Night Of A Thousand Stars - Part 1

Back at the Eastern Temple, Ikki was laughing and riding on an air scooter near her mother and Meelo but stopped and looked up when Oogi came in for a landing.

"Dad's back!" Meelo grinned 

Oogi landed and Pema walked over with a bunch of flowers in her hand. She looked around and frowned in confusion. 

"Where's Jinora?" She asked 

With a sombre look, Tenzin stood up with Jinora's inanimate body in his arms. 

"No!" Pema gasped, dropping her flowers and rushing towards her husband.

"Her spirit is trapped in the Spirit World, but she's going to be all right," Tenzin said, handing Jinora to her mother. 

"How could this happen?" Pema cried, kneeling on the floor holding her daughter close. 

"It was all my fault. I should have never let Jinora enter the Spirit World without me. I couldn't protect her." Tenzin lowered his head in shame. 

"I'm so sorry, Pema. I tried to save her, but Unalaq tricked me." Korra explained 

"Don't worry, honey, I'm not going to stop until our little girl is back safe with us," Tenzin promised, rubbing the back of his hand along Jinora's cheek. 

*

Back in Republic City, Bolin was on Varrick's yacht making his way to the man's office. He needed to know what these strange feelings were about. He was probably sick or something. He knocked and waited before Zhu Li opened the door and let him in. 

"Hey, Bolin! Come on in, kid" Varrick grinned, sat in his office chair. "What can I do you for?" 

"Actually, I need some advice" Bolin stepped further into the room as Zhu Li shut the door. 

Varrick perked up, interested "Oh? What kind of advice?" 

"Well, the thing is that for a while now, I keep getting this weird feeling in my stomach. But it's only whenever I see El with Tahno, being all friendly and laughing and stuff." Bolin explained

Varrick hummed and smirked "Kid, this feeling, would you describe it as a burning ache in the pit of your stomach?"

"Yes! That's exactly what it is!" Bolin exclaimed, "What? Am I sick or something?"

Varrick just laughed, getting up from his chair "You're not sick! You're jealous!"

Bolin looked shocked "Jealous?! Why would I be jealous of El and Tahno? I have Ginger. If El wants to date Tahno, who am I to stop her. So long as she's happy" 

Varrick sighed and wrapped his arm around the earthbender "Bolin, let me ask you something. When you're with El, have you ever gotten this feeling, where it's warm and comforting but also feels like you wanna upchuck at the same time?" 

Bolin went silent for a moment. The night under the stars and walking in on her singing. 

"Yeah...I think I have" He muttered, "What does it mean?" 

"Bolin, kid..." Varrick placed both hands on Bolin's shoulders, looking at him seriously 

"You're in love!"  

Bolin looked shocked and confused "What?" 

"You're in love with El!" 

"No, I'm not, Varrick, I'm with Ginger!" 

Varrick face-palmed. How could this boy be so dense? 

"But I think you're right about the jealousy part" Bolin continued "I mean, for years the only person I've really had to "share her with" is her family since we were friends with the same people, so it didn't make much of a difference. I guess I'm just missing my best friend. Thanks, Varrick" 

Bolin waved and left the room and Varrick sighed again as the door shut. 

"I swear, Zhu Li if that kid doesn't realise soon what's right in front of him, I am going to lose it" 

"I completely agree, sir" Zhu Li replied in her usual professional tone. 

*

Later that night, in prison, Mako was sitting on his bed, inside his cell, when the door suddenly opened to reveal Song standing there. 

"You've got a visitor." 

He moved to the side and Bolin walked in. 

"Hey, Mako" 

"Hey. What's with the fancy duds?" Mako asked as his brother walked over 

"I'm on my way to the big finale for "Nuktuk: Hero of the South." Bolin flexed his muscles "Yeah, everyone's gonna be there except for, you know, you ... because you're in jail and stuff." 

"Thanks for the reminder" Mako scowled in annoyance. 

