This is a companion piece to my last chapter, "Can You Forgive Him?" This time we see Bolin and Lin during their shift, and Lin lays it out for him that he's going about everything all wrong.

Bolin sighed as he watched from his seat on his earth stump. Opal looked perfectly content in her sleeping bag, curled up in her blankets as if she hadn't a care in the world. Of course that wasn't true, what with her family being held prisoner and all, but for just a few hours before sunrise she could rest easy in the arms of sleep. Toph slept beside her, but refused a sleeping bag, preferring to make her own bed out of the earth; all she needed was a blanket for the chill. Opal let out a small moan, stretched, and turned to her other side, still fast asleep. Bolin let out another depressed sigh.

"Would you stop with the sighing, already?!"

Bolin jumped and glanced up at Lin. She sat next to him on her own stump staring straight into the distance. "And stop staring at her. It's really creepy."

He turned bright red as he swiveled around on his stump with his back to the campsite. "Sorry. I didn't realize."

"You don't realize a lot of things."

Bolin went silent as the two of them continued their watch. So that was three of the four Beifong women who hated him now. And considering how Suyin ended up captured, she probably hated him too. Four for four; great. And Baatar Sr., Huan, and the twins were all in the same position as Su, so he also had their hate. He already knew Baatar Jr. hated him for defecting from the Empire. Congratulations, Bolin, you made every single Beifong hate you. Perfect.

Well, considering they'd have to work together tomorrow, he figured he should at least be on speaking terms with someone on their team. Might as well be the one he knew the longest. "I'm sorry about your dad. I mean, I shouldn't have asked about him."

Lin glared at him, and he had the sudden desire to bury himself in the ground. "It was absolutely none of your business! Who my father is is no one's business but mine and my mother's, and you saw how that went."

"I was just curious. And there was all this tension between you two. I was just trying to get some conversation going, and I mean, everyone has been wondering, I've heard talk—"

"It's no one's business, so don't talk about it!" Lin seethed.

Bolin tapped his fingers together. "I didn't know you two had such a bad relationship; I thought it was just with Suyin. I'm sorry I made it worse. I just… I can't imagine what it's like to willingly not talk with your parents; I wasn't thinking."

"No, you weren't." Silence, before Lin lowered her voice. "And no, you didn't make things worse. My mother and I have never really gotten along, not since I was a child. It's been so long since we've talked, I forgot why we stopped in the first place. And… it's not your fault that it's something you wouldn't understand."

Bolin nodded and snuck a peak at Opal, who hadn't moved since he'd last looked.

"What did I tell you about staring at her?"

He whipped back around and sat up straight. "Right, right, sorry, sorry!"

"Spirits, Kid, you've got it bad! Give her some space; you're just making her angrier."

Bolin wilted at the comment. "I know. I just can't help it! How can I get her to forgive me! Does she even want to be with me anymore?"

"That's her decision, and you can't force it. And really, I don't think she sees a reason to forgive you."

He stared at her like a wounded panda-puppy. "B-But I'm trying so hard! I made her a picnic! I'm helping you guys save your family! I confessed my love to her!"

"Kid, you're going about this all wrong. You can't just butter her up and expect her to take you back like that. You worked for Kuvira. You supported her even when she clearly went off the rails. Opal sees that you've changed, and not always for the better. Stop acting like getting back with her will make everything like it was before. It won't. You need to make up for what you've done under Kuvira, not just for making Opal angry."

Lin glanced at the lavabender when he didn't answer. Bolin was hunched over, his elbows on his knees, staring at the ground. His face was hollow in the shadows and his eyes dull. She'd never seen the kid look so defeated. Finally he spoke. "I know. I know what I did was wrong. I really thought Kuvira was helping the Earth Kingdom. And when everyone told me what she was doing, I didn't listen. I feel so awful, so used! I actually believed Kuvira; I'm such an idiot! I helped her hurt so many people, I was so blind! Now I've lost everyone's trust, and Opal…" His eyes glistened with unshed tears. "…While I was on the campaign, I received a lot of letters, all from different people. But after a while they faded out. The air kids would send me one every few months. My grandma too. Asami wrote me in the beginning, but it's been months since I got a letter from her. I never heard from Korra. And Mako wasn't allowed to write me back while working so closely with the Prince. But until she left on her mission, Opal always wrote to me, consistently, and we supported each other, and whenever I read her letters, I felt…" He took a deep breath and turned his face away from Lin. She already thought he was annoying; he wasn't going to let her see him cry. "…If I lose Opal, I don't know what I'll do."

There was a long silence, and Bolin thought that was the end of it. But then…

"It's a complicated situation, Bolin; I know you're aware of that. Even if everything goes fine tomorrow, that's still no guarantee Opal will want you back. But that's her decision, and if she wants your relationship to end, then that's that. It happens. And what you'll do is mourn for a little bit, and then move on. Romance isn't everything, Kid. I know this hurts now, and if she breaks it off it will hurt even more, but you will be able to move on with your life. You will find meaning in what you do and you'll fix things like you want to, with or without Opal. You're sorry and you're trying to make it up to her. That's all you can do for now. Focus on the situation with Kuvira, that's most important."

She was silent another moment before she added, "But for the record, Opal did seem very worried about you the past few weeks." Bolin jerked back to look at her, but she waved her hand. "Don't get your hopes up, Kid. She could've changed her mind. Just don't worry about it. We're here to focus on saving my family.

"Also..." Bolin raised an eyebrow. This was more that she's said to him in probably the entire time they'd known each other. "Don't beat yourself up too much about Kuvira. She fooled you. She fooled a lot of people. You're here now, and that's what matters. And I don't know about anyone else, but at least Opal still trusts you, to an extent. Enough to invite you on this mission, anyway."

"Wow… thanks for all that, Beifong," Bolin gave a her a small grin. "And here I thought you hated me."

Lin rolled her eyes. "I don't hate you, Bolin. You're a strong, talented kid with a good heart, and you do what you think is right. You're Mako's brother, who loves you, and for whatever reason, you made Opal happy. You're okay in my book. I would just appreciate it if you'd shut up every once in a while."

Bolin let out a sheepish chuckle. "Yeah…sorry about that. I tend to ramble when I get excited or nervous. Which I have been since we started this whole thing."

"Yeah, you should work on that. It's annoying."

"Okay, I'll put that on my list…Soooo, anything you want to talk about?"

"Kid, I said I'd take my shift with you if we kept talking to a minimum. You've used up your one conversation, so now I would like some quiet."

"Right, quiet. Sorry."

"And quit saying 'sorry' all the time. You sound whiney."

"Sor… okay."

"Good."

They sat together in the calm of night. When Bolin fell asleep again just before dawn, Lin let him be as she struck a meditative pose and listened to the sounds of the earth.

I'm probably one of the few people who is convinced that Lin, in fact, does not hate Bolin, considering the only time she really seems angry at him is in Operation Beifong. Anyone would be at their wits end if they were stuck on a bison for a whole day with one of the most talkative people on the face of the planet, and his two main topics of conversation are his love for your niece and your terribly complicated relationship with your estranged mother. I just feel that if she really didn't like him, she would have made it known long before now. (I also enjoy the idea that some people in the fandom have had that Lin is like a cranky adoptive mother to Mako and Bolin; I can get on board with that.)

Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!