Forbidden Flame

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Legend of Korra or any of its characters. This is fanfiction is purely that: fiction of a copyrighted series (namely: The Legend of Korra) written by a fan (namely: me). That being said, I do own the plotline of this fanfiction and any original characters that might or might not appear in future chapters.

Chapter 1

It happened in an instant and quite unexpectedly. Before his inopportune crush on General Iroh, Bolin had always, always fallen for girls. The earthender had never afore fallen for another man, and he had certainly never expected to, never even considered it a possibility. But then, that fateful day had come to pass and brought Bolin's reality crashing down around him.

Even after the Equalists had been disbanded and Korra regained her bending, Iroh and Bolin were never really all that close. They would eat together whenever everyone gathered for dinner at Air Temple Island, and they would run into each other every so often while doing their respective jobs during Republic City's reconstruction. But they never became much more than acquaintances. Still, they had fought battles together, been captured together, and been in hiding together with very few other people. That gave the two benders some kind of obscure yet strong connection to each other and a sturdy foundation for possible future growth.

And it was that connection that had allowed a single, simple comment to bother Bolin more than he ever thought possible. Before General Iroh's rather expected inquiry in that Equalist prison cell, Bolin had never been truly concerned by his lack of ability to metalbend. But then General Iroh came along in all his army-commanding, fire-flying, lightning-producing, bomb-punching glory, and the young earthbender started to be bothered by his, in comparison, rather average talents. Even Asami seemed cooler than him, and she couldn't even bend. After meeting Iroh, he had felt this insatiable need to be more than just the comic relief of Team Avatar. So, he decided to learn how to metalbend.

When he suddenly showed up at Lin Bei Fong's door one morning, she wasn't exactly pleased to see him. However, after talking with him for a bit, she was impressed by his determination and his drive. So, she assigned on of her top metalbenders to be his trainer. Bolin's progress was rather slow, but he never gave up, and his effort always eventually paid off. He was far from perfect, but Bolin did manage to learn the basics of metalbending. He could only get better from there.

After he had the basics down, he was given permission to use the practice area on his own. It was there, on a day several months after Amon disappeared and peace had been mostly restored, that Bolin's world was rather effectively kicked off its axis and realigned in an extremely disturbing way.

Bolin had been practicing all morning, trying, with his usual lack of success, to get some metalbending wires to pick up a rock and throw it. The general had just so happened to be passing through when the earthbender finally succeeded in bending the stubborn metal wires to lift a decent-sized rock and chuck it across the room. As the rock shattered against the wall next to Iroh, who sported his usual stern expression, the wires floating around Bolin dropped as all his focus was instantly concentrated on the general.

"So, the rumors are true," Iroh mused as he walked closer to Bolin. "You really did start to learn metalbending. I'm impressed."

"Yeah, well," the earthbender said in an annoyed tone as he shrugged his shoulders, recalling his initial ire with the general that had been part of the reason that caused him to try and learn in the first place. "After that oh so encouraging comment in the Equalist prison cell, I was really annoyed and decided to prove that I could do it."

"That's what motivated you to learn metalbending?" Iroh asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You got a problem with that?" Bolin asked with a fake huff as he turned away and crossed his arms. He wasn't truly annoyed with the general, not anymore, but he'd rather show Iroh fake annoyance than the blush that had made its way across his face as he realized that he had basically confessed to thinking a great deal about the general - his words, his actions, and his thoughts. If the earthbender were a girl, that could easily be taken the wrong way.

"On the contrary, I'm rather pleased," Iroh said as he placed a hand on Bolin's shoulder, startling the earthbender a bit. "I am glad my words have motivated you to improve. We need more benders with skills and determination like yours."

"Oh…thanks," Bolin replied as he turned back around to look Iroh in the eyes. It was only polite, after all, given the nature of the general's comments. And now, his blush could easily be explained away by not being used to such genuine compliments. But the general either didn't notice or didn't ask about the blush.

