This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.
Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko
On the Horizon
Republic City never slept. Not for a moment did the sounds or lights ever die. At all times of the day it was alive and even when the moon came calling it still went on screaming it's life, defying the night. It was so different from a few of the big cities Kai had been running through in the Earth Kingdom some five years ago. Unlike those places, Republic City was a melting pot where freedom, passion and thrill mingled around every corner and he found that he simply couldn't get enough of it. But most delightful of all, neither could Jinora it seemed.
Arm in arm, they rambled down the street, Jinora's heeled shoes hanging from her fingers. Their feet hurt, their muscles ached and perhaps a shower was in order from the sweat, but they were happy, laughing into the exuding vibrancy of the city nightlife. Unlike on Air Temple Island, here he could hold her, kiss her, embrace her without worrying whether someone would interrupt them or not. Here they could go on real dates. Here they could actually be together. Alone.
Sure, they both loved Air Temple Island. For Jinora, it was her home and he knew how much she cherished the sense of peace it provided. As for himself, it was the first place he could actually call home. No matter where he went he knew he could always return there and feel welcomed. It was something he'd only known after meeting her and leaving the Earth Kingdom. Having grown up largely without a family of his own, that was something he wouldn't trade for almost anything else in the world.
On the other hand, the island was also quite isolated and occasionally that sense of peace became a sense of boredom. Perhaps it came about from their countless nights watching the city aglitter from across the bay or from listening to the Pro-Bending matches being broadcast on the radio that made them curious. But they both agreed: a little change in scenery was in order. She had spent most of her life confined to the island and he had spent much of his either in an orphanage or on the run. But now they craved excitement and they craved it together.
Of course, although it hadn't been explicitly stated,, visiting the city at such a late hour was strictly off limits for the both of them. Especially by Tenzin, who found Kai and Jinora's relationship to be of great annoyance these days. Yet... maybe that was what made it all the more unnerving and tempting at the same time. The whole thing felt like one of Jinora's many romance novels about secret tunnels or runaway lovers.
Initially, making the trip for the very first time had actually been kind of terrifying, but what was originally a nervous experience quickly turned into a kind of forbidden escapade, a rendezvous between them and fantasy. It'd been something out of dream just to be able to dance the night away with her and not have to worry about a single thing except the person in his arms that made him happier than anything else this life had to offer.
Needless to say, their late night ventures became a regular occurrence. Were they pushing their luck? Oh yeah. But was it worth it? Most definitely.
They turned the corner, leaving the block where a huge party was being held at a club called The Roaring Mooselion. After what seemed like an eternity of nothing but dancing and music, they'd finally left, unable to stand how hot it was in there from all the people and raging excitement.
Kai glanced back at the club's bright, noisy entrance. "Did anybody even know what that party was for?" he asked.
"The son of a politician's birthday I think," said Jinora, half leaning on him for support. "I heard that group in the corner talking about it. I don't think the party really had any sort of guest list. It was just a come one, come all sort of thing."
"Makes sense since it was a practically like a circus in there... Do you want me to carry your shoes?" he asked, kissing her temple when he noticed her additional weight on his arm. "Or you for that matter?"
"No, silly. I'm just tired. It was really hot in there," she grinned against him, resting her head on his shoulder sleepily. "Kind of drained me a little bit that's all."
"Tell me about it. I think I was ready to take my whole shirt off if it wouldn't have been a pain to have the suspenders hanging down." he said, pulling at the collar of his shirt that was half-clinging to his skin. "Are you sure you don't want me to carry you?"
Chuckling, she dragged him away from the street so that that they were leaning up against a particularly sturdy vine wrapped around an apartment building. He watched her as she fiddled with his suspenders and pulled him closer. "I don't think you could," she whispered, teasing him with their noses only inches apart.
He came to rest one hand against the vine behind her and another on her waist. Grinning, he said, "You're as light as a feather. I'm strong enough to carry you sweetheart."
Smiling wide, she looked down, continuing to play with his suspenders and the collar of his shirt. The humming sound that came out of her made him raise his eyebrows.
"Is that a challenge?"
She jutted her chin out at him in response.
