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Korra's breath caught in her throat as she came down from the belted high note and saw the sheen of gold ripple through the crowd. She turned wide eyes to first Asami and then Opal who both had matching grins on their faces.
She hadn't imagined it then. As their performance continued she saw that golden ripple again and again but try as she might, the performance came to a close sealing the Honmoon blue for another night.
“Did you see?” Korra asked as soon as the rest of AvataR stumbled off stage.
“Oh it was so pretty!” Opal said, bouncing in place so quickly the stage tech struggled to get her microphone from her.
“Next show,” Asami suggested, her eyes sparkling with a more quiet awe. “It has to be the next show.”
“I'm thinking of us releasing a new single?” Korra offered. “There's one I've been sitting on for a while just for this moment.”
“That's a great idea Korra!” Opal replied. “We can take our break and then come back in two weeks with a new single and then Golden Honmoon here we come!”
“Right,” Korra replied, a stubborn glint in her eyes, “after the break.”
Asami raised her brow at Korra but before she could address the weird tone, Bolin came barreling around the corner with Mako slowly following in step.
“Ladies! That was awesome!” Bolin shouted. “AvataR is topping the charts like crazy right now!”
Bolin held his phone out for the women to see but only Opal and Asami leaned forward to watch as AvataR's current album climbed to the number one spot globally.
Korra's attention was on Mako who shuffled from foot to foot behind his brother. There was a small smile on his face but something about his expression had Korra concerned. It would get her in trouble with the press and her label again to be seen with just Mako after the concert but Korra decided it was worth it.
Mako didn't fight her as she grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the others. Asami gave them a curious look and Bolin winked but they were otherwise left alone.
“What's wrong?” Korra asked as soon as they were alone.
“Why would something be wrong?” Mako asked, nodding his head towards the stage. “That was your greatest performance yet. You three were killing it out there and I have no doubt it's just the start. I'm proud of you, Korra.”
It was the truth. Korra could tell when Mako was lying but everything out of his mouth was completely true and yet he was still keeping something from her.
“Mako-” Korra cut herself off, not fully sure what to even ask at this point.
She had known Mako for years, having met him shortly after his younger brother became their manager. He was never what Korra would describe as warm and bubbly like his brother but Mako had developed a soft spot for Korra over time. More recently the two of them had started dating though Korra had complained to Opal and Asami more than once that it felt like Mako was only going through the motions.
“Is it the fame?” Korra finally asked. “Do you feel obligated?”
“What?” Mako asked, thrown off by her questions. “What are you talking about?”
“Our relationship,” Korra replied, moving closer until she could take Mako's hand. “You just seem distant and sad. You always have.”
Mako stared at her and for the first time since she had met him, Korra suddenly felt unsafe. There was a blankness in his gaze that was familiar even as it unnerved her. She had seen that look before but never on Mako.
“This isn't permanent, Korra,” Mako finally said, his gaze still empty as if he didn't care that he was calling their relationship futile. “I can't tell you why but it just isn't. Let me keep this secret and in a few weeks you'll know the truth. Just try not to hate me when you do figure it out?”
“Can't tell me or won't,” Korra demanded. “What's so bad that you think I would hate you? Mako, I love you!”
That broke the blank look but Korra almost wished it hadn't as unimaginable pain flared across Mako's face. Something flashed at Mako's neck but before Korra could identify it, Mako was pulling his father's scarf higher up his neck.
“You shouldn't, Korra,” Mako replied. “I won't tell you, because if I do, you'll never finish what you started.”
“That's not important,” Korra insisted, though she wasn't fully aware of what Mako was talking about or rather, she didn't want to be.
Mako's eyes flashed purple as he growled. “Yes, it is!” His voice deepened more than Korra knew was possible and the Honmoon that just rippled gold flared to life with a sickly pink. The flash at Mako's neck flared up the side of his face and Korra could no longer pretend she didn't know what Mako meant.
It was too late and Mako was unfortunately right to keep this secret.
It was important. She still couldn't do it.
“How?” Korra asked, her voice breaking over the word. “Why?”
Mako's face softened. The bright pink lightning like lines dulled to the purple patterns she would recognize anywhere, the telltale sign of a demon.
She didn't realize she was crying until Mako's thumb wiped away the tear.
“I'm sorry.” Mako started. “When Bolin and I were kids, our parents died and I was left to take care of him. It was hard and one winter was harder than all the others. I couldn't let him die, Korra, but he was sick. Sicker than anything could save at that point without intervention beyond what the world could do. He comes to people then. When they are at their lowest. When they are at their most selfish. When they are at their most desperate. I made a deal and when I died, this is what I became.”
