A/N: Something cooked up on a late Friday night. Please RnR, I feel like this would be really cool to continue. Please enjoy.
I'll Stand By You
Chapter One: Delegates vs. Beifong
171 A.G.
After Korra left, life had subsequently slowed down for Bolin. Mako was busy doing his police thing, and Tenzin stayed at Air Temple Island to keep working with all the new airbenders that he had brought there. Three weeks of relaxing in Republic City, and he was tired of it. He missed his brother, his missed Korra; and most of all, he missed the action. There was absolutely nowhere to practice lavabending, and probending wasn't the same without Mako or Korra.
So, on a fateful afternoon day, sick of the boredom, the earthbender traveled to City Hall to ask Avatar Aang's son for advice, Pabu on his shoulder. He wasn't as close to Tenzin as Korra was, but he was sure the master would know what to do.
A green airship flew low, just barely missing the tallest of the skyscrapers. As Bolin walked up the steps of the hall, he smiled at the sight.
He entered the building and looked around, trying to find someone that looked like they knew what they were doing. Bolin's eyes found a woman wearing glasses, sitting down at a desk and reading a bunch of documents. He rushed to her and stopped just short of the desk, throwing on a big grin and stiffening his body to look as serious as possible. The woman did not blink, nor did she look up, she just kept on reading the writing on the papers, apparently not noticing the earthbender in front of her.
"Um..." Bolin began, "Hello?"
The woman coughed politely and looked up, "Yes?"
"Hey, hello, uh..." he waved awkwardly, "See-Can you tell me where Tenzin is? Because I really need to find him; seeI'vebeensortahavingexistential-"
"He left for Zaofu with President Raiko a minute ago," she interrupted dryly, looking back down at her papers, "He said that he'd be back in two days, though."
Bolin's eyes widened, remembering the airship he had seen exactly a minute ago. Crap, he couldn't stand to stay in this city for two more days! He yelped and sprinted out of the lobby and through the doors. The earthbender looked up and saw the blimp gaining altitude, and quick. But- it was still low enough for him to maybe make it. He braced himself and bent the piece of ground he was standing on upward, shooting him up and forward into the air. His black hair got frazzled as he flew up and onto a tall hotel close to the airship, the wind whipping it around like a crab urchin underwater. He landed on the rooftop, wobbling slightly.
He looked at the ship and noticed that it was getting farther and farther away from him. The earthbender realized he needed momentum. He turned around and observed that there was enough space on the roof for him to run. He ran to the far end of the roof and steeled himself, knowing that not making it wouldn't be very pretty. Bolin grunted and sprinted across the top of the building, tensing his arms. When he made it to the edge of the roof, he bent up again, flying the air once more. He yelled and waved his arms around in circular movements, trying to balance on something that wasn't there. The black haired teen approached the ship, going just above the side rails, and falling back down onto the metal platform. He screamed and closed his eyes, bracing for the impact.
The earthbender hit the grates with a metallic thud, grunting as he crashed down upon it. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and blinked, looking to his left and seeing that he was flying away from the city.
"Haha!" he cheered, standing up and pumping his fist, grinning like there was no tomorrow.
Suddenly, he remembered that his pet had been on his shoulder when he did what he did. "Pabu? Pabu?!" he frantically looked around on the platform for the red-orange ferret. He felt something squirm against his chest and start chittering excitedly.
Pabu's head popped up out of his coat, the winds of the high altitude ruffling his fur. "Oh, Pabu, thank the Spirits!" Bolin picked up the creature and held it up, happy it hadn't fallen out during the jumps. He let it crawl onto his shoulder once more and walked across the metal platform; stopping in front of the exit door and opening it. As he entered and shut the door, the noise by the loud winds obviously interrupted an important conversation, because everyone in the ship had stopped what they had been doing and turned towards him.
Eyes widening and realizing that the spotlight was on him, Bolin greeted, "Hi, everyone! Where's Tenzin? I need to ask him something!"
Tenzin, who had been talking with President Raiko, stared at the earthbender, befuddled, bemused, and bewildered beyond his imagination. First, he had wondered how Bolin had gotten onto the airship, but now he was wondering what was so important for him to get on it for. The monk sighed and brushed his hands over his robes, making his way over to the black haired teenager. He made it to the earthbender, but noticed the silence on the airship.
