Like Two Peas In A Pod
"Jinora! Jinora, let me in," Skoochy yelled in frustration. He had been hammering on his best friend's bedroom door in the Air Temple for over an hour, but Jinora was still refusing to answer. It would have been too easy for Skoochy to summon a boulder with his Earthbending and smash it into the obscene door, but he knew he'd regret it later.
Huffing in irritation he pounded his fists against the door again and resumed shouting. "Jinora, come on! Just open up will ya? It can't be that bad, it had to happen eventually!"
This seemed to finally get through to Jinora because Skoochy heard her shout back. "You have no idea, Skoochy! You don't even care!"
Skoochy breathed in deeply before replying, quieter than before. "I do care, that's why I want to see you, to make sure you're OK."
"Obviously I'm not OK. How stupid can you be? I'm not leaving this room for at least a year, and you're not going to change my mind."
"A year!?" Skoochy's voice rose to a shout on its own accord, but he didn't bother lowering it again. "You have got to be kidding me, how long do you want your hair to be for Spirits' sake?!"
"That's not funny, I'm being serious!"
"So am I! Jinora, don't be like this, no one cares that you're bald. I mean, we all knew it would happen and every Airbender goes through it."
"That doesn't make it any less humiliating," Jinora's voice was more muffled and Skoochy guessed that she had buried her face into a pillow.
The image of her lying on her bed, covered in fresh Airbender tattoos, face down and tears streaming down her pale cheeks burned into Skoochy's mind. "It shouldn't be humiliating, weren't you the one who told me it was an honor to get those tattoos?" He whispered into the door in a comforting tone, just loud enough so that the girl on the other side could hear him.
Skoochy heard Jinora let out a tiny sob, "I am honored to have the tattoos. That isn't what's humiliating and you know it, so don't try and use my own words against me."
"Fine!" Skoochy yelled. He'd always had a quick temper, and this situation was just getting ridiculous. He stormed out of the girls' sleeping quarters on Air Temple Island and walked straight to the main building.
The sound of Skoochy's frustrated and heavy footsteps echoed throughout the small hallway that led to Tenzin and Pema's room. "Tenzin, you in?" he asked, knocking once on the sliding doors before they opened to reveal a worried looking Tenzin.
"Skoochy, how is she?" Tenzin asked the younger man.
"Stubborn, as usual. Tenzin, I need your help, I have an idea."
Half an hour later, Skoochy stood outside Jinora's room again. However, this time he wasn't alone. Ikki stood beside him, carrying with her a bowl full of ointment that she had to rub onto her elder sister to help heal the fresh tattoos.
"Jinora, it's me," Ikkia said quietly, tapping her knuckles against the door.
"Are you alone?" came Jinora's response.
Ikki gave Skoochy a side-glance, "Yes," she lied.
Ikki and Skoochy took a step back as they heard Jinora's light footfalls against the floor on the other side of the door before they heard the sound of the lock sliding backwards. The door slid open to reveal Jinora.
As soon as she saw Skoochy standing there, Jinora's eyes lit up in hurt, annoyance and anger, before softening when she actually took in the sight before her. Skoochy was bald, just like she was. With a small smile Skoochy stepped forward and embraced Jinora lightly, careful not to cause her any pain by touching the raw skin on her arms and back.
The two friends stood there for a moment before they heard Ikki's giggles. Skoochy whipped his head around to face the ten-year old, his eyes flashing in warning. The last thing Jinora needed was to be laughed at, especially by her sister.
"I'm sorry, it's just you two take the saying 'like two peas in a pod' to a whole new level," Ikki giggled, gesturing to their similarly shiny, bald heads.
Before Skoochy could attack the giggling girl, he heard another chime of laughter. He flicked his gaze down to the girl in his arms, who was laughing like she'd just heard Iroh Senior's tealeaf joke for the first time. Jinora's brown eyes glistened with tears of laughter, grinning like a fool. The joy on her face was contagious, as Skoochy too joined in.