Nightmares

Note: This story takes place sometime between Episode 3 and Episode 6 of Season 1.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bolin instantly sat up in his bed, his head damp from his own sweat. He panted, trying to gain back his breath after the horrible dream he had just had. He looked around, trying to get a good view of his surroundings. He couldn't see much though; it was still dark outside and he could only see the silhouettes of his and Mako's room. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead, finally breathing normally again. He still wasn't calm though. He couldn't be, not after the dream he had just had.

Mako. That's the first thing he remembered. Mako was gone. Bolin didn't know where he went, he couldn't find him. He looked over to Mako's bed, just to be sure that he was there. "Mako?" he whispered. No answer. Of course he wouldn't answer. It was probably past midnight, there was no way Mako would be wide awake at this hour.

Bolin slowly placed both of his feet on the floor, careful not to wake up Pabu, who he thought was sleeping in his own little makeshift bed of a small basket with a pillow in the inside that sat beside Bolin's bed. Bolin silently walked over to his brother's bed. He didn't bother trying to light the small gas powered lamp he kept by his bedside, just in case Mako was in his bed and he didn't want to wake him up. He stopped for a moment however, when he felt a slight breeze on his hip. He looked down to see a small and freshly made tear in the tank top he wore to bed every night. "It must've happened during my dream." he wondered. Bolin thought that it was possible if the dream was worse than he remembered, and that he squeezed his shirt so much until he accidentally ripped it.

Bolin moved his attention back to Mako's bed and quietly tip-toed over to his bedside. He just wanted to make sure his brother was okay. He leaned forward to see if he could see the outline of his brother, but instead, saw only his blanket tossed aside, and instead of seeing his sleeping firebending brother he was met with a small fire ferret sleeping in his place.

"What the?" Bolin started to say before the fire ferret was startled awake. His head jolted up and hissed at the young earthbender, who jumped back and let out a small shriek. "Pabu!" he exclaimed. He once again tried to calm himself as he got down on one knee and went to pet his small companion. "It's okay Pabu. It's just good ol' Bolin. See?" he softly said to the small animal. Not that it made much of a difference, since Mako obviously wasn't asleep in his own bed.

The fire ferret slowly stood up and shook his head before yawning, still needing a good night's rest. Bolin reached out for the ferret and softly called him. "C'mere Pabu. Let's get you back to your bed." Pabu accepted Bolin's offer and crawled on top of his extended arm, and onto his shoulders. Bolin then placed both of his arms together, one on top of the other, and invited the fire ferret to lie down in his arms. Once again, Pabu accepted Bolin's generous offer and crawled into Bolin's large earthbending arms. He turned his head towards Bolin's warm and inviting chest as he snuggled against him trying to get warm.

"You're spoiled. You know that right?" Bolin asked his small pet as he walked back over to Pabu's bed. The fire ferret didn't reply, or even make a small movement as an answer to Bolin's question, though he didn't expect Pabu to do so in the first place. Bolin arrived at Pabu's small bed and slowly placed him inside. He took the small blanket, which must have been tossed aside when Pabu left his bed for Mako's, and carefully placed it over the tired animal.

Bolin leaned down and in a soft and calming voice he whispered, "Sweet dreams Master Pabu." As he softly scratched behind the ferret's ear; to which the animal looked up and returned the favor by licking Bolin's nose once before he snuggled back into the comfort of his own bed and drifted off back to sleep.

Bolin then stood back up and turned his attention back to where his brother might be, which might be downstairs getting a light snack, or possibly listening to the radio. Only problem was, he heard nothing from the downstairs area of their apartment above the bending arena.

He climbed down the ladder, just to be sure that Mako wasn't down there. "Mako? You down here?" he called out, but not too loud so as to wake up Pabu once more. And sure enough, he wasn't.

Now Bolin started to panic. Where was Mako? This wasn't like him to just wander off this late at night. What if he went out for a walk? What if the Equalist's got him? What if they took away his bending ability? What if he'll never see him again? These questions flowed through Bolin's mind so fast he didn't know what to make of them.

The earthbender ran out of their apartment, not bothering to put on a change of clothes or shoes and headed for the arena. Maybe he was there getting some late night training. "No, why would he do that? We have a gym?" He instantly changed his course and headed for the training room.

He turned down the dimly lit hallway to see a light coming from the gym. He sighed a sigh of relief, believing Mako to be there practicing his fire-bending. "Mako? What are you doing here so late?" Bolin asked as he walked into the gym, only to find it empty.

His panic returned. Mako wasn't in his room and he wasn't in the gym. Where else could he possibly be? He turned back into the hallway, not sure which way to go. "Mako!" he called out, hoping that by chance his brother would hear him and answer.

Bolin instantly began to assume the worst. He turned right and headed for the arena's exit. "This can't be happening." he thought as he turned the corner, only to come to a sudden halt before he would literally run over his brother, who stared with wide-eyes at his green-eyed sibling.

"Bolin? What are you doing out here this late?" he asked.

Bolin looked over his brother to make sure he was okay. He was wearing the same shorts he would sometimes wear when he would train, but his shirt was missing and his chest was instead covered with a few small drops of sweat. "I was about to ask you the same thing!" Bolin replied as he wrapped his arms around his brother and hugged him tightly.

Mako grunted at the literal tight squeeze he was in. "Agh! I was in the bathroom Bolin, what's going on here?" he asked his brother as he calmly patted his back.

