Warning: A character has a PTSD flashback in this chapter, just wanted to give a heads-up.
When Bolin finally calmed down enough to go to sleep, Katara tucked him into bed with his fire ferret and had Kya bring a rocking chair into the corner of the room so she could keep an eye on him while he slept.
She'd only meant to stay for an hour or two, to make sure he wasn't having any nightmares, but her eyes got heavy and she ended up drifting off as well.
The next morning, she woke up with much more stiffness than usual, thanks to the chair, and a very surprised fire ferret that jumped out of her lap thanks to her stirring and made its way back to Bolin.
"Good morning," she told him as he woke up, rubbing his eyes before letting out a yawn. "How'd you sleep?"
He gave her a little shrug before speaking. "Were you in here the whole night?"
"No," Katara lied. "I only stayed for a little while. Are you feeling alright?"
Another shrug. "I guess."
"There was also something I wanted to ask you. Have you thought at all about whether you want to stay with Tenzin and Pema?"
"Not really." It wasn't surprising that he hadn't, given how little time he'd actually spent with them, but she needed to know his thoughts on the matter.
"Have they been taking good care of you?"
"Yeah, but..."
"But what?"
"They're about to have their own kid."
"That doesn't mean they can't take care of you too." Katara hesitated on what to say next. By all means, from what she'd seen and heard, the boy seemed to get attached rather easily, but it was far, far too soon to suggest that her son and his wife could fill the void left by the death of his family. Perhaps he could be coaxed into it eventually, but it would have to be his decision. "You don't have to make a decision right now, I just want you to think about it okay?"
"...I just don't want to go to an orphanage."
"You won't, I promise. Wherever you want to live, I'll make sure you're taken care of." There were plenty of people Katara could reach out to in order to arrange somewhere for him to live, though she'd have to vet them first. But she also wasn't opposed at all to the idea of Bolin staying with her while she helped train Korra. Kya had definitely taken a liking to the boy. "Do you want to get some breakfast?"
"Okay." She stepped outside for a moment so he could get dressed, and when he came out he was wearing long sleeves more fitting for the cold weather. She noticed that he'd left his father's scarf on the bed, but she didn't call attention to it.
"Good morning, everyone." The adults nearby all turned to look at them. Pema and Tenzin were making conversation on the couch near the door, and not too far off Kya was cleaning up dishes from their meal."
"Hey you two. There's still some-"
Kya was cut off by Bolin, grabbing onto Katara's leg and letting out a scream muffled by her pants.
"Bolin? What's wrong?"
The only response she got was his yelling turning into bawling. Katara looked around for a cause, and she found it quickly. "Kya, put that fire out!"
Her daughter needed no further instruction. She opened the kitchen window and summoned a mass of snow from outside into the fireplace, instantly smothering the blaze. "Mom, what's-"
Katar motioned to Kya to lower her voice, and cursed her own sloppiness. Last night they'd used the furnace to warm the house, so she'd forgotten to check this morning to see if the fireplace was being used so something like this wouldn't happen.
"You're okay, you're okay," she whispered. Katara leaned down to stroke his hair, and his grip loosened a little. "I'm going to move you, alright?"
She felt him nod, ever so slightly, and she knelt down and picked the boy up, carrying him back to where he'd been sleeping. It definitely wasn't as easy as it used to be, but it helped that he was lighter than her children had been at that age.
"Deep breaths, sweetheart", she said as she sat down with him on the bed. "In and out, nice and slow."
He followed her instructions, seeming to settle down a little. "Now...I want you to look-"
Bolin whimpered at the idea, pulling close to her again and tightening his grip, clinging on for dear life.
"You're safe, I promise." Katara tried to help him relax by tracing small circles in back with her finger. "What color am I wearing?"
"B...blue?"
"Good. Do you know where you are?"
He hesitated a little before answering. "I'm...at your house. In the South Pole."
Katara nodded. "Mhm. Can you tell me about the room you're in now?"
He looked nauseous when he lifted his face. "It's got a big bed, with a furry blanket. There's lots of snow outside?"
