Lin Beifong was in one of her famous moods, and everyone in the general vicinity knew to steer clear of her. Over the course of her day she'd had to deal with everything from missing files to overeager officers who raided a house without a warrant. She had a list of problems that spanned from one side of the city to the other and on top of it all, the council was giving her grief over her 'over-aggressive' behavior. The criminals of the city start fights and the politicians still expect her to throw kid rocks at them. How dumb can you get? All Lin wanted to do was beat someone senseless, luckily today was the perfect day for a little brain bashing...
The Monthly Training Session was at hand.
The program was first organized by the esteemed Chief Toph Beifong as a way of teaching a lesson to some of her dumbest officers. While the brutal training did indeed hold some merits with the Council, testing and preparing the officers for demanding conditions, none of them believed it should be a form of punishment. So, in the name of fairness, the famous Chief "randomly selected" every disobedient, foolish, self serving, malingering, idiot, jerk, and/or screw up that pissed her off the previous month. Lin still held the record for the most random drawls. It'd been hell, but she came out all the better for it and so would these imbeciles. Assuming of course that they survived, which considering the destructive mood she was in right now, wasn't very likely. Lin almost felt sorry for the poor bastards.
Thirty-eight of them this month. Standing in military rolls of ten, they all looked like they were going to faint. The earth and metalbenders held a huge boulder above their heads while the water, fire, and non-benders wore heavily weighted forearm and leg guards. The purpose of the exercise was simple, remain standing.
She stood in front of the lines, and shook the earth. They all stumbled, but regained their footing. A few more easy moves to let them adjust and then the fun began. A stomp of her foot and the ground dropped a foot beneath them. A movement of her arms and the ground slid three feet forward, then sideways. Followed by a wave and another drop. Next, she made small obstacles for them to jump and projectiles to dodge. As she went through what looked to be an odd set of bending forms, her victims jumped, dodged, ducked and fell flat on their faces. Soon they began to tire out, she had to start pausing to allow the fallen officers, who now needed a little more time, to get up. Every one here was an idiot but did they really deserve to be trampled for that?
After what felt like an eternity to the officers, and a minute for her, they'd bared all the punishment they could take. She gave them some words of warning and released them.
"Mako...as in 'Bolin Beifong's long-lost brother, Mako'?" His brother had the Beifong name? Why?
"Yeah, Bolin's my little brother. Can you tell me where to find him?" The moment of truth. Was any of this real, or were the cops trying to get information on the Triple threats?
"Chief Beifong always says to bring anyone claiming to be Mako to her." The clerk informed him, "Follow me." Mako didn't budge an inch, "Well, come on." He decided to go along, but it was against his better judgment. It was worth the risk, he didn't know anything the police could actually use so if they did interrogate him there would be no harm done and he could go on living his life with a clear conscience, "Chief, we have another young man claiming to be Mako." From the look on the older woman's face, she didn't want to be bothered with him right now.
"Let him in." She gestured for him to sit in a vacant chair in front of her, "What's your name?"
"Mako." He spat. Didn't the clerk make that clear?
"You an earthbender?"
"Firebender."
"Nice scarf, where'd you get it?"
"What's with all the questions?"
"You're not the first person that's waltzed in here claiming to be my son's brother. So you're going to answer them."
"It was my dad's, alright? He and my mom were killed when I was eight." The interrogation lasted awhile, with a break in the middle of it as the Chief's lackey said he had news, then she ushered him out of the station presumably to meet his brother.
"This is awesome!" Bolin gazed at the beauty that was Asami's new Satomobile.
"Yeah, my dad said it's for all my hard work at the factory." Asami said from her perch on the back of the driver's seat, "He built it himself."
"Wow. So, let's go for a ride." He got in, "Seats are comfortable, too."
"You think your mom will care?"
"Not if I'm back before she get's home." He grinned. As long as he showed some backbone and fessed up later, making sure to emphasize that he was with his responsible best friend and all his work was finished, his mom wouldn't care too much. He might get a death glare...but he'd give her 'the polarbear pup look' and that'd be the end of it.
"Alright," She slid down and turned the ignition, "a quick trip to the bakery, we'll grab some sweet rolls." They barely started to move before the unmistakable glint of police armor caught both of their attentions.
"Mom...whatdaya doin' home so early?" he tried to ask innocently as he and his friend jumped out of the vehicle as quickly as possible, all courage leaving them in a millisecond, "Asami and I were going down to the bakery to get some of those rolls you love and get some gooseduck and have supper on the table for you when you got home."