"Keep up the good work Bolin," Iroh said with an encouraging tone and a very small smile before bidding the earhbender goodbye and heading back to whatever general business he had to take care of.

It was that smile that had done Bolin in. Just a few moments of seeing that stern face just slightly relaxed into a soft smile had every emotion Bolin ever felt for Iroh taking off in frenzied flight inside of him. Twisting, turning, and melding into that strange connection they had until it transformed into something new. The strength of force of the feeling and revelation left the earthbender reeling and so weak in the knees that he fell to the ground.

Bolin couldn't believe it, but he knew without a doubt that he had just fallen in love with the general. And he couldn't have been more horrified. Once again, the earthbender had fallen for someone way out of his league. Someone who would never return his feelings. Someone he couldn't even think about dating. When was his heart going to learn?

First of all, relationships between same sex couples were pretty much the most frowned upon social taboo where romantic relations were concerned. Before the Fire Nation had lost the Hundred Year War, being in love with someone of the same sex had been completely illegal and a crime punishable by death. One didn't even have to be in a relationship, just having one's feelings exposed could get them executed. When Avatar Aang and his friends took power, those laws had been among the first to be abolished, but even though they could eradicate the laws, they couldn't change people's opinions. So, loving someone of the same sex was still pretty much considered forbidden.

Not to mention, Iroh was the general of an army and the son of freaking royalty. The Fire Nation was still very much in love with their ruling family. Even if he was a girl, Bolin highly doubted thy would approve of Iroh, a prince, being with an orphaned earthbender whose only claims to fame were 2nd place in a regional pro-bending tournament and friendship with the avatar.

Even forgetting what every other person in the world thought, there was still the problem of General Iroh himself. Stiff and serious, always polite but rarely friendly, Iroh wouldn't ever return Bolin's feelings. Forget romantic intentions, the earthbender doubted that the general even considered them to be friends.

Groaning in frustration, Bolin buried his face in his hands and quickly decided that he definitely needed help to deal with this. Lots and lots of help.

A few hours of serious contemplation later, Bolin was riding Naga over to Air Temple Island. He had sent Pabu with a note to Korra asking to borrow her polarbear dog, and mere minutes later, Naga had appeared, swimming at a leisurely pace toward the earthbender. She stopped in front of him, and Bolin had jumped on, directing Naga to go back the way she came.

The reason Bolin was headed to Air Temple Island was to ask Korra for advice. Normally, the earthbender would have asked his brother for relationship advice, but there was no telling how Mako would react to him liking a guy. Bolin had thought and thought about everyone he knew, trying to figure out who would be able to give him serious advice and accept that he had feelings for Iroh. Of everyone, Korra and Asami seemed like the two to who could be most readily understanding of his feelings. Girls were good at stuff like that. And of the two, Korra was way more boyish; it was one of the reasons she got along so well with Bolin. So, that's who he was headed to for advice.

When he got to Air Temple Island, however, Bolin was greeted with a lot more than he had expected. Apparently, he had missed the "today is a girl's day" memo. Because Asami, Korra, Jinora, Ikki, and even Pema were just sitting in a circle, talking and whatnot, and he was pretty sure that they'd been there for a while. More than a little daunted by seeing them all, Bolin still slowly approached their circle while praying to every past avatar in existence that he would somehow be able to get Korra alone before Ikki had him spilling his guts to them all.

Pema was the first to notice him, and she welcomed him with a warm smile. "Hello, Bolin. Is there something you need?"

"Well, yes, actually, I…" Bolin could only stutter out a few words before his courage failed him, and he was reduced to glancing at Korra and the ground. Then to Korra. Then to the ground. Then to Korra. Then to the ground.

"Seriously, what's up Bolin?" Korra asked, getting up and punching the earthbender playfully on the arm. "I thought you wanted to borrow Naga for something."

"About that," Bolin commented as he twiddled his thumbs. "I wanted to borrow Naga to come here."