She kept asking him about his surroundings, and he answered the questions, but he still didn't understand what had just happened. "I...I was..."
"I know, sweetie."
"Why?"
"Sometimes, when people experience...something like you did, something dangerous or scary, it affects the mind."
"But...I don't...this doesn't make any sense!"
It was confusing to many of the people that dealt with it too. Before it was officially discovered and diagnosed, it was a common belief that it was some sort of curse by the spirits. Fortunately in the decades since, they'd improved in treating this illness and other ones that could result from traumatic events.
Explaining it to a child though was still a difficult task. "The mind has...ways to try and keep you safe in certain situations, but what happened to you...damaged it."
"My brain's broken!?"
"No," she told him firmly. "It means that things that remind you of what happened can cause your mind to act like you're in danger when you're really not."
"Am I gonna be like this forever?"
"You're not 'like this'. You've been hurt and you need to heal."
"But he didn't do anything to me."
"Yes he did," she consoled, placing a hand on his teary cheek. "He put you through something horrible. The brain getting hurt can be just as bad as getting hurt anywhere else, it just affects you differently. I don't know how long it will last..." She'd met people who had flashbacks and other symptoms from incidents that happened decades ago, but many of them hadn't received treatment, either from lack of access, or refusal to do so, with some misplaced feeling of shame or weakness. "But however long it takes, I'll help you through this. I promise."
(-)
After Tenzin watched Mom carry Bolin back to his room, he and the other adults were left with a stunned silence.
"What...what was that?"
"Mom would probably know for sure...," Kya began to tell Pema while closing the window she'd opened earlier. "But if I had to guess, maybe some form of PTSD."
Tenzin hunched over on the couch, and let out a small groan. He'd heard the stories of all the soldiers that'd gone off to fight in the hundred year war and came back different, unable to shake what they'd seen or what they'd done, but he'd never thought it could manifest that way in a small child like Bolin. But it made a sort of twisted sense, given what he experienced.
The Air nomad just sat there, with Pema next to him, rubbing his back. They just let the time pass quietly until there was a knock at the door.
When Tenzin opened the door, he felt some of the pressure of the situation lift away with the sight of the familiar face. "Uncle Sokka."
"Ah, there's my favorite airbending nephew!" He proclaimed, pulling Tenzin in for a hug and clapping him on his back. "Let me get a look at you."
The air nomad did the same, and while the wrinkles had set in, and though his wolf tail that had once been speckled with gray had become completely white, the personality and demeanor from his youth that Tenzin remembered hadn't gone anywhere.
"Good to see you, Sokka," Pema said from the couch. She wanted to stand up and greet him properly, but past experiences taught her it was better to stay put with the extra weight she was carrying around.
"You too, sweetheart," he told his niece-in-law while sitting down next to her, giving his old bones a rest while looking at Pema's much larger stomach, beaming with excitement.
"Aaaaaahhh, I can't believe I'm about to be a Granduncle! How much longer is it gonna be?"
"Katara says about any day now." Pema was smiling, but Tenzin could hear the anxiety in her voice, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous himself.
"Where is she, by the way?" Everyone exchanged nervous glances at Sokka's question. "And why is there snow in the fireplace?"
Some of it had melted into water in front of the hearth, but there was still a white pile still sitting there, dripping into the ash underneath.
"She's with Bolin," Kya explained, sadly looking at her rushed attempt to help calm the boy. "Remember...? That kid I told you about yesterday?"
"Oh...oh." Sokka looked at the fireplace differently now, much like his sister was. He didn't need any more explanation of what happened, probably knowing more about what was going on with Bolin like Mom did.
"At least he has you two looking out for him," Sokka told Tenzin, facing Pema as well while he talked.
"Yes, it's good that Lin contacted us." The Air nomad figured it was best that he not mention the arrangement was only temporary.
"How's she doing?"
"Oh,you know...about the same."