“Died?” Korra asked, her breath catching in her throat at the thought. When had Mako died? She didn't want to think about it but she already knew the answer to that too. “Kuvira. The demon attack on Republic City. The lightning backlash. But that makes no sense! Tenzin said that demons take centuries to return unless-”
“-unless they're assisted back.” Mako finished. “Don't ask why. You already know.”
Korra did already know. She already knew far too much to have been blind for so long but the truth hurt. What better way to stop the Honmoon sealing than to put a demon in the way of the people trying to close it?
“Was it all a lie then?” Korra asked instead through the lump in her throat.
“None of it was,” Mako said and Korra's heart broke when she realized it was the truth.
They had gotten together following the demon attack, when Korra, Asami and Opal assumed the brothers were only just learning what AvataR as a group, did to keep the world safe. It was only Bolin who had been in the dark though as Mako had already sold his soul. It was only a week following Mako's injury, Mako's death, that he and Korra had gotten together.
She had assumed it was near death bringing them closer but now she was left wondering if dying left Mako with nothing to lose or if he was simply following orders the night he finally agreed to a date.
It didn't really matter though as the damage had been done even though Mako hadn't wanted to tell her the truth. Was he disobeying orders to do so? Did that matter either when Korra pulled the truth from him and it resulted in the same issue?
“I can't seal the Honmoon,” Korra whispered.
Mako shook his head. “You have to, Korra.”
“Not if it traps you, Mako. I won't do it,” Korra replied. She threw her hands up and grabbed at her ponytails.
“Korra,” Mako said, grabbing her wrists to keep her from pulling at her hair. “Korra, please. You have too. I'll never be free of the shame and fear but everyone else will be. Kids like Kai won't be targeted and situations like what happened when Jinora got trapped won't happen! I'm not worth the world, Korra!”
Korra shook her head and backed away. “No, there has to be a way,” she argued, refusing to look at Mako's defeated expression. “Two weeks.”
“Korra-”
“No, two weeks! There's two weeks between now and our next performance. Give me two weeks to try and then, then if I can't, AvataR will seal the Honmoon. You owe me that,” Korra demanded. Mako didn't really owe her anything and Korra had fully intended just minutes ago to not take a break but if it meant she could save Mako, then she'd hold onto that single until the last second.
Mako slumped as the fight was pulled out of him. “Two weeks, Korra.”
Korra nodded and turned on her heel to get started. “Do you- what I said earlier-”
“I love you too,” Mako replied, knowing exactly what she was asking. “For what it's worth.”
“It's worth everything,” Korra insisted even as she didn't turn around.
For once in her life she was setting out to save a demon rather than slay one. Tenzin was going to have a fit but maybe, just maybe Katara, the last living member of the Moonlight Maidens, would have an answer.
“You're going to do great,” Mako said, brushing Korra's bangs back from her face. They were alone in her dressing room as the melancholy between the two had driven the others away.
“Asami thinks my head isn't in it,” Korra replied.
Mako laughed though there was no humor to it. “Unless you found a cure, it's not.”
“Not a cure,” Korra replied, “but a plan. Do you trust me?”
“With my undead life,” Mako replied.
Korra rolled her eyes. Somehow despite all the bad of the last two weeks, her and Mako had only grown closer. Turned out secretly being a demon when your girlfriend was a demon-hunter put a lot of distance into a relationship.
Korra's thoughts drifted back to the conversation she had with Katara about the truth of the Honmoon and demon-hunting.
“Demons were all once people, Korra. Some irredeemably evil and others simply lost. When I was young, I struggled to understand that and in many ways I struggled to make my children understand that. His name was Zuko. He was sent much like your Mako. When we discovered what he was, Suki and Yue told me to kill him. I let him go instead. Aang knew. Sokka knew. But I never told Suki and Yue and I always wondered if that was the reason the Golden Honmoon was always out of our reach. Because if it wasn't sealed, he could potentially still be out there.”
“Did you love him?” Korra asked.
Katara's eyes shone with unshed tears. “I could have,” she replied. “I learned the truth far too late to do anything for us, but maybe it's not too late for you. The Golden Honmoon is no myth, but it's not the only Honmoon one can aim for if one wishes for a world where lost demons can find purpose again alongside us.”
“Korra! We're going live now!” Opal called, breaking Korra from the memory.
Korra cursed, pressed a kiss to Mako's lips and raced from her dressing room to the stage lift. Her heart raced as she looked out over the performance of her life and she nearly cried when instead of flaring gold, the Honmoon shined an iridescent rainbow.
As their new song Rainbow ended Korra looked to the wing of the stage to see Mako watching with Bolin bouncing up and down at his side.
Katara was right, Mako was safe and Korra had fulfilled her destiny.