"Huh?" Korra said, confusion plain on her face.

"To talk to you," Bolin continued on as a dark blush spread across his face when he thought about why he wanted to talk to her.

"Oh Bolin," Asami spoke up in a kind yet admonishing voice. "Korra's with Mako now. They have been together for months."

"Yeah, I know that," the earthbender responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world, but the girl's statement still caused him confusion. "What does that have to do with any…oh! No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I've been over Korra for months."

"Then what…" Korra began to ask, but she was interrupted by Ikki who had started to sing.

"Bolin likes Korra! Bolin likes Korra! Bolin likes Korra! Bolin likes Korra! Bolin likes Korra!'

"I DO NOT LIKE KORRA!" The earthbender shouted as he started chasing after the little girl who was riding around on her most recently bended Air Sphere. A few minutes of fruitless chasing ensued until Bolin realized what he had said and turned back to Korra with an apologetic expression. "I mean, not like that. I still like you, platonically. You're a great friend and all."

"Yeah, I got that," Korra replied with a smile.

"Bolin and Korra sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!'

Pema's exasperated comment of, "Ikki, stop that!" was easily drowned out by Bolin's roar of, "I DO NOT WANT TO TO KISS KORRA BECAUSE SHE ISN'T…"

And while a collective silence of shock fell over them, Bolin would be forever grateful for his own hand getting a mind of its own and clamping over his mouth before the name that he was about to shout slipped out. The shocked silence reigned for several moments before Pema recovered herself and stood up. Pulling Ikki into her arms, she called for Jinora to come along and said, "We'll just be going now. Good luck Bolin."

So, you're having girl problems, huh?" Korra asked as the three females of the airbending family left. "You should have just said so." Of course, that statement was followed by another friendly punch on the arm…in the exact same spot as before. Bolin had to hold back a flinch; the girl was stronger than she sometimes realized.

"Yes, we would be glad to help you," Asami commented.

"Thanks," the earthbender said as he sat down on the grass, followed quickly by Korra. "So, there's this person I like, but well, I'm almost entirely positive that it would never work out."

"Don't talk like that!" Asami said. "Any girl would be lucky to go out with you. You're sweet, kind, funny…"

"Not to mention a famous pro-bender!' Korra exclaimed, jumping in out of nowhere. "At least, before pro-bending was suspended for a season. But seriously Bolin, you're an awesome guy. I regret leading you on, but that date was some of the most fun I've ever had in one night."

"Thanks you two," Bolin replied, blushing at the compliments. "But…"

"No buts!" Korra cried. "You're going to get that girl, and we're going to help you! Now, tell us who she is so we can start planning!"

"Yes, Bolin," Asami said. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"You see, that's the problem…" Bolin said a bit hesitantly, his courage starting to fail him as he wondered, not for the first time, if maybe he should just keep his feelings to himself for the rest of forever.

But that option was taken away from him when Korra's confused, "Huh?" was heard simultaneously with Asami's understanding, "Oh."

"Yeah," Bolin said looking down.

"That is a problem," Asami said thoughtfully as her eyebrows squinched up in concentration.

"What's the problem?" Korra asked, still confused and not at all understanding why her female best friend was suddenly looking at her male best friend with eyes full of pity. Wanting an answer, the avatar just stared and stared at Bolin while he twitched in nervousness and silently begged Asami to make the revelation with a somewhat panicked expression and extremely pleading eyes.

"It's not a girl," Asami said after several tense minutes, but Korra still looked a bit confused. "The person Bolin has fallen for is not a girl."

"Oh," Korra responded. "Ooooh. Wait! Huh? What? How? Why are you not surprised by this?" And as the girl rudely jabbed a finger at Asami, Bolin was exceedingly glad the avatar's attention had yet to return to him. He wasn't ready for her questions yet.

