In Transition

I know I seem to have neglected my multichapter fic (and I am so sorry, writer's block is a cruel mistress), but I couldn't ignore this idea after watching the stellar Book 3 Finale. This takes place one month after the very end of the episode. I didn't intend for there to be romance, but feel free to interpret it that way. I hope you enjoy this!

The sun was setting on another day at Air Temple Island. And for Avatar Korra, it was a very good one. She consulted with her trainers, who told her that her progress was some of the best and fastest that they had ever seen. After an excruciating battle against the Red Lotus six weeks prior, Korra was finally overcoming the pain that spread across her body, preventing her from bending properly or having any sort of mobility. But after today, she had gained complete, painless use of her arms, and she was so eager to get back to bending, she ditched the rest of Tenzin's family and guests after supper, heading to the training grounds for some privacy.

Korra strained as she attempted to bend the water from a narrow creek, a trembling ball of water clinging to its body as Korra struggled to separate it. She'd been working on gaining her upper body strength back for weeks, if only so that she could bend again. And she wasn't about to let something as simple as separating some water tear down all of her efforts.

"Come on," Korra spoke to the water as if to motivate it. This was a million times easier the day before, despite a little extra pain, and she was about ready to call it quits, but she wasn't giving the water that satisfaction. It was going to be bent if it took a thousand years. "Come on, Korra, you can't let a bad day get to you," the encouragement moved to herself, and she realized that she was the one who needed it more.

She managed to isolate the water, smiling as it stretched and rolled in a ball in her hand, a confirmation of the leaps and bounds she had taken since that fateful day. She missed the feeling of waterbending terribly. It was only her second attempt; she focused primarily on airbending so that she could move herself around, and, more importantly, so that she could spend at least one second alone. The concern was nice, but the feeling of having everyone she had ever met breathing down her neck was starting to bug her.

At that moment, she heard an engine roaring from above. She looked up to find the source of the sound, and found a small airship whose origin was at first indistinguishable at its height. As she looked on, she realized that the ship was becoming easier to see. She felt the blood rushing to her cheeks when she recognized it as a Zaofu ship; that meant the ship was landing, and Bolin was coming back.

Bolin had left Air temple Island three weeks prior to train with Suyin at Zaofu. This confused Korra, because Bolin was a great earthbender; anything else he wanted to learn, she was confident that he could teach it to himself. But the two of them insisted that he needed it. She always looked forward to his visits on the weekends to check up on everyone, but she couldn't help but question what exactly was so important that he needed to go to Zaofu to accomplish it.

Suddenly, Korra remembered that she was suspending her water in her hands, lighting up at the realization that she could show this to Bolin. After hours of traveling, it would certainly brighten his day to know he was the first to hear of Korra's progress rather than the last. And holding the water until he arrived would certainly be a test of her endurance, even if it would only last minutes.

She heard the engine stop and realize that the ship had made contact. A childlike excitement rushed through Korra, when she realized he would see her in a matter of minutes. That was quickly replaced by a feeling of weakness, of being pathetic. Why was she working herself up over a ball of water? Any waterbender over the age of six could whip one of those up, no problem.

If I'm gonna do something impressive, I better go beyond the basics, she thought, and started to move the water around. It twisted across her lap like a serpent, then turned behind her and back around, its head meeting its tail. Korra smiled again. Now this was progress.

"Hey, that's some sick waterbending!" Korra heard a familiar voice from behind her, dropping the water as she turned to look at him. He was running towards her, obviously looking forward to seeing her just as much as she was to seeing him, "Don't move a muscle! I'm sitting next to you!"

"Hurry up, then, slowpoke," she joked, and Bolin moved faster, hopping onto the ledge Korra was seated next to after a running start, and sitting down there before sharing an embrace with his friend.

Bolin smiled, "Seriously, your bending's gotten insane," he spoke between the breaths he was trying to catch after running so fast, "And you're looking great. You're looking like a whole new Korra since I last saw you."

"I've been working hard. When I heard you were staying over last weekend, I wanted to do some strength training to at least be able to bend well by the time you got back, so I could show you," she explained. "How's training up at Zaofu?"

"Amazing," his eyes lit up at the question, "Su's a killer teacher. And seeing Opal all the time is really great, too. And I'm really improving, it's really working out well for me."

"Alright, you master earthbender, why don't you show me a few of your new moves?"

"Uh... well, you see, I kiiiinda can't... do that."

"Well how come?"

"Well, um..." Bolin had to think of an excuse, and quick. If he told Korra what he was training, Mako, Tenzin and Beifong would have his neck. Why do I have to be the one who has to lie?

"Wait," Korra interrupted, prompting an audible, relieved sigh from Bolin, "You can't show me because there's no metal around right?" She punched her friend's arm playfully, "You're a metal bender, aren't you?"

Bolin stammered, "Oh, no, I... I can't metal bend, that's not... that's not a thing," he kicked himself in his head. Everyone had him all worked up, telling him that anything bearing even the most insignificant reminder of the Red Lotus would undo all of her efforts, and send her spiraling to square one. And he knew he was pinned right then; he couldn't lie to save his life.

