"No. Absolutely not." Mako told his little sister sternly. She rolled her eyes at him.
"You're not my father, Mako. And besides, you haven't even heard how much the Triple Threat Triad is paying for this heist. I'm allowed to keep a third of the profits if I pull this off successfully," Jinora protested, glaring at her brother through her shaggy curtain of dark brown hair.
"Jinora, you could get arrested. I barely managed to scrape up the cash to bail you out last time, and you'll get a longer sentence as a repeat offender," Mako, as if Jinora had not considered these problems. Honestly, she believed that the prospect of being able to live comfortably for several weeks outweighed any risks involved.
"Alright. I won't do it. You happy?" With that, Jinora kicked back on a severely ripped up armchair. She was careful not to sit down too quickly in case the thing tipped due to an absence of one leg.
Mako visibly relaxed, and placed a takeout box on the table. "I got your favorite noodles. And...this!" he exclaimed, putting a package wrapped in red paper next to the noodles.
Jinora grinned. "I knew you hadn't forgotten my birthday," she said, grabbing a pair of chopsticks. Mako pushed the present closer to her.
"I didn't really know which book to get you, but Mrs. Iris said you've had your eye on this one for a while. Open it," Mako said hurriedly, hoping that she would like her gift.
Jinora carefully peeled back the red paper. "Avatar Aang's autobiography? Oh, Mako, it's too expensive," she said, while pulling it towards her chest in what could only be called a loving embrace.
Mako laughed. "I'm glad you like it. Although I have no idea why you're so fascinated with the Hundred Year War," he chuckled.
"I don't really know. I just feel connected to it somehow," Jinora said, unable to explain why any information about the war interested her.
"Well, happy sixteenth, kiddo," Mako said, before the two of them began slurping up noodles.
"Hello, Mother," Bolin said properly. Even though they hadn't seen each other in six months, there was no dramatic reunion between the two of them. Lin Beifong was not an overly affectionate woman, and her son had spent far too much time around his ever serious father.
"How's your airbending training going?" Lin asked, gesturing towards her son's blue arrow tattoos. Bolin actually cracked a proud smile at this question.
"Great! Father says I'll be given the title of Master by the end of this year. I've been helping Korra with her airbending as well. She finally managed to get past her block." Bolin grinned, proud of his pupil.
"Are you two..." Lin asked, unsure of how to proceed. Bolin laughed, a little wryly.
"Together? No, we agreed that we worked better as friends than a couple." It had been Korra's decision, actually. And though it had torn Bolin up a bit, he had moved on with Tenzin's advice that he should focus more on spiritual matters rather than girls.
"I see. So is there anyone else?" Lin questioned awkwardly. Bolin was twenty two, and it was about time he settled down. Lin hadn't, but she wasn't the prime example of an "emotionally healthy" person. She didn't want Bolin making the same mistakes she had. Speaking of...
"How's Tenzin and ...his wife?" she asked, unable to say the name of the woman who stole him away from her. Granted, she and Tenzin had their problems, but the pretty young thing confessing her love certainly hadn't helped Lin and Tenzin work things out.
"They're fine. Pema's pregnant again. Ikki's hoping it's a little girl; she really wants a sister. Father just wants the baby to be healthy, although I think he's hoping it's another airbender." Bolin chortled, thinking of his father's not so secret desire to repopulate the world with airbenders.
"Ah. Well, that's...nice," Lin said, thinking just the opposite. Her radio suddenly began to buzz.
"Hello?" she said, wondering why someone would be contacting her when she had told them down at the station not to interrupt her limited time with her son.
"Lin, we have an anonymous tip that someone from the Triple Threat Triad is going to try to rob a jewelry store tonight. Normally we wouldn't bother you with this, but the rest of the officers are going to bust up that Equalist rally uptown. Can you check it out? Again, real sorry to bother you." It was here second in command on the phone, and had it been anyone else on the phone, she would have where to stick their radio. But Lee knew how to run a police station almost as well as Lin did, so she trusted him.
"All right, I'll do it." Lin sighed, rubbing her temples. She turned back to her son. "Can you amuse yourself at the station for a few hours. I'll leave you some money for dinner."
Bolin nodded. "Sure. I'll practice my airbending, and maybe get some of those noodles we got that one time." The time he was thinking of had been three years ago, when she arrested someone in the restaurant and he said she was cool.
"Okay," Lin said, smiling at her son. She had a hard time realizing he was a grown man, because he was so...childlike. Bolin had a kindness to him that had not diminished with age. She turned on her heel, and saw Bolin whip out his glider out of the corner of her eye.
Jinora chortled at the Crystal City's security system. Alarms on all of the windows and doors? Please. Didn't they know that very few (stupid) people took the direct approach when breaking into someplace. Jinora began moving away the dirt near the back door. With her adept earthbending skills, it took little time for her to tunnel clear into the shop.
