A/N: For motherofavatar's (over on tumblr) birthday!
Disclaimer: I don't own.
He's nervous which is, quite literally, stupid. There is absolutely nothing for him to be worried about other than the fact that this is his first official date with his girlfriend.
Oh and that she beat her grandfather in becoming the youngest airbending master in the history of airbending and aided the Avatar in the destruction of the spirit of chaos. No big deal, really.
Kai shuffles his feet and thinks that the bouquet of white peonies may have been a mistake. He's never actually asked Jinora about flowers or if she'd like them but, well, he saw Bolin give them to Opal a lot and she seemed to like them. Not to mention the fact that he worked odd jobs for Asami to get the pocket money for this date and still had to ask Mako for a loan (which, the firebender described, would need to be paid back).
Maybe he should go get her? No, he told her that he'd be waiting in the bison caves right before sunset (a very real time in his mind). Didn't Tenzin say that was all right? It was weird, in a way, to have to ask permission to go out with the older airbender's daughter when the two had, for all intents and purposes, been entirely devoted to each other for a whole year. "She can date when she's sixteen," Tenzin had screamed one night during dinner. Kai still feels a blush warm his cheeks at the memory but it at least makes tonight special.
He's going to go get her because the food is going to get cold and this is actually really ridiculous and-
"Sorry I'm late," Jinora says as she breezes into the caves.
"Wow," is all Kai can say. She's wearing a dress, a real fashionable dress that he's pretty sure Asami helped her pick out. Where she managed to find one in yellow and orange is beyond him but it looks so very nice on her and he will stop staring at her legs in those heels and how her skirt comes down to her knees. He suddenly feels underdressed in his slightly formal airbender robes that Mako said would look nice.
"So its nice? I really wasn't sure but Korra said I look great and to 'go get him,'" she giggles. Korra has been there number one supporter, even going to far as to offer to chaperon dates before Jinora's sixteenth birthday (the entire plan was struck down by a grumpy Tenzin).
"Yeah it is, it, uh, shows off your tattoos really well!" The second the words are out of his mouth his brain yells at him for how stupid he is.
"That's good," she says softly, her hair (which he has noticed, thank you very much) falling in her face as it's free of its normal buns.
"You know I think you're the most beautiful girl ever." It's true, and he's told her that all the time, even when she's mad at him he still finds a way to tell her.
She lightly hits his arm. "Flattery will get you no where," she teases. "Now, where are we going on our first official Dad approved date?"
"Hop on Lefty and we'll get going. And these are for you," he shoves the flowers at her.
Her eyes light up. "Kai these are my favorite!" She kisses his cheek and he's happy he listened to Korra, Asami, Pema, and Ikki when they insisted he buy peonies. She inhales their scent before easily bending herself on to Lefty's head. The bison groans his welcome as she scratches his head. "Come on."
Kai climbs up to join her and with the customary yip yip the bison takes off. "We're going to the place I showed you earlier, buddy." Lefty groans again.
"Aren't we going into the City?" Jinora asks as she leans back.
"Well that was the plan, until I decided we could have a picnic instead." That had, actually, always been his plan.
"Does Dad know about this?" She asks.
He shakes his head. "No, in fact he kind of didn't want to know about the date." Lefty turns and begins to his descent. They're headed for a cliff that overlooks Yue Bay (the non Spirit Wilds side). He scoped out the place earlier, there's a clear patch that has an amazing view and is big enough for a bison.
Once they hit the ground he scrambles back to Lefty's saddle. "I got take out from this great new Fire Nation place," he says as he gathers containers of food and a blanket.
"Oh really?" Jinora asks.
"Yeah they have the best stir fry with tofu and a really spicy eggplant. I know that's your favorite," he admits.
When he looks down to her he sees her smiling at him. "It is. Now hurry down here I'm starving!"
He awkwardly tries to spread out the blanket while not putting down any of the food. Jinora takes pity on him and she takes the blanket. Once it's settled he quickly sits down and opens the boxes. They share spring rolls with a spicy sweet dipping sauce. Kai boldly wipes a little dribble from her mouth, causing her to blush fiercely. They move on to taking turns eating from the other boxes. The stir fry goes quickly and he's happy to relinquish the eggplant to her because that means he gets the cold garlic noodles.
Bellies full they move closer and watch the sun slowly sink below the horizon. He has one last surprise and needs to set it up before its too dark. "Stay here, I have one more thing." He hops back up into the saddle. There's one more food box, specially for her. He locates the little candle and book of matches Mako got him and lights the candle after he places it in her dessert.
"Happy birthday," he says as his airbending cushions his fall to the ground, his hand protecting the little flame.
"My birthday was three weeks ago," she chides
"I know but I wanted something special."
"How about happy first date?"
He thinks for a minute. "Yes, that works. Now we both get to blow out the candle." They do. Kai offers her a spoon before he digs into the mango sticky rice.
As the sun sets she leans over and kisses him. "And that's our first kiss on our first date."
It's his turn to blush and he secretly thinks that's really corny but he also thinks he might be in love with Jinora. Maybe corny isn't so bad.
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