"Because it makes sense," Asami replied. "If you think about it logically. Bolin isn't an incredibly shy person, and he's already been rejected by you. Korra, you're the avatar. After that, he wouldn't be so nervous about asking out a normal girl. It just took me a while to figure it out. It is rather unexpected."

"I see," Korra said as she turned her attention back to Bolin. "Well, I can see why you came to us. We would know more about asking guys out than you. So, who's the lucky dude?"

Both Asami and Bolin were taken aback by Korra's complete lack of anything remotely resembling apprehension until they remembered that she had lived a very sheltered life. To Korra, Bolin's interest in someone of the same sex would just be a bit odd; she wouldn't understand how forbidden such feelings were considered. After all, such prejudice has to be learned; it's not a natural thing. And as Asami once again took the role of educator, Bolin fought the overwhelming urge to run away, verbally hearing so much of his own distressing knowledge issuing forth from Asami's mouth. He wanted to pretend none of this had ever happened, but he also really needed their help.

"Now that's just stupid," Korra exclaimed after Asami finished her explanation. "Why should what body parts they have matter if they love each other? We have soul mates! Not…not…not body mates! What's wrong with people? Souls don't have gender, if they did, I couldn't be a girl!"

Smiling in amusement at Korra's reaction, Asami shifted closer to the earthebnder and said, "I feel the same way as Korra. Your feelings for another man do not change my perception of you, Bolin. Or if anything, it makes me se you as a much braver person. It took courage to tell us this. Thank you for trusting us."

"Thank you for understanding," Bolin said as he quickly hugged both of them, so incredibly touched by their words. But, he still felt like he was in deep shit, and it was rather obvious in his expression. "But what am I going to do?"

"That depends on whether you want to give up," Asami said. "Or if you think that pursuing a relationship with this man is worth risking having him and possibly most of the world hate you."

"He's totally not worth it if he would hate Bolin for loving him!" Korra shouted, still upset over the forbidden thing. Flinching at her volume, the earthbender looked around nervously to see if anyone had heard. Sighing in relief when he saw that they were still alone, he asked Korra to calm down so as to not broadcast his feelings to the world. Her reply was a sheepish, apologetic smile.

"And he's so totally worth it," Bolin said with a groan as he thought about his beloved general. Iroh was fully and completely worth the risk, but it was hopeless, doomed to fail. He would never return the earthbender's feelings. And as Bolin cursed himself for thinking about all the reasons they would never work…again, tears started falling from his eyes.

Startled by the sudden tears, both girls jumped toward their friend and pulled him into a hug. As Asami whispered comforting words, Korra said, "Don't worry Bolin, we'll help you. Just tell us who he is, and we'll get you your man."

Dread washed through Bolin when she said this, and his throat seized up. He wasn't ready to tell them, not so soon after realizing his emotions. Honestly, he had come here hoping they could talk him into not doing anything at all, but they were so supportive, and his heart hoped for so much more than his brain knew was possible. But he'd already come this far. And most of all, it hurt so much to keep it in. Just a few hours of knowing, and the earthbender already felt like he was going to explode from everything he was feeling. So, he fought to force out the two syllables in a barely audible whisper, "Iroh."

A/N: Hello my fellow Legend of Korra and Broh fans! I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter of Forbidden Flame. This was supposed to be a one-shot, but my brain once again decided to create a multi-chaptered fic. The plotline is twisting and turning in my head into something far more complicated than I ever planned, but I'm starting to get used to that. So, if you enjoyed this chapter, look forward to a lot more.

Also, I would really love for someone to seriously critique my work. It doesn't have to stop at constructive criticism. I'd love for someone to really pick apart my work and tell me every little thing they hated, what needs to be improved, and what parts of my writing they liked best. Believe me when I say I love all reviews, and it's really nice to know people appreciate my work. However, I'm a far cry from being perfect, and there's always room to improve. Also, if I can get better, I can give better fan fiction to my readers. Anyway, thanks again for reading this fan fiction and hopefully you seriously considered my request.