"Hey, I brought you something" Bolin reached into his jacket and brought out a poster of Nuktuk and Ginger, " I thought this would brighten up your new place. Read the inscription." 

Mako took the poster and read the writing at the bottom " "Dear Mako, Nuktuk says, 'Keep smiling.'"

He looked up at his brother grinning at him " Did you come by just to give me a poster?" 

"No, I came by to give you my sincere, heartfelt words of encouragement. I know our lives have been moving in two different directions, but I want you to know that I will always be there for you" Bolin smiled "We are brothers, after all, even if one of us is a member of high society and the other one is a criminal." 

" I am not a criminal!" Mako snapped 

"Of course, I know that, but you do kinda look like one, cause you're in a jail and that's where criminals live," Bolin replied 

" I was set up! Varrick knew I had figured out he was hiring gangsters to pose as Northern soldiers to get Republic City to join the war. That's why he had me arrested." Mako explained 

"Ah, I see what you're doing. You're going for the insanity defence. Smart." 

"No! I'm trying to tell you that Varrick isn't what he seems" Mako stood up, getting irritated" Where're Asami and El? They'll listen to me" 

"I asked them to come, but Asami said it was too hard for her. You being in jail like this reminds her of her dad. As for El, for some reason she's barely talked to me all day" Bolin explained 

"Gee, I wonder why?" Mako replied sarcastically, knowing how his brother's new attitude was affecting the airbender. He just hoped nothing too bad had happened between them. 

"Okay, gotta run and pick up the girls. But I'll be back tomorrow. And I am gonna get you the best attorney fame and fortune can buy" Bolin declared 

"Bolin, wait." Mako stopped him as he went to walk away "If my theory about Varrick is right, something might go down tonight at your premiere. Promise me you'll keep your eyes peeled"

"Yeah, okay, big brother. I promise" Bolin knocked on the cell door, walking out once it opened " Whew! That insanity defence is definitely gonna work"

*

Later on Air Temple Island, Elira was sitting in the dining hall with Pichi by her side, reading the newspaper. She glared at the picture of Bolin and Ginger kissing when she overheard Bolin walking in and talking with Asami. 

"...And hey, what's going on with you and Ginger? You two appeared to be getting pretty comfortable with each other last night" Asami crossed her arms, glancing at El from the corner of her eye. 

"Oh, come on Asami. That's private" Bolin laughed 

"Private?! The entire city's seen it!" Elira scoffed, slamming the paper down and getting up from her seat

"Whoa, someone's in a bad mood," Bolin muttered to Asami. 

"Come on, El. Give me a smile" Bolin went over and tried to move Elira's cheeks up into a smile " Show Nuktuk the smile, El" 

"Would you knock it off?" Elira snapped, slapping his hands away from her, turning to glare out the window.

Bolin looked at her confused" What's gotten into you?" 

"Me?! I swear oath or not, sometimes I just wanna take your big dumb dummy head and just..." Elira punched her palm continuously in frustration. 

"El, El what is the problem?" 

"Problem? There's no problem. I don't have any problem" Elira stated, whirling around and making her hair fly into her face. She pushed it away with a huff

 " Little miss mover star's the one with the problem"  

"What have you got against Ginger?" Bolin wondered, extremely confused as to why Elira was acting this way. 

"Not my lips that's for sure" Elira hissed. 

"El, why do you even care about Ginger anyway?" 

"I don't!" 

"You don't?" 

"No!" 

"No what?!" 

"I don't know?!" 

"Um, you guys..." 

"No!" Bolin and Elira both snapped at Asami as she tried to intervene. 

"Just tell me something, Bolin, because I'm curious. Why do you think she's suddenly so interested huh? Do you think for one minute that she would even acknowledge you if you weren't the rich and famous Nuktuk?" 

"Come on, you two. Don't fight" Asami tried to calm them down but her attempts were in vain. 

"Are you really that blind, Bo?" El scoffed ignoring Asami

"Well, at least she treats me like I'm somebody!" Bolin snapped back 

"Yeah, but would she love you if you were nobody?!"

