•Fire of the Heart• (Mako x Reader)

Chapter 15

Y/N'S POV:

*Around 6ish*

I wake up to stupid noises from the outside. I sigh and put my pillow over my ears to block the constant animal chirps.

I'm clearly not a morning person.

As I doze back to sleep, I suddenly realize what I'm supposed to be doing. I curse under my breath and run to Korra's room. "Korra, It's time to wake up." I say quietly, trying not to piss her off. She grunts and turns to face the wall, covering her face up with her blanket. I sigh. "Korrraaaa, you got to wake up right now." I say as I attempt to remove the blanket off of her. She swiftly grabs the blanket, making me stumble in the process.

Now I'm annoyed.

I go over to the light switch and turn on the lights. "Hey, cut that out!" She says in a groggy voice. I go over to her once again. "Either get out of bed, or I light your bed on fire." I say in a stern voice, making two hands full of flames. Her annoyed face is replaced with fear, as she quickly jumps out of bed. I smirk. "That's better, now time for your pro-bending practice!" My angry face is replaced with a happy one. She stares at me wide-eyed. "HOW DID I FORGET!" She starts getting ready as fast as she can.

*At practice*

"What's the big idea with making me train this early in the morning? The morning is evil." She whispers the last part, earning a chuckle from me. "We're the rookies, so we get the worst time slot in the gym." I joined in with the ball throwing, purposely throwing it harder at Korra as payback for this morning. I earn a glare from her. She throws the ball at Bolin, and then Bolin throws it at Mako. Mako catches the ball and looks at Korra.  "And you're the rookiest of us all. We gotta get you up to speed if we wanna survive in the tournament. Deal with it." Mako then throws the ball at Korra almost as hard as I threw it. "Uh oh." I say and run to Korra before she does something stupid, but I don't make it in time.

"You deal with it!" She throws the ball as hard as she can at Mako, sending him flying. "I run towards Mako to help him, his face softening. I send the worst glare I could muster up at Korra. "What? He deserved it." She shrugged her shoulders. I tilt my head to the side and make a 'Eh you're kinda right face' Before Mako says anything to me, someone barges into the room.

"There are my little hard-working street urchins. It's an honor to finally meet you, Avatar." The strange man put's his hand on Korra's shoulder. He then walks over to me. "And nice to meet you too, little cheerleader." Before I comment on that Korra stands in front of me. "And you are...?"He removes his hat. " Butakha. I run this whole pro-bending shebang." Butakha pulls out a stack of money. "Here's your winnings from the last match." Mako smiles and I smile with him, happy for their accomplishments. He then raises his finger and shakes it. "Ah ah ah, not so fast. First, you owe me for the Avatar's new gear, gym and equipment rentals from last month, rent on your apartment,and a personal loan for groceries." By the time he's done with taking the money they owed, there was none left.

Mako glared at Bolin for the last part. "What? I'm a growing boy!" Bolin says and rubs his stomach. "Oh, and one more small item of business: The Fire Ferrets need to ante up 30,000 yuans for the championship pot." Me and Bolin's faces widen. "30,000 yuans?!" Me and Bolin say together. "Sorry, kids. You got 'til the end of the week to come up with the dough, or else, you're out of the tournament." Butakha then walks away. "You wouldn't happen to have a secret Avatar bank account overflowing with gold, would you?" Bolin says and looks at Korra. Korra pulls out her pockets. "I got nothing. I've never really needed money. I've always had people taking care of me." Then Bolin looks at me. "What about you. You wouldn't happen to have some rich relative that can help us out right?" I freeze. Before I say anything, Mako speaks up.

"Then I wouldn't say you have nothing." Korra's face drops " Sorry, I didn't mean —" Bolin jumps in. " No, it's all right. It's just ever since we lost our parents, we've been on our own." I put my hand on Bolin's shoulder. "I'm so sorry." I say as I look in Bolin's eyes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Korra's face saddens even more. I make eye contact with Mako, and he gives me an 'I'm okay' smile. "So, anyway, how are we gonna come up with the money?" "I could hel-" Before I can finish my sentence, Korra grabs my arm and shakes her head. I shut my mouth and give her a look. The boys didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, oh, I got it!I got it! I've been training Pabu to do circus tricks. Now people would pay good money to see that!" He says enthusiastically as he shows off Pabu. "Come on, Bolin. We need serious ideas." Bolin's face turns into a pout. "I was serious." Mako starts walking away. "Don't worry about it. I'll figure something out. I always do." Bolin puts on a determined face and walks out the door. "Where are you going?" Asks Korra. "To make good money!" He says as he exits. I turn to Korra. "What was that all about?!" I raise my voice at her. "Listen (Y/N), I know you want to help, but we can't risk people knowing who you are." I fold my arms. "Dude, I could just say I have a rich relative or something." I say as I walk closer to her. "Saying that will lead to questions, questions that we won't have answers for." I roll my eyes at that statement. "We can, I don't know, make something up." I shrug my shoulders. "I want to help just as much as you do, but I can't risk it. Not since what happened to you when we were kids." She walks over and leans on a wall, remembering the incident.

"That won't happen Korra! Even if they were to find out, they would never sell me out like that. They aren't like that." I lean on the wall right next to her. "We don't know them well enough to truly trust them. If you're gonna do anything just please be careful, okay? I don't think I can handle that again." I give her a huge hug. "I know you're just looking out for me and I appreciate it, I'll be careful with everything. She hugs me back. "You better be, or I'm beating you up." We both laugh and walk outside.