A/N: And here is chapter four. thank you my darlings for faving, following and even reviewing this story. See that just makes me smiled like crazy. I hope you have all enjoyed the story thus far, I may have to slow down a bit on the updates, I plan on watching "The Spirit of Competition" and "And the Winner is..." again on Saturday in hopes of refreshing my memory on the happenings of this point in the story. I may update before then, it all depends on if I get stuck or not. I hope you enjoy this chapter, as well as the new picture that accompanies this story. I actually drew that^^ I edited it in MS paint after scanning my sketch into my computer. Let me know what you all think. Lots of love and leave reviews! OH! BTW over 102 visitors in 4 days. I feel like that is a bit of a win.. What do you think?
Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra, otherwise Bolin would be my cuddle buddy and Pabu would be my newest pet. *SQUEEE* They are both adorable! *coughs* Oh, enjoy!
Chapter Four
A Rift Between The Teammates
Kanna followed her sister through the halls of the arena, today was the start of the Tournament and Korra was pumped. Turning a last corner Korra led Kanna into the Fire Ferret's locker room, Kanna's eyes widened and she blushed, looking down because they had walked in on Bolin pulling on his shirt.
Mumbling a shy hello her face cracked into a smile when Pabu quickly climbed up her clothes and curled around her shoulder's nuzzling her face. "Hello to you too Pabu." She giggled, turning and nuzzling the sweet little thing back.
"Hey Kanna, would you mind watching Pabu during our match? I hate leaving him in here all by himself." Bolin asked, a small smile on his face at how attached the two seemed to each other.
Kanna looked up with a bright smile, nodding her head enthusiastically. "I would love to!" she squealed, Pabu happily chirping his own affirmation.
Korra smiled and shook her head, knowing how much her sister loved that little ferret since meeting him. "Kanna the match is going to start in a few minutes; you better go take your seat."
"Right. Good luck you guys!" she said, quickly turning and hurrying to get to her seat, Pabu's tail and her hair flying behind her.
Mako shook his head, wondering how someone quite so bubbly could be related to Korra, but then again people said the exact same thing about him and Bolin, so who was he to judge?
After five minutes of being completely lost Kanna got her bearings and made it into the crowd. Scooting her way down a row until she was at her seat Kanna smiled as she saw Korra, Bolin and Mako all waving to the crowd from their place in the right.
The match went quicker than expected, Kanna yelling enthusiastically the entire time. When Korra, Bolin and Mako made it back to their locker room Kanna was there, a huge smile on her face. "You guys were AMAZING!" she yelled, bouncing excitedly over to them, Pabu clinging to her shoulder while trying not to fall off.
Korra laughed, knowing that Kanna sometimes got like this when she had too many sweets. "Kanna… how many sweets have you had today?"
Kanna froze mid bounce, staring at her sister with wide eyes. "Uhm…. None?"
Korra rolled her eyes with a small chuckle. "Kanna you can barely stand still. You went past your limit didn't you?"
"…Maybe… but it was soooooo good!" she complained, remembering her delicious treat.
"Uh-huh… no more or we'll have to peel you off the walls." Peeling off her gear Korra turned from her sister to put it away, ending their conversation.
"Fine…" Kanna pouted, sitting down on the floor and hugging Pabu to her chest like a child with a stuffed animal. When Kanna noticed Korra walking over to Mako her ears perked up, wondering what they were talking about, leaning in a bit closer she over heard her sister confessing her feelings for Mako.
Finally! She's been moping about ever since she found out about Asami. Maybe this will change things for the better. But what Kanna heard next made her feel sorry for her sister. Mako told Korra he was with Asami and did not see her in the same way, turning away from her and into Asami's arms as she walked up to him with a smile.
Korra looked at the two dejectedly, a frown on her face as she turned away from the couple.
