Chapter Text
Borra: The Avatar's Guidance
Chapter One: Haku
(I do not, nor will I ever own The Legend of Korra. This series belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.)
The search for new airbenders was not easy, especially when none of them so far seemed interested in leaving their lives behind. It was even harder to search for them while carrying a baby around. Korra is now in-between her first and second trimester; despite her current condition, she had to help rebuild the Air Nation however she could.
They had landed the airship in a small Earth Kingdom town after a long, fruitless day, and everyone needed a little rest and time to think. Korra rubbed her near swollen belly, sighing as she hung her head.
"This is harder than I thought," she muttered, half to the baby. "You must think that I'm pretty pathetic, huh, little one?"
Bolin could not help but overhear her as he glanced in the doorway and he also had a sort of forlorn expression on his face. He wanted to try and cheer Korra up, yet he didn't want to mess up and make things worse...she already felt terrible enough.
Eventually he decided to go for it, and, taking a deep breath, quietly walked to her side. Not saying anything, he softly placed a hand on her shoulder. Korra did not react at all, because she knew who the hand belonged to.
Feeling a little relieved, Bolin sat there with her quietly for a few moments and then, he finally told her, "It'll be alright, promise. I'm here for you both, remember?"
Korra looked up at Bolin.
"Yeah, Bo."
Bolin smiled brightly as Korra's eyes met his, and he grinned awkwardly.
"So, um... maybe we could relax a little? To take our minds off things?"
"How do you propose we do that, Bo?" Korra asked.
"Uh, we could go spirit-watching?" Bolin scratched his head. "Play pai sho? Go for a walk in town?"
Part of Korra did rather want to leave the confines of the airship...plus, she wanted to see more of the Earth Kingdom.
"Let's go for a walk." she told him.
Slowly standing up, she offered a hand to him. Bolin was still grinning broadly as he accepted it. With that, they left the airship and headed into the village.
It was a quiet, charming village, with smallish houses and dirt streets. There were people dressed mostly in the greens and browns of the Earth Kingdom walking around, most of them heading to their homes. In the center of the village, vendors stood at small market stands, selling local produce and other simple goods. Korra spotted a fruit vendor and she was starting to feel a little hungry.
"Bo," she spoke up.
"Yeah?" he asked.
She pointed to the fruit vendor, answering, "I think the little one and I could use a little something right now..."
Bolin looked at the vendor and exclaimed, "Oh!"
They both walked over to the fruit vendor, who perked up as soon as he spotted them.
"Ah, travelers!" he exclaimed. "Can I interest you in some of our fine local fruit?"
"Yes, thank you," Korra nodded.
As she was getting the payment, she spotted some movement out of the corner of her eye...and the sound of a punch landing hit hers and Bolin's ears.
"What the!?" Bolin questioned.
Once he and Korra got a closer look, they spotted a group of thugs ganging up on a boy, under the age of 10. The boy wore a light green shirt, dark green pants, worn out shoes, and his hair was a little messy. He had lime green almond-shaped eyes, a small nose, and was bleeding from his lip.
Korra nodded to Bolin, and looked back at the vendor. "Excuse me for a moment..."
One of the thugs was just about to punch the boy again, when he suddenly found himself thrown backwards with a powerful blast of water.
"What in the world!?" questioned one of the thugs.
"Huh!?" the boy gasped, just as shocked.
They got their answer in the form of Korra swiftly knocking them away from the boy with some well-timed airbending, while Bolin proceeded to earthbend thick walls around them. All the while, the boy was still stunned. Korra scowled darkly at the group of thugs.
"What were you doing to this boy?" she demanded.
"Get out of here, woman!" replied one of the thugs, gruffly. "This ain't none of your business!"
"It became my business when you all ganged up on an innocent kid!" Korra responded. "Now, tell me why you were attacking him!"
Another thug's eyes wobbled in fear...for he recognized Korra's face.
