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His grandson was running ahead of him, bending ramps of earth along his path to jump off of. Bolin laughed, yelling for the rambunctious child to stay where he could see him. There was nothing worse than having his daughter scold him for letting Lee run amuck. He could swear the spirit of Korra must reside inside of him because he was just as wild as his late wife, bending with every step and worrying his parents. It didn't help that his polar beardog was running along side him.

He was Korra to a t.

"Grampy! Hurry up!"

They were a few blocks away from his apartment. He had moved out of the house he and Korra had shared after she had passed away. Their four children had already moved away and the house was just too lonely without Korra stomping around, yelling from the first floor for him when he was in the next room over. It didn't help when his children had all moved out and the silence in the house got too overwhelming.

The apartment was better suited for him anyway, just a drive away from each of his children's homes.

When he finally caught up to his grandson, he tugged on the back of his son's olive green shirt, throwing his arms around Lee's torso and bringing him up so his legs hung over Bolin's shoulders, his small arms holding onto his head.

"Hold on tight, buddy."

"Go Grampy! Run like Kasha!" The polar beardog hearing her name, barked, her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she ran, almost falling over her front paws.

He carried his grandson on his shoulders up all the way to his apartment, until the boy asked to be put down running around the living room with Kasha.

There was nothing breakable in the apartment anyway.

Bolin prepared two bowls of seaweed noodles, calling Lee to the kitchen to eat.

Lee bounced into the room, his green eyes shining as he climbed into his seat, only his head peeking above the table.

Bolin placed the bowl in front of him, placing his own across the table. He sat, ruffling Lee's inky black hair.

The boy looked the least like Korra, but when he looked into his green eyes she was all he could see. He had her expressions, from the way he pouted and stomped his feet when things didn't go his way to the way his eyes widened in amazement when he watched a probending match. It was both great and hard to look at him sometimes.

"Gramma Korra liked seaweed noodles, right?" He was constantly asking about his grandmother, the great Avatar.

Bolin smiled. "No, Grandma Korra loved these noodles. I do too. It's what we ate on our first date actually."

"Tell me the story of when Gramma Korra beat someone up."

"Which time?" He wanted to ask, a thousand different situations popping up into his head. She'd beaten him up for Spirit's sake! Granted it was during her pregnancy with Ty, their heaviest child, and stayed inside of her for two extra weeks.

He decided on the story of when Korra, against all odds, helped them win the semifinals.

It wasn't easy talking about Korra. He had resigned himself to the fact that although their story would never end, but was simply on pause, his chest still ached when he reached across the bed to find her spot cold and empty.

He took a deep breath, a few stray tears falling down his cheeks. They were gone by the time he reached to wipe them away.

His grandson climbed out of his chair, running toward him, arms outstretched. "Don't cry Grampy." This time when Lee wicked the stream of tears away from his eyes he watched, the boy's tiny hands moving up to swipe away the liquid.

Bolin's eyes widened in realization, and his arms wrapping around his grandson's small body and pulling him into his chest.

It couldn't be. It was one thing to honor the Avatar from afar, but to have one of your own putting himself in the line of fire, taking the weight of the world on his shoulders, well that was too much to bear sometimes. He'd witnessed his wife breakdown, feeling powerless even though she was one of the most powerful people in all the four nations. He'd traced the scars covering her body.

It was a bittersweet moment for the earthbender. This was a burden he wouldn't wish on anyone, least of all his youngest grandson.