Two years after the battle with the Red Lotus, life at the air temple became even more hectic. Training was a never ending process, the airbenders worked to bring peace both in Republic City and other nations due to Korra's absence, and everyone still tried to adjust to their new lives. Jinora took her responsibility of being an airbending master head on as she taught classes, delegated work to other more experienced airbenders, and ensured that everything ran as smoothly as possible. However, it turned out to be a lonely job.
She and Kai grew close during their time together, opening up about themselves and always supporting each other, but now their time together always seemed to be cut short. They were best friends, so it always hurt that Jinora couldn't sit down and talk with him every day like they used to. A month ago, when Tenzin assigned Kai and Opal to go on a peace mission in the Earth Kingdom, Jinora wanted to be upset that he would be gone, but she realized that it just showed his responsibility and trustworthiness, and she couldn't be mad at that.
He gave her the news one night, and he looked sad about having to leave, which gave Jinora a small feeling of peace since she knew that she wasn't the only one who felt an attachment. She wanted to tell him that she loved him right then and there, but decided it wouldn't be fair. This opportunity should be exciting, and an air nomad shouldn't feel like they're stuck because they're leaving someone behind. If he wanted to create something more between them, she would make a home for herself in his heart and never let go, but until then she'll continue being by his side as his best friend.
He returned a week ago, but it hardly felt like it. Jinora continued to be busy holding down the fort, and Kai continued with his daily routine. The most time they spent together was on the night he came back. He knocked on her window, and she woke up to see him standing outside and waving at her with a childlike smile on his face. She let him in and hugged him tightly as she tried to hold back tears. She felt silly for getting so emotional, but while being so preoccupied with all of her work, she didn't realize how much she missed him.
She felt an overwhelming desire to press her lips to his. She just wanted to feel closer to him in a way that simply holding him couldn't satisfy, but she fought against the pull of her heart. He stayed with her through the night while Jinora told him about everything going on at the air temple, and he told her about all the places he visited. As they talked, Jinora held his hands in hers, and when they both fell silent and spent minutes just looking at each other, she didn't let go of them because she hoped that he would eventually say the words she's been waiting to hear. When he told her that he half expected to see her spiritual projection at least once, she lied and said that she never tried because she didn't know when he would be busy. In reality, she would pop in about once a week, but he wouldn't notice because it would always be at night while he slept. She felt content by just seeing that he was okay. After hours passed, she reluctantly sent Kai away an hour before everyone usually started to wake up. When he fell asleep on Jinora's shoulder during breakfast, Opal told Tenzin that they had a long trip, and she gave Jinora a knowing smile.
The following days, they could only get in a few words with each other before they were taken away by classes and other activities. Kai expected to spend every moment with Jinora once he got back, but getting her to himself proved to be harder than he imagined. He planned on telling Jinora that he was in love with her on the night he returned, but he had a fear of her heartwarming smile disappearing at the sound of his confession. He decided that he wanted a night where everything was how he remembered it before he took a risk that could either end with him finally filling in the piece that his heart waited for or his best friend deciding that she needed to take a step back. After not being able to talk to her for a week, he had fears that she wouldn't have time for him. The thoughts of leaving behind his decision to tell Jinora about his feelings haunted him, but he knew that what they had was stronger than any circumstance. He just needed to know that she recognized that, too.
"Hey Jinora."
Kai made sure to approach her when the day was officially done. All classes were completed, everyone already ate dinner, and the airbenders were all on their way to bed. She was on her way to her room, no doubt about to curl up in her covers with a book.
"Hi," she said quietly as she smiled at him with a tender look in her eyes.
He almost fell speechless by just looking at her. During the day, they would often steal glances of each other and share a smile, but this was the first time since the night he came back that her attention was focused solely on him. They weren't little kids who would just hang around all day anymore. Even though they were only thirteen years old, their responsibilities made them grow up a lot faster than they originally planned. He looked at his best friend and how she looked so much more mature than when he first met her. She's beautiful and smart and strong and wise, and he loves her. She's the first person he's ever loved, in every sense of the word.
"Do you want to go for a walk?"
Jinora felt a warmth in her heart. She wanted to spend time with him more than anything, but never knew the right time. If she had a break in the middle of the day, it would usually be because everyone else was busy. She didn't want to be too forward by waking him up in the middle of the night, even though it always brought her joy whenever he used to do the same to her. She forgot about the weight on her eyelids that bothered her for the past three hours, because now the only thing that preoccupied her mind was the guy that stood in front of her who was handsome and brave and talented and kind – her first love.
"Yeah, sure."
They stood in silence for a moment, as if trying to express something to each other through their eyes. The corners of Kai's mouth pulled upwards into a smile before he chuckled briefly and led the way.
The silence was quickly replaced with chatter. At first they talked about their days, how Kai felt going back to his old schedule, and the books Jinora has been reading lately; but it soon expanded to everything under the sun. They told each other jokes and made bets about who would become the next airbending master – with Kai placing his bet on himself and Jinora placing hers on Ikki. Kai told Jinora about how he never learned to swim, and Jinora told Kai that she didn't know how to dance.
"Wait, what do you mean you don't know how to dance?"
"I never learned. My family never really went to places where people would dance, and even if we did, I was pretty young so I would just run around with Ikki and Meelo."