"Nobody loved me when I was nobody!" 

"I did!" 

Bolin's eyes widened at the declaration as El turned away from him again. Crossing her arms, holding herself as she tried not to cry. 

"Before the money. And before the fame... Before the lies" Elira turned to face the earthbender with tears brimming her stormy grey eyes. "To me, you were somebody, Bolin. Now you're nothing, but a shell, of the sweet funny guy I fell in love with, that I was proud to call my best friend...You're a joke." 

Everything was silent. 

Even the air. 

Bolin felt like such an idiot. This whole time. The whole time, she loved him. Loved him for who he was, flaws and all...and he was too blinded to even notice. 

"El-" 

"No, forget it!" Elira cut him off, shoving his hand away as he reached for her " Just go! Cause I'm tired of hearing how everything you had in your life wasn't good enough...including me" 

Bolin went to say something else but decided against it, knowing he'd just make things worse. With a final sad look at his best friend, Bolin turned and left. 

As soon as he was gone, Elira began to sob and Asami was quick to hug her. The airbender clung to her tightly as frantic footsteps were heard running down the hallway before finally, an out-of-breath Azira appeared in the doorway. 

"I heard yelling, what happened?" She panted, hand over her racing heart 

She finally noticed Elira clinging to Asami tightly, sobbing softly. 

"Oh, sweetheart" Zira walked over, taking her granddaughter into her arms. Asami stroked El's hair comfortingly as Pichi landed on her shoulder, nuzzling her with a sad chitter.  

*

Later at the Pro-bending Arena, a large poster of Ginger and Nuktuk hung above the main entrance as crowds of people swarmed around the entrance and a Satomobile limousine arrived. 

Bolin and Ginger stepped out of the limo and arm-in-arm walked towards the arena as the crowd cheered 

"There they are folks. The sweethearts of the big screen, and Republic City's most famous couple, Bolin and Ginger." Shiro announced 

The couple waved at the crowd before climbing the steps to the arena 

"Did you hear that, Bolin?  We're Republic City's most famous couple" Ginger smirked, clinging to Bolin's arm. 

"Hehe...Great..." Bolin forced a smile "Listen uh...Why don't you go grab our seats, I'm gonna wait for Varrick" 

Ginger looked suspicious but shrugged it off "Okay, see you soon, Hero" 

She kissed his cheek and walked away with a flick of her hair. As soon as she turned around,  Bolin slipped out of the arena doors once again. 

Outside, Lin approached Gang and Lu, looking annoyed as they shoved Varri-cakes into their mouths. 

"Stop stuffing your moustaches with Varri-cakes and get to your post!" She snapped 

 "You got it, boss." Gang stood at attention with Lu, dropping their treats and walking off. 

"You two are the pinnacle of refinement." Lin huffed sarcastically as the next Satomobile limousine arrived. 

"This star-studded event just keeps getting star-studdier folks. Lady Azira of the Fire Nation has just arrived, accompanied by Asami Sato, owner and CEO of Future Industries" Shiro announced as the two got out, waving at the crowd. 

Bolin craned his neck, trying to see if a certain someone was with them...She wasn't and Bolin's shoulders sagged in disappointment. Who was he kidding? Of course, she wouldn't be there. 

Sighing, he turned and headed back inside with his head down. 

 *

Inside the arena, the playing area had been fitted with speakers and a giant screen for watching the mover.  

 Bolin, Ginger, Zira and Asami were sat in a V.I.P booth and Naga and Pabu were in their own one to the right of them, being served food by a waiter.  

A spotlight soon shone on Varrick standing in the playing ring with a microphone. 

"Thank you all for coming for the finale of "Nuktuk: Hero of the South"! You know, when I first started this project there were a lot of naysayers out there. "You can't make pictures move," they said. "You can't take some knucklehead earthbender and make him a star," they said" 

The crowd laughed as Bolin frowned a little. 

