The smart thing for Bolin Beifong to do would be go home after work and take a little nap, or at least go to the gym and get in a workout before his match. But for some strange reason, as soon as he stepped out of Police Headquarters his feet mindlessly carried him towards Air Temple Island.

"Hi, Bolin." Jinora greeted the newcomer sadly as she and Ikki hugged him on each side.

"Whoa...did the Fire Nation declare war or something?" Bolin asked, dumbfounded, as he put his arms around them and gazed upon a piles of half-burnt gates scattered on the ground.

"Korra was training this morning and got mad because she can't airbend and...floosh, verrshe..boom!" Ikki explained with her usual over the top flair. Wait. The Avatar...master of all four elements...couldn't airbend? How was that even possible?

"What do you mean the avatar can't airbend?"

"Daddy says that it's because Korra isn't like an airbender. Just like Grandpa Aang had trouble with earthbending because he didn't act like an earthbender." Jinora elaborated.

"Oh..." That actually sounded all too familiar, "Well, where's Korra?"

"She ran off that way."

He found her sitting on the cliffs. The lonely cliffs, he always called them because they were all by themselves on the opposite side of the swimming beach.

"So..." he advanced slowly toward the girl, "if Father Superior were here, he'd be giving you a real earful." The elder monk had passed away a year ago, but Bolin thought he would be happy to know that the Beifongs hadn't destroyed a single part of the island since that day...with out him there to blow up it just didn't seem like fun anymore. But what the grumpy man would have to say about the avatar burning up a priceless airbender artifact? Bolin had a feeling that for once Father Superior and his mother would find some common ground. With the two of them working together the world would just have to wait and hope that Korra's Earth Kingdom reincarnation showed a little more restraint than she did.

"Bolin?", she wiped her eyes with her sleeve, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just came to see a friend before my match tonight...but she's having a pretty bad day by the looks of it." he sat down beside her, "You okay?"

"You heard about the airbending gates?"

"Heard about them? I saw the destruction! Remind me not to make you mad." He couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey! It's not my fault! Tenzin keeps pushing me in there when he knows I can't do it. I'm just not an airbender!" She let out a frustrated growl.

"Yeah," Bolin was suddenly very interested in his hands, "I know the feeling."

"You do?"Korra raised an eyebrow.

"Of course! You're not an airbender, I'm not a metalbender. And everyone expects me to get it just like that." he snapped his fingers with a fake smile before he brought his arm down to rest on his knee and put his face on his hand, "I mean, my mom is one of the greats. So naturally, I should be too, right? But when I try to metalbend...I just end up hurting my hands and feet on a solid sheet of iron."

"Yeah, the other elements came so easy to me, I don't get why I can't figure airbending out. Tenzin says I just have to listen. Well, I have been listening!"

"Yeah," he'd heard the same thing from his mom, "and then they tell us that we have to change this one thing about ourselves..." he threw out his arms dramatically, "...right?"

"I gotta be patient." Korra admitted.

"I gotta be more stubborn. And she says that like it's sooooo easy!"

"Exactly! Finally, someone gets it."

"Yeah..." he trailed off sadly, "And she's trained other competent benders before so I gotta face the facts...I just stink."

"...I never thought of it that way." She was too busy blaming Tenzin's teaching style, but Jinora could do it and Tenzin was the one to teach her how.

"Aw man, you're lucky. That's the only way I can think about it. I mean, my mom and grandma were prodigy earthbenders and I had to work hard at it. Ever since I started serious training people have been comparing me to them and I just don't measure up...I don't even come close!"

"You should try following in Avatar Aang's footsteps." She challenged sadly. That had to be tough, Avatar Aang cast a pretty big shadow with his saving the world and all.

"Alright, you win." He admitted defeat in the 'my problems are bigger than yours' contest. "My need to live up to the family name doesn't compare with you having to live up to your...avatar title...thingy. But look on the bright side, I may never get metalbending down, you know you'll get a hang of it sooner or later."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean; well I heard Aang had trouble with earthbending, right?" Bolin reminded her.

"Right."

"So you'll get it eventually, right?"

"Right." A smile finally appeared, even if it was a small and reluctant one. They sat in silence for awhile, before Bolin realized that the sky was starting to get dark and he needed to get to the arena.

"Well...I better go, I need to get changed and everything. You coming with me?"

"I would, but I can't leave the island the normal way."

"That's fine with me." He grinned, they could escape together.

…...

"What a way for an earthbender to travel; under water." That had been one of the most unnerving things Bolin had ever done and he was glad to be on the solid, not surrounded by ocean on all sides and above, stadium floor.

"Bolin. There you are." Mako wasn't pleased with his little brother's tardiness.

"Sorry, I'm just a little behind." he didn't exactly have plenty of time to get ready, but it didn't take all that long to get his gear on.

"And you brought the avatar back?"

"Yeah."

"Bolin." Mako said warningly, "You know as well as I do that she's not supposed to leave Air Temple Island."

