Winding Legacies: A 'The Legend of Korra' Rewrite

Episode 9: Beyond the Wilds Part 2

Holding a small block of cheese in the air, Bolin grinned as Pabu stood on his hind legs to try and catch it. The thick blanket underneath them both wasn't much ground for Pabu to stand on, but he managed to grab the cheese with a little effort.

"Good job, Pabu," Bolin cheered as Pabu nibbled on the small block. Letting his hand fall limply to his side, Bolin sighed. "Man, I've missed you. Did Mako treat you good?" Bolin laid his head down on the blanket and lightly scratched Pabu's stomach. "Did he make you eat those disgusting vegetables, too?"

"What are you doing?"

Bolin leaned back to see Opal hovering at the corner of the blanket. Her eyes scanned the wide assortment of food and drink with a slightly amused look. It faded from her face as soon as it came, though, like she forced a worse thought into her mind.

"Enjoying a moment of peace. Haven't gotten much of that in a while." He handed Pabu another block of cheese. "What are you doing?"

"I needed some air."

Nodding, Bolin rolled over a bit so Opal had some space to sit down. She didn't move though, as if something heavy on her shoulders prevented her from being able to move. Bolin didn't press her, instead, he just said, "They're going to be okay."

"How do you know that?"

"Because they have you looking out for them."

It wasn't much, but it was enough to make Opal smile. "Thanks, Bolin."

He didn't hear her leave, but after a while of silence, he figured her air break was over. Not that Bolin minded being left to himself—it was certainly a nice change of pace from his days in the army. Still, he couldn't help this nagging feeling that something was wrong. Other than the obvious, he felt eager to do something, anything. Mako was off helping Korra and Wu was actually being productive, helping Asami gather up all her designs for manufacturing. There wasn't much else he could be doing, but that was all he found himself focusing on.

Bolin wrinkled his nose in disgust as a wet slobber drenched his cheek. Naga huffed happily, rolling her tongue into her mouth as Bolin sat up. Pabu swept his tail around his stash of cheese, as if telling Naga it was off-limits, but she hardly cared. "I'm sorry, it was just too tempting."

Dragging his wrist from his cheek, Bolin said, "I see you've stolen Naga's reigns."

"That's assuming Korra ever really had them," Lemaya teased. They both laughed as they knew it wasn't even remotely true. Naga was and always would be Korra's first and foremost. But there was a sort of icebreaking quality to making jokes like old times. "Can I have some?"

"Have at it."

Lemaya dropped herself onto the blanket and started to fish around the semi-fresh bread for something she'd like. She handed Naga a small pie to eat while Pabu cautiously finished his cheddar. Bolin gently scratched Naga's ear as she ate and a part of him wondered how she still smelled like the southern snow.

"So, what's next on your agenda?"

Bolin tilted his head. "You mean besides saving the world?" Lemaya chuckled.

"Yes, besides saving the world."

"I don't know. You?"

"I'd like to get back to normal."

"Yeah, right. We'll be lucky if we even get to have a normal retirement. Which, is not looking good based on some of the older generation that we know."

Snorting, Lemaya tipped the last bite of her bread loaf to Bolin. "That's a good point, but doesn't that bother you? That we might rarely have moments like these to ourselves?"