A/N: I needed more idkbff-and-not-shipping-centric stories, and decided I would pass the time by writing one myself. Shipping's okay, but fan fiction has more potential than that. I expect this timeline to be null-and-void by next Saturday, but I really don't care at the moment. All I want is sibling-esque moments. This feels so weird...

I don't own rights, blah, blah, blah.

Bolin: Big Brother

Seven Hours

"Ah… no…!" Bolin gasped. He clutched the bag of seaweed chips and drew up his knees, turning into a giant ball. "He did not!"

"He did too!" Ikki giggled. "You have no idea! My brother is so incredibly gross! He was totally booger-bending!" Pabu slept on the cushion next to her, clearly not interested in the story.

"What did your sister say?"

"Oh, you know Jinora. She just looked over the top of her book and glared. You know the look."

"The 'I Hate Your Face Cease and Desist' look?"

"No… the 'Why Am I Even Gracing You with My Presence You Plebeians' look."

"Oh… that one. Poor Meelo…"

Bolin and Ikki paused, side-glanced at one another, and burst into laughter. They both allowed themselves to fall backwards onto their cushions, seaweed chips spilling everywhere and empty lychee juice bottles clinking together as they rolled around on the floor. The two friends were laughing so hard they were crying.

"Oh, man… I'd never think I'd have someone to talk to like this!"

"…but you're, like, nine years older than me. Isn't that kinda weird? Awkward?"

"No. Not really. We can still be friends though. I don't mind."

"…kinda like how Mommy isn't as old as Daddy? They're still friends."

"Not exactly like that. Remind me to talk to you in a couple years about age gaps and why they're important and unimportant."

"Isn't that kinda redundant?"

"You know big words for being seven."

"I gotta know what Jinora's saying when she scolds me. Otherwise, there's no use in the scolding."

"What do you two think you're doing?"

Craning his neck so he could see, Bolin saw Mako standing in the doorway to the room. His arms were folded and he tapped his foot impatiently.

"Oh, hi Bro!"

"Yeah! Hi Mako! We've been talking and having lychee juice and being super-best-friends but not super-best-friends like Mommy and Daddy because that's weird for some reason and…"

"Yes Ikki. I heard."

The young Airbender threw herself onto an air scooter and began to spin around the room. "So what's Asami like? Do you think she's cute? I thought mostly guys are into building Satomobiles! Do you think that's weird? I don't think that's weird, but Jinora says I'm weird so whatever I think is normal must be weird. Do you think I'm weird? Bolin doesn't think I'm weird. Are you guys gonna be our big brothers now that you live here? Would that make Miss Asami our sister or sister-in-law?"

"Ikki, it's one in the morning. Go to bed before I get your dad."

"Aw, you wouldn't…" Ikki grinned. She lifted herself with the air scooter until she was level with Mako, who appeared less-than pleased.

"Okay. Your mom's name is Pema, right?"

Ikki froze, dropping to the floor. She ran out of the room without another word.

"Hey Bo," Mako asked as he began to pick up lychee juice bottles.

"Yeah?"

"Did I ever give you permission to adopt her?"

"You never lectured me when I got Pabu."

"Pabu is a fire ferret; Ikki is a human child. We've lived here for seven hours."

"Your point being…?"

Mako snapped his fingers and a spurt of electricity hit his brother's backside. "Help me clean up the mess you've made."

Two Weeks

Air: the element of freedom, spiritual awareness, and technical pacifism. It was a sacred thing, and the bending art associated with it was fragile and delicate in its near-pupil-less state.

So why were the only three children of the Airbender Nation in the garden learning Earthbending?

"Broaden your stance and go up on your toes," Bolin instructed. Jinora seemed to find the whole lesson trite, which made Tenzin worry marginally less. It was Ikki and Meelo, who were taking to the stances like a leaf to the wind, that worried him the most.

"So if we do this, we can Earthbend?" Ikki asked. Jinora scoffed.

"No, stupid. We can't bend more than one element. Only Korra can do that."

"Yeah, but it's nice to think about!" The sisters shot downright evil glares at one another. Meelo ran around, "Earthbending" pebbles with bursts of wind.

"Oh come on now girls! Don't fight!" Bolin smiled. He began to panic as Jinora and Ikki crouched into an Airbender and Earthbender stance respectively.

