Yeah, I probably shouldn't be posting another story. But I had this great idea (well at least it sounds great in my head) and I couldn't resist. This story NOT BASED off of madeofcola's comic of Korra's "death" but yes, it was inspired by it, so credits to her. (If you are a Makorra fan, her tumblr and deviantart (cola-san) is worth following/watching). I took a few phrases from the author's comic and excerpt but it is not a complete word-for-word copy. This chapter alone is based off of the comic but the future chapters will contain my own original plot.

Yes, there will be a couple of OCs but I'm only planning on adding a few (definitely less than 10). I can promise you that it is NOT a MakoxOC fic and that the story doesn't entirely revolve around the OC. This can be considered as a Mako-Centric fic as he plays a huge role in this story. In fact, his role is probably more dominant than the OC. This fic also contains heavy Makorra.

Summary: After Korra's death, Mako must struggle with grieving over the loss of his loved one, keeping his promise, and facing an entirely new Equalist movement.

Couples: Heavy Makorra, slight Borra, some BolinxOC and maybe OCxOC. Depends on where I go with this.

"Argh!" groaned Korra as she leaned against the wall. Her damp, disheveled hair splattered everywhere, sticking to the wall, her nose, cheeks, eyes, and mouth, dirtying with sweat her face which was already contaminated with filth and grime. She clutched her side which was spilling with blood like an overflowing river showing no signs of halting. The rich, red color seeped into her water tribe apparel and began to dominate over the traditional blue and brown dye.

Mako's fingers fumbled over the piece of cloth he had been attempting to unfold in the past few minutes. He couldn't avert his eyes from Korra's wound. His hands shook too much; the only time he felt this frightened was when he witnessed first-hand his parents engulfed in the very element he bended: fire.

He hated that day, not because of the fact that he was now an orphan but because of the fact that there was nothing he could do. Nothing, except run and let the guilt burden within him forever. And if he didn't do something now, he would only add on to that burden.

Work! Mako pleaded his hands, finally taking his eyes off of his beloved to unnaturally focus so much of his energy into moving his fingers. Slide the thumb under, Mako instructed himself, as if the simple task of unfolding cloth was a complicated lab experiment. Now lift the cloth…there you go…and repeat the process…

Korra's moan of pain quickly brought Mako back to his sense as he finally managed to unravel the entire cloth. Don't panic, Mako ordered himself as he tried not to calculate how much time he had wasted by doing such simple job. Quickly, he pressed the cloth to her wound and willed himself to stay calm as Korra writhed in pain.

"Hang on!" he exclaimed as she squeezed her eyes shut as if she could block out the agony. "Bo's gonna find us some help!" He glanced over to the swinging door where the Equalist took off, the cause for all this suffering, Korra's and Mako's.

"Mako…" Korra whispered in a surprisingly calm manner. That was never good. Korra was not calm. Korra was fierce, hard-headed, impatient, and reckless. She was the girl that fearlessly challenged the notorious Amon to a duel. She was the girl that, in a literally heated moment of frustration, destroyed a 2,000-year-old historical treasure, as Tenzin would call his spinning airbending gates.

Calm meant that it was over. The war, the suffering, everything. Calm meant that Korra's job as the Avatar was finished. Calm meant that Korra was ready for it to end.

But Mako wasn't.

"You'll be okay, Korra," said Mako, ignoring Korra's tone while adding another scrap of cloth. "You're gonna be okay."

"Mako…" Korra whispered again but this time, she put a hand on Mako's arm. "It's okay. I've done my job."

"Dammit, Korra, don't say that!" cried Mako, slapping her hand away so he could continue his work. "Remember? I still owe you a drink."

"Two actually," corrected Korra, smirking. "You lost two bets."

"And I still have to buy you a ton of roses. Take you out to dinner. To places you haven't been. I-I…you and I…think we were meant for each other…" Mako's voice trailed off. Never before in his life had he wanted to slap himself so hard. Out of all the time in the world, he chose now to confess. Now, when the love of his life was fading from his very eyes. Now, when Korra had given him plenty of opportunities before, opportunities he didn't take. Choices he didn't make.

And yet, Korra still found it in her heart to forgive him, to stay with him after all that time.

"Hey…I said that…ages ago…can't believe…you still remember," said Korra, unable to speak in full-length sentences though she managed a chuckle. She was losing oxygen fast and Mako knew it as well as she did. Dammit, Bolin, where are you?

"Man…I hated…that day," Korra continued as her breathing became shallower.

"Save your breath, Korra," insisted Mako but Korra pressed on.

"I was…so stupid. So…impulsive…"

"I'm the one that was stupid, Korra."

Korra smirked. "Nice…to see you…admit it."

Mako smiled with her and reached for the bloody cloth but Korra stopped him. "I'm not…gonna make it…"

"Didn't I tell you not to say things like that!" cried Mako as he pushed Korra's hand away for a second time. Even so, he knew she was right. There was nothing he could do. But he couldn't help hoping that she'd live. He knew he was being stupid and irrational but he wasn't ready to accept the cruel reality. He didn't want a repeat of his parents' death when he only stood idly by as he watched them go.

But Mako wasn't standing idly by this time. This time he was doing something, wasn't he? This time he was going to make sure that he would save a life, not let it go. This time he was going to make a difference. Can't the Spirits give him credit for that?

"Tell you what," said Mako as he applied more pressure on her wound. "When we get outta here, I'm going to take you Kuang's Cuisine. My treat. I'll take care of the clothing, the food, everything. Or we could go to Narook's Seaweed Noodlery. Whatever you want. You pick. Then we could get Leechi juice and stroll in the park and watch the turtle ducks and…and…"

Mako's voice began to crack. He felt tears threatening to fall, something he didn't resist. He wasn't ready. He wasn't ready to let Korra go and he was sure that he never would be.

He watched as Korra's eyelids fluttered and slowly start to close. She was so pale, there was so much blood. Why did it take all of this for him to finally realize his true feelings for her?

"Hey, Mako?" asked Korra with her dying breath. "I have…a favor…to ask of you."

"Don't make me promise anything!" warned Mako, as he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Tears blinded his eyesight and he was sure he was hiccupping. But he didn't dare break eye contact with Korra because he knew very well that he would never see those bright blue orbs open again.

"You really…don't have a choice…deal with it." Mako managed a smile. Even when she was on her deathbed, Korra was still Korra.

"Find…the next Avatar for me…will you?"

Korra's eyes were closed but Mako knew that she saw his nod.

Korra smiled. "And…teach him or her…firebending…promise?"

"I…"

Korra's hand slipped out of his own. Mako gritted his teeth and forced the grieving screams that he so desperately wanted to unleash back inside him. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against hers. He then slowly trailed his head down until he found her lips and softly kissed them. Her warmth was still there, even if she wasn't.

"Promise," he whispered as he heard Bolin's footsteps approach.

Please review! I'd really like to see your thoughts on this before I continue.