Once inside, she spotted her target: the diamond. It didn't need a name, because as of now it was the most famous diamond in Republic City. Crystal City was placing it on display until the Royal Jewelers showed up to get it. They would turn it into a new crown for Fire Lady Ursa. Unless, of course, Jinora was successful.
Crystal City had refused to pay Triple Threat Triad's monthly "rent", and so the gang had sent Jinora to collect the diamond as payment. The heist was a test for her as well, if she pulled this off, she would become an official member of the Triad. She would be paired with a firebender and a waterbender, and they would become a team. This meant more of a cut for her, as well.
Jinora used the small bit of metalbending she had been able to pick up watching the police to open the lock surrounding the case. Carefully pulling the diamond out, she went to turn around. She found that she could not move her feet one inch. Jinora looked down, blinked, and then looked down again. She wasn't seeing things. Her feet were encased in earth.
She put the diamond down on the counter to try to bend the earth around her feet. Big mistake. Suddenly, someone was shoving her hands into a pair of handcuff. Jinora began to panic, and continued to do so when she heard the voice that rang through her nightmares whispered in her ear.
"Young lady, you're under arrest." Lin Beifong, chief of police said from behind her. Jinora stared up at the ceiling, knowing she was trapped. Shit.
Lin threw the girl into the back of her satomobile. She couldn't have been more than seventeen, and yet here she was, about to serve some serious time for robbery. Lin sighed. This girl had potential as an earthbender, and she chose to waste her time running errands for a street gang. Lin had to admire the girl's independence. Rather than duck her head in shame or cower in the face of Lin's formidable glare, the girl stared head on at Lin, looking perturbed. As if Lin had interrupted something important and getting arrested was a minor inconvenience.
"What's your name, girl?" Lin asked brusquely. Something about this girl had invoked Lin's practically nonexistent motherly feelings and she felt the urge to watch out for this girl, make sure she got an earthbending teacher and out of trouble.
"I have the right to remain silent," Jinora lobbed back, and Lin immediately regretting reaching out to her prisoner. This girl was nothing but sassy.
"For the love of..." Lin muttered, "Just tell me your damn name!" she snapped, already sick of the girl's behavior. All she wanted was a quality evening with her son, who she rarely saw. Her job took up the rest of her evenings. Couldn't she have this one?
The girl in the backseat stuck her tongue out at the Chief's back before grumbling, "Jinora."
Lin rolled her eyes. "Well, Jinora, I hope you have someone that loves you very much willing to bail you out of prison in the morning. And I'd put that tongue back in your mouth from now on."
Jinora carefully made sure that her face did not betray her surprise. "Don't worry, Chief. He's not going to love me very much once he finds out I'm in prison again."
Bolin looked up from his (rather large) dinner of noodles to see his mother ushering a criminal into one of the cells. The cell she was leading them into was specific for earthbenders; the floor and bars were made of wood with rubber screws. The prisoner was wearing a large hat over a head of shaggy brown hair, and so slim that Bolin couldn't tell if they were male or female.
Then she turned around, and Bolin couldn't believe he had ever considered that she might be a boy. She was beautiful, but not way that was immediately noticeable. Bolin could have passed her on the streets without even looking up. It was her brown eyes that made her so beautiful. They shined with intelligence with something else lingering under the surface(fear?), while her mouth was pulled into an amused smirk.
Lin practically tossed the girl into the cell. "Name's Jinora. Thinks she's clever. Already got a record. I'm going to look up her file now." Lin had just turned on her heel when her radio buzzed for the second time last night. She muttered a curse under her breath before answering.
"This better be important."
"Chief, the Equalist uprising is getting more out of hand than we thought. Someone's dressed up as Amon, and they're rallying the people..." Chief Beifong swore again, this time considerably louder.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," Lin said into the radio. "Bolin, can you keep an eye on this miscreant for the night?" Bolin nodded solemnly. He was well aware of his mother's duty to Republic City, although he preferred to stay out of the fray. And if he had to stay with this gorgeous earthbender, well, he'd had worse nights...
Jinora rolled her eyes. Did he really think she hadn't noticed him giving her an eyeball? Although, if she was being honest with herself, he was pretty attractive himself. She got the feeling he would have been better looking with hair. Still, she was meeting one of the five airbenders in the entire world, and that was cool.
A few minutes after Chief Beifong left, Jinora spoke up. "How's it going Cue Ball?" she asked, sniggering at his disapproving expression.
"My name," he said huffily, "is Bolin. And I'm bald to showcase my airbending tattoos, which were no picnic to get, I'll have you know."
"No. Duh." Jinora enunciated slowly. "I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am. Even though I grew up on the streets, I'm not completely uneducated. My brother taught me the basic stuff, and I can read, you know."
Bolin stood there, mouth gaping. "You grew up...on the streets?" He couldn't imagine life without his parents. His father was also his Master, and even though he didn't see his mother very often, Bolin knew that the police chief would always be there when he needed her.
Jinora glared at Bolin. "I don't need your pity, airbender. I can take care of myself. I don't even need Mako's help, once I join Triple Threat." She nearly clasped her hand over her mouth. Why on earth had she told him that?