But then he thought about it a bit harder. Korra may have been down, but she wasn't out. She wasn't quitting without a fight; her amazing waterbending proved that a thousand times over. What harm could telling her about his newfound ability actually do? Would that really be enough to cancel out every accomplishment she had made since that day?

"What are you learning that you can't show me?" There was an edge to Korra's voice that wasn't there before. Right then, Bolin knew he couldn't lie to her.

Bolin sighed, hoping he would be right in his thinking, "That day, when we were all fighting, I kinda got desperate, and I discovered..." he hesitated, his heart pounding as his anxiety about her response suddenly peaked, "I discovered I could lavabend. And... I think you know why I can't do that," Bolin tried to lighten up the confession, looking towards the pristine stone training grounds.

Korra's eyes widened, causing Bolin to believe the worst, until she spoke, "Bolin, that's amazing. Really, I'm so happy for you," she put a hand on his arm, watching as he smiled an prideful smile. Then it hit her, "But..." she looked away, "Why didn't you wanna tell me?"

"If I'm being honest, it's because the others were concerned about you."

"Why would this make them concerned about me? This is awesome news."

"They were all afraid that anything that had to do with the battle would be bad for your progress."

"Really?" Korra threw her arms in the air, crossing them as she let out an exasperated sigh. "They don't understand at all," she muttered to herself. Was that really what she was reduced to, to them?

"What don't they understand?"

"I figured it out a while ago. I wasn't so down because of the battle, I was down because of the result."

Bolin pondered that information for a moment, processing it as many times as he could without leaving Korra waiting awkwardly for a response. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough, "Um... I still don't get it."

The frustration creeped in Korra's voice, swelling a bit higher with each word, "What I mean is that most of it was because of what they did to me, how helpless they made me feel. Not because of the whos or whats or hows of it. I've been through enough to know that you discovering lavabending, which is awesome, has nothing to do with the Red Lotus themselves or what they did to me. And I feel like nobody here is taking me seriously enough to let me explain that."

"Oh, that makes sense," Bolin spewed an empty confirmation, his mind still lingering on the word "helpless." That was the last word he ever expected Korra to use to describe herself, in any capacity. As much as he knew that Korra could handle the news of him lavabending, he couldn't wrap his head around what she must have seen or what must have been done to her to make her feel that way. He tried to help, "I don't think you're helpless, Korra."

"I see what you're trying to do, Bolin, and thank you, but there's more to it," Korra began to explain, not even looking in Bolin's direction as she let her lips move freely without a second thought, "I could have handled the battle, easily. I've seen stuff. I mean, Amon took my bending. I almost let Vaatu take over the world. But I made those two things work. I unlocked my airbending and stopped Amon. I opened the Spirit Portals and stopped Unalaq and Vaatu. I came out of those battles stronger... that didn't happen this time. I didn't come out okay this time. And that's what got to me more than anything," She turned to him quickly as if she had only just realized she had been speaking.

Bolin had no idea which was worse; the fact that the Red Lotus had torn her down as much as they had, or how completely wrong she was about herself. In his mind, Korra was taking herself just as seriously as she felt the rest of them were. She deserved so much more. And he was prepared to tell her exactly why.

"I'm really sorry about all that. But none of that makes you helpless," Korra attempted to cut him off, but he wouldn't let her, "Just hear me out here. Weren't you just saying how you worked for weeks and weeks to get back to bending like normal? People don't recover that fast without trying. The battle did make you stronger, Korra. Just in a really different, slightly more horrible-to-deal-with kind of way. And you're kicking its butt," he paused before adding, "Does any of that sound helpless to you?"

"I guess it doesn't," Korra admitted, finding herself smiling. Bolin was right; being the one who remained standing at the end of the battle wasn't the only definition of strength. Strength was overcoming odds. And the fact that her best friend was able to see that in her, that he was able to show up and set her straight in a matter of minutes, meant more to her than she could ever know. "Thanks for understanding, Bolin."

Bolin returned the smile, wrapping his arms around his friend, "Hey, it's what I do."

"And," Korra held Bolin's arm as he tried to move away, "I'm sorry for making this about me. Your lavabending really is great news."

"Don't be silly. I mean, it seemed to help, right?"

"I guess so," she agreed. Still, despite her condition, she felt guilty for shifting the focus away from a guest and onto her. She had a feeling it was the "proper airbender etiquette" in her, but she then ignored it, more important thoughts occupying her then, "So tell me, what does being the only lavabender in the world feel like?"

"It's amazing," he began eagerly to explain, "It's so much different than regular earth, because it's so hot, and it's almost like a liquid, which makes it a lot harder to control, but Su helps me a lot and I've gotten so much better..."

Korra loved watching Bolin talk about anything he was passionate about; she loved the way his eyes lit up, the way his hands flittered whenever he was excited, or needed to demonstrate something. He was the picture of happiness, and it was infectious.

She knew that even though both of their lives were changing tremendously, he took the time to understand, to make her smile, and to smile himself. People like Bolin made transitions like this one a whole lot easier.