"You can't teach a polar bear dog to speak," they said. Well, they're wrong!" Varrick continued "Thanks to the magic of the movers, our furry friends have found their voices, and you'll be shocked to hear what they have to say. They speak of the injustice that is happening in the Southern Water Tribe right now" 

Varrick turned to stare at President Raiko's booth, where he was sitting with his wife" My hope, is that their words, and this epic mover, will inspire a real-life hero to rise up and help. Thank you again, enjoy the show!" 

The spotlight turned off as the screen above Varrick lit up, revealing Nuktuk being held by the shoulders by a bird. 

"When last we left our hero, he was captured by the Evil Unalaq's dastardly pet bird," The Narrator said " Amazingly, with the power of his whistling, Nuktuk escaped" 

On-screen, Nuktuk whistled and the bird dropped him. 

" And decided to seek out counsel." 

The screen cut to a seal lion growling, with Nuktuk kneeling in front before a fish is thrown at the animal.

"Thank you, wise sage. I will travel to Republic City and seek help." Nuktuk stood up 

The screen then cut to an aerial shot of Republic City before switching to the interior of the president's office, where Nuktuk entered the room to find the president working with chemicals. 

"Have a seat, I'm just working on a cure for the common cold. No longer will my citizens suffer from the sniffles." 

"Mister president, there's something more important than the sniffles right now. I need your help to stop the Evil Unalaq." Nuktuk said 

"Did you say "help"? If there is one thing I love doing, it's helping people." The Mover President grinned at the screen. 

"I think this is your best mover yet," Asami whispered to Bolin, smiling 

"I just wish Mako and El were here to see it" He looked down sadly

*

Unknown to him, but outside an orange glider silently made its way towards the arena, flying in through an open window. El landed on her feet gracefully, closing her glider and seconds later Pichi climbed onto her shoulder. Giving her pet a slight scratch behind the ear, El took off down the hallway until she came to one of the ring entrances, finding Lin standing guard with her arms crossed. 

"Hey, Lin!" She grinned and the woman turned to her in surprise. 

"El? What are you doing here? Your friends are over there" Lin pointed to the V.I.P booth Bolin, Asami and Zira were watching the mover in. 

"They don't know I'm here and I kinda wanna keep it that way. Long story short, things are...awkward between Bolin and me, so I'm just gonna hang out with you if that's okay?" El explained, standing beside her. 

Lin sighed "Just don't go talking my ear off, kid, I'm working" 

"Got it. You won't even know I here" El jokingly zipped her lips, turning back to the screen where Nuktuk was chained to the wall while three automatons approached him.

"Northern Water Tribe automatons! No!" He yelled 

"Bee bow bop, Nuktuk cannot stop Unalaq, must destroy Nuktuk." The automatons said 

Roh-Tan suddenly jumped between Nuktuk and the automatons, growling at the machines, forcing them to retreat. 

Juji joined in the growling, before freeing Nuktuk by firing laser beams from his eyes.

"Haha! Arhg!" Nuktuk quickly ducked out of the way of an automaton's grapple before waterbending at the machines causing them to short circuit. 

"Looks like you forgot that water, and automatons, don't mix." He smirked 

"Bee bow bop, oh no, circuits no working." The machines said as they broke down. 

"Hahaho! We did it!"Nuktuk high-fived Roh-Tun" But wait, where's Juji?" 

The screen cut to a belly-up Juji who was coughing, while a spotlight shone over him.

"Nuk-no!" Roh-Tan exclaimed 

" You can't die Juji! Not on my watch!" Nuktuk knelt beside his pet, cradling him in his arms. 

"It's okay, Nuktuk. At least ... I got to be..." Juji coughed "... your friend." 

Juji licked Nuktuk's fingers briefly before falling back, dead. 

"Juji!" Nuktuk yelled as Roh-Tan cried. 

In the V.I.P section, Bolin covered his face before getting up and sadly exiting the booth. 

