It would be one thing if Wu's body had just changed. Mako knows that's possible: Lance had changed back in the dream, although it made a lot more sense then than it would now. That was a dream. This is real, or it's supposed to be.
But Wu's body changed and Wu thinks that this is normal? That Mako—who has to check, for a second, that she is in fact the way she's meant to be, and she is—is the weird one? ]
When have I ever been—
[ She has not had enough tea for this conversation. Wu looks shocked and sort of scandalized and so different, and Mako bites down on her words and just stares for a long moment before bursting out with, ]
[ Wu waves his arms wildly, making Zuko huff in annoyance and slither out of the bed. ]
Exactly! I'm gay! And you're a guy, so you can't be a girl because I am definitely one-hundred percent gay!
[ And now his boyfriend is a girl who thinks that he's supposed to be her girlfriend? That's so weird. It's so weird and he can't quite wrap his head around it. His voice goes a little tight and hoarse ]
[ She looks around for a second, frowning, trying to find something that will prove her case—that Wu's always been her girlfriend, that Wu is strange and angular and blocky. She doesn't find anything, but something else occurs to her and she freezes in the middle of pulling down the blankets, looking back up at the guy who is apparently Wu (same eyes, same soft hair, same nose, but—different). ]
I went to sleep in this bed last night. With my girlfriend. Are your memories okay? Do you know where we are?
[ Why else would they have been sleeping in their bed together, Wu!!! Mako isn't flustered, exactly, but she is super confused and increasingly agitated, and half-climbing out of bed with an arm out for Zuko. ]
I live here with you—my girlfriend—you're supposed to be a girl. Something happened. The skin thing you made us do? It said something about changing.
[ Wu watches her, mind still sleepy foggy, holding a still sleeping Fritter closer to his chest. The thing is, things were finally getting better between them. Things were finally good again, and now Mako is-- not Mako. Another Mako again. ]
I don't know! Mako was itching a lot, maybe, maybe it is that? I don't think, I really don't think I changed. [ But neither does she, is seems.
He shifts in the blankets, and spots something weird. Something really weird. A spot of black hair, a bit of skin. Tentatively, terrified to see what he'll see, he pushes back the blankets and--
Nearly gags. There's Mako, his Mako, with his broad shoulders and shaggy hair, but it's like a deflated version of him, just his skin. ]
[ It's less alarming to hear Wu curse because everything else is already so strange, but Mako jumps just a little at the sight and the shout, staring down at... ]
What the fuck...
[ Rather than shouted, that's mumbled quietly to herself as she shifts out of bed properly, dragging the sheets with her to show more of what has to be herself, but broader and deflated. ]
[ Wu leaps out of the bed, shuddering because that is gross and also scary and that's his boyfriend's skin just lying there, and this girl is Mako but not his Mako and he can't help but feel a heavy sadness, thinking about that. She isn't his Mako, and he learned from the other Mako who kept him under house arrest last year that other Makos? Other Makos can't necessarily be trusted. ]
I told you I could have used lotion on you! You said "No, Wu, I'll be fine", and clearly you're not fine!
[ He grabs his robe, pulling it on while still cradling Fritter against his chest ]
[ But clearly she is not, and Mako is just as uncomfortable with this as Wu, standing there in pajamas that do not fit her, tight on her hips. The last time she was someone else, awful things happened, and she and Wu just got back to equilibrium, were working toward something like normal...
She looks upset, visibly so. Her shoulders are tight and her arms are crossed, sort of hunched down into herself while Zuko winds around her neck, trilling quietly. ]
Wu—uh, you—my Wu—told me the same thing. To use the lotion.
[ Wu throws his hand wildly before grabbing his Omni, shooting off a pair of texts to Bolin and Ryan before heading down to the main floor of the loft. ]
That's why you have to take care of yourself. So things like this don't happen. Seriously, Mako! You'd think as a girl you'd be better about that, but I guess you're the same, no matter what.
[ Which is... kind of nice, actually. That she's pretty similar to his Mako ]
[ Mako, uncomfortable, snaps after him, watching him leave with something heavy in her belly. How is it possible to miss someone who's right there? Obviously Wu isn't that different as a guy—almost exactly the same, actually—but it's still weird, and she misses her Wu, the Wu she's known for years, the woman she loves.
