A/N: My first time writing older!Kainora, so I hope I pulled it off! Features forehead touches and other shameless fluff, just because I can. :P For Kainora Week Day 5: "Tattoos."

He hadn't meant to stare.

After all, it wasn't as if he'd never seen her before—it was hard not to know the class' shoe-in for valedictorian—but he had a strict rule about not looking at girls for longer than two minutes. He already had a reputation as a slacker; he didn't want to add "creeper" to the list.

But she'd taken his seat: back of the room, right next to the window. Kai liked windows; they reminded him of openness, of places to explore and things to discover, opportunities and possibilities away from the constricting corridors of high school. So it wasn't a very promising start to his senior year when he walked into English Literature and Composition and saw that his seat had already been claimed.

Seriously. Shouldn't straight-A students want to sit toward the front of the class?

Reluctantly, he settled two seats down. But as class started and the teacher launched into the syllabus, he couldn't resist gazing longingly at the window and, by association, the girl sitting in front of it.

The sunlight streaming in through the glass panes gave her a fuzzy golden outline, so it was hard to look straight at her features, but Kai knew what he would see anyways: brown hair tucked neatly behind an ear, held in place by a silver barrette, brown eyes focused straight ahead, snub nose. The kind of face that screamed patience and predictability. Years at the back of the classroom had made Kai adept at noticing these things—besides, an artist had to have a good eye.

But he hadn't anticipated the tattoo. As Jinora reached toward her pencil pouch, the inside of her left wrist turned in his direction, and Kai caught sight of a small blue arrow. It seemed so incongruous with the rest of her—the pleated skirt, the nicely pressed blouse—that Kai found himself unconsciously leaning closer, brow furrowed.

Had her parents really let her get a tattoo? Or maybe she had went and gotten it on her own, without telling. A sign of secret rebellion? But no, it'd be too easy to notice, if she wasn't careful.

"I understand you're itching to be free of me already, Mr. Atherton, but I promise there isn't anything better waiting for you outside the window."

Cheeks flaming, Kai whipped his attention back to the front of the class, where the teacher was staring amusedly at him. Great. First day back and he'd lost his prized seat and been called out, which went against his strict rule about flying under the radar. What else was he in for?

When he'd calmed down enough again to risk another glance at Jinora, he found her already looking back at him, smiling gently.

o.O.o

A week passed, and things settled back into their old routine. If there was anything positive to say about high school, it was that it had a certain rhythm, and as long as Kai could keep his finger on that pulse, he could get by. It was with this renewed confidence that he answered flippantly, when asked, "How would you describe the opening of the novel?" with, "Too long."

Snorts and snickers, along with some appreciative murmurs of agreement, bubbled from the class; other members only glared at him, lips pursed in disapproval. Kai shrugged all the reactions off and looked back down at his notebook, where a sketch for art class was slowly taking shape.

Something disrupted his concentration, however. A laugh, bright and bell-like. He knew, even before his eyes tracked their way to the source of the sound, who it had come from.

Jinora.

o.O.o

His life was one big, walking cliché. Kai thought this as he scrambled to prevent Jinora from falling backwards: "Whoa there."

Up close, she was shorter than he'd thought, only reaching his shoulder. Then again, this height of his was a pretty recent thing. He'd put on a few extra inches over the summer; it turned out it was never too late to grow more.

"Sorry," Jinora said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was in a hurry."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "So I noticed."

"Right." Jinora looked down, checking to make sure all her books were in order. "I've got…um, Physics," she said, one hand fluttering.

"Oh god," groaned Kai. "Why would you ever hurry to that class?"

Jinora grinned up at him. "What about you? Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Studio Art."

"Isn't that across campus?"

"Yeah."

"The bell rings in one minute."

"That's what these are for," said Kai, producing a bag of doughnuts from behind his back.

Jinora's eyes widened. "You bribe your art teacher?"

"Supply and demand, my friend," said Kai. "Welcome to High School Economics 101."

He was rewarded by a laugh and inadvertently felt the corners of his mouth tug upwards, too. "All right. You seem like the expert," conceded Jinora. "I'll, um, see you around…it's Kai, right?"

He shouldn't have been so surprised to hear his name, but it felt weird, coming from the mouth of the girl standing in front of him. But right, in a strange way. "Y-yeah. You…you're Jinora."

She'd started walking past him, still as intent to get to class as ever, but he heard a smile in her voice as she said, over her shoulder, "I know."

Jinora had long disappeared around the corner when the bell rang, making Kai jump from where he'd been rooted. His fingers tightened around the top of his paper bag of doughnuts, and he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"You're Jinora."

Real smooth, Kai. Real smooth.

o.O.o

"Can I sit here?"

The French fry missed his mouth, dropping to the table; hurriedly, Kai picked it up, wiping at the greasy smear. "H-here?"

"Yeah," smiled Jinora, rocking back on her heels. "You've got a nice view of the courtyard—plenty of light, and it seems quiet over here. Perfect for reading."

