So with only a few chapters to go (not counting the epilogue), we are officially at seventeen favorites, twenty-six follows, fifty-two reviews, and seven thousand eight hundred and forty-five hits! *shakes head in disbelief* Never in my life did I ever imagine having more than fifty reviews on anything—not to mention almost eight thousand hits on a fanfic. You guys rock. Seriously.

Since credit is given to where credit is due, I'd like to thank Killjoy funny man, sft425 and karanathefirebender for the recent favorites and follows. A special thanks to karanathefirebender and Bolinlover123 for their wonderful reviews—I really appreciate it. :)

So…I'd like to say that the worst of it is over, but as you're about to see, our baby Bolin isn't completely out of the woods yet. The medical terminology and processes are all from the Internet, so please don't look to it for accuracy.

Also, just want to let you know that you'll see a couple of familiar faces in this from the first few chappies, so here's hoping that you still remember them.

Takes place about a day after the previous chapter, so I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Korra, or any of its trademarked characters. I only own my OC's.

The Other Side of Me by boasamishipper

Chapter Twenty-Three

Present Day

He doesn't know what's going on.

The last thing he remembers is a bright light, a screaming siren in the distance, and someone shouting his name.

Something shocks him once, twice, three times, and then, he's suddenly back. He exists again. He feels someone gripping his hand tight enough to cut off circulation.

"Don't you dare give up," he hears someone say. "Don't you dare, kid."

The stranger sounds both desperate and pissed off, and he wants to apologize before he capitulates to the unconsciousness swirling inside of him.

Everything hurts, and he's tired…

And then there's nothing at all.

(*) (*)

Mako sat alone in the waiting room, holding a cup of lukewarm coffee that he hadn't taken a sip of for over an hour. He had lost his appetite ever since Liao had told them that the doctor predicted that Bolin wasn't going to make it through the night. He wanted to feel angry—he wanted to feel something other than the emptiness and lack of emotion he felt on the inside.

But he couldn't.

While Asami sobbed and Korra was practically rushing over herself to help the waterbenders and the doctors and Liao assisted by rattling off the endless list of Bolin's injuries, Mako just sat alone in the waiting room, holding his cup of coffee.

And he wondered.

He wondered if this was it. If Bolin could've survived a life on the streets, and the Equalist revolution, and the Harmonic Convergence, and faking his death, and being kidnapped by the Triple Threat Triads and the Agni Kais—was his little brother going to really get taken down by a stupid injection of Teishi fucking suru?

Mako wanted to punch something.

They hadn't even had a chance to reconcile with each other, and as the time went on and the life signs grew weaker, Mako began to wonder if he was ever going to get the chance. He wanted to see his brother again, and talk to him over bad takeout, and laugh at one of his stupid one-liners, and feel Bolin's steady, beating heart in his chest as they hugged, because Spirits, was that just too fucking much to ask for? Was it just too much for no hardships to be thrown at them?

"Life is hard. You either hustle or get hustled."

Tell me about it, he thought with a sigh.

He put the cup of coffee on the ground next to his chair and rubbed his eyes, more tired than he'd ever been in his life. "Spirits," he muttered, gazing up at the ceiling. "I know…well, I know we haven't, um, talked for a while." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable talking to thin air. "It's, um, me. Mako. Look—in case, well, you haven't seen lately, my brother, Bolin, he's hurt. He's hurt badly, really badly, and, um, the doctor thinks he won't make it.

"My friends, they're a mess. Asami is practically catatonic with grief because her sister got killed by the Triple Threats when we were rescuing my brother, and now Bo's hurt—if he dies, it'll crush her." It'll crush me too, he didn't bother adding. Hopefully that bit was self-explanatory. "Liao and Korra, they're trying to help out in any way they can, and I feel so…damn helpless, watching Bolin hang onto life by the skin of his teeth."

