We Deserve That Kind of Happiness
“Gooooood morning Camp Amon!” Noatak said, stepping onto the stage in his cheery demeanor. It was creepier now that they knew something was up. “And how are we doing this morning?”
Campers, who Wu supposed were actually trying to become straight by now, gave small, unenthusiastic cheers from the dining hall seating.
“That’s great to hear! Well, as promised, we have some big news to share with you all! We’re going to the city!”
Wu raised an eyebrow— what on Earth?
“That’s right! Think of this as your reward for being patient and trying so hard at Camp! You’ll allowed to go wherever you want, so long as you have your chaperone/counselor with you!”
“No strip clubs, you guys, I’m a married woman,” Kuvira muttered under her breath.
“…there’s plenty of great sights so see, especially if you’ve never been to the United Republic territory before! Memorial Island, Republic City Zoo, Little Ba Sing Sei— the list goes on!”
“So… wherever we want?” Korra asked, looking towards Kuvira.
She nodded with a smile, “Yeah, and you don’t have to worry about me being a stickler. Just don’t do anything illegal and I won’t rat you out.”
“You are such a fucking cop, it’s not even funny,” Asami said, rolling her eyes.
“Do we have to stay with you the whole day?”
“I’m still legally in charge of you, you know. I kinda have to make sure you don’t get killed by Triads.”
“Are you kidding me? I used to run with those guys!”
Kuvira choked on her orange juice.
“Great job, Mako, you’ve pulled a Wu,” Korra said, thumping the cop on the back.
. . .
They filed off the bus and Noatak had them split into their usual groups. Wu felt like something was off. Wait a minute…
“Where’s Tarrlok? You’d think that if all of his campers were gone, he’d want to supervise them,” he pointed out.
“Maybe he stayed behind to do Raava-knows-what,” Korra muttered.
Kuvira nodded. “We have Bolin and Zhu Li stationed back at camp to check up on everything. If the brothers are going to try something, it’ll likely be today. But there’s nothing we can do about it, so—“
“Try to enjoy the day,” Noatak finished sinisterly.
The group jumped and turned around, but it was too late. Perhaps he had heard what they were talking about… but maybe they would be lucky and he was just checking in with Kuvira. He handed the counselor petty cash for whatever event the group would want to do during their “field trip”. With a sly nod, he walked away.
Asami flipped him off while his back was turned and Korra did her “I’ve got my eye on you” thing (Kuvira rolled her eyes, and Wu was starting to think that she regretted partnering with kids).
“Have a nice day,” he called after them.
“I hate that slimeball,” Badgermole whispered angrily.
“Join the club,” Wu murmured.
. . .
“Where should we go?” Mako asked, looking around at his home-city.
“Let’s go to AirTemple Island!” Asami said energetically.
“Oh my Raava, yes, please, please, please!” Korra asked, tugging on Kuvira’s sleeve.
“What are you like twelve!?”
“On a scale of one to ten,” Asami said, flipping her hair and sauntering towards the ferry dock.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the boys cheered.
In the end though, Badgermole was more than happy to let them board the ferry— having never seen the place herself. Stepping onto the docks, Korra turned to the group.
“Now I should warn you… there’s some little devils that live here—“
“KORRA KORRA KORRA KORRA KORRA KORRA!!!” several voices chimed— three small torpedoes were headed their way.
Several flashes of orange and yellow flew past Wu and collided into the Water Tribe girl, and even though she was hella strong— the poor girl stumbled with the accelerated force of small children.
“Wemissedyousomuchwhydidn’tyoutellusyouwerecominghereMommyandDaddyaregoingtobesohappytoseeyouomgomgomg!!!” the middle-aged child said.
“KORRA! KORRA! KORRA!” the youngest, a little boy, said as he ran around the dock.
But the oldest clung tightly to Korra, burying her face in the elder’s shoulder— whispering “I missed you” over and over.
“I missed you too, Jinora.”
The others introduced themselves to the siblings and the kids pulled Korra merrily up the steps to the island. The group of teenagers (and Kuvira) trailed behind, allowing the Water Tribe Girl to catch up with her second-family. Korra was laughing and dancing around— and her voice was ringing out like church bells on a Sunday afternoon. The only thing missing was fireworks above their heads, but one glance could tell you that they were in Korra’s eyes right now.
“I haven’t seen this much joy on Korra’s face… ever,” Mako noted.
“I don’t think she had a lot to be joyful for before coming to Camp,” Asami whispered sadly. “None of us really did.”
They walked around the island until they reached the main building, where a couple was sitting— enjoying afternoon tea.
“Korra! What are you— it’s so wonderful to see you!” a tattooed man said, standing up and rushing to embrace her.
Wu assumed the other woman, who joined the embrace, was the man’s wife. They stood there for a long while— giving a hug that spoke thousands of words in a mere moment.
“Tenzin, it’s so great to see you… after all this time. And the kids have grown so much!”
“This is wonderful timing, you’re not going to believe who came to visi—“
“K-Korra?” a voice cried out from the veranda.
“MOM!” the girl screamed.
She ran faster than lightning into her mother’s arms. It was a beautiful moment, really. You couldn’t pry them apart with a crowbar if you tried. They stood as still as statues, merely tightening their grip on each other, so much that for a moment Wu thought they might crush each other to death.
What was it Korra had said? She hadn’t seen her parents in YEARS…
“I don’t care what all you guys wanted to do today, this was so fucking worth it,” Asami said, wiping away a tear from her eye.
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world,” Kuvira said with a smile.
. . .
Wu watched as another ferry made its way to the dock. He nudged Mako as they observed Kuvira running, no… pretty much flying down to the docks to embrace another woman, roughly her age. Shao. Kuvira had texted her— letting her know they were in the city. Within a mere half-an-hour, Badgermole’s wife had sped from work to the ferry.
The prince knew it was respectful to look away, but he couldn’t help ogling at them— marveling in how happy they were. Just… being there. Together. Today seemed to be a day of reconciliation.
“I want to be happy like that someday,” Wu whispered to Mako, pointing at the spouses. “Everybody here right now is having the time of their lives. I want that too.”
The older boy turned to look at him, and smoothly laced their fingers together. Raava, Wu’s heart was beating faster than a rushin’ racehorse. He felt his face go as pink as strawberry lemonade.
No way, no fucking way. This is not happening. Today was just a really, really fucking long dream…
“We deserve that kind of happiness,” Mako said.
“We?”
Oh my Spirits. Are we going to? Is he going to!?
Wu glanced up to meet amber eyes— and it felt as though he lungs didn’t have nearly enough air in them. He closed his eyes as Mako cupped the back of his head— his fingers tangled in Wu’s chestnut hair— and pressed their lips together passionately.
This wasn’t two drunk boys— one of them depressed about his camp situation and one of them utterly confused about his sexuality— clumsily stumbling around trying to taste each other in a shack in the woods. This was… real. Christ on a cracker, this was AMAZING!
“Yeah,” Mako said when they finally broke apart, gasping a little for air. “I want to share that happiness with you. If you want us to be together.”
It had been the best kiss of Wu’s life. He looked over at Korra and Asami, who were holding hands and introducing themselves (as girlfriends) to Korra’s mom, Senna. Asami looked over at the boys and gave a knowing, approving wink. Wu looked back at Mako with a goofy smirk on his face.
“I think we can arrange something.”