Modern AU in the Avatar world with bending.
I wrote this in the last few hours of Christmas Day as I decided that I wanted to write something for Christmas. Merry Christmas!
It was a cool winter day in Republic City. In an apartment in the suburbs, two brothers were getting dressed and packed for a trip to Zaofu, their hometown, which was in the Earth Kingdom.
"It's time to pick up Korra," the older one said. He was tall and muscular, though a bit lanky. His hair was combed, but some parts were spiky.
"Alright, Mako," said the younger one. "I'm so excited for our trip."
The younger man was a bit shorter and stockier. His hair rested on his head and most of it pointed downwards. He had been twitchy and restless, sometimes randomly running a few steps, much to his older brother's annoyance.
"I know you're excited, Bolin," said Mako. "You've been super energetic."
Mako seemed to be more serious than Bolin, but Bolin could tell that his brother was still a little excited. Maybe Mako just wasn't too expressive.
Bolin was excited, mainly because he was going to spend Christmas Eve with the Beifongs. The Beifong children were the people closest to him besides Mako. He found his heart beating faster and his body getting more restless as he waited to see them. The Beifong family had five kids and Bolin was close to them for most of his childhood. He and Mako moved to the United Republic of Nations after Bolin graduated from high school and was going to study at Republic City University. Mako, on the other hand, took a year off studies, but now he had completed training for the Republic City Police Department. It had been three years since they had been there.
The pair walked to the front door with their suitcases. Mako had a black and grey coat on with a red scarf. Bolin was wearing a green coat. Both were wearing hats.
They climbed into their car and drove to pick up Mako's girlfriend Korra. They waited outside the university dorm. Both Korra and Bolin studied at the same school and were in the same year.
It didn't take long until a girl in a blue coat and white earmuffs walked out the front door pulling her luggage. She had tan skin, much darker skin than the brothers.
"Hey Korra," said the men as she walked in.
"Hey Mako, hey Bolin," said Korra. "Excited to go to Zaofu?"
"Yeah," said Mako. "Especially Bolin."
"You know how I am, Korra," said Bolin. "By the way, Asami caught an earlier flight."
"It's time for the Krew to get back together," said Korra.
They then drove to the airport, excited for their friend group known as the Krew to reunite, having named the group after Korra.
They arrived in Zaofu late at night on the 21st of December. The three were picked up by Mako and Bolin's Uncle Shin. With everyone tired from travelling, they got dressed and went to sleep quickly.
They woke up and ate breakfast together. Since Mako and Bolin's parents were murdered when they were young, they were sent to live with their grandma Yin and Uncle Shin.
"It's nice to see you again, Korra," said Yin.
"Great to see you too," said Korra. "I miss Zaofu."
"I know you can't wait to get the Krew back together after all these years," said Shin.
"You know us too well," said Mako, grabbing two eggs.
"So, Bolin, do you think you made a good decision with your specialization?" Yin asked.
"Sure did, Grandma," said Bolin. "I don't have these thoughts biting me in the back of the head. I feel like I chose well when I decided to specialize in networking devices for my Computer Science degree. I'm enjoying what I'm doing. My internship starts next semester and I'm excited for that."
"That's good to hear. And you, Mako, doing well as a police officer?" The elderly woman turned to Mako.
"It's going well," said Mako. "I feel good about the career path that I chose. It's a bit awkward now that Ms. Lin Beifong is kind of my boss now that she's the police chief. Overall, it's quite a satisfying life in Republic City."
"I'm so happy for you guys," said Shin. "And you, Korra, how are your studies going?"
"They're going great," said Korra. "I think I made a good choice when I went on the path to become a personal trainer. I had my doubts before, but I started loving it when I gave Mako and Bolin workout advice."
It was warmer in Zaofu, so everyone was just wearing a T-shirt. It was also a sunny day and they planned on exploring the place. Bolin's excitement had calmed down a bit to make himself more composed. He didn't want to be too energetic as he was conscious about embarrassing himself. Korra and Mako were used to his energy levels by now, having had to deal with it for years on end. Nowadays, the twenty-one-year-old Bolin had become calmer, though when the time was right, he could sometimes act like a young teenager again. The three were inseparable from childhood and had gotten closer during their time in Republic City.
Bolin felt like he wasn't too distant from the Beifongs even after that separation. He was surprised that they were consistently in contact with each other through Instagram. They also played a lot of video games together, and each month they would have at least one night where they played PC games for a few hours.
Three of the kids were mostly on his mind this morning. There was Wing and Wei, twin brothers his age. They often played video games, sports, and even worked out together. They were excited to see him and Mako, based on their conversations in the group chat. He knew they could catch up like no time had passed at all.
There was also Opal, the youngest and only daughter, who was now twenty. Bolin was an avid reader, and so was Opal. They mostly bonded over their favorite novels, movies, and TV shows. They belonged to some of the same fandoms and often cosplayed together on Halloween. Opal played some video games but wasn't as big of a gamer as Korra. Korra always had a competitive spirit, though not to the point of being toxic to her teammates and enemies.
Bolin was deep in thought and overcome by excitement while getting ready to go out with Mako and Korra to buy gifts for their friends. He had his backpack with few things while he was deep in thought.
Christmas Eve eventually came. Mako, Bolin, their uncle and grandma, and Korra drove to the Beifong house carrying some food and gifts. They were quite rich, richer than what the brothers were used to. The neighborhood was one of the nicer ones in Zaofu.
