Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If you’re reading this, you might want to stop reading. This story is probably one of the saddest stories you will ever here. Oh wait, I should probably explain who I am. I apologize if my awkwardness is transferable onto paper. Anyway, my name is Mako, the police detective of Republic City and member of Team Avatar. Korra wanted all of us to write about ourselves for future generations to see us as who we are and how much a person can change. I have never been the one to really talk about what I have been through. I have always been taught to never really share information like that, for it could lead to disaster. Since then, I have been keeping everything to myself. If you ask any member on Team Avatar, they will tell you that I do not get in touch with my feelings, like ever. My younger brother, Bolin, was the one that did that for the two of us.

I lived with my parents and Bolin for not even a decade. My father may had been an earthbender, but he was such a gentle giant. He never liked to yell at anyone, especially his kids, and always looked at life with humble eyes. Dad told me that he grew up on the poorest rink in Ba Sing Se. He decided to leave his family to gain a better life. That was when he traveled to Republic city to find some work. Dad ended up getting a job at a local farmer’s market. Soon enough, he had his own business that was taking the whole city by storm. There he met my mother.

Mom was a young fire bender that came from a rich family in the fire nation. She wanted to pursue a political job, like her father. Mom also wanted to explore the world and break free from her deep fire nation roots. It was when Mom went to Dad’s food stand that everything changed.

They dated for a couple years until finally, Dad popped the question in the Republic City park. Mom of course said yes and they got married a couple months after. A year after that, Mom announced to her family she was pregnant with her first born child. The psychic told her that her first born was born for greater things than what he will endure. Of course no one understood what she meant by that statement, so my mom tried to figure it out for the next nine months. I was born in the fire nation so my grandmother could help Mom with the baby. I always had such a strong connection with my mother and her side of the family, simply because I was a firebender. Dad still loved me dearly; I always remembered having settimeout every day to play with him.

Two years later, Mom announced that she was pregnant yet again. The psychic told her that this child will be full of love and joy, much like his father, and he will be a gentle giant as well. His heart would be robust and true.

My mom had Bolin here in Republic City. Once they found out he was an earthbender, Mom’s side of the family lost all connection with her. It was enough that Mom married an earthbender, but she had an earth bending son. That was the final straw for them. Despite having no connections, Mom still visited the fire nation to see her close friends that actually approve of the relationship and the kids. I remember meeting a couple of them. Of course I was a toddler but some of them even showed me how to produce fire.

Bolin and I lived a pretty modest life. My parents wanted us to appreciate what we had so they always made home-cooked meals and educated us as much as possible. I may not have been as rich as my friends, but I was still happy.

So, my 8th birthday was one of my most memorable days ever, but not how you think. That was the day my world turned upside down.

Mom and Dad had me go to a play with them. Bolin was being watched by our neighbor; we would pay her afterwards and kiss Bolin goodnight when we got back. The play was absolutely amazing. I was engaged the entire time. My parents also enjoyed it just as much. Sure it was a little more mature and a lot of the jokes went over my head, but I understood the initial plot.

They decided to have us take a stroll in the park. Of course it was very late at night, so there was literally nobody there, or so we thought. The air was crisp and cool, with a slight breeze brushing through my clothes. Even though I was a firebender, I was still a shivering mess.

Dad looked down. “You’re still cold?”

I nodded meekly. Dad kneeled down to my height, Mom rubbed my back for comfort. Dad smiled as he took off his scarlet red scarf. As he was wrapping it around my neck, he said, “it looks better on you.”

“Thank you.” I squeaked.

Dad rose to his feet and took my hand. “Now, let’s get home before you catch a cold.”

We continued walking down the paved sidewalk, our shoes clicking with every step. Soon enough, we started hearing a fourth pair of feet clicking behind us. It was slowly growing closer and the clicking became faster.

I felt my heart racing as I squeezed my parents hands. The squeezed back, but it didn’t help calm me down.

Suddenly, a black figure descended in front of us, blocking our path to the house. I hid behind Dad’s leg and dug my head into the soft fabric.

“You two need to pay your dues.” It was Meticulous, the mass murderer in Republic City. He had been terrorizing the city for the past month, killing anyone he deemed as evil. He left his crime scenes very clean and neat, as it was a surgeon that was murdering the town. Thus, he was deemed as Meticulous because of his attention to detail when it came to leaving certain traces of his existence to how he killed his victim.

“We have nothing to pay. Let us be.” Dad stood firmly.

Meticulous played with the fire in his hand. “So you really don’t remember me? I guess I’ll have to show you.”

Mom’s eyes were murderous. “If you lay a finger on my son, I will give you another scar.”

“Oh, so you do remember me, Naoki. I thought you would forget.” Meticulous made his way to me. I squeezed the fabric as I felt the tears streaming down.

“Stay away.”

“I will once I finish what I started.” and at that, Meticulous charged at me. I let go of Dad and held my hands up in fear.

“Mako stay back!” Mom grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back and towards a nearby bench. Then, she went to help out Dad as I stood in horror at the scene taking place.

Dad wasn’t using his bending, instead his brute force. He was already powerful without his bending abilities, and Meticulous seemed to know that. He was very agile as Dad stayed pretty flat footed, trying to mount a strong defense before full-on attacking. It wasn’t like Dad to fight someone, but it was a battle between the murderer and Dad’s family and I knew for sure that Dad will die trying to keep his family safe.

They fought long and hard before Meticulous had the upper hand. Dad’s kind hearted soul was not a match for Meticulous. Dad threw a hard punch at the man’s jaw, leaving his stomach open for attack. Meticulous saw his opening, and threw a sharp flame at Dad’s stomach. Dad made a blood curdling scream before doubling over. Meticulous kicked him onto his back. As he grew closer, I noticed a metal object shining in the dimly lighted park.

A knife.

With one slash, Meticulous grinded the knife into the middle of Dad’s chest. Dad’s body flinch at the impact, but suddenly went limp with blood drooling out of his mouth and chest wound.

“San!” Mom was in tears. I heard her sobbing and wailing as she ran to her husband’s side. Mom took the knife out and tried to cover the wound with her hands, but to no avail.

After a couple seconds, Mom stood up slowly. I noticed her hands were balled into fists with large flames erupting from them. I could only imagine the expression she was wearing.

Meticulous smiled devilishly. “Oh now I’m seeing the old fire again. Let’s see what you got old lady.”

He was trying to play with Mom’s emotions. He tried to get into her head. That way she could make a wrong move and he would easily take her down, especially in the state of mind she was in at that point. To Meticulous, that was the only way he ever thought he could beat her.

And he was right.

He got to Mom’s head.

Mom charged, not knowing what she was going to do. Her anger spoke for herself, and not her skills. Her force made Meticulous stumble and find his balance. Weaponless, Meticulous had to use his bending in order to win the fight. It was an all-out firebending duel, each side giving it their all. Soon enough, Mom lost all her energy. She had wasted it on anger and used all her muscle instead of breathing through the motions. With one final blow, Meticulous slit her throat with a fire dagger.

Mom fell back instantaneously beneath her murderer. I took no time to run over to her side. I grabbed her hand as I tried to stop the bleeding. Mom’s shaky grasp was slowly fading away until it stopped. I sat there, by her side, as she bled out, knowing that by then, there was nothing I could do to stop it. I watched as her eyes turned vacant and empty and as her body laid still.

I buried my head into her arm and allowed the tears to silently escape my eyes. Both of my parents were gone and in an instant, I was all alone. They were no longer going to be there for me. I was all alone.

It didn’t occur to me for a second that Meticulous was right there, watching me wallowing in pain. I only noticed as I heard the same clicking along the pavement approaching me.

I looked up at the dark figure. “Are-are you going to...kill me too?” I squeaked.

Meticulous looked down on me in disgust. “You don’t know how much your mother and father have done to me. They turned me into a monster. And I will do the same for you.” His low and gravelly voice sent shivers up my spine. “I’m not going to kill you. Your parents suffered, but not enough. Now, you will finish out their sufferings yourself .” He spat the last word straight into my face.

”I...I....”

”Now run. Before I change my mind.” The man looked down on me. “And if you speak a word of this to anybody, I will find you again.” 

Chapter Text

Mako: 8

Bolin 6

Running home was the hardest thing I had ever done. I made sure I wasn’t spotted by anyone. I couldn’t be seen at this point. All that mattered was getting to Bolin. The babysitter will be wondering where we are. Maybe if I sneak in and grab Bolin without her noticing, that would be good. But how would I do that? Anya is an earthbender and she can feel the vibrations through the wood.

I made my decision. I climbed over the fence as quietly as I could, then I walked over to our back window. After scanning the premises for any signs of scaling the wall, I finally fixated on a large vine that rooted itself into the wall. With a small tug, I scaled the wall quietly. How that vine didn’t break under my weight, I had no idea. Hopefully it will hold us both as we climb down.

Opening the window for outside was quite tricky, but I eventually got the hang of it and slipped inside our room. Making sure I didn’t trip or turn on a light, I grabbed two large duffel bags for us. I packed in the extra money we all bad under the floor, which was quite a lot I should add. Then, I headed over to the closet and packed Bolin’s warmest clothes as well as mine. After that, I packed up two blankets and zipped up both bags tight.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps creaking up the stairs. I knew it was our babysitter Anya. Shit. Before I could make a grab for Bolin and the window, Anya opened the door, allowing light from the hallway seal through.

“Mako? Honey what are you doing up here? You’re going to wake up your brother.” Anya asked. She looked so confused. Then her eyes laid on the two duffle bags I had. “Where are your parents?” She asked me, eyes full of concern. I didn’t notice but I was crying, knowing that this would be the last time in forever that I would be in this house.

Without warning, I blasted some fire on the wood, and it erupted five feet in the air. That was my chance to escape. I gripped the two bags as I carried a sleeping Bolin over my shoulder. I threw the two bags out the window and I climbed my way down before Anya could find a break in the fire. I knew that she would have had to grab a bucket of water in order for her to get to us, since she was a non bender.

I decided to head to the park. I knew a couple of the bridges had small places were someone could sit. I had seen a lot of homeless people there before. I never thought that I would be like that either.

Once we arrived, I set Bolin down on my lap and wrapped a blanket around him. Luckily, he was a heavy sleeper and didn’t wake up the entire time. I was kind of impressed by that honestly.

I stayed awake until the sun started to rise. I left Bolin for a few minutes and went to a local breakfast shop to get something for him to eat. After a few minutes of looking, I settled on a biscuit and a small cup of warm tea. The man at the cashier looked mortified when he saw me. I didn’t understand why, so I said nothing and gave him the money. I left with dozens of people giving me weird looks. Without a second thought, I ran over to the park and towards the bridge I left Bolin at.

When I arrived, he was still sound asleep. I somewhat smiled at the little ball curdled up with some blankets. I reached out to rub his shoulder, but my eyes laid on the dried blood on my hands. Small flashes from last night blazed through my head. I shook my head and walked over to the water. After a few minutes of soaking and rubbing, the dry blood started to come off and fade into the water.

Suddenly, I felt Bolin’s sleeping form start to stir. He rolled around and touched my hip. “Hey sleepy head.” I smiled.

Bolin slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Mako? Where are we?”

“Don’t worry about that.” I handed him the biscuit. I was trying to keep it warm in my hands so it would still be a little fresh. “I got you some breakfast.”

Bolin didn’t accept it. “Where are Mommy and Daddy?”

As soon as he said those words, my heart dropped to my stomach. He won’t understand yet. He’s still so long. But he needs to know. Just not right now. I want to spare some of his innocence for just a little longer.

“Don’t worry about it right now, Bo.” I shoved the biscuit in his hand and grabbed the small cup of tea. “You need to worry about growing big and strong.”

Bolin looked like he was about to protest, but he quickly shut his mouth instead. We sat there in silence until Bolin finished everything. He seemed full, which was good, but I could tell he felt uneasy.

“Why are we here?”

“Please don’t ask that again.” I said a little more firm.

“I wanna go home and play. Mako will you play with me?” Bolin tugged my arm.

I shook my head. “Not right now.”

“Please! I wanna play!”

“No Bolin. I’m sorry but we can’t play right now.”

Bolin huffed. “Mommy would let me-“

“Mom is dead!” I snapped. “And so is Dad. They’re both gone and they’re never coming back!”

Bolin was in pure shock. Soon enough, the tears began to shed and he looked like he was about to scream. I pulled his shaking body into a tight embrace.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to be here for you Bolin. I will protect you, no matter what. I promise that I will get us out of this.” I said in between sobs. I was serious about what I said to him that day. I will do whatever it takes to make it out alive. There will be some situations that will test me, but I know one thing for sure.

Bolin is worth anything.

Chapter Text

Mako: 9

Bolin: 7

It had been a year since Mom and Dad died. We weren’t very lucky when it came to the weather. The winter was setting in and the temperature was already dropping to below freezing. Tonight was probably the coldest day we had faced yet.

With each passing month, Bolin grew skinnier and skinnier. We barely had any money left either. Worst of all, sickness was spreading all through the nooks and crannies of the city. It was only a matter of time before Bolin would catch something and I wouldn’t be able to take care of him. Medicine was getting more and more expensive as new advances with the chemicals were coming into light.

“Mako….” Bolin whined into my arm. “I’m...c-cold.”

“I know Bo,” I rubbed my hand through his knotty hair. His entire shivering form was curled up by my side. “Do you need my jacket?”

Bolin shook his head. “I don’t want it.”

I knew exactly what he wanted. But I didn’t want to. It wasn’t that I wanted to help him...it was just…..I didn’t want to hurt him. I had seen what firebending could do to someone, and I had no intention of hurting Bolin.

“I’m sorry Bo, but I can’t. All I can give you is my jacket.” I pulled my arms out of the sleeves. It was pretty well insulated from what I remember. Bolin liked using it as a blanket because it would eat him alive.

“No…” Bolin murmured into my side.

“Please Bolin. You need it.” I pleaded with him. Since he gave me no response, I took action for him.

“No!” Bolin shook it off of him and threw it a few feet away from us. “It-won’t….h-help.” His head burying deeper than I expected. I sighed and put the jacket back on in case he needed it.

He stayed there all through the night. After a little bit, his breathing steadied out into a pattern. He’s asleep. I kept watch most of the time. Bolin needed the rest more than I did. If I was lucky, I would just take a small nap on a park bench for a little bit. But other than that, sleep wasn’t my first priority.

After a few hours had passed, I bent down to check on Bolin. By then he was already fast asleep, but I always made sure he was still breathing. I rubbed his arms to create a little bit of friction, but soon enough it wasn’t long until I saw the blue lips and scarlet red cheeks. My heart started racing like no tomorrow.

You have to do it. A voice whispered around my head. I shook my head. I couldn’t hurt Bolin. He was all I had, why would I ever want to hurt him.

I threw off my jacket harshly and wrapped Bolin’s sleeping form into it. It was going to be enough for him. Some part of me knew that too. The only way to warm him up was a fire, and I had to make it.

Bolin had grabbed some twigs from the park and brought them over in case I was ready for firebending. That kid knows a thing or two I guess. I ran over and picked up an armful of twigs, trying not to allow them to slip under my fingertips. Once they were close enough to Bo, I let them drop to the snow.

Focus on the heat inside of you. Fire is breath, not muscle. Don’t forget what Mom taught you. I took a few deep breaths. All the energy I had focused on was quickly felt in my tiny hands. Come on!!! Push! Make fire you idiot. Bolin is dying and you’re the only one that can save him!

Suddenly, something inside me snapped. It was as if the light switch turned on. I opened my eyes and saw a small flame in my palm. Did I just…. NO TIME BOLIN NEEDS ME.

Without any other thought, I rushed to make the fire. Within a few seconds, the small flame grasped onto the dry wood in front of us. The fire was going. Then, I scooched Bolin over to the edge to warm him up.

After a few minutes, I saw a few slight changes. Bolin’s lips were turning back and his cheeks were definitely not as red. I cradled his head in my lap as I tended to the fire.

After a few minutes turned into an hour, Bolin started shifting in my lap. Slowly but surely, his small body stood up in a sitting position.

“Wha-what happened?” Bolin asked as he rubbed his puffy eyes.

I ran my hand through his messy hair. “I just made a fire. I could tell you were getting cold.”

Bolin immediately turned his attention to the warm manifestation before him. His eyes grew wide with surprise.

“You did this?” He asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, I made it.”

Bolin turned back to me with a huge smile. “I knew you could do it!” Then he wrapped his tiny arms around my waist, barely covering the perimeter. I smiled and hugged him back.

“What time is it?”

“Don’t worry about that. Just get some more sleep okay?” I looked down and started to slightly hum him to sleep. Bolin crawled up in my lap and closed his eyes. Soon enough, he was back asleep and all was normal in the world.

Chapter Text

Mako: 12

Bolin: 10

The winter was once again setting in on us. It was the thing we both dreaded most. Not only was there extremely cold weather, but that meant that it was harder to steal money from people when we needed it most.

I had just finished finding some late dinner for Bolin. It wasn’t much, stale bread and an apple from the dumpster, but he will take it gratefully.

The food dumpsters I went to were from a small block with a lot of residents owning small shops on the main floor while living on the top of it. Many people enjoyed this little corner of town. Come to think of it, it was a major tourist spot. I always went around 10 pm to avoid any troubles. Most of the lights were off in the houses by then so I was easy for me to sneak in and out.

I was simply walking away from one of the dumpsters that I usually don’t go too, but I didn’t want to cause any suspicion between the neighbors.

“Hey! You!” A disembodied male’s voice echoed throughout the alley. The hairs on the back of my neck shot straight up as I stopped dead in my tracks. No one has ever come back here this time of night. Well, no one except me…

“Hey! Kid!” It called out again. I knew that I could possibly be outmatched, and Bolin needed this food. I was not about to get caught.

Without a second thought, I bolted down deeper into the alley. I cradled the food in my shirt to keep it from frosting.  Honestly, I thought he wasn’t going to follow me, but yet again I was wrong.

My mind was racing through possibly escape routes that I had created in case this would ever occur. Thankfully I was right in so to do this at night as well.

As the alley turned into a small intersection, I bolted to the right. I was definitely more familiar with this area so then I could easily jump up onto the fire escapes.

I was just about to make a jump when a large figure exploded out of mid air. I skidded to a halt in time to start to turn around, but it was too late. The man grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me back, causing the old food to spill out onto the icy cement. Soon enough, I realized that struggling was never going to get me anywhere. The guy had a very good grip.

“So you have been the one that’s been rummaging through our trash. I told Rebekah that it was a raccoon-possum!” His strident voice boomed throughout the alley.

I refused to talk to him at all. “Well? Are you going to say something, kid?” He turned me around to meet his gaze. His rosy eyes shining through the night.

“Leave me be.” I gritted my teeth.

The man laughed. “Not until you tell me why you rummage through garbage. Why not eat what your parents give you?”

At that comment, I looked down at my dangling feet. If only I had parents.

The man must’ve felt my anger turn into pain. He put me down softly, but still with a firm hold on my arm. Then, he used his other hand to lift my chin up to see his face again. I had noticed that his gaze had softened a little bit.

He sighed. “Why don’t you come and have an actual meal instead of stale food. I’ll make a hot dinner for you.”

The idea was definitely so intriguing to me. I needed the meal, considering I was too scrawny for my age. But then I remembered what Mom told me about strangers. She always said that I would be snatched up and never seen again. Well I lived this long I guess.

“I’ll go with you,” I nodded. “But I also want to bring my brother.”

The man looked startled. “You have a brother?”

“Yeah that’s why I was getting the food. It was for him.” I slightly looked at the food freezing as we spoke.

“Well then show me to your brother. I’ll bring you both in for some food.” The man let go of my arm.

I looked at him perplexed. “But...why?”

The man smiled down at me. “Because no child deserves to not eat a meal. Now where is your brother?”

I took my cue and lead him through Republic City to where Bolin and I were sleeping. I was still very cautious about the whole thing. I mean what middle-aged guy would take two strange boys in from off the street? Unless he was some kind of serial killer. Oh geez I couldn’t handle that again.

“So what are your names?” The man asked me, snapping me back to reality.  

“I’m Mako, and my brother is named Bolin. He’s a couple years younger than me.” I replied simply.

We finally entered the small alley where Bolin was sleeping. To my relief, he was still there and sound asleep. I walked over and nudged him awake.

“Hey sleepy head.” I slightly smiled at him.

Bolin rubbed his swollen eyes. “Mako? What’s going on?”

“Well...it’s kind of a long story,” I started out. “But the point is, we’re getting a hot meal.”

Bolin’s eyes widen with surprise and excitement. “From where?” He squeaked.

The man then emerged toward Bolin to answer for me. “From me. My name is Anzen. And I’ll now be your new caretaker.”

Chapter Text

Mako: 12

Bolin: 10

Anzen was a blessing in disguise. He made sure we had some food for every meal, gave us new clothes that fit, and let us enjoy ourselves at the park every now and then. 

He was quite the charmer at his age. His peppery hair was well groomed along with his slight goatee. His rosy eyes were always a little rough but had a gentle touch to them. Anzen always made sure Bolin was happy and Bolin definitely warmed up to him faster than I did. I could just never figure out why I didn’t trust him. 

So it was a new day. And everyday had a very similar and structured schedule we lived by and to be honest I still kind of do to this day. Bolin and I woke up at around 7 am and made our beds. Once we finished that, we both went to the bathroom to brush our teeth, wash our face, and comb through our hair. After that, we would get dressed for the day in our rooms and put our old clothes in the laundry. 

Once we were both dressed, we went into the kitchen and waiting for Anzen to serve us breakfast. He told us he would wake up at 6:30 every morning to take the trash out. For a single man, he kept a very clean home and that meant we did a ton of cleaning. I think that is why I am a low key cleaning freak. 

Anzen smiled and said ‘Good morning,’ to us as we sat at the table. Breakfast was usually the same: 2 eggs over easy, 3 dumplings, some banana bread, and a cup of warm jasmine tea.  We would eat together, however, the mornings were not very lively. We all enjoyed the quiet as we all struggled to wake up. 

After breakfast, Bolin and I would do the chores around the house. Anzen would go to work around 8:30 and open the store at 9 am. He would be back at 1 to have lunch with us. Usually, it was very quiet around that time. Anzen would be exhausted and casually pick at his food. Bolin would squirm and wait for me to finish so I could take him to the park afterwards.