Wu's footsteps fade, leaving Mako and Zuko up there in the loft alone.
What does she do now? Do the skin thing again? She still doesn't feel wrong, and what happens to her then?
Text Bolin and Asami, is what she does. Maybe if Wu is actually the one who's wrong, somehow, then she won't disappear like that awful other version of her. She still doesn't know what happened to that version of her after Wu got rid of her.
Her eyes stray back to the bed, to the shock of dark hair and a face that isn't hers. Grimacing, she shakes her head and hurries down the stairs after Wu. ]
Hm? [ Wu is engrossed in texting Bolin, who also seems to have been turned into a girl, but is at least upset about it, unlike Mako ] What? Oh, I can do it if you don't want to. I guess. Your brother is a girl too, apparently. But he's not as okay with it as you are.
[ Seeing her, all of her, in Mako's pajamas, is weird. Wu gave him those pajamas, red silk things that Mako quietly loves, and they're too big on her, but stretched over her chest and hips and that's too weird that he has to look away.
He is in fact still terrible at making tea, and doesn't make any move to start, dropping onto the couch to keep texting. ]
[ Mako snorts as she rounds their little island into the kitchen proper. Some things really don't change, including Wu's absolute unwillingness to make tea or do anything in the mornings. It's kind of comforting, in a weird way, to light the stove with a flick of fingers and rummage for their strongest black tea. It's even in the same place. The mugs are organized the same way, from smallest to largest, and in the same cabinet. This is her kitchen. ]
Yeah, I know. I texted... her.
[ Is... that right? That can't be right. Mugs clink as she gets down two, including the dark-green-and-gold one they found in Willful Machine that Wu loves. ]
Um... I dunno. Probably? How do I--does she?--like it?
[ Ignoring it is the right thing to do, right? Because that's what Wu's doing. Ignoring that his hot boyfriend is now a girl. Maybe a hot girl? He doesn't know. She certainly isn't conventionally pretty, but Mako never would be, would he?
But that makes him wonder: ]
What, uh... is she like? The other me? The one you know?
Little bit of milk, no sugar, because you're—she's— [ That's hard, spirits. Mako scowls down at the cup in her hand. The water on the stove is already starting to bubble softly. ] ...a tea purist. I mean, I don't know you. I don't know how different you are. She's thrilled that she's running this place, she... has gotten a lot braver and stronger than either of us thought she could. She pulled me out of a, uh. A pretty dark place.
[ Something warm and strange bubbles in Wu's chest as he watches Mako preparing the tea. It's so familiar that it's strange. And, well-- if his Mako thinks that about him, that would mean a lot. It still means a lot, even if it isn't about him. ]
That is how I like it. I... that happened to you, too? With the, the corruption?
[ It does feel a bit cruel, to take Mako away from him right after that, while they're still fragile, while Wu is still watching for smoldering on Mako's skin. ]
[ Mako's mouth twists, unseen, at the steeper she's filling with tea. ]
...yeah. It's weird. This whole kitchen is... everything is how I remember it. It's not like that other version of me back in the dream, with a different life. This is my life. You remember the same things as me.
I think so. It seems like everything is the same, except, [ Except the obvious. Wu watches her with a little frown. ]
At least it isn't like last time! That guy was so scary. You remember the same thing? When you, he? When he got all possessive and weird and scary and wouldn't let me leave the house or talk to my friends?
[ He doesn't want to say "yes" because he doesn't want her to get angry or scared and, honestly, he doesn't know. He chews on his lip ]
You might be very real, but from a different version of Trench. Like, like how we think that there are versions of us still at home, right? Like, there's a me who's still on the throne, helping to run the Earth Kingdom. I have to believe that's true. So if there are already two of me, or us, then maybe there are more of us? Maybe there is a world where we are both girls and somehow, it all happens just about the same way. You, you and the other me, the other Wu, you're dating, right?
