just forget the world
Summary: He opens his arms and she rushes into them, just like she always has.
Pairing: Bolin/Jinora
a/n: I can't be blamed for shipping this. sarsaparillia converted me. it's safe to say neither of us has any regrets.
notes: Bolin is about 27 in this (i picture an 8 year gap between him and jinora) and Jinora is 19.
Jinora has gotten used to lulling about her house after dinner—waiting for the right moment to slip away and run (well, fly away) to the city where she can see his eyes and his smile and hear his laugh again. It's a long wait but it's always worth it.
She catches her breath as the long-awaited click of Father's door closing rings down the hallway. Then she's up like a shot, staff in one fist and shoving Meelo out of her way with the other—down the hall and out the door…
"Jin – "
"If Father asks, I'm at the library," Jinora answers Ikki in one breath. The sixteen year old frowns deeply but waves a goodbye. (Jinora is used to the disapproval, but Ikki has been helping her for weeks so why would she stop now?)
Well, it's too late to worry now. Jinora has already leaped out the nearest window and fanned out her glider. She's soaring—over the sea and in the setting sun. She sees none of it; her mind is focused on him.
And she's definitely not thinking about the last thing Ikki said to her about this.
(He's an adult. And as much as you'd love to think so, you're not.)
Briefly Jinora wonders when her sister got so wise anyway. But it's not like she cares. No one approves except maybe Mother and Howl, but to hell with their approval. Jinora is happy, and she hasn't been happy since she was fifteen—back when Korra lived with them and things had always been fun when she was around.
If people can't understand her happiness, then they can't understand her all.
Jinora touches land with gentle steps – light as an airbender – and pushes her hair back over her shoulders, taming it but just barely. (She hates its unruliness; he loves it and tells her every time they meet)
She looks to her left, her right, and the crushing feeling that he left is suddenly suffocating—
"Don't tell me you think I'd leave you."
His voice is right behind her, and she can hear the grin before she sees it. When she turns to him, he's about a foot away, smiling easily (her heart flutters; she loves that smile).
Jinora swallows and realizes she's crying. The tears are warm and wet and leak into her sad smile. "I did. For a second, I really did."
"Well we can't have that now," Bolin chides playfully. He opens his arms and she rushes into them, just like she always has. In his embrace, her whole world smells like Bolin, sounds like his laugh. She presses her face into his shoulder and as long as he holds her, she's sure the word disapproval will soon lose it's meaning to her.
(He opened his arms and she rushed into them, just like she always would.)