Finally, lunch was finished. Anzen told us to be safe and to come back in an hour. Bolin and I left and locked the door behind me. Bolin was super excited that day. He was literally bouncing as I led him to the park.

It was kind of weird to think about. The park was such a warm and loving place for Bolin to play and pretend he had a family he could go home too, just like his playmates. I played the role as the older brother waiting for Bolin to be done so we could go home. It was a time of day where we could play in a bubble that shielded us from the cruel past that haunted me everyday. 

After an hour of playing, I called for Bolin to come home. Bolin perked up from under the bridge, his clothes all dirty and wet. I sighed knowing that I would have to clean his clothes tonight so he could wear it tomorrow. 

Bolin approached me wearing a large grin on his face. “Mako! I had such a fun time! I played with Haruka, and Rei, and Amya! It was super cool! They all want me to come back and play with them tomorrow! Amya said that we should play hopscotch or something. She said she would teach me!”

I patted his head. “Yeah, sure. I’ll bring you back tomorrow.”

“Yay!” Bolin yelled in victory. 

“All right, let’s get home. Anzen will want us back.” I held onto Bolin’s arm to lead him home. 

Everything was so normal to our routine. It felt so nice to have a family, someone to talk to whenever I needed it. I was thinking about talking to him about some personal issues too. I mean, Anzen already gave me that talk, but I was thinking a lot about myself lately in regards to it. I just hope he still loves me-

“Mako…” Bolin’s mortified voice snapped me out of my inner thought. 

I was about to ask him what was wrong until I looked in front of me. The store Anzen worked was ruined. Glass shattered both on the inside and outside with the door ripped apart from the wall. People on the street stood frozen solid, not wanting to make a sudden move. 

“What...do we do?” Bolin murmured into my arm. 

“Find Anzen.” I took a deep breath and stepped into the room. Immediately, a small group of older men caught my gaze. They all stopped for a split second before lunging at us. 

“Bolin go!” I pushed Bolin away as I punched a few fire blasts in their direction. None of them were even close to effective, or even caught them by surprise. In panic, I ran under their legs and up the back staircase behind my little brother. 

We bolted through the broken door into the apartment. The place was even worse up here. There, stood Anzen on the floor. Blood smeared all over the ground and across his face. Both of his legs were sprawled out in a horrible position with his neck looking up at the offender. This other man was a different story. He was skinny, wearing a fancy blue collared shirt and dark blue trousers. His jet black hair styled in the most fashion forward way yet. His entire hand was engulfed in his main weapon: water. 

“Now, I told you this once Anzen. You would be working on this assignment alone. I don’t need any damn kids distracting you from the big picture.” His smooth voice grew darker but the word. 

Anzen gritted the last few teeth left in his mouth. “They mean no harm. It’s my life Shin. I can do what I want. You don’t control every bit of me.” He spat. 

Shin let out a small laugh. “You think this is a game? Your brother thought the same thing, until he started to not do his job. His price was deadly, and so will yours.”

Anzen looked down at the floor, probably reliving his last moments before falling to the hands of one of the most notorious Triple Threat gang member. Then his eyes caught mine. I couldn’t understand what was in his eyes. Pain? Guilt? Shock? Fear? 

All of the sudden, Shin’s eyes met mine. His icy blue iris’ stared straight into my soul, forcing me to freeze in my place. 

“Mako get out of here now!” Anzen said. “I’ll handle this. Just leave.” 

“Ah. So these are the kids you have been watching.” Shin turned around his entire body to size me up. I was still frozen to the touch with no sense of anything. 

Shin looked up and down and smiled to himself. “You know what Anzen. We can make use of these boys. In more ways than others.” He grinned from ear to ear. 

“No!” Anzen coughed up some blood. He used his arms to mermaid crawl to us. “I won’t let that happen. They don’t deserve the life you live. Use me instead.”

“Well unlike you, it seems like they can carry out the job with no distractions getting in their way.” Shin inched closer and reached out his watery hand. I still was a statue in his presence. It certainly amused the young man towering over me. “See? He will be easy to control.”

Suddenly, Shin let out a slight yelp and face planted right in front of me. Anzen was grabbing his leg and climbing up to his stomach. But before he could even start to rip Shin apart, he looked me dead in the eyes. “Run. Don’t ever come back.” 

Bolin was the one that shook me out of my paralysis. Together, we ran up to the attic, and then to the top of the roof to jump over to the other building. For some reason, the other thugs didn’t want to chase us. Probably because we weren’t of the utmost importance to them. I didn’t know why Anzen was such a target to those guys, but it had to mean something was going on underneath his tough exterior, something I had sensed the whole time. 

But even though I didn’t understand that, I understood one thing. 

Bolin and I were on our own, again. 

Chapter Text

Mako: 12

Bolin 10

The years went by and no sight of any danger. I made it very clear to Bolin to stay under the radar and not get caught if he ever left for things. By this time, we started to scam for food. I never wanted to resort to this, we weren’t little babies anymore and we didn’t look the part; it was harder for us to get food from elders without Bolin’s small child face. He was growing up little by little, and it worried me that soon enough he would see the awful truth of the world.

It was around the late spring when I taught Bolin his first ever scam, and when we first executed it. 

The task was simple: there was a fruit stand right on the edge of the square and was barely making ends meet. The perfect target. 

It started out pretty well to be honest. I walked over examining some of the more fresh fruit such as papaya, guava, and mangos. It all looked so appetizing to me that I couldn’t stop the mouth watering. 

An elder man behind the stand looked up at me. “Pick out what you want, kid. This stand won’t be here much longer.”  

A small part of me felt bad for this poor man. It was probably all he had left. But I needed to get food for Bolin.

“Can I have one guava and one mango?” I asked. 

The man started to pick out the fruit for me. “That’ll be 5 yuans.” 

Suddenly, I felt a small force ram into my side, causing me to collide with the fruit stand. I let out a small yelp for extra measure. The guy bought it perfectly.

“What the hell?” The man walked out of the stand and went to help me up. 

“Help me! I can’t find my mom!” Bolin called a few feet away. The man quickly looked over there and decided to help out a crying Bolin. Bolin wasn’t fake crying by any measures, no those were real tears. He was desperate for food so we took all the extra measures we could. 

I slowly stood up and snagged a few pieces of fruit. By then, Bolin fainted to keep him occupied. The man looked completely frazzled and confused as to what to do. I took my cue and sprang off with the fruit to the ally. 

After a few minutes passed, Bolin can around the other way. 

“Did you get it?” He asked.

I nodded and handed him a mango. “Take it, you earned it little bro.”

Bolin took it graciously and started to take a huge bite. 

Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming our way. I turned around and looked to see who it was. No it wasn’t the old man we stole from, it was an eerie figure that somehow seemed so familiar. 

I tapped Bolin’s arm. “We gotta go,” I whispered. 

Bolin looked up confused. “Why?”

I grabbed Bolin’s arm and sprinted down the other way. There wasn’t really a place to run at this point, except a dumpster. Hundreds of dumpsters skimmed through my mind until I settled on one not too far away. It was right across the street, which is something I don’t think that guy would want to go for. 

Bolin and I skidded to a halt when a large stream of cars blasted right by on the road. I looked back and saw the guy was slowly walking toward us. I didn’t want to take any chances so I ran into the street, hoping we would die at that point. 

No car hit us, but we surely had a lot of horns honking in our direction. Finally, we reached the other side and I bolted down the alley and made a sharp right in one of the openings. I arrived at the dumpster a few feet later. I scooped up Bolin and placed him inside with me and closed the door. 

Now all we could do was wait. I made sure Bolin knew to stay quiet at all times. He seemed scared out of his mind, just like me. 

Hours had passed and silence. I decided that it was safe to head out and set up camp for the night. I slowly opened the dumpster door. The sun was just about the set in the sky, leaving little to no daylight left. I sighed. Guess we’ll have to work in the dark. 

Bolin popped his head up to meet my gaze. “We safe?”

I nodded and climbed out of the dumpster. Bolin climbed over as well. 

Bolin looked behind me and widen his eyes. “M-Mako…”

“What?”

Bolin lifted his finger and pointed behind me. 

The man was leaning against the brick wall, finishing off a cigarette. “Ah, so nice of you to finally join us.”

Chapter Text

Mako: 12

Bolin: 10

The guy had taken us to the triple threat headquarters, of course we didn’t know that right away. We tried to escape him, but he brought back up with him and they stopped us short by the street. I mean we couldn’t do much; we were basically trapped. 

Finally, we arrived at a dimly lit porch in the middle of a bad street. A man on the other side of the door slid open a peep hole. “Ah Shin, you finally arrived.”

The first guy smirked, “Yeah, and got those kids that you wanted.”

The peephole closed and then the whole door slid open. In the doorway stood a younger man, around his early 20’s. His jet black hair was hidden under a fancy hat while his large figure was covered in fancy water tribe clothing. 

His icy blue eyes pierced through mine that left a shiver down my spine. “Well done Shin. You will be rewarded.”

Shin shoved us into the room. There were about 5 men in there, guarding every exit. Bolin grabbed my left arm and squeezed it tightly. 

“Oh come on boys, we don’t bite.” Shin deviously licked his lips. 

The man with the blue eyes walked past us and sat on a chair on the far wall. He crossed his legs and propped his head on his arm, which was sitting on an arm rest. “Allow me to introduce myself. Many citizens call me a many things such as...a scorpion snake, and while other people may be upset with that term, I prefer to embrace it, so I am known as Viper. I am the leader of this glorious organization.”

“But- I thought….” Bolin pointed behind himself at Shin to empathize with his point. 

“Shady Shin is merely a guinea pig in the grand scheme of things.” Viper cut him off harshly. I noticed Shin’s eyes darted away slowly. 

“Why don’t you boys come and sit down.” Viper spoke to us, this time a little bit nicer. 

I stayed standing. I was not comfortable with sitting down like that, especially with all these guys in the room. Viper seemed to enjoy looking down on me and Bolin. His eyes twinkled with delight. 

“What do you want with us?” Bolin squeaked from my arm. 

Viper let out a small laugh. “A 10 year old speaking out? Reminds me of myself when I was that age.” 

Bolin shrank back into my shirt. I could feel him starting to shake. As much as I wanted to as well, I had to be strong for him and speak for the both of us. 

“Why did you bring us here?” I said as more of a statement. 

Viper’s eyes pricked up only slightly. “My men have watched you for a while now. You think light on your feet. That little scam you boys pull is quite entertaining to say the least. I think you could be very useful around here.”

“By being a slave? No thank you.” I snapped at the invitation. The men around us were surprised by my refusal, nevertheless, they stayed in character. 

Viper shook his head. “Tsk. Tsk. If only you took the offer when you had the chance. It could’ve sheltered you from the winter months.”

Bolin’s eyes perked up at the idea of a warm room. His eyes darted to mine in an instant. I know he needs the room. He needs the food and the warm blankets. But he doesn’t need to be tied up with these guys. Mom and Dad told us to stay away from them. They stab you in the back at any moment you don’t render to them useful. 

“We can manage.” I replied simply. Bolin and I backed away from the throne-like chair and toward the door. Of course Shady Shin saw what we were doing and closed the gap between us and the only opening we knew of. 

“Not so fast, boys.” His voice towered over us. Bolin’s eyes grew like saucers. Shin let out a cold, heartless laugh. 

“Believe me. You do not want to be on those streets without protection. Word spreads fast.” Viper grabbed my attention yet again. His sitting position was more relaxed, like this wasn’t his first rodeo. He somehow knew he would come out on top, no matter the opponent. 

“Please Mako.” Bolin whispered into my arm. 

My gut response was screaming at me to get Bolin out of there. To run away, out of Republic City. But where would you go? You have no money, no map. No contacts. You can’t escape. 

This is your only option. Turn into them, blend in. Then jump at the right time. Play along. I took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Fine. We will join you.” I felt Bolin’s sigh of relief on my shirt. It was small, but it was present. 

 Viper grinned. “Good. Get the little one into some clothes that are not falling apart.” Shin came up from behind and ripped Bolin off of me. Bolin screamed at the sudden action and looked at me with pleading eyes. I gave him a nod that he would be alright. He then shut his mouth and allowed Shin to pull him into another room.

“As for you,” Viper stood up very slowly. I turned back around to see his rigid silhouette stepping into the light. “You’re lucky I show mercy. But mercy comes with a price. Your ‘Assistance' will commence tomorrow.”B

Chapter Text

Mako: 12

Bolin: 10

The next day arrived as slowly as it possibly could. But when it did, it took no time to rip me away from my brother. It all started when Shin barged into our room in the old attic. Viper told me that we’ll get better rooms if I do my duties right.

He ripped off the blanket that was keeping me and Bolin warm. My eyes shot open at the sudden temperature change. I looked up and saw Shin looking over us. Bolin was still snoring peacefully next to me. 

“Rise and shine, scarfie.” 

I complied and slowly rolled off of the mattress. Shin threw the blanket aside and ripped me up from the floor. “You’re late.”

I didn’t fight back for fear of what might happen to Bolin if I did. I didn’t dare say a word as he started walking toward the only opening of the room. Shin shoved me down the stairs and into a room towards the back of the house. We had walked past a few guys from last night on our way. Some of them were arm wrestling while others were about to head out to do some of their own work. Others were enjoying a cigarette and cracking jokes with each other. The few guys that saw me with Shin gave me blank stares and toothy grins. They all knew what was going to happen to me before I had a clue. 

Finally we faced the last room down the narrow hallway. Shin creaked the door open, allowing the room to gently lighten up. Once he shoved me in, a familiar voice from last night spoke up. 

“Ah, yes. Thank you, Shin.” It was Viper. Oh great. I’m assuming this is about the punishment he was talking about last night.

Shin closed the door behind me, leaving the two of us in a darkly lit room with a desk and chair that Viper was sitting in. His feet crossed over each other and propped up on the desk. His face was covered by a fancy bowl hat sitting crooked on his head.

“What do you want.” I said as strongly as I could. The last thing I wanted to do was show him another weakness. I knew that as soon as he could figure one out, it would be used against me and Bolin. They would be able to crack Bolin easily, but not me. I won’t let them. 

Viper’s smile perked up. “Nothing crazy. I’m just here to follow up with what we discussed last night. You need to pay up, pretty boy.” 

“For what? For putting you in your place?”

I replied flatly.

Viper held his hands together. “Not exactly. Living here comes with a price. Now I am assuming you won’t let your pitiful little brother take any fall, so I won’t put him to use just yet. You on the other hand, will not get off so easy.” 

I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. The leader of the Triple Threats would never back down to a 12 year old boy. Might as well get the punishment over with. I took a deep breath before responding. “What do I need to do?”

Viper laughed. It was cold hearted and dark. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. “I love a boy with promise. Oh am I going to have fun here.” 

That last word made me shiver in my stance. I didn’t like the way he said that to me. Viper set his feet back on the ground and shifted in his seat.

“Come here.” Viper motioned with his fingers for me to move forward. I stood like a statue. Something inside of me told me to stay put. That feeling created knots in my stomach. Something inside of me knew that this wasn’t right. But another part knew that Bolin needed the help. If this is what I need to do, I’m going to do it for him. 

I obeyed and walked over to the desk. Viper rolled the chair back to leave room for me. “Stand here.” He pointed between his spread legs for reference. 

I did as I was told. 

“Good.” Viper curled his lips into a sly smile. “Now kneel.” 

By that point, I knew what he wanted from me, and never in a million years did I want to do it with him. My heart started racing faster than before. The only reaction I could give was a slight head shake.  Viper looked down on me. “What’s the matter? You don’t know what to do?”

I didn’t answer the question. The truth is, I didn’t know anything about that. I was never taught any of this. Mom and Dad never had this kind of talk with me. I was too young at that point. 

Viper rolled his eyes at the ceiling. “If you’re going to learn how to do this, it’s gonna be taught the right way.” 

“I-I…” My mouth wouldn’t let out a word. I was too scared to say anything. I couldn’t even look down at him. The only place I could look was his face and that was not a pretty sight to begin with. It was all too embarrassing for me. 

“Don’t you worry there, kid.” Viper clapped my shoulder. “You’ll learn how I like it soon enough. And don’t worry about it being your first time. You won’t leave until you adhere to my satisfaction.” 

***

I left the room in pure silence. One thing was for certain, I would never be the same. 

Shin was outside guarding the door. His posture was slumped with a cigarette in hand that was about dead. He had on a cool outfit with a gold chain around his neck. 

Shin blew out a puff of smoke. “Well look who’s back.” 

I ignored the comment and started to walk down the hallway. Suddenly, a large hand grasped my shoulder. “Hold up, kid.” Shin jerked me back to face him. I couldn’t even meet his gaze. “You won’t see him until tonight. He’s doing some house chores today. You need to clean yourself up and shower. Follow me.”

Shin forced me down the hallway and to the left into an open room. Then he pushed me to the left side of the wall. He opened a door to a full bathroom. Shin then closed the door shut on us. 

“Soap is in the shower. Turn on the nossel and it will come out cold. You don’t get any hot water yet. Wash everything off of yourself. We’ll rinse your mouth after you shower.” 

Shin stood by the door to block off my only exit. I turned my back to him and took off my sad excuse for clothes. My shirt was thin with one sleeve ripped off from a previous scam. My pants were so worn out that they didn’t fit anymore and they were being held by a piece of rope tied neatly around my waist. I didn’t have shoes on; the only pair I had started to fit Bolin better than me, so I gave them to him to protect his feet. The only good item left was my scarf, and I kept that away from my other clothes and placed it on an open shelf above the toilet to show Shin it’s significance. 

Anyway, I pulled off the rest of my clothing and set it aside. I reached into the shower and turned the nossel one. After a second, the water came crashing down in the tub. It was then that I noticed no shower curtain was up. Please tell me I don’t have to clean myself off with him seeing me. 

“Go on kid. We don’t have all day.” Shin spat impatiently. 

I took a deep breath and hopped into the shower. The ice cold water splashed hard on my thin back; I forced down a screech. I grabbed the bar of soap and started to wash my hair. After that, I started to move down my arms and chest and finally finished it off at my feet. It took all of 5 minutes to “clean” myself off. When I turned the shower water off, Shin was standing by the sink with a towel. 

He tossed it over and I immediately covered myself up. “Wash your mouth out. I’m going to get you some decent clothes for once. Stay.”

And with that, Shin left me in the bathroom alone and he Iocked me in. I stood in there, looking at the stranger in the mirror. I was once so young and innocent. For a time in my life, I thought that this never existed. I want to go back to those days. I want Mom and Dad back . As much as I wanted to, I refused to cry. Viper can’t get the best of me. He can’t. 

I took a shaky breath and proceeded to turn on the sink. You’ll get to see Bolin soon enough. Think of that. He’s going to be ok. And who knows, that might have been a one time thing. 

Little did I know, that was the least of my worries in the years to come. 

Chapter Text

Mako: 12

Bolin: 10

2 weeks later

The…. encounters with Viper became a daily thing for me. I would wake up every morning and go down to his room. Once I finished my business with him, he let me go with Shin to the same small bathroom and fix myself up enough to hide any evidence. Then I would proceed back over there and do some of Viper’s dirty work. Each leader from the gang had a specific role they had to do and would usually hire other guys to do it for them. Viper’s dirty work was taking care of people that owed him or any of the triple threats. Usually any complaint would come to me and I would have to report it to him. Then, depending on the victim, Viper would send out some guys to do the deed and come back with some sort of evidence that the mission was complete. 

Bolin had been doing simple chores around the place from sweeping floors to wiping down windows. The older guys would make it more miserable for him by throwing sticky food on the floor or breaking glasses just to break them. Some would even chuck the ends of their cigarette buds at him when Bolin wasn’t looking. Of course he wouldn’t know they were doing it on purpose. Even with thugs, Bolin only thought of the best in people and not the worst. 

On a gloomy afternoon, Viper let me and Bolin off work early. He had a really important poker night he had to prepare for; even though we were the most well behaved kids in the gang, he didn’t want any of us around. Word was the leader of the Triple Threats was getting out of jail today. I honestly thought Viper was the leader, with how everyone here treated him. But I could tell he was a little tense today. He even stopped me earlier than usual and forced me out of the room to clean off. Shin was getting annoyed with Viper’s attitude for sure. So much so that he started snapping right back. I didn’t know how he got away with it so much. Viper simply rolled his eyes and continued with his work. 

Anyway, Shin decided to be nice and give us money to use instead of stealing. I guess he didn’t want any other triple threats getting into trouble that day, so I said nothing and took the money. 

We headed over to a small hangout place where all the gang kids go to chill. A couple of the guys tipped off the place to us so we decided to check it out. 

The hideout was a small section under the TuiLa Bridge at the heart of the city. It was the usual spot for a turf war, as it divided the territory. 

Bolin and I arrived around 8 pm and it was already dark, with the sky being a deep grey. It looked like it was about to rain pretty soon. I told Bolin we would stay for a small bit and then head back before the rain hits us.  

Once we walked up, I immediately took notice of a few kids that were off putting to me. The first one had spiky hair like me, but worse. It looked like he was struck by lightning the way that he presented himself. I knew he was from the Triple Threats. His name was Ekio. He was about 15 years old and ran a lot of numbers for the probending games the gang fixed. 

The other one was not from the Triple Threats for one thing. He had dark, slick hair all pulled out of his face to reveal a small scar on his forehead. His clothes were well made and very elaborate in design in color. I got the sense he was an earthbender from his appearance. 

“Ah, the two princesses finally showed up.” Ekio was smoking a cigarette while leaning against one of the beams. 

“Well then maybe next time, tell us sooner.” I muttered back. Bolin stayed behind me. 

“I just figured you would’ve heard of the place, considering your Viper’s new... play toy. ” Ekio smirked at me. I slightly huffed at his response. Don’t let him see it offends you. Let it roll off your back. 

“Is that so, Ekio?” The other one questioned. “You got replaced?” 

Ekio shrugged. “Guess I had better use for him than-“ he stopped short after seeing Bolin behind me. He still knew nothing of what was going on behind the scenes. It was a joint agreement by pretty much the whole gang to keep Bolin in the dark. As long as he did his job, everything would be fine. 

Ekio finished off his sentence with, “well, you know.”