"Cut the garbage, Boy. What were you really doing?" She stared him down...for all of two seconds before he hung his head,
"Asami and I were going to take a joyride in her new satomobile. We were going to the bakery to grab sweets; who's this?" Bolin just noticed that his mom had brought someone with her, but he couldn't get a good look at the guy because he was staring at the ground and his hat was covering most of his face.
"Well, don't just stand there; say 'hello'."
"Hello," the fourteen-year-old mistakenly thought Lin was speaking to him, "I'm Bolin Beifong." He stretched out his hand and frowned when the stranger didn't take it, "Soooo..." He looked to his mom for some help. She in turn nudged the young man with her elbow.
"Hello, Bolin. I'm Mako."
"Wha...
...
...
...really? Really?!" he got confirmation in a nod from his mother, "WOOOHOOO!" He enveloped his brother in a crushing hug, "Wow, you've gotten tall."
"You..'ve gonnen stro-ng." Mako choked.
"I'm hungry." Lin walked away from the scene and to the new satomobile, "Asami. Let's go."
"Oh yeah," Asami snapped out of her daze, "sure." She agreed, giving the brothers one last look before getting into the driver's seat and driving away. Meanwhile, Bolin finally released his brother from the platyus-bear hug.
"So...good to have you back, Mako! We've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Yeah..." Mako's eyes focused on the ground, "it's good to see you again." He grimaced when Bolin slapped a hand on his shoulder; kid really didn't know his own strength.
"Well, come on. Let me show you around your new home."
"Alright." Mako said somewhat uncertainly. He couldn't believe his brother grew up to be this nice when he was raised by that fire breathing dragon woman. It was a little unsettling, good, but unsettling. As he walked through the door he found a typical house. The kind every orphan dreamed of except he never imagined one built out of a lot different colored stones, that was weird, but it was nice. There were worse places his little brother could've grown up in...like the gutter.
HISS
"AHH!" Mako jumped when something red hit him in the chest and just hung there.
"Pabu!" Bolin grabbed the animal that'd clung to his shirt with it's claws, "Sorry, he thinks he's a guard seal-hound." he smiled sheepishly, "Pabu, this is my brother, Mako. Mako, this is my pet fire ferret, Pabu. Say hello, Pabu."
"Hello, Mako...nice of you to drop by." The fourteen-year-old voiced the animal.
"Why are talking like that?" Mako questioned seriously.
"Just trying to be funny...guess it didn't work...so let's get the tour started, this is the sitting room." He gestured for Mako to take a closer look. When he did, he stopped dead at a certain painting.
"How...how did you get that?"
"Mom gave it to me."
"Mom? When?" He couldn't have missed something like that...could he?
"Oh, I mean 'adopted Mom'...yeah, she gave it to me for my seventh birthday. She had a guy paint a big version of the picture she found in the police report of...well you know." he crossed his arms, "Pretty good likeness huh?"
"Yeah." He stared at the happy family in the portrait. Just like he remembered them.
"Yeah," Bolin sighed, "Well, they'd be glad we finally found each other." he tried to cheer his brother up.
"Sure." He forced himself to smile through a heavy mixture of emotions.
"So," Bolin said in a very snobbish voice, "Shall we continue the tour, my good fellow?" he was answered with a nod, "Alright, so here we have the
...Coat Closet...
...Basement...
...Kitchen...
...Library...
...Bathroom...
...Mom's Bedroom...
...Storage Closet...
and last, but certainly not least...our bedroom." It certainly wasn't what Mako expected. There were probending and (he assumed) earthbendering tournament cards scattered on the wall with a bunch of small pictures of strange people and a giant belt. A desk sat in one corner of the room next to a small bookshelf. But there was something that make the big brother angry and that was the fact that his little brother didn't sleep on an actual bed, but a mattress in the floor.
"Why don't you have a bed?"
"Oh, it's a Beifong thing. Mom doesn't have a bed either. It's so we can feel the earth while we sleep. Like this," He laid on the mattress, closed his eyes and put a hand to the ground, "Go ahead, do something."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, just move or something...you just took one step forward with your right foot. And two steps back. Now you're lifting your left foot off the ground."
"Wow..." Mako genually smiled, it was a neat trick, "how do you do that?"
"Seismic sense, just like Grammy...like Toph Beifong. I feel the vibrations you make if you're touching earth. Grammy taught Mom, Mom taught me. Cool, huh?"
