"Grandpa Aang!" she whispered as her eyes flew open. Jinora lay perfectly still in her bed as the soft breeze blew past her, rippling the sheets over her ever so slightly. Jinora closed her eyes again and a gentle tear fell from the corner of her eye. Ever since Jinora was old enough to speak she had been asking where her grandfather was.
"He's not here anymore, Jinora," Pema said solemnly as she cradled her toddler.
Almost on cue, a girl came running in, ponytails bouncing all over the place. Pema straightened out and smiled. "Jinora," she said turning her oldest daughter's face to meet the young girl, "I want you to meet Korra. She's going to stay with us for a couple days."
Jinora jumped back as the young girl's blue eyes suddenly appeared only inches away from her face. They were filled to the brim with excitement.
"Can I hold her?" Korra clapped with joy. Reluctantly Pema agreed to hand over her 2-year-old daughter to the avatar. Korra wasted no time and grasped Jinora in her arms, holding her tightly.
"Careful," Pema protested. But Korra was hardly listening. Korra flopped down onto the bed holding Jinora as she let out a faint whine at Korra's brash behavior. Determined to bond with what appeared to be her new playmate, Korra folded her legs and leaned over to position Jinora in such a way that the two girls faced each other.
But as the girls' eyes met, Korra suddenly grew still and Jinora fell silent. Minutes passed before Jinora finally reached out a hand to touch Korra. Korra bent over until the toddler's hand rested on her cheek and folded her hand around Jinora's ever so gently. The young airbender's eyes widen with wonder and the rest of the world fell away as the two stared at each other in awe.
One of the air acolytes walked in as Pema stood off in the distance, watching.
"What do you think they're doing?" the air acolyte whispered.
Pema shook her head wordlessly.
From that moment on, Jinora and Korra always seemed to have a special connection.
There was the time Jinora was practicing her air scooter technique when Korra walked up behind her, almost frightening the daylights out of her.
"I didn't know you were here!" Jinora beamed as she threw her arms around Korra.
Korra laughed. "Sorry I scared you. By the way… you're really good at the doing the air scooter."
Jinora looked away, "yeah but I haven't mastered it. I keep messing up. I'll get it going but for some reason I can't stay on it for very long before I fall off."
Korra put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You'll get it," she said with a smile, "I believe in you."
The two girls' eyes met again and their gaze held. Jinora's face softened at the sight of Korra's smile.
"I'm going to try it again," Jinora turned confidently. She bent a ball of air and narrowed her gaze as she jumped onto it. She closed her eyes in fear but after a few seconds realized she had made it. Nervous she tried bending the air scooter around only to find that, this time, it was easy. Jinora gasped with excitement as she took off around Air Temple Island.
"Look Korra! I've master the air scooter!" Jinora called out. Her eyes lit up and she felt as if she were flying. She turned her head long enough to see Korra in the distance, clapping and jumping up and down.
"Go Jinora!" she yelled back.