"B-boss?" he stammered. "T-that's the Avatar... we shouldn't make her any more mad..."
"Shut up!" the boss snapped. "I don't care who she is! Anyone who stands in the way of me teaching that brat a lesson will be taken down as well!"
"You asked for it..." Korra hissed.
With that, she bent each of the four elements in rapid succession towards the boss, knocking the wind out of him as he was flung backwards onto the street. His lackeys looked at him and then back at Korra.
"Anyone else want to mess with me?" she asked.
The thugs screamed as they grabbed their boss and ran for their lives.
"Hmph!" Korra scoffed. "Chumps."
The boy, who had managed to stand up with a little help from Bolin, peeked nervously out from behind the earthbender's leg, his eyes darting around shakily. Korra walked over to the two of them and knelt down to the boy's level.
"Don't worry," Korra assured him. "they won't be bothering you again."
The boy peeked from behind Bolin's leg a little more.
"T...Thank you, miss." he spoke up.
"By the way," Korra started. "what's your name?"
"...It's Haku." the boy, now known as Haku, answered.
"Well, Haku, I'm Korra, and this is Bolin."
"Good to meet you too, Haku!" Bolin said, smiling down at him.
Haku blinked at the young earthbender.
"Where are your parents?" Korra asked.
At the mention of the word, Haku lowered his head, answering, "...They...They're not around, anymore...They died."
Bolin frowned, recalling the time he and Mako had spent on the streets after their own parents had died.
"I know how you feel, little guy," he told him, placing a hand gently on Haku's head.
Haku looked up at Bolin, puzzled.
"You do?" he asked and Bolin nodded.
"My parents died when I was little too," he answered. "My brother and I lived on the street for awhile... we had to dig through dumpsters for food, sleep in dark alleys, that kind of stuff... All we had was each other, back then..."
"Oh..." muttered Haku. "...after my parents died, I began living in the woods."
"That couldn't have been easy." Korra spoke up.
"How'd you end up here, then?" Bolin asked.
"Sometimes, I like to take a walk through the village." Haku answered.
Korra nodded in understanding, saying, "This is a nice little village... I'm guessing that's what you were doing when those men cornered you?"
"Yeah." Haku confirmed.
"Why did they come after you?" Korra wondered. "Or did they just feel like being jerks today?"
"They thought I had money and wanted to rob me," Haku explained. "When I told their boss that I didn't have any, he punched me, thinking that I was lying."
Korra shook her head in disbelief.
"Oh, thank the spirits we saw it all in time..." she sighed.
"Yeah." Bolin agreed.
Korra patted Haku gently on the head and smiled.
"Hey, you must be hungry..." she noted. "I'll get you something, all right?"
"Okay." replied Haku.
Urging the boy to follow her, Korra returned to the fruit vendor and bought three plums and a watermelon, while Bolin found a shady spot under a tree for them to sit.
When they had gathered there, Korra handed Haku a plum, passing the second one to Bolin before slicing the watermelon with a little waterbending. Haku slowly ate the plum, savoring each bite. Korra couldn't help smiling at the sight, and exchanged a glance with Bolin, who already had a mouthful of watermelon.
"You two are even hungrier than I am." she quipped.
"Huh?" Bolin mumbled through another mouthful of watermelon.
Haku blinked inquisitively. Bolin swallowed and blinked back at Haku curiously. Korra only giggled.
"You two are so adorable, you know?"
Bolin's face turned bright red...and Haku only looked at the two of them, clearly not understanding what was going on.
"I don't get it." he said.
Korra looked from Haku to her stomach and back a few times, and finally back at Bolin.
"Should we tell him about...you know?"
"About what?" Haku inquired.
"About the baby." Bolin blurted out without thinking.
Korra turned a little bit red and smiled awkwardly...and all the while, Haku was completely oblivious.
"What baby?" he asked.
"The one growing inside of me." Korra answered.
Haku blinked again, asking, "You're having a baby?"
