It was another day, and the sun was gleaming over the horizon. Kai Fong was still quietly asleep in his bed, not yet ready to awake. Quietly, the door to his room creaks open and his father walks in.
"Kai, c'mon buddy, you need to wake up. I have an early meeting today with Governor Gyatso to discuss the city's budget." Yung said.
Yung had found Kai on the streets of Omashu during a trip there for a political conference, and right then and there, Yung knew he couldn't let him stay on the streets. He took Kai back with him to Republic City, where Yung was on the city council. This often meant Kai had to spend long days and nights at the capitol building, and Kai wasn't quite a fan of it.
"C'mon Yung, you can't let me stay home one time from your boring meetings? I'm not even allowed to be in the meeting, I just have to wander around the capitol all day." Kai said, with an annoyed frown on his face. There was nothing for him to at the capitol, and he really hated it. He preferred school to a day at the capitol.
Yung frowns and responds,"Well since you have the day off school, and I don't trust you home alone, yes, you are coming with me today. Speaking of school, you need to work harder. You're in danger of failing English, and you're barely out of the red in History." Kai rolled his eyes and groaned, doing his best to sound annoyed. "Yung please, it's not as if I got the best reading classes on the streets. I'll always be behind." Kai hated how he struggled in school, but by this point, he'd stopped trying, and was just hoping to get the year over with.
Yung had pain stricken on his face, but decided to let that go for now. "We'll discuss this later, just get ready please." With that, Kai was out of bed and preparing for another boring day at the capitol.
"Jinora, are you ready to leave?" Tenzin called. "Yeah dad, I'll be down in a minute." She responded, hurriedly putting the final touches on her makeup.
She wasn't exactly looking forward to a day at the capitol, but with the election coming, her father had been putting her in the spotlight more and more in an attempt to seem more human. It didn't upset her, she knew it was all part of the political game, but that didn't mean she had to enjoy it.
Jinora Gyatso had always been the perfect daughter. Being the eldest daughter of the Governor, she had to be. She had always kept exceptional grades, and was always a proper lady, especially when the eye of the public. She hated how suffocated she was by the lifestyle that had been chosen for her, but seeing no alternatives, quietly accepted the way things were. After taking one last look in the mirror, she put on the best face she could to mask her true emotions, and headed downstairs to leave with her father.
Getting into the Satomobile, she prepared for another boring day wandering the capitol. She tried as best as she could to mask her tone, but sounding a bit annoyed, she asked her father quizzically, "Why do you even have to be at the capitol so early this morning?" Her father, looking about as annoyed with it as she was, let out a sigh and responded, "Councilman Fong won't let it up on the budget for the city, so we're meeting about it. I'm not sure how long it will take, but knowing how hard headed the the Councilman is, it could be awhile."
Jinora let out a sigh, thankful she had brought her favorite book. The one good thing about the capitol was that it had a lot of little nooks and crannies for her to read in peace.
As the Satomobile pulled up to the capitol, she once again put her fake face on, and with a sigh, exited the vehicle, and entered the capitol.
Kai arrived at the capitol with his father, and together, they entered. Yung turned to Kai, "Okay buddy, I just gotta run by my office real quick, and then I'm off to meet with the Governor. You know the rules, please behave." With that, Yung gave his son a hug and headed off to his , left with nothing to do, pulled out his phone and began walking, with no particular destination in mind. He often did this on days where his father had private meetings. He kept a charger in his father's office, just in case his battery died. He found it relaxing, having an entire building to walk around while he kept himself busy, but he sometimes wished he had someone to walk with, especially on days like this, where he could well be walking around all day. Little did he know, he wouldn't be walking alone that morning for much longer.
Jinora followed her father to his office, where she spoke with him briefly before she left to read.
"Dad, why don't Ikki or Meelo ever have to do this?" She asked, trying not to sound too pessimistic about her current situation. Her father groaned and rolled his eyes. "Jinora, we've had this conversation, you have a duty as the first born. You are the one in the public eye, and you just need to accept that." Inside, Jinora was ready to scream, but knew she had to keep her cool.
With a lump in her throat, she responded, "You're right father, thank you. I'm going to go read now." With that, she briskly exited her father's office, and ran down the hall, burying her head in her hands.
Jinora turned the corner and slammed into something, knocking her to the floor, and sending her book sliding a few feet away from her.
Kai had no idea what had happened. One moment, he had been playing a game on his phone, and the next, something slammed into him, knocking him backwards. He looked down to see what had slammed into him, and it rendered him speechless. On the ground, a few feet away from him, lay the Governor's daughter. He panicked and quickly apologized.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, are you alright?" Kai exclaimed as he reached down to help her up. Jinora gets to her feet with Kai's help, and apologizes "Yeah, I'm sorry, I just wasn't paying attention, it's my fault." Kai looks her up and down, and responds, "Don't worry, as long as you're alright, that's what matters."
Kai sees Jinora's book laying on the ground, "Here, let me pick that up for you." Kai grabs Jinora's book from the ground and hands it to her gently. Jinora can feel herself blush slightly as she takes it from him. "Thank you, uhh, Kai right?" Kai nods, "Yeah, I'm Yun- Councilman Fong's, son. You're Jinora right, the Gov-" Jinora interrupts him, "Yes, I'm the Governor's daughter." She says, with an annoyed tone.
Kai realizes he may have struck a nerve, and moves to change the subject. "Since it seems both of us don't really have anything to do today, with our fathers arguing over the stupid budget, do you wanna, uh, walk around with me, I guess?" As Kai says this, a blush begins to wash over his cheeks.
Jinora, who on almost any occasion would've flat out declined any invitation of the sort, thought for a moment. She didn't know why, but this felt, right. Besides, she was going mad spending all her days in the capitol cooped up by herself. Jinora's lips curve up into a smile, "I see no reason why not." And with that, they begin walking together.
After a few minutes of awkward silence between them, Kai finally breaks the silence. "I've never really had someone to talk to when I'm here, it's usually pretty lonely." Kai smiles softly, and Jinora responds. "Yeah, there's not really much to do. I usually just find a quiet spot and read." Kai looks back to her, "Speaking of reading, you seem to do a lot of it. I see you in the school library a lot." She smiles, "Yeah, the library is where I go to do my school work. It's a lot more calm than home, and I find it easier to get things done when I'm there."
They go on talking for a few hours. Kai shows her some of his favorite places to walk in the capitol, and she shows him her most frequented reading spots. Finally, they both received a text from their fathers, telling them the meeting was over, and to come to their offices.
At this, Kai hung his head a bit, as he was having fun talking to Jinora. Jinora, obviously feeling the same way, turns to him. "Give me your phone." She says with a smile. Kai, shoots her a confused look. "What do you need with my phone?" He asks. She grins back at him. "I wanna put my number in there silly! Now give me your phone!" Kai hands over his phone, and Jinora adds herself as a contact. She smiles as they begin to walk in opposite directions, but before they disappear from one another's view, she calls back to him with a grin on her face, "Text me later!" Kai smiles, and continues to his father's office.
Once Jinora is home, she spends all of her time texting back and forth with Kai. She doesn't know why, but Kai feels… different, from her normal friends. She learns that whenever Kai's father has to go work and the capitol, and there's no school, Kai is with him. Suddenly, going to the capitol with her father doesn't seem so bad.
So, there's that. The first chapter of fanfic I've ever written. I understand it's not great, but I like this angle. I'm not sure whether or not it's really worth continuing though, so leave a review if you have any advice for me on how to improve my writing, or where the story could go. Thanks for reading.