Just let it go. Let it go.

“So tell me what’s it like knowing the big guns of the Triple Threats on a personal level.” The other laughed out loud. 

“Now now Daichi, let’s not be too hasty.” Ekio blew out some smoke.

Daichi walked on over to me and Bolin. Bolin backed up, which left a space between us. Daichi seized the opportunity to fill in the gap. 

Suddenly another voice called out. “Got the booze. No thanks to either of you.” The guy looked around my age. He had long, dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. The clothes he wore were very fancy and fit him really well. He carried a cardboard box and placed it on the floor. I heard a few clinging bottles inside. 

“What the hell took you so long, Hasook?”

“There was a line, dumbass.” Hasook rolled his eyes. Soon enough, his gaze fixated on me and Bolin. “And what do we have here?”

“Viper’s little boy toy.”

“Guess you weren’t good enough.” Hasook teased. 

Ekio rolled his eyes with a slight smile and returned his attention to me; more importantly, my scarf. 

All of the sudden, Ekio reached out and snatched the red scarf off of my neck. I felt my blood start to boil underneath my skin. How dare he touch that. It’s mine. 

“Give it back.” I growled as I tried to take it back. 

Ekio waved it around by his head. “So tell me why this piece of trash hangs around your neck all the time.”

“Just give it back.” I reached for the red fabric but instead I caught air. 

“Why should I?” Ekio smirked. His voice sounded so innocent, yet strident at the same time. It seemed like a voice that allowed him to always get what he wanted. 

Daichi shoved Bolin into my back, causing me to stumble forward. Ekio took that to his advantage and shoved his fist into my left cheek. It connected with a thud as I fell to the ground. The taste of blood was very present in my mouth. 

“Aw look. The little one's gonna cry.” Daichi snorted. 

I looked up and saw a few tears escaping Bolin’s eyes. He tried his best to wipe them away. The blood boiled underneath my skin to the point where I couldn’t stay silent anymore. With all my strength, I stood up and rammed my body into Akio’s torso. The scarf fell out of his grasp as we both collapsed onto the floor. By then I saw red. All I wanted to do was hurt him. 

I started to smash my fists into Ekio’s face. He did all he could to get me off, but I was too strong. I only got in a few good punches until I was yanked away and thrown onto the ground a few feet away. 

Suddenly, a large foot went for my stomach. I grunted at the impact. “You think you’re so tough.” Daichi spat. “Well you’re playing with me now, pretty boy.”

Another kick to my stomach. And then a kick to my ribs. 

“Mako! Help!” Bolin cried behind me. His voice was muffled for sure. One of the guys was holding him down. 

I tried to roll over and get up, but a large force jumped on top of me, causing my arms to give out. I connected to the concrete and felt my skin scrape away. 

“Karma’s a bitch isn’t it.” Ekio smirked above me. Suddenly, I felt a blow to my head. My vision blacked out slightly. I regained my vision, still distorted with small yellow particles. 

Daichi grabbed my hair and lifted my head up to meet his gaze. “You will never be strong enough to protect your family. Let this be your lesson. Your past is in the past. Don’t live in it. You either hustle or get hustled.”

This small beating lasted a few more minutes. By then my face was covered in blood and bruises. My stomach was aching from the first kicks. My ribs were shooting pains all up and down my body. Everything hurt. 

Daichi and Ekio were laughing at me. Mocking the way I tried to protect myself. Mocking Bolin’s muffled screams. They enjoyed beating me up. I had a feeling Ekio had been wanting to do it for a long time. 

I finally gained enough strength to stand up by myself, despite my body screaming the opposite. Hasook threw Bolin to the ground with the scarf in his hands. I grabbed Bolin and we left the scene while the other three villains drank their booze in peace. 

We walked back in the pouring rain in silence. I knew Viper was going to be mad that we came back earlier than what we were told. But I needed to take a shower and Bolin was too frightened to do anything else. 

Finally, we approached the hideout. A few thugs were posted on the porch to keep the outsiders from coming in. I took a shaky breath and led Bolin toward the door. 

The two thugs knew us well enough to let us in without question. Finally out of the rain, I led Bolin to the only bathroom I knew existed there. And of course it was on the way to the poker room. 

The room was only half full, with about four triple threats actually playing the game. Viper, and Shady Shin were there laughing and drinking with the other unknown triple threats. 

I wrapped my arm around Bolin and walked into the room as quietly and quickly as possible. 

Suddenly, all of their chatter stopped. 

“What the hell are you doing here!” Viper’s voice boomed across the small room. 

I stood frozen in my place. I saw Bolin’s eyes turn wide as he looked at me for reassurance. 

“He asked you a question, kid.” Shin turned around in his chair to spit at us. 

“Just cleaning up.” I mumbled. 

“From what.” 

I opened my mouth to reply but Bolin answered for me. “Ekio did it!”

“You haven’t replaced him yet?” One of the unknown men spoke up. Viper jumped at his voice. 

“Yeah he did!” Bolin squeaked. “He said that Mako replaced him. He knew Viper on a personal level.” Bolin, shut the fuck up. I slapped my hand over his mouth and held my breath, waiting for one of them to respond. Viper and Shin looked furious, but it wasn’t at me or Bolin. 

“Personal eh? Still can’t find enough action for yourself Viper. Some things never change.” The man spoke again. Viper sort of looked away. 

“So you’re telling me that your personal assistant is getting flack and you’re not?” The other new face questioned. He had deep green eyes and a large build. His brown hair was slicked back in a low ponytail at the base of his neck. A large scar covered up his neck and chin. He only had one ear. 

“Taku, your turn.” Shin turned back around to finish the game. Taku gave Shin a look to knock it off. Shin shrinked in his chair. 

“Has he been out of your office yet, Viper?” The first guy asked. His hair was light grey with white streaks all over it. His amber eyes stared directly into Viper’s soul. 

“No. They haven’t been here long.” Viper replied quietly. He decided that his cards were far more interesting than what was taking place in front of him. 

“Well, then I think it’s time for him to fight his own battles. With a little help from me, of course.” The guy stood up to stretch his legs. 

“Who-who are you?” Bolin squeaked.

The man let out a hearty laugh before responding to Bolin’s question. “I’m Lightning Bolt Zolt. And tomorrow, you boys will be learning a little lesson in revenge. ”

Chapter Text

Mako: 12 

Bolin: 10 

Hold up! We need to turn this around. Seriously, bro this is too sad. I’ve already cried, like, seventeen times just reading this!

Hey everyone, Bolin here. My brother is too dramatic and depressing, so Imma spice things up, NUKTUK STYLE!!

Once upon a time...

Oh. 

Wait. 

Before that though, I should probably clarify something. As much as I wish this weren’t the case, I actually wasn’t quite as naive as I let on. I didn’t know everything... and that was for the best. But when my parents died, and when we joined the Triple Threats, Mako lost the little sparkle in his eye; he grew up way too fast. Seeing Mako slowly die inside was honestly the hardest part of my childhood, and I didn’t want him to see me fade away too. As much as I wanted to allow myself to fall apart, I made myself pretend.

Just for him.

And maybe (just a little bit) for me too. 

Wait, where were we? 

Oh right!

So. When we joined the Triple Threats, I was kind of really scared. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be! I was really glad to have a house to live in, a bed to sleep in, and lots of food to shove in my mouth! (You laugh but that was how I found out my favorite food was dumplings.)

The first day there, I woke up feeling so refreshed — it had been … I didn’t actually even know how long, since I had slept in a real bed! Like not one made up of Dad’s old coats. It had a pillow! And blankets! And no bugs crawling all over your face! Boy was it FANCY! I mean, it wasn’t quite as refreshing as it would have been if I hadn’t woken up by getting shoved out of bed by some strange man, but still great! 

“Get up!” he growled, and threw a pile of unfolded clothes and a towel at me. Hey! I realized. They’re clean! Wow!

I took off my dirty, raggy old clothes and slipped on the new ones. Just as I was reaching out to open the door, it burst open and Mako ran inside, one of his hands covering his mouth and the other haphazardly wiping at his eyes. He fell into his bed and stayed there, limp and... broken. 

I rushed over to him so fast that I tripped on my own feet. I could feel my heart pounding through my whole body. 

“Mako!” I shouted. “Mako are you ok?” I reached out and grabbed his arm and that’s when my blood turned cold as ice. I could feel his body shake with uneven breaths as he held back tears. He pressed Dad’s scarf closer to his mouth and tried to fight back the tears streaming from his face. 

I had never seen him so fragile. 

I had never seen Mako cry. 

He yanked his arm out of my grasp and turned even further into his pillow. I stood there for a second, breathless and in shock, then took a few wobbly steps back and left the room quietly. Seeing him like that hurt more than any punch or kick I could ever get in a pro-bending match, but as much as I wanted to hug him and tell him it would be ok, I knew he needed space; my brother is like that. So I locked myself in a nearby closet and cried for an hour. As one does. 

At that moment, I knew that whatever had happened was just plain evil. It had to have been horrifying to make my brother cry. CRY! MAKO!

At the time, I didn’t know what they’d done to him. I mean, I was like, ten. I didn’t realize until years later. And let me tell you something. I cannot imagine anyone doing that to a twelve year old. I would never wish that on my worst enemy, and never in a million years would I have thought that could happen to someone I love. And it hurt so much knowing that Mako took that pain and torture for me. Just so I could be safe, just so I could have food and a place to live... 

Just a sec, I gotta go hug my brother. And maybe cry a little. AGAIN.

Ok, I’m back. 

Now, NO MORE SAD. 

Wait, actually, a lot more sad. I guess that’s not really avoidable when we talk about our past. (Yikes. Sorry about that.)

So, back to the story. I was in the closet. Luckily, one of the (many) skills I have (I have so many skills, I’m awesome) is crying quietly. 

I found out that day that that is not one of the skills my brother possesses. Every sob, sniffle, and shaky breath was like a knife right into my chest. What was even more depressing was that it was the first time in years that Mako expressed any emotion. It seemed like he built it up and it finally all tumbled out of him. I knew he didn’t like the idea of being weak, and honestly I hadn’t seen him this visibly upset since… well, ever!

Ok, I know my brother experiences emotion, he just doesn’t know how to express it, and so that’s why he often acts like one big BLAH. I’ve never seen this happen, but he seems like the kinda guy who would cry in a quiet room and stuff his face with chocolate bon bons or something. At least, that’s what I’d do! But with noodles! And fun sauces!! SAUCE!!! Yup, I’m a SAUCY BOY!

Ok back to being depressing. Get your game faces back on. Prepare for a whirlwind boys and girls. 

As hot, salty tears streamed down my face, and my brother CRIED HIS EYES OUT (my brother who, to the average person, would seem to lack any emotion other than “ >:( I’m Mako and I’m so tough ”)  all I could think was oh my god oh my god what did they do to him and are they gonna do it to me well i dont even care as long as they don’t do it to him anymore why is he crying mako doesnt cry were not safe here what if they hurt him are they gonna hurt me are they gonna kill him am i gonna lose him too i cant lose any more people i cant lose my brother too this can’t be happening what did they do i dont want to get hurt idontwannadie idontwantMAKOtodie whatdidtheydo whatdidtheydo whatdidtheydo werenotsafe whywhywhywhy whatsgonnahappentome WHATSGONNAHAPPENTOMAKO AM I GONNA LOSE THE ONE PERSON WHO CARES IF I LIVE OR DIE and as I stared into the pitch black void around me all I could see was Mako dying, Mako leaving me, me and Mako being beaten to death, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe and I was choking on my tears and everything was spinning, and at that point I didn’t care if he could hear me cry because in that moment the only thing I believed was that I was going to die right then and there in that closet and no one would even notice and no one would even care.

And that’s when I heard the door open. As if things couldn’t get worse. 

“Awwwww, are you gonna sit there and cry?” Shady Shin’s cold, sarcastic voice gave me goosebumps. “Grow a fucking spine.”

My brother yelped as Shin yanked him off the bed and dragged him out of the room. I began to get control of my breathing again until I heard Shin’s footsteps return a minute later and the closet door opened suddenly and the light was blinding and he was standing there with the most twisted look on his face.

 “Look at you, pathetic,” He sneered. “Just like your big strong brother. HA! You kids are fucking useless.” He reached his arm out to grab me; without thinking I used my earthbending to build a wall between me and him. 

A few seconds passed in silence. I was worried that Shin was going to punish me too.

He sighed and took a step back. “That’s some pretty impressive earthbending, kid. Now get out of there. We’ve got some work for you to do.”

“Get away from me!” I thrashed my arms up to protect my face. 

“Would you relax, kid!” Shin rubbed his temples. “We’re not gonna hurt you.”

“But- Mako-“

“Trust me. You’re untouchable. We can’t hurt you.” Shin rolled his eyes. “Now come on.” 

I let the wall between us crumble, and he snatched me up without question. He brought me downstairs and toward a closet with some cleaning supplies.

“Today I want you to clean the windows, sweep the floor, and wash the walls. Got it?”

I nodded and started to get to work.

~     two months later     ~

Cleaning had become a regular chore for me. I grabbed the huge sponge and dumped it in the soapy water. Then I rung it out over the bucket so the water wouldn’t spill everywhere. I got right to work on scrubbing the windows. Of course I wasn’t too tall so I had to use a chair to help reach the top of the windows. Suddenly I felt something hit me on the back of my neck. I turned around and looked at the ground — it was a cigarette butt. Haha, butt. 

“Whoops,” I heard a triad member sneer, “What a silly mistake!”. A few others laughed at the response. One of them even tumbled over off of his barstool, black-out drunk. I ignored them and kept working. Last thing I wanted was Shady Shin all up in my butt…haha I did it again.

Several hours later I had finished washing the windows and sweeping the floor, tidying up the things on the floor and tables, and picking up garbage in every room except one — Viper’s office.

I felt a strange amount of fear as I stared at the dingy wooden door. I had never even been in the room before either. It was so spooky. Viper had always creeped me out a little, too. I could always tell that Mako was a little bit less comfortable around him than around anyone else in the gang. Mako was completely out of touch with his emotions, but I could read him like a book, even if he thought he was hiding something. 

But Shin had told me to clean every room in the house, right? If he didn’t want me to interrupt Viper he would have specified. So...here goes nothing. 

I walked over to the door, took a deep breath, and rapped my knuckles against the cracking wood. 

“Housekeeping.” I sang aloud.

I heard a startled grunt, some shuffles, footsteps. Something falling to the ground. A low familiar groan followed right after. 

“WHAT?” his voice scared me so much. I shrank to the floor. Honestly, I was the size of the bucket next to me.

“Shin told me to clean every room,” I said in a very soft tone. I looked at the ground, as if to avoid eye contact with him, even though he wasn’t even there.

More rustling. A quiet crash. The door creaked open and Viper stood there, a flustered look on his face. His clothes were all messed up. “Get this over with quick,” he gritted his teeth. 

I walked in slowly. I heard soft footsteps behind me and turned my head just enough to see…

Was that…

Mako??

I turned around quickly before he could see me looking. I cleaned up as fast as I could and left. Viper was not amused with me the whole time. He crossed his arms and glared daggers into my skull. 

When I got back to our room, Mako was laying on his bed looking at the ceiling. “Hey bro,” he sighed. 

“Um….”

I looked at my feet, wondering if I should say anything. 

“What?” he asked. 

“I… I saw you leaving Viper’s room-”

He jumped up from his bed, his face as red as his scarf. “Wh…. I…”

“Mako, did he hurt you?” I breathed, trying to hold back tears. I had always been the emotional one, the little one, the weak one… But I had this feeling like right now, I needed to be there for him. I needed to be strong for him. 

“Nothing happened Bolin,” he said through his teeth. He sounded colder and more closed off than normal. Looking at him then I was struck by how old he looked. My brother was only twelve, but I could see everything but naivety in his eyes. 

“I just want to make sure you’re ok,” my voice squeaked as I spoke. “You don’t have to be strong for me anymore, I can take it, I--”

“ Nothing happened Bolin! ” he practically shouted as he walked out of the room. I wanted to shout back but I could feel the pain in his voice echo through my body and so I retreated. 

“Ok... I trust you.” 

He stopped abruptly. Normally I could read my brother like a book but in that moment I had no clue what was going on inside his head. 

I wanted so badly to know.

I know something’s going on with Mako, but I also know that he doesn’t want to talk to me about it. I trust that he’ll tell me one day. I just hope I don’t lose him in the process. 

Chapter Text

Mako: 12

Bolin: 10

MaKO POV 

So I see Bolin felt the need to write some stuff down. I understand. But geez Bolin you messed up the timeline I was making. Now we have to go back in time a bit. I apologize for the time skipping.

So it was a day or two after Lightning Bolt Zolt came back to the Triple Threats. It was a gloomy and chilly morning. I got out of my comfy covers and went down to Viper’s office for my usual routine. Bolin was still sleeping soundly in his bed. I was glad he didn’t really know much about what was going on. I wanted to keep his innocence for just a little bit longer.

Anyway, I went into his office without knocking. By that time, Viper knew that it was only me walking in. No one else dared to come by until after a certain hour.

I walked in to see Viper in his chair talking to Zolt. Both sets of eyes turned my way once I closed the door.

“You’ve got some nerve, Viper. Some fucking nerve.” Zolt commented. Viper looked away from him, a little embarrassed.

“I’m sorry.” I started. “I can come-“

Zolt raised his hand up. I quickly shut my mouth and waited for him to respond. “Actually, I think it’s time to discuss your next task as a Triple Threat.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the other night. You need to pay them back.”

I shook my head. That’s not me. Last thing I need is another enemy. “No.”

“Oh you will, kid.” Viper spat. “You will not disobey direct orders from your leader.”

“First things first.” Zolt handed me a wad of cash. I stared in awe. I had never seen that much cash in one place. I thought that only existed in banks. “You need to secure a place for it to go down. Head to the probending arena and speak with Toza.”

“Who?”

“The old twat that lives there.” Viper rolled his eyes. “He’ll let us use the arena. Hand him the money and be cool about it. He won’t ask questions.”

“We’ll have Bolin lure them there.” Zolt added. “So once we get the place secure, we’ll tell him what to do.”

“Do not include my brother.” I warned. “I won’t do this if you make him—.”

“You’ve got some balls, kid,” Zolt interrupted. “I’ll give you that.” He laughed, a mischievous look in his eyes. “But remember where you stand on the food chain.”

“Besides,” Viper stood up. “You don’t want Bolin to get promoted do you?”

My eyes turned wide in shock. Then a chill ran down my spine. I had worked so hard to make sure Bolin didn’t even know about the….

I mean, imagine if they made him…

I shook that thought out of my head.

“So do we have a deal?” Zolt asked with a raised eyebrow.

I knew I couldn’t win. I had to play along again. I just hope we don’t get hurt this time. I took a deep breath. “Fine.”

“Excellent,” Zolt started walking toward the door. “Get a move on with that bribe. The sooner the better.” And with that, he left the room and closed the door behind him.

I was about to follow him out when Viper spoke up again. “Hold up, kid. You forgot something.” I sighed in defeat and walked over to his desk.

***

By the time I got to the probending arena, it was around noon. A lot of the probending teams were walking in and out for practices as well. I was able to sneak in with one team without getting caught. Viper told me to find Toza at the gym. His time slot for practices was around that time too.

I finally found my way into the bleak and smelly gym. Toza’s team was doing a small weights workout. It looked like they were all about finishing up. One of the guys looked my way. He seemed on the older side, with salt and pepper hair and blue eyes. “Can we help you?” He did not look amused.

“I’m here to see Toza.” I answered simply. “It’s about some business.”

“Make it quick, kid.” The one I presumed to be Toza stepped up. He had clean, white hair pulled back in a messy ponytail about halfway up his head. His eyes were a pale green color with small hints of brown toward the irises. He was quite old -- looking to be around 60. His body was a little heavy set, yet very muscular. I guess it was just old age. He had on a typical probending set of gear, topped off with his helmet which marked him as an earthbender.

“My boss sent me to talk to you.”

Toza snickered in my face. I guess a lot of people do this to get what they want. “And who might that be?”

“Viper.”

With that, Toza immediately stiffened up. His other teammates looked utterly confused. Toza turned around to them and motioned for them to leave the gym. The two men complied and left us in peace.

After he knew no one was around, he turned back to me. “If it’s about the payment, I already talked to another crook about it. It’s done.” His voice was threateningly low and rough.

I shook my head. “It’s not about that. We need the arena tonight. There are some kids that need to pay up and haven’t yet. Viper wants to teach them a little lesson.” I showed him the wad of cash this morning.

Toza’s eyes widened in surprise. Then they quickly turned to anger. “That can’t be all he’s bargaining. There’s always something else.”

I took a step back and put my hands up. “I’m serious. That’s all I was told.”

Toza eyed me down to the tips of my feet. “Aren’t you a little young to be running with that crowd?”

I looked down at my feet as well. “If it keeps my little brother alive, then I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

Toza stayed silent for a second. Then he spoke. “Viper only gets the arena for one hour after the last match tonight. After midnight, I’m forcing you out of there. Am I clear?”

I nodded and handed him the money. Toza took it and examined the wad. “Now run along kid. I have stuff to do.”

***

It was finally time to carry out our “revenge.” I didn’t know how, but Bolin somehow lured Akio, Daichi, and Hasook to the arena. I was sitting in the ring, waiting for the guys to come. Viper and a few other triple threats, including Shady Shin and Lightning Bolt Zolt, were waiting in the shadows, watching me very closely.

I brought the scarf over my mouth and filled my nose with the familiar scent. What am I gonna do? I don’t want to fight them.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the ramp being started up. I could hear Bolin’s voice as well. “Trust me guys, you’re gonna love it!”

“I better.” Daichi retorted. “If I don’t come back soon, I’m going to be skinned alive.”

“Oh you’ll be skinned alive alright,” I growled at them as they emerged from below the stage. “Just not by them-“

In that moment a blinding spotlight appeared on the referee stand where Shin and Zolt were now standing. A few other Triple Threats were there as well; they all looked hungry for blood. “Well isn’t this a turn of events?” Shin sneered.

Ekio took a startled step back. “What the fuck is this?” I could see terror in his eyes, although he tried to mask it in anger. It gave me a horrifying sense of satisfaction to know that he feared me.

