It's Not Always Pretty

When Bolin signed on to help rebuild the Earth Kingdom he knew he would see some pretty terrible things. He'd prepared himself for all the devastation he was bound to come across, but there was no way he could've prepared for what was in front of him now.

Three days ago, Kuvira found out about a town in the state of Shun, on the southern coast of Chameleon Bay, that had been ravaged by bandits. From past experience, Bolin thought he knew what that meant. He was wrong. Normally when the bandits attacked, they settled for raiding supplies and sometimes money. This time, they crossed way over that line.

Not much was left of the town. Most of the buildings were nothing more than burnt husks. The courthouse sitting in the middle of town had had its entire front entrance torn off, likely by an earthbender, because the whole wall was lodged in another building several blocks down. The few people that were still in town were working on getting it out. But even with all the destruction surrounding him, the one thing that caught Bolin's attention was lying in the road just feet from him.

It was a lop-eared rabbit plush doll. At least, that's what Bolin thought it was. It was too charred and trampled to really tell, but all Bolin could do as he stared at the misshapen lump was think of the little kid it must have belonged to. He could see the child clutching on to it as they ran, crying from the chaos as flames raged around them. No kid should ever have to go through what happened here.

Bolin was still staring at the plush toy when a hand fell on his shoulder. "It never gets easier, does it," Kuvira asked, pulling Bolin from his dark thoughts. Even though he found Kuvira intimidating most of the time, right now her hand on his shoulder felt almost comforting.

"I've been doing this for six months now," Bolin said, never once taking his eyes off the stuffed animal. "With all the towns we've been to, we've never seen anything like this."

"This will be the biggest challenge we've faced yet," Kuvira replied. "But I don't doubt for a second that we'll succeed." Bolin felt a slight pressure as Kuvira gave his shoulder a firm squeeze before walking toward the group of towns people. "Come on, we'd better get started."

Bolin reached into his coat pocket as Kuvira left, pulling out a photograph of him and Opal. Her eyes were sparkling and a smile stretched across her face as he lifted her in his arms. The picture was from just before Bolin had left. Opal had sent it to him in one of her letters and it had been in his pocket ever since. Even if it was just a photo, seeing Opal's face made the weight of this job feel a little lighter.

A week and a half later the town had made leaps and bounds on its way to recovery. Bolin had helped put the courthouse back together and the rest of Kuvira's men had made real progress cleaning up the streets. The charred remains of stores and houses still stood, but now that the roads were repaired the supply trucks could run. Everyday another shipment of food or building supplies arrived, and with each one, Bolin's spirits were lifted little by little. He should have known it wouldn't last.

Bolin was in the middle of helping unload the latest supply truck when he heard it — the roar of at least a dozen motorcycles, and they where getting closer. Seconds later, a dozen bandits burst into town. Bolin made a dive off the truck as one of them bent an outcropping of rocks into the vehicle. He rolled across the ground, bending a wall of earth between him and the truck, barely getting it up before pieces of metal slammed against it.

Kuvira's men swiftly responded, though there were only seven of them against a dozen bandits. A few metalbenders targeted the bikes, stopping them in their tracks. Strips of metal soared over Bolin's head as the metalbenders attempted to restrain the bandits, who seemed to have a few metalbenders of their own if the deflected metal bands were any indication.

Bolin scrambled to his feet and thrust out his arms. The ground between him and the bandits began to glow, melting into molten earth. Normally, Bolin would avoid lavabending in town, but he needed to buy himself and the six soldiers with him some time.

The bandits took several hesitant steps back at the sight of the lava. They composed themselves a little quicker than Bolin had hoped, though the lava did keep them from getting further into town. Rocks and pieces of the wrecked motorcycles flew over the molten moat. Kuvira's men responded with a volley of their own. Bolin formed a disc of lava, using it to disrupt the bandits' movements — they all seemed pretty adamant about not being sliced in half.

Within minutes of the initial attack, the rest of Kuvira's army joined the fight. After that the battle didn't last too much longer. Seeing they were severely outnumbered, the bandits attempted to flee. They did't make it very far. Kuvira, along with several mecha suits cut off their escape route. In no time, the bandits were cuffed with platinum shackles, loaded up, and sent to a reeducation camp in the desert.

"You did well Bolin," Kuvira told him as they watched the truck disappear over the horizon. "You seem to be getting better at your lavabending."

"Thanks," Bolin said, turning to look at the cooled lava now decorating the street. His expression fell at the sight. "Sorry about all the damage, though."

"No need to apologize. You did what you had to do to keep them at bay until reinforcements arrived. Thanks to your actions we only have this one street to restore."

"Yeah…yeah, I guess."

Later that night, Bolin found himself laying on the courthouse roof. The sky was clear, the stars and moon shining brightly. The night sky always seemed to help Bolin clear his head after long days. At least it used to.

Tonight he couldn't seem to think about anything except the bandit attack. Kuvira said that it was his actions that saved the town from being destroyed again. But what about next time? Who would protect this place once Kuvira and her army moved on to the next town? Who was protecting all the states and towns they'd already been to? Sighing deeply, Bolin allowed his eyes to close. Laying there beneath the vast, star covered sky after a day like today made him feel smaller than he'd ever felt before.