He turned around to face the crew and ordered, "Back to your duties, men."
They slowly milled about, the noise growing louder until it had risen to its normal level. Tenzin sighed and turned around, facing the excited looking earthbender.
"Bolin," he began irritably, "How did you even make it up to this ship? And why?"
"Well," Bolin looked up thoughtfully, "See, I kind of pulled a Toph and used my bending to get high into the air. And the reason I came was because I'm so sick of having nothing to do in Republic City. Everyone is busy and I'm stuck doing nothing. I was going to ask you for advice but I found out that you were leaving, so I just sorta... Hopped on?" he finished with a cringe-worthy smile.
The air nomad looked at the boy with a thoughtful expression before saying, "Well, Bolin, if you were looking for something to do it's right here. President Raiko and I are traveling to Zaofu to convince Suyin to become the Provisional Leader of the Earth Kingdom. You could tag along and maybe try and help a bit; you sometimes are pretty good at persuading people to do things."
"Oh, really?!" Bolin asked excitedly, "That sounds awesome! I haven't been to Zaofu in awhile! How long 'til we get there?"
Tenzin turned and looked at the captain steering the blimp, answering, "Well, the pilot calculated about seven hours. We'll get there at nighttime."
"Okay," the earthbender replied, "Sounds awesome."
He walked past Tenzin and over to the big round table, sitting down in one of the chairs. He let Pabu jump down from his shoulder and onto the table. The fire ferret curled up into a ball and snoozed, Bolin watching the animal tiredly. Soon, he fell asleep.
"Bolin, wake up," someone said as they shook him, causing the earthbender to groan and slowly open his eyes. Tenzin's bearded face was above him, patient and calm. The green eyed teen yawned and sat up from his nap, stretching his arms and quickly getting out of the rooted chair. He stood for a moment, zoning out and scratching his hair idly. Then, he remembered where he was and what he was doing.
"Are we there yet?" he burst out excitedly, flitting around the room and attempting to see through the tinted windows.
The airbender watched him for a moment before answering, "Yes, we're just waiting for Suyin to prepare a meeting room for us. So, what's this advice that you're wanting from me?"
Bolin stopped trying to see out of the dark glass and turned around eyes saddening a bit.
He rubbed his neck sheepishly before saying, "Well, you know... Everyone's so busy! You're working on rebuilding the Air Nation and stabilizing the Earth Kingdom, Mako's working his butt off in Republic City, Asami is making a fortune off of her business deals; and I've got nothing! I'm not like Mako, I don't have a job. I don't have anything to do for that matter."
He looked up at the monk, straightening his back, "I know you've helped Korra with this kind of stuff, so I thought I'd just ask you what I'm supposed to do."
Tenzin stared at the earthbender before smiling, replying, "Well, honestly, Bolin, you made the right choice with landing on this airship. Sometimes getting away from the norms of life can help an existential crisis. A breath of fresh air can always aid the mind when it's clouded."
"...So you're saying I shouldn't come back to Republic City with you once this meeting is done?" Bolin asked, eyes narrowing as he faced the windows again.
"I'm not telling you to do anything, Bolin," the robed man assured, "But I know for a fact that there really is nothing for you to do in that city. You've been there too long, and I think it'd help if you went somewhere else. If you want to try and learn metalbending again, then you should definitely stay here in Zaofu and stick it out. I believe that you can do it. If you want to practice lavabending, I'd suggest taking a train to a port city and going to the Fire Nation. There are plenty of volcanoes that I'm sure Fire Lord Izumi wouldn't mind you training near."
The teen smiled and looked up at Tenzin, "Thanks. I'll think about where I want to go."
An old, but strong smile was returned to the earthbender. They both turned back around to face the windows, and just then, the side exit to the blimp was opened, revealing President Raiko.
"She's ready. Come on, you two." he quickly spoke, stepping away from the door and leaving it open. The two men in the door nodded and walked out, Bolin closing the door from behind them. A diagonal metal stairway was extended from the end of the grated platform, created by metalbenders. They stepped onto the ground and the stairs disappeared, the benders guiding them to a giant elevator. President Raiko, Tenzin, and Bolin entered and the benders moved their arms, the giant capsule pulling them down to ground level.
