Description: Kai and Jinora are on a special mission when they get caught in a freezing cold rainstorm. They find shelter in a cave, but what will they do to keep warm? You've seen this cliché before, now with Kainora. No smut, but some implication. Older!Kainora

Author's Note: This is shamelessly cliché. I imagine them being about 16/17 when I wrote this, but you could put them a little older or younger to fit headcannons/ what you're comfortable with. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: If I owned Legend of Korra, there would've been way more Kainora in Book 4.

Kai grew up on the streets. He knew what it was like to be freezing cold.

He had spent many nights shivering under nothing but a newspaper, or trying to take shelter from a rainstorm under a cardboard box. But it had been years since he had been that cold. Since he'd been taken in by the Airbenders he'd been cared for, always sheltered and well fed, so that he could hardly remember those cold nights living on the streets. But that night reminded him.

He and Jinora were on a special mission to the Northern Water Tribe. There was some diplomatic issue, and Jinora needed to serve as the representative from the Air Nation. She'd asked Kai to accompany her. Though her father wasn't thrilled at the idea of his teenage daughter traveling alone with her boyfriend, even he had to concede Kai was one of their best Airbenders, and he had friends in the north from an assignment a few years ago.

They had taken a train from Republic City halfway to Ba Sing Se, and were flying by sky bison the rest of the way. They were a few hours away from the Northern Air Temple when the storm hit.

It came on fast, and before they could land they were in the middle of a torrential down pour. It was freezing cold, almost sleet or ice. Kai quickly remembered what it felt like to be this cold. The rain soaked through his glider suit and he chilled in his blood and in his bones.

"We have to land," Jinora shouted to the boy at the reins. "I think there might be some caves over there." She pointed and Kai maneuvered his bison towards the mountain range. They could hardly see the rocky cliffs through the wall of rain, but Lefty seemed to instinctively find an opening in the mountains. He landed on the narrow ledge. Jinora quickly grabbed their scant supplies and slid down. Together they ran into the shallow cave.

They left a trail of water behind them and puddles formed where they stood still. They each tried to airbend some of the water off, but their glider suits were completely drenched.

Kai began to unbutton his suit and pulled his arms out.

"What are you doing?" Jinora asked, her voice jumping a pitch.

"We'll freeze if we leave these things on. They're completely soaked." He pulled the tight fabric off his legs and kicked away the suit to soak in a puddle on the cave floor.

Jinora quickly turned away in embarrassment. "We need to start a fire," she said and got to work.

It wasn't that she'd never seen him shirtless before. They'd been swimming together. Seeing him in his underwear isn't that different from swim trunks, she told herself. But that was when they were much younger, just kids really. She didn't need to see him with his clothes off to know his body had changed since then. She could see his defined muscles through the tight glider suits, and she could feel their strength whenever they embraced.

She dared a glance his way as he was looking through their supplies. She surveyed the hard planes of his shoulders blades. He leaned over and she noticed how his drenched underwear clung to his body. She quickly turned away and busied herself making the fire, a blush spreading across her face.

Kai grabbed two blankets from their supplies. He wrapped one around himself and handed the other to Jinora. "Here take this. You're shivering."

"Thanks," she said and grabbed the blanket without looking up from the small fire she was tending to. She wrapped the blanket around herself, but he could see she was still shaking. That worried him. She would get sick if she couldn't warm up soon. He'd seen it happen to kids on the street. She needed to get dry. She'd never warm up as long as she wore the drenched glider suit, but he didn't want to insist that she strip down in front of him. Kai had understood from the beginning of their relationship, he'd never have a lasting chance with her if he wasn't on his best behavior, although what that meant had changed over the years. Used to be, his struggle had been to pay attention during history lessons and to not fall asleep when he was supposed to be meditating. Now, he struggled to make sure his hands never strayed higher or lower than her waist when they kissed, or that he always looked her directly in the eyes when they talked. Not that she didn't have pretty eyes. Everything about her was pretty, but sometimes his eyes wanted to wander over other parts of her body. He was a teenage guy after all. But he knew she didn't deserve to be objectified that way. If he ever wanted a lasting chance with her, he had to be on his best behavior.