"Hmm" Sokka pondered what he'd heard. He knew more than anyone what Tenzin had meant. His uncle hadn't shown any anger or animosity towards him or Pema after the breakup, but he loved Lin like a daughter, and he took it harder than anyone when they broke up, even declining their initial wedding invite until Mom convinced him to attend.
"Maybe I should take another trip up to visit her. It's been a little while since I've seen Re-"
Uncle Sokka couldn't get the rest of the sentence out without breaking into a coughing fit, sounding just like the ones he'd had the last Tenzin had come to visit.
"No, you're staying put," Kya instructed, standing up and walking over to him. "You know Mom doesn't want you overexerting yourself."
"She doesn't have to know if nobody tells her," Uncle Sokka told his niece with a cheeky grin.
"Don't even think about it. It's already bad enough for her that you won't let me or her take a look at you, if something happened to you..."
"Fine. But it's not like she'd notice anyway, she's so busy with Korra anyway."
"How is she doing?" Tenzin asked, desperate to change the subject.
"Katara says she's never seen such a powerful waterbender as a child."
"Doesn't know her own strength though," Kya added. "Buried Mom in a big pile of snow."
"Was she alright?"
Uncle Sokka gave his nephew a cheeky grin, "Come on, they don't make them tougher than your mom," he reassured.
Footsteps from the hallway interrupted their conversation as Mom and Bolin reentered, the young boy's eyes red from crying, and his hair disheveled while he held on to her pant leg.
"Are you doing okay, honey?"
The boy gave a little nod to Pema, but he wasn't looking at anyone. Everyone knew not to press him on what happened, though Tenzin definitely wanted to talk to Mom later.
Right now, though, Bolin was shaking again, keeping silent. He didn't look at anyone, but when he turned and looked at the fireplace, he looked like he wanted to sink through the floor in shame.
Kya noticed and tried to comfort him. "It's okay, honey," she soothed, bending the rest of the snow into water and sending it into the sink. "See? No harm done."
"I-I didn't mean to."
"Bolin, I told you," Mom added gently. "That wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong."
"My sister's right," Uncle Sokka told him. "Don't be so hard on yourself."
The boy's eyes went wide again, just like last night when he'd seen Mom, and rubbed his hands over each other as he took a few tentative steps. "Are you...?"
Uncle Sokka dropped to one knee, surprising Tenzin that he could still do that at his age, and gave a friendly, teasing smile. "I'm not sure...what do you think?"
Bolin didn't answer him, he just closed his eyes and ran over to hug him, making Uncle Sokka grunted a little at the impact of the child, but still embraced him just the same.
More than ever Tenzin saw that Lin had made the right choice in sending Bolin to live with him. Even though he'd never met his father or the rest of his friends and family, they were people the boy knew and trusted. They could help him relax, and try to heal from what happened.
When he finally let go, Uncle Sokka looked ready to say something to Bolin, but more knocking at the door interrupted him, though this time it was at a more rapid pace, probably from smaller hands.
Tenzin suspected who it was when he went to open the door again, and the small girl that blurred past him to right in front of his mom confirmed his suspicions.
"SifuSifuSifu!"
"Korra, calm down," her mother, Senna chided, entering a moment later at a much more relaxed pace.
"Sorry Katara," Korra's father added. "We wanted to wait longer to come over...but she was pretty insistent."
"It's alright, Tonraq," she told him before leaning over. "What is it, Korra?"
"Sifu!" Korra yelped, hopping up and down in excitement. "I practiced all the moves you taught me!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! I did the pushing and pulling like you taught me, the balls of water, and-" Korra stopped midsentence when she noticed Bolin. "Who are you?"
"Who are you?"
A smile crept over Mom's face as she introduced the pair to each other. "Korra, this is Bolin. Bolin...this is Avatar Korra."
The boy looked at Mom and Korra multiple times, trying to piece together what she'd told him. The master of all four elements, the keeper of balance in the world...was this little girl right in front of him, only a year older and wearing a crooked smile. "You're...you're really the Avatar?"
"Yep!" She beamed, before grabbing his shirt collar with one hand and yanking him close enough to where their faces were almost touching. "You got a problem with that?"