The house was big, though not like a mansion. It was wider than Mako's grandma's house, and the material was nicer. It was mostly white and lined with metal. The roof was black. It was almost evening, but there was more sunshine during the day compared to Republic City. They arrived when the sun had almost disappeared from the sky.
Bolin was twitchy on the inside, though he remained composed on the outside. He rang the doorbell while being flanked by Mako and Korra.
Wing opened the door. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas to you too!" said everyone standing outside.
They walked in and put their coats away. The entrance was wide with a high ceiling. There was a long hallway leading to the kitchen.
Wing's twin appeared as well to greet them.
Opal then approached them. "Hi," she said.
"Hi Opal," Bolin said quietly.
The older adults put the food away. In the dining area next to the kitchen, there sat Opal's parents Baatar and Suyin. A younger man that looked like Baatar with a similar haircut also sat with his wife Kuvira. He wore glasses like his father. There was also a young man with long black hair, and some was dyed green. There was also an elderly blind woman who wore a headband, and her hair was tied in a bun.
"Great to see you again Bolin," said the young man in glasses.
"It's nice to see you too, Baatar Jr.," said Bolin. He then turned to the long-haired man. "Great to see you too, Huan."
"Hey, Merry Christmas," said Huan.
Wing and Wei approached Bolin after he briefly talked to his friends' parents. Bolin turned around after hearing his name get called.
"Wanna go play with us?" Wing asked. "We're probably not gonna eat dinner for a while."
"Yeah, guys," Bolin said excitedly. He went to grab his backpack.
They went to the basement. One of the spare bedrooms was turned into a gaming room. There was a big desk with two gaming PCs, and a couch and TV where a Nintendo Switch was connected.
"I'll grab a spare desk," said Wei. "You can sit on the couch."
Mako, Korra, Asami and Opal joined the three.
"Hey, Asami, great to see you!" Bolin yelled, giving her a hug.
"Great to see you too!" said Asami.
Wing and Wei turned their PCs on. Bolin, Korra and Opal grabbed their laptops and equipment.
They were going to play Valorant. Bolin thought the game was creative and most of the agents were based on benders in real life. He and his friends often used characters with abilities like theirs. Since he was an Earthbender, he mostly used Breach, an agent who can make earthquakes. He was going as Breach for the first game.
Opal chose Jett, as she was an Airbender. Wing chose Omen, while Wei picked KAY/O. Both Wing and Wei were Earthbenders. Korra picked Raze. Although she also liked to use Sage, as the character was like a Waterbender, Korra liked Raze a bit more, as that character fit her aggressive personality and playstyle.
"Can I join the next game?" Mako asked.
"I wanna join too," said Asami.
"I'll sit out of the next one," said Wing.
"Me too," said Opal.
The match then started, and their team was starting out as the attackers.
"Oh, we're going offense?" asked Bolin. "Great. I gotta make sure I start strong and get a kill or at least survive that round.
Bolin was sitting between Korra and Opal. Mako and Asami sat on chairs behind the couch so they could watch all the players at once.
Bolin managed to get one kill with his silenced pistol. Before Korra could plant the spike, Opal and Wing were killed in the game. Once they reached the site, Korra planted while Bolin and Wei watched from each direction. They then walked around to wait for the last two players to make their move.
Bolin watched the spike from one position so that he was ready to shoot if someone was going to defuse it. He looked around and killed the last player, winning the round.
For the next few rounds, Bolin mostly used an assault rifle. First, he played cautiously so that he wouldn't die immediately. After that, Bolin began to play more aggressively. Sometimes, he would win a head-on confrontation, while other times, he got kills by flanking.
It was the last round in the half, and Bolin had an Operator, which was a powerful sniper rifle. He wanted to get better at sniping, so he started using a sniper offensively more often.
"I'm gonna ult when we get to the spike site," said Bolin.
They met the enemy, and Bolin ran behind cover so he could create a big earthquake that stunned the enemy. From a distance, he took a shot and killed one enemy.
"Great snipe, Bolin," said Opal.
From that compliment, Bolin felt his heart rate rise slightly and his focus was increased.
They eventually won that game. Bolin had a few more sniper kills while playing defensively and standing on high ground.
For the next game, Bolin chose Brimstone, Wei chose Reyna, Korra picked Sage, and Mako and Asami joined. Mako picked Phoenix, as he was a Firebender. Asami picked Killjoy. She wasn't a bender, but she was an engineering student, while Killjoy was an engineer.
They ended up winning the next game. They then won and lost a few of the next games while waiting for dinner.
It was then time for dinner. The young adults that made up the Krew, which was Bolin, Mako, Korra, Asami, Opal, Wing and Wei, sat in the living room. Baatar Jr. and Huan were also considered part of the Krew, though they were slightly older and not as involved. The two older men and Kuvira decided to join the younger adults.
Dinnertime was spent with laughter, jokes, and catching up. Bolin learned more about Opal and her experiences studying Health Science at Genji University, a school in Zaofu. He also briefly chatted with Kuvira. While he was gone, Baatar Jr. got married, and it was the first time he met her. He also learned about Huan's new art projects as a graphic designer. As a digital artist with an Instagram account for his work, Bolin looked up to Huan and learned a lot about art from him.
The young adults played a few games together like Pictionary and Mafia. Bolin felt like time passed quickly as they played multiple rounds of Mafia. He had downed multiple cups of hot chocolate.
It was almost midnight when it was time to go. Bolin, Mako and Korra said goodbye to their friends as they went home. The excitement and happiness of the night stayed with Bolin for the rest of the ride home. They waited for midnight, then went to sleep. Bolin was still replaying some of the things that happened.