I was surprised when I woke up and my brother was still asleep. Mako usually got up before me and went out to find us breakfast. My stomach growled, we hadn't found much for food yesterday. Mako looked tired though, so I let him sleep. It had been a long, tiring winter for him. During the day he'd spent most of his energy keeping us alive and then whatever was left had been focused on keeping a constant flame by us as we slept at night in the cold streets of Republic City. I decided that even though I was only five I should let my big brother sleep and surprise him by having breakfast for him when he woke up. I straightened his blanket and smiled before going out to find food.
Early spring was such a pretty time of year. There were lots of pretty flowers to look at and there were cute little animals running around in the park. I wanted to take my time and play with them but I knew if Mako woke up before I got back he would be worried, so I hurried through the park and made my way to the dumpster behind the bakery. I made it there in a few minutes and climbed into the dumpster. I dug through old fruit peels and other trash until I found half a loaf of slightly burnt bread and a few stale muffins. This was a feast compared to what we usually managed to find. Mako would be so proud of me! I stuffed our breakfast in my pockets and hopped out of the dumpster. When I came out of the alley it was in I was surprised to see two other kids chasing a small red ferret around in the street, they were bending ice chunks at the small animal. My heart went out to the startled little creature and I stomped my foot down hurling a small rock at the waterbenders.
"Stop it!" I yelled, the fire ferret was backed against the wall but the mean benders kept hurling ice chunks at him. I willed a piece of earth into the air and aimed it at them, hitting the smaller one in the chest. He looked about the same age as Mako.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" The older of the two yelled over to me sending a blast of water my way. I jumped out of the way. That's all I needed was to go home to Mako soaking wet with soggy breakfast.
"Don't hurt him!" I looked at the little animal, he squeaked at me probably wondering what he had done to deserve this abuse.
"And what are you going to do about it?" The younger one asked, holding a bubble of water in his palm. I took a deep breath, maybe this was the reason Mako went out to get breakfast while I was still asleep, I caused too much trouble. He hurled the water ball at me, splashing me in the face. I coughed, choking on the water that had shot up my nose.
"He's just a baby fire ferret! You're going to hurt him!" I turned my attention back to the little guy, he looked terrified.
"Get out of here kid." The boys laughed at me and went back to hurling ice, trapping the poor animal in the corner. I frowned when one actually hit the defenseless little creature. I took a deep breath, gathering all my courage and ran over to them slamming my foot into the earth. Rock exploded under them, knocking them off their feet. I took the opportunity to snatch up the fire ferret and ran as fast as my legs could carry me away from the waterbenders. I ended up hiding behind a few bushes in the park, finally putting the animal down.
"I'm sorry they hurt you little guy." I patted his head, getting a small purr out of him. "Aww you like that don't you?" I smiled. Maybe my brother would let me keep him. "Oh no! Mako!" I cried. He must be awake by now, worrying about where I'd gone. "Come on little buddy. Let's go see Mako!" I held out my arms for him and he jumped into them, climbing up onto my shoulders. I checked to see if the waterbenders were around but there was no sign of them. I ran back to where I'd left my brother. He was awake and he looked worried.
"Mako!" I smiled when I got over to him.
"Bolin! Where have you been! I was worried sick about you!" Mako looked me over, jumping away when he saw my new friend. "What is that!?"
"It's a fire ferret. Can I keep him?! Please Mako!" I watched my brother's face as he watched the animal climb down my body and sniff at his feet.
"What? No! Where did you even find him?"
"Oh… I was finding us breakfast and two waterbenders were bending ice chunks at him. I was scared they would really hurt him so I used my earthbending to save him." Mako looked sick.
"Bo! You went out without permission and fought with two waterbenders? Why would you do that?!" Mako's face was red with anger and I frowned. I hadn't meant to make him upset.
"Mako I couldn't just leave him there to die… besides, how can you resist this little face?" I picked up the ferret and held him out for my brother to look at. His expression softened.
"Suppose we did keep him… what would we even feed it?" I grinned when I heard the question and pulled out the bread and muffins.
"He can have my muffin! Please Mako? Please!" I smiled big, hugging the animal to my chest. Mako sighed.
"What are we going to name him?" He rolled his eyes and held out his hand for the ferret to sniff. I jumped up with excitement and hugged my brother tight.
"Oh thank you Mako! You're the best brother in the whole wide world!" He hugged me back gently, surprised by my actions.
"You're welcome." He laid out our blankets for us to sit on while we ate breakfast. He took the bread from me, using his bending to toast it. I looked at my new pet.
"What should I call you? Red… Fire… Ferry…" The animal blinked at me. "Yeah those names are no good." I sighed, thinking.
"What about Pabu?" Mako suggested, handing me my piece of toast. The fire ferret squeaked, he seemed to like the name. I thought it was perfect.
"I love it! His name is going to be Pabu!" I picked up a muffin and broke it into small pieces for Pabu to eat, he gratefully nibbled on it. Mako and I happily ate our breakfast together, taking in the feeling of having another thing to love as we watched our ferret eat.
"So you really took on two waterbenders to save little Pabu?" Mako looked at me raising an eyebrow as he tried to picture it. I smiled.
"You shoulda saw me! They didn't know what hit them when I knocked them off their feet!" I got up, demonstrating the move I'd used without actually bending this time. Pabu twitched his nose and I picked him up, hugging him tight.
"You went through an awful lot of trouble to keep him safe didn't you?"
"Well, you go through a lot of trouble to keep me safe don't you Mako?" I smiled at the stunned look on his face and held Pabu up so I could look at his eyes. "I love you Pabu." I kissed his furry little head and he licked my nose in return.
"Well Bo, I have to admit he is kinda cute." Mako smiled and stroked Pabu's body, patting him gently, earning a purr from the animal. I smiled up at my brother then looked down at the fire ferret.
"Pabu, I promise I'm always going to protect you just like Mako protects me."