"No?"
Tonraq stepped in. "Korra, let him go," he told his daughter, gently but firmly.
But she held onto him for a few more moments, eyeing him up and down while her mouth stayed in a pout, until suddenly she released the boy and returned to her normal demeanor. "Okay!"
Bolin was still shaken from treatment, enough for Korra to notice, and pull a peace offering out of her hoodie pocket. "Wanna dumpling?"
Tenzin wanted to know why she was carrying spare dumplings around, though it didn't really matter if it helped Bolin relax, which it seemed to. He tentatively held it at first, as if it would explode if he put it in his mouth. But when he finally took a small bite, the smile returned to his face and he tore a small piece off to feed before anyone could stop him.
"Oooooohh, you have an animal friend?"
"His name's Pabu," Bolin happily explained.
"That's so cool! I have an animal friend too! You wanna meet her?"
"Sure!"
"No Korra don't-" Her parents' warning came too late. The girl had already put her fingers in her mouth to make a sharp whistle. "Here girl!", and moments later, a polar bear dog burst through the door.
Though it was still a pup, at its age the species native to the South Pole was still considerably larger than your average pet, so Bolin's yelp of terror was understandable, as was Pabu's decision to hop off his shoulder and scurry behind the couch to safety.
But the larger animal gave chase to the smaller one, doing its best to burrow in where the fire ferret was trying to hide, terrifying the boy.
"Nooooooooo!" He wailed. "She's gonna eat him!"
"No she isn't! She's just playing!"
"Korra!"
Her mother gave the girl all the warning she needed: If her polar bear dog made Pabu into a meal, Korra would be the one in trouble. So when the fire ferret hurried back to Bolin and Naga kept chasing, the Avatar stepped in between them.
"Naga, no! Friend, not snack!" The animal stopped at the command, probably the first she'd ever been given. Before her tongue was out and tail was wagging, but now with her head tilted to the side, and a confused sound, she listened to Korra and rested back on her hind legs.
Once every adult breathed a sigh of relief, Tenzin asked the burning question: "Korra, when did you get a polar bear dog?"
"I found Naga a few days ago! She lost her pack so now I'm looking after her!"
"You mean when you snuck out at night?" Senna reminded her. "In the middle of a blizzard? After we told you how dangerous polar bear dogs can be?"
"But Naga's friendly!"
"We thought you'd frozen out there,"Tonraq told her. "You scared us half to death, Korra."
The smile from her face faded and she absent-mindedly started fiddling with the white fur on the cusp of her sleeve. "Naga kept me warm. I didn't mean to scare you."
"I know, sweetheart. But you need to listen to us when we tell you these things."
"I do!"
"Well, what did we say about letting Naga inside before she's housebroken?" Senna reminded her.
"You just said she couldn't come in our house, you didn't say anything about coming in here!"
"Korra..."
"And it's not fair anyway! Naga didn't mean to poo on the rug!"
"Korra." The stern tone of both her parents was enough to deflate her argument, and the slight movement of Tonraq's head told her what they wanted her to do.
"I'm sorry I brought Naga inside without asking, Sifu."
"It's alright," Tenzin's Mom told her, but Korra's parents weren't done.
"Is there anything you want to say to him?" Senna asked, nodding in Bolin's direction.
She turned to face the boy, who had his brows knit together while holding Pabu close. "I'm sorry I scared you." Then she took a step to the side. "Naga's sorry too."
Tenzin had to give the pup credit, it was doing a fantastic job of showing remorse. Her head was hanging, her ears flopped down, she even gave a small whimper.
Bolin put his hand out slowly toward the animal, as if she would bite it off (which was a legit concern, to be fair), and his smaller companion skittered across his arm towards Korra's larger one.
He looked nervous while the animals assessed each other, cool, damp noses nearly touching as they sniffed, but the fire ferret must have liked what he smelled, because he hopped from hand, to head, to Korra's shoulder, where the little creature made the girl giggle, getting Bolin to relax enough to scratch Naga behind her ear.
