Title: Rising from the Ashes – Prologue

Rating: T

Word Count: ~2500

Summary: After Mako is grievously injured by an organization hoping to land a significant blow on the Avatar Korra feels compelled act. When a blow hits so close to home, first impulse isn't always the best decision. Part of being strong is realizing when you've been knocked down. Part of being smart is realizing when the wrong decision has been made.

Author Note: This mult-chap will be on the shorter side. No where near Rhapsody in Red or anything like that. Book 4 is on the horizon; this fic will not follow Book 4 or try to work in its events. This also makes it spoiler free.

.

.

Korra rolled over in bed, groggily rubbing her eyes to rid them of sleep. The sudden shift in weight on the bed shook her from a rather pleasant dream that had her replaying the evening over in her head. It was their first wedding anniversary. Mako took her out for a private, candle-lit dinner a Fire Nation-styled eatery as a change of pace from their usual. The evening ended incredibly well and rivaled the night they had shared exactly one year ago in passion and pleasure.

"Mako?" She swung her feet over the edge of the bed. Her eyes scanned the room until they hit the back of her husband in front of the open closet. "What are you doing? Come back to bed."

"I've been called in for a raid," he walked over to her, placing a soft kiss to her forehead. "Go back to sleep, I'll be back soon."

She grabbed his uniform collar and pulled his lips down to hers, kissing him sweetly. Being able to grab him and kiss him whenever the desire struck her was one of her favorite privileges as his wife.

"What is the raid for?" she planted a kiss to his cheek; deftly retrieving the silken robe she had bought for last night's festivities and began to tie the front.

"Some project Beifong has been personally investigating. Something about a Shenzin Cooperative."

Korra's hands froze mid action. Her blood turned to icy slurry that slowed to a crawl within her veins. "The Shenzin Cooperative? Mako, what do you know about that?"

He shrugged, "Nothing. It was Beifong's personal project."

"Mako, I'm telling you not to go."

The firebender grabbed his coat, slinging it on and buttoning the double-breasted front. "You know I have to. I've been called. This is my job. I'm an officer of law."

Korra stepped in front of him, grabbing his biceps in a vice grip. "I told Beifong not to get involved in this gang. I told her that the more trained White Lotus guards and I would bust these guys," anger dripped from every word.

"It's Republic City, it's our jurisdiction," he met her gaze. "We can, and will handle this." He reached up to her arms, lowering them to her sides and rubbing soothingly up and down. "It's just another raid. I've done dozens."

The Avatar shook her head. "This isn't just another raid. I'm telling you, this one is different. So much more different."

"I'm going."

The anger was a façade, one that protected how she truly felt. Scared. Terrified. Worried. Her mask began to peel. Her eyebrows rose and her lips thinned into a tight line.

"I don't want you to go…" her head dropped, eyes wandering to his shoes.

"Love…" he gently tipped her chin up, but her eyes still swam everywhere but his eyes. "Look at me." He ran his free hand to the small of her back and rubbed circles with his fingertips.

She reluctantly looked up, her blue eyes meeting his. "What are you worried about?"

"What do you think I'm worried about?" she spat.

"That I won't come back. And I promise that I will."

Korra grabbed him roughly by the front of his coat. "I need you to trust me. Pass this one over." Her eyes tried to follow his as his gaze wandered from hers. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I do…but I have to do this. Now, please let go."

"I can't let you."

He grabbed her by the wrists, forcing her to release her grasp. "This isn't about letting me do anything. We talked about this when I decided to join the force. There are some things I have to do."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Mako kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be back. Go to sleep and I'll be here when you wake up." He wrapped his scarf around his neck and closed the door behind him.

.

.

Korra pulled on her usual garb and flipped on the radio. Mako still had not returned. It had been hours, but she knew that raids could last long. She couldn't shake the feeling deep in her gut that something was very wrong. If Beifong were going to ignore her words about Shenzin, she'd ignore the orders that she was not to get involved in police business unless officially approved.

"The police continue to be involved in an active gang confrontation on the upper west side. Authorities involved say that citizens should stay away from the area, and follow instructions of officers posted at the perimeters in order to ensure safety."

Her instincts were never wrong.

She did not even bother for the door, unlatching the window and clamoring up the fire escape, her air glider in hand. The quickest way to him was a straight-line path, one that you could never get in the elbow-to-elbow crowds of Republic City.

Summoning air behind her with a few swift gestures, the Avatar rose into the air, urgently propelling herself forward. She could see the orange hue of flames from street level, casting the fight as a macabre larger-than-life shadow play on the high-rise buildings. Swiftly dropping to a nearby rooftop, Korra discarded her air glider to the side and peered over the side.

What was supposed to be a controlled raid had dissolved into a skirmish. No clear battle lines were drawn; benders of all forms on each side were interspersed in the melee. Even as a fully realized Avatar, there as little she could do to contain a battle in this state other than what the police force was already attempting to do and knock off the enemy combatants one by one. But with no clear territorial divisions, the potential for being flanked was large. Both sides would not go casualty free tonight she was sure. Korra gritted her teeth, determined that her husband would not be one of them.

Her blue eyes scanned the crowd for Mako, eyes darting to each firebender she saw. Too high to get a good read on even which figures were friend or foe, she jumped from the building, cushioning the multi-story fall with a swirl of airbending.

"The Avatar is here!"

Korra slammed a foot in to the ground, sending a hefty chunk of street careening towards to Shenzin members. She stopped thinking, surrendering to her years of training that automatically had her sending fire, earth, air, and water at the foes as she pulled the underequipped Republic City Police Officers out of harm's way.

She fought from the edge of the fighting inward, scanning the crowd for Mako, or someone who would know his last whereabouts. A sharp pain to her cheek broke her rhythm; a piece of metal shrapnel sent flying from a nearby explosion left a bleeding slice across her face. Pausing only to wipe the blood away, she stalked forward bending up a storm.