"You know, I'm right here." Korra growled. Mako just gave her a look, as if to say 'Yeah, that's the problem'.

"Relax, Bro. She'll be back on the island before anyone knows she's gone."

"Fine. Whatever." he knew he was wasting his breath anyway, "We got bigger problems, have you seen Hasook?"

"Uh..."Bolin looked right and left, sure enough, the team waterbender was nowhere to be seen, "no."

"He better hurry up, we only got about five minutes before our match."

"Mako, Mako, Mako..." the team earthbender shook his head, "you stress out so easily...he'll be here."

Five Minutes Later...

"Okay...so maybe he won't be here." And the teams scheduled to compete before them were already making their way back to the lockers. Bolin slumped on the bench while Mako leaned against the wall. A million ideas went through the brothers' heads but for some reason the thought that popped to the forefront of the younger brother's mind was a question 'Spirits, why couldn't Mom adopt a waterbender...one about my age, and dependable?'.

"So what now?" Korra asked. Her inquiry wasn't answered by either of the probenders, but a referee who stuck his head through the door.

"You got two minutes to come out read to play or you're disqualified." Well, that was that.

"Now we lose our shot at tournament, and the winnings." The team captain announced.

"Can't you ask one of those guys to fill in?"Korra didn't have a bad idea, but unfortunately,

"Naw. The rules say you can only compete on one team."

"Well, then, how 'bout me?" The avatar offered. "I'm a top notch waterbender, if I do say so myself."

"But you're the avatar." Bolin pointed out before turning to Mako, "Isn't that cheating?"

"It isn't cheating if I only do waterbending." Well, when she put it that way, what harm could it cause?

"No way." apparently his older brother didn't see it the way he did, "I'd rather forfeit then look like a fool out there."

"Wow. Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Bro-"

"Time's up," the ref stuck his head in again, "you in or out?"

"We're in." Korra spoke for them before running over to the lockers.

"Yes!" Bolin followed her.

"I didn't agree to this!" Regrettably, Mako's position as captain didn't stop him from being outvoted.

"You can thank me later."

"This girl is crazy." Mako said to himself, only to have his brother overhear and remind him of one simple fact.

"So is our entire family!" He helped her into the gear, "She fits right in our team, perfectly."

"Ladies and gentlemen." They heard the announcer speak, "We apologize for the wait but we are ready to begin the next match! Introducing the Platypus Bears!" And now there was absolutely nothing Mako could do to put an end to this nonsense.

"Besides," Bolin put on put the helmet on her head, "If we're gonna be out of the tournament either way, I'd rather go down fighting."

"Don't worry, we'll win this thing no problem." Korra predicted with the utmost confidence as she pushed the large helmet up on her head.

…...

"And the Fire Ferrets are going to the Championship Tournament!" Bolin said in his announcer voice. Gathering his teammates up for a group hug in the locker room. Outside, a mass of people gathered outside the door.

"Avatar Korra, can I have a moment of your time?"

"Avatar Korra, are you the permanent replacement waterbender for the Fire Ferrets?"

"Avatar Korra, what changed in the last round?"

"You still think no one's ever gonna know, Bolin?" Mako crossed his arms. His brother shrugged innocently, though the nervous chuckle gave him away...he hadn't really thought of that.

"Well, what are the odds of Master Arrowhead listening to a probending match?"

"It's okay. Tenzin already found me." Obviously, the odds were pretty good, who knew?

"..."

"..."

"I kinda blew up at him."

"So, I guess that's it for probending. We'll have to find another replacement for Hasook." And Bolin was not looking forward to that. Hasook wasn't a very good probender, but he was the best they could get to agree to team up with them. The chances of finding a waterbender who could at least do as good as him was slim to none. As he began to pout, Korra spoke up.

"Only if you guys don't want me to play." Her offer was on the table, and the brothers glanced at each other. On the one hand they had the avatar, who had found her rhythm and would make a great probender with a little practice. On the other they had the avatar's teacher, who believed that probending was a complete waste of bending ability and the Chief of Police, who believed that if the avatar were set loose the entire city would be destroyed by fires, floods and earthquakes. Hmmm...Championship Tournament verses almost certain death and really awkward family dinners...

"Come on, Bro. We're dead men already," or they will be when his mom found out about this, "might as well have a little fun before we die." Bolin reasoned.

"I guess." Mako agreed with a sigh.

"Thank you! You guys won't regret this." She crushed them both in a hug, "Listen, I'm gonna go answer some questions and then I better go smooth things over with Tenzin."

"Won't regret this..." the firebender grumbled as the door shut behind her, "I'm already regretting this."

"Aw, don't be like that." Bolin put his arm around his brother's shoulders, "This is exactly what happened between you and Asami, so you should know how this is going to work...you'll both grumble and moan about each other, then you'll be force to bond because of circumstances beyond your control and you'll be best of friends in a month. "

"Yeah, yeah."

"Assuming, of course,that Mom doesn't kill us for unleashing the little 'Koh spawn' upon the poor unsuspecting city."

"That's...kinda what I'm afraid of."