Borra Week day 1 topic: Gift

Summary: Bolin tries to plan the perfect day for Korra's birthday, but nothing seems to go right.


It was Korra's birthday and Bolin was determined to make it special. It was the first birthday they would spend as a couple, so everything had to be perfect. They'd only been dating for five months but Korra was already his moon and stars. He wanted to prove that to her.

Bolin had everything planned out. That afternoon they'd go to the Republic City zoo. Bolin knew Korra loved the otter penguins because they reminded her of home, and there was an otter penguin show scheduled for that afternoon. After they'd looked at the animals and seen the show, Bolin planned for them to go to Narook's for dinner. It was the place where they'd had their kind-of first date and he knew how much Korra loved the noodles there. After dinner it would be a romantic walk through the park as the stars came out.

At the end of the evening, Bolin would give Korra the gift he'd picked out: a new glider that one of the air acolytes had made that was an exact replica of Avatar Aang's but in a blue shade that reminded Bolin of Korra's eyes. He'd gotten the idea when he'd found her in Tenzin's library one day, poring over the books about Avatar Aang and gazing longingly at the sketch of him with his glider. She'd quickly snapped the book shut when he'd come in, but he nonchalantly memorized the spot she put it back and did his research later on.

As Bolin made his way to Korra's home on Air Temple Island, he couldn't help but whistle merrily as he walked. He had planned the perfect day for them, and he hoped Korra would enjoy herself as much as he envisioned.

As soon as she stepped out the door to greet him, Bolin pulled Korra into his arms. "Happy birthday, Korra!" he whooped as he spun her in a circle. She laughed as he set her down and the sound made his heart quiver.

"Thanks, Bolin," She said, rewarding him with a wide grin and a quick kiss. "Now where are we going?" she practically bounced up and down. Bolin had purposefully refrained from telling her because he couldn't wait to see the look on her face when they got there.

"You'll see!" He responded merrily, grabbing her hand and leading her onto the ferry off the island. As the waves lapped against the side of the boat, Bolin cast a wary eye to the sky. It didn't seem quite as sunny as it had before, but perhaps it was his imagination. He turned his gaze from the sky to focus on the girl beside him.

"So what do you think we're gonna do?" He quizzed, grinning uncontrollably.

"Oh, I dunno, Bo! With you I can never tell." Korra responded with a good-natured jab of her elbow in his side. "I guess I'll wait and see!" Bolin half-jokingly winced and rubbed the spot where her elbow had connected with his ribs.

"You will," He teased back, leaning in to press a kiss onto the tip of her nose. With that he grabbed her hand again and the two were off the ferry no sooner than it had made contact with land. He slipped his fingers between hers as he led her down the streets of Republic City. He was nearly giddy with the thoughts of the day, and the way her fingers felt between his was enough to make his heart race.

Korra continued to guess locations as they walked. "We're going to the bending arena?" was her first guess. Bolin merely shook his head with a devilish grin. She thought for a few moments before continuing. "We're going to see a mover!" She guessed triumphantly, confident that she was correct this time. It was met with another shake of his dark hair and another sly grin. Before she had time to formulate a third guess, the pair had reached the gates of the zoo.

"Here we are!" Bolin announced, spreading his arms as a means of presenting the locale to her. Her eyes lit up.

"The zoo?! I haven't had a chance to come here at all yet! Oh, Bo, this is gonna be so much fun."

"You bet," he responded, overjoyed that she seemed pleased with his plan so far. He paid for their tickets and led Korra inside, planning to look at a few of the other animals before the show was scheduled to start. He held her hand as they walked and enjoyed the look on her face as she looked at the animals more than he enjoyed watching the animals themselves.

Their timing was perfect. They made their way to the arena ten minutes before the otter penguin show was scheduled to start. "What do you think of seeing the otter penguin show?" Bolin asked as he led her towards the entrance.

"Ooh. That would be so neat! Katara taught me how to sled on them. It was always so much fun!" She grinned and affectionately bumped her shoulder against his. "Thanks for taking me here, Bolin. It's great." His reply was cut off as he caught a glimpse of the sign on the arena door. It read

All Otter Penguin shows for today are canceled.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

"Aww." Bolin's smile disappeared. "Korra, I'm sorry." Her face fell momentarily, but she quickly brightened again.

"That's okay! We'll come back some other day. There's lots of other animals I wanted to see! The platypus bears are right over here." Korra tugged him in that direction, but Bolin couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. Taking her to the otter penguin show would have been perfect! He sighed and determined that he would just enjoy the rest of the day. It was only a minor setback.

"Korra really was enjoying the zoo. He knew she never really had much of a chance to have fun, so he'd planned many of their dates to be just that. He loved having fun and when he was with Korra he had more fun than ever. She brightened his life in more ways than she knew, and he wanted to do the same for her.

Soon enough they'd made their way to all of the animal's cages and Korra had wiggled her fingers at each animal, talking to them comically. Bolin had quickly joined in and soon his sides hurt from laughing so hard.

His stomach began to grumble and the zoo was scheduled to close in fifteen minutes anyway, so Bolin decided it was time to move on. He glanced once more at the sky, which was now more clouds than sun, before reigning in his giggling girlfriend.