Once they made it down, they exited and immediately boarded the train to head for Suyin's house. As they traveled through the city, Bolin noticed that a lot of things had changed in Zaofu. Huan's art projects had come a long way, beautiful sculptures of metallic flowers and crude depictions of the world's aspects dotted the city, some bigger than others. Since it was nighttime, not many people were out, the earthbender only seeing some officials or civilians. The firelight that lighted up the Metal Clan's home reflected off the buildings brilliantly, only a few torches needed to make light abundant at night. Green and gray eyes watched as the main part of the city faded away from them as the train neared the House of Beifong.
The train stopped and the three people exited, walking towards the gold-colored door as the train sped back to the station. They knocked on the door and after a moment, the leader of Zaofu opened, looking at them all before smiling. She opened the door and let them walk in.
"Hey, Suyin!" Bolin cheerfully greeted as he walked inside. He noticed the only other person that was in the room besides Suyin and the two councilmen was a guard facing a narrow window at the back of the large room.
"Hi, Bolin," the Beifong greeted with a light tone of affection in her voice.
She turned her attention onto Tenzin and Raiko, saying, "I know this isn't a personal visit if you two are here," she walked back to her desk, "So what do you want from me?"
The airbender and president looked at each other before walking to the two large couches and sitting down, Raiko looking at the floor, obviously thinking on how to bring the topic. Bolin didn't know whether he should have followed them or not, so he just stood in front of the table between the two sofas. He looked at a miniature sized Zaofu, staring at the domes and taller buildings of the city. He assumed Huan had created it- since it was such a beautiful piece of art. The leader of Republic City finally straightened him back and looked at Suyin, eying her with a tired, worried gaze.
"The Earth Kingdom is in chaos." he stated, "There's a vacuum of power and I'm concerned about what will happen if someone doesn't take control of the situation."
Suyin stared at him before inquiring, "And you think I should be the one?" her eyes traveled over to Tenzin as she asked.
"You're the perfect person to take charge. The world leaders trust you, and as a Beifong you have credibility in the Earth Kingdom." the airbender answered.
She frowned and crossed her arms, retorting, "I'm honored that you that you thought of me, but I'm not interested in imposing my ideals on an entire nation. I'm afraid I can't help you, Tenzin."
Bolin's eyes noticed the guard by the window stiffen and turn around, revealing a woman with black hair and fern green eyes. The two other visitors obviously noticed too, their eyes going away from Suyin and onto the woman. Some old, rusty wheels turned inside Bolin's cranium, and he realized that he had seen her before. Back when Zaheer had captured Korra and was fighting her and Tonraq, this guard was the one that had saved and patched up the chieftain when he had gotten blasted off the plateau. He was just trying to remember her name...
The metalbender slowly rotated around, looking at the woman, querying, "Kuvira?"
"...Suyin, I know this isn't my place..." the guard took a step forward, "But I think you should do this. Zaofu has always been a beacon of modern progress and now you can share that with everyone." she extended her arm out as if all of the Earth Kingdom was in the room with them.
The older woman's bright green eyes narrowed, "What would you have me do? March into Ba Sing Se with an army? We would be seen as conquerors and would be greeted with nothing but war."
"There are already wars," Kuvira argued, voice wavering, "The Earth Queen nearly destroyed our nation. This is our opportunity to change things."
"It's not going to happen." Suyin declared, glaring at her pupil, feeling disappointed with her argumentative attitude. The guard to the side for a moment before returning her eyes to her leader's, sending a steely look at the Beifong. She walked back to her place at the window, staring outside. Still standing, Bolin observed the awkward scene and heard the silence that consumed it. He decided to break the tension with conversation.
He walked through the space in between Raiko's couch and the table, stopping before the leader and saying, "Hey, Su. See, uh, I've got nothing to do in Republic City, so I decided to tag along with Tenzin. I have two questions for you. One: Can I stay here? Two: Can you try and teach me metalbending again?"
"Yes and no," she responded coolly, "I'm busy working with my husband and Varrick on finalizing the blueprints for his new maglev trains, so I don't have time to train you. But I'll gladly host you in Zaofu, though."
