"Okay, remember to keep them steady." Mako advised his brother, he kept his eye on the two irregular shaped rings.
"Yeah, yeah. Just shoot." Bolin replied, his face was buried into his shoulder and his arms were raised as he held the rings.
Mako inhaled deeply, centering himself as a bright flame emitted from his hands. He raised them, keeping close to his body. "Alright... 1... 2...-"
"Just do it already!"
Mako punched his hand through the air, a short ray of fire shooting out. He waited for it to go through the ring, instead disappointment came fast as the fire clung to the ring. Bolin yelled out throwing it on the ground and repeatedly stepped on it to let it out.
"Alright." Bolin rubbed the back of his head, looking at the small burn mark on the ground. "That didn't go as expected."
Mako groaned, falling to the floor, he buried his face in his hands and rubbed at it. "How can I get a job at the factory if I can't shoot straight?"
Bolin walked silently up to his brother, crouching down and placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's gonna be alright. I messed you up at that time, we both know that you can make that shot blindfolded. I just messed you up."
Mako nodded, he looked up and smiled at his brother. "Nah, Bo... It's fine. We can stop." He said.
"You sure? I know how much you want that job."
"No, seriously. It's fine. I'll practice later."
Bolin nodded with a grin as he got up, making his way to the small furry animal on one of the stones that was nearby. "Pabu!" The animal looked up, staring straight at Bolin. The young buy grinned at him, stretching out his arm and letting Pabu climb up. The animal moved quickly, going up his arm and around to his owner's shoulder. Bolin laughed out loud as Pabu's tail tickled him.
Mako watched from his place on the ground, the edge of his lips quirking upwards. Bolin having a good day always did make him happy, it was like his own little medicine. Something to keep him going. He needed to go on for Bolin's sake, he couldn't let his brother suffer anymore. He couldn't watch Bolin cry anymore, listen to his whimpers and his small call outs to their dead parents. He didn't want that at all.
It was hard for him too, to watch as his parents were put into the ground by government workers.
No one came to the ceremony. Bolin and Mako were the only ones present.
It became even harder after they were thrown out of their apartment, a place that was home and that was all that was left from their parents. They had to live on the streets, resorting to sneaking a couple of apples here and there from street vendors or even working with the cities gangs sometimes to earn enough money to get old clothes no one wanted.
They slept in the park's trees or in alleyways. Sometimes they were lucky and were let into a communal home for a couple of nights. But nothing lasted enough.
They had been alone for 7 months at that point.
Mako needed to get this job, a shift at the factory would give him enough money to maybe get a room in the slums of the city, they needed shelter now that winter was coming. He didn't want Bolin to freeze off while they trudged in search of a warm place. They had been lucky up until then, the spring time was humid and the summer was a melting pot allowing them to sleep in the trees of the city park. But the temperature cooled and now it was getting too cold at night to sleep in either the park of the alleyway.
Bolin interrupted Mako with his thoughts. "Mako!" The older brother looked up. "I heard that new pro-bending team is going to hangout in city square tomorrow! Maybe we can go and check them out?"
Mako nodded. "Yeah, it would be fun." Not to mention a perfect time to get some tips, watching other firebenders practice helped Mako, he made mental notes on how to improve himself and in the end the results were better. "We'll go then."
Bolin grinned. "Cool." He pet the lazy Pabu on the back. "Just imagine being on a pro-bending team?" He dazed off, looking into a different direction. "We can totally do it! We'd make enough money to get our own place, a great house with the view of the ocean!"
Mako rolled his eyes and got up. "That's just a pipe dream, Bo. You know it." He patted down his pants.
"Yeah but still." The younger brother pouted and was soon comforted by his brother rubbing down his hair.
"Listen, I'm going to try to get the job at the factory." Mako began to rattle off his plans. "Then we can start to actually get some stuff we need-"
"Like food and clothes!"
"Yes, exactly," Mako nodded. "Maybe even an apartment. Nothing too fancy just something to hold us for a while." Bolin nodded along, only half listening. "And then maybe we can start to actually work on your bending."
Bolin's head swung to the side and he gave Mako a wide grin. "Really?"
"Yeah, I can't let you get older and not be able to control your bending." The almost fifteen year old grinned, throwing an arm around his younger brother. "And it won't do any harm. Just some tricks mom told me when you were young, she said I should be able to tea-"
They fell silent, Mako made the mistake of mentioning their late mother. Bolin looked down and he held Pabu close to him, who someway ended up in his arms, but Mako could tell that his lips were quivering a bit.
He gulped, knowing he did something he relentlessly told himself not to do. "Bo... Mom and dad would want us to practice our bending, you know how much they said it was important." He had to go along with it, there was no point in taking back what he said about their mother.
Bolin nodded. "Yeah, I remember, they gave us a speech about it every night."
Mako squeezed him closer, and soon they were walking.
Making Bolin happy and comfortable was Mako's biggest priority, it was his job to take care of his little brother. No matter what Mako wasn't going to ruin Bolin's shot of having a future, even if he had to work. Even if he was going to be the youngest employe of the factory while he should be in school learning about Republic City's history. He liked to think that his parents would be proud.
Proud about taking responsibility and watching over the family's treasure, Bolin.
Mako tightened the red scarf around his neck and walked with Bolin, an arm around the kid's shoulder, out of the park and into the city where they would search for food and some type of comfortable shelter for the night.
((Image Credit: =SK-M22 on DeviantArt - "The best of brothers"))
((Request by Anon))
((A/N: I expected it to be longer but that didn't happen. I still like it though.))