A/N: i am going to attempt chapter titles for this. go me. so, this is Anchor's sequel - which you have must read or you shall be very confused. this story is going to have a lot, and very likely be longer than Anchor since there's a lot more characters in here - the original crew members, new antagonists, and a bunch of people from Jinora's life - friends, and family, and other stuff.
so, let's prepare for the stormy seas ahead together.
Compass
Chapter One: Six Months Later
There was a loud chorus of laughter as the crew of the Waterbender walked back aboard their ship. Their Captain led the way, tall with dark skin and a messy undercut, his arm wrapped around a slender woman's waist. She was the only woman among the entire crew of 26, but she was at perfect ease despite being significantly smaller than all the men, the sole exception being a gangly, skinny teenager.
"Alright men," Kai said with a grin. "Time to hit the hay. Early start tomorrow, remember?"
His men mumbled together in agreement, and yawning from a fun night out on the town, they headed across the deck and to the doors that led below decks.
Kai hung back, glancing at Jinora as she looked up at the stars. Her loose curly hair was almost black in the darkness of the night, choppy and short and framing her face nicely. The starlight lit up her brown eyes, illuminating her snub nose and full lips. Kai couldn't help but smile, and could practically see the gears turning in her head: the slight slant of her brow showed that this was her 'deep-in-thought' face, and he wondered for a moment if he should disturb it.
She turned her head towards him and wrinkled her nose. "What're you staring at?"
"You," he shrugged, pulling her closer. She rested her head against his shoulder. "What're you thinking about?"
"The stars." She hooked her fingers around the anchor pendant hanging from his neck, nearly identical to the one she wore. The dark stone stood out against the white of her blouse and the pale brown of her leather girdle. "Us. All good things," she added with a yawn.
"As long as I don't have to worry," he smiled.
"If anything, I'm the one who has to worry about you." Her hands left his necklace and went up to the collar of his shirt, never buttoned all the way up. She tugged softly on his collar and he happily obliged, leaning down for a kiss as she leaned up. Kai smiled against her lips as he wrapped both his arms around her waist. Jinora had pulled away for only a moment when she let out a little squeal, startled as Kai lifted her a few inches off the ground. "Wha-? Put me down!" Her annoyance was ruined by the way she couldn't help but laugh.
"As Captain, I'm pretty sure I'm the one who gives the orders," he teased, but he set her down anyway.
"Idiot," she said fondly, lightly smacking his chest.
"Your idiot," he reminded her.
She snorted. "Unfortunately. Now let's get inside, dork, you have to get up early. And I shall be staying in bed."
"Ugh, fine," Kai took her hand as she stepped out of his arms, and they headed below decks together. They crept quietly past the two large rooms that served as the sleeping quarters for the majority of the the crew, past the old cabin boy's room now collecting dust, and finally to the Captain's quarters at the end of the hall.
Kai pulled open the door and pulled out a fresh pair of pants from his dresser. Jinora slipped out of her clothes and into an old shirt of his that acted as a short nightgown before crawling into bed. She sank into the mattress, a soft sigh escaping her parted lips. As soon as Kai had been allowed to move out of the infirmary, and back into his room, he had insisted on getting a new mattress and bed. His reasoning had been for her comfort, as he had shared his bed with past lovers, and he wanted a new one for her, and her alone. A fresh start. One last bed.
Kai got into bed beside her, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "G'night Gyatso." He then promptly buried his face in his pillow.
Jinora turned on her side slightly so she could still see him, her hand reaching down his back and traced her fingers over the scar that trailed down from his shoulder blades to his mid-torso. It was his newest scar, from his battle with Zaheer, his body already littered with others. She had taken it upon herself to memorize each one. Kai hummed contentedly under her touch.
She retracted her hand and folding her arm under herself.
It was hard to believe sometimes that this had been her life for the past six months, so different from years of uncomfortable corsets, refined dinners and opinions that meant nothing. Now, she rose and went down with the sun, ate meals that were sloppily but lovingly cooked, mopped and cleaned until her arms hurt. She spent hours staring at the horizon and marvelling at all the different colours the sea and sky could turn. Using a sword or knife had become second nature to her, and her days were full of the loud, deep laughter of her crew-mates. The beaten down ship was her home, her crew her family, and her Captain the man she loved as deeply as the ocean.
