Mako when he was younger, then he wouldn't have had a reason to intervene. Everything that Shin was doing was just the standard treatment for anyone they found hiding. Show no mercy. That was the rule the Triple Threat Triad kids had to abide by.

But it was this same woman who crossed paths with the firebender two years ago and showed Mako that even in hard times, humanity still existed in some people. She had given him bread when he and his brother had been starving, even though she had been strictly instructed not to feed any beggars that came into the shop.

Mako figured that if she could break a rule for a complete stranger, then he could too. He ordered Shin to drop the whip and, because he was the leader of this particular triad, the waterbender obliged and left the woman to continue his job.

Mako helped the woman to her feet, though didn't say a word as she was thanking him profusely. His head was turned the other way. His gold eyes staring at the floor, afraid of looking into the face of a kind and good-natured woman. He was worried that if he did, then he would only be further reminded of his dead brother. The one who had been neglected by authorities, bullied by strangers on the street who considered themselves better than a beggar—and the one who had died silently in the middle of the night with nothing to call his own in the cruel world he had lived in.

~:*:~

A month passed after Mako's brush with humanity and it was that particular event that now caused him to be completely engrossed in the life of crime. The scoundrels involved in other gangs already knew of Mako, and made sure not to get in his way when he was "running an errand". He was highly coveted in the gang world. So much so that the leader of the Agni Kai had challenged Lightning Bolt Zolt's proprietorship of the young lad.

This didn't go to Mako's head and it only made him more focused. He had been with the Triple Threat Triad since Bolin's death and was first drawn in when he heard a group of benders playing near his cardboard home. And it was not the laughter that caused the boy to come out of his box, but the words that he had heard them say to each other.

"Brother's gotta stick together."

~:*:~

A few more months passed until the day that Lightning Bolt Zolt called on a gathering and arrived with a small girl in his arms. Her face was hidden in Zolt's neck, and from the crowd view it looked like she was trembling. She was clad in an ensemble of traditional Water Tribe clothes, so it was assumed that she came from a poor family if they could not even afford to dress their child in more modern clothing.

"I found this girl in a river this afternoon," he began, "but it turned out that she was not the one in need of help. She was fishing, using waterbending skills beyond her years. When I approached her, she told me that Gommu, the man who had previously taken care of her, had not come back for days and that she was hungry."

He continued on with his speech while Mako carelessly flipped a flame lighter on and off with his thumb. He was required to carry one with him at all times, since he could not yet form full flames without its assistance.

"It's common that we put new members into the lowest unit, but young Korra here has shown me great potential. She will start in unit Omega and will work her way up to unit Alpha." He paused, his eyes scanning the crowd for the Triad's most loyal member. "Mako, you will be in charge of showing Korra around and making her comfortable."

Having a six-year-old girl following him around wasn't exactly what Mako wanted. Though he was quiet, the boy was known for having a temper. And taking care of little girls was not his forte.

He was rather lucky that Korra wasn't like most girls her age. She didn't cry and rarely whined and nagged him for things. The only two things he found out she was scared of was thunder and tight spaces, which were ironically what Mako had grown up with. They got along smoothly as long as she minded her own business and let him mind his.

But on occasions like tonight, when it rained and Korra didn't have anyone else to comfort her, she slipped into Mako's room and curled up at the foot of his bed. She did it so often that Mako began expecting her every time it rained. But tonight was different.

"Mako," she whispered, jumping at another frightening boom of thunder, "are you asleep?" She tugged on his sleeve as she looked around the dark room. "Mako, please. I'm scared."

He was about to tell her to leave because he'd had a long day, but when he turned around in his bed to face her and saw her big blue eyes wet with tears, he was reminded of Bolin. If he were still alive, he would have been seven-years-old today. "C'mere," he said, holding out his arms to the small girl.

Korra walked into his embrace and let him lift her up until she was beside him, sitting on his bed. She watched him as he reached underneath his pillow to pull out a bright red scarf. She'd always seen him wearing it and knew that he didn't let anyone touch it. So she was shocked when he began wrapping the soft fabric around her neck.

Mako smiled at her softly and touched her chubby cheek. "You can sleep with me tonight, but no more pouting. Okay, Korra?"

She launched herself at the boy, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Mako."

The firebender blushed before laying on his back, the small girl fisting her hands around his shirt and cuddling into the warmth of his chest. Before long, her breathing evened out as she fell asleep in the arms of her protector.

And it was rare moments like this when Mako was reminded that he was still human.

Yeah, so basically the only thing this chapter achieved was explaining Mako's background. Was it boring? :/ The next chapter will start with Mako and Korra in their teen years. Please keep in mind, that this is an AU, which most likely means that the characters will be somewhat OOC, because of their backgrounds. But I'll try my best to keep them as in character as possible :D

Anyways, do you guys like this idea? Mako and Korra growing up together in a life of petty theft and crime? I just love the idea of a stone-hearted Mako falling slowly for Korra XD

And if anyone needs some refreshers, the Triple Threat Triad is essentially a gang that consists of all bender types (excluding airbenders). While the Agni Kai consists only of firebenders and the Red Monsoon consists only of waterbenders.

I'll do my best to make this story as interesting as possible (hopefully) with my limited knowledge of gangs haha.

Is this a story worth continuing? Yes, No, Maybe So?

If I get 15+ reviews, I'll update this soon. For my "Heartbreaker, Playmaker" readers, I'm kind of stumped for that story right now, I have the chapter planned, but I'm having a hard time starting it lol.

Have a great summer guys!