Bolin was doing his best to try and comfort Korra, but it was difficult to figure out what to say to someone whose parents had just been arrested for trying to kill their uncle. Allegedly.

She didn't believe a word of the charges, though, and she wasn't afraid to let Unalaq know that. "You're making a mistake. My parents had nothing to do with the people who attacked you."

And for what it was worth, the man did seem remorseful about the situation. "I'm sorry it had to come to this, Korra, but they held meetings with the rebels, right in their own home."

"That doesn't mean they tried to assassinate you. Why are you doing this to your own family?"

"I've appointed Judge Hotah to oversee the trial, and he is the most honorable man I know. If your parents really are innocent, you have nothing to worry about."

"I hope so." They decided to depart to the courthouse soon after her uncle left with her parents, and when they got there Mako and Asami were there to greet them on the steps.

His brother spoke first, already aware of the situation, and asked if Korra was okay. "Not really", she admitted.

"Have either of you heard anything from Varrick?"

"No. We were supposed to meet this morning to finalize the deal we had in place, but guards busted in and ransacked his office, and there was no sign of him then either."

Bolin could tell Asami was upset for her own reasons, with how much she'd talked about what an agreement with Varrick Industries would've meant for her own company, but she didn't say anything about it as they went inside for the proceedings.

Things went calmly for the most part, but Bolin was kinda confused about what was happening, so he leaned over and whispered questions to his brother. "Shouldn't the rebels have lawyers or something?"

"What are you asking me for?", Mako murmured back. "I don't know anything more about this stuff than you do."

"I was just curious. Asami, aren't there supposed to be people yelling 'objection' and stuff?"

That got him a nudge in the ribs. "Now you're bugging her, too?"

"Well you just said you didn't know about this. And she runs a company, so she's gotta know more about lawyer stuff than anyone else here, right?"

"You're supposed to have an attorney in republic city, but it must be different here", Asami explained. "Either way, corporate law is different from criminal law."

"How?"

"Can we have this conversation when my parents aren't in the middle of a sham trial for treason?", Korra interrupted.

"Sorry."

Once Unalaq finished giving his testimony about how he was attacked last night, Korra went up to the stand, where the judge questioned her about what she knew. "According to Unalaq's testimony, you attended a meeting where Varrick tried to incite a civil war. Is that true?"

"He said he wanted to fight back, but I didn't hear anything about starting a war. Those don't mean the same thing."

"Were the men you stopped at the palace at this meeting?"

"One of them was, but I didn't see all of their faces."

"And where was this meeting held?" Korra wasn't saying anything else, she just had her eyes focused on the floor in front of her.

"This court requires you to answer the question, so I'll ask again. Where did this meeting take place?"

"...My parent's house." It was honestly hard for Bolin to watch Korra up there, clearly upset by the questions, but the judge didn't seem too bothered by it.

"Who led the meeting?"

"..."

"It was your father, wasn't it?"

"But he's innocent!", she pleaded.

"Thank you, Avatar Korra, for your cooperation. That's all the testimony I need, I'll return shortly with my decision."

Already? Aren't these kinds of trials supposed to take a lot longer than one morning? But Bolin's opinion didn't really matter though, since after the short recess the judge seemed to have made up his mind.

"I have reached a verdict. Will the accused please step forward?" He wasn't really sure what to do, but he hoped that slipping his hand into Korra's would help, even if it was just a little.

"Senna, this court has found you innocent. You are free to go." As soon as the shackles were released, Korra's mom ran over to hug her daughter. It was a relief, but a short lived one.

"As for the rest of you, on the charges of treason and attempted murder, this court has found you guilty. The punishment for these crimes...is death."

Gasps echoed throughout the courtroom, and Korra was the first to react.

"You can't do this! If you kill him, I'll-"

Bolin stepped in to make sure she didn't finish that sentence. "Korra, don't." Whatever she was planning to say, he doubted it would make the situation any better. Unalaq agreed with him, as he urged her to calm down, before he spoke to the judge.

"I know I promised to respect whatever decision you made, but please, show my brother and these men mercy."

This seemed to sway the man, as he paused to think. "Very well. Based on the recommendation of the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, your lives will be spared. However, you will spend the remainder of them in prison.

It was a much better outcome than what it looked like it was going to be, but Korra was understandably unhappy with it, and she wasn't afraid to let her uncle know that. But he almost seemed dismissive of the situation, telling her they needed to accept the verdict and move on, before leaving to go and have a conversation with Judge Hotah. It looked fishy to Bolin, and he was sure Korra felt the same way.