Before Kanna could go to console her sister Bolin was there asking Korra to have a night out with him. When Korra accepted Kanna stared after the pair's retreating forms in shock as well as annoyance. A quick glance at Mako showed that he was annoyed as well, though he had no right to be when he had turned Korra down. Growling under her breath and setting Pabu down on the ground Kanna left the locker room, stomping to the training room.
She had to do something to let all of this negative energy out before she ended up doing something she'd regret. Going over to the water tank in the room Kanna pulled the water into her bone handle, quickly freezing it into a large and deadly sword then pulling out more water and moving to the center of the room, slowly forming the water into a faceless humanoid shape and freezing it. Getting into the start position she moved through her routine with vicious precision, all the hurt she was feeling pouring out of her body and into her deadly dance.
Lashing out at the ice form she quickly decapitated it, wiping at the tears of frustration that were leaking down her face before melting and reforming it, going through the whole things again. After about the fifth time of destroying the figure Kanna sat down on a bench, her whole body felt numb, but her mind was racing.
Why does everyone always pick my sister? Always the favorite, always the one everyone wants to know, always the perfect person. And now Bolin is just like everyone else, going straight to Korra, not giving her weaker little sister a second thought. Burying her face in her hands Kanna finally gave into the sadness, her sobs muffled by her hands.
While Kanna cried something warm and fuzzy nuzzled its way into her arms, a concerned trill coming from it as it licked at her tears. Kanna wrapped her arms around Pabu and sobbed harder, thankful for the little creature's concern, but with him came thoughts of his owner and her pain came back anew. After another ten minutes Kanna's sobs had quieted to sniffles and hiccups, Pabu still nuzzling her in comfort.
"Why am I always over looked?" she asked the little ferret, her voice hoarse from crying. Standing up Kanna put everything back as it should be and left, Pabu still cuddled up in her arms.
Mako saw Kanna's retreating back and frowned, what had she been doing in the practice room? Running to catch up with her Mako was surprised by the sad look on her face, a bit of concern leaking through his normally broody mask. "Hey what's the matter.?"
Kanna held Pabu close and shook her head, turning to leave. "Nothing's wrong." She mumbled, trying to quickly get away from him, her over emotional mind screaming that this was his fault.
Mako grabber her shoulders and turned her around, glaring into her eyes. "Look it's obvious there is something wrong so why don't you just tell me?"
Kanna looked up from Pabu and glared, why couldn't he just let her go so she could get her emotions back under control? When she was like this there is no telling what could happen. "I told you it's nothing. Just leave me alone Mako." She quickly turned and hurried away from him, turning so many corners that she found herself lost. But even if she was lost, Mako wasn't.
"Kanna, look I think I know what this is about. You like my brother don't you?"
Kanna looked up at him in shock, her mouth hanging open slightly. "Wha- what makes you think that?"
"Well I saw your face when Bolin and Korra left, and seeing your face now… well I just put two and two together." Mako said with a shrug.
Narrowing her eyes at him Kanna turned and was about to stomp off, not wanting to talk to him about this, but she couldn't resist firing back at him. "Well I saw your face too. Don't go messing with my sister's heart Mako, she's not some toy you can play with whenever you want then drop when something else catches your eye." Turning to face him again she narrowed her eyes, her face full of seriousness. "You hurt her and we're going to have a problem." Turning back around Kanna walked off, her back straight and her head held high.
The next day Kanna and Korra walked to the arena in silence, Korra was completely confused by this since normally Kanna was extremely talkative. When Kanna saw Mako waiting outside of the front entrance she quickly hurried past him, leaving her sister to talk to him while she took her seat in the stands.
When the match began Kanna noticed that things seemed off between the teammates, Bolin having to pick up the slack since Korra and Mako seemed very out of since with each other. After nearly losing the match to the Boar-q-pines Korra and Mako went in separate directions, leaving behind a very confused Bolin and a curious Kanna. Wonder what's gotten into those two… must have had a fight outside the arena, but why…? Shaking her head Kanna left the arena and abiding by her growling stomach went to her favorite place to eat.