"Mm-hmm." Korra nodded.
Haku's eyes grew wide with curiosity, as he inquired, "Wow... when is it gonna come?"
"Months from now." Korra answered, rubbing her belly.
Haku's face fell. "But that means I won't get to see it..."
"You will, Haku," the young Avatar assured, cupping his chin. "I guarantee it."
"Really?" the boy looked curious. "But there aren't many visitors here, and you're probably gonna be too busy to visit..."
A pause...the ensuing silence hung over them for a long minute, Korra frowning as she thought, until finally Bolin spoke up.
"Hey...on the streets, my brother and I always had one another's backs...And we need all the help we can get with the baby..."
A broad smile spread across his face, as he suggested, "Maybe you can come with us? You can be a big brother!"
"Really?" Haku asked.
"Yup!" Bolin answered with a nod. "Korra, what do you think?"
Korra considered it. She wasn't entirely sure they could do a good job looking after the boy, or of what Tenzin would say...on the other hand, those thugs might come back for him, and he didn't have a home...
Eventually she smiled and nodded, offering Haku a hand, answering, "Sure, you can come with us. We're going to be traveling a lot, though; I hope you don't mind!"
Haku shook his head.
"Not at all!" he spoke up.
When they had finished eating the fruit, the two headed back to the airship with Haku in tow. The boy gazed up at the ship in wonder...
"Amazing...!"
"Wait till you see the view from the sky!" Bolin told him.
At that moment, he, Korra, and Haku met up with Tenzin.
"Korra, who's the little boy?" Tenzin asked, eyeing Haku curiously.
"This is Haku." Korra answered.
Haku waved meekly. "Hello, sir!"
"Hello." Tenzin waved, casually.
Korra smiled awkwardly, saying, "He's kind of my new charge now...You don't mind him coming along, I hope?"
Tenzin sighed.
"Korra, you do realize that you'll have to take a lot of responsibility for him?"
Korra nodded, answering, "I know--I have to take responsibility for my baby, too. We won't let him get hurt, I promise."
"Well...all right, then." Tenzin replied.
Haku was looking around the airship excitedly.
"Oh, where are we gonna go next?" he eagerly asked. "Will we go beyond the Earth Kingdom sometime?"
"Soon, Haku." Korra assured.
The boy smiled broadly and looked up at Tenzin, asking, "Hey, sir...is it alright if I look around?"
"Of course," Tenzin answered. "Just don't break anything."
Haku nodded emphatically. "I'll be careful, I promise!"
"Good." spoke Tenzin.
"Hey, Korra, Bolin," Asami greeted as she walked in. "How was your--oh, who's the little boy?"
"This is Haku." Korra answered.
Haku waved and gave Asami his best smile. Asami smiled right back at the boy. It was then that Korra remembered the thug boss hitting Haku.
"Hey." she gently placed a hand on Haku's head. "Do you want me to heal that? It looks pretty bad..."
"Ah..." Haku murmured as he touched his lip. "...O...Okay."
Korra wasted no time setting to work on the wound. Haku winced a little at the feel of the water on his mouth, though he relaxed when the clear liquid began to glow. He could feel a soothing sensation from it, and he couldn't help relaxing his shoulders and sighing contentedly at the feeling.
"There," Korra spoke as she finished healing the boy. "all better."
Haku felt his lip again and he smiled a little.
"Thank you, Miss Korra." he told her.
"It wasn't a problem!" Korra responded, smiling back. "You look good as new."
"...Uh, Miss Korra?" Haku asked. "Before we go...could we stop by my parents' graves?"
Korra's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, right..."
Bolin nodded, his expression unusually serious. "Of course we can, right, Korra?"
"Yeah." Korra replied.
"Thanks, again." Haku spoke up.
He offered Korra a hand, and she gently accepted it, slipping her other hand into Bolin's. Giving her hand a gentle tug, Haku proceeded to lead the way.