The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks with force filled Shi-Hua’s ears in the early afternoon. The water crept onto the sandy shore and barely touched the tip of her shoes. The blue-green color hypnotized her by creating such a beautiful sight. The smell of salt lingered in her nostrils and danced on her taste buds every time she opened her mouth to sigh. The cool sea breeze tickled her skin and blew around her hair causing it to be more disheveled than when she arrived.
Shi didn’t know how long she had been standing there. Time seemed to have stopped as she repeatedly spaced in and out of her random thoughts. They mostly consisted of childhood fun, her parents, her travels, and meeting Mako and Bolin for the first time when she accidentally ran into both of them with a crate full of Water Tribe noodles. But there was one recent memory that kept appearing after each one, obviously wanting to run through her mind. And after running out of other things to daydream about, she decided to let it play in her head.
*Three Days Ago*
It was in the middle of the afternoon when Shi-Hua walked down the long pathway to the Arena. With a bag full of frosted sweet dumplings she made herself, she wanted to spend some time with her two best friends.
The building was practically empty inside. Only a few teams were walking around, heading to the practice room to train for the championship tournament that was due to take place in a few days. She easily ignored them and wandered her to their apartment in one of the towers.
After climbing many stairs, she finally made it to the last flight and quickly ran up them. Peaking in first before fully entering, she saw there was no sign of Mako, but there was Bolin who was sitting on their red couch near a ladder with Pabu on his lap. Immediately she sensed something was off about him and it wasn’t because he looked extremely tired. After quick analysis she found he had a sad feeling emitting from all around him, and it caused concern to well up inside her.
“Hey Shi,” he greeted, noticing her presence.
“Hey,” she replied unenthusiastically, climbing all the way into the apartment. “Where’s Mako?” she wondered.
“Working at the Power Plant,” he answered. “He’ll be back soon.”
Nodding she asked, “Why the long face? Is everything alright?”
There was a long pause before she heard a sigh escape his lips. “A lot has happened, Shi…” he said. “A lot has happened.”
She walked over to him, threw the bag onto a dresser located in the corner, and took a seat. Pabu gracefully hopped onto her lap before she lightly commanded, “Tell me.”
Bolin leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. He tried his best to sound like his normal cheery self, but it was evident that he was disappointed. “For starters…the Fire Ferrets may not be in the championship tournament this year.”
Her eyes widened greatly as she looked at him. “What?” Her concern was expressed by the urgency in her tone. The thought of them not being able to participate was unbelievable to her. They were exceptionally good and practically everyone knew that. They’re just rookies and yet they’ve made it so far already. Even after all they’ve been through with the last minute player switch with Hasook and Korra, they were still on a roll. She believed they deserved to be in the tournament. “Why not?”
“We don’t have the money,” he answered sourly, refusing to make eye contact. “We were going to try to raise it, but we’ll never get enough by the end of the week.”
“How much do you need?”
“30,000 yuans,” he muttered.
Shi’s jaw dropped at the large amount. “Damn…” She lengthened the word. “That’s a lot of money.”
Bolin bobbed his head. “Yup, we’re going to need a miracle.”
A frown appeared on her face. She couldn’t help but feel bad for them. Ever since they lost their parents they’ve been living on their own, raising money to buy food to eat, and having to take care of each other. She didn’t need experience to know that it must be tough going through what they have to.
“You know I wish I could be that miracle for you guys,” she spoke softly, gently placing a hand on Bolin’s shoulder. He met her single-eyed gaze and grinned. “I would give you the money in a heartbeat.”
“But your parents would probably kill you when they got back and found out you gave away 30,000 yuans,” he pointed out.
Shi nodded. “I would be so dead.”
“Unless you made it look like your store was robbed.” He jokingly, but deviously smirked and raised his eyebrow.
“Bolin…” she scoffed. “There’s no way I’m going to do that. It’s a ridiculous and unoriginal idea.”
“Sorry, sorry,” he apologized. “I was just throwing things out there. You know that’s what I do.” She couldn’t help but smile at his wit. “Look, don’t worry about it, Shi. If we receive a miracle, that’ll be awesome, but if we don’t, then there’s always next year.”
“I suppose you’re right… But for the next few days I’m going to be hoping that you get your miracle. I’m going to believe that you’re going to get your money and you’ll be in the tournament.”
“I’m sure we’ll all be doing the exact same thing,” he told her.
A long silence filled the small gaps between them and they both just looked away from each other. Bolin watched Pabu sleep in Shi’s lap, while Shi absentmindedly rubbed the ferret’s fur while glancing out of the far window in front of her.
For some time they remained that way, not knowing what to talk about next, until Shi-Hua realized that that wasn’t the rest of his story. Now that she noticed, she could tell there was something far more important to talk about than Pro-bending.
“So, if that was for starters,” she began, “what’s next?”
She remembered sensing his feelings suddenly change from sadness to a mixture of terrified and worried. She could still feel a hint of it now as she thought back.
His eyes quickly filled with uncertainty. It was obvious he didn’t know whether or not to tell her the even more shocking news. But after some quick thinking, he willingly informed her. “Last night…I almost lost my bending.”
Shi’s heart dropped at the thought. “…How?” she choked out, taken aback.
“That Amon dude,” he stated.
A shiver ran down her spine. She’s heard of him many times before. “That masked man that’s beginning to terrorize the city?”
“Yeah…”
“What happened exactly? How’d you get into a situation like that?”