"Good night Captain," she murmured drowsily, the slight sway of the ship rocking her to sleep like a lullaby.
Jinora felt the bed creak as Kai's weight shifted. She rolled over slightly and curled more into the blankets and her pillow. She heard Kai shift into a sitting position, and felt his forearm press into her back as he leaned over and softly kissed her cheek. When he went to pull away she grabbed his arm.
"Stay," she mumbled, blinking sleepily.
"Can't," he said regretfully, yawning a little. "Trust me, I wish I could." There were few things Kai enjoyed more than curling up in bed with her late into the morning, and falling back asleep with her in his arms. But, unfortunately, it was also a rare thing: a pirate's work was never done, and especially with spring on it's way, they needed an early start. Spring was the most prosperous time of the year for trading as the waters defrosted, besides autumn with the harvest season.
"Hmm, fine," Jinora grumbled as he walked over to his dresser. Hers was beside his, although much neater. He pulled open his top drawer and slipped on a fresh shirt as her arm curled around his pillow. "I'll cuddle with your pillow instead."
Kai smiled. "I'll make sure Daw sets some breakfast aside for you, while you get some beauty sleep - not that you need it, love."
"Sap," she said, trying to sound annoyed. She knew that Kai knew perfectly well that his newest term of endearment for her - love - made her heart melt and her crankiness practically evaporate on the spot. "But thank you."
"I'll see if I can come back later," he promised, kissing the top of her head. "You still have plenty of time to sleep though. I don't even think the sun's up yet." And, he noted, the majority of his crew was still snoozing away as well. Too bad as Captain he didn't get that luxury.
Sure enough, the dining hall was practically empty except for Daw (and whoever else was on breakfast duty), who was getting a head-start on breakfast of bread and jam, and Otaku, already pouring over some maps and articles. Kai jogged up the stairs and out onto the deck, where the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, the dark water slowly turning into a lighter shade of blue even as grey clouds gathered overhead. The cold air, the last remnants of winter, snapped him awake.
Skoochy was by the steering wheel having a smoke, and offered Kai a cigarette. Kai took it, mostly for the warmth. "We're arriving in Port Bosco tomorrow," Skoochy said, studying him. "You nervous?"
"Me, nervous?" Kai said. Skoochy frowned at him. "Kind of. It's no secret Gyatso's dad hates me."
"I could smack him for you," Skoochy offered.
Kai snorted. "Thanks Skooch, but I don't think that's going to work. You can't smack everyone who badmouths me, y'know."
"I can try," Skoochy shrugged.
Kai looked at the cigarette in his hand and pinched it to douse the fire. "So, what are you doing up? Yung was originally on steering duty."
Skoochy took a drawn-out puff of his cigarette, the smoke mingling with the mist of his breath in the cool air. "Nightmare." Skoochy didn't need to say anything else. Even if Kai had no idea (well, he had some, each more horrifying than the last) of what Skoochy had gone through as a slave, he more than understood that there were some things too terrible to talk about, his own past a prime example. "Couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd give him a break."
"Longshot has a potion-thingy that helps with sleeping," Kai said. "It might help."
Skoochy almost smiled. "I'll think about it. And Jinora's dad is gonna come around, you'll see."
Kai snorted again. "I don't know about that, but hopefully he'll be able to accept it, eventually."
"My offer to smack him still stands," Skoochy pointed out, and this time Kai laughed.
"And my answer is still no." The sun had risen steadily over the water, the bottom curve just brushing the waves. Kai glanced back over his shoulder. "Think breakfast is ready yet?"
"Probably not for another half hour. Otaku says we're right on schedule, and Imaru had lookout duty so you don't have to worry about Momo for once," Skoochy explained.
"I'll start waking the rest of the crew so they're up once the food's ready, then," Kai said, and clapped Skoochy on the shoulder. He headed back down stairs towards the sleeping quarters and went from bed to bed, rousing the men awake. He smiled softly when he saw Momo and Pabu were all tangled together in their pajamas and bed sheets, Momo's cheek resting on Pabu's shoulder, a small line of drool trailing from his mouth. Kai woke them up last.