"Yeah." He took a small offense at Bolin referring to Lin Beifong as 'Mom', but he kept his mouth shut. He knew it was wrong to be bitter, Beifong did take Bolin into her home and raised him, and obviously didn't try to take their real mom's place given the portrait in the sitting room...but was just the thought. Lin Beifong wasn't their mom.
"Want me to introduce the people in the pictures?" Bolin's eyes popped open, "This is Aunt Kya, Uncles Bumi and Tenzin. And this is Great-Uncle Zuko, and this is my best friend Asami...", He went through all the pictures before coming to a framed set of cards, "And these are the family's champ cards. These top three are Grammy's, she won her first Earth Rumble at eleven," The three cards (obviously painted from memory because the fight happened before cameras were invented) showed a kid, a girl in her late teens and a woman in her mid twenties. They each held up their right fist in a victory pose with an arrogant, almost evil, grin. Under each of the pictures was the title 'The Blind Bandit' and 'Toph Beifong' written in smaller lettering beneath it.
"...And these middle three are Mom's." The first two had been painted from memory like Toph's, but the last one was photographed. One was a little kid, the second was a woman in her late twenties, the last was only a couple years old. The person in these had the same victory pose, only the left arm was raised and the smirk was much smaller. What really made it stand out though was the fact that in each she was wearing a blindfold. The title read 'The Dodger', the name 'Lin Beifong'.
"...And this one is mine." Again, same pose with a blindfold, right arm high in the air, but with a face-wide, gleeful smile. 'Rhyolite' and 'Bolin Beifong'.
"You're a bending champ?" Suddenly he was proud of his brother. Of course he was glad to see his brother after all this time and the...circumstances which Mako hadn't decided whether to share or not. And he was glad to know that Bolin wasn't as hard faced as the police chief, but to tell the truth...he'd pegged the boy as a helpless goofball even despite his obvious physical strength. He just didn't look or act like someone who could kick your ass if they wanted to, "Why are you two blindfolded?"
"Haven't you heard? All Beifongs fight blind in the ring. It's a tradition...and it's much cooler that way and here's my champion belt." he slid over to show off the Earth Rumble version of a trophy, "They give one out every year, they used to have just one that you had to win or defend it but then Grammy won, well she and Aang had to have a rematch, and no one had the guts to ask for it back the next year when she didn't compete." After that, they went around the room, Bolin showing and explaining everything in great detail from his books, to the letters he'd written (his mom was never going to hear the end of it. She always told him to write to his brother if it made him feel better, but don't be disappointed to find out that Mako didn't get any of them), they even opened his closet where Bolin moved his things over to one side to make room for Mako's things when he got some.
"What's this?" Mako picked up a stuffed animal. Wasn't Bolin a little too old for this thing?
"That's Rumble." Bolin snatched it out of his brother's hands, "Mom gave it to me when I was sick. After we were separated, Mom set me up in one of the cells at Headquarters until she found you and a decent orphanage to put us both in. The City Council didn't think that was a good idea and tried to put me with a foster family, but I was young and didn't know what was going on...I just knew that I wanted you and mom," he looked sad at the memory, "so I snuck out and looked for you both. I remember hollering 'Mako! Chief!', I thought her name was Chief because almost everyone I knew called her that. It was dark and cold and I was lost. Then it started to sleet so I hid in a dumpster. Next thing I remember I was in a strange room and Toph told me to stay still because her Pup, that's what she called Lin, brought me there and would be back for me later. When she did come, she brought me this. Her dad gave it to her the day she was born." He shrugged, "I know I'm too old for stuffed toys but he's special. I can't get rid of him."
Mako didn't know what to say. For starters, he felt like a real creep. Bolin had been looking for him for the past eight or so years and he'd brushed his brother off, not even making the effort to find out if Bolin was okay. For all he knew, his only sibling could've been abused and neglected for all these years. Luckily that didn't happen, but he still felt horrible for just assuming that he'd been betrayed and leaving his brother in the hands of a stranger.
"Bolin...I..."
"Yeah, it's stupid, I know." He hung his head with shame, but he still held badgermole tightly.
"No, what I was going to say was...well...it's just that I...I think it's a cool toy." he chickenhogged out, "You should keep it."
"Really?"
"...Yeah. It means a lot to you."
"You're the best big brother in the world!" He crushed him in another hug. Bolin was wrong, he was a terrible big brother...what would his parents say?