"Avatar Korra!"

She turned to the familiar voice. Chief Beifong.

"Nice of you to finally show up to aid. We need—"

The perilous circumstances faded away from the Avatar's consciousness as she gripped the aging earth bender by the collar. "I don't have time to be angry about how I told you not be involved. Now where is Mako?"

The ever-present controlled look in Beifong's eyes faltered for a moment. "He took a squad down this street to the west."

Korra did not even bother to meet the woman's eyes again as she unceremoniously released her grip, causing the older woman to embarrassingly stumble, losing her footing on the now demolished street.

The Avatar's resolve was unshakeable. The Shenzin Cooperative was more than brutal; they were deadly, ruthless, and without any morals except loyalty to their own. The Cooperative was an organization twisted into the corruption of all the nations that worked towards unknown goals. Beifong wanted to rip the glorified gang out by the hair in Republic City to reveal its roots and rightfully so; the group had been thought responsible for a number of shadowy mid-profile assassinations. But after discussion, it was determined that it was best for the White Lotus, lead by the fully realized Avatar to lead the covert fight against the Cooperative.

It seemed that Beifong had different ideas. A catastrophe like this was exactly why she and Tenzin agreed it was best to keep the Republic City Police Force from spearheading their own attack against the Cooperative.

With the mastery that only years of utterly concentrated practice could, Korra expertly bended each of the elements under her control with a cool, yet fiery fury. As much as she wanted to link up with the police and push with them at the barely held line, breaking through would help her find Mako and most likely aid the fighting in a way that only she could.

Her only hope was that the fighters were only grunts of the stratified and highly fragmented intelligence ring that was the glorified gang. This would make Mako just another face in the fray instead of a target. Their leaders knew how the Avatar was growing from a mere thorn in their side to a true threat and Korra knew that they would take any opportunity given to cripple her ability to interfere.

"It's her!"

She spun around and dropped into a fighting stance. "Yeah?"

The Shenzin members froze.

"Come and get me."

The gangsters threw everything they had at her. Chunks of street were hurled at her from seemingly every direction, and fire swirled towards her in a torrent of anger. They all knew that this was the final stand. Either the Shenzin Cooperative would survive, or they would be crushed and reduced to a shell.

Korra moved swiftly, summoning air beneath her feet. She moved as if weightless, deftly slipping by the flurry of attacks. A wall of flames erupted from her palms and traveled quickly towards the group. There was no escape.

Quickly she moved on, helping the police as she fought. Her eyes scanned the embattled neighborhood. She just needed a glance of him, a wisp of his scarf, anything just to know that he was alive. Her heart beat fast not from the exertion of the fight, but from fear. Fear that Mako is dead. Fear that he is maimed. Fear that he has been captured. The scenarios are numerous and heavy in her mind.

But fear was the enemy of sound minds and the destroyer of focus. Korra didn't have time to allow "what ifs" to seep into her consciousness. So instead, she pushed down these insecurities and focused her energy into the fight.

As much as she had worked over the years to solve the world's problems with words and diplomacy instead of battle and physical blows, some only understood when it was being beaten into their skulls. The Shenzin Cooperative was unwilling to comprise. They wanted total control through the shadows, free to pull the strings of any man or woman in power that they needed.

Korra gave extra scrutiny to each fire bender she saw in the fray. She barely had to think about the aspects of fighting. Where to place each foot, which element to send in the direction was from a result of unconscious motor instinct. This was why she trained for years; so that fighting was second nature and fluid.

Her gut told her to go right down the alley. There didn't seem to be any audible signs of fighting there, but something seemed off. She bounded down the darkened passage and skidded around the corner until she met another major road in Dragon Flats. Her eyes darted back and forth in the darkness, trying to sort out all the extraneous details that her brain struggled to process. This was more than a fight; it was a battle.

The sound of an explosion to her left drew her attention. Two firebenders were fighting fiercely in close quarters.

Korra ran closer to get a better look at the combatants; she needed to tell who was friend and who was foe before she could so much as lift a finger to help. The flames lit up the otherwise empty and dark street. These two seemed to have broken away from the main skirmish. It was odd to see two people so isolated; it seemed as if it had to be purposeful to occur. The fighters were so close, kicks and punches augmented by firebending had the potential to become physical blows.

Realization flushed through her system when she recognized the police combatant. "Mako!"

He didn't miss a beat in the fight, but his eyes met hers for the briefest of moments. "Korra!"

The Shenzin Cooperative fighter hit Mako with a blast of fire so powerful that it forced the policeman off his feet as he dissipated the heat aside. He was knocked backwards through a storefront window and landed with an audible grunt on the ground as shattered glass echoed in the air.

Korra curled her fingers into fists and grounded her stance. She raised her hands, erecting a wall of earth between Mako and the gangster.

The enemy pulled himself into a wider stance and sent a bolt of lightning straight towards her, before deftly rounding the earthen barrier, seemingly uninterested in going toe to toe with the Avatar.

She hit the ground as the bolt of energy whizzed over her, and spun to her feet with an impressive swirl of airbending.

The Shenzin Cooperative fighter launched a massive fireball into the building. A large explosion shook the street as the structure began to collapse in. Bricks tumbled into the street as the building was reduced to a pile of rubble.

"Mako!" Korra screamed as she stumbled and ran forward.

"Looks like you've got work to do, Avatar," the Shenzin Cooperative fighter grinned madly.

As long as there was a slim chance Mako might be alive, she had other priorities.

But after that, there would be time. They would pay. They would all pay.

.

.

Author Note: I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself regarding this next muti-chap after how well my last one was received. But I've decided just to write and enjoy.