He scuffed his shoes on the rug, lost in thought. "Please…I've never asked—well, that's a lie. I've asked for a lot, haven't I?" In that question, he remembered pleading for new shoes and food and their parents and hoping that the Triads wouldn't kill them in their sleep. "But this…Bolin's life, it's more important than anything. So, please, Spirits, anyone or anything that's up there and can help me," he paused, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Help my brother. Let him make it. Please. Let him live and…and I'll do anything. Anything."

I will do anything. I'll crawl on my knees and beg if I have to. Just please, please, help my brother.

I need him.

Mako heard someone enter the doorway of the hospital from behind and instantly shot up out of his chair, almost tripping forward in his haste to whirl around. Staring at him were two young men—one with tan skin, brown eyes and dark hair, the other with olive skin, amber eyes and light brown hair—who looked like they hadn't slept in weeks, with bloodshot eyes and five o'clock shadows.

"Are, um, do you know," started the olive-skinned one before starting over. "Yeah. Really shitty at first impressions. I'm, uh, Vanek, and this is my friend Tukka. We're here to see our friend, Bolin Tanahi—do you know him?"

At this point Mako wasn't sure if his eyes could get any wider. "And just who the hell are you?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. What if they were Agni Kais or Triple Threats? He almost debated yelling for Liao to come and verify things for him.

The other one—Tukka—looked confused. "…we're friends of Bolin's. We go—well, we went to college with him up until he…disappeared." He swallowed, staring at his shoes. "We're psychology majors, just like him."

Psychology majors? Bolin? Mako vaguely remembered Asami saying something about Bolin's college education a while ago, but he couldn't recall if she'd ever mentioned anyone named Vanek or Tukka before. "Explain," Mako stated, his voice harsh. "Now."

"After we found out that he was…well, kidnapped," Vanek said, "our girlfriends and we put up missing posters on every street corner. Never stopped looking."

"My fiancée, Madoka, she was really torn up about it," said Tukka, and it was only then that Mako noticed he was wearing an engagement ring. The firebender fought the urge to say congratulations and focused on the matter at hand. "She and Bolin's broad, Gainika, got along pretty well with each other—she cried for days when we figured out that Gainika was an Agni Kai."

"How'd you know that?" Mako couldn't help but ask, his brows furrowed in surprise. How could they have figured that out?

Vanek chuckled without humor. "When Bolin was kidnapped and Gainika ended up disappearing too, Tukka and I thought that the two disappearances were connected, so we went to go and register Gainika's disappearance in Omashu because that's where she told Bolin she was from."

Tukka explained it further, gesturing wildly as he spoke. "But once we got there, the fuzz thought that we were playing a gag on them because there was no person registered in the city of Omashu as Gainika."

Mako was taken aback. "So Gainika—her name is a—"

"Pseudonym, yep." Vanek nodded. "And then about a month ago, my girlfriend, Akari—she was reading this article in the paper about a missing kid named Satoshi Daichi, and that RCPD suspected gang involvement by the Agni Kais or the Triple Threats. She started gasping and pointing at the paper, right where it said Agni Kai, and I was clueless and terrified because by the way she was acting I almost thought that she was havin' an asthma attack or something. So I asked what the matter was, and then she took out a scrap of paper and wrote down Gainika's name and told me to spot the similarities between Bolin's girlfriend's name and the gang name. Took me a while, but I finally understood that Gainika's name was an anagram for Agni Kai."

The firebender nodded slowly, keeping a wary eye on the two psychology majors. "Okay," he said. "That's, well—pardon my language, but that's fucking brilliant, the way your girlfriend Akari figured it out, and you guys too, but how the hell did you know to come here?"

"About a year ago, Bolin fell down the stairs in his haste to get to his last class," Tukka said, head tilted to the side as he remembered. "Said he didn't hurt himself badly, but Akari—she's a pre-med—said that he probably broke his leg and needed to get it checked out by a medical professional. So Vanek and I drove him to the hospital, and we found out that Bolin needed to get surgery done on it so it would heal correctly. But we needed to sign these papers and found out that neither of us could because he didn't have an emergency contact. Asami and Midori were already driving up from Republic City, so we added ourselves as his secondary emergency contacts, to be reached if Asami was out of town or something of the sort."