"Foul villainess! I shall thwart thy evil plans!" Jinora announced.

"I am Avatar Kyoshi and you've got to deal with it!" Ikki replied dramatically. "You are the enemy, lost Airbender soul! I shall bathe in your blood and bask in your sorrows!"

"Girls, I said to not fight!"

Tenzin watched as his daughters ran circles around the young Earthbender. Bolin tried to calm them, but it was no use. There were times when Jinora and Ikki fought for days. Pabu loped over to the old Master and rubbed his face on the man's hands. Tenzin pet the fire ferret, completive and placid.

"It's about time they had an elder brother… someone they could play with and love without my fearing for their safety," he chuckled. Bolin had only just come back, but he meshed so well with the children it was as if the week and a half he was detained by Tarrlok had been three hours. Tenzin went to look back at the fray when a blast of dirt and air was thrust in his face. Meelo stood underneath the railing, standing in an Earthbending stance with his eyes crossed.

"You're too slow, Twinkletoes!" The boy ran off and joined his sisters, mostly for the running and screaming parts.

At least, Tenzin thought as he brushed off his robes, they were still young enough to listen to their Father.

Three Months

Equalists were everywhere.

The ferry had come with them, the kindly old lady-captain being held at electric glove-point. She was a Waterbender, but using a steam-powered ship would have aroused suspicion. There were less than two dozen, but any amount of Equalists would have seemed like a huge swarm to someone as small as Ikki. She darted between them, trying not to be hit by the electric gloves or kali sticks. It was difficult, but it was easier than fighting. That was what the adults were doing.

Air Acolytes were everywhere, doing flips and kicks and all sorts of complicated martial arts moves that amazingly enough required no Airbending (though Ikki and Meelo often theorized elsewise). Daddy was raging, his face a deep purple and fighting like a hero in the radio dramas. Mako, Bolin, and Korra were acting just as much the dangerous fighting team as they were in the probending arena and possibly even more. Miss Asami was with Meelo and Jinora, trying to defend Mommy and the baby from two Equalists with electric gloves.

Things were very scary.

"Take that!" Ikki shouted as she jumped onto one of the Equalist's shoulders. She smacked at the masked woman's face, causing enough distraction for Miss Asami to electrify the other Equalist. Ikki jumped from her perch in time to let the Equalist see Miss Asami's glove speeding towards her face.

"Fair maiden of the glowy glove, how beautiful you look as you beat up bad guys!" Meelo said, dramatic flair everywhere.

"Not now, kiddo," Miss Asami responded through grit teeth. "Acolyte Dao! Take Mistress Pema and her children to the shelter! Hurry before the Equalists send reinforcements!"

A young man not too much older than Miss Asami herself appeared from the fray and took Mommy by the shoulders to lead her away. Meelo tried to latch himself to Miss Asami, but she handed the boy to Jinora instead.

"Kids, go with your mom and Acolyte Dao. None of you know anything useful for combat yet."

"…but Dad says that Airbending isn't about combat!" Jinora said. Miss Asami brings the children into a one-armed hug, careful not to accidentally touch them with her glove.

"Exactly." She lets them go and gently ushers the children in the direction of the shelter. Ikki is only able to take two steps before an explosion brings down half the ceiling. The siblings are thrown to the ground, yet are not hit by any debris. Miss Asami takes the brunt of the ceiling's wrath as it knocks her unconscious.

"Beautiful Lady… Gorgeous Woman…" Meelo sobs, shaking Miss Asami's limp form. Jinora and Ikki both notice three Equalists coming towards them. They stand up and form barely-stable balls of air between their hands, more timidly than anything else. The Equalists laugh and advance.

Suddenly, a slab of the former ceiling comes flying from the side, smacking into all three Equalists and hurling them towards a wall. One of their number just barely dodged the wall, shaking off the surprise attack to jump back into the fray and lock horns with the island's resident Earthbender.

"Wow, Ikki! Isn't Bolin cool?" Jinora gasped. Ikki knew that look in her sister's eyes; she saw it when Mommy took them to see The Lovers of Omashu at the cinema. It was a stupid look—hopefully she got over it quickly.

