I will bruise your lips, and scar your knees and love you too hard.

I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible.

And when I leave, you will finally understand, why storms are named after people.

- M. K. Katrina (via surbeat)

.

She saw right through him.

Opal, in the few weeks that she had gotten know him, found to conclude his personality as a front. A role that no one other than an a successful actor could play. No one could act that naive and childish and happy all the time- not with his past. Not with the inferiority complex and the self-criticism just floating underneath. She saw his regrets and loneliness, compensated for humor and rants that died off with little quips about mustaches, muscles, and the like... , and she wanted to push that top layer off of him with her wind, to give way to the real him underneath.

She become fascinated with seeing glimpses of the man underneath the boy, and she constantly watched him out of the corner of her eye, looking for the signs of the person within him. She quickly discovered that he was always giving hints into himself; subtle moments where the real Bolin was exposed like a break in a stormy batch of clouds, and it was in these moments where she knew she couldn't give up on him. She had to know more.

"But, just stop trying so hard. Just be yourself."

Opal was well aware of what is was like to be invisible. A granddaughter of a legend; and she was tucked away under the shining stars of her mother and brothers whose talents and personalities shook the very earth. A thorn in a garden of roses, and her books called to bring her comfort. If she couldn't bend, couldn't have great abilities, then she would read and study and fill her mind with thoughts that no one else could comprehend. Her books were her friends; and so she let only the pages know her name when everyone else moved around her like she was none other than the very air. Essential, yet unable to be seen.

"Opal? That's a beautiful name."

So, yes, she understood him. And she was going to make him see that.

Yet, he was so adept at playing the happy-go-lucky fool, that it stayed the primary focus of his being, and his public self- the only side he let anyone see. But that day he had tried to metalbend, the self-doubt was so palpable she would almost taste it- taste it like the wind carrying it to her as it rested on her tongue; sour; ashy, dry- and she saw lighting-quick glimpses of a man hiding behind the guise of a boy.

It was then that she let him know once again; he didn't have to pretend with her.

"You're acting weird again."

His worry and fear for her at the her going away dinner that last night back home, had been so strong, she had nearly dragged him back into her room afterwards-demanding to know why he was still so afraid, needing him to come with her-because she couldn't to this alone- and sweet, Agni...

The urge to kiss him then had nearly stolen the breath from her very lungs. She wanted to graze her lips on his, play with his tongue, and read the stories of his past by the scars on his back and the callouses on his hands. What warmth his arms would give her as they held her tight. But...

"Good bye, Bolin. I'll see you soon."

"You, too, Opal. Stay safe."

And in another second, the real him was gone- maybe because his brother was there, maybe because of everyone in the mist of the courtyard saying farewells- and back to hiding behind someone silly and strange.

Their eyes had met then; her face turning to him, just before the doors to the airship had closed behind her. She had silently asked him one last time. Opal had detected the air shifting, at the slight shake of his head. Emerald eyes bore into grass: I'll stop pretending when you stop.

She had hidden her hurt, then, as she gripped her suitcase. She had made little giggle and smiled, waving through the glass of the ship.

Come with me, her eyes pleaded, I'm scared to do this without you.

He waved back with a smile, just like the rest of them. Never letting anyone be the wiser, because...

"Maybe I am scared, but what about you? I know you want to go to the Air Temple to train with Tenzin, but you haven't done it because you're scared, too."

She never stated for the two of them to be anything but the same.

Hey everyone. :) This is my first of a hopefully longggg list of canon one-shots about my newest ship. Please let me know what you think.

Prompt requests are welcome. Just let me know your penname, and tell me what you'd want me to write. Please make it short, though. No guarantees, but I will try to please everyone. Thanks again.