Winding Legacies: A 'The Legend of Korra' Rewrite

The Three Year Gap, Month Thirty-Six: Mako

A soft smile graced Mako's lips as he gazed up at the blue-green statue, the top of which was so tall that it nearly completely blocked the sun from his view. He appreciated it, though, because it gave him a full glimpse of Korra's shining face looking off into the distance with a sense of purpose that made him square his shoulders in kind with hers. Asami had done an amazing job, but that was no surprise.

He wondered if Korra had seen it yet.

As he turned to return to Wu's side with the photographers, his eye caught on the bouquets of flowers and tokens of gratitude left on the flat base where the statue's feet stood. Gingerly lifting a handful of yellow flowers out of the many scattered around, he recognized them as Winter Aconites—a flower that managed to grow in both of the Water Tribes.

He remembered seeing it around the first time he went to the South with Korra. She mentioned that they would gift them as a gesture of strength, a recognition that no matter what one was going through, they could always persevere. Or, it was a symbol of the fact that someone had finally pushed through it all and made it to the great things on the other side. Lemaya had dried a few and arranged them in a beautiful frame for him as a congratulations on him finishing university when he went to her ceremony.

It was honestly one of the nicest gifts he had ever gotten, and he'd hung it above his bed at Lin's place the second he got home.

Where the flowers once lay, there was a marble plaque welded beautifully to the base of the statue. Its inscription was longer than Mako remembered, then again Lemaya had shown him the only line she had which was the beginning that she knew she wanted to keep no matter what. She couldn't think of the right words to say after that, but he had suggested that maybe it would help if she focused on the words of another instead. Maybe by thinking of what someone else might say, she could figure out what she wanted to express. A pained feeling welled in him as he read:

In honor of all those still with us and all those who are not,

Loss is not simply the absence of something that once was, it is the fallout from which we all are affected. Time may heal all wounds, but it does not repair the scars that run deep. In the end, the only one with the power to heal is you.

To healing old scars and mending the world that has been marked by our effects.

"We should learn from ourselves and forge a new path"

— Avatar Korra

Mako remembered those words from Korra's speech in the South after they defeated Unalaq. It felt like forever ago now, but in many ways it was. He had lived so many lives since that point and yet he still felt like that young boy, excited to change the world with his friends by his side. All-in-all, it was a beautiful message that Lemaya had written wonderfully. It seemed that after everything, she had finally found what she wanted to say and Mako couldn't agree with it more.

"Hurry up! The photographer doesn't have all day." Wu excitedly waved his diploma in his left hand while flapping Mako's diploma in his right, beckoning him back over to the carefully selected position in the park's courtyard. It was meant to maximize the sunlight from the beautiful weather of the day while also getting the scenery of the park in the background.

Korra's statue seemed like a faint thing in the distance as Mako straightened out his black suit and threw his arm over Wu's shoulder, but he could still feel it watching over him like a curious old friend. "You know, you really didn't have to do all of this," Mako whispered under his breath as he brushed a few pollen particles off of Wu's dark green robes.