"Oh," Mako said awkwardly, for lack of anything better to say. "Oh. So when we brought him in here, you guys got notified?"

"Yeah," Vanek stated, staring at the floor before suddenly looking up. "What's your name, anyways?"

"Oh, er, my name's Mako," he said, fidgeting with the end of his scarf. "I'm his brother."

Tukka looked like Mako had announced that he had always had a lifelong ambition to become a ballerina. "Oh my Spirits," he said, his eyes wide. "For real?"

"Aren't you two estranged?" Vanek inquired, his voice soft and confused all at once. He ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. Um. Sorry. You don't have to answer that—"

"It's okay," he replied, because what was the point of saying otherwise? They were estranged, and it was his fault. "Yeah, we are. I thought he was dead, and…" his voice trailed off. "I said things to him that I'm not proud of," he finally said, "and I know that I can't fix it right away, but I'm willing to try."

Vanek nodded. "That's good."

The men were silent for a few moments. The clock on the wall read twenty minutes past eight, a fact that Mako couldn't bring himself to accept. Had he really been sitting here for the last sixteen hours straight? Damn.

"H-how…well, how is he?" Tukka asked, his hands clenched at his sides. "Is it serious? The doctors wouldn't tell us."

"Dr. Yamaki…he…he doesn't…he doesn't think that Bolin's going to make it." Mako's voice cracked, and he felt ashamed of himself for starting to cry right in front of Bolin's college friends, who stood there as if shell-shocked. "He was injected with Teishi suru, and they don't think that he's going to live through the next forty-eight hours."

"Hey," Vanek interrupted. "You calm down right now—Bolin Tanahi's got to be the most stubborn bastard I've ever met. He'll pull through, and do you know why, Mako?"

Mako shook his head, feeling numb.

"Because he has people who care about him," Vanek continued. "He's been my friend for the last few years. Don't get me wrong, he can be a pain in the ass, but who isn't? I know that I'd do anything to help him out here right now, and so would Tukka here. Wouldn't you, Mako? And Asami and Midori?"

Mako swallowed, wiping a tear from his eye as he sniffled. "I'd do anything for him, and I know that Asami would too." He paused. "Midori would too, if she…" He let the words hang in the air unsaid, and while Vanek and Tukka looked horrified, they said nothing.

"There you go," Vanek said gently. "That's exactly why he's going to forgive you, Mako. He knows that you'd do anything for him."

"That's the thing, though," he said, tears in his eyes again as he sat back down in the chair and buried his face in his hands. "I don't think he knows that."

Oh, Bo, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault.

(*) (*)

If someone had told Liao two months ago that he would be on the run from the Agni Kais, he would've seen his partner gotten shot in the head, fallen in love, and risked everything to break out a prisoner against his Section Leader's orders, Liao would've laughed and told the person to quit kidding around.

But after his second day in the hospital, Liao began to get worried, because Bolin just wasn't getting any better. His wounds were badly infected, he had a high fever, his ribs still weren't healed yet, he was on a ventilator, and although they'd flushed most of the Teishi suru out of his system with enough antibiotics to lay off a platypus-bear, Dr. Yamaki had told them all that there were some signs that Bolin's organs were threatening to shut down unless his prognosis would improve quickly.

In simple, laymen's terms, they were fighting an uphill battle, with a claim hanging over them like a storm cloud that the treatments might not even work, and Bolin could be dead in as soon as forty-eight hours.

When the doctor had finished, Asami had burst into tears and sobbed on Mako's shoulder, Mako had sworn miserably, and Korra had paced the entire length of the hospital waiting room before trying to meditate in hopes that she could see Bolin in the Spirit World and tell him to come back.

Liao hadn't known what to say. The grim prognosis had left him absolutely stunned—not that he hadn't known that it was going to be bad, but he'd pinned all of his hope on getting to a hospital soon enough and had foolishly thought that once they'd got here, Bolin would instantly recover.

It would seem fate was not without a sense of irony.

Of course, he'd never thought of what would happen when he, a registered member of one of the most dastardly street gangs in the United Republic, decided to walk into a hospital where people would recognize him by his uniform.

