A/N: This was given as a prompt to me on Tumblr. I changed it a bit BUT OH MY GOD I LOVE IT. THANK YOU KIND ANON FOR TASKING ME WITH THIS.


"So…what do you like to do for fun?"

The girl in question was silent, her only acknowledgment of his question coming in the form of a slight shrug of her shoulders. Kai breathed a heavy sigh, sitting back in his chair.

"Do you like to write?"

The twelve-year-old pursed her lips, lifting her brows in indifference to the hobby.

"Yeah," Kai remarked dryly, tossing his feet on top of the table and tipping the library chair back, "I don't really like to write either."

How he had gotten stuck sitting with the new girl in the lonely library during lunch was beyond him. The librarian claimed he had been swiping coins from the printing jar that sat on the desk by the computers, but as far as he was concerned, she had no solid proof. Of course he had done it, but he was too good to get caught.

Regardless of whether he had been caught or not though, he was doing the time for his "crime."

He supposed the librarian had meant for him to sit alone, but once he spotted the new girl in the 6th grade class walking in, he decided to acquaint himself with her. She was decent looking with short brown hair that barely reached her shoulders and wide doe-like eyes that followed every movement he made. He figured she wouldn't make bad company.

The only problem was she wouldn't make a sound in response to him.

She had been at the school a mere three days and after experiencing several classes with her, Kai couldn't remember a time in which he had heard her speak. He saw the teachers approach her after class and give her extra sheets of notes but other than a slight nod of her head, she never gave them much acknowledgment.

'Maybe she's just shy', Kai reasoned, pursing his lips and rocking his chair back into place.

"So," It seemed like that was going to be his go-to word from then on out, "Have you made any friends here?"

The girl squinted at him, watching his mouth closely. By the end of his question, she seemed to know where he was going.

With a sad shake of her head, the girl's gaze dropped to the table.

Kai coughed awkwardly into his hand. The librarian noticed that he had taken a seat next to the young girl, but her aged face didn't contort into anger like he expected. She looked almost sad.

"Here, Jinora," The woman spoke softly to the girl, but Kai had a sneaking suspicion she dropped the name in there for him. A handful of books were passed to the girl, several titles that he couldn't even imagine pronouncing stacked a top one another and placed on the table. It was the first time he had seen the new girl smile.

Before she walked away from the table, the librarian passed him a small pamphlet. It was only a few pages long but the title and subject matter that was listed on the front stood out to him.

"ASL?" Kai wondered aloud, his dark brows furrowing, "American Sign Language?"

Then it hit him.

"Oh!" His voice was loud, though the librarian didn't move to scold him at the sound of his revelation. She was just glad he had caught on.

His green gaze fell on the girl sitting across from him at the table, her fingers lightly tapping each binding of the books stacked up in front of her. She hadn't even heard his exclamation.

'She's deaf,' Suddenly it all made sense to him.

One tanned hand dug into his backpack, fingers skimming over several binders and folders filled with crumpled paper. Pulling out one of his notebooks, the boy ripped out a sheet of paper.

Jinora caught the boy's sudden movement, her eyes following his hand as he reached back into his bag for a pen and began to write.

I'm Kai! The boy wrote on the first line, proudly sliding the paper over in her direction and passing the pen along with it.

Jinora eyed the words for a moment before rolling her lips inward an indication of mirth. A moment later she was gripping the pen and responding back.

I know.

Kai quirked a brow.

How?

Jinora took the pen from him once again, the tip scrapping loudly against the paper before it came to rest in his own palm.

I can read your lips. You told me your name earlier.

Kai's eyes squinted, his expression dubious as he formed a reply.

Then why were you acting like you couldn't understand me.

Jinora paused for a moment, thinking carefully before answering and passing the paper back to him.

It's easier that way.

Kai glanced sadly at her, but the girl smiled in reassurance. Taking the paper back, Jinora added on to her comment.

I'm working with a speech therapist so I can't respond to questions properly even though I know what you are saying.

The boy read over her response, his shoulders falling forward in sympathy. Here he thought she was just weird and all along she just couldn't hear.

If you can read my lips, do I need to be responding on paper?

The girl laughed at his question, shaking her head.

"Cool," He remarked, his voice sounding strange to him after being quiet so long. Lunch would be over soon but he wanted to know more about the new girl sitting with him. He held up the pamphlet drawing her eyes to the flimsy paper.

"Do you use ASL?"

Jinora shrugged, taking a hold of the pen and writing out a full answer.

Sometimes. Most people can't understand me though when I use it.

"Do you think you could teach me?"

The girl laughed, her soft giggle sending a thrill up his spine. He ignored it though; he just was interested in this girl's story. Surely it had nothing to do with the girl herself.

Raising her brows, the girl wrote out her reply.

I think it's a bit more complicated than that.

"I can take a challenge," Kai responded confidently, puffing his chest out for emphasis. "I'm sure you could teach me a few things."

Jinora shrugged, but the smile didn't leave her face.

A bell rang through the silence of library, signaling the end of lunch. Kai hopped up excitedly, standing by the table as his new friend took the hint from him and gathered her stuff. After all, they did have a class together after this.

"You're going to like Mr. Sho after we get past the biology section of our notes," Kai assured her as they walked side by side out of the library, his bag swinging from his shoulder, "I know it seems a bit boring now but he's actually really good at teaching. Coming from me, that's saying a lot!"

As Jinora watched his lips she couldn't help but grin at the boy's enthusiasm, feeling completely at ease for the first time since she had moved to the Academy.

The librarian took a seat in her chair, watching as the two students exited the library.

Sometimes all it took was a push in the right direction to get people moving.