Destiny deals a shocking hand when it brings together the most unlikely of couples. Jinora is a well behaved, spiritual college girl from a remote farm outside Republic City and Kai is a hardened criminal on the run from his dark past. Jinora takes the greatest risk of her life and marries the outlaw to buy his freedom and show him the world through her eyes. His frozen heart begins to thaw which leads to the pain of old wounds being reopened. Kai must fight his demons and put them to rest if he is ever going to be happy with Jinora.

Based on the Romance novel that is a modern retelling of the book of Hosea.


"Some things are so unexpected that no one is prepared for them."

- Leo Rosten


"Hey no fair! You got a head start!"

"You snooze you loose!"

"Guys, wait up!"

The earth shook as the hooves of three large bison came thundering down the dirt road. On their backs rode a young girl with pigtail buns and two boys on their own bison. Their laughter flowed through the air and the trees and they raced alongside a white fence. The autumn air rushing around them and filling them their breathes with life. The leaves that had fallen, swirled upward as they were kicked by the trampling feet of the hairy, six-legged beasts. Just beyond the trees was a pasture and hills that seemed to roll on forever. The sun had almost completely vanished behind them with the last rays of light being what guided the kids on their path.

"Come on you slow pokes!" Meelo called back, "last one there hastuh' do the dishes tonight!"

"But it's your turn!" Ikki fumed as she urged her bison forward, "come on Blueberry, just a little faster, yip yip."

Ten year old Rohan held tightly to his bison's saddle. He hadn't been riding for very long and this was his first time racing. He had fallen a fair distance behind as his older siblings charged ahead recklessly. Finally they came to the stable and slowed their mounts to a stop. Leaping down from his bison's back, Meelo stood confidently with a fist on his hip.

"Looks like I won," he smirked and cocked a brow at his sister. Ikki swung herself off the side of Blueberry's saddle with a look of annoyance as she took a few steps toward her triumphant brother.

"By like, only two seconds!" she frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

"How do I slow down again?!" Rohan shouted but his cries were ignored.

"That's all I need," Meelo shrugged, earning a frustrated growl from his seventeen year old sister. The two teenagers turned sharply as they heard a loud crash and noticed Rohan's bison, Bucky, trotting off without a rider. The youngest brother pushed himself out of the nearby stack of hay, plucking straws from his hair.

"Thanks guys, you're a big help," he snorted.

"Guess you're the one stuck with the dishes Bro," Meelo walked past him, briefly messing up the hair atop the smaller boy's head. After putting the bison in their stalls for the night and hanging up their tack, the trio started toward the house. It was a somewhat large wooden farmhouse with a porch that wrapped around from the front to the side of the building. Running inside, they came directly to the kitchen where their mother was preparing dinner.

"Hey mom," Meelo greeted before running upstairs.

"We're home," Ikki added before going to the living room.

"What'cha doin'? Rohan asked as he stopped at her side.

"I'm making sweet rice balls, Jinora's favorite," Pema smiled warmly down at her son.

"She's coming back from college today right?" he grinned as he slowly began to reach for a rice ball only to have his hand briefly swatted away by his mother's fingers.

"That's right, now can you help set the table? We're going to have a big dinner tonight," she beamed.

"Sure!" Rohan nodded. No sooner had the word left his mouth that the sound of the front door opening then clattering shut could be heard and his father Tenzin walked in, "Hey Dad!"

"Rohan," Tenzin smiled calmly in greeting as his son rushed up to hug him. The boy let go and went to work taking the dishes and setting them on the table.

"Hello Dear," the bald headed man moved beside his wife and kissed her cheek.

"Long day?" she raised a brow at him, catching the exhaustion in his voice.

"You could say that," he set himself down in a chair with a sigh, "Oogi was spooked by a weasel-snake and uprooted some of the rice crops, then I found out that last night's storm knocked a tree down on the well so I'll have to get that fixed."

"Maybe Jinora can help you when she gets here," Pema said without looking at him as she continued her work and chopped some carrots before sliding them into a pot filled with boiling broth. She then moved to set the finished rice balls on the other side of the sink to put them out of the way.

"She's coming back from the city and mountains of schoolwork, I'd like to give her a few days to rest before she takes on any hard labor," Tenzin turned his head to look out the window that directed down the road. It would be any minute now that a cab would come up the with their firstborn in the backseat.

"Of course," Pema turned and saw the distant stare on his face as he looked out the window. Drying her hands with the towel hanging from the oven handlebar, she then moved behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders, "you seem anxious."

"I'm just wondering how the city has changed her," Tenzin lowered his gaze, "she's been gone for so long."

"I'm sure you'll be able to recognize her, Sweetie," Pema assured with a pat on the shoulder then looked up, her face lightened by a smile, "speaking of the college girl..."

Tenzin's head instantly snapped upward as a yellow, checkered satomobile pulled in from the dirt road and into the glow of the porch light. A smile sprung to his face and Pema called the children. Excitedly Ikki, Meelo and Rohan rushed outside to meet their sister. The whole family went out of the house and saw Jinora shutting the door of the cab, dropping her suitcase and running to them.

They welcomed her with warm embraces and Pema showered Jinora in kisses. They had all missed her, even if her siblings were too prideful to admit it. The happy reunion was interrupted when Tenzin looked back at the cab and saw the back door on the side opposite of Jinora open. Out of it stepped a young man who couldn't have been more than a year older than his daughter. Something about this man had Tenzin on edge. It wasn't the undercut, the casual way he stood, or even the blue stripped tattoos running from the center of the top of his hands, over his forearms to under his elbows. It was the firmness in his expression, and the lack of light in his eyes that chilled him. He was hard, like a living statue. Pema was the first to speak.

"Jinora, who is this?"

"Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Kai," she turned to them sheepishly as the cab pulled away but Kai hung back remaining where he stood, leaning on one foot with a hand in his pocket, "I know I should have told you this in my letters, but he's... he's my husband."

The whole family's world came to a screeching halt and all was silent. Even the birds didn't dare to sing. Husband? Not just friend? Not even boyfriend or fiance? They were officially married? They all stared at Jinora, the kids with their eyes rounded, mouths hanging agape in sheer disbelief. Perhaps her parents would have been mad if they weren't stunned into utter stasis.

Jinora awkwardly avoided eye contact. She knew she had a lot of explaining to do.

"It's a long story..."