This is not going to be a happy story. Just saying that now. In it Bolin and the refugees from Kuvira's camps returned to Republic City to try and try to readjust to their new lives after the horror. I'm writing this at the same time as I'm working on my thesis which is: Nazi Experiments in WWII. So everything I learn will end up here.
Mainly I realized a lot of people write about what happens in the camps, but not what happens when the prisoners go home. So this will look through Bolin's eyes as he readjusts to normal life and his story from the camps will come out slowly. Especially later on.
Look for ~*~ because that indicates a time shift which is rather important.
Pushing through the crowds of people Asami and Korra slowly fought their way to the front of the crowd around the harbor. A whole mix of people were gathered there, benders and non-benders standing together with nervous expressions whispering under their breath. A message had been sent out to Republic City a little over a week ago from the military about an incoming ship. It was filled with people headed towards Republic City from the Earth Empire no doubt looking for a new start.
The message had been printed in the newspaper, taking up the entire paper itself. The entire thing had been a list of names of people coming into the city. The girls could still remember the moment their world had shifted because of that paper. The entire group had been at Air Temple Island, yes even Wu, where Bumi had been skimming the paper. It had been his yell that got everyone's attention.
"Whoa! Did not see that coming!" Bumi tossed the paper onto the table pointing at one of the names, "Tenzin, check that I'm reading that right."
Tenzin had complied, mostly because everyone had been watching, before a surprised look had crossed his face. Pulling away from the paper, the airbender had turned to Mako. "Mako, why is your brother listed with the incoming refugees?"
Mako hadn't had an answer. No one did. It was strange, Bolin had just disappeared after the siege of Zaufu. And now here was his name in the paper. Everyone wanted to know what had happened to him in that time.
Originally Mako had planned to confront his brother at the docks but something had come up in regards to Wu keeping him from going. He'd asked the girls to go in his stead and then bring Bolin back to the Island.
"I wonder what he's been doing this year," Asami runed to Korra and excited grin on her face, "I wasn't able to see him last time he stopped by the city!"
Korra didn't look half as excited. "I just want to know what he was doing with Kuvira all this time."
"I doubt if he's coming back with refugees he's still working with Kuvira…"
Before Korra could say anything back the loud sound of the ships doors opening passed over the port. The entire crowd fell silent, watching the doorway with wide eyes as the first refugees began to exit the boat. Neither girl could really see any details from this far away but they all looked surprised as they stared out over the crowd, their mouths hanging open in shock. It was like a spell had been cast over the entire port that kept them frozen in that period of time.
One of the soldiers stepped forward, a bright spark of red against the sea of greens and browns before announcing the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, please be patient. We'll be calling out your family member's name so you can come collect them as quickly as possible. If you don't hear your loved ones name, please wait behind and we'll see what the problem is. Now let's get these people home!"
Asami couldn't help but smile as the first name was called. A young woman went running into her father's arm, both openly sobbing in delight before heading home. This continued for quite a while, more and more people reunited with loved ones. But still the people kept flowing from the military ship. And the longer they waited the more nervous the people were becoming that their loved ones wouldn't be called.
"I'm sure we'll be able to pick up Bolin soon," Korra managed to sound hopeful, bumping her shoulder against Asami's.
Asami mustered a weak smile back, "I know. It's just...I worry about him. What if something bad happened and he got hurt?"
"I'm sure he's fine." Korra didn't care how stubborn she sounded, she just knew Bolin had to be fine. Because she wasn't sure what she would do if he wasn't. But even her faith began to wane when they crowd of people was gone except for a few nervous people. "Come on, let's go see what's keeping him."
They approached the nearest soldier, a cheerful looking waterbender who sent them a sympathetic smile. "Didn't call your family huh?" she said gently, "Well, I'm sure it's just a simple mix up. A couple of the refugees got really bad seasickness and are resting."
Asami let out a sigh of relief, "Thank the spirits, that must be where he is."