That damn nurse who'd shouted at him when Bolin was going into cardiac arrest had actually called the police on him, which was why he was sitting in a hospital room with two older detectives pacing around him, smirks on their faces.

Two months ago, the Ba Sing Se police department wouldn't have bothered him in the slightest—he'd even joked around with Xin about calling the cops from the BSSPD notorious bullshitters—but now, Liao's hands were sweating and he wanted nothing more than to just get out of there.

Damn, how the times had changed.

"So, just for clarification, you are a member of the Agni Kais?" inquired one detective, whose nametag read Jian.

Liao rolled his eyes. "You guys wouldn't be here if I wasn't, you know," he told them before sighing. "And would you stop with that damn pacing? You're making me seasick."

Jian looked like he'd been hit in the face by something heavy. His partner, Feng, broke the silence first.

"Liao, correct?" the detective asked, and when Liao nodded, he pressed on. "How long have you been a member of—"

"Three years," Liao interrupted, getting sick of their good cop, bad cop act and just decided to give them all of the answers. "My partner's name was Xin, and we worked together for two and a half years, up until he got shot in the head by my Section Leader because I was forced to choose between saving him and saving Bolin. I've killed before, Detectives, and I think that you know that. I've murdered, and I've tortured—we had to in the Agni Kais. It was kill or be killed in there."

He paused and took a sip of the water that the detectives had graciously provided for him. "I've been over this before with Bolin's brother, Detective Mako. You two can leave."

"Mr. Liao," Jian said, "maybe you don't grasp the severity of what you've just admitted. You just confessed to torture and committing homicide—"

He slammed the glass down on the table. "What the hell do you think I am, some kind of emotionless robot?" Liao snapped, having had enough. "Do you honestly think that the deaths of the people I've had to kill don't keep me up at night? I had nightmares for days when I had to torture Bolin—his screams haunted me. I can still see my partner's head snapping back when my Section Leader shot him right between the eyes. And do you know what else, Detectives?" Liao asked, breathing heavily. "He, at least, got the choice to go quickly.

"So you can take my so-called confessions and shove them up your asses. When I killed and tortured, I did what I had to do. If I know you, Detectives, you would've done the exact same thing."

He stood up. "I'm a different man," he informed them. "I'll admit to my crimes, but I did it for fear of my life."

"Fear of your life?" Feng asked, his voice low.

"Oh, Detectives, you have so many misgivings. You really think that we Recruits lived like the Triads?" Liao chuckled without humor. "I apologize," he said, "but did you ever meet my Section Leader? I lived in fucking military hell, and I've never been more ready to put my past behind me."

He started walking to the door. Jian and Feng didn't make a move to stop him—rather, they looked shellshocked. "Maybe we can talk later, but if you'll excuse me, boys, I'm going to go and visit a friend of mine."

Exiting the room and slamming the door, he pictured Xin grinning at him. "Kid, that was either the stupidest thing you've ever done, or the smartest thing I've ever seen you do."

Thanks, partner, Liao thought with a grin. Learned from the best.

(*) (*)

Bolin's room was dim and warm, the machines creating a buzzing noise that was punctuated by rhythmic beeps and breathy whooshes of the ventilator. Korra sighed, wishing that she at least knew what some of the medical equipment did, because she knew that at least half of it was responsible for keeping Bolin alive.

On the bed, Bolin looked small somehow, lost amid the machines and the equipment that are saving his life. He didn't have enough strength to fight on his own. Bolin needed the IVs and the monitors, and that fact broke her heart.

Her friend was losing the battle for life, and it was nearly killing her.

Granted, they hadn't been close in the last four years and two months, but Korra had never ever wanted the earthbender to die.

The fact that Bolin needed to be hooked up to machines to live was a sobering thought. Bolin had never been the embodiment of stillness and silence and overall hopelessness. He was Team Avatar's voice of reason, the only one who could crack a smile in the most heinous of circumstances. His laughter could light up the night sky, and for a long time she wondered how he and Mako could be related, when they were clearly so different.

