.:Legend of Korra:. The Soldier's Promise

The Soldier's Promise

No more letters came. The war kept raging on for yet another year until the only men left  in the city were old, sick, or too young to be drafted. But Korra had heard of the military drafting young boys in times of need, and she feared for her sons. She wondered if Mako was still alive, if that was even possible. Yet something inside her told her he was, that he was still fighting to come home.

Bolin agreed they needed to leave the city, to get far away from this blasted war, and after a talk with Tenzin, they borrowed Oogie to fly down to the South Pole.

At first the boys didn't settle in well. Junior had discovered he was a firebender in the months before and found that he disliked the cold weather as much as Mako had. Sorin was fasinated by all the snow and ice, but quickly grew tired of it. Serina tried stumbling around in the snow, only to fall down and ending up crying everytime. Within a week the boys were begging their mother if they could go home. After an hour of pleading, Bolin snapped.

"Don't you two get it? You can't go home! Your not safe there! We brought you here to protect you, now shut your mouths and be thankful!" A loud crack split the air as Bolin left the little igloo-house, slamming the door behind him.

The boys looked shocked and confused, looking to their mother for answers. Little Serina looked up at her mom,
"What's wrong with Uncle Bolin, mommy?"

Korra sighed and looked at each of her kids, each one holding a small piece of her Mako in them. She wanted to cry, for once the avatar didn't want to be strong, she just wanted to collapse into Mako's arms and let her tears carry away her worry.

"We can't go home, alright? You'll learn to like it here, you'll see" She whispered soothingly

But all she wanted was her Soldier.
---
Leaves from the vine
Falling so slow
Like fragil, tiny shells
Drifting in the foam
---

Mako hated this war. He hated not being there for Korra, hated now being there to watch his kids grow up. He hated leaving his responsabilities on his younger brother. He hated everything. And most of all he hated himself. He hated himself for not running away from the Draft, hated himself for hurting his family this way. Hated himself for making a promise he might not be able to keep.

Since Mako had been at war, he been promoted to Leutenant. With his help, the pod had stay alive longer. But with just two months, there were only a few left. Yet every month there were new waves of soldiers being drafted and more would be added to his squad.

He missed the easy days of pro-bending, when he, Korra, and Bolin would all spend their days in the gym and their nights in the arena. But that changed when Korra got pregnant. She couldn't be in the matches anymore after that, and so the team quite. They wouldn't play if they couldn't play as team Avatar.

His mind was always filled with images, images of the battlefield, where enemy troops had hidden before and how to get around them, images of his fallen soldiers, who lay where they died, broken and bloody, and most frequent of all, images of his boys, his wife, his brother.

There was a picture of them all on his nightstand at home from a few summers ago, when they had had a cookout on Air temple island, courtesy of Tenzin. Junior and Sorin are hanging off of Bolin's arms like monkeys, while Korra is wrapped in Mako's arms. It's his favorite picture, because it shows all of them together, a happy family.

And it was this picture that was in his mind when he heard the deafening blast of a hidden land mine, just under his feet.
He heard the blast and saw the sparks and flames of the mine blowing, and then there was nothing. The battlefield was gone, there was no sound. The last thing he thought of was that picture, and his family.
---
Little Soldier Boy
Coming marching home
Brave Soldier Boy
Comes marching home...