Bolin

The mood on the train was one of grim determination as it made its way back south from the Republic, and Bolin was not enjoying it one bit.

Bolin would be the first to admit that he did not do well in this kind of situation; he was a naturally upbeat sort of person, and so with such a nasty atmosphere prevailing he had tried to lift everybody's spirits, by telling jokes and generally being nice to people.

After the fifth person had told him to go away, Bolin decided to take the hint. He retreated to an empty room on the train and decided to wait the journey out.

And there he stayed, until there was a knock on the door.

"Bolin, is everything alright?" Kuvira's voice came from the other side.

"Yes," Bolin called back.

There was a pause.

"Can you come out?"

"Why?"

"Are you disobeying my orders?"

But Kuvira's question had no heat in it, and so Bolin opened the door.

"Good, I need to talk to you," his boss told him. "This business has destroyed morale."

Bolin just nodded.

"So, what should we do about it?" She prompted.

Bolin thought for a second.

"Throw a festival," he declared.

"Oh?"

"People love celebrations."

Kuvira nodded in agreement.

"They do- but I would rather do it after we have something to celebrate."

Bolin scratched his chin, making another show of thinking.

"So we make people happy by winning?"

"Pretty much," Kuvira agreed. She paused for a second.

"Bolin," she began, "You're from Republic city."

Bolin nodded, not knowing where this was going.

"What do the people there think of us?"

"The Earth Kingdom?"

She indicated that he was right.

"People in Republic City like the Earth Kingdom!" He said.

"So why did they vote so crushingly against us?"

"They like you, but they like their independence more."

Kuvira studied him for a second.

"I see."

"What do you see?"

She turned to stare out of the window. "The referendum was invalid then."

"What? No-"

"Wait!" Kuvira held her hand up to silence him.

"The earthbenders voted for us, I am sure of it. It was the firebenders, the waterbenders, even the Airbenders who lost us that referendum. But they don't matter."

She was talking to herself now, seemingly having forgotten that Bolin was there.

"The land is ours anyway, it matters not what some relics of colonialism- an implanted population- think. This referendum changes nothing."

"Wouldn't that make me a 'relic of colonialism?'" Bolin challenged her.

"You're an Earthbender. Of course not." Kuvira turned back to face him. "I need to speak to Varrick."

"Do you need me to come with you?"

"I know you don't trust him..."

"Of course I don't! He tried to engineer a war!"

"And he is atoning for that by working for me." She replied evenly.

Varrick, and his assistant, had joined Kuvira about six months after Bolin, seeking funding for a new project he had dreamt up. After preventing Bolin from attacking them on sight, Kuvira had accepted, and now the work was nearing its completion. Nobody else knew that he was working for them.

Without waiting for Bolin to reply, Kuvira swept off down the corridor, opening the door with a wave of her hand. After a second, she motioned for Bolin to follow her.

"Well? Are you coming or not?"

"Yes," Bolin hurried after her. The two of them walked down the length of the train in silence for a while, until they came to another door. A faint purple glow eminated from the window.

Kuvira knocked. There was silence for a few seconds, and then the purple light abruptly shut off.

Then, the door was flung open. A man with wild brown hair and a green uniform that was noticeably more crumpled than Bolin's greeted them enthusiastically.

"Kuvira! You're here! Just in time too!" said Varrick.

"How's it coming along?"

"Great! Zhu Li! Bring the reports!"

The woman quickly brought several sheets of paper and handed them to Varrick. In turn, he gave them to Kuvira.

"Nice work," she told him as she flicked through. "This looks impressive."

"It is! The amount of energy contained in those vines is off the charts! And I have some pretty big charts! Just one could power Ba Sing Se for a month!"

"And is that all you want to use them for?" Bolin asked, his eyes narrowed.

At that, Varrick's entire demeanour changed to one of mock sadness. He melodramatically stumbled over to Bolin and threw his arm over his shoulder.

"Bolin, do you really think that poorly of me? I want to do something good!"

Bolin remained unmoved. "...Yes."

"What happened to us? You're Nuktuk! The hero of the south, or have you forgotten?"

"You made those films to start a war!"

"I made those films to intervene in that war, the water tribes started it themselves."

"Anyway," Kuvira intervened, "Just looking through this, a question does present itself."

"Go ahead," Varrick's argument was immediately forgotten as he turned back to his boss.

"So this works by releasing a little bit of energy at a time over a long period, right?"

Varrick nodded.

"So, hypothetically of course, what would happen if you released all that energy at once?"

"It would be bad," Varrick replied solemnly. "I've nearly blown up this train and everyone on it three times with only a quarter of the vine's energy."

"What?" Squeaked Bolin. "That's not the kind of thing you just say! He nearly blew us up!"

"But I didn't."

"Equally hypothetically," Kuvira ploughed on regardless, "How would you go about releasing that energy?"

"A sudden input of energy, a quick surge of electricity ought to do it."

At that, a small smile passed over Kuvira's face, so quickly that Bolin was sure he must have been imagining things.

"Thank you for your time, then, Varrick. Keep up the good work. Have I ever told you how valuable your work is to me?"

Varrick turned away modestly.

"You could stand to mention it more."