Dear Uncle Sokka

I'm scared. Something very bad has happened and mummy won't understand; she'll think I'm evil. I can't tell you what happened right now because it's so bad that if anyone else reads this and finds out they'll hunt me down. Please when you get back from Kyoshi Island can you come and talk to me as soon as you can? What has happened is very awful and I need to talk to you because you always make me feel better when I'm sad. Please come soon. I don't know what to do.

Love, Lin

'Hey, Bolin.' Water splashed onto his face and Bolin jerked awake, spluttering. Korra was standing over him, grinning, and Mako was hovering behind her looking worried.

'What did you just do? Korra? What happened?' He looked around the room. 'And how did we get to Air Temple Island?'

The window was open, blowing a light breeze in, and through the semi-darkness Bolin could just catch a glimpse of Avatar Aang's statue on Memorial Island. 'What the hell was going on back in the training room?'

'Some guys called Tinuay and Yonsen told me that you lavabent and Lin hit you too hard with a rock in self-defence because the only way she could block you was to stop your bending.' Korra said. 'Seemed weird to me, though. Lin had a complete breakdown and was just sitting there hitting her head against the wall pretty hard over and over again. Guilty, I guess. Anyway, your bone was all urgh and sticking out and stuff so Mako called Tenzin and Tenzin brought Oogi so here we are. Oh, and I fixed your arm.'

Bolin looked down at his arm to find it wrapped in bandages. A small amount of blood seeped through the clean white linen but other than that, the pain was almost gone.

'Seems like you did a pretty neat job. What did you say about Lin having a breakdown?'

'She's in one of the other rooms now. Tenzin's talking to her and Asami convinced her on the way here that she should take tomorrow off work. I know that it was a pretty bad break, but spirits she looks like she's just killed someone. It's not like your arm is even going to scar.'

The night had not yet fully enveloped the sky in its shadowy arms so Bolin could tell he had only been unconscious for a few hours. He frowned, trying to make sense of it. How did he not see the rock Lin threw his way to stop him lavabending? How could he have been such an idiot as to lavabend? And how did Lin Beifong misjudge the strength of her throw? It confused him.

'You okay, Bro?' Mako asked concernedly. 'You look a bit… out of it.'

'I've just been knocked unconscious by the Beifong Training method.' Bolin attempted to joke. 'How do you expect me to look?'

The bamboo panels at the end of the room slid open and Lin trudged in. Her hair was a mess, her skin still had the greyish colour it had when Bolin had last seen her and her eyes looked less like jewels and more like murky swampwater. The Lin Beifong Korra knew would definitely have told them all to stop staring. Instead, she just sat down heavily in a chair. Without her uniform she looked smaller, too, and much less intimidating.

'We'll just… ahem. I think Pema might need help with the tea.' Mako excused himself. 'Korra, wanna come?'

'Sure…' Korra glanced back at Lin before practically jogging out of the room.

There was silence for a few minutes and Bolin took the opportunity to examine Lin carefully. Maybe she was angry with him.

'Kid.' Lin said eventually.

'Please don't say you'll stop teaching me.'

'If I do, it isn't because of you.' Lin murmured, seemingly far away in her own thoughts.

'What?'

'N-nothing.' Lin said quickly. 'I just want to say sorry about the arm. It would seem I was unprepared for your lavabending.'

'It's kind of my fault too, I should never have-'

'Bolin, name me all the sub-skills of earthbending.' This was so unexpected that Bolin just stared.

'You know.' Lin said impatiently. 'Metal, the rest.'

'Oh. Okay.' Bolin proceeded cautiously, having no idea that it mattered. 'Well there's earth, metal, sandbending, lavabending,' –here he grinned proudly– 'I guess you could say mudbending… space-earth bending doesn't really count, does it? Seismic sense I suppose. And I think that that's it. Why?'

Lin exhaled sharply and had Bolin actually known how to use seismic sense he would have felt Lin's heartbeat increase ever so slightly. 'No reason, really. I – I get awkward in apology-related situations.'

'Right…' Bolin said. 'So… how did you break my arm? I didn't see the rock.'

Immediately he knew that this was exactly the wrong thing to say. Lin's face twisted, turning even paler and her eyes shone strangely, glassily, in the way they would if someone were about to cry. He was going to apologise but her answer stopped him.

'No. You wouldn't have seen the rock.' Her voice was distant again, detached, and she stared right at him without seeing him. Suddenly she shook her head. 'It's an earthbending technique I developed where you bend from the ground directly where the person is standing giving them no time to react to your blow or even notice it coming I wouldn't have done it if you weren't lavabending and even then it was an accident I'm sorry.' Now her voice was lifeless, monotone. There was less emotion in it than the screeching of the cogs on a rusty mecha tank and it unnerved Bolin.