"But what about all those airbending moves you do? That's basically dancing, and you usually outshine the leaf with how graceful you are."
A blush dusted Jinora's cheeks at Kai's comment. It was always nice to hear those gems of compliments for her that were buried in their conversations.
"Well, moving with the wind is different from moving with music. You're usually constricted to a smaller space when you're dancing, too. I would be so awkward that I would eventually die of embarrassment."
"I doubt you would be that bad. You're Jinora; you're great at everything."
"Apparently not."
"Well, we can fix that." He extended his hand towards her, and she laughed.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Trying to save your reputation of being good at everything. Everyone will question their understanding of the world around them if you let them down. Chaos will ensue. Life as we know it will end. Now come on."
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "There's not even any music."
"So? I'm not expecting you to do anything crazy. Just take my hand."
She hesitantly took a step towards him and placed her hand in his. He took her other hand and placed it on his shoulder, and put his free hand gently on her waist. She looked up at him and felt heat rise to her face. They were much closer than usual, not that she was against it. She studied his features, admired his emerald eyes, noticed that the locks of hair falling on his forehead appearing a little longer than usual, saw that their height difference was growing – and not minding it all, and frowned at his laugh when she tripped over her own feet and almost fell.
His arm extended across her back to catch her, and she avoided eye contact out of shame.
"Don't worry, we'll get there," he said reassuringly.
"How do you even know how to dance?"
"I don't."
"What? Then what are we doing?"
"Faking it 'til we make it. How do you think I became such a good airbender so fast?"
She shook her head, now feeling even more ridiculous.
"You're crazy."
"You've never had a problem with it before. I'd actually like to think that's one of the things you love about me," he said with a smirk.
She pouted and returned her hand to his shoulder. They continued to follow each other's steps until they created their own rhythm and didn't have to think about it anymore. Their conversation started again, and Jinora forgot that they usually wouldn't be in each other's arms when talking so casually because it felt so natural. Eventually, Kai took her hand that he held and placed it on his shoulder so that both of her arms were around his neck, and he put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
"See? This isn't that hard."
"I guess. Looks like I'm not the only good teacher," Jinora said with a smile as she tilted her head.
"Well, a teacher is only as good as their student."
Jinora looked down as she smiled modestly. She missed him so much, even more than when he was away in the Earth Kingdom. It just became that much harder to not see him every day when she knew that he was so close. She needed to work harder to make time for him. She could do it; she knew she could. It was just a matter of rescheduling. Not everything needed her constant supervision. She trusted the airbenders to take care of things, and they've been telling her to relax. Maybe Kai could help her teach some of the classes. They always talked about training new airbenders together when they were younger. She's sure he would be willing to if she asked. She could also go to bed later every night. She spent about an hour reading before she actually fell asleep anyway, so what difference would it make if she read her book while sitting next to Kai instead of while lying in bed?
Her thoughts came to a halt when she felt his lips slowly press to her forehead. She looked up to him, and saw anxiety written all over his face. His cheeks were red, his eyes were widened slightly, and she could tell that he struggled to speak.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to – I mean –" His loosened the grip of his arms around her waist, allowing her step back, but she stayed in place and continued to look into his eyes.
"It's okay," she said, trying to stifle a laugh. She's been waiting for him to take the next step, and seeing him get flustered over something so small was probably the most endearing thing she's ever seen. She rested her head on him and thought about how he had the ability to make her forget that they weren't the only two people in the world.
"I really like you," she whispered as she turned her head so that it pressed into his shoulder.
He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and let his hand rest on her cheek, and when she brought her attention back to his face, he leaned his forehead against hers.
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
Kai forgot why he would be so nervous about telling Jinora how he feels about her. Sure, it was something that went unspoken for years, but it was always understood. He couldn't have fallen for her so hard if it weren't for the ways she smiled at him, laughed with him, listened to him and supported him when he told her about his past beyond the police records, held him when his mind haunted him with thoughts of never being loved, and promised to be there when he needed her no matter what.
"You know, this will be pretty hard, you and me. With our crazy schedules and you having to leave for weeks at a time, it won't be easy to find time for us," Jinora said.
"I don't care."
"Me neither."
Kai closed the space between them and kissed her as he enveloped her in his arms. He felt complete, and he cursed himself for every moment he put off telling Jinora that he loved her. He didn't have to worry about her not having feelings for him or getting tired of waiting. He didn't have to wonder what it would feel like to be something more, because here they are, and everything is perfect. She's perfect. They're perfect.
From then on, things around the air temple changed even more. Kai became Jinora's co-teacher with the younger airbending children, even though she so affectionately refers to him as her assistant. Jinora allows herself an extra-long lunch so she can reserve some time for Kai in the middle of the day, and if they could squeeze in a picnic here and there, then that's just an extra perk. They agreed that Jinora would be more persistent about sending her spiritual projection on his Earth Kingdom missions, because as nice as Opal is, those long commutes could get pretty boring. Kai also promised that he wouldn't get mad if she didn't have the time to send her projection, but he would get mad if he found out she repeated her habit of only coming in the middle of the night without at least trying to wake him up. However, Jinora's favorite change is probably that she can start the day with a kiss from her boyfriend at breakfast, even though it's followed by an annoyed look from her father, and she can end the day curled up with her book of choice in her hands and Kai's arms wrapped around her.