[AN] Oh my god 'Roar - you never disappoint.

:)

Anyway, a little shorter than usual, but, you know, natural stopping point. Hope everyone had a pleasant holiday of your choice, and here's hoping that 2018 goes a little better than 2017 (which was sort of a shit show).

Fly straight, Ferret Friends...

The dining room has descended into chaos.

"You're insane."

"It will totally work. Avatar, tell him it will totally work."

I sigh and look over at Saikhan's incredulous expression. "I hate to say this, but it will almost certainly work."

Asami narrows her eyes at me. "Almost? And how do you know."

I shake my head and look over at the Admiral apologetically. "Sorry, ma'am, but Iroh told us this story."

Izumi glares at me then sits back against her chair with a groan. "Okay, yes, in my youth one of my squad mates bet that I couldn't land and ride a comet. If I lost I had to go out on a date with him."

Opal leans forward. "And if you won?"

Izumi bites back a smile. "He had to do a rotation of hanger guard duty naked."

Kuvira beamed. "I knew I liked you. Iroh never told us that part."

"I may have left that bit out of the family annals. In any case," she looks over at Saikhan. "I did ride a comet. However," she adds with a stern look at Kuvira. "Never within solar system. It would not be possible once it warms up the tail."

I drum my fingers on the table. "Yeah, but that's easy enough — we sit quiet until it gets close enough to the star, then just peel off and the let the energy noise of the tail provide us cover. We'll have plenty of notice that it's lighting up — it's not like a comet is subtle." I ponder.

"I like it," Kuvira enthuses.

Asami sighs. "I hate this idea."

"Sorry, sweetheart." I apologize. "If it makes you feel better, the goal here is to avoid trouble."

"As if that's possible for you," she shoots back.

We pause as a large holographic figure emerges from the comm system near the door. It's vaguely female but has a rather generic appearance with few details. The voice, however, is very familiar to everyone in the room, even if they've never seen her like this before. "DOCTOR SATO, IF I MAY REQUEST YOUR PRESENCE PLEASE. I BELIEVE THEIR HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT WITH THE LATEST ATTEMPT."

"Thank you, Raava. I'll join you in a moment," Asami replies.

Everyone whips around to stare at her. There's a long moment of stunned silence.

"When the holy fuck did that happen?" Kuvira finally demands.

—

After leaving the crew at the table in befuddled exasperation, I follow Asami down the hall towards the guest wing of the house where Bolin has been installed as a permanent resident. Different rooms in the wing are setup differently; one is setup like a regular bedroom, another like a base barracks. A third is setup like pilot quarters on a long range troop ship. The last room is setup almost like a hotel; very boring and generic in all ways. Asami and Raava had wanted to see where he felt the most comfortable and to everyone's surprise it was the 'hotel' room that seemed to make him the most comfortable. We still don't know why.

However, as we enter the wing today I gasp as we see something I never thought I'd see again — Bolin is standing at the window of the living area, looking out over the lawn and gardens that surround our home.

"Little Mouse." I whisper.

He doesn't move, and a moment later, Raava flickers into view nearby.

"HE HAS NOT SPOKEN AS YET, COLONEL KORRA," Raava tells me quietly, the AI having learned enough about human psyche and responses to have started regulating her behavior and sound levels in eerily human ways. "HE ONLY MOVED FROM HIS CHAIR TEN POINT FOUR MINUTES AGO."

I feel a soft pressure on my elbow and look at Asami. She tilts her head towards him. "Try and talk to him."

I inch closer, slowly. I haven't seen Bolin on his feet since that horrible day back at the abandoned fuel depot. A dark frightening place a long way from here, a place where he killed one man, and almost killed Opal. A place where he had been completely terrified. At least here he doesn't have access to anything remotely harmful, but I'm scared of triggering him into a psychotic episode, anything that might cause him to retreat again.

"Bo, hey." I watch him closely. "It's me. Korra. It's Avatar."

His eyes flicker, but his face remains impassive. I look back over my shoulder to see Asami, her eyes wide, but she waves her hand quickly to keep me talking. I turn back to my old comrade.

"I've missed you, man." My voice starts to shake with repressed emotion. "We've all missed you so much." I want desperately to reach out and touch him, but I hold back. "Mad and Wee have been trying to tell jokes like you, but nobody tells jokes as badly as you do, it's painful when anyone tries. Your bad jokes are, like, fucking art."

Another flicker.

"I know we'll be in trouble if Boss tries. She's shit at anything that doesn't involve whiskey. Or guns. Can you imagine her trying to tell a joke?"

So soft I almost miss it, there's a slow exhale.

"Sad."

I take a deep breath and glance over my shoulder. Asami has somehow procured her notebook and is scribbling furiously.

"Do you—" I pause, not sure where to go next. "Do you want to see everybody else? They'd be so happy to see—"

"Dreams."

"You dream a lot, Lieutenant," says Asami quietly. I jump, not realize she'd joined me. Her face is wondering, and so very compassionate.

His voice is distant and still barely audible, but calm. "Voice. In my dreams." His eyes close and he reaches out to one side, away from both of us. "Raava."

My jaw drops as Raava appears instantly beside him. "I AM HERE, LIEUTENANT BOLIN."

"Always here, for me."

"YOU ARE MY RESPONSIBILITY."

I have to lean forward, his voice has gone even quieter. "My friend, Raava?"

The hologram image cocks its head, as if considering. "IF I CORRELATE THE BEHAVIORS OF THE HUMANS AROUND ME AND COMPARE THEM TO MY OWN BEHAVIORS AROUND YOU, THEN YES, LIEUTENANT. I AM ACTING IN A FRIENDLY MANNER TOWARDS YOU."

I roll my eyes but smile. Only Raava could calculate friendship.

Bolin clears his throat, and when he speaks, his voice is a little stronger, more assured. "Good." He still hasn't really looked at us but he seems to relax somewhat. After a moment he closes his eyes "Sleep."

"COME WITH ME, LIEUTENANT." The hologram steps back. "I WILL ENDEAVOR TO ENSURE A RESTFUL EXPERIENCE."

The door to his favored hotel room closes behind him. I turn to Asami, seeing the joy on her face. She reaches forward and wipes the tears I wasn't even aware of from my cheeks.

"Oh my gods, 'Sami," I choke out before swinging her around in glee. She laughs delightedly before I hurriedly set her down. "Come on, come on!"

"What? Where are we going?" His face is adorable as she glances back at where Bolin and Raava disappeared.

I grin at her. "We have to tell the others!"

Hand in hand we race back through the house towards the dining room, laughing excitedly. Eight expectant faces turn towards us.

"If you don't tell us what's going on, we will kill you," Kuvira warns as I catch my breath.

I beam at them all, too happy to rejoinder with my usual snappy comeback.

"Guys," I yell. "He's AWAKE!"

Utter pandemonium.