There was no animosity and laughter now, not with Bolin's fever so high; not with the infection so deep.

Korra was a failure. She had let Asami's little sister die, and she couldn't do anything to help her friend.

That nonbender woman from so long ago had been right—she truly was the worst Avatar ever.

Her eyes burned and her chest tightened, recalling Asami's screams as Midori had gotten murdered, Mako breaking his leg and Bolin getting injected with the Teishi suru. "...I'm sorry," she said, her voice high in the unnatural stillness. "I...thought I could do it. I thought I could save you. I never meant..." She swallowed. "I'm sorry."

Korra squeezed his hand tightly. "I'm so sorry, but I'm here for you. We all are. Please listen to me. We need you. I know that we...haven't talked in a long time, but I'm willing to make amends with you. So is Mako. We're all rooting for you, Bolin."

Her voice cracked again on his name and she began to cry, her shoulders shaking.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Oh, Spirits, I am so sorry.

She knew that saying it didn't cut it, not by a long shot, but didn't care.

I'm sorry.

(*) (*)

Asami had sat at Bolin's bedside for nearly two days straight, watching and crying as her best friend would wheeze, his face flushed and skin hot. Dr. Yamaki had told them bluntly that Bolin's kidneys were threatening to shut down, that Bolin was the poster child for ICU deterioration.

That this might be the beginning of the end.

They had flushed the Teishi suru out of Bolin's system completely. He'd made through the worst of the surgeries. He hadn't gone into cardiac arrest since that first, horrible time.

But his lungs were weak. He'd almost gone into renal failure. He was attached to almost every piece of life support machinery that the hospital had, along with at least a dozen IVs. And then, right when the uphill battle had started to even up, the doctors had tried to combat a frighteningly resistant bout of pneumonia—an after effect of the Teishi suru, they told her.

And still, she hoped.

Midori was dead and Bolin was dying, but still, she hoped.

"Bolin, please. Please wake up." Her voice shook. "I need you. I can't do this alone."

She rested her head on Bolin's bed, intending to shut her eyes for a few minutes, and then suddenly Midori came to mind, her blue eyes and curly brown hair; the way she would always get up early on Christmas and how excited she was whenever she received a present; her jokes and caring nature...

Asami froze, her words of comfort dying in her throat. "Midori?" she tried to say, but her voice cracked. "M-Midori?"

As she moved closer to the fence, three distinctive gunshots were suddenly fired from the other side—right where Midori had been standing. No…no, please, please…

Confirming her fears, Asami heard a strangled, terrible screech that could belong to no one other than her little sister, followed by a thud.

And then there was a piercing screech, causing Asami to cover her ears and fall on her knees to the ground crying while hands gripped her shoulders and dragged her to her feet—

She snapped back into reality, where the piercing scream wasn't Midori's.

It was the wail of a machine signaling a code blue.

Liao's arms were wrapped around her, keeping her upright as Dr. Yamaki and his nurses worked furiously on Bolin. Mako and Korra held onto each other tightly. Bolin's old friends from college, Vanek and Tukka, looked horrified, and for a split second Asami was glad that Midori wasn't there to witness what hell was going on.

Then the doctor stopped working on him, and he ordered a nurse to turn off the machine.

And everything was silent.

Mako was the first to react. "What's happening?" he demanded. "Is—" his voice cracked. "Is he dead?"

Dr. Yamaki said nothing. He was panting, his eyes wide as he stared at the machines. The nurses looked just as shocked as he was.

Asami wanted to bury her face in Liao's shoulder and never come out. Oh my Spirits, he's dead. He's dead he's dead he's dead—

"Dr. Yamaki," Mako said, his voice low and dangerous. "I suggest that you tell us what the hell just happened or I swear to Tue and La that I will disembowel you with my bare hands right here in this damn hospital room."

"He...he's okay," one of the nurses assured the group. Asami burst into tears of joy. "His fever broke."

"Then..." Mako's voice was shaking so badly he almost couldn't complete the sentence. "Then what..."