[ Meaning, as far as Mako can tell, yes, but she bites down on a frustrated sound in favor of pulling the kettle from the stove and putting out the flame with a wave of long fingers. Not important. Wu has a point: there may in fact still be infinite versions of them. Maybe she's a world where she was born a woman, and Wu's Mako is the other, another one of Lysithea's branching paths. ]
Yeah, we are. Have been since... January? That hotel, did you get that one? The one we couldn't leave in the dream.
[ That is different. Wu remembers having so many feelings at the hotel. He wanted Mako so badly, and felt so awful for it. He remembers being with him in the swimming pool and being so taken with him that he couldn't really think.
But they certainly didn't get together, then. ]
Ah, yes. I was there. But we didn't, that wasn't when... we, me and my Mako, got together in February, on Valentine's Day. You know, the Earth holiday about love?
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Of course I'm not! I'm a guy. You're supposed to be a guy!
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It would be one thing if Wu's body had just changed. Mako knows that's possible: Lance had changed back in the dream, although it made a lot more sense then than it would now. That was a dream. This is real, or it's supposed to be.
But Wu's body changed and Wu thinks that this is normal? That Mako—who has to check, for a second, that she is in fact the way she's meant to be, and she is—is the weird one? ]
When have I ever been—
[ She has not had enough tea for this conversation. Wu looks shocked and sort of scandalized and so different, and Mako bites down on her words and just stares for a long moment before bursting out with, ]
You're gay!
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[ Wu waves his arms wildly, making Zuko huff in annoyance and slither out of the bed. ]
Exactly! I'm gay! And you're a guy, so you can't be a girl because I am definitely one-hundred percent gay!
[ And now his boyfriend is a girl who thinks that he's supposed to be her girlfriend? That's so weird. It's so weird and he can't quite wrap his head around it. His voice goes a little tight and hoarse ]
Right..?
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[ She looks around for a second, frowning, trying to find something that will prove her case—that Wu's always been her girlfriend, that Wu is strange and angular and blocky. She doesn't find anything, but something else occurs to her and she freezes in the middle of pulling down the blankets, looking back up at the guy who is apparently Wu (same eyes, same soft hair, same nose, but—different). ]
I went to sleep in this bed last night. With my girlfriend. Are your memories okay? Do you know where we are?
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[ Wu casts around for her, and there she is, still asleep half on his pillow. He scoops her up, and she grumbles softly, pressing into his chest. ]
We-- Me and Mako-- live here. We have since we got to Trench! After Deerington!
That, you are Mako, right? Because you sure look like Mako, only... [ He waves his free hand at her with a little grimace ]
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[ Why else would they have been sleeping in their bed together, Wu!!! Mako isn't flustered, exactly, but she is super confused and increasingly agitated, and half-climbing out of bed with an arm out for Zuko. ]
I live here with you—my girlfriend—you're supposed to be a girl. Something happened. The skin thing you made us do? It said something about changing.
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[ Wu watches her, mind still sleepy foggy, holding a still sleeping Fritter closer to his chest. The thing is, things were finally getting better between them. Things were finally good again, and now Mako is-- not Mako. Another Mako again. ]
I don't know! Mako was itching a lot, maybe, maybe it is that? I don't think, I really don't think I changed. [ But neither does she, is seems.
He shifts in the blankets, and spots something weird. Something really weird. A spot of black hair, a bit of skin. Tentatively, terrified to see what he'll see, he pushes back the blankets and--
Nearly gags. There's Mako, his Mako, with his broad shoulders and shaggy hair, but it's like a deflated version of him, just his skin. ]
Fuck!
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What the fuck...
[ Rather than shouted, that's mumbled quietly to herself as she shifts out of bed properly, dragging the sheets with her to show more of what has to be herself, but broader and deflated. ]
I knew the skin thing was a bad idea.
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I told you I could have used lotion on you! You said "No, Wu, I'll be fine", and clearly you're not fine!
[ He grabs his robe, pulling it on while still cradling Fritter against his chest ]
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[ But clearly she is not, and Mako is just as uncomfortable with this as Wu, standing there in pajamas that do not fit her, tight on her hips. The last time she was someone else, awful things happened, and she and Wu just got back to equilibrium, were working toward something like normal...