Without thinking, he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out Opal's picture. Bolin had changed a lot in the six months since the picture had been taken. He'd seen things he wished he hadn't. He felt like a completely different person from the care-free boy in the photo.

Shifting his gaze to the airbender in the photo Bolin felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips. Though he looked at this picture every night he still couldn't get over how beautiful Opal was in it. Seeing her captured in time like this lifted Bolin's spirits. He couldn't wait for the day that he would get to see those sparkling eyes in color again.

A few days later the town was nearly back to normal. Kuvira and the governor of the state had reached an agreement as well. Shun would support Kuvira and her army in return for protection. A small group of soldiers would stay behind a few weeks to guard the town as well as recruit and train others. This made Bolin realize that the same deal must have been made with all the other state leaders, meaning not only were all those towns protected, but Kuvira's support was growing. Knowing that eased Bolin's concerns and made leaving much easier.

He was now on the train to the next state; Gaoling, the birthplace of Toph Beifong. Reports said Gaoling was better off than most Earth Kingdom states due to its wealth and natural defenses. Kuvira merely wanted to offer assistance and hopefully add Gaoling to her list of ally states. She believed Gaoling's support would greatly aid in reuniting the Earth Kingdom.

Bolin watched out the window as the mountainous terrain sped by and opened up into an immense valley. The city of Gaoling spread out before him. He could make out what looked to be a market in the center of town and several large estates ringed the outskirts. As the train got closer he could see that the city was relatively untouched by the uprising, but local police were patrolling the streets more than Bolin figured was normal.

The train pulled into the station and several of Kuvira's soldiers disembarked. Bolin noticed Kuvira and Bataar leaving the station, probably headed to their meeting with the governor. Exiting the station himself, Bolin took in the beauty of the city. Citizens milled about, moving from one shop to another as they went about their daily routines.

As Bolin scanned the streets a flash of red caught his attention and his heart nearly pounded out of his chest. Standing across the courtyard talking with one of the shopkeepers was a group of airbenders, but Bolin was only able to focus on one airbender in particular — Opal.

Before he even thought about it Bolin was excitedly making his way across the courtyard, feeling more energetic than he had in days. Opal hadn't noticed him yet, as she and the other airbenders appeared to be making some kind of arrangement with the shopkeeper. The vendor turned and began leading the airbenders into his shop.

"Opal," Bolin called before she disappeared. Before she could even fully turn around to see who was calling her, Bolin had wrapped her in a hug and lifted her off the ground.

"Bolin?" Surprise filled her voice and Bolin felt her arms snake around him as the shock of his presence faded. "Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you," she said, burying her head in his neck.

"You can't even imagine how much I've missed you," Bolin told her as he placed her back on the ground. "Staring at pictures of you every night just doesn't seem to cut it anymore."

Opal blushed and turned away, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before changing the subject. "What are you doing here," she asked. "Last I heard you were in Shun."

"We just finished there. We came here to ask the governor for Gaoling's support. Kuvira really wants to form an alliance with him." At the mention of Kuvira, Bolin noticed Opal's expression fall slightly. Knowing this was a touchy subject for her, he quickly changed course. "What about you? Are you and the other airbenders staying long?"

Opal shook her head in response. "We're only here for today to gather supplies for the surrounding villages."

Bolin felt himself deflate at the news. He finally sees Opal again for the first time in six months and he has less than a day to spend with her. She must have noticed his change in mood, her hand having reached up to cup his cheek. He felt her thumb brush over the bags that had formed under his eyes the past couple days, and a worried look came over her face. Now that his excitement at seeing her had faded, she must have noticed how horrible he really looked.

"You look exhausted, Bo. Is everything okay?"

Sighing, Bolin placed his hand over Opal's and leaned into her touch. He closed his eyes, taking in her warmth before answering. "I've been having trouble sleeping the past few nights," he told her, deciding not to bother lying to her. "Shun looked like a war zone when we got there, and all I do when I close my eyes is imagine what it must have been like. Those people lost everything."

Opal guided his head into her shoulder and wrapped her other arm around him. She hugged him close, her fingers tangling in his hair. "They didn't lose everything. Because of you they still have hope and a new beginning. I know it's not easy, but you're making a difference and I couldn't be more proud of you, Bolin."

"Thanks, Opal." Bolin drew back from her hug and grasped both of her hands. "You know, my job may not be pretty sometime, but you always are."

Opal blushed again, a tiny smile spreading across her face. "Tell you what," she said, her eyes lighting up the way they do when she has an idea. "Why don't I let the others handle the supplies, and you and I can spend the rest of the day together. I hear there's a noodlery around the corner just as good as Narook's."

Bolin gasped, looking at Opal with shock. "Sacrilege! Nowhere is as good as Narook's. Come, my dear lady," Bolin said, taking Opal's hand and leading her down the street. "We must try these noodles in order to prove Narook's supremacy."

"Hold on, Bo," Opal giggled, dragging him to a stop. "I need to tell the others where I'm going. Besides, you're going the wrong way."

"Oh."