At least they were able to arrange a visit with Korra's dad pretty quickly. Bolin wasn't entirely sure if he was allowed to be tagging along, but either way no one seemed interested in stopping him, while Korra and her mother rushed over to their imprisoned family member right as the cell door opened. "Oh, spirits, Tonraq. Are you alright?"

He reassured his wife that he was fine, and that was all Korra needed. "Then get ready, we're gonna bust you out of here."

"Korra, if you break me out, that'll start a war. We won't be able to put up a fight with the North with their military already entrenched like this. I know this is difficult, but I need you to promise me you won't do anything rash."

"Ok." Bolin wasn't entirely sure that she was being sincere, but it seemed to be enough for her dad.

"I love you both so much. Be strong, and look out for each other." They agreed, and then he addressed the non-family member in the room.

"Bolin, can I talk to you alone for a moment?"

Korra got suspicious right away. "What for?"

"I won't be long, I promise." She didn't get an answer, but she obliged her dad's request. It was only when Korra and her mom left that Bolin truly realized the size difference between himself and her father. Oh, man, he's looming. Is he gonna threaten to wring my neck if I don't treat Korra right? Well, if he was, it'd be hard to follow through on that with him being in jail.

"Bolin, I...owe an apology."

Huh? "What for, sir?"

"You shouldn't have been the one that needed to leave at that tribal meeting yesterday. I was just trying to keep the peace, and I'm sorry."

Oh yeah, that. "It's alright, I understand what you were trying to do." Bolin had learned to tolerate insults against himself, since 'Street rat' had pretty much become a nickname growing up, but the words that man had used yesterday had disrespected his parents in a way he couldn't let go.

"The situation between my two homes is precarious right now, and I'm afraid Korra may be too personally invested in this conflict to listen to what I have to say."

Now he understood why he wanted to talk privately. "So you think she'll listen to me?" Bolin also figured that Korra was listening in on their conversation, so he kept his voice a little quieter than usual, and her dad did the same when he spoke again.

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you were capable. I love my family, and I'll do whatever it takes to protect them, and that's what I need from you right now."

"...I'll do what I can, but I can't convince her to give up on you, so what do we do to get you out of here without a prison break?"

"Judge Hotah was part of my father's inner circle in the North, before he passed and my brother became chief. As far as I know he's still a close advisor. Perhaps he can be persuaded to have another look at the case. And I believe Varrick is still in hiding, if he can be found, maybe he can help prove what actually happened."

Those were good places to start. "Alright sir, I won't let you down. And I'll make sure to look after Korra and her mom, too." Not that they needed him to do that.

"Thank you, son."

Korra and her mom went back to the cell as soon as Bolin left to say their own private goodbyes. She didn't question him about what he'd discussed with her Dad, but it must have been obvious enough to her. But the situation at her parents house was predictably bleak. He could tell how helpless Korra and her mom felt about the whole situation, so it wasn't a huge surprise to see his girlfriend go outside towards Naga with visible anger and determination.

He made sure to follow her quickly when she left, thankfully she got delayed by needing to adjust Naga's saddle. "Korra, I know what you're thinking, but-"

"If you really do, then you shouldn't be trying to stop me. Despite what my dad says, I don't need a babysitter."

"Korra, I know this sucks, but we gotta be smart about what we do next."

"You don't get it, Bolin. My home's been taken over, my family got torn apart, and my Dad's gonna be in jail for the rest of his life. I have to do something."

"But there might be some things you can't do. You aren't gonna be able to fix anything if you start a war or get arrested yourself."

It looked like he'd been able to get through to her, since she finally stopped fiddling with the saddle straps. "So what do you want to do, then?"

He explained her dad's idea of catching Varrick to prove his innocence, but Korra wasn't convinced it would work. "It won't matter if that judge doesn't agree to let my dad out. I swear, he must have out for him or something."

Do whatever it takes. "Alright."

"Alright what?"

"I'll go talk to that judge."

"I can handle this, you don't need to get involved."

"He knows who you are though. What's gonna happen when people find out the avatar threatened a judge?"

"That isn't what I was gonna do." Sure. "And you really think you can get through to him?"

"I can be charming, don't you think?"

"I don't know if your 'charm' is gonna work here, Bo."

"Well then..." he paused to lift Pabu off his shoulder and into Korra's arms. "...I guess I'll just have to borrow Naga, with your permission of course, to help convince him."

He could tell Korra had questions, but he spoke before she would say anything else. "Just trust me, okay?" The less she knew, and the less she was involved, the better.

"Alright. Just be careful, okay?"