"Then who will teach me metalbending?" he asked, his voice disappointed.
Suyin's head meanly turned back at the woman facing the window. "Why don't you ask her."
The cold inflection in the metalbender's voice stayed in the room as she turned around and strode out, shutting the door behind her mercilessly. Raiko and Tenzin looked each other before standing up and hurriedly following after the livid woman; they weren't going to give up on persuading her just yet. Bolin watched all of the people leave the room, a silence hanging over him and Kuvira. He turned around and looked at her, noticing that she was still, barely making any noise. He observed her for a minute, feeling a strange, serene comfort from being in a quiet room with the woman. Soon, though, he got antsy, so he sighed and walked up next to her.
"Small world, huh?" he idly asked, looking up at the moon through the window. Kuvira's stoic composure disappeared as she jumped, startled by the unexpected statement. Looking at the black haired teenager, she noticed his messy hair and immediately looked back at her reflection in the window, briefly considering taking her own hair out of its tight, long braid.
"I guess so." she replied after a moment.
Bolin stared at the white orb for awhile longer before turning to face the woman, smiling and saying, "My name's Bolin. It's nice to meet you."
She turned to face him too, halfheartedly smiling back and replying, "I'm Kuvira."
He noticed her plastic smile and knew she wasn't feeling good. He was guessing it was what Suyin had said and how harshly she had said it, but he didn't want to assume. The earthbender was never really good at reading people anyway. Bolin held her gaze and saw something underneath: a hard, metallic, unbreakable determination that looked like it could survive one hundred Zaheers. His mind got lost for a bit before coming to and seeing that she looked uncomfortable with him staring at her. He hid an inner cringe and decided to ask something he was curious about.
"Why didn't Suyin agree to help the Earth Kingdom? I mean- I have family in Ba Sing Se, and know things aren't too great for them there. I thought that she would know that the same is true for most of the people anywhere in the Earth Kingdom." his voice was careful, seeing her eyes flash with dulled rage.
"She's well aware of how bad it is out there; she's just always shut the world away from Zaofu when it has needed us most." she ground out.
"...I mean, I understand not wanting to spread her ideals, but this nation is in ruin. I wish there was something I or anyone could do to help everyone out there..." he mused, turning to stare at Yue and the mountains surrounding Zaofu. Kuvira stared at him in deep thought, before an elation filled her stomach and an epiphany filled her mind. Her heart started pumping faster than normal with excitement, realizing what she was going to do. She took a breath, attempting to calm herself.
The lavabender swiveled his head around to face the woman, asking, "You're uh... Good at metalbending, right?"
Her sharp eyes met his with a bemused expression, "Yes. Why?"
"I was going to ask if you could maybe teach me how," he began, "But- You don't have to! It can just be basics or nothing at all..."
He trailed off in his nervous ramblings, looking down at his feet. The earthbender honestly had no idea what she was going to say; and he didn't want to get turned down again like how he did with Suyin.
Kuvira, on the other hand, looked at the male in front of her, astonished; mouth parted and eyebrows raised. She had assumed that he already knew how. Su had briefly talked about him and told her that he was a very talented earthbender, despite his sometimes immature personality. The metalbender also knew that he was a newly discovered lavabender, which made the fact that he didn't know how to metalbend even more confusing. Her green eyes observed his, trying to figure out if he was joking or not.
"You don't know how?" she inquired after awhile.
"No," he answered, hanging his head again, "I mean, I tried awhile ago, but it just didn't work. And with Zaheer following us, I didn't have much time to try."
She smiled and closed her eyes, believing him. She was absolutely foolish to assume just because of his talent that there wouldn't be some rough spots for him to work on.
"Then in that case," she said after opening her eyes, "I would be happy to help you."
His head snapped up and his dulled green eyes lighted up in joy. Forgetting that he had just met the woman, he stepped forward and, with a wide grin, wrapped his arms tightly around her, picking her up and spinning around. The ride was so jarring that Kuvira was a bit dizzy when she was set down by Bolin. He looked her with the same ear-to-ear grin before realizing the faux pas that he had just performed. The little color he had in his face drained and his grin disappeared, expecting the worst from his experiences hugging Lin.