Shin leaned over the edge of the ref stand. “You kids are pieces of shit, you know that? We hired you to do a job, and what do you do instead? You screw it all up! You run off and try to destroy the triad from the inside. You involve someone who isn’t in our gang -- It’s like you’re trying to fuck everything up. If you’re gonna fight, you’re gonna do it fairly, and you’re not gonna use it as an excuse for infidelity!” He was yelling at this point, and I could see the spit flying from his mouth even from the ring. Hasook flinched and took a step back. Daichi was looking a little worried himself.

“This is bullshit!” Ekio screamed up at the ref stands. He’s got guts. “Why would you take the side of these semen demons? They were still living in the gutter when we were serving you, doing your bidding, and we never complained. We never agreed to this!”

“I see you wanna make this personal, huh? You agreed to it when you started the fight! Now you can end this, or they can end you.”

“I’ll choose the latter,” Daichi growled, and they took their stances. Ekio and Hasook did the same. If they were gonna go down, they’d go down fighting.

But I was ready. As soon as the bell rang I lunged at them, using the weight of my body to force a huge wall of fire at them. I still had the bruises, I could still feel the pain from when they beat me up. I let that anger well up inside of me and then I forced it out in the form of fire. I kept blasting at them over and over again. I could hear someone scream and I heard things break and I heard splashing, but I didn’t let it interrupt me. They took my father’s scarf, I thought. They held me down and they made Bolin cry. I forced all of my anger, grief, and energy into one final blast, and in that moment I realized that it was the strongest bending I had ever done.

I stopped firing at them and realized that all three of my enemies were on the floor of zone three -- soaked, uniforms singed, surrounded by bits of broken rocks. I hadn’t been working alone.

I glanced over to where the older Triad members were standing, now behind me, and I knew from their stances that they had helped me.

Lightning Bolt Zolt grinned and looked me dead in the eyes. “Finish them.”

***

HOLD THE PHONE.
STOP THE PRESSES.

Guess what, Bolin’s back! Welcome back to Nuktuk’s Nutty Narration! (Bolin-) Hush, dear brother, let me finish. (Oh good gravy) Bro who says “good gravy”? Ooooo now I want gravy…

Oops, I’m sidetracked. My bad.

Let’s get right to it.

So Mako was all “Yo i’m tough” and those three other kids were like “:(“ and then the old Triads were like “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT” and then Mako went all FLAMEO and was all like “PEW PEW PEW” with his fire and then the one kid Ekio was like “oh no you DIDN’T” and threw ice at Mako’s HEAD which was like totally an illegal move BUT IT DIDN’T EVEN MATTER cause my bro is so badass that the ice stick thing never even reached him cause the fire was all HOT and BOOM. (Awww thanks bro) SHUT UP let me finish. (Ok geez!)

Ok but that wasn’t even the best part!! Cause then the big scary Triads in the ref stand got all PISSED cause the other kids were playing dirty and Shin was all “>:( I TOLD you to play FAIR” and he used his waterbending to bring the older Triads down to the playing field and they started fighting WITH US!! Shin was like SLAP SLAP with his water and then I was all “take that!” and shot an earthy thingy at one of the guys in the gut and it kicked him all the way back to the second zone! And then the other Triads whose names I didn’t know started flinging rocks and water and fire at the guys and they were totally DOOMED! And then Mako made like the biggest fire I’d seen him make ever!! And then everything kind of...

Stopped…

We all just looked at our opponents, lying helplessly on the floor, bruised and bleeding. I felt a pang of guilt in the pit of my stomach… Everyone makes mistakes; did they really deserve that?

Shin was behind me suddenly and he leaned over me and whispered into my ear, “Enjoy the view kid. That’ll be you someday. One day you will make a mistake with the wrong people and you’ll end up just like these assholes.”

I’ve never been an angry person but right then I was filled to the brim with rage, fear, and lots of bad no-no emotions. Any trace of guilt or shame I once felt was long gone.

NO! My brain screamed. THAT WAS NO MISTAKE. THEY HURT MY BROTHER ON PURPOSE. NO ONE HURTS MY BROTHER AND GETS AWAY WITH IT.

NO ONE HURTS MY BROTHER.

I heard someone yell, “Finish them!” But before Mako could… I didn’t even think, I just bent a whole stack of the rock circle things into the air. I jumped, spun around, and kicked with every bit of force I could muster. The rocks flew at my opponents, faster than I ever would have expected, slammed right into their limp bodies and sent them flying off the edge. I heard their distant screams until a small splash was made below.

I was stunned that I had mustered that much force, that I had hurt people. I never hurt people.

I glanced up and saw that the rest of the Triads were looking at me, startled. In the seating ring, Toza was standing, looking at me. He was sitting down watching everything play out.

Oh my god it’s TOZA!! He’s like an icon!! He’s my favorite!!! AAA!!

Toza gave me a strange look… almost hopeful. And then he turned around and vanished into the shadows.

But what hurt the most was Mako’s expression. I couldn’t even quite figure it out. Part of him seemed to be in pure shock. Some in anger? Disbelief? Pain? Guilt?

“Bolin…” His voice trailed off into nothing.

“Well done, boys.” Viper clapped Mako’s shoulder, which made him flinch. “You did well. And you will be rewarded.”

I guess what Daichi said was true. You either hustle or get hustled. And he hustled the wrong brothers.

Chapter Text

3 years later 

Mako: 15

Bolin: 13

I see the story is getting very depressing, so let’s flash forward a bit into the future. 

In the past three years, the Triple Threats treated us better than before. My encounters with Viper settled down as Zolt became more present in Triple Threat affairs. Zolt even taught me lightning bending. I actually really enjoyed learning a new skill, and I got to be quite good at it as well. The triple threats tried to teach Bolin some metal bending but….um...well….let’s just say he couldn’t figure it out. 

Anyway, so now we aren’t associated with the Triple Threats. Remember that guy Toza? Yeah, he gave us a chance at an honest living. I was really grateful for it, especially now that Bolin doesn’t have to be so sneaky and learn to be a Triple Threat anymore. I was worried if we hadn’t left when we did, Viper would’ve started to use him like he did with me. 

So anyway, even though we were supposed to be probenders, we still needed a third member. That was going to be a challenge. With our ages, what grown adult would want to play with us? And what other kids would even want to probend when they could have a life instead? 

While we were searching, we had to find some way to pay rent at the arena. Toza booked us both up with some janitorial jobs and concession jobs during matches. It wasn’t a lot of pay, but with the two of us working every day and night, we managed to rake in some dough. But I knew that it wasn’t going to be enough, and that I would probably have to get another job somewhere else. 

Anyway, so it was a pretty busy night and Bolin had just finished cleaning the bathrooms as I restocked the concessions. 

“That was disgusting!” He exclaimed. “Men need to learn how to aim! And women? Why is there blood on the floor! Are they killing each other in there?!” 

I smiled to myself knowing that Bolin still didn’t understand that kind of stuff yet, but he probably should soon…

“Excuse me?” A random voice spoke to us. It came from a guy around our age. He had jet black, curly hair with pretty much all of his hair combed over to his left side. He had icy blue eyes with sharp facial features. His body was very lean and scrawny looking. He wore a simple shirt with some cool pants and some knee high shoes.

Accompanying him was a girl that looked around the same age as him. She had black, wavy hair that went down to her armpits (terrible description I know) with deep ocean blue eyes that looked like a brewing storm under the surface. Her features were sharp as well, and she had a pale skin tone with a body like a twig. Her outfit was a little more dressed up; a simple blue dress and navy blue tights. 

“We need some help finding our seats. We kinda got separated from our folks.” The guy explained, holding up two tickets. “Can you help?”

“Um yeah sure,” I took the tickets out of the kid’s hand and examined it. “Oh you're in G39 and 40. We’ll take you around.” 

Bolin and I lead the two teens over on the other side of the arena. Boy were those two really lost. “I’m Tahno by the way.” The guy spoke up.

“Nice to meet you!” Bolin beamed. “I’m Bolin, and the brooding one is my brother, Mako.” 

“I get the feeling,” Tahno made a side glance over to the girl. She gave it right back. “This is my sister, Kawa. She’s a really huge probending fan.” 

“So are you guys probenders?” Kawa asked.

We were just about to go up the stairs. I turned around for a second. “Not yet. We need a water bender.” 

Kawa’s eyes lit up in half a second. “Then use Tahno! He can waterbend.” She started shaking him vigorously. Tahno did not look amused at his sister. 

“Wait, you can?” Bolin’s eyes widened. “Ooo Mako! He can be the water bender!” 

I exchanged a weird glance at Tahno. Sure we needed a new member, but we had barely met the guy. I knew nothing about him. For all I knew he could be a Triple Threat. That thought made me shudder. 

“I’m not that good.” Tahno scratched the back of his neck. 

“It’s ok! Toza can help train you! He’s been training me and Mako since we got here!” Bolin replied. He was dancing on the balls of his feet with excitement. 

“Toza!” Kawa said. “The legendary Toza?” 

“Yeah! He’s so cool!” Bolin smiled. I noticed Kawa starting to blush at him. 

Tahno still looked a little unsure. “I don’t know. Like I said, I’m not the best at water bending.”

“You know what you need?” Bolin said. “You need confidence! Get it bro! Get your confidence!” He playfully slapped Tahno’s arm; Tahno gave him a blank stare. 

“It’s something to consider.” I decided to speak up again. “We practice early in the morning...I mean seniority and all. But if you want to try it out with us, come by tomorrow at 7 am and meet in the gym. The offer is there if you want it. No pressure either way.” 

Tahno nodded. “Ok, I’ll think about it. But no promises.”

Bolin shot his fists in the air. “Yes! Score one for Bo Bo!”

I cracked a small smile at him. Kawa giggled into her hands and Tahno shook his head with a slight smile as well. 

After that small conversation, I led the two teens to their seats, and their parents. It was pretty easy to find them, honestly they all look like carbon copies of each other. 

“Hey um…” Tahno looked at me a little awkwardly. “Thanks for showing us to our seats.”

I shrugged in reply. “No problem. Just don’t get lost again.”

“Ha ha very funny.” He rolled his eyes. 

Bolin started to head back up the stairs and I did as well. But as I was about to turn, Tahno grabbed my arm. 

“I’ll see if I can come by tomorrow, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to get out of the house that early.” He gestured to his parents, who have their full attention on the match in front of them. 

“Well if you can, we’ll be waiting.” I gave him a smirk before following Bolin up to the stairs and back to our chores. 

Chapter Text

Mako: 15

Bolin: 13

The next day arrived sooner than I thought. As usual, I awoke with the sunrise and awaited the long day ahead of me. First was practice, then chores, then making food, then more chores, and that did not even count probending work. I sighed and threw on something simple to work out in and walked down the stairs from the attic. To my surprise, when I arrived, Tahno was standing in the corner, waiting for us. 

“I didn’t know what to do so…” He shuffled his feet. “I waited for you.”

“Oh ok, cool.” I set down my bag, full with my towel, Bolin’s towel, and both of our waters. He was doing a chore he didn’t do last night, so he was going to be a little late. “Toza will be here with Bolin in a minute. But we can start a warm up. Toza gave me a list of workouts for the week.” 

Tahno nodded and started to stretch his arms. He was wearing something light and fitted, showing some muscle. 

I grabbed a nearby ladder and placed it on the ground. “Ok so we have a few drills to do here. Just follow my lead.”

Tahno lined up behind me and watched as I started the first drill. It was pretty easy honestly: high knees, then butt kicks, some shuffling front and back, etc. Toza said these are good for agility and learning how to switch your weight on the fly. 

After that, we had one final drill on the ladder. It was a fast ski jump kind of thing. (Sorry it’s kinda hard to describe). I went through easily, but Tahno had some trouble with that one in particular. Once I finished, I stopped to take a quick breath; however, at the last minute, I heard Tahno get caught on the ladder and his body weight forced me down with him. My forehead hit the ground with a thud. I groaned.

“Shit! I’m so sorry-“ Tahno’s voice stopped as I turned around to face him. He was looking down on me with his arms propping himself up. I could see small hints of blushing on his cheeks. 

I gave him a look. “Um…” I tried to signal at him the awkwardness of the situation. 

“Sorry to mess up...whatever this is.” Toza called from the door. Tahno immediately snapped out of it and started to scramble to his feet. I slowly pulled myself up and went over to grab some water. 

Bolin was waiting for me, looking a little dirty. He did not look pleased. “What’s going on-“

“Just forget it.” He snapped. I was taken back for a split second. What the hell got into him?

“Alright kids, let’s do some bending drills today. Today will be focusing on accuracy more than power. You can throw a powerful shot, but it won’t work without it being on target.” Toza started to explain. 

I ignored Bolin’s pissy attitude and Tahno’s...weird blushing/sweating and waited for the practice to be over.

***

It was later that night and I was waiting up on Bolin. He told me he had some late night chores to do but I recently found out from Toza that he was lying. So I waited up for him to give that child a piece of my mind. I was sitting on the window sill, looking out into the ocean. It was pitch black outside with some clouds in the sky, creating a brownish grey color. I always liked looking out the window and getting lost in thought. Something about it made me feel calmer about things. And for once I could stop thinking. 

Finally the steps creaked, signaling a new force coming to the attic. I snapped my head around to see not one, but two people in the attic: Bolin and Kawa. They were both cracking up about something. Then Bolin spotted me. 

“H-hey Mako...what up.” He pointed finger guns in my direction. Kawa snickered in between large breaths. I then noticed a glass bottle in her hand. Wait-

“Have you two been drinking!” I hopped off of the window sill and approached them. 

Bolin laughed in my face. “No…”

I then smelled his breath. My nose wrinkled up. “Yes you have.” 

“Oh don’t be such a party pooper, Fire Flakes,” Kawa waved me off. “It was one drink.” 

I rubbed my temples. “So you’re telling me that you two were underage drinking. What the fuck is wrong with you!” I was screaming by the end of that.

“What isn’t wrong with me.” Kawa laughed. 

“You should probably go.” Bolin turned to Kawa. “Fire Flakes over here is about to explode.” 

“Bolin…” I said with a threatening tone. 

“See what I mean.” He gestured over to me. 

“Ok. I’ll call Tahno to walk me home.” Kawa smiled. She then pecked Bolin on the cheek before going back down the stairs. 

Once she was gone, I was ready to chew Bolin out. “Do you have any idea about the damage you’ve done! You could’ve been arrested !”

Bolin waved me off, yet again. “Would you take a chill pill, bro? It’s no big deal.”

I was having none of it. “I don’t want you seeing her again, Bolin. This isn’t you.” 

Bolin laughed in my face. “If you think you can control me, then you’re being ridiculous. I’m not a little kid anymore, Mako. You don’t need to protect me.”

“That doesn’t matter!” I snapped. “You’re still my responsibility! And I’m not going to let you throw your life away for some side chick that’s gonna leave you the second she finds someone better!”

Bolin stopped at that. He seemed to understand that this was a real conversation. “So what? I’m not good enough? Am I ever good enough?”

My heart stopped. I shook my head and replied with a calmer tone. “No Bolin-“

“No, Mako, I get it. I’m just not good enough for anyone, not even you.” And with that, Bolin brushed past me and went up the ladder to our loft to go to sleep. 

I shook my head. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. No, I know who’s been giving him these ideas: Kawa. And it needs to stop. 

***

It was finally time for our first probending match. The entire week, things had been tense between me and Bolin. He still hadn’t apologized for what he said and continued to push my limits. 

Tahno on the other hand was awkward with me too. I didn’t really know why but I shrugged it off. I guess he just doesn’t know me.

We all suited up together and waited for our match to play. The match before us was pretty much a slaughter at that point. The poor guys. 

“Alright listen up.” Toza called us all over. “This is a solid team you’re facing. But every team has a weakness. Find it and exploit it. Look out for each other and play as a unit. There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’.”

“But there’s an ‘m’ and an ‘e’ and that spells ‘me’ so…” Bolin commented. 

Toza gave him an annoyed look in response. Bolin took the hint and gave a small apology. 

“Before each round, huddle together and communicate what you noticed. Chances are it’s muscle memory for them. Be smart.” 

“ Welcome back folks to a very interesting evening planned. I am your host, Shiro, and it’s time to return to this fascinating sport full of agony and competition. Tonight, our newest and youngest rookie team is taking on a fan favorite, the

Gopher Bears!

DING

“ And they’re off! Both teams are wasting no time to find their opponents weakness. Lee fires two quick shots at Bolin, the one in green. Bolin dodges and whips a shot right back, easily deflected. Tahno, the fire ferrets waterbender, dodges an attack by Chang. 

“Mako fires a shot at Chang and it knocks him back to Zone 2! Shang, to his defense, goes after Bolin. Bolin misses an attack and moves back to Zone 2 as well!” 

“ Mako seems to have found an opening within the Gopher Bears; he fires a blow at Lee. But Shang has the upper hand here and- Hold up folks! Tahno just blocked a shot Shang tried to land where Mako couldn’t see! He’s now firing a shot of his own and Shang moved back to Zone 2! The Fire Ferrets won Round 1 thanks to Tahno’s sneaky save.”

I took some deep breaths and walked over toward Bolin and Tahno. 

“Hey man,” I touched Tahno’s shoulder. He slightly flinched at the touch. “Thanks for having my back out there. I didn’t know it was coming.” 

Tahno blushed. “Anything for a friend.”

I nodded and focused back on my team. “Ok did anyone pick up anything? Any weak links?”

“Lee seems to be upstaged easily. Not always accurate.” Tahno replied. “He’s easy to hit.”

I nodded. “Sounds good. Bo, you pick up anything?”

Bolin shook his head no. “I’m not as smart as you. Sorry to disappoint.” 

I gave him a weird look. “I never said that, Bolin.”

“Whatever.”

“Players! On your line!” The ref called from the stands. We all walked back over and waited for round 2 to begin. 

DING 

“And we’re back folks. The Gopher Bears all decide to go after Tahno after that first round. Mako and Bolin come to his defense and fire some shots of their own. Shang gets knocked back to zone 2! 

“Lee dodges an attack by Tahno and goes after Bolin. Bolin blocks the shot but shifts back. He’s over the line. Bolin’s in zone 2!

“Lee and Shang’s next target is Mako. They double team and try to bring him down-oops never mind folks! Mako has it all under control. He dodges their shots and then fires an attack of his own. Wow look at that power! Shang is caught off guard and is knocked back into zone 2 as well! If the ferrets keep this up, they will win round 2!

“Chang is getting a little two sneaky. Tahno is no match for it. He is hammered into zone 2! 

DING 

“Round 2 is a tie! We go to a tie breaker to decide the match...And it looks like the firebenders will battle it out this time.”

DING 

“Lee charges at full speed with a fiery fist. Mako dodges a few punches and lands a solid kick to Lee’s stomach. Lee stumbles back but regains balance. Mako takes no time and blasts a spinning kick Lee’s way. Lee reverts to high ground and throws a few shots from above. Mako dodges easily and returns the favor as Lee descends onto the platform. Hold on folks! It looks like Mako is gaining ground. Soon Lee won’t be able to- And there he goes folks! Mako won round 2! The fire ferrets are on FIRE tonight!”

“The Gopher Bears need a knockout to win the match. Anything is possible here folks. Let’s see what stamina this rookie team has left.”

DING

“And here we are folks at round 3! The Gopher Bears have some serious ground to cover if they want to win this match. 

Chang throws a disk at Bolin, who dodges and- oh no! Shang slid in a sneaky hit; Bolin is in zone 2! No call has been made folks, it’s a clean hit.

Lee is looking to avenge himself about the tiebreaker and-he does just that! Mako got moved back into zone 2! And so did Tahno! The Gopher Bears get the green light to advance. This is what they needed folks! 

Shang and Lee start to go after Bolin again. He can’t take them both at the same time. Oh no Bolin is in zone 3! It looks like the water is calling his name. He can’t seem to find any balance!”

I noticed Bolin was struggling out of the corner of my eye. “Bolin! You need to-“

“SHUT UP MAKO!” Bolin roared. “IT’S NOT LIKE YOU’RE MY MOTHER!”

I stopped for a split second. Everything came to a stop. I couldn’t even believe that he could ever-

“ Folks this is getting juicy. It looks like the Gopher Bears were waiting for a knockout round. Oh wait, oh I think Chang is firing a shot at-“

“Mako look out!” 

Chapter Text

Mako: 15

Bolin: 13

Bolin POV

“So,” Kawa said as she nibbled on a piece of fried chicken-duck. “What’s up with you?”

I glanced up from my untouched meal, startled. “What are you talking about? Nothing’s wrong.”

“Yes there is.” She sighed. “You’re always like, annoyingly optimistic. Why are you all like...blah all of a sudden?”

I sunk down in my chair and glared at her. “Why do you think? My brother is in a coma and it’s all my fault!”.

“It’s not, though?” Kawa said apathetically through a mouth full of noodles. “You didn’t bend that big rock at his face so I don’t know what you’re so upset about…”

I took a shaky breath and fought the sting in the back of my throat. “It doesn’t matter who threw the rock, I was the one who distracted him. He would have been able to fight back if I hadn’t...”

“You wanna talk about being distracted?” Kawa muttered under her breath. “I wouldn’t have even come on this date if I’d known you would be talking about your stupid brother the whole time.”

I honestly wasn’t really listening to her at that point. I mean come on guys, I have other priorities.

“Whatever, I guess it was silly of me to think that this date was supposed to be about us.” She dropped her chopsticks loudly against her plate. “I guess I just thought we were supposed to be having fun like we used to!”

“But Kawa you saw how he was before he got hit! We got into a huge argument before the match and... what if I never see him again? And what if it’s all my fault? I’ve spent the whole day with you and I haven’t once been home to take care of my brother!”

“You know what Bolin, if you’re so freaked about Mako, then go hang out with him instead!” Kawa slammed her fists down on the table, prompting me to snap back into reality.

“...you’re right, I need to go see him.” I scrambled all my food into a paper leftover box, stood up, and walked away.

“Hey -- what?” Kawa called as I left her at the table. “Come back here. Please? Bolin I’m sorry…”

But for once, I didn’t listen, and I didn’t give in. I just ran, letting the tears stream down my face. Just hold on, Mako. I’m coming bro.