Korra beamed at that news. An almost evil smile was present on her face, "Oh, I'm going to have fun with that. Just wait till I tell Mako Bolin was delayed due to seasickness!"
"Bolin?" the soldier's sympathetic smile turned into a broad grin at his name, "You should have told me you were looking for Bolin! He's in a meeting with the General right now. Actually, they could probably use the Avatar's input also. I'll take you to them now!"
"Just what did Bolin get himself involved with?" Korra whispered as they hurried after the soldier into the ship. Asami just shrugged in response before hurrying deeper into the ship. A couple more turns and they were deep below deck. The soldier led them to a large metal door which she pulled open and stuck her head in. A quick conversation followed before she pulled back to face the girls. "The General said you could head on in. They're pretty much done."
With that Korra and Asami slipped into the room and were met with a strange sight. A group of people were gathered around the main table in the room all of them looked stressed and tired. General Iroh stood at the front of the room with another soldier by his side. They both had a stack of papers in front of them and looked exhausted.
The civilians in the room actually looked even worse in part because of their matching tattered grey outfits. They were all thin with dark circles under their eyes as they studied the soldiers with weary eyes. Closest to the door were two firebenders, a male and female with hard eyes. The male was holding the hand of a waterbender who had a death grip on him, her knuckles white. A pair of male non-benders were in the back staring at the table with dull haunted eyes while a massive earthbender was glaring at Iroh..
Asami's eyes were drawn to a waterbender that sat across the room from her. No doubt she had once been quite beautiful, but now her face was badly scarred. Not to mention her left arm was completely gone from the soldier down. And next to her sat Bolin.
He looked horrible. Asami wanted to run over and fuss over him then and there. Dark circles were clear against his pale face, his black hair was cropped short just like all of the other civilians. Asami could see blood stained bandages wrapped around his knuckles but that wasn't the most horrific part. No, what struck Asami was the thick bandages wrapped around Bolin's left eye. He looked honestly surprised to see them there, a shocked expression clear on his face even as the armless waterbender turned worried eyes to him.
General Iroh paused when he noticed them standing there, a strange look crossing his face before he returned his attention to the group gathered before him. "I think we can stop here for today," Iroh told them gently gaining several relieved expressions from the civilians, "It seems like some families are looking for you."
The waterbender missing an arm looked troubled, "And if there's no one here for us? What then?"
"We've reserved rooms for those who have no where to go at a hotel free of charge," the other soldier assured her, "So you don't have to worry about anything. We'll meet here again in two days time to give you all a chance to rest. Spirits know you haven't had any of that in far too long."
And then the people are all standing and shuffling from the room, blocking Bolin from view. It isn't until the majority of them leave that Asami can see Bolin standing there speaking softly to Iroh about something before pulling away and limping over to join them.
Asami can't help herself anymore. The moment Bolin sends her a tired smile she lunges forward pulling him into a desperate hug. "I missed you Bo," she whispered feeling Bolin pull her closer his whole body shaking.
A broken laugh left him. "You have no idea how much I missed you." Pulling back Bolin managed to muster a weak smile for the girls.
Korra tugged Bolin in for a quick hug her self before wrapping a friendly arm around his too thin shoulders. "I hope you're hungry cause Pema made all of your favorites," Korra said tugging Bolin towards the door, "We can't wait to hear what you've been up to!"
Bolin offered her a weak smile at that something that raised alarms in Asami's eyes. Bolin was trying to hide something big from them. He'd never done that before.
"Bolin!" The earthbender paused, turning back to meet Iroh's gaze. The General approached, arms behind his back as he stood before them. "I'll start looking into the matter you mentioned. I should have an answer for you tomorrow at the latest."
The relief on Bolin's face was obvious as he sagged in Korra's arms. "Thank you," he breathed out, "Should I swing by the ship sometime…"
"I'll stop by Airbender Island," Iroh promised, "It is the least I can do." And with that he stepped past them and disappeared into the depths of the ship.
Korra just stared after him, "What was that about?"