"He was so close to organ failure that the sudden break in temperature gave his system a huge shock," Yamaki stated. "But now..."

"Is he out of the woods yet, Doc?" Liao asked, sounding just as desperate as she felt.

Yamaki nodded. "Yes, Mr. Liao," he stated. "I'm glad to tell you that the worst is over."

Mako started crying and laughing all at once. Liao released Asami and sat down in an empty chair, his face buried in his hands. Korra, Vanek and Tukka were shouting and happily dancing around the room.

Asami stood motionless as Yamaki's words echoed in her head like a shout in a canyon.

The worst was over.

It wasn't a death watch anymore.

Bolin was going to be okay.

Asami joined Korra and Vanek and Tukka in their happy dance while Mako cried and Liao shook his head in disbelief while Yamaki grinned at them—and in that moment, she felt whole again.

It was all going to be okay.

(*) (*)

Four Days Later

The machines surrounding her best friend beeped in a somewhat consistent rhythm while Bolin was still unconscious. She kept listening for his deep, somewhat strained breaths, and never got tired of the jolt in her heart when she heard them.

Asami stared into space as she wondered what time it was. She was tired, but that was no indication of the hour: she hadn't really slept since they'd brought Bolin in a week ago.

The only thing that she knew for sure was that Bolin had been on the mend for the last four days. Yamaki and the nurses had tried to encourage her, Mako, Liao and Korra that Bolin would make a full recovery soon, and the heiress could see progression in her friend's condition. His coloring had markedly improved, and his reflexive response to outward stimuli had also become more pronounced. His breaths were more even, and his hair wasn't soaked in sweat anymore. Some of his bruises had even begun to heal.

All was well—sort of, because Bolin still hadn't woken up yet, and she wouldn't be satisfied until he did.

"Can't do anything the easy way, can you?" she suddenly remarked to Bolin, who, to no surprise, didn't react or stir or anything. "Save me a couple of heart attacks, why don't you, Bo?"

She could do without having a heart attack for a good long while.

Spirits. Had it really been four years since this whole shenanigan had started? Since she'd met Midori, gotten Bolin into college, been estranged from Mako and Korra, and the Triads and Agni Kais had gotten to her best friend?

Really?

Asami tried to think of what her life had been before Bolin had faked his death and gotten into such crap with the Triads and the Agni Kais and couldn't recall anything. What had she liked to do? What had she liked to eat?

Such trivial things I used to be worried about, she mused, her hand clutching Bolin's. Honestly, it used to just be me against the world until I got into this, and when Midori—she paused, taking a shuddering breath as she remembering the determined teen's sacrifice. No. Don't think about her…

Without warning, she lapsed back into the memory of that horrible day.

"Hang on, we'll get you out of there. Right?" Asami scrunched her eyebrows together as Midori picked herself up from the ground and began walking away from the fence. "Midori, what're you doing?" Asami shouted as her surrogate sister stopped in her tracks, obviously thinking something over. "Come on, you have to move."

"I'm going around!" Midori screamed, cupping her hands around her mouth. "I'll meet you on the other side, I promise!"

Asami wanted to scream for Midori to come back to them this instant, but refrained. "Hurry!" she yelled. "Midori, hurry."

"I will!" Midori shouted back before running off. Please, Blue Eyes, please be safe…please, Spirits, protect her…

"What's going on?" Liao asked from the ground, where he was trying to assist Mako into a standing position. Asami walked quickly down the stairs, Korra already on the ground and carrying Bolin.

"Midori's going to go around," Asami informed the former Agni Kai. "She'll meet us around—"

"There's no other entrance, Asami!" Liao interrupted, and Asami's breath caught in her chest. "She'll be stuck there if we don't get her out now!"

Oh, no. Spirits, no, no, no…

"Midori!" she screamed, turning back around to run back up the stairs, but Korra, appearing out of nowhere, held her back. "Midori!" Asami shouted. "We have to get Midori!"

"There's no time!" Korra yelled, tugging Bolin with the help of her fiancée towards the truck they'd ridden up the mountain. "We need to leave or Bolin's not going to make it."