--

When I got home, I was a hot mess. Guilt was the only thing I could feel and i kept muttering “I’m sorry Mako I’m so sorry” through my tears even though I knew he couldn’t hear me. I rushed into the gym and ran upstairs so fast that I tripped a few times. I finally got to our room and saw that he was still unconscious. And I know this is horrible and selfish but part of me felt relieved. I wanted to be there for him when he woke up. I didn’t want him to know that I’d abandoned him, let him down yet again because...you know that seems to be the only thing I can do to him at this point.

And then I saw Tahno. He was leaning over Mako, lightly pressing a cold wet cloth against his forehead. Small streams of water fell down the side of his face. Tahno caught them with his knuckles gingerly. Now don’t get me wrong, I was glad he had someone looking out for him, but… something about this just felt...weird. Like seriously man I got the heebie jeebies from him… Like no joke guys the way he was looking at Mako, the way he slowly moved his finger to trace Mako’s jawline…WAIT WHAT!

“What are you doing here?” I said, making sure my voice was soft enough to not disturb my brother but harsh enough to let Tahno know I wasn’t messing around.

Tahno jumped, and immediately pulled his hand away. “I’m just taking care of Mako,” he said coolly. “Why is there something wrong with that?”

“It doesn’t look like that’s all you’re doing,” I raised an eyebrow.

Tahno gave me a dirty look. “Like I just explained to you two second ago, I’m looking after your brother.” he snapped. “Something you couldn’t be bothered to do.”

“Watch it!” I growled as I made some fists. I was ready to throw hands with that guy. Suddenly, I felt rumbling beneath my feet and saw Tahno glancing nervously at the ground.

“Bolin, stop moving the disks!” I heard Toza yell from downstairs. “I just cleaned this shit up! I’m gonna wake your sorry ass up at the crack of dawn to fix this!”

I rolled my eyes and focused on Tahno, who was staring at me, with a disturbed and startled look in his eyes. “What’s your problem, man?”

I took a deep breath. You need to chill, Bolin, calm down! “I just want to make sure my brother is safe. I’ve got it covered, you can go now.” I said as firmly as I could.

Tahno glared at me as he walked past, and he whispered into my ear, “if I were you, I wouldn’t stand in my way. I’m not someone you should cross.”

Once Tahno left me alone with my brother, I sat down on the floor next to Mako and leaned against his bed. I could feel his body heat radiate around the sheets. It felt like he was holding me as I was trying to fall asleep. It felt like there was nothing wrong between us. Mako was okay.

“I’m sorry Mako,” I said as I allowed the tears to stream down my face and onto the bed sheets.

--

“Come on Bolin you can do this.” I bent my knees slightly and focused on the metal in front of me. It felt like Taku’s glare was burning into the back of my neck.

“Focus on the little bits of earth inside the metal,” he said. “Toph Beifong invented metal bending when she was younger than you.”

“Wow, that’s so cool,” I gasped. Ever since I had learned about Toph I had wanted so badly to be just like her. She’s so amazing, like the coolest earthbender ever. I hope to be as cool as her one day.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I could feel the earth below my feet, the little bits of rock in the walls of the buildings around me, but as far as my earthbender senses could tell, that piece of metal didn’t even exist.

I opened my eyes and ran my fingers across the surface of the metal. It was rough and bumpy. And I felt no connection to it.

“You can do this Bolin,” I muttered under my breath. “You can bend rocks twice as big as you. You’re really good at this kind of thing!”

I pushed really hard, and just kept pushing and pushing…

Nothing.

I took a step back and stared at it for a really long time, analyzing it, and pushed my feet even harder into the dirt. But it seemed like the harder I tried, the less connected I felt. I started to doubt if I could even earthbend at all!

I fell to my knees and sobbed. “I can’t do it! I can’t metalbend!”

Taku exploded with anger. He screamed and ripped the chunk of metal into the air and bent it instantly into a piercingly sharp dagger. He held it in the air above his head with his metalbending and stared at me with pure rage in his eyes. At this moment, I firmly believed I was about to die.

“HEY!” I heard Shady Shin shout. I turned and saw that he had been watching from a distance and now was running over to where Taku was standing over me. “Watch it Taku. I hope you realize what will happen to you if you take one more step. You know you can’t hurt the kid.”

I stared up at the scene I was witnessing, beyond confused. Why couldn’t they hurt me?

Taku slowly lowered the metal dagger and morphed it back into a lumpy sphere. He growled, “You’re so lucky that your brother-”

“Get out.” Shin snapped. He didn’t raise his voice but he didn’t need to. Taku knew that he had no power here, and so he stomped away, sulking.

“You ok?” Shin asked me once we were alone, helping me up from the floor. It was so strange receiving the sudden kindness from Shady Shin. It honestly scared me more than him being a meany pants.

I nodded. “I’m so mad that I can’t figure it out. I feel like I should be able to.”

“You’ll get it eventually, kid. I know you will.”

“What do you mean?”

I saw a mischievous glint enter his eyes. “Because one of these days Mako’s gonna get himself into trouble. And when he does, he won’t be there to protect you. Someday he’s gonna need your help and you will have to come into your own because if you don’t, he’s gonna get hurt and I don’t think you want to live with that.”

I woke up suddenly, my face drenched with sweat and tears. It was just a dream, I told myself.

But this isn’t a dream.

Mako really was in trouble. 

And I failed him as a brother. 

Chapter Text

Bolin POV 

Mako: 15

Bolin: 13

It’s been a few days since Mako got hurt and he still wasn’t waking up. The doctor said that he also caught a cold from the changing of the seasons. As much as I absolutely hated Tahno for taking advantage of Mako being unconscious, I was still feeling wonky about going to actually interact with him. I still felt horrible after all I did to him. It’s official, I’m the worst brother ever. 

“He’s fine, Bolin. Lighten up.” Toza grumbled at me. He had me and Tahno doing some more training to get our minds off of everything. We had to forfeit our match last night because Mako wasn’t really waking up still. The probending officials let it slide and said that we had better play with all 3 players the next game, which was a few days away. 

“Yeah people are taking care of him for you.” Tahno muttered. He was wrapping his wrists. Toza said that he should after he blocked one of my earth disks wrong. Ha serves you right buddy boy. 

I felt my fists roll into a ball. I was ready to fight him. “Now, finish sparring and then you can be done.” Toza waved us off toward the middle of the gym where only one line separated us. He grabbed a whistle and blew into it. That was our cue. 

Tahno shot a puddle of water my way. I flipped away the last minute and sent an earth disk flying in mid air. Tahno didn’t see it coming as it hit in right in the stomach. Ha! That’s what you get for fighting buddy boy Bolin! I took no time to lodge two more earth disks toward his feet, forcing him to jump; I knew it was a weakness of his. 

Tahno easily dodged it and unleashed some of his nasty water bending straight my way. I held up my hands in front of my face and pushed back as Tahno hosed me down. Suddenly, the water stopped and I heard a grunt on the other side of the room. I let out a heavy breath and sank to the floor. 

“I am sick and tired of you boys throwing cheap shots at each other!” Toza roared. I realized it was him who threw the earth disk. “Whatever is going on between you two, figure it out. This is not the team I signed up to train.” 

Before either of us could speak, Toza left the gym and slammed a few earth disks behind him. 

Tahno grunted and walked up the stairs, probably to check on Mako again. I felt my blood boil underneath my skin. I started marching toward the steps myself when I heard Kawa behind me. 

“Bolin! Hey sweetie!” Her sweet voice called out. 

I turned around just as she bear hugged me. “Hey! What are you doing here?” 

“To surprise you!” She said. “Ready to go on a surprise date?” 

I knew Kawa would be upset if I turned her down, but I didn’t want Tahno all up there alone with my brother, what if he- 

“Bolin?” Kawa snapped me out of my thoughts. 

I guess a few hours with my girlfriend won’t hurt anyone. I took off my helmet. “Sounds like a plan.” 

Kawa’s eyes lit up as she clapped. “Perfect! Come on! We’re going to the park!” She grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the gym and toward our picnic date.

*** 

Time Skip Whoopieeeeeeeeee 

(Bolin….)

Shush brother you’re supposed to be dead 

(….)

Ok not dead dead but like….dead….

(….)

ANYWAYYYYY back to our regularly scheduled program

After spending the entire day with Kawa, I finally arrived home. It took everything out of me to make her happy. But I guess it was worth it, right? Anyway, it was pretty late in the evening, around 7pm when I walked into the gym. Toza was sweeping the gym up when I walked in. 

“You were supposed to do the chores today.” He grumbled. 

I honestly was not in the mood for his grumpy pants attitude. “I’ll do them later.” 

I walked past him and started up the stairs. I knew Toza felt bad on some level because I mean who wouldn’t, which was probably why he hasn’t been cracking down on me. In some ways, we were the kids Toza never had. And one of his sons is hurt, and it’s all my fault. 

I entered our attic again and saw Mako sitting on the coach, with Pabu sleeping on his stomach. Then I noticed Mako’s head was propped up. 

On Tahno’s lap. 

“You have got to be kidding me.” I snapped. 

Tahno looked up. “Took you long enough to get here. I did all of your chores for you.”

“Oh so now you’re going to replace me?” 

“No I wasn’t trying to replace you. I was saving your ass-“

I cut him off. “First you want to snoodle with my brother and now you want to be me?”

Tahno snorted. “Snoodle.”

My face turned as red as a chili pepper. “Stay the hell away from him!” I stomped my feet to emphasize my point. 

Suddenly, I heard a low groan. I noticed Mako’s sleeping form was slowly moving around. Pabu perked up and started to sniff his face. 

I rushed over to his side. “Mako! Can you hear me?” 

Mako’s eyes slowly opened up. “...Bolin?”

My eyes filled up with tears. “It’s me! It’s me!” I pulled Mako into a sitting position and squeezed the life out of him. The tears spilled all over his shirt, but instead of arguing, he lightly hugged me back. “Mako I thought I lost you.” I said in between sobs. 

“I’m...fine Bolin.” Mako managed to get out. He sounded a little congested. “Can I have an ice pack?”

“I got it.” Tahno stood up and walked over to a small bucket with a washcloth on it. 

“What happened?” Mako asked. “How long have I been out?”

“You got hit pretty bad during the match.” Tahno explained as he sat back down. He had Mako lean back on his lap so he could place the cloth on top of his sweaty head. “The doctor said you have a concussion and you have a slight cold now. You’ve been out for a few days.” 

“Has it really been a few days?” Mako asked, still a little dazed. Tahno put a little pressure on his head. It seemed to help Mako’s headache. He sighed with relief. If you make a move on him I’m gonna kill you. 

I nodded sadly. “We’ve been training and doing chores though. You don’t need to worry about that. You need to focus on getting healthier.”

Mako only nodded. He still seemed really out of it still but at least he was alive. I was still really upset about everything. Yes I know I keep saying that but it’s true!

After a few minutes of Mako asking questions back and forth, Tahno finally decided to leave so he could rest for tomorrow. I was so relieved that I could finally have some time alone with my brother. That jerk bender just would not quit. 

I walked over to our small kitchen and started on some soup. He was probably starving from sleeping so much, but his body needed the break.

“Have you guys been training a lot?” Mako asked. He was sitting up on the couch, scratching Pabu’s ears.

“Toza has been keeping us busy for sure.” I replied. There was still a boiling tension between us. And it wasn’t comfortable at all. I mean, what kind of tension would be?

“Bolin I-”

“Mako I’m so sorry!” I turned around to face him, my tears threatening to spill. Mako sat there in slight shock. He wasn’t speaking, so I continued. “I shouldn’t have said what I said to you during the match! I was frustrated with not being able to bend like you or Tahno and I screwed up the entire match for you!” 

“No Bolin, you didn’t-”

“Stop trying to vouch for me! You know I screwed it up. I’m the worst brother alive! I couldn’t even take care of you when you were hurt! How horrible is that? Your own brother doesn’t take care of you! I’m so sorry! It’s all my fault! I don’t know why you still love me! I don’t deserve any of it! I-” I sank to the ground and started uncontrollably sobbing. I couldn’t speak, let alone breathe. Why am I like this! Why didn’t I take care of him! He deserves so much better than me.

I heard some shuffling coming toward me. I didn’t realize that it was Mako limping over to me before it was too late. I tried to push myself away from him, but he had other plans. Mako grabbed my arms and pulled me in close. I don’t deserve this! Why is he hugging me?

My head rested on his shoulder as the tears stained his shirt. He didn’t care though, he never did. Mako held me in a tight hug until I started to calm down, which felt like forever. 

Finally, he spoke. “Bolin I love you more than anything in the world. Don’t think for one second that I don’t. You didn’t screw up the match at all. It was all of our first times playing together ok? Things are bound to be rusty.”

“Mako I’m so sorry.” I sobbed.

I felt his hand rub my head. “You’ve always been forgiven.”

How was I blessed to have a brother like him, I don’t know. “Thank you.”

I felt Mako smile. Spirits, he hasn’t smiled in a bazillion years! “Come on, make me some dinner. I’m starving.”

I let go and let out a small laugh. That’s when I saw Mako’s smile bright as day. It had been so long that I honestly didn’t recognize my brother. Ok Bolin, don’t screw it up now that you’re gonna make him soup.

I stood up and went to the stove, where Pabu joined me on my shoulder. The three of us enjoyed a nice dinner, fully relaxed and happy. Afterwards, we were all settling in for bed. Mako asked to sleep with me tonight and I gladly accepted it. I fell asleep that night knowing that my brother was alive and that he would never stop fighting for me. I just hope he knows that I feel the same way. 

Chapter Text

Mako: 15

Bolin: 13 

Mako POV 

It’s been hard trying to get back on my feet. My head did not want to cooperate with me. I felt bad when Bolin and Toza did things to help cope with the pain, like keeping the lights turned off whenever possible and giving me any pain medicine I would need. 

Tahno had been a huge help as well. He helped do my chores around the apartment and in the gym. I was extremely grateful for his efforts and always made sure Bolin cooked some dinner for him too. Bolin hated the idea of Tahno in the apartment, and I couldn’t really figure out why either. Something must have happened between the two. They weren’t really this tense between each other before…

Anyway, today was a Sunday night; normally there wouldn’t be many games, but we were scheduled to have a double header that day because of my injury. Our first match was against the Armadillo Bears, a rookie team like us. They had been doing pretty poorly in their last few matches, according to Toza. He said that it would be an easy win to help ease into the other match later tonight. 

***

He was right. We beat them pretty easily. They just didn’t really work as a team. It was easy to gain up on them and knock them back slowly, so then Bolin could deliver a final blow. While we won the match, I certainly didn’t really help a lot during the game. When we got off the ring, Toza told me to go get some sleep; he could sense I was not feeling well at all. And he wasn’t wrong, I was getting nauseous from seeing all the lights and jumping all over the place. 

Bolin brought me to my bed and placed a wet cloth on my forehead. It took me a second to drift off, but when I did, I was out like a light, at least for a little bit. I couldn’t remember everything, but I was shook awake by a worried Tahno. 

“Wha-“

“Are you okay?” He asked. “You started screaming. And you’re sweating really badly.” 

I sat up slowly and rubbed my aching head. Pabu was on my stomach. He yawned and climbed off and onto a nearby beam. “...I guess. What time is it?” 

“About time for the next match. I came up to get you.” Tahno stood up from the bed and held out his hand. I grabbed it and let him help me up. Usually I would never really do that, but he was my friend and I knew I could trust him, or so I thought. 

Tahno wrapped his arm around my back and led me toward the stairs. We took slow steps since I was still having some head pain and it was hard to focus on the ground. Finally, we got to the top of the stairs. Tahno kept a firm grip on the railing as I leaned heavily on his shoulder. 

After a few steps down, I had issues with seeing the stairs properly. All I could see were blue and red dots all over the place. All of the sudden, I felt my foot roll under me; I lost my balance and started to fall down the stairs. 

Tahno came from behind and caught my fall, at least a little bit. We both ended up on the wall, with Tahno holding me up against it. 

My vision was still blurry, however I could still make out that it was him. “...thanks,” I managed to get out. 

Tahno didn’t say anything in response. He just looked at me. I then subtly felt his grip on my wrists tighten. 

“I’m good, you can let go.” I said. 

He still didn’t let go. 

“I said let go.” I grunted more firmly. That was when I started to fight him off, or at least I tried to. Tahno used his force to slam me even harder against the wall. My head took some of the impact and I felt shooting pains all around the crown of my head. I let out a small yelp. 

Tahno used that to his advantage. He leaned in really close; I felt his lips touch mine instantly. It took some time for me to register what was going on, but when I did, I tried to break away, but to no avail. I knew that if I let go, I would fall to the ground and he would do even worse to me at that point. Still, I tried to thrash my arms and tried to knee his stomach.

He took it as a challenge. I felt my head connected with the wall again, I groaned in utter pain. By then, Tahno’s whole body was pressed onto mine. He let go of one of my wrists and ran his free hand up my thigh; I could feel his pants tightening. 

I was stuck. I couldn’t fight out of it. I felt so damn helpless again. Thoughts from my encounters with Viper flashed through my head. I pushed and I kicked as hard as I could to get him off, but he was stronger than me. Then I felt his hand slowly move into my inner thigh; his hand was then firmly pressed against my crotch. 

“GET OFF OF HIM!” I heard in the distance. In a matter of seconds, Tahno was forced off of my body. I instantly fell into someone else’s arms. I looked up and saw Toza shaking my shoulders. He was trying to tell me something, but I wasn’t focusing on him. 

“What in the spirits is wrong with you!” Bolin exclaimed. He was pissed, really pissed. “You fucking peice of shit!”

“You know you got a mouth on you,” Tahno rolled his eyes. “I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten you in trouble yet.”

“Get out!” Bolin roared. “I don’t ever want you near him again!”

“Oh really,” Tahno laughed in his face. “And what are you going to do about it?”

“Tahno, you need to leave. Now.” Toza spoke up, still holding a firm grip on my shoulders. 

“Glad you got your wish, Bolin?” Tahno turned back to my brother. “You’ve wanted me gone this entire time. And now you got it.”

“You dug your own hole.” Bolin spat back. “Now fucking leave!” 

“I’m not scared of some little prepubescent 13 year old boy. Please.” Tahno laughed. “Come on, do your worst.”

That pushed Bolin to his edge. The next thing I knew, Bolin fired a nasty punch to Tahno’s jaw. Tahno flew back on impact and was pushed into the wall. He fell back down, holding his jaw and trying to pop it back in place. 

“Bolin what is wrong with you!” Kawa exclaimed as she walked into the scene. “Why would you hurt my brother like that!”

She hurried over to Tahno and helped him to his feet. “He’s bad news, sis. He’s accusing me of some stupid bullshit. I’m out of here.” He then stormed out of the gym.

Kawa marched up to Bolin. “I hope you’re happy, you little selfish prick.” She then left the three of us in the gym in silence. 

Bolin POV 

I didn’t know what came over me. It was honestly all a blur up until now. I knew Tahno was acting suspicious when he offered to grab Mako from the room by himself. I finally convinced Toza to come with me to check on them and we walked in on Tahno doing...well you know…

Anyway, it was only the three of us in the gym at that point. Toza turned his attention back to my brother. He was still shaking like crazy. 

“Are you okay?” He asked, extremely concerned. It was really weird to see Toza being that father-like. But that was one of his kids that got hurt. I knew it was hurting him just as much as it was hurting me. 

Mako didn’t respond. He was dead silent. All I could hear from him was his shaky breathing. I walked over and sat down next to him. He was looking down at the floor. 

It made me so damn angry. Why would Tahno do that to him? Mako did nothing to hurt him. Why are people like that? 

“Hey bro,” I slowly stretched my arm out to touch his shoulder. As soon as I felt his uniform shirt, Mako jerked away harshly. 

“Don’t touch me.” He snapped. “Please just...don’t touch me.” Then he started to push himself up and toward the steps. I could he was petrified from what just happened, and probably very violated. 

I wanted to go and help him so badly, but Toza gave me a look to stay where I was. Mako finally got up the stairs and went into our apartment. Whatever else Tahno did to him, it screwed him up. Tahno is going to pay for what he did. I will make sure of it.

“You guys aren’t playing tonight.” Toza stood up himself. “I’ll let the refs know. Give Mako some space for the night. If he wants to talk he will. We’ll be there for him no matter what, okay?” I nodded and stood up myself.

Toza left the gym quietly as I walked up the stairs. Mako was sitting on the floor by his bed, holding his arms in his hands. He was still shaking a little bit. His attention was definitely elsewhere than here. 

The rest of the night was completely silent. Mako didn’t talk at all, and I was pretty sure he didn’t sleep either, or the next few days that followed. Toza came up and watched him as I slept. He didn’t want Mako to harm himself or anything like that. I didn’t think Mako would be capable of doing that, but Toza seemed to know more than me. 

I went to bed that night with Pabu close to my puffy face. Why would someone do that. Mako is amazing and has been nothing but nice to Tahno. What the hell is wrong with him. Tahno had the fucking nerve to hurt him like that. I will get him back. No one messes with my brother like that and gets away with it. 

I just hope Mako heals from it. I don’t ever want him to suffer like that again. And I will never let someone do that to him again. 

I’m here for you, Mako. 

Chapter Text

Mako: 15

Bolin: 13

Bolin POV 

My girlfriend/not really girlfriend but we still make out and stuff, Kawa, came in a few days after the incident. Tahno got the memo that we didn’t want him on the team anymore, even if it caused us to be kicked off for the season. Mako still wasn’t really talking to me or Toza. I knew he wasn’t sleeping well either. Last night he even woke up screaming in the middle of the night, promptly waking up me and Pabu in the process. I tried to comfort him, but Mako pushed me off of him and rolled back to bed. Pabu sensed his emotions and slept next to him the rest of the night.

Anywayyyyyyy

Nutuck ain’t getting sidetracked again I promise! :D

Ok, so I was doing a few chores with Toza close by when Kawa approached me. She looked upset with me, obviously. “So, you got anything to say to me?” She crossed her arms with a lot of mean girl attitude. It was not pretty, darling. 

Toza looked up from sweeping the floor. He kinda looked at us with a weird face and finally started out of the room. “Ok….well I’m gonna leave you two alone…” 

I stared into her icy blue eyes and all I could hear in my head was something Mako had told me a while back. “ If she really liked you she would care about you , not the person she wants you to be. She should care about the things you care about.” I flinched as I remembered how I responded by saying “whatever” and storming off. My brother was just looking out for me, and I didn’t even care. And of course I wasn’t there to look out for him . 