Raising his eyebrows at this new information, Bolin leaned forward. "Why are you so afraid of letting other people help you?"
Jinora started, then bristled. "I'm not afraid."
Bolin laughed bitterly. "Bullshit."
The jail was quiet for a while.
"...so then I said, 'If I wanted to kiss a street rat, I'd grab a mirror. Then at least they'd be attractive!'" Jinora said, slurping up her own bowl of noodles. Bolin roared with laughter at her description of her romantic escapades, if you could call them that.
"Jeez, Jinora. You remind me of this girl I know, Korra. She's, well, she's the Avatar." Bolin grinned wistfully. Jinora stiffened.
"Is she your girlfriend?" Jinora asked, trying to keep the cold creep of jealousy out of her voice. They'd been talking for hours, and he hadn't mentioned a girlfriend. And despite the bars between, she could have sworn they'd been flirting.
Bolin just laughed harder. "Korra? No, no. We had a...thing once, but that was years ago. It didn't work out, but we're still good friends. We kind of have to be, because neither of us can really leave Air Temple Island, at least not for a while. It's kind of the only place for airbenders to train, as of now."
Jinora returned to her comfortable slump. "She dumped you hard, then."
Bolin didn't even hesitate. "Cried like a baby for weeks, if you must know."
Jinora winked at him and tipped her hat. It was kind of weird how easily their budding relationship was coming along. The first half hour of her imprisonment had been pretty quiet, other than Bolin chewing. She had finally cracked when she heard his chopsticks scraping the bottom of the bowl.
"You gonna share those? I know you have enough for two." The sound of wood hitting porcelain had stopped. Great, he was listening.
"How do I know that you're not going to pick the lock with a noodle or something?" Bolin called, only half joking. She had been busted for robbery, spirits only knew what she was capable of.
"Come down here and keep an eye on me, then. We both know you want to," Jinora called back coyly. Sputtering, Bolin had brought the food so that it could be passed through the bars. The conversation had been awkward at first, but once they started joking around, it began to flow more naturally.
"Why? You interested?" Bolin said suddenly.
"Huh?" Jinora replied eloquently. "Sorry, I was thinking. Interested in what?"
"Being my girlfriend," Bolin said in a hushed voice.
The beat of silence before Jinora responded was just a bit too long.
"No, you wish!" Jinora nearly shouted. She wished she could muster up a snort, but it seemed too fake.
"Yeah, you're way too young for me anyway," Bolin said, sounding rather unconvinced. "What are you, fourteen?" He began to get up.
"Sixteen," Jinora mumbled.
"What?" Bolin asked, turning around. He sat back down.
"I'm sixteen," Jinora said, a little louder. She noticed that Bolin was scooting closer to her and made no motion to back away from him.
"Oh," Bolin said, and then his lips were on hers. Jinora had never been kissed before, and the bars certainly did not improve the experience. She made a show of not knowing where to put her hands, finally deciding to rest them in fists behind Bolin's head.
As kisses went, it wasn't perfect.
"I'm twenty two. Still too old for you." Bolin said in a dazed monotone.
But it was good enough to go back for more.
"Oh," Jinora repeated, and this time it was she who leaned in first. She was a bit more aggressive and pulled his face in this time. They continued in that vein for ten minutes, trying to find the most comfortable way around the bars before Bolin straightened up.
"I have to go to the bathroom. But I'll be right back," he said, blushing a bright pink. Jinora giggled. "Stay here."
"I'm in a cell! Where would I go?" Jinora yelled as he walked away. Chuckling to herself, she pulled the key she had picked from Bolin's pocket and opened the cell door as quietly as she could. She started to dart away before catching sight of their empty noodle bowls on the floor. Sighing, she grabbed a pen off of Chief Beifong's desk and scratched out a quick note before scampering off into the night.
"Jinora!" Bolin sang out boisterously as he exited the bathroom. His jaw dropped when he saw the swinging wooden cell door. His hand went for the key that should have been in his pocket and clutched at air. How could he have forgotten she was a thief? He slumped down to the floor in front of it and was about to chuck his noodle bowl at the wall when he noticed a small, slightly damp piece of paper sitting in it.
Bolin,
I won't tell your dear mummy that you kissed a convict if you tell her my brother bailed me out.
Jinora
P.S. If you want to do this again sometime, I'll be scoping out Crystal City again tomorrow.
Bolin knew he should be more upset, but he couldn't help but grin. She wanted to see him again! His father would worry that Bolin was making the exact same mistake he had; falling for an aloof and headstrong earthbender, but for the first time in his life, Bolin found that he really didn't care about his father's opinion.
And so Bolin began composing a letter of his own.
Father,
I think I'm going to spend some more time in Republic City with Mother. You have Pema, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan, while she's all alone here. I also think that I should observe the peoples of Republic City if I am to take your seat on the council one day.
Bolin
That'd do. That'd do just fine.