Avatar TLoK fic: Big Brother Is Watching You
They had made it home safely, too exhausted to question why they weren’t followed. All doors and windows were locked, all injuries bandaged and doctored as best as possible, all of the brothers’ concerns about the Equalists’ arch enemy traveling home alone in the dark ignored. Korra was long gone, and now the lights of the torches lining the boardwalk on Air Temple Island finally went out as several more rooms in the island’s main residence lit up. This signaled to Mako that the Avatar had returned, allowing her White Lotus body guards to retire from their vigil for the night... which meant so could he.
Breathing a just-barely-audible sigh of relief, the Firebender left his seat at the window, sank into the couch, grabbed the water pitcher from the low table, and dumped its contents down his throat. His insides still felt like they’d been burnt to a crisp; he made a mental note to brush up on defending against lightning attacks... as soon as at least half the muscles in his body stopped aching, that is.
Suppressing a groan of pain, Mako leaned back, closed his eyes, and breathed slowly like he did when meditating, trying to calm his mind. Hah - no chance of that after what he’d seen tonight. He gave up and sat up again in time to see his brother come in from the next room, wet towel around his shoulders. Bolin tossed the sweaty, grimy shirt from the night’s attacks into a pile of clothes against the wall and retrieved a fresh shirt from the pile next to it. He collapsed prostrate on the couch just as Mako rose and began pacing around the room, trying to relieve his nervous tension through movement.
“Did Korra make it home okay?” Bolin asked, turning his head around towards the window.
“Looks like it,” Mako replied flatly. He paused in his walk and leaned against the wall in his favorite posture, crossing his arms as he looked at his brother with scrutinizing, narrowed eyes. “How about you? You all right?”
“Ah, I’ve been worse. Remember that match against the Saber-toothed Moose Lions?” Bolin answered with a smile, feebly trying to lighten the mood. Pabu crawled down the ladder from the loft and climbed onto his master’s chest. Bolin stroked him behind the ears, thankful his friend had made it through the night’s ordeal unscathed. “Took me a week before I could turn my neck to the left again.”
“You sure you’re okay?” Mako asked again as he walked back to the couch.
“Mako, I’m fine,” Bolin assured him. After all the trouble he’d caused his older brother tonight, he hoped he wasn’t still worrying about him. “Actually, the most painful part of the night was riding home hanging from a polar bear-dog’s mouth.”
Mako was standing over his brother now, his voice and the expression on his face completely calm and neutral. “You’re really sure you’re okay?” he repeated.
“Yes. I’m. Okay,” Bolin said firmly.
“Good.”
Pabu sensed the danger in enough time to leap away; Bolin realized it an instant too late. In a split second, his brother’s arm had shot forward, grabbed him by the collar, lifted him in the air, and pinned him against the wall. The Earthbender could see the fire blazing in his eyes, feel his breath coming out so hot, it almost hurt.
“Keep in mind, if you kill me now, all your hard work tonight will be a real waste, won’t it?” Bolin suggested with a desperate smile.
“You think I’m going to kill you?” Mako asked sardonically. “Wishful thinking,” he added as he turned his free hand into a flaming fist.
“Hey, I was only trying to help!” Incredible - the intensity of his brother’s glare actually increased; how did he do that? Well, wrong approach...
“Look, I know exactly what you’re going to say,” the prisoner stated matter-of-factly. “That was the most reckless, stupid, boneheaded stunt I’ve ever pulled, I’m lucky I didn’t get us all killed, what was I thinking... Here, I’ll save you the trouble.” Ignoring the fact that he was still dangling in the air between the wall and a very angry Firebender, Bolin cleared his throat and adopted the best imitation of his older brother’s Lecture Voice (he’d heard it enough throughout his life) and gestures possible under the circumstances. “Were you on Si Wong Desert Cactus, or are you just completely insane? How many times do I have to tell you - Zolt and all the Triple Threats are nothing but trouble. Stay away from them. Whatever they offer, it’s not worth it. We’re not stupid and desperate like we were when we were kids. One of these days, I’m not going to get there in enough time to bail you out. What’s it going to take to get through to you?”
Bolin dropped the act as his brother’s flames cooled down. “Well, you’ll be happy to know I’ve officially learned my lesson,” he said, exaggeratedly upbeat. “No more deals with the Bending gangs. In fact, as far I’m concerned, I’ve forgotten that the Triple Threat Tri-whatever even exists. Never again! I swear on my honor as an Earthbender.” As Bolin raised his right arm in a mock salute, Mako released him and let him drop - hard - to the floor. Well, he had to admit he deserved that.
“You’re lucky I need you in one piece for the tournament,” Mako mumbled sarcastically. With that, he turned his back and began walking towards the ladder up to the loft.
Bolin couldn’t let his brother go, though, until they really had made up. This night had, after all, been the worst trouble he’d ever gotten into. “Mako,” he said sheepishly. His brother stopped but didn't turn around. “I really am sorry. If anything had happened to you... or Korra because of me, I could never forgive myself.”
Mako sighed, turned around with his head bowed, and said simply, “And if anything ever happened to you, I’d never forgive myself. Don’t put me through that.”
“I won’t,” Bolin said solemnly. “I promise.”
With that, the boys simultaneously moved forward and embraced, each reassuring himself that he still had a secure hold on what mattered most to him in the world.
“Good,” Mako said as he pulled away, looking up and turning his face towards the view of the city, crawling at this very moment with a cult that lusted for the blood of Benders, led by a man who had the power to make their worst nightmare a reality and doom them to a fate worse than death. “Because the streets just got a whole lot more dangerous.”