At that moment, the people-pleaser in me wanted nothing more than to beg for her forgiveness, but in my heart I knew it was wrong and I knew deep down that I was too good for her. I just barely managed to work up the courage to look her in the eyes say, “No.” 

Kawa blinked. “What the fuck did you just say to me, dirt bag?”

“I have nothing to say to you. You are not a good person and I don’t want to be around you. Leave me alone, we’re done!” 

My cold, harsh words felt like poison seeping out of my throat. (EWWWWW THAT’S DISGUSTING BOLIN) (SHUSH LET ME TELL THE STORY) (whatever :/).Kawa stared at me in UDDER shock, at a complete loss for words. I stared back, trying to hide the fact that I was also CINNAMON shock; (oooooooh yummmy….wait I gotta keep talking about my breakup in progress. ANYWAY….); I never would have expected myself to be able to stand up for myself, and I felt kind of bad, but more than that i felt relieved and surprisingly proud of myself. (WHOOOOO GO BOLIN, GET THAT CONFIDENCE, GET IT). 

Kawa stood still like the Firelord Zuko statue. Anyway, after a brief minute staring into my soul, Kawa left the gym and made her exit very dramatic and depressing. 

***

TIME SKIP HOP HOP

I don’t remember how late it was that night. All I remember was getting startled awake when I heard a loud shriek. I tumbled off my bed and Pabu landed in my lap with his claws digging into my legs, that shit hurt. I looked around in a panic to see what was going on. Pabu’s psychic abilities knew what was happening and scrambled over to my brother’s bed; I quickly followed. 

The first thing I noticed was the shaking. Then the eyes darted all over the room. His chest was heaving with every shaky breath and I could almost hear his heart pounding. What the hell is happening to my brother?

“...Mako…” I crept over to the bed slowly. I think he’s having a panic attack , I thought. I’ve had panic attacks before too, right? At least I think I have… And whenever I felt scared like this Mako was always there to hold onto me… Maybe that’s what he needs too? Everyone needs a hug...

“Mako? Hey, it’s me…” I tried to grab his attention with a soft and calm voice. Mako was always calm when I was scared, and it helped me calm down. Almost immediately, our eyes locked. I had never seen that look on my brother before. Mako was absolutely petrified. 

The idea that my brother was terrified when looking at me scared me so much. I forced down the lump in my throat. You can’t cry for him right now. He needs you. I mustered up the rest of my strength and continued to close the space between us. 

I lightly placed my hand on his shoulder to show him I was there to help him, not harm him.  Mako’s eyes widened in shock and thrusted me to the ground. “GET OFF OF ME!” He exclaimed. 

I looked up at the bed with the tears threatening to spill. Did Mako just….push me? ….Wh-why would he push me? I... My throat was starting to swell up as the tears didn’t stop streaming down my face. I started to feel my breathing get worse and my heart pounding out of my chest. I need help. 

I need Toza.

The next thing I knew, I scrambled over to the couch and picked up the phone. Toza gave us his number when we first moved in here. He said to use it for emergencies only. Well this is definitely an emergency. 

About a minute after I dialed his number, Toza answered. “Who is this?” He grumbled. 

I took a shaky breath. “Toza? It’s me...Bolin-”

Toza cut me off real quick. “Bolin why the hell are you calling me this late at night! Normal people are fucking sleeping !”

Who are you kidding Bolin? He doesn’t want to help and now you’re wasting his time! I looked over at my brother. Mako was still breathing heavy and refused to move a muscle. Pabu was sniffing his face to try and make him feel better. Mako shook him off too, which made Pabu whine and scurry away. 

A few moments of silence pass before Toza responds. “I’m sorry kid, but you know how tired I am. It’s 3:12 in the morning and we should all be asleep.”

I nodded into the phone. “I know... I’m sorry Toza...I’ll just leave you be. Sorry to bother you.”

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Toza asked, now sounding a little worried. 

“Yeah we’re ok, Mako was just looking a little scared and he pushed me and-”

“Do you need me?” Toza asked again.

“I….I….” The tears were spilling like rivers. 

Toza was silent for another moment before responding with, “I’m coming up there.”

*****

By the time Toza came up, Mako’s breathing was a little more normal. The worst of it seemed to pass. Mako was still sitting in his bed, but he said nothing to me and dared not to move. I stayed just out of sight next to the phone, holding onto Pabu for dear life, tears still streaming silently down my face. Pabu helped to lick some of my tears away which I silently thanked him for. I think Mako heard me talking to Toza on the phone but I wasn’t so sure. Either way, I just wanted him to get up here so he could fix this mess. 

Toza walked in with his walking cane and slippers. He looked at both of us and sighed with clear exhaustion. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” I sobbed.  “I woke up and he was having a bad dream i think, but when i tried to get close to him he pushed me away and I don’t know why and I don’t know what i did wrong-”

At this point my words were slurring together. “Don’t worry,” Toza placed a hand on my shoulder, which seemed to help me calm down a little bit. “I’ll sort this out.” Then, he let go and walked over toward the two beds, leaving me holding onto Pabu for dear life. 

I watched from a distance as their exchange went down. Mako looked shaky still and refused to look Toza in the eyes for most of it, until Toza said something to him that perked his ears. At that point, Mako started to break down a little bit. He wasn’t crying, but I could tell he was heading that way. How could Toza talk to him so well? What did he do that I couldn’t? Why am I such a horrible brother? I should be able to know this stuff! I need to know how to help him! What the hell is wrong with me! I sat there with Pabu as I saw Mako’s breathing normalize as he nodded off to Toza about something. Then, Toza had him lay back down in his bed as he tucked Mako back in and turned out the light I lit earlier. 

Once Mako was falling asleep, Toza tiptoed out of the room and walked over to me. “He’s going to be ok. You can go back into your bed and sleep. I’ll spend the night to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

“Toza?” I squeaked. Toza looked down and raised an eyebrow. I stood myself up with Pabu still cradled in my arms. “What’s going on with Mako?”

Toza looked at me with sad eyes. I could tell he was contemplating on telling me the truth. But, he decided against it. “I don’t think we should be having this conversation this late at night. You should get some sleep, Bolin. We’ll talk in the morning.”

I accepted the answer and started walking to my bed in defeat. I crawled back under my covers and held onto Pabu as I drifted off to sleep once again.

Chapter Text

Mako: 16

Bolin: 14

3 months later...

Mako POV 

Life hadn’t really changed much in the past months. I had been finding any job I could find to pay rent and feed Bolin. He started helping out too and continued to work small jobs in the arena. I tried to not let him work too much so he could enjoy a little bit more of his childhood. He deserves any break he could get. 

Toza was always checking up on us as much as he could while still keeping tabs with the other teams. A lot of them had tried to sneak in at night with some of their friends; long story short, Bolin and I would come down the stairs smelling cigarettes and alcohol. When Toza got word of this, he started to kick off any teams he caught sneaking in. This surely made all the ruckus die down within a few days. 

Other than that, he hasn’t been on our case much. Honestly I needed the break from Toza breathing down on my neck. After he came and saw me after my nightmare, he looked at me differently.

 I hated that. Absolutely hated that. 

This is why no one was supposed to know about Viper and the encounters. Or anything that happened with the Triple Threats for that matter. 

So anyway now that I got you pretty much up to speed, we can continue the story. 

I was sweeping the balcony in the gym for the second time today. Some of the other players have been spending their breaks up here, which I never liked, so now I have to clean it even more than usual. 

Suddenly I heard someone coming up the stairs very slowly. As he got to the top, Toza started walking over my way. I tried to ignore him to avoid a conversation, but he had other plans. 

“Got a minute, kid?” He asked with a raspy voice. I turned around and saw him standing there with his arms crossed and having a stone cold look. 

I looked back at my broom. “Busy.”

Toza didn’t accept my answer. Instead of walking away, like any normal human being, he snatched the broom from my hand and dumped it over the balcony. I watched as the broom made contact with the ground and cracked apart. Well it was a shit broom anyway.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I asked, confused. 

Toza looked at me. “Because you and I need to talk.” 

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Yes there is, Mako.” Toza snapped. “And you know damn well what it is.”

I shook my head. “I really don’t. So just leave me alone.” As I headed toward the stairs, Toza grabbed my shirt and yanked me back.

He let go as I regained my balance with the railing. “You’re not going anywhere until we talk.” He huffed my way. 

I looked him dead in the eyes as a challenge. No way in hell am I going down without a fight. Toza gave it right back without any hesitation. We were a little too much alike when it came to stubbornness. I really didn’t like that either. 

Toza took a breath before responding. “It’s about what happened a few months ago-“

“Toza can we just drop-“

“No, Mako, we can’t. I’m not going to let you-“

“JUST SHUT UP!” I roared. My voice echoed throughout the entire gym to the point where it sent a shiver down my spine. The entire room was still around me. I don’t think I’ve ever screamed that loud before. I suppressed that feeling and continued to talk. “I don’t want to talk about it so can you just drop the subject? It’s not that fucking hard!” 

Toza only looked at me with a blank face, but his eyes told a different story. He still looked at me like I was a victim and I was a weak, spineless child . I decided to storm off myself and go to my apartment. I could feel my blood boiling inside of me as I climbed up into the living room/ kitchen. I couldn’t take that look. It was too much for me.

Suddenly, the room started to swirl around me. Thoughts of that nightmare filled my head again. No...I can’t see Bolin getting hurt again. I felt the red fabric rub against my wrists, making them raw. With one look, I was laying down against that desk again, all tied up with no hope of breaking free. The familiar screams of that green eyed boy filled my brain. 

“Mako! Help me please!” The voice wailed to my left. I felt the tears streaming down my face as I shut my eyes tight.

“Mako!”

“Mako!”

“Please help me…”

“Mako! Bro you there?” Bolin’s voice called from the stairs. I looked around myself. The desk was gone, my scarf was secured around my neck as it usually was. I gripped the familiar red fabric and took a deep breath.

He called up the stairs, “there’s someone here that wants to talk to us…. Mako? Are you ok?” 

I squeezed my eyes shut. I don’t have time to think that right now. “Yeah, I’m coming.”

Bolin waited for me to get to the stairs before descending. Once we met up, I started down the stairs. However, Bolin caught my shirt, forcing me to stop in my tracks. I looked at him confused and realized that he was fixing his gaze on something. 

“What?” I asked.

Bolin looked at me sideways. “I just thought I saw something on your jawline. It looks like a scratch. I hadn’t noticed that before.”

I stood frozen like a statue. What could it be from?

Viper…

He was really on edge that day. The day Lightning Bolt Zolt came back. He even let me out early.

Could it be from that? My mind flashed back to that moment. That moment where Viper didn’t like what I was doing. 

He was again on edge. I remember his ring drilling into my jaw, right in front of my ear. The burning sensation could still be felt. I let out a gasp. His grip grew tighter on my neck. 

Viper snarled. “That’s not what I wanted, pretty boy…”

I quickly snapped out of my thoughts. “Don’t worry about it, Bolin. It might be some kind of bug bite.” I shook him off and went down the stairs to avoid any confrontation. Bolin ended up following me to the gym, where another guy, around our age was sitting on the bench. 

“Hey! So this is my brother, Mako.” Bolin came up from behind me and placed his hand on my shoulder. 

The guy perked up and stood up to greet me. “It’s nice to meet you. I understand that you might possibly have an opening for your probending team?”

Bolin nodded for me. “Yup! See Mako! I told you word gets around.” He nudged me for emphasis. I sighed to myself. Great. 

Bolin then turned back to the guy. “So you can waterbend right?” 

The guy nodded. “Yeah, I’m not amazing but I can get the job done.” 

Bolin was on the balls of his feet. “Perfect! We can sign you up now! What’s your name?”

“What’s going on here?” Toza called from the door. He was holding the broken broom from earlier covered in tape. 

“We got ourselves a new waterbender!” Bolin exclaimed. 

The guy smiled slightly. “Yeah, I’m down to play. And I’ll be at all practices and everything. I have nothing else to do.” 

“Ok, well we need your basic information first.” I added. 

“That’s a good point.” The guy nervously laughed. “My name is Hasook.” He outstretched his hand toward me. 

Hasook? That name sounds...familiar-

Wait.

The memory flashed before my eyes. He was there with Daichi and Ekio; he hurt Bolin. 

He hurt Bolin.

Without warning I pushed Bolin back behind me and slapped his hand away. “Absolutely not. We’re not accepting you into the team. You can leave now.” 

Hasook looked at me confused. “I don’t understand-“

“You have 5 more seconds to leave on your own before I kick your ass out myself.”

Bolin gave me a concerned look. “Bro, I don’t know what’s going on, but we need a waterbender on our team…” 

I looked at him exasperated. “You don’t remember him?” I hissed under my breath. “That’s Hasook, one of the guys we fought a few years ago. He is not joining our team.” 

Bolin and Hasook, having both heard me unfortunately, turned to each other and exclaimed, “That was you??”

Bolin looked between me and our enemy. Hasook took a step back. “I promise you that I don’t hang around those guys anymore. It was a one time thing. I made different friends and now I’m in a better place. I’m sorry about what happened that night under the bridge.” 

Bolin seemed to accept the apology quite quickly. He nodded with a smile and looked at me for a similar response. When I refused to give it back, Bolin hesitated and spoke up. “What other options do we have, bro? We have to let him join.”

“I have to say,” Toza interjected, “I agree with Bolin on this one.”

Why the hell is he agreeing with Bolin? Toza was there when we beat them up that night. He knows they were no good; why can’t he take my word for it? I thought, anger pulsating through my veins. I still shook my head and refused to accept Hasook. 

“If you are going to pro-bend this season -- which you are, by the way, per our agreement -- you need to meet the deadline, meaning you have to have a waterbender on your team by next week. Considering this is the first waterbender we’ve met who has agreed to join the team in a year… Well, you do the math.” Toza shrugged. 

I grumbled to myself. Last thing I wanted was another threat. But we need to play this year in order to stay here.

Keep him for the season. If he doesn’t work well we will figure something out later. 

If he lays a finger on my brother he will not hear the end of it. Just remember that, bud. 

  I gritted my teeth and said, “fine.” 

Chapter Text

Mako: 16

Bolin: 14

Bolin POV 

Hasook was a pretty decent addition to the team. Thank the spirits that they heard my prayers and sent us a water bender. Sure we had a rough start with him in the past, but he seems like a chill dude now, so I’m not complaining. Mako on the other hand couldn’t stand him there, but Toza said that we needed him and that’s the only reason Hasook is still here.

Anyway, it was about the end of the probending season and the championship tournament was coming up. We were working so hard to make sure we had a good chance, and that paid off for sure. We only had one more game to win in order to get there. AHHHH I’M SO EXCITED...

One year earlier….

Tahno POV

My turn. 

Mako and Bolin tried to take away MY chance to be a world famous pro-bender and I was not about to let that happen. This was supposed to be about me . I worked so hard for this opportunity and this is how it ends? No way.  

I left the team, because I got the feeling that they didn’t want me on the team anymore, and I knew I could do better than that street scum anyway. I mean, it was Mako’s loss if he didn’t want me. I was the best he’s ever gonna get and he’ll realize it soon enough.

My father sent a Satomobile to fetch me, and the whole ride home I was seething. With each minute that passed I became more and more enraged, and by the time we arrived at my parents’ mansion on the northern coast of Republic city, I had a plan. There was no way they were getting away with anything.

It was over the dinner table that my parents found out that I was no longer a Fire Ferret. Obviously, they were furious. “I cannot believe you got kicked off the team,” my father berated me from across the table. I hated seeing him so upset; I felt like I failed him, and I was willing to do anything to make that feeling go away. “After everything I’ve done to make sure you had every opportunity-”

“Mako assaulted me!” I interrupted. 

I heard a clatter as my mom’s chopsticks fell against her plate. “What??”

I fiddled with the dumpling on my plate and avoided their gaze. “It wasn’t my fault. I got hurt during the match, and then he tripped me and pushed me against the wall and started touching me!” I didn’t even feel any guilt saying this; I was too high on adrenaline. I forced some tears and sobbed, “every time I tried to stop him he just pushed harder, kissing me and touching me places I didn’t want him to touch me, and I told him to stop but he wouldn’t.”

My parents were in complete disbelief. They looked between each other. I glanced over and saw Kawa staring at me, eyes wide. She knew I was lying through my teeth, because she had been told off by Bolin earlier, when they broke up. I had come clean to her, and she was mad for sure, but she said that if I really liked Mako that way then it wasn’t that big of a deal. It made me feel a little better about all this. But now, I needed her to join in with me. I kicked her under the table to tell her to go along with it.

“YEAH,” she joined in suddenly. “Bolin and I dated for a while but then he started manipulating me, and when I tried to break up with him while he was drunk-and he hit me…” She sniffled fictitiously. “It must run in the family.” She muttered, with a tear streaming down her face. 

I looked up, seeing fear in my mother’s eyes and fury in my father’s. 

“We have to report them.” My mother said in a low voice. “ I’ll call the police and-”

“NO!” I blurted out. “Uh, I mean… please don’t.. Since we’re rich and they’re poor it’s not gonna be fair-”

My dad interrupted, “their poverty is no excuse to abuse you two or take advantage of our family’s money. We must report them right away.”

Shit, that excuse is out the window. What else could I say?

“I don’t want the attention, though. We are pro-benders, so police involvement in our team would certainly raise a lot of questions, and I don’t want the media all over this. It’s really personal.”

My mother sighed. “I guess you’re right. But we can’t let them get away with this. We have to get them back somehow!”

“I know what to do,” my dad said solemnly. “I’ll hire the best benders from the earth and fire nations, fly them in and have you all professionally trained. By next season you’ll be ready to kick their asses and get them back for everything they did to hurt you.” 

Kawa and I smiled devilishly. 

This is wrong, I thought. They did nothing to you. You were the one who did all those things.

No, it doesn’t matter. This was my chance to be world famous and they ruined it for me. They couldn’t take a joke.

I’m doing the right thing for me for once. Is that really so bad? 

Bolin POV 

Back to the present folks!

Mako and I were apprehensive as we waited in the balcony locker room. We were set to play the Wolfbats in just a few minutes… a team we had never heard of, but everyone seemed to really like them and I had a strange feeling that this wasn’t going to end well for us. I had just finished putting on my pro-bending uniform when I heard the door open and someone walk in. I turned around and froze in my place. 

Tahno stared back at me. “Well, well, well. We meet again, Fire Ferrets .” 

My jaw dropped. Mako looked up, his eyes widened in fear. I knew at that moment that this was going to be a long match.

Chapter Text

Mako: 16

Bolin: 14

“And we are back folks! Welcome to another thrilling evening of probending matches! After just witnessing the Tigerdillos and Mosquitobees face off, I don’t know if this next match will compare. But we are  about to find out. Next up, we have the newest team in our ranks, the Wolfbats versus another young group, the Fire Ferrets!” 

“Now if you’re new to the probending scene you may not know that the Wolfbats waterbender, Tahno, was a previous member of the Fire Ferrets. We don’t know all the details but now Tahno is back with a new team. Word is these boys are from the earth kingdom and fire nation, and they moved to Republic City not too long ago. The new earth bender is named Ming, andthe new firebender is known as Shaozu. Not only that, but the Fire ferrets have their own replacement water bender as well, Hasook. I heard a little rumble that there was a little stand off earlier today. Something interesting must have happened to cause such a huge switch-a-roo. Can’t wait to see what the fans come up with! NOW THAT’S SOME GOSSIP!”

“Alrighty folks! Looks like it’s time to get started. Both teams are facing off at the starting line and here we go!”

DING 

“And they're off! Tahno is dodging quite a few earth disks from Bolin. He decides to go on the offense and-wow! What a nasty hit! Bolin is in zone 2. Hasook decides to defend his teammate and throws some shots Tahno’s way as well. He dodges super easily and retaliates too!”

“Meanwhile, Mako and Ming are having it out in zone 1. WOW! Look at those earth disks fly! Ming surely knows how to play the game. Oh no! Mako is knocked back into zone 2. Ming was able to get a clean hit to Mako’s stomach. Looks like he’s ready for a rematch.”

“With only a minute left in the match, it looks like the Wolfbats will-OH SNAP FOLKS! Ming knocked Bolin out of the ring! He’s GOOOONEEEE. And that’s the end of the round folks. Wolfbats take the lead as we head into round 2!”

DING

“Bolin goes on the attack and goes for Shaozu right away. He dodges a few earth disks and returns the attack with a fiery flash of fire of his own! Mako comes to his defense and blocks the shot! Holy cow! Shaozu is knocked back into zone 2!”

“Tahno is starting to size up to Hasook. It’s a waterbending slug fest in zone 1-Hasook is knocked back into zone 2! And Tahno is still throwing some shots. OH NO! Hasook is back in zone 3!”

“Ming goes to help his friend and knocks the two brothers back into zone 2. The Wolfbats get the green light to advance into Fire Ferret territory. Looks like they are out for blood. Bolin is starting to mound some offense and- CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! Bolin knocks out Ming and destroys his momentum! Ming is now back in Wolfbats territory.”

“And that’s the bell folks! The Wolfbats snag round 2 as well. But with Bolin’s crazy shot,  it could be just enough for the Fire ferrets to break through the Wolfbats’ defense.”

“Good work, Bo.” Mako came up to me and clapped my shoulder. I was panting like a wild animal on a hot summer day. These Wolfbats were legit. They had some good skills. How are we going to win this?

“We need the knockout to win,” Hasook added as he approached us. I noticed that he was rubbing a small part of his arm. I don’t remember him getting hit. “How do you suppose we go about that?”

Mako looked between the two of us and then back at the Wolfbats, who were also huddled together. Then he looked back at me. A simple smirk planted on his face. “I got an idea.” He smirked. 

DING 

“We are back folks to round 3. The fire ferrets need a knockout to win this, but I really don’t know if they can pull it off. But, there is a chance thanks to Bolin’s sneaky move last round. WOWZERS! That’s a bunch of smoke! The debris is all over the ring; I can’t see any of the players.”

