A/N: Mako and Bolin are such awesome characters, aren't they? They deserve an awesome back story!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything with the name "Last Airbender" in the title :DDD

Chapter One: Toh Sa Village

The Toh Sa village stood no more than a quarter mile away from the Chin River, so named after the Earth King who was rumored to have floated downstream wrapped in lotus leaves hundreds of years ago. In the days after the Hundred Year War, Earth Kingdom peasants who had hidden in fear of Fire Nation raids, gathered together to form a peaceful agricultural society. Sixty years later, the village still existed, though in a state of noticeable decline; the villagers were suffering from a dreadful drought and there was many a gossip about a city being built where the streets were paved with gold and no one had to cry over spoiled crops. Still, there were those who believed the skies would yield rain again though no one had much conviction.

One spring morning, a family gathered outside the entrance to the small village. A very tall, thin man with amber eyes was carrying a traveling bag and coat. Facing him stood a shorter, stocky woman with kind green eyes holding a tiny baby wrapped in a yellow blanket. Hanging off her knee was a small boy of maybe five wearing pajamas. He had the same green eyes as is mother and was sucking his thumb while gazing up at two teenagers to his left. The two boys were brothers, though they barely looked alike. The older boy took after his father; he was very tall, lean and had his father's nose as well as his black hair and bright eyes. The younger one was much like his mother; kind-faced with a sturdy build and green eyes to match.

"I promise to write every week," the tall man was saying to his wife. "And I'll always be thinking about you and the kids."

His wife sniffed noisily, wiping her eyes with her free hand. The baby stirred slightly in her yellow folds, unaware of her parents' farewells.

"Do be careful, Kenji," she sniffed, managing a small smile. She turned to the boys behind her and nodded. "You should say goodbye to your father, boys."

The two teenagers stepped forward. Then without hesitation, the three of them, father and sons, were embracing. It was a while before they parted. The father looked intently at his sons while they stared back as though afraid they'd forget his face.

"I'm counting on you two to help your mother run things while I'm away," Kenji said, one hand on each boy's shoulder. "Especially you, Mako," he nodded to the taller boy. "you're the man of the house now."

"I won't let you down, Dad," Mako said, smiling.

Kenji turned to his other son who seemed to be holding in tears with great difficultly. "You too, Bolin. Take care of your younger siblings."

"Okay I guess we'll see you soon."

Kenji hugged Bolin again. This time, Bolin did cry, trying to surreptitiously wipe his face on his sleeve. They broke apart and it was time for the little ones. Kenji hugged his youngest son, Mireu, who was too young to know what was going on. He took his father's face in his tiny hands and stared curiously into his amber eyes. Kenji stared back into the small boy's identical yellow ones and wondered vaguely when he'd see them again. Then he held his sleeping infant daughter, Min, kissing her gently on the head. He pecked his wife on the cheek one last time and was off, trotting down the road to Chin River where a boat would be waiting.

The family, already missing Kenji, stood at the entrance in silence for some time. Then, one by one, they trotted back to their house as the morning sun mocked them with its radiance.

Two Years Later

Not much had changed in the small village since Kenji's departure. The streets were still lined with empty, woebegone houses in disrepair, the residents having left for bigger cities years previously. The residents who still remained were struggling to produce anything in the murderous drought. Rainfall was extremely scarce and many feared that this year would be its worst.

In a field filled with rows and rows of wilting soybeans plants, Bolin stood overlooking the miserable affair wearing brown trousers rolled up to his knees, a patched shirt, and a frayed straw hat. He was barefoot with dried mud splattered all the way up to his knees, the soles of his feet caked with dirt. An empty watering can lay abandoned a few steps away.

He had been standing there for quite some time, trying in vain to make the soil underfoot more fertile. But it was hopeless; even with his earthbending he could tell the ground was too dry. Bolin had half-thought, half-prayed that the soybeans would endure. After all, soybean plants thrived in summer heat and could tolerate poor soil. Apparently, even soybeans had their standards.

He sighed, crouching low to inspect the earth. The lack of rainfall was driving him crazy. He sifted some of the dry dirt through his fingers, frustration pumping through his nervous system. In a moment of self-delusion, he imagined the earth being sucked into a black hole underground. He closed his eyes for a moment, head bowed.

'Why don't you just suck me right up already,' Bolin thought staring into the earth between his feet. 'Just end this right now-'

Bolin started in shock, lost balance and landed on his rear. The ground in front of him was suddenly darker, more shadowy. It couldn't be"

"What are you doing?"

Bolin turned to see his older brother Mako towering over him. In fact, he was so tall that he was casting a shadow over Bolin. Not just a regular head-shaped shadow but a slightly blurry mysterious one that moments ago had had Bolin pleading for his life. Bolin felt both relieved and slightly silly.

Mako was dressed down in a faded gray muscle shirt and baggy shorts. Bolin noticed that he wasn't wearing a hat despite the fact that he was visibly sweating, his dark hair sticking to his face. It had been years since Mako had donned so much as a cap; he refused point-blank to wear anything on his head for fear of seeming even taller than he already was. He also claimed to want a tan. Ironically, his skin seemed stubbornly immune to the slightest sunburn. As a result, Mako's face stayed pale all year round, contrasting heavily with Bolin who was brown as a potato peel in murderous glare of sunlight.

Bolin shook his head. "Nah, it's useless. Unless you can waterbend a lake onto these soybeans, they're goners." He stomped his foot and piece of clumpy dirt shot into his outstretched hand. Bolin squeezed it slightly and the clump simply disintegrated into dust. It slipped through his fingers and sprinkled onto his bare feet.

Mako knelt down by one of the soybean plants and plucked a shriveled pod. The dehydrated shells fell apart between his fingers and small, bone-dry beans rolled out onto palms. Mako inspected them with a defeated look on his face.

"I guess it can't be helped," He said, dusting his hands of the brittle remains. "Shame. You and Mom worked so hard on them."

Bolin scoffed. "Tell me about it. I nearly broke my back earthbending all the soil and this is what we get." He gestured at the field of withering soybean, a mass of shriveled brown hanging from dehydrated branches.

Mako didn't say anything. He had watched his mother and brother wrestling with the earth, trying in vain to make something- anything- to grow from the dry, cracked soil. Last year, they had had the fortune of a light shower. It didn't last long, but they had hoped. But then it was straight back to all-around sunshine and things had gone downhill- again. Mako felt guilty for being unable to help. Even for a non-earthbender, his farming skills were an abomination; everything he touched seemed to die twice as fast, something Bolin was always quick to point out.

Bolin looked behind Mako where the depressing sight of dying crops gave way to a dirt field and a little further along, a wooden house. The stone chimney was smoking slightly; it was lunch time.

"C'mon," Bolin said, wiping sweat from his brow and leaving a smear of mud in the process. "Let's go have some lunch."

The brothers both made their way out of the fields, passing their last hopes of a decent winter. Mako found little humor in the irony; it must've been hot enough to fry an egg in this heat and he was already thinking about the cold, the snow, and, inevitably, the hunger.

Review please? :)