"You're still cold," he said. It wasn't a question. She was still shivering and her breath was shallow.

"Airbenders can warm themselves by regulating their breathing." Jinora said mater-of-factly. She shifted into the lotus position as if she was meditating and tried to regulate her breathing. She was struggling, one or two deep breaths would be followed by several shaky ones. For once, she wished that the glider suits weren't one piece. Sure, it was more aerodynamic, but right now she'd give anything to be able to get the damp cloth off of her skin without being left in nothing but her underwear.

Kai moved closer to her, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close to his side.

"What are you doing?" Jinora asked her voice rising again. Now that he was so close it was harder to ignore his lack of clothes. Her eyes naturally aligned with the smooth, tan skin of his chest. She watched its steady rise and fall. Barely aware of what she was doing, she steadied her breath to match his. Though still soaking wet, already she was feeling warmer, although she couldn't say if that was because of the breathing, or his arms around her, or the warmth inside her she always felt when she was this close to him.

Water droplets fell from his hair onto her skin. Spirits, she loved his hair. No matter what, it always stuck out in every direction. She loved to run her fingers through his hair. She loved to mess it up further, to run her fingertips against his scalp, to pull him closer as they kissed. She glanced at his lips. She could feel her heart pounding and her breath was unsteady again. This line of thinking needed to stop.

"This isn't helping." She said and moved away. "We both just need to focus on our breathing."

"Jinora, I'm fine," he said. Between the blanket, the fire, and the feeling of being with her, Kai was actually beginning to feel hot. "You get warm faster when you're dry."

She looked up at his intense gaze, full of worry and concern, and knew he was right. She was drenched from head to toe, freezing cold, and felt miserable. All she wanted was to be dry and to be in his arms again, modesty be damned.

She stood up hastily and began to strip. She turned her back to Kai, and peeled the damp suit off her skin. When at last she kicked off the feet, she made a blast of air to shake the remaining water from her hair and underwear. Already she felt better.

Kai tried to look away as soon as his girlfriend stood to unbutton her suit. He tried to focus on the fire, but out of the corner of his eye, the bright blue of her tattoos caught his attention. His gaze followed the slim blue line from where it appeared beneath her hair, all the way down her spine, until it disappeared behind her underwear. She slid the suit over her hips, and the lines on her legs were revealed. He traced the blue mark down her long, toned legs, and then slowly back up again until- he forced his eyes back to the fire. He tried to concentrate on how the flames danced, the sparks floating towards the roof of the cave, anything but his girlfriend standing nearly naked a few feet away from him. He could feel he was blushing furiously.

Jinora wrapped the blanket around her, covering as much as she could, and then sat back down right next to Kai. Through the blankets she could feel their hip bones pressing against each other, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"This is much better" she sighed and snuggled against him. He instinctively wrapped his arm around her and drew her as close as he could. He looked down to smile at her. He could feel the heat of her body against his, but he was just grateful that she was warm again. That they were safe. Though the stormed still raged outside, in the cave by the fire, they could keep each other warm. It was so good it was to be with her. To hold her, to be hers.

"I love you, you know." He said softly. Barely a whisper, but she heard him.

"I know," she smiled. "I love you too." She looked up and gave him a soft kiss. If she didn't feel warm before, she certainly did now. Kissing Kai was always intoxicating, always made her feel warm in the pit of her stomach, always left her wanting more.

Kai broke the kiss, but didn't move away. Their faces were mere inches apart. He stared at her beautiful brown eyes.

"Can you promise me one thing?" he asked.

"What's that?" She felt his breath on her skin.

"Your dad never hears about this." Jinora blushed at the thought of her dad seeing them in this predicament. Neither of them wanted that. With a soft laugh, she pulled him down for another kiss.