“Wait a minute! I see them! Holy cow! THE FIRE FERRETS ARE IN WOLFBATS TERRITORY I REPEAT WOLFBATS TERRITORY! WHAT A THRILL! Looks like the brothers decided to create some fog in the ring. It’s not illegal here, folks.”

“Now Hasook and Bolin are working together to knock a few Wolfbats even farther back. And it’s working! The Fire ferrets have a shot to win! All they have to do is knock them off the ring!”

Mako POV

We were in zone 2 of Wolfbat territory. For some reason, everything was clicking at that moment. Bolin and I were so in sync that it was insane. Hasook was even on the same wavelength as us. As Tahno and his teammates were trying to push back, we retaliated harder. They didn’t stand a chance against this force. We were gonna win. We were going to the championship finals. After working so hard all year, we’re gonna make it. 

Tahno looked absolutely furious with this possible outcome. He may have looked composed while in the ring but I knew he was ready to destroy us. His eyes told a different story. It had to kill him inside knowing that his old team could go to the tournament and there was nothing he could do. We were the better team.

I shot a few blows to Ming, who’s been on my ass this entire match. He was not expecting any of them as he was so focused on Hasook. Ming fell into the water in a matter of seconds. Only two more to go. Finish strong. 

Both Tahno and Shaozu were on the very edge, about to hit the water as well. We were pushing harder and harder, waiting for their stubbornness to finally sizzle out. I could feel myself starting to slow down to conserve some energy for the long run. At that point, I focused on defending my stance and dodging any shots fired at me. It seemed to work very well in my favor. I knew Hasook and Bolin were working hard on tiring out the other two so then I could deliver some final blow. Toza taught us this trick a while back and it served us well in previous matches. 

I looked to my left and saw some harder attacks coming from my teammates. That means it was my cue to deliver the final blow. I relaxed my muscles a tad to feel the heat radiate through my body. The power I needed to generate took a lot out of me, but it was effective. 

As I geared up to fire my shot, I locked eyes with Tahno. For a split second, he looked guilty. Guilty for what? For taking advantage of me in the gym? For not stopping? What Tahno what?

Then his eyes turned a little mischievous. He threw his hands up, leaving the water in the pools below the ring. He knew I usually was the one to shoot last. He also knew he wouldn’t be able to fully block it. Tahno accepted his fate in this match. But, he had one last thing to say to me before falling off. “You win. I guess the tables have turned, pretty boy.”

My heart dropped to my stomach. Any air inside of me left my body. Muscles tensed as I struggled to find a breath again. I remembered right then and there where I had heard that before. 

I walked into the bleak room for my usual routine. I figured that it would be as it had been for two years. It was all Viper really wanted from me anyway. But as long as he didn’t touch Bolin, things would be ok. 

Viper sat in his usual stance. “You’re late.” He grumbled, clearly annoyed with my so-called “absence”. His fingers rapped the desk in front of him impatiently. Each sound made my heart palpitate even faster. I know that when Viper was impatient he wouldn’t be as “nice” with me. It was a losing situation for me. 

“I’m on time.” I replied back casually, trying to hide away any sense of fear. “I was early yesterday.” 

“Clearly.” Viper spat back. Then he stood up straight in his chair. The chair that looked so tall from where I would kneel. Never in my life have I felt smaller than I did in that moment. 

I slowly slumped over to the desk. I knew exactly how he wanted it and honestly I was ready to get this over with quickly today. More so than usual. 

After kneeling in front of him I braced myself for what was to come. I reached out to grab the zipper when Viper looked down from his seat and held up his hand abruptly. “No, I don’t want my usual today.”

I looked at him utterly confused. What could he have wanted from me now? I’ve done pretty much everything I could think of. 

Next thing I knew, my scarf was pulled off of my neck. I tried to retrieve it but grasped at only air. Viper held it up to the light and examined it. A devilish smile curled onto his face, making his features more monstrous by the second. “I know what I want from you.”

I titled my head just slightly, still a little frightened at the unknown. Viper slightly giggled and motioned for me to stand up. As I turned around and observed the wooden furniture in front of me, I noticed little to nothing on the top; nothing but a small hook on one side used for Viper’s hat. I thought that was strange, as Viper always had papers or something to examine after his routine sexual pleasure. 

Then, I turned back around to meet his gaze. His grin grew larger as he looked me dead in the eyes. For the first time in months, he looked excited for what was about to come. He grabbed both of my wrists with his ice cold fingers. My scarf was slowly being tied around them.

After my wrists were all tied up, Viper threw me back and onto the table. I gasped at the sudden force. Next thing I knew, my tied wrists were hooked behind me on the side hook of the desk. My entire body laid flat on the surface. I felt the same gelid hands run up my inner thigh and toward my own zipper. The heat usually radiating throughout my body turned cool, and I felt chills run down my spine as goosebumps covered my skin everywhere. I whimpered at the feeling. I knew what was about to happen and I didn’t want it. But, I knew from previous encounters that the more I resist, the worse it gets for me. All I could do was close my eyes and wait for the nightmare to be over. 

But before I could close my eyes, Viper met my gaze with his lip curled. “Looks like the tables have turned on you, pretty boy.”

I saw red. Blazing red. Everything inside of me turned to anger. My fists tightened until they turned white. The blood boiled inside as I started to create a flame. With one large breath, I unleashed a blast of fire 10 feet tall. All of my anger and hurt came out in one big flame. My scream was so loud that it started to hurt my throat.

It moved faster than the speed of light. So fast that no one knew it was coming, not even my teammates. Tahno and Shaozu had no time to react. Both of them fell off the ring. However, they didn’t fall into the water. No, they ended up hitting the wall with a large thud. Neither one moved from impact. 

The entire arena was dead silent. People were holding their breaths as they just witnessed what they thought was an explosion. I tried to take a breath and back away from the opposing team’s territory. My hands were shaking at what just flashed through my head. Suddenly, the raw feeling in my wrists returned. No...no please….

A lone whistle blew from the ref’s balcony. It startled the entire crowd. “Fire Ferrets Firebender is disqualified. The victory automatically goes to the Wolfbats, who will also be attending the championship tournament. Please stand by as we handle the situation. The next match will commence shortly. All players must leave the ring immediately.” 

“Well folks, I guess we will continue with the matches after this short break. But! It will give me an opportunity to tell you all at home about some of our amazing sponsors. We will be right back folks!”

Chapter Text

Mako: 16

Bolin: 14

Bolin POV

I don’t know what is up with my brother, but he has some explaining to do. I stormed after my brother toward the gym. Hasook decided to give Mako space and left the arena to go home. Toza held me back as soon as Mako left the ring. He said to give him some space. Well, after a few minutes of me simmering, I decided it was time to give him a piece of my mind. Toza decided to come with me, because he was just as furious. Mako knew better than to lose his cool like that. We all do. 

Anyway, I busted through the doors into the seemingly empty gym. As I looked around, I picked out the only other person in there. The lonely form was sitting next to the doorway which led to our attic. I only know of one person who does that . I stomped my way over to the still form. Mako didn’t turn around to face me. I noticed that he was unwrapping his shaking hands, which had been covered in cloth strips to protect them from getting burned during the match. He didn’t notice me or Toza entering the room. The fire inside of me was about to explode. 

“What the hell was that?” I exclaimed to his turner back. 

Mako still didn’t respond. He continued to unwrap his wrists like I was never even there. Something was not right with him, and I think Toza was starting to feel that too. Why won’t you talk to me? I’m your brother!

Then I noticed his wrists had some small cuts on them. As I looked at them more; I realized that they seemed fresh and looked charred at the edges. What? How did that happen! 

I snatched his right arm and examined the cuts in more detail. They were more fresh than I had initially thought. My head started spinning in a panic. “What-what is this!” I exclaimed. Who hurt him?

Mako broke free from my clammy hands. “Don’t touch me.” His voice was starting to waver slightly. I could see it in his eyes that something wasn't right. As I kept looking at him, the rest of his body was giving me the same signs. 

Toza came up from behind to try and separate us. He outstretched both arms to keep us farther apart than we were. Both of us obeyed, but continued to show the same expressions. Toza finally spoke up. “Look kid, I don’t know what’s-“ he stopped as soon as he saw Mako’s wrist. A melancholy expression started to form onto his face and he looked at Mako with pity. 

Mako looked him dead in the eyes and forced out a cold laugh. “Don’t you dare look at me like that. You’re probably happy that I have some kind of excuse to act this way huh?”

Toza backed up to where I was to give him some space. He put his hands up in surrender. “Mako,” he said in an unnervingly calm manner. “You need to calm down-“

“No, I won’t calm down!” Mako spat back. “You can’t tell me what to do, because you’re nothing but a fucking bag of bones living in the attic of this dump!”

“Mako this isn’t you!” I yelled at him, tears threatening to spill. “Please talk to me! You can tell me anything. You know I’m here for you. I’ve alway been-“

“That’s A LIE!” Mako turned his attention onto me. His eyes glaring daggers into my skull. I had never seen Mako so angry or… hurt . As I shrunk away from his voice, Mako continued. “If you cared then where were you when Viper raped me, Bolin? When I was covering the scars he gave me, choking down everything so there was no evidence, when he was running his cold... callous hands up and down my stomach and up my thighs?” His eyes brimmed with tears, and thick emotions clouded his voice and slurred his words. “Where were you when he tied me to the desk with dad’s scarf? And when he was doing whatever the fuck he wanted to me because I was nothing more than some useless sex toy?” 

His words hit me like a ton of earth-discs in the gut. My stomach was churning as I felt my heart follow the same route. Wha-what was he talking about? 

At this point, Mako wasn’t even looking at me anymore, just mumbling to himself in a broken voice. “You don’t understand how much it hurt me. But I couldn’t say no because he wouldn’t have cared. I didn’t want you to get promoted either. So I just took it, for you, I did it all for you, and you were never there for me.” I tried to butt in and say something, but Mako was too quick for me. He looked me right in the eyes and yelled, “NO, BOLIN YOU WERE NEVER THERE. STOP PRETENDING LIKE YOU CARE BECAUSE YOU DON’T, AND YOU NEVER FUCKING DID!”

The room went completely silent. No one dared to move a muscle. A second later, all the color in Mako's face faded away, leaving a ghost white canvas, as he realized what he had just blurted out. Everything he kept inside was out in the open; Mako had no more secrets. His eyes widened with panic and he looked super sick. He put a shaking hand over his mouth and stumbled backwards out of the room. 

I let the tears fall, and a second later I felt Toza’s comforting arms wrap around me. He held me there for a minute until I calmed down a little. His presence gave me some sort of comfort after getting my heart torn out of my chest. After a few large breaths, I was finally calmed down enough to get a grip of my surroundings and figure out all that just happened.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Toza asked calmly. He let go of the hug and looked at me while he held onto my shoulders for support. I was kneeling on the ground in a slumped position, looking as defeated as ever. 

I sniffed, “I think so…” 

Mako POV

I couldn’t think or walk straight. I remember stumbling out of the room; I barely made it to the attic with my mind racing, heart pounding, gut doing cartwheels, and vision clouded with a thousand tears. Memories I had never been able to process flooded back, completely overwhelming me. I didn’t know what to do. Nothing felt right anymore. For so long I was so numb, and now everything was overwhelming me. I couldn’t take it. 

Finally having some time to myself, I collapsed to the ground, hysterically crying to no one. My muscles tensed as I heaved every breath to try and calm myself down, but to no avail. I held my legs close to my chest and sobbed into my knees. 

How could Viper do that to me? I was just a kid…

Why did I say that! Bolin wasn’t supposed to know! You’re supposed to protect him. You failed. 

It’s all your fault. 

Chapter Text

Bolin POV

Toza talked me through everything I did and didn’t understand. It was so hard to comprehend everything at once. I felt so… numb . I couldn’t believe that someone could do such horrible things to an innocent kid. Mako didn’t deserve any of this. 

“I just want to make sure you’re ok,” I mumbled. “You don't have to be strong for me anymore-”

“ Nothing happened Bolin!” he shouted, and I could hear the pain in his voice, but I knew that if something was really wrong he would tell me. 

“Ok... I trust you.” 

“I trusted him,” I sobbed into Toza’s shoulder. “He told me nothing happened and I trusted him. How could Mako lie to me?” 

Toza rubbed his hand on my back comfortingly. He stopped for a moment before responding. “He was just doing it to protect you, Bolin. He didn’t want you to get hurt.”

I knew that was supposed to be reassuring but it had the opposite effect, shoving guilt as sharp as a knife into my stomach. It didn’t work. I was hurting more than ever. My stomach churned again. Toza pulled me closer and squeezed me tighter. It was weird having him be so fatherly to me, but I was thankful he was here. 

“Sometimes bad people use their power to hurt others. It wasn’t your fault and it wasn’t Mako’s. He didn’t have any other options. What happened is in the past, and you’re both safe now, I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.” 

Mako POV

After about an hour I started to calm down. My chest ached from heaving, and my mind started to wander to Bolin. This was a lot to shove on him at once. I hope he’s handling it ok. I should go check on him. He might want to talk about it, and honestly I owe him that. I don’t think I’ve really been there for him as much as he deserves lately. 

I slowly got up, dried my tear-stained face, and left the attic. I carefully climbed down the stairs from our home into the rest of the building, but as I got closer, the hushed voices of my brother and Toza drifted through the air towards me, and I caught the end of a sentence from Bolin. 

“You’re like the father I never had.” 

His words echoed in my mind and my heart dropped to my stomach. I had always thought of myself as Bolin’s guardian and caretaker, but now that Toza had come into our lives, Bolin didn’t need me anymore.

Bolin doesn’t need me anymore. 

In my head flashed memories: the two of them together walking in on me unwrapping my arm after the match; Toza siding with Bolin on the Hasook issue even though he knew it made me uncomfortable; that look Toza keeps giving me, especially when he found out about today… 

The sounds of their conversations were swept away by the roaring of my own fury in my ears. 

And then my mind went numb. Without thinking, I raised my fist and created a little fire knife like the one that had left its mark on my wrists already. 

Bolin POV  

I felt emotionally raw, more than I had in a long time, and physically sore from crying. 

I pulled myself off of Toza’s shoulder, which I had been leaning on for an hour at least. He didn’t mind at all though, which I really appreciated.

“I have to go and apologize,” I said softly, my voice cracked and broken. “I should have been there for him when he left.” 

Toza nodded sadly. “He needed space then, but I think he needs you now.” 

I stood up shakily and walked out through the doorway, and to my surprise I found Mako standing right in front of me, a flame in the shape of a dagger protruding from his closed fist. His knuckles were white and there was a crazed look in his eye - this wasn’t the Mako I knew. 

He moved his hand towards himself in a violent and jerky motion and I suddenly understood. 

I don’t remember screaming Toza’s name, but I can still hear the echoes of my own terror-stricken voice. 

I grabbed my brother’s arm gently but firmly, stopping the knife an inch away from his chest. I looked him in the eyes, and cried out his name, over and over until he looked back at me. There was nothing behind his eyes but pain. 

“Mako please!!” I screamed. “Don’t do this, I need you, I never stopped needing you. Please Mako please…” 

Mako POV

“Please Mako, Please” he sobbed, holding onto my arm for dear life. I desperately searched his eyes for some glimmer of hope. And I found it. 

Bolin still needs me. I can’t leave him now. 

“Don’t go Mako. I’m so sorry. Please stay with me. I need you. I love you.” The little fire on my hand flickered away. 

I tried to speak but wasn’t able to make a sound. My knees gave out from exhaustion and I fell down. Bolin caught me before I hit the ground and held onto me as I cried into his shoulder. Loud sobs poured out of my mouth with every breath. All that I had kept inside of me was coming out at that moment. 

Toza scrambled into the room a second later after hearing Bolin’s yelling, but it was too late. We didn’t need him there anymore. We were ok, just the two of us. 

But that didn’t stop Toza. He fell to his knees and pulled us both into a tight hug. I moved my head and cried on Toza’s chest as well. It only made him hold us tighter. We all sat there for hours together. Completely comfortable with each other’s company.

For the first time in years, I finally felt loved.

I felt safe. 

Chapter Text

One year later…

Mako: 17

Bolin: 15

Mako POV

Soon enough the probending arena was preparing for the next season. Thanks to my restaurant job, I was able to pay the rent to keep us in the attic. Bolin still helped around the gym and what not. He even helped set up some pro bending interviews with the press. That combined with all my tip money gave us some extra savings to put away for the season. It wasn’t much but it gave us a chance to breathe for just a second. Hopefully when the next season comes things will be better for us. Maybe I could even buy him some new clothes for the winter time and not my old clothes that didn’t fit anymore. 

Toza was getting less mobile by the day, however, he still made time for us whenever he could whether it would be training with us or even eating a few meals in the attic. Bolin spent more time with him, considering my busy work shifts; but even then, Toza always checked up on me to make sure I was ok. I wish I could say that the nightmares were getting better and I wasn’t feeling so...pensive...but you know how that works. 

Anyway, my restaurant job was a steady job, which I needed in order to provide for Bolin. My days were long and tiring and half the time I was the one to close the place at around 1 am. Luckily I had a paycheck aside from the shitty tips I made as a waiter. A lot of people that come by like to point out my probending status and won’t tip me because they think I earn a lot of money playing the sport. Well I really don’t. 

***

It was an unusually busy night at the restaurant. The wait time was close to 2 hours by the time it was 10 pm. I knew for a fact that I probably would be there all night working tables. Hopefully Bolin won’t wait up on me. He needs the rest. 

“I need a refill.” A middle-aged man called out behind me. I flinched at the sound. Why do people do this to me? Well wait, I know why.

I turned around to find a man, sitting with his friends, motioning for me to head over. Once I arrived at my destination, the man practically shoves the empty glass in my hand. “I want my whiskey neat. Splash of water with it too.” He said, sputtering some of his words. That led to my conclusion of him being very drunk already. Well, give him what he wants. Who knows, maybe he’ll tip you good.

“Yes sir.” I started to walk away when I heard a familiar laugh behind me. It sent chills down every inch of my spine. I never thought in a million years I would hear it again. 

“Well I guess pro bending hasn’t been all you’ve hoped for, pretty boy.” The voice called out. I turned around slowly to observe all who were at the table. The man that gave me the glass was Taku. Spirits, how did I not recognize him? Next to him was another triple threat that I couldn’t recall, but he was also just as drunk as Taku next to him; I could tell he wasn’t paying attention to anything going on. Next to the drunk triad guy sat Shady Shin casually sipping on a drink of his own. He looked at me and smirked as if to acknowledge how I was struggling.

But that wasn’t the voice that called out to me. No, that voice belonged to the man next to Shin. And I knew that monster a little too well. His posture was slightly slouched, like it always was in his desk chair. His hat was tipped in front of his face to hide it in the shadows. He too was sipping a drink here and there, watching everything out of the corner of his eye. 

“How have you been?” Viper asked in a sickly sweet tone. His entire expression changed as he met my eyes. His face lightened up to look more innocent, yet still very daunting underneath. It was a face he made quite a lot towards me in the past. He knew that it would get him what he wanted. 

I stood frozen in my shoes. No force could make me move from where I was. Soon enough, the same feelings started speaking up in my stomach, and then into my chest. My body was starting to shake in his presence. Even years after it all happened, I was still scared of him. 

And how I fucking hated that.

“Oh come on kid. Don’t be shy. Talk to us.” Shin chimed in as he brought his glass to his mouth. He and Viper exchanged looks of amusement. Get out of there.

Say something, stupid. Get out of there! I forced myself to stutter out something. Instead, it sounded like a whimper. “I-need…to refill-“

“Oh don't give me those excuses, Mako.” Viper held his hand up to shut me up. I closed my mouth in fear of what he might do to me. “You know I hate excuses.”

“Why don't you come and sit down.” Shin motioned for me to sit at the empty seat next to Viper, who looked devilishly excited at the turn of events. Get out. Leave. I wanted to say something so bad, however I couldn’t even get out a simple sound. I could barely even shake my head. 

That’s when another triple threat came up from behind me. I shrank at his touch and tried to squirm away from the table. However, my body wouldn’t move. It didn’t want to. That triple threat scooped me up and sat me down next to Viper in a matter of 

seconds. Before I could get out of the booth, that triple threat blocked my only exit. I was trapped. 

“Much better.” Viper smiled while he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I took a shallow breath as I felt his callous hands stroke my right arm. Please no…

“I heard you've had quite a season.” Shin said.

“I-“

“You’re right about that, Shin.” Viper piped up. “Who knew he could be as strong as he is. Such a fighter. I wouldn’t have known that about him.” I wanted to cry right then and there. Oh how I hated him for saying that. I hated every moment of that conversation. I closed my eyes, praying for this to be over. Please…help me. 

Viper leaned in closer to me. He was so close I could smell the alcohol on his breath mixed with his cologne. That smell made me want to vomit. “So how would you feel about fixing up a game with us?” My breathing became more frequent. I knew I was starting to freak out in front of them, and it was amusing to all of them. 

Just then, another waiter came up to the table. “Sir, do you need a refill?” He looked over at Taku for an answer.

Taku looked up and nodded. “Whiskey neat. Splash of water.” He calmly slid the glass to the waiter before turning his gaze back on to me.

“How are we doing tonight, gentlemen?” A familiar voice came up as well. I realized that it was my manager. Oh no. 

“Very well, thank you.” Shin placed a hand over his heart and bowed in his seat slightly to show a sign of respect. It was so frightening to see how quickly these men could change their emotions, and how if I had stayed, I would’ve been next. 

“Mako, you need to go back to work. Break time is over.”  My manager, Haru, motioned for me to get up from the table with a harsh tone to top it off. Finally, the triple threat got up from his seat and let me squeeze out myself. I stood there as Haru shoved me away from the table and into the other waiter, who was not prepared for the sudden force. I managed to stay standing as I struggled to prevent the tears from falling down. 

“I apologize about him.” Haru turned to the group with a kind tone. “He’s still quite young and very new to the process around here.”

“Oh it is no worry, sir,” Viper waved him off with a tip of his hat. “Your young waiter and I go way back.”

***

Bolin POV

Toza and I stayed up to make sure Mako got home ok. I knew he wanted me to be asleep, but after all that has happened in the past year, I couldn’t help but worry about his well-being. Mako likes to hide everything from me, but I somehow figure out how he’s really feeling before he does himself. He still hasn’t quite figured out how to hide it all in. 