"Oh," said Kai. "Yeah, sure, go ahead."

Beaming, Jinora pulled out the chair opposite him and settled down, cracking open a large book in front of her. She dug back into the text immediately, resting her elbows on the table as she read, hands cupping the sides of her neck, and Kai caught sight of the tattoo on her wrist again.

It's now or never.

"So," he coughed, clearing his throat. "What's the story? Behind your tattoo."

Jinora blinked, surprised, before smiling at him shyly. "I got it for my eighteenth birthday."

"Does it mean something?"

"Yeah." Her other thumb traced over it slowly. "It's a family tradition, I guess. My dad has one, too. It's kind of like a rite of passage, a sign that we're now adults, but it's more than that. It's like…a symbol that we're responsible for our own path, now. And a reminder to choose that path wisely." She blushed when she noticed Kai staring. "Sorry, that was a lot. And probably didn't make any sense."

"No—it made perfect sense. Can I take a closer look at it?"

Jinora stretched her arm across the table, palm facing upward, to let Kai inspect it more closely. It was a simple design, a solid, pale blue that seemed to echo the color of Jinora's veins.

"I like it."

"Thanks," said Jinora, folding her hands in her lap, under the table and out of sight after Kai finished his inspection.

"So, um," said Kai, remembering himself, "what are you reading?"

o.O.o

It turned out that Jinora's laugh wasn't dainty and bell-like all the time.

In fact, sometimes she full-out snorted.

"Does he really?" she giggled, covering her mouth to prevent another snort from escaping.

"Absolutely," said Kai. "And whenever Ms. Ashford walks into the room, he tries to fix his hair—not that he has any, of course."

Jinora shook her head, shoulders shaking with mirth. "You know, Kai, you're really perceptive."

He looked down at his hands, twirling a pencil between them. "I guess."

"I'm serious," said Jinora, leaning over the table. "I bet it shows in your art."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is this your way of asking me if you can see my sketches?"

Jinora grinned. "Told you that you were perceptive."

He turned the black sketchpad over in his hands before pushing it across the table. Jinora wouldn't laugh at them; he knew that for sure. They'd been spending more and more time together, and he'd found that while he'd been right on the money about certain things—like her patience and kindness—he'd overlooked others, like her curiosity and mischievousness that surfaced when he least expected it. He didn't know how it'd happened, but he'd come to consider her his best friend.

It felt weird admitting that in his head, much less out loud. They were seniors in high school, for crying out loud, not two kids meeting on a playground, but something about Jinora made him feel younger. More hopeful.

"Wow." Jinora's sharp intake of breath made Kai look up quickly, worried, but she shot him a bright smile to show that nothing was wrong. "Kai, these are amazing."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "You think?"

"Yeah." Jinora paused, biting her lip, then asked, "Have you considered applying to any art programs? For college?"

Kai stiffened. They'd spent plenty of time talking—about favorite foods, favorite colors, books and movies, music and TV shows, places they wanted to travel, people they wanted to meet—but never once had they broached the subject of college, or, as Kai liked to call it: The Great Unknown.

And, okay, it wasn't completely true that he hadn't thought of it. In fact, just two nights ago he'd looked at Republic University's website, investigating their art program.

But he didn't want to tell Jinora that, because he knew—well, he'd heard—that that was her first choice of school, and he didn't want her to think he was following her or anything. They really did have an amazing art program, and after clicking through all the links, he wanted to go more than anything. If he and Jinora happened to run into each other while they were there, then that was just fate or luck or whatever, right?

But it was hard to justify those things out loud. He didn't want to scare her away, because Kai valued Jinora as a friend above all else, and what if she got weirded out and…left?

"No," swallowed Kai, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh," said Jinora, sounding a bit disappointed. Then she snapped her fingers. "I know! You should check out Republic University! It's supposed to have a great program…and," she added, blushing a little, "if you get in, we could take on the city together. I don't want to explore all by myself."

Kai blinked, his mouth dry. "W-what? You mean…you don't think it'd be weird, if we ended up at the same school?"

Jinora fixed him with a funny look. "Why would it be weird? We're at the same school right now, aren't we? Besides," she said, handing him back his notebook, "why would I want to leave behind my best friend?"

o.O.o

"Nice speech up there, Miss Valedictorian."

Jinora fixed the brim of her cap, punching him on the shoulder. "Thanks."

"So," said Kai, shifting his diploma so he could cradle it under one arm, "Planning ahead for next year already?"

"Nah," smiled Jinora. "I figure that I'll take this summer as it comes."

"Good plan," agreed Kai.

"What about you? Got any big plans for the next few years?"

"Well," said Kai, reaching for her left wrist and tracing the arrow inked on it, "there was this girl who once told me that we're responsible for choosing our paths wisely. And it looks like mine is taking me to Republic City."

Jinora's eyes twinkled, and she turned her hand so that her fingers were entwined with Kai's, squeezing his fingers. "She sounds smart, that girl."

Kai leaned closer, resting his forehead against hers. "She is."