The atmosphere in Narook's was calm and peaceful as Kanna sipped at her tea, the cups warming her hands pleasantly. She was greatly surprised when Bolin came in and ordered as many bowls as the waitress could carry, tears streaming down his face and his nose all snotty. "Bolin?" Kanna asked, wondering what had happened to him.
When Bolin saw Kanna he cried harder, nearly throwing himself into her arms and crying into her shoulder.
Through his sobs Kanna gathered that he had bought flowers and when he went to give them to her sister he had seen Korra and Mako kissing. Rubbing Bolin's heaving shoulders Kanna comforted him as best she could, offering up a handkerchief for Bolin to blow his nose with.
When the bowls of noodles he ordered arrived Bolin proceeded to drown his sorrows in food, barely stopping to breath.
Kanna continued comforting Bolin, and while he wasn't crying as much anymore, he was starting to look sick from all the seaweed noodles he had eaten. "Bolin… I think you should stop while you're ahead sweetie. You keep that up and you're going to make yourself sick."
"Who cares? My brother betrays me, your sister is in love with my brother, nothing in my life is fair!" Bolin said around a mouthful of noodles, his voice heavily laced with misery.
On impulse Kanna pulled Bolin into a hug, holding him to her like she would a crying child and stroking his hair lightly. "You can't let this break you sweetie. I know it hurts to see the person you care about love another… but you can't beat yourself up over something you have no control over Bolin. You are an amazing guy, my sister just… she just isn't the girl for you. Don't let this break you Bolin… I hate seeing you so hurt…"
Bolin sniffled, looking up into her icy blue eyes, instead of seeing the similarities between her and her sister, he saw all the things that made her different, that made her such a sweet and kind person. "Kanna… thank you…" Bolin mumbled, burying his face in her hair, allowing himself to start to calm down.
Kanna smiled, running her fingers lightly through Bolin's hair and humming the song they had danced to at the Gala. Looking towards the entrance of the shop Kanna saw Mako and frowned. "Bolin, your brother is here…" she whispered.
Bolin stiffened, looking toward where Mako was talking with Narook, the shop's owner and namesake.
"I'll stay if you want me to Bolin, you don't have to deal with this alone." Kanna said holding onto his hand, her eyes showing her concern for him.
Shaking his head Bolin sighed dejectedly, laying his head on the table. "No Kanna, I can handle my brother… Thanks though."
Nodding Kanna got up, kissing the top of Bolin's head before making her way out past a very confused Mako.
When Kanna finally reached Air Temple Island she went to where she knew Korra would be, her eyes shooting fire. "What the hell is wrong with you Korra!? How could you play with Bolin's feelings like that!?" she growled, her anger making her seem bigger than normal.
"It's not like I did it on purpose Kanna! How was I supposed to know he would be there?" Korra said, wishing Bolin hadn't shown up when he did.
"Even if he hadn't seen you and Mako kiss he still would have ended up hurt. The guy is basically head over heels for you and you're too blinded by Mako to see it!" Kanna growl, getting face to face with her sister. "Get your head out of your ass and look around you Korra! You hurt one of your friends tonight, I saw how torn up Bolin was. He cried for over an hour and tried drowning himself in seaweed noodles. He was just starting to calm down when Mako showed up and Bolin closed himself off."
"How- how do you know all of this?" Korra asked, truly surprised by the anger her normally calm sister was showing.
"I was at Narook's when Bolin came in crying, I comforted him while he told me about everything! Do you know how much it hurt to have him talk about you tearing his heart out?" Kanna asked, the anger fading from her voice until she sounded like a hurt child, tears welling up in her eyes.
Korra blinked and stared at her sister, moving to look into her eyes. "Kanna… do you… do you have feelings for Bolin?" Korra asked quietly like she was talking to a frightened child.