"Nothing really. He's just checking where one of my friends ended up," Bolin turned back to them with a smile, "Now what's this you said about food? Cause it feels like I haven't eaten in forever."
"The rains coming in," Baraz stated flatly seated on the broken porch of the barracks. No one really responded to the comment, they were all too exhausted to do much. Bolin himself just lay there out in the open not caring how the mud was seeping into his shoes and socks. It was just one more minor thing to deal with added to all the other problems they'd been facing. Not to mention he'd fallen ill a month ago and still hadn't gotten better.
They were all tired and hungry. The Empire soldiers didn't feed them often, and when they did the food wasn't even that good. Bolin had already fallen back into old habits from the streets to make it through the day. Under his bunk was a hollowed out section of earth where Bolin stored his half of his food. He'd taught the others this trick and they all followed it but it didn't make the days any easier.
A low noise caught Bolin's attention. He raised his head watching the Empire soldiers pushing a new group of people into the camp. They looked terrified, everyone did when they entered this camp. They stumbled along the fenced off corridor looking into the hollow eyes of the other prisoners for help.
"Looks like a new shipment from the west," Hiroshi, a giant of an earthbender, rumbled watching them with exhausted eyes, "Makes you wonder how long they're going to last."
Bolin's eyes fell on a straggler in the group. It was a child, a small looking boy of Fire Nation descent and he looked as if he would fall over at any minute. Bolin was on his feet before he knew what had happened.
"Bolin, don't," Baraz hissed reaching out to grab the earthbender. But Bolin wasn't listening. He started walking towards the fence his eyes locked on the child.
Sure enough, the child stumbled and fell to the ground. The soldier raised his metal whip and suddenly it wasn't some strange boy Bolin saw. It was another Fire Nation child with a red scarf wrapped around his neck, glaring up in defiance as he tried to be strong for his little brother. A snarl left the earthbender as he rushed the fence.
"Bolin! Don't do it!" Everyone was on their feet screaming at him. The other prisoners in his barrack were running towards him, no doubt hoping to stop him. Even across the camp on the women's side, the girls were pressed against the fence screaming for him to stop.
He didn't even think, everything was just too much. All the pain, all the suffering, all the humiliation he had faced during his time in the camp came out in the moment. Bolin screamed sending a blast of lava towards the Empire soldier forcing the man to back off of the child. His scream was filled with all the hate, fear, and desperation that had been growing in his during his time in the camp.
Bolin didn't expect to succeed for long, just enough to give that kid enough time to get up and run. And sure enough, even though that one guard was forced to run by the lava five more were already taking his place. But instead of beating that kid anymore, they turned their attentions towards Bolin.
Never before had pain felt so damned good! They were afraid of him, afraid of what he could do to them if he got angry enough. Bolin had never been a violent person but right then under the heel of the these men he wanted them all to suffer. Just like the terrified prisoners standing around had suffered from the cold, from hunger, from the ever constant fear of the guards. For the first time since he'd been forced into the camp, Bolin felt free.
Even as he lay there half unconscious from the beatings, his whole body radiating pain, Bolin couldn't help but smile. Because distantly he could hear the other prisoners all screaming at the guards getting progressively angrier as they grabbed Bolin and began to drag him from the yard.
Worn dirty faces were pressed against the fence, hatred filling their eyes as they screamed at the guards. One of them stood out in Bolin's hazy gaze. With blackness creeping into his vision she almost looked like Asami as the fence under her hands turned red hot as she screamed at the guards. "What kind of monsters are you!" the girl raged her voice booming over the other prisoners, "He was just saving a little boy! He didn't do anything wrong! You guards are the ones who are wrong, the ones who are monsters!"
The last thing Bolin saw as he was pulled away was a guard hitting the girl who looked like Asami to shut her up...
The flashback is the only one out of the proverbial time line in the story. The rest of the time it will go day to day as Bolin continues to readjust to his life. Also, I wanted to get your guys ideas on what job Bolin will be entering: military, police, or activist for the refugees.
Please review, I love to get feedback on the stories I work on.