Momo blushed furiously when he realized he had been drooling. Pabu smiled fondly and ran a hand through Momo's already messy mop of dark curls. "You're adorable."
Kai smiled. "Lovebirds, I also had to get out of bed today, so come on, get on with it."
Momo groaned but dragged himself out of bed all the same. "Is Jinora still sleeping?"
"No," came Jinora's voice from the doorway as she leaned against it, her arms crossed over her chest. She was still wearing Kai's shirt (which really was her shirt now, after more than six months of use) but had slipped on some black type of leggings-pants underneath. "But I smelt pancakes, so," she shrugged.
"I think you love food more than you love me," Kai wrinkled his nose at her, wrapping his arms around her waist as Momo and Pabu trailed behind him, hand in hand.
"So what if I do?" Jinora teased, a content sigh escaping her lips as he nuzzled his face into her neck.
"Breakfast is ready!" Daw hollered from the dining hall.
Kai pressed a quick kiss to the crook of her neck before pulling away and taking her hand, the two couples walking to the dining hall together.
The Captain took his usual seat at the head of the long, wooden table, Jinora off to his right, his first mate Yung to his left. The pudgy man already had a plate of pancakes in front of him, just like the majority of the crew, their bodies and chairs crammed in between the wall and the table. In between the slim spaces, Daw the cook's lean figure weaved in and out, his bald head slightly gleaming with sweat. Feeding 25 people, not including himself and even with other's help, was a large job, that he was always up to the task for.
Lefty was sitting in between Imaru and Appa, his pegleg removed and propped up against the foot of his chair. Momo slid into his chair beside Appa, and beside the teen was Pabu. Across was Skoochy and Ryu. Next to Yung, distracted as always by some book or document, was Otaku, chewing absentmindedly on a pancake as he flipped the page of the newspaper (a messenger hawk must have delivered it after Kai went below decks).
"Anything interesting?" Jinora asked, digging into her pancakes.
"Re-election is coming up in the fall," Otaku answered, scrunching up his nose. "Your father's running, of course, as is Asun Chow, a lawyer."
Jinora stiffened. "Oh." Asun Chow was LingShi Chow's father, Jinora's thankfully ex-fiancé. If he was running against her father, he surely would undo all of Tenzin's hard work, to further his own agenda. Anyone who's son was a man like LingShi couldn't have been a good role model.
"Any news on who has the public's favour right now?" Kai asked quickly, grabbing Jinora's hand under the table and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"Too soon to tell, but nothing seems to have brought the Governor's favour down," Otaku explained.
Well, the scandal of the Governor's daughter running off with a pirate Captain had died down after a few months. The tabloids had their run with it, but Kai had been sure to keep them out at sea for as long as possible. Besides, his first month after his fight with Zaheer had been full of focussing on his recovery and health. It took almost two months for him to even be well enough to leave the ship. Without any new scandalous, and fabricated, details, the rumours and articles had died out. Yung, Appa and Imaru (the latter two especially well-tuned to the goings on of gossip) had made sure to keep any of the articles out of his reach, thanks to Longshot's insistent, "Stress is bad for your health."
Kai was startled when Jinora dabbed his nose with her syrup-covered finger. "What the-"
"I hate seeing you sad, Captain," she said cheerfully, as Daw handed Kai a napkin. "And politics are boring."
Kai wiped the syrup off his nose, trying to stay annoyed at her. "Says the most boring person ever."
Jinora snorted. "Said by the most arrogant person ever, who also has terrible grammar."
"You two are so mushy," Ryu said in his usual monotone, trying to look annoyed, but his lips twitched upwards anyway.
Jinora laughed. "Thanks Ryu, your kind words are always very appreciated." This time Kai laughed, a deep, loud sound that caused warmth to spread through her chest. God, she loved his laugh, especially when she was the cause of it.
There was a faint pitter-patter sound, and as sleepy as she still was, Jinora recognized it as the sound of rain hitting the deck. It seemed like today would be a 'stay-inside-where-it's-warm-and-dry' day, which were nice little relaxing treats, more common in the winter months, Jinora had learned. They had headed down South for the winter to avoid the blizzards and ice, but they had had a fair share of bitterly cold days full of strong winds and freezing rain.