"Alright then. Challenge accepted," he pushed away from the vine and hooked his forearm under her knees, scooping her up easily. He even twirled her on the spot for good measure. "How's that?"
"Eh, not impressed," she said with a mock shrug.
"You asked for it."
To his great pleasure, she let out a shriek of laughter when he launched himself into the air and onto a nearby rooftop. Without a real destination, he hopped from rooftop to rooftop; tall buildings, small buildings, medium buildings, vine inhabited buildings, old buildings, he kept on going until his legs started to feel tired. He could feel her bury herself in his arms as if she would be perfectly comfortable to stay right there for the rest of the night. Not that he would mind in the slightest. Eventually, they landed on a decently tall building somewhere in the downtown district.
"How was that now?" he asked, finally letting her down.
"Not bad. I guess all that training over the years has done you some good. I think I could have done better though," she teased, getting closer to him and letting him pull her into an embrace.
"Could you now?" he asked, a husky undertone in his voice. His lips closed in on hers.
She made an affirmative noise against his mouth, receiving his affections enthusiastically. In return, he deepened the kiss and felt himself lean into her with the effort. Her lips were always so soft and warm that at times they would give him the idea of freshly dried silk. This would be one of those times.
If only the moment would never end.
As if on cue, it did, but the rather abrupt fashion in which she ripped her lips away from his made him pull back and look down at her questionably. "What's wrong? Did I hurt you some-"
"Kai the sky's blue." She looked like a cat deer caught in the headlights, her eyes wide and looking past him.
Unsure of what that was supposed to mean, he asked. "Um... yeah? I mean- we knew tha- I don't-" utterly confused, he went on. "Explain please."
"Kai, the sky is blue."
"Jinora-"
"The sky is turning blue! Kai, the sun's coming up!" she twisted him around to face the bay where the shadows of the sunrise could be seen climbing over the horizon. He looked up. Indeed, instead of a near pitch black blanket dotted with lights, he could now see the blue starting to come through the darkness, the twinkling stars beginning to fade in favor of the streaking pinks and purples that were soon to come.
Now, he could share in her sense of horror.
"That can't be right! It can't be! What time is it!?"
"It has to be at least four in the morning by now! I can't believe we stayed out this late!" Jinora had her hands pushing up her hair in a slight panic. "We have to go. We have to go right now. If my dad wakes up and catches us sneaking back in-"
There was no hesitation in their steps. Kai grabbed her hand and leaped off onto the next rooftop with her. By the spirits if her dad caught them sneaking back in it'd a disaster. Not only would there be major confinement and punishment work involved, but they would probably be forbidden to see each other for a while until somebody convinced him to let up. Which, in and of itself, could take a long time if he meant business. That idea scared them more than anything.
They raced to the port as fast as airbending could take them, bounding haphazardly across the rooftops. Kai almost slipped when he didn't push off hard enough from the last building they bounded from.
How could they have stayed out this late? Usually they would only be out for a couple hours and then head back promptly. But... he knew the answer before he had even asked himself. That party at The Roaring Mooselion had caused time to fly by without them being the wiser and they'd both been foolish enough to get caught up in it.
By the time they had reached the port, the stars were barely visible and the sky was a distinct shade of periwinkle blue that told them they'd better get a move on if they ever wanted to see the light of day again.
A small shed-like building stood inconspicuous in the shadow of a larger structure near the base of a pier. They approached the small shed and Kai went to quick work picking the lock. He may have given up being a thief, but that didn't mean his skills didn't come in handy every once in a while. As small and unnoticeable as it was, this little shed had decidedly been the perfect place to store their gliders for a few hours in the night.
The lock gave way quickly. They snatched their gliders out and replaced the lock on the door before anybody could see their moving silhouettes in the fading darkness. In one swift motion, they pushed off into the air.
"Should we just try to fly straight to the island?" Kai called.
Jinora shook her head and called back. "No! We'd never make it! Just fly to the memorial like we always do!"