"What does it matter? He likes you, you like Mako and Mako is an idiot. Nowhere in that equation does it call for the girl who lives in her big sister's shadow." Said Kanna broken heartedly, a few tears hitting the ground.
"Kanna, what are you talking about? You're not living in my shadow…"
"Aren't I? "Kanna watch how Korra does it, see that's how you are supposed to do it!", "Kanna can you go ask Korra if she's free to hang out later?", "You're not your sister but you'll have to do.", "Awww we wanted your sister, not you." I've always been in your shadow Korra. Just once I want people to look at me and not see the Avatar's little sister, I want them to look and me and just see Kanna." Shaking her head Kanna turned intent on heading to her room.
"Kanna wait! I hear what you're saying and you're right, people should see you as you, not as a connection to me." Korra said, reaching out and touching Kanna's shoulder. "Don't give up on Bolin, he's a nice guy and I think that if you spent time together he would see what a great girl you are. You just have to give it time."
"All he'll see when he looks at me is you. I don't know if I can do that to him." Kanna whispered, also thinking that she didn't want to set herself up for rejection.
"Kanna, I've seen how you and Bolin are, he stopped seeing me in you when your light shined through. Just give it time… it will work out well, I can feel it." Korra said, hugging her.
Kanna sighed and hugged her sister back halfheartedly before going to her room and laying down, wondering if Korra was right or not.
The next day saw a team that could barely look each other in the eyes, Mako and Bolin were stiff around each other and neither really wanted to talk to Korra. Kanna felt better, having made up with her sister that morning and now she hoped the team would be able to forgive each other. Kanna smiled lightly at Bolin, sitting down next to him, Pabu quickly climbing into her lap. "Hey Bolin, how are you doing?" she asked, tilting her head to look into his face.
"I've been better..." He muttered, sparing her a small smile before looking back down at his feet.
Kanna sighed, placing her hand on his knee and getting his attention. "I want you to promise me something Bolin." She said, looking into his forest green eyes.
"What's that?" he asked, tilting his head in question.
"I want you to one, keep your head on straight during the match."
"I can try." He mumbled.
"And two… I want you to tell me if you're in love with my sister." Kanna mumbled, wanting to hear from him exactly how it is.
Bolin stared at Kanna for a few moments before sighing, looking at his hands. "I think… that I could have been… but thinking about it, it was more of a crush on someone who has a lot of the qualities I admire. Ya know? Korra's strong, quick witted and pretty. But… I can see now all we'll ever be is friends and that it wouldn't have worked out between us." Bolin said, finally looking up at Kanna and smiling. "Besides I find myself liking girls that are shorter."
Kanna blinked, wondering if he was implying he might like her, or was just stating a preference. Kanna was definitely on the short side, standing a full four inches shorter than her sister who had taken more after their father, whereas Kanna took more after their mother. Shaking herself from that though Kanna smiled and got up to get to her seat. "Good luck you guys." She said, receiving grumbles in response. Picking up Pabu, Kanna quickly left and headed to her seat.
Watching the match between the Fire Ferrets and the Buzzard Wasps was almost painful. The emotional drama between the three Fire Ferrets had them out of sink and they were getting their butts stomped.
Two rounds down and things were going downhill fast, both Mako and Bolin were knocked into the water and only Korra was left to face the entire three man team. Kanna jumped and cheered loudly when Korra knocked the entire opposing team into the water with one hit.
Running to the Locker room Kanna smiled at the sight that met her. All three members of the Fire Ferret team were smiling and laughing, having finally made amends with each other. When Asami came in and congratulated Korra on her phenomenal hat trick finish Kanna could see that there was the possibility of the two becoming friends, even if they both liked the same brooding guy.
Bouncing on her feet Kanna dragged the entire team out to celebrate, having a grand time and crawling into bed later than normal. As Kanna fell asleep the one thing that kept playing through her mind was Bolin's comment about liking shorter girls and how he might have been talking about her. Sighing happily Kanna fell into a blissful sleep, eager to see what was in store for her next.