He hesitated, wondering how to start. But he figured he should just start from the beginning. “I was at Central City Station doing a street show with Pabu to try and raise money for the tournament. Not too long after we started, Shady Shin came up to me and told me the Triple Threats’ needed some security work and that I would get paid real well. First I didn’t believe him, but then he dropped a stack of yuans and said he knew where I could get more so I went off with him. I didn’t know Equalists were going to break into their headquarters and capture all of us.”
Her stomach churned slightly as she recalled his tone being filled with regret and his eyes had such a terrified look.
“We were locked up in a cold, cramped cell overnight. We barely got food, though none of us had an appetite. I thought I was never going to be let out and that I was going to be stuck there forever. But then they dragged us out the next night and threw us onto a stage in front of dozens of people. Amon was there and he flat out stated the spirits spoke to him and gave him the ability to remove someone’s bending. To prove it, he challenged Lightning Bolt Zolt, saying he was going to give him a chance to keep it. They went at it for a few seconds and then Amon got a grip on him and… just took it away.” Bolin acted completely astonished. “After, he took away Shady Shins and these two other guys, I was supposed to be next… but Mako and Korra saved me.”
“How?”
“Mako told me Korra snuck into the side and broke one of the machines to let out steam. She waterbended it to fill the room so no one could see him grab me.”
“That was them?” she whispered, becoming a little more shocked, but Bolin didn’t hear.
“So we got out through the back,” he continued. “But some mustache guy caught up to us and used these weird rods to electrify the ladder we were on. We fell to the ground, got back up and started to fight with him. We ended up getting shocked worse and were almost done for, but Korra rescued us and we escaped on her giant, fluffy, polar bear dog.”
While absorbing the scenario, she let out a long sigh. “The whole thing sounds dreadful, worrisome, and mind-blowing. You must have been scared out of your mind, Bo.”
“I was…” He groaned. “I still am. I haven’t slept at all because I keep picturing Amon’s hand hovering over me, ready to press down and take away my bending.”
“But he won’t, because it’s all just a nightmare now.” She comforted him with her words. “As long as you stay away from danger or anything that makes you uneasy, I’m sure you’ll be fine.
“Yeah, I hope so.”
Shi looked away from him, pursing her lips, unsure about what to say next. She let another long silence fill the room. Luckily it wasn’t awkward. But soon the quietness was disrupted when footsteps were heard coming from the stairs.
Mako had returned, appearing to be quite beat and almost as tired as Bolin. “Hey Shi,” he greeted in a gravelly voice, taking a seat next to her. “What are you doing here?”
“Just visiting,” she said. “Bolin told me the sad news about the tournament… and what happened last night.”
“He did, did he? Pretty rough times we’re going through right now.”
“Yeah,” she simply stated. Her mind was somewhere else at the moment. “Can I ask you guys for a favor?” she suddenly asked.
“Sure!” Bolin shrugged.
Mako raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
Shi took a deep breath before speaking. “Promise me… you’ll be careful and you won’t do anything stupid.”
“Where is this coming from?” Mako questioned. “Do you know something?”
“No, no, of course not,” she chuckled. “It’s just…what happened last night really could’ve been prevented. Things in this city are starting to get pretty insane and it’s not as safe as it used to be. Based on your encounter, it’s become obvious to me that things are going to get heated, fast,” she warned. “I think some citizens have that feeling too because I can see they’re becoming edgy already and that thing happened just last night. Imagine what it’ll be like tomorrow, or next week. You two are like my brothers,” she stated softly, “and I would crumble into a million pieces if something bad were to happen to you. So please, promise me you’ll take care of yourselves.”
It was evident she was scared by the tone of her voice and the rush of her words. And since they’ve known her for a long time, they could easily tell.
“Wow, Shi… we never knew you felt that way.” Bolin placed his hand over hers.
She grinned. “Well now that you do,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around the brothers’ necks, pulling them close, “do you promise?”
“If it makes you feel better, then it’s a yes for me,” he agreed.
“Yeah, we’ll try,” Mako nodded.
“Thank you.” She felt relief come over her.
“Is that bag full of your frosted sweet dumplings?” Bolin asked randomly.
Shi-Hua remembered smiling, ending that conversation. They quickly moved onto another and at one point it led them to talk about Korra’s feelings towards her.
Now she felt it was the time to go. She had been at the beach for a good amount of time, though she still had no idea of exactly how long.
As Shi-Hua walked back towards the city, she thought about how foolish she was for asking. She knew the promise would be broken before she’d be prepared to deal with the scared emotion she’d feel and the thoughts of possibly losing them. Now that they were friends with Korra, the avatar who was going to have to take care of the big issue at hand, she knew Mako and Bolin were going to be dragged into the problematic situation and they were going to be trapped in it until the end.
She wondered why she even bothered. But then she remembered what she said. They were like her brothers and she wanted to protect them. And so she supposed it was for her own reassurance, hoping there was a chance that they would keep it and remain safe. Unfortunately she doubted that possibility.
The mental argument would continue in her mind even though it was evident which side was succeeding. And until she saw something that proved otherwise, Shi would have to go along with the fact that she had them make a foolish promise.
[Reviews - 13]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: A/N: Thanks goes out to
*silverwolf1213
*DropDeadThenDance
*Sasaui Uchiha and *RawrTheDinoLycan for reviewing. Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Korra... in case you didn't know.
Chapter end notes: A/N: Just in case you’re confused on when these scenes take place, let me help you all out! So, the conversation in this chapter is on a random day I made up that is between the two episodes The Revelation and The Voice in the Night. And Shi-Hua talks to Korra in the beginning of The Voices in the Night during the Masami scene. Hope that makes sense.
On another note… did anyone else watch the season finale? My mind was blown! It was so awesome. :P Anyway, thanks for reading!