"Oh, you're in the papers too Cap," Otaku reported, after getting to the back page. "Wanted posters."
Otaku held up the last page and a black-and-white photo of Kai, just a little bit younger than his current age of nearly 23, stared back at them, his mouth curved upwards in a slight smirk. A few more posters were plastered onto the back, such as Hama, a known slave trader, Captain Korra of the Avatar, and Captain Quil of the Blood Moon Pirates. There was a long list of wanted names in tiny print, and then a large advertisement, taking up half the page.
There was a large K, and a picture of a serious looking woman with her hair pulled back in a tight bun. We need you! the slogan read in thick, clean letters. Want to end the pirates' reign of terror? Want to prove yourself a hero? Then join the A.P.A. not tomorrow, but today!
"You've never come close to Kuvira have you?" Jinora asked, slightly worried. Despite being not one of the worst pirate crews, they were one of the more notorious. The Anti-Pirate Agency had never seemed like too big a threat, even if she knew Kuvira was gaining support, and fundings from various governments across the four nations. Tenzin had withheld, for obvious reasons, after Jinora had pointed out that she could been seen as an accomplice and therefore dragged into a nasty legal situation, if Kai or the crew was ever captured and jailed. Still, it was enough to be a nagging little voice in the back of her mind.
"No," Kai said, shrugging and obviously not worried. "We ran into one of her ships, eh, three or four years ago, but we're pretty adept at avoiding her forces. Besides, Kuvira has other, more dangerous pirates to worry about, like Quil and other slave traders. Don't worry about it Gyatso, we're big, tough men."
Jinora chose not to mention that the other day Momo and Imaru had cried over a wilting flower the latter had kept in a vase for only a week. "You're dorks," she said instead, poking him in the chest. None of the crew spoke up to correct her, and in fact Otaku seemed rather pleased by the label. God, she loved her boys, no matter how rowdy or drunk they could get sometimes, they were her crew, a second family.
Kai grabbed her hand and kissed her finger. "C'mon." He stood up from his chair, still holding her hand, and Jinora curiously let him lead her out of the dining hall and up the stairs to the doorway that led onto the deck, now slick with rain. He opened the door and leaned against the frame, looking out at the wet deck and the rainy day.
Jinora nestled herself in his arms. "Think there'll be a storm?" she wondered.
He rested his head on top of hers. "It doesn't seem to be strong enough," he replied. "Besides, I don't want to be late arriving in Port Bosco."
Jinora found his hands and laced her fingers through his, giving his hands a squeeze. "My parents would understand."
Kai snorted. "Your mother might." He sighed softly, holding her tighter. "Are you nervous?"
"A little," she admitted. "I don't care if they like my decision or not, but I would like to be on good terms with them. To be honest, I'm mostly worried about you. It's going to be a lot of people over a pretty short couple of days, and some of them are definitely going to be less than kind."
"Like your dad," Kai said.
"Yeah," she sighed. "But we'll get through this, together. He's the one who needs to change, not you."
There was silence, except for their quiet breathing the sound of rain hitting the deck and the ocean around them, before Kai asked, "Let me go through the names again?"
Jinora smiled. "Go ahead Captain."
"Ikki's your sister, she's 18, Meelo is 16, and Rohan is 10. There also might be your friends from secondary school, ShenShen Sesi, Pfannee Wen and Miki Nanuq, but they still haven't confirmed if they're coming or not. Friday will just be your parents and Rohan, Ikki and Meelo are coming down from boarding school in the evening, and staying over the weekend," Kai recited, not for the first time, but Jinora thought it was sweet Kai was so determined to remember all of it.
"Perfect," she said admiringly. Kai let out a sigh of relief.
"Good. I just...I want to make this as easy on you as possible," he said, frowning slightly.
"Then just stay with me," Jinora requested, twisting around in his arms to face him. "Hey," she lifted his chin, cupping one side of his face with her other hand. He leaned into her touch, his lips tugging upwards as she leaned in to kiss him. "Brighten up Captain, I don't like seeing you sad."
They stayed out until the rain let up, and then headed back down below decks. What would come would come, and they'd meet it together.