She looks upset, visibly so. Her shoulders are tight and her arms are crossed, sort of hunched down into herself while Zuko winds around her neck, trilling quietly. ]
Wu—uh, you—my Wu—told me the same thing. To use the lotion.
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[ Wu throws his hand wildly before grabbing his Omni, shooting off a pair of texts to Bolin and Ryan before heading down to the main floor of the loft. ]
That's why you have to take care of yourself. So things like this don't happen. Seriously, Mako! You'd think as a girl you'd be better about that, but I guess you're the same, no matter what.
[ Which is... kind of nice, actually. That she's pretty similar to his Mako ]
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[ Mako, uncomfortable, snaps after him, watching him leave with something heavy in her belly. How is it possible to miss someone who's right there? Obviously Wu isn't that different as a guy—almost exactly the same, actually—but it's still weird, and she misses her Wu, the Wu she's known for years, the woman she loves.
Wu's footsteps fade, leaving Mako and Zuko up there in the loft alone.
What does she do now? Do the skin thing again? She still doesn't feel wrong, and what happens to her then?
Text Bolin and Asami, is what she does. Maybe if Wu is actually the one who's wrong, somehow, then she won't disappear like that awful other version of her. She still doesn't know what happened to that version of her after Wu got rid of her.
Her eyes stray back to the bed, to the shock of dark hair and a face that isn't hers. Grimacing, she shakes her head and hurries down the stairs after Wu. ]
You any better at making tea like this?
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[ Seeing her, all of her, in Mako's pajamas, is weird. Wu gave him those pajamas, red silk things that Mako quietly loves, and they're too big on her, but stretched over her chest and hips and that's too weird that he has to look away.
He is in fact still terrible at making tea, and doesn't make any move to start, dropping onto the couch to keep texting. ]
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Yeah, I know. I texted... her.
[ Is... that right? That can't be right. Mugs clink as she gets down two, including the dark-green-and-gold one they found in Willful Machine that Wu loves. ]
You, uh. Like your tea the same way?
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[ Ignoring it is the right thing to do, right? Because that's what Wu's doing. Ignoring that his hot boyfriend is now a girl. Maybe a hot girl? He doesn't know. She certainly isn't conventionally pretty, but Mako never would be, would he?
But that makes him wonder: ]
What, uh... is she like? The other me? The one you know?
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That is how I like it. I... that happened to you, too? With the, the corruption?
[ It does feel a bit cruel, to take Mako away from him right after that, while they're still fragile, while Wu is still watching for smoldering on Mako's skin. ]
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...yeah. It's weird. This whole kitchen is... everything is how I remember it. It's not like that other version of me back in the dream, with a different life. This is my life. You remember the same things as me.
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At least it isn't like last time! That guy was so scary. You remember the same thing? When you, he? When he got all possessive and weird and scary and wouldn't let me leave the house or talk to my friends?
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[ And she was very proud of Wu for it, too, even though she still has nightmares tinged with the smell of flowers. ]
You think this is the same thing? I'm some... fake me?
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[ He doesn't want to say "yes" because he doesn't want her to get angry or scared and, honestly, he doesn't know. He chews on his lip ]
You might be very real, but from a different version of Trench. Like, like how we think that there are versions of us still at home, right? Like, there's a me who's still on the throne, helping to run the Earth Kingdom. I have to believe that's true. So if there are already two of me, or us, then maybe there are more of us? Maybe there is a world where we are both girls and somehow, it all happens just about the same way. You, you and the other me, the other Wu, you're dating, right?
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Yeah, we are. Have been since... January? That hotel, did you get that one? The one we couldn't leave in the dream.
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[ That is different. Wu remembers having so many feelings at the hotel. He wanted Mako so badly, and felt so awful for it. He remembers being with him in the swimming pool and being so taken with him that he couldn't really think.
But they certainly didn't get together, then. ]
Ah, yes. I was there. But we didn't, that wasn't when... we, me and my Mako, got together in February, on Valentine's Day. You know, the Earth holiday about love?
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Seriously? Did you and the other me—was there a pool, for you?
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Uh... yes? Yes. But I wouldn't say it was exactly, um, romantic.
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