"We need to make time! I'm not leaving my sister!" protested Asami, practically shoving Korra aside and turning back to the fence, intending to climb over it herself to get to her little sister before three gunshots echoed in the distance, followed by someone screaming.

"Midori," Asami whispered, stumbling backwards in shock. The world around her seemed to have gone quiet. "No. No, no, no…" Her voice grew louder and louder, and she ran back to the stairs, before Liao's arms meandered around her waist. She thrashed in them, screaming her little sister's name. "Midori! Midori, answer me! Please, answer me!" she howled. "MIDORI!"

Jerking out of her trance, the heiress felt tears pouring down her pale face. Why, Midori? Asami thought, hunching over and burying her face in her hands. Why did you leave me...I never even got to say goodbye to you…

Asami heard a small groan and flinched, alarmed. She looked up and was more shocked than ever to find a pair of bright green eyes gazing at her.

She wanted to scream in joy and jump up and down, but remained frozen in her chair, unable to breathe as her best friend looked around the room, disoriented, but awake. He was awake. Sweet Spirits, he was alive.

She hadn't felt this overjoyed in days.

"Bolin?" she asked, her eyes wide. Her tone was fearful and shaky—what if he wasn't the same? What if he has amnesia? What if he's paralyzed? What if he hates me? Oh Spirits what if whatifwhatifwhatif? "Bolin, c-can you hear me? It's me…Asami."

The earthbender didn't say anything, he just squinted at her as if he couldn't believe that she was there. "…'Sami?" His voice cracked and Asami wanted to sob again at the disbelieving tone in his voice, like her being there was some trick that that bitch Gainika or the Triads were pulling on him.

"Bo," Asami whispered. "Oh, Spirits, Bolin…"

"Are…you real?" he murmured. He didn't think he could take it if Asami was just a mirage.

"I'm real, Bolin," she promised. "I swear to you, I'm real."

Bolin squeezed her hand again, and said something so softly that she couldn't quite make it out. She scrambled to her feet, hurriedly supporting her friend's neck as he tried to lift his head.

"What is it, Bo? What are you trying to say?"

"Come here," he forced a little louder as Asami tilted her head closer to his face, and his breath tickled her ear. "Let me look at you," he murmured through his still broken nose and several missing teeth. He tried to grin, and she almost cried.

"Oh, Spirits, Bo," she said, her voice cracking. "I am so sorry. This…this is my entire fault. I'm sorry. I got you into this mess, it's my fault, Bo, and they could've…"

Bolin just shook his head lightly as Asami continued to ramble on, feeling stupid. With all the strength that he had, he leaned up and kissed her on the lips, stopping her spiel in its tracks.

Confused, Asami broke away from the kiss. "Bo, this is—"

"N-not your fault," he croaked, wanting nothing more than to kiss his best friend again: absolutely nothing. "'Sami, I—got m-myself into t-this mess. This—" he made direct eye contact with her. "This is not—not your fault. P-promise."

Asami, as if being controlled by something else, leaned forward and kissed him softly, with the feeling that she might break him with that kiss. His fingers tightened around her wrist as she pulled away and he managed to shake his head.

"You're not going anywhere," he insisted softly with a faint smirk.

"Leaving?" Asami asked in surprise. "No, Bolin, no. I'm not going anywhere, not for anything." She stared down at her best friend, who'd literally been through hell and back and was still smiling. The earthbender would never cease to amaze her. "If I didn't know any better, I would think that you expected to see me here, Bo."

His smile was electric even with the missing teeth; it made her feel like laughing and crying at the same time. Oh, how she'd dearly missed that grin of his…

"I hoped t-that…one day I w-was going to wake up, and y-you'd be there," he said slowly. "'Sami, h-how did you f-find me?"

"Lots of help from you, Bo," she said, stroking the top of his hand with her thumb gently. "And from Liao—Oh, Tue and La, if it hadn't been for him and Xin…Bo, we never would've found you. Mako and Korra helped too, they got—"

"M-Mako and Ko-Korra helped?" he asked in confusion.