'Forgive me.' Lin said abruptly in the same voice, and she lurched out of the room. Bolin had expected Korra and Mako to be listening outside the door but it appeared they had really gone to help Pema, probably at the lure of free fruit tart tasting. He looked up at the ceiling, thinking about Opal. And why Lin was being so strange.

Then, from outside, he heard a sob. It was distant but from years on the streets he could boast to anyone that his hearing was extremely good. The crash of waves against rock had ceased for a moment so in the quiet the sound of crying was just audible. There was no question over what he was going to do; Bolin eased himself onto the floorboards without making them creak and lightly sprung out of the window, wincing slightly as he put pressure on his recently-healed arm.

He landed like a leaf on the wooden roof overshadowing the ground. He crept along, almost slithering over the smooth, rounded tiles. Around the corner of the temple he could see a softly glowing light and as he drew nearer the sound of someone talking through tears increased. He leapt nimbly into a tree just where the roof ended and crouched low.

Kya was sitting on the pavilion made of hexagonal stones with her arm around Lin, who was curled up, shoulders shaking and making no attempt to brush Kya's comforting hand off. In her hand she held a scrunched-up piece of paper. Bolin grimaced when the thought of what he was doing occurred to him. By all technicalities he was eavesdropping on a clearly private conversation. But he thought that if Lin hadn't told him the whole truth, he deserved to know it. It was his arm that had been broken, after all.

'Lin.' Kya whispered, pulling Lin closer into a hug. 'It's fine. You hired every person in that room partly based on the loyalty they showed you. None of them will betray you.'

Lin shook her head frantically. 'What is it?' said Kya. 'Is there anyone who you don't trust?'

Lin shook her head again, sniffed and moaned quietly. 'How can I keep doing this?'

'You don't need to.' Kya calmed her. 'At least, not alone. We'll all do everything we can. You've always known that, Lin. Even when stuff got really bad with Tenzin, we've always done our best to help with this.'

'It's like a curse.' Lin gasped. 'I'm always so afraid – I don't know how to not do it – I'm always so scared that we'll be fighting some triads and one of them will attack me and then suddenly-suddenly the secret is over, and everything's over.'

'Nothing's over Lin. Secrets can be kept. We've kept this secret, your secret, ever since that first day… and no one who would use it to harm you will ever know.'

'But today – that's over twenty officers who found out. Someone could torture the information out of them – and I feel so guilty about what I did to that boy. I should have explained, I should have told him the truth. Oh, Kya.' Lin leant against the older woman.

'What happened to Bolin wasn't directly your fault. You would've avoided it if you possibly could have.'

'But what if it wasn't his arm? What if it was his back… or his neck? When I did it, and he went backwards out the ring, I could see it so clearly for a moment, I could see that time was happening all over again.'

'Ssh, Lin.' Kya murmured. 'It won't happen again. He was lavabending, and your instincts kicked in.'

'My instincts are worse than Sokka's.' Lin gave a muffled laugh. 'I could have gotten out of the way in time. I can't keep this up. Someday, my luck will run out and I'll end up killing someone I love again.' The laughter disappeared as quickly as it came and Lin raised her head for the first time to look at Kya. In the lamplight, Bolin could see the tears streaming down her face and the expression of utter misery that she wore was thrown into sharp reality by the stark shadows.

'Lin…' Kya couldn't think of a response. What do you say to something like that? 'Oh, Lin. Katara understood, everyone did, that it wasn't your fault.'

'But I didn't understand. I didn't forgive myself. I never will. How long do I have to do this before it gets out?' Lin took a deep, shuddering breath and Bolin leaned closer in spite of the sick feeling in his stomach at what he was doing.

'Before someone finds out that I'm a bonebender?'

Dear Lin

I'll come as soon as I can. I should be here in a couple of days so just hang in there, kiddo, okay? I'll work on some really good boomerang jokes to tell you so that the bad thing you say has happened won't seem so frightening anymore. I'm sure I can make you feel better with some stories. Maybe I'll get here before this letter does and then we can laugh at it together!

Loads of love, your uncle Sokka

PS: I'm sure Toph won't ever think you're evil.

PPS: Suki sends her love too.

PPPS: I love you kiddo. I'm glad that you think I can help you.

Lin stared at the scrunched piece of paper, yellow with time. Tears fell thick on the old ink, and her hands shook enough to tear the paper apart.