"Come on, Bolin!" Ikki screeched. "Break his bones! Smash his head in!" She laughed until another collapse of something, somewhere, caused another dust cloud to blanket the area and made her cough. A set of burly arms swooped up the sisters while another pair scooped Miss Asami and Meelo off the ground.

"That was a very not-Airbender thing to say, Missy," Bolin scolded. He shook Ikki purposely as he and Mako wove their way through Tenzin and Korra's improvised smokescreen.

"Aw… but I can say all those things at a match!"

"No. You can say those things never. Behave, now will you?"

"Welcome to my world, Bo. Glad you could make it," Mako chuckled. They reached the door of the shelter, Pema and Acolyte Dao waiting for them.

"Oh, my darlings," Pema gasped as she took her kids inside. Mako kissed Miss Asami on her blood-streaked forehead before passing her off to Acolyte Dao.

"Protect your mom and Miss Asami, alright kids?" Bolin asked cheerfully. Pabu skittered down his arm and jumped to rest between Ikki's hair buns. Mako had already turned on his heel and had disappeared into the fight.

"Whatever you say!" Jinora said, her face turning red.

"Knock 'em dead!" Ikki cheered, punching the air. Bolin patted her on the head.

"That's not very Airbender-like either."

"Wind is Air, and Wind can be as gentle or unyielding as it desires. However much it blows, it knows no amount of harsh treatment will crumble the mountain. The mountain crumbles itself before the wind can harm it," Ikki said, almost as if she was reading a script. "Those guys wrecked our home and hurt Miss Asami! Go get 'em, bro!" She held up her hands and double-high-fived Bolin. The young man turned with a smile on his face, ready to face the fight ahead.

Five Years

For Bolin, the library was always a boring place.

He did not learn to read until after he was in his teens, and still he did not read well. Everyone was super-quiet and nothing at all happened. He was a rookie, however, and rookies always got the beats so easy they were impossible to screw up. How could one help win a war and work on the force for three years and still be considered a rookie though? Maybe it was Former-Now-Current-Again Chief Beifong's idea of a sick joke. Jinora worked at the library and Jinora, ever silent on her feet, was a stalker.

"Jinora, you should really get back to work," Bolin insisted for the fifth time that day. The young Airbender giggled in reply, twirling a lock of hair around her pointer finger.

"Oh, no one minds. I usually get work done in a third of the time anyway."

"Great… isn't that, something?"

"Oh yes! I usually employ Airbending techniques when maneuvering around the library instead of stairs and ladders. It really is quite interesting when…"

Suddenly, a book came flying through the air and hit Jinora in the back of the head. Bolin's eyebrows arched as he watched the ensuing rage begin to bubble and froth.

"Whoever did that is going to be in BIG trouble!" she hissed through her teeth. Jinora took the book and began stomping over to the section it belonged in, a whirlwind of papers and rogue pencils following behind her.

"I have no idea what's wrong with her," Bolin said, seemingly to no one. Ikki floated down from her second-story perch and sat on the marble countertop next to him.

"It's called 'Jinora has a crush on you,' if you haven't been able to tell," Ikki shrugged. "I thought it'd burn off by now."

"…but what did I do to deserve this?"

"You lived with us for a few years? Only the spirits know with her. My sister's so caught up in books and stories that she doesn't even realize what's going on around her. Life is not a poem, after all."

"You are probably the wisest twelve-year-old I know."

"Are you going to go into a story about how you and Mako were on the streets when you were my age and that we should be grateful for what we were born with?" Ikki asked. Bolin blinked, and then laughed.

"Ah, caught me! I'm beginning to sound old!"

"Oh, you're not old! Mom says that you're old when you don't laugh anymore! Jinora doesn't laugh; Jinora's old."

"Jinora's the oldest, it's her job to not laugh," Bolin said. "Mako didn't laugh for the longest time."

"You and Mako were different from me and Jinora." Ikki waved her had dismissively. She snapped to attention and managed an air-scooter quickly. "Hold on! Jinora Alert!" The young teen lifted herself up to the open-air second story of the library just before her sister returned.

"Alas, it seems as if the culprit got away. Now where were we…?" Jinora leaned up against the counter and smiled. Over her shoulder, Bolin watched as an entire shelf of books lifted out of place and flew at them from across the room. All of them hit Jinora in the back of the head.

