Forward In Time

Chapter Thirteen

A Waterbender began attacking Sokka. Thankfully, Sokka was able to hold his own thanks to training with Aang and his sister. He was able to dodge the attacks pretty quickly. If he could keep from getting touched, then the Waterbender wouldn't be able to freeze him.

While the two were distracted, the rest of the Black Lotus members rushed towards Aang. The young Avatar bended the air to push them back. Aang looked over just in time to see Bolin get chi-blocked by one of the men. He moved to help his friend, but heard the sound of fire.

Aang quickly redirected the fire that was thrown at him and sent it back to its owner. Because he was distracted, an Earthbender bended earth around his legs. Aang struggled against the earth and looked around. They were outnumbered. If he could access the Avatar state, they could get out of there.

Aang closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could. His tattoos glowed for only a second but then faded. He opened his eyes and airbended the people away from him before earthbending his legs free. He looked around to see Bolin knocked out and Sokka still fighting.

"Aang! Take Bolin and go! I'll hold them off!" Sokka said as he faced off against the Waterbender.

"But-"

"Go!"

Aang looked into the eyes of his best friend that closely resembled his sister's. They both knew one of the three was not going to leave here, and Sokka was not going to let it be Aang or Bolin.

Aang rushed over to Bolin and picked him up. Black Lotus members began surrounding them, so Aang airbended a ball of air around them to keep them safe. The ball floated them over to Appa and they landed in the saddle.

"Go buddy! Yip yip!" Aang called. Appa groaned in response and took off. Aang watched Sokka as they took off. He saw his best friend get captured by the men in masks.

Zhao took off his mask and looked at the Airbender. Aang looked back at him and the Admiral grew an evil grin on his face. Aang's stomach dropped. What was going to happen to Sokka?

Once they were in the air safely and on their way to the air temple, Aang suddenly became aware of the bruises he had acquired during the fight. He also became aware of the amount of exhaustion he felt, but he needed to stay awake to get Bolin to safety.

Everyone looked at Aang in shock. Katara couldn't hold back her tears at the thought of her brother being in the hands of the Black Lotus. Zuko was more angry than shocked and Toph struggled to keep her tears from falling.

"What are we going to do?" Asami asked

"I'm going to get him back." Aang said as he stood. As soon as he was on his feet, another wave of exhaustion hit him. Katara quickly stood and caught him before he could fall.

"You're not doing anything right now." Katara said as she helped him sit again, "You need to get your strength back up."

"But-"

"But nothing! You're too exhausted Aang! If you go after them, they're going to get you too! You need to rest."

Aang looked into her eyes and nodded, "Okay..."

"Let's take look at your wounds." Korra said to Bolin. The two were back in the healing room since Korra offered to look at his bruises. She removed his bandages and saw that he was healing pretty good, "Looks good. After another healing session, they'll be gone."

Bolin got the hint and moved over to the pool of water and laid down in it. The water began to glow as Korra moved the water in a rhythmic pattern to heal his wounds.

"Wow! I feel better already!" Bolin said as a tingling sensation ran through his body. Korra smiled lightly as she continued to heal her friend. Once she was done, Bolin stepped out of the pool of water and stretched, "Thanks Korra!" He noticed the sad look on her face, "Hey what's wrong?"

Korra sighed, "It's just... seeing you look so beat up... I thought you were dead until I saw you breathing."

"Hey, it's going to take a lot more than a weird cult to take me down." Bolin gave her a reassuring smile, "I don't go down easy."

"I know. But the possibility of you dying... not being able to see you everyday and hear you laugh. It just made me realize..." She glanced down. He was another 'almost' that she promised herself wasn't going to happen.

It fell silent for a second, "Realize what?" Bolin asked

Korra looked back at him, "That I have feelings for you..." Bolin looked shocked to hear this and she glanced down again, "But you probably don't anymore considering I broke your-"

Bolin had closed the space between them and pressed his lips against hers. Korra's eyes went wide before they closed as she kissed him back. Her arms wrapped around his neck as his arms went around her waist, pulling each other closer.