disclaimer: I own nothing, only a computer.

Asami turns the collar of his coat up to cover his face as he makes his way down the steps of the courthouse. There's an endless crowd of reporters and photographers pushing against the police barricade, hundreds of bright flashbulbs going off and questions being shouted at him.

"Mr. Sato, is it true that you're testifying against your own father in a case that could end with him receiving the maximum sentence?" shouts one young man, struggling against the solid looking metal bender holding him back.

Asami accidentally meets the mans eyes, and opens his mouth, ready to answer. He almost blurts out that Mr. Sato is his father, not him, and he much prefers Asami, and that yes, he is testifying against his father, because his father has committed grievous crimes against the city and its people, but instead he shuts his mouth and stares straight ahead, focusing on getting out of there.

He blurs out the chorus of 'Mr. Sato! Do you have any comment?' and hurries to the foot of the steps, where his Satomobile is waiting. A valet opens the door, and he hastily climbs inside. Slamming it shut behind him, he breaths a sigh of relief at his escape. He turns the key in the ignition, shifts into drive, and speeds away from the courthouse.

It's been madness in Republic City, half the papers painting his father as a hero, the other half as a villain, and Asami the same. There's still so much anger and hate between the people, and there's nothing that anyone can do. There's no violence anymore, but Asami is sure that it wouldn't take much to ignite some. With the trials starting, things are sure to escalate again.

He sighs miserably. It wouldn't be so bad if the court would let someone come in with him other than his pinch-faced lawyer. It would be nice to have a friend by his side when he condemned his father, and someone to reassure him that it was the right thing to do.

He's coming to a stop outside the Pro-bending arena before he even knows where he's heading. Getting out of the car, he locks the doors and hopes that someone is home. Bolin and Mako had moved back in the week before, but he was still living on Air Temple Island with Korra. He'd have to move back home soon, too, though. Back to that huge, empty house. It's not something he looks forward to.

Asami walks into the attic, and frowns when he doesn't see anybody. He turns around to leave when he suddenly hears a loud crash thud, above his head followed by a distressed squeaking sound that can only be Pabu.

"Oh buddy! I'm so sorry!" he hears Bolin apologize to the fire ferret, "I didn't mean to fall on you!"

"Bolin?" he calls out, and jumps as Bolin's smiling face appears over the edge of the loft above his head.

Her hair flops down and hits the top of Asami's head.

"Oh, hey Asami! I didn't hear you come in," she says, "Pabu and I were just trying to reorganize all our stuff up here before Mako got back. It turned out to be a little harder than we thought it would be."

Asami positions himself in such a way that he can see the minor disaster area that Bolin and Pabu are trapped in, pinned down by boxes and stacks of things that have no seeming relation to one another. Bolin is flat on her stomach, and trying to lift herself so that Pabu can scramble out from under her chest, but they aren't getting anywhere.

"You look like you could use a little help," Asami says, and starts to climb up to the loft.

"No, no," protests Bolin, "We're doing fine. I've go this one."

Pabu squeaks in disagreement.

"Still," Asami says, "I've got nothing better to do."

He hops onto the loft, and tip toes his way across the mess of stuff so that he can begin lifting things off of Bolin. Once enough stuff is off, Bolin cautiously sits up, and Pabu shoots away, getting off the loft as fast as he can. Asami laughs weakly, feeling a little better than he was when he walked in the door.

Together, he and Bolin clear the stuff away and put it back in all its proper places. When they're done, they lie down on the loft and look up at the ceiling, resting from their brief labor.

"I never realized how much stuff we had accumulated over years," Bolin said, playing with a small metal toy, "I'd forgotten about most of this stuff until we had to pack it all up to move to Air Temple Island."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Asami says, remembering how he had collected all his most important things before leaving home.

Bolin laughs.

"There's two of us and we still didn't bring nearly as much as you, Asami," she points out, "And people say girls overpack."

"I like to be prepared," Asami says, shrugging, "Plus, I've stayed on the island longer than you."

"I wish we could've stayed on the island, but Mako said we had to move back," Bolin says, "It was nice to have someone cook a meal for us every night. Even if there was no meat."

Asami turns his head and watches Bolin gaze wistfully up at the ceiling. He wishes that they had stayed on the island too.

"I'll be going home soon enough. I have to sort out all of my father's business things, and take over the company."

He clenches his fist. Sitting behind his father's desk in his father's office sounded like the worst thing he could possibly have to do.

"Oh, yeah," says Bolin, turning to look at Asami, "I forgot, you had court today. You probably aren't in the mood for jokes and food and helping me put things away. Sorry."

"No!" Asami reaches out to put his hand on Bolin's arm as she starts to sit up, "No, this is exactly what I needed! Being here with you made me feel a lot better, Bolin. Really, it did."

Bolin relaxes and lays back down.

"Really?" she says, and Asami nods, "Good."

"Yeah."

Asami pulls his hand away from her arm and sighs.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

"I just don't want to have to go back to the courthouse tomorrow. It's so awful having to stand there in front of everyone and recount everything that happened, and it's even worse because I have to be alone. You're lucky that they decided they didn't need your testimony."

Bolin reaches out and laces her fingers between his, and gives his hand a little squeeze.

"If you want, I can come with you tomorrow and wait for you. Just so you don't have to be completely alone," Bolin offers, smiling at him.

Asami smiles back. Bolin's hand in his is warm and soft, surprisingly so for an earthbender. Her fingers are so tiny compared to his. He lifts himself up a little bit so that he's leaning on his elbow and looking down at Bolin, who's looking up at him with huge, bright green eyes that he thinks could light up the darkest days.

"Bolin?" he says.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to go to dinner or something?" he asks.

"Oh yeah!" she says, her face lighting up, "How's Narook's sound?"

Asami laughs; he loves her enthusiasm for her favorite things, especially Narook's.

"Narook's sounds great," he says, and leans and kisses her lips lightly, before swing down off of the loft.

"Come on Pabu!" Bolin calls, and Asami can practically hear the grin in her voice.

The fire ferret comes skittering out from his hiding place and onto Bolin's shoulders as Asami takes her hand. Together, they head out the door and down to the car for the first of what Asami is beginning to think could be many dates.

thanks to turtleducklings for the prompt!