Now that the children were relaxed, Tenzin could ask his next question: "Why did you let her keep it?" He whispered out the side of his mouth, to make sure Korra didn't hear. He'd been told how dangerous polar bear dogs were as a child too, so why had his mom changed her mind.
"We think it's her animal guide," his sister explained.
"A heads-up would've been nice."
"Thought it would be a fun surprise," she shrugged. "Sorry, didn't really expect this."
"Speaking of," Senna interjected. "Korra..."
The Avatar knew better than to start another argument. "Sorry, girl," she told Naga. The animal didn't put up a fight either, just sadly walked out the door Korra was pointing to.
When Tenzin closed the door behind the polar bear dog, Mom tried to change the subject. "Korra, what did you want to ask me?"
"Hm? Oh, sifu! I'm ready for my next lesson!"
"Oh, Korra, I'm sorry, I meant to tell you before. I'm going to be helping Pema with delivering her baby."
"How long will that take?"
"Depends on when the baby's ready," Mom explained. "Probably a day, at least."
"Can't you get it to hurry up?" The girl groaned.
"It doesn't work that way, honey," Senna told her daughter. "A baby doesn't come out until it wants to come out. It was the same when I had you."
All Korra could do after hearing that was mope, lower lip jutting out again.
"You can think of something to do until she's ready, can't you? Maybe have some fun with him?"
The girl pondered that for a moment, then her face lit up as she looked back to Bolin. "Wanna go penguin sledding with me?"
"W-what's penguin sledding?"
Tenzin noticed his uncle giving mom a sly smile, he wasn't why, but she didn't acknowledge it anyway, apparently too focused on the children to notice.
"You don't know what-? It's the best thing ever! Mom, Dad, can we go show him?"
"Oh, Korra..." Her parents had slumped onto the couch next to Pema, and exhaustion had taken over for them. "Wouldn't you rather do something a little more relaxing? How about practicing your meditation?"
"No way, penguin sledding is so much better! Sledding, sledding..."
Bolin still had no idea what penguin sledding was, but Korra's enthusiasm was so infectious it made him join her chant. "Sledding! Sledding! Sledding!"
"It's okay, I'll take them." Uncle Sokka was kind to volunteer, but Tenzin knew there'd be an objection.
"Sokka, it isn't safe out there right now."
"I just walked over here, Katara, it's fine."
"But you're heading into the middle of nowhere!"
"Middle of- I can see the top of the hill from my house!"
"There was a blizzard last night! It'll take you forever to get up there."
Tenzin knew this was only going to keep going in circles. Mom had wanted her brother to be less...risk averse in their old age, but his Uncle was just as wild and fun-loving as he'd ever known him. "It's alright Mom, I'll go with them."
But he knew Uncle Sokka would object to that too. "Hey, I don't need you babysitting me, I've been looking after you when you were in diapers."
"And he can do the same for you now that you're old enough to wear them."
A small chuckle escaped Tenzin's mouth before he caught himself, but fortunately his uncle didn't notice, too busy glaring at Mom while the other adults laughed.
"...Fine." Uncle Sokka was still sharp enough to know this was the only way to put this conversation to rest. "Whaddaya say Bolin?" He asked, leaning down to look at the boy. "Are you ready to have some fun in the South Pole?"
"Yeah!"
Notes: I don't really have an excuse for this chapter taking as long as it did, I got sidetracked and delayed by various things. I will say that I'm pausing working on the other story until I finish the newest Yangchen book, but that shouldn't take too much longer.
As for the chapter, I tried to do research to make sure Bolin and Katara's actions were realistic in what happens and how to help someone with PTSD.
Really sad start to the chapter, I know, but Sokka and Korra finally show up! If you're wondering, I based her and Bolin's initial meeting on a comic I found on tumblr by the artist Hyouta. Here's the link if you wanna check it out. Also gives my headcanon for how Bolin and Korra look at their ages. post/28957610200/borra-week-day-05-crime-au-timesorry-its