*

On the balcony of the arena, Bolin was leaning on the railing, his mournful eyes fixed on the silhouette of Air Temple Island in the distance. 

"Are you okay?" Asami appeared beside him " It seems like this mover is really getting to you. You do know Juji's not really dead?" 

"Of course, I know. Juji's fine. He comes back to life in the end when the doomsday device shifts the polarity of the Earth. Oops. Spoiler. Sorry" Bolin muttered 

"Then what's wrong?" Asami asked 

"I guess I just miss my friends. Everything is going so well for me, but it feels empty without everyone around. Korra's gone, Mako's in jail, you're doing ... business-lady stuff, and El...El hates me." Bolin frowned "Team Avatar's fallen apart." 

"I know. Things have changed too much since we first met. But El doesn't hate you, Bolin. She was just upset and frustrated. To be honest, that girl isn't capable of hating someone. Least of all you." Asami reassured "She loves you too much to hate you " 

Bolin sighed, lowering his head "Why did she never tell me before? We tell each other everything" 

"She was scared, Bolin. Scared that if she told you how she truly felt...She'd lose you" Asami revealed  

"What? That's crazy, I'd never leave her. She's my best friend and I...I need her" Bolin declared 

"Maybe you should tell her that" Asami smiled softly, placing a hand on the earthbender's shoulder "I'm going back inside to watch the rest of the mover. You coming?" 

"You go ahead. I need another minute." 

Asami squeezed Bolin's shoulder comfortingly before turning and heading inside. As she was going into the arena, Ginger was walking out, having finally noticed Bolin's absence. She spotted her boyfriend leaning over the railing with his head down. 

"El was right. I am a joke. " He muttered, not realising Ginger was behind him.

The redhead rolled her eyes before putting on a flirty look" Hey, hero. Why are you out here? All your friends are inside"

"Not all my friends" Bolin sighed, looking up at Air Temple Island once again as Ginger came to stand beside him.

"You mean that ditsy little airhead. Forget about her, she's nobody compared to us" Ginger said, leaning on Bolin's arm.

"No, I'm the nobody" Bolin stated, turning away from the railing.

Ginger began laughing" Oh, let me guess. She told you that she loves you. Is that it?"

Ginger continued to laugh as she pulled Bolin back to the railing. "I'm mean, it's not like you feel the same way about her. Right?"

Bolin paused as Ginger kept laughing likes it was the funniest thing in the world. 

He then smiled softly, picturing El's beautiful face in his mind. Her soft luscious hair flowing in the wind. Her bright, joyful eyes shining in the sun. Her caring, warm smile. Hear her contagious laugh.

He remembered all the fun times he had with Elira growing up. Hanging out at the noodle shop, finding Pabu and teaching him tricks. Watching her become an airbending master. All the times she stood by his side. Supported him. Defended him. Protected him.

How could he not have realised this sooner? 

Varrick was right. She wasn't just his best friend.

He loved her.

And he was too much of an idiot to realise. 

"You know what, Ginger. I don't think this is going to work out" Bolin stated, pulling away from the redhead.

Ginger stopped laughing and looked at the earthbender confused "Wait...Are you dumping me?"

Bolin nodded, avoiding eye contact with the actress. When he looked back up the redhead had lost all acts of playfulness and was glaring dangerously at the earthbender.

She slapped Bolin hard across the face before sticking her nose up and strutting back inside with a "hmph"

"Ow..."Bolin rubbed his aching cheek before noticing a speedboat docked below him " That's weird." 

*

Walking back inside the arena, Bolin wandered the halls for anything out of the ordinary. He suddenly slipped on something though managed to maintain his balance by stopping into a split. 

Standing up straight, he found he had slipped on a Varri-cake someone had dropped on the floor. 

Hearing banging on a nearby locker, he ran over and opened it to see Lu and Gang gagged and bound inside. Bolin removed the ropes over Gang's mouth to enable him to speak.

"They're after the president!"