Fire Burns with Fury {Bolin x OC}

Ripping Apart at the Seams

I stand in front of a dingy-looking door in a small apartment building. I don't even bother knocking, I just open the door and I find a rather uncomfortable view.

A large hot tub is placed in the middle of the room along with a lot of other random statues and items hung on the walls. Bolin is submerged in the steaming water of the hot tub and he hasn't even noticed the fact that I just opened his front door. I drop my very heavy suitcase on the ground and it makes a very loud 'thud!'.

Bolin snaps his head up and locks his wide eyes with mine, "Yuko! What are you doing here?"

I step into the apartment and leave the door open behind me, "Mako said you would be here. I just thought it would be rude to leave without saying goodbye."

"Leave?!" Bolin stands up in the water, "Leaving where? When?"

"Ba Sing Se, most likely. And I'm planning to get out of Republic City as soon as possible." I respond short and quick.

"You can't just go!" Bolin gets out of the hot tub and starts to dry himself off with a towel as he walks over to me.

"Why not?"

"Well, because... Because..." Bolin scrambles for words. I stare at him blandly, "That's what I thought. There's no good reason for me to stay in this wretched city." I pick up my heavy suitcase off the floor and step back out of Bolin and Mako's apartment, and when there is just a glimmer of hope that he'll tell me to wait, that he'll come up with some reason for me to stay. He says nothing. And I leave out the door.

-

When I arrive at the docks, I realize the mistake I've made. There are no commercial boats going anywhere at this time of night. I turn around to look at the city behind me. I can't just go back to Air Temple Island and if I try to go to a hotel they would most likely mob me and try to treat me like a god. That only leaves one option.

'Knock! Knock! Knock!' I hit my knuckles hard against the wooden door, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." I hear a dishevelled voice come from the other side of the door and I meet his dull eyes when it opens, "Yuko, what are you doing here?" Tahno looks me up and down, "And at this time of night..." His eyes widen, "Don't tell me-"

"Not in your wildest dreams." I push past him and enter his dingy apartment, "I left Air Temple Island and I need a place to stay the night so I can catch a boat in the morning."

"Great. Just make yourself at home would you?" Tahno gives me a cold stare and I return one to him, "You won't even know I'm here. Just go back to bed. I'll sleep on your couch."

"Why not just stay at a hotel?" Tahno wipes the tiredness from his eyes. I roll mine, "Isn't it obvious? The last hotel I stayed at, after they found out I was the princess of the Fire Nation, went crazy. I don't feel like going through that again."

I sit down on his couch and drape my arms across the back, "Now leave me alone, Tahno."

He doesn't. Instead, he comes closer and stands in front of me, "You're in my house. I think I deserve to know why."

"Fine." I groan, "The Avatar and her friends have been driving me crazy ever since they found out who I really was. So, I'm leaving them."

"I thought you liked them?"

"Saying I 'liked' them is a huge overstatement. I needed them I suppose, at the time. Now, I don't." I close my eyes and lean my head back, "Now leave me."

"Yeah. Fine. Whatever." Tahno's footsteps walk away from me and the only thing I can hear is the hum of the busy streets below.

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