Bolin released is grip on his brother and rubbed the back of his head as he tried to think of a good explanation; at least one that wouldn't embarrass him. "Oh, uh, nothing. I just, wanted to know where you were is all."

"Then what's with the big hug?" Mako asked as he passed by his brother and turned the corner.

Bolin followed close behind him. "Never mind that! Answer my question! What're you doing out so late?"

"I couldn't sleep." Mako answered looking back at his brother. "So I decided to get a little training done in the gym."

"The gym?" Bolin asked.

"Yeah. Why do you think I'm sweaty and not wearing a shirt Bolin?" Mako asked as he stopped at the entrance of the gym and turned around, folding his arms across his bare chest.

Bolin looked into the gym once again, this time trying to take a closer look. Sure enough, there was Mako's tank-top he usually wore for bed, lying next to his water bottle. He must've overlooked it when he looked into the gym looking for his brother. Just like he overlooked the burned targets that were set up in Mako's makeshift shooting range. "Oh, well then, I guess that makes sense." Bolin said as he blushed due to the slight embarrassment he was feeling. He knew that Mako knew that something was up. Mako knew almost every detail about his brother, which meant that he definitely knew when Bolin was worried.

"So," Mako began. "You wanna tell me why you were so anxious to look for me?"

"No reason." Bolin lied. "I just wanted to know where you were is all." He yawned as he finished his lie, which Mako knew was just that. "Well, I guess I'll be heading back to bed then." Bolin said as he walked past his older brother.

"Bolin." Mako sighed. "Are you gonna tell me the truth, or are just going to pretend like I don't know my own brother?"

Bolin turned around and raised his eyebrow at his brother. "What do you mean?"

"I know when you're worried or scared, or frightened, or anything like that. Now, I'll ask again, why were you so eager to find me?"

Bolin still faked not knowing what Mako was talking about. "I didn't know where you were Mako. You weren't in bed and I didn't see you in the gym. What was I supposed to think with all that's happened lately with Amon and the Equalists?"

Mako still wasn't fully buying it. "Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything?"

Bolin was stuck. He couldn't think of anything else to tell his brother, so he may as well mention the dream he had. "Well, I was a little worried because I…" he sighed before he finished his explanation, "I did have this dream, but I mean it's nothing."

Mako, still having his arms locked together, leaned against the wall. "What kind of dream?" he asked.

Bolin groaned. He didn't bother trying to get out of this one anymore. He knew if he didn't tell Mako about it now, he'd just bother him about it until he did. "Well, you were just being taken by Equalists. We were out walking and they just ambushed us. Except I was able to fight them off, but they got the upper hand on you." He instantly tried to change the mood of the conversation. "Ha, funny how you were the one being captured, and I was the one kicking their butt huh?"

Mako didn't change his concerned expression at all.

Bolin once again sighed and continued describing his dream to his brother. "Well, I went after them. But I kept falling behind. Before I knew it I had lost you." He looked down at the floor, not wanting to look his brother in the eye. He thought Mako would laugh at him, or maybe just give him a funny look. "I kept looking for you, but I couldn't find you. No one else was around; I was by myself. I couldn't find you. I thought I'd lost you forever. And then I wake up and you were gone. I didn't see you in the gym. I didn't see you in our room. I thought that maybe you had gone outside and…" he trailed off. He couldn't even say what he had thought had happened to Mako out loud.

He still expected his older brother to laugh, or give him some huge speech about how "crazy" he was or how "nothing like that would ever happen." Instead, he felt his brother's hand placed softly on his shoulder. Bolin looked up at his brother to see him giving him a sympathetic smile before he wrapped both of his arms around Bolin's waist.

Bolin stood there in shock before he too wrapped his arms around his brother's bare chest.

"Bolin," he heard Mako say. "You shouldn't be worried. Nothing bad is gonna happen to me. I promise."

Bolin smiled. He knew that Mako couldn't really promise that nothing would happen to him. They may as well be in a war and he's friends with the Avatar, of course something might happen to him. But it was nice to know that Mako would try, and not just because he would want to live, even though that would seem like the main reason, but because he knew that Bolin couldn't handle seeing him hurt.

"I know bro." Bolin answered as he felt his brothers hold loosen and saw Mako pull away from his grip.

"Now then," Mako said as he once again placed a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. "Let's get back to bed. It's way too late to be up right now."

Bolin chuckled as he stated, "Says the guy who came downstairs to get some training way past midnight."

Mako shrugged. "Guilty as charged." Bolin laughed at Mako's make-shift joke as his brother stepped up to the other side of Bolin, still keeping his arm on Bolin's shoulder. "Come on. Let's get outta here."

As they started back for their apartment, Bolin mimicked Mako's action and placed his hand on Mako's farthest shoulder. He looked back for a moment once he remembered the fact that his brother was shirtless. "Wait, what about your shirt?" he asked.

Mako looked back before he looked at his brother and answered. "Leave it. It'll be there in the morning."

Bolin looked at Mako and smiled. He couldn't have asked for a better big brother. Together, arms placed over each other's shoulder, they walked back to their apartment ready to get a good night's sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My first "Korra" story! Yay! I wanted to start with the whole "Brotherly Love" aspect because I LOVE writing me some bromance...I don't ship them together though. I've seen people that do that. It's...just, no.

Anyway, enjoy! Reviews are welcomed!