Before they left, Korra sent a message to Mako and Asami to meet her at Varrick's office where Bolin dropped her off. After that, he went looking for the judge, who wasn't too hard to find, and following him was pretty easy.

Tailing people was one of the easier jobs Bolin had done when he was growing up on the street. He never knew why, since he'd made the mistake of asking that the first time and was convinced very thoroughly to never do that again. It almost never was the same person more than once. Could be a journalist, a cop, a judge, even someone from a rival gang. But all he had to do was follow from a safe distance, keep an eye on what they were doing, and report back later about what he saw. He didn't really need to worry about being recognized back then, since a little kid didn't stick out, and he'd eloquently been told "nobody cares about a street rat", but he didn't have that luxury now, riding a polar bear dog. Naga behaved well though, and they were able to avoid attracting too much attention.

Bolin had to wait to confront the judge until he got in his Satomobile and drove outside the city. There were too many witnesses there, and someone could get the idea of calling guards. He made sure his face was covered to avoid being recognized, and went over the plan with his partner.

"Alright, Naga, we have to make sure that this guy let's Korra's dad out of jail, so we gotta act real mean and scary, okay?"

She was wagging her tail pretty hard, which seemed to indicate understanding. Or it could've just been because he was scratching behind her ear, but he had to move forward.

The Satomobile noticeably accelerated as he got closer, no doubt the result of seeing an angry polar bear dog coming up behind him. Bolin thought about raising a rock wall far ahead to basically trap him without causing a crash, but he didn't want to give any clues about his identity. Either way, Naga was able to catch up pretty easily, and made the judge stop without an accident.

Once she'd also done him the favor of opening the door by ripping it off the hinge with the swipe of a paw, Bolin yanked the man out and held him against the car, using more force than he probably should for someone his age.

"Take whatever you want, just don't hurt me!"

"What I want? Oh, no no no no, it's about what she wants." He made a quick gesture in Naga's direction, who looked perfectly intimidating. "And she wants you to let Chief Tonraq out of prison."

"There's...nothing more I can do. The evidence against your friends and the chief is-"

"Are you kidding me?" He made sure to shake the judge in order to get the message across. "You can't even prove he was involved, and you give him a life sentence?" At least he thought Bolin was with the rebels, and he hadn't made the connection to Korra.

"Look, it's out of my hands!", he pleaded. "I was just following Unalaq's orders!"

Unalaq's orders? "What are you talking about?"

The judge realized he'd said something he wasn't supposed to."N-nothing!"

He wasn't going to budge unless Bolin escalated, so that's exactly what he did, moving the man's head into Naga's open mouth, while making the situation very clear. "Unless you want to spend the rest of the day being digested, you'd better explain."

But the judge got brave for some reason. "Y-you wouldn't! You're just bluffing!"

"Do you really want to find out for sure?" Naga added to the threat by just slightly closing her mouth, and letting out a growl that sounded very hungry. Good girl.

That got him to cooperate, along with producing a smell Bolin honestly couldn't blame him for. "Alright! Unalaq told me he needed everyone charged to be found guilty! He didn't care about the evidence, just that the trial had to seem fair."

"Why would he want his brother in jail if he knows he's innocent?"

"Because he wants to make sure he's the only influence the Avatar has! That's why he drove off her airbending teacher, and came up with that plan for her boyfriend."

"What plan?" Bolin had to keep his composure, he couldn't afford to tip him off now.

"I don't know, something involving his daughter, he just told me to make sure I was ordained!"

"And you've been helping him with all of this?"

"He told me it was all for the greater good, to unite our two tribes and to bring peace to the spirits!"

There was one thing that still didn't make sense. "If he wants everyone else out of the way, then why did he free the Avatar's mother and change her dad's sentence?"

"He's trying to keep her on his side, and he doesn't want to look like he's involved, like when he got her father banished from the North!"

"What do you mean, he got her father banished?"

The man's eyes widened in panic. "I've said too much already."

"You'd better say more."

Once the judge explained, Bolin released him from his own grip and Naga's mouth, leaving him on the ground, practically whimpering from the whole ordeal. Bolin knew needed to leave quickly to let the others know, and avoid anyone passing by, but he still wanted to warn him, regardless of whether it was necessary. "You don't tell anyone about this, unless you want to see us again."

Notes: Alright, so Civil wars part II was originally gonna be much longer (about 6,000 words), but I decided to split the chapters so it'd be two shorter-ish chapters instead of one really long chapter. I got most of the next one done so it shouldn't be too long before the next one is posted, but don't quote me on that. Hope it makes up for the delay.