A/N: So Borra Week 2013 begins today! I stayed up all night working on this, so I hope you all enjoy! It turned out a little more angsty than I intended, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Rating: K

Journey

Getting over her is a trip.

Bolin takes the scenic route, complete with mountains of depression to climb and a sea of isolation to navigate. He makes a pit-stop in denial and books a room for an overnight stay in self-pity, but before long he's back on the road to acceptance.

The brochures looked promising, anyway.

Bolin has only just returned home to himself, has yet to even unload his baggage, when Korra arrives once again in Republic City. Like a hurricane, she delivers herself to his doorstep, disturbing the Welcome Home mat and his entire world along with it as she jabs her finger to the doorbell of his heart.

She strolls back into town, back into his life, and he stumbles three steps back in love with her.

"Bolin!" she cries, smiling as she crashes into him, nearly causing them to bump into a nearby rack of weights. It is a habit to want to hold her, and by reflex he catches her and fits her against his chest. "It figures I'd find you here," she says, taking in the gym where they first met. "Won a lot of matches while I was away?"

"The Fire Ferrets do alright. We'd be unstoppable if you were on the team though."

Bolin's fingers find her waist, the urge to draw her in tighter throbbing in his fingertips. This too is like a homecoming, and he buries his face in her neck, taking in the salt-sweet scent of her.

"I missed you, Bo," she whispers.

"Missed you too, Kor."

She's soft in places he remembers used to be hardened with muscle, the price paid for the lack of sparring partners in the South Pole. She seems shorter too, or maybe he's simply grown.

Her hands track the line of his shoulders, down to his bare arms where she prods at the firm muscle of his biceps. His face is leaner, less that of a boy's and closer to – although not quite yet – a man's. A sheen of sweat coats his skin, his white tank top sculpted to his body. "You've been working out a lot, haven't you?"

"A bit," he says with a shrug. "Though it looks like someone has been slacking off in her training." Bolin grins and pinches her stomach, giggling when her flesh yields more than it used to. She shrieks and slaps his hand away.

"Slacker or not, I bet I could still take you!" she challenges, eyes shining with excitement as she removes her coat and positions herself. "Show me what you got, Big Guy."

"Remember," he says, "no bending. And no Avatar mode!"

"I remember," she scoffs. "Don't go easy on me now!"

He doesn't.

Bolin's movements are quick, taking her by surprise, and she backs up with a gasp. He gives a smug smile at the astonished look on her face.

His muscles aren't the only thing he's worked out while she's been away.

Korra's out of practice, and it shows. Her punches are slow and her kicks aren't nearly as high as he remembers. She pants heavily as she blocks Bolin's attacks and attempts to advance on him. He can tell by the determined set of her eyes that she didn't expect it to be this hard, and before long he has her pinned on the mat beneath him.

He beams victoriously down at her.

The kiss is unexpected.

Her lips, thin and chapped, press against his, too short to be romantic but too long to be considered friendly.

Bolin's heart thuds painfully within his chest. "What are you doing, Korra?" he manages to choke out, emotion bleeding into his voice.

"I don't know," she whispers, playing with the ends of his hair at the base of his neck. "I missed my sparring buddy?"

His arms, pillared on either side of her head, begin to shake.

She shuts her eyes briefly as she lets out a long breath. "I really missed you, Bolin. And I'm so sorry about before."

Before.

The hurt rises up like bile at the back of his throat as he conjures up his last memory of her, when she packed up his heart amongst her belongings and left to the South Pole to be alone, to get over Mako. The memory of her rejection stings as much as ever, but so does the realization that he can never truly be over Korra.

Because how do you get over the girl of your dreams?

"I've been such an idiot," she says, cupping his face between her palms. "I've made so many mistakes. I didn't want you to be one of them, and I never wanted to hurt you."

Bolin closes his eyes, unable to look at her, as he pulls back. "You ran away."

"I know!" she cries, "But I'm still new to all this love crap, so you have to cut me some slack, okay?!"

Bolin nearly loses his balance and topples on top of her.

Love?

"I want us to be together," she says. "Do you… do you still want that?"

Bolin gazes at her, finding ocean blue eyes watching him. Her cheeks are reddened and her brow damp with sweat. And she's as stunning as the moment they first met.

There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!

It's alright, Toza. She's with me.

…she's with me.

With one hand cupping behind Korra's neck, Bolin gently angles her face towards his and captures her mouth in a heated kiss. Her arms twist around his neck, pulling him closer.

Loving Korra is a trip. Luckily, Bolin knows the way by heart.

Breathless, he pulls away enough to see her eyes and says, "Isn't that what I've been saying from the start?"