"I'm sorry," he squeaked fearfully, "I didn't mean to do that; I just got really excited. Thank you, for agreeing to help me."
The metalbender looked at him in surprise before laughing a bit and smiling awkwardly. "It's okay, Bolin. Just try to warn me next time, okay?"
Bolin grinned back and said, "Yeah, of course," he looked around the room, "So, since I'll be staying here, where am I going to sleep?"
Kuvira led Bolin down the hall, stopping at the left door at the very end of it. She knew that he was the Avatar's friend, but she never knew that he had worked with Korra to stop the Equalists, Unalaq, and Vaatu. She also had no idea that he had such a knack for talking. Not that it was annoying; she actually found the trait to make him quite funny and endearing. Unfortunately, her tired brain perceived the constant noise as a bit annoying at times as they had walked through the house.
She rapped on the door, turning to the male and saying, "All of the other rooms are taken, so you're going to have roommates. I hope you don't mind."
Bolin heard a thump and an annoyed mumble, the tones somewhat clicking in his mind. There was another thump, and then an unrecognizable noise. After a moment, he listened to soft footsteps near the door, and stop. The door opened, revealing a disgruntled Zhu Li without glasses, squinting at the two visitors.
"Zhu Li!" he exclaimed, not expecting her. A louder thump sounded off from inside the room, followed by what sounded like, "what?!"
"Is that Bolin?!" Varrick's head popped out from behind his assistant, his hair sticking out in twenty directions and his mustache askew.
"Oh, man, I forgot you guys live here now!" the earthbender said, "I'll be staying in your room from now on... I think?" he looked at Kuvira for confirmation.
"For now, at least," she settled, "I'll leave you three to getting set up."
The metalbender started to walk away, but Bolin stopped her. "Wait! When will you be teaching me?"
She turned around and looked at him, smiling and saying, "Meet me at lunch. After we eat, we'll start the first lesson."
Varrick and Bolin watched the woman walk down the hallway and then turn the corner, disappearing from sight. The genius's jaw had dropped down to the floor and his eyes were as wide as saucers. As soon as he was sure the intimidating woman was gone, he reached over Zhu Li and tugged the earthbender into the room.
Just as the green eyed teen was going to protest, the Water Tribe man cut him off. "Zhu Li, Do The Thing!"
The assistant turned the lights on and Varrick sat down next to where Bolin was laying, phewing and wiping imaginary sweat off his forehead. The man was wearing an undershirt and baggy pants, which (not surprisingly) didn't suit the businessman very well. The earthbender sat up and looked at the room. It housed a small living room with a square wooden table and four chairs, and a side room which luckily looked like it had four beds in it.
"Okay," Varrick began after that moment, "Why, are you in Zaofu? And why, is that Kuvira lady asking you to go out on a lunch date?!"
Bolin's eyes widened and he asserted, "No, no! She didn't mean a date when she told me to find her. I think she eats with the family or the guards, so we won't even be alone. She's going to teach me metalbending."
"Fair, fair," the scientist muttered offhandedly, "But that still doesn't explain why you're here!"
"It was getting boring in Republic City," Bolin replied, "I hitchhiked on an airship, and I wound up here. I'm planning on staying here for awhile. But, I'm not sure where I will want to go next. I've never been to the Fire Nation, so I might go there next."
The messy-haired engineer sighed and said, "Well, kid, it's good to have you in Zaofu. But honestly, it's past my bedtime and I need my beauty sleep if I'm going to stay awake through Baatar and Suyin's questioning of my new trains. Be sure to turn off the lights, would ya?" he stood up and made his way into the bedroom, Zhu Li silently following, looking a bit dazed. Bolin exhaled heavily and took a moment before standing up and turning off the lights. He sat in one of the chairs for awhile, thinking about Korra and Mako. He was sure they wouldn't miss him; but he didn't know if Mako expected letters once he found out he was away from Republic City.
His mind then shifted to his newfound teacher. She seemed very strong and determined, like Lin. But Bolin knew that something was been different about the captain. While remembering the peaceful feeling he felt when being in the same room, his head sagged a bit. Before he knew it, he was asleep.
chap. fin