There's a soft fuzz that's growing back on Jinora's head by now, brown hair growing over the bright blue tattoo that's still new enough to glow. Or at least, that's how Kai sees it. Glowing. Beautiful.
Without thinking about it, he brushes his hand over her scalp, laughing a bit at the way her hair feels against his palm. She goes bright red when he steps back and drops his hand.
"Sorry. It just looks so cool."
She rubs her arm absently, alternating between looking at the ground and back up at him, that cute smile of hers making a dimple pop up in her cheek. He wants to touch that, too. It's a sudden desire that rolls up in him the same way he wanted to touch her hair.
It's the same feeling that accompanies just about everything that Jinora does, Kai can admit to himself. That's safe, right? It's not like anyone else has to know.
"It feels kind of weird. I've been getting so used to being bald," she finally laughs. Her own hand skims over the top of her head. "What's weird is that Dad was right about the whole air flow thing, too."
"Are you thinking of staying bald, then?" Kai asks her. He runs his own hand over his hair, thick and full and messy, like it's in protest at the very thought of getting shaved off. Not that he's close to getting his tattoos or anything. He still has plenty to learn, and besides, the longer he waits, the more he can have Jinora teach him.
Because she's good at this whole airbending thing.
Not because she's cute. And her smile is pretty. And she makes him feel better about himself when he was really nothing before he met her and the others. And he likes listening to her talk and about the things she knows.
No, definitely the teaching thing.
She looks surprised for a second, eyes widening as her round eyes focus entirely on him. A blush crawls up his neck, warm and irritating. "Don't you think that would look weird?"
Even as he shakes his head, his gaze stays connected with hers. There's no way he's looking away. "You could never look weird. But it's up to you what to do."
She smiles brightly at him, and his stomach does a few air tumbles. "I'll let it grow back in and then decide from there. Just to test it out."
He wants to tell her that she'd be amazing either way. That she's pretty. That he likes her fuzz and her bald head and her hair. He wants to touch it again, but they're both too aware of what he's already done, and he doesn't want to push it.
"Sounds like a cool experiment to me."
Her lips part for a second, and she looks like she's about to say something, her body leaning in closer to his. And then her body suddenly relaxes. "You'll have to help me test it out."
"I can do that!"
It's probably the longest they've held eye contact.