DAY 1: DAY OFF

Korra jumped upright in her bed. The sun was out! She was late! She couldn't believe it! Tenzin was going to be so –

No, wait. Today was her day off.

She sighed and flumped back down into her sheets and buried her head into her pillow. A day off. After weeks of returning the people's bending back and helping the council pacify the chaos in Republic City, Korra could finally get a break. She sighed. This Avatar stuff was hard. How did her past lives deal with it?

She felt her eyelids getting heavier. There was no point dwelling on that now; time to get some well-deserved rest.

PEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYY!

Or not.

The doors to her dorm room burst open, and the unholy noise got louder and louder. Korra squinted at the large shadow standing above her bed.

"Gooooooooood morning, Korra!"

Korra groaned. "Oh, Bolin, lemme go back to shleep."

"Aw, come on, this is late. Even for me! Hey, how did you like my morning music, huh?"

"Music?" Korra muttered, "That wuhsh music?!" Korra finally managed to properly open her eyes and saw Bolin looking down at her, a large metal instrument wrapped around his neck and shoulders. She sat up. "Bolin, is that a tsungi horn?"

"Yep!" Bolin grinned, "Commander's Bumi's giving me lessons. He says I've got real talent! So what do you think?" The earthbender resumed blowing into the horn, and the awful noise commenced once more.

Korra blocked her ears with her palms and hid under her blanket.

"So, Korra," Bumi asked, "Can you play any music?"

Korra had slept in way past lunch time, and Bumi, Meelo and Bolin (along with Pabu, of course) had opted to keep her company while she ate. The food was cold, she was too hungry to wait for it to be warmed up, and she was too tired to heat it up herself. Nevertheless, Pema's cooking never failed to satisfy, and Korra found herself wanting to finish every last drop.

"Um, no," Korra admitted between a mouth full, "I guess I never had the chance, what with all that Avatar training and stuff. "

"What?! They never taught you how to play music?" Bumi tutted. "Shame on them! The Avatar, of all people, oughta know how to plunk out a tune!"

"Yeah!" Meelo exclaimed. He yanked at a hair on Pabu's tail and started plunking it.

"It's no big deal." Korra stuffed some more rice into her mouth. "It's just music, right?"

Bumi coughed and spat. "Just music?! Nonsense! Music is what brings the world together! What is the one language that all the nations spoke before languages were even invented? Music! Song and tunes! As my sister would tell you, you gotta feel the music to feel the love."

"Hey, maybe Korra can learn to play the tsungi horn too!" Bolin chipped in.

Bumi banged his fist on the table. "That's great idea! Let's do it now!"

"Now?" Korra looked down at her bowl, "But I'm eating!" But Bumi had already pulled out a horn and adjusted it around his shoulders.

"Bumi's the best player I've ever heard!" Bolin explained with bright eyes, "Man, I've never heard anyone so good!"

Before Korra knew it, her face was planted in the remnants of her rice. This was not how a tsungi horn was meant to sound like.

The day was nearly over, and Korra felt like her eardrums had bled to death. Tomorrow it was back to work, and she hardly got the chance to enjoy her little holiday. Annoyed, she got to work with the airbending gates. With a gust of wind, the gates were sent spinning, and Korra weaved her way through the relic. She had conquered this one a long time ago, but now she had the added benefit of actually being able to airbend. She may have initially found the task frustrating, but now it had become something to take her mind off things.

She wished Mako or Asami were here. She would have felt better if they were with her; it would have been easier to bear the music. But Lin had offered Mako a job with the Republic City police, and Asami was busy trying to get Future Industries back on track after her father's arrest. Pema was taking care of the baby, Tenzin was at the council, and General Iroh had left with his division of the United Forces. By herself, with no one to keep her company, she felt like she was dealing with three big babies.

Korra landed gracefully on her feet. She sat down and stared at the spinning gates.

"That was pretty cool."

Korra turned around to see Bolin walking towards her. She checked her surroundings. Not a musical instrument in sight.

Bolin sat down next to her. "So, how was your time off today?"

"Fine," Korra lied. Bolin seemed happy, and she didn't have it in her to ruin his mood.

"You look exhausted," Bolin noted.

Korra looked at Bolin wearily. "Of course I'm tired, Bolin. I haven't had a break since Amon took the city. Even after the Equalists disbanded, I've been working non-stop. My brain feels like it's been turned to mush."

"But what about today? You had fun with the music and stuff, right?"

Korra sighed. "Sure," she mumbled, but her heart wasn't in it.

Bolin seemed to catch on to her contradicting tone. "You didn't like it, did you? Aw man, I knew I'm no good! Maybe I just need a little more practice, that's al–"

"No, Bolin, it wasn't you! I just … needed a bit of a rest, that's all. Today was too … exciting."

"Oh." Bolin rubbed his chin. "Well, darn it."

Korra laughed. She looked up at the night sky. She felt much lighter now. Maybe a laugh was what she needed.

"So," Bolin nudged Korra's shoulder, "Here we are. Alone in the training fields. Just you and me."

Korra chuckled. "Bolin," she started.

"Two … alone people."

"Not this again."

"Together."

"Come on!"

"Alooone."

"Uh … I gotta head back to my room to sleep, so …"

"Aw, dip." Bolin snapped his fingers.

"Guess you got snubbed again," Korra smiled.

The grin disappeared from Bolin's face, but only for a quick fleeting moment. The smile came back, even broader this time, as Bolin lifted his arm and started to flex.

"How can the ladies snub this?" His attempt to kiss his muscles failed as he rolled over his head and onto his back.

Korra snickered and rolled over next to Bolin. The two of them lay on the ground, staring up at the stars in comfortable silence.

"Hey, Korra?" Bolin asked.

"Mhmm?"

"Do you think if Mako wasn't there, we could have … you know."

Oh no. She thought he was over all of that. Why was he asking her this now? "Bolin …"

"No, never mind. Just pretend like I didn't say that."

Korra sat up and crossed her arms. "Look, I'm with Mako and everything, and …"

"Korra."

"… Well, I'm really busy, you know. And now Mako's gone as well and I hardly ever see him …"

"Korra."

"… I'm just really confused right now alright? And my head hurts and …"

"Didn't I just tell you to forget about it?"

"… Maybe it could still work out, you know, if I just gave it a chance …"

"What?"

"… But I can't right? Because I'm with your brother and it'll just seem really wrong …"

"What did you just say?"

Korra blinked. Suddenly, Bolin was sitting upright and watching her intently. "Um, it'll seem wrong if …"

"No, no, before that."

"That things could still work out between us if we had the opportunity?"

It was almost as if someone was shining a light on him as his face brightened up and his eyes flitted all over her face, her words sinking into his brain.

But as much as she loved seeing him happy, she couldn't keep leading him on a false hope.

"I'm still with Mako though." She was looking away, but she could still hear Bolin sink back onto the ground.

"So …" Korra shivered, suddenly feeling very cold. When Bolin saw her kissing Mako after their first date, there were tears coming out of his nose. But now he just seemed … angry. "It's getting late," she sighed as she got up on her feet, "I'm gonna hit the sack."

Silence.

"Gotta wake up early for a council meeting tomorrow. Fun! Heh heh …"

Still no answer. Now this was just getting awkward.

"Well, good night."

This time she was greeted by a sighing noise: Snooooooohre … memememememe …

The guy was asleep.

Tenzin was woken by the sound of the piercing slap made when palm meets forehead.