As he turned to her her cheeks glowed and her eyes sparkled with laughter. For a few moments he silently took in this view of his Avatar before asking, "Are you ready for dinner, Korra?"

"I'm starved," She responded rubbing her stomach vigorously. "Where to?"

"You'll see" Bolin responded cheekily.

"I thought you might say that," Korra said as she leaned against him. She didn't seem to mind so much as she had that morning. Bolin put his arm around her and led her through the streets. "We're going to Narook's, aren't we?" She was quick to guess this time.

"Maybe," came his cryptic response coupled with a wink that let her know she was right.

"Mmm. You have no idea how hungry I've been for some good noodles…" She never got the chance to finish her sentence. When they got to Narooks Bolin gaped as black smoke poured from the doorway and spit Narook's cook into the street.

"Just a kitchen fire!" He was quick to explain. "We're going to be closed for the evening, I'm afraid!" The cook coughed and waved the smoke away from his face. "Sorry," He added, recognizing Bolin and Korra as regulars.

"It's okay," Bolin responded weakly. This day was certainly not working out as perfectly as he'd planned. He stole a quick glance at Korra's concerned face and hoped she wasn't feeling too upset. "We'll get some noodles from one of the vendors at the park," He said, knowing that they would never compare to Narook's.

"Hey, that works for me." Korra complied. Bolin knew she'd insist that it was perfectly fine with her, but he also knew that she had to be feeling as disappointed as he was.

"Some birthday, huh?" He said apologetically as he took her hand.

"It's not your fault. And I'm having a blast anyway!" Her smile was genuine, so Bolin felt a tiny bit better. They walked to one of the street vendors on the edge of the park and Bolin ordered noodles for them. As they carried the steaming boxes to a nearby bench, Bolin eyed the sky again. It looked rather threatening, but perhaps it was just his imagination in light of everything that had already gone wrong.

Korra slurped a long noodle into her mouth and then grinned at Bolin as a drop of broth fell from her chin. Bolin took some noodles of his own and slurped them louder.

"You're on!" Korra responded, and a slurping war ensued. As they both reached the bottom of their boxes they were forced to declare a truce, laughing heartily. "This was just as good as Narook's!" Korra assured Bolin, blue eyes dancing.

"Eh, if you say so." Bolin stood and reached for her hand, pulling her off the bench. "How about a walk through the park?"

"That sounds nice," Korra smiled and snuggled against him. No sooner had they began walking then a huge raindrop splattered on the top of Bolin's head.

"Uh-oh," He said, looking into the darkening sky as the drop was followed by hundreds of its friends. "We can go to my apartment!" He quickly decided, grabbing Korra's hand as they made a run for it. The apartment was three blocks away and by the time they made it through the door they were breathless and dripping. With one glance at Bolin's limp hair sending rivulets down his face, Korra burst out laughing. Bolin couldn't help joining her when he took in her own dripping figure. Her ponytail had come undone and her hair fell in waves around her face. It was actually quite becoming.

"We should find some dry clothes," He decided as their laughter faded.

"Probably a good idea," Korra agreed, holding her dripping sleeves up for closer inspection. Bolin found some old clothes of his for Korra to change into and while she changed in the bathroom he quickly pulled on his own set of dry clothes and went to get the glider from the corner behind his dresser.

"Pabu!" He yelped in dismay as the fire ferret looked up at him from between the two halves of the glider. "How did you do that?" He squawked. "Bad Pabu!" he lifted the small animal and tossed him into the living room.

"What did he do, pee on your bed?" Korra came up behind him before he had a chance to shove the pieces of glider beneath the dresser. "What's that?" she leaned down to get a closer look.

"It was your birthday present." Bolin replied dejectedly. "Pabu broke it." Korra carefully took the two pieces in her hands.

"Is this a glider?" She asked, looking at Bolin in wonder.

"It was," He replied kicking at a spot on the carpet. "It was just like Aang's. Jinju made it." Korra seemed to recognize the name of the skilled air acolyte.

"Bolin, it's absolutely perfect. I have wanted one of these for so long. I don't know how you know me so well, but I don't deserve you." Korra reached her arms around Bolin's neck and pressed a soft kiss against his lips. "Thank you."

"But Korra, it's broken. And nothing worked out like I'd hoped today. First the show was canceled. Then Narook's, and then the rain! And now this! It was supposed to be perfect!" He kicked at the same spot in the carpet. "I wanted to make it perfect for you." He added quietly.

"Bo," she said his name so tenderly he felt it in the pit of his stomach. "Jinju can fix it, I'm sure. And today was perfect! I had such a great time with you. I loved the zoo, it was so much fun. The noodles were pretty good too! Perfectly slurpable." She grinned. "And I'm a water bender. Running through the rain makes me feel so alive! Being with you makes me feel so alive. That's all I need for a perfect day. The rest are just bonuses." She reached up to kiss him again, this time more firmly. Bolin had never loved her more than he did in that moment.

"Bo, you were the best thing to ever happen to me. You're the only gift I ever need."