Dr. Qin was smoking his pipe on the balcony of his office. He had an excellent view of the city from here. He was just far in enough to be part of the hustle and bustle, but far enough to still have a view. Not quite a suburb, not quite the city. He loved it here. He grew up in the country, but his father filled him with stories of Republic City. It all seemed so magical to him. When he'd come to the University to become a Doctor, he found that those stories were true. He didn't turn into the doctor he expected to be, but he was a doctor nonetheless.

There was a knock at the door, and Dr. Qin turned to see who it was. Bolin entered, looking pensive. Dr. Qin shook his head, letting out a puff of smoke. Bolin, he'd forgotten he had an appointment with him.

"Bolin, come in, I was just taking a smoke break. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, not at all. You, uh, got another one of those?"

"You sure you can handle it? I've been smoking a long time, Bolin, this aren't for beginners."

Bolin picked up a second pipe next to the herb box, took an experienced pinch from the box, accepted the lighter from Dr. Qin, and took in a deep breath from the pipe. Bolin let out a long, exhausted sigh of smoke from his lungs, displaying his impressive capacity. Dr. Qin let out a warm chuckle.

"I can't say I'm surprised."

"It's an occasional treat," Bolin smile, "Not an addiction or anything like that."

"So what's on your mind today? How'd everything go?"

"Well, it all…It all went well," Bolin nodded solemnly, "I talked to Mako, about the Fire Ferrets. As Captain to Captain. It was great, talking shop with him, Mako's got this glow to him when he talks about Pro Bending. He gave me a lot of good advice and…"

He took another smoke of his pipe, rolling the smoke in his mouth and nose before letting it go. He stared at the city for a little while.

"I talked to my team, taking Mako's advice, and we ended up having a 'discussion.' And we all decided it was best if I found different players. Which…Means…As of right now, the Fire Ferrets include myself. And no one else."

Dr. Qin shook his head, "I'm sorry to hear that."

Bolin shrugged, "It's all right. It gives me time to put together a new team and break them in, you know? Get to know my new players, get some synergy for next season. But…It does mean I'll need a day job. So I went to Asami, and she wants me as her personal liaison to Varrick, until she can sort out what-Well, it's all very technical, I don't want to bore me."

"It's a psychologist, Bolin, it' smy job to listen to all of your boring stuff."

"Like what?"

"I can't tell you that. But I've heard some pretty mundane things. In comparison, you're pretty exciting. I mean, Captian of the Fire Ferrets? Future Industries liaison to Varrick himself? You're hardly a typical person, Bolin. You've come a long way from doing odd jobs with Shady Shin."

"I guess you're right," Bolin smiled, his mood recovering. He took another puff. Dr. Qin had finished his, but he still nibbled at the end of his pipe. Bolinw as pensive for a few more moments before Dr. Qin interjected again.

"What's on your mind now?"

"Just…Everything's gone in a different direction that I intended."

"Where did you intend to be?"

"A year ago? Pro bending world champ! But…That didn't work out. We got beaten because of bribery and unsportsmanlike behavior."

"Unsportsmanlike to say the least. Load of crap, that match."

"And, well, I really wanted to be Korra's boyfriend, but…That didn't work out, either. So now I'm just…Taking what I can get, really. I feel like I'm settling for second best, you know? Second captain to the Fire Ferrets, assistant to Asami, having Korra's cousin instead of Korra herself. And boy, did that last one not work out. Like, seriously did. Not. Work. Out. Wow that was…Heh, that was a mistake. A big one."

"You didn't have a great relationship with her, I'm guessing."

"No! She's totally crazy, and needy, and…And dominating! Whenever I'm around her, I'm her slave! And I couldn't talk. Not to her, not to her equally creepy brother. I have to do exactly what she says or…Or…"

"Or…?"

"I…Am not sure, really. I…Never disobeyed her. I never found out what she'd do other than being extra creepy."

"Creepy? Why don't we start from the beginning. What originally attracted you to her?"

"Well, I thought…She was…Kinda cute. And she's Korra's cousin, you know, I figured she'd be a lot like her. Confident, funny, brash."

"And was she?"

"Well…Eska's not lacking for confidence. She would never accept 'no' from me. Or anyone else."

"So that's one of three."

"And when we went to the South Pole, she and her brother wanted to go with us, even though they didn't really have any reason to be there."

"That's two. What about humor?"

"Well, I've heard her laugh, but…I…Don't…Ever want to hear that again. Eugh. Creepy."

"So not so much on the humor."

"Well, maybe. I guess she took a certain kind of creepy pleasure from tormenting me, treating me like her slave. Never had a say in anything. So glad to be on the other side of the planet from her right now."

"So it sounds like it was a good thing you broke up."

"Well, let's just say I do not look forward to bumping into her."

"She didn't take it well?"

"Not at all. I mean, I was starting to think that she was just messing with me, having fun at my expense, like a bully, but…When I ran away…I saw her face, Doc. She had murder on mind. Eska is, like, an extremely powerful Bender. She was racing along the ocean. I didn't think me running away would affect her, I just thought she'd be like…Move on. But she was distraught. First time I'd ever seen her show any emotion other than being bored or annoyed. That, more than anything else, terrified me."

"You fear her."

"Heck yeah, I fear her! Man, when she finds me, and she will find me, she is going to stab me with icicles. They'd never convict her! There'd be no murder weapon!"

"Do you think your life is in danger?"

"Nah, I've got backup. And I'm…Pretty sure she'd torture me first, so I'd have some time for a rescue before the final blow. Besides, my brother's a Police Detective. I'm connected. I'm not worried. Much. Too much. Okay, I'm a bit worried, but you don't need to do anything, Doc." Bolin stared at Dr. Qin, "Please help."

Dr. Qin let out a laugh, "I'm not sure what I could do to scare off your ex-girlfriend, Bolin. I'm a Bender but not a particularly good one. You want me to psycho-analyze her for you? I can refer her to a good colleague. That's about it."

Bolin sighed, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"But I can help you prepare for the inevitable confrontation with her. She seems to be a very dominating young woman from what you've told me. Trying to counter her dominance with strength might not be the right call. She could see that as a threat to the authority she believes she has over you. But you can't submit to her every whim, either."

"Then what do I do?"

"You know her better than I do. I've only got hearsay. What do you think might work?"

"I have no idea."

"Let's try this again. What do you want to say to her?"

"I…Want to say to her…That I don't like being treated like a thing. That she's not the boss of me. I don't want to overpower her, I just want to go on my own path, you know? But she's too powerful to just stand up to. So…What else could I do?"

Dr. Qin shrugged, "Well, you've already left the abusive relationship. But you don't think that your interactions with Eska are at an end. You can't let her have power and control. That's different from matching her power with your own. Bring her to your level, don't try to go up to hers. Ignore whatever power she tries to put on you. Her intimidation is just a scare tactic. It doesn't mean anything, and if she actually does try to strike you, get away from her until you can get help. You don't have to go through this alone."

"Right."

"Also keep in mind, most people who are the abuser in a relationship have a history of some kind of abuse. Whatever she's done to you, she may have had done to her. By not allowing her to have the same power over you, you break that cycle, at least as it is directed towards you. Then, when you've said your peace, you leave. Don't let her try to re-establish her control of you. Only you can cede that to her, Bolin."

"Unless she freezes me in a block of ice."

"Unless she freezes you in a block of ice," Dr. Qin nodded, "In which case you need the police, not a psychologist. Hopefully your life won't be put in mortal danger in between this week and next week, because that's all the time we have."

"Aww, really? All right. I'll see you later, then, Doc."