"Yes," she admitted. "I got them involved, but it was the only way, Bo, I couldn't do this on my own, don't be mad at me, alright…"

"I'm n-not mad, Asami," he insisted. "But M-Mako agreed to help?"

"Yup. He would've gone through the armies of Heaven and Hell combined to get you back, Bolin," Asami said, wincing at the fact that Mako actually did go through the armies of Hell to get his little brother back. Irony, you're just a real bitch, you know that?

"Korra, too?" His voice was getting stronger, which pleased Asami. Everything was going to be okay now. "You didn't h-have to b-bribe her or any-anything?"

Asami giggled. "No, all her own free will. Bo?"

"Yeah, 'Sami?"

"I hope that you realize we are never making another deal that involves me faking your death ever again, you know that, right?"

Bolin gave a small laugh which turned into a large, hacking cough. It took him a few seconds to regain his composure and open his eyes. He could taste the coppery substance on his tongue and fought not to gag. Asami stared at him, completely still and wide-eyed, like a deer-gazelle that heard a predator approaching.

He cleared his throat, shooting her a small grin. "Sorry, tickle in my throat."

Asami would've had to be an idiot to believe him completely, but thankfully his friend didn't press. She just sat at his side, her vibrant green eyes bright as she beamed at him. Spirits, I've dreamt of those eyes so many times in the last month or so, he mused. So much fucking better in person.

Asami stood up suddenly. "Spirits, I need to go and tell the docs that you're awake!" she said with the air of someone who'd forgotten milk and toilet paper from the store once they'd already gotten back home. "Hang on, Bo, okay?"

"Wait." He gripped her wrist as he noticed lack of something...or rather someone. "Where's…where's Midori? Can I s-see her?"

Asami choked, jerking backwards. Tears shot to her eyes quicker than she would've thought, especially hearing her surrogate sister's name from her best friend. "I—I—"

Oh my Spirits, he doesn't know.

"Asami." His voice was firm and he looked deeply into his best friend's eyes, not liking where this was going if she was evading the subject. "Where is Midori?" It wasn't even a question, just a statement of fact.

"She's," her voice cracked and tears slowly slipped down her face, "she's…she isn't here, Bo—"

"No," Bolin interrupted, his voice rising in volume as he tried to force himself to sit up. Asami buried her face in her hands, giving him an even worse idea. "She's not… she isn't dead, is she?" his voice also cracked at the ridiculousness of the sentence. Midori wasn't dead. She couldn't be dead. She was sixteen. Sixteen. She had her whole life of her, like Ash had had...

Bolin almost threw up when Asami didn't contradict him. "'Sami, she's not dead, right?" he half-shouted.

Asami shook her head slowly and resolutely. "When we were getting you out of that compound, the Triads and the Agni Kais were going to broadcast your death all over the radio, remember?"

Bolin nodded, hating where this was going already.

"So when we got you out, the Triads were chasing after us. You were running out of time, and Korra couldn't airbend her over so she—she ran around the other side of the fence and they—" she burst into tears. "They killed her," she mumbled through her tears. "There were so many shots fired, and I heard her scream and then—then there was nothing, Bo. She's…" her voice trailed off. "She's dead."

Bolin could feel his body start to tremble uncontrollably, and he almost lost all composure, almost began sobbing like Asami. He couldn't breathe. His chest tightened and a tearing sensation ripped through him, hurting worse than any beating the Triads had given him or even Gainika's betrayal. His fingers twitched involuntarily, remembering the kind, sweet, gentle little girl that Midori was—had been, he corrected himself suddenly.

Midori.

Dead.

Bolin felt empty, cold and tired, as if his very life had been drained out of him.

"Dead?" he repeated numbly, giving Asami a final chance to contradict him.

She didn't.

Bolin cried.

To be continued, my friends. To be continued. :) Trust me, there's a lot of drama approaching on the horizon...

Hope you enjoyed enough to leave me a favorite, follow, or a review!

Yours in Fanfiction,

-Boa :)