Kai thanked all of his lucky stars for Jinora. If it hadn't been for her they might have had issues long ago. She was the one who had figured out their route from Air Temple Island to Aang Memorial Island to the port and back the same way. He himself had been pretty confident they could make it all the way to the city if they just left from the highest peak of Air Temple Island, but Jinora disagreed. She argued that they might have gotten close if the breeze was blowing in the right way, but they'd never make it all the way on pure airbending alone. At least not without getting soaking wet before they got there.
So, as it was, they arrived at Aang Memorial Island after a short flight. Jinora in particular always made it a point never to actually land on the statue of her grandfather. Kai did the same if he could help it. It just seemed wrong and disrespectful to desecrate the former Avatar's memorial in such a way. Stopping only long enough to make sure the other was ready, they pushed off and made a beeline towards Air Temple Island. After another ten minute flight, they landed on the beach away from the docks: a safer place to land then on the high ground where they could be spotted by the White Lotus guards or by Jinora's father getting up for his sunrise meditation.
By the time they reached the island the sun was peeking uncomfortably over the horizon. Couldn't it just slow down? Just this once couldn't the sun stop rising with the speed of an eel-hound? Both his freedom and his life were probably at stake here. In fact, the thing seemed to be moving faster than it did most mornings. Curse it all. Indeed, pinks, purples and oranges were dancing around the skyline as they chased the saving grace of darkness away.
It was a another fifteen whole minutes before they could make it up anywhere near the actual temple, but at last they finally did it. Now, getting to their own rooms would be relatively easy. All they to do was-
"Ahh, so you two lovebirds have been sneaking out. Bolin owes me like twenty yuans for this."
Kai heard Jinora visibly squeak beside him and grab the shirt at his chest in an almost bracing sort of way. Meanwhile, Kai himself had frozen. Years of being a thief had taught him to either freeze or run. In this case, running from the Avatar would make him look plain silly and would also probably result in much more noise than he needed at the moment.
"K-k-korra! W-what are you doing up so early?" asked Jinora, her voice so unnaturally high it made his ears hurt.
"I was just heading over to the pavilion to do a little morning meditation. You know how I try to do that at least a few times a month..." Korra stood proudly across the courtyard from them with her arms crossed and quite the wide smirk on her face. She closed the gap between them slowly, loftily, as if she were enjoying the rising panic she was inducing within the two of them.
Kai somehow found his voice. "Korra we-"
"Next time you should bring a change of robes along with you so that if you get caught sneaking back in you can just tell them you couldn't sleep and decided to do some meditation to calm your nerves. They'll believe that. Or at least, they'll believe it better if you're not in such fancy duds." said Korra, gently tugging at the nice fabric of Jinora's dress.
"Wait. You're not mad?" asked Jinora, her grip slackening on Kai's shirt.
Korra laughed. "Why would I be mad? I've been telling Bolin for months that you guys were doing this, but he didn't believe me."
"You knew?" asked Kai incredulously.
"Of course I knew! Well, no that's not right. I didn't know, but I was really suspicious. When we went to that winter gala they held for the president you two really stole the show with your moves. Tenzin got a little suspicious seeing as he's never known anybody to teach Jinora how to dance like that. And I guess his suspicions actually rubbed off on me except I talked about them with Mako, Asami and Bolin instead of your dad."
"So... is my dad still suspicious?"
"Oh, you guys are at that age now where he's always suspicious of you two regardless. But if you're asking me whether or not he knows about this? No, he doesn't," Korra put a hand up when Jinora opened her mouth to reply. "And I'm not going to tell him. You kids aren't kids anymore. You're growing up and airbending masters to boot. Who am I to get all in your business like that? Just do me a favor and keep safe out there alright? And stay out of the bad parts of town. You know where that's at. Okay?"
Kai could have collapsed with relief. He and Jinora nodded vigorously.
"Alright now. Off to bed before somebody else sees you. If word of this were to get to Tenzin he'd be livid."
He didn't need to be told twice. As Korra left, Kai and Jinora shared a quick peck before making mad dashes to their own rooms. By the time he got to his room, Kai hadn't realized how tired staying up all night had made him. The thrill of the partying and then the terror of not getting back in time had drained him so well that he only had enough energy to shove his clothes in his closet and climb into bed before completely knocking out.
I plan on giving this a bonus chapter so look out!