I was playing with Pabu on the couch-(OH did I mention I have a pet now? Yeah his name is Pabu and he’s a fire ferret. Hence why we are called the fire ferrets. Such a cool buddy. He’s my best friend other than Mako. Ok sidebar over. Back to our regularly scheduled program).

Mako stumbled into the door breathing heavily, but not like he was winded from going up the stairs. Believe me, I know what that sounds like. 

“Bro, you good?” I asked standing up from my position. Mako didn’t answer me; instead his breathing got worse. As I grew closer, I realized he was shaking and there were…tears-

“Mako what happened.” Toza spoke up before I could. His voice was low and from, just like it always is when he’s being serious. Mako couldn’t get anything out of his mouth. He only shook his head as his response. My thoughts started running around like a crazy train. What happened to him is he going to be ok what did they do to him oh no oh no oh no-

Toza walked up to him and slowly wrapped his arms around Mako’s shaking form. As soon as he touched him, Mako sank into the hug, sucking in huge breaths. I came around on the other side and wrapped my arms around him too. 

“He was there.” Mako whimpered. “They all were. And I couldn’t leave. I felt like I was…like I was…” he couldn’t finish his sentence without letting out a huge sob. He was talking about Viper. I knew he was. That’s the only person Mako is really afraid of. He’s the only person to make Mako shrivel up like that. Toza and I squeezed him harder to help him calm down, but to no avail.

I didn’t realize it still affected him like this. I thought that being out of it would make things better for him, but I think it made it worse. Seeing Viper again struck a nerve Mako hasn’t healed yet and it shows. All Mako could do was feel those same feelings over and over again because that was all he knew. No matter how much healing I thought he had, it wasn’t enough. I really don't think Mako will ever truly heal from that, and that’s what hurts most of all. Every time he sees them he’ll revert back to what he knows. And no matter how much love I or Toza can give him, he’s still going to have these feelings and he’s still going to feel helpless and scared. I wish they would have never hurt him like that. I wish Mako would heal from it. I just want him to be ok again. I don’t want him to suffer. 

“It’s ok,” Toza said softly. “You’re okay. You’re safe with us.”

“I don't feel safe.” Mako whimpered back into Toza’s shoulder. “I want to feel safe again, but I don’t.” He sobbed again. Toza only held him tighter to try and calm him down. I couldn’t help but let out a few small tears myself. Anytime Mako suffers, I suffer because I hate seeing my brother going through all of this pain alone. No one else he knows feels this way. He has to suffer alone. 

“I’m so sorry, Mako.” I whispered into his ear softly. 

***

Together we sat there all night long until Mako finally started to fall asleep. Once he did, Toza scooped him up and tucked him into bed. After that, he came over to me in the living room, where I was holding Pabu to make me feel a little bit better.

“I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.” Toza said as he headed for that piece of furniture. He slowly sat down and started to get comfortable. “You should start getting some sleep too, Bolin. You need it.”

I nodded off and went into my room that I shared with Mako. With Pabu in my arms, I tiptoed into the room silently and walked over to his bed. Usually, Mako liked sleeping by himself all wrapped up in blankets. While I never understood why he did that, because he was a Firebender and all, it did help him sleep at night. 

Without a second thought, I flipped over the covers on the empty side and slipped into the bed with him. I turned my back to him and started to adjust my pillow to a comfortable position. Pabu snuggled up next to my face as I closed my eyes, hoping that we all could get some sleep for the next day. Tomorrow is a better day. I thought. Tomorrow is a better day. 

Chapter Text

Mako: 17

Bolin: 15

Bolin POV

A few days passed by like molasses. Mako hadn’t been sleeping well since he saw the triad goons during his work shift. While he tried to keep it inside, I knew it was slowly eating him alive. Toza tried his hardest to keep him busy with things to do so then Mako wouldn’t be thinking about it allday, and to some extent it does help. I just hope it continues to get better.  I also worked hard to keep Mako busy and offered to cook more meals for him so he could sleep in. Pabu also loved to stay under the covers with him at night and whenever he would wake up, Pabu would lick his face until Makon calmed down. I think it did help him a little bit knowing he had support. 

Today we had a mid morning practice, which was AMAZING! I had woken up at the butt crack of dawn to sweat my life away and then do all of these chores. So, when Toza told us the practice time the day before, I made sure to wake up earlier and make a little bit of breakfast for him. 

Mako woke up slowly a couple hours after me. Then, he straightened up our beds and brought Pabu over to our little kitchen area. There, I made a few morning dumplings for him. It was a special morning too-not just because of the mid morning practice. Mako’s birthday was coming up within the next few days and I wanted to find some cool ways to make this year super special! Mako deserves the entire world, and I was determined to make that happen. 

Mako sat down at the small table with Pabu around his neck. Pabu was laying his head on Mako’s collarbone as he was rubbing his ears. Pabu loved when Mako would do that. 

“Breakfast dumplings just for you!” I placed the plate right in front of him.

Mako slightly smiled. “Wow, I didn't expect this. What’s the occasion?” 

“Oh nothing…” I trailed off with a grin. 

Mako looked at me head on and sighed. “Bo-“

“Oh come on Mako! Let me celebrate your birthday!”

“I don’t want to.” Mako shook his head. “I’d rather it be another random day in the year.”

My heart dropped. “But…please?”

Mako slowly started eating his food. “We’ll see.” 

I took that answer and plopped down to eat my food with him. The rest of the morning was pretty quiet, but a good quiet. Mako and I enjoyed our breakfast in silence. I was honestly thinking of all the things we could do on our special day. Toza already confirmed the day off for both of us so it gave us time to sleep in, eat good, and walk around the city. I couldn’t help but smile knowing I was about to plan an amazing birthday for him. 

***

After a grueling day of practice, Toza sent the three of us to the showers to wash up. Hasook was the first to pack up his stuff, after having a rough day himself. I could tell Mako was getting more and more annoyed with his performance.

I made sure to pack my stuff up at the same time as Mako so I could walk with him to the showers. I had an idea that might cheer him up. Finally, Mako slugged his beat up bag over his shoulder and rubbed the sweat off of his forehead. My body bursted into action as I quickly caught up to his pace. 

Mako looked toward me and raised an eyebrow. “Everything ok?”

I beamed a huge smile. “Oh yeah of course, don’t you worry big brother.” I patted his shoulder for reassurance.

Mako kept his eyebrow raised. “Whatever you say, I guess.” We kept walking toward the door in an awkward silence. Dang it Bolin! Now he’s suspicious! Fix it now!

“I have an idea-“ I blurted out. Mako immediately wrapped his hand around my mouth and pulled me by some nearby mats. My mind was racing like a crazy man. Bro what is going on?? Why is Mako doing this what even is this guy’s problem why why why holy hippocow what am I gonna-

“Where are my favorite little boys?” A familiar voice echoed in the gym. His creepy tone ran chills up my spine. My heart started racing as I realized who it was. 

Shady Shin.

“Get lost, Shin.” Toza grumbled. “They’re not here.”

Shin slowly sauntered toward Toza’s form, where he was cleaning up some of the weights. Shin took off his hat and placed it neatly next to his hip. His face curled into a sly grin. “Now I wouldn’t want to ruin any of your expensive equipment-”

Toza slammed a weight right next to Shin’s foot, causing Shin to flinch slightly. Toza stomped up to his face and pointed his boney finger into Shin’s crisp clothing. “Now you listen here, punk. Those kids are off limits. You have no business here anymore.”

At first, I thought Shin was going to lash out. Mako would tell me that Shin always had some sort of water pouch on him he would use any second. I never figured out how he would store it in his fancy clothes, but I mean that’s super cool he could do that. But Shin didn’t lash out. He really only let out a small chuckle and cocked an eyebrow.

“Toza, Toza, Toza,” Shin stepped away and started to circle Toza as he spoke down to him. “We have more control over them than you think. You can protect them for now,” As he said this, he finally met Toza’s gaze. “But don’t forget who made them.”

With that, Shin put his hat on his head and started to see himself out. Toza stood there frozen solid. It was weird seeing Toza actually scared of someone. Yeah I have seen him frightened by other people, but seeing him up against Shin was a different feeling. It was as if Toza knew Shin would win any outcome here, and that scared Toza to the bone. 

Mako slowly turned around and sat down with fast, shaky breaths. I immediately kneeled across from him and tried to reach out for him. “Mako, it’s going to be ok.” I said. “Shin is all bark and no bite remember?”

“It doesn't matter,” He snapped. “He’s still tied with Viper.” He choked out that last line. His voice was soft and frail. Mako’s body started to shake a little harder. Oh no, please Mako don’t be scared. It’s going to be ok.

“Don’t worry kids.” Toza emerged to our left and sat down to our level. Mako refused to look his way and buried his head into his knees. “Shin won’t do anything. I won’t let that happen. I’m not scared of them.” He tapped on Mako’s knee slightly, causing him to jerk up and meet his gaze. “Everything is going to be ok. You’re safe here.” 

I knew Mako wanted to believe him, I knew he was holding out hope that Toza was right. But deep down, Mako couldn’t believe him. From all Mako had known, he knew better than to give into that sense of false hope. No matter how strong Toza might be, he still couldn’t stop them. 

If the Triple Threats want something, they get it. 

No questions asked. 

Toza noticed Mako’s tense body language and let out a sigh. “How about you head to the showers and get cleaned up. It’s no good to be working concessions while being drenched in sweat.” He motioned for Mako to stand up and guide him toward the showers. Mako was hesitant to go at first, but he eventually caved in; he slowly picked himself off of the ground and sombered over toward the shower room. 

I stood next to Toza and watched him hold his breath. “For spirits sake, I hope they don’t come around here again.” He muttered under his breath. The hints of anger in his voice was scary to say the least, and the last thing I wanted to do was to be on that bad side of Toza. 

That made me mad. Why do we have to live in fear of them? We can stand up to them! They’re just big bullies. The blood started boiling under my skin. I’m so sick of Mako being scared of them. They need to leave us alone!

Without any more thought, I stomped over toward the door to head outside of the arena. I only had one thing on my mind as I bursted out of the door and into the blinding sunlight. I ignored the burning glare and found my target about to get into his fancy car. 

“Hey!” I called out. The man from the car didn’t look up from the door. That made me even more upset. “Shady Shin!” I exclaimed. 

That made the man perk up. He stopped what he was doing and turned around. Once he found the source of that voice, he locked into my gaze as I came up even closer to him. 

“Get lost, kid.” Shin narrowed his gaze. “I don’t want to get you in trouble-”

“LEAVE US ALONE!” I roared at the top of my lungs. My fists tightened as I was ready for him to fight back. I knew all of Shady Shin’s tricks, thanks to Mako. I was fully prepared for him. 

However, Shady Shin didn’t fight back. He looked me up and down, assessing what the flying heck I was doing. 

“I’m not gonna do that, kid.” He spoke calmly and confidently, leaning against the wall. “What you’re gonna do is put those fists down and get the hell out of here, let the grown ups do the talking.” 

I was so filled with rage that my vision would have gone red if it weren’t already blurry and clouded with tears. Without thinking, I rushed forward with a fist ready to attack, but to no avail. Shin easily dodged out of the way and grabbed me from behind, pushing me against the wall. I should have seen this coming. He knows all my moves better than I do. Because the Triple Threats are what made me. 

“Listen, kid,” Shin growled. “If you know what’s good for you you’re gonna shut the fuck up and listen to me. You don’t want to get in trouble, now, do you?” 

I tried to fight back tears. He knew just as well as I did that I would never really be able to stand up to him. 

“What do you want, Shin?” I asked, my voice wavering. 

“You want to be involved so bad?” He smirked a little. “Fine. I’m here to fix a match. I’ve got a lot of money tied up in this deal. Go along and maybe you’ll get to see a little of it. Or you could win the fight, fuck this up for me, and see where that gets you. The choice is yours.” 

He released me and I slumped over, helpless. What’s going to happen? What should I do? Shin took one more uninterested look before walking off. But before he walked out of my sight, he said, “You got until tomorrow to come up with a decision. Be sure to choose the right one.” 

***

“Bolin you did not.” Toza dropped the broom with a loud thud. He somehow got me to tell him what had been eating me alive the entire day. I had to tell him what was going on. Mako would have freaked out. 

“I’m sorry! I was trying to help-”

“No Bolin! No!” Toza exclaimed. The fear in his voice was prominent over the anger and frustration. “The last thing I wanted was for you boys to get tied up again with those guys-”

“I just wanted to help!” I snapped with a chirp. “We didn’t have a lot of money and and I wanted-”

“Bolin hush!” Toza roared. At that, I shrank back into my shoes and held my hands together, trying to not cry my heart out. I was just trying to help Mako with the money. Why can’t he see that! Toza took a step back and tried to regain his composure, filling the tense silence with his heavy breathing. After a couple of minutes, he spoke again in a calmer voice. “We will discuss this later. Mako is never going to know about this. I will figure out how to handle it. For now, just finish your chores and keep this all to yourself. Don’t worry about it, anymore.”

***

Naturally, I kept thinking about what I did. As I laid in bed that night, my body would not relax like it normally would. Even Pabu's steady sleeping refused to calm me down. After a few minutes of constantly tossing around on the bed, I sat up in a huff. Why can’t I just get my beauty sleep for ONCE!

Suddenly, something out by the window caught my eye. Something bright and almost…hopeful. My being sprung out of bed to look outside and see. Outside the window stood Aang’s statue lit up with an abundance of lanterns surrounding the island. All of the lanterns came from a source farther away from the island. I think Toza had told us that Aang’s son and grandchildren live over there as airbenders-which is totally awesome by the way. 

My mind started to wander about those guys living their life. How cool is it to be related to THE AVATAR AANG like WHAT!

“Can’t sleep?” A familiar voice softly called out. I whipped my head around and saw Mako slowly walking up toward the window as well. His hair was messy from sleeping, yet his expression was more or less…calm? My eyes couldn’t believe it. I haven’t seen him like this in a long time.

I meekly nodded in defeat. “Yeah, I have a lot on my mind.” I looked away and back out into the ocean. The last thing I wanted was to talk to him. What if I spill what was going on?

Mako took a seat across from me on the floor. I decided to sit down as well. Something had told me that this would not be a simple conversation. “What’s going on?” He asked me. 

“I’m just…I’m just worried about the game and if we don’t win.” I looked away in guilt. I mean it wasn’t a LIE, it just wasn’t the full truth. My heart was breaking in two knowing that I was lying to my brother.

Mako nodded slowly. “I understand, bro. But, I promise you we will be ok. I am here to help you.” 

“I know I just-” I choked out my sentence and abruptly stopped to try and compose myself. “I don't want us to go back on the streets. You worked so hard to get us here and I…” The tears kept streaming down my face. 

“Bolin, we both worked hard to get here.” Mako softly spoke up to fill the silence. “We’re gonna be ok.” 

The tears still wouldn’t stop coming, I just had to let it all out at that point. My entire being was holding in a lot at that point: guilt, sadness, fear, anxiety, I could go on forever man. Mako sat there and watched me cry silently. He kept nodding off as I would mumble about being scared of things, and being out on the streets again, and not having food, no more Toza, no more Pabu, everything. 

After I finished blobbing on about literally my entire life story, Mako reached out and grabbed my arms softly. His warm hands held onto my skin with a slight grip, telling me to basically give into the hug he was about to give me. 

Now, I know Mako is not a hugger, heck he hates touching in general! I couldn’t blame him though, I mean he has been through it. People are such meanies. 

However, a part of me really wanted to be a part of this hug. A hug barely given, yet is so calming and soft that no one can resist. It was a safe spot for me, and I never really saw it often anymore. When I was little, I always slept with him by my side, keeping me warm and protected. As we grew off of the streets, he slowly started to pull away from me. A part of me was worried I was going to lose my brother forever. But this wasn’t the case now. 

Without a second thought, I leaned into his chest and wrapped my arms around his back in a tight squeeze. Mako responded positively and held me tight, with my head on his chest. For a moment, everything in the world stopped. I thought about Mom and Dad, and Pabu, and Toza, and Mako all together with me at the park, enjoying ourselves without a care in the world. It was the best wish I could ever ask for right now. I know it will never happen, but by hugging him, I feel like I’m getting a little closer.

Chapter Text

Mako: 18

Bolin: 16

Mako POV

Tonight was quite possibly one of the most important games of our lives. Not only do we have a shot to win, we are playing arguably one of the easier pro bending teams in order to get there. Bolin and I needed this win so bad, so then we didn’t have to worry about rent for the next few months. Spirits, if we lose I got to pick up more shifts, maybe even another job-

“Hey bro, you ready?” Bolin snapped me out of my thoughts. We were sitting together in the gym, waiting for Hasook to show up, since he was late, again. I didn’t realize it, but I was fiddling with the red strap around my waist, since I was sitting down. I guess Bolin caught on that I was in my head. I hate that he could start to figure it out.  

“I guess,” I sighed and looked away from Bolin’s gaze. “Where the hell is he?” 

Bolin shrugged. “Beats me, want to split up and find him?”

I contemplated that for a few seconds. It would be a good idea, since we didn’t have a lot of time left before the match starts. However, the last thing I needed was for him to pick up another fan to take with him to the match. But right now, finding Hasook outweighed Bolin’s popularity with the fans. 

I sighed in defeat. “Yeah, let’s split up.”

Bolin lended a hand to help me up and I ended up ignoring it, since I was already standing up by the time he reached out his hand. “Let’s get this over with.” I grumbled. 

Bolin skipped out behind me as we left the gym. However, before we got very far, Toza stopped us in our tracks. “Good luck tonight, boys.” He said. 

“Sure thing Toza! We are gonna crush them!” Bolin rolled his fists into a tight ball for emphasis. He was ready for this match. Glad someone is.

“Be smart out there,” Toza added. “Don’t let their poor season make you throw the match. Play hard.”

“You got it, boss!” Bolin saluted him before heading off without me. I sighed and started out as well, before Toza stopped me with an earth disk. 

“Don’t let the stakes get in your head, kid.” Toza told me. His voice was firm and controlled, with its usual groggy self. 

“I won’t.” I refused to turn around and meet his gaze. I just wanted this match to be done and so then I know my verdict. 

“Mako, I’m serious.” Toza said a little more firmly. “It’s not your fault-”

“Just forget it.” I snapped. The last thing I needed to worry about was Toza’s pity. I needed to focus on finding Hasook and winning this match. We need this win. It’s all on you. 

I walked out of the gym in a composed frantic mindset. While I looked like I had it all together on the outside, the inside was the complete opposite. I started to think about the possible places Hasook would be. My first theory is he is at a bar, drinking away the glory of being on a probending team. My other thought could be he possibly didn’t want to be here and is currently sleeping through the entire night. Every thought that came to mind made me more and more upset. Why isn’t he serious about this?! I need someone on this team that is serious! 

I walked outside along the balcony of the port. The soft ocean breeze was just enough to calm down my burning aggravation, just barely. I took a huge breath as my thoughts began to circle around me. We need to win this. You have to win this. What are you going to do if we lose? You need to feed Bolin. You need to work. But you won’t be able to protect him-

I shook my head and braced myself on the railing. You need to calm down. Focus on finding Hasook. You need to play this match. 

Suddenly, a splash of water nearby snapped me out of my thoughts. I immediately knew it could not be from the ocean, as it was so glassy that night. Instead of wallowing in my self pity, I took a breath and walked over to the sound. 

Hasook was standing on a nearby balcony on the west side of the arena, far away from anyone. From the looks of it, he had on most of his uniform, which meant he had been there a while, and was simply stalling us so we wouldn’t get to play. Without another thought, I marched right over to him to give him a piece of my mind. 

“So tell me why you want to be late to the match, yet again.” I threw my arms out wide as I sauntered closer to his hunches over shadow. 

Hasook barely acknowledged my presence, but he did with a groan. “Would you calm down, hot stuff?

“After you get inside and play this match.” I snapped. 

“And what are you going to do if I don’t?” Hasook finally turned around to meet my gaze head on. “You have no one else to rely on. You need me out there, Mako. We both know that. We all saw what happened with Tahno-“

My fists tightened up into balls. “You don’t know the half of it.”

Hasook let out a laugh. “Who cares? No one believes you anyway.” That comment hurt more than being hit by a train. But I couldn’t let Hasook know that it affected me. 

“We don’t need people like you on our team.” I said, a little harsher. “If you want the pay, then I suggest you get inside. Now.” 

Hasook crossed his arms loosely with his head cocked up, looking to edge me on. I already made up my mind that  I wasn’t going to let him get the best of me. Never. “I’ll go inside so you can play. But you’re on my last nerve.”

“Ditto.” I spat back.

Hasook rolled his eyes and walked past me to get inside. I followed him in close behind so I knew he wouldn’t run off, like he had done in the past. The next team meeting will not be a pleasant one. I also made a mental reminder to tell Bolin that we need a new water bending teammate, because Hasook is treading thin ice with me. 

Hasook and I entered the waiting room for the match to start. My mood was already pretty low, but what irked me even more was that Bolin brought in another girl. Come on Bolin! You need to think about the match! We need to win this. 

I left Hasook alone to start putting on the last of my gear. As I opened my locker, I heard Bolin and this new girl exchange names. I could tell from Bolin’s tone that he was into her immensely, and was desperately trying to flirt. However, I don’t think the girl was noticing; she was taking advantage of Bolin’s kindness, like every girl does. 

“Psst, Bolin.” I peeked my head up to call my brother over. 

Bolin looked over immediately and walked over. “Yeah,” he said casually. 

“I told you,” I grabbed my arm protectors as I began my lecture. “You have to stop bringing in crazy fangirls in here before the matches. Get her out of here .” 

“Ugh come on Mako!” Bolin whined. He inched a bit closer to me, so he could whisper. “Look I kinda promised her that she could stay- but man- I got a great feeling! There’s something really special about this girl!” It was the same monologue I always got with him. Every girl he flirts with made him feel special, and then he claimed that she was therefore special as well. 

I pulled out my helmet and stared into the glass. Soon enough, Bolin will probably start dating one of those fangirls. I hope he never dates someone like Kawa again. She ruined him for so long, but yet, he is still such a positive light. I wonder if I will find someone one day…

Bolin’s eager attitude snapped me out of my thoughts once again to deliver his signature line. “Come here, I want you to meet my brother, Mako.” 

END