"That's it… I'm gonna kill someone…" Jinora decided in barely-contained rage. She summoned an Airbending tornado to carry the books in an orderly stack behind her as she went to replace them.

"So is that your thirty-sixth Airbending form?" Bolin asked. Ikki floated down again and shrugged.

"…and let my sister know it's been me throwing books all these years? I'm almost thirteen, not an idiot."

One Decade

"I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean you don't know what to do?"

"I mean exactly what I say! I. Do. Not. Know. What. To. Do."

Bolin groaned and held his face in his hands. Before him stood Meelo, now a fresh and able-bodied fifteen-year-old; the self-proclaimed "bane" of all boyfriends and young husbands for the past few years despite a lump-filled head and questionable social skills. He had been a ladies' man since day one, which really made coming and bothering Bolin at work about a girl all the more baffling.

"I really like her and I don't wanna mess it up! She's new in town and seems so sad, but all I want to do is make her happy." Meelo whined. He slumped into a chair on the other side of Bolin's desk and stared at the ceiling longingly. Chief Beifong would not be pleased to see the teen if she burst in with another stack of paperwork (which Bolin had six months of already due to an old probending injury acting up on him), so Bolin knew he had to get Meelo out of here, and fast.

"Well, what's her favorite color? Maybe you could get her some flowers that shade, or some to match her eyes."

"Green. Her favorite color is green, like her Earthbender grandma used to wear, like her favorite probender's eyes, like the grass in the park." A yellow-clad arm waved around futilely.

"Then go get some carnations. They dye them that color for the Earthbender Heritage Week."

Meelo bolted to a sitting position. "I can't! Red is brown and green is blue! You… you people and your colors! I want something that won't tip her off to anything!"

Oh. That's right. "I know asking your parents is kinda out, but have you asked your sisters for help?"

"Ikki would just tease me and Jinora would over-do it."

"True…" Bolin scratched his chin in thought. "You know, one of the best gifts you can give a girl is a good time."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Do you ever remember me coming over to Air Temple Island shortly after Korra first joined the Fire Ferrets?"

"Yeah…" Meelo looked skeptical.

"She was feeling kind of down, so I took her out on a date. Took her to Narook's Noodles, did some sight-seeing, talked, laughed, was her friend. Girls need to be treated like they're people too. Try asking her out, but don't push anything. If she's the right girl for you, then it'll come."

"What'll come?"

"Love."

Bolin smiled and shrugged before looking back down at his paperwork. Pabu crawled up Meelo and came to rest atop his bald head. The fire ferret was warm and fuzzy, and would have protected his scalp well from the biting winter air. Meelo picked up the creature and held him at arm's length, staring into his beady little eyes.

8-8-8-8

Two hours later, Bolin locked up his office. It was getting dark early, making the usually-light hour of quitting time unnecessarily gloomy. With Pabu nestled snugly under his cap, he set off in the direction of his flat.

To his surprise, Bolin almost trips over Ikki outside of Narook's Noodles as she tries to spy inside the restaurant without being seen. He stands beside her, watching in plain view.

"You'd get a better view from inside, even with the remodeled front windows," Bolin said. Ikki jumped, cursed, and pulled him down.

"Don't blow my cover!" she whispered.

"What cover?"

Ikki pointed through the front-window shrubbery to a table at the very back of the restaurant. There was Meelo, bald head and all, talking animatedly to a laughing girl about his age. She was dressed in the most brilliant green robes Bolin had ever seen and did not seem to stop laughing even for a second.

"He told Dad he wasn't going to be back until late," Ikki explained. "I thought I'd follow him; never knew he'd be out with a girl."

"This isn't to spite him for spying on you and Kuun, now is it?"

"That is the bender daughter of an Earth Kingdom diplomat, I'll have you know. She's been in Republic City a week and the rest of her life she spent in Ba Sing Se! Now what would Meelo want with a girl like that?"

"Now that would be a secret between men," Bolin smiled. He watched as Meelo stood up and imitated an Earthbending stance, shooting small gusts into an adjacent empty table. His date giggled and clapped her hands, having so much fun that she lost control of her own bending abilities and sent a